Stella - Season One (2005) DVD Review

Stella takes classic narratives and places them in the wacky hands of Michael, Michael, and David, who stay true to the structure of each story while adding their own strange touch. It’s a spoof in every sense although the source which is being spoofed isn’t always specific. Often times they spoof entire genres. Classic scenes that audiences have become accustomed to seeing are reworked with these three quirky characters. Michael Ian Black is the leader of the three, Michael Showalter is sort of the brains, and David Wain is the ladies man. Together these three guys, using their real names on the show, always don suits.

They don’t have jobs, which allows them the freedom to do whatever they want. The first season has them evicted from their apartment because of the three girls that live below them, compete in a campaign for resident board president because they don’t like the way things are run in their apartment building, crash an office party which ends in them being bullied by Paul Rudd, open rival coffee shops after Michael gets a job at their new hang out spot, fight teenage bullies, get lost in the woods and kill Tim Blake Nelson, meet girls, write a novel which is stolen by Janeane Garafalo, grow vegetables in their apartment and go into therapy which results in their admittance to a mental hospital.

At first the show can be difficult to grasp and therefore hard to enjoy, but after a few episodes a method to the madness begins to appear. After the strange quality of the show is understood the humor reaches great levels. Each of these actors have a great sense of comedic timing and no how to drag out moments from uncomfortable circumstances. There are a number of great cameos throughout season one, including a quick bit from Edward Norton as himself in the pilot. Sam Rockwell stars as David’s friend that makes fake moustaches and Topher Grace has a quick cameo also.

Season one has ten great episodes on two discs, but there are a few extras as well. All ten of the episodes have a commentary track with the guys, which is usually a whole new soundtrack of strange humor to enjoy. There is also Comedy Central Presents: STELLA, which is basically a live taped episode with the three of them bickering onstage. Their interaction with the audience shows that their brilliance is often off the top of their head. They improvise a great deal of the humor and it works because of their commitment to each choice.

Other special features include deleted scenes, which seem to ramble with far less substance than the scenes which made it onto the shows. The bloopers are about what you would expect. There are a lot of cases of the giggles among the cast and a few great mistakes. The History of Stella is far more obscene than anything else on the show and is more of the same humor that must be what they enjoy all of the time they are together. There is even footage of them together at NYU and they talk about how Stella got started, after The State. Everything they do is humorous and they talk about how they have had a strange sense of humor even as far back as their childhood. It’s like seeing the stars in their natural atmosphere and finding out that they are not much different than how they appear in the show.