July 13, 2004

I love the (Insert Decade Here)

As you pop culture monkeys must know, VH1’s latest snark-filled look at pop culture history, I Love the 90s, premiered last night. As a fan of both snark and pop culture, not to mention previous opuses I Love the 80s, I Love the 80s Strikes Back and I Love the 70s, I was pretty disappointed. The reason for this, as I see it, is threefold.

First, the overall snark talent level is down. No more Donal Logue, too much Michael Ian Black, “Uncensored” as they put it. Unfunny too. It is nice to see Beth Littleford again, Hal Sparks is reliably entertaining, and Daphne Zuniga (of all people) seems to revel in her bad taste, but Wendy the Snapple Lady? MC Hammer? Michael Bolton attempting to fill the shoes of Lionel Richie as the Creepy Ballad Singer? Not up to par people, though it is better than 75% of the cast of Best Week Ever. You get Kevin Smith to be on, excellent! You put him as the second banana in awful Jay and Silent Bob bits, not so excellent. The Jay and Silent Bob thing is just over enough not to have ANY nostalgia appeal, and Jay while hilarious at 21, is just dumb at 35. Oh, and Bill Simmons, ESPN’s Sports Guy, has practically begged to be on these shows, why the hell isn’t he? The inventor of the Unintentional Comedy Scale would automatically become the funniest person on this show.

Secondly, the show seems even more frenetic and ADD-oriented than the 80s versions did. The bits are even shorter, and the graphics are everywhere. That damned Dancing Baby wasn’t funny on Ally McBeal; it sure isn’t funny here either. It seems to be on every other segment so far.

Finally, it’s just too early for this. We’re only 5 years removed from the 90’s and there isn’t any reason to revisit them. I’ll still watch the show, unless the All-Star game runs late, but I will admit to dreading tonight’s look at 1992. This means Bill Clinton and his foibles. Slick Willie may be the most over-reported person in modern America, and I’m still sick of him. In addition, none of the “didn’t inhale” or “Bilary” or womanizer jokes has been funny in about 8 years. And if someone mentions how Gennifer Flowers didn’t know how to spell her name right, I will throw my shoe through the TV.

Posted by Frinklin at July 13, 2004 06:42 PM
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