Austin Stories

This is an addition to an old review of mine (original below, starting with "This Show....")

I just bought the entire series on DVD from a guy on Ebay, so I've now seen all the episodes fresh (I had some on tape, but made the mistake of lending one of the tapes to a hot chick, who decided I didn't need it back--long story and I'm no longer bitter, so let's just drop it. Damn her fine ass...). Anyway, I felt that I must reiterate my previous statements and add that my recent revisiting of the show just amazed me. It was obviously halfway between a slick network sitcom and something by very, very talented amateurs. But even given its very low budget (Hey, MTV was even more cheapass a decade ago) this is one of the top five sitcoms of the Ninties. I mean, right out of the gate with the first episode, each character, all the locations, the situations, the relationships--everything--was perfectly realized. The show didn't start slow and then finally catch it's groove like many do--Austin Stories was gold from episode one and never lost a step over its short 12 ep run. I still find it amazing that the major players in this endeavor haven't hit it big by now. I think most of them are making a living--Laura House is listed as a staff writer for "Blue Collar TV" for example--but I thought Chip, Howie, Chloe, Quentin, Mark, and at least some of the rest would have broken into something big by now. All so talented. And the writing was so great on the show. Reminds me of my younger days (though I was never as cool or dorky as any of the characters, I knew others who were). I still say this show needs a revival, dammit! If freakin' "Strangers With Candy" can be on Comedy Central every five minutes, why not "Austin Stories"? To sum up--if I won the lottery and suddenly had 20 or 30 million, one of the things I'd do is buy the rights to this show (before MTV knew how much money I had) and put it out on disc. Then I'd do my best to hire the cast and writers (esp Howie, Chip, and Laura, of course) and produce a sequel series--the Austin Stories kids all grown up. I'd let them work out how their characters would have developed over the years. I have a real affection for the characters and I'd love to see what they'd been up to.

Original review:

This show needs to be revived by Comedy Central or some other outlet. We need to see the reruns and then we need a sequel series following the exploits of Laura, Chip, Howard, and Quentin, et al. I can not wait for the inevitable VHS/DVD release that will come when one of these brilliant young people finally hits it huge. If anyone out there has VHS copies of these old shows, I'd be willing to barter/trade/share the episodes I have.

Thanks!

One of the first series created for MTV in their move away from music videos and produced by James Jones and Lisa Berger, of which Jones had also produced the previous Ben Stiller Show for MTV before it moved Fox, and would be MTV's first sitcom on the channel. We follow 3 friends and young adults in Austin, Texas as they just go about life generally. MTV went about finding some local comedian talent who all served as the main characters and writers on the show, we have Laura House, a journalist for a local paper, Howard Kremer, the homeless friend always getting into trouble, and Brad Pope, the awkward dweeb still living with his ex-girlfriend as she dates new men. No episodes have any throughline plots other than the characters themselves, all of which were great, instead we just follow the three in their on-goings, like retrieving an impounded car, writing a story about the new local sex club, or hosting a house party on the hottest day of the summer. Produced cheaply, all filmed on location in Austin, the series is quite funny, and again I loved the writing, however unfortunately cancelled suddenly after a single season of 12 episodes. I think this could have gone somewhere if given the time, its honestly an underrated gem. Unfortunately a bit difficult to find outside its DVD, I'd recommend finding however you can. I really liked it and wish there was more, so if you'd like a short mundane sitcom about young adults just trying to figure it out, yeah, was good.

This show was kind of like a low key Seinfeld for a younger generation. It was truely one of the best things to come out of MTV. It was smart, funny, and freakishly honest. But God forbid people would watch one of the GOOD shows on MTV. I taped five or six of the episodes,(stupidly thinking it would be on the air long enough for me to get all of them someday) but I still miss it greatly. If i had it my way it would go into at least reruns, but we all know that will never happen.

Austin Stories was one of the funniest and most original shows on TV. The exploits of Chip, Howard, and Laura continue to make me laugh every time I pop in one of my old vhs copies of it. I'm excited to see that Howard is now a standup comedian getting some national acclaim. Haven't seen anything from Chip or Laura, but hopefully they're finding success as well.

I'm still looking for the 12th episode (Howard's Brother) if anyone has it for trade..I have all of the other ones and would love having the complete set!

"Austin Stories" follows in a less-traveled comedy tradition of quietly delightful programs. These use appealing characters who, through misunderstanding, a misplaced eagerness to be of assistance, or unfortunate happenstance, find themselves caught up in awful situations that can often be downright hilarious. The ancient TV program, "Mr. Peepers," which starred, among others, Wally Cox and Tony Randall, was probably the first and best of these shows. Like "Mr. Peepers" and the still-missed "WKRP in Cincinnati," the performers are mostly amiable and young, some of them slated for fame, but the majority never to be heard from again.The problem with shows like this is that they don't rely too heavily on exaggeration or grotesquerie. Result: their wispiness can get mistaken for wimpiness. So while "Austin Stories" adroitly stays away from twee and cuteness,its easy-going tone can puzzle the viewer looking for slam-dunk jokes and in-your-face humor. It never did find its audience, but, then again, it probably never looked too hard.