September 18, 1976 – Lily Tomlin / James Taylor (S2 E1)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
big-shot host arrives with entourage, intends to do show sans rehearsal
   
— An outdoors cold opening. Is this being done live?
— Lily thinking Gilda is Goldie Hawn is pretty funny.
— “Pepe”? Is that the same Pepe of Butch and Pepe, two little people who would later frequently appear on the show in the Dick Ebersol era?
— This is an exciting way to start the season.
— If this whole opening has been live (again, I’m not sure), I’m liking how this is reminding me of how extensive Buck Henry’s second monologue from last season was.
— LOL at “Jane Belushi”.
— I like the added touch of Chevy chasing Pepe after saying LFNY.
STARS: ****

OPENING MONTAGE
— It’s the same one from last season. There doesn’t appear to be any changes in it, from what I’m seeing.

MONOLOGUE
when the cameras turn off, so does host’s cheerful attitude toward SNL
 
— Heh, figures that when she was naming off the cast, Garrett was almost forgotten and then was added in as an afterthought.
— The monologue’s over already? No, there’s gotta be more.
— Ah, an extended scene after the monologue “ended”. I knew this wouldn’t just end without Lily having done anything funny in the monologue.
— Good ending. I still wanted more out of this whole monologue, though, considering how strong Lily’s last one was. Maybe they made tonight’s monologue so short to compensate for the cold opening being so long and extensive.
STARS: ***

DEBATE ’76
Gerald Ford (CHC) & Jimmy Carter (DAA) discuss the issues
   
— Ah, SNL’s first-ever presidential debate parody. This one is famous for two parts, which I’ll point out when they occur.
— The negro line about Garrett was very funny.
— This is going great so far.
— The slow zoom-in on Chevy’s serious-yet-puzzled facial expression (third screencap above) during Jane’s complicated question is cracking me up so much, especially since I know the classic response that’s coming from him next.
— FAMOUS PART #1: “It was my understanding that there would be no math.” Absolutely hilarious line, and one that would begin a tradition of future presidential debate sketches having one particular legendary line that would go on to become well-remembered for ages (e.g. “Strategery”, “I can’t believe I’m losin’ to this guy!”, etc.)
— FAMOUS PART #2: Chevy’s podium pratfall. It’s not only famous because of how funny and memorable the visual is, but also because of the real-life injury Chevy suffered from it. From what I remember hearing, the prop guys at the show forgot to pad the podium, and thus, when Chevy landed groin-first into it during the pratfall……. yeah, you can imagine the damage that did. I’m not seeing any visible signs of pain from him in the sketch (probably because from what I hear, he had a high threshold for pain back in those days), but the injury ended up being serious enough for him to be hospitalized for a while, which causes him to miss the next two (I think) episodes. Considering how much I’ve gotten so used to seeing him as the show’s star in the episodes I’ve reviewed so far, it’s gonna be interesting seeing an episode without him.
— The ending credits of this sketch has a lot of funny jokes in it.
 
— Overall, a classic debate sketch.
STARS: *****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 1
LAN reports on Foreign Legionnaire’s Disease outbreak at the Blaine Hotel
 
— The “tennis without balls” joke about the transsexual tennis player was hilarious, even though it would be seen as very un-PC nowadays.
— The Idi Amin joke was very funny as well.
— John getting struck with the disease was pretty funny.

THE PHONE COMPANY
Ernestine (host) on The Phone Company- “We don’t care, we don’t have to”

— Hey, it’s the Laugh In character that I remember the most out of Lily’s characters on that show.
— Lily’s character is very funny in this with her brash actions and ‘don’t care’ attitude.
— Overall, this was great.
STARS: ****

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 2
DOP is felled by Foreign Legionnaire’s Disease during Blaine Hotel promo
Emily Litella calls to inquire about “crustaceans” hijacking an airplane
 
— “Guests of Saturday Night Live stay at the Blaine Hotel” – ugh, ENOUGH with that overdone joke.
— Oh, wait, Pardo suddenly getting struck with the disease while announcing the Blaine Hotel promo is actually very funny.
— The Update phone is now ringing. I get the bad feeling it’s gonna be Emily Litella.
— Yep, I was right.
— Litella’s bit ended up being the same-old tired routine; they might as well have just had her appear at the desk like she usually does.
STARS (FOR BOTH WEEKEND UPDATE HALVES): ***

MUPPET MORGUE
in the morgue, host tries to get the Muppets to “Whistle A Happy Tune”
 

— This would end up being the final appearance of the SNL Muppets. Can’t say I’ll miss them.
— It sounds like you could hear whispering right before Wisss appeared.
— Mighty Favog is actually making me laugh in this.
— Interesting hearing a mention of “The Muppet Show”.
— I laughed at Scred’s response to Lily asking them if they’re family entertainment.
— Favog’s face turning inward when trying to whistle is a funny visual.
— This ended strangely.
— And now, this has segued into Lily introducing James Taylor’s next musical performance. Will this Muppets bit be continued later tonight? This felt unfinished.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

TESS
eccentric Tess DiSenzo (host) chats with a real estate salesman (GAM)

— Ha, I hear audio of the Three Stooges!
— I recognize that audio as being from the Stooges’ 1952 short “Gents in a Jam”. As someone who’s a huge Three Stooges fan (which is where I get my online name from), you’ll be seeing me geeking out at any reference to them that SNL makes.
— What’s with the Christmas decorations?
— Garrett’s straight man reactions are kinda funny.
— I’m getting some enjoyment out of the weird details of Lily’s stories.
— Man, the studio audience is not into this anymore.
— Overall, I wanted to like this more than I did. I usually always enjoy the character work that Lily Tomlin does, and while this sketch did have its moments, something about it left me kinda underwhelmed.
STARS: **½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

JUDITH BEASLEY
housewife Judith Beasley (host) submits to pointless product tests & more
   
— I know this is a Laugh In character, but I’m only familiar with her by name only. I don’t recall ever seeing any of her sketches before.
— I’m liking this a lot so far.
— The big close-up of Dan’s smile at the camera was hilarious.
— I’m loving how Lily’s being asked to do increasingly ridiculous and irrelevant tasks.
— LOL at the hamster head.
— Ah, there’s the Antler Dance that I’ve always been curious to see.
STARS: ****

WOMEN IN LITERATURE
Elna Sullivan’s (LAN) journal entries lack depth

— I’m not crazy about this so far.
— I can’t think of anything else to say, other than this didn’t work much for me.
STARS: **

TAYLOR MEAD
by Gary Weis- Taylor Mead [real] gives his thoughts about television
 
— Oh, no, no, no! Not another short with this Taylor Mead guy again.
— This one is leaving me just as baffled and weirded-out as the first short with him did.
STARS: *½

LILY TOMLIN: “THE ANTLER DANCE”
host, PAS, SNL Band perform “The Antler Dance”
   
— A very fun and catchy performance.
— And now, Lily’s being joined by the cast, James Taylor, the Muppets (wearing actual antlers on their heads), Pepe, and I think I see some of the writers.
STARS: ****

GOODNIGHTS
at closing, host, cast, audience members do the Antler Dance
 
— A continuation of the fun preceding musical number.
— Quite a sight seeing the whole audience standing up and doing the dance.
— Overall, this has got to be one of the most fun and energetic ways SNL has ever closed out an episode.

_______________________________

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A solid way to start a season. There wasn’t much to complain about, a lot of moments were fun, we got a classic presidential debate sketch, even the Muppets made me laugh, and Lily did another top-notch job as host. She was such a natural for SNL that I wish she would’ve hosted more often in this era; IIRC, the next (and last) time we see her as host will be much later in 1983, where SNL had a completely different cast and completely different tone.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1975-76):
— about the same

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Norman Lear