October 15, 2006
December 5, 2003
2003 has been such an exciting year - arguably the biggest year for the former State members since their disbandment. The popularity of Stella and Reno 911 has grown higher than anyone could have imagined. Perhaps we're now more than a few steps closer towards getting The State back on television. Only time will tell.
The world's biggest sweetheart, Kevin Allison, has asked me to post the following message on my website, advertising for the class he's teaching in New York City...
Kevin Allison of The State Teaches Sketch Comedy
The next sessions of my popular sketch comedy classes in Manhattan begin on
January 31, 2004. Learn how to write smart, surprising, laugh-out-loud
sketches (live and video). Workshop your scripts and perform your own work
at live New York theater shows. The first two classes were a blast--don't
miss the next one! Contact me directly at kevinallison@nyc.rr.com
And finally, Michael Ian Black will be appearing on Celebrity Poker Showdown, a new six-episode series on Bravo. Mike will be in episode 3, which airs on December 16th at 9PM. They've gathered quite an interesting assortment of people for this. Check out this link for more info.
July 23, 2003
The long-awaiting Comedy Central series Reno 911, starring Tom, Ben and Kerri among others, will premiere tonight at 10:30 after South Park. Tell all your friends, get them together, dim the lights, and bask in television's warm, glowing, warming glow.
Michael Ian Black is now appearing in ads for the VH1 series I Love The 70's.
July 9, 2003
In case you haven't heard, the official page's new format is better than ever.
Reno 911 premieres on July 23rd, and you can find the official website for this show at Comedy Central's website.
May 15, 2003
THE STATE's MTV series is finally coming to DVD!
The members of The State are working closely with MTV home video to
create the ultimate DVD set of The State episodes, including extra
documentary, commentary, unaired sketches, etc.
There is no release date yet, but of course we'll let you know as soon
as we know anything...
So save your money and stop buying bootlegs!
Personally, I'd have to say the most exciting aspect of this is the bonus features. Of course it will be great to finally own what may be a digitized version of every MTV episode. But for someone like me who needs a fix of new material every few months, the extra documentary, commentary and unaired sketches sound as if they will be the most exciting thing the State has worked on since the MTV series went off the air.
It also pleases me enormously that The State actually have authority on what's going into this package, and that they're not just making a DVD version of "Skits And Stickers," which is what I predicted would happen based on MTV's lack of appreciation for State-fans as of the past few years.
In website news, as you may have noticed, the website facelift we've been promising for the past year is not happening anytime soon. Because of this, I may be taking it upon myself to create an all new page on my own, that just deals with compiling State news. More details on that will be posted shortly.
This page has scans of some Christmas cards the State members sent out. Also, Statemedia recently uploaded an old sketch from You Wrote It You Watch It and a new short that David Wain directed titled "Petition," co-starring Joe Lo Truglio, David Wain and Nina Hellman.
April 28, 2003
"MTV is currently developing a new State DVD."
This might be considered a blessing to many, but a burden to others. Why a burden? Well, that has a lot to do with the music rights. MTV uses tons of music in all of their shows, and history has shown that when DVD collections such as "The Real World" or "The Osbournes" are issued, all of the music has either been completely taken out of the show, or replaced with inferior "soundalikes." This will most likely be the case with The State's DVD. For example, if you pay attention to the music in the "Skits and Stickers" video, the only song that was used appropriately was The Breeders' "Cannonball" in the "Pants" sketch. However, at the close of the "Hormones" sketch, a soundalike is used instead of "The Humpty Dance."
David Wain and Michael Ian Black have been making appearances on the current season of Comedy Central's "Crank Yankers."
A member of our mailing list recently posted the short article that Stella wrote for JANE magazine.
April 16, 2003
Rumors have been flying at our message boards about a possible forthcoming feature film, based on two things:
#1: Kevin Allison's section on MediaBistro.Com mentions the following: "This Year, The State tackles its first major motion picture."
#2: The article in JANE magazine closes with... "...are currently on tour and writing a feature script based on their short films."
So either Stella or The State may be in the process of putting together what probably will be the greatest movie of alltime. More details coming soon.
April 1, 2003
Michael Ian Black will also be on the Michael Essany show on E! at the following times (Eastern):
March 31, 2003
"Next Sunday (April 6) at 10:30pm (eastern) on E!, Michael Ian Black will be the guest on the Michael Essany Show (the one about the guy who does a cable access late night show from his parents' living room)"
Also, Stella recently sent an email announcing that many shows for their tour have started selling out.
March 20, 2003
"Do your own version of a play by Joe Lo Truglio, Michael Showalter and David Wain! SEX, a.k.a. WEINERS AND BOOBS is finally available to theater companies of any size to produce! All info is at PLAYSCRIPTS.COM"
March 5, 2003
For more information, please head on over to StellaComedy.Net.
February 25, 2003
Tom Lennon fans might know by now that he is currently starring in the new comedy How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days which has been doing very well at the box office.
And finally, HUGE HUGE HUGE HUGE HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE NEWS, as reported in the Variety...
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Comedy Central is dialing up a June series debut for former Fox pilot "Reno 911."
Originally aimed at a fall 2002 debut on Fox, the pilot has been redeveloped and reshot for Comedy Central, which has ordered 13 episodes of the half-hour reality series set among the police force of Reno, Nev.
The project is one of several that Comedy Central has vying for series starts this year. The basic cable network aims to launch six to nine new series this year. Series orders already have been given to the recently debuted "Chappelle's Show," as well as upcoming series "Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn (news)," "Trigger Happy TV" and the untitled animated Robert Evans project.
Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney are the creators-stars-executive producers. Other cast members are Cedric Yarbrough, Niecy Nash, Carlos Alazraqui and Wendi McClendon-Covey. Garant, Lennon and Kenney all collaborated on the former Comedy Central series "Viva Variety."
