In Living Color: Season Five

Cast: Jim Carrey, Tommy Davidson

Studio: Fox

Rating: 5/10

CORPORATE LINE: In the early nineties, the visionary Wayans brothers broke the color barrier for primetime humor and loosened Saturday Night Live’s stranglehold on sketch comedy with their hilarious series, In Living Color. Lambasting and lampooning everything from Hollywood celebrity and fire safety to poverty and ghetto strife, the laughs keep coming with the In Living Color: Season Five DVD collection, arriving on April 11 from Fox Home Entertainment. The series launched the careers of current silver screen luminaries such as Oscar-winner® Jamie Foxx
(Best Actor, Ray, 2005), two-time Golden Globe-winner® Jim Carrey (Best Actor, Man On The Moon, 1999 and Best Actor, The Truman Show, 2000), David Alan Grier (Bewitched), Tommy Davidson (Bamboozled) and the hottest fly-girl-turned-It-girl, Jennifer Lopez (Out Of Sight), and the momentous fifth and final season marks the addition of funnyman Chris Rock (Madagascar) to the talented cast. With recurring sketches that include the hilarious Fire Marshall Bill, Homey The Clown, The Head Detective, Handi-Man, Men On Film and more, the In Living Color: Season Five DVD Collection is a must-own for comedy fans, as well as anyone who wants to see their favorite big screen stars in multi-colored parachute pants.

THE REVIEW: Everything looks more dated than anything you’d see on SNL. The shows don’t hold up nearly as well as some of the SNL parodies either. Jim Carrey is once again the standout through season five. Fire Marshall Bill always kills—but his sketch as on an infomercial selling the Juiceman is one of the best. Jamie Foxx as Wanda has its moments.

A lot of the well known cast members left after the fourth season for richer pastures. Damon and Keenan Ivory Wayans left. That was a huge hit to some of the most popular characters—particularly with the departure of Damon.

THE EPISODES:

BREAKDOWN FOR EACH DISC:
DISC ONE, SIDE ONE:
EPISODE ONE – Air Date: 9/16/93
• “Def Strawberry Jam”
• “Jerry Seinfeld in the Ghetto”
• “Kim & Sammy”
• “Ugly Woman – My What an Ugly Baby Pt. 1”
EPISODE TWO – Air Date: 9/23/93
• “The Dirty Dozens Game Show”
• “Ball Park Breast Implants”
• “The Shouting Olympics”
• “Fire Marshall Bill in Surgery”
EPISODE THREE – Air Date: 9/30/93
• “Ike Turner & Hooch: The Denny Verdict”
• “The Honeymooners ’93”
• “Cheap Pete” at the Convenience Store
• “Ace and the Main Man” – Tupac
EPISODE FOUR – Air Date: 10/07/93
• “Loomis Simmons: Knock You Up”
• “Denny’s Commercial”
• “Unpoetic Justice”
• The Champ – Shot at the Title
• “The B.S. Brothers: Talk Show”
EPISODE FIVE – Air Date: 10/14/93
• “NBA Harasser”
• “Depressed Irish Singer”
• “Anorexic Sumo Wrestler”
• “Deronda and Pookie”
• “Ugly Woman”

DISC ONE, SIDE TWO:
EPISODE SIX – Air Date: 10/21/93
• “Rush ’N Al’s Big and Loud Men’s Shop”
• “Background Guy Gets a Girlfriend”
• “What If Andy Rooney Were Black?”
• “Cheap Pete at the Bar”
• “Ace and the Main Man” – Marsha Warfield
• Musical Close Featuring Jazzmatazz
EPISODE SEVEN – Air Date: 10/28/93
• “Ugly Woman Diary”
• “Circus of the Black Stars”
• “The Champ Comeback”
• “A Date with Magnifico”
• “Fire Marshall Bill Magic Show”
• Musical Close Featuring Leaders of the New School

DISC ONE, SIDE TWO (continued)
EPISODE EIGHT – Air Date 11/04/93
• “Ugly Woman at the Door #1”
• “Sam Kinison Live From Hell”
• “AT&T Frequent Caller Plan”
• “Ugly Woman at the Door #2”
• “Insensitive Therapist”
• “The Dirty Dozens II”
• “Ugly Woman at the Door #3”
• Musical Close Featuring Lords of the Underground
EPISODE NINE – Air Date: 11/11/93
• “Rush ’N Al – Can’t We All Just Sweat Along”
• “All Up in the Family”
• “The Waiter Who Knows Too Many Specials”
• “Ugly Woman with Barry Bonds”
• “East Hollywood Squares”
EPISODE TEN – Air Date: 11/18/93
• “Background Guy at Crime Scene”
• Willy Coyote On Trial
• “Go On Girl – Madonna”
• “Candy Cane Kids Show”
• “Honeymooners ’93 – The New Boss”

