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11/18: “Family Guy” parodies WAGA-TV grape lady fall from the mid-1990s
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“America’s Funniest Home Videos” lives on in the Web as YouTube. There, you can find pratfalls and shots to the groin galore. And no matter how much of a sophisticate you are, it’s funny. Former WAGA-TV reporter Doug Richards at his Live Apartment Fire blog recently posted a classic 1990s-era video someone posted from his former station. It shows reporter Melissa Sander at Chateau Elan crushing grapes Lucille Ball style. Then she oddly slips off the platform and starts screaming in pain. Check it out here:
What’s even more extraordinary is “Family Guy” this past Sunday parodied it almost to a tee, immortalizing her pain forever. Compare and contrast (and giggle, too if you must):
I just spoke with Gus Valdes, the photographer who shot the video back in the fall of 1998. He said Sander wasn’t seriously hurt. She ended up with some bruised ribs and “a bruised ego” but nothing worse. She was back on the air soon after. He only momentarily panned down to Sander after she fell, he said, because he didn’t feel it would be respectful to keep the camera on her. Instead, he keeps her out of view while she writhes in agony. But that ultimately made the video even more amusing. “It’s funny,” he said, “Tragically funny.”
He said he was at home and his wife had just put away the baby when he ran across the “Family Guy” this past Sunday. He started screaming, which freaked out his wife until she found out why he was screaming.
Apparently, “Saturday Night Live” mocked it two years ago as well in this Scarlett Johansson clip, where Johansson plays Sander:
If anybody knows what Melissa Sander is up to nowadays, please email me at rho@ajc.com. She worked as a weekend meteorologist at an Albany, N.Y. TV station at one point. Last Valdes heard, he said he thinks she’s working in North Carolina. The last time he had contact with her was five years ago when the clip appeared on the Web and Howard Stern mocked it. He said he emailed her and she blamed him for leaking it. He said he had no access to the video. In fact, he said by the time he got back to the studio from Chateau Elan, the bosses had erased the video from the archives. Obviously, some enterprising editor at WAGA-TV at the time did save a copy.
He noted that the video, which has been seen millions of times on YouTube, has been parodied as well by others. “There’s a cult from this grape lady thing,” he noted.
Bud McEntee, the WAGA-TV news director, has been at the station for 26 years. This was not an incident that really stuck in his brain at the time. He just recalls he was glad Sander was not seriously injured. He hasn’t seen the parodies either. As for the cult-like nature of the grape-stomping fall, he had no comment.
Comments
By Carlos
November 18, 2008 2:37 PM | Link to this
Funniest thing … EVER!!!
SNL also did a parody.
By Jeff
November 18, 2008 5:44 PM | Link to this
It is a true classic and we talk about it and mimmick it as well. Sorry Melissa.
By Bud
November 18, 2008 8:06 PM | Link to this
Ah yes…It’s called Schadenfreude…and even though its a German word, I like it.
By Anna Burke
November 18, 2008 8:33 PM | Link to this
Why is this funny? Oh, okay, it’s funny to the same people who like to see toddlers run into doors on America’s Funniest Home Videos.
By Stupid toddlers are great comedy...
November 19, 2008 11:49 AM | Link to this
There is nothing funnier then watching stupid toddlers or really old people running into walls, falling down (wether it be stairs, roofs, decks, etc), or getting hit unexpectedly by something.
Thanks for pointing that out Anna. The sheer visualization of it made me smile.
By stewie griffin
November 20, 2008 1:01 PM | Link to this
Oh My!……….this calls for a sexy party !!
By Pino Noir
November 20, 2008 2:44 PM | Link to this
It’s funny because she said “stop” and then continued stomping grapes. That was her comeuppance. Still funny!
By qwerty
November 20, 2008 4:10 PM | Link to this
Oh My!……….this calls for a sexy party !!
Best. Comment. Ever.
By Peter
December 3, 2008 2:01 PM | Link to this
Thanks for pointing this out - otherwise I wouldn’t have had any idea what the point of Stewie’s mishap was!
By Zack Rodriguez
December 26, 2008 3:24 PM | Link to this
This was really funny! I read in other columns that Sander bit off part of her tounge and had a pierced lung, I’m glad that’s not the truth though. Ebuamsworld tracked this lady for awhile, she was an assistant manager at a Potbellies in Rosemont Illinios up until 2007.