For 30 absurd episodes, Comedy Central’s “Strangers With Candy” reigned as one of television’s most entertaining offerings.

The series was conceived as a parody of after-school specials like “Angel Dusted” and told the story of Jerri Blank, played by Amy Sedaris, a former drug addict and prostitute reentering high school 30 years after dropping out as a teen.

The ensemble cast was lead by “The Daily Show” correspondent Stephen Colbert as unsympathetic teacher Chuck Noblet and Paul Dinello as art teacher Geoffrey (pronounced “Joffrey”) Jellineck.

As fast as it came, it was gone: swept away in a series finale packed with guest stars, final hurrahs and a burning high school.

Unbeknownst to many, the team of Sedaris, Colbert and Dinello had worked together before “Strangers” in Chicago’s Second City cast, on the short-lived sketch show “Exit 57” and in a series of short films by Dinello and his uncle Dan, a professor at Columbia College. To those who have witnessed them, “Wheels of Fury,” “Shock Asylum,” and “Beyond the Door,” released under Shock Productions, stand as relics of the great comedic offerings the 1990s had to offer. It is nothing short of a crime that the general public has been deprived of them.

As for the future? Paul Dinello is currently writing a book with Amy Sedaris and a script for Miramax with Stephen Colbert. Dinello and Colbert, along with David Pasquesi, have written a feature film that is slated to be shot this spring with Sedaris.

Now, nyou takes a look back at the short films that are the least-known of the trio’s work.

Beyond the Door (1995)

A film by: Dan Dinello, Paul Dinello

Starring: Paul Dinello, Stephen Colbert, Jodi Lennon

“Beyond the Door” is the story of a priest (P. Dinello) who, after letting his lust get the best of him, causes an old woman to get crushed to death by a giant church door. Traumatized by the event, the priest develops a fear of doors. The priest’s only hope lies in the door-savvy talents of a local doorman (Colbert). According to Dan Dinello, the idea for having a doorman act as the mentor and healing figure came intuitively. He says, “who would be someone the priest might look to as a savior or therapist to overcome the (door) phobia?”

“Beyond the Door” was filmed in Chicago, and is full of local scenery for the keen of eye to catch. The bulk of the film takes place in Grant Park and on Ogden St.

Shock Asylum (1997)

A film by: Dan Dinello, Paul Dinello

Written by: Stephen Colbert, Dan Dinello, Paul Dinello

Starring: Paul Dinello, Stephen Colbert, Jodi Lennon

There is nothing wrong with Mr. Gaxton (P. Dinello)… or is there? If he’s perfectly sane, why would he be locked up in Phrenia State Sanitarium? And more importantly, why would Dr. Dewalt (Colbert) be so determined to drill a hole in his head?

In this vicious take on the psychiatric community, the Mr. Gaxton’s routine psychiatric examination quickly turns into a game of cat-and-mouse as the crazed Dr. Dewalt attempts to help Mr. Gaxton “get healthy” through whatever means necessary. Dan Dinello insists that “‘Shock Asylum’ is meant to be social criticism towards the psychiatric profession.”

Wheels of Fury (1998)

A film by: Dan Dinello, Paul Dinello, Mitch Rouse

Written by: Stephen Colbert, Dan Dinello, Paul Dinello, Mitch Rouse, Amy Sedaris

Starring: Amy Sedaris, Mitch Rouse, Paul Dinello

Flanked by her familiar overbite, “Strangers” star Sedaris is Pepper, a wheelchair-bound Marshal who roams the wild west in pursuit of the villainous Colin Boils (Rouse). Joining forces with the upbeat Dusty Bits (P. Dinello), Pepper journeys across the wilderness in a tale of revenge, romance, and empowerment that skewers the spaghetti westerns of the mid-1960s. “Fury” is the most polished and award-winning of the three films.

Filmmaker Dan Dinello hints that the moral of the story could be interpreted as one of empowerment and perseverance. He says that the moral (thought of after-the-fact and not a guide to the actual filmmaking) is that “women are just as courageous and violent as men, determination and persistance overcomes all handicaps (and) evil lurks everywhere and hurts even the good at heart.” nyou

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