Rifftrax - Setting Up a Room

 It's finally here. I don't know how, but the folks at Rifftrax have somehow made "Setting Up a Room" available for free on youtube. Isn't that a major rights issue with the Hollywood production companies? Well, I don't care how they did it, the point is they did it.

Give in to the block-putting-away...

Mr. T in Pass the Courvoisier Part II (2002)

 Mr. T appears in the music video for Busta Rhymes' "Pass the Courvoiser Part II." Earlier, I mentioned that Emmanuel Lewis appeared in a Lil John video in 2002. Perhaps this was a mini-trend in the early 2000s - rappers featuring 80s TV stars in their music videos. These are the only two I know of so far, though.

So, yeah, Mr. T is in this music video and it's the standard disposable pop trash that's only popular for a few weeks. I wouldn't even be mentioning this except for one thing...

 As you can see, Mr. T is wearing a giant gold plate. When I saw him wearing this in "Suddenly Susan" I blamed the writers but this appearance shows that I was wrong, this is his "look" in this era. My apologies to the writers of "Suddenly Susan". This is not a good fashion choice.

Mr. T in Not Another Teen Movie (2001)

 

"Not Another Teen Movie" is an over-the-top parody movie of the Teen movies of the 80s and 90s. It's extreme, it's stupid and it's offensive - and I mean that in the best way possible. I am a sucker for these spoof movies, granted, but I put this in the "best of the best" category within the genre.

Why is this not considered a classic? My best guess is: it may have gotten lost in the shuffle. It would be around this time or a little later that all the horrible "Scary Movie" cash grabs would start up and I suppose this might have been lumped into the same category and forgotten.

Regarding Mr. T, this is a strange role for the T man. Or actually, it's a standard role but within a strange genre for him. Raunchy sex movies are not Mr. T's style but yet here he is. When he did "D.C. Cab" he was almost apologetic about its R rating and how it didn't agree with his values. With "D.C. Cab" you could make the case that he was just starting out and desperate for roles. But that isn't the case here.

As in "Spy Hard," it's a very small role - Mr. T plays the Wise Janitor Here to Impart Knowledge. And he also is dressed as a rather random homage to "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

Mr. T coaches Captain America

The joke that stood out to me most, watching it this time around, is the football coach. That actor commits to the bit. He acts with the fire of a thousand suns. The other joke - that got me this time but always gets me - is "Do it for Marty's torso!" Classic. The "cheertator" speech is great too. I could go on and on.

Who Is Satoshi Nakamoto?

 A three-part, 1.5 hour long series about trying to piece together who Satoshi Nakamoto (the inventor of Bitcoin) really is. If you don't care about the mystery, skip it. If you have any interest, I found this fascinating.

Late Night - Dave Goes to Dunkin' Donuts

 

I love the utter derision in "Uh, not really a donut, is it, sir?"

Mr. T on Malcolm and Eddie (1999)

 

I'm watching all these old sitcoms and having a bit of an existential crisis. I go in thinking, "This is going to be mediocre" and am constantly (pleasantly) surprised. Case in point: "Malcolm & Eddie" - this is considered to be scraping the bottom of the barrel of television entertainment, and yet I basically enjoyed it. I'm trying to explain why this is the case. Perhaps it's just nostalgia, maybe it's just going in with such low expectations, perhaps TV has degraded so much over the years that "bad" sitcoms then would be "good" today. It may be that the saving grace is that I'm only watching one episode and can't get too sick of it in that time.

Whatever the case, "Malcolm & Eddie" starred Eddie Griffin and Malcolm Jamal-Warner as two average guys who own a restaurant in Kansas City while also sharing an apartment.

In this episode, a star for the Kansas City Chiefs visits the bar and when Eddie accidentally injures him, Malcolm and Eddie become the #1 enemy of the entire city's fanbase. It's not a bad storyline. And, bonus: the football star is played by Reginald Ballard who you might remember as Brother Man.

In the episode, Mr. T plays a Chiefs superfan:

His Chiefs face-paint faintly recalls his world-famous role in "Goldy 3." 

Mr. T's character is just the standard Mr. T persona done for comedy. You probably know how it goes... For instance he wants the fans to cheer on the team but the fans aren't into it, Mr. T adopts a threatening tone and the entire section immediately stands to their feet, cheering with great enthusiasm. That kind of stuff.

Later, Mr. T unluckily shows up at the same restaurant as Malcolm and Eddie with his girlfriend/wife:

Ouch. That's hot.