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[0:16] Jesse McAnally: Hello, I'm Jesse McAnally.

[0:17] Alan Seales: And I'm Alan Seales.

[0:20] Jesse McAnally: And welcome to Carrey'd Away, a podcast where we explore the films and television shows starring the one and only James Eugene Carrey.

[0:27] Alan Seales: And we're finally there, guys. We're finally into the big one. The one that's gonna take up your podcatchers for a few weeks. Maybe not every week, but for a while. We can say that this is the first step towards him getting that career.

[0:42] Jesse McAnally: This is where he walks into the water and he doesn't quite catch a wave yet. Um, this is In Living Color.

[0:49] Alan Seales: The first season. In Living Color.

[1:11] Jesse McAnally: Only season one.

[1:12] Alan Seales: Only season one.

[1:13] Jesse McAnally: Walks into the water and doesn't catch a wave.

[1:15] Alan Seales: I think he caught plenty of waves.

[1:17] Jesse McAnally: I don't think he caught the wave yet. He's still just kind of bouncing on, like, the little baby waves. He's not riding it yet. He's not on that tidal wave of Cable Guy.

[1:26] Alan Seales: Well, that's true. I mean, okay. Okay, tidal wave. Wave of Jim Carrey career, yes. But I think, like, this is a legitimate... It's a bump. It's a bump. Uh, it is a legitimate step up from his previous project, which was...

[1:41] Jesse McAnally: Pink Cadillac.

[1:42] Alan Seales: It was a legitimate step up from his previous project, Pink Cadillac. Doing roughly the same bit, though.

[1:45] Jesse McAnally: What?

[1:50] Alan Seales: Okay, okay. Well, I guess... Yeah, I guess in the background... Kind of in the background and hoping you forget he's there. But no, he's got actually, like, leading some sketches. It's not like he is an extra in every sketch.

[2:02] Jesse McAnally: He's... I... Okay, there's a very famous quote by Michel Gondry, who would go on to direct Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which Jim Carrey plays a very depressive character in that. And he goes to Jim and he's like, "Why'd you pick me for this?" He's like, "Because I saw in Living Color you in the background. You look so sad. And I knew there was sadness in you. I knew there was sadness in you. And therefore, I will put you in my movie. I knew if you could harness that depression, we will make great movie."

[2:33] Alan Seales: Movie films. What is he, French or...

[2:36] Jesse McAnally: He is very French.

[2:37] Alan Seales: He's French. Italian? What accent was that?

[2:39] Jesse McAnally: For Jess, it's anything. It was like, it was kind of like Scott Talion. Any European language mixes together eventually, if I keep on talking.

[2:48] Alan Seales: And Living Color was released on April 15th, 1990, and ran from the first season ran until September 9th, 1990. Created and showrun by Keenan Ivory Wayans starring Jim Carrey, Tommy Davidson, David L. Greer, Takiyah Crystal Kamaya, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Kim Wayans, Kelly Coffield, Damon Wayans, and Kim Coles. And some of the Fly Girls are Rosie Perez, Deidre Lange, Carrie French, Carrie Ann Inaba, Lisa Marie Todd, Carrie Ann Inaba.

[3:30] Jesse McAnally: Inaba, thank you. Carrie Ann Inaba, Lisa Marie Todd, Michelle Whitney Morrison, and coming in future seasons, the one and only J-Lo. And every episode, I believe, in this first season was directed by Paul Miller. And this is a fascinating, fascinating story of how this show came to be. Do you know the story of why In Living Color exists?

[3:43] Alan Seales: Tell me more, young one.

[3:44] Jesse McAnally: So basically, it started under the title Black Laughin'. Like, they really just wanted to have a version of Laugh-In with a black mindset in mind. The Wayans brothers were involved and they were hired to make a one-hour pilot for Fox. And in that, they just, of course, they had auditions. None of the Wayans brothers were immediately hired. They had to audition. And then they knew they wanted at least only two white people, a girl and a boy. They weren't sure who they wanted. And many people auditioned for a Jim Carrey spot. And I am going to center this a bit around Jim Carrey. We are a Jim Carrey podcast. So apologies if I don't go too deep into that. Other folks that auditioned for that spot included David Spade and Adam Sandler, who would have been... I don't think they would have been bad, but it would have been different.

[4:34] Alan Seales: Now, Damon Wayans worked with Jim Carrey in Earth Girls Are Easy, which we covered a few weeks back. And Keenan Ivory Wayans went and saw him in stand-up and his words were, "I can't believe this man is still in stand-up. Like, why has he not made it? Jim Carrey was a guy who had had three careers before I ever showcased him. And he had a career as an impressionist in Vegas. And he was doing quite well, but he hated it and he quit. And he went back to doing stand-up. And I knew how talented this guy was, but he kept getting these roles that didn't showcase him. He wasn't able to do what he does. And this was the perfect opportunity. And Damon was the one who brought him to my attention. You know, when I was casting, he was like, "What about Jim?"

I was like, "Oh, yeah, yeah, you know, I was like, he's a little crazy." And he was like, "Yeah, but that's good." They brought him along as well as Kelly Coffield, who would be the two kind of token white people in the show.

[5:46] Jesse McAnally: And the show was designed to be SNL with a higher production value and executed better. And what do I mean by executed better? Meaning they would shoot it live. Like, this is perfect. They would shoot it live. Like, this is performed live in front of an audience and adjusted like it's SNL. However, they had tape and they could fine-tune things later. They could add the special effects. They can make things as neat and clean as they can. And it was only a half hour. So it was a sitcom version of SNL.

