Mean Girls 2

Mean Girls 2
ABC Family
January 23, 2011
TV-Movie, Comedy
DVD
C+

Appropriately enough for a movie in which embarrassment is one of the themes, I have an embarrassing reason for owning this: I loved the original bigscreen movie and bought the DVD for this (with its similar cover) in a hurry.  This isn't as bad as you'd expect, but neither does it have the wit or insight of the 2004 movie.  At times, it's hard to tell if cliches are being sent up or checked off.  There are dropped threads-- Coco Chanel the dog, the Wood Shop project-- and then things being tossed in, like the heroine Jo developing an out of the blue crush on the guy she'd dismissed (in narration) as stupid and sexist.  The first half hour in particular, there honestly is a (very innocent) lesbian subtext between Jo and her new friend Abby, but, while both girls get boyfriends, their friendship does stay mostly at the center of the film, and this story is sweet at times, so I don't want to be too hard on it.  I'm not that much of a mean girl.

My review of Mean Girls is here: http://reviewingeverymovieiown.blogspot.com/2015/08/mean-girls.html.  Note that no one from the original except Tim Meadows as the principal seems to have been associated with this seven-years-later cashgrab.

The Daily Show: Continental Skiff Boat Oarsmen for Veracity

The Daily Show: Continental Skiff Boat Oarsmen for Veracity
ABC
September 19, 2004
Parody
DVD
B-

This was actually created for the Emmy Awards, and it of course parodies the "swift boat" attack ads on Kerry.  The guys play various oarsmen, while Samantha is a "trollop."

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 2.23

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 2.23
ABC
February 10, 2000
Improv Game Show
VHS
B-

Drew calls Africa a country rather than a continent and it turns into a splendid running joke as the contestants razz him in almost every following game.  (Nonetheless, it looks like African Chant would be a game used three times more.)

And thus ends 2000, and the Bill Clinton era, in my television collection.  (Note that it's also sort of the 100th time I've reviewed WLIIA, in the sense that I reviewed the Paul Merton biography that featured a clip from his first episode.)

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 2.19

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 2.19
ABC
January 13, 2000
Improv Game Show
VHS
B-

Kicking off Y2K in my TV collection, this is pretty funny, especially Questionable Impressions, where Wayne's Jar Jar renders Greg's Yoda speechless.  (You get to see Ryan as Katharine Hepburn, too.)  Ryan and Colin are also amusing trying to be Scottish in Whose Line.  Note that the hat in Scenes from a Hat is an Uncle Sam hat, like back in the New York episodes of '91 and '92.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 2.17

Duet, one of the better games.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 2.17
ABC
December 16, 1999
Improv Game Show
VHS
C

Too many "The points don't matter" lines, too much cross-promotion of The Drew Carey Show, and too many jokes about prison rape.  And so end the 1990s in my television collection.

Nightline: 2000 Vote

Nightline: 2000 Vote
ABC
December 2, 1999
News
VHS
B-

Ted Koppel, with analysis from David Gergen and George Stephanopoulos, takes a look at the New Hampshire Republican debate, when George W. Bush was in the lead, with John McCain a strong #2, and Steve Forbes trying to make it into a three-sided race.  Plus three other guys.  This almost eighteen years ago to the day episode is chockful of "they didn't know" irony and just generally entertaining for a talking heads show.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 2.13

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 2.13
ABC
November 18, 1999
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

Josie makes her second of two appearances on the American version of the television show that she helped launch eleven years before and ends up getting censored for something about "dead cats" (edited out) and "eating pussy" (definitely edited out).  She does a nice job dueting with Wayne, although it's not as magical as some of her duets with Mike McShane.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 2.4

Linda and Laura

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 2.4
ABC
October 7, 1999
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

This episode has a lot of three-person games, including Three-Headed Broadway Star (omitting Greg), but my favorite is the four-person Let's Make a Date, where the three potential dates for Wayne fit a little too well, as casting and as a team: Wayne must choose between Bachelor #1, Greg as an Exorcist; Bachelor #2, Colin as a Rabid Canadian Hockey Player; and Bachelor #3, Ryan as a Strip Club Bouncer (which I believe he was in real life when he was about twenty).  Drew's tendency to elaborate on the already annoying "The points don't matter" with "...just like..." is already going here in the second season of what I was calling by then Drew's Line.  And guitarist Linda Taylor joins keyboardist Laura Hall for the music, including funk and other styles for Wayne in Greatest Hits.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 1.14

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 1.14
ABC
February 3, 1999
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

Ian Gomez joins the regulars for, among other things, Weird Newscasters, where he plays Ricky Ricardo.  The highlight of the episode is probably Brad doing the B-52s.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: US Episode 1.12

Poor Brad!

