Review of 10-23-1999 episode (MD-505; some spoilers)

Speaking of Chris Burke impressions, did anyone see that PSA with
Tracy Ullman and Chris Burke? Ullman and Burke are trying to outdo
each other: one says "I had a hit TV show"; the other says "I had
a hit record"; etc - until Burke says "well, I have Down's Syndrome" -
and Ullman says "[s]howoff."

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NOTE: I did not see the first few seconds of the show because WNYW
didn't air this portion. It started with Nicole Sullivan saying "-come to
the show." Unless something really funny happened during the first
few seconds of the show, however, this shouldn't affect my review.

Opening Segment: Nicole Sullivan comes out to announce that due to
budget cuts, Will Sasso and Aries Spears have been dropped from the
cast, but they've been hired back (at a pittance) as
hip-hop DJs. For fans who really find these guys annoying, don't
get your hopes up; it's just a joke. Once again, we
get a typical season four opening, although this required a little
bit more creativity than the last couple of ones. Sasso and Spears
say hip-hop things like "no doubt" and "Bam!" while Nicole Sullivan
introduces the show. As the segment continues, it becomes clear that
Nicole Sullivan, not the writers, is probably the one who found Sasso
and Spears annoying. Clearly this segment was not as good as the opening
segments for the first two shows, but it was still adequate.

Charlton Heston on EEE!!!: Charlton Heston (Pat Kilbane) plays all the
roles in his new movie "The Stolen Ruby." The message here is simple: that
people think that Charlton Heston is such a good actor that you can't keep
him in just one role; the movie parody suggests that he really doesn't have
much dynamic range. All that is funny in this segment is that message,
driven home over and over again as we watch the movie parody. There
weren't really any notable "funny moments," nor are Kilbane's mannerisms
as Heston particularly funny. 

Molina and Lida: Molina and Lida (Debra Wilson, Nicole Sullivan) enter a
beauty contest for Latina girls and compete against Rosa Lupina (Mo
Collins). As Lida was announcing what she was going to do for the
talent portion of the competition, the screen went blank for a few
seconds. Funniest exchange: when the emcee (Pat Kilbane) asks Lida
what she'd do to make the world a better place, she replies, "I'd
do you if you let me win." Of course, Rosa's answer, though more propitious
for a beauty pageant (that she would spread the wealth and wish for
world peace), was far less original. It's also funny when Lida refers to the
other contestants as "bitches" in front of the entire audience and
the pageant emcee. Of course, Rosa's answer, though more propitious
Rosa wins, and gets a scholarship to DeVry, but Molina and Lida are ecstatic
because the consolation prize is backstage passes to the Ricky Martin
concert. This, in my opinion, was the best segment of the show - not
necessarily because it was such an excellent sketch but because it
represented one of the few occassions in the show when all the essential
elements came together: the premise was plausible (a Hispanic beauty pageant
with Molina, Lida and their nemesis Rosa as contestants), the writing
was good (the ripostes that the emcee delivered were a nice touch), and
everyone did a good job playing their roles, especially Mo Collins
as the rather conceited Rosa (although the idea that she is evil
incarnate merely because she stole Lida's boyfriend is questionable).

Now we get another commercial, after only one sketch - a sure sign that
there's more commercials, less show...

Sasso and Spears Renegotiate: Sasso and Spears are tired of being hip-hop
DJs so they go backstage to renegotiate - with Nicole Sullivan, who by
now they assume really runs the show. Sullivan denies that she has any
power over the show, even though she has veto power over the scripts and
even though Mo Collins follows her around carrying her coffee cup. Of
course, one of the two actors has already cut a deal at the expense of
the other: Spears renegotiated without telling Sasso, and as a result,
there's no money left for Sasso, who eventually agrees to work for
fifty dollars a week. This parody might not be too inaccurate - MTV,
for example, in the past has been careful to fire their VJs after two
or three years because they were afraid that they might become popular
and try to renegotiate their contracts to get more money. It was
certainly one of the funnier segments in this week's show. There was
a good effort here from all the cast members in the segment, especially
Sullivan, who plays the role of the bossy person quite well.