[6:16] Alan Seales: Yes, yes. They had sitcom abilities, but, you know.

[6:20] Jesse McAnally: But the Fox had that original pilot. It had a lot of things from the pilot that would have inevitably aired. You would have Men on Cinema. And now Public Access presents Men on Films.

[6:36] Alan Seales: Hello, I'm Blaine Edwards.

[6:38] Jesse McAnally: And I'm Antoine Merriweather.

[6:40] Alan Seales: And welcome to Men on Films.

[6:43] Jesse McAnally: We're going to be reviewing the latest films from a male point of view.

[6:47] Alan Seales: And what is it? Homeboy Shopping Network.

[6:49] Jesse McAnally: Yeah, Homeboy Shopping Network. And those two were like the big ones that the network were really worried about.

[6:55] Alan Seales: Yo, yo, yo, all you bad bargain hunters out there. Welcome to the Homeboy Shopping Network. Yo, we're the host with the most. I'm Wiz, this the Iceman. Chillin'. Yo, show them what we got. Oh, and Wrath of Farrakhan, I believe it's called.

[7:11] Jesse McAnally: That's in the second one.

[7:14] Alan Seales: That was still in the original pilot.

[7:15] Jesse McAnally: Oh, okay. It's called Wrath of Farrakhan.

[7:18] Alan Seales: Farrakhan. Wrath of Farrakhan and those three things were big sticking points with the network that made them drag their feet into airing this. Every one of the cast members had a contract for a show, but they weren't picked up yet. And they dragged their feet to even air the pilot. So what did the Wayans brothers do? They started just sending the pilot out to people. And folks like David Alan Greer, who knew nothing about this, was getting recognized for this pilot that has never officially aired just because they started sending it out and getting good praise. Once reviews started coming in for this pilot that never officially aired, Fox agreed to greenlight this, cut it down to a half hour, cut out a few things.

But they really wanted those three skits cut out. And Keenan Ivory Wayans said, "No, if you're going to let me have creative control, let me have creative control." And they said, "Fine, but if this has blowback, it lands on you." And therefore, they picked it up for, I believe, nine episodes. And once it aired and started doing good numbers, got picked up for another five. And yeah, it was an immediate hit.

[8:24] Jesse McAnally: I believe it was Damon Wayans who told his brother, "All crime stopped in New York because they were all too busy watching their show." And it's a very interesting kind of section of time, the mid to early 90s, where something like this exists. And it is so interesting. I won't say even transgressive, but so specific. What I discovered when I was watching, and I don't know if you felt it, it felt like Black culture reacting to the dominant white culture for the past, especially white television, of the past 100 years. So you had things like I Love Lucy and Wrath of Khan and all these things, but getting the reaction that we've never had of it before. So these spoofs feel brand new with a new impression on it that I had never seen. I don't think anyone else had ever seen. As well, every skit, like the short skits are like a minute. At longest, they are four minutes. And they fly by and you can't get bored with one of them. I think it is structured brilliantly.

[9:29] Alan Seales: La Quinta, I'm home.

[9:33] Jesse McAnally: Hey, sweetheart. Here's my sugar. Mwah. That's my baby. I'm right in the middle of painting my nails.

[9:41] Alan Seales: Nails? What about dinner?

[9:47] Jesse McAnally: I got some pig feet steaming on the stove.

[9:49] Alan Seales: Pig's feet? I don't know. I don't know. Pig's feet?

[9:55] Jesse McAnally: Ay, ay, ay. My mother told me never to marry a crazy rat head from Compton.

[10:05] Alan Seales: Well, you did.

[10:07] Jesse McAnally: Well, the set, I wanted to comment too on the set. I didn't realize that it was, I guess, yeah, when you have the ability to do post and editing and whatnot, the production value of the set, when they did, I mean, even in the very, very first episode, what was it? The Jefferson spoof. When they rebuilt the entire set.

[10:27] Alan Seales: Yes.

[10:29] Jesse McAnally: I was like, SNL wouldn't do that. And they have production value. I mean, this brought in some production value in live sketch comedy that I had never seen before. Still haven't seen. And the way they would work, every episode took about two weeks. And in that second week, they'd also be working on the next episode. So at one time, you were working on two episodes at once. And they would write and figure out that first episode in week one. Then they would shoot it in week two, while also writing the next weeks. I mean, that's kind of, that makes sense.

[11:01] Alan Seales: That makes sense.

[11:03] Jesse McAnally: And it sounds, I don't know to me, but it sounds like exhausting. I know SNL is a marathon to get done every week. And I am amazed anyone does it. But this also feels equally difficult because I don't know if you have this feeling, but if I'm given the chance to polish things, I will polish to the last minute.

[11:19] Alan Seales: No.

[11:21] Jesse McAnally: So you don't want too much time because you fall in love with things too fast. And much like SNL, there was a lot of good work being taken away just because it just wasn't going to fit into the run time. Or it was too long. Or it was too XYZ. Because they weren't streaming it live, it wasn't live to broadcast.

[11:39] Alan Seales: No, it was not.

[11:43] Jesse McAnally: And you're saying it wasn't even live to tape?

[11:45] Alan Seales: It was live to tape.

[11:47] Jesse McAnally: It was live to tape and then they would probably trim and polish things every now and then. But the specific thing they wanted was that live audience. Which I think this is one of the best audiences ever. They are very reactive. It makes sketches better. And it allows for in-the-moment improv. Which I see David Alan Greer do a lot a lot. And he's so good at it. I don't know if anyone else agrees with this, but I think David Alan Greer was kind of the MVP of this entire season.

