1993 was arguably the year that Saturday Night Live "got the bad news from the Dr" (i.e. that it was dying), so "The Edge" began to fill that vacuum, and pick up where the recently canceled "In Living Color" left off. Though while In Living Color focused on an "urban"/black-centric audience and pushed the envelope by testing how low toilet-humor could get on prime time, The Edge pushed the envelope by breaking the accepted formulas and definitions of what comedy was. This was a show dedicated to the MTV generation of the 90s, which was struggling to find its own identity. The show often capitalized on and poked-fun at this theme (i.e. the "Doug" character, who rebelled against his cool father and the fact that his own catch-phrase "I'm outta here" was becoming main-stream). Many of the sketches were what could really only classify as alternative, such as the Cereal Commercial, Snuggle Bear and International signs...yet at the same time hilarious. As luck would have it, the MTV execs and lawyers finally let their greed subside enough to release the entire series on DVD, so the efforts of the writers and actors can be enjoyed and appreciated by the next generation of comedy aficionados.
Review of The State
