'Ben Stiller Show' Ripples and Reverberations

6:00 AM PDT 10/25/2011 by Jay A. Fernandez

Much of the writing, directing, producing and performing talent that the then-27-year-old Stiller attracted to work on his shows went on to sustained careers in TV and film.

Before he was a $20 million movie star, Ben Stiller was an ambitious writer, director and producer creating his own material. After making a few popular comedy shorts and scoring a brief stint on Saturday Night Live, Stiller got his first major forums with the short-lived MTV sketch series The Ben Stiller Show in 1990 and a Fox version of the same name that ran for 13 episodes in 1992-93. After the second show was canceled, the writing staff, which included Judd Apatow, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, won an Emmy. Much of the writing, directing, producing and performing talent that the then-27-year-old Stiller attracted to work on the shows went on to sustained careers in TV and film that produced additional milestones in the genre.