Last year, I reviewed a collection of INXS videos and noticed that when viewed one after another, certain recurring visual gimmicks became far more noticeable than they had over the years of their original release. I mention this because I was struck by the same sense of d¿j¿ vu while watching the latest compilation of Saturday Night Live sketches to spotlight a cast member, in this case, The Best of Cheri Oteri.
As a cast member from 1995-2000, Oteri was a sprightly comedienne who frequently paired up with Will Ferrell for sketches - least notably the awful cheerleader sketches that provoked a mad punching of the fast-forward button at the instant of their too-frequent appearances - and specialized in some decidedly oddball characters who at best we're decently drawn, but at worst were grating one-dimensional annoyances. Like the INXS compilation, as I watched, I realized just how unvaried many of her characters were as they shared too many shrill and histrionic traits - at least in the sketches showcased here.
Unfortunately, The Best of Cheri Oteri opens with a one-two groin-kicking combo of a Cheerleaders sketch (at a swim meet) and a bit with her playing an abusive burger joint cashier who keeps ordering the customers to "Simma down now! Simma down!" When a character is exclusively constructed of a single repeated catch phrase, it's enough to make you want to call the dentist for some soothing oral surgery.
Things pick up a bit with Sparks, a recurring sketch with her and Chris Kattan as a couple who are constantly devolving into raunchy sexual behavior and when called on it, accuse the complainants with having dirty minds. Guest host Sarah Michelle Gellar gets into the spirit of things nicely. Also quite raunchy is Office Flirt in which a tube-topped, big-haired Oteri disgusts the people who are trying to eat in the break room with her single-entendre comments.
Her mimicry skills are showcased in a montage of her appearances as Barbara Walters and on a Judge Judy spoof which features an appearance from the real Judge Judy. While those are amusing, her good Debbie Reynolds impression is trapped in a terrible sketch called Leg Up with Molly Shannon as fellow hoofer Ann Miller. Other impressions sampled include Mariah Carey, Ross Perot(!), Jennifer Lopez, Kathie Lee Gifford and New York public access cable p*rn host Robyn Byrd.
Where The Best of Cheri Oteri runs into rough sailing is in the overabundance of sketches that feature her in breathy, hysterical shouting. In the context of an episode where she may only do only one of these bits a week, it's not a problem, but when a poorly-chosen Morning Latte sketch - spoofing airhead morning show hosts - is close to a tag-team of skits of her as a shrill prom date and then a spastic kid visiting a airliner co*ckpit, the teeth stay on edge a lot.
It's not all dreadful, though. Her turns as the cross-medicating train wreck Collette Reardon and Rita DelVecchio, the woman who yells at the neighborhood kids and keeps anything that lands on her porch, fall on the less-annoying end of the scale, though a better sketch with the latter that featured former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani would've been a better choice.
Cheri Oteri was an enjoyable member of the late-Nineties SNL cast, but the choice of sketches for The Best of Cheri Oteri don't do a very good job of properly showcasing her talents.
Sketches:Cheerleaders 1, Simma Down, Sparks, Barbara Walters Montage, Pharmacy, Morning Latte, Rita, Office Flirt, Judge Judy, Character Montage, Cheerleaders 2, Joy Lipton, Always & Forever, Friendly Skies, Leg Up, Credits (Cheerleader Montage).
Score: 4 out of 10
The Video
Not much can be said about the full-screen transfer except that it does a passable job representing the original broadcast quality. Since none of the material is more than a decade old, it doesn't suffer the soft, weak image quality that compilations featuring older shows have exhibited. Colors are generally strong and vivid with minimal smearing. Some aliasing and compression artifacts were noted, but overall the picture quality was OK.
Score: 6 out of 10
Languages and Audio
Audio comes in English Dolby 2.0 without subtitles and doesn't do much because it doesn't have much to do beyond deliver the audio clearly. Stereo activity is non-existent but irrelevant and no undue hiss or distortion was noted.
Score: 6 out of 10
Packaging and Extras
The disc comes in the standard keep case with the latches, but without an insert.
As with the recent SNL discs, there is a full-length commentary track with Oteri joined by Lyle Jackson, an associate producer during her tenure on the show. It's an OK track which basically covers how the characters were mostly brought over from her stint with The Groundlings, the improve troupe that has seen many alumni move on to Studio 8H. Oteri admits that it took a couple of tries to get the Simma Down sketch on the show and that the other writers audibly sighed when she repitched it.
The remaining extras lead off with the lame Photo Gallery montage that is still stinking up these SNL discs. Use that minute to do anything else. Or do nothing. (It'll still be a better use of time.)
Her Audition (8:10) has her performing three characters which also appear in the main program: Rita DelVecchio, Joy Lipton and the spazzy kid from Friendly Skies. It's remarkable to see how little the characters changed when put into the show (since they were probably old Groundlings bits), but Joy - a mousy introvert who offers advice on spicing up a marriage - is actually funnier here, though that's not exactly paying her a compliment.
The Dress Sketch (7:19) is a Morning Latte sketch that got cut after the 8 o'clock performance and for the life of me I can't understand why it was cut. Featuring Kelsey Grammer and Shaquille O'Neal, the idiotic hosts, while discussing summer movies, scold Steven Spielberg for making Saving Private Ryan and ask for another Goonies movie instead. It would've been one of the funnier pieces on this disc if it had made the team. (Lorne Michaels must've been paying attention to producing the Stuart Saves His Family movie instead of this sketch.)
TV Appearance - Conan (5:07) is from her 2000 appearance to plug Scary Movie. It's cute, but filler.
Score: 3 out of 10
