Review of 3-9-1996 episode (MD-115; some spoilers)

This review can also be found at:

        http://www.nic0lesullivan.org/md115.txt

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Spishak Coffee and Doughnuts: Since coffee and doughnuts go together
so well, why not market them as a single product? That is the gist of
this segment - and when I say "a single product," I don't mean a cup
of coffee AND a doughnut, I mean coffee and doughnuts mixed together.
It is even more repugnant than it sounds; the visual element is key
as we see this amalgam of coffee and doughnuts, as well as similar
Spishak products - coffee and bagels, coffee and cigarettes, beer and
pretzels, lobster and butter, etc. This was one of the better Spishak
parodies - it wasn't quite up to the standard of excellence established
by the "Spishak Car Wax" parody but comes pretty close. We also get a
good performance by Dave Herman as the everyman whose life is vastly
improved by this revolutionary new Spishak product.

Opening Segment: The cast emerges to start the show (Orlando Jones is
wheeled out in a shopping cart). Artie Lange wants to talk about the
destruction of the rain forest, but the director cuts him off and we
move onto the next segment. This was about as funny as the average
opening segment, which is to say it was mildly funny.

Ink Blot: An artist (Orlando Jones) meets with a Senator (Dave Herman)
in order to secure federal funding for his art work, but the Senator
sees nothing but naked boys in the artist's seemingly innocuous ink
blots and paintings. Of course the art work is essentially unobjectionable,
and therein lies the irony of the sketch: this crusader against
pornography is apparently a pedophile himself. At the end of the sketch,
the Senator takes the art work and goes under the desk; I don't know whether
or not this is a reference to a certain auto-erotic technique. This
was included in the "Best of Season One" compilation, and while one
could argue whether or not this deserved inclusion, it definitely made
for one of the more memorable moments from the early "Mad TV." [Especially
Herman yelling "I AM NOT A PEDOPHILE!"] It's also a good example of the
early "Mad" doing a good job of handling political satire; this was
particularly good because after five years it doesn't seem dated (because
public funding of the arts is a topic which has generated controversy
for years and probably will continue to generate controversy for years to
come).

Lowered Expectations - Rick #1: "Im Rick. That's all I need to say." Phil
Lamarr makes his first appearance as Rick, a character that would serve
him well for a full five seasons. Rick is so confident that he'll be
inundated with phone calls from women that he doesn't bother to tell us
anything about himself (or maybe he fears that if he does, everyone will
realize what a loser he really is). This was pretty good, but one
has to see the next two installments to fully appreciate this one...

That's My White Mama: This is the single most offensive show in the
history of the WB. "That's My White Mama" is about a white motorist
(Artie Lange) who hits and kills a black woman; the woman's soul enters
his body, and he assumes the deceased's maternal duties. In this first
installment, he berates his daughter (Debra Wilson) for dating someone
(Phil Lamarr) he/she suspects to be a Rastafarian. At the end of the
segment, we find out the show is endorsed by both the Wayans brothers
and Pat Buchanan. [This is not necessarily far-fetched, since both make
a living in part by perpetuating racial stereotypes.] Of course, since
this segment has aired, the WB has begun to target a wider audience
with its teen dramas and sitcoms like "Nikki," but in 1996, this parody
was right on target. Of course, Artie Lange is key to making it work;
it's hard to see anyone else on the cast doing as good a job with this
character as he did. I give it a thumbs up, though probably not quite
deserving of inclusion in the "best of" compilation.

Terms of Imprisonment: This is a parody of all those movies that center
on relationships between women, such as "Waiting To Exhale" and "Boys
on the Side." In it, three females in an all-female prison, played
by Barbara Streisand (Mary Scheer), Whitney Houston (Debra Wilson)
and Drew Barrymore (Nicole Sullivan) form inseperable bonds while
sharing a cell. We get cheesy musical acts and even the warden (Orlando
Jones) falling in love with an inmate, not to mention a cameo appearance
by Roseanne Barr (Artie Lange). All the prerequisites for this genre
are met: we have a declaration that "men are pigs," not to mention the
obligatory lesbian overtones (in the form of Barrymore exposing her
breasts to the other women). Although the segment drags a bit at points,
it's still a very good parody of the genre. Finally, all the impressions
are good; Scheer's Streisand is scarily accurate, and Sullivan does a
good job replicating the ditzier aspects of Barrymore (e.g. the stupid giggle
and the slutty persona).

Lowered Expectations - Rick #2: Rick is back to complain that nobody
called him. He still doesn't elaborate on why they should call him; mainly
he just bitches about how they didn't leave his number up long enough
(this time they flash it on the screen several times). Again this was
an above-average "Lowered Expectations" segment; even in this brief
piece we see that the Rick character has great potential.

