November 22, 1975 – Lily Tomlin (S1 E6)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Gerald Ford (CHC) addresses link between NYC debt default & re-election
   
— Hmm, another disclaimer on the bottom of the screen, this time stating this is not a good Gerald Ford impression. Ha, unlike the last Ford cold opening, where the disclaimer they showed made it confusing as to whether or not Chevy was actually playing Ford, this disclaimer makes it clear that he IS playing Ford, but they’re comically acknowledging how there was zero attempt at accuracy with his impression.
— The Rich Little disclaimer was very funny, too.
— The gag with him answering a glass of water as if it were a phone is a well-remembered classic SNL moment.
— I got a kick out of seeing him hang the red and black receivers onto the opposite phones.
— Great backwards tumble over the desk at the end. My favorite Chevy falls so far have been the really messy ones where a whole bunch of stuff gets crashed into, rather than the straightforward falls where he just goes straight to the floor and then that’s it.
STARS: ***½

OPENING MONTAGE
— Nothing noteworthy about the cast list tonight: their names are again divided into two separate screens, like we saw in the preceding episode.
— I think it’s safe to say by this point that Michael O’Donoghue isn’t going to be put back into the cast list. We can pretty much officially say his last episode as a credited cast member was the Candice Bergen one, which was episode 4 of the season.

MONOLOGUE
host reads some one-liners from her journal & does a cheer for NYC
 
— Unlike the last few episodes, tonight they have the host actually make an entrance when their name is announced by Pardo.
— Lily’s jokingly-angry, psychotic yell of “STOP!!!!” during the audience applause after her entrance was great. Already, you can see she’s going to be a fantastic host.
— I really liking the format of this so far, with her doing a string of random funny one-liners, which, as I said in the George Carlin review, is my favorite style of stand-up comedy.
— This New York cheer she’s now doing is very funny.
— Overall, wow, this whole thing was great. Best monologue of the season so far, I’d argue.
STARS: ****½

BEETHOVEN, PART 1
Beethoven (JOB) invents “Tie A Yellow Ribbon ‘Round The Ole Oak Tree”

— Oh, is this going to be the classic Ray Charles bit?
— John’s various facial expressions when playing the piano are funny.
— Hmm, this ISN’T the Ray Charles piece; he’s playing a different song.
— This was still a funny twist in the sketch, though, made even better by John’s puzzled look while continuing to play the song.
— Oh, wow, and that’s it? I like how this ended when the joke was still hot. I guess this is going to be a running segment throughout the show, that’ll lead to the Ray Charles bit I’m remembering.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

TRIOPENIN
— Boy, they sure love re-airing this commercial………

JAWS III
Matt Cooper (JOB) & Sheriff Brady (DAA) resume Land Shark hunt
   
— Surprised to see a Landshark sequel so soon, but this should be good.
— The heavy breathing John does every time he and Dan are hesitant to look at the various victims’ remains is a little detail that keeps cracking me up.
— “That’s the third time he’s hit that building”? More like, it’s the third time he’s hit that APARTMENT. I have to laugh at how each scene with the Landshark targeting a different woman all take place in the exact same living room set, with the same furniture, background decorations and everything.
— I’m liking this change of pace by showing the Landshark at the police station.
— Loved the part with the voice of Pardo getting attacked by the Landshark during a radio announcement.
— Whoa, this is unexpected, with them breaking the fourth wall and being told by the Landshark that the sketch has to be cut short.
— Great ending line with John lamenting the fact that he turned down “Cuckoo’s Nest” for this show.
STARS: ****

BELL-HOP
a clumsy bellhop (CHC) walks in on an interracial couple (GAM) & (JAC)

— As if it weren’t already strange enough seeing the same living room set used in various scenes throughout the Jaws III sketch, now we see that same living room used in this next, completely-unrelated sketch. It’s especially odd since I’m watching the DVD version of this episode, where there’s no commercial breaks or bumpers, thus we go from Jaws III’s ending with John sitting on the living room couch to the beginning of this sketch with Garrett and Jane in the exact same spot John was.
— Wait… WHAT??? This sketch is over ALREADY??? Nothing even happened in it! It was just a minute of Chevy doing his usual ‘klutz’ shtick by fumbling around with newspapers while Garrett and Jane looked on, and then Chevy left the room, and the sketch ended. What the hell??!?! If there was a premise to this sketch, I sure missed it.
— And why did Chevy have an old-timey southern accent?
— And was there supposed to be some social commentary by having an interracial couple? (remember, this WAS in the 70s, back when showing interracial couples on TV was still taboo) The writers went absolutely nowhere with that aspect of the sketch.
— Overall, this whole sketch just left me baffled. I think my review of it is longer than the sketch itself was.
STARS: *

