`SNL' PUTS THE FUN IN `FUNHOUSE'.Byline: David Kronke Television Critic Robert Smigel has long toiled along the hallowed fringes of the TV industry - fringes, relative to his talents, that is - creating memorable moments along the way. He's responsible for Triumph, the Insult-Comic Dog's acerbic attacks on everyone from ``Star Wars'' geeks to Eminem, as well as the (pointedly poorly) animated gems that pop up occasionally on what can be dispiriting dis·pir·it tr.v. dis·pir·it·ed, dis·pir·it·ing, dis·pir·its To lower in or deprive of spirit; dishearten. See Synonyms at discourage. [di(s)- + spirit.] Adj. episodes of ``Saturday Night Live This article is about the American television series. For the show related to Big Brother (UK), see Saturday Night Live (UK). Saturday Night Live (SNL .'' (He also had an egregiously short-lived kid's-show parody series on Comedy Central.) Tonight, ``SNL'' pays belated tribute to Smigel's contributions with a compilation of some of his more outrageous contributions. While it's true that MTV MTV in full Music Television U.S. cable television network, established in 1980 to present videos of musicians and singers performing new rock music. MTV won a wide following among rock-music fans worldwide and greatly affected the popular-music business. 2's ferociously acidic ``Wonder Showzen'' makes Smigel's creations seem tame by comparison, his work remains pretty funny. Hosted by The Ambiguously Gay Duo, a superhero team unhealthily obsessed with former ``SNL'' performer (and current has-been) Jimmy Fallon, ``The Best of Saturday TV Funhouse'' offers a nice compendium of Smigel's sensibility, which is a lot edgier than the show otherwise tends to be these days. While ``SNL's'' political sketches these days tend toward the toothless, Smigel's short films have some bite: Take ``Saddam and Osama,'' an anti-America propaganda cartoon ostensibly created for Muslim kids (and equally ostensibly co-written by Sean Penn, to boot). Or ``Divertor,'' a superhero who creates celebrity scandals to distract the masses from the issues of the day. Or the snowman from ``Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is a popular Christmas story about Santa Claus' ninth and lead reindeer who possesses an unusually red colored nose that gives off its own light that is powerful enough to illuminate the team's path through inclement weather. ,'' who is bummed out by the post-9/11 world and takes children and Rudolph to visit Ground Zero in ``The Narrator NARRATOR. A pleader who draws narrs serviens narrator, a sergeant at law. Fleta, 1. 2, c. 37. Obsolete. that Ruined Christmas.'' Or -- You get the idea. Smigel also offers unsubtle attacks on the religious right and Disney's craven marketing practices, as well as evergreen targets like Star Jones, Mr. T, Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith, here reimagined as a fat, lazy, stupid and whiny Smurfette past her prime. Even ``SNL'' creator Lorne Michaels isn't spared his scrutiny. And then there's the inexplicable ``Shazzang,'' a genie who rescues innocent children from peril with no small amount of sadism. Given how transgressive - and, to be honest, puerile puerile /pu·er·ile/ (pu´er-il) pertaining to childhood or to children; childish. - Smigel's sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour is, we should consider ourselves lucky that any TV show would allow him on the air. David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com THE BEST OF SATURDAY TV FUNHOUSE - Three stars What: ``Saturday Night Live'' compilation of Robert Smigel's (largely) animated kid's-show parodies. Where: NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. (Channel) 4. When: 11:30 tonight. In a nutshell: A long-overdue appreciation of Smigel's perverse genius. |
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