"Reno 911" was developed at Comedy Central during the first of a two-part annual development cycle designed to feed the network's original programming pipe.
This is some of the most exciting news I've heard in a while. The only thing that could make this sound better is if the Stella gang were scheduled to make some frequent appearances, but at any rate, it would appear that the future is looking good.
January 28, 2003
January 13, 2003
January 6, 2003
Statemedia.Net has been updated with a new look and hot new pics.
For those who missed any episodes of "I Love The 80s," VH1 will be airing a 6-hour marathon on Tuesday, January 14th. The episodes 1981 through 1986 are airing from 1PM until 7PM. Michael Showalter appears in the earlier episodes many times. Michael Ian Black appears in all of them, at least once every 10 minutes or so.
Fans of Black and Show will definitely not want to miss this, and of course if you love the 80's, this show is for you anyway. But VH1 did a very good thing by getting both Black and Showalter to offer commentary. Especially in the later episodes, Black's commentary is a very large part of what makes these shows so great. This is probably the best show of this type I've seen on television in the past year or two, and a big part of that is because of the State alumni. There are some funny commentators, and many comedians who just aren't funny, and unfortunately there are also parts where they show people singing along to music, which is kind of lame. But even so, Showalter and Black totally make this worth watching at least once.
December 18, 2002
December 17, 2002
Also, the final new Stella short for this season has been posted, titled "One Shot." Check it out at StellaComedy.Com.
December 10, 2002
While you're there, check out "Mustache," "Saturday" and "Cat," three previously uploaded new HIGH-LARIOUS Stella shorts, and keep your eyes open for one more new sketch scheduled to appear sometime in the next week.
November 24, 2002
November 18, 2002
Michael Ian Black was recently spotted on the game show Pyramid. We'll keep you posted for re-airings of this episode.
November 6, 2002
October 11, 2002
September 25, 2002: The theme for this evening was "All Things Musical." Comedians who performed full sets include Demetri Martin, Seth Herzog, Sandy and Jack and Jeffrey Ross. A.D. Miles performed a short set as his alter-ego "Marty Shonson." There was also a clown act from "Boys From Happy Hour." The short that was shown dealt with Michael Showalter going to the park to frolic to the theme of "Saturday In The Park," and it included cameos from Peter Salett and Seth Herzog.
October 9, 2002: Comedians who performed this past Wednesday include Sheila Ratner, Dove Davidoff, Jordan Rubin, Sam Cedar and Janeane Garofalo. Joe Lo Truglio made another surprise appearance this evening, performing under the name "Joey Adams." Tonight's film dealt with Showalter and Wain going out and finding lost cats. Zak Orth made an apperance as a "Heimlich victim" who had lost his keys, and then coughed them up after being given the Heimlich maneuver. Michael Ian Black was not present this evening.
A big thanks goes out to Emily and Caroline from the_state egroup for their help.
October 10, 2002
Stella will be coming to Philadelphia on October 26th. They will be appearing at the club North Star at 9 PM. Tickets are $12 and are available at Ticketmaster.Com and all locations that offer the Ticketmaster service.
I'll be posting reviews of the last few Stella's sometime this evening. Sorry for the delay.
September 22, 2002
This Wednesday, don't forget to catch Tom Lennon making his first of a few guest appearances on the new ABC show MD's. Check your listings for the time and channel.
September 20, 2002
September 19, 2002
Also, at the beginning of the evening, Black, Wain and Showatler announced that Stella had been nominated for a MAC Award. This may have simply been part of their act, but at any rate, here's the website for MAC: http://www.macnyc.com/.
In website news, in case you haven't noticed, this page is still ugly. We're working on it. Bare with us.
September 17, 2002
Tomorrow is the first of five Wednesdays that Stella will be performing at the Fez under Times Cafe in NYC. I'll be posting a short review for tomorrow's show in the next few days.
A Yahoo group called Fans Of Ken Marino has emerged.
I thought I wrote about this before, but recently there was some speculation as to whether or not Michael Ian Black's voice was used in the film Requiem For A Dream. Hopefully, we'll have some info on this in the coming weeks.
August 28, 2002
August 21, 2002
Fans of David Wain and crazy alternative rock may also wish to invest in the CD for his band Liquid Kitty.
Last but certainly not least is more great news from Statemedia.Net. Statemedia has posted a few clips from the unreleased State album, in hopes that it will get people excited about trying to finally get the album released already. Let's hope it works.
In news on this website, we've finally begun the new format for this page, and with it will come a new domain name. We'll take suggestions on a new title for this page if you guys have any. Send your suggestions here.
August 14, 2002
August 12, 2002
Michael Showalter appears in the recently released film Signs starring Mel Gibson. Apparently, he has a few lines towards the end in a scene as an Army recruiter with Joaquin Phoenix.
Also, there are two very new and very cool website updates. First of all, StellaComedy.Com has been totally reworked by Tom Conlon, the same guy who runs StateMedia.Net. According to an email Tom sent me, SEVEN more Stella shorts will be posted at this website in the coming weeks. I'm guessing that most of these are going to be brand spanking new stuff, which is VERY exciting to hear.
The second new website that has emerged is the brand new official state webpage - The-State.Com. It has a very similar format to the old AOL-hosted State page, and it comes with some news updates as well.
In Stella news, the September 11th performance that was scheduled at the Fez has been cancelled. I'm assuming that this is out of respect for New York City, which is pretty understandable. So now, there will be five performances during September and October instead of six.
Also, StateMedia reported that the CBS special will soon be posted in its entirety, so for those who have not seen it yet, it won't be long now. You're in for a REAL treat.
The update for this page is just around the corner. I hope. I do promise, however, that when it does happen, jaws will drop. It will be hot as hell.
