I Was a TV Baby: Before Dave Chapelle, there was...In Living Color

The splendid Gus Van Sant film "Drugstore Cowboy" (1989) has a scene where Matt Dillon, after nearly being beaten to death, tells the detective that the TV babies did it. He explained earlier that the TV babies are the younger generation of folks reared on television and have a skewed sense of right and wrong since they learned all their values from the shows on the screen.

I always felt a little guilty watching this scene in this mesmerizing movie because I was, and am, a TV baby. I am desensitized to violence because I grew up watching it on TV. I love the murmur of the TV in the background even when I'm not watching it. At one point in my life, I could quote you the TV guide verbatim, by day. TV was also the locus of popular culture in the 90's, so I believe it's important that it's not dismissed on this blog.



IN LIVING COLOR (1990-1994)

This show seems kind of unbelievable when you think on it now. Not only was it created by Keenan Ivory Wayans, and featured most of the very lucrative Wayans family (including Damon, Marlon and Shawn), but some of our most lucrative and critically esteemed actors, such as Jamie Foxx and Jim Carrey. Plus J-Lo herself was a Fly Girl! I'm saying! I love the Fly Girls with their metallic bustiers a la Janet Jackson circa "Rhythm Nation":



There's almost too much that can be said for a show that brought us a dead-on parody of Vanilla Ice, Homey the Clown, Fire Marshal Bill, Wanda, Men on Film, and countless other really quite funny skits that had the edge of brilliant race commentary like the future "Chappelle's Show" would mine successfully. Here's Anton Jackson, precursor to Dave Chappelle's Tyrone Biggums character:



I loved the white chick on this show. She had a great sketch as the woman who was stuck in the 40's that I loved.

The cast was really great at skewering 90's pop culture figures like Milli Vanilli, Crystal Waters, and Vanilla Ice, witness:







OMG, I just spit at my computer screen watching that again. That Vanilla Ice parody was so incredibly popular at the time, you don't even know, those of you born after 1982. These sketches speak for themselves, do you even need me? Your 90's-ologist is only here to serve you...here's some Men on Film:



The blush on David Alan Grier in this sketch? Three words: FAB-U-LOUS.

I love this show because good sketch comedy never dies. Sure, it was maddeningly imperfect, and alot of its funniest days are clumped up in the first two seasons, but this is worth a rent if you're new to it, and worth buying in some form if you can remember when it was on, like me. All five seasons are available on DVD. Here's one last taste for the old folks:



I like when he pulls out the NASA satellite dish. This sketch reminds me of my Dad...this was right before he pierced his ear in a fit of midlife crisis, and he'd go around trying to be cool quoting this show: "Mo' money, mo' money!" So 90's it hurts. I can't help it, here's some Homey The Clown, and I'll let you go about your business: