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DVD.Review
. Show gave flip side ofparody
“IN LIVING COLOR"
Season 1
★* out of
BY DANIEL P. FINNEY
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
The trouble with topical humor
is that it’s like a gallon of milk. It’s
really good when it’s fresh out of
your grocer’s refrigerator, but it
goes bad after a while.
For a good many of the sketches
on “In Living Color,” the former
Fox network comedy that arrived
Tuesday on DVD, the expiration
date has long passed.
The show probably was funny in
1990, when it made its debut, with
sketches on the lameness of Milli
Vanilli and “The Exxon Family.”
| The latter, for example, lampoons
the life of the captain of the Exxon
Valdez, the oil tanker that spilled
53 million gallons of oil on Prince
William Sound, Alaska, in 1989.
In their time, those gags were
probably guffaw-inspiring, or at
least chuckle-worthy. But in 2004,
they’re more of a sepia-tone year
book photo than cause for good
comedy.
The real value of “In Living
Color,” it seems, is as a pop culture
history book. Sketches on Oprah
Winfrey’s constantly fluctuating
t \
weight, Mike Tyson’s bizarre be
havior and Michael Jackson’s mul
tiple plastic surgeries show us that
some narcissistic celebrities, freaks
and nutjobs have been with us a
very long time—too long, in fact.
Still, parodies of Sam Kinison,
M.C. Hammer and Andrew “Dice”
Clay come across not just as dat
ed but as carbon-dated.
And the Fly Girls, the hip-hop
dancing woman clad in florescent
spandex — once considered al
most too taboo for TV — look like
a brightly-colored community bal
let troupe compared with Janet
Jackson’s hypersexual gyrations
that occasionally culminate in a
“wardrobe malfunction.”
To be fair, when watching
sketch comedy such as “In Living
Color” or its elder brethren
“Saturday Night Live,” one must
remember that for every inspired
sketch, such as “SNL’s” “Land
Shark” or “Mr. Robinson’s
Neighborhood,” there are
umpteen hundreds of forgettable
and truly unfunny bits that faded
into obscurity.
To the show’s credit, “In Living
Color” boasts its own cadre of elite
sketches that compete with the
greats produced during the prime
years of “SNL” or “The Carol
Burnett Show.”
Damon Wayans turn as Homey
the Clown is timelessly funny, as
is Jim Carrey’s portrayal of media
mogul and weirdo Ted Turner in
“Ted Turner’s Very Colorized
Classics,” during which Turner
recasts old classic movies with fa
mous black actors. Alas, Carrey’s
grotesque Fire Marshal Bill did
not appear in the first season.
And Damon Wayans work with
David Alan Grier on “Men On
Film,” playing two homosexual
movie critics, still inspires hys
terics, even if the movies they ref
erence are long forgotten.
What won’t be forgotten about
“In Living Color” is that it brought
real color — as in racial diversity
— to previously white-dominated
sketch comedy.
“So much of what was on TV at
that time had nothing to do with
black people’s lives,” says cast
member Tommy Davidson in one
of the episode commentaries. “On
this show, we talked like we talk.”
As hard as it is to imagine, hip
hop slang and music were hard to
come by in 1990. “In Living Color”
brought African-American music,
jargon and fashion to prime time
and helped jump-start a cultural
shift that eventually ended with
hip-hop becoming the dominant
music genre of today.
Crossword
ACROSS
1 Savory jelly
6 Turner and
Williams
10 Hankering
14 Infamous
hotelier
Helmsley
15 Potpourri
16 Bangkok guy
17 Calm
18 Half a dash?
20 Golfer Ernie
22 _Wednesday
23 Carmine or
crimson
24 Up to date
30 Wet soil.
31 Evans and
Earnhardt
32 Legumes with
oily seeds
35 Stat for Randy
Johnson
36 Elm or oak
37 Foul odor
38 Upper limb
• iji >'/i 'ij i.rij *• *
c5» ren
40 Mama_!
41 Pierre’s here
42 Plant again
44 _the line
(obeyed)
45 Church sister
46 Show surprise
47 Letter-lady White
48 Half a fly
49 Brunch favorites
52 Blackjack
54 And also not
55 Eurasian viper
56 Grind to dust
60 Qom resident
64 Territory
65 Snow ride
66 Raring to go
67 Ship’s pole
68 Checks out
69 Slumguilion and
goulash
DOWN
1 Sharpton and
Gore
2 Matched outfit
3 Food from taro
4 Mooring basin
5 Exercised
authority
© 2004Tribune Media Services, Inc. 04/12/04
All rights reserved.