July 22, 2002
There are new car commercials that feature a puppet that has a strange resemblance to the Pets.Com puppet, and it appears that these commercials do not include Michael Ian Black's voice, and they also were not directed by Michael Patrick Jann. This information comes from an unconfirmed source, and we will post more about this when we get more information.
July 21, 2002
First and foremost, Stella is returning to Fez under Time Cafe for the fall of 2002. David Wain, Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black have been gettin' ready to let it loose this fall with SIX weekly appearances. Check out the recently launced StellaComedy.Com for more information.
Also, Tom Lennon will be making appearances on the ABC series MD's this fall. Check your local listings, and check out ABC in the next few weeks to see him in the ads for this show as well. (P.S. Also don't forget to check out Tom on the cover page of Snickers.Com.)
Our good friends at StateMedia.Net posted links to a few short films featuring members of The State, including Big Helium Dog featuring Michael Ian Black, and The Kinsey Three featuring Michael Showalter and Kevin Allison.
More importantly is that StateMedia.Net just recently posted Episode 313, which pretty much completes their collection of MTV episodes.
July 1, 2002
June 19, 2002
The latest news that I can think of is how the Snickers ad campaign starring Tom Lennon ("Don't let hunger happen to you.") is still running strong all these months later. (It appears that they filmed them all in one day, because he looks exactly the same in every ad, but I could be wrong.) Also, I'm pretty sure that's his voice in the radio ads for Snickers as well.
As far as I know, Michael Ian Black will NOT be returning to SpyTV this summer, and instead they've gotten a new host whose name I cannot recall.
StateMedia.Net has uploaded Episode 312 to their site, but unfortunately, they also recently took down all their episodes of Upright Citizens Brigade and Mr. Show. You can get more info about this straight from the source.
Someone on our State mailing list posted this link which has some info about the Skits And Stickers video.
And finally, news about this website...
The results for the State survey are done being tallied, and I will post them soon. If anyone would like to submit a last minute survey, I will accept them - just send them to statesurvey@hotmail.com.
And finally, as we mentioned before, this page will be reworking its format drastically sometime in the next few months, so get ready for some big changes. Peace out.
April 29, 2002
Also, we're planning on reworking this page as well in the near future. It drastically needs a facelift. Bare with us - it's coming soon.
April 2, 2002
Apparently Jeff & Mike's page is rich in info, but bad in layout, and I was aware that everyone hates frames before I set them up. Don't worry. They're not permanent.
February 25, 2002
Brooklyn Gum now has nine pieces per pack, and in this campaign directed by Michael Patrick Jann for BBH London, we are again shown why more is better.
February 23, 2002
Also, GlobalApathy.Com has started hosting the episodes that were once hosted by Krispypops.Org. They currently host versions of every MTV episode.
February 18, 2002
February 6, 2002
Thanks to the recent release of Wet Hot American Summer on DVD, it appears that the Skits And Stickers video has made a very large increase in sales over the past few weeks. (Also, I wasn't aware of this, but apparently the video was rereleased in 1999. Hopefully, MTV will be cool enough to release Skits And Stickers as a DVD sometime very soon. As of this moment, it seems that they're much more likely to release a "Skits And Stickers" DVD than a boxset featuring every episode.)
February 4, 2002
We got some responces about the thing with Wet Hot being difficult to locate, and for internet shoppers, it appears that so far, the best deal is at DeepDiscountDVD.Com where it's available for $16.19. Click here.
And finally, if you want to see Ken Marino making out with Katie Holmes, make sure you check out the next Dawson's Creek on WB. Check your listings.
February 1, 2002
Also according to the Stella page, every one of these shows is going to feature a new Stella skit or short film, which is very exciting news for Stella fans who aren't around the New York area. This is because this skits will most likely be available for viewing on the internet sometime in the future. In the meantime, all the old Stella films can still be viewed at Heavy.Com.
A lot of people have been mentioning that it hasn't exactly been easy to find copies of Wet Hot American Summer on DVD at regular stores. If anyone has information on places where you're likely to find copies, just drop us a message or you can send a message to our mailing list. You'll probably have better luck finding the DVD on the internet than in a store, so you may want to try Amazon.Com or Half.Com.
Some final not-so-good news is that many people have recently mentioned about how it's now nearly impossible to find copies of The State's book State By State With The State. Recently, copies went on sale at Ebay for more than $70, and copies are currently going on sale used at Amazon for more than $50, so this may be your last chance to purchase a copy if you haven't yet. There are a few out there that are less than $30, so try picking one up if you have the chance.
January 15, 2002
TODAY'S THE DAY! Pick up your copy of the WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER DVD
(or VHS) at your local Blockbuster, amazon.com or wherever videos are
sold. Spread the word - don't be shy about forwarding this email to
friends with a personal note, e.g. "Hi Grandma - Entertainment Weekly
calls WET HOT one of the top ten movies of the year - check it out!"
Make sure to buy multiple copies as gifts. Your film geek friends will
love the audio commentary by Janeane Garofalo, Michael Showalter and
David Wain; stoners will get off on the alternate soundtrack with extra
farts. Your babysitter will appreciate the deleted scenes, behind the
scenes, bios, cast comments, trailer, photos, songs - over five hours of
DVD bonus features.
January 13, 2002
Thought I'd give you an update on activity: Been working with the boys over at Stella- both in the video shorts and live
Working on a script with a fellow NYU grad. Not a comedy, but the working title is "Ham Salad".
Did a one-act comedy called "Grapefruit" in NY and LA with a buddy of mine, Joe Mortimer. You might have seen him in the VISA spot where the guy's trying to buy "Who Let the Dawgs Out" from the clerk for the football game. Joe's in the Stadium Crew jacket trying to get the CD.
Radio and TV voice-overs (Volkswagen, Dish TV, Hasbro, VISA, SONY MiniDisc Recorder). Did the voice of Robert Downey, Jr. in Smiegel's TV Funhouse.
Illustrating Edward Gorey-like stories for fun. Maybe I'll get them out there at some point. A lot like the Red Flag Hitchhikers in State By State with The State. We thank Joe for his info and hope to hear back from him soon!
January 3, 2002
Doing love scenes would be a big step up for Michael Ian Black. So far this
season, he has walked on stilts, been stuffed in a Plexiglass coffin and
been hurled from a mechanical bull over and over. It's all part of his job
as Phil, the quirky manager of Stuckeybowl on NBC's Ed. "I'm far enough
down the food chain so that if my neck snapped, production is not going to
shut down. They'll just call in the gurney and cart me off," he says. All
in all, things are pretty good. He's the proud papa of a 10-month-old
Elijah -- and he's got a job. "In three years when I'm working at
Starbucks," he says, "I'll be able to look back on this with a certain
amount of fondness."
On February 28th, Ken Marino will be making his return to NBC in the sitcom "Leap Of Faith." Ken joins their cast along with former SNL alumni, Tim Meadows.
Also, be sure to watch NBC on the evenings of January 12th and 19th at 1:30AM. Late Friday will be hosted by David Wain, Mike Black, and Mike Showalter.
December 3, 2001
"Tom and Ben have co-written a movie called "Out Cold" for Disney about snowboarding in which Tom plays a part. It comes out next year."
No one is really sure why this text was hidden, but still, this remains very exciting news for State fans. Out Cold is now in theaters nationwide.
This news is kind of old, but roughly a month ago, there was an interview with Janeane Garofalo at The Onion and she had the following to say...
"I have a deal with HBO to develop a TV series with David Wain and Michael
Showalter of Wet Hot American Summer fame. So we're working on the pilot
right now. And if that goes with HBO, I'd like to direct some and,
obviously, be in them."
November 30, 2001
First off, this isn't mentioned on Tom's IMDB page, but a few people have mentioned that Tom Lennon has a semi-large speaking part in that snowboarding movie Out Cold - the one where they pour salt on some dudes dick and a polar bear licks it off and everyone laughs at him. Tom's appearance hasn't been officially confirmed yet, so we're considering it a rumor for now.
Ken Marino recently made an appearance on WB's Dawson's Creek, and Kerri Kenney can be found as a regular character on the CBS sitcom Ellen.
Finally, and most importantly, we recently discovered two new State fanpages - StateMedia.Net and KrispyPops.Org. They both include hours of video clips that will surely satisfy State fans who have been waiting to review the old episodes since 1997.
It should also be mentioned that neither of these websites have anything to do with an interesting idea called "The State Digital Archive Project," which you can read about here. The main purpose of this project is to digitally preserve and freely distribute episodes of shows that are no longer available to the public by any other means than the buying, selling and trading of VHS videos. We'll post more info on this as it becomes available.
November 26, 2001
Also, there are rumors floating that Tom and Ben have written a movie script for Disney. More news on this as it becomes available.
October 15, 2001
There is a new Stella short at Heavy.Com titled "Audition," and it is just amazingly good. Please check this out. It is seriously a work of genius.
October 12, 2001
Kerri Kenney made a guest appearance on last Friday's episode of The Ellen Show on CBS. We'll post news about it if they're planning on reairing the episode.
Tom Lennon is in a new commercial for Snickers that's been getting a decent amount of airtime as of the past week. Adcritic.Net doesn't have it in their database as of yet, but if they do, we'll be sure to post a link to it here.
Richard's page was recently updated.
September 18, 2001
September 2, 2001
Visit this link to hear Ebert & Roeper's review of the film.
They gave it an unfavorable review, but there's a few soundclips from
the movie, so it's worth a listen.
There's some WHAS cast clips at Talk Show, which
is the website of another former MTV star, Squirt TV's Jake
Fogelnest, who apparently had a semi-big part in WHAS, except I have
no idea who he played. A little help?
Visit Heavy.Com to view the trailer for Wet Hot and several hilarious
clips from Stella.
SpyTV has been doing well in ratings, even though it's a pretty
crappy show. But despite its crapness, Mike Black's voiceovers are
always pleasing to the ear. The writers don't exactly give him the
best monologues, but his attitude is still 100% good ol' Mike Black,
so if you haven't seen it yet, it's definitely worth watching at
least once.
I'm not gonna lie to you. I haven't watched Ed in months. I don't
even know if Mike is still on the show or not, but I do know that
it's up for several Emmys, so if you happen to be watching on Emmy
night, you just might see Mike there with the rest of Ed's cast.
If you're at Walmart anytime in the near future, you can pick up a
copy of "Cannonball Run" on DVD for $10. It's not an especially great
movie, but it helps to explain the sketch during the credits that
includes "If I had enough time, I'd take those rosary bleeds and
stuff 'em up your nose." "These bleeds here? You're gonna take these
#$%@#& bleeds?"
And finally, the movie "Memento" will be released on DVD on Tuesday. Tom
Lennon's in it for 2 or 3 minutes, and it's the best movie of 2001,
so anyone who hasn't seen the movie should definitely consider buying
it or at least renting it. You shan't regret it.
July 31, 2001
July 18, 2001
"Wet Hot American Summer opens July 27th in NYC at the AMC 25 (42nd
St/8th Ave) and the Village East (2nd Ave/12th St)."
Join the WHAS mailing list by visiting
here.
You can see many former State members performing live by visiting
Talk Show.
I guess a lot of people have been writing to David Wain wanting to
hear the State album because he posted this on the official site...
"Want to hear the never released State album?? Get in touch with
Rhino Handmade records and tell them to free it from the Warner
Brothers vaults and release it." http://rhinohandmade.com/suggestions/index.html
And finally, the most important news of all (that doesn't have to do
with the movie) is that you can view all the old and new Stella clips
at Heavy.Com . You have to register before you can watch.
