Strangers with Candy

When I first saw Strangers with Candy back in 1999, I was appalled. First of all I could hardly look at the character of Jerri Blank without wanting to vomit. But after finally giving it a chance I fell in love with the show. It's genius! Drugs, eating disorders, death of a parent, peer pressure, premarital sex...SWC is like Beverly Hills 90210 on acid (fashioning itself off of cheesy afterschool specials). The cast was great, the writing flawless. It sucks that this show was so underrated while it was on the air.

Words cannot explain Strangers with Candy. You need to see it to believe it and even then you'll be scratching your head in disbelief (while laughing your ass off of course).

The premise is that of a sick and twisted after school special from hell where all of the wrong lessons are learned. (Great one from Jellineck – `if you're going to smoke marijuana you have to be prepared to spend a lot of time laughing with your friends').

It is one of the smartest, subversive and exhilaratingly un-pc shows ever. It a makes fun of authority figures, the handicapped, minorities and that's just for starters. Each episode is crammed with one-liners and sight gags so numerous they'll make your head spin.

It's all in the delivery, folks. Principal Blackman (Gregory Hollimon), Noblet (Steven Colbert) and Jellineck (Paul Dinello) are all pitch perfect. In the hands of lesser talents these jokes would fall flat. The show has huge laughs. The entire Hit & Run episode comes to mind, as does the scene in The Virgin Jerri when Drake removes Jerri's toe separator from her filthy feet and sniffs it lustily or when Jerri recites the poem Packing a Musket to the class.

I could go on and on but just trust me - you HAVE to watch this show.

Stranger's With Candy has such a funny premise, and a highly un-believable one that you just have see it to believe it. I loved this series, bravo for Comedy Central to show it. In some respects it was like a very warped after school special but mixed in were themes of older adults trying to attend 'school', to compete against youngsters, and re-live a hey-day they never had in the first place.

Jeri is a character that is trying to get her life back ontrack, and at her age, she went right back to the beginning, the high school she dropped out of. Oh -- gosh-- how funny it would be to see ANY of the high school drop outs decide to go back after 15, 20, 25 years of leaving and to RE-LIVE that horror all over again!!!

This series was funny, bittersweet, and yes, more like a warped after school special but the question "Strangers With Candy" asked that we all should be asking is:

"Do I set my work aspirations higher or do I chose to work at the plastic flower plant plant like everyone else?"

I remember this show with great fondness, and am happy to see it is arriving on DVD -- plus the feature length movie version will hit screens this summer! What more could one ask for, except maybe a fantasy sequence where Jeri turns into the incredibly cute Amy Sedaris while she's making love to a classmate, male or female or both at once. It seems like a century ago since this was on the air. Look at how far Mr. Colbert has come in what is actually a relatively short period of time. As for Amy, check out her IMDb page and see how lovely she looks in real life. And this is a middle-aged woman! Why couldn't all middle-aged women look like this?

many people fail to see the brilliance in strangers with candy.it is an extremely funny show.there are also a lot of subtle jokes or references that may go above the viewers head but if gotten, are hilarious.

there could'nt be a better cast for SWC. they are all talented,funny individuals who also come up with some of the script and often improvise certain lines that turn out as if planned.

the show requires an open sense of humor. those who lack that open humor might find some of the material offensive. what they need to realize is that the writers are not white supremist or hateful ignorant racist and there intent is not to come off in that light. rather, there intent is to be comedic and that is plain to see. all in all, i believe strangers with candy is one of the best shows thats been aired.