- Actors: Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo, Bob Odenkirk, John F. O'Donohue
- Writers: Ben Stiller, Judd Apatow, Jeff Kahn
- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
- Region: (US and Canada This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Number of discs: 2
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Warner
- Release Date: Dec 2 2003
- Run Time: 299 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00008PHCU
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#27,450 in DVD (See Top 100 in DVD)
- #1 in DVD > Comedy > Television > The Ben Stiller Show
- #26 in DVD > Comedy > Comedy Stars > Ben Stiller
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
For its brief and shining moment--12 aired episodes, to be exact--The Ben Stiller Show, which aired on Fox in 1992, recaptured the anarchic spirit and subversively funny voice of first-season Saturday Night Live and SCTV. More too-hip-for-the-room than ahead of its time, the show suffered dismal ratings and was unceremoniously cancelled. It then went on to win an Emmy for best writing and attract a fervent following, enhanced by the fact that the series has seldom been syndicated. This long-awaited DVD release fills not a void, but an abyss. To watch Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Andy Dick, and a pre-Mr. Show Bob Odenkirk at the dawn of their mostly unconventional careers, romp in the show's opening is akin to watching the Beatles frolic on that football field in A Hard Day's Night. Stiller and company's pitch-perfect and intimately observed skewering of movies, television, and show business convention could be exhilarating, as witness "Woody Allen's Bride of Frankenstein" (you'll never watch another Allen film with a straight face again), "Cape Munster," with Stiller as a psychopathic and vengeful Eddie Munster, "Skank," a potent comment on the crass programming that was initially Fox's stock in trade, and even brilliant riffs on the seminal reality series Cops, which re-imagine the series in witch-hysteric Salem, Massachussetts, ancient Egypt, and medieval times.
In addition to the cast's uncanny impersonations (Stiller's Bono, Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Bruce Willis, and Garofalo's Juliette Lewis), The Ben Stiller Show was home to a gallery of recurring characters--agent Michael Pheret, the No, No, No Guy--who, thankfully, SNL producer Lorne Michaels was not around to parlay into godawful films. The topical humor can't help but date some of the material (the show is a veritable Trivial Pursuit of pop culture references, from The Partridge Family to Beverly Hills 90210, but the brilliance of the writing and sheer abandon of the performances are still a joy to behold. --Donald Liebenson
Video Details
The funniest show you never saw - starring Ben Stiller - is now available as a fully-loaded 2-disc DVD set, featuring all 12 regular season episodes plus an originally unaired episode. This cutting-edge Emmy-award winning sketch comedy show aired on Fox in the 1992-93 season and in syndication on Comedy Central.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Funny, Talented Cast with Some Great Sketches,
By SandmanVI (Glen Allen, VA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ben Stiller Show (Special 2-Disc Set) (DVD)
The Ben Stiller Show had a number of excellent sketches as others have noted. I think the most memorable is the dark, hilarious Manson-as-Lassie Show; Bob Odenkirk is stellar. The cast members are very strong with Ben being perhaps the weakest straight-up comedian of the bunch. Andy D. seems under-utilized at times and Odenkirk's quirks should have been explored further. The downside for some people will be Ben's penchant for the obvious. Many sketches take the easy way out and too many rely on simple pop culture gags for their laughs. A talented cast doesn't need to hit softballs off of a tee. However many of the spoofs do make you laugh and that's the main purpose I suppose. I guess it depends on your idea of genius: do you prefer the topical-based humor of SNL or the highly inventive off-the-wall style of Kids in the Hall... much more creative but not always interested in the easy laugh. Bottom line is that this DVD is worth owning for fans of sketch-based comedy. Not a best of the genre but high quality for certain.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ben Stiller Show !,
By Peter A. Flynn (Evanston, IL United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ben Stiller Show (Special 2-Disc Set) (DVD)
If you can even relate to the pig latin in the Three Stooges then you'll be amazed as Ben takes on such an impossible role as the Latin Lover. It's insane to watch him pull it off. Try a few words yourself let alone at the break neck speed that Ben pulls it off at!It's worth it just for those two sketches alone.
1.0 out of 5 stars
awful sketch comedy,
By Phil (WI) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Ben Stiller Show (Special 2-Disc Set) (DVD)
Do yourself a favor and buy Kids In The Hall instead. This is some of the worst sketch comedy I've ever seen, even worse than new SNL and MadTV. I probably laughed once, very lightly, about every 10 minutes. Stiller is funnier in his worst movies than in this show.
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