Jennifer Brackenbury

[Molly Dolly]

Anyone here a fan of Jen?
Any favourite Jen moments?
Should she have been host instead of Chris?

[mcguinnfan]

I am a big Jennifer fan, and a recent convert. Not so long ago, I started watching the 1989-90 episodes (which I had rather short-sightedly ignored when they aired, since they didn't have Christine, Lisa, Alasdair, etc.) and found that she provided one highlight after another in nearly every episode in which she appears. It seems like your eyes just gravitate toward her every time she's on the screen, partly because her facial expressions and reactions were so perfect all the time, even if she wasn't directly involved in the dialogue or action. I think her nonverbal responses to the jokes and gags often seem to reflect those that a typical audience member might have, which deepens the connection between cast and viewer. Not only that, she had a lot of poise and great comic timing with her line delivery. And, so far as this is a compliment(!), in the Barth's sketches, she was one of the best "vomiters" in the history of the show, in my opinion; she seemed to "retch" starting from somewhere down around her knees!

It's hard to pick one moment that stands out above all, but I love the opposite sketch in "Excess" where Valerie is taking Christian to task for his insufficient and unenthusiastic nose-picking, and the camera angle widens (as Valerie, by way of contrast, praises "your sister") to show Jen not only with a finger wedged in her nostril, but also with a huge "sculpture" before her on the table, made entirely of congealed mucus. What makes it really funny is the loving, dainty way that she begins molding it, like a sculptor, adding her newest specimen, as Lance says something like, "That really whets my appetite" from his end of the table.

I also love the locker jokes segment (in the "Fantasy" episode) where she tells Sariya that when she was younger it was her fantasy to be on the show, but it turned out to be a rip-off: "Alasdair's gone, and the guys on the show now are so gross!" Lo and behold, the locker beside hers opens, and it's Alasdair, saying "Hi, Jennifer," in a really suave voice. Sadly, it turns out that he's not really there, as Chris gleefully informs her; it's just her fantasy-which doesn't stop her, at the end, from opening that same (now-empty) locker and saying, plaintively, "Alasdair?" It's a funny moment, but also kind of a poignant one, and again finds her connecting with what I'm sure must have been the sentiments of a lot of the audience of the time.

She would have made a great host, but I think Chris was also well-suited to the role, so it's a toss-up for me on that question. She brought a lot to the show, though, and is certainly among the most underrated cast members, ripe for rediscovery. It was very cool to log on here and see a new thread devoted to her, so maybe that's a start.

[movieguy28]

I loved it every time Jennifer got slimed it was great.

[CappieGuy]

Jen is my top 5 fave! I loved her when she did the bop around listening to music in the very first scene in Effort. I also loved her in Blame when she was "watching pots and pans" and she recorded it on tape. So cute!! There are a lot of scenes i loved her in. Poor jen got dumpd by both slimes at the same time while everyone else was slimed by one slime in Blame.

[MarcD]

Jennifer is in my top 3 of the "new cast", along with Chris Bickford and Christian Tessier. She was the best girl on the new cast, in my opinion.