This has been a big week for fans of 1990s sketch comedy series The State and its many talented performers. Comedy Central and MTV2 began reairing episodes of both The State and Stella (the one-season reunion by Michael Showalter, Michael Ian Black and David Wain) last weekend, Reno 911! continues into its sixth season on Comedy Central with now even more contributions from State members, and the network also launched the new meta-sketch comedy series, Michael and Michael Have Issues. All of this coincided happily for many fans with the release of the complete series of The State on DVD this week. The five-disc set includes all 24 episodes plus lots of commentaries, unaired sketches, rare performances and more. (Seth Olenick photographed the happy people earlier this year upon their 20th reunion as a sketch group at San Francisco's Sketchfest – Michael Ian Black ("Ed," "STELLA," "Viva Variety," Run, Fat Boy, Run), Michael Showalter ("STELLA," The Baxter, Wet Hot American Summer), David Wain ("STELLA," Role Models, The Ten,"Wainy Days"), Robert Ben Garant ("RENO 911!," Viva Variety, Balls of Fury), Kerri Kenney-Silver ("RENO 911!", "Viva Variety"),Thomas Lennon ("RENO 911!", I Love You Man, Balls of Fury), Joe Lo Truglio ("RENO911!", Superbad, I Love You Man), Ken Marino("Party Down," The Ten, Diggers), Michael Patrick Jann (RENO 911!: Miami, Let's Go to Prison) Kevin Allison (The Ten, RENO 911!: Miami), and Todd Holoubek ("You Wrote It, You Watch It")).
You can buy The State on DVD here. Perhaps you already have. But would you like to win yourself a free DVD set, plus a poster of "The State" and your very own "The State" T-shirt? If so, then you are this close to being in luck, because I have two such prize packages to giveaway.
What you have to do to win: E-mail me (thecomicscomic AT gmail DOT com), put "What The State Meant To Me" in the subject line, and then complete that thought in the body of your email. I'll pick two winners over the weekend.
Related: Watch 10 Sketches to Celebrate The State Finally Coming Out On DVD