Amazon.com

Comedian Chris Rock spent several seasons on Saturday Night Live, and this compilation tape of his best moments showcases his considerable talents while unintentionally highlighting how uneven the show itself is.Even in a video selected to showcase Rock alone, he is all too often mired as the second or third banana in an SNL skit.But there are, thankfully, plenty of opportunities in this video for Rock to shine without being upstaged by other performers or left adrift by limp writing.When he appears behind the "Weekend Update" desk to deliver an editorial commentary or a news report, Rock put his considerable skills as a comedian to perfect use.And in the skits where the focus is on him, he proves himself to be adept at characterizations, such as when he dons a colossal Afro wig to become radical talk show host Nat X, host of "The Dark Side."One peculiar surprise about the video: some of the language in "Def Jam" parodies that was bleeped out for the broadcast of SNL is here presented uncensored, so while this is Chris Rock delivering perhaps his cleanest material, a few choice words are nonetheless delivered loud and clear.--Robert J. McNamara ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Could've Been Better
As one of "Saturday Night Live's"most famous comedians, Chris Rock created a long line of classic characters and impressions in his 3 years on the show. But many of them are missing. A few recurring sketches are here, but they are from when he hosted the show.

A lot of this dvd's best sketches have Rock as a second and even third banana. For instnace, in the "Sinatra Group" sketch (this one's my favorite), his role as 2 Live Crew star is sadly limited, as Phil Hartman shines as Frank Sinatra (though to be fair, Sinatra is supposed to be the main focus). The other Luther Campbell sketch is funny, with Phil Hartman, Mike Myers and Jan Hooks, Dana Carvey and that "Twi Peaks" guy throwing song ideas at him left and right, much to his dismay. Another thing is that even when Rock is the main focus, another character outshines him. For instance, in "The Bensonhurts Dating Game", Rock's the main focus, but Joe Pesci gets the best lines. A sad waste of talent.

The extras are better. There's another one of his hiarious "Weekend Update" commentaries, plus a better "Nat X" sketch that is from 1990, back when the show was in its prime. This is proabably the least enjoyable "SNL" dvd ever. Chris Rock is another player who deserves a volume 2.

Good, But My Least Favorite "SNL" DVD
Chris Rock was one of the freshest, rawest comedians in "Saturday Night Live" history. Skits like "The Dark Side With Nat X", "2 Live Crew", "The Proud Pattersons" and his monologues showcase his unique flair for "urban humor". This dvd tries its best to include Rock's best moments, but unfortuneately, it caught in the muck and myer along the way.

There are about one or two things wrong with this dvd that do not make it live up to the superior retrospectives put together for Dana Carvey, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers, and Adam Sandler. First up, skits like "I'm Chillin'" and "Big Toe Song" are rather pointless (the latter disgusting) and forgettable. Second, some of the best skits feature Rock as a second banana rather than the main focus. These happen to include my two favorite sketches, "The Bensonhurst Dating Game" and "The Sinatra Group". In the former, he is bested by host Joe Pesci and fellow "SNL" heavyweights Adam Sandler and Dana Carvey. In the latter, he plays Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew in a debate group led by Frank Sinatra, played by the superb Phil Hartman.

Overall, not too bad a dvd, but it could've been so much more.

"You Don't Think There's a @#$&$! Rabbit In This Hat?!"
Woohoo! This is too funny! I have allways loved SNL, but this is in the tie of the third funniest SNL videos(and there's a bunch of SNL videos!). There are many memorable lines like "You bickering, name calling caller item putting awayer." or "Bite me, bite me hard. Lick my blood."(that wasn't said by Chris but it's funny. OR one of the funniest of the Chris Rock sayings "You don't think there's a @#$&$! rabbit in this hat?! See there is a @#$&$! rabbit in this hat!". Also "My turkey needs no salt!" and the hilarious stand up from the comedian himself! The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because sometimes it gets too gross when it doesn't have to be.

SNL (...)
This collection is an insult to Chris Rock. SNL has succeeded in even making the greatest comedian of our time look bad. Rent this first to see how bad it is before you waste your money as well as your time. Get his concert and HBO shows. This is what happens when you put a comedian from the wild in a SNL cage.... he dies. Thank God he was able to be reborn on HBO. It's just not funny. Sorry.

