"It was like getting slapped in the face with a giant wang." SLYT
October 17, 2014 10:48 AM Subscribe
Mango is back. Aging SNL character gets called up for a video. Warning: assorted stereotypes.
Jim Breuer ragging on Chris Kattan for being annoying is ironic, given that he was Goat Boy, easily the worst and most annoying SNL character of all time. (Mango might be second, though.)
posted by jbickers at 11:19 AM on October 17, 2014 [9 favorites]
posted by jbickers at 11:19 AM on October 17, 2014 [9 favorites]
I was doing fine, until I was reminded that Mango was a thing that happened.
posted by ckape at 11:32 AM on October 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by ckape at 11:32 AM on October 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Because confession is good for the soul - I always got Mango confused with Mr. Peepers.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:34 AM on October 17, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:34 AM on October 17, 2014 [7 favorites]
I'm only in my late twenties, but this makes me feel the need to explain to kids that this is from a different time.
posted by Think_Long at 11:37 AM on October 17, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by Think_Long at 11:37 AM on October 17, 2014 [6 favorites]
I urge anyone who thinks the current incarnation of SNL is the "Worst. Era. Ever." to please go back and watch some clips from a time when Mango or Mr. Peepers or Goatboy or Leon Phelps: Ladies Man were popular recurring characters. Then hang your head in shame.
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:38 AM on October 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:38 AM on October 17, 2014 [4 favorites]
Never really minded Mango or Kattan, although I didn't bother watching SNL much following the mass cast exodus/firings in '95.
But man, that Jim Breuer anecdote was douche chill-tastic. Considering that his two claims to fame are Goat Boy and being the guy who wasn't Dave Chappelle in Half Baked, you'd think he'd be a bit more cautious about burning professional bridges.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:40 AM on October 17, 2014
But man, that Jim Breuer anecdote was douche chill-tastic. Considering that his two claims to fame are Goat Boy and being the guy who wasn't Dave Chappelle in Half Baked, you'd think he'd be a bit more cautious about burning professional bridges.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:40 AM on October 17, 2014
Also, I think it's time to remind people that this exists - a full-length screenplay treatment for the Mr. Peepers movie. The closing scene:
Still entranced by the rivulets, Peepers walks forward in to the lake. Only he does not submerge.
Peepers is walking on the water.
He reaches the middle of the lake before realizing what he’s doing. He looks around in mute surprise. He lays down on the surface of the lake and begins to hump it with deliberate thrusts. He is having sex with the entire Earth.
FADE OUT.
FIN.
posted by Think_Long at 11:47 AM on October 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Still entranced by the rivulets, Peepers walks forward in to the lake. Only he does not submerge.
Peepers is walking on the water.
He reaches the middle of the lake before realizing what he’s doing. He looks around in mute surprise. He lays down on the surface of the lake and begins to hump it with deliberate thrusts. He is having sex with the entire Earth.
FADE OUT.
FIN.
posted by Think_Long at 11:47 AM on October 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
SNL talent is a funny thing. Someone long ago stated that there are two SNL performers. Those who frequently and fondly mention the writing (and production) staff every chance they get, and those who only speak of themselves and the guest stars.
posted by chainlinkspiral at 11:48 AM on October 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by chainlinkspiral at 11:48 AM on October 17, 2014 [3 favorites]
Considering that his two claims to fame are Goat Boy and being the guy who wasn't Dave Chappelle in Half Baked, you'd think he'd be a bit more cautious about burning professional bridges.
He was perfectly good in Half Baked, so was Harland Williams and Guillermo Diaz. What I've seen of his standup wasn't bad either.
I've never much cared for Kattan but the "professional bridge" between these two is nothing I'd worry too much about.
posted by Hoopo at 11:51 AM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
He was perfectly good in Half Baked, so was Harland Williams and Guillermo Diaz. What I've seen of his standup wasn't bad either.
I've never much cared for Kattan but the "professional bridge" between these two is nothing I'd worry too much about.
posted by Hoopo at 11:51 AM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
To refresh my memory, I just looked up which cast members left/got canned in 1995. From Wikipedia:
"By 1995, Carvey and Hartman had left, taking with them a virtual army of characters, Myers quit for his movie career, and increasing network pressure forced Michaels to fire Sandler and Farley."
Those are definitely some heavy hitters they lost, and knowing that both Hartman and Farley were dead just a couple of years later makes it even worse.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:57 AM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
"By 1995, Carvey and Hartman had left, taking with them a virtual army of characters, Myers quit for his movie career, and increasing network pressure forced Michaels to fire Sandler and Farley."
