Review of 3-21-1998 show (some spoilers)

Actually this was a rerun of #222, first aired May 17, 1997. The last
episode with Bryan Callen and Orlando Jones (sob)!

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Gangsta Shop Quartet: We saw this one only about a month ago on
"The Best of Mad TV," but I like this one, so I give it a thumbs
up. Good parody of those cheesy CD ads.

Opening Monologue: Not really a monologue; not much to say here. 
Who was that introducing LL Cool J (Pablo Francisco)?

The 3rd Annual H.L. Chubb Music Train Awards: LL Cool J gives an 
award to En Vogue (Debra Wilson, Phil LaMarr, Orlando Jones), but 
then gets suspicious when they can't sing, and ends up punching
Orlando Jones. Not bad.

Manic Depressive Stripper: Bryan Callen delivers a strip-o-gram,
but apparently he is bipolar and alternately feels extremely 
inferior and has delusions of grandeur. Female office workers
(Debra Wilson, Mary Scheer, Nicole Sullivan) cope with his rapidly
changing mood. Enough to make me miss Callen. Good performances
by Wilson, Scheer and Sullivan as well.

Clops: The original Clops! Law enforcement officers deal with G.I.
Joe, Gumby and Santa. The best was Gumby (it was funny just to
hear Gumby cursing); then Santa is caught dealing drugs. Excellent 
parody of the Rodney King beating with Santa. zExtremely funny!

Hispanic Woman with Baby: A Hispanic woman provokes fights with 
everyone she interacts with. A funny concept, but I just didn't 
get this one. Rather disappointing.

Lottery: Man (LL Cool J) thinks about leaving his wife (Debra Wilson), 
but then changes his mind when he doesn't win the lottery. Good 
concept; not hilarious, but still funny.

Board Meeting: Female executive (Nicole Sullivan) berates one of
her underlings at a board meeting. This is funnier that it sounds.
The denouement, with the CEO (Bryan Callen) firing Sullivan's subordinate
is a fitting climax. Good writing, and good performances by the cast.

Mrs. Barone: This time, Mrs. Barone (Mary Scheer) opens a restaurant
for chain smokers. Her blind date (Dave Herman) turns out to be a 
health inspector. The initial concept of a restaurant for smokers is
very funny, and even more relevant today than in May 1997 when this
first aired, since now anti-smoking fervor has reached a fever pitch;
the realization of this idea falls somewhat short; still this sketch
is OK.

Spy vs. Spy: Black spy tries to poison the white spy, but the white
spy turns the tables on him and kills the black spy. Excellent
stuff. (Incidentally, I remember hearing that in Mad Magazine's
Spy vs. Spy, they would have two strips in each issue, and the white
spy and black spy would win one apiece, so as to avoid charges of
racism. I wonder if they did the same thing in the animated Spy vs.
Spy.)

Burke Falls Town Meeting: Small town folk consider measures to draw
gay people to their town in order to attract tourists. What is funny
about this is that the people do not even know what it means to be
gay. I thought the best part is when a woman (Mary Scheer) stands
up and says that the Broadway musical "Rent" is just crawling with
gay people. A good sketch; not great, but still quite funny.

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In conclusion, this show falls into the middle rank; it has many funny
moments but lacks consistency. LL Cool J is good, but is not used
all that effectively. The interesting element here is that with
the show down to seven cast members due to Artie Lange's departure, 
others stepped in an helped fill the gap (Pablo Francisco and 
Tim Conlon are mentioned in the closing credits).

Next week's show, according to the trailer, is an all-new episode
(I think there are only three left for this season).  
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