February 21, 1976 – Desi Arnaz (S1 E14)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Gerald Ford (CHC) undergoes a free association test with analyst (DAA)
 
— Dan’s hair color looks lighter than usual.
— The “primary/lose” part was very funny.
— Overall, a decent Ford opening, but there have been better ones.
STARS: ***

MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)
 
— “Acapulco Gold”?
— Okay, it’s now obvious from the things Desi’s saying about it that it’s marijuana, which makes this yet another example of drug humor in 70s SNL. Still funny.
— Wow, that’s it? Very short monologue.
STARS: ***

NATIONAL EXPRESS
Rubin Carter (GAM) carries National Express Card to get recognized

— Hey, it’s the same guy Garrett played in the preceding episode’s Pledge Allegiance film that went right over my head.
— Wow, the audience is loving this. But I’m afraid the humor is lost on me. While I have read up on this Rubin Carter guy over the last day (thanks, Jurb) and now understand why Garrett appeared as him in the Pledge Allegiance film, I don’t understand this National Express sketch’s premise of people not recognizing him.
STARS: ???

IMPOTENCE
(JAC) consoles husband (CHC) after unsuccessful sex on his 40th birthday
 
— Funny twist at the end, and Chevy’s facial reaction was very good.
STARS: ***

LUCIANA VERMICELLI’S BEAUTY REGIMEN
Luciana Vermicelli’s (LAN) book details her ghoulish beauty regimen

— Is this another celebrity who I have no context for, or is this a fictional character?
— LOL at her hideous childhood pictures at the beginning.
— Regardless of who Laraine’s playing, this is actually pretty funny so far and she’s a perfect performer for a sketch like this. Considering the disturbing dialogue and Michael O’Donoghue’s penchant for casting Laraine as the lead in his weird sketches, I can’t help but wonder if he wrote this one.
— I didn’t get what Laraine was nervously reciting/singing before laying back down in the coffin.
— Lots of short sketches tonight so far.
STARS: ***½

LITERARY RECITAL
host’s Cuban accent mangles Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky
 
— I got a big laugh from Desi stopping mid-recital and asking “Who the hell talks like this???”
— The premise is a little too thin for my likes, though Desi’s reactions are keeping this fairly funny.
STARS: **½

VERY WHITE
Caucasian guy Very White’s (CHC) sexy singing attempt isn’t very soulful

— Ha, I’m already laughing at just the idea of Chevy Chase playing a Barry White-type character.
— Him acting like he was finally about to sing, only to end up just sneezing was pretty funny.
— Okay, this is starting to run out of steam. They should’ve ended this while the joke was still hot.
STARS: ***

I LOVE LUCY PILOTS
failed I Love Lucy pilots have other Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz Jr.) mates
host welcomes a surprise guest- SNL prop man Willie Day [real]
   
— I really like the idea of this.
— Weird hearing “Ricky Ricardo” sound like a white guy. Why isn’t Desi Arnaz Jr. attempting to imitate his dad’s voice/accent?
— Speaking of non-impressions, Garrett didn’t even TRY doing Louie Armstrong’s trademark raspy voice. Was Garrett always this bad at doing impressions?
— The “I Loathe Lucy” scene is my favorite so far.
— Good to see Tom Schiller’s Ricky Ricardo impression again.
— Very random ending, with Desi Arnaz acting like he was going to introduce an I Love Lucy-related special guest, only to bring out SNL’s prop man.
STARS: ***½

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 1

— Random gag at the beginning, with Don Pardo announcing that Chevy’s assistant will be filling in for him, only for Chevy to correct Don.
— Wow, that Edward Kennedy joke got absolutely no reaction.

SPEED
— Yet another mid-WU repeated commercial

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 2
Betty Boop cartoon serves as artist’s rendering of Patty Hearst trial
 
— Foolishly, it took me a while to get the Nixon/China “I am not a clook” joke.
— As a lover of classical cartoons, I really like how tonight’s variation of the “Patricia Hearst trial artist’s rendering” gag is showing clips from a random Betty Boop cartoon. I always get a kick out of whenever SNL does that type of thing, like in an episode from 1984 when Rich Hall did an election report that treated clips from an old Heckle & Jeckle cartoon as if it was election footage.
— Wow, that’s it? Update’s over already? No guests? Probably for the better, considering how weak a lot of the side bits in the preceding episode’s Update were. And at least I didn’t have to see Emily Litella appearing for the 27th consecutive episode.
STARS (FOR BOTH WEEKEND UPDATE HALVES): ***

THE UNTOUCHABLES
Eliot Ness (DAA) tracks Lucy (GIR) & Frank Nitti (host)
   
— I’ve actually started getting into old reruns of “The Untouchables” fairly recently. I can already tell I’m going to like this parody.
— The announcer of this sketch is doing an absolutely dead-on imitation of Walter Winchell’s announcing from the real show.
— And speaking of dead-on, Dan’s Robert Stack/Eliot Ness vocal impression is both uncanny and funny.
— Hey, it’s the Prisoners Audition set from the Peter Cook/Dudley Moore episode.
— What was with Michael O’Donoghue staring towards the camera with a frozen blank look on his face during his entire appearance? (you can see it in the background of the second screencap above) That did make me laugh, though.
— Interesting how this has turned into an “I Love Lucy” crossover.
— George Coe sighting!
— Very good ending.
— Overall, as an Untouchables fan, this sketch entertained me.
STARS: ***½

LUCY & ETHEL INTRO
Lucy (GIR) shows Ethel (JAC) costume ideas for sneaking into Ricky’s club

— I like how they’re keeping Gilda playing Lucy as a running theme tonight.
— Gilda’s Lucy performance continues to be fun, but I’m not sure where this sketch is going.
— Oh, looks like this was just an extended intro to Desi’s musical performance.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

PET TALK WITH TAYLOR MEAD
by Gary Weis- Taylor Mead [real] lauds his cat as it gets high on catnip

— Oddly enough, I had just read some stuff about this Taylor Mead guy when reading about Andy Warhol a few days ago.
— Uhhhhhh, I have absolutely no idea what to make of what the heck I’m watching right now.
STARS: Uhhhhhh…

CUBAN ACUPUNCTURE
practitioner of Cuban acupuncture (host) uses cigars on (JOB)’s migraines

— Hey, it’s the Untouchables set.
— I could already see the ‘Cuban cigar acupuncture’ reveal coming.
— I got a good laugh from John’s “I haven’t got many opens left” line.
— Haha, and now Desi one-upped that line with an even-funnier reply: “That’s what you think”.
— An interesting sketch to watch progress, even if some of it’s not all that funny to me.
— The vasectomy line at the end was worth a laugh, though.
STARS: ***

DOUBLE TALK
(CHC)’s nonsense words make communication with girlfriend (LAN) difficult

— SNL sure seems to like using their homebase stage as a restaurant set lately.
— Are they just re-using the same background extras from the Untouchables sketch?  I’m seeing O’Donoghue again and some others.
— Not too crazy about the premise of this sketch. I feel like I’ve seen this idea done funnier elsewhere, maybe even on this same show in a later era.
— I did like Chevy’s last line before he exited.
— The ending with John was predictable as hell.
STARS: **

BISEXUAL MINUTE
(JAC) recounts an early American’s lesbian affair

— Why does Jane keep glancing to the side?
— Hmm. Well, this sketch didn’t make me laugh (though I’m not sure if it was supposed to), but I guess Jane’s story was kinda interesting, at least.
STARS: **

DESI BOOK
Lucille Ball (GIR) comments on her inclusion in host’s new book

— Well, THAT ended almost as soon as it began, but I supposed it was just intended as a segue into the musical performance that has just started.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

GOODNIGHTS
host leads conga line of castmembers through studio
   
— Oh, wow, I’m loving this. Very fun to watch. I always enjoy whenever SNL does out-of-the-ordinary goodnights.
— I’m also liking how as they’re going around the studio, we can see the sets from tonight’s sketches.
— What’s with the “Adjust your set if it will make you happy” disclaimer on the bottom of the screen?

_______________________________

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— I’m a bit stumped over what to say about this episode overall. I felt like this episode was more “interesting” and “fun” than it was “funny”, as I didn’t find myself laughing out loud all that much throughout the show, but there were a lot of sketches where my enjoyment came from the performances rather than from the material itself.
— Desi basically played himself in everything, but he came off very likable and you can tell he really enjoyed doing a show like this.
— Again, no Muppets tonight. You’re spoiling me, SNL. It sure is going to be a disappointment when the Muppets do make their eventual return. Then again, maybe this hiatus will make me more tolerant of them.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Peter Boyle):
— a step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Jill Clayburgh