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: US Episode 1.12
ABC
January 20, 1999
Improv Game Show
VHS
B-

This episode, thanks especially to Wayne Brady, is actually pretty good.  The energy level and creativity are higher than they'd been on the British version in the post-Paul-Merton mid '90s.  And I was pleasantly surprised that Drew didn't get on my nerves.  Yet.  Also, it was cool to see Brad again.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 1.11

Different episode

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 1.11
ABC
January 13, 1999
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

Greg plays President Clinton in Let's Make a Date, and Wayne later is Tina Turner in Greatest Hits.  This episode is one where I notice Greg and Wayne interacting more, as if the constant pairing of Ryan & Colin has made them into the "other guys" (along with Brad) and they've bonded over that.  Plus they tend to sit next to each other.

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 1.10

Scene to Rap

Whose Line Is It Anyway?: U.S. Episode 1.10
ABC
January 6, 1999
Improv Game Show
VHS
C+

So Whose Line moved to America while the British version was wrapping up.  It got a new host, Drew Carey, and new musician, Laura Hall.  I missed Clive and Richard V. but I was glad to see some familiar faces and to get new episodes.  Of those faces, Denny Siegel isn't bad, but it's Wayne Brady (who'd started a few months before on the British version) who most shines here, with his musical and other talents.  Ryan and Colin were already fixtures on the British version by then of course.  The best game here is probably Questions Only.

The Drew Carey Show: Drew and the Conspiracy

Mimi and her unique fashion sense

The Drew Carey Show: Drew and the Conspiracy
ABC
September 23, 1998
Sitcom
VHS
C+

So I liked the supporting cast on DCS (not just Ryan) but not Carey himself.  This was the premiere for Season Four but was probably taped as a rerun, since it aired right before Whose Line Is It Anyway?  (More on that in awhile.)  This episode has Drew the victim of a nine-year conspiracy of revenge by fellow employees.  Meanwhile, Lewis sells Mimi mood makeup and she has a one-night stand with a man who turns out to be married.

Series regulars:

• Diedrich Bader as Oswald Lee Harvey
• Drew Carey as Drew Carey (except not Drew Carey the celebrity but a Drew Carey works in a department store)
• Craig Ferguson as Carey's boss Nigel Wick
• Kathy Kinney as Mimi Bobeck
• Krista Miller as Kate O'Brien
• Ryan Stiles as Lewis Kiniski

Maintenance Guy Jim O'Heir was Kelsy on Ellen the season before, while Kevin McDonald, who's Heller here, was Chuck at the radio station on Ellen that season.  The writer(s) and director aren't mentioned at IMDB so I'm omitting them, but they didn't ring a bell when I saw them onscreen.

Ellen: Vows

Ellen: Vows
ABC
July 22, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
B

In this Cohen & Pratt story, helping Ellen's parents prepare to renew their vows causes Ellen and Laurie to get caught up in the romance.  But when Ellen proposes to Laurie, Laurie says no because the ceremony seems empty to her as long as it's not legal.  It would be another fifteen years before California legalized gay marriage, and television and so much else would change by then.  In its own way, this episode creates TV history: the first time the main character on a sitcom proposes a same-sex marriage.

It's nice to see Kathleen Noone and Brian Doyle-Murray finally appear together as Ellen's Aunt Ferne and Uncle Burt, he of course a real scene-stealer.  It does seem odd that their son Spence couldn't make it to the wedding, but whatever.

Ellen in its fifth and final season ranges from C to B+, averaging out to a B-.  Despite the common opinion that the show got "too gay," the missteps of this season are when the writers (and DeGeneres) forgot that the biggest pro-gay statement they could make was showing the humanity of their imperfect but good-hearted lesbian protagonist.  The series was at its most universal when it explored the ways that same-sex relationships are first and foremost relationships.  Oh, and the radio station stuff never worked, but that's only two episodes.

Farewell Ellen, farewell ABC sitcoms, at least for now.

