A Familiar "Dana Carvey Show" Sketch

Last night, we watched the complete series of The Dana Carvey Show on DVD for the first time.  The 1996 sketch comedy show starred Dana Carvey shortly after he left SNL, and featured a supporting cast that included Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert before either were a household name.  The show also featured an impressive writing staff that included Louis C.K. (Louie), Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation), and Robert Smigel (SNL's TV Funhouse cartoons).  I had seen a few sketches online before, but never actually watched whole episodes.  The show only lasted 7 episodes before it was canceled, but the DVD set includes an 8th episode that never aired.  I got the DVD set for Chanukkah this year, so I was very excited to watch it.  

Unfortunately, the show hasn't aged very well, with lots of topical sketches about Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, Ross Perot, OJ Simpson, and other old news stories to which we  didn't even get the references. Some sketches were kind of funny, but the show overall was rather disappointing, especially considering the all-star cast of actors and writers on the show.  Nevertheless, there was one sketch that really stood out to us.  The sketch featured a deleted scene from The Wizard of Oz which included the deleted character of "Dennis Blanchard", who wanted to see the wizard because he wanted a, well, I'll let you see for yourself:  (BTW, Steve Carell plays the Tinman and Stephen Colbert is the Scarecrow!)

The sketch stood out to us for a few reasons.  First, it aged much better than the others since it wasn't spoofing the forgotten headlines of 1996.  Second, it was actually pretty funny.  And third, it very closely resembled a recent Saturday Night Live sketch, which also featured a deleted character from The Wizard of Oz!  See for yourself:

Obviously the deleted character from both sketches are quite different, but still, the premise of a sketch about a deleted character from The Wizard of Oz is oddly specific.  Were the SNL writers inspired by the old Dana Carvey sketch?  Or did they both happen to thing of the same random idea?  We'll probably never know, but still, it's hard not to wonder...

Jimmy Fallon and Billy Crystal bring back Who's on First

As a kid, I used to love watching old comedies with my dad.  And my favorite old comedy duo was without a doubt Abbot and Costello.  I still remember watching some of their great films like Buck Privates, Who Done It?, and Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein.  But my favorite Abbot and Costello bit was of course the classic "Who's On First" routine.  I used to own it on cassette tape and listen to it over and over, laughing each time even though I know what was coming.  In case you're one of the few people out there who've been deprived of watching this iconic piece of comedy history, here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Therefore, I was delighted to find out that Jimmy Fallon did his own take on the classic routine on Late Night last week, where we actually get to meet the players Who, What, and I Don't Know!  Check out the clip below, featuring some very special guests!

And as if that wasn't enough  for one episode of Late Night, later in the show Jimmy reprised his David Bowie impression (sans Tebow) to duet with Billy Crystal's famous Sammy Davis Jr. impression for a Christmas classic:

A Very Hey Arnold Christmas

Following our Chanukkah post, we figured it only be fair to post a clip for Christmas as well.  Unlike the case with Chanukkah, there are no shortage of great Christmas specials.  Nearly every great sitcom dating back to I Love Lucy has a great Christmas episode, and there are plenty of lists out there which will rank their favorite ones (like this one for example).  But as was the case with Chanukkah, we've decided to post a less mainstream clip that you probably won't find on every other TV blog on the internet.  Out of all the great Christmas episodes out there, our favorite one is actually from the 90's Nicktoon (Nickelodeon cartoon) Hey Arnold!.  The season 1 episode entitled "Arnold's Christmas" has the perfect blend of heart and humor that is rarely found in a children's cartoon.  To any child of the 90's, this is sure to bring back some great memories.  And to everyone else, you're in for a great treat.  And for all of you, I dare you not to tear up at the end.  Here's the episode in its entirety:

Hey Arnold!: "Arnold's Christmas"
Get More: Hey Arnold! Episodes,Hey Arnold!,Hey Arnold! Games

Merry Christmas to all those celebrating!

Our New Favorite Show: Billy on the Street!

Originally a web series on Funny Or Die, Billy on the Street has made it to the big(ger) screen on the Fuse network. Billy Eichner is a man with opinions who isn't afraid to yell at strangers and/or give them money when they can correctly answer questions and/or agree with him. But at his core, he's a man who wants answers, and wants them NOW. Never before has such urgency been applied to such low-stakes challenges ("for $1, name 3 white people"). He's also friends with some famous people that we like, which is nice. Here's a clip of him with Rashida Jones as well as a series of people on the streets of NYC who don't seem to know Rashida Jones nor watch Parks and Rec.

Billy On The Street 2nd Season Exclusive Clip with Rashida Jones from Rashida Jones

Golden Globe Nominations Announced! Our Official Picks!

Today the nominations for the 70th Golden Globe Awards were announced!  As you might expect, we care most about the TV comedy categories, so here are the nominations for each of those categories, and our picks for who we think should win!

Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy

• The Big Bang Theory
• Episodes
• Girls
• Modern Family
• Smash

Sadly, many of our favorites like 30 Rock, The Office, Parks & Recreation, Community,  and Louie weren't nominated this year.  Out of the 5 that were, the only one we actually watch is Modern Family, so we'll have to vote for that one.  Modern Family is a truly hilarious show with an amazing ensemble made up of both adults and kids.  Modern Family won last year, so hopefully it wins again!  Here's a great clip from a recent episode with guest star Matthew Broderick, who gets mixed signals from Phil:

Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy

• Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
• Don Cheadle - House of Lies
• Louis C.K. - Louie
• Matt LeBlanc - Episodes
• Jim Parsons - The Big Bang Theory

As much as we love Alec Baldwin on 30 Rock, we're rooting for Louis C.K. Alec Baldwin has already won the award 3 times now (Matt LeBlanc and Jim Parsons have also each won) so it would really be nice to see Louis C.K. get some recognition.  While I'll readily admit that when it comes to acting, Louis doesn't have much of a range, he is really great at playing the fictionalized version of himself that he wrote for himself on Louie, as evidenced in this clip:

Drunk Uncle on 12-12-12 Concert!