6 Male turkey I
7 Samuel’s mentor
8 Manofl and
Shore
9 Drunkard
10 Lesley Gore
song, “_ My
Party”
11 Malachi’s ordinal
rank
12 Pet canary’s digs
13 Posterior
19 Large white
flowers
?1 Flew high
?4 Vilifies
?5 Gunner’s
enclosure
36 Male features
17 Jetted
?8 Driving spot
?9 Caviar
33 Place blame
34 Polishes
37 Brown pigment
to “_Lisa"
*3 Drop the ball
14 Bit
Solutions
S M 3 1 sis 3 A 3|l S V Vi
Id 3 9 V IMo 3 1 sBv 3 d V
i n v d i~B~iTz~|~i y^|a i n d
■TTJBT \
——^PPI
_1_ d_Jtf _J^_S
_3_ 3 _S _3__y
i|v a 3
Mll|ld|V|3|H|i|d|0|3 ijv'.l S
a 3 y ■ h s VpMfs' i 3~j ■
N 9 I sis' n N I mFT Ills
I V H Thao I 1 olv N O 3 1
111 i i B 111111B 1M 11
47 In truth
50 Scandinavian
51 Jack of the
nursery rhyme
52 PC junk mail
53 Charismatic
glow
57 Brewer's tub
58 26th letter
59 Ames and
Asner
61 I.D. info
62 Just out
63 Tax agcy.
Horoscopes
ARIES A strong authority
figure can b.e annoying at
times. Don't complain. This is
part of the training that will
bring out your leadership
skills.
TAURUS Investigate distant
possibilities, but don't act on
them quite yet. You'll soon find
another way to bring in
money, and that will multiply
your options.
GEMINI Don't accept the first
offer you get. You'll find a
better one. Stick to the rules
you’ve set, and others just
might comply to your terms. If
they don't, wait for someone
who will.
CANCER You’re up against a
formidable opponent, no doubt
about that. You're not alone,
however. With a partner, you’ll
be much stronger. Don't give
up.
LEO Abundance can be yours.
You may have thought you'd
win a big bet or inherit a lot of
cash. But this time, you get to
work for it.
VIRGO Don't worry about small
differences of opinion. You can
work those out. Look at a
barrier as a motivating
challenge.
LIBRA Don't let a disagreement
about a domestic matter ruin
your day. Help improve your
partner's mood, perhaps with
some gentle, soothing music.
Changing the subject works,
too.
SCORPIO Learning through
trial and error is not your
favorite way to do things.
You'd rather follow a well
thought-out plan. Maybe next
time.
SAGITTARIUS Proceed with
caution for a while. Mistakes
could be expensive. You need
to be happy, but you also need
to be practical.
CAPRICORN Once you've
handled this latest matter, you
should be able to turn your
hard work into good fortune.
Meanwhile, heed your coach's
advice.
AQUARIUS You are about to
emerge from your pensive
phase, re-energized and
enthusiastic. Partly you have
figured out the problem, and
partly you are getting luckier.
Whatever works.
PISCES A thoughtful analysis
of your situation is required.
Don't abandon your faith or
your dreams, but do be a little
bit more objective for right
now.
CALENDAR
Monday
“THE TRIPLETS OF
BELLEVILLE": 7 and 9 p.m.
Nickelodeon Theatre, 937
Main St.
Tuesday
use CHAMBER WINDS: 7:30
p.m. School of Music.
“ROGER AND ME”: 8 p.m.
Russell House Theatre.
"MODERN TIMES”: 7 and 9
p.m. Nickelodeon Theatre.
BRIAN SANSBURY TRIO:
Sundance Bar and Grill, 902
B Gervais St.
-„