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Saturday Night Live - The Best of Chris Farley (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: The Best of Chris Farley blasts through 68 minutes of the wildly hilarious characters the comic actor created while with Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s. Farley was a comedic gem--not only because he created such bizarre, repulsively funny characters, such as Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker, or Lori Davis, cosmetics infomercial queen, but because he lived completely inside the character, delivering lines with whatever fury, stupidity, hypertension, insecurity, or femininity the situation demanded. Clearly, Farley loved making people laugh and he wasn't afraid to use his big bulk to do it, whether it entailed stripping as a Chippendale's dancer, belly flopping on coffee tables, rolling around on a couch as Tom Arnold, or punching his forehead in dismay on the "Chris Farley Show." What's great about this collection is all of those characters appear; what's disappointing is that some don't linger long enough, while others appear a bit too long. The cafeteria-lady number could've been cut short in lieu of a longer Tom Arnold segment, or Herlihy Boy could've been removed altogether in favor of complete "Chris Farley Show" segments. Still, if you forgot how side-splitting Farley's portrayal of Dom DeLuise or the French-fry-stuffing Gap girl was, this video will happily jog your memory. --Karen Karleski

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Phil Hartman (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Phil Hartman was one of the most versatile comedians of his time: whether he was playing the voice of Troy McClure on The Simpsons or portraying the pompous Bill McNeal on NewsRadio, his comedy was always fresh and outrageous. His breakthrough was as a cast member of the late-night program Saturday Night Live, where he satirized everything from politics (Bill Clinton, Admiral Stockdale--Ross Perot's misguided running mate--and Barbara Bush) to entertainment (Frank Sinatra and Phil Donahue), creating unforgettable characters along the way. This "best of" video captures his funniest SNL moments and includes the TV special Saturday Night Live Remembers Phil Hartman plus more. Among the highlights are the commercial Compulsion; Bill Clinton jogging to a fast-food joint (which, filmed long before the Lewinsky incident, seems surprisingly prescient as Clinton comments, "There's gonna be a whole bunch of things we don't tell Mrs. Clinton. Fast food is the least of our worries."); Discover the World of Science, where Hartman portrays an annoyingly daft TV host to Jon Lovitz's scientist; Barbara Bush hosting Nancy Reagan at tea in the White House; Cooking with the Anal Retentive Chef; and Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer. Brief snippets of Hartman in a variety of his roles show some classic moments without slowing down the pace of the collection. This video also features SNL cast members Dana Carvey, Jan Hook, Chris Rock, Chris Farley, Victoria Jackson, and more. Of all the Saturday Night Live retrospectives, this is one of the most consistently funny compilations and truly showcases the best of Phil Hartman. --Jenny Brown

Saturday Night Live 4-Pack (The Best of Dana Carvey/Mike Myers/Chris Rock/Chris Farley) (dvd):

Amazon.com video review: Saturday Night Live: The Best of Dana Carvey
The opening sequence of this video, a lively and hilarious parody of a contentious Ross Perot press conference, immediately makes one wonder whether the public, when recalling Perot's 1992 presidential campaign, remembers Perot himself or Dana Carvey's dead-on impression of the eccentric billionaire. From his position as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, Carvey became a national sensation because of his skill as an impressionist, and this video captures him at his best, doing his Perot, his President George Bush (with the trademark fractured syntax and oddly disconnected hand gestures), and a devastating Carsenio, a diabolical amalgam of Johnny Carson and Arsenio Hall. Besides the great impressions, The Best of Dana Carvey also offers sketches featuring the insufferably conceited weightlifters Hans and Franz, Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth of "Wayne's World," and of course the Church Lady (who does her bizarre stiff-backed dance, rips into a mean drum solo, and makes her perennial sarcastic comment, "Isn't that special?"). Some sketches, such as one featuring the misbegotten character Massive Head Wound Harry, may make you wonder how it wound up on this tape, but for the most part this is very impressive collection of Carvey's best work. --Robert J. McNamara

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Farley
The Best of Chris Farley blasts through 68 minutes of the wildly hilarious characters the comic actor created while with Saturday Night Live in the early 1990s. Farley was a comedic gem--not only because he created such bizarre, repulsively funny characters, such as Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker, or Lori Davis, cosmetics infomercial queen, but because he lived completely inside the character, delivering lines with whatever fury, stupidity, hypertension, insecurity, or femininity the situation demanded. Clearly, Farley loved making people laugh and he wasn't afraid to use his big bulk to do it, whether it entailed stripping as a Chippendale's dancer, belly flopping on coffee tables, rolling around on a couch as Tom Arnold, or punching his forehead in dismay on the "Chris Farley Show." What's great about this collection is all of those characters appear; what's disappointing is that some don't linger long enough, while others appear a bit too long. The cafeteria-lady number could've been cut short in lieu of a longer Tom Arnold segment, or Herlihy Boy could've been removed altogether in favor of complete "Chris Farley Show" segments. Still, if you forgot how side-splitting Farley's portrayal of Dom DeLuise or the French-fry-stuffing Gap girl was, this video will happily jog your memory. --Karen Karleski

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Mike Myers
From "Wayne's World" to the creepy hilarity of "Sprockets" and its slinky German host Dieter, this 16-sketch compilation showcases Mike Myers in his Saturday Night Live prime. Wayne Campbell and his sidekick Garth (Dana Carvey) are featured in two memorable sketches, jamming with Aerosmith and enjoying a sexy dream sequence with the babelicious Madonna. The Material Girl shows up again as the daughter of "Coffee Talk" hostess Linda Richman (who was inspired by Myers's mother-in-law) in a choice sketch with Roseanne, featuring a cameo by Barbra Streisand that is, as Linda would say, "like buttah."

More obscure sketches show Myers at his most bizarre, charming, and experimental. "Lothar of the Hill People" challenged network censors with not-so-subtle allusions to masturbation and female genitalia, while Myers's penchant for all things British is frequently indulged, including spot-on send-ups of Ron Wood and Mick Jagger. His portrayal of a hypoglycemic, hyperactive 6-year-old--complete with safety helmet and restraining harness--is both outrageously funny and more than a little dangerous. (It's a miracle that guest host Nicole Kidman keeps a straight face as she feeds the "kid" a chocolate bar, with the expected results.) And while other sketches such as "Middle Aged Man" were not likely to follow Wayne and Dieter to big-screen success, they show Myers doing what he does best: conceiving original characters and pushing them to comedic extremes. --Jeff Shannon

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Rock
Comedian Chris Rock spent several seasons on Saturday Night Live, and this compilation tape of his best moments showcases his considerable talents while unintentionally highlighting how uneven the show itself is. Even in a video selected to showcase Rock alone, he is all too often mired as the second or third banana in an SNL skit. But there are, thankfully, plenty of opportunities in this video for Rock to shine without being upstaged by other performers or left adrift by limp writing. When he appears behind the "Weekend Update" desk to deliver an editorial commentary or a news report, Rock puts his considerable skills as a comedian to perfect use. And in the skits where the focus is on him, he proves himself to be adept at characterizations, such as when he dons a colossal Afro wig to become radical talk show host Nat X, host of "The Dark Side." One peculiar surprise about the video: some of the language in the "Def Jam" parodies that was bleeped out for the broadcast of SNL is here presented uncensored, so while this is Chris Rock delivering perhaps his cleanest material, a few choice words are nonetheless delivered loud and clear. --Robert J. McNamara