Spy vs. Spy - Dream Stealer: The White Spy invades the Black Spy's thought
cloud to steal his plans, but in the meantime the Black Spy picks the White
Spy's pockets and steals his plans; he uses the plans to build a tank with
which he crushes the White Spy. This was good, and somewhat more clever
than the average "Spy vs. Spy" segment.

Joel and Connie - Small Claims Court: Mark Linder (Bryan Callen) is sued
for negligence in dogsitting a neighbor's (Orlando Jones) dog; he and
his parents (Dave Herman, Mary Scheer) appear on "Small Claims Court,"
which is essentially a clone of "The People's Court." His parents
don't offer any evidence to counter the plaintiff's claim, but they
do a good job of annoying the judge (Nicole Sullivan), and of course
their son, who is once again humiliated by his dorky parents. Overall
this was a good sketch; it essentially follows the same formula laid out
in the previous Joel and Connie sketch, but the impressions done by
Herman and Scheer are so entertaining to watch that the formulatic approach
used here is easy to overlook. And it doesn't hurt that we have the
real Doug Llewelyn appearing at the end of the sketch, to interview
Joel and Connie (they are their usual annoying self, talking about their
time share in Thunder Bay).

Lowered Expectations - Rick #3: Rick is back, this time commanding women
to cut the **** and call him. This was pretty funny.

Spy vs. Spy - Bomb Assembly: The Black Spy is arming a bomber; the White Spy
sets a booby trap for him and he is killed; the White Spy leaves a flower on
his remains. This was OK.

Eddie Murphy Audition: Eddie Murphy (Orlando Jones), reduced to working
as a busboy in an Oriental restaurant, auditions for a role in "The
Eddie Murphy Story" directed by Spike Lee (Phil Lamarr). Spike Lee
doesn't want to put him in the movie because he's "bad for box office."
Instead, Lee offers him a job in the hair department. This sketch may
seem a bit dated in view of Murphy's mini-revival with the "Nutty
Professor" movies, but overall it does a pretty good job of standing the
test of time - Jones as Murphy desperately doing his old "Saturday
Night Live" impressions in an effort to impress Lee was impressive, as
was Lamarr's snotty version of Spike Lee. ("I'm have a two-o-clock
with Scorsesse and you're getting on my last nerve.") Orlando Jones
not only appeared in this sketch but also wrote it, and this sketch
shows his considerable talent as a sketch writer.

Dave Higgins Monologue: Dave Higgins ("Ellen") delivers a monologue on
the positive aspects of alcohol (e.g. "If it wasn't for alcohol, I wouldn't
have made the 'Best of Cops' special). It may be just me, but I didn't
find this monologue very funny at all. For monologues that I considered
truly funny, I refer to the Bruce McCulloch monologue, the Kevin
McDonald monologue, and Artie Lange's monologue from the first episode.
This had its moments, but I didn't spontaneously laugh once during the
whole monologue.

Gohhar and Hagop: A swarthy foreign couple (Artie Lange, Mary Scheer)
attempt to sublet a run-down apartment with no toilet and no working
stove. The couple insult each other with a variety of porcine references.
Two prospective tenants (Debra Wilson, Bryan Callen) are driven
away by the condition of the place, but a fellow countryman (Dave Herman)
is impressed, and the couple proclaim success. This was a pretty routine
sketch, but the cast (especially Lange and Scheer) did their best with
their impressions.

Don Martin - Assembly Line: A man wins an award for outstanding work in
improvement of conveyer belt techniques, the man is assembled on the
assembly line and receives the award. This was OK.

Lowered Expectations - Rick #4: The segment starts out with some nerdy
guy called Ivan (Orlando Jones), but Rick bursts onto the set, demanding
to know why women aren't calling him. He reveals (for the first time)
that he played semi-pro ball. This is hilarious, and represents one
of the funnier "Lowered Expectations" segments; Lamarr plays the angry
Rick with just the right amount of emotion.

Closing Segment: The cast (led by Bryan Callen) closes the show. Artie
Lange tries to talk about the rain forest again; when Dave Herman mildly
takes issue with this, Lange attacks him. This was rather funny.
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MD-115 was a slight improvement over the previous episode. In fact,
all of the material here, with the exception of the Dave Higgins
monologue, which as far as I am concerned was D.O.A., and "Gohar and
Hagop," which was prototypically mediocre, was on target. Three of these
segments found their way onto the "best of season one" compilation, and
even without these three segments there is enough solid material to make
the show worth watching. [8/10]

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