Wednesday, July 29, 2020

The Amanda Show reviews: Episode 3

Cold Open

Drake makes a Dancing Lobster upset by eating lobster for dinner.

• The first time we see one of the Dancing Lobsters outside of a Judge Trudy sketch.

• You must have known that they’d do a sketch like this at some point. It was funny enough, but I would have preferred a full sketch instead of a cold open.


TV Clips: A traffic light, and a guy popping out of the garbage shouting “Garbage!”


Intro

Amanda recieves a box. While she goes to look for a tool to open it, Penelope breaks out of it and runs off to look for her.

• Second appearance of the Swiss Guy. I forgot he was in this one.

• Another near miss for Penelope, as Amanda returns to the stage as soon as she leaves.


Fake Commercial: Call ZAP!!!

The latest technology that allows you to zap unwanted prank callers.

• Another classic commercial, and another thing that I wish was real.

• Drake and the other boy’s scenes are filmed on the same set as the Meet the Literals sketch we‘ll be seeing in the next episode.


Sketch: The Wrestlebergs

A family that is so obsessed with wrestling, they have their own referee.

• Kind of a lame concept for a “freaky family” sketch. Maybe I’d like it better if I was more of a wrestling fan, like my brother is.

• The father and son’s costumes are based on those of real professional wrestlers, Goldust and The Blue Blazer (RIP), respectively.

• This sketch was also filmed on the Literals set.

• Another appearance from Andrew Hill Newman, this time as the family’s referee.


Stop-Motion Amanda

Amanda plays with her dog, Dumples.

• They’ve finally stopped doing the live-action bookends to these.

• Not one of the best Stop-Motion bits.


Sketch: The Girl’s Room

Amber (Amanda), Sheila (Raquel), Tammy (Jamie Snow), and Debbie (Jenna Morrison) host their own show from the girl’s bathroom. They discuss a pop quiz and then give popular boy Josh Elliot (Drake) a swirly because he doesn’t love them.

• This recurring sketch makes its debut.

• There’s a couple of big differences here. One, the announcer is a different woman instead of Amanda, and two, the set is noticeably different.

• Some of the characterization is a little different too. Debbie, while she does say her famous “I like eggs” line at one point, seems to be more obsessed with trains in this one. The other girls are mostly the same, though.

• I’m going to be honest here and say that I’ve never really been a big fan of these sketches. Aside from Debbie, who never fails to crack me up, most of these sketches are fairly bland.

• Nancy’s teacher character seems to be the same one she played in the Stop-Motion sketch in the first episode.


Hillbilly Moment: Ragdoll

• Another recurring sketch makes its debut. Now this is one that, while extremely repetitive, manages to always be funny in spite of that.


Sketch: Smelling Bee

Contestants have to identify a certain smell while blindfolded.

• I love whenever Kassir uses a British accent on this show. It’s like he’s doing a less creepy version of The Cryptkeeper.

• Foot Joke #2: The first thing Amanda has to smell is a skunk in a sneaker. She refers to it as “footwear”.

• Foot Joke #3: Drake smells army boots with sour milk in one of them, and rotten eggs in the other.

• Another one of Schneider’s favorite topics, hoboes, are referred to here when Amanda has to smell one.

• Funny ending where the entire room faints because of Nancy’s character’s smelly armpits. (Armpits are another fetish of Dan’s)

• I’m honestly shocked that they didn’t have to smell a bare foot at any point.


Sketch: Totally Kyle

Kyle Rostensan (Drake) tells a story about the time he went to his grandmother’s house and had oatmeal for breakfast.

• Yet another recurring sketch makes its debut in this episode! And this just happens to be my favorite recurring sketch of them all.

• Drake already has this character perfected, even though it’s just the first time he’s ever played him.

• One big difference is that the announcer is Dan Schneider instead of Amanda like it would be later on.


Penelope Taynt

Penelope’s attempt to break into Amanda’s dressing room is foiled by the wardrobe lady, Jennifer. After she shows Jennifer her website, Amanda opens the door and knocks her unconscious.

• I bet Dan loved featuring those baby pictures of Amanda on the show.


Closing

Amanda invites the audience to dinner. After they all leave, Penelope runs out and is greeted by an empty studio.

• Funny ending where the entire studio audience leaves to go have dinner with Amanda.


Final thoughts: The show slowly starts to get better. A whole bunch of classic recurring sketches made their debut here, compared to the forgettable ones from the previous episode.

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