Saturday Night Live: 25 Years Of Laughs (SNL 25) (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Like many of the clips that make up the bulk of its content, the Saturday Night Live 25th Anniversary special suffers from that malady specific to almost every SNL sketch: it starts out brilliantly, loses steam about halfway through, then slowly but gamely limps to the finish line with occasional spurts of humor. This special (which actually marks the show's 24th anniversary, but never you mind about those small details!) gathered almost all of the Saturday Night Live alumni--well, the funny ones, anyway--for a celebration of the show's entrenchment in the cultural landscape. It's basically an occasion to show a lot of clips, ranging in time from the Coneheads to Mary Katherine Gallagher, put together in a sprightly, rapid-pace manner and interspersed with occasional live audience-interaction bits. An hysterically funny Bill Murray kicks things off as a lounge singer at an Indian reservation casino who hobnobs with the celebrity audience members; Tom Hanks, a fave guest host, offers up a lively Q&A session (with a dryly funny Christopher Walken, among others); and Billy Crystal revives his Fernando persona to great effect. Dan Aykroyd, Laraine Newman, and Steve Martin provide the best cast tribute, warmly remembering John Belushi while wryly offering up memorabilia for online auction, and Jan Hooks introduces a heartfelt short film featuring her and the late Phil Hartman. Other cast members, with the notable absence of Eddie Murphy and the surprise appearance of Norm MacDonald, pop up for various intros of clips--some are funny (Dennis Miller), some are not (Adam Sandler), some are obviously uncomfortable (David Spade), but at about the halfway mark it all starts to wear on you, like most tribute shows. Still, the stable of classic skits (including a surprisingly strong showing from the current cast) make this worth sticking around for. And at least this time, unlike during the live broadcasts, you can fast-forward through the unfunny parts. --Mark Englehart

Saturday Night Live - Christmas (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: The best Christmas material from two-and-a-half decades of Saturday Night Live is collected in this video, which gets off to a raucous start by presenting Chevy Chase's (literally) unbalanced rendition of President Gerald Ford decorating the White House Christmas tree. A number of memorable Christmas satires appear, including Eddie Murphy's spoof of Mr. Rodgers, Ana Gasteyer appearing in the "Martha Stewart Topless Christmas Special," and even Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song." Some of the best material is from the show's early freewheeling years: a classic bit with guest Candice Bergen, playing an uptight newswoman, being suitably offended while interviewing an irresponsible and utterly sleazy toy manufacturer (Dan Ackroyd); John Belushi doing a silent yet brilliant turn as a hard-drinking department store Santa; and the entire original cast taking part in an elaborate (by the show's early standards) production number. Also appearing in the video compilation are cast members Bill Murray, Jane Curtin, Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, and Dana Carvey, as well as guests Steve Martin, Danny DeVito, Paul Simon, William Shatner, and Alec Baldwin (who visits the NPR ladies to deliver a wickedly deadpan talk about his Christmas balls). Saturday Night Live has been notoriously uneven over the years, but this video is a full stocking of consistently inspired writing and performances. --Robert J. McNamara

Saturday Night Live - Halloween (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Introduced by Wayne and Garth on the set of Wayne's World, the Saturday Night Live: Halloween special collection is frighteningly funny. Mining SNL's history back to the good old days of the Coneheads and the Land Shark, this tape selects an hour's worth of the best Halloween skits presented over more than 20 years. You'll see guests such as John Travolta and James Woods put through their paces by the SNL cast--Travolta is hysterical as a certain Transylvanian nobleman trying to convince his victims that they are mistaken about his secret (they think he's gay). All the stars you love, from Bill Murray to Adam Sandler, make appearances to poke fun at the weird, spooky pleasure we all share each year. You'll get tips on making scary faces, ideas for cheap costumes like "Johnny the Human Torch," and a new outlook on vampires in the age of AIDS, plus plenty more ghoulish laughs in Saturday Night Live: Halloween. --Rob Lightner

Saturday Night Live - The Best of Eddie Murphy (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Perhaps one of the greatest lights ever to shine on late-night television, Eddie Murphy has gone on to well-deserved international superstardom. Check out his earliest television work on Saturday Night Live: The Best of Eddie Murphy, a collection of his greatest roles, from Gumby to Stevie Wonder to Buckwheat. Of course, some would argue that his best role was as himself, and there is plenty of evidence for that--many of the skits feature Murphy au naturel and the opening sequence is taken from his monologue when he returned to the show triumphantly after leaving for Hollywood. Exploring the world around him and finding laughs everywhere, Murphy can take a simple idea (such as the "James Brown Hot Tub Party") and run wild with it, leaving the audience hysterically begging for more. You don't have to be a fan to enjoy this collection, but odds are you'll be one by the time you're finished. --Rob Lightner

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Mike Myers (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: From "Wayne's World" to the creepy hilarity of "Sprockets" and its slinky German host Dieter, this 16-sketch compilation showcases Mike Myers in his Saturday Night Live prime. Wayne Campbell and his sidekick Garth (Dana Carvey) are featured in two memorable sketches, jamming with Aerosmith and enjoying a sexy dream sequence with the babelicious Madonna. The Material Girl shows up again as the daughter of "Coffee Talk" hostess Linda Richman (who was inspired by Myers's mother-in-law), in a choice sketch with Roseanne, featuring a cameo by Barbra Streisand which is, as Linda would say, "like buttah."

