Nicole Sullivan on Later

Bonnie McFarlane, Nicole Sullivan, and Ms. Sullivan's bitches (Jackson and Yoohoo) on the set of Later.

"I thought that somehow your life would be much different...and it's not. You just buy more stuff..." - Nicole Sullivan (on the effects of stardom)

• Ms. Sullivan's "technique" of doing celebrity impersonations
• Why it's sometimes embarassing when her relatives watch the show
• Various recurring and non-recurring characters played by Ms. Sullivan, including the Vancome Lady and Intensity
• Her early work in television
• A new sitcom in which Ms. Sullivan is playing a role (Talk to Me on ABC)
• Going to the Emmys
• Her dogs, Yoohoo and Jackson (who also appeared on the show)
• Her morning routine
• Her voice-over work for Baby Blues

On the whole, I was impressed by the quality of the show. I was not familiar with Ms. McFarlane (although she does appear on such shows as Late Night with Conan O'Brien), but her opening monologue was amusing enough, and she carried out her task as interviewer with a suitable dose of ease and glibness. Ms. Sullivan quickly established a rapport with McFarlane, and the half hour moved along smoothly. Substantively, there wasn't much new here. Most of what was discussed was probably old hat to many Nicole Sullivan fans, other than the mention of Ms. Sullivan's newest side project, an ABC sitcom called Talk To Me (starring, incidentally, Kyra Sedgwick). Nevertheless, McFarlane and Sullivan went through the motions adroitly enough to make the show worth watching. Ms. Sullivan dropped the obligatory self-deprecating remarks (saying that she was a bad mimic, and still is, and also suggesting that she was concerned about the appearance of her thighs during the Britney Spears parody), she elaborated on the inspiration for her most popular recurring character, the Vancome Lady (a combination, she claims, of her old boss and cosmetics clerks from her college days that made her feel stupid and ugly), and she promoted her newest project, Talk to Me, as well as one with which she has been involved for some time (Baby Blues).

Airing less than five days before the season premiere of Mad TV, this interview also served as to promote the series, and it served this function adequately - a video clip from the season premiere aired before the interview, and the air time and date of the show were also mentioned at the end of the show. As the most popular cast member, Ms. Sullivan is essentially the unofficial Mad TV spokesperson, a status the producers should remember next time her contract comes up for renewal. Of course, this "promotion" had at least two handicaps: (1) airing late at night (1:30 AM EDT), it would have a lower potential audience than if she had appeared on a talk show airing in an earlier time slot (although I have no idea what the actual ratings were), and (2) NBC has a habit of not announcing the guests for Later much in advance of the air dates: Tonight Show guests are announced at least two weeks in advance; guest for Later are announced only a few days in advance, if at all. Still, if anyone out there was watching, they would have seen an informative and stimulating show.

Video clips (in QuickTime 4.0 format):

• Clip of the Britney Spears parody (38 seconds; 1.1 MB)