[12:15] Alan Seales: Oh yeah, totally. Totally.

[12:19] Alan Seales: Out of this in knowing who they all were and for good reason too. So you know like and there's things that I still to this day remember fondly as watching this as a kid. You know I was watching Fire Marshal Bill and Homie the Clown and all sorts of things. It did a lot to educate as a white guy with a white family in a white community. It was really interesting to see these sketches come to life because it was part of life that I had never experienced. Some of the stuff that they had talked about. See that that's a little a little different. I grew up in Detroit and everyone would talk about In Living Color and reenact those sketches at school every day. Like I remember going to talent shows where they just reenact a Homie the Clown sketch.

Like these were well-known sketches and everyone kind of talked about them. Sit down. All right kids I'm Homie the Clown. Y'all ready to have some fun? All right what y'all want me to do first? Now do a silly clown dance for us. Did I degrade myself huh? I don't think so. Homie don't play that.

[13:37] Alan Seales: And amazingly a lot of everyone in this show kind of became someone aside from some notable absentees. But the show was a pretty controversial thing in its time. Even like there was not the most positive reaction from the LGBT community to Men on Films at the time which is understandable. In a similar way to The Boondocks like worried about falling into stereotypes and portraying stereotypes as opposed to basically mocking them the same way anyone else would. But they also did a very famous episode where they were forced to go the entire cast was made to go on Donahue. I don't know if either of you remember what Donahue was.

[14:17] Jess McAnally: Yes I remember watching Donahue.

[14:19] Alan Seales: No.

[14:20] Jess McAnally: Alan explain it was more your time than mine.

[14:22] Alan Seales: It was it like predated Jerry Springer. It was one of those things where it was sort of trashy. We will say it was not the highest quality citizen who would come in and you know it was a lot of like paternity tests and domestic disputes that were aired. The grievances aired and resolved live on air in the form of trying to be a serious daytime talk show.

[14:49] Keenen Ivory Wayans: Getting crazy Keenan. Are you all right with the censorship? Is there a censorship department at Fox? Well yeah I mean I think we're allowed to say yeah right we can't. No actually the show. I mean the whole intent of the show is sort of to stretch the boundaries of what has normally been seen on TV. So it's a constant sort of battle with the censors. But it's a good work environment. And I mean I understand that they have a job to do and they understand I have a show to do. So we try to find some middle ground and go from there.

[15:26] Alan Seales: And it's trash. It's trash. It's not quality content for television. I want to say as someone that has revisited the first season of SNL within recent years this has a better starting point than most variety shows ever have. Like things that would become iconic are started in their first year here. Like Homie the Clown and all that. It is right here. It is fully formed in this version of In Living Color. And have you ever watched the first season of SNL either of you?

[15:59] Jess McAnally: No. I've seen clips my dad remembers fondly because he's old.

[16:07] Alan Seales: It is deeply unstructured and unpleasant. It's like the Muppets were cast members on SNL which is why it's baffling to me that they've never hosted.

[16:18] Jess McAnally: Wait actual Muppets?

[16:18] Alan Seales: Literally they will say and the Muppets. Okay. Where Jim Henson would do like a little puppeteer thing every like and James L Brooks would work on little films. Like it is an interesting time where it is a true variety show where just weird things will happen. It is not mostly comedy based.

[16:36] Jess McAnally: Well they're all on coke so you know.

[16:42] Alan Seales: Oh yeah. That's what happens when you're all on coke and you make a variety show. That's that is something. See this this crater right here that's that's where he lives. Now you get down there so you're small enough. Down there. Yeah I'm down here. What do you see down there? I'm trying to see what I can find. What's this hanging over his bed? What's that? Oh it's a picture of Lily Tong. Cookie Monster gets the munchies. And Larry David chokes him.

[17:08] Jess McAnally: Ron Muppet. That being said that first season still had some highlights and that first season is the only one that Chevy Chase was on. He left after season one so that chaotic weird not really funny season is the only one Chevy Chase was connected to.

[17:26] Alan Seales: That makes a lot of sense. Let's talk about the Jim Carrey of it all. He's not in a ton of it and he often is the straight man in a sketch which is neat and shows his versatility. Versatility. I think that he is putting on a different face than he was ever allowed to. He's do but he's allowed to do more than he ever was in say The Duck Factory. Yeah this is the first time he can turn on turn on the rubber body turn on the rubber face turn on the rubber everything really and it works in a lot of uh well I guess I am impressed in that it's not just the same um rubbery inflections in every character. He makes distinct extreme choices per character and never breaks them. They all their specific mannerisms.

[18:29] Alan Seales: Hello and welcome to America's funniest security camera videos. I'm Bob Saget. I'd like to say hello to my daughter. She's at home right now throwing up with the flu. I hope they're taping it. Only kidding. I already have that on tape. Anyway as you know we get videos from security cameras installed all across the country. Tonight we're going to be taking a look at a video sent to us by Ali Bahad Kamkar. Ali works at a Lucky 11 convenience store and boy am I surprised.

[19:09] Jess McAnally: But are they good impressions? Like that's the thing I'm struggling with. I'm like they're definitely a character but is he good at doing the impression of this person? For comedic effect in terms like he's not going after the Academy Award to play this person like an Andy Kaufman like Man on the Moon. He's trying to be an exaggerated version of it. So there there's a distinct difference. But let's just say he's Bob Saget in America's funniest uh home security.

[19:36] Alan Seales: Yeah I was trying to figure out what celebrity he played in that because I knew it wasn't the host of that show. Um well no you're thinking of um when he was the host of The Tonight Show.

