the State tribute

No this post isn't about the classic hardcore band, the The State (who by the way ruled). It's about the old classic comedy series, from back in the 90's on Mtv. It seemed that back in the mid-late 90's there was a resurgance in sketch comedy troupes. Comedy Central was in its infancy, and had a bunch of new sketch comedy shows, mixed in with old SNL episodes. At the same time, Mtv had a little show called the State. There were maybe like 10 people in the cast (only one was female), and they played all the characters, as well as writing and directing. The comedy style was a mix of classic Monty Python style men in drag comedy, but with a lot of edgy off the wall sick humor. It did 3 seasons on Mtv before it was cancelled. CBS picked it up briefly, but never made it past the pilot episode. The members went on to movies and tv shows. Most notable Wet Hot American Summer, one of the best movies in recent years.

It seems like the State has faded into history, due to a lack of a DVD collection maybe. I'd been hearing about a DVD for years, I think some of the cast members were even selling bootlegs at some point. The problem was that the shows used a lot of popular songs from the era. At the time Mtv was able to use any songs that had a video on Mtv as a part of any of their shows background music. Since it's been like 10 years, the license agreements had ended. This however left the state with a big chunk of sketches that couldn't be reproduced. Recently though, all the episodes have been re-cut with new music. Mtv put the episodes on iTunes a few months ago as well. Maybe they did this to test how well a potential DVD would sell, but I mean honestly who buys tv shows on iTunes? Why would I pay $2 poer episode to watch a 5" wide tv show? I know for a fact that I'd buy a boxed set in a heartbeat. Also a few members of the State star in the new Reno 911 movie, and apparently there will be guest appearances by other State alumni.