Review of 5-13-2000 episode (MD-524; better late than never; some spoilers) This review can also be found at: http://www.nic0lesullivan.org/md524.txt ========================================================================== Opening Segment: Will Sasso is talking about an idea he has for the show opening with Mo Collins and Debra Wilson. They tell him that he isn't as funny now because he is not fat anymore. So, with five minutes to the opening of the show, he goes on an eating binge and gets fat again. In reality, Sasso was moving away from physical humor for awhile, so actually the weight loss didn't affect him that much - although I still think he was funnier when he was "the fat guy." So this segment was funny because it was the first time his weight loss was addressed, and the segment itself was pretty well executed, too, with Sasso falling through the stage at the end. Afro Puffs: Coco (Debra Wilson), the Pam Grier clone, plugs a new cereal called Afro Puffs, a cereal which has the appearance and texture of tufts of hair. As if that's not enough, the white woman from the Dolemite parodies (Mo Collins) eats some of the stuff, which on the gross-out scale probably registers a four or so. Even grosser: Spishak's "Coffee and Donuts," from the first season. This isn't as good as the commercial parodies from the first two seasons, and almost seems like little more than an excuse to use a recurring character. Even so, it had its moments. Laverne and Shirley 2000: In the spirit of the earlier sitcom parodies, we get what is essentially a raunchier version of "Laverne and Shirley." Laverne (Mo Collins) and Shirley (Alex Borstein) plan to binge and purge on scooter pies, but later find dates (Aries Spears, Michael McDonald) from personal ads that look like escaped convicts. The dates drug the girls with roofies, but are summarily executed by Lenny and Squiggy (Pat Kilbane, Nelson Ascencio). My mind was not focused during this segment, because every time I think of Laverne and Shirley, I can't help but ponder the careers of David L. Lander (Squiggy) and Michael McKeon (Lenny, who kicked ass as David St. Hubbins). But when I watched it the second time, I liked it. There aren't any particularly funny jokes here; it's humorous mainly because of the situations that are created, and the impressions are fairly well-rendered as well. The Aries Spears Show: In what seems to be a parody of The Arsenio Hall Show, or something like that, Aries Spears interviews Will Sasso, and asks him about his sex life. He obligingly provides him with some juicy details. The second guest, Tony Shalhoub ("Stark Raving Mad") is not quite as forthcoming, and is excoriated by Spears and Sasso for not being willing to discuss his sex life - he eventually tells them he's quite happily married, thank you. The tension between the guest, who just wants to plug his show, and the host, who wants to maximize ratings (and who knows that sex sells), is somewhat funny. This was not bad, but it would have been funnier if I had an idea of what exactly he was parodying - I think it was Arsenio Hall, but I'm not sure; viewers at home may have also been confused, since "Arsenio" has been off the air for about six years. Literally II (Diving Meet): The sarcastic husband and wife team from the first "Literally" sketch (Michael McDonald, Nicole Sullivan) are back at a diving meet. They comment on the lack of diving prowess of the children, and make rude comments about those around them. They finally get their comeuppance when one of the divers splashes them. As the caption says at the end of the sketch, this is literally almost the same sketch as the one they did a few months ago. But it's no worse than any of the other recurring segments. And this time the comments seem a bit ruder; e.g. "the parking lot literally had more traffic than Mariah Carey's vagina" and "I have literally seen prison rapes that are more graceful than that." But this was also the first sketch that caused me to laugh, so they must be doing something right. [Here having Nicole Sullivan in the sketch helps; she can provoke laughter merely by altering the tone of her voice.] This was easily the funniest - and best - sketch in the entire show. Britney Spears - The Making of the Video: Hallo, what's this? A shameless repeat of a segment from earlier on in the season (although this version was edited down). Admittedly, though, if they were going to repeat something, this was the one to repeat - the fans seem to obsess on one or two segments every season, and this was the one they obsessed on this year (judging by the number of requests I get for the FULL segment as a video clip, anyway). And the timing was good, too; they airing this in the middle of May sweeps, and the same night that the real Britney Spears was hosting SNL. [I think sketch comedy shows should make fun of people like Spears rather than let them host the show.] This was a good segment; like the "Intensity" segment from season four, though, it probably gained more attention than it deserved because the show was making fun of something (or someone) popular. And let's not forget that as a concession to those who thought Sasso was funnier when he was fat, we get a corpulent Sasso as the director of the video. Blind Date: A couple (Will Sasso, Nicole Sullivan) sets up their divorced friend (Michael McDonald) on a blind date with another friend (special guest Catherine O'Hara). And while they could have found better material for a comedic legend, this sketch isn't that bad. Sasso doesn't do much here, but Sullivan keeps hurling insults at "Leslie" (McDonald), seemingly oblivious to their harmful effect. [E.g. she mentions that he's a child psychologist, and his ex-wife won't let him see the kids.] They end up singing at the karoke bar, and after several drinks wind up in each other's arms. Funny is when Sullivan makes a thumbs-up gesture every time Leslie makes another embarassing revelation. Overall it's rather prosaic - I mean, a sketch about a blind date has been done before - but still it made me laugh. Like most of the segments this season, though, it dragged on too long; the sharpness of the sketches from seasons one through three are gone. The Reading Caboose: Everyone's favorite ex-journalists (Michael McDonald, Mo Collins) return with a story about how the lunar landing was staged by the government and the mafia. Special guest George Carlin is good enough to help out, and doesn't seem bitter in any way even though Bill Gates stole his formula to Windows 95. Apart from the dubious "evidence" of the hoax, they fail to explain how NASA could be afraid of the Russians beating them to the moon when the USSR never mastered the "soft" landing. This was about average for Reading Caboose segments, which is to say good, with the presence of Carlin giving the proceedings a slight edge. Closing Segment: As has been so often the case this year, both Phil LaMarr and Nicole Sullivan are absent - but Nelson Ascencio is present. Will Sasso explains the significance of a hand gesture he sometimes does at the end of the show. This was actually pretty funny; it represents probably one of the funnier endings this season. ========================================================================== Once again, we have a solid show, proof that the producers are making an effort with the May sweeps shows. Last year the final shows were lackluster, but of the final four this season, only the first show was relatively weak (apart from the Goo Goo Dolls), and the last two have been good. There is still room for improvement - an average episode from the first two seasons would still beat this one - but with SNL allowing Britney Spears to host the show, viewers seeking an alternative don't have much of a choice. [This is in sharp contrast to last season, when often I would watch SNL after Mad finished, and would find that I liked SNL better than Mad.] The guest stars for the most part strengthened the show, and the fact that Nicole Sullivan was in three segments doesn't hurt, either. [6/10] ========================================================================== Number Six | dzien@nic.com | http://www.nic0lesullivan.org OR | (The Unofficial Nicole Sullivan Tribute Page) info@nic0lesullivan.org | ==========================================================================