Growing Old With The State

By Jesse Roth

Bopping along through the 1990s, I found myself immersed in a rather enjoyable childhood. I was growing in all the same ways my elementary-aged kid peers were, while also straddling the fence between juvenile pleasures and my desire to feel more grown-up. This divide applied almost everywhere in my life, from musical tastes to imagining that I was living a twenty-something life like my idols on MTV and other teen/adult-friendly fare. At this same juncture in life, I was also refining my sense of humor, discovering what made me laugh beyond the physical comedy I enjoyed in cartoons, Three Stooges shorts, and the very early Woody Allen films (such as Take the Money and Run) my family had introduced to me.

As it just so happened, it was a perfect time to begin my education. The airwaves were cluttered with several sketch comedy shows and new late night ventures that sought to capture the spirit and humor of a very different generation. When I could stay up late enough, I fell in love with the irreverent yet bizarre humor displayed on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Letterman’s Late Show. The Kids in the Hall‘s silly skits coincided nicely with my fandom of Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Chris Farley, and Adam Sandler on Saturday Night Live (not to mention it aired at a more kid-friendly time on Comedy Central).

The cast of The State

Over the years, however, I placed one particular sketch show on a higher pedestal; its brief MTV run and absence from syndication and reruns allowed it to be built up in my head as one of the funniest things ever witnessed by my formidable child mind. During its 1993-1995 run, The State had a silliness and wit that appealed to me, performed by a crew of young, inexperienced comedic actors who more closely resembled the kids in my dad’s high school art classes than the polished improv performers and comedians populating the other shows. The pace was fast and the catch phrases were numerous.

Like many shows of that era, however, The State seemed to disappear just as I was truly falling in love it. An attempted move to CBS resulted in a poorly rated Halloween special that spelled death for the cast and crew. Though most of its members went on to produce, direct, and star in such fabulous vehicles as Reno: 911!, Wet Hot American Summer, and Viva Variety!, The State itself became one of those code words that I used to determine whose sense of humor I would best click with in my later years.

With few online and commercial outlets available for properly viewing old episodes, fans had to rely on our somewhat sketchy memories and poor quality YouTube clips of “I wanna dip my balls in it!” and “Barry and Levon’s $240 worth of pudding.” Rumors of a complete DVD set of the series came and went over the years while us fans impatiently waited for one of these promised releases to come to fruition.

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