Upright Citizens Brigade
Upright Citizens Brigade
TV-14 | 19 August 1998 (USA)
SEASON & EPISODES
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • Reviews
    Josh D

    First, I want to say that this review is opinion only. In fact, EVERYTHING you read on this site (at least, the fan comments portion) is opinion only. Try to remember that a show that may be "da bomb" to one person may just "bomb" to another. I'm not going to demand that you watch the show, or that you don't watch the show. Why? Because I understand that all you're looking for is an opinion, and that you are (like myself) probably laughing your asses off at the posters that are yelling, "YOU GOTTA WATCH THIS!" or "THIS BLOWS CHUNKS! WATCH IT AND DIE!" That being said: Upright Citizens Brigrade was a short-lived (3-season) show on Comedy Central, based on the improv sketch comedy of a team of comedians who started in Chicago, but now operate their own improv theater in New York. The sketches themselves are probably best-described as "bizarre to the extreme" - or, in more laymen's terms, "seriously f***** up". It's been compared as an American "Monty Python's Flying Circus" or "The Kids in the Hall".I found the show to be incredibly funny. The humor, again, is off-color and off-kilter at times, and I can admit that it would not be palatable to all people - not even to all sketch-comedy fans. The gimmicks are quirky and can delve into sometimes-touchy subjects in an unusual manner, but I find this refreshing. As has been previously stated, each episode is made up of a series of seemingly-unrelated sketches that culminate in a final sketch that wraps up all the stories (usually in an appropriately strange manner; you know a show is weird when a town hall/church blasts off on rocket boosters, taking the alien dolphin threat with it).I have seen most of season 1 and quite a bit of seasons 2 and 3, and wish that Comedy Central would bring the show back regularly. If your humor tastes run toward the highly bizarre, give it a shot; if you don't like it, then say so. But do us all a favor and don't play television God, and demand that everyone sees it immediately/doesn't see it at all - or at least know that I'll be laughing at your stupidity.

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    oldskoolgeek

    An absolutely hilarious sketch comedy series that followed in the foot steps of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" and "Kids in the Hall" where being absurd is a large part of being funny. The show was smart, fresh and well written with a seamless conclusion at the end of each episode where all the sketches would come together. Unfortunately, the show was too funny for the average Comedy Central viewer (who worshiped stale fart jokes from "South Park") and it was canceled. Thanks to a large fan base season 1 was released in 2003, but Comedy Central (currently the home of 24/7 reruns of Mad-TV) has not mentioned any plans to release the following two seasons.

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    wolf008

    UCB was sketch comedy at a new level, especially when compared to the banality of the modern bit show. The writers and cast presented skits that other productions would have disregarded as too "sophisticated", or just too unorthodox. In doing so, I feel they explored the limits of sketch comedy and brought us closer to the edge of the surreal, better than any comedy production today. The "Brigade" is bent on causing chaos everywhere they venture to, and they do not disappoint. From Santa forcing a man to take sample of his "Santa Liquor", to an authoritarian school bus driver, crushing a children's revolution with her backside.Now, the dialog was very suggestive and risqué at times, but the writing is non the less very creative. I feel that it is necessary to ignore the sometimes superfluous vulgarity's in order to "get" this show, particularly if you have dismissed it for being too odious. The UCB, in their creativeness and witty verbiage, have heavily diluted the crudeness to which a story is presented. I guess this is comparative to another comedy central production, "South Park", where you just have to ignore or look beyond what offends you, to appreciate what really is being presented to us. Most important the UCB was there to entertain, and cause us laughter, and this they did with alacrity.It ended it's run in 2000, and is still missed 6 years later.

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    nunyerbiz

    I do like UCB more than I don't... but I can definately see why it was cancelled.They tried to be an 'American Monty Python' but without the odd and unique british charm that the aforementioned possessed. While I can't claim to be a UCB junkie, I did watch it quite often during it's time as the "after South Park" showcase show for Comedy Central (and there's only been about 118 of those).Granted, they had some great sketches, but then again so did SNL during the Robert Downey Jr year. To my average, middle class, midwestern mind it was far to uneven to get attached to. Once it left the post-South Park time slot it lost me as a viewer. That's probably why it was cancelled... once it left South Park, it didnt have enough viewers who gave a damn to follow it around the CC schedule.To conclude, I thought the show had definate promise. I laughed more than I didn't. However, I believe that UCB was too inconsistent to survive without it's powerhouse 'South Park' lead in....

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