While watching the epic 6 hour 12-12-12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief last night, I was pleasantly surprised to see most of the cast of Saturday Night Live working the phone banks taking calls from donors.  This was a live concert on Wednesday night, and the SNL gang have a big show airing in just 3 days!  I figured they'd be busy writing and rehearsing with Martin Short, but there they were, volunteering their time for a good cause.  And as if that wasn't enough, then Seth Meyers comes out and introduces Drunk Uncle, and they do a full Drunk Uncle bit in the middle of the concert!  It was totally unexpected, and a great piece of comic relief following Kanye West's out-of-place performance.  It also goes to show what caring and generous people the SNL cast really are.  Anyway, without further ado, here's Drunk Uncle at the 12-12-12 Concert!

And don't forget, there's an all new Saturday Night Live this weekend with host Martin Short!  And fresh off his 12-12-12 Concert appearance, Sir Paul McCartney will be musical guest! Perhaps his new band-mates from Nirvana will make a surprise appearance???  We'll soon find out!  Here's some hilarious promos for the show!

And in case you want a little more Martin Short to hold you to Saturday, here's the very first appearance of the popular "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch, featuring host Martin Short as on of my all time favorite comedians, Jerry Lewis!

Happy Chanukkah from Jewey Fallon!

Happy Chanukkah everyone! Tonight is the first night of Chanukkah, so to celebrate I had this great idea post 8 Chanukkah TV clips, one each night for the 8 nights of Chanukkah!  But after a little research I realized that that was already being done on lots of other blogs like this one and  this one, so I guess it wasn't really that original.  And most of the clips they posted are the same ones I was gonna post (Adam Sandler Chanukkah Song, Rugrats Chanukkah, Friends Holiday Armadillo) because there sadly aren't many Chanukkah-themed TV clips out there to choose from.  

So I decided to scrap that idea and just do one special Chankkah post featuring a less mainstream clip that all the other blogs seemed to forget.  So to wish everyone a Happy Chanukkah, here's Jimmy Fallon's cousin Jewey Fallon from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon!  Happy Chanukkah everyone!

Hilarious Fan Reaction to Jimmy Fallon and Mariah Carey Video!

In our previous post, I posted a clip of Mariah Carey and Jimmy Fallon singing "All I Want for Christmas is You" from Late Night earlier this week.  I enjoyed the performance, but clearly not as much as this guy!  On last night's show, Jimmy shared this YouTube clip of a British (and topless) Mariah Carey fan watching her performance with Jimmy Fallon for the first time.  It is hilarious.  Check it out:

And in case that wasn't enough for you, here's the full video:

Jimmy Fallon and Mariah Carey sing All I Want for Christmas is You!

I don't listen to much pop music, but I do have one song by  Mariah Carey on my iPod - "All I Want for Christmas is You".  Her rendition of the classic holiday song is just really fun to belt out in the car and really epitomizes the holiday season.  So when I saw that Jimmy Fallon was following up his viral classroom instrument rendition of "Call Me Maybe" with "All I Want for Christmas is You", I knew it would be great.  See for yourself!

In other Jimmy Fallon news, Jimmy just got nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for Blow Your Pants Off!  The Roots also got nominated for Best Rap Album for their latest record Undun!  Congrats to Jimmy and The Roots!

Jaime Foxx on SNL!

Last week, we posted about Jaime Foxx hosting SNL for a second time this Saturday night.  At the time, we couldn't find any clips of Jaime's former hosting appearance online, so we just posted a clip of him from his old sketch comedy series In Living Color.  But with Jaime hosting in just a few days, it seems that the good folks over at NBC decided to take this old Jaime Foxx sketch out of the vault for us to enjoy. So here's Jaime Foxx on SNL from his first time hosting back in 2000:

And now here's a new promo with Jaime Foxx and Jason Sudeikis for this weekend's show!

Pete Schweddy's Forgotten Return to The Delicious Dish

Last week, we enjoyed watching the SNL Christmas special on NBC, a 2 hour collection of the best holiday-themed sketches over the show's 38 year history (though it was quite heavily skewed towards the more current seasons).  Naturally, we have seen these classic sketches many times before, but it's always fun to watch them again nonetheless.  

The special included one of the greatest and most classic SNL sketches of all time- the infamous "Schweddy Balls" sketch, which featured Alec Baldwin as Pete Schweddy appearing on the NPR program "The Delicious Dish" to promote his ball-shaped holiday treats.  The sketch was ranked as the #3 greatest SNL sketch ever on the "E! 101 Most Unforgettable  SNL Moments" list and even spawned its own Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavor! (Yes, I've had it.)  While the Delicious Dish sketch with Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon  has recurred 15 times throughout the show's history, it will forever be remembered for that one magical time that Alec Baldwin appeared as Pete Schweddy.

BUT, did you know that Pete Schweddy actually returned to the Delicious Dish a second time?  It's true!  After the enormous success of Schweddy Balls, Alec Baldwin reprised his character of Pete Schweddy to return to the Delicious Dish to introduce his latest culinary treat!  It's also interesting to note that this sketch aired shortly after Molly Shannon had left the show, so Rachel Dratch was introduced as as Ana Gasteryer's new co-host!  Check it out!

And in case you're one of the only people in the world who's never seen it (or you just want to watch it again), here's the classic "Schweddy Balls" sketch: