Review of 5-6-2000 episode (MD-523; better late than never; some spoilers) This review can also be found at: http://www.nic0lesullivan.org/md523.txt Web site updates: added pages documenting Nicole Sullivan's appearances on Craig Kilborn (last summer) and The Late Show (late April). I will add a page for "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" - as soon as I get around to it. ========================================================================== Opening Segment: Andy Kessler (Pat Kilbane) welcomes special guest star Susan Sarandon to the show. He shows her a copy of Variety that says that she signed a five-year deal to be a regular on "Mad TV." She is surprised by this revelation (I would be surprised too, especially the assumption that "Mad" will be for another five years, although stranger things have happened), but can't seem to squelch the rumor. Happily, they were astute enough to include her name with the other cast regulars in the opening credits, which made the bit more convincing. This was one of the better opening segments of this season. Rusty's 18th Birthday Party: A whore (Susan Sarandon) comes to Rusty's room on his 18th birthday to deflower him. Eventually, they end up doing it; it takes all of three minutes. It's a credit to Susan Sarandon that she almost singlehandedly makes this sketch watchable; it's creditable even that she can convincingly play a role like this at her age. Probably the funniest line here is when Rusty says she has "an outie an inch and a half long;" this is funny because I knew people in college who were like this. [Hint: If you don't know anything about the female anatomy, try an encyclopedia or possibly a copy of Gray's Anatomy.] On the whole, it was not bad for a Rusty sketch. Zapruder Films: This is about the National Archives buying all of Zapruder's home movies. In a parody that smacks of the dark humor that is so often one of the main staples of Mad Magazine, all of the home movies involve a shooting. It's pretty much a one-joke parody, but the segment is short enough to justify its existence; it's not as if they stretch it out long after the joke has lost its initial appeal. The Sam Donaldson impression (by Pat Kilbane) was pretty good, too. Not quite the caliber of the old Mad TV, but still good. Swan Homecoming (The Conclusion): Ms. Swan (Alex Borstein) awakens in the hospital after her car accident from the previous sketch, feigning amnesia. At first this sketch seems to be going nowhere, but then we find out that all the sketches from this season were part of a movie script which Swan is trying to sell to Garry Marshall (himself). He sees it for the incoherent twaddle that it is - but then, recognizing that "it's going to be huge," makes it into a blockbuster movie starring Susan Sarandon as Ms. Swan (Dennis Hopper also appears). It is an ending almost like "St. Elsewhere," one that tries to justify all the other Swan sketches this season and which makes us feel like a fool for trying to make sense of the others. It succeeds in the latter and only partially with the former; still, it's easily the best Swan sketch of the season. It's still too long, in my opinion - I liked it better in the old days when the segments were shorter and edgier - but the guest appearances by Marshall, Sarandon and Hopper help move things along. Interesting is that I did not see the autographed photo of Diane Lawyer Trabajo anywhere in the salon. James Brown, Storyteller: A woman's (Debra Wilson) two children don't want to go to bed without hearing a story, but (un)fortunately, James Brown (Aries Spears) appears with his fly girls to tell a story. Actually, he dances and sings incoherently, then hides in the closet. Spears helped ruin Cabana Chat with this James Brown impression (some friends of mine who are not familiar with the show saw "Antonia and James" and didn't like this impression either), and seeing this sketch is like a form of mental torture. At least the horn section was alright. Kessler/Sarandon II: Kessler (Kilbane) "fires" Sarandon because he got Kathie Lee Gifford, and you can't have two redheads on the show. Sarandon is left to ponder Kessler stealing her phone. This was not bad: brief but effective. Lorraine: Lorraine (Mo Collins) goes to a furniture store to buy a new bed; she annoys the salesman (Will Sasso) who then leaves her in the store after closing time rather than make the effort to kick her out. It's pretty much Lorraine-by-numbers here; the significant difference is that they took a chance by making Sasso the foil instead of McDonald, and since McDonald didn't really achieve anything in these sketches that couldn't be done by virtually any other cast member, it works out pretty well. Even though Lorraine isn't a particular favorite of mine, there were some good moments here, like when Lorraine is wildly bouncing up and down on the mattress. Closing Segment: Alex Borstein thanks everyone for watching "her" television show, "Mad TV." This was pretty good. ========================================================================== This episode wasn't the best Mad TV episode ever; it probably wasn't even the best of the season. But it was a significant improvement over last week's show (I think most people would agree on this one), in spite of the fact that, not for the first time this season, we had a Nicole Sullivan-less episode. [I count about six so far this season.] It was a solid show that didn't even need a musical guest (or a "Mad TV Classic") to round out the hour. Guest appearances by Susan Sarandon, Dennis Hopper, and Garry Marshall help (especially Sarandon). There are weaknesses here: the Swan segment drags a bit, as does the Rusty sketch, but no segment was particularly bad except for the James Brown piece. Also, there weren't any Stuart sketches, almost always a plus. Technically this is the first episode of May sweeps and except for not having Nicole Sullivan (admittedly she was not on the set that much for the last three months of taping, but they could have held back some of her material for May sweeps) in the show there is ample evidence that the producers made an effort for this sweeps period. [It's questionable whether or not sweeps period means that much to "Mad" at this point. They're unlikely to overtake SNL, and Howard Stern remains a fairly distant third to the best of my knowledge. The best they can realistically hope for is to close the gap with SNL, like they did in January-March 1999.] The next two weeks will reveal whether or not they can follow up their successes, but MD-523 was a good start. [6/10] ========================================================================== Number Six | dzien@nic.com | http://www.nic0lesullivan.org OR | (The Unofficial Nicole Sullivan Tribute Page) info@nic0lesullivan.org | ==========================================================================