The Joe Pesci Show was a sketch that occurred throughout the 1990s. Jim Breuer played the title character, in which Italian accordian music would often start and end the sketch, the Pesci would be seen cheerfully remarking "Hey everyone. I'm Joe Pesci!", and then he say any sentence as long it has "I got". For instance "I got a band, I got my friends here and I got my own talk show!". At the end he would be happy to say "I got everything!" as loud he will just say it. He would often be accompanied by his friend Robert De Niro, who would often be played by the host for the episode. They were Alec Baldwin and John Goodman. Colin Quinn was the only castmember to play De Niro on the 7th sketch. Breuer as Pesci was in all eight episodes on the sketch.
The skit was not so much a spoof of Pesci as it was of Nicky Santoro and Tommy DeVito, his respective characters from the films Casino and Goodfellas. When a guest came on, Pesci would somehow be insulted then proceed to brutally attack the person. Prior to the attack, Pesci would make a statement that he was insulted, then ask De Niro, who often said "I heard tings", prompting Pesci to lose his temper and engage in assault. Pesci did seem to be more lenient to guests whom like him were of Italian blood, although he could still be insulting.
There were a few guests who were notable exceptions to this fate. The first sketch featured Anthony Edwards as Macaulay Culkin, Pesci's co-star in Home Alone. Pesci hit him on the head with a paint can as he was angered by the fact people laughed at Macaulay Culkin doing it to Pesci. On one episode hosted by Jim Carrey, Carrey played legendary actor James Stewart, while regular cast member Mark McKinney once again played Carrey for the last and second time. Pesci and Stewart teamed up to beat up Carrey, with Stewart going on to beat up Pesci himself. Phil Hartman once again host the show in 1996 and once again reprised his role as Frank Sinatra. While Sinatra was still in his evil ways, he and Pesci were talking about his shine box and at the end Joe got out of control and his bodyguards came to the rescue and punched Pesci so he could stop being crazy from Sinatra's evil personality.
One episode featuring then Mayor Rudy Giuliani was about to get beaten when his security detail grabs Pesci, then Giuliani grabs a Stickball stick and proceeded to hit Pesci while the Mayor said these hits were for Good Fellas and Casino and stomped on him for Going Fishing. Pesci also spares actors who, like him, are of Italian ancestry and who came to prominence in films about the Sicilian Mafia. However, while Italian-Americans were often spared physical assault, Pesci may make disparaging remarks, such as when he had his My Cousin Vinny costar Marisa Tomei, Pesci mentions her Academy Award and comments that it must have been quid pro quo ("Whose Joe did you DiMaggio to win that?"), prompting an angry Tomei to state she won it fair and square and storm off the set.
Kevin Spacey appeared as Al Pacino on one episode, in which the two of them team up against Rodney Dangerfield (portrayed by Darrell Hammond). Alec Baldwin, John Goodman and Colin Quinn made appearances as Robert De Niro, though he is reduced to monosyllabic responses to Pesci's prompts: his lines are usually "I heard some things" (a line from Oscar winner "Raging Bull", the first movie to star both De Niro and Pesci), and "Li'l bit" (a shortened version of a line from Goodfellas (where De Niro accuses another mobster of being a "little bit out of line" for insulting Pesci's character), another film starring the two actors).
The real Pesci and De Niro surprisingly appeared on one episode, criticizing Breuer for playing caricatures of their film characters. Quinn suddenly says he is not De Niro, but "Colin Quinn from Remote Control." Breuer's and Quinn's weak defense of themselves insults Pesci, who asks De Niro if they were just insulted, to which De Niro responds, "I heard things." The two of them then proceed to beat up Breuer and Quinn.
A cel-shaded rendering of an episode of The Joe Pesci Show appears in a scene of the movie Waking Life where the television is scanning through several channels.
Appearances[]
- December 2, 1995 - Anthony Edwards as Macaulay Culkin
- January 20, 1996 - Alec Baldwin as Robert De Niro
- March 16, 1996 - John Goodman as Robert De Niro
- May 18, 1996 - Jim Carrey as Jimmy Stewart
- November 23, 1996 - Phil Hartman as Frank Sinatra
- January 11, 1997 - Kevin Spacey as Al Pacino
- April 12, 1997 - Pesci and De Niro as themselves and Rob Lowe as Eric Roberts
- November 22, 1997 - Rudy Giuliani as himself.
Roles by SNL Castmembers[]
- Jim Breuer as Joe Pesci
- Will Ferrell as Spider
- Darrell Hammond as Richard Dreyfuss and Rodney Dangerfield
- Chris Kattan as David Spade
- Mark McKinney as Mel Gibson and Jim Carrey
- Tim Meadows as Danny Glover, Michael Jackson and Dennis Rodman
- Tracy Morgan as Marion Barry
- Cheri Oteri as Marisa Tomei
- Colin Quinn as Robert De Niro
- Molly Shannon as Debbie Rowe
- David Spade as Brad Pitt
- Nancy Walls as Sharon Stone