Many sketch comedy shows have come and gone. Some of the best, like the “Carol Burnett Show” we wish would come back. Then there are the ones that started off promisingly enough and have somehow endured slow agonizing deaths that never end. You know, the ones that were funny the first couple of seasons and have somehow kept going and going. I’m thinking “Saturday Night Live” and to a lesser degree, “Mad TV.” Then there are the ones that lasted just about as long as they should have, going out before the humor left. In particular I’m talking about “In Living Color.” Running only five seasons, “In Living Color” is probably one of the most irreverent sketch comedy shows I can think of. Originally the brainchild of Keenan Ivory Wayans, the show premiered in 1990 and immediately shocked, ticked off, and upset a good portion of American audiences. In other words… my kind of TV show. I can’t honestly say the show hit a home run with every single sketch or character.

But on a weekly basis, it spat in the face of those who suffered from Political Correctness Syndrome. (I of course refer to these unfortunates as Intelligence Deprived.)

What really made the show a success stemmed not so much from the sketches themselves, but more so from the amazingly talented cast the series brought together. Most of them were just starting out, but went on to achieve successes in their own right. Tommy Davidson, David Alan Grier and Damon Wayans have done especially well, but it was a little know comic by the name of Jim Carrey that really caught my attention.

The first time I ever heard Jim Carrey’s name was over twenty plus years ago when I happened to catch an episode of Entertainment Tonight. They ran a short, five minute piece on this up-and-coming comic. I think I may even still have it on tape. In those five minutes, Carrey completely blew me away with his rubber faced antics. At the time the piece ran he was still only doing stand-up, but I remembered his name when he later popped up on the short-lived series, “The Duck Factory” and the film “Once Bitten.” Neither did much to get Carrey the attention he deserved, but each year he would pop up in a movie or two until “In Living Color” finally helped launch the amazing career he enjoys today. Though he created many memorable characters on the series, probably the most loved and hated of them all, was Fire Marshall Bill.

Of course there was Jamie Foxx, who if you were to watch him in any of the sketches would have found it difficult to imagine him becoming an Academy Award winning actor just a few years later. There was no doubting his comic talent, but to think he could ever pull off any strong dramatic roles was beyond me.

There are even some who might be thrilled to get a glimpse of the then unknown Jennifer Lopez as one of the gyrating ‘Fly Girls that filled time in between the sketches. Personally, I can take or leave her.

I was glad to see that the series was finally hitting the DVD market thanks to the folks at Fox, who released the 13-episode 1st season set back in late 2004 and has followed up with all of the remaining seasons. This month marks the release of the 5th and final season. There are a whopping 26 episodes spread out over a 3-disc set. Fox opted to go with the super slim DVD cases again (a move they are doing more and more), which store really well in the keepcase. Each holder has its own cover complete with listings of the sketches in each episode.

Previous sets included several extra features in the form of sketch specific commentaries and featurettes, but this time around there are none to be found. I always found it interesting that there was never any input from the show’s creator, Keenan Ivory Wayans. I understand there was some feuding between Wayans and the studio in later seasons over the show’s scheduling, so that might explain his absence. Still, in spite of this lack of features, it’s still a fairly good package for the series and sends the show off with a bang.

Starring: Kim Coles, Tommy Davidson, Kelly Coffield, Jamie Foxx, David Alan Grier, Jim Carrey
Extras: None
Specifications: Full Screen, English Stereo
Studio: Fox
Release Date: 4/11/2006
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give In Living Color: Season 5 a B.