Last week's premiere of "The Dana Carvey Show" was pretty good - for about 30 seconds.
But then a mildly amusing parody of President Clinton turned stupid and even disgusting when Carvey, as Clinton, began breast feeding babies, puppies and kittens.It was all pretty much downhill from there. The sketches were either lame or crude - opting for shock value over actual comedy.
And Carvey's finale - a Top Ten list of New Titles for Princess Di as read by the Church Lady - was exactly the same bit he'd done the previous week in an appearance with David Letterman. This may have been the first series premiere ever to include a rerun.
And the lesson Carvey hasn't learned at all is that there is a difference between prime time and late night - what plays on "Saturday Night Live" is completely inappropriate for 8:30 p.m.
The biggest surprise may have been that title sponsor Taco Bell - which allowed episode No. 1 to be called "The Taco Bell Dana Carvey Show" - was shocked at the results and has pulled out as an advertiser.
Apparently, no one at Taco Bell ever saw Carvey on "Saturday Night Live" or in those "Wayne's World" movies. Had they done so, they would have known what to expect last week.
Tonight's episode is to be titled the "Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show" - apparently indicating that the folks at Mug Root Beer didn't watch last week's show.
And, if there's any justice, not much of anybody will be watching this week's episode.