June 27, 2001
David Wain, Mike Showalter and USA Films have put together an official mailing list for Wet Hot American Summer. You can add your email address to the list by visiting here.
There will be two special summer Stella shows at the Fez in New York City on July 10th and 11th. The shows will be hosted by all three regular hosts - David Wain, Mike Showalter and Mike Black. Also featured during the two shows will be Janeane Garofalo as well as other cast members from the film Wet Hot American Summer. Perhaps a few clips from the film will be shown. The phone numbers for reservations and information can be found at David Wain's page.
And finally, an important announcement: The release date for Wet Hot has been changed from June 20th until June 27th.
June 13, 2001
June 4, 2001
May 24, 2001
CALL NOW! 1-212-258-8700
Send a letter!
May 21, 2001
Here, check it out for yourself...
http://www.wethotamericansummer.com
May 2, 2001
A lot more articles dealing with the film were posted at our Wet Hot Page about a month ago.
A special screening of Wet Hot took place in New York City yesterday, and David Wain recently announced that the film is going to be distributed by USA Films.
Richard's page was also recently updated.
February 18, 2001
And also, David Wain's short film "Aisle Six" from back in 1991 can now be viewed at ifilm.com. The 20-minute film stars Thomas Lennon and Joe LoTruglio among others.
January 30, 2001
Several of the stars of Wet Hot American Summer were spotted at the Sundance Film Festival last weekend. There was some discussion at our newsgroup recently after Joe Lo Truglio and other people who starred in the film were spotted in the line for the waiting list to get in, and they never actually got to get into the theater to see the premiere of their own movie. Here's the possible explanation: Apparently, the Sundance premiere was not the first time the movie was shown. According to an unconfirmed source, Joe and the other stars of the film who were spotted in line were planning on seeing it for the 2nd or 3rd time at Sundance, so it wasn't as necessary for them to try and get in to see the film; I guess they wanted to let other people see it too.
And speaking of Wet Hot American Summer, the official website has been seriously cleaned up recently. To say the least, it looks AWESOME. There's really cool pictures, and a really cool new design. There's also an interview with Michael Showalter and David Wain.
January 7, 2001
The official date for the debut of Wet Hot American Summer has been set for January 24th at the Sundance Film Festival, but an official national release date still has yet to be set.
During the editing of Wet Hot American Summer, David Wain and Kerri Kenney's parts were unfortunately cut out of the film. However, they're hoping to add their scenes if a DVD is released.
Kevin Allison's one-man-show titled "I Be Who Be" will be presented once again sometime this year.
Michael Showalter and Joe Lo Truglio will appear on episodes
of "Law and Order" sometime this year.
David Wain has written two episodes of the Cartoon Network original series "Sheep in the Big City." These may have already aired.
Tom Lennon, Kerri Kenney, and Ben Garant are currently in the
process of creating a sketch-show for FOX, the pilot of which was titled "Hey Neighbor." Michael Ian Black also worked on the pilot with them, but he will not be included on the show because of his work with Ed on NBC. Let's just hope they don't end up airing both shows at the same time.
December 23, 2000
Sundance.Org posted the following on December 5th:
December 15, 2000
It was also reported that Ken Marino was spotted on last night's Will & Grace playing a guy with six toes.
December 14, 2000
December 5, 2000
December 1, 2000
November 18, 2000
Click here to view "Choking" which doesn't seem to be working from the link at the Comedy Central page.
November 9, 2000
(Note: Even though this section was updated 2 days in a row, this doesn't mean that it will continue to be updated daily, but rather only when there is news to write about.)
November 8, 2000
In other news, Pets.Com has announced plans to shut down their website. A post at the website has been made stating that orders for Pets.Com official sock puppets and other merchandise will not be taken after November 9th at 11PM.
October 26, 2000
October 18, 2000
Also, David Wain will be making a film appearance this week with the theatrical release of Spike Lee's Bamboozled. David plays the part of "Bunning," and according to the official State page, Wain has a total of 3 lines in the film. Pretty sweet! Bamboozled gets released nationwide this Friday.
Website news: Sometime before the end of the year, Jeff & I are hoping to drastically renevate this website. The format has been a bit outdated for a while. Also, by that time we hope to have a few new features here including State MP3s and the possibility of MPEG videos. And for those of you who have been going crazy trying to find VHS videos of The State, you can get a copy of the entire 8-hour video just by emailing Jeff at statetapeseller@aol.com. Finally, if you love The State, you're gonna want to join the new State egroup.
August 14, 2000
July 27, 2000
At least six members of The State star/appear in the film...
So here's what I'm thinking: Since Showalter and Wain were two-thirds of the team who wrote and directed the Stella clips on Comedynet.Com which were pretty much works of genius, I'm expecting this to be the best comedy movie of 2001. ("No cops on this one, guys." Ha, genius...)
Click here to view the official website for Wet Hot American Summer.
June 10, 2000
May 9, 2000
There's a new commercial for Starburst and Skittles titled "Match the
Fruit - Win The Loot." It advertises a contest that the two candy
companies are having, and there's a guy who looks exactly like Tom
Lennon acting as a Don Lapre impersonater. (Don Lapre is the guy in
those informercials selling "Making Money Packages." The infomercial
shows Lapre at a beach with Cindy Margolas talking about how he
"stumbled upon" ways to make millions of dollars. Anyway, that's
basically what they're making fun of in the Starburst ad.) The only
reason why it wouldn't be Tom Lennon in the ad is his voice. If it is
in fact Lennon in the commercial, he's doing a very good job of
impersonating Lapre. It's a really funny ad, and they play it on MTV
a lot during the daytime in case you want to try catching it.
On May 23, we recieved an email from Sshrubbery@aol.com...
Subject: about the state
Well, I guess that solves that mystery.
