Review of 2-17-1996 episode (MD-114; some spoilers)

This review can also be found at:

        http://www.nic0lesullivan.org/md114.txt

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Opening Segment: The cast is in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. They are
on a balcony and Mary Scheer is picking fights with passers-by. This
was OK.

Happy News Network: This is about a news program in which the news
anchors (Phil Lamarr, Mary Scheer) put a positive spin on all news
stories - for example, the Unabomber blowing up the Astrodome is good
news because many of the sports fans killed were probably alcoholics
and wife-beaters. This is a somewhat offbeat segment, but it works
for me; I particularly liked Dave Herman's prototypical bow-tied
wacky weatherman. This was a funny segment, though not "best of"
material.

Michael Jackson Infomercial: Michael Jackson (Phil Lamarr) is hawking
his new video, "Maintain the Fame," which he purports will tell would-be
superstars how to maintain the public's interest once one becomes famous.
The key to his method? "To be a star, be bizarre" - because nothing
keeps a fickle public's attention more than bizarre behavior. This segment
will undoubtedly resonate with anyone who has even only casually
observed such megastars as Michael Jackson and Madonna. In the parody,
Jackson asserts that it's when you can go years without people respecting
you as an artist that you have become a celebrity - obviously this is
a reference to Jackson's creative decline in recent years. Most of
the insults aimed at Jackson were right on target. Moreover, makeup
did an excellent job in making Lamarr look like Jackson, which enhances
this segment's credibility. As the first appearance of Lamarr as Michael
Jackson, this segment gets things off to a good start.

Wannabe Grilling: Two teenagers from Malibu (Nicole Sullivan, Dave Herman)
are arrested under the Wannabe Act - looking and acting black - and
the policeman (Orlando Jones) on duty exposes them to White Chocolate
(Brian Austin Green from "Beverly Hills 90210"), which is enough to
make them want to give up the act and flee for the friendly confines
of Neiman Marcus. Overall this was a somewhat mundane sketch, although
it is funny to see Sullivan and Herman speaking black slang. Brian Austin
Green didn't add much to the sketch; he didn't do any better than, for
example, Bryan Callen could have done, although some people may have
tuned in just to see Brian Austin Green, so it may have been justified
in that sense. This was not one of the more memorable sketches.

Rude Lady: A female passenger (Mary Scheer) on a plane is rude to
fellow passengers (Dave Herman, Bryan Callen), including a man with
a neck brace (Herman) - whom she physically assaults - and to a
flight attendant (Nicole Sullivan). Finally, the plane crashes, and
two weeks later, she is still in her seat (at the site of the crash),
feasting on a human's leg (presumably a fellow passenger), and complaining
to the stewardess (who is nowhere to be seen) that the meat is gamey.
This was a cut above average; Scheer essentially dominates the sketch
with her portrayal of this odious woman, and resisting the temptation
to give a performance that is over the top but instead injecting just
the right amount of neuroticism into the character. This was a good take
on something that is more or less a stock theme in sketch comedy (rude
people).

Spy vs. Spy - Hairdryer: The Black Spy kills the White Spy with a gun hidden
in the White Spy's hairdryer. This was good.

Davey and the Son of Goliath: This is a parody of those "Davey and Goliath"
claymation shorts; here, Davey's dog (Goliath) tells him to kill lovers
in parked cars (just like Son of Sam, hence the title "Son of Goliath."
Of course we learn that his dog telling him to kill these people is just
Davey's excuse for his deviant behavior. In the end Davey gets his
comeuppance and gets sentenced to life in prison, but before the end
of the segment, Goliath materializes and tells him to cleanse the prison.
"Davey and Goliath" is a viable target for parody - my friends always
used to talk about how having a dog that talks sounds cool, until you
see this show. [Davey: "Goliath, let's go throw eggs at cars!" Goliath:
"Uh, we shouldn't do that Davey. We should stay inside and pray."] Since
in the show Goliath is essentially the voice of his conscience, having
Goliath instead tell him to kill people is an interesting twist on the
"Davey and Goliath" formula. And it doesn't hurt that the claymation
figures all look essentially like the original claymation figures from
the show, overall Quackenbush did an excellent job at replicating the
look and feel of the original show. This was the second Corky Quackenbush
animated segment (the first was "Raging Rudolph"), and it's a noteworthy
effort.

The Instigator: Two friends (Dave Herman, Orlando Jones) are having
a discussion about whether "Casino" was too long, and a third friend
(Bryan Callen) intervenes to "break it up." Even though they were having
a civil discussion up to then, soon Callen has them at each others
throats - just by trying to avert the fight. [The humor here is derived
from the fact that Callen, by anticipating the fight, makes it a
self-fulfilling prophecy, as the other two protagonists soon see a conflict
where there was none.] This was pretty good sketch comedy, especially
since it relies on nothing more than three people talking to each other.
This will especially be appreciated by those who like the sketches
that are more conversational and less visual. This sketch is brief, too,
so it doesn't last any longer than is needed to make its point.