DISC TWO, SIDE ONE:
EPISODE ELEVEN – Air Date: 12/02/93
• “The Champ-Parachute”
• “What if the Menendez Brothers Were Black?”
• “Deboner 2000 Commercial”
• “Sammy and the Man”
• “Umbilical Barry”
• Musical Close Featuring US3
EPISODE TWELVE – Air Date: 12/16/93
• “B.E.T. Fall Lineup: Mary Tyler Mo”
• “Loomis Simmon’s Custom Built Condoms”
• “Depressed Irish Singer at the Rescue Mission”
• “Geraldo Celeb Kids”
• “Ace and the Main Man” – Johnny Gill
• Musical Close Featuring Patra
EPISODE THIRTEEN – Air Date: 12/30/93
• “Joe Jackson’s Never Neverland Sale”
• “Dead Arm Substitute Teacher”
• “What If Andy Rooney Were Black?”
• “Deronda and Pookie Play Office”
• “Wheel of Dozens”
EPISODE FOURTEEN – Air Date: 1/13/94
• “Sister Act 3 – This Ain’t Kosher”
• “Background Guy Goes to the Woods”
• “The Waiter on the Plane”
• “Grandpa – Duke the Police Dog”

DISC TWO, SIDE ONE (continued):
EPISODE FIFTEEN – Air Date: 1/27/04
• “Cheap Pete On A Date”
• AWF Main Event: “Rush ’N Al vs. Howard Stern”
• “East Hollywood Squares II”

DISC TWO, SIDE TWO:
EPISODE SIXTEEN – Air Date: 2/03/94
• “Tonya Harding ‘The Club’ Commercial”
• “All Up in the Family – Card Night”
• “John Bobbitt Six Million Dollar Man”
• “Hemorrhoid Guy”
• “Ugly Woman – Wanda’s Sister”
EPISODE SEVENTEEN – Air Date: 2/10/94
• The L.A. Clippers With Tonya Harding
• “The B.S. Brothers: Pitch Shoes”
• “Masterpiece Theatre”
• “White League”
• “Ace and the Main Man” – Kareem Abdul-Jabar
• Musical Close Featuring Shaquille O’Neil
EPISODE EIGHTEEN – Air Date: 2/17/94
• “Mrs. Ikefire”
• “East Hollywood Squares”
• “Background Guy at Spring Break”
• “The Dirty Dozens Home Game”
• “Fire Marshal Bill Wedding Night”
EPISODE NINETEEN – Air Date 2/24/94
• “The Champ – Paternity Suit”
• “San Francisco”
• “The Dirty Dozens Tournament of Champions with Ed O’Neill”
EPISODE TWENTY – Air Date: 3/10/94
• “Dr. Kevorkian’s Home Remedies”
• “Great Moments In Black History – The First Def Comedy”
• “Thugs”
• “Overly Confident Gay Guy Orders Fast Food”
• “Sweet Tooth Williams”
• Musical Close Featuring Simply E

DISC THREE, SIDE ONE:
EPISODE TWENTY-ONE – Air Date: 3/24/94
• “Loomis Simmons – Make Him Jealous”
• “Whoopi Hosts the Academy Awards”
• “Grandpa – Duke at Beethoven’s Sidekick Audition ”
• “Cheap Pete Gets Married”
• “Umbilical Barry Rides The Subway”
• “Hemorrhoid Guy – The Hallway”
EPISODE TWENTY-TWO -Air Date: 4/07/94
• “Vista Commercial”
• “Infomercial Awards”
• “Willy Coyote’s Mall Appearance”
• “All Up in the Family – Gay Barney”
DISC THREE, SIDE ONE (continued):
EPISODE TWENTY-TWO (continued)
• “Deronda and Pookie Play Party”
• “The B.S. Brothers: Gangsta Rappers”
• Musical Close Featuring Me’Shell NdegéOcello
EPISODE TWENTY-THREE – Air Date: 4/28/94
• “Sweet Tooth Jones Corporate Gig”
• “Ed Bacon, Guidance Counselor”
• “Ugly Woman Bachelor Auction with Luther Vandross”
• Musical Close Featuring Boss

DISC THREE, SIDE TWO:
EPISODE TWENTY-FOUR – Air Date: 5/05/94
• “Candy Cane’s Last Show”
• “Grandpa – Duke: A Time For Love”
• “Family Dozens”
EPISODE TWENTY-FIVE – Air Date: 5/12/94
• “The Champ – Back to School”
• “Prison Cable Network: Lights Out with Angel”
• “Ace and the Main Man” – Salt ’N’ Pepa
• Musical Close Featuring To Be Continued
EPISODE TWENTY-SIX – Air Date: 5/19/94
• “Cheap Pete at the Carnival”
• “Loomis Simmons – Let Me Harass You”
• “The Scary Larry Show”
• “East Hollywood Squares IV”
• Musical Close Featuring Souls of Mischief

THE EXTRAS: None.

FRANKLY: The final season of In Living Color is better than the first season—but that isn’t saying much since the first season is the weakest. The departure of some of the best cast members killed the final season of its consistence and a lot of their great characters.

+ Charlie Craine