The State vs. Mr. Show - VIDEO

I like 'em both but "Pallies" is so much more universal than a scene from a stage production of "Tenament." The chances are you'd laugh harder at "Pallies" because you've probably seen "Good Fellas" on The Late Late Late Movie on Channel 7.

I'm going to go with "Pallies" though I wish more people would use "H.E. Double Hockey Sticks" and "Let's get milk faced and hum like rabbits" more often.

As for the shows themselves, both "The State" and "Mr. Show" were really funny sketch shows that often hit the funny more than 50% of the time, but I'm going to go with "Mr. Show" by an inch because at the end of the day, "fuck" is a really funny word if you can use it.

MadTV did the same thing with The Sopranos on PAX. Whole episode cut down to 3 minutes, etc etc, laugh laugh.

Not only was The State first, but its the better skit and overall the better show.

The State is the most creative and unique skit show of all time. They weren't trying to force some kind of social message into their comedy it was pure oddball comic genius. They really did an excellent job of taking absurd premises and turning them into funny skits (i.e. A mailman that delivers tacos instead of the mail, a musical about a porcupine racetrack, even Ben Garant wearing a dress made of only bacon while singing a song about his love of bacon). Some of The State skits failed and weren't very funny but that is a function of their willingness to try anything which has become a rare thing. They also had constraints that Mr. Show didn't because they were on basic cable and Mr. Show was on HBO without any censors.

Don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of Mr. Show and I own all the DVD's but it was at times a little condescending and too "look at how smart and progressive we are". Bob and David used their show to exagerrate situations and show how ridiculous and stupid people are. They are funny just not as creative and groundbreaking as The State was.

So in conclusion
Mr. Show: very funny satiric sketch comedy show
The State: Underappreciated groundbreaking sketch comedy with unique skits and a great ensemble cast

Agree with 1. If you haven't seen seasons 3 and 4 of Mr. Show, you are missing out on some truly classic television.

Comparing Mr. Show to any other sketch comedy is not really fair to the other sketch comedy. Mr. Show was the funniest sketch show ever period. Like both the sketches, Pallies winds hands down.