SCTV wishes you a Happy Hanukkah with the "You! Chanukah Special"

Libby Wolfson (Andrea Martin) wants to tell the gentiles about the Hanukkah traditions, enlisting guest Sue Bopper Simpson-no, wait, make that Bopstein-to tell the story of the holiday.  Unfortunately, Wolfson can't get the story right.

Bob Odenkirk is Armand Assante in "Advantage Agassi"

Sure, the idea of tennis pro Andre Agassi as a star of a made-for-cable action flick may be dated, but this sketch from "The Ben Stiller Show" is great anyway, thanks to Ernie Hudson as himself, Odenkirk giving the world's greatest (and possibly only) Armand Assante impression and some perfect narration.

"Mind Match" from The State (1994)

Looks like Jerry's looking to double his orphans!  There's so much perfection in this game show parody from "The State," from the reticence of Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney to answer questions to Kevin Allison's exuberance to Michael Showalter's Vanna White impersonation.  It's uncomfortable humor at its best.

MTV Shows

Jambi the Genie John Paragon sings about voluptuous ladyparts in his 1983 special

It's John Paragon's 60th birthday!  Paragon has turned up in plenty of things over the years, from playing would-be TV station inheritor Richard Fletcher in UHF to a sex shop salesman in Paul Bartel's EATING RAOUL, but he's likely best known as Jambi the Genie on "Pee-Wee's Playhouse."  Like Pee-Wee himself, Paul Reubens, Paragon got his start as a member of The Groundlings -- along with Phil Hartman and Cassandra Peterson, for whom he played The Breather on Elvira's "Movie Macabre."  Here he is as Vegas performer Larry McGuire singing a pleasant little song about the female anatomy, from Paragon's 1983 HBO special.

John Candy is Rod Serling's son Chris in "The Twilight Zonettes"

On the short-lived sketch comedy program "The New Show," Candy (as Rod Serling's fictional son) introduces a trio of tales that cut right to the point because telling a whole story is such a waste of time!  Watch for Buck Henry, Laraine Newman, Dave Thomas, Tom Davis and Allan Havey.

Rich Hall helps with your party planning

Rich Hall is an underappreciated talent.  A great satnd-up comedian and a regular on sketch shows like "Saturday Night Live," "Fridays" and "Not Necessarily the News," Hall's deadpan style seems to be taken better in the UK, where he has fronted several shows and documentaries in recent years on the BBC.  Here he is on "Fridays," giving you all the pointers you'll need to host a party on a budget.

Peter Capaldi is lost in time... and drunk, with Alexei Sayle

Remember that time when Peter Capaldi played a time-traveller on a well-loved British TV series? No, before that. On the second season the the sketch-based comedy "The All New Alexei Sayle Show" aired in 1995, Capaldi played intoxicated sidekick to the similarly inebriated "Young Ones" star in a series of sketches satirizing the "Time Tunnel" TV series. In the first chapter, they stagger around Rasputin as scientist Jenny Agutter (WALKABOUT) looks on in horror.

The late Jan Hooks sings "I'm Commercial" to the tune of Helen Reddy

Jan Hooks had already had an extensive career in sketch comedy when she joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live" in 1986, from her early days as a member of The Groundlings to her roles on HBO's "Not Necessarily The News."  In between those outlets, however, she was a performer on "Tush," a sketch comedy show presented by journalist Bill Tush on the channel that would eventually become TBS.  Here's a rare clip from that show, featuring Hooks singing a scathingly funny song to the tune of Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman."

Watch This Thing - Stephen Colbert explains Cobalt in a mock filmstrip from "Exit 57."

Colbert does double-duty in this sketch from the comedy series "Exit 57" (with Amy Sedaris and Paul Dinello) as both the silent filmstrip operator and the narrator himself in this great take on classroom filmstrips. Do they still make classroom filmstrips? No? Get off my lawn.