More obscure sketches show Myers at his most bizarre, charming, and experimental. "Lothar of the Hill People" challenged network censors with not-so-subtle allusions to masturbation and female genitalia, while Myers's penchant for all things British is frequently indulged, including spot-on send-ups of Ron Wood and Mick Jagger. His portrayal of a hypoglycemic, hyperactive 6-year-old--complete with safety helmet and restraining harness--is both outrageously funny and more than a little dangerous. (It's a miracle that guest host Nicole Kidman keeps a straight face as she feeds the "kid" a chocolate bar, with the expected results.) And while other sketches such as "Middle Aged Man" were not likely to follow Wayne and Dieter to big-screen success, they show Myers doing what he does best: conceiving original characters and pushing them to comedic extremes. --Jeff Shannon

Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Rock (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Comedian Chris Rock spent several seasons on Saturday Night Live, and this compilation tape of his best moments showcases his considerable talents while unintentionally highlighting how uneven the show itself is. Even in a video selected to showcase Rock alone, he is all too often mired as the second or third banana in an SNL skit. But there are, thankfully, plenty of opportunities in this video for Rock to shine without being upstaged by other performers or left adrift by limp writing. When he appears behind the "Weekend Update" desk to deliver an editorial commentary or a news report, Rock put his considerable skills as a comedian to perfect use. And in the skits where the focus is on him, he proves himself to be adept at characterizations, such as when he dons a colossal Afro wig to become radical talk show host Nat X, host of "The Dark Side." One peculiar surprise about the video: some of the language in "Def Jam" parodies that was bleeped out for the broadcast of SNL is here presented uncensored, so while this is Chris Rock delivering perhaps his cleanest material, a few choice words are nonetheless delivered loud and clear. --Robert J. McNamara

Snl: Best of Dana Carvey (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: The opening sequence of this video, a lively and hilarious parody of a contentious Ross Perot press conference, immediately makes one wonder whether the public, when recalling Perot's 1992 presidential campaign, remembers Perot himself or Dana Carvey's dead-on impression of the eccentric billionaire. From his position as a cast member on Saturday Night Live, Carvey's skill as an impressionist was a national sensation, and this video captures him at his best, doing his Perot, his President George Bush (with the trademark fractured syntax and oddly disconnected hand gestures), and a devastating Carsenio, a diabolical amalgam of Johnny Carson and Arsenio Hall. Besides the great impressions, The Best of Dana Carvey also offers sketches featuring the insufferably conceited weightlifters Hans and Franz, Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth of "Wayne's World," and of course the Church Lady (who does her bizarre stiff-backed dance, rips into a mean drum solo, and of course makes her perennial sarcastic comment, "Isn't that special?"). Some sketches, such as one featuring the misbegotten character Massive Head Wound Harry, may make you wonder how it wound up on this tape, but for the most part this is very impressive collection of Carvey's best work. --Robert J. McNamara

Saturday Night Live: Best of Adam Sandler (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: While hordes are ready to stream into any theater with his name on the marquee, you can actually experience the mother lode of Adam Sandler giggles in the comfort of your own home. This collection of nearly 20 skits from the comedian's 1991-95 stint on Saturday Night Live is an essential tool for anyone who's taking life too seriously. The classic characters are all present and accounted for: Operaman, Cajun Man, Gap Girl ("Didja cinch that?"), Kirstie Alley's exuberant bellboy ("Bellissima!"), and, of course, Canteen Boy, found here in a hilariously unsettling encounter with Alec Baldwin's randy troop leader.

The highlights, however, are the tunes, from "The Chanukah Song" ("Paul Newman's half-Jewish. Goldie Hawn, too. Put them together--what a fine-looking Jew!") to the all-out opus "Lunchlady Land," featuring a bemoled Chris Farley rocking out like no one in a hairnet ever has to the "Slop-Sloppy-Joes" chorus.