Sports Injury: A sports fan (Artie Lange), whose body is painted blue
and yellow - presumably the colors of his favorite team - and who has
a multicolored afro, goes to the doctor (Orlando Jones), seeking a
diagnosis of his ailment. The doctor checks his reflexes (hitting
the left knee elicits a "Whoaaaa!" and hitting the right knee elicits
a "Defense!") and quickly realizes what is wrong: "Chuck, you're an
assh*le." This was one of the few times this word was used on the show,
and it works with devastating effect: this punch line is the funniest
thing in the show up to this point, and Lange's characterization of
the prototypical sports fan, including the working-class accent (you
know the type - "throw" is pronounced "trow", etc.) and his insouciant
attitude towards his family (he'll call them at halftime with the bad
news) is perfect. This was the best sketch in the show so far.

Coffee House: A guy (Bryan Callen) meets his girlfriend (Nicole Sullivan)
at a Starbucks-type coffee house to tell her she should move in with him.
Instead, she dumps him. What is funny is that the guy, now thoroughly
wired due to the large amount of coffee he has been drinking, grows more
insistant that he and his girlfriend were made for each other, which only
causes his (now ex-) girlfriend to state even more adamantly that their
relationship is over. On paper this would seem like a fairly
pedestrian sketch, but the performances of Callen and Sullivan here
(especially Callen, with his somewhat manic performance) help bring the
sketch to life. This deserves a solid thumbs up.

Don Martin - Beach Ball Boy: A hunk gives mouth-to-mouth to a boy
on a beach; instead of becoming revived, the boy instead becomes a
bloated, rotund entity, and the others use him as a beach ball. This
was not bad.

Good Cop - Bad Cop: Two cops (Artie Lange, Dave Herman) are interrogating
a suspect (Orlando Jones); in an effort to break him, they try the
"good cop, bad cop" routine, but the suspect is no fool and tells them
he knows what they're doing. Then they try different variations on this
theme - e.g. "confused cop, naseous cop" and "Jackie Gleason cop, Ricardo
Montalban cop" but to no avail - the suspect is a career criminal and he
knows them all. Frustrated, the cops begin beating up the suspect, which
only causes him to refer to them as "cop who hits like my grandmother" and
"cop who's barely hurting me." This was a funny and well-scripted sketch;
Herman and Lange here have a certain synergy as a comedy duo and it shows
here as they go through a variety of ruses to try to trick Jones and as
they argue about the accuracy of their impressions. One might complain
that this sketch is partially an excuse for these two to ham it up, but
that would be nitpicking.

All About Whoopi: Whoopi Goldberg (herself) confronts a fan who looks
somewhat like her and who says that she wishes she was Whoopi. The real
Whoopi grants the fan her wish - and when another fan (Artie Lange) comes
in professing his love for Whoopi, the real Whoopi refers him to the fan
who looks like Whoopi; the fake Whoopi then runs away, pursued by the
fan. This wasn't that funny, and as with the appearance of Brian Austin
Green, it was a celebrity cameo that was largely wasted.

Don Martin - Tepee Guy: A cavalcade of people emerge from a crowded tepee,
including someone who was lodged in the roof. This was OK.

A brief clip of Goliath saying "You are now watching Mad TV," and...

UBS Guy - Wake: The UBS Guy (Phil Lamarr) attends the wake of the vice-
president of UBS, upsets the deceased's widow (Nicole Sullivan), and
tries to talk another executive (Debra Wilson) into making him dispatcher.
The UBS Guy was a rare creature: a recurring character that never fell
into a rut. I don't think there was any UBS Guy sketch that was just the
UBS Guy going through the motions; it helps that he didn't have any
catch phrases like any of the other recurring characters. This sketch
expands somewhat on the character presented in the original sketch; in
the first sketch, he hits on a married woman, here, he confirms the
suspicion we had that this guy just doesn't get it by asking for a
promotion at a wake. This sketch was somewhat better than the original
sketch; again, Lamarr's performance gives it a slight edge.

Odds and Evens - The Movie: In the tradition of "Rock, Paper,
Scissors," it's "Odds and Evens," with Dennis Hopper and Clint Eastwood.
This was OK; the impressions were pretty good, and though it wasn't the
most brilliant idea, the segment was very short.

Disruptive Waitress: A man (Artie Lange) wants to propose to his
girlfriend (Mary Scheer), but the waitress (Nicole Sullivan) keeps
interrupting them. Then, when they're ready to order, the waitress
ignores them, complaining that she only has two hands. This is the
type of short, simple sketch that has become less prevalent on "Mad
TV" now that the show's budget has been cut and the producers have
ditched shorter segments in favor of longer ones. And although this
wasn't an exceptional sketch, there is something to be admired in these
brief sketches that work from a simple premise, deliver the punch
line and then move on; some of the more recent sketches don't even have
this limited appeal.

Closing Segment: The cast says farewell from New Orleans. Mary Scheer
is thrown off a fourth story balcony. This was OK.
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This episode was not as good as either of the previous two episodes,
but still had a lot of good material, some of which could easily find
its way into a "best of" compilation (such as the Michael Jackson parody).
The difference here is that there was also a lot of mediocre material,
like the Brian Austin Green and Whoopi Goldberg segments, which causes
the show to drag a bit. One of the positive elements of the show is
that Artie Lange returns to the show for the first time in several weeks -
and his return is not trivial, since two of the three sketches in which
he appears are excellent. Having the cast on location at Mardi Gras
didn't really add anything to the show; I'm not sure what the
producers were aiming for with this. [7/10]

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