Blue Mountain State

Just as silly as the American Pie franchise and twice as raunchy, Spike TV's new gross-out comedy Blue Mountain State keeps audiences entertained even while forcing them to shield their eyes. The brainchild of Chris Romano and Eric Falconer (producers of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The Sarah Silverman Program), Blue Mountain State combines the blatant and audacious comedy of The Sara Silverman Program with the disunity between characters in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, all the while maintaining low-brow punch lines and over-the-top situational comedy.

Blue Mountain State follows the triumphs and failures of a fictional Division I college football team. The narrative closely follows Alex Moran (portrayed by Darin Brooks), the second-string quarterback who seeks the glory and perks of college football stardom minus the pressure, and Craig Shilo (portrayed by Sam Jones III), the straight-laced running back whose commitments lie with the team and his ultra-manipulative girlfriend. Throughout the series, we follow Alex Moran’s tireless existence in the overly stereotyped “college life” consisting of (but not limited to) sports, women, alcohol, drugs, partying and hazing. For comedic relief away from the already absurd behavior of all characters, Sammy Cacciatore (played by Chris Romano), also known as Mounty, the Mountain Goat Mascot, makes frequent appearances and is almost always on the search for women and alcohol.

Blue Mountain State makes absolutely no attempt at being sophisticated, and embraces the sheer raunchiness of all its episodes. As such, it is merely the gags that carry the show. As a narrative, there is little to no connection between one episode and the next, and there is certainly very little depth to any of the characters. Visually, the series maintains an interesting look, even on a cable budget, and manages to appear more cinematic than your run-of-the-mill sitcom.

Fast-paced and unavoidably in-your-face, Blue Mountain State succeeds and what it attempts to be; Animal House with far less class. If interpreted as a narrative sitcom with continuity between episodes and adequate character development, Blue Mountain State certainly fails to hold up, although this is most definitely something that the series avoids. The humor of Blue Mountain State exists in its willingness to sacrifice narrative elements for a humorous punch-line, and its ability to deliver sophomoric, sexually charged comedy on a consistent basis.

For a first season comedy series on Spike TV, Blue Mountain State abides by the “manly” sex, drugs and rock & roll theme that the network continually offers. While not the most profound comedy series, Blue Mountain State does manage to provide a relatively entertaining show through both highly provocative and highly suggestive material. Not that the show is anything to follow religiously, but its easy to hold onto when flipping through channels, even if you catch it mid-way through the episode.