The State is an American sketch comedy television series, originally broadcast on MTV from 1994 to 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 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. It takes place during the last full day at a fictional summer camp in 1981, and spoofs the sex comedies aimed at teen audiences of that era.
Reno 911! is an American comedy television series created by Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver for Comedy Central. It is a mockumentary-style parody of law enforcement documentary shows, specifically Cops, with comic actors playing the police officers. Lennon, Garant and Kenney-Silver all starred in and are billed as creators of the series.
Michael Ian Black is an American actor, writer, and comedian. 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. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, he was the puppeteer and voice actor for the Pets.com sock puppet dog, and played a supporting character on the TV series Ed. Since 2008 he has written a number of books, including several for children.
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. He played the Lehman brothers on the Showtime series Black Monday. He also stars as Victor in the cult-classic comedy film Wet Hot American Summer, as well as its spin-offs.
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), Wanderlust (2012) and They Came Together (2014). He has also served as a creator, producer, writer and director on a 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. Wain had a starring voice role as The Warden on the 2008–2014 Adult Swim animated series Superjail!, and has provided the voices for Courtney Wheeler and Grover Fischoeder on Bob's Burgers since 2012.
Stella is an American sketch comedy television series that originally ran from June 28 to August 30, 2005 on Comedy Central. It was created by and stars Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain, former cast members of MTV's The State (1993). As a comedy troupe, Stella started in 1997 and played to sold out shows across the United States with a cult following. In September, after 10 episodes, Stella's timeslot was succeeded by Mind of Mencia. The DVD was released on September 12, 2006.
Thomas Patrick Lennon is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, director, and novelist. He plays Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the series Reno 911!
Kerri Kenney-Silver is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series Reno 911! for which she has received five Primetime Emmy Awards nominations. She is also known for her previous sketch comedy work on MTV's The State, where she was the show's lone female cast member. She has also appeared with recurring roles on sitcoms such as Superstore, 2 Broke Girls, Love, and The Ellen Show. In the mid-late 1990s, Kenney fronted the all-female rock band Cake Like.
Viva Variety is an American sketch comedy series that aired on Comedy Central from April 1997 to December 1999. The series satirizes European variety shows.
Michael Patrick Jann is an American actor, writer, and director best known as a cast member on MTV's The State.
Michael Showalter is an American comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer. He first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's The State, which aired from 1993 to 1995. He and David Wain created the Wet Hot American Summer franchise, with Showalter co-writing and starring in Wet Hot American Summer (2001), and the Netflix series. Showalter wrote and directed The Baxter (2005), in which he starred with Michelle Williams, Justin Theroux, and Elizabeth Banks. Both films featured many of his co-stars from The State, and so do several of his other projects. Showalter is also a co-creator, co-producer, actor, and writer for the TV series Search Party. He directed the 2017 critically acclaimed feature film The Big Sick.
Robert Ben Garant, credited earlier in his career as Ben Garant, is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer and director. He has a long professional relationship with Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silver from their time on the sketch-comedy show The State, the cop show spoof Reno 911!, and numerous screenwriting collaborations.
Reno 911!: Miami is a 2007 American cop comedy film based on Comedy Central's Reno 911! and directed by Robert Ben Garant. Distributed in the United States and Canada by 20th Century Fox and internationally by Paramount Pictures alongside Comedy Central Films, the film was theatrically released on February 23, 2007 to mixed reviews, with much of the criticism aimed at its lack of appeal to non-fans.
The Ten is a 2007 anthology comedy film directed by David Wain, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Ken Marino. It was released through ThinkFilm. The film was released on August 3, 2007. The DVD was released on January 15, 2008. It is an international co-production between the United States and Mexico. It received mixed reviews.
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 and comedian. 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.
Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp is an American satirical comedy television miniseries 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.
A Futile and Stupid Gesture is a 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film based on Josh Karp's book of the same title, directed by David Wain, and written by Michael Colton and John Aboud. The film stars Will Forte as comedy writer Douglas Kenney, during the rise and fall of National Lampoon.
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