All in all, it's a nice trip back through SNL time. When it comes to getting in touch with his inner goofy 8-year-old, Adam Sandler is comedy's big daddy. --Bob Michaels

Saturday Night Live - The Best of Steve Martin (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: No other person has been a guest on Saturday Night Live as many times as the inimitable Steve Martin, which is what makes SNL's Best of Steve Martin compilation the finest of the series. This collection gives us not only clips of some of the show's funniest moments, but also a sense of how the show has evolved from the 1970s. Earlier monologues were rougher, less staged, but absolutely out of control in the best way, as Martin is given free rein to unleash his "happy feet," play the banjo, and generally explore his zaniness. The earliest clip dates from 1976 and the latest from the mid-'90s, showcasing the program's greatest players throughout the seasons--Chevy Chase, Laraine Newman, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Mike Meyers, Dana Carvey, Nora Dunn, David Spade, Jon Lovitz. The beloved classics are here, from "King Tut," with complete Egyptian regalia, to the arrow through the head to, of course, a "wild and crazy guy." Not enough for you? Well, "excuuuuuuse me." Also included are the Coneheads at home (with Martin playing a hapless IRS agent), "Jeopardy 1999," "Common Knowledge" (one of the wittiest SNL sketches ever), and ads for "Rise" and for "Steve Martin's Penis Cream." This collection will satisfy longtime SNL fans and is a great way to show newer fans what comedy is really about. --Jenny Brown

Mr Bill: 20th Anniversary (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: "Oh no! Oh why, why!" Before getting killed in every episode was made en vogue by South Park's Kenny, there was poor, hapless Mr. Bill. The ever-buoyant clay Everyman brought the house down by being smashed, mangled, and flattened again and again and again. Mr. Bill's 20th Anniversary is a testament to just how experimental the 1970s' Saturday Night Live was willing to go. And far it went, from the ill-fated fishing expedition (watch out for that hook, Mr. Spot!) to his nightmarish trip to court (remember the jury full of Sluggos?)--"Mr. Bill" always managed to find inventive ways to be disturbing.

Those of meek temperament may find Mr. Bill's 20th Anniversary a bit excessive: it is literally the same "uh oh, he's not going to be nice to me!" gag over and over. But the true SNL fan will treasure this little bit of history, perhaps one of the weirdest comedy segments ever to make it to the small screen. --Brendan J. LaSalle

Saturday Night Live - Game Show Parodies (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: This thematic video, featuring the best game-show parodies presented by Saturday Night Live, concentrates mostly on the later years, with regulars Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Julia Sweeny, and Chris Farley dominating the proceedings. And though some of the skits have their moments, such as when guest host Joe Pesci menaces seriously out-of-place contestant Chris Rock on "Bensonhurst Dating Game," an inevitable feeling of sameness can creep in. Perhaps that's mostly forgivable, as the individual sketches were not written or acted to be seen one after another. Besides regular cast members, guest hosts were regularly put to work in game-show skits, with varying degrees of comedic success--Garth Brooks (in drag in a misbegotten parody titled "Old French Whore"), Jerry Seinfeld, Tom Hanks, and Quentin Tarantino. Gilda Radner and Bill Murray appear all too briefly in a snippet of a sketch from the early years, but seeing Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd, Laraine Newman, and Chevy Chase in "Jeopardy 1999" from the show's first season is a treat. For a fan of 1990s vintage Saturday Night Live, this tape does have its winning moments, but it may be best watched in small doses. --Robert J. McNamara

The Best of Saturday Night Live: The Mr. Bill Collection (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: One of the major breakout stars to come out of the first years of Saturday Night Live was not one of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players, but was instead born from a bit of clay and the creative mind of Walter Williams.

The 18 shorts that comprise The Best of Saturday Night Live: The Mr. Bill Collection exemplify the humor and outrageousness that we have come to expect from Mr. Bill, Spot, Mr. Hands, and of course, Sluggo. The plots, and budget, may have been simple and at some times poorly executed, but they remain a catalyst of laughter and bring back memories of staying up late just to see what troubles would cause Bill to utter his famous phrase: "Ohh, nooo!!!" We are treated to classic Mr. Bill exploits, such as "Mr. Bill's Christmas Special," "Mr. Bill Goes to New York," and the inappropriately named "Mr. Bill Strikes Back," as well as a bonus "Public Service Announcement" relating to highway education.

