Ep 16. Homeboy Shopping Network
- January 26, 1992
In Living Color was a comedy sketch series that ran from 1990 to 1994 on Fox. The show was known for pushing boundaries, featuring predominantly African American cast members, and often employed satire on a range of social issues. Season 3 episode 16, titled "Homeboy Shopping Network," aired on April 3rd, 1992.
The episode opens with a parody of a TV talk show hosted by James Brown (Tommy Davidson) where he interviews celebrity guest David Lee Roth (a white actor in full Roth regalia played by Jay Leggett). The interview is hilarious as it features Davidson's signature portrayal of James Brown intermingled with Leggett's over-the-top Roth.
The episode then jumps into a series of unrelated sketches which range from sending up TV game shows, commercial advertisements, and film trailers.
The central sketch of the episode is the titular "Homeboy Shopping Network" which sees Damon Wayans and David Alan Grier serve as the hosts of an infomercial selling products aimed at a black audience. The sketch is a satire on home shopping channels of the time, with Wayans and Grier's characters delivering a soft sell approach for products including malt liquor-flavored mouthwash, broken boomboxes, and used clothing. The humor in the sketch comes from the exaggerated characters and the absurdity of the products, which are treated as essential purchases for the "homeboy" audience.
The sketch features some standout performances from Wayans and Grier, with both actors delivering pitch-perfect parodies of the genre, including mock testimonials and ad-libbed exchanges. The sketch also features a number of fake commercials and product demos, including one for a cologne named "Jamo-nique" that promises to make you smell like a "pimp from the South Side".
The next sketch is a game show parody titled "To Catch a Coon" featuring a white host trying to corral a group of black contestants. The sketch is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the game show genre, where predominantly white hosts would interact with African American contestants and mostly failed to hide their prejudices.
The following sketch is a parody of the popular 90s action series "Die Hard" titled "Die Black Guy," with Keenen Ivory Wayans playing the lead character, an unlikely hero thrown into a terrorist takeover by mistake. The sketch is a mix of action, humor, and satire, with Wayans' character navigating the complex web of intrigue with mostly humor and swagger.
Other sketches in the episode include a parody of the 90s horror film "Candyman" featuring Carrey Wayans playing a streetwise version of the titular character, a series of fake commercials for products including a videotape training manual for aspiring pimps and a home circumcision kit (complete with a jigsaw), and musical performances from the cast members.
Overall, "Homeboy Shopping Network" is a solid episode of In Living Color that showcases the variety and range of the show while staying true to its subversive roots. The cast members are at their best, delivering memorable performances that skewer popular culture, social conventions, and racial stereotypes with sharp humor and wit. The sketch's tongue-in-cheek mockery of the home shopping genre is a standout, providing a humorous and pointed commentary on consumer culture, race, and class.
