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A Frustrating Frankensteined Viewing

As the tagline of the review blatantly suggests, this was a very frustrating episode to watch as it was the first time that I’ve had to Frankenstein together an entire episode in quite some time. When I first started this challenge, I was under the impression that the Seeso service that I signed up and paid for was offering, “Every single episode ever aired in its entirety,” only to find out that I heard it wrong or that it was an absolute lie because after the first five season with the original cast every other episode was abridged thank to licensing issues.

Luckily we live in the world of the internet where thanks to YouTube and YouTube-like sites, I have been able to piece together most of the parts that are missing turning an abridge episode into a Frankenstein show which is extremely frustrating but allows me to get things done. That said, in the past, especially the season between the original cast and this current batch, it could be a little hard to find an entire show but this hasn’t come up in a while.

I think the fact that I fell into a bit of a comfort zone made tonight’s big donut in search results made the entire experience twice as frustrating when this first was the case and I learned how to cope with the empty summaries and move on, which I hope I don’t have to get used to again but only time and the internet will tell.

Because of these technical errors, I’m finding it hard to actually rate this show because it had its fun moments but having to wait for each individual sketch to load distracted from any sense of fluidity. On top of that, this is also one of those shows where I’m on the fence because I don’t think it stood the test of time in that there was a little too much sexual harassment that was passed off as silly jokes.

I had this same issue when Kirstie Alley host where I felt at the time she was embarrassing her sexuality by playing along but at the same time the male actors just seemed to use it as an excuse to grope, especially since most of the sexuality involved in the humor didn’t feel like it stemmed from a feminine source and most of the time it wasn’t even, at least, mutual but instead the humor displayed a woman who can accept men’s sexist jokes while simply laugh along.

From what I saw of this episode, the feeling was quite the same, only thanks to the movie Basic Instinct, Sharon Stone got to play up her intimidating style, but there still seemed to be a few sketches where it felt like the men were trying to get away with things because they had a woman who would play along in a way that sends mixed messages as to how far one can go with a joke especially in this modern environment.

Other than the disconnect between the sensibilities that have since changed over time, I still had fun watching what I was able to find and I hope to be able to watch this episode in its entirety again, at some point in my near life. Until then, it’s time to move on and share what I did manage to find as I give you…

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with another installment of Wayne's World where the two basement dwelling cable access hosts checked back in for their Second Annual Oscar Special where they shared their best and worst moments from the recent award ceremony. Of course, this being the opening sketch their top two picks were actually the announced of, "Live from New York..."
Sharon Stone then officially opened the show with a monolog/parody of Basic Instinct where she wore the exact same outfit that she wore in the interrogation scene. She also sat in a similar chair the exact same way as in the movie only instead of being questioned about a murder she uses her sex appeal to perform a cliche intro about how excited she was to be in New York hosting the show and how much she liked working with the cast. All this while everyone was hung on to her every word waiting for her to uncross and then re-cross her legs only she broke character and threw to the first sketch before this could actually happen.
This was followed by a repeat of the Jiffy Pop Airbag ad from earlier this year which was as the title suggests an auto airbag that filled with popcorn to provide a snack while you wait for an emergency team to respond.
Hitting On Women was a sketch with Sharon Stone at a bar having to deal with unconfident men who can barely speak while attempting to hit on her only to act like arrogant jerks when they return to talk to their male friends. That is until Jon Lovitz appears and triggered the opposite reaction where Sharon was at a loss for words.
Sex Games was a sketch that I couldn't find anywhere on the internet but apparently, it featured Sharon Stone and Kevin Nealon role-playing in bed only they're both very vanilla in playing out their fantasies.
We then met Flippy, The Flipping Chihuahua that started out as what seemed to be a new character only to find out that this was actually a Toonces, The Driving Cat sketch when he ran over the flipping dog before it turned into your Toonces sketch.
We then got a repeat of the Lung Brush ad from earlier in the season which was a mini chimney broom designed for smokers to clean out their lungs.
It's Pat returned for a new installment called Pat's Interrogation which parodied Basic Instinct only unlike with Sharon Stone, people seemed less excited about the leg-uncrossing scene except for the fact that it may lead to the answers they seek. Again, this is was another sketch that I couldn't find anywhere on the internet.
Pearl Jam then took to the stage to perform Alive.
Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Rob Schneider shared his views on the environmental crisis by sharing the jaded response that he got from a man while out doing his research. Ellen Cleghorne also returned as her character Queen Shenequa to talk about her plan to make it illegal to tax black people in exchange for reparations.
Airport Security Check was pretty much a sketch that predicted the modern TSA where a group of airport security guards over searched Sharon Stone because they thought she's hot and made her take off more and more clothing before going through the x-ray machine.
Ernie's was yet another sketch that I could not find online but from what I've read, it featured Chris Rock's old man Ernie character who runs a small shop and just bickers back and forth with his wife as the two call each other some horrible but funny names that you'd expect from two people who have spent so much time together.
We then got a fake ad for Tayster's Choice Spermicidal Jelly which I could not find anywhere on the internet but from what I've read this was a parody of the Taster's Choice ad campaign from the time where a neighbor randomly drops by to borrow some instant coffee only in this case it's spermicide.
Phil Hartman Creations was a sketch where we got a tour of Phil Hartman's characters by being introduced to their wigs.
We then got a follow-up Tayster's Choice Spermicidal Jelly where again I'm only going by what I've read because I couldn't find this on the web. In this installment, Sharon Stone played the neighbor who borrowed the spermicide, dropped back by to return it only to catch Dana Carvey in the Middle of a date with Julia Sweeney but being that this is a commercial, this doesn't lead to any jealousy because they are all too excited about the product.
Pearl Jam then returned to the stage to perform Porch.
The Porno Couple was a sketch where Phil Hartman and Sharon Stone met up for drinks to discuss their upcoming marriage. During their wait for service, the two started to get things off their chest and how both of their lives were so porn dependent. First, we learned that Hartman was a porn actor and then quickly learned that Sharon Stone was a porn scientist, but it didn’t end there as the two continued to list off how even the most innocent aspects of their lives were actually link to not just sex but to the porn community.
This was followed by a third installment of the Tayster's Choice Spermicidal Jelly ad where again, I'm going by what I've read thanks to the fact that this sketch isn't online. In this version, Dana Carvey had a surprise run-in with Sharon Stone at his sister's house where they continued to market the spermicide through their awkward commercial conversations.
Finally, Sharon Stone closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

Of the few sketches that I was able to find, these were my three favorite moments of the night. First, I loved Flippy, The Flipping Chihuahua because it was a funny misdirection to the Toonce sketch that it actually was. Next, I really liked the Hitting On Woman sketch because I love Jon Lovitz’s cameo and how he was the one to make Sharon Stone go speechless. Finally, I was a fan of The Porno Couple scene because it cracked me up how convoluted their connections to the porn industry grew to be throughout the sketch.