Image B- Sound A- Extras B
"Pilot," "Campaign," "Office Party," "Coffee Shop," "Paper Route," "Camping," "Meeting Girls," "Novel," "Vegetables," "Amusement Park"
by Travis Mackenzie Hoover There's a difference between being smart and being "smart." Smart involves the recombination of concepts into some kind of thesis or analysis; "smart" is the mere name-checking of said concepts and the class trappings they afford. The problems begin when people act "smart" and feel they're actually smart–when the pose of intelligence becomes the real thing. And despite many contortions in a vaguely surrealist direction, the masterminds behind "Stella" clearly belong in the poser category. Although their juxtaposition of overgrown children against a world somewhat less mad than they are is fastidiously groomed and played to the hilt, it's not really smart about anything: by putting these naïf characters next to the supposed intelligence of the people who write their lines, they only reveal their "smarts" in comparison to a very limited test group.
"Stella" follows the adventures of Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and David Wain–not the creator-performers, per se, but eponymously-dubbed man-boys who are never seen out of their immaculately-tailored business suits. Their wardrobe is designed to attract a hipster-nerd demographic: swank and colourful, the three are hip by dint of their angular squareness. And their antics are a collage of strange movements, furious actions, and, most important, nonsensical conversation loaded with logical jumps and non-sequiturs–that is, verbal humour with a passing love for the foibles of language. Meanwhile, though they live in a rather nice co-op apartment (styled within an inch of its life with the latest in casual modernity), they don't appear to have any visible source of income.
The cosmopolitan trappings are important, because they're all that separates these terminal adolescents from the far less "smart" hijinks of, say, the Chris Elliott sitcom "Get a Life!". One is constantly cued to the intelligence of the proceedings by the Upper West Side aesthetic of the thing–as if people who could afford this stuff (or at least have it bestowed upon them) have to possess some sort of acumen. Sure enough, the comedy itself is the trickle-down from much sharper dada and surrealist forebears, the implication being that anyone who acts nonsensically is somehow acting in a higher manner than Jeff Foxworthy. The thing is, it only exposes the thinness of the comedy, as well as the snobbery that allows it to exist. "Stella", therefore, is for people who want to feel superior first and laugh second.
As such, a middle-class Gen-X and post-Gen-X viewer can be expected to relate to the series' main thrust: that venturing outside a safe-haven cocoon is almost never desirable. Each of the ten episodes of "Stella"'s first and probably last season introduces restlessness with the in-apartment stasis, occasioning an adventure that leads to the conclusion that staying indoors is the way to go. When Black decides he wants to run for co-op president (1.2, "Campaign"), not only is it for childish reasons (the current president has rules!), but it also sets in motion his ascendance into arrogance and the downgrading of Wain to an intern. While this episode is probably the best in the series (culminating in an assassination attempt and cheesy homemade robots), it establishes the decidedly questionable message that you oughtn't rock the boat if you've got it made in the shade.
It's better, the show tells us, to not have girlfriends, to not go into the woods, to not write a publishable novel–the central trio should avoid doing anything that would jeopardize their childish friendship and the safety of that co-op. The lone exception is when they take over the paper route for the towhead they've accidentally injured (1.5, "Paper Route")–and even there, they rely on a goodwill forcefield to put a stop to marauding bullies instead of actually doing anything. It's at this point that "Stella" officially wears out its welcome. As Black, Showalter, and Wain do their best to affect whimsical obnoxiousness, it's obvious they're going to get nowhere, making the series an exercise in frustration as they fail again and again to accomplish anything. At least Groucho Marx got to run Freedonia.
Part of the problem may be that "Stella" is a stand-up routine turned into a narrative program. Included in the special features of the DVD release is an episode of "Comedy Central Presents" that consists of nothing but the guys, a stage, and an audience–and it's far smarter (not "smarter") than anything in the series proper. When we have to imagine a world for the performers, it creates a far more powerful feeling than "Stella"'s tired and mechanical efforts at wackiness. Live, the act is confined to the ingenuity of three people, while on TV it requires the equally forced, world-filling nuttiness of a supporting cast that doesn't work (save for a brilliant cameo by Tim Blake Nelson as a mountain man). If anything can be salvaged from the "Stella" experience, it's to recognize the limits of your act and not inflate them beyond what they can take–which in this case is the merely clever masquerading as intelligent.
THE DVD
Paramount brings "Stella: Season One" to the format under the Comedy Central imprimatur in a generally lacklustre full-frame presentation. Shot in HD, the show is spread out across two discs, but maybe because it shares digital real estate with a generous portion of supplementary material, the image is prone to pixellation and minor smearing. The Dolby 2.0 stereo sound is superior although it, too, lacks crystal clarity. Extras commence with group commentaries from Black, Showalter, and Wain for every episode. There are worse things to do than listen to these tracks, but while the trio prove reasonably humorous in their ad-libs, their remarks rarely touch on anything beyond the temperature, the location, and the virtues of the cast. The remaining bonus content breaks down as follows:
DISC ONE
"The History of 'Stella'" (42 mins.)
Black, Showalter, and Wain sit on couches and recount the rise of "Stella", from the individual performers' early days at NYU and with "The State" to the club where they initially became a troupe to the experiments with video, a disastrous early talk-show pilot, and the college tours through which they shaped their vision. The trio can be a tad obnoxious (especially when Black is accused of "fucking the air"), though it's an interesting object lesson in the torturous journey from concept to series.
"Comedy Central Quickies"
Two-minute bursts of "South Park" (Cartman is taunted with fried chicken), "The Colbert Report" (Colbert defines "truthiness"), and "Reno 911!" (a rub-and-tug operating out of a taco-stand bathroom).
Trailers for "South Park: Season 8", Windy City Heat, "Strangers with Candy: The Complete Series", and "Reno 911! Season 3" finish off the platter.
DISC TWO
"Comedy Central Presents: Stella"
The aforementioned 2004 episode that preceded the series demonstrates that the trio is far more effective in the stand-up format. Denuded of plots, settings, and supporting players, the comics have fewer cushions to fall on and thus rely on interplay with each other rather than with a million external details.
Deleted Scenes (14 mins.)
These are not so much deleted scenes as random gags and failed experiments: very short clips are the rule, with alternate improv takes comprising the bulk of the featurette. In the best bit, Black insists, "I take my coffee like I take my women–strong and black. Or maybe octoroon."
Bloopers (13 mins.)
For those who love this sort of thing, your ship has come in. Everyone else is free to skip it.
Easter Eggs
Toggling your left and right buttons on the menu screen will impose cursors in the shape of funny hats and moustaches; click any of the faces to be transported to either "Bar" (3 mins.), one of the group's club videos in which they terrorize a bar (and behave far more raunchily than they do in the series); a montage (1 mins.) of the trio screaming "It's Friday night!" at the camera; or a compilation (3 mins.) of the various spots used to promote the show on Comedy Central. Only the latter really draws laughs, yet there's something endearing about that nonsensical middle clip.
22 minutes/episode; NR; 1.33:1; English DD 2.0 (Stereo); CC; 2 DVD-9s; Region One; Paramount
