OK, here we go again…this show was a one-off as far as I know. It aired sometime in the last five years or so(?) I hesitate to call it a ‘show’ as it seemed more like one super-sized skit running for about 30 minutes. It aired very late one night (after midnight) with no build-up by got quite a bit of internet chatter the day after it aired, I think even here although I can’t remember a name for it to google or search.
The ‘skit’ starts as a parody of generic 1980s-era openers for sitcoms like “Full House”: poor quality video clips of the cast doing ‘wacky’ things, with cheesy upbeat music playing, and lots of close-up shots of cast members looking straight out at the camera and flashing shit-eating smiles while “starring (so-and-so)” appears in low-quality rendered captions beneath them.
The 'opening credit’s continue playing, and continue playing, and continue playing. More and more people are introduced, and gradually the people ‘starring’ in the show look sketchier, and sketchier, and the ‘wacky antics’ start looking crazier and downright disturbing.
The gist of the skit is that the opening credits simply will. not. stop. and they keep getting stranger. Eventually, the skit begins morphing into other scenarios, and ‘the opening credits’ becomes a weird syndrome where people are people are forced to behave like sitcom characters against their will. People will hear the cheesy music, and ‘starring as…’ credits will appear and people run in panic for fear of getting sucked into the sitcom behavior. I vaguely remember a scene that’s supposed to be ‘backstage’ - where everyone is running helter-skelter away from ‘starring as…’ captions chasing them.
At one point, the scene morphs to a hospital morgue where a doctor is examining a dead body (with a caption floating over his body) and says “This man died from Caption-itis!” Suddenly the sitcom music fades in, everyone looks startled, and the doctor sees a “starring…” caption appearing in front of him. “Oh dear God,” he cries, “It’s happening to me!” Everyone backs away from him in fear. “Please, just kill. me. now!!” he cries as he unwillingly mugs for the camera and smiles broadly.
And no matter how bizarre this description sounds…the actual TV ‘show’ (skit?) was even crazier. Anyone remember seeing it?