Frivolity Break: SNL's Body Fuzion

Watching Saturday Night Live's tribute to Amy Poehler last night, I got to see one of their more brilliant parodies. It wasn't really a spotlight on Poehler, because it featured guest host Drew Barrymore, and Kristin Wiig more than anybody. But the brilliance of this piece was as much in the technical aspects of it, as it was the comedy.

Back in the 80s, workout videos were all the rage. And they didn't even have to work, they just had to be successful. Jane Fonda had a huge second career as a video workout maven. The funny in this spot has more to do with the presentation as with the material. VHS video tapes were notoriously bad in quality, with harsh lighting, bad video reproduction, and "tracking."

If you aren't old enough to remember, think of digital glitches in DVDs, only much more so. This parody nails the technical limitations of 80s video in a way that defines "you just had to be there."