This is a pretty good College Humor short that shows how crappy and depressing all the Very Special Episodes of sitcoms were in the ’80s and ’90s. I agree with the premise: why did that happen? All I wanted was a little sass from the Fresh Prince; why did he have to get re-abandoned by his father?

The only thing I can nitpick about this is the “Saved by the Bell” episode where Jesse Spano gets hooked on caffeine pills. Elizabeth Berkley’s delivery of “I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so… scared” is one of the funniest moments in television history. It’s like looking at a window into the future: for the briefest moment, you can see the true acting chops of the woman who would go on to star in Showgirls. If you squint really hard while you watch that clip, you can almost see her flailing around in a pool with Kyle MacLachlan.

There are many things to love about “Saved by the Bell” in the way it captured the unique crappiness of the early ’90s. Zack Morris’s gigantic cell phone. The brightly colored clothes. Kelly Kapowski’s power bangs. The way Dustin Diamond’s Screech made Steve Urkel look like a carefully crafted Shakespearean character. But there’s little argument that the episode where Jesse gets hooked on caffeine pills is the apex of the series. Her rendition of “I’m So Excited” as she melts down in front of Zack is a flash of the dramatic genius that would later make Showgirls a timeless classic (and make me believe that the female orgasm involved flopping around in a pool like a dolphin caught in a tuna net).

Anyway, that brings us to the video above. It could be edited down a bit more, but it’s still a worthy tribute to this bastion of the mindless entertainment gruel that we all so loved back then. Man, the ’90s. What a crazy time. It was actually okay to have frizzy hair.

(via the duty)

Dennis Haskins, whom we all remember as Mr. Belding on “Saved by the Bell” (probably because he still calls himself Mr. Belding), is releasing an album of him singing karaoke songs.

This CD/DVD combo package contains an audio CD with 7 karaoke songs [see track list below]. The purchaser can choose to sing along with Dennis,

Lucky us.

or sing solo to the additional instrumental tracks. The CD can be placed into a CD-G karaoke machine and lyrics will appear on the screen. The DVD contains interviews with artist and producer Dennis Haskins and behind the scenes footage of recording the project.

You know what?  I was all set to tear him to shreds for this, because it’s pretty pitiful to make a career out of clinging to your place in pop culture history — c’mon, at least re-invent yourself on “Celebrity Rehab” — but then I stopped myself.  Why?  Because this still isn’t as embarrassing as Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls.

Read the rest of this entry »