March 16, 2000
In case you haven't heard, the movie "Keeping The Faith" features one spoken line by David Wain, so run out to the theaters when its released on April 14th & applaud like hell when Wain walks on the screen!
Michael Ian Black has been appearing in a series of commercials for Pets.Com. This inspired me to make a section of this website where you can view a few commercials featuring members of the State with Quicktime. I stole them from Adcritic.Net, but watch them on this page first cos they're hard to find at Adcritic.
Anyway, speaking of Mike Black, I saw him on VH1's "The List" the other night. I only caught the last few minutes, but the topic was "Bands that parents love to hate," and I'm pretty sure he voted for at least 2 of the bands that made the top 3. Nice job, Mike!
November 29, 1999
October 30, 1998
As you may or may not be able to tell, this is no longer the only source for news regarding The State. If you want a good news source, I would suggest checking out this here dealy. Some good info. Yulp.
My first update in months. Here it is. In all its glory.
For even casual fans of The State, today is one of the biggest days in recent history. At long last, a series created by and starring former State members has made it onto the airwaves for the first time in four years (ever since the ill-fated and short-lived Random Play series on VH1).
I think it's safe to say that The State is more popular now than they've been in years - at least since they were on MTV. Lots of exciting news has been going down; however, many other news sources have begun popping up as well, and due to this, I'm currently in a phase where I'm sort of losing interest in updating this site regularly. This apathy may pass soon, but there's a chance that this will be the last news update for a while.
The news has officially been confirmed via email that The State and MTV are working together to create a DVD package of some sorts. The email is presented as follows...
The official State page has updated the "current status" section with the following...
The current issue of JANE magazine features an article written by Stella on page 38.
Check your local listings for Thursday April 3rd - they're supposed to play the episode of Pyramid with Mike Black. If you're in the NYC area, it will be on Ch. 3, WFSB at 9AM, and WWOR, Ch. 9 at 4:30PM.
Sunday, 4/6, 10:30 PM
Monday 4/7, 1:30 AM, 6:30 PM
Friday 4/11, 8:00 PM
Saturday 4/12, 12:00 PM
Sunday 4/13, 10:00 AM
Maggie on our mailing list wrote in with news on the following...
The-State.Com recently posted the following...
Stella has announced a tour of the Northeast set for this April. The show will include the selling of official Stella t-shirts, and the brand new version of the official Stella DVD featuring all twenty-three sketches, with audio commentary. Wow.
Kevin Allison is teaching a sketch-writing course in New York. For more info, visit here.
Info about upcoming Stella shows have been posted, as well as info about the upcoming DVD collection. StellaComedy.Com
The CBS Halloween Special has been posted at StateMedia.Net.
A Guy Thing, a new comedy starring Tom Lennon, along with Jason Lee, Julia Stiles and Selma Blair, will be released theatrically on January 17th. Unfortunately, Jason Lee's beard will not be appearing. I for one am quite upset about this.
A new page dedicated to Michael Showatler has appeared on the net. Wet Hot Michael Showalter. Check it bizznich.
TV APPEARANCE: Throughout this week on VH1's "I Love The 80's," among those interviewed include Michael Ian Black and Michael Showatler. They both appear a few times on the episodes for 1980 and 1981, both of which were reshown last night from 12AM - 2AM. 1983 will be shown tonight at 10PM. Check tvguide.com and vh1.com for info on when they might reair the first two episodes.
Stella will be performing 4 shows in New York during December. Check StellaComedy.Com for more info.
Two previously hard-to-find pics were recently posted at the official page, including The State's nude photospread from Mademoiselle in 1995 and a second pic which looks like it may have been taken during filming for the skit that includes Okay, we're movin' on. - Ehh, me too Sarge?
StellaComedy.Com has announced that new Stella shorts will be uploaded in the coming weeks. They're planning on posting one per week until all five new shorts have been added. This week's short is the everpopular "Pizza," appropriately the short that kicked off the Fall 2002 season. Brilliant stuff, I tell ya..
A new online quiz has emerged featuring characters from the State, titled "Which State Character Are You?" which can be used for posting on your homepage, in your online journal, or maybe you'd like to print it out and put it on the fridge. Whatever you wish.
This is a quick update on 2 of the past 3 weeks of Stella.
Ken Marino has been guest starring on the UPN series Haunted. He made an appearance on Tuesday night playing the role of "Bobe Price."
We've recieved confirmation that Cake Like has split up, and that Stella was in fact nominated for a MAC.
Sad news for Cake Like fans. I've recieved word about the possibility that the band may have split up. We'll post any additional news on this as it becomes available. In the meantime, check out Cake Like's page at All Music, as well as Brian's Unofficial Cake Like Site. The video for "Lorainne's Car" can now be viewed in its entirety at two places: RollingStone.Com and Launch.Com.
Last evening's Stella included full sets from Ted Alexandro, Todd Barry, Slovin & Allen and Janeane Garofalo, all of which were trememdous. There was also a short and very funny set from A.D. Miles. Joe Lo Truglio made a surprise guest appearance as well, and did a short "improv" performance on stage with the Stella hosts. A new Stella short was shown, in which Wain and Black pick up two girls at a pizza place while Showalter is depressed at home by himself - one of the best Stella shorts yet. The evening closed with David Wain joining Stella's house band, Mr. Blue, playing guitar on Toto's "Hold The Line."
Please sign this petition which is being sent to MTV to try and convince them that The State deserves to be released commercially on VHS and DVD. I signed it. So should you.
A never-before-seen State sketch has been posted at StateMedia.Net.
For those who want copies of every Stella short, and who don't enjoy dealing with eBay, this might be your thing. Once upon a time (about 6 months ago), I used to sell very good quality videos of the first 14 Stella sketches for the unbelievably low price of $10 each. These Stella videos sell for $24.95, so what you're pretty much paying the extra money for is that these vids feature the 4 new sketches that I've never seen on video before, as well as the fact they're guaranteeing excellent quality videos.