[19:42] Jess McAnally: Oh yeah. He's playing his co-star from Copper Mountain Alan Thicke.

[19:47] Alan Seales: Yeah he played Alan Thicke because he the impression of Johnny Carson was too like or whoever else was like not funny anymore. Yeah everyone did Johnny Carson. Welcome back I'm Alan Thicke sitting in for Johnny Carson because everyone knows at this point another Carson impression would be totally per se. Ed won't be here tonight either. He woke up with the head of a Clydesdale in his bed. I guess when you're in between marriages you'll bring home anything.

[20:16] Jess McAnally: All right. I really thought he did a terrible Bob Saget. I didn't know what the I've seen clips of Bob Saget um at the time and that was not a particularly impressive one.

[20:30] Alan Seales: No no he does look decent Ted Turner to his credit. His Ted Turner is great. He is a very good Ted Turner. I think that skit his Ted Turner is very colorized classic the red fox is the kid is probably top five sketches of the season.

[20:45] Alan Seales: Hello again this is film vault king Ted Turner doing whatever I please with more classic films. This is the original print of the Grapes of Wrath. Gonna put it in those little viewmasters and try to market them with pictures of the California Raisins on them. Now I understand a lot of you people have an innate respect for the artist's original vision but I have something you don't have. A receipt of purchase.

[21:16] Jess McAnally: His his Captain Kirk was pretty good. I mean comedically. Yeah that one is good too. Yeah very funny. It's obviously not completely what William Shatner sounds like but it's the comic version of what he should sound like. Captain's log stardate 14. We're being pulled towards a hostile planet. I'm hoping that Scotty will be able to activate the backup control system. God I feel so vulnerable. Truly I think his rate his properly great impression because it is technically two impressions is his Jerry Lewis. His Jerry Lewis was next level incredible in the Jerry's kids.

[22:01] Alan Seales: Oh yeah the Jerry's kids yeah. He apparently people that have Jerry curls are miserable and it's a disease to them. Great bit great but his impression he's doing like suave like buddy love Jerry Lewis who's like well tell us about this and he's and then we're gonna sing it's two very distinct very difficult I really it is hard to do a Jerry Lewis and he nails both of them.

[22:30] Jess McAnally: Oh yeah totally agree. Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

[22:41] Alan Seales: This is love and love is this. If you're just joining us it's the 21st hour of the Jerry kids telephone. We're here to fight a deadly affliction. One that has suffered by millions of inner city youth across this great nation of ours. This is Rodney Washington from Compton, California and this is the dreaded activator that he craves so very desperately.

[23:04] Jess McAnally: The Jerry Car one was was great. I mean I just think he he plays all of the characters very sweetly. He's not mean in any of them and they're all innocent buffoons. So I don't know there's something endearing about how he plays all of these that that really like he's he's not trying to and maybe this is part of the direction he's in no way overshadowing or taking away any of the the poignancy of what like the racial poignancy that the sketches are trying to get the commentary that is trying to get across and I absolutely respect him for all of that for not trying to steal focus. He was funny but he's not stealing the focus of the of yeah the the message a perfect example of that is in the a date with grace where that one David Allen Greer is on a date with grace jones and I forget the woman that played grace jones incredible impression hilarious interpretation and he's playing a very broad french waiter but he knows that it is funnier if he plays it straight but he is so hilarious at getting the snot kicked out of him by grace jones may I get you something to drink while you wait uh yeah I'd like to win one could you give me a Chevrolet blind date monsieur yeah how'd you know when you're french you can just tell you must be Harvey.

[24:34] Alan Seales: I'm Grace Jones.

[24:39] Alan Seales: Do you think I'm sexy? I said, do you find me sexy?

[24:47] Jess McAnally: Yes, extremely. May I get you something, monsieur?

[24:58] Alan Seales: I mean, madame. I'm in the mood for seafood.

[25:04] Jess McAnally: Like, that is a perfect interpretation of just what you're saying, Alan.

[25:07] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[25:08] Jess McAnally: How he is not stealing the scene, he's holding his own, but if you take him out of it, it is significantly less funny.

[25:13] Alan Seales: Yeah. Well, it's the same with, you know, Wrath of Farrakhan. Again, like, Farrakhan comes in and he's like, here are all the things that white people have done, and how dare you, white captain, treat all of your crew, people of color, this way?

[25:26] Jess McAnally: And Captain Kirk's like, you know, you're right. All right, next person, let me ask you to do your job. And then that person's like, well, no, I'm not going to do my job anymore because you're, you know, it just rolls on. And so he doesn't fight it. He agrees with every single statement because it's true. And then, and then just moves on and runs away in Jim Carrey fashion. You know, again, it's one of those things where I look at it and I'm like, that was, I don't know if it's the writing or if he was directed to do that. But in every scene like that, he's just, he's just playing the buffoonery so sincerely.

[25:56] Alan Seales: All right, let's, we got to talk about the most, I would say the one that kind of became his most popular, the one that probably has aged the worst, but is the one that they always use to promote the first season. And that is, I got to find it again.

[26:11] Jess McAnally: Vera de Milo bodybuilder.

[26:16] Alan Seales: So Liz, sum up this sketch.

[26:18] Jess McAnally: Okay, so this is a bodybuilding competition and the first two women come out and they're not very muscular and that's the joke. And then Jim Carrey comes out wearing a non-existent bikini, pigtails from his own natural hair and something else. And I can't remember. And is the strongest woman of all, of all the women. And I don't remember. I kind of blanked out the back half cause I got mad. But yeah, he basically is just mad at Vera de Milo, the bodybuilder, who is a woman, is like just screams at the audience for like three minutes. I'm pretty sure about how she's so strong and sexy. Pretty sure.

[26:54] Alan Seales: I will say there's only one thing that made me chuckle in this sketch cause I don't find it particularly fun. And that is when Jim Carrey sticks his stomach in and out. And I believe the announcer who I, I'm pretty sure it was David Alan Grier was like, this is a tribute to women giving birth. That was the one thing that gave me a chuckle.

[27:23] Jess McAnally: Vera de Milo.

[27:26] Alan Seales: Oh, she is awesome. Some say she's gone too far, but I have to disagree. Of course, she's the only woman on the circuit who goes to the bathroom standing up.

[27:37] Jess McAnally: Reports are that you have used steroids. Uh, do you care to comment on that little lady?

[27:43] Alan Seales: Yes, I would, Roger. I don't know who's starting those rumors, but I do know that there are a lot of jealous people out there who aren't willing to do the work it takes to look like this. Let's face it. Women see me. They want to be me.

[27:59] Jess McAnally: Well said. Well said. Could you just tell me one more thing then, Vera?

[28:02] Alan Seales: Sure.

[28:04] Jess McAnally: I gotta ask you this. What is that bulge in front of your trousers?

[28:09] Alan Seales: I don't know. A girl's gotta have her little secrets.

[28:15] Jess McAnally: My brother and I still do that to this day. That move.

[28:17] Alan Seales: That's the cool hand Maluk move, isn't it? To fit more eggs in your stomach.

[28:22] Jess McAnally: What?

[28:24] Alan Seales: I just pulled up the Vera de Milo bodybuilder sketch. Is he wearing stuff in his dentures? Does he have fake dentures?

[28:31] Jess McAnally: Maybe.

[28:36] Alan Seales: I know he might be wearing stuff down his pants, if you know what I mean.

[28:40] Jess McAnally: Explain it.

[28:41] Alan Seales: What do you mean?

[28:42] Jess McAnally: Get it. He might have packed his penis. He might have patted his thong. Packing the penis.

[28:46] Alan Seales: Oh, he's wearing a leopard print Speedo.

[28:50] Jess McAnally: Yeah. My favorite part is this isn't even the last time we'll see this. He pops up as Vera de Milo many more times. So we'll have a conversation again. I'm sure it'll only get funnier every time he does it.

[29:04] Alan Seales: That is the first running character we see of his. I don't think any of the other ones are going to pop back up. Maybe William Shatner. None of his iconic fire marshal build does not appear in season one.

[29:15] Jess McAnally: No. No. That's halfway through season two. Oh, we skipped over in the very first sketch of the very first episode, the pilot. Love Connection. Jewish woman dates a black man. We hear it was as a throwaway line. Jim Carrey's first alrighty then.

[29:29] Alan Seales: Yes. I will say, first one on camera. In his stand-ups currently, the way he introduces himself is like, Hi, I'm Jim Carrey. How are you doing tonight? Alrighty then. Not giving them a chance to respond. That is where that first started.

[29:45] Jess McAnally: This is the first time ever saying it on camera though. And as far as we're concerned.

[29:49] Alan Seales: Yes. Sorry. Lost my train of thought.

[29:51] Jess McAnally: No worries. It's okay. It's okay. I've done it before too. In that Love Connection bit, don't think I found that one particularly funny. The only thing to bring up there is that he does say, Alrighty then. And I forget who was playing Mike Tyson, but they did a great impression.

[30:08] Alan Seales: That was a fantastic impression. Was it Damon Wayans?

[30:11] Jess McAnally: No, I don't think so.

[30:12] Alan Seales: I don't, it might've been Damon. But yeah, I love the audience's reaction to that impersonation of Mike Tyson. Because like, I think at that point you didn't make fun of Mike Tyson.

[30:21] Jess McAnally: Yeah.

[30:21] Alan Seales: You would lose an ear.

[30:23] Jess McAnally: You would, you would lose a body part if you made fun of Mike Tyson.

[30:26] Alan Seales: Or get your nose smashed.

[30:31] Jess McAnally: Hello, Michael.

[30:34] Alan Seales: Hi, Michael.

[30:36] Jess McAnally: Hi, Blavin.

[30:39] Alan Seales: How you doing, Chuck?

[30:40] Jess McAnally: Hi there, Mike. Like I say, I'm really ecstatic to be here.

[30:51] Alan Seales: All right then. Robin, tell us how the date started.

[30:54] Jess McAnally: Let's talk a little bit about my two favorite sketches. And probably we should do a little ranking of our favorite Jim Carrey moments in this. But I think Bad Karate Class is a top, top one. I remember that one so much when I was a kid, where he's just bleeding all over because they actually stabbed him.

[31:10] Alan Seales: You made the common mistake that most newbies do, and you attacked me the wrong way. You're supposed to do it up here. And then here. You bent your elbow. You have to keep your arms straight.

[31:23] Jess McAnally: 10 out of 10. Great interpretation. You know what makes that scene? Something that you don't think about when you think back at it, but it is the most important factor of that, is the mustache he has on.

[31:35] Alan Seales: Oh yeah, it is a real mustache. It is one of the funniest pieces of set dressing to that character.

[31:41] Jess McAnally: Welcome to the first meeting of Complete Self-Defense for Women. I'm Bob Jackson. I have a black belt in karate. And I've studied martial arts for over 20 years.

[31:56] Alan Seales: Oh my god, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it. Are you all right?

