Key & Peele's "Ray Parker Jr" sketch is their last classic skit. Keegan Michael-Key and Jordan Peele had previously worked on Mad TV together before their Comedy Central series began in 2012. Their sketches ranged from movie and TV parodies to examining race or politics, which gave them a chance to show off a dizzying array of characters and tones. It quickly became popular thanks to several viral skits and ran for five seasons, coming to a close in 2015.
While Key & Peele had its share of weak skits - as every sketch show does - on the whole, it was consistently hilarious for its entire run. Outside of the series, the pair fronted action comedy Keanu together in 2016, while Peele reinvented himself as a horror auteur when he wrote and directed the acclaimed Get Out. Key has kept busy too, appearing in movies like The Predator and shows like Friends From College.
When it came to pop culture parodies in Key & Peele, they often hit the target thanks to the duo being huge nerds. Their fittingly titled series finale was dubbed "The End," and featured some great sketches, including the bitting "Negrotown," which sadly feels timelier than ever. The comic highlight is "The Ray Parker Jr Collection," where the artist behind the Ghostbusters theme unveils a Greatest Hits album of his other movie themes. The issue there is that these are rejected movie themes.
Jordon Peele plays Ray Parker Jr as the singer often takes a very literal approach to the movies he sings about. Highlights include Face/Off - sample lyrics: "That ain't even your face!" - Passion Of The Christ and he even had a rejected theme for Apt Pupil. Key & Peele often excelled at this very nerdy kind of gag, which includes an interchangeable rejected theme for 1998's rival asteroid movies Armageddon / Deep Impact - “I ain't afraid of no 'stroid!" - or a Lawnmower Man song. Other track viewers sadly don't get to hear include Harmony Korine's Gummo and the John Goodman "classic" King Ralph.
All in all Key & Peele's "The End" was a great finale, with "The Ray Parker Jr Collection" being maybe the last viral sketch they produced. While the pair have continued to work together it seems doubtful they will ever reunite for a new season, but the show definitely went out on a high note - and proved it's hard to find words that rhyme with Disturbia.