The State DVD

[MacGuffin]

THE STATE OF THE STATE UPDATE
Source: CHUD

Every time I interview someone who was in The State, the seminal sketch comedy group that had a classic show on MTV, I ask them about the supposedly impending DVD release of the series. This has been going on for a long time now, and every time I get the same answer: "They're on the way."

Today I sat down with Ken Marino, who would like to dip his balls into a State DVD set... and who recently dipped his balls into a commentary track for it. Yes, the commentary track for at least one bunch of episodes of The State has been recorded.

"We did the commentary like two weeks ago," Marino told me. "I was with all the LA people and we had everybody piped in from New York and it was awesome. It was awesome to see that stuff – I haven't seen it in 13 years. Some of it's awful, and some of it's really good – looking at it is like, 'Wow, what the hell were we doing?' We didn't know what we were doing, and I think that's what makes it really interesting."

Of course the idea of all the members of The State getting together to do a commentary led to the question of whether there would ever be a reunion movie for the cast.

"Hopefully someday," Marino said. "We're all friends and we love each other and we hang out. It's just very difficult with ten people who are doing very different things with their careers. Tom [Lennon] and Ben [Garant] are writing big Hollywood movies, and they're doing Reno with Kerri [Kenney] Mike [Jann] is shooting commercials all over the world. David Wain and I are writing some stuff and [Michael] Showalter is touring and doing his talk show. [Michael Ian] Black is creating stuff and writing scripts and Kevin [Allison]'s teaching and doing a sketch comedy show. Joe Lo Truglio is bouncing around from movie to movie. It's just very difficult. I think ultimately what's going to have to happen is that somebody or two people are going to have to write something and say, 'This is a State movie.' Somebody's going to have to give us money and we'll bring everybody together, and then we'll shoot it. But to work like we worked? There's just not enough time."

Later, I sat in on a roundtable that teamed Marino with the star of Diggers, Paul Rudd (Diggers is what Marino and Rudd were there to sell. More on that soon - it's a very good movie). I had to ask Rudd what I think is the ultimate question that must always gnaw at his psyche: in the event of an Anchorman-style street battle between Team Apatow and the guys from The State, which side would Rudd throw down with?

Rudd: See, this is one I think I would have to sit out. It would be a tricky thing. And I wouldn't even put a wager down on who would win. I wouldn't want to feel like Pete Rose or anything.

[meatwad]

Video announcement of the upcoming DVD

[gob]

Boo yah.

[MacGuffin]

Thomas Lennon says The State will drop on DVD in July

Thomas Lennon, co-star of the upcoming comedy 17 Again, told reporters that his cult MTV show The State will be coming to DVD this summer. "July 14th," Lennon said in a news conference on Sunday in Beverly Hills, Calif. "For real: Bastille Day. The whole g--damn thing. I have no idea why it's coming out on Bastille Day, but it's coming out on Bastille Day."

The State was an acclaimed but ratings-deficient sketch-comedy television series that ran from 1993 to 1995. Lennon said that the show hasn't debuted before on disc because of music rights issues and the fact that its fan base remains modest. "There was a lot of music clearance issues, and then, you know, it's a cult show," Lennon said. "The fans are die-hard, but there's not tons and tons of them."

Lennon also said that the set is packed with extras, but some episodes have been changed due to those music issues. "It comes with $249 worth of pudding," Lennon joked, referring to one of the series' skits. "It has the crappy music on it. All the music's been—if it wasn't cleared, we had to redo it. And a lot of scenes that were cut—for good reason. They suck. So it's got some incredibly sucky bonus materials, but it has commentaries on every single episode. I've seen the package, so it exists."

[SiliasRuby]

looking forward to picking this up.

[RegularKarate]

I've seen the package, so it exists."

Package Pic 1

Package Pic 2

[hedwig]

Oh, my God. Finally.

i'll be purchasing these too, as soon as i prostitute myself for a bit of dough.


ps. 

[Bethie]

I'm drunk right now and want to talk about The State!!!!

kids birthday party 

im pretty sure i was supposed to be 22 in 1992.

and a member of the state.