[32:02] Jess McAnally: I'm fine. I shifted my internal organs to avoid the knife.

[32:14] Alan Seales: However, like a lot of beginning students, you attacked me wrong. You're supposed to come at me like this. Remember that and try it again.

[32:32] Jess McAnally: Okay. Yes. Yes.

[32:34] Alan Seales: And then, that one I think is probably my number one. And then my number two is probably the Exxon family, because it's just him doing his Buster Keaton-esque body movements for 10 minutes, and you don't even realize really what's going on there, until the punchline doesn't come until the very end.

[33:00] Jess McAnally: So they made you out to look like such a klutz, such a moron. The media really took advantage of you. After all, it wasn't your fault that your tanker hit that reef and leaked all that oil. Just because you're the captain doesn't mean you should be responsible for every little thing that happens to your ship. And when the tanker did start leaking, well, the company did just what they were supposed to do. They laid down a containment form.

[33:27] Alan Seales: Got it. Coming this fall, it's the Exxon family. Nobody's moving.

[33:33] Jess McAnally: Yeah, and that sketch was a replacement, too, for the DVD release. I mean...

[33:37] Alan Seales: Yeah. Now, what did it replace? Was it a...

[33:40] Jess McAnally: Oh, Billy Dee Williams sketch. It replaced Bolt 45 Malt Liquor, which was only in the original Fox broadcast, but is available on YouTube.

[33:48] Alan Seales: Why did they replace it, do you know?

[33:49] Jess McAnally: Uh, Wikipedia didn't really explain it.

[33:51] Alan Seales: Because it's making light of date rape.

[33:54] Jess McAnally: Oh, it is? I didn't watch it.

[33:56] Alan Seales: Yeah, so the Colt 45 sketch was seen only once during the original broadcast. It was omitted from repeats, because some felt it was making light of date rape. The skit was cut by Fox censors, and the necessary modifications were made to the master tape. But Keenan accidentally mixed up the masters, and the original master was broadcast. So it was always supposed to be cut out, and then Keenan sent it to air anyway.

[34:22] Jess McAnally: So, yeah, this is... As far as goofy goofs go, a replacement, I'd rather have this one than Billy Dee Williams, you know, date raping an unconscious woman going full Cosby.

[34:34] Alan Seales: Yeah.

[34:35] Jess McAnally: Yeah, this is a running thing, by the way. A lot of sketches get cut and replaced, or things get changed and censored after broadcast. This will continue.

[34:45] Alan Seales: You know, when I'm spending a relaxing evening at home with my very special lady, I like to treat her to the very best. I wear the finest clothes, serve the finest gourmet foods, and we enjoy the sparkling taste of Bold 45 malt liquor.

[35:02] Jess McAnally: There's my lovely now. Yeah, Kean Ivory Wayans wanted to push boundaries, and with that, you're gonna hit the boundary.

[35:09] Alan Seales: My favorite note is from season three, but I'll save that for when we cover season three.

[35:12] Jess McAnally: Oh yeah, it will come faster than you think.

[35:17] Alan Seales: I'm glad they replaced it, because I think the Exxon family is a funny bit.

[35:20] Jess McAnally: Oh yeah, it's really funny. I enjoyed it. Like, good Christian humor.

[35:25] Alan Seales: Who QC's these master tapes? Like, when you get a tape from your delivery person, and you're like, all right, here's my master for broadcast, doesn't somebody watch it first to make sure that it is what it's supposed to be?

[35:39] Jess McAnally: I actually have a really depressing story that's similar to that.

[35:42] Alan Seales: And it is?

[35:44] Jess McAnally: I had a film that played in a relatively big festival called After Ashes. Loved that film. I think I did a really good job with it. I submitted it, and it got accepted with the final version, but accidentally submitted a rough cut with imbalanced audio so you couldn't hear one character's voice throughout the entire thing. And that's the one they played in the screening.

[36:06] Alan Seales: Oh no.

[36:07] Jess McAnally: Oh no, there's a nightmare. So you didn't win?

[36:08] Alan Seales: I mean, I didn't. But everyone in the fucking theater, like all the people running it, are just coming up to me and like crying. Like, I'm so sorry. And I'm like, I am too.

[36:18] Jess McAnally: That's so sad. Truly one of the most horrendous experiences. So it does happen.

[36:24] Alan Seales: Well, I'm sure then David Wayans was like, all right, cool. Maybe he gave the wrong master on purpose.

[36:27] Jess McAnally: I think it was Keenan Ivory Wayans, but he probably did.

[36:30] Alan Seales: I will say when it said accidentally, that accidentally was in quotation marks. So take that for whatever it is.

[36:41] Jess McAnally: Oh, well. All right, all right. Is there any other sketches with Mr. Jim Carrey that you thought were really great that we have not mentioned yet?

[36:53] Alan Seales: That's a good question. He's not in a ton of this. Truly, I think the thing that I was impressed...

[36:58] Alan Seales: The first review comes from THR's 1990 review. They say, like all good satire, In Living Color will upset some, if not many. When it pokes, it pokes hard, aiming right for the funny bone by way of the heart. Ironically, Black viewers may be the most offended by Wayne's humor, so precise is its accuracy. It is a chance Wayne is obviously willing to take to bring laughter to a new generation of variety viewers, yet by its very hip foundation, In Living Color may be limiting its audience. His street-smart humor could easily be lost on the massive older generation of viewers, to whom The Golden Girls is legend. But it certainly fits perfectly into FBC's projected demographics. Teen and young adults will love it, and so will progressive moms and dads. Why do you have to be progressive to like this show? The show doesn't feel particularly progressive, aside from the diverse cast. All I know is this article doesn't have an author. Its author is THR's Staff.

