The Show
Quite a while ago, former "SNL" cast members Kevin Nealon and Victoria Jackson hosted a best-of special composed entirely of commercial parodies from the show. Featuring clips from decades of shows, the special showcased some of the series' finest short-form parodies, including Super Bass-O-Matic '76 and Swill, a mineral water made in America from polluted sources. Filled with these quick hits, the show was fast and funny.

More recently, "SNL" revisited the concept, this time with Will Ferrell hosting. As a book-end concept, Ferrell walks around an advertising agency, but the jokes fall flat, and it becomes a momentum killer between the fake ads. Truthfully, the bits with Nealon and Jackson were much worse.

The multitude of ads presented here looks pretty comprehensive at first, until you start watching, and realize that the emphasis is on the last few years of the show, which means the classic casts get limited play. For two reasons, this is a good thing. One, commercial parodies can be very time-sensitive. Think about it...When was the last time you saw a jeans commercial on TV? Some of the jokes rely on a knowledge of the original ad, which limits their effectiveness over time.

The second reason such a contemporary focus is good is Amy Poehler. Poehler is the perfect actress for these commercials, because she looks very much like your average (beautiful) American woman, but has the sense of humor of a mental patient. Her ability to mix the common with the insane makes her parody ads work brilliantly, so it's not surprise that she's in 13 of the 60 clips. That includes some of the best ads on this disc, like "Turlington's Tattoo Remover," "EPT" and "Morgan Stanley."

Some obvious trends emerge when watching this DVD, and one is the inspirational force that is feminine hygiene. The writers seem to try harder, and the results are very silly sketches like "Kotex Classic" and "Woomba." The presence of guest stars also helps make for some better bits, as they often play against the star's persona. Kelly Ripa's hair-coloring ad is hysterical, the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen spot is surprisingly funny, and Ripa's Las Vegas ad parody with Ben Affleck is also very good.

Unfortunately, there's a ton of great commercials that should be in this set, instead of some of the lesser lights (Jimmy Fallon's Corona ads, the NRA commercials, Little Chocolate Donuts.) Just off the top of my head, "Big Red," "Adobe," "The Lux Car," "ClownPenis.Fart," "Schmitt's Gay" and "That's Not Yogurt," all deserve to be on this set. But then, you watch the ridiculous "Taco Town" or "Old Glory Insurance," and it makes it somewhat better.

