Austin Stories

Austin Stories is an American sitcom that aired on MTV from September 10, 1997, until January 7 1998.[2] It first aired on MTV on September 10, 1997,[3] and aired Wednesday nights at 10:30 pm.[4] The show aired twelve episodes filmed on location in Austin, Texas.

Austin Stories
Created byJames Jones[1]
StarringLaura House
Howard Kremer
Brad "Chip" Pope[2]
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes12
Production
Executive producerJames Jones
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time30 minutes
Release
Original networkMTV
Original releaseSeptember 10, 1997 (1997-09-10) –
January 7, 1998 (1998-01-07)

An MTV search brought executives James Jones and Lisa Berger to Austin in 1994.[5] Jones had previous produced The Ben Stiller Show 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.[5] Both she and Brad "Chip" Pope were University of Texas graduates. Originally, the show was only guaranteed 13 episodes on the channel.[5] In March 1997, MTV flew House, Kremer and Pope to Los Angeles to write two scripts in three days.[6] 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.[6]

Cast

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Rambling Prague Vest"TBATBASeptember 10, 1997 (1997-09-10)
2"I Want Candy"TBATBASeptember 17, 1997 (1997-09-17)
3"Suspicion"TBATBASeptember 24, 1997 (1997-09-24)
4"Stalker of a Sales Band"TBATBAOctober 1, 1997 (1997-10-01)
5"Cults"TBATBAOctober 8, 1997 (1997-10-08)
6"Party"TBATBAOctober 15, 1997 (1997-10-15)
7"Roots"TBATBAOctober 22, 1997 (1997-10-22)
8"Road Trip"TBATBANovember 5, 1997 (1997-11-05)
9"Chicks with Discs"TBATBANovember 12, 1997 (1997-11-12)
10"Austin Sex Stories"TBATBANovember 19, 1997 (1997-11-19)
11"The Story of Cereal"TBATBANovember 26, 1997 (1997-11-26)
12"My Brother's Creeper"TBATBANovember 26, 1997 (1997-11-26)

Response

USA Today 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."[7] In her review for The New York Times, 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 (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."[8]

See also

References
  1. Adalian, Josef (2002-08-22). "CBS hoping hicks click". Variety. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  2. Elizondo, Juan B. Jr. (1997-09-16). "MTV rocks into sitcoms with 'Austin Stories'". Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  3. "Cowboys Owner Assists Farm Aid". The Seattle Times. 1997-08-24. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  4. "AUSTIN, TEXAS, SETS THE MOOD FOR MTV SITCOM". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 1997-10-06. Archived from the original on 2012-11-03. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  5. Shakespeare, J. C. (1997-05-30). "Yo! MTV Laughs!: The Long, Strange Trip to TV for Three Austin Comics". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  6. Moser, Margaret (1998-06-04). "TV Eye". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  7. Roush, Matt (1997-09-10). "MTV takes up the slackers Absurdist Austin charms". USA Today. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  8. James, Caryn (1997-09-12). "Very Laid Back in Texas". The New York Times. Missing or empty |url= (help)
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