Month: September 2018

Posted on

April 8, 1978 – Michael Palin / Eugene Record (S3 E16)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Grandma Walton Tries To Tie Her Shoelace will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
Oscar-winner Vanessa Redgrave (JAC) uses podium as a political forum

— Jane’s acceptance speech was pretty funny.
— LOL at John as Yasser Arafat.
— Pretty funny opening, and it helps that the premise of award winners using their acceptance speech as an excuse to go off on a political rant is more relevant than ever today, 40 years later.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host’s manager Sid Biggs (host) kills time, puts two cats in his pants

— Michael coming out in character instead of as himself is a fun idea.
— His awkward stalling for time is making me laugh.
— Michael: “I have available a man who swallows live macaws! Wonderful act… disgusting to watch.”
— Haha, oh my god at him stuffing his pants with a salad and two cats. What a riot. Hilarious way to end this monologue.
STARS: ****½


LITTLE CHOCOLATE DONUTS
— Rerun


CONFESSION
IRS agent (DAA) questions a priest (host) about his tax deductions
H&L Brock solves moral dilemmas in addition to doing your taxes

— At first, I thought Dan was playing a mobster.
— This is pretty slow-moving so far. I’m starting to wonder where the big laughs are supposed to be coming from.
— Fairly funny visual with Bill in the thought bubble.
— Hilarious twist with this unexpectedly turning out to be a message from John’s H&L Brock character, which made the slow build-up worth it.
STARS: ***


THE SEAGULL
host tries to break record for escaping from a chest during Chekhov play

— Very funny and ambitious with Michael’s struggles to get out of the trunk and straitjacket while Bill and Jane are going on with the play and a timer is on the bottom of screen.
— Some pretty good laughs from Michael’s crazed rant about how he wanted to be a claims adjuster rather than an actor.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
actor (Leo Yoshimura) impersonates Tongsun Park to better his career
JOB wants the Rockefellers to spare Radio City Music Hall from demolition

— Dan’s opening “I’m in love… with this paper clip” bit was ruined by a badly-timed camera switch.
— Huh? Former president Gerald Ford announced plans for running again in the 1980 presidential race? I don’t know much about politics, but I thought that after a president leaves office, they couldn’t run in future elections.
— Hey, it’s Akira Yoshimura in his own Update commentary!
— I liked Jane’s “How quickly they turn” ad-lib in response to her bank robbers joke bombing.
— Another great John Belushi Update rant.
STARS: ***


NERDS MUSIC LESSON
piano teacher Mr. Brighton (host) gets fresh with Lisa during a lesson

— This appears to be our first traditional Nerds sketch, after their experimental first two appearances earlier this season.
— Gilda is even funnier in this than she usually is in these Nerds sketches.
— Heh, what was with Bill doing Steve Martin’s “excuuuuuse meeee!”?  Was it all the rage at the time for EVERYBODY quote that?
— I got a good laugh from Michael suddenly throwing Gilda on the piano keys and starting to kiss her.
— Michael’s overdramatic “Yes, I know!” before leaving cracked me up for some reason.
— Good ending with the “lollipop kiss”.
— Overall, easily my favorite of the Nerds sketches that have aired up until this point.
STARS: ****


THE FORGOTTEN MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
Sherlock Holmes (host) investigates The Case of the Scarlet Membrane

— Michael’s pre-taped intro was weird, but the constant corrections from the off-camera voice made me laugh.
— LOL at whatever that is sticking out of Michael’s nose.
— When Michael randomly fired a loud gunshot at the target sheet, I’m pretty sure I could hear an audience member audibly say “Whoa, shit” in surprise.
— This is very funny so far, and has a very Monty Python feel, which I love.
— Bill’s raspy British accent is cracking me up.
— Overall, very funny sketch led by a great Michael Palin performance.
STARS: ****


PARTY NIGHT
(BIM)’s desire to have a good time at a party bothers his wife (LAN)

— I smell a Marilyn Suzanne Miller-written slice-of-life piece.
— This took a while to start getting funny, but I’m starting to get some laughs.
— Loved Bill’s exclamations and happy dance at the end.
— Overall, this was pretty good, though there have been better slice-of-life pieces in this era.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


