The Ben Stiller Show
Encyclopedia
The Ben Stiller Show was the name of two sketch comedy
television shows that aired on MTV
from 1990 to 1991, and then on Fox
from September 1992 to January 1993. The Fox 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-1980s to early 1990s pop-culture. Despite mostly positive reviews, Fox canceled the series after only 12 episodes, due to low ratings.
Unlike most sketch comedy shows, The Ben Stiller Show did not use a studio audience or a laugh track
. This was the only Fox sketch comedy program not to use a laugh track. The semi-spinoff, The Andy Dick Show
, used the same format.
After cancellation, the series won the 1993 Emmy Award
for Outstanding Writing in a Variety Series.
version of The Ben Stiller Show aired in 1990-1991 and ran for 13 episodes. It is not available on DVD, although excerpts from the program are featured as a bonus on that release. Produced by Jim Jones, who would go on to produce the Fox series and starring Ben Stiller and co-writer Jeff Kahn, it was a self-effacing show-within-a-show format. Part of MTV's experimental Vid-Com season, it was interspersed with music videos that Ben and company would introduce in their short comedy sketches. Regulars included Harry O'Reilly and Ben's sister Amy Stiller
. Guest stars included Ben's parents Anne Meara
and Jerry Stiller
, as well as John F. O'Donohue
, Run DMC, Melina Kanakaredes
, Al Lewis and MTV regular Martha Quinn
.
Stiller and Kahn used this show as a means to introduce and hone many of Ben's characterizations, some of which would later be seen on the Fox network production. They also took huge leaps in assuming the audience would "get it" by layering characters in a complex sandwich of sub-referencing. Ben did satirical portrayals of William Shatner
as Star Trek's
Captain Kirk, Al Pacino
, Arsenio Hall
, U2's Bono
and Yakoff Smirnoff. His portrayal of Tom Cruise
was a major signature, spoofing several of Cruise's late 1980s film characters. He would then insert these characters into each other's famous performances, sub-referencing on many levels.
Skits included "The Eddie Munster Comeback Special," where Ben plays an all-grown-up and angry Eddie Munster, complete with widows peak, who gets into a shouting match with Al Lewis playing the role of Grandpa from The Munsters
while trying to stage a serious moment from John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
. In an odd wink to his future, one episode was dedicated to showing the FOX network that Ben and Jeff could play all the characters in the 1990 Fox primetime lineup, spoofing COPS
, Alien Nation
, Booker
, and Married with Children. "The Star Trek Show" spoofed William Shatner
and Bono
and the inevitable demise of the red-shirted
security officers beamed down to an alien planet, portrayed by Ben and Jeff's characters "Howie and Jordo," two college-age underachievers that were constantly in trouble. Through multiple layers of sub-referencing, Howie and Jordo jump through a time portal and end up at Woodstock and sing the "Time Portal Blues", while still wearing their Star Trek uniforms. Another multi-layered Star Trek reference is made in an episode where Stiller runs through multiple episodes of satire, playing Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon, but having hijacked The Enterprise, speaking through Uhura with Leon (played by Jeff Kahn) who is his boyfriend who needs an alien change operation. He does the same kind of stunt playing Captain Kirk in the character of Tom Cruise in Rain Man
with Kahn playing Dustin Hoffman
's savant character in the makeup and dialogue of Mr. Spock. Stiller and Kahn were constantly sub-referencing into thicker layers of characterizations, making for very funny experimental gags that were mostly misunderstood by the teenage audience of MTV. In one episode Ben plays a radio host who is cruel to people who call in which is exactly the same thing his father did in the episode "The Devil's Advocate" from Tales from the Darkside
.
The series' major underlying gag was of the battle of talent between Ben and Jeff, and their antagonistic treatment of each other during their "show's" production. Jeff is convinced that he is a greater talent then Ben, and spends most of his time either trying to prove this to the "MTV Head" Doogie Herzog, a pre-teen boy, or by publicly embarrassing Ben on-screen. In the series finale, Jeff and Harry O'Reilly finally convince the MTV Head that they are the real talent of the show, and they get their own series. Ben is forced to leave the set crying.
released all 13 episodes of The Ben Stiller Show on DVD in Region 1 on December 2, 2003. When Stiller had approached Warner about putting his show on DVD, he was met by one sarcastic
producer who commented "Your one-season show will be on DVD when Saved By the Bell
makes it to DVD." Stiller had received word that Warner had greenlit the DVD release shortly after the debut of the first season of Saved by the Bell, and Stiller sent a telegram to the sarcastic executive thanking him for his "great prediction."
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
television shows that aired on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
from 1990 to 1991, and then on Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
from September 1992 to January 1993. The Fox show starred Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
, Andy Dick
Andy Dick
Andrew R. "Andy" Dick is an American comedian, actor, musician and television/film producer. His first regular television role was on the short-lived but highly influential Ben Stiller Show. In the mid-1990s, he had a long-running stint on NBC's NewsRadio...
, Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...
and Bob Odenkirk
Bob Odenkirk
Robert "Bob" Odenkirk is an American actor, comedian, writer, director and producer. He is best known as the co-creator and co-star of the HBO sketch comedy series Mr...
. Character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
John F. O'Donohue
John F. O'Donohue
John F. O'Donohue is an American actor and former police officer who is perhaps best known for his role as Sgt. Eddie Gibson in the television series NYPD Blue.-Career:...
also appeared in every episode. It featured numerous filmed comedy segments, many of which parodied mid-1980s to early 1990s pop-culture. Despite mostly positive reviews, Fox canceled the series after only 12 episodes, due to low ratings.
Unlike most sketch comedy shows, The Ben Stiller Show did not use a studio audience or a laugh track
Laugh track
A laugh track is a separate soundtrack invented by Charles "Charley" Douglass, with the artificial sound of audience laughter, made to be inserted into television programming of comedy shows and sitcoms.The term "laugh track" does not apply to the genuine audience laughter on shows that shoot in...
. This was the only Fox sketch comedy program not to use a laugh track. The semi-spinoff, The Andy Dick Show
The Andy Dick Show
The Andy Dick Show is an American sketch comedy series that aired on MTV from February 2001 to May 2002. The series was created by and stars comedian Andy Dick.-Synopsis:Every episode of the series was written and directed by Dick...
, used the same format.
After cancellation, the series won the 1993 Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Writing in a Variety Series.
The MTV series
The original MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
version of The Ben Stiller Show aired in 1990-1991 and ran for 13 episodes. It is not available on DVD, although excerpts from the program are featured as a bonus on that release. Produced by Jim Jones, who would go on to produce the Fox series and starring Ben Stiller and co-writer Jeff Kahn, it was a self-effacing show-within-a-show format. Part of MTV's experimental Vid-Com season, it was interspersed with music videos that Ben and company would introduce in their short comedy sketches. Regulars included Harry O'Reilly and Ben's sister Amy Stiller
Amy Stiller
Amy Stiller is an American actress. She is a stand up comedian, in New York City, and also a Bikram Yoga instructor.She was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of the comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara , and the older sister of actor Ben Stiller.-Filmography:* Lovers and Other...
. Guest stars included Ben's parents Anne Meara
Anne Meara
Anne Meara is an American actress and comedian. She and Jerry Stiller were a prominent 1960s comedy team, appearing as Stiller and Meara, and are the parents of actor/comedian Ben and actress Amy Stiller.- Personal life :...
and Jerry Stiller
Jerry Stiller
Gerald Isaac "Jerry" Stiller is an American comedian and actor.He spent many years in the comedy team Stiller and Meara with his wife Anne Meara...
, as well as John F. O'Donohue
John F. O'Donohue
John F. O'Donohue is an American actor and former police officer who is perhaps best known for his role as Sgt. Eddie Gibson in the television series NYPD Blue.-Career:...
, Run DMC, Melina Kanakaredes
Melina Kanakaredes
Melina Eleni Kanakaredes Constantinides is an American actress. She is widely known for two starring roles on U.S. prime-time television drama series; playing Detective Stella Bonasera in CSI: NY and portraying Dr...
, Al Lewis and MTV regular Martha Quinn
Martha Quinn
Martha Quinn is best known as one of the original video jockeys on MTV .-Early life:...
.
Stiller and Kahn used this show as a means to introduce and hone many of Ben's characterizations, some of which would later be seen on the Fox network production. They also took huge leaps in assuming the audience would "get it" by layering characters in a complex sandwich of sub-referencing. Ben did satirical portrayals of William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
as Star Trek's
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
Captain Kirk, Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
, Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall is an American actor, comedian, and former talk show host. He is best known for his talk show The Arsenio Hall Show, which ran between 1989 and 1994, and his roles in the films Coming to America and Harlem Nights.Hall is also known for his appearance as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the...
, U2's Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
and Yakoff Smirnoff. His portrayal of Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
was a major signature, spoofing several of Cruise's late 1980s film characters. He would then insert these characters into each other's famous performances, sub-referencing on many levels.
Skits included "The Eddie Munster Comeback Special," where Ben plays an all-grown-up and angry Eddie Munster, complete with widows peak, who gets into a shouting match with Al Lewis playing the role of Grandpa from The Munsters
The Munsters
The Munsters is a 1960s American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era,...
while trying to stage a serious moment from John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California, USA....
. In an odd wink to his future, one episode was dedicated to showing the FOX network that Ben and Jeff could play all the characters in the 1990 Fox primetime lineup, spoofing COPS
COPS (TV series)
Cops is an American documentary/reality television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and other police activities...
, Alien Nation
Alien Nation
Alien Nation may refer to:* Alien Nation , the 1988 motion picture, and several spin-off properties:** Alien Nation , the 1989–1990 television series, and five made-for-TV movies that continue its story:...
, Booker
Booker (TV series)
Booker is an American crime drama series starring Richard Grieco that aired on the Fox Network from September 24, 1989 to May 6, 1990. The series was a spin-off of 21 Jump Street...
, and Married with Children. "The Star Trek Show" spoofed William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
and Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
and the inevitable demise of the red-shirted
Redshirt (character)
A "redshirt" is a stock character in fiction who dies soon after being introduced. The term originates with fans of Star Trek , from the red shirts worn by Starfleet security officers who frequently die during episodes.-Star Trek:...
security officers beamed down to an alien planet, portrayed by Ben and Jeff's characters "Howie and Jordo," two college-age underachievers that were constantly in trouble. Through multiple layers of sub-referencing, Howie and Jordo jump through a time portal and end up at Woodstock and sing the "Time Portal Blues", while still wearing their Star Trek uniforms. Another multi-layered Star Trek reference is made in an episode where Stiller runs through multiple episodes of satire, playing Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon, but having hijacked The Enterprise, speaking through Uhura with Leon (played by Jeff Kahn) who is his boyfriend who needs an alien change operation. He does the same kind of stunt playing Captain Kirk in the character of Tom Cruise in Rain Man
Rain Man
Rain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
with Kahn playing Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
's savant character in the makeup and dialogue of Mr. Spock. Stiller and Kahn were constantly sub-referencing into thicker layers of characterizations, making for very funny experimental gags that were mostly misunderstood by the teenage audience of MTV. In one episode Ben plays a radio host who is cruel to people who call in which is exactly the same thing his father did in the episode "The Devil's Advocate" from Tales from the Darkside
Tales from the Darkside
Tales from the Darkside is an anthology horror TV series produced by George A. Romero; it originally aired from 1983 to 1988. Similar to Amazing Stories, The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, The Outer Limits, and Tales From The Crypt, each episode was an individual short story that ended with a plot...
.
The series' major underlying gag was of the battle of talent between Ben and Jeff, and their antagonistic treatment of each other during their "show's" production. Jeff is convinced that he is a greater talent then Ben, and spends most of his time either trying to prove this to the "MTV Head" Doogie Herzog, a pre-teen boy, or by publicly embarrassing Ben on-screen. In the series finale, Jeff and Harry O'Reilly finally convince the MTV Head that they are the real talent of the show, and they get their own series. Ben is forced to leave the set crying.
Episode list
- The Premiere
- With Bobcat GoldthwaitBobcat GoldthwaitRobert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film and television director. He is commonly known for his energetic, ravenous stage personality, his dark, acerbic black comedy, and his gruff but high-pitched voice.- Early life :Goldthwait was born in Syracuse,...
- With James DoohanJames DoohanJames Montgomery "Jimmy" Doohan was a Canadian character and voice actor best known for his role as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the television and film series Star Trek...
- On Melrose AvenueMelrose AvenueMelrose Avenue is an internationally renowned shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts from Santa Monica Boulevard at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and ends at Lucille Avenue in Silver Lake...
- With Colin QuinnColin QuinnColin Edward Quinn is an American stand-up comedian and writer best known for his five years in the cast of Saturday Night Live, as the sidekick/announcer of MTV's late 1980s gameshow Remote Control and as host of Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central from 2002–2004.-Early years:Quinn was...
- With Sarah Jessica ParkerSarah Jessica ParkerSarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
- With Rob MorrowRob MorrowRobert Alan "Rob" Morrow is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Don Eppes on Numb3rs and as Dr. Joel Fleischman on Northern Exposure, a role which garnered him three Golden Globes and two Emmy Award nominations for "Best Actor in a Dramatic Series."-Personal life:Morrow was born in...
- With FleaFlea (musician)Michael Peter Balzary , better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...
- With Garry ShandlingGarry ShandlingGarry Emmanuel Shandling is an American comedian, actor and writer. He is best known for his work in It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Larry Sanders Show....
- With Dennis MillerDennis MillerDennis Miller is an American stand-up comedian, political commentator, actor, sports commentator, and television and radio personality. He is known for his critical assessments laced with pop culture references...
- At the Beach
- The Last Fox Episode
- The Lost Episode (not part of the original run)
DVD release
Warner Home VideoWarner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
released all 13 episodes of The Ben Stiller Show on DVD in Region 1 on December 2, 2003. When Stiller had approached Warner about putting his show on DVD, he was met by one sarcastic
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
producer who commented "Your one-season show will be on DVD when Saved By the Bell
Saved by the Bell
Saved by the Bell is an American television sitcom that aired between 1989 and 1993. The series is a retooled version of the 1988 series Good Morning, Miss Bliss, which was itself later folded into the history of Saved by the Bell...
makes it to DVD." Stiller had received word that Warner had greenlit the DVD release shortly after the debut of the first season of Saved by the Bell, and Stiller sent a telegram to the sarcastic executive thanking him for his "great prediction."
| DVD Name | Ep# | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ben Stiller Show: Complete Series | 13 | December 2, 2003 |
|