Decades ahead of its time, it pioneered that single-camera, awkward vibe that would go on to become so famous in The Office, 30 Rock, and so on, and then even more latterly picked up by sketch comedy like Aunty Donna’s House Of Fun, and the recent revival series of Kids In The Hall. The Ben Stiller Show was fascinating for many reasons, not least because it didn’t have a studio audience nor any form of laugh track, which was unheard of in the early 1990s. Those latter two would go on to create Mr Show With Bob & David, the best sketch comedy since The Kids In The Hall, and yet to be improved upon (although Aunty Donna come close). Airing from 1990 to ‘91 on MTV, then revived by Fox from ‘92 to ‘93, the series not only brought Ben Stiller, Andy Dick and Janeane Garofalo to fame, but more importantly, brought writers David Cross and Bob Odenkirk together. Woefully forgotten-and yes, I did pitch for this story just so I could wank on about this- The Ben Stiller Show was an absolutely pivotal comedy series. While there are a couple of nice lines in there-“LeBreakthrough” (the first time it’s used), and that final, “It is a costume,” work for me-the overall commercial feels like a missed attempt to recapture Stiller’s glorious ‘90s debut, The Ben Stiller Show.
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