TMC
09-11-2005, 02:54 AM
About the subject of "All That" supposedly on the verge of getting cancelled, half of me doesn't want it to get cancelled. I along with a lot of you, grew up with the show. "All That" like its grown up counterpart "Saturday Night Live" and "All That"'s predecessor, "You Can't Do That On Television" have become sort of TV institutions. Why would Nickelodeon want to cancel "All That" now when their perfect chance was to do it after the sixth season (the last before the full cast change)!?
The other half of me kind of welcomes the idea of Nickelodeon shuting down "All That." The fact of the matter is that the "new" cast (i.e. Lisa Foiles, Chelsea Brummet, Jack DeSena, Kyle Sullivan, Shane Lyons, Giovonnie Samuels, etc.) will never, ever be accepted by many diehard fans, who grew up watching the likes of Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Josh Server, Amanda Bynes, Lori Beth Denberg, Danny Tamberelli, etc. I think Nickelodeon should give "All That" a break for at least five years bringing it back. "All That" just isn't the hip, innovative show (the product has become stale to put it in another way) that it was when it started ten years ago.
Personally, the real problem with the new "All That" isn't the actors themselves, it's the writing. The show has seemed to become too predictable, artificial (i.e. too much reliance on special-effects), repetitive, dumbed down, and crudely done. Instead of twisted, offbeat, and clever skits like Baggin', Saggin' Barry, the Loud Librarian, Leroy and Fuzz, Pierre Escargo, Earboy and Pizza Face, Super Dude, Ishboo, and Katrina Johnson's Ross Perot (just to name a few), we now have absolutely cliched, gross, and utterly stupid recurring sketchs like Sugar and Coffee, Connect the Zits, Coming at Ya!, Bucketman, Trashin' Fashion, Randy Quench (a lame reworking of Repairman), the Rougenecks, alien family restaurant, Jim Tasty, the LAMOS, the Tilt-a-Hurl, etc. A lot of the newer sketches seem like ripoffs of better executed sketches:
*Bridgett's Slumber Party=The Girls' Room from "The Amanda Show"
*The Zortogs=The Coneheads on "SNL"
*The Rougenecks=Whatever the name of that hillbilly sketch was on "The Amanda Show"
*Giovonnie Samuels as the eldery driving instructor=Lori Beth Denberg as the Loud Librarian
*Randy Quench=Repairman
*Claude Grimes=Ralph and Nigel Forrester
*Vocabulary With Lisa=Leroy and Fuzz in reverse (i.e. the puppet is the abuser in the latter sketch)
There have been some relatively good sketches on the new "All That" though like 2gether 4ever and the sketch were Buddy Hackett played a "long lost" "All That" cast member.
I think the new "All That" also made the mistake of not at least acknowledging certain past trademarks of the show. I mean, the musical guests (which at first were totally hip-hop and R & B acts) are no longer introduced with the tag "Lets give a 'round of a sound to..." Also, there's no "Big Ear of Corn" present and there's no announcer there to say prior to the TLC theme song "Fresh out of the box, stop look and watch..." Plus, once they finally brought back the Vital Information segment, they picked the wrong person to do it. Why does Lil' JJ have to always sound so hostile while delivering the vital information? Personally, "All That" should've gotten Lisa Foiles to do the Vital Information segment in the mode of her "Vocabulary With Lisa" character/skit.
The other half of me kind of welcomes the idea of Nickelodeon shuting down "All That." The fact of the matter is that the "new" cast (i.e. Lisa Foiles, Chelsea Brummet, Jack DeSena, Kyle Sullivan, Shane Lyons, Giovonnie Samuels, etc.) will never, ever be accepted by many diehard fans, who grew up watching the likes of Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Josh Server, Amanda Bynes, Lori Beth Denberg, Danny Tamberelli, etc. I think Nickelodeon should give "All That" a break for at least five years bringing it back. "All That" just isn't the hip, innovative show (the product has become stale to put it in another way) that it was when it started ten years ago.
Personally, the real problem with the new "All That" isn't the actors themselves, it's the writing. The show has seemed to become too predictable, artificial (i.e. too much reliance on special-effects), repetitive, dumbed down, and crudely done. Instead of twisted, offbeat, and clever skits like Baggin', Saggin' Barry, the Loud Librarian, Leroy and Fuzz, Pierre Escargo, Earboy and Pizza Face, Super Dude, Ishboo, and Katrina Johnson's Ross Perot (just to name a few), we now have absolutely cliched, gross, and utterly stupid recurring sketchs like Sugar and Coffee, Connect the Zits, Coming at Ya!, Bucketman, Trashin' Fashion, Randy Quench (a lame reworking of Repairman), the Rougenecks, alien family restaurant, Jim Tasty, the LAMOS, the Tilt-a-Hurl, etc. A lot of the newer sketches seem like ripoffs of better executed sketches:
*Bridgett's Slumber Party=The Girls' Room from "The Amanda Show"
*The Zortogs=The Coneheads on "SNL"
*The Rougenecks=Whatever the name of that hillbilly sketch was on "The Amanda Show"
*Giovonnie Samuels as the eldery driving instructor=Lori Beth Denberg as the Loud Librarian
*Randy Quench=Repairman
*Claude Grimes=Ralph and Nigel Forrester
*Vocabulary With Lisa=Leroy and Fuzz in reverse (i.e. the puppet is the abuser in the latter sketch)
There have been some relatively good sketches on the new "All That" though like 2gether 4ever and the sketch were Buddy Hackett played a "long lost" "All That" cast member.
I think the new "All That" also made the mistake of not at least acknowledging certain past trademarks of the show. I mean, the musical guests (which at first were totally hip-hop and R & B acts) are no longer introduced with the tag "Lets give a 'round of a sound to..." Also, there's no "Big Ear of Corn" present and there's no announcer there to say prior to the TLC theme song "Fresh out of the box, stop look and watch..." Plus, once they finally brought back the Vital Information segment, they picked the wrong person to do it. Why does Lil' JJ have to always sound so hostile while delivering the vital information? Personally, "All That" should've gotten Lisa Foiles to do the Vital Information segment in the mode of her "Vocabulary With Lisa" character/skit.