In Living Color - Men on...

These UTube clips are from about 15 years back, from the often brilliant but sometimes 'hit-or-miss' US comedy sketch show 'In Living Color'. F*ck, I'm getting old :-(

This always reminded me a lot of the old 60's show 'Rowan and Martins Laugh-In', in terms of how raucous and ad-libbed it could become. No - I am not that old! An impoverished RTE showed syndicated 'Laugh-In' re-runs in the late eighties, as if they were hot off the press.

'In Living Color' was a show that started or boosted the careers of all 4 Wayans' brothers, but was, for first 2 series, mostly written by producer Keenan and next eldest brother Damon Wayans.

Wayans Brothers (L-R): Marlon, Shawn, Damon, Keenan.

Younger brothers Shawn and Marlon Wayans went on to produce and star in other well-known 'broad-humored' movies, like the 'Scary Movie' series, 'White Chicks' and the scatological piss-take on 'Boyz in the Hood' - 'Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood'. Marlon has also done some serious roles like 'Requiem for a dream'. Their sister Kim Wayans appeared in most of the early episodes in 'filler' Janet Jackson-type, dance sequences, which seem just annoying looking back now.

It is not known what happened to Zeppo, Tito or Jermaine Wayans...

This was also the vehicle which launched Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx to the wider world.

Anyhoo, watched part of a box-set recently and it's fairly obvious that a lot seems to have been censored when compared to the original.

In these 2 scenes, the 'guys/likeable queens' are Blaine (Damon Waynes) and Antoine (the brilliant David Allen Grier), who don't hold back when offering their strong opinions on TV, movies and various subjects of the day, in their regular 'Men On...' public access TV slot.


Blaine experiences a drastic character change when something falls on his head in the studio.


After a well-placed right hook, Blaine rediscovers his true self.

Damon Wayans did get a big slap on the wrist at one time when he took things a bit to far in a Superbowl halftime live show and made improvised references as to what Richard Gere allegedly liked to do with gerbils, and was threatened with legal action for a follow-up joke at the expense of bachelor Olympian Carl Lewis.

Funny thing at the end of second clip - Shawn Wayans appears in Village People biker costume and gooses Damon to try to put him off his lines...

The freak who presents RTE's 'Telly Bingo' and Sunday Bingo in the George should watch this and figure out that it is actually quite possible to be both camp and genuinely funny at the same time...