ShareThisBy DAVE MASON
Scripps Howard News Service
Friday, May 04, 2007
It was the age of Nirvana, Pearl Jam _ and Opera Man.
Adam Sandler sang lyrics poking fun at the big names of the time on "Weekend Update," but the scene that stands out in "Saturday Night Live in the '90s: Pop Culture Nation" involves the late, talented Chris Farley.
There Farley is, stripped to his waist, dancing his heart out for a Chippendales audition. And an amazed and much slender dancer, Patrick Swayze of "Dirty Dancing," can't keep up.
It was hard for anyone to keep up with Farley as he played characters such as a loud motivational speaker who got right in other people's faces. The best part of the "SNL" special, which airs at 9 p.m. EDT Sunday on NBC as part of May sweeps, is seeing other "SNL" actors unable to keep a straight face as Farley and others went over the top and straight into our hearts.
That's why Sunday's special is worth watching.
"Saturday Night Live in the '90s" features Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri as cheerleaders; Molly Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher, who falls into everything; and the actors playing presidents and the candidates running against them. In the 1990s, "SNL" had its classic debate in which Dana Carvey, through the magic of editing, played both President George H.W. Bush and third-party opponent Ross Perot. Carvey talks Sunday about Bush's good-natured reaction to his portrayal of him.
And there's a clip showing Darrell Hammond as President Bill Clinton jogging.
He jogs into a fast-food restaurant.
Carvey and Mike Myers are featured in their "Wayne's World" sketches. Julia Sweeney is shown as her character Pat _ no one knows if Pat's a woman or a man. And Chris Rock, Tim Meadows, Tracy Morgan and many other stars talk about those good old days.
But Sunday's special isn't only a fun look at the past. It's also a serious look at the tragedies and controversies related to "SNL." There's the sadness over the loss of Phil Hartman, who was shot to death in 1998, and Farley, who died in 1997 from a heroin (opiate) and cocaine overdose. Interviews feature comments comparing Farley to the late John Belushi.
The special also covers the firing of cast members, including popular "Weekend Update" anchor Norm Macdonald. Those segments involve a look at how NBC made decisions that Lorne Michaels, the executive producer and creator of "SNL," had to carry out.
And the stars discuss how well _ or poorly _ "SNL" used its black actors.
Clips show the actors making a point about that in a sketch. "SNL" has a history of poking fun at its flaws.
It wasn't for controversial reasons, but the 1990s marked the time that Al Franken, who had been a writer and actor on "SNL" since its beginning in 1975, finally left the show. Franken talks about that.
Unfortunately, the two-hour special leaves out a lot, and it should have featured more of Franken because he's smart enough, he's good enough and, gosh darn it, people like him. Franken's Stuart Smalley, the expert on self-affirmation, stands out as one of his final characters.
Among the missing is one of the best sketches in "SNL" history.
In Hartman's final scene in 1994 as part of the cast, he and other stars performed a full-fledged, hilarious musical tribute to him.
It was a showstopper.
(Dave Mason of the Ventura County Star in California can be reached at dmason@VenturaCountyStar.com.)
(Contact Dave Mason of the Ventura County Star in California at www.venturacountystar.com.)
