Strangers With Candy - Season One

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Summary: dear real diary...
Review: This is definitely the most hilarious (non-animated) sitcom series I've ever seen. After all the cheesily formulated, badly scripted, family oriented after-school dramas and sitcoms which has been pumped out year after year - trying to re-educate the impressionable youth (particularly rich white suburban kids) about finding a true sense of direction and morality, etc, whilst also trying to be 'entertaining' for braindead Christian families - this show was just begging to be made. If the style of humour in shows such as South Park and Family Guy appeals to you, chances are you'll probably enjoy this one. If you don't end up loving it you'll at least appreciate the satire, characterization and randomness all in impeccable timing. One episode alone contains enough original and biting material to stay in your head for weeks. Just watch for Jerri's rubber-faced expressions and reactions - a killer!!

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Summary: WHO WANTS CAKE!
Review: Strangers with Candy was one of the most underrated shows on Comedy Central but didn't last very long. I'm very glad they decided to put this on DVD. I agree this is waaaaaay better then Chapel Show and RENO 911!!! This show has great laughs, stupid yet funny laugh out loud moments and overall.....PURE COMEDY.

I won't go into detail except that this show is terrific! Go get it!

Rating:
Summary: They All Want Cake
Review: Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello, Stephen Colbert and Gregory Hollimon all shine in "Strangers With Candy," a sublime spoof of those ABC "After School Specials" we grew up with in the late 1970s and early 80s. "Strangers With Candy" is based upon the unlikely premise of 46 year-old ex junkie whore Jerri Blank turning around her life by returning as a high school freshman after 32 years on the wild side. Each week brings some new "crisis," which involves fitting in vs. conforming, trying drugs and alcohol, teenage sexual experimentation, retardation and special ed, etc. Naturally, half-wit Jerri always makes the wrong choice.

"Strangers With Candy" was Comedy Central's most clever and politically incorrect show (even moreso than "South Park"). Along with Jerri are her alcoholic stepmother (prudishly played by Deborah Rush), a classmate of indeterminate ethnicity ("Orlando," played by Orlando Pabotoy) who Jerri uses for the butt of her racist jokes, and the amazingly narcissistic faculty, headed by Principal Onyx Blackman (Greg Hollimon), the black principal with a penchant for "fine white women." Blackman has a thing for Jerri's stepmom, but it never pans out, because her stepmom is as big a racist as Jerri! Swishy art teacher Joffrey Jellineck (Paul Dinello) and uptight science teacher Chuck Knoblet (Stephen Colbert) confound students with their learned ignorance, and the pair carry on a secret gay affair in the boiler room.

But Sedaris really makes the show work for her over-the-top earnestness in playing Jerri. Sedaris wins the Chloris Leachman award for botching up her natural good looks with gaudy makeup, harelip overbite, twitching unibrow, wrinkled forehead and padded hips just to get totally into character. And like Lucille Ball, Sedaris will do anything for a laugh, but unlike Ball, we're talking NC-17 rated here!

It was a shame to watch it being given the boot in 2001 because of low ratings. For some reason, it never caught on. However, it is becoming evident that it was because "Strangers With Candy" was ahead of its time: All three seasons are now available on DVD, and a "prequel" movie (with ALL the original major cast members, including the cute-as-a-button Maria Thayer) is currently in post-production.

The best two episodes in this set are the pilot "Who Wants Cake," in which Blackman and Knoblet make Jerri rat out her locker mate for being retarded (by the way, "they all want cake") and "Feather in the Storm," in which Jerri becomes anorexic, in order to lose enough weight to make the debate squad (?!)

Put this excellent series on your DVD player and be prepared to be entertained, humored and offended.

Rating:
Summary: Hello, I'm Jerri Blank...
Review: ...32 years ago I dropped out of high school and ran away from home. Oh, I made alot of friends, did alot of time. I was a boozer, a user, and a loser.. I stole the t.v., did some more time. But now I'm back in school, and though the faces may have changed the hassles are just the same. >If you are a follower of STRANGERS W/ CANDY you've heard that a few times by now. Do you ever get tired of hearing it? I don't. The intro for the show (more so in season 2 & 3) explains what is at the center of this amazing show. Jerry Blank (Amy Sedaris) is a 46 year old high school freshman. Can you imagine the pitch for this show? Comedy Central let the producers get away with alot.. If you think SOUTH PARK and DAVE CHAPPELLE are shocking and offensive you haven't seen STRANGERS WITH CANDY!! Also starring: Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello, Greg Hollimon, and Deborah Rush. @ 246 minutes SEASON 1 includes the following episodes: 1. Old Habits New Habits. 2. A Burden's Burden, 3. Dreams On The Rocks, 4. Who Wants Cake?, 5. Bogie Nights, 6. Jerri Is Only Skin Deep, 7. Let Freedom Ring, 8. Feather In The Storm, 9. To Be Young Gifted And Blank, 10. (season finale) The Trip Back. >For those who don't know STRANGERS WITH CANDY survived only 3 seasons. The show still lives on in the hearts of a legion of devoted fans.

Rating:
Summary: Satire Shoots to Kill
Review: If there's one area of comedy I love the most, it's satire. "Strangers With Candy" is satire at its most merciless. Amy Sedaris (sister of David Sedaris, critically acclaimed comedic writer) is Jerri Blank, a 46-year-old high school Freshman, looking to get her life back on track after a lifetime of drug-use, crime, and the raunchiest sex she could find - each episode in the form of an afterschool special. Afterschool specials were meant to teach important life lessons to children. Such bringers of stale, cheesy storylines, usually directed at suburban white children, are parodied until they're dead in Jerri's bizarre world. Racism, social inequalities, sexism - all the hyprocrasies of our culture - it's all on parade and under attack on this show. "Strangers With Candy" is one of the most clever comedies you'll find out there - and all while being as hilariously offensive as it can be. Two of my favorites are "Feather in the Storm," an episode about anorexia in which we learn that all one has to do for attention is starve oneself, and "Who Wants Cake?," in which we learn that the retarded love shiny things, cake, and have the strength of an ape when provoked. The DVD extras leave you wanting more, but if you have a twisted sense of humor and like making fun of the ignorant, then this is a show worth looking into.