Those are definitely some heavy hitters they lost, and knowing that both Hartman and Farley were dead just a couple of years later makes it even worse.
posted by Strange Interlude at 11:57 AM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
Man, now all I want to do is binge 30 Rock this weekend. Thanks Metafilter.
posted by chainlinkspiral at 11:57 AM on October 17, 2014
posted by chainlinkspiral at 11:57 AM on October 17, 2014
I liked Goat Boy.
Trying to process that.
Hrm.
Maybe you're thinking of Bill Hicks's Goat Boy?
No. That one was awful, too.
Hrm.
Maybe you're just thinking of goats? That must be it.
I like goats, too!
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:00 PM on October 17, 2014 [7 favorites]
Trying to process that.
Hrm.
Maybe you're thinking of Bill Hicks's Goat Boy?
No. That one was awful, too.
Hrm.
Maybe you're just thinking of goats? That must be it.
I like goats, too!
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:00 PM on October 17, 2014 [7 favorites]
Nope. I enjoyed Jim Bruer's Goat Boy character.
Granted, those were the years I always watched SNL high, so make of that what you will.
I also enjoy goats. And goat meat.
posted by bondcliff at 12:02 PM on October 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Granted, those were the years I always watched SNL high, so make of that what you will.
I also enjoy goats. And goat meat.
posted by bondcliff at 12:02 PM on October 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Based on my ethnographic research, Jim Breuer would not have a career if it weren't for the support of collegiate stoners.
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:14 PM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Strange Interlude at 12:14 PM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
I have a friend who doesn't watch SNL, but whom I can make laugh by bleating like a goat. In fact, its the only the I do that makes him laugh. There is a market for goat related projects, including goat boy. c.f.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:32 PM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:32 PM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
I really enjoyed Kattan in Bollywood Hero a few years ago.
posted by stevil at 12:36 PM on October 17, 2014
posted by stevil at 12:36 PM on October 17, 2014
I also enjoy goats. And goat meat.
"Our bodies sluggish... with goat meat."
posted by a lungful of dragon at 12:50 PM on October 17, 2014 [8 favorites]
"Our bodies sluggish... with goat meat."
posted by a lungful of dragon at 12:50 PM on October 17, 2014 [8 favorites]
From what I've heard in podcast interviews with Jim Breuer, he knows that he's a limited performer, coming from standup instead of sketch, and knows he had a lot of one-note dumb obnoxious recurring characters, but doesn't really think they were any more dumb, obnoxious or one-note than anyone else's recurring characters at the time. Thinking back to Mr. Peepers, Mango, the Night at the Roxbury guys, The Cheerleaders, and Mary Catherine Gallagher, I tend to agree.
In this era immediately post-Wayne's World, it sounds like Lorne was pushing harder on recurring characters, so that stuff that would've happened 2 or 3 times a season in the past was now expected to show up every 2 or 3 weeks. I don't think any of the shows or characters benefited from this expectation.
According to Breuer, Adam McKay hated him, would frequently try to torpedo his scripts, and once he became head writer it was pretty much over for Jim. I guess McKay thought all of Jim's stuff was dumb bro humor, which I don't think is wrong, but I would call uncharitable, considering his frequent collaborator Will Ferrell is hardly cerebral, subtle or mature (IMHO).
I was a budding comedy snob when the cast changeover happened, but I was still a cheeky middleschooler with nothing to do on a Saturday night so I was at prime SNL-watching age. The only recurring sketches I remember fondly are Goth Talk, Delicious Dish, and Ladies Man, which all followed a repeating formula.
posted by elr at 1:20 PM on October 17, 2014 [6 favorites]
In this era immediately post-Wayne's World, it sounds like Lorne was pushing harder on recurring characters, so that stuff that would've happened 2 or 3 times a season in the past was now expected to show up every 2 or 3 weeks. I don't think any of the shows or characters benefited from this expectation.
According to Breuer, Adam McKay hated him, would frequently try to torpedo his scripts, and once he became head writer it was pretty much over for Jim. I guess McKay thought all of Jim's stuff was dumb bro humor, which I don't think is wrong, but I would call uncharitable, considering his frequent collaborator Will Ferrell is hardly cerebral, subtle or mature (IMHO).
I was a budding comedy snob when the cast changeover happened, but I was still a cheeky middleschooler with nothing to do on a Saturday night so I was at prime SNL-watching age. The only recurring sketches I remember fondly are Goth Talk, Delicious Dish, and Ladies Man, which all followed a repeating formula.
posted by elr at 1:20 PM on October 17, 2014 [6 favorites]
For a decade or more, a country shivered in it's collective nightmare, it's Kattan-free existence likened to nothing so much as the parable of expusion from His eternal banquet, their ears savoring not droll quips and impressions, as had once been their leisure, but now only the anguished gnashing of their own teeth. How had they taken it for granted so? An entire people unable to see the miracle in front of their own eyes!