EDITH ANN SKATES
little girl Edith Ann (host) cautiously ventures onto an ice skating rink
 
— Is this the same character that Lily would later do in a sketch I remember seeing from her 1983 hosting stint where she and Julia Louis-Dreyfus played two little girls?
— This looks like an interesting film, and seems like it will be a good showcase for some physical comedy from Lily.
— Hmm, I was right about the physical comedy, though the main humor actually seems to be coming from the various funny little things she’s saying in her voice-over narration.
— I especially like the line about pasting her dog’s paws to the floor.
— Overall, a cute little film that I enjoyed.
STARS: ***½

BEETHOVEN, PART 2
Beethoven (JOB) plays piano & sings “My Girl”

— Ah, this IS a running piece.
— An even funnier twist this time, with him now actually singing the tune he unexpectedly breaks into.
— I love how he actually kept the thick accent while singing “My Girl”s lyrics.
STARS: ****

NEXT SHOW
GIR announces Richard Pryor & Candice Bergen will do SNL in December

— So far, this seems to just be a straightforward announcement of upcoming SNL airings, but even in something as simple as this, Gilda comes off so charming and endearing.
— I liked the audience breaking out into applause at the mere mention of Richard Pryor being the next host. You can tell they’re eagerly awaiting him being on the show.
STARS: N/A

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 1
 
— What the—? For our opening “phone conversation” gag, instead of saying something funny into the phone, Chevy just picked up the phone, dialed some numbers, stayed silent for a while, and then disinterestedly hung up without even saying anything. Odd. That, understandably, got zero reaction from the audience.
— Hmm, a news story about Generalissimo Francisco Franco’s death back when it first happened.
— Since Francisco Franco’s death was new at the time, the punchline of tonight’s joke obviously wasn’t what we would now expect (that he’s still dead), but was instead about how despite his death, doctors say his health has taken a turn for the worse, which in some ways is like an early prototype of the later ‘he’s still dead’ running joke.
— Oh, wow. The preceding episode’s Update had a tasteless George Wallace wheelchair joke that I liked a lot, but now tonight’s Update had an even-funnier tasteless George Wallace/“Ironside” wheelchair joke that I absolutely LOVED. I also enjoyed the audience’s loud “ooh” reaction. And again, that joke would be right at home in a modern-day Michael Che/Colin Jost Weekend Update.

SPUD BEER
Spud Beer is the potato-based brew to drink after electroshock therapy
 
— Haha, this is great. Again, while I’ve been kinda underwhelmed by most of this season’s fake ads so far, this one has a lot of things that I always like to see in an SNL fake ad, such as a memorably-creative fictional product that’s being advertised, a catchy commercial jingle, etc.
— A few familiar faces from the writing staff have prominent roles in this, including Tom Davis and Alan Zweibel, the latter of whom is particular funny here with his catatonic demeanor.
STARS: ****

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 2
CHC admits he drinks Spud Beer & pours a can of it on his suit
with GAM’s help, CHC repeats the top story for the hard-of-hearing
 
— The ad-libbed “toyboat toyboat” vocal exercise Chevy just did when stumbling through a joke was pretty funny. Like I said in the preceding review, I always like when Chevy quickly ad-libs little things like that. I heard he actually does the “toyboat toyboat” thing in some other Updates later this season whenever he stumbles over a joke.
— In tonight’s obligatory hard-of-hearing-news bit, I like how towards the end, Garrett was yelling some of the things Chevy “said” before Chevy even said it. That was a bit of a much-needed shake-up to the hard-of-hearing-news routine. I mean, I know the routine is considered a classic nowadays, but man, did they have to use it in EVERY Weekend Update?
STARS (FOR BOTH WEEKEND UPDATE HALVES): ***

