Watershed early '90s Sketch Comedy show that produced 13 episodes (12 of which aired) on the Fox network. Originally a sequel to a show that lasted about as long as the one on MTV a year earlier. The series starred Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo, Bob Odenkirk, and of course Ben Stiller and was executive produced by Judd Apatow and written by Stiller, Odenkirk, Apatow, David Cross, and others.
Tropes:
- Adam Westing: The man himself provides a beautiful example in the "Information 411" sketch.
- Affectionate Parody: One skit presents The Grungies, a version of The Monkees updated to a Seattle early 90s setup, with the fashion sense and music then current, but completely in the style of the 60s series, with Laugh Track and all. They even got Micky Dolenz as a 'pretentious artist'. This skit manages to parody both the Monkees and the Seattle bands of the time.
- Busman's Holiday: Lampshaded in Die Hard 12: Die Hungry.
- The Cameo:
- In addition to West, other Camp favorites Rip Taylor, Danny Bonaduce, Casey Kasem and Hervé Villechaize make appearances.
- During the between-sketch segments Ben hangs out with Sarah Jessica Parker, Garry Shandling, Rob Morrow, Bobcat Goldthwait, Colin Quinn and Dennis Miller, and annoys James Doohan with his obsessive Star Trek fandom.
- Dave Madden reprises his role of Mr. Kincaid, as a former agent of U2.
- Mikey Dolenz appears in 'The Grungies', an Affectionate Parody of The Monkees.
- "Die Hard" on an X: Parodied with Ben playing Bruce Willis in a Die Hard sequel... set in a supermarket.
- Mock Cousteau: One sketch had Andy Dick portray Jacques Cousteau as an alcoholic Cloud Cuckoo Lander.
- Two Decades Behind: Notably averted; the series' comic sensibilities and cultural references are firmly rooted in 1992, the year in which it was made.
- Take That!: The fourth episode had a sketch that was an episode of Low Budget Tales of Cliched Horror. The episode in question, "A Call From Hell", was a parody of the Tales from the Darkside episode "The Devil's Advocate", which starred Jerry Stiller (Ben's dad).Narrator: You're looking at late night shock jock Damien Faustman, a man who hates his listeners almost as much as he hates himself. Tonight, he'll learn that it doesn't take a lot of expensive special effects or an original storyline to come face-to-face with his worst nightmare... his soul.
- Why We Are Bummed: Communism Fell: Well, it certainly hurt Yakoff Smirnoff's career.