The State is an American sketch comedy television series, originally broadcast on MTV between December 17, 1993, and July 1, 1995. The show combined bizarre characters and scenarios to present sketches that won the favor of its target teenaged audience. The cast consisted of comedy troupe The State, who were 11 twenty-something comedians who created, acted, wrote, directed and edited the show. In various combinations, the former members of The State have continued to collaborate over the years, with alumni playing major creative, directing and acting roles in a number of notable projects including Reno 911! and Wet Hot American Summer.
Wet Hot American Summer is a 2001 American satirical comedy film directed by David Wain from a screenplay written by Wain and Michael Showalter. The film features an ensemble cast, including Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, Christopher Meloni, Michael Showalter, Elizabeth Banks, Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Zak Orth, and A. D. Miles.
Zachary Knight Galifianakis is an American actor, comedian, musician and writer. He appeared in Comedy Central Presents special and presented his show Late World with Zach on VH1. He has starred in films, such as The Hangover trilogy (2009–2013), Due Date (2010), The Campaign (2012), Birdman or (2014) and Masterminds (2016). He starred in animated films, including Puss in Boots (2011), The Lego Batman Movie (2017), Missing Link (2019), and Ron's Gone Wrong (2021). Galifianakis currently hosts the Funny or Die website talk show Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis. He starred in the FX series Baskets and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 2017.
Paul Stephen Rudd is an American actor, screenwriter and producer. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts before making his acting debut in 1991.
Michael Ian Black is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including The State, Viva Variety, Stella, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Michael & Michael Have Issues, and Another Period. He also appeared on Celebrity Poker Showdown several times. He released his first children's book, Chicken Cheeks, in 2009, and has since released six more, in addition to four books for adults.
Kenneth Joseph Marino is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He was a cast member on MTV's The State and has starred in shows such as Party Down, Marry Me, Burning Love, and Childrens Hospital.
David Benjamin Wain is an American comedian, writer, actor, and director. He has co-written and directed six feature films, including Wet Hot American Summer (2001), Role Models (2008) and Wanderlust (2012). He has also served as a producer, writer and director on number of television series, including Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Childrens Hospital and Medical Police. He has had small roles in most of the films and TV series he has produced or directed. He also had a starring voice role, as the Warden, on the 2008-2014 animated Adult Swim series Superjail!
Stella is a television series that originally ran from June 28, 2005 to August 30, 2005 on the American television channel Comedy Central, created by and starring Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain, the three members of the sketch comedy troupe of the same name and former cast members of MTV's The State. Stella, as a comedy troupe, has existed since 1997. It has a cult following and plays to sold out shows across the United States. The show aired on Tuesdays at 10:30 PM, EST.
Anthony David Miles is an American actor, writer and comedian. He was head writer for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon from 2014 to 2017, which he helped to develop. As an actor, he is best known as step-dad Gary on the Fallon skit Ew! and as Marty Shonson on Comedy Central's Dog Bites Man. He has also appeared in multiple other Fallon sketches, such as a member of the Ragtime Gals and Mr. Fletcher in the sketches in which Fallon and Justin Timberlake sing songs at their childhood camp. He also appeared in recurring roles on both Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Stella is a comedy trio consisting of Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black, and David Wain. The group formed in 1997 as a weekly nightclub comedy attraction, performing at New York City nightclub Fez from 1997 until the club's closing in February 2005. Stella soon gained a wider cult following after a series of self-produced shorts were released in limited quantities on DVD. Now known for their unique blend of potentially mainstream comedy and surrealist humor, Stella has garnered a small but dedicated fanbase.
Joseph Vincent Lo Truglio is an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. Best known for his role as Charles Boyle on the Fox/NBC sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, he also was a cast member on the television series The State and Reno 911!. His notable film roles include Wet Hot American Summer, I Love You Man, Superbad, Paul, Role Models and Wanderlust.
