Not funny...my view on The State

czerro2424 - I don't get it, you were going to argue with me even though it sounds like you agree?

I agree that the majority of Monty Python's sketches did not make me laugh BUT the consistency is nothing like the The State. There is also a lot of reasons why it shouldn't even be compared to The State. Here are a few:

1. SUBSTANCE and STORY
While there were only a few Monty Python sketches that made me crack up (Killer Joke, Twats, Dennis Moore, etc) they last a substantial amount of time (3-10 minutes). Basically, some of them were like mini stories.

The sketches from the The State that I actually laughed-out-loud at were literally 30 second to maybe 90 seconds. The writers for this show could not write anything that had a beginning and end.

2. ACTING and STAGE PRESENCE

Monty Python had better actors so even if a sketch wasn't laugh-out-loud funny, it was still entertaining and enjoyable. Some of the roles were pretty believable and the characters interesting.

Most of the actors of The State just weren't good. At least, not at that point of their life. Watching some of the skits made me feel like some random guy in his early twenties put on a wig and was just messing around. Almost like a group of guys were hanging out in a living room and then one got up and put on some goofy clothes and made up some stuff to say on the fly. It might be entertaining to watch if it's your friend and you know him, but you wouldn't give a second look if you didn't. Cause he doesn't have any stage presence or charisma.



3. WRITING

There were a great many of unique sketches to come out of Monty Python. Some really can't be compared to anything else even to this day. And it boils down to excellent writing.

So many of the jokes on The State I could see from a mile away. A good example was the "Jesus/Louis" skit. As soon as Louis was brought up I knew it was going to end with Jesus pinning the savior thing on Louie (and I actually sortof liked that skit). The point is that most of the jokes were obvious and if they weren't it was just random nonsense. I mean it when I say that 90% of The State's material could be written by ANYONE.


While I think there are many reasons why The State shouldn't be compared to Monty Python there is one that I think is the most relevant. And this is something that no one seems to remember:

4. TIME PERIOD!

Even if I think a Monty Python sketch is lame watching it now, I know that if I was watching the same skit in 1969 I would be cracking up! Watching it in the 21st century I am still amazed at the type of jokes that were made. Jokes about church and state, gays, spoofs on war, random nudity; there was truly nothing else like it. I honestly didn't like any of the comedy shows of late night programming that was going on during that time period. I just didn't think they were funny. But Monty Python introduced a whole new type of humor. Even some of the earlier sketches that would be considered boring today were still funny back in the late 60s.

Zoom forward to the early 90s. There have been numerous shows and movies that still holds up today. Comedy had expanded like crazy and the early 90s also gave birth to the best sitcoms ever to grace television (Simpsons, Seinfeld, and more). Then you have The State. It didn't open any doors for comedy and if anything it seemed like the writers had missed the last 20 years of comedic advancement. It was just...weird and awkward and how it ever got deal with any channel amazes me.