Cold Open
Drake wants some fan mail, but the only one he gets is a request for the Dancing Lobsters’ autographs.
• Raquel appears to be reading an issue of Fever Beat.
• Kind of funny in retrospect that Drake is complaining about his lack of fan mail, given how popular he went on to be.
TV Clip: A guy in a tree says “Look at this tree!”
Intro
Amanda’s magic trick goes wrong, so she goes backstage to learn a spell for it. Then Penelope pops out of the magic hat, which is taken away by security.
• The effect of Penelope coming out of the hat is very well done. Too bad her appearance is somewhat spoiled by the fact that her theme is playing while Amanda is doing the magic trick.
• Penelope’s head is replaced by a hilariously obvious dummy when the security guards come to take the hat away.
Fake Ad: Sick Popples
The new popsicles that make you ill, so you won’t have to take a test!
• Another classic ad with a great concept. I wonder how exactly they came up with it?
• As usual with these ads, the intentionally poor acting and obnoxious editing is hilarious.
• The various flavors are all great, but my personal favorite is “Bleeding Gums Berry”.
• Great slogan: “They’re icy cool, and they’ll get you out of school!”
• Nice ending, too, where a kid faints after trying the “Measles Mango” flavor.
Judge Trudy
A boy named Alex (Drake) has a dinner date with Judge Trudy, which then turns into a case when she finds out that his parents have grounded him for driving their car through the mall.
• I like how the audience knows what’s about to happen as soon as Alex mentions his date is a judge.
• Last time we had a Judge Trudy sketch, I complained that they’re too formulaic. As if to prove otherwise, now we get one that’s a nice change from the norm.
• You have to love how Trudy apparently brings her podium and bailiff along whenever she goes out to dinner.
• I love the gag with the group of kids randomly running in to throw garbage at Alex’s parents.
• I think this is the sketch where The Bailiff finally comes into his own! Every single line he says in this one is funny!
• The mom’s punishment is hilarious. What is it? The Bailiff just screams at her!
Mr. Oldman
The old geezer receives a prank call about winning a cordless pig.
• First time we’ve seen this in a while. Amanda’s character now has her usual hairstyle.
• Not too much to say about these sketches, since they’re so short, but Dan’s performance is great as usual.
When Cheerleaders Attack
Amanda warns us about attacks perpetrated by cheerleaders.
• First appearance of the “When (X) Attack” sketch, based on the many sensationalist specials that were airing on FOX in the late 90s.
• Amanda always introduces these sketches by saying we might remember her from some other role. In this case, she says we might know her as Amanda.
• The first attack video is shot on the same set as Souper Dooper. It’s worth noting that the girl who gets attacked here is the same actress as Tammy from The Girls’ Room.
• My favorite parts of these sketches are the interview segments, where the victims have extremely brutal injuries that don’t really suit the kind of attack they’ve been through.
• Even in this first installment, Amanda has no sympathy for any of the victims, although her statements aren’t as over the top as they will be later on.
• The second attack video appears to be shot on Paramount’s New York Street set. I’m pretty sure it’ll appear again in a later installment of this series.
• Out of all the recurring bits we’ve seen so far, this one seems to be the most fully formed. All of the usual bits are here; the interviews, the hotline we need to call, and the ending where the attackers show up in the studio and assault the cameraman.
Hillbilly Moment
Eenis gets hit with a steering wheel.
Stop-Motion Amanda
Penelope has a dream where she wins the Best Website in the World Award. Also, Whoopi Goldberg is there.
• Now it’s Penelope’s turn to star in a stop-motion sketch! I like how they made her own special figure instead of just recycling Amanda’s.
• The voice of the Whoopi caricature is so obviously not her that it’s hilarious.
• This week’s video clip is Amanda rinsing her mouth out. Yeah…
Totally Kyle
Kyle talks about a movie he saw with a big lizard in it.
• Another classic Kyle story. You really have to question his taste in movies if the movie he saw is supposed to be the 1998 Godzilla film.
The Castaways
A family washes up on a beach that turns out to be populated.
• The setting reminds me of the Island Girls sketches from All That.
• I’ve never been a big fan of this one, mostly because the family is just too stupid. How dumb are these people if they can’t tell a surfer apart from a fish?
• The only part I like is when a police car drives up and the officer slaps the dad in the face.
Closing
Amanda tries another trick: sawing Johnny in half.
• Another instance of Johnny getting humiliated. This time, after getting “cut in half”, a kid from the audience gets to take his lower half home with him. And the episode ends with them just leaving him there. I like how he doesn’t even question Penelope when she runs by, he just cares about getting his socks back.
Final thoughts: A slight step back from the previous episode. That dumb Castaways sketch just dragged it down for me.
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