The Upright Citzens Brigade debuted under the watchful eye of the very talented Kent Alterman. Alterman, along with Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Madeline Smithberg, and Lizz Winstead rescued a Comedy Central that was in dire straits. Shows like Kids in the Hall and Mystery Science Theater 3000 left the airwaves, and (besides the brilliant Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello sketch show Exit 57) there was little keeping the network alive. Alterman wanted to bring a new and fresh edge to the network, so he recruited these alums of ImprovOlympic to have their own sketch show. Debuting in the Fall of 1998, UCB was innovative in the sense that the shows were circular in format, with a myriad of different and bizarre sketches playing kind of concurrently with each other, wrapping up in one final sketch that brought all the disparate elements together. The only real exceptions were the season finales, which wrapped up the one theme that was mentioned in each of the episodes. This style basically reflected Del Close's "Harold" approach to long-form improv comedy.
The shows themselves had some funny moments. I especially enjoyed the "hyper-minimalist" office from Season One and the "Cakeawalkin" from season three. Problem is, as is often the case with improv/sketch comedy, the material is more clever than funny. Sure, it's bizarre, sure it makes you think. But oftentimes the jokes are more chuckle inducing than laugh out loud funny. And they tend to be insular to the cast members themselves, rather than universally funny.
Amy is clearly the star of the group. She has a real talent in terms of being both innocent and nasty, oftentimes at the same time. Besser is the most naturally funny of the group, being the stand-up comedian he understands what funny is, versus what clever premises can be funny. Walsh is charmingly goofy, and Roberts is the All-American boy. All four are decent writers and performers, but only Amy really stands out as a superstar talent, though Amy Sedaris is a notch or two above her in terms of being funny.
All in all, this is a show that is very good, though its cult like fans clearly give it more props than it deserves.
The shows themselves had some funny moments. I especially enjoyed the "hyper-minimalist" office from Season One and the "Cakeawalkin" from season three. Problem is, as is often the case with improv/sketch comedy, the material is more clever than funny. Sure, it's bizarre, sure it makes you think. But oftentimes the jokes are more chuckle inducing than laugh out loud funny. And they tend to be insular to the cast members themselves, rather than universally funny.
Amy is clearly the star of the group. She has a real talent in terms of being both innocent and nasty, oftentimes at the same time. Besser is the most naturally funny of the group, being the stand-up comedian he understands what funny is, versus what clever premises can be funny. Walsh is charmingly goofy, and Roberts is the All-American boy. All four are decent writers and performers, but only Amy really stands out as a superstar talent, though Amy Sedaris is a notch or two above her in terms of being funny.
All in all, this is a show that is very good, though its cult like fans clearly give it more props than it deserves.