Wainy Days is an internet video series starring David Wain that is hosted on the website, My Damn Channel. The web series follows a fictionalized version of Wain through his everyday life as he tries to form relationships with numerous women and discusses his problems with his friends at the sweatshop where he works. Elizabeth Banks, Jonah Hill, Julie Bowen, Megan Mullally, Jason Sudeikis, Rob Corddry, Lake Bell, Amanda Peet, Rosemarie DeWitt, Elizabeth Reaser, Thomas Lennon, Joe Lo Truglio, Josh Charles, Lucy Punch, A.D. Miles, Paul Rudd, Michael Ian Black, Rashida Jones, Michael Showalter and various other Stella/The State/Wet Hot American Summer alumni have all guest-starred in various episodes. A DVD containing the first four seasons was released February 14, 2012. In 2013, Blip Partnered with My Damn Channel, leading to season 5 of Wainy Days being premiered simultaneously on Blip and MyDamnChannel.
Michael & Michael Have Issues is a cable television comedy series starring comedians and actors Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter, who created the series. Both comedians appeared together in several TV comedy series, including The State, and Stella. The show premiered on July 15, 2009, on Comedy Central. Showalter and Black confirmed on March 3, 2010, via their Twitter accounts that the show had been canceled.
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis is an American talk show hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis which features celebrity guests. Episodes last several minutes, in which the interviewer (Galifianakis) and guests trade barbs and insults. In addition to the online series, there is a Comedy Central television special, and a Netflix original movie Between Two Ferns: The Movie. The series' theme music is Dave Blume's arrangement of Bernard Herrmann's theme from Taxi Driver, which is on the original Taxi Driver soundtrack album but was not included in the film.
Kumail Ali Nanjiani is a Pakistani-American comedian, actor, and screenwriter. He is primarily known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series Silicon Valley (2014–2019) and for co-writing and starring in the romantic comedy film The Big Sick (2017). For co-writing the latter with his wife, Emily V. Gordon, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
John Early is an American comedian and actor. He has appeared on 30 Rock as Jenna Maroney's son and in the independent film Fort Tilden. He stars in Search Party, which was written partly by Michael Showalter and also stars Alia Shawkat.
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp is a comedy streaming television series written by David Wain and Michael Showalter, and directed by Wain. First Day of camp is the second installment in the Wet Hot American Summer franchise. The eight-episode Netflix series is a prequel to Wain's 2001 film Wet Hot American Summer, a parody of teen sex comedies which has since developed a cult following. Although many of the original film's ensemble cast have gone on to high-profile work, all of the then-adult actors returned for this series, playing even younger versions of their original roles. The episodes were released for online viewing at the end of July 2015.
Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later is a satirical comedy streaming television series created by David Wain and Michael Showalter, and directed by Wain. The Netflix series, which is part of the Wet Hot American Summer franchise, is a sequel to both Wain's 2001 film Wet Hot American Summer, and the 2015 prequel television series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp. The series consists of eight episodes, and was released on August 4, 2017. The show is set in 1991 in both the camp and New York City. Showalter cited St. Elmo's Fire, Singles, and The Big Chill as inspirations.
Wet Hot American Summer is an American satirical comedy media franchise created by David Wain and Michael Showalter with stories centered on Camp Firewood, a summer camp located near Waterville, Maine. Since the release of the 2001 film, the franchise has expanded to include a documentary film, two web miniseries, two books, a tabletop role-playing game and a soundtrack.
The State is an American comedy troupe. The troupe was founded by a group of New York University students in 1988, as an offshoot of the NYU improv comedy group The Sterile Yak; it was briefly named The New Group before landing on the name The State. The troupe's members are Kevin Allison, Michael Ian Black, Robert Ben Garant, Todd Holoubek, Michael Patrick Jann, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Thomas Lennon, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, Michael Showalter and David Wain. As a group, the troupe is best known for creating and starring in the 1993-1995 MTV sketch comedy series The State. However, since the show aired, members of the troupe have frequently collaborated on other television and film projects, including Viva Variety, Reno 911!, and the Wet Hot American Summer media franchise. The comedy group Stella is composed of three of The State's members, Showalter, Black and Wain, and starred in the 2005 sketch comedy series Stella, among other works. Additionally, some members of The State have achieved independent success as comic actors, writers and directors.