Ellen: When Ellen Talks, People Listen

Ed Begley, Jr. as himself

Ellen: When Ellen Talks, People Listen
ABC
July 15, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
C

Mike Larsen wrote this pointless episode in which he plays the Paper Suit Guy.  It's set at the radio station (KPOV), so Kevin McDonald and Susan Norfleet return as Chuck and Julie.  Ellen speaks out on her radio show about how people aren't willing to help each other, so she strikes a chord, transforming L.A. and helping Paige meet a nice guy played by Judge Reinhold.  But the experience sours and we're left with a message of what?  We should reach out to each other even though it'll probably go badly?  Someone else might've made this darkly funny, or at least sharpened the Begley self-parody, but it's understandable why this first aired during the summer.  (It's the penultimate episode.)

Old Woman Amzie Strickland was already playing old on two episodes of The Bob Newhart Show and one episode of Three's Company (as Gladys Moore, "Jack's Other Mother"), and she was on That Girl twice.  Diana Theodore, who had an unknown role on Roseanne in 1995, plays a Young Woman here.  And, yes, that's Jane Brucker being marginally funnier than she was on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, here playing the news reporter Mimi Samuel.

Ellen: A Hollywood Tribute

Ellen: A Hollywood Tribute
ABC
May 13, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Linda Ellerbee hosts this hour-long mockumentary about Ellen's career, going back to the 1920s, with this sitcom starting in 1959.  The writing by Tim Doyle, who wrote a couple Roseanne episodes, is uneven but I like the various pastiches of different eras and styles.  My favorites are the 1950s guess-the-Commie game show and the early '70s cartoon about "Ellen and the Fun Bunch" (in outer space with the Harlem Globetrotters, of course).

Celebrities I didn't tag include Jennifer Aniston, Bea Arthur, Orson Bean, Richard Benjamin, Diahann Carroll, Glenn Close, Tim Conway, Cindy Crawford, Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson, Christine Lahti, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Mary Steenburgen.

Steven Anderson, who was a Young Man on The Bob Newhart Show in 1976 and Higgins on Three's Company in '81, is a Bookish Man here.  Jim Doughan played Amazing Dave on Who's the Boss? and is a Camera Assistant here.  Phil Leeds, who was on a few Roseanne episodes, is one of the Comedians here.  Man #1 Gene Allan Poe played a Salesman before.  Dan Finnerty, who previously was a Doorman on this show, plays both Crew Member Dan and Tom.

Ellen: Hospital

Ellen: Hospital
ABC
March 4, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Anne Heche returns in this Berry & Swartzlander story, this time as Laurie's ex Karen, although this is not immediately apparent.  Laurie got in a car accident after having lunch with Karen.  The episode has an odd feel to it, not only because of the mind games Karen is playing but because of the offscreen relationship between DeGeneres and Heche.  (They'd break up in 2000.)

Tyler Layton returns as Laurie's sister Leah.  This is Kayla Murphy's last appearance as Holly.  Laurie herself does not actually appear.

Ellen: It's a Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay World

Ellen: It's a Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay, Gay World
ABC
February 25, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
C+

This is a somewhat heavy-handed story where Spence dreams that he's a closeted heterosexual in a world where homosexuals are the majority.  The best jokes here are name-drops of celebrities, but this episode feels like it needed a couple more drafts to make the writing, by David Walpert, sharper and/or subtler.

Bunny Summers, who was a Wardrobe Lady on That Girl and Mrs. Cassio on Who's the Boss?, is "Mom" here.

Ellen: Neighbors

Ellen: Neighbors
ABC
February 18, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
C+

The story is by Kit Pongetti, who played a Ticket-Taker on Roseanne, while the teleplay is by two people who didn't write for any other of my shows.  The story behind the story is that all season DeGeneres had been butting heads with ABC over how much they could show of the romance with Laurie, and so she rebelled by making an episode with contrived sitcom devices, like misunderstandings and a chicken suit, as if the episode had been made 40 years earlier.  (Well, plus lots of jokes about what a slut Paige is.)  It doesn't exactly work as entertainment, but it's interesting.

This is the 600th show I've reviewed for the '90s.  It's unlikely that we'll hit 700.

Ellen: Ellen in Focus

Ellen: Ellen in Focus
ABC
February 11, 1998
Sitcom
DVD
B-

This is the only Ellen story by Leif Sandaas, who did four for Roseanne, and it has some mild satire of television, modern and older.  Paige comes up with a cop show where one cop is short and then she pressures Ellen to become part of the focus group of ordinary people evaluating the pilot.  Ellen is very persuasive, but then Paige's short boss wants her to replace the short cop with his busty blonde starlet girlfriend.

Roger Eschbacher, who's Derek here, was a Cop on the show in '95.  This is the 100th Ellen episode.