MTV's The State... and all things related

[DJ Sam]

I was so looking forward to going to the shows but I got sick that night X_X I'm just glad their are so many photos posted and I'm hoping this performance is an indicator that the DVD will finally be coming out this year!

[Liezl]

"...the last word I received from Comedy Central is that the DVD will be released this year.... but really, who knows." - a paraphrased David Wain at the State tribute show this afternoon.

[Liezl]

random notes from the panel discussion yesterday...

- Todd Holoubek is solely responsible for bringing the State together.
- MTV would have kept the show on air for several seasons if they had not gone to CBS.
- CBS, in a rogue effort to capture a younger crowd, lost interest in The State midway through shooting their CBS special... leaving a dark cloud among the cast as they finished up the shooting.
- there was one important detail which was the catalyst in the shelving of The State and all their projects, which involved a CBS head getting let go... if anyone who attended wants to elaborate on this, feel free.
- SNL was interested in Kerri Kenney in 1989.
- After Kevin Allison saw the group perform, his master plan was to befriend them by taking the same classes at NYU, and somehow show them how crazy he was. Also there was much fire crotch nudity involved.
- The State first performed as a group in the lobby of their dorm at NYU. Adam Sandler, who also lived in the same dorm, would often perform in the lobby with his guitar.

[Aaron1933]

random notes from the panel discussion yesterday...
- there was one important detail which was the catalyst in the shelving of The State and all their projects, which involved a CBS head getting let go... if anyone who attended wants to elaborate on this, feel free.

I did not attend, but if I'm not mistaken it was the Details article written by the guy who was hired for the CBS special, which mentioned a CBS executive's off-color remarks about the television-watching habits of a certain ethnicity.

John Pike is the head of CBS late-night programming: the group's first meeting with him does not run smoothly. (my State membership doesn't extend to network meetings, so I ask the group to keep me filled in.) Steven Starr has one prepared stop on the morning's conversational tour. He smiles and say, "John, we all just want to say a big thanks for getting our deal pushed through," and Pike replies, "Yeah, tell me that when I cancel you." Pike reemphasizes the importance of the musical guest and tells the group that on CBS they should remember they're making television for somebody called Charlie Six-Pack.

Then, according to people at the meeting, Pike quietly sizes up the group. He notices, he says, that he doesn't see any black faces. This is something the group should consider-black faces would help attract black audience. Pike then flatly explains that research shows there are three reasons why African-Americans are an important part of the late-night demographic: First, they have no place to go in the morning-no jobs-so they can stay up as late as they like; second, they can't follow hour-long drama shows-no attention span-so sketches are perfect for them; third, network TV is free. When they leave the meeting, the group is clearly shaken. One of the members confesses, "He just described the three reasons why I would be watching the show." (John Pike responds: "I would never have said any of those things.")

[Liezl]

Thanks Aaron, that's the article they mentioned.

That exec was let go shortly after that article was released and with his departure, all State related projects (the CD, The movie, the show...) were shelved.

CBS withdrew from attempting to win a younger demographic and decided to stick with their senior citizen Murder She Wrote audience.

[waxpop]

Thanks, Leizl, for the notes on the panel discussion. I'm sorry I missed it!

[Jono11]

John Pike is the head of CBS late-night programming: the group's first meeting with him does not run smoothly. (my State membership doesn't extend to network meetings, so I ask the group to keep me filled in.) Steven Starr has one prepared stop on the morning's conversational tour. He smiles and say, "John, we all just want to say a big thanks for getting our deal pushed through," and Pike replies, "Yeah, tell me that when I cancel you." Pike reemphasizes the importance of the musical guest and tells the group that on CBS they should remember they're making television for somebody called Charlie Six-Pack.

Then, according to people at the meeting, Pike quietly sizes up the group. He notices, he says, that he doesn't see any black faces. This is something the group should consider-black faces would help attract black audience. Pike then flatly explains that research shows there are three reasons why African-Americans are an important part of the late-night demographic: First, they have no place to go in the morning-no jobs-so they can stay up as late as they like; second, they can't follow hour-long drama shows-no attention span-so sketches are perfect for them; third, network TV is free. When they leave the meeting, the group is clearly shaken. One of the members confesses, "He just described the three reasons why I would be watching the show." (John Pike responds: "I would never have said any of those things.")

I have to believe there's a miscommunication there. That seems like far too stupid of a thing for someone to say, and I can't imagine the State being dumb enough to tell an interviewer, "Yeah, the guy who's solely responsible for the survival of our show on CBS is a raging racist who thinks black people are dumb and lazy and poor." That's like asking to be canceled. I would bet that Pike said "you need black faces," and then went on to describe the general late-night audience and why it would watch a late-night The State show, and the interviewer somehow garbled it all together.

