''Saturday TV Funhouse'' is a segment on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves ...

'' featuring

cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

created by ''SNL'' writer Robert Smigel. 101 "TV Funhouse" segments aired on ''SNL'' between 1996 and 2008, with one further segment airing in 2011. It also spawned a short-lived spinoff series of ''TV Funhouse'' that aired on Comedy Central.

Production

Programmed to air between the host segments of ''Saturday Night Live'', ''TV Funhouse'' parodied such genres as 1950s educational films, Saturday morning

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...

cartoons of the 1970s and 1980s, and the 1960s

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

holiday specials of

Rankin/Bass Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usual ...

. Any episodes of ''Saturday Night Live'' that has ''TV Funhouse'' in it would be listed by the announcer as "A cartoon by Robert Smigel". The animation was produced by J.J. Sedelmaier Productions for its first three seasons until Wachtenheim/Marianetti Animation took over primary animation production duties.

Recurring ''SNL'' ''TV Funhouse'' skits

* Fun with Real Audio - This sketch presented animated scenes to found, real-life audio tracks. * The All-New Adventures of

Mr. T Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud, May 21, 1952), is an American actor. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A-Team'' and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film ''Rocky III''. He is also known for his ...

- A parody of the Ruby-Spears animated series ''

Mister T Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud, May 21, 1952), is an American actor. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A-Team'' and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film ''Rocky III''. He is also known for his di ...

''. This cartoon depicts Mr. T (voiced by Tracy Morgan) as desperate to find work after 10 years, aggressively auditioning for unlikely parts such as classical

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

and

tampon A tampon is a menstrual product designed to absorb blood and vaginal secretions by insertion into the vagina during menstruation. Unlike a pad, it is placed internally, inside of the vaginal canal. Once inserted correctly, a tampon is held in ...

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

s with help from Jeff Harris (voiced by Andrew Daly), Kim Nakamura (voiced by

Ana Gasteyer Ana Kristina Gasteyer (born May 4, 1967) is an American actress and comedian. She was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1996 to 2002. She has since starred in such sitcoms as ABC's '' Suburgatory,'' TBS's ''People of Earth'', NBC's ...

), Spike O'Neill (voiced by Andrew Daly), and Bulldozer the Bulldog. Whenever he encounters obstacles such as directors telling him auditions are already over, he simply responds with the phrase "Ain't got time for jibber-jabber, I need work!" Mr. T also throws in different advice during his dialogue like "Drink your milk", "Stay in school", "Don't do drugs", and "Eat all your greens". After getting the employment, he would often mix up of all his advice to his companions when stating how one could get work as Bulldozer barks after that. * The Ambiguously Gay Duo - A parody of the comic book

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

duets. The vaguely

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

superheroes Ace and Gary (voiced by

Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( ; born May 13, 1964) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for hosting the satirical Comedy Central program '' The Colbert Report'' from 2005 ...

and

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in ''The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where Ca ...

respectively) fight crime in Metroville while their adversaries like Bighead (voiced by Robert Smigel) and Dr. Braino (voiced by

) try to figure out their true sexuality. Bill Chott provides the narration for this cartoon. All the shorts were re-written from '' The Dana Carvey Show''. In the live-action version on the ''SNL'' episode hosted by

Ed Helms Edward Parker Helms (born January 24, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. From 2002 to 2006, he was a correspondent on Comedy Central's '' The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. He played paper salesman Andy Bernard in the NBC sitcom '' The Off ...

Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televis ...

and

Jimmy Fallon James Thomas Fallon (born September 19, 1974) is an American comedian, television host, actor, and writer. He is known for his work in television as a cast member on '' Saturday Night Live'' and as the host of the late-night talk show ''The To ...

play Ace and Gary while Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell played Dr. Brainio and Bighead. * The Anatominals Show - A parody of a

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in '' The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

–type

–style cartoon where Kogi

Bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the No ...

, Pook Bear, Mindy Bear, Sheila

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...

, Betsy Cow, and other animal characters are anatomically correct even when they are confronted by the

park ranger A ranger, park ranger, park warden, or forest ranger is a law enforcement person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands – national, state, provincial, or local parks. Description "Parks" may be broadly defined by some systems in thi ...

during attempts to take picnic baskets. Both episodes were interspersed with scenes of

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian-American producer, screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for creating and producing ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and producing the '' La ...

(voiced by Robert Smigel) expressing deep disappointment with the show or trying to prevent visitors to

Studio 8H Studio 8H is a television studio located in New York City in the United States. The studio is a part of NBC Studios, the home of the NBC television network, located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. It is most notable for housing the live broadcast of ...

from seeing the cartoon. * The

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

Show - A parody of

cartoons, highlighting the misadventures of Michael Jackson (voiced by

Dino Stamatopoulos Konstantinos Pollux Alexandros "Dino" Stamatopoulos (born December 14, 1964) is an American writer, producer, and actor. He has worked on TV programs such as ''Mr. Show'', '' TV Funhouse'', '' Mad TV'', '' The Dana Carvey Show'', ''Late Show wi ...

) and his odd friends. Included in his rag-tag entourage are his talking

common chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative t ...

Bubbles, an aged

Emmanuel Lewis Emmanuel Lewis (born March 9, 1971) is an American actor, best known for playing the title character in the 1980s television sitcom '' Webster''. Personal life Lewis was born in Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from Midwood High School in 1989. ...

, a talking anthropomorphic

llama The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is soft ...

whose just called Llama, the living skeleton of

Joseph Merrick Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...

the Elephant Man (voiced by Robert Smigel impersonating

Jimmy Durante James Francis Durante ( , ; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced son ...

), a

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...

with a

pushmi-pullyu This is a list of characters from the ''Doctor Dolittle'' series of children's books by Hugh Lofting and movies based on them. Most of the characters were introduced in the first book, the 1920 novel ''The Story of Doctor Dolittle''. Humans Doct ...

design, the sentient and speaking arm of

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was a British-American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 1950s. ...

, and a sentient urn containing

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

's ashes. Michael's friends often try to get him not to do stuff with little boys which goes comically awry for them. Sometimes when he gets satisfied with a little boy or the aged Emmanuel Lewis, Michael Jackson would have the same reactions that

Quick Draw McGraw Quick Draw McGraw is a fictional anthropomorphic horse and the protagonist and title character of '' The Quick Draw McGraw Show''. He is a white horse, wearing a red Stetson cowboy hat, a red holster belt, a light blue bandana, and occasion ...

character Snuffles would have when he gets his dog biscuit. The theme song is to the tune of ''

The Yogi Bear Show ''The Yogi Bear Show'' is an American comedy animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that centers on the misadventures of forest-dwelling bear Yogi in Jellystone Park. The show debuted in syndication on January 30, 1961 ...

''. *

The X-Presidents ''The X-Presidents'' is an NBC/'' Saturday Night Live'' '' Saturday TV Funhouse'' cartoon created by Robert Smigel and animated by J. J. Sedelmaier Productions. Plot This cartoon features the four former American Presidents who were still alive ...

- A parody of Hanna-Barbera/

cartoons from the 1970s. This sketch features former US Presidents

Gerald Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

, and George H.W. Bush (all voiced by Jim Morris) as crime-fighting superheroes imbued with superpowers by a "

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Dep ...

-powered dose of radiation" received at a celebrity

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

tournament. Each of their wives is a member as well.

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

, despite his status as a living former president, is not a member since he did not receive the hurricane-powered dose of radiation, as he was in office during the initial incident.

Disney parodies

The February 10, 2001 episode, "Ray of Light," parodies the controversy over

Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional football player who played as a middle linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens for his entire 17-year career in the National Football League (NFL). He played ...

's involvement in an Atlanta homicide. Although Lewis went on to become the

Super Bowl XXXV Super Bowl XXXV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, he was unable to utter the famous line "

I'm going to Disney World! "I'm going to Disney World!" and "I'm going to Disneyland!" are advertising slogans used in a series of television commercials by The Walt Disney Company that began airing in 1987. Used to promote the company's theme park resorts in Florida and C ...

" The skit was involved with Disney "making it up" to Lewis by placing him in various Disney animated movies. Lewis would be shown fleeing the scene of Disney character death scenes, frequently uttering "I didn't see nothin'!" "Bambi 2002," a poke at Disney's penchant for direct-to video sequels at the time, imagines a sequel to the original movie where Bambi's mother turns up alive. The title character fights stylized

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

types, meets Jared Fogle, and performs a

rap music Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

number in the forest. Also in the sketch are moments involving some of Disney's darker issues, as well as some pornographic humor. On April 15, 2006, Robert Smigel again parodied Disney's home video moratorium

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...

, as well as

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

's alleged

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...

and

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. When two kids are brought to the Disney Vault by

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

, they find Walt's frozen head, several controversial things that were never released, and

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...

and

Kermit the Frog Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'', as well ...

bound and gagged in a chair, Mickey Mouse breaks down and quotes "He wouldn't sell! He wouldn't sell...!" (a reference to a broken deal between

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company (formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc.; commonly referred to as Henson) is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for ...

and

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on Octobe ...

circa 1990 following Henson's death; Disney bought

the Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompas ...

franchise in 2004, 2 years prior to the sketch).

NBC special

On April 29, 2006,

aired a full-length, 90-minute ''SNL'' "best of" special for ''TV Funhouse''. The special was hosted by The Ambiguously Gay Duo interacting with the current ''SNL'' cast with a cameo from

.Ambiguously Gay Duo & Fellow Saturday TV Funhouse Shorts Special Slated , AWN , Animation World Network
/ref> The special was released on DVD October 24, 2006.

Comedy Central series

The spinoff series was somewhat of a twisted ''

Pee-Wee's Playhouse ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's po ...

''-style children's TV show, hosted by

Doug Dale Douglas Dale (born in Barrington, Illinois) is an American actor and comedian, best known for hosting the Comedy Central series '' TV Funhouse'' which was written and Directed by Robert Smigel. He originally met Robert Smigel when they were roomm ...

and his "Anipals" puppet friends.

Plot

Every episode had a different theme to it (e.g., "Hawaiian Day" or "Astronaut Day") and saw the Anipals usually getting into some sort of trouble, not wanting to do whatever their happy-go-lucky host had in mind for the day. The theme song describes this show as the "last cartoon show of the day". This show didn't show any cartoons from ''The Ambiguously Gay Duo'', ''The Michael Jackson Show'', and/or ''The X-Presidents'' despite some of its characters appearing in the theme song.

Production

The Comedy Central version of ''TV Funhouse'' premiered in December 2000 and was not picked up for a second season. Interviews with Smigel indicate that Comedy Central believed in the show, but was disappointed in how it went over budget every episode. Smigel has also expressed how difficult the show was and how tedious the puppet-live animal segments were to shoot. The show was released on DVD July 22, 2008 under the title ''Comedy Central's TV Funhouse''.

Recurring skits

* Wonderman — A parody of

Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he becam ...

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...

cartoons that stars Wonderman (voiced by Robert Smigel) who fights a constant crusade to stop crime and get his alias of Henry Moore laid. * Mnemonics: Your Dear, Dear Friend — A parody of

educational film An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods. History Determining which videos should count as the first educational fil ...

s about teaching children using a

mnemonic A mnemonic ( ) device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval (remembering) in the human memory for better understanding. Mnemonics make use of elaborative encoding, retrieval cues, and image ...

for everyday subjects using age-inappropriate mnemonics to improve their memory. Robert Smigel narrates this segment. * The Baby, the Immigrant, and the Guy on Mushrooms — Artemis the

Cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

watches over a baby (voiced by Sarah Thyre), an immigrant, and a guy on mushrooms while the female homeowner (voiced by Sarah Thyre) is away. Artemis works to keep the clueless trio out of any danger which always ends with him getting hurt. * A Michael Kupperman Cartoon - An assortment of cartoons drawn by

Michael Kupperman Michael Kupperman (born April 26, 1966), also known by the pseudonym P. Revess,Spurgeon, Tom"A Short Interview With Michael Kupperman,"The Comics Reporter (August 7, 2005). is an American cartoonist and illustrator. He created the comic strips '' ...

Episodes

Cast

- Doug

Anipal Voices

Tommy Blacha Thomas Blacha (born August 25, 1962) is an American voice actor, writer, and producer. He is known working for shows such as ''Metalocalypse'', ''Da Ali G Show'' and ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. Career Blacha started as a local Chicago Co ...

— Hank *

— Jeffery * Matt Davis *

Jon Glaser Jonathan Daniel Glaser (born June 20, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his work as a writer and sketch performer for many years on '' Late Night with Conan O'Brien'', creating and starring in the Adult Swim ...

— Hojo * Jonathan Groff *

Jackie Hoffman Jacqueline Laura Hoffman (born November 29, 1960 in Queens, New York City) is an American actress, singer, and comedian known for her one-woman shows of Jewish-themed original songs and monologues. She is a veteran of Chicago's famed The Second ...

* David Juskow — Larry * Susan Krause *

Frank Simms Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

* Robert Smigel — Fogey, Xabu, Rocky, Terrence * Brian Stack — Mr. Whiskers (first episode) *

— Chickie, Mr. Whiskers

References

External links

*
Some of the ''TV Funhouse'' episodes
{{Comedy Central animation 2000s American adult animated television series 2000s American satirical television series 2000s American sketch comedy television series 2000 American television series debuts 2001 American television series endings American adult animated comedy television series American adult animated television spin-offs American television shows featuring puppetry English-language television shows Comedy Central animated television series Comedy Central original programming American television series with live action and animation Saturday Night Live sketches Saturday Night Live in the 2000s