NEW STELLA!!!!
I apologize for having two jobs and being in a band and thus not being able to update for the past two weeks even though State news has very much been happening. Because of this, most of what I'm about to post is over a week old. Sorry friends. I'm human. Anyway...
David Wain's Top 10 Albums of alltime have been posted at www.dustedmag.com.
Some quick news for everyone.
Please check out the recently posted results to our survey. This includes the results for your top ten State sketches. What is number one? Is the excitement killing you? CHECK IT OUT!!
Well, it would appear that not too much has been going on with The State lately. I suppose State fans were spoiled a bit over the past year or two with all the movies and TV appearances and DVD releases and the reunion, and now we've hit a dead spot in time, when not much seems to be happening.
There was a recent reworking of the "Current Status Report" section at the official State website.
A new fanpage has emerged titled "The State Sounds Page." There is quite an impressive amount of waves included here - 548 in all. The files are decent quality, and the page layout is very good. It's better than this page's layout, which isn't surprising, because most webpages are. Jeff is much better with that stuff than I am.
Three commercials for Brooklyn Gum directed by Michael Patrick Jann were recently uploaded to Boardsmag.Com.
We recently posted this website's first State survey. Please help us out by taking a minute to answer a few questions. Check it out.
The Stella shows in New York that were scheduled for March are being postponed. Check the Stella page for more info.
The creator of Mindy's "The State Fan Site" has announced that she will soon be moving her site, and giving it a facelift. In addition to this, she has also created a State message board. So leave some messages: "The State's Fan Site" Message Board
A great new site has popped up devoted to the lovely and multi-talented Kerri Kenney. Check it out: Kerri Kenney: On The Web.
The gang at Stella announced a week or two ago that they would be putting on more shows at Fez during the month of March. According to their page, the dates are March 6, 13, 20, 27 @ 9 PM. Check out the page for more info.
AN EMAIL MESSAGE FROM DAYID WAIN AND MICHAEL SHOWALTER:
Joe LoTruglio was kind enough to send us an email with some of his current status info...
A short blurb on Michael Ian Black appeared in the issue of TV Guide with George Harrison on the cover...
It would appear that the rumors about Out Cold featuring Tom Lennon are true. In fact, it has also been discovered that this is that movie that Tom Lennon and Ben Garant had been working on for Disney. The reason that this wasn't made as obvious earlier on was because of the Current Projects section at the Official State Webpage. There is a section that has to be highlighted in order to read the news, because the font color is the same as the background...
A lot of strange and interesting news has started popping up as of late...
Heavy.Com has recently reworked their website so that Stella clips cannot be viewed by non-members. So this encouraged Jeff & I decided to split an account, and it works out to $3 a month per person. Once you have an account you are allowed to view all the old Stella clips - 3 of them haven't been loaded as of yet, but it says "coming soon" in their place. A few of these new clips are absolutely brilliant, and for anyone who still has a void for State material after seeing Wet Hot American Summer, this is for you. Some of this stuff is actually better than the skits from when The State was on MTV. You won't regret trying Heavy.Com out for a month or two just to see these few clips. $5.95 for one month of access - it's SO worth it.
The Wet Hot American Summer DVD and VHS will be released on January 8, 2002.
Michael Ian Black fans can catch him in the new season of Ed, which airs Wednesday nights at 8PM, and on the new season of SpyTV which airs Saturday nights at 8:30PM. Both shows are on NBC.
This week's episode of "Late Friday" will be hosted by Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black and David Wain. "Late Friday" will be played this Friday night (Saturday morning) at 1:35AM Eastern time on NBC.
On http://www.imdb.com, Wet Hot American Summer is featured on the
front page of the "in theaters" section. The movie is now open in 9
cities, so spread the word.
Wet Hot American Summer is now in theaters. The film recieved an A from Entertainment Weekly. The reviews have been quite mixed so far. A few clips were shown on Sunday's episode of Ebert & Roeper At The Movies who gave the film two thumbs down, which is a large contrast from Entertainment Weekly's review. Hopefully, the movie will do well enough in New York City so that it starts being shown in other theaters.
Wet Hot American Summer is opening July 27th in select theaters
nationwide. The only theaters that were officially announced by David
Wain are the two that are in New York City...
Some news from the official State page...
Don't miss Michael Ian Black hosting an NBC special called Spy TV on Thursday, June 21st. And don't forget about Wet Hot American Summer which will start being shown in select theaters on July 20th!
This news is kind of late, but Tom Lennon has a few lines in an excellent new movie which may still be in theaters near your area. The movie is called "Memento," and on the IMDB (http://www.imdb.com) in the section where they list the highest rated movies of alltime, Memento is already at #9. It's definitely the best movie to come out this year so far, and in case you need any further incentive to check it out, Tom Lennon does in fact have a few lines in it.
Some very brief clips from You Wrote It You Watch It were featured on an MTV special that was aired last weekend titled Laugh Track: 20 Years Of Comedy On MTV. And even though Kerri Kenney and Mike Showalter were shown briefly during a monolouge by Jon Stewart, the words "The State" were not mentioned EVEN ONCE during the entire show. Once again, MTV's best series ever has been completely ignored and given a backseat to the blatent SNL-style crappiness of Celebrity Deathmatch and The Jenny McCarthy Show. Jenny McCarthy recieved an entire 3-minute segment regardless to the fact that The Jenny McCarthy Show is one of the worst shows of alltime, and it was only on the air for four months - a small fraction of The State's nearly 2 1/2 years of service to MTV. Due to the fact that such a popular show could be ignored (it was at least as popular as Buzzkill and Oddville which were both included on the special), it is clear that this was not a case of a show simply being forgotten about, but in fact, this was a conscious decision. This is a horrendous injustice, and we the State fans should not have to tolerate MTV's bullshit anymore. Please take a minute to call 1-212-258-8700 and leave a message expressing your disgust with MTV's decision to snub The State in a situation where they deserved acclaim and praise. Don't let this be forgotten. MTV will pay once and for all!