MR. BILL PAYS TAXES
by Walter Williams- an arm & a leg

— Another one so soon? Didn’t we just get a Mr. Bill film in the last episode?
— Mr. Bill’s voice sounds even higher-pitched than usual in this.
— Overall, this was fine, but I think it was too soon to do another Mr. Bill.  These are probably better in small doses, as I didn’t laugh quite as much as I did in the last Mr. Bill film.
STARS: ***


DANGER PROBE
a fop (host) & his servant (GAM) provoke rednecks in a bar

— I recall this eventually becoming a recurring sketch later on.
— Franken’s exaggerated redneck accent is making me laugh out loud.
— Michael and Garrett are pretty funny as the fop and blackamoor.
— Haha, holy hell at the sudden wild scuffle between the cops and the rednecks. I love that for some reason.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

— Michael shows that the two cats from earlier are fine.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A solid, fun episode that had something worthwhile in every sketch; nothing got a bad rating from me.
— It goes without saying that Michael Palin would be a natural as SNL host, and I like how he helped give this episode a strong Monty Python feeling, which makes this reminiscent of the times Eric Idle hosted prior to this.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Christopher Lee):
— a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Michael Sarrazin

Posted on

March 25, 1978 – Christopher Lee / Meat Loaf (S3 E15)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
101 Dalmations Get Run Over By 101 Moving Vans will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
NBC wants new Grizzly Adams star JOB to change his name to Kevin Scott

 

— Oh, so this is the “Belushi changes his name to Kevin Scott” premise I’ve always heard about. Gotta love how 70s SNL often did random backstage storylines like this.
— Good premise, and I like the way John is performing this.
— A somewhat funny bit at the end with John butchering LFNY by pronouncing “live” as “liv”, and then awkwardly correcting himself. I’m not sure what the point of that was, though. I sure hope that wasn’t a genuine flub from John. I mean, the guy’s been on the show for three years at this point; I can’t see him genuinely botching the traditional opening line like that.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Yet ANOTHER modification to this season’s montage: Gilda has a new shot where, instead of doing her traditional apple-bite while in front of a jumbotron displaying her name, she’s shown in a random place in the city blowing a gum bubble.

— The “Kevin Scott” bit carries over into this montage, as John is removed from his usual spot in the credits and is put at the end after Gilda while being announced as Kevin Scott. That probably explains why Gilda’s shot was changed tonight; I guess it’s just a temporary thing.


MONOLOGUE
host doesn’t take part in horror films that aren’t up to his standards
The Island of Lost Luggage- traveller’s (LAN) bags missing in horror film
The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave- horror film about awful party guest (JOB)
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Rogers- Vincent Price (DAA) has dual role in horror film

       

— I’m already liking Christopher’s dry, deadpan Brit delivery. He’s going to be an interesting host.
— A series of horror trailers are going to be shown. I guess this is going to be like that one sketch from the Anthony Perkins episode where he starred in several bad horror movie trailers.
— Gilda’s very funny as the Igor-like character.
— LOL at the mention of a “horrifying tote-bag sequence”.
— They should’ve gotten Dan to play the trailer announcer again, like he did in the Perkins sketch. His announcing in that one was hilarious.
— Whoa, the famous “The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave” was part of THIS? I always thought it was a standalone sketch, probably because I first saw it in an SNL Halloween compilation special. I was also under the misconception that this sketch was from season 4.
— I remember when I first saw “The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave” in the aforementioned Halloween special, I was eager because it was one of the first things I ever saw John Belushi in after hearing so much about what a legend he is.
— Dan is absolutely brilliant in his portrayal of Vincent Price as Mr. Rogers.
— Weird how they came back to Christopher on home base just for him to say (after waiting a long time for the audience applause to stop) “See what I mean?”, and then the monologue immediately ends. No “We’ll be right back” or anything. Amusing, though.
— Overall, this was great. The trailers had a lot of the same type of humor that I loved about the aforementioned Anthony Perkins sketch. The Vincent Price/Mr. Rogers portion put this over the top as an even better sketch.
STARS: ****½


SPEECH THERAPY
Baba Wawa & speech therapist Henry Higgins (host) in My Fair Lady redux

 

— Nice fake-out with the musical number getting cut off before anyone even started singing. If only SNL always had that restraint from doing musical sketches…
— The first time we’ve seen Baba Wawa in a while.
— What movie is this reminding me of? The title’s on the tip of my tongue.
— Another musical number fake-out.
— Ah, the movie title I’m thinking of is “My Fair Lady”, which this sketch is now clearly a parody of.
— I like the creepy-looking clock in that transition shot just now.
— You could see a stagehand running in the background at beginning of the scene that just started.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
— Funny intro from Christopher.


