Review of 3-18-2000 episode (MD-519; some spoilers)

This review can also be found at:

        http://www.nic0lesullivan.org/md519.txt

More Nicole Sullivan sightings: Nicole Sullivan will be on "World's
Greatest Magic V" on March 20th at 9:00 PM on Fox Family. You may
have also heard her as the voice of Tundra Woman on the March 11th
episode of "Pepper Ann" (OAD 9-18-99). I have added a page documenting
Nicole Sullivan's second appearance on "Fired Up" at:

        http://www.nic0lesullivan.org/nicolefiredupagain.html

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Opening Segment: Michael McCloud (Will Sasso) and Jasmine Wayne Wayne
(Alex Borstein) appear to sing a medley of all the movie songs they've
done - they all sound the same, of course. This parody illustrates one
point really well: songs that find their way onto soundtrack albums
are usually quite bad; in my opinion, songs that otherwise would never
see the light of day are quite acceptable fare for movie soundtracks.
Also this is a good parody of those mediocre "song of the year" songs
that dominate the awards ceremonies and the radio (e.g. the theme
song from "Titanic"). Sasso doesn't look much like McCloud now that
he's lost so much weight, but overall the segment was pretty good; it
wasn't outrageously funny, but it was a good idea to revive these two
characters for a movie parody-themed show.

Spishak Home Theater Experience: Unlike home theater systems, which provide
many of the advantages of being at the movies (e.g. surround sound) with
none of the disadvantages, the Spishak Home Theater Experience provides
most of the disadvantages of going to the movies with none of the
advantages. The movie screen is less than two feet wide, but the seats
are broken and green residue covers the floor. Also, extras arrive to
represent fellow theater goers and to make the home theater experience
even less enjoyable. Pat Kilbane, as always, is the Spishak spokesperson,
while Michael McDonald, Debra Wilson and extras are the victimized family.
This was not quite up to the level of some of the really classic Spishak
parodies (e.g. Spishak Car Wax, or Spishak Coffee and Donuts, or who
can forget Namprin), but it was a cut above most of the Spishak parodies
they've done this year. I especially liked the way the jingle ended with
"Buy the system endorsed by the estate of Jim Varney." [Hey, Vern! Shut
up!]

Steven Segal's Letterbox 2000: You can buy a video that shows a movie in
letterbox format, which allows you to see the film as it was shown at
the movies - but now you can see the movie in "Letterbox 2000" format,
which shows what's going on off-stage as well. In this case, we get to
see Steven Segal (Will Sasso) breaking different people's necks. The part
where they actually show the "Letterbox 2000" sequence is not much to
care for, but lest we think this segment was a complete waste of time,
the part where Segal makes a failed effort to sound profound (he purports
to quote from Mark Twain, then notes that he is not Mark Twain) is
rather funny. But you can't build a whole segment around a couple of good
lines, and for the most part, this segment did nothing to endear me to
the Segal character.

Reality Check: The Oscar edition of this BET show features special guest
Charlton Heston (Pat Kilbane) and of course Aries Spears and Debra Wilson
reprise their roles. Heston is excoriated for being old, being a broad
actor, and being an outspoken gun advocate. This is pretty much Reality
Check-by-numbers, by now, we know that every segment is going to involve
each of the two co-hosts threatening each other with bodily harm for
being such a good cook, and a white guest will appear whose pretensions
will be deflated, and whose racist comments will be countered with
a "reality check" which consists of the two co-hosts lambasting their
guest, often making derisive comments about the guest's sexual prowess.
Now that I've outlined the format, you at home can start writing your own
Reality Check sketches. This particular sketch is helped by some funny
moments (the two co-hosts swoon over Denzel Washington, then claim he'll
never be picked for best actor because he's black, also when McQueen
(Wilson) says that two things you'll never see on BET are "clips and
Bryant Gumbel," and let's not forget some choice fat jokes directed at
the two co-hosts). The Heston impression also seems to be pretty good, which
helps. Overall it was a good segment; if they continue to use these
characters as much as they have they're in danger of overutilizing them
the same way they did with Swan and Stuart last season; still, with
Nicole Sullivan absent so much, some of the most popular recurring characters
are unavailable, so I suppose they don't have much of a choice.

Spice Girl Interrupted: Finally, a movie parody in the tradition of the
old "Mad TV." Ginger Spice (Brooke Totem) is sent to a mental asylum for
leaving the Spice Girls (her solo CD flopped), where she engages in
a constant battle of wits with Whoopi Goldberg (Debra Wilson). When
they show her receiving shock therapy, you can see that she's still
wearing platform shoes. The shock therapy scene is very funny (we also
get a good line: "starring Whoopi Goldberg as the only black person in the
movie"), the production values are good, and even though the parody doesn't
move much further than the title, the segment does not overstay its
welcome.

Wizard of Oz Lost Footage: An scene allegedly cut from the movie involves
Dorothy Gale and company (Mo Collins, Will Sasso, Michael McDonald,
Pat Kilbane) encountering a one-legged fugitive slave (Aries Spears)
along the yellow brick road. They won't let him accompany them to see
the Wizard, but the slave does a rudeness to Dorothy in the bushes. They
did a pretty good job in capturing the look and feel of the original movie
in this segment; it was also funny the way the dialogue reinforces
racial stereotypes (e.g. blacks don't ski). It wasn't the funniest movie
parody they've ever done but it was a good effort.

Planet With Some Apes: This is a crossover between a cheesy
Elvis (Will Sasso) flick co-starring Ann-Margaret (Brooke Totem) and Planet
of the Apes. I am not much of a fan of either Elvis or the Planet of
the Apes films (although I was half hoping that at midnight on January
1, 2000, the apocalypse would be signaled by Cornelius taking over the
airwaves announcing the ape takeover), so I can't really assess this
segment for accuracy (although unlike some previous parodies like
Beach Blanket Ebola, it doesn't seem to be much of a full fledged movie
parody anyway). But since Elvis and Planet of the Apes have not been
around for quite awhile, one tends to think that the writers really put
some thought into this one; they weren't just parodying something new.
[Maybe they should've, though - the main reason why "Intensity" caught
the critic's fancy, I think, is precisely because they were making fun
of something that was very topical.] Michael McDonald and Pat Kilbane
also appear as Elvis's sidekicks. Funny is that Ann-Margaret does not
have ANY dialogue in this segment at all (like the streamers on a little
girl's bicycle, she doesn't do much, but looks good); I don't know if
the writers consciously did this in order to illustrate that the female
leads in Elvis pictures were just so much window dressing or not.
The production values for this segment by the way are excellent by "Mad TV"
standards.

Master P's Theater: Master P (Aries Spears) buys the rights to "Casablanca,"
then remakes it as a Bogart/rap crossover. Of course we're going to get
to see him referring to the Bergman character as a "bitch," which is
somewhat funny. But overall I didn't particularly like this segment.

Marc Anthony: Not only do they play this drivel at the place where I
work, but now I am being subjected to it when I watch "Mad TV." If
you needed clear and convincing evidence that rock is dead, all you
have to do is listen to Marc Anthony, one of the latest exponents of
the Latin music explosion. If this is rock, then I'm Lawrence Welk. I
patiently await the day when rock, like the mythical pheonix, will
rise from its own ashes. In the meantime, I suppose I will endure much
music like this.

Patch Kevorkian: An otherwise good show is marred by a "Mad TV Classic"
(kind of wierd that even for a "special" show they couldn't come up with an
hour of new material). Patch Kevorkian is a cross between Patch Adams
and Doctor Kevorkian (Pat Kilbane). And while it was an OK parody, it's
hardly worth repeating, and also it is indicative of the low production
values of season four, only taking place in one room. Although as I said
when it was first aired, Kilbane's Robin Williams impression is pretty
good.

Closing Segment: Marc Anthony sings again! Another nail in the coffin
for rock. Although they had the cast come out at the end as they normally
do, we would all be reflecting on the absence of Nicole Sullivan and
Phil LaMarr.
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Since this was billed as a "special" movie parody episode, I set somewhat
higher expectations for this episode. Ultimately, though, it was plagued
by the same unevenness from which the show has sufferred since season
three. Arguably the best segment was the Elvis/Planet of the Apes parody,
and Spice Girl Interrupted was quite good, too. But once again, much
of the good material is in the first half. The last twenty minutes of
the show contained two Mark Anthony segments and the "Patch Kevorkian"
rerun, and as a result I'd imagine that many viewers switch to either
SNL or Howard Stern. Nicole Sullivan is also completely absent from the
program, and finally the show is beginning to suffer as a result.
[Fortunately, she's back on the set, and should be a factor in the few
remaining episodes of the season.]  Brooke Totem picks up some of the slack;
although she remains a bit of a cipher (she hasn't really been given
the opportunity to demonstrate inherent comedic talent), her Ginger Spice
impression was pretty good. The show was not by any means a total disaster
but the show's fans deserve better. [5/10]


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