Not too bad
This is a pretty funny DVD full of some of Chris Rock's best skits on SNL. But, beware, some of the recurring skits aren't featured at their best on this disc. The Nat X skit was the one from when he hosted the show, and definitely not as good as the ones when he was a cast member. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Biased Account
I agree with the other reviews in that this is a hilarious movie with a great cast. Stanley Tucci, David Strathairn, and Rene Aubergenois are surperb and you can truly see their potential for greatness in this film. I am married to Rob Vanderberry ("Coffee's on the house") and love to give him props for his one and only film credit.

ring ring "Hello? Atlas Van Lines...?"
"Come get me outta this town!!!"

If you liked the quirky "A Fish Called Wanda", you'll love this! I, too taped this several years ago when it was a PBS "American Playhouse" feature film but, alas, my poor UHF reception gave me a marginal copy. Nuts!

If I were to buy one film for $89, this would be it. I had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard, now I have tears in my eyes over the price...

This was Stanley Tucci's beginnings (the way "Mystic Pizza" was for Julia Roberts), and he showed all the promise that led him to a good directing career as well.

This was a great "small" film that should've been seen by all movie goers but wasn't, for too many reasons to list here.

Buy it, steal it, get it, see it!!! Then go to church this Sunday and beg forgiveness... ;-)

Even us sinners deserve the great belly laughs this film has to offer - "all 10 thumbs up"!

Oh yes - call your local PBS station and BEG them to play it again. And buy yourself a good antenna.

Religion meets Reality
My God! (should I say that?) This is as funny as funny gets! Makes you want to detail your "house" move, as you'll never know just who you are moving into next door...

It's an easy 5 stars, I taped it several years ago when it was played on PBS... You say they want *what* for it? I think I feel sick...

Regardless, if you can afford it, buy it. And stay away from small towns. Expect to laugh until that hernia of yours pops the best patch that medicine has to offer...

Seriously. It's a small film, not well known, yet is genius in every way. Send this as a gift to your best friend. Or worst. Just send it... ... Read more

Reviews (3)

PUT IT ON DVD!
He's certainly deserving of a dvd for his best material...

A good tribute that could have been just a little better.
My thoughts on the 'Best of Tim Meadows' are a bit mixed. First of all, it's great to see that this best of set was made. Meadows was a cast member of SNL at least as long as anyone since the show's inception (perhaps the longest). He is very deserving of this recognition. During that time he played all kinds of characters, from tough to sensitive, from goofy to dead serious. He also had a very wide range. Therein lies a big flaw with this tape. While it contains many skits that are very funny in general, it also leaves out many that showed Meadow's true talent.

The funnier skits are great. One particularly good one is 'Perspectives,' a very early Sunday morning talk show hosted by Lionel Osborne, a clueless, aloof talk show host who thinks everything is fantastic. There are two Perspectives skits that are quite funny. One of them is an out-take with Chris Rock as the guest as a member of the Million Man March. It's quite humorous to see them both start to loose it laughing due to the content of the material. There are also several skits of Meadows doing O.J., where he accentuated O.J.'s guilt in all instances. Some other great clips include him doing Sammy Davis Jr., Ike Turner on Weekend Update, and of course some Ladies Man skits.

The downside of this tape is that it does leave out some great characters that Meadows has played, while including some that could have been left out. For instance, there is Jingleheimer Joe, a skit where he is a census taker, and others that are quite funny, but don't showcase Tim's true talent. The fact that there are no skits of him doing Oprah is a travesty. He did Oprah better than Oprah did Oprah, yet there is only a two second glimpse of this in the closing credits. One would think that perhaps one of these could have made it on to the tape in lieu of three Ladies Man skits. Other great characters he's done that didn't make it on include Bernard Shaw of CNN, Michael Jackson, and Don King, just to name a few. There's also another skit with 'Captain Jim and Pedro,' played by Meadows and Adam Sandler. While this is a very funny skit, it is Adam Sandler who clearly steals it, while Tim's character is sort of just along for the ride. That said, I would recommend this tape to any and all SNL fans, particularly anyone who has had any appreciation for Tim's work over the years.

Tim Meadows Rules
I saw this on TV and I could not stop laughing. One of the funniest things he did was the Ladies Man and the Weather man. This video is a must buy for any SNL Fan. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

this is the best fukin SNL movie ever
this is one hilarious gut busting comedy with all of chris farleys greatest SNL moments. GET THIS DVD

Mostly great for boring times
I saw this at a friends house. It's pretty funny, but some is not. ... Read more