Customer Reviews

Saturday Night Live - Game Show Parodies [VHS]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

All right, I have always loved SNL, and especially the Celebrity Jeopardy's. There was only a single CJ episode at the end of the tape! I feel that with the exception of the guess the word game, the tape should be wiped clean of the waste on it now and filled with stuff that...gasp!...people actually want to see! My ideal: I must agree with another [person] when I say a tape full of Celebrity Jeopardy. Do not waste your money on this, simply tape skits off the air if it means that much to you.

Well, as a long time SNL fan, and especially LOVING these new "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketches, I pre-ordered this IMMEDIATLY! There are a few of these great sketches(Sean Connery always mangling titles...) scattered around, but I assumed this would collect them all, and add a few classics. I was wrong.

My first indication was the box. If you ever saw the sketch "The Bensonhurst Dating Game" you'll know it is somewhat lame...but it is the flagship of this video.

Classics?

Remember a few seasons ago when Phil Hartman was on a quiz show as God and had all of the answers? Not here!

Oh..and those Jeopardy sketches? Only ONE..at the end. What happened? I sat through this tape, and as it approached the hour mark, began to sweat... No Jeopardy...just horridly unfunny game shows and even NON game show sketches including a Dysfunctional Family Christmas Album, and a TV show about a gangsta from the ghetto moving in with a white family. The whole sketch seemed to be based on the bleeped out cursing. Really funny.

So, as I waited, and the tape neared the 73 minute end mark..my only hope was a montage of the Jeopardy skits..weak, but it would have been right.

Instead, we get just one, at the end. And it isn't even one of the funny ones.

I have read the first review, and wonder if the reviewer got a special tape...I didn't see Regis doing "Who Wants to Eat?"... Only two jeopardy sketches, the 70's "Jeopardy 1999" and the aforementioned...

This tape has a feel to it..like someone just stitched it together..without paying attention to content or logic. If a tape is called 'Game Show Parodies', then don't throw in other sketches not themed..especially when there are gems that needed to be on the tape.

My only guess is that they are going to do a "Best of Jeopardy" tape. I hope.

Most SNL Best Of's are hit and miss...but I can live with them...

This is the one I just am going to literally hide behind other tapes, just in case somebody asks to watch it.

Sad, but true.

This being said, I want my Jeopardy tape.

And I'll take "The Rapists" for $200

I was disappointed to find that this tape doesn't contain the one-hour prime time special that (unless I'm mistaken) aired shortly before the tape was released. I was looking forward to owning a copy of "Who Wants to Eat?" and the particular edition of "Celebrity Jeopardy" that was on the special. If the special had never been aired, I'd feel better about the tape, except that about 3/4ths of the way through, one skit is suddenly cut off and we start getting a mix of full-length skits and excerpts. It seemed like a lazy way to compile the material, as if they ran out of room or imagination.

My ideal: One tape with nothing on it but every "Celebrity Jeopardy" SNL has done, from before Ferrell and Hammond right through to the present.

I must say I wasn't very impressed with this video overall. For starters, I wrongly assumed that it was going to be the same as the T.V. special that was on a few weeks back, when in fact it is almost entirely different. There are a few notable flaws. For one it includes skits for Russell and Tate and The Dysfunctional Family Christmas, which have no business being on a game show special. I don't know what someone was thinking who included those. There are also some skits that are fairly weak. One where Tom Hanks plays an absent minded game show contestant gets old quickly and goes on far too long. Another where Steve Martin hosts a show called 'Sucker punch' is another one that could have been left out. Far better choices would have been the episode where Chris Farley gets stuck on a Japanese game show, or even 'the Bears Quiz Masters.' The tape does have some funny moments. An older skit where Billy Crystal plays Sammy Davis with a 'can you guess this word' theme has some good laughs. The Jeopardy skit is pretty funny, although there are others that have been better. A few good laughs; I'd even say worth a look. But the producers of this tape could have done a much better job selecting skits.

This tape contains none of the funny skits included in the TV special of the same name. One reviewer wrote their review based on that special. If you liked the TV "SNL Game Show Parodies" special, DON'T BUY This!

I expected the Jeopardy parodies with Sean Connery and Turd Ferguson (Burt Reynolds trying to be funny). Instead, I got a tape full of total junk. "The Worst Of Gameshow Parodies" would have been a better title.

I definately recommend you buying this collectoin of SNL Game Show Parodies. It features some of the greatest SNL sketches ever. One is Dysfunctional Family Feud, which features Chris Farley at his greatest. Also, you'll enjoy Jackie Roger Jr.'s $100,000 Jackpot Wad, which features Billy Crystal as Sammy Davis, Jr. Pay attention to Rajeevs face when Saammy gives the clue for asparagus. And David Spade gives a great performance in Geek, Dweeb, or Spazz. The only thing that I think hould've been included is the rest of the Stand Up and Win sketch. Overall, this really is a great video.

As you might expect, this "Saturday Night Live" tape is a lot like the show. Some of the skits are fantastic while others fall flat on their face.

The tape both starts and ends on a high note. The first skit is one that skewers our characterizations of French prostitutes. Garth Brooks (whom I didn't recognize at first) is in drag and is very funny. The final skit is the classic "Celebrity Jeopardy" episode where the contestants are supposed to be Tom Cruise, Adam Sandler (played FLAWLESSLY by Jimmy Fallon) and Sean Connery. Will Ferrell, playing Alex Trebek of course, delivers some of his best dry humor ever.

Regarding the rest of the tape, it's interesting to note that the best clips are those that shouldn't even be included...skits that have nothing to do with game shows. The best of the bunch is a mock promo advertising a new show coming to NBC called "Princess & The Homeboy". Tim Meadows is completely outrageous as G-Dog. It's some of the edgiest stuff that the writers of SNL ever came up with.

It's true that most of these SNL tapes don't seem to be chock full of the best that the show has had to offer. However, at least this one is able to provide a fair share of laughs and is worth a rental or a purchase at a cheap price.

Overall it was just an average video. The title is somewhat deceiving since not all the skits were game shows. What was disappointing was in some sections they didn't show all of the game shows they were parodying.

The is a pretty good video. The only bad thing about it is that there is not enough good games shows. Some of them are very, very stupid. But all in all, it's a good video.

From their dead-on impersonations of Regis Philbin on the newshow "Who Wants to Eat?" to the hilarious "CelebrityJeopardy" sketches, the game show parodies special gave a shot of relief during my normally boring work week.