Funny how time warps our memories. The show Jim-499 was reviewing is NOT "Twilight Theater", but Steve Martin's much superior second television special called "Comedy is Not Pretty". I can not imagine how he got both mixed up. "Comedy is Not Pretty" aired in prime time, twice and once again in syndication. "Twilight Theater" aired during the Saturday Night Live late night time slot. "Comedy is Not Pretty" was almost entirely Steve Martin skits. "Twilight Theater" had just one brief appearance by Steve Martin in the first episode, and an even briefer appearance in the second.
But for those of you who saw both specials and years later your memories have mushed them together, her is a brief description of both. Comedy is Not Pretty opened with a prologue where the script for Steve's new special is substituted with a deranged script by a hunchback and/or mad scientist. It has the following skits: # The aforementioned steamroller PSA featuring Regis Philbin as the announcer
# Steve as a diver at the Olympics where he does a bunch of silly dives, and then pretends to drown to get better points from the judges.
# Steve outside a haunted house describing what it was like living there.
# A story on a mid-east country where everyone is a beggar, including the king who successfully begs for a piece of lint from the poorest man in the country.
# Steve as the worlds greatest lover giving tips that include throwing dog poop on the shoes of a girl you are breaking up with. Joyce Dewitt guest stars as his date.
# Steve as a scout master who gets his troop lost after only two seconds in the woods.
# Steve doing a 60 Minutes style story on Morley Safer, pointing out he is a Canadian and asking the question "If we had a war with Canada, who's side would he fight on?"
# A video for the song El Passo with Steve and chimpanzees playing the other characters.
Twilight Theater opens with a "Masterpiece Theater" type host ( Leslie Nielsen in at least one of the episodes ) who introduces several filmed comedy skits which include:
# A New Wave high school where one of the students keeps getting girls pregnant.
# A short Pee Wee Herman episode where he finds a baby chimp, and Steve Martin is an Italian organ grinder who claims the chimp is his and takes it back. Steve later returns the chimp because it is not his monkey. His monkey is one of those wind up toys that clangs symbols together.
# A drunk falls asleep and dreams that he is having a party in his pants with miniature people.
# The world premiere for the Tom Tom Club music video Genius of Love
I can not remember anything about the second Twilight Theater episode other than none of the skits were funny and Steve Martin in some brief skit where he is in his dressing room. The first one had it's charm, and a few memorable funny skits. I do not think Steve Martin had anything to do with these shows other than guest starring. They were both basically filler episodes for SNL. Other memorable filler episodes included "Rutles: All You Need is Cash", "Bob & Ray, Jane, Laraine & Gilda" and "Things We Did Last Summer".
Jim-499 wished the show he thought was "Twilight Theater" was on DVD. Well good news. Just today all of Steve Martin's television specials were released in a DVD box set. ( not including the Twilight Theaters, but including the entire "Comedy is Not Pretty" )
But for those of you who saw both specials and years later your memories have mushed them together, her is a brief description of both. Comedy is Not Pretty opened with a prologue where the script for Steve's new special is substituted with a deranged script by a hunchback and/or mad scientist. It has the following skits: # The aforementioned steamroller PSA featuring Regis Philbin as the announcer
# Steve as a diver at the Olympics where he does a bunch of silly dives, and then pretends to drown to get better points from the judges.
# Steve outside a haunted house describing what it was like living there.
# A story on a mid-east country where everyone is a beggar, including the king who successfully begs for a piece of lint from the poorest man in the country.
# Steve as the worlds greatest lover giving tips that include throwing dog poop on the shoes of a girl you are breaking up with. Joyce Dewitt guest stars as his date.
# Steve as a scout master who gets his troop lost after only two seconds in the woods.
# Steve doing a 60 Minutes style story on Morley Safer, pointing out he is a Canadian and asking the question "If we had a war with Canada, who's side would he fight on?"
# A video for the song El Passo with Steve and chimpanzees playing the other characters.
Twilight Theater opens with a "Masterpiece Theater" type host ( Leslie Nielsen in at least one of the episodes ) who introduces several filmed comedy skits which include:
# A New Wave high school where one of the students keeps getting girls pregnant.
# A short Pee Wee Herman episode where he finds a baby chimp, and Steve Martin is an Italian organ grinder who claims the chimp is his and takes it back. Steve later returns the chimp because it is not his monkey. His monkey is one of those wind up toys that clangs symbols together.
# A drunk falls asleep and dreams that he is having a party in his pants with miniature people.
# The world premiere for the Tom Tom Club music video Genius of Love
I can not remember anything about the second Twilight Theater episode other than none of the skits were funny and Steve Martin in some brief skit where he is in his dressing room. The first one had it's charm, and a few memorable funny skits. I do not think Steve Martin had anything to do with these shows other than guest starring. They were both basically filler episodes for SNL. Other memorable filler episodes included "Rutles: All You Need is Cash", "Bob & Ray, Jane, Laraine & Gilda" and "Things We Did Last Summer".
Jim-499 wished the show he thought was "Twilight Theater" was on DVD. Well good news. Just today all of Steve Martin's television specials were released in a DVD box set. ( not including the Twilight Theaters, but including the entire "Comedy is Not Pretty" )