PATTY
Susie (host) forgives her recently-arrested sorority sister Patty Hearst

— I couldn’t think of anything to say at all while watching this, but overall, this was an okay piece that was helped by Lily’s performance.  And while I initially wasn’t happy when she started to break out into song here, I ended up liking how the song actually had some heart.
STARS: ***

JIM HENSON’S MUPPETS
Ploobis & wife Peuta (Alice Tweedy) find that Scred has fallen for host
 
— I like where the premise is going; Scred being in love with Lily Tomlin seems like it will be a welcome change of pace for these Muppets segments.
— Interesting segue to Scred meeting Lily.
— Hmm, more singing…
— I have to say, though, that their performance of “I Got You Babe” is pretty funny and really sweet.
— Overall, definitely one of the better Muppet segments so far.
STARS: ***

A FILM BY ALBERT BROOKS
— This is just a replay of Albert’s film from the first episode. Lily gave an interesting intro/set-up to this, though.

BEETHOVEN, PART 3
Beethoven (JOB) sings “What’d I Say” with backups wife (GIR) & maid (LAN)
 
— Is it really necessary to keep doing the ‘good morning, nice to see you’ bit at the beginning of ALL of these Beethoven segments?
— I liked John’s deadpan “achoo” after snorting some snuff.
— Ah, the sunglasses… Yep, here we go, we’re getting the Ray Charles piece I had been anticipating.
— Yes, this is fantastic. And I like how Gilda and Laraine are now getting involved, too.
— John’s Ray Charles imitation is simply perfect. This is definitely one of his all-time best performances.
— It’s great how these Beethoven segments used a three-part format to slowly build up to this Ray Charles bit, which is much better than if they had gone right into it in the first segment like I had been expecting.
STARS: *****

HARD HATS
forewoman (host) gives female hardhats lessons on how to harass men
 
— Lily just called Jane by her real name. Ah, I see this is yet another instance of this cast playing themselves in a sketch that in more recent years would’ve given them character names instead.
— Not too sure how I feel about this premise. However, Lily and the female cast are doing nice ensemble work here, and their fun performances are helping make this sketch more enjoyable.
— Very strange ending. Was Gilda’s “Don’t cry; it’s only school” line even intended to be funny? It ended the sketch on a flat note.
STARS: **½

SPEED
Speed diet pill lets housewife (Anne Beatts) get a lot of work done
 
— I’m loving the concept of this.
— Great visual with the cabinet filled with neatly-folded brown paper bags.
— Overall, another very funny fake ad tonight. They’ve been getting better with these.
STARS: ****

MARGO’S DANCE PALACE
at a dance, 1950s teen (host) gossips about classmates to her friend

— Ah, I see this is a ‘one-woman show’ performance piece.
— Considering I usually don’t care for ‘one-man/woman show’ sketches, I’m surprised by how much I’m really enjoying this. Lily is doing such a great job and I’m very engaged in her performance.
— Overall, a very strong performance piece. I even liked the sentimental dramatic turn this took towards the end.
STARS: ****

GOODNIGHTS
host & Bees GAM, LAN, GIR, CHC scat with SNL Band
 
— Oh, I can see these goodnights are going to be special, right from the beginning.
— Funny blooper when they were waiting for Gilda to speak and she didn’t even realize they were on the air.
— Looks kinda weird seeing Chevy in one of the Bee costumes, though I know he wore one in the Bee Hospital sketch from the premiere.
— I believe this is our first of several instances this era where Garrett showcases his nice singing voice.
— Wow at Gilda’s raspy-voiced scatting.
— This is a very nice way to close the show. Unpredictable format-breaking moments like this is part of what made the original cast so fun.

_______________________________

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Another fun episode. This is what I expected would happen when you mix Lily Tomlin with 70s SNL.  It was a given that Lily would be an excellent host, and she certainly delivered, being fantastic in every single segment. Hell, she even got me to love a ‘one-man show’ piece. Overall, she was a strong enough host to make me wish she were a regular member of this cast.
— Lots of musical-based material tonight, which is something I’m usually not crazy about seeing on SNL, but it’s hard for me to complain about it in this episode when most of the music was actually fun, especially the goodnights number and, of course, the classic Beethoven three-parter.
— SNL seems to have officially hit its stride by this point. Knowing what episode is coming up next, it’s nice to know things get even better from here.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Robert Klein):
— a slight step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Richard Pryor