Austin Stories

MTV made one of the biggest mistakes in t.v. history when they cancelled Austin Stories. If Austin Stories had been given time to build an audience it could have been a long running, award winning hit. Seinfeld had already proven that it was possible for a quirky, low key comedy to become a hit.

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!

Ever since Richard Linklater's "Slacker", audiences have come to know the Texas capital as a haven for offbeat, over-educated underachievers. The three main characters in this youth oriented sitcom - Howard, Laura, and Chip - are all talented stand-up comedians who made the transition to acting rather effortlessly.

The way the writers captured their comraderie and the unique Austin ambiance was note-perfect. The series' brand of comedy was low-key, but intelligent, and amazingly true to life. The off-the-wall dialogue and screwy, convoluted plot lines made this show a winner. Even though it was not renewed by MTV, Comedy Central would do well to resurrect this series.

There were also plenty of memorable supporting characters. Richard Edson as Howard's brother was a notable addition in the last episode. And I'd love to see more of everybody's favorite, Tina the Goth Girl.

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!