Review of 10-10-1998 episode (MD-405; some spoilers) ========================== ==================================================================== Opening Segment: With the UBS Guy (Phil LaMarr)! Well, since just about all the opening segments for the show this season have been pretty lame, I was pretty happy with this one, since at least they used what I think is a pretty good recurring character. Jaq doesn't say much, though, because he keeps getting off-track. Ms. Swan: Ms. Swan (Alex Borstein) volunteers to be hypnotized by the Amazing Mesmo (Pat Kilbane). This recurring character was never one of my favorites, and now that Chris Hogan is gone they had to alter the basic formula to keep this character going. In the first show, the results were not very good; this time, they were more successful in my opinion because the sketch focuses on how clueless Ms. Swan is: for example, in this sketch, Ms. Swan doesn't even know what noise a duck makes. Spritz Mist Body Spray: A body spray for the whole body. Seems like a parody of those Designer Imposter commercials. Debra Wilson appears as herself. It's basically a simple concept, but it doesn't overstay its welcome. Not bad. Talkin' American: Mr. Daichat (Aries Spears) and Rui Piranio (Will Sasso) are back - this time with Monica Lewinsky (Alex Borstein), who appears and gives us a rundown of the Starr Report's greatest hits. I like the way both Lewinsky and Piranio like "Friends," suggesting that people who like "Friends" are shallow people who lack substance. The sketch is also a commentary on the way the public has reacted to this presidential sex scandal. It has always been my contention that the same people who claim they are sick and tired of all the media coverage of the Lewinsky scandal are the same people who are watching coverage of the scandal on the nightly news, thereby boosting ratings and encouraging network executives to include more coverage of the scandal in the news programs. On the other hand, it is a fact that public affairs programs that address "real" issues get relatively low ratings and are often relegated to Sunday mornings and most of it is only available on public television. We see a microcosm of this phenomenom here: Daichat and Piranio at first denounce Lewinsky as a slut, but then they are spellbound when she starts to discuss the details of one of her alleged liasons with the president. An excellent segment, and it is good to see these characters back again. Crime Scene: The commissioner's mother (Alex Borstein) is a cop herself, but she can't even trace the outline of a murder victim. When her superior (Debra Wilson) criticizes her, the commissioner (Will Sasso) shoots the superior. This was OK, but the ending was a bit of a let-down: in the past I think Mad TV would have come up with a more clever resolution than just having one of the characters shot, although I could be wrong (I probably am wrong, because now I just remembered that Vancome Lady sketch where she is a guidance counselor and she gets the principal shot). Trina: The woman who can't get pregnant (Mo Collins) has apparently been recurred. I didn't think much of this character when they aired the first sketch, but I have to admit I thought this sketch was quite hilarious. This character extracts both laughter and sighs of pity from the studio audience. Especially funny is when she sticks a balloon under her blouse to simulate a pregnancy and it pops. The Rosie Show: Rosie O'Donnell (Alex Borstein) is back with Kevin Sorbo. Yesterday I was watching the first "Rosie" sketch from early on in season three and thought it was really funny; the only problem is that Chris Hogan is gone, and he did a pretty good job as the piano player. But this segment works pretty well anyway. The whole idea here is that she is interviewing Sorbo; they are also doing a sitcom together but Sorbo pulls the plug on it when "Hercules" is renewed for another five seasons. Rosie keeps on making homo-erotic comments but won't admit to being a lesbian, and Sorbo claims that he wants to break away from the Hercules role, even though his new character is called Hercules. OK, it's still not as good as the first two "Rosie" segments (didn't see all of the third one due to a cable outage), but I still found it funny. Eddie Murphy/Keanu Reeves: Eddie Murphy (Aries Spears) teams up with Keanu Reeves (Michael McDonald) because he thinks Reeves is such an idiot he will make Murphy look like Sir Lawrence Olivier by comparison. The twist is that Reeves wins the Oscar. Even though Keanu Reeves supposedly does not talk like a surfer dude, I still find McDonald's impression funny. This sketch had me laughing constantly; especially the way McDonald does that wierd facial gesture at the end of almost every sentence. On the whole they did a pretty good job of working these two impressions into a sketch, and it was carried out pretty well too. Full House Reunion: This "Mad TV Classic" dates all the way back to February 7, 1998, and is mostly about how Mary Kay Olsen (Nicole Sullivan) has become really fat. I thought this was really funny, especially when Mary Kay farts. The producers are playing heavily on the nostalgia factor here - four of the five cast members here are not in the current cast (although Nicole Sullivan supposedly will return). And it largely works. Sullivan and Scheer steal the show (Mary Scheer plays Ashley, the other twin), although Pat Kilbane is also good as Bob Saget; we also have Chris Hogan as John Stamos and Lisa Kushell as Lori Loughlin. Spy vs. Spy: Again a rerun: it's the one where the white spy's house is burning down. Good, but I wish they would come up with some new stuff. New Mongol Horde: A descendant of Genghis Khan (Pat Kilbane) interviews an applicant (Phil LaMarr) for a consulting position. Not an outstanding sketch, but there's one really excellent exchange: when Khan asks if the applicant has any horde experience, he replies, "I worked for Microsoft for two years." I give it a thumbs up - not a resounding thumbs up, but a thumbs up nonetheless. ================================================== ============================================ On the whole, this was a solid show. I think it's pretty safe to say that this was the best of the season so far. There weren't any sketches that I felt truly bombed, although there were some weak spots (the police sketch being the most obvious one to me). Now that we're five episodes into the season, it might be useful to look back on the season so far, and in my opinion this first batch of shows is pretty weak. Although the show is getting better, and there is something to say for giving the new cast a chance, the show faced a similar challenge last year, with no less than six new cast members (seven if you count Craig Anton), and the results last year were much better. Perhaps the show is suffering from the absence of veteran talents like Dave Herman and Nicole Sullivan. But while the show so far has been mostly a disappointment (and many veteran fans have tuned out, perhaps for good), I have not given up on the show yet. By the way, next week is a rerun from early 1998 (MD-312). I can't believe I am actually looking forward to a rerun. I hope this rerun gets high ratings; maybe it will send the producers a message. ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