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW

— Hmm, Jane’s wearing a much-brighter-than-usual Update suit tonight.


WEEKEND UPDATE
JOB makes a mess while using a toy supertanker to illustrate oil spills
for kids, JAC & DAA sound out terminology of Sesame Street writer strike
through a process of elimination, BIM makes his Oscar picks
JAC & DAA debate whether to do a Point-Counterpoint during Weekend Update

         

— Jane: “I’m Jane Curtin and I’m wearing a new suit.”
— They’re still keeping the “Kevin Scott” premise going, with “Kevin” refusing to answer Dan until Dan addressed him as John.
— John’s commentary didn’t amount to much and felt kinda pointless, but his performance was fun.
— The Sesame Street bit was another pointless segment.
— Bill’s very first time doing an Oscars predictions segment, which would go on to become a tradition for him.
— Bill bitterly mentions that John Travolta was supposed to host SNL but backed out at the last minute. It’s weird picturing him hosting in this era, considering when he did finally host, it was decades later in a very different era.
— Bill’s whole commentary ended up being fantastic, especially him completely dismissing the whole “best supporting actors/actresses” segment.
— And now we have another important debut: point/counterpoint.
— Jane’s rant is great in itself, even when I know what legendary line Dan is going to respond with.
— And there it is: “Jane, you ignorant slut!”
— Overall, Dan was really in his element during his entire hilarious rebuttal to Jane, which is refreshing after how poorly he’s been doing on Update lately.
— The point/counterpoint segment was a great way to end Update.
STARS: ***½


MR. DEATH
grim reaper Mr. Death (host) explains his role to little girl (LAN)

 

— Haha at Christopher entering as Grim Reaper, the role he was born to play.
— Laraine is very cute in her performance. And it’s a change of pace not seeing this type of role being played by Gilda for once.
— The Richard Harris/Nick Nolte comment was great.
— Loved Christopher’s eerie comment about Laraine’s 15th birthday.
— Overall, a very strong sketch with fantastic writing and performances.
STARS: ****½


SUGGESTIONS FOR SADAT
Anwar Sadat (GAM) asks viewers what he should do following a raid

 

— Is this Garrett’s first appearance of the whole night? (ADDENDUM: he was in one of the horror movie trailers during the monologue)
— Not sure where this is headed; Garrett’s just going on and on while the audience isn’t laughing at all. His usual weird delivery is making me laugh, though, even though the lines themselves aren’t too funny.
— The twist with him desperately asking viewers to send in suggestions made me chuckle.
STARS: ***


COLD AS ICE
by Gary Weis- a woman injures & tortures (Stacy Keach)

   

— Oh, a serious Gary Weis music video. Ugh, I thought that type of Weis film was long behind us.
— If anything, this at least shows how much I had been enjoying this episode until this point, as this film is the first time in the whole episode where I was truly bored.
STARS: *½


DEL STATOR’S RABBIT HUT
enjoy a roto-broiled lagomorph meal at Dell Stator’s (DAA) Rabbit Hut

   

— “Del Stator” is the same name used for that toad restaurant commercial that Dan did in a season 1 Buck Henry episode.
— Overall, not much to say about this, but it was decent and had the usual type of insane Aykroyd commercial premise that I always like. I kinda wanted this to be a little funnier, though.
STARS: ***


VAMPIRE / NIXON
vampire hunters (host) & (JOB) try to kill Richard Nixon’s (DAA) memoirs

     

