We’re rolling through every episode of Key and Peele on Pop Thruster. Here we go with “Aerobic Meltdown,” Season 4 Episode 9. Follow along on the journey!
Also: check out ALL 351 Key & Peele Sketches Ranked (In Painstakingly Funny Detail)!
High Five
“Scott Caan is the star of Hawaii Five-0, so…” – Key
We all use different means to remember where we parked – some weirder than others – and this one, featuring K&P maneuvering through a parking garage, goes deep on that score. Sidenote that this concept, while relatable, doesn’t have quite as much punch these days as it’s so easy to take a quick smartphone pic of one’s parking spot.
Key & Peele On the Road: Part Nine
“Of course I could do it. I played soccer, bro.” – Peele
K&P are back on the road out west, chitchatting away about all manner of things as an interstitial between sketches during the fourth and fifth seasons. Topics include healthcare regimens, blipping it street rules style, worst jobs ever, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Aerobic Meltdown
“WE ARE LIVE! KEEP DANCING.” – Cue card
This one checks off all the boxes of an all timer K&P sketches: grainy/vintage 1980s era look and feel, K&P in full on gonzo cheesy dancing and performing mode (Peele is Flash from The Body Shop in Hollywood, while Key is Lightning from The Skin Shop in Detroit, all in service to the 1987 Jazz Fit Championships), with a hilariously dark twist thrown in (oh, those cue cards just keeping coming and coming at Lightning, don’t they?). Just remember to KEEP DANCING people. In a word: magnificent.
New Dad
“I will respect you Charles, if you play your role.” – Zachary
Both K&P love playing evil little kids, and Zachary (Key) is up there on the evil scale. There’s a vague thread to a deeper theme of abuse playing out into the next generation here, but honestly this sketch is a bit too one-note (slap?) to get there.
Stan Lee Visits The Office
“This ain’t my first rodeo, sonny boy.” – Stan Lee
Comic book legend Stan Lee (Peele) visits an in progress Marvel Comics Headquarters meeting led by Key, and pitches an array of new superhero characters that are all based on the concerns of old people. Example: Hey Day “lives perpetually in 1982. His nemesis is the evil writer’s block.” I’m not sure if it’s because I kept thinking about how Lee passed away in 2018 while watching this one, but I am sure that I didn’t really laugh.
Brain Freeze
“It ain’t passing, it’s intensifying!” – Peele
We’re back at Menchie’s (where the Employee of the Year, Latiya, works… and enjoys the free product), and K&P are two dudes enjoying some froyo until Peele starts getting that brain freeze. I thought at first this would be a fun but typical K&P riff-fest, but it elevates to a very funny level, capped by a ridiculously great twist at the end.
Some stats and info about Key & Peele, “Aerobic Meltdown”
TV SHOW – Key and Peele
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 4, Episode 9
AIRED ON – November 19th, 2014
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Comedy Central/Hulu
GENRE – Comedy, Sketch Comedy
CREATED BY – Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele