''Austin Stories'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

that aired on MTV from September 10, 1997 until January 7, 1998. It aired Wednesday nights at 10:30 pm. The show aired twelve episodes filmed on location in Austin,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. An MTV search brought executives James Jones and Lisa Berger to Austin in 1994. Jones had previously produced ''

The Ben Stiller Show ''The Ben Stiller Show'' is an American sketch comedy series that aired on MTV from 1990 to 1991, and then on Fox from September 27, 1992, to January 17, 1993. The Fox program starred Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Janeane Garofalo and Bob Odenkirk. ...

'' and Berger was vice-president and director of development at the network. MTV scouts were drawn to the city's emerging comedy scene and noticed Laura House, Howard Kremer and Brad "Chip" Pope. They were all discovered at a showcase for MTV at the Laff Stop for professional comics. All three had to pull strings to get on the showcase as none of them had been paid for their comedy. House was a junior high journalism teacher when she was cast on the show. Both she and Brad "Chip" Pope were

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

graduates. Originally, the show was only guaranteed 13 episodes on the channel. In March 1997, MTV flew House, Kremer and Pope to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

to write two scripts in three days. ''Austin Stories'' was green-lighted on March 20, 1997, and they often spent 16-hour days working on the show with taping wrapping in November. Their contract expired on May 8, 1998, and MTV extended it for three more weeks before permanently canceling the show on June 1, 1998.

Cast

*Laura House *

Howard Kremer Howard Michael Kremer (born February 3, 1971), also known by his stage name Dragon Boy Suede and his nicknames H. Michael Kre and Howie Michael Motorcycle, is an American comedian and comedic rapper. Howard Kremer is the host of the '' Who Char ...

*Brad "Chip" Pope * Heather Kafka

Episodes

Response

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' gave the show three-and-a-half stars out of four and called it, "one of the season's coolest, funniest and most genuinely offbeat treats." In her review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', Caryn James wrote, "With its meandering style, and its sense of wry comic absurdities rather than yuck-it-up one-liners, the series owes almost everything to Richard Linklater's ''

Slacker A slacker is someone who habitually avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term ''slacker'' dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the British Gezira Scheme in the early ...

'' (including their shared Austin setting). What it hasn't got from that film it owes to Jim Jarmusch's work, especially '' Stranger Than Paradise''. But instead of seeming derivative, ''Austin Stories'' comes across as a first-rate sequel, proof that this laid-back sensibility can thrive on television as well as in films."

References

External links

* * {{MTVNetwork Shows 1990s American single-camera sitcoms 1997 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings English-language television shows Mass media in Austin, Texas MTV original programming Television shows filmed in Texas Television shows set in Austin, Texas

Cast

Episodes

Response

See also

References

External links