At the network's demands, we see two people scrambling together cast members at the very last minute, literally picking strangers up from the street. Of course, we all know they are anything but strangers in real life, especially now. Some of them would last for a good few years, others left after only two seasons.
When I saw this pilot for the first time, I knew there was something special about this show. The sketches range from amusing to making me cry with laughter. One particularly inspired one spoofs Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction, and merges them together to Gump Fiction. Combining Forrest's charm and making him into a coldblooded killer is absolutely genius. Orlando Jones is just as funny playing Vincent Jules when he wants to know what shrimp is called in France but never getting an answer.
The best part however has to be the incredibly dark but also funny recreation of the Kennedy assassination, with Forrest remarking he "was aiming for Jackie".
Other highlights include a fan getting demolished after a rough week with his favorite band Poison, an insanely rude and racist cashier at Vancom coming up with some of the funniest meanspirited insults I've heard, Star Trek: Deep Stain Nine and the chainsmoking mom whose daughter's gotten lung cancer. I want to talk a little more about that last one. The husky voice Mary Scheer puts on as the mom Mrs. Jewel Barone is hilarious, as well as her as complete naivety over how her daughter could have gotten lung cancer. The twist at the end when she gets mouth cancer instead since she kicked smoking in favor of chewing tobacco is the icing on the cake.
Kato Kaelin has an amusing guest appearance where he "speaks his mind". The intense buildup throughout the episode and deflating payoff when it turns out he doesn't have anything important to say at all except odd and peculiar observations makes it work especially well.
Per the spirit of the magazines, there are nice little animated shorts featuring Spy Vs. Spy and slapstick drawn in the style of Don Martin.
Two raving MAD thumbs up.
