Programmed to air between the host segments of
Saturday Night Live,
TV Funhouse parodied such genres as 1950s educational films,
Saturday morning Hanna-Barbera/
Ruby-Spears/
Filmation cartoons of the 1970s and 1980s, and the 1960s
stop motion holiday specials of
Rankin/Bass. Any episode of
TV Funhouse appearing on
Saturday Night Live would be listed by the announcer as "A cartoon by Robert Smigel." The animation was produced by
J.J. Sedelmaier Productions for its first three seasons until Wachtenheim/Marianetti Animation took over primary animation production duties.
Recurring SNL TV Funhouse skits •
Fun with Real Audio – This sketch presented animated scenes to found, real-life audio tracks. •
The All-New Adventures of Mr. T – A parody of the
Ruby-Spears animated series
Mister T. This cartoon depicts Mr. T (voiced by
Tracy Morgan) as desperate to find work after 10 years, aggressively auditioning for unlikely parts such as classical
theatre and
tampon commercials with help from Jeff Harris (voiced by
Andy Daly), Kim Nakamura (voiced by
Ana Gasteyer), Spike O'Neill (voiced by
Andrew Daly), and Bulldozer the Bulldog. Whenever he encounters obstacles such as directors telling him auditions are already over, he simply responds with the phrase "Ain't got time for jibber-jabber, I need work!" Mr. T also throws in different advice during his dialogue like "Drink your milk", "Stay in school", "Don't do drugs", and "Eat all your greens". After getting the employment, he would often mix up of all his advice to his companions when stating how one could get work as Bulldozer barks after that. •
The Ambiguously Gay Duo – A parody of the comic book
superhero duets. The vaguely
homosexual superheroes Ace and Gary (voiced by
Stephen Colbert and
Steve Carell respectively) fight crime in Metroville while their adversaries like Bighead (voiced by
Robert Smigel) and Dr. Brainio (voiced by
Stephen Colbert) try to figure out their true sexuality.
Bill Chott provides the narration for this cartoon. All the shorts were re-written from
The Dana Carvey Show. In the live-action version on the
SNL episode hosted by
Ed Helms,
Jon Hamm and
Jimmy Fallon play Ace and Gary while Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell played Dr. Brainio and Bighead. •
The Anatominals Show – A parody of a
Yogi Bear–type
Hanna-Barbera–style cartoon where Kogi
Bear, Pook Bear, Mindy Bear, Sheila
Coyote, Betsy
Cow, and other animal characters are anatomically correct even when they are confronted by the
park ranger during attempts to take picnic baskets. Both episodes were interspersed with scenes of
Lorne Michaels (voiced by
Robert Smigel) expressing deep disappointment with the show or trying to prevent visitors to
Studio 8H from seeing the cartoon. •
The Michael Jackson Show – A parody of
Hanna-Barbera cartoons, highlighting the misadventures of Michael Jackson (voiced by
Dino Stamatopoulos) and his odd friends. Included in his rag-tag entourage are his talking
common chimpanzee Bubbles, an aged
Emmanuel Lewis, a talking anthropomorphic
llama who's just called Llama, the
living skeleton of
The Elephant Man (voiced by
Robert Smigel impersonating
Jimmy Durante), a
zebra with a
pushmi-pullyu design, the sentient and speaking arm of
Elizabeth Taylor, and a sentient urn containing
Marilyn Monroe's ashes. Michael's friends often try to get him not to do stuff with little boys which goes comically awry for them. Sometimes when he gets satisfied with a little boy or the aged Emmanuel Lewis, Michael Jackson would have the same reactions that
Quick Draw McGraw character
Snuffles would have when he gets his dog biscuit. The theme song is to the tune of
The Yogi Bear Show. •
The X-Presidents – A parody of Hanna-Barbera/
Filmation cartoons from the 1970s. This sketch features former
US Presidents Gerald Ford,
Jimmy Carter,
Ronald Reagan, and
George H.W. Bush (all voiced by Jim Morris) as crime-fighting superheroes imbued with
superpowers by a "
hurricane-powered dose of radiation" received at a celebrity
golf tournament. Each of their wives is a member as well.
Bill Clinton, despite his status as a living former president, is not a member since he did not receive the hurricane-powered dose of radiation, as he was in office during the initial incident.
Disney parodies TV Funhouse did four parodies of
The Walt Disney Company. Their first one on April 4, 1998 was a trailer to the cheerful spin on the
Titanic called "Titey" which had
Jason Alexander voicing Titey and
Whoopi Goldberg voicing the "
bad old iceberg". The trailer also showed some marine life working together to save Titey from sinking. In addition,
Gilbert Gottfried also voiced
Napoleon Bonaparte who was on top of the iceberg in one shot during its duel with Titey and
Molly Ringwald voiced
Anne Frank who sings about writing in a diary someday and mention the exploits of Titey. The February 10, 2001, episode, "Ray of Light," parodies the controversy over
Ray Lewis's involvement in an Atlanta homicide. Although Lewis went on to become the
Super Bowl XXXV MVP, he was unable to utter the famous line "
I'm going to Disney World!" The skit was involved with Disney "making it up" to Lewis by placing him in various
Disney animated movies. Lewis would be shown fleeing the scene of Disney character death scenes, frequently uttering "I didn't see nothin'!" He also did a song stating that he "did not kill no motherf****** lion". "Bambi 2002," a poke at Disney's penchant for
direct-to video sequels at the time, imagines a sequel to the
original movie where Bambi's mother turns up alive. The title character fights stylized
terrorist types, meets
Jared Fogle, and performs a
rap music number in the forest. Also in the sketch are moments involving some of Disney's darker issues, as well as some pornographic humor with the unaffiliated film
Pokahotass. On April 15, 2006, Robert Smigel again parodied Disney's home video moratorium
policy, as well as
Walt Disney's alleged
racism and
anti-Semitism. When two kids are brought to the Disney Vault by
Mickey Mouse, they find Walt's frozen head, several controversial things that were never released, the "very original version" of
Song of the South that Walt only screened at parties, and
Jim Henson and
Kermit the Frog bound and gagged in a chair, Mickey Mouse breaks down and quotes "He wouldn't sell! He wouldn't sell...!" (a reference to a broken deal between
The Jim Henson Company and
The Walt Disney Company following Henson's death; Disney bought
the Muppets franchise in 2004, 2 years prior to the sketch).
NBC special On April 29, 2006,
NBC aired a full-length, 90-minute
SNL "best of" special for
TV Funhouse. The special was hosted by The Ambiguously Gay Duo interacting with the current
SNL cast with a cameo from
Jimmy Fallon. The special was released on DVD October 24, 2006. ==Fox Pilot==