Less than Stellar show

The Stella shorts are hilarious: A couple dozen absurd short films by David Wain, Michael Ian Black, and Michael Showalter, in which the three run around in suits playing with dildos, simulating gay sex, and sing and goof around. Sadly, the show couldn't capture the freshness and absurdity of the shorts. \nDuring a long documentary about the history of Stella comedy, the three stars say the studio asked them if they could be funny without all the dildo jokes prevalent in their skits. They shrug and say, "Not really." They're right. \nWhat started as a three-man stand-up routine in New York and gained steam as a series of short skits on the Internet became a half hour show on Comedy Central. Even big Stella fans like me and my friends who loved the skits avoided this show, and it was canceled after 10 episodes. \nThe creative minds behind the hilarious movie "Wet Hot American Summer" and the cult series "The State" get some laughs in Stella, but it's uneven and mostly nonsensical. \nThe pilot involves the three boys becoming homeless, wearing disguises to get their apartment back and performing open heart surgery on their landlord with a butter knife and ladle. He dies, but it's OK: We find out he was a Nazi war criminal. The boys are rewarded with a wicker basket and three months free rent. \nOther ridiculous plot points are wild and sound funny but, often, just come across as weird. The three suit-clad characters wear black face to cover up scars they got from bullies taking over their paper route. They go hunting and, Dick Cheney-style, shoot and kill the guy with whom they're hunting and eat him. \nThere are a couple strong episodes stuck in here - "Coffee Shop" and "Campaign" come to mind - but in general the series has fantastical plots that might shock, but have no real value. \nThe history of Stella documentary is interesting but runs long at 45 minutes. The bloopers are moderately funny, but the commentaries are mostly stale. \nCheck out the short films online for free at Youtube, and re-watch "Wet Hot American Summer." There's a reason it took a decade to get this show on the air. It's not worth the half hour treatment.