[Aaron1933]

I have to believe there's a miscommunication there. That seems like far too stupid of a thing for someone to say, and I can't imagine the State being dumb enough to tell an interviewer, "Yeah, the guy who's solely responsible for the survival of our show on CBS is a raging racist who thinks black people are dumb and lazy and poor." That's like asking to be canceled. I would bet that Pike said "you need black faces," and then went on to describe the general late-night audience and why it would watch a late-night The State show, and the interviewer somehow garbled it all together.

The thing is, the guy who wrote the article was actually hired as a cast member of The State for the CBS special, so it's not like he was strictly a journalist. And although it is likely that there is paraphrasing happening (and after all, it is not included as a direct quote), it seems like a situation where the executive was too frank and didn't expect it to leave that room (and it was an admittedly ridiculous and detrimental thing to include in an article when the fate of The State was still undecided).

[Liezl]

I have to believe there's a miscommunication there. That seems like far too stupid of a thing for someone to say, and I can't imagine the State being dumb enough to tell an interviewer, "Yeah, the guy who's solely responsible for the survival of our show on CBS is a raging racist who thinks black people are dumb and lazy and poor." That's like asking to be canceled. I would bet that Pike said "you need black faces," and then went on to describe the general late-night audience and why it would watch a late-night The State show, and the interviewer somehow garbled it all together.

From Showalter's perspective, he believed that Pike was making a feeble attempt at trying to be hip... and I guess to Pike, being racist is hip. However, after that conversation between the cast and Pike took place, the cast was a bit dumbfounded.

It was a sore subject that the cast didn't seem too fond of rehashing and it was Showalter's choice to share (after some egging by Janeane and the audience). So what they did share, was pretty much on point with what was in the Details interview.

[rdemint]

[Liezl]

SFweekly write up and recap on the state weekend..

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/..._reunion_a.php

While the prior night barely revisited their past, the State went through their own timeline of history this time around. The entire cast sat down to provide more insight to their decades of existence, from their formative years as drama and film students at NYU all the way to their various projects after the show ended in 1995. Thomas Lennon told a story about Kevin Allison's attempts to join the group, not by auditioning, but by running around naked with a "fire engine bush" and yelling, "Don't mind my gerbil penis!" They also filled in details on their departure from MTV, as they were never canceled, but left to flirt with the possibility of a prime time slot on a major network. Talks with ABC never quite panned out, and a tentative deal with CBS would give way to more geriatric programming. Most of them admitted to being "arrogant assholes back then", with Robert Ben Garant passing the sagely advice, "If you get a job in television, don't quit it."

[Bucky_Sinister]

SFweekly write up and recap on the state weekend..

http://blogs.sfweekly.com/shookdown/..._reunion_a.php

*edited at the request of certain people who are involved, Tuesday 915AM.*

Thomas Lennon is a very nice man. <---I'll keep this part.

[tuggboat]

was it a couple of Michaels?

[Garrett Gilchrist]

I still don't get the notority of porcupine racetrack..

It's hilarious and wonderful.

I think part of its appeal also is that Tom introduces it saying that the network didn't want them to do this sketch, but they like it and are going to do it anyway. So it's not just an amazing hilarious old-timey musical pastiche, it's a rebellious-against-MTV-wishes amazing hilarious old-timey musical pastiche. The rebellious aspect counted for a few things back in them 90s.

[DiscoInferiorityComplex]

A lot of the humor comes from the fact that so much effort is being spent on such a horrible premise.

[waxpop]

Exactly. The costumes and set for that sketch were kind of insane compared to almost anything else they'd done. Anyone know who was primarily responsible for writing it?

Somehow I'd completely forgotten about Wain's crazy newsboy dance so I was delighted when he reenacted it perfectly at the live show.

[Liezl]

another random fact:

the tentative name before they became The State:
"Medium Head Route"
accompanied by a Showalter doodle of a 100(?) man daisy chain.

[darrylduffy]

Exactly. The costumes and set for that sketch were kind of insane compared to almost anything else they'd done. Anyone know who was primarily responsible for writing it?

if i retained any of the stuff i read on http://www.the-state.com, tom lennon wrote the words and basic melody.

edit: here's the exact info from there:

"Who wrote the music for Porcupine Racetrack?

That music (based on Tom Lennon's lyrics and basic melody) was written and almost entirely performed by Teddy Shapiro , our friend who composed the majority of the original music on The State. The remainder of the music on the show was composed by Craig Wedren."

[yumitree]

http://www.chud.com/articles/article...UEL/Page1.html

[Velveteen Ballsac]

Interview in the Onion A.V. Club with Wain, Kenney and Lennon...

http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-s...ri-kenn,23385/