Review of 5-8-1999 episode (MD-423; some spoilers)

23 down, 2 to go! Here's this week's review:
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Opening Segment: With Kenny and James (Will Sasso, Aries Spears), showing
everyone how they dub English translations of Asian martial arts films,
but otherwise as incoherent as ever. I still don't understand this
Kenny Rogers impression, and the James Brown impression is almost as
unfunny (it also was a poor substitute for Dexter St. Croix on Cabana
Chat; I have the highest regard for Mary Scheer but Cabana Chat was
never the same once Bryan Callen and Orlando Jones left).

The Jeffersons 1999: The Jeffersons (Phil LaMarr, Aries Spears in drag,
Debra Wilson) move into Monticello; you see, it turns out they are the black
descendants of Thomas Jefferson. A white Jefferson (Pat Kilbane) shows up
to make a half-hearted effort at scaring off the Jeffersons, but ends up
relegated to the role of the Jeffersons' butler. This was OK; the cast's
performances were very good; Debra Wilson especially was dead-on as the
Jeffersons' maid - but the actual storyline I felt was uninspired; the
basic idea was good but the jokes themselves weren't that funny. [Also,
I should point out that this segment first appeared in the episode
listings back in February, apparently in error. As I result, when I checked
the TV Guide listings for this week and saw that "The Jeffersons 1999"
was supposed to be in this week's show, I didn't know whether or not to
believe it. Not that the listings are ever that accurate, anyway.]

Ms. Swan: Ms. Swan (Alex Borstein) hires a private detective (Pat Kilbane)
to find a man. Of course, what is funny here (apart from the absurdity of
Swan trying to be a 1940's-style femme fatale) is that it's inevitable that
she will say her trademark line: "He look-a like a man." And then she does,
for the first time in about a year. Other than that it was about mid-range
for Ms. Swan sketches: that is to say moderately funny but not hysterically
funny.

The Aussie Hunter I: In this claymation piece, the Aussie Hunter tries
to separate a baby croc from its mother. There's really no good reason
to do this, and it's really dangerous, so it's a really stupid idea,
but he and his wife do it anyway. In the meantime, his flesh is eaten
by pirranhas. This was pretty funny.

Ms. Sylvia (Pharmacy): An elderly pharmacist (Debra Wilson) embarrasses
customers by yelling out their prescriptions. This wouldn't be so bad
if the prescriptions themselves didn't give away information that the
people wouldn't want other people to know (e.g., that they have crabs or
vaginal dryness); still she can't understand why her advice is
received with such ingratitude. This is somewhat similar to a Monty Python
sketch from the early 1970's in which John Cleese was the pharmacist
(in Britain, chemist), and he is yelling out the prescriptions: "OK, who has
a boil on their bum?" - and so on. The difference here is the addition of a
more discreet pharmacist (Nicole Sullivan); one customer (Aries Spears) is
relieved to discover that the discreet one is serving him; unfortunately
for him, her contact lens pops out and he ends up being served by Ms.
Sylvia anyway. Although this wasn't the most original idea, it delivers
it's share of laughs; also we get a very good performance from Debra
Wilson playing a much older woman. Still, I've never seen a pharmacy with
a waiting room. 

Aussie Hunter II: This time the Aussie Hunter and his wife mess around with
a bunch of sharks. This was much funnier than the first segment, mainly
because we get to see the hunter getting his arm bitten off, and then
being ripped to pieces by the sharks as the color of the water in the
tank quickly changes to crimson red. This is the funniest part of the
show so far.

Snapshot Stories with Debra Wilson: Like Snapshot Stories with Pat
Kilbane/Nicole Sullivan/Aries Spears, only this time it's about how Debra
Wilson is going jogging, and Andrew Bowen gives her some advice (like
running really fast when she starts running to get her heart rate up,
and wearing a walkman). The results are predictable: when she runs really
fast, she vomits, and she gets hit by a car because she can't hear the
traffic. When she returns to the set, she decides to "thank" Bowen for
his advice (read: beat him to a pulp). It's essentially the same as the
other Snapshot Stories, so don't expect any surprises, but it generates
a fair amount of humor, especially when Wilson gets run over by the
car.

Rocket Revengers: Introduced as usual by Nicolas Cage (Andrew Bowen). The
Rocket Revengers first battle an invisible winged lizard who inhabits
the Separate But Equal Land of Antartica (where all the black people went
to live in 1968), and then face Tukha (Debra Wilson), the queen of the
Chinese. The best part here is where Abraham Lincoln Willis (Phil LaMarr)
is explaining how it was unfortunate that Antartica was inhabited by giant
winged lizards, and he hesitates midway through his dialogue, apparantly
expecting Nick Bendix (Pat Kilbane) to cut him off in mid-sentence, the
way he always does. Also interesting is the fact that the forest ranger
(Aries Spears) from the earlier Rocket Revengers segment wants to join
the Rocket Revengers; they cut him off in mid-sentence the same way they
do with Willis. I was half-expecting them to can Willis and explain that it
is "silly" to have two blacks (sort of like what Ann said about the
Eracists). Instead, the forest ranger is killed by Tukha. Funny here is
that instead of hunting down Tukha, the Revengers (well, Bendix anyway)
decide to go home, asserting that someday they will avenge this attack; I
suppose it's funny because you were expecting a climactic confrontation
between the Revengers and Tukha and instead you feel gypped. This was
one of the better Rocket Revengers segments; the only limitation here is
that like the early Darlene McBride segments, most of the parody is racial;
perhaps if they continue this segment in the future, they will make the
parodies more broad-based (i.e. political) as they did with Darlene McBride.

Gimpy Plumber: A woman (Nicole Sullivan) has a leaky sink; the plumber
(Phil LaMarr) is a handicapped man on a motor scooter. He can't seem
to steer the contraption, and the woman is being really nice to him even
though he's knocking over all the furniture and eventually locks her out
of the apartment. This was pretty funny; also the performances by Sullivan
and LaMarr (especially LaMarr) are very good.

Aussie Hunter III: The Aussie Hunter and his wife antagonize a cheetah; of
course they end up being ripped to shreds. The Aussie Hunter tries to
run away even though he knows the cheetah is the fastest land mammal, but
his efforts are futile since he gets ripped apart anyway. This was not
as funny as the second segment but at least we get to see the Aussie
Hunter's severed head bidding the viewers farewell.

Mad TV Classic: This time it's "Switcheroo" - the cross-dressing game for
all the family. This was OK, but it hardly qualifies as classic. Special
appearances by Chris Hogan and Tim Conlon. 
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We're into week two of the last batch and we get another pretty solid show.
Most of the segments in the first half fell a little flat, but in the
second half of the show there were some very funny bits, and the Corky
Quakenbush pieces were pretty good as well. Not all of the ideas
were totally original but almost every segment had some funny moments.
For those keeping track (and for those who are not), with the exception
of the "Mad TV Classic" segment, Nicole Sullivan appeared in two segments
this week. Interesting that they ran a Mad TV Classic this week although
last week they did not; there really wasn't much point in doing it this week
since the segment they used wasn't an expensive movie or TV parody,
so it didn't compensate for the lack of production values in the
current show. (6/10)