Adam and I are back with a brand new episode of Remember That Show?, and we’re covering the short-lived 1996 ABC primetime series The *insert PepsiCo Brand* Dana Carvey Show. I wrote it like that because that was the gimmick: Every episode was named after a product made by PepsiCo, so you had The Mug Root Beer Dana Carvey Show, The Taco Bell Dana Carvey Show, The Pepsi Stuff Dana Carvey Show, and so on. Hilariously, though, the sponsor pulled out of the show after the pilot, yet they kept the naming gimmick going. Before we get into all that, however, let’s take a step back.
Dana Carvey was a pretty prominent Saturday Night Live cast member from 1986 to 1993, leaving just before the 1994 overhaul that gave us Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon, and Cheri Oteri. I mention this because I think Carvey and Oteri have a lot in common, in that they left the show only to end up in the What Happened?! category in my brain. Like Oteri, Carvey dominated any sketch he was in, but also knew how to be a great supporting character, so he gave us The Church Lady and Garth. Also like Oteri, he doesn’t have much to show for his career after leaving SNL. His most prominent film work was during the show, in the Wayne’s World franchise. After leaving, though, he did the show we’re discussing today, as well as the film The Master of Disguise, and then kinda got quiet.
The Dana Carvey Show had been shopped around to different networks, but eventually landed at ABC because they had been promised creative freedom. Hoping to bring back the “subversive” comedy of 60s variety shows, like Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, Carvey’s show was staffed by writing alums from Late Night With Conan O’Brien, like Robert Smigel and Louis CK, and featured future The Daily Show correspondents Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert in some of their earliest onscreen roles. This should have been a hit, right?! Well, what folks didn’t consider was that these guys were pros – for the late night schedule. Things work differently in primetime. Also, it didn’t help that Disney purchased ABC just after the show was picked up, so the new corporate overlords weren’t necessarily picking up what Carvey and his staff were putting down. Then, the pilot kicked off with Carvey, as then-president Bill Clinton, breastfeeding during a televised address. This is what led to PepsiCo pulling their sponsorship.
I can say that I never watched this show when it originally aired. I thought a lot of what they were doing just sounded stupid. I hated the naming gimmick, and Carvey wasn’t ever one of my SNL Favorites. Plus, I could recognize Smigel’s work, but even early Conan was an acquired taste. It’s not something I immediately fell in love with. In fact, my mom and I used to watch every night that first season, saying “Oh, he’s not going to last.” So, I could only imagine how the folks who had been too lazy to change the channel after Home Improvement were gonna feel about it! Having watched it for this episode, I was reminded of what had kept me away from it, but I could also acknowledge that 2025 Will totally gets what they were trying to do. See, at Cornell, I knew a bunch of sketch and improv folks who grew up on this. It’s Nerdy White Guy Humor, but from a time before Geek Culture was respected. It comes from something of a witty, yet somewhat of an “underdog”, place. I totally get it now. I like it now. But I wouldn’t have liked it then. Anyway, if you have any memories of this particular series, then check out our thoughts here or wherever you find fine podcasts!
