The New Show

I remember watching "The New Show" when I was in high school. It seemed mildly funny then. The only sketches I remember are one in which guest star John Candy played a Russian visiting ailing Yuri Andropov (he was the head Soviet honcho at the time) in the hospital, and another one in which a couple sees a doctor/therapist about the strange things they do every day, such as becoming unconscious for 8 hours at a stretch (sleeping) and sitting on a chair in a little room several times a day (going to the bathroom).

Was it funny? Probably not. With talent mostly drawn from SCTV, it might have gotten better if it had a chance, but the network (I don't remember which one) pulled the plug after one season.

Watched this series in Jr. High the season it was on, and while the series was short lived, it included some very funny sketches. My favorite, and the one I wish I could dig up the videotape on, is the Steve Martin parody of Michael Jackson's 'Billie Jean' video. Dressed as the KOP, Martin walked down the street, and had to stomp on some 'tiles' to make them light up, then gave a typical Steve Martin shrug and glance to the sky for divine intervention. The Den of Revulsion was another memorable clip ('Eeeeewwwww!'), and for some reason their spoof of phone sex sticks in my mind - the backwoods brothers that actually go to the trouble of establishing credit to speak with 'The Naked Lady' (Catherine O'Hara I think), who talks to them while taking care of her kids and ironing for her husband. It was a series that with a little better writing and a better time slot (prine time on Fridays, I think, matched up against 1st season Miami Vice), this show could have gone places.

I recall they had one episode where Dave Thomas' evil twin brother tried to take over as host, then pulled a gun on the audience demanding everyone's wallet. Dozens of wallets are thrown onto the stage, when the villain turns his gun toward one audience member in particular: "Hey, you didn't throw your wallet!"

I seem to remember in the ailing Andropov skit that Carrie Fisher comes in as a bikini-clad waitress trying to tell the premier something but she gets conked on the head, knocked out. I saw a similar sketch at a later time without this happening, wondering if this was a running gag in different episodes. I believe Carrie at least appeared in two episodes with then husband Paul Simon, who was musical guest. He also had a music video on one show I believe featuring his then wife.

Though it popped up in other places and other shows, 1 sketch from this show is the famous Steve Martin "Billie Jean" video parody of Michael Jackson's big hit. Beyond that, I recall a skit that mocked Orwell's 1984 (an old book that appropriately was getting renewed media attention that year) torture chamber scene where people were asked what they were afraid of and they were tortured with it. The example I remember was when the shackled actors said "spiders," and people dressed in huge muppet-like spider outfits attacked them. Contrary to other reviews, these 2 skits were funny at the time. Of course, I was 10 years old.

My dad has a VHS recording of The Best of the New Show (yes they had a "Best of" show with the few episodes they had) which has some bits which still crack me up. There was the Frightened Family, a neurotic family whose hair-raising experiences actually raise their hair. ["I was just thinking about that BUG again!"] And the Den of Revulsion, where hopefully you don't see a little bit of yourself. ["That's like using someone else's toothbrush!" "What's wrong with that? I do that all the time!" "Ewww!"] There were lots of great guest spots, too; Kevin Klein, Gilda Radner, Paul Simon, Steve Martin... (Kevin Klein and Gilda Radner playing an ice-skating team from such a poor country they couldn't afford skates; Paul Simon coming to Roy's Food Repair (John Candy as Roy) to get the salt from the bottom of his pretzel bag put back onto the pretzels; Steve Martin in a spoof of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" video...)

Anyway, there were definitely some worthless skits, but no more of a ratio of bad to good than the current SNL. I hope someday someone stumbles across The New Show and releases it on DVD.