[38:30] Jess McAnally: I think that's a fair assessment, but also, it's 1990, whatever. How about we move on to our letterboxd game, where Liz picked out real letterboxd reviews, and we, me and Alan, have to guess whether they're a 1-star or 5-star based on just the review alone. Here we go. How about that? Well, this is your first episode. Normally, this would be a letterboxd game, but In Living Color is not on letterboxd in any manner, so I went to the only place I could. The Season 1 DVD Reviews. The Amazon ones? The Amazon reviews for the Season 1 DVD collection. Oh my goodness! I am so excited right now. They are unhinged in areas that I didn't expect. I remember getting the Season 1 DVD in like 2004 or 5, so these could be old and really, really insane, so I'm ready.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, this will continue for the remainder of Seasons of In Living Color, most likely. So get your reviews in now, kids. So review the DVD collections on Amazon if you want me to include it in the episode. I like the idea. There's no way they can physically do this because of how early we record these. By the time this episode comes out, we will have recorded all the other ones. Yeah, probably. Alright, who's gonna go first? Alan, his name starts with an A. Jess, you're gonna go first because you said it. Because every time you say it, I'm gonna go first. Alright, let's go. You need to learn your lesson.

[39:55] Alan Seales: I have to agree with what the other reviewers have asked. What took Took so effing long? I remember that watching this show was almost like a religious event. It is like church. Um, five.

[40:07] Jess McAnally: Yeah. That is correct. Yeah. That's a gimme. I have to think about it. It's a sad part. Like, that was not me playing to think about it. I was like, what did that review say? It was like a code I had to decrypt in my head. Oh god. Alright, are you ready, Alan?

[40:22] Alan Seales: Yeah. Not spending upwards of $40 to $50 for a few laughs. Not happening here. Three shrug emojis, three side eye emojis, two facepalm emojis. If the emojis exist, this has to be a relatively recent review.

[40:36] Jess McAnally: Then I guess it doesn't sound like they're happy with the cost of season one. I'm gonna go with a one star.

[40:40] Alan Seales: That's a five. Shut up. No, no, no. I'm just reading what's on Amazon, man. I'm losing my touch. Alright, are you ready, Jess? Jess, I am. Yes, it met my expectations. That is a one.

[40:59] Alan Seales: That is a five. I would have given it a five. I would have given it a five. Alright, Alan, just to make up for you not getting the first one, I'll read you my favorite. Okay. This is a very long one, and it's probably a giveaway, but I enjoyed it so much I had to include it. Okay, I'm ready, and now the pressure's on. I'm gonna screw it up. I'm gonna screw it up. Here we go. This item saved my butt. I borrowed a copy from a friend, and somehow it came up missing. I was so glad I was able to buy it from Amazon so I could replace his copy. He never knew I replaced the old one. Thanks, Amazon. I pulled it off. Thumbs up. Five stars. Thanks, Amazon.

[41:38] Jess McAnally: Yeah. This is on the public internet, by the way, so if that friend saw this review, they know what happened. That's where my In Living Color DVD went. This doesn't smell like my DVD. What's wrong with this one? Don't mention you lost items you need to buy for your friend on Amazon because they might see them. I mean, it wasn't signed, was it? Who cares? Yeah, well, I don't know. I don't know. I forgot to delete the dates on these, so. All right. Are you ready, Jess? I'm ready. Where Jim Carrey was better known as the white guy, and J-Lo was nothing more than a backup dancer at the strip season one. I don't know why they include J-Lo. J-Lo was not there yet. J-Lo shows up in season three. She ain't no hollaback girl. That is a five.

[42:20] Alan Seales: That is correct. Alright. Are you ready, Alan? Alan, I am. In junior high, I remember screaming with laughter over this series. Now I just cry with sadness. Now I just cry when I watch this show. Yeah, that's the implication, so that's why it doesn't seem obvious. I'm gonna go out on a limb here. I'm gonna say five. I'm going five.

[42:39] Jess McAnally: That's a one. Yeah, I know, Alan. You failed. I knew it. I was like, that's the implication. I didn't trust it. I didn't trust it. Jim Carrey is the only funny one. That's not true. I don't agree with this at all. That is a fundamentally untrue one. That's a one star, though.

[42:55] Alan Seales: That is correct. Fundamentally disagree with that. Everyone, honestly, Jim Carrey is equally, like, this is a great group of people, and it gets greater as time goes on, and then it gets shitty again. It's an incredible cast, season one. Okay, we know the Waynes eventually leave, and we'll talk about that when that happens. It is remarkable that Jim Carrey stayed as long as he did. Alan, are you ready? Yes. See stars before they were stars. I see stars, so many stars at night. I'm gonna go with five again. I'm going five.

[43:21] Jess McAnally: That's correct. Yes. Okay, there's one left, because odd numbers, so. Math, but I won anyways. Math, and you guys happen to be tied. What? Yeah. That's not how math works. Oh, wait, let me see. What'd I mess up? No, you guys got two wrong each, and there's eight that I've done. Alright. Alright. So, do you guys do a buzzer beater? She focuses on the negative. She doesn't see how many we have right. She is focused on how many we have wrong. Appreciate it. Alright, Liz, why don't we do a buzzer one? Okay, ready? Ready. Wait, wait, wait, we're both gonna do it at the same time? Yeah. Yeah, you have to buzz in to answer. Tiebreaker. Okay. It's the tiebreaker question. Okay. Man, I miss this show.