MTV Series Development
1515 Broadway, 24th Fl.
New York, NY 10036
According to the website, Wet Hot American Summer will be opening in
New York City on July 20th. I guess this means that the film is
starting out only being shown at select theaters. I'm not sure when
it will start being shown nationally.
Not too much news as of late, but there should be a great deal of news during the next few months as we approach the release of Wet Hot American Summer.
This news is a bit late, but in the February 9th edition of Entertainment Weekly (with the stars of Hannibal on the cover) you can find a picture of David Wain and Michael Showalter with Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce and Molly Shannon. The picture was taken for an article about the Sundance Festival. There was also a brief section which compared the success of the movie with a few of the other more popular films at the festival, which does unfortunately contain one spoiler about the movie, so I'm not going to quote from it.
Richard's page was updated recently. He also started work on his Michael Ian Black fansite which looks like it may have some great potential.
David Wain's page was recently updated with a lot of new information...
A recent post was made at WetHotAmericanSummer.Com: "THE MOVIE WILL PREMIERE AT THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL IN PARK CITY, UTAH, JANUARY 18-28, 2001."
"The Sundance Film Festival will present American Spectrum, sponsored by SKYY Vodka. American Spectrum is a program spotlighting independent dramatic and documentary films. The American Spectrum films are eligible for the Audience Award. The American Spectrum Program will consist of 16 films [including] WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, directed by David Wain."
A few members of our State Newsgroup mentioned that Joe Lo Truglio was spotted on Comedy Central's TV Funhouse. He had a quick cameo as a bell boy in a sketch about Bowel Movements.
FugitiveAlien.Com, which contains complete RealVideo episodes of such comedy programs as Mr. Show, has announced that sometime in the near future, he will be posting episodes of The State for viewing.
At Erin's page, there's a petition which was posted recently whose goal is to try and get The State to tour again. Here's the petition page.
A few quick items: First of all, Richard's page was updated over Thanksgiving. He mentioned some information saying that The State reunion a few weeks ago would be the last time they would ever perform as "The State." I also recieved some information recently saying that Kevin Allison was not in attendance at the reunion show because he had a funeral to attend. Richard also mentioned some info about the Michael Ian Black page he's working on. I've been trying to find any articles about The State reunion. If you can help me out with this, please email me.
ComedyCentral.Com put together a special section of their page devoted to the New York Comedy Film Festival and The State Reunion. Their page has several RealVideo clips that were used during the the reunion performance, including such popular favourites as Cutlery Barn, Choking, and Porcupine Racetrack.
Richard's page was updated recently, and he mentioned something about how Big Helium Dog which features Michael Ian Black premiered at the Vulgarthon film festival which took place around the end of October. He also mentioned that he would soon be making a Michael Ian Black fanpage, which sounds pretty cool.
A brief post was made at David Wain's page announcing some more info about The State's live appearance this Saturday in New York City. "It will be a retrospective of State stuff with some new live material." Once again, these will be the first new sketches performed by all 11 members since 1996.
A recent update at the Official
State Webpage reports that all eleven members of The State will be joining for a reunion.
All. Eleven. Members. Reunion. On November 11th, the State will appear on stage together for
the first time in over 5 years at the New York Comedy Film Festival. This will include Todd Holoubek who was
absent during the production of State By State and the CBS special. I couldn't find
much more information on this besides the brief post at David Wain's website. We'll report
any other information as it becomes available.
Mike Black just keeps getting more and more HUGE! The Pets.Com ads, the appearance on
The List, a starring role in
Wet Hot American Summer coming out next year, and now yet another TV apperance. Mike plays
one of the supporting characters on a new show called Ed, Sunday nights on NBC. The show has
been getting very good reviews, so I would best check this out if I were you. Oh yeah,
Mike Black is a hottie.

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In case you haven't already heard from one of the other two functioning State webpages, a full-length feature movie written by David Wain and Michael Showalter is currently in production. It's called Wet Hot American Summer and hopefully will become the biggest blockbuster of the summer of 2001.
Michael Ian Black as "McKinley"
Kerri Kenney as "Paco's Wife"
Joe Lo Truglio as "Neil"
Ken Marino as "Victor"
Michael Showalter as "Coop"
and David Wain as "Paco"
Also starring in the film is Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Paul Rudd and Molly Shannon. And it's directed by David Wain.
Pets.com has
decided to start selling official sock puppets such as the one seen
in the ad which features the voice of Michael Ian Black. Spin.com
named the new sock puppets as the "Kool Thing" of the day.
Click here to view their short article.
IS THAT TOM LENNON IN THE AD FOR "MATCH THE FRUIT WIN THE LOOT?"
Message: are you kidding? of course it's Tom Lennon on the Starburst commercial. I can't believe there was any doubt.
(Now that I've seen it like 50 times, I would have to agree.)
"KEEPING THE FAITH" IS NOW IN THEATERS!!!
It's been over a year since Jeff last updated this website, one of the coolest State
fanpages on the net. As one of its most dedicated supporters, I was in shock when he made the
announcement that he was discontinuing any further updates.
So being a huge fan of both Jeff Peck and The State, I decided to change a few things that
desperately needed updating. Jeff and I hope you enjoy the new stuff.
- Mike
Crappy news... I'm probably not going to make anymore updates to this webpage, because it
already has a lot of stuff. I have taken down the State tape trading section. If anybody is
interested in taking over this page and continuing its legacy, simply e-mail me at
jeff.peck@usa.net.
- Jeff
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