"Stella" (2005) TV series

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Creators:

Michael Ian Black
Michael Showalter
David Wain

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

28 June 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Dumb comedy dressed up in a suit.

Plot:

A sketch comedy show that follows the absurd adventures of Michael, Michael and David.

Plot Keywords:

Roommate | Actor Playing Himself | One Word Title | City | Spoof

Cast

Michael Ian Black	...	Michael (10 episodes, 2005)
Michael Showalter	...	Michael (10 episodes, 2005)
David Wain	...	David (10 episodes, 2005)
Heidi Neurauter	...	Stacy (7 episodes, 2005)
Andrea Rosen	...	Jennifer (7 episodes, 2005)
Samantha Buck	...	Amy (6 episodes, 2005)

Runtime:

USA:30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Comedy Central

Trivia:

In the pilot, Michael, Michael and David's neighbors were Jennifer, Stacy and Karen; Karen was played by Rashida Jones. But after then, Karen disappeared and was replaced by Amy, played by Samantha Buck; nothing else was changed. The pilot was filmed on location in a New York apartment, which explains the differences in lighting and the appearance of the hallway scenes in the subsequent episodes.

Quotes:

Michael: I'm cold.
Michael: I'm hungry.
David: I'm David.
[makes fart noise]

Movie Connections:

Spin off "Michael & Michael Have Issues." (2009)

absurd and satirical

after a string of filler and hyped failures and like the-prank-show-whose-name-i-don't-remember and hollow men, finally something for a shorter attention span. i've seen stella doing stand up on comedy central and didn't like them, so imagine my surprise and delight when the pilot turned out to be brilliant.

each scene features random clichés (mostly Hollywood conventions) that are fully developed within 10 seconds to 5 minutes. another joke starts before you realize the last one's over, and they are stringed together like this to form scenes within the show. the characters are completely nonchalant about the rules of their world. while all three actors are men, they switch between masculine, feminine, even animal clichés. the show's distinguishing schtick is that random sketches combine to form a storyline.

the show is relentlessly committed to its absurdity and satire. the underlying idea is not unlike traditional spoof comedies ranging from monty python to mel brookes films to the more recent scary movie series, but this is more shamelessly random and faster. the 3 guys are really good. i had a great time with the pilot. my only concern is as the show progresses, how they will be able to come up with as much material for every episode in order to not resort to running jokes.

best show introduced on the network since chappelle. but not for everyone.