Ashley Winchester Mar 17, 2009
This a long shot, but does anyone remember the short lived SNL TV Funhouse spin-off that aired on Comedy Central back in 2000-2001? A year or two ago I remember looking to see if there was a DVD set for it and could only find references to a VHS release, but due to a preview on the first disc of South Park Season 11 it came to my attention it came out on DVD late last year.
The show mainly centers a guy named Doug who dresses up according to what the theme for the "day" is and his failed attempts at getting the Anipals - a group of animal puppets - to join in the festivities. In between Doug's lonely escapades and the Anipals various misadventures, which usually come at the expense of Doug, short, clever cartoons along the lines of "The Ambiguously Gay Duo" (who make an appearance in the opening) that aired on SBL are played.
While it's pretty obvious why the show didn't last it has a certain kind of charm. Perhaps one of the most interesting things was when reading the back of the box I learned that Dino Stamatopoulos (creator of Adult Swim's "Morel Orel" which as also been canceled) was co-creator, which given the type of humor makes sense.
Anyway, the various "days" celebrated are:
Episode 1: Western Day
Episode 2: Hawaiian Day
Episode 3: Christmas Day
Episode 4: Mexicans Day
Episode 5: Caveman Day
Episode 6: Safari Day
Episode 7: Astronaut Day
Episode 8: Chinese New Year's Day
Some of the Cartons include:
Wonderman - a superman-like hero whose mission is to get his alias laid
Mnemonics - where disturbing statements are concocted to remember complex things
The Baby, the Immigrant, and the Guy on Mushrooms - a take on those Tom and Jerry cartoons w/a wandering baby
Fetal Scooby Doo (covered with goo) - the name really says it all
Jokamel - Joe Camel is spliced with Pokemon and sex in an effort to make kids smoke
Mischievous Mitchell - a Dennis the Menace character drives minorities crazy
The Black Sabbath Show - self explanatory
Stedman - Opera's man pretends to be a secret agent to avoid having relations with her
Great Leaders of History (George Washington) - a spoof of VH1's Behind the Music - supposedly he's still alive!
The Safety Gang - a group of kids that talk about safety but phrase things all wrong
Now, if they would only put out Upright Citizens Brigade Season 3....