Review of 5-30-1998 episode (rerun of 11-1-1997 episode)

Farrah Fawcett Body Brush 2000: Who is more brainless, Farrah Fawcett or
Antonia? Ms. Fawcett, who never would have been mistaken for a member
of the faculty of Harvard to begin with, apparently lowered the public's
estimation of her intelligence by acting really stupid on TV last year. This 
apparently inspired two rather funny Farrah Fawcett parodies, both 
done by Lisa Kushell. This was the first of them and probably the 
funnier. Farrah Fawcett teaches us the easy way to do interior decorating. 
Being sexy doesn't necessarily mean being stupid, but in this case, 
it does. I give it a thumbs up.

Clinton Town Meeting: A Presidential town meeting at Yale quickly 
degenerates into something out of a Jerry Springer episode when Paula
Jones shows up. I liked it when I first saw it, when I saw it in February
on "The Best of Mad TV," and I still like it. Also interesting is that it 
first aired in November, when news about the various Presidential sex
scandals had died down, but now seems more relevant.

Corky and the Juice Pigs: 
sing "Dolphin Boy." I'm not sure but I think this was their first 
appearance in season three. In fact, this was a very Canadian episode 
with both the Juice Pigs and Bret Hart on the show. Up to the usual 
Juice Pigs standard, which is to say very good.

Leaving Metropolis: 
Dave Herman is Superman and Nicole Sullivan is Lois Lane in this 
very funny cross between a Nicholas Cage movie and a Superman movie. 
Superman hits the booze and becomes a very ineffective superhero. 
I particularly liked the part where Clark/Superman drenches Lois 
Lane with vomit; I laughed and laughed. Especially sad because with 
this segment, Herman's association with the show ended.

Barry White: 
Barry White is used to cure a small boy (Craig Anton) of cancer. 
This is actually funnier than it sounds, especially when one is confronted 
with the incongruity of a hospital ward that is suddenly transformed 
into a disco (complete with backup singers). I give it a thumbs up.

Bret "Hitman" Hart: Wimp (Chris Hogan) is bullied by his family (Will 
Sasso, Nicole Sullivan, Alex Borstein), and so he brings home Bret 
Hart to eventhe score. Not much of a sketch here, as it is basically 
an excuse to work "Hitman" Hart into the show, but it serves its 
purpose. 

Craig Anton: Another one of those "you know what I hate" 
monologues that I like so much. The best is where he says that he 
hates audiences; when the audience boos he says, "I mean child molesters." 
It's too bad they haven't used him more; in reality, most of his 
appearances were in the first part of the season.

Men's Room: Short yet effective bit in which man (Craig Anton) seemingly
overhears what he thinks is another man (Will Sasso) helping his son go to 
the bathroom, but then it turns out there is nobody else in the stall 
with him. Another good sketch that is not a particularly original 
idea but is very well-executed.

Bill Cosby Trial Video: Bill Cosby 
(Aries Spears) does stand-up at the Autumn Jackson extortion trial 
and the highlights are made into a video. I don't know why I find 
this amusing but I do. Possibly even funnier than "Cosby's Crib," 
the previous Bill Cosby parody done in season two by Orlando Jones.

Folk Singers: Stockholm (Craig Anton) and Berger (Will Sasso) reunite 
on Mad TV. Berger looks remarkably like Dave Crosby, and like Crosby, 
apparently has a substance abuse problem, and Stockholm makes fun 
of his problems, which is the basis for most of the humor in this 
segment. And that's good enough in this case, and although the sketch 
is resolved with physical humor, which isn't always effective, in 
this case it is, and the segment works quite well.

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In conclusion, I think this was one of the best episodes of the season, though probably 
not the absolute best. There were few weak points here. No sketches 
bombed, and quite a few were of excellent quality. Unfortunately 
there were no animated segments but the show was so good that you 
don't really miss it that much; the segments featuring Craig Anton 
were also quite good, especially his monologue. Sadly, this was also 
Dave Herman's final episode; although his name did not appear in 
the opening credits, he was Nicholas Cage in "Leaving Metropolis." 
(Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think he appeared in any of 
the sketches in season three and his contributions were limited to 
the taped segments, such as "Batman V" and "Sling Blade.")  (9/10)

Next week's episode is also a rerun from November 1997; I don't remember 
which one it is but they showed a clip of a sketch where Nicole Sullivan 
is going out with Phil LaMarr and gets dating tips from Debra Wilson 
(Funny!).