By Jeremy Azevedo

In just 3 short seasons, MTV’s The State established itself as one of the most influential sketch comedy series of all time, and kick-started the careers of some of the most successful comedy actors, writers and directors of our generation.

From Thomas Lennon and David Wain to Michael Showalter and Kerri Kenny-Silver, the original cast of The State reads like closing credits of nearly every good comedy in the last few years (that wasn’t produced by Apatow). Despite all this, fans have waited over a decade for The State to be available on DVD, even paying obscene amounts of money on eBay for the one shitty VHS compilation that MTV releases years ago. The reasoning behind the excruciatingly long wait has to do with music rights or some such bullcrap, but the fact remains that the the wait is now officially over. So you can stop sending those 400 page manifestos to MTV now.

The irreverent humor exhibited by The State was hugely influential on comedians and humorists in the 90s and beyond, as it stood as an (actually funny) alternative to the more structured comedic formula established by dead horse-beating shows like SNL. Probably no one was sitting around wondering what you would do with $240 worth of pudding, but The State was more than happy to tell you what they would do with it… Or what goes on in the sub-molecular world of teenage hormones... Or how to catch a Muppet in the wild, or what to do when your mailman stops delivering mail, and starts delivering delicious tacos. Fans of Reno 911, Stella, I Love You Man, Hot Wet American Summer, Drop Dead Gorgeous and all the dozens of projects that have been produced by this comedy collective over the years should take this opportunity to revisit the genesis of The State’s particular brand of offbeat humor.

In order to show rather than tell that these sketches hold up just as well today as they did ten years ago (because these skits all sound batshit crazy on paper), we’ve compiled a collection of five of our favorite clips from the show. Check ‘em out and be sure to pre-order your copy of The State on DVD, available July 14!

Betty's Pancake House

Put a bag on your head and hop on the ugly bus to Betty's No Good Clothes and Pancake House!