Plot: What’s it about?
Before Ben Stiller was “Mr. Furious” in “Mystery Men” and before he conquered the Gen X arena with “Reality Bites”, he had his own show on Fox. Granted it lasted only four months and the show was cancelled during mid-season, but looking back on it, he had something there. Stiller, with his supporting players (and constant companion) Janeane Garafolo, Andy Dick and Bob Odenkirk (who would go onto do his own sketch comedy, “Mr. Show”) were trying to entertain a nation of with a format that audiences weren’t really ready for. Granted, the show now seems a bit dated as it concentrated on the topics at hand (grunge, etc.) and it’s amazing how much of the show seems to be reflected in some scenes in “Reality Bites” (directed by Stiller). Stiller had his slew of guest stars with Rob Morrow (Dr. Joel Fleishman on “Northern Exposure”…when’s the last time you heard that name), Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Miller and Garry Shandling just to name a few. In one of the commentary tracks, Stiller admits that he thinks the show was a very early version of what “The Larry Sanders Show” was; starring Garry Shandling.
While these shows aren’t exactly a dime a dozen these days, they are more prevalent. Stiller shows his natural talent for comedy and even produced the shows as well. I found a few of the episodes to be a bit dull and most were very dated. Even the soundtrack sounded like Beverly Hills 90210. The real gem here is that we get them in their original format and even the pilot episode and some unaired sketches. A little-known fact is that this show started on MTV as more of a parody and then Fox picked it up as a full-blown show (only for 12 episodes, though). The main cast members have all gone onto much more fame and stardom, especially Stiller who has been in some of the funnier movies to date. Though the show is just over ten years old, a lot has changed since then. The words “groundbreaking” and “ahead of its time” don’t really come to mine, but Stiller has always seemed to have a pulse for what makes audiences laugh. Nowhere was this proved more than in his self-titled show. For fans of Stiller-type comedy, highly recommended.
Video: How does it look?
The shows are presented in their original full-frame aspect ratio as they aired on television. I was a bit surprised at how good the episodes look. There’s some purposeful grain and dirt to some of the scenes and sketches, but for the most part this had a very clean, almost film-like feel to it. Colors are on target with what we might expect and though the transfer doesn’t benefit from anamorphic enhancement, the lack of many defects makes this a great-looking DVD. Viewers won’t be disappointed.
Audio: How does it sound?
As they originally aired on Fox, the shows are presented in a Dolby Digital Surround mix. The track is about what we might expect with a TV show of this age. There’s a few matrixed surround effects, but for the most part it’s a dialogue-driven sketch comedy that really doesn’t disappoint. There’s not a whole lot else to say when describing the sound, it’s on par with what we’ve come to expect for shows of this age and not much more. Again, this delivers and that’s essentially all it can do.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Commentary tracks for a majority of the episodes are included with Stiller and any number of his writers and co-stars. Stiller knows how to deliver a good commentary track as he’s very talkative and even goes into the show’s history and it’s origins. His speech is just like that of his on-screen persona. While we don’t learn a whole lot of detail about the actual content of the shows, these are fairly well-rounded tracks. The “Thirteenth” Episode is shown as are alternate versions of the pilot. Some outtakes are included as is a E! Behind the Scenes Special. There are some text-based production notes on the history of the show with some video of the MTV version of the Ben Stiller Show as well. All in all, for a show that only lasted a dozen episodes, this has a major cult following and is a welcome addition to any collection.