Buzz five. Buzz one. Buzz five. Buzz five. Buzz one. Buzz one. Buzz five. Alan got that. Yeah, I didn't even know. Okay, now actually read it. Oh. Man, I miss this show. I forgot how controversial it was. Yeah, okay, that's fine. That's fine. Sure, Jan. Sure, Jan. Alright, Alan, you squeak out a win today. Yep, I got a squeaker. What is our overall thoughts on the first season of In Living Color, and are we giving it an all righty then or a no spanky? I feel like we're all kind of in agreement here. This is an all righty then. Yeah, this is better than porn. Yeah, there's no real dispute here. It's just solid. Definitely better than porn. Alrighty then. Put that on the DVD case. Better than porn, Alan Seales.

I remember really laughing about this in high school. Better than porn. I watched this with my best friends in high school, and then porn. Five stars, baby. I think that this is a really good first start for a sitcom. I think it's a change of pace for us. It was much easier to watch this than it was to watch Mike Hammer, for example. Oh, God. Yeah, well, it was easier to watch this because they're short. They're sketches, right? Yeah. And the thing about it is that if you don't like what the sketch you're watching is, fast forward to the next one, and you don't have to relearn a whole new set of ... Or you don't have to think you forgot anything in the story. And the energy is high, and people are interested in being involved. That's the big thing. Everyone wants to be there and wants to do a good job, and they're hungry to impress.

[45:34] Jess McAnally: Yeah. And there's one episode ... I forget what the episode is, but it ends with Jim Carrey holding his daughter, and everyone dances around her. And it made my heart-

[45:41] Alan Seales: Little Jane.

[45:44] Jess McAnally: Yeah, little Jane Carrey. It made my heart melt a little. Here's the question, and here's an actual question. Keep this in or cut it out, but it is something that I thought about. His daughter, Jane, would go on to audition for American Idol, and in that episode of American Idol, she calls her dad. Do we include that episode in our list?

[46:01] Alan Seales: No, no, no. We already included that Conan documentary. We're not including that.

[46:07] Jess McAnally: He is physically on camera in that Conan documentary. I don't-

[46:10] Alan Seales: I feel like if he's on camera, that's a different story, but-

[46:13] Jess McAnally: No, I'm not watching an episode of American Idol for a podcast where I barely have anything to say. I feel like maybe we should just do ... Oh, Alan's thinking differently.

[46:24] Alan Seales: I think we need to see it. Let's let the fans decide.

[46:27] Jess McAnally: You want us to cover it? Yes.

[46:28] Alan Seales: Let us know. Let the fan decide.

[46:31] Jess McAnally: Do you want us to do this? All right. Next week, we are not talking about In Living Color. We are talking about someone that I think I'm going to have a lot to say about and will reappear. Does anyone ... Does the name, I believe, Steve Odenkirk mean anything to you?

[46:47] Alan Seales: Yeah. Odenkirk. I'm thinking of Bob Odenkirk.

[46:52] Jess McAnally: You're thinking of- Or Steve Odenkirk.

[46:53] Alan Seales: Steve Odenkirk. Do you remember the Thumb Wars VHSs from the early 2000s?

[47:00] Jess McAnally: Yes. Do you remember, huh, my name's Paul from the end of Jimmy Neutron?

[47:07] Alan Seales: No, Jimmy Neutron was after my time. That is one of those things that he ...

[47:11] Jess McAnally: Do you remember Kung Pao, that-

[47:18] Alan Seales: That's Steve Odenkirk?

[47:19] Jess McAnally: Yes. Chosen one.

[47:22] Alan Seales: Did I get his name right? Odenkirk.

[47:24] Jess McAnally: Odenkirk, not Odenkirk. Yeah, Odenkirk.

[47:26] Alan Seales: Odenkirk, Steve Odenkirk. Yes.

[47:31] Jess McAnally: Oh, man. Yes. We will revisit this in the sequel, which never happened.

[47:35] Alan Seales: Well, it's coming. Shut up. Kung Poo.

[47:38] Jess McAnally: Kung Pao 2, Tongue of Fury. He has a huge impact on Jim Carrey's career throughout his career, but his first outing with him is a little short film he made, and we're going to talk about that next week. Hopefully, we'll have a fun guest or something. We don't know. Yeah, so get ready, get set, and we'll have some fun, but yeah, we'll be back to In Living Color after that.

[47:57] Alan Seales: Speaking of Eugene's, thank you guys for listening. One of you has to be named Eugene. Follow us on iTunes and Spotify at Carried Away with Jess and Alan. On Twitter at Carried Away Pod, Instagram Carried Away Pod. Email us at carriedawaypodcast at gmail.com to tell us how wrong we are about In Living Color and how it's really just hashtag problematic. Our title card is created by Grace Aki. Go follow them on Instagram at Grace Aki. This show is produced and edited by Elizabeth Esten. Our theme song is I Choose You by the band Thanks. Thank you to the Broadway Podcast Network for having us on the platform, even though I burnt down our headquarters in Las Vegas.

[48:32] Jess McAnally: We already rebuilt it. It's cool.

[48:34] Alan Seales: Well, come down again. Don't worry. Anything else we have left to say?

[48:38] Jess McAnally: Not a damn thing.

[48:39] Alan Seales: Come back next week, kids.

[48:41] Jess McAnally: You can do what you want to do.

[48:45] Alan Seales: I'm going to do my Fly Girl dance.

[48:47] Jess McAnally: In living color.

[48:48] Alan Seales: Ladies and gentlemen, Keenan Ivory Wayans.

[48:53] Jess McAnally: Has left the building.