The morsel they were given might not have been much, but it would serve to provide them with faith again. Their senses of joy restored, if only for an instant, the nation could finally begin to heal.
posted by Navelgazer at 1:42 PM on October 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
The morsel they were given might not have been much, but it would serve to provide them with faith again. Their senses of joy restored, if only for an instant, the nation could finally begin to heal.
posted by Navelgazer at 1:42 PM on October 17, 2014 [2 favorites]
Still entranced by the rivulets, Peepers walks forward in to the lake. Only he does not submerge.
Peepers is walking on the water.
He reaches the middle of the lake before realizing what he’s doing. He looks around in mute surprise. He lays down on the surface of the lake and begins to hump it with deliberate thrusts. He is having sex with the entire Earth.
FADE OUT.
FIN.
Is-- is that a reference to the end of Being There?
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:51 PM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
Peepers is walking on the water.
He reaches the middle of the lake before realizing what he’s doing. He looks around in mute surprise. He lays down on the surface of the lake and begins to hump it with deliberate thrusts. He is having sex with the entire Earth.
FADE OUT.
FIN.
Is-- is that a reference to the end of Being There?
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:51 PM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
Is-- is that a reference to the end of Being There?
posted by ckape at 1:59 PM on October 17, 2014
Peepers, a canticle is an unproduced screenplay for a rough adaptation of Being There, starring the SNL character Mr. Peepers.Yes.
posted by ckape at 1:59 PM on October 17, 2014
Oy.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:01 PM on October 17, 2014
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:01 PM on October 17, 2014
You know what you really need? This, but from Kattan's POV (download app here)
posted by zippy at 2:51 PM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by zippy at 2:51 PM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
I miss rivers. And vans. And being down by them.
I miss them terribly.
posted by Fizz at 3:22 PM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
I miss them terribly.
posted by Fizz at 3:22 PM on October 17, 2014 [1 favorite]
God, Goat Boy sucked.
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 5:19 PM on October 17, 2014
posted by Ray Walston, Luck Dragon at 5:19 PM on October 17, 2014
I liked Kattan's movie Corky Romano, it had me in hysterics. I have truly terrible taste in movies. That said, even I found Mango annoying.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 5:44 PM on October 17, 2014
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 5:44 PM on October 17, 2014
From what I've heard in podcast interviews with Jim Breuer, he knows that he's a limited performer
IIRC, Breuer claimed on his WTF interview that he basically got cast on SNL as a power play by NBC, and he credits his career to the pissing match between Lorne Michaels and the network that was going on at the time.
The preceding 94-95 SNL season, a total of eleven cast members (and Al Franken) quit or got fired, and the show almost got canceled. So when it came time to recast NBC decided to step in and take the reins, and push for younger-appealing guys like Breuer. Breuer mentioned that he had auditioned and not made the cut, and insinuated that the network made Michaels re-audition and hire him to show they, not Michaels, had the final say on who and who did not get on his show.
posted by joechip at 7:17 PM on October 17, 2014
IIRC, Breuer claimed on his WTF interview that he basically got cast on SNL as a power play by NBC, and he credits his career to the pissing match between Lorne Michaels and the network that was going on at the time.
The preceding 94-95 SNL season, a total of eleven cast members (and Al Franken) quit or got fired, and the show almost got canceled. So when it came time to recast NBC decided to step in and take the reins, and push for younger-appealing guys like Breuer. Breuer mentioned that he had auditioned and not made the cut, and insinuated that the network made Michaels re-audition and hire him to show they, not Michaels, had the final say on who and who did not get on his show.
posted by joechip at 7:17 PM on October 17, 2014
Ye Gods, Kattan is not ready for his close up, Mr. DeMille.
Didn't anyone warn Mango about the ravages of meth?
posted by dgaicun at 8:34 PM on October 17, 2014
Didn't anyone warn Mango about the ravages of meth?
posted by dgaicun at 8:34 PM on October 17, 2014
Sean Avery!!! NHL Hockey enforcer, fashion devotee, and now Mango Assistant? Jeez - what a life!
posted by helmutdog at 10:32 PM on October 17, 2014
posted by helmutdog at 10:32 PM on October 17, 2014
Waaaiiit...are you saying that people actually *watched* SNL from when, say, Eddie Murphy left, to about 2012?
Did I miss anything, really?!
posted by markkraft at 3:06 AM on October 18, 2014
Did I miss anything, really?!
posted by markkraft at 3:06 AM on October 18, 2014
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See: Jim Bruer's Kattan takedown.
Life is too damn short.
posted by chainlinkspiral at 11:00 AM on October 17, 2014 [7 favorites]