Steven Segal - Buddha or Bust: Steven Segal (Will Sasso) visits the
Dalai Lama (Pat Kilbane) in Tibet, and the predictable happens: he
beats up everyone in sight, including the revered religious leader.
There isn't much to care for here - I don't think there's been a
single Steven Segal sketch that I really liked - although the part
where Segal threatens Phil Lamarr, saying the world won't notice one
less Chinese, and Lamarr says that he's not Chinese is pretty funny.
Other than that, it was Segal by numbers; you know exactly what's
going to happen here. Interesting is that Segal referers to the Dalai
Lama's followers as "Chinese" even though the Dalai Lama is the
spiritual (and onetime temporal) leader of Tibet, and I don't know
if the Tibetans consider themselves "Chinese." [Or is the sketch
saying that Segal doesn't care; they're all Chinese to him?]

Mickey's Fear of Flying: This is a sketch about a man (Michael McDonald)
who is terrified of flying and laughs hysterically as he enumerates
the many ways he could die if the plane crashes or explodes. Will
Sasso is the passenger who has to put up with him. As with the other
sketch in tonight's show, what is really funny here is the ending:
the stewardess goes on the P.A. system to announce that there is
some turbulence, and starts laughing in exactly the same way as the
hysterical man. Like the other sketch, this too was funny in its own
way but definitely not a classic.

Pretty White Kids with Problems: The second installment of the WB's newest
teen drama. This time, Destiny (Nicole Sullivan) is covered with bandages
because she's a cutter, and her boyfriend, Chase (Will Sasso), finds a
picture of Tad (Michael McDonald) in her locker - but she convinces numb nuts
that it's really just a bad picture of him. When he finds out it's
really a picture of Tad (with the help of Britney, played by Alex
Borstein), of course, he slams Tad against the lockers.
This was funny, though it doesn't really add anything to the original
parody; it just further elaborates on the characters. Funny here is
the way Chase always wears his football jersey and war paint, and he
has that really small backpack, too. The locker room
scene was no picnic, I should add: if they're going to show cast members
in a state of undress, they should at least show ones that bother to
stay in shape.

Lenny: This was a sketch that is somewhat reminescient of the Mad TV of
old. Lenny (Phil Lamarr), a marketing executive, has just been
transferred from Dallas to Seattle, and as another executive
(Alex Borstein) explains his duties, he whines and makes
all kinds of wierd noises. The conclusion is what's
really funny here: one of the executives (Pat Kilbane) admonishes him
for his behavior, then when he leaves, everyone talks about how much
they like him and how he has real leadership potential. This
was definitely not "best of" material, but it was good, and evokes
memories of the earlier days of Mad, when this sketch comedy show
had more sketches, especially of this type, lampooning the workplace.

After only one sketch, yet another commercial, then...

Mad TV Classic: This time it's "Riggs and Murtaugh," another season three
sketch. When they're rerunning stuff from season three, it is perhaps
a sign of how lowly they regard newer material - or maybe they just
don't want to pay royalties to cast members no longer on the show; since
the three cast members in this sketch (Pat Kilbane, Aries Spears, Nicole
Sullivan) are all still cast members, they presumably don't have to
pay royalties. When the segment first aired, I not only found it to be
funny, but I made a comparison with an early Monty Python sketch (a
patron complained about a dirty fork, which leads to a series of
overwrought apologies, and which eventually leads to the patron being
attacked by a man with a cleaver). Hmmm, this sketch, and the pharmacy
sketch from last season - is there a pattern here? Nevertheless, it
was a good segment, especially when Pat Kilbane (doing the Mel Gibson
character) dislocates his shoulder. (Isn't that a neat trick?)

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Once again, we get a Mad TV episode that is essentially a mixed bag.
In this show the segments range from a very good Molina and Lida
sketch to a Steven Segal segment that is almost as unfunny as - the
Kenny Rogers segments. The idea that Mad TV would be better off doing
thirty minute episodes gains additional credibility. [Although for every
person who thinks that this would be a good idea, there's at least
one or more viewers who think the show should be expanded to ninety minutes!
This is just a guess, but it's possible that these same viewers are
also big fans of Stuart.] In any case, the last ten minutes of the
show are a total waste, although perhaps Fox is getting away with it,
since there were relatively few people watching the show during the
first few seasons. A lot of viewers, however, will probably change
channels or leave the room. (5/10)

Web site update: Added page covering Nicole Sullivan's 1997 appearance
on The Drew Carey Show at:

        http://www.nic.com/~dzien/nicolesullivan/nicoledrewcarey.html

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