Review of 10-28-2000 episode (MD-604; some spoilers) Due to my continued webhosting problems, this review will not be available on the website for the forseeable future (along with all the other season six reviews). ========================================================================== Opening Segment: Cher (Mo Collins) gives leftover skin to trick or treaters. This was about as accurate as Collins' previous appearances as Cher, which is to say it was a pretty accurate impression. Allusions are made to Cher's Frankenstein-like prediliction for plastic surgery. This was pretty good. HBO's First Look: Penny Marshall (Mo Collins) introduces a version of "The Exorcist" in which she is the mother, Rosie O'Donnell (Alex Borstein) is the child ("a childhood Penny Marshall"), and Arnold Schwarznegger (Christian Duguay) is the priest. Funny is that Schwarznegger thinks it's a comedy and claims it will be funnier than "Kindergarten Cop." The Exorcist is a great movie and it was a good idea to parody it, but this segment never really takes off, even though there were some good moments and the impressions were generally good. Enrique Iglesias: The Latin pop star (Nelson Ascencio) greets trick or treaters. The kids are disappointed because he's lip-syncing, and when they turn off the soundtrack, it's clear he can't sing. This was a pretty good impression; as a segment it was OK. Geometry: A teacher (Nicole Sullivan) tries to teach a rather idiotic student (Christian Duguay) geometry, but he mostly throws tantrums and says he doesn't care. There's some good physical comedy from Duguay, but the sketch never really takes off; still it made me laugh at points - such moments were rare in last night's show. But I've seen sketch comedy at its best and this wasn't even close. Macy Gray: The trick or treaters try the home of Macy Gray (Debra Wilson), who picks candy out of her Afro. This was OK. Cool Essence's Spring Mist Shampoo: This is a commercial parody based on an actual shampoo commercial in which a woman is brought to the point of orgasm by a shampoo. Here a woman not only exudes orgasmic ecstacy when she uses the shampoo, but she shampoos at work - because it's the only thing the shampoo gets off on. The shampoo even turns abusive and hits her. This segment started out good, then drags on for far too long; the original commercial is rather silly and deserves to be made fun of but this segment could have been far more effective. Angelina Jolie: Angelina Jolie (Dannah Feinglass) tells the story of her life (a la The Three Little Pigs) and cuts herself. Allusions are made to problems with her parents and her allegedly incestuous relationship with her brother. This was probably the best of the trick or treat segments. The Early Show: Bryant Gumbel (Aries Spears) hosts the low-rated CBS morning show The Early Show. It has a window at the street level just like The Today Show, but nobody's out there (except a homeless guy). He launches a tirade against Jane Pauley, and finally pulls down his pants and tells people to kiss his ass. Maybe it's just me and the fact that I like this type of topical parody, but I thought this segment was quite good - Gumbel's diatribe almost seems to bring back memories of the time Dan Rather walked off the set of CBS News during the U.S. Open, leading to about seven minutes of dead air; they both work for CBS, a slim connection perhaps, but it sort of suggests a predisposition of people involved in CBS News to engineer their own embarrassments. Also funny is when Fidel Castro decides it's not worth his time being interviewed by Gumbel, and instead the video satellite link reveals...Nelson Ascencio. Janeanne Garofalo: The trick-or-treaters arrive at the home of Janeanne Garofalo (Alex Borstein), who derides their un-original costumes. [Wouldn't the ultimate cliche be THREE ghosts? Or better yet - everyone dressed as Chewbacca!] She then launches a rambling monologue against Halloween; the kids respond by telling her to wash her hair and by throwing candy at her. This is probably the best of the celebrity impressions of the night, and Borstein pretty much is dead accurate here, as anyone who suffered through the 1994-95 season of SNL can attest to. Diana Ross: This is a sketch about three satellite repairmen (Christian Duguay, Michael McDonald, Will Sasso) who don't want to go to Diana Ross's house to repair her satellite connection, and for good reason: her world tour was cancelled due to unimpressive ticket sales, and she's really angry. She bites one of the repairman's nipples off. This easily qualifies as the grossest sketch of the night. And while the sketch on the whole was good, it ran rather long; also I think this is one of those sketches that essentially appeals more to Hollywood insiders than to the show's target audience. [But at least we get to see Michael McDonald's nipple bitten off, something of a wish-fulfillment for this McDonald detractor.] Mad TV Encore - Vancome Lady Halloween: This is a rerun of the Vancome Lady sketch from last year's Halloween-themed show. While last year I admired the sketch and even said it was "easily the best segment of the show," what fans were really looking for was a NEW Vancome Lady sketch - the character's last appearance on the show was in this very sketch, which of course aired a year ago. Or perhaps this character has been retired for good, which would be a considerable loss to the show. In any case, I will not use this sketch in evaluating this show since it is not new material. Doggy's Angels: Big Snoop Dogg is accompanied by female vocalists. Not my kind of music at all, but the crowd really seems to be into it. And with No Doubt, the Barenaked Ladies, and Big Snoop Dogg all in the first four weeks of the season, it's notable that Mad TV is getting such good musical guests - or maybe not, since now the show is closing the ratings gap with SNL. Closing Segment: No cast; just Big Snoop Dogg singing his signature theme. This was OK. ========================================================================== MD-604 was, in my opinion, the weakest show of the season so far, but not by much: MD-602 was almost as bad. Notable is that I don't think Jeff Richards was listed as a featured guest at the beginning of the show (Dannah Feinglass was). This show was dominated mainly by the veteran cast members, anyway (most notably Alex Borstein and Mo Collins). Nicole Sullivan appears in one sketch only and even she cannot save a poorly-written sketch that was pretty much DOA. This is the third in a series of Halloween specials that seem to be getting progressively worse; it's hard to understand why they continue with them given the trend. And in spite of the fact that it proves to be the highlight of an otherwise dismal show, did we really need another showing of a Vancome Lady sketch that appeared in reruns as recently as one month ago? [4/10] ========================================================================== Number Six | dzien@nic.com | http://www.nic0lesullivan.org OR | (The Unofficial Nicole Sullivan Tribute Page) info@nic0lesullivan.org | ==========================================================================