Here's what you get on this disc
Turlington's Tattoo Remover - Amy Poehler, Chris Parnell
Oops I Crapped My Pants - Chris Parnell, Ana Gasteyer
Tressant Supreme - Kelly Ripa
Mom Jeans - Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler
Taco Town - Andy Samberg, Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis
me-Harmony.com - Kenan Thompson, Maya Rudolph, Seth Meyers, Horatio Sans, Will Forte, Rob Riggle
Colon Blow - Phil Hartman
Excedrin - Queen Latifah
Woomba - Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch, Maya Rudolph
HiberNol - Chris Farley, Julia Sweeney
Love Toilet - Kevin Nealon, Victoria Jackson
Black-eyed Peas - Bill Hader, Kenan Thompson, Amy Poehler, Finesse Mitchell, Seth Meyers (I think)
Bad Idea Jeans - Kevin Nealon, Mike Meyers, David Spade, Phil Hartman
Cracklin' Oat Flakes - Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer
Canis
Nelson's Baby Toupees - Bill Hader
Super Bass-O-Matic '76 - Dan Ackroyd, Laraine Newman
Uncle Jemima's Mash Liquor - Tracy Morgan, Tim Meadows
Mary Kate & Ashley - Mary Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen
Dr. Porkenheimer's Boner Juice - Amy Poehler
Nikey Turkey - Chris Rock
BugOff - Will Ferrell
Fear Factor Junior - Fred Armisen
Homocil - Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Tracy Morgan, Chris Parnell
SubShack - Jimmy Fallon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer, Kenan Thompson
Wade Blasingame - Will Ferrell, Chris Parnell
Chia Head - Kevin Nealon, David Spade, Chris Rock, Phil Hartman
Corona - Jimmy Fallon
Litter Critters - Cheri Oteri
EPT - Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler
Corona 2 - Jimmy Fallon
Handi-Off - Dennis Miller, Kevin Nealon, Victoria Jackson
Grayson Moorhead
Corona 3 - Jimmy Fallon
Dyson - Fred Armisen
Kotex Classics - Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, Tracy Morgan
Little Chocolate Donuts - John Belushi
Big Brawn - Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon
Tylenol BM - Alec Baldwin, Rachel Dratch
NRA - Jimmy Fallon, Horatio Sanz
Swiffer Sleepers - Amy Poehler
NRA 2 - Jimmy Fallon, Horatio Sanz, Seth Meyers
Happy Fun Ball - Phil Hartman, Mike Meyers, Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks
Magic Mouth - Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, Chris Kattan, Horatio Sanz, Jimmy Fallon
Old Glory Insurance - Sam Waterston
Morgan Stanley - Andy Samberg, Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, Will Forte
Change Bank 2 - Tom Herlihy, Nora Dunn, Phil Hartman
Only Bangkok - Amy Poehler, Ben Affleck
Dynacorp: Starkist - Jessica Simpson
Only Bangkok 2 - Seth Meyers
Royal Deluxe II - Garrett Morris, Dan Ackroyd, Gilda Radner
Cluckin' Chicken - Phil Hartman, Adam Sandler
Only Bangkok 3 - Seth Meyers, Ben Affleck, Kelly Ripa, Darrell Hammond
Our Gang Records - Eddie Murphy
Herbal Essences - Ana Gasteyer, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell, Rachel Dratch, Horatio Sanz
CheapKids.net - Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, Chris Parnell
Gaystrogen - Chris Parnell, Fred Armisen
CheapKids.net 2 - Chris Parnell, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers
Hey You - Gilda Radner
Dissing Your Dog - Will Ferrell

The DVD
This best-of comes on one DVD, with an animated full-frame main menu, that allows you to watch the show, select scenes and see the extras. The scene selection menu has a name and still preview for each commercial, while there are no language options. The disc includes closed captioning.

The Quality
The full-frame video comes from across "SNL"'s lengthy history, which means the quality can vary wildly depending on the age of the sketch, with recent shows looking simply great. On average, the disc looks nice, with good color and appropriate detail. Older parodies tend to suffer from a great deal of noise and duller color.

The audio, a Dolby Digital 2.0 track, is the same consistent delivery seen on recent "SNL" DVDs, with crisp dialogue and a clean, distortion-less mix being the rule of the day.

The Extras
The extras are limited to just some extra material here, which makes sense, as there's not much else in terms of bonuses that would work for this disc. What you do get is 10 additional commercial parodies:
Reliable Investments - Alec Baldwin, Ana Gasteyer
Eych - Ellen Cleghorne
Colonel Belmont's Old-Fashioned Horse Glue - Will Ferrell
Coldcock Malt Liquor - Tim Meadows, Chris Rock, Ellen Cleghorne
Petchow Rat Poison - Will Ferrell
Eterna Rest - Michael McKean, Janeane Garofalo, Chris Elliot
Short & Curly - Bill Heder, Will Forte, Fred Armisen, Seth Myers, Finesse Mitchell, Chris Parnell
Clear Results - Ana Gasteyer, Chris Parnell
Preparation H - Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Kattan
Kannon - Joe Piscopo, Stevie Wonder

It's good to see some of these made it onto the disc in the end, with Clear Results and Petchow among the better selection. Still, the large amount left off is aggravating.

The Bottom Line
This collection of commercial parodies is breezy and fun, but it focuses too much on the more recent seasons of the show, leaving out some truly great sketches. Hopefully they'll do a second volume and release the original special, though there would be some overlap. The DVD is solid, with a limited amount of extras, and will entertain most any "SNL" fan, but the need to own this is limited.

Follow him on Twitter

*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.