You won't be disappointed!

The first must-see film of the year.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Before Fox became the #1 most watched network with shows like "American Idol" and "Glee", it was best known for offbeat shows, especially comedies, that came and went. Although shows like "Married With Children" and "The Simpsons" went on to become among the longest-running sitcoms of all time (With "The Simpsons" recently taking the #1 spot in that category), countless other shows on Fox got the ax early, thereby establishing Fox as a second-rate network for nearly 20 years."The Ben Stiller Show" was indeed offbeat, and it had a laid-back quality to it that made it fun. Many other reviewers are crying out that it should not have been canceled, but the main cast members of this show went on to bigger and better things. Ben Stiller is now an A- list comic actor, Janeane Garofalo went on to become a household name, Bob Odenkirk created "Mr. Show" for HBO and is now sure to get an Emmy nomination for his role as Saul Goodman in "Breaking Bad", and Andy Dick . . . well . . . was funny on this show before becoming victim to his own demise. And of course, the co-creator of this show, Judd Apatow, would go on to create "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up" among other memorable comedies.Sketch comedy shows were nothing new at the time this show premiered, but Odenkirk came to this show after a four year stint as a writer on "Saturday Night Live", whereas Stiller came after a four episode stint (literally). The 1994-95 season, considered even today to be among SNL's biggest drought of funny material, was awaiting Garofalo. It's too bad too, because I thought she was among the stronger members of this show. Meanwhile, these guys put together a solid show that even today seems fresher than SNL and more free.Like many other sketch comedies, the sketches themselves were hit or miss. I didn't think the recurring sketches with the sock puppet Skank were very funny, personally, but I loved the Amish Dating Game, the "Tonight Show" auditions (with Apatow doing the best Jay Leno imitation I've ever seen, and Garofalo gut-bustingly hilarious as Sinead O'Connor), and Woody Allen's version of "Bride of Frankenstein" to name a few.In fact, in the latter sketch, Andy Dick did a dead-on impersonation of Allen that was among the best I had seen. It surprised me because Dick is now a second-rate comedian and actor, and I expected him to be the weakest link when first purchasing the DVD set of this show. However, in most sketches, he proves to be a solid cast member who works well off the remainder of the cast. The same was true for him during the six year run of "NewsRadio". However, since "NewsRadio" ended, he's been better known for his inappropriate antics and excessive drug use than for his comedy. In this show, he was completely void of obnoxiousness, and (surprise!) he was actually funny!More than the sketches, though, I actually liked the in-between sections with Stiller talking to the writers, or introducing cast members. It really emphasized the show's freedom, and helped to avoid the "in your face" feeling of other comedy shows. These segments felt as though Stiller was welcoming you into his world, and such efforts felt sincere.In fact, it may have been these efforts that coaxed many guest stars to make appearances on the show. It's great to watch the show in the 21st century and see celebrities who were stars at the time such as Roseanne and Tom Arnold (who were then married), Garry Shandling, and Mark Wahlberg (back when he was "Marky Mark"). It's even more exciting to see some people before they were stars make appearances, such as Judd Apatow, David Cross, and Jeanne Tripplehorn.So there were a lot of noteworthy qualities to this comedy show. The fact that it aired at 7:30 on Sunday nights opposite "60 Minutes" on CBS and "America's Funniest Home Videos" on ABC was probably not a good sign. Still, while this show may not have been meant to last, it lives on thanks to reruns on Comedy Central and a much-deserved DVD release. In fact, I hope Andy Dick re-watches these episodes so he will see what he did correctly in his career, and hopefully change his obnoxious ways.

I've always liked Ben Stiller and heard good things about this show, so I decided to purchase the DVD containing all its 13 episodes. I wasn't too impressed. Unlike most comedies on TV, the show's writing is pretty intelligent. It takes sharp jabs at teen dramas, like "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Melrose Place," and other elements of pop culture in the early 90's. Maybe one of the reasons why the gags aren't that funny is because we're no longer living in the early 90's. Even if you recall the elements of pop culture the show parodies, it's still not as funny. Plus, the jokes are quite dry, as opposed to the broad humor we usually see in sketch comedies. The cast of performers is talented. Aside from Stiller, there's Andy Dick, Janeane Garofolo and Bob Odenkirk. The celebrity guests are also amusing. The show has reached a cult following, and it's not a terrible show by any means, but it didn't make me laugh a whole lot. The only sketch that had me dying with laughter is the one with the No, No, No Guy. If anyone has seen "Starsky and Hutch" with Stiller, this sketch is where he originates his great "Do it" line. Sometimes I put on the disc just to see that sketch, because it's sooo funny. And there are a few sketches that aren't even trying to be funny, like the mock sitcom "Skank." Every joke is supposed to contain an element of truth, and I don't see what's truthful about a sitcom about a sock puppet. (6 out of 10)

I recently saw this set reviewed in rolling stone, and according to them it was the 'smartest pop culture parody show ever'. To me however it was a laughless, dated bore. The problem does not sit with the actors (all of whom do a good job) but with the writing and directing. Practically every skit falls flat, punch lines don't come where they should and after a while every skit seems identical. Several of the recurring skits (e.g. 'skank' and 'bruce springsteen') are painfully unfunny the first time, let alone the third time. Over all, this show is only worth a watch if you are a fan of obscure TV and perhaps old Gen-X pop culture.

This show was excellent. Great actors, funny skits, good writing. The problem?? Most of the humour required a brain and some inteligence. Combine that with the 7pm time slot on Sunday night that it was originally on and the fact that Fox totally gave up on it and you have a total cancellation misjustice. The skits were hilarious, The U2 parody, the video diary ("I ate today"), Legends of Springsteen and the Tonight show tryouts were all phenomenally funny. It was an absolute embarassment that the show was not continued even though its contemporary SNL at the time (and since) was horrible! If you can catch this in reruns do so!!