Before Ben Stiller hit the big leagues in box office successes like "There's Something About Mary" and "Meet the Parents," he was a struggling comedian trying to represent his comedic persona on the small box - he took a year on "Saturday Night Live" but it was his original variety show, "The Ben Stiller Show," that truly portrayed his sense of humor.
The show wasn't flawless. I haven't seen all the episodes (it ran for a season before being canceled) but the ones I have seen weren't consistently funny. It was essentially just some up-and-coming comedians writing the show so they were giving it their best, but they weren't professionals yet - as a result some sketches are brilliant and others are just so-so.
My personal favorite has to be "Die Hard 12: Die Hungry." This is one of the most authentic-looking movie-trailer-parodies I've ever seen. It's hilarious - Stiller plays John McClane (Willis' role) and the narrator on the trailer is the same guy who did the actual Fox trailers for the "Die Hard" movies. It's hilarious stuff, and they get away with quite a lot - even using the logo and the real actors' names.
It's during skits like these that Stiller's comedic originality shone through - the show was canceled before being nominated for comedy awards. I recently saw on a TV special that it's likely the show would have been picked up for another season had it been nominated in advance, because after the nominations many more viewers sought out the show, having never heard of it before. But in the end, its cancellation worked out for the best - it become a cult hit and all the stars got careers.
The show wasn't flawless. I haven't seen all the episodes (it ran for a season before being canceled) but the ones I have seen weren't consistently funny. It was essentially just some up-and-coming comedians writing the show so they were giving it their best, but they weren't professionals yet - as a result some sketches are brilliant and others are just so-so.
My personal favorite has to be "Die Hard 12: Die Hungry." This is one of the most authentic-looking movie-trailer-parodies I've ever seen. It's hilarious - Stiller plays John McClane (Willis' role) and the narrator on the trailer is the same guy who did the actual Fox trailers for the "Die Hard" movies. It's hilarious stuff, and they get away with quite a lot - even using the logo and the real actors' names.
It's during skits like these that Stiller's comedic originality shone through - the show was canceled before being nominated for comedy awards. I recently saw on a TV special that it's likely the show would have been picked up for another season had it been nominated in advance, because after the nominations many more viewers sought out the show, having never heard of it before. But in the end, its cancellation worked out for the best - it become a cult hit and all the stars got careers.