Although the quality of the film is not always the best, the humor remains intact. In 50 minutes, The Best of Saturday Night Live: The Mr. Bill Collection illustrates how he was one of the show's brightest stars, all the while keeping his unkempt, independent charm. --Zachary Lively

Saturday Night Live: Bad Boys (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Gilda was golden and no one spazzes out in a cheerleading costume better than Cheri Oteri, but this tape is about the boys. Saturday Night Live: Bad Boys collects over an hour of bits from the male cast members that ruled the early 1990s. Rude, raunchy, and ridiculous, the favorite characters are all here: Rob Schneider as Copy Guy, Adam Sandler as Operaman, Chris Rock as Nat X, and David Spade as Dick Clark's receptionist ("And you are...?").

There's a few collaborative gems, too. Chris Rock and Tim Meadows pour on the sweet talk in the Boys II Men spoof "I Wanna Suck Your Big Fat Toe." Woody Harrelson convinces everyone to take their shirts off at the beach, including Dana Carvey ("The sun feels good on my baboon heart!"). And everybody gets up close and personal as horny busboys with Kirstie Alley. Bellisima!

It's by no means as exhaustive a review of SNL history as the 25th anniversary video, but Bad Boys does serve as a good reminder of a particular SNL era. If the antics of these guys aren't your thing, then allow me to quote David Spade as Total Bastard Airlines' exquisitely snarky steward: "Buh-Bye!" --Bob Michaels

Saturday Night Live - The Best of the Clinton Scandal (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Few topics have provided such ample fodder for Saturday Night Live as the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal. And while cast member Darrell Hammond has embodied many characters on the long-running television show (including Trent Lott, Ted Koppel, Phil Donahue, Sean Connery, John Travolta, and Jay Leno), he is best known for his dead-on impersonation of President Clinton, so much so that he appeared with the president at the Radio-Television Correspondents Dinner in 1997.

This collection of SNL skits, hosted by Hammond, contains nothing but parodies of the low moments of the Clinton scandal. The uneven quality of the skits is disappointing given the richness of the material; however, there are enough bright moments to make the video worth the watch. A series of mock Gap ads starring Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and Ken Starr are hysterical, as are some of the quite short gags in which the laughs last longer than the skits. Sadly, not enough clips feature John Goodman as Linda Tripp, although we get a taste for the character in "Oprah 2001" and in a montage of some of Tripp's best lines. Some of the skits are downright juvenile, as when a gaggle of female journalists turn a news discussion into a pajama-clad slumber party gabfest. Yet watching Lewinsky (Molly Shannon) guided by her P.R. rep (David Slade) interview talk-show hosts for her exclusive interview is comedy at its best. Overall this collection will please political pundits and fans of SNL. --Jenny Brown

Saturday Night Live - Presidential Bash 2000 (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: This program, which features the best satires of American presidencies from 25 years of Saturday Night Live, was newsworthy when it first aired, two days before the 2000 election, as the two major candidates had previously taped segments that were edited into an opening skit. George Bush bumbles and Al Gore is punctilious, and both are quite funny delivering their lines. Also included in the program is SNL's satire of their first debate, in which a confused Bush (played by Will Ferrell) winces during the questioning and Gore (played by Daryl Hammond) can't stop talking about "the lockbox." Older clips feature Phil Hartman as Bill Clinton visiting a McDonald's, cheerfully helping himself to everyone's fries; Dana Carvey doing his trademark impression of the elder George Bush; and a cantankerous Norm McDonald playing candidate and housemate Bob Dole in a devilish satire of the MTV's The Real World. From the show's original cast, Dan Ackroyd is briefly seen as Richard Nixon, and he also appears in an all-time classic skit as Jimmy Carter answering calls from citizens and micromanaging one viewer's bad acid trip by suggesting he play some Allman Brothers. Like all things associated with Saturday Night Live, Presidential Bash 2000 is uneven, but the bits included are generally quite funny, and some of the satire was so prescient that the passing of time makes it even better. --Robert J. McNamara