THE STATE V. SLASH
This is gonna be a long, Lefsetzian rant that is only peripherally related to metal. Don’t read it if that’s gonna bother you.
MTV’s The State came out on DVD yesterday – the complete series. For those of you too young to remember, The State was a sketch comedy series that launched all the guys (and girl) who went on to make Wet Hot American Summer, Stella, Reno 911, and a whole bunch of shit I’m forgetting.
(The troupe’s members have also written and/or acted in some terrible movies, I’m sure because it paid well, but if it funds their own work, then whatever.)
So last night after we shuttered the MetalSucks Mansion Grand Study of Doom & Horror (where we do all our “work”) for the evening, I went out (To fucking Best Buy – because there is now no place else in the city to purchase DVDs) and bought The State, came home, “got right” as Ron Saint Germain would say, and sat down to watch a show I haven’t seen in sixteen years.
Holy shit, that makes me feel old.
So. Second episode, first disk – there’s a sketch where this woman has a rodent infestation. Only, it’s not a rodent – it’s Slash (or, at least, an actor playing Slash). And in the end, they capture him with a giant mouse trap, using a sub as bait.
Hilarious. Just friggin’ hilarious.
The thing is, there’s a note that comes with the DVD that basically says they couldn’t afford to get every last one of their original music cues on the DVD, so in some places their composer has made substitutions. And the best part is, the music “Slash” plays does, in fact, sound awful GN’R-esque. I mean, not good GN’R, necessarily, but it could totally be from a latter Beautiful Creatures album. But I can’t remember if the sketch originally had actual GN’R music – and, of course, I can’t seem to find the sketch on YouTube or any place like that to verify.
But that’s just as well. I strongly encourage you to either buy The State or Netflix it (or just rent it, if you’re fortunate enough to still have a local video store). I can’t quite tell if I still find the show funny because it’s funny or if it’s just nostalgia, but it still seems funny. And a good reminder of why anyone used to watch MTV.
Fuck you, The Hills.
-AR
