Review of 11-14-98 episode (MD-408; some spoilers) ============================ =========================================================== Opening Segment: This time, with Nicholas Cage (Andrew Bowen). I guess most of these segments this year have been pretty lame, but this one was OK because Bowen's Cage is actually pretty good. TCha, You Know What?: Not only do we get a new Vancome sketch, but we get the definitive spelling of "Tcha" - actually I always thought it sounded more like "shaaah." (Although in a few sketches, it sounds like "cha.") Two game show contestants (Michael McDonald, Pat Kilbane) are paired with celebrity partners Brandy (Debra Wilson) and Christian Slater (Andrew Bowen). The Vancome Lady (Nicole Sullivan) in its current incarnation is completely unlikeable and in this sketch most of her put-downs are racist. That having been said, this sketch was one of the best Vancome sketches ever! The idea of the Vancome Lady hosting a game show steps away from the usual Vancome formula, and at just the right time, too, since there was always the danger that the character would get stale. Moreover, astute Nicole Sullivan fans will undoubtedly note the ironies that permeate in these sketches: in 1993, Sullivan, still waitressing in West Hollywood waiting for her big break, actually met Christian Slater while she was working the late shift in a Hollywood pizzeria. Probably then she had no idea that she would one day be poking fun at Slater on national television. Note also that this is the first Vancome sketch in which Kathy never utters her signature line: "Shaaaah (tcha?) - you know what? Un-uh!" Clinton Presidency Collector Plates: Another Spishak product. Including all eleven sexual encounters with Monica Lewinsky! I didn't really laugh, but I still think this is funny. We didn't learn very much from the Lewinsky affair, but we got a lot of good jokes. You Are the Love of My Life: I think they were trying to do a parody of those rockumentary-type things they sometimes show on MTV and VH1 and E Entertainment (Much Music, I suppose, for our neighbors in the north), but this one was over my head, or maybe it just misfired. This is the tale of two singers (Alex Borstein, Will Sasso) who write a hit adult contemporary song called "You Are the Love of My Life." We wade through about five minutes of drivel about how they came to write the song. The ending was funny, with the two singers kicked out of the United States and forced to live in Nicaragua. James Brown, Jr.: He's the "Man of a Thousand Voices," doing impressions of other celebrities. This segment didn't really bomb but it wasn't very funny, either. College Quiz Challenge: Another game show parody. One contestant (Phil LaMarr) is even described as a sophomore at Northwestern, Nicole Sullivan's alma mater! One of the contestants is Rusty (Andrew Bowen?), that rather gay character from the season opener. I didn't think much of this character initially, but this sketch was actually pretty good. The whole idea is that Rusty has won the quiz bowl 63 weeks in a row, and the host (Pat Kilbane) is getting really annoyed at him, so he helps his opponent (Alex Borstein) in the final round by giving her an easy question; however, Rusty proves that her answer was wrong, and therefore Rusty wins again. He says he's going to spend the prize money on Garfield posters, proving once again that he's a case of arrested development. I thought it was funny. And did anyone else notice that they were wrong when they said that the Battle of the Bulge took place in Belgium (look at a map - the key town of Bastogne is actually in Luxembourg, although some of the fighting may have taken place in Belgium)? Sling Blade (Blades): After over a year, Sling Blade (Pat Kilbane) is back! The retard succeeds in spite of himself. The part where Sling Blade says that he killed a leprechaun when he was a child was especially funny ("He was messing up my bed."). In this movie parody, he teams up with Wesley Snipes (Aries Spears) to fight vampires, led by Christopher Walken (Andrew Bowen?). Not all of it was uproariously funny, but on the whole it was very good. Antonia: Antonia (Nicole Sullivan) is back, and she's dumber than ever. This time she's a nurse in a hospital who fails to deliver the right baby to a new mother (Alex Borstein). This sketch was not especially funny but was OK; I liked the ending. Antonia, having been handed the baby, states: "I shall call you C.C. II: Electric Boogaloo." (1980's reference which was probably lost on younger viewers.) Note also that this is the first Antonia sketch in which Phil LaMarr is not the foil for Antonia! Again, as was the case with the Vancome Lady, they were trying something different with an old character; perhaps not as successful as it was in the Vancome sketch, but not for a lack of trying. Dad Dancing: The video that will teach you how to dance like a dad. Not the funniest parody, but I still liked the part where he put the moves on his daughter's best friend (Alex Borstein); she slaps him, and he goes flying. Terms of Imprisonment: The Barbara Streisand prison film, from way back in season one. As I said in my original review of this sketch, it drags at points, but on the whole it's a good sketch. Also it's a good example of the synergy the old cast had. Virtually all the performances are good here: Nicole Sullivan as Drew Barrymore looks and acts like the real Barrymore; Mary Scheer is excellent as Streisand; Debra Wilson's Whitney Houston is spot on. And don't forget Artie Lange as Roseanne as a sadistic prison guard! Also Orlando Jones is in here as a prison official, and Bryan Callen makes a brief appearance. (It's all the original cast minus Dave Herman and Phil LaMarr.) But it's not just the performances that make the sketch; it's the fact that they did a good parody of movies that purport to explore women qua woman (i.e. with feminist themes); the idea that "women are better; men are pigs" is voiced, as is the idea that all women are sisters; we also have the obligatory lesbian overtones, with Sullivan as Barrymore exposing herself to the other inmates. ============================================================================== ================ The show started out with two excellent segments, the Vancome sketch and the Clinton collector plates segment. The rest of the show was somewhat uneven. We got some very good stuff, and some segments that didn't work out too well. We end up with a show that ranks about average, which is still better than SNL, but Mad TV is capable of doing better. On the plus side, the new cast members seem to be working out for the most part - although I don't remember seeing Mo Collins in any of the segments. I noticed again that apart from the "Mad TV Classic" segment, Nicole Sullivan's contribution was limited to two segments (the Vancome Lady and Antonia). She has not appeared as part of the supporting cast in any sketch so far this year. Next Week (MD-409): Thanksgiving special (Darlene McBride; Cooking with Kenny and James)ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