or...

A Childhood Reminder Of Not Wanting to Go To Bed

First off, I have always been a fan of Danny DeVito, as someone who stands at 6'4" I've always been fascinated by the other side of the scale and not necessarily in a novelty way. You see, I have very low self-esteem, so I hate being this tall because I always feel that I stand out in a crowd. That's not to say that I want to be that small, but I feel that I can relate to people's reactions more than one might think.

Other than the size thing, I've also been a fan of his work even before I was tall. The only project of his that I never got into was the show that was the focus of the first couple sketches of the episode. Taxi was another one of these ten o'clock shows that just hearing the theme song triggered a negative response because it meant I had to go to bed which I hated because even as a child I preferred the night. Hell, I still have a bitter feeling toward all of these bedtime shows that I still refuse to watch to this very day.

This is too bad because I did actually like what I did see of Taxi but it also felt outdated by the time I finally gave it a shot and without the nostalgic connection I never put in enough effort into sitting through the series until it grew on me.

My feeling toward Taxi actually had nothing to do with my opinion of this so-so episode. The feeling just came back to me during the Taxi sketch so I thought I would make it the topic to share and now that it's out of my system, it's time to move on and share what I saw as I give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's episode starts with an Andy Kaufman wrestling clip showing his first match with a man named Jerry "The King" Lawler that cuts right when he had Andy in a pretty "dangerous" move which I'm willing to bet that they will revisit later.
This week, we're back to the hybrid huddle followed by Danny DeVito's monolog about that fact that his show, Taxi, had just been canceled by ABC. He then reads a note from his mother who slams the ABC network. He also brings out the entire cast of Taxi to allow them their final bow since the cancellation happened out of the blue.
We then get a parody of Taxi where DeVito's character blows up the ABC building.
This was followed by the next installment of The Whiners where they complain about everything that happens on their plane as they prepare for take-off to start their vacation and DeVito has to put up with all of the noise as he tries to be the best row mate that he can be.
Next, we go to DeVito's office where he calls to his wife to let her know that he just got promoted to be an executive. He then gets a return call from his wife who sounds like she's having an affair. This gets interrupted by Piscopo who drops in to congratulate DeVito who then gets a visit from Eddie Murphy who’s there to deliver drugs. It turns out all of this chaos is nothing more than an Executive Stress Test to see if he's ready for such a corrupt job.
The keyboardist of Sparks gives a dissertation on mice before the band hits the stage to perform Mickey Mouse.
Once again, Brian Doyle-Murray and Christine Ebersole give us the news with Mary Gross out on the field. This week, Sweetchuck the scientist gets a segment to talk about the various strains of rabies, Mary Gross checks in from Central Park where she attempts to interview Annie's dog being that this was the week of the theatrical premiere, and "Lou Grant" give us the weather after his show had just been canceled. (Clip 2) (Clip 3)
We then get another installment of Solomon And Pudge the bar piano player and local old drunk that discuss the news of the day. There's not really a story to this sketch, but I love watching these characters interact. They eventually get a visit from Danny DeVito who joins in on the charming fun.
Next, we go backstage for an "Ozzy" concert where he pitches Enzo Mouthwash to clean out your teeth after biting the heads off of animals.
We then get a repeat of the America Is Turning Gay ad from a couple episodes ago.
Table Talk is a talk show that takes place at a restaurant where Tony Rosato talks about wine and how to pretend to know what you are talking about where you mainly act like an asshole no matter what they give you to create that expert vibe.
Brian Doyle-Murray then interviews Andy Kaufman about the match from the intro that ended his wrestling career, and we get to see how the entire thing played out. Andy also apologizes for all of his antics during his wrestling career.
Looks At Books is another talk show where Mary Gross interviews the author of a book that accused the Beetles of plagiarism claiming that they stole their content from a Nazi vault and shares the parody Nazi-themed albums that show the "original artwork."
Sparks then return to the stage to perform I Predict.
Finally, Danny DeVito closes the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights after letting his mother curse out ABC.

Again, with most episodes from this season, though it was a so-so showing, there were still these pretty good segments. First, I loved to see Andy Kaufman announce that he was retiring from wrestling because I was both a fan of him as well as the fictionalized sport of wrestling and I also loved that they showed the entire match. Next, I really liked the second installment of Solomon And Pudge because it turns out that I'm a huge fan of these characters that I don't remember from back in the day. Finally, I was a fan of Whiners on a plane because they are still a family favorite that continues to be referenced by my father whenever anyone makes even the slightest complaint.