The State has been heavily promoted by devoted fans of the series for a DVD release, but MTV has apparently remained hesitant to distribute the show. One of the most notable delays in the release of the series was that the troupe used many popular songs as background music in the original broadcast versions of nearly every episode. The State was produced during a period when MTV had deals with various record labels, via which the network could easily use many songs that had a video aired on the network in their original programming without having to pay royalties to the labels; The State heavily used popular music as the background music for countless sketches. Due to the large royalty fees each company would likely demand, the soundtrack as originally aired would have cost many times the amount than video sales would recoup, and The State was forced to re-record much of the backing music with soundalike songs. The first season of The State, digitally re-mastered along with a new musical score, was made available on Apples iTunes store on September 26, 2006. Several episodes have recently been made available on Amazon Unbox as well as the Xbox Live Marketplace. The State themselves said that MTV would be watching sales closely and releasing further seasons if the demand warrants it. On May 18, 2007, during the 24-hour Human Giant marathon on MTV, Michael Showalter announced that a DVD set containing the entire series would be released by MTV sometime this year. He stated the set would contain every episode (some re-scored), commentaries, extras, and some sketches that never made it to the air. A new sketch was produced for promotion of the new release. The State's official website reported in November that the DVD set was completed, but that their distributor, MTV, has chosen not to release the set at this time. We don't know why. As of January 29, 2008, Michael Showalter has confirmed that MTV is still delaying the release: They have it. We've made the DVD, and it exists. It's out of our hands, and I know who has it, but I don't know why they're waiting... we've done the commentary and the deleted material and all that stuff, but I just don't know when it's coming out. The State's official FAQ currently states: There is NO WAY to get any episodes of The State on tape, unless you trade with other fans or buy bootlegs on eBay. The only other recourse is to beg MTV to rerun the show or to release episodes on video. Try writing MTV Home Video, 1515 Broadway, NY NY 10036, or MTV Programming Dept, same address. Or write to Comedy Central, 1775 Broadway, NYC, 10019.

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