Summary

One in a series of seminars presented by The Paley Center for Media in New York. This seminar hosts a 20th anniversary reunion of the cast and producers of "The Ben Stiller Show," a series of comedy shows hosted by Ben Stiller, with ensemble cast members Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo, and Bob Odenkirk. Host Pat Mitchell (president and C.E.O., The Paley Center for Media) offers opening comments before bringing moderator Judd Apatow (producer/director, "The Ben Stiller Show," "Knocked Up," "Get Him to the Greek") to the stage. Apatow moderates the following panelists: series creator/writer/cast member Ben Stiller; writers Jeff Kahn and Rob Cohen; and cast members Janeane Garofalo and Andy Dick. Writer Bob Odenkirk also joins the panel via Skype. The panelists touch on such topics as: Stiller's background in comedy and his early stand-up work with Kahn; Stiller's first short film and how it got mainstream exposure; how the panelists met each other during their youth, including Dick's early live comedy work with Odenkirk; Garofalo's comedy background and her first meeting with Stiller; Cohen's background as a writer for "The Simpsons"; the original premise of "The Ben Stiller Show" and the numerous proposed iterations of the show's pilot; how the network felt about the show; Odenkirk and Stiller's experiences working on "Saturday Night Live" and how "The Ben Stiller Show" proved to be a drastically different work environment; the show's penchant for obscure cultural points of reference; an incident during the show's production in which Dick and Kahn had a "showdown" to determine who could do a better impression of filmmaker Woody Allen; a number of humorous anecdotes concerning Dick's fascination with health food during the show's tenure; Odenkirk's temper and sensibilities as a writer for the show; the genuine friendship that the cast felt for each other; Garofalo and Cohen's recently-dissolved marriage to each other, which was originally intended as a joke; the panelists on using the show as an outlet to meet and work with a number of celebrities such as Adam West, Priscilla Presley, and Danny Bonaduce; the show's sudden cancellation; the level of creative freedom and enjoyment the panelists were afforded on the show; and the panelists' careers following the show's run. Clips from "The Ben Stiller Show" are interspersed throughout, including: a sketch featuring a version of "Lassie" featuring the Manson family; a sketch featuring Stiller's impression of rock star Bruce Springsteen; an Amish daytime tabloid show sketch; "Skank," a sketch parodying the Fox channel; a fake trailer for "Cape Munster," a parody of "Cape Fear," featured on the first episode of the show; "The Grungies," a sketch featuring a grunge-rock version of The Monkees; a sketch entitled "Woody Allen's Bride of Frankenstein"; a sketch parodying the show "Melrose Place"; a fake trailer parodying the "Diehard" film series; a sketch revolving around a dramatic reenactment of a telephone call for directory assistance; a sketch parodying television commercial acting; and a sketch satirizing "theme restaurants" from the show's final episode.