Since I only got two requests for both ideas, I'm going to write two chapters, starting with a descripion of the show. I hope you enjoy them and please review.
The first episode of Friday Nights at Pemberley came out in the first week of June. The opening sketch was a parody of the film Sixteen Candles, with host Molly Ringwald and Charlie Bingley. At the beginning, she was very happy and said, "Oh Jake Ryan, this is the best birthday ever." Charlie, who was suppose to be in a daze, said, "Yes Molly, absolutely great." Then, realizing she was referring to her birthday celebration, he cringed and said, "Actually, I'm not here to celebrate your birthday. I'm here to celebrate ten years of my career as a comedian and the start of my new show." Looking uneasy, Molly then said, "But why? Dosen't my birthday mean anything to you, Jake Ryan? No one else has…" And then, finally realizing who he was, said, "Now hold on a minute! You're not Jake Ryan, you're Charlie Bingley, that no-good, foul-mouthed Canadian comedian! How could you think I'm that stupid?" Charlie then responded matter-of-factily, "Well Molly, you fell for the trick of thinking any guy sitting next to you with a birthday cake is your beloved Jake Ryan, so I guess that means you are stupid." Now angry, Molly stepped up, grabbed the birthday cake (which included fake candles), and threw it at Charlie, who screamed (for he was pretending to have been burned) and yelled, "You idiot! Don't you have any respect for an amateur comedian?" After this, Molly Ringwald turned around and said what would be the show's opening phrase: "Lights, camera, Friday night's in action!"
The episode recieved modest ratings, with some critics thinking the show had a promising future and would eventually become better than Saturday Night Live (which wasn't doing very well at the time), and others dismissing the show as "a bad attempt at trying to bring late-night comedy back to it's golden age, which will probably not last longer than a month" as one critic for The New York Times said. However, by the third episode, the show was the highest-rated cable show of the summer. The show's stars started to recieve a lot of attention by both critics and celebrities, and by August, both Jane and Elizabeth had recieved movie offers (which they had to reject).
The show differed from previous sketch comedy shows in some ways. The first involved the participation of guest players, which were mainly unknown actors/comedians who wanted a chance at their big break. The majority of the players that appeared in the first season didn't get this, but they did get some recognition, with some getting roles as extras in movies and one who appeared on Playboy. The other was audience involvement. When the host gave their speech after the opening credits, he or she would then say, "Any volunteers for today's show?", at which audience members would raise their hands and a spotlight would be cast on three people, who then participated in various sketches of the day.
Some popular sketches included "What Not to Do In This Situation" in which big mistakes were made during various emergencies, including one in which a neighbor (Alan Collins) was called instead of the firefighters to put out a small fire which started in a high school girl (Elizabeth Bennet)'s bedroom. The neighbor turned out being afraid of heights and fell off the ladder, killing the girl's cat (Ben Stevens, a cast member), which made the girl's little sister (Carla Luis) try to run the neighbor over with her doll carriage (at which Carla later told Elizabeth that this was one of her favorite moments in the show). Another was one that Charlie had to fight with Will in order to get into the show, which was called "Let's Talk: Lady to Lady". In this sketch, a female cast member and a female host would have a conversation which always started well, with complements to the host for her work or remarks on the cast member's starting point in acting. But then someone, usually the cast member, would say something that offended the other person, which was usually a very personal comment or question on their sex lives, appearance, or whether or not they had a drug habit. The other person would get very angry, starting a fight which usually involved a lot of profanity and near fights, which were then broken up by a male cast member, who usually made some inappropriate gesture or offer to get them to stop. Popular moments included that of then teenage star Sarah Jessica Parker and Elizabeth Bennet, in which Elizabeth said that her face looked like a foot, resulting in her being kicked by the star, who wore high heels and then tried throwing one in Elizabeth's face, and another with comedian Jane Curtain and Jane Bennet, whose fight was ended by Charlie, who had yelled, "Jane, that's enough!" to which both women responded, "Which Jane?" Charlie then said, "My loved one," which made Jane Bennet smile, but instead, he turned to Jane Curtain and kissed her, but she slapped him and yelled, "Bingley, you fool! I'm married!" Jane Bennet then slapped him as well and said, "You said you loved me!" and the fight was turned towards him instead.
This was the show, at which the Bennet sisters really enjoyed working in, but the good times nearly came to an end because of an encounter with William Darcy's worse enemy: George Wickham.