Starring:
Amy Sedaris as Geraldine ‘Jerri’ Antonia Blank
Stephen Colbert as Charles ‘Chuck’ Noblet
Paul Dinello as Geoffrey Jellineck
Greg Hollimon as Principal Onyx Blackman
Sarah Thyre as Coach Cherri Wolf
Orlando Pabotoy as Orlando Pinatubo
Maria Thayer as Tammi Littlenut
Larc Spies as Derrick Blank
Mitch Rouse as Officer Savillion
Deborah Rush as Sara Blank
Chuck Caruso as Trake
Roberto Gari as Guy Blank
Matt Blumm as P-John
Dolores Duffy as Iris Puffybush
Jack Ferver as Jimmy Tickles
Special Features:
Commentary by: Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert and Paul Dinello (Old Habits, New Beginnings; A Burden’s Burden; Dreams on the Rocks; Bogie Nights; Behind Blank Eyes; The Goodbye Guy; The Blank Page; Hit and Run; The Last Temptation of Blank
30 episodes from the complete seasons 1, 2, and 3 on six discs
“The Trip Back” PSA
Original filmstrip presentation from Noblet and Jellineck
14 deleted scenes
Never-before-seen director’s cuts of Trail of Tears and Is My Daddy Crazy?
On-set interviews with Jerri Blank, Geoffrey Jellineck, Chuck Noblet, and Principal Blackman
Interview with artist Ward Sutton
44-minute interview with cast at The Museum of Television & Radio
Original unaired pilot
Blooper reel
Storyboard animation
Dance Sequence Compilation
Other Info:
Fullscreen
English Dolby 2.0 Surround
Running Time: 660 Minutes
Synopsis:
Strangers With Candy originally aired from 1999-2000. The following is from the DVD cover:
“Laugh, cry, and wince with all three seasons of this cult classic Strangers With Candy in this deluxe box set. Every beautiful, bewildering moment in 46-year-old former “user, loser, and boozer” Jerri Blank’s high school existence is here for you to watch over and over again. Revel in such events as the time Jerri grew a beard, her secret affair with the school jock, her hit-and-run incident, and all the various friends (and diseases) she picks up along the way!”
Strangers With Candy: The Complete Series is not rated.
Mini-Review:
I never watched Strangers With Candy when it first aired. I had a bit of a hard time getting past the hideous look of Jerri Blank, the lead character. Now having watched it on DVD, I still have trouble looking at the character, but I understand better why it’s a cult classic. It has off the wall humor, it pokes fun gleefully at after school specials, and it is at times quite vicious. However, I didn’t particularly care for it. The premise seemed like a Saturday Night Live skit that was dragged out for three seasons. And in between the truly original, funny moments, they relied too heavily on drug humor, sex humor, or jokes surrounding the fact that a 46 year old skank is now a high school freshman. Those jokes get old after a while. Despite this, the show managed to get some great guest stars including Winona Ryder, Will Ferrell, Tim Meadows, Ellen Pompeo, Andy Richter, Janeane Garofalo, Alan Tudyk, and more.
Fans of the TV series should be extremely happy with his DVD set. There are a ton of bonus features here including deleted scenes, episode commentaries, bloopers, and more. There’s also a 44 minute interview that took place at the Museum of Television & Radio. Throw in some alternate versions of episodes, cast and crew interviews, storyboard animation, and more and you have a lot to keep Candy fans happy.
If you like gross-out humor or sex and drug comedies, then Strangers With Candy is for you. This will also be the set to purchase as the movie version comes out in the near future. You’ll also get a kick out of the Trapper Keeper-like DVD case that it comes in.
