Stella

after a string of filler and hyped failures and like the-prank-show-whose-name-i-don't-remember and hollow men, finally something for a shorter attention span. i've seen stella doing stand up on comedy central and didn't like them, so imagine my surprise and delight when the pilot turned out to be brilliant.

each scene features random clichés (mostly Hollywood conventions) that are fully developed within 10 seconds to 5 minutes. another joke starts before you realize the last one's over, and they are stringed together like this to form scenes within the show. the characters are completely nonchalant about the rules of their world. while all three actors are men, they switch between masculine, feminine, even animal clichés. the show's distinguishing schtick is that random sketches combine to form a storyline.

the show is relentlessly committed to its absurdity and satire. the underlying idea is not unlike traditional spoof comedies ranging from monty python to mel brookes films to the more recent scary movie series, but this is more shamelessly random and faster. the 3 guys are really good. i had a great time with the pilot. my only concern is as the show progresses, how they will be able to come up with as much material for every episode in order to not resort to running jokes.

best show introduced on the network since chappelle. but not for everyone.