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The Ben Stiller Show
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The Ben Stiller Show was a sketch comedy television show that aired on FOX from September 1992 to January 1993. It was a spin-off from the successful MTV series of the same name. The show starred Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk. Character actor John F. O'Donohue also appeared in every episode. It featured numerous filmed comedy segments, many of which parodied mid-1980's to early-1990's pop-culture. Despite excellent reviews, Fox canceled the series after only 12 episodes, due to low ratings.
Unlike most sketch comedy shows, The Ben Stiller Show does not use a studio audience nor a laugh track (but used as a sound effect for few sketches). This was the only FOX sketch comedy program not to use a laugh track. The semi-spinoff, The Andy Dick Show, uses the same format.
After cancellation, the series took home the 1993 Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Variety Series. Despite its short prime-time run, many consider the show to contain some of the best satire of its era. It continues to have a cult following, and the complete series
DVD was released in 2003.
Many of the writers and performers used the series as a springboard to greater success in comedy and entertainment. Series creator, writer, director, producer, and host Ben Stiller, went on to star in multiple box office hits, starting with
There's Something About Mary in 1998. Co-creator and writer
Judd Apatow went on to produce numerous popular comedy series and films, and directed the 2005 hit film
The 40 Year-Old Virgin. Performer
Andy Dick had a co-starring role on the
NBC comedy
NewsRadio and later had his own
MTV series (
The Andy Dick Show), which borrowed the format of
The Ben Stiller Show.
Janeane Garofalo spent a year at
Saturday Night Live, played an Emmy-nominated role in
The Larry Sanders Show, and has had a successful career in stand-up comedy.
Bob Odenkirk subsequently starred with fellow series writer
David Cross on
HBO's absurdist sketch comedy series
Mr. Show with Bob and David.
Popular sketches and characters
- The No, No, No Guy: Ben Stiller plays a pushy fan who talks celebrities into embarrassing situations. (This character reappeared in Stiller's remake of Starsky & Hutch) and also in Stiller's film Heavyweights).
- Ask Manson: Bob Odenkirk plays lunatic Charles Manson answering personal query letters.
- Cops: Ben Stiller and John F. O'Donohue play policemen in various historical settings a la Fox's Cops program.
- Grady's Oats: A parody of Quaker Oats commercials. Contributor Dana Gould portrays a Wilford Brimley-esque character giving rustic monologues praising, among other things, his love of putting on a pink taffeta gown and filling his panties with Grady's Oats.
- Michael Pheret, Agent: Ben Stiller plays a fast talking agent with horrible ideas.
- Stiller's Wheel of Filler: Sketch wherein the premise of a short piece is determined by the random turning of a big wheel.
- The Grungies: Over-the-top Monkees's style sitcom set in the super-serious Seattle grunge scene. Actual Monkee Mickey Dolenz played a talent scout in one instance.
- Bruce Springsteen: Stiller plays the Boss in various sketches including the "Legends of Springsteen" sketches wherein Bruce, always a man of the people, goes above and beyond the call of duty to affect people's lives. He is also featured in short vignettes in which he makes an answering machine message, and counts to 24. The character is loosely based on Springstreen's personality in concerts.
- The Pig Latin Lover: Spoofing music infomercials, Stiller portrays a Latino who sings in Pig Latin instead of Spanish.
- Tom Cruise: Various sketches use Stiller's Cruise impression, including one where Cruise stars in a one-man Broadway show re-creating his famous film roles.
- Relaxation Tapes: Andy Dick plays the sometimes obtrusive voice in a relaxation tape.
- The Let-Go Clinic with Tony Bobbins: Caustic parody of motivational speaker and author Tony Robbins. Stiller is Bobbins, manipulative spokesperson for the Let-Go Clinic (a motivational institute of questionable ethics), who threatens to mesmerize his clientele with his "noxious spit."
- Movie parodies included "Cape Munster" ("Cape Fear" with Stiller as a revenge-riddled former child actor Eddie Munster) & "Woody Allen's 'Bride of Frankenstein'" (Andy Dick as Allen as a self-absorbed neurotic mummy).
Episode list
- The Premiere
- With Bobcat Goldthwait
- With James Doohan
- On Melrose Avenue
- With Colin Quinn
- With Sarah Jessica Parker
- With Rob Morrow
- With Garry Shandling
- With Flea
- With Dennis Miller
- At the Beach
- The Last Fox Episode
- The Lost Episode (not part of the original run)