— I’m liking how so many of tonight’s sketches have a horror-themed setting, which is so perfect for Christopher Lee.
— Ha, even though he’s only been shown from the back so far, I can tell we’re looking at Dan as Nixon!
— LOL at the music Dan’s playing on the stereo to set the mood.
— Very clever premise.
— Dan’s exaggerated death is hilarious.
— Great drawn-out ending at the typewriter.
STARS: ****½


RICHARD BELZER
Richard Belzer [real] does impressions of Mick Jagger & Bob Dylan

 

— In this, Belzer looks more like how I’ve always known him to look, compared to how he looked in that season 2 “Chevy’s replacement” cold opening where I shamefully didn’t recognize him (“Is that Neil Levy?” I foolishly asked in my review).
— Strange seeing musical stand-up.
— The bit with Rolling Stones songs being performed in a wedding singer manner is fairly funny.
— Haha, oh my god at his Mick Jagger impression.
— His impression of what then-young Bob Dylan would be like at 86 years old is kinda interesting to watch nowadays, considering Dylan’s much closer to that age now than he was back then.
— Overall, very hit-and-miss stand-up comedy. I got a few good laughs from this, while other moments fell flat. I would’ve preferred to see him just do straight stand-up without all the musical stuff.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


MR. BILL’S CIRCUS
by Walter Williams- 3-ring dismemberment

    

— Very funny part with Sluggo feeding the dog poison.
— Loved the brief juggling bit.
— Overall, this whole thing was hilarious as usual.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very good episode with a lot of really strong sketches. Christopher Lee did an excellent job as host and he brought a delightfully macabre, creepy atmosphere, which the writers accommodated by giving him lots of well-written horror-themed sketches.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jill Clayburgh):
— a step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Michael Palin

Posted on

March 18, 1978 – Jill Clayburgh / Eddie Money (S3 E14)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Bowling For Medicine will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
leprechaun-suited GAM sings “Danny Boy” while his message scrolls by

   

— At first, I thought the backup singers were played by John, Bill, and Dan, but they appear to be actual singers.
— This opening so far is just Garrett singing. Is this going to be a serious cold opening?
— Ah, a comedic disclaimer from Garrett himself acknowledging how they usually put disclaimers on the screen during his musical numbers.
— LOL at the audience laughing a lot when the disclaimer negatively calls out the audience for usually laughing during Garrett’s songs.
— The comment about his leprechaun suit was really funny.
— Surprised to see a solo Garrett LFNY. Until now, I thought his only time saying LFNY by himself was in the Richard Pryor episode in season 1.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host promises to have a good monologue if she’s invited back a third time

— Jill: “If they ever ask me back…” Well, as we know now, that wasn’t happening. This ended up being her final time hosting.
— I feel bad for Jill that they threw her out there with such a nothing monologue. The writers seemed to treat this as a total write-off. Overall, probably one of the more pointless monologues in SNL history.
STARS: *


ROYAL DELUXE II

— Rerun


THE OLYMPIA CAFE
a new waitress (host) quits her job

     

— John’s character now has a mustache, which he didn’t have in the first installment of this sketch.
— I like Gilda as the regular customer who “gets” how the cafe is run.
— Dan’s way of saying “cheeseborgie” is a funny touch.
— A benefit for “the little boys that ate the balloon”? I wonder if that’s referencing a real news story from that time frame.
— The intense back-and-forth with John trying to get Jill to pronounce “cheeseburger” with an accent was pretty good.
— Jane, when Jill is having a breakdown: “Can someone get her a glass of water?” John: “No water, Pepsi.”
STARS: ***½


SYBIL III
therapist (host) believes (JAC), (GIR), (LAN) are same woman

   

— I get the feeling from the beginning with Jill that her patient is going to turn out to be Gilda’s catatonic Colleen character.
— It IS!
— Funny with the girls describing their punishment of being hanged upside-down from a light fixture and receiving ice-water enemas.
— Good visual of all three ladies unsuccessfully trying to lay on the therapist couch at the same time.
STARS: ***


BAD ONE-MAN THEATER
five simultaneous portrayals in An Evening With…

      

— Surprised the play starts with Tom Schiller in such a prominent speaking role.
— Bill’s lines as Edgar Alan Poe are really funny.
— Boy, this is delightfully awful.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


NUTRIFIX
Nutrifix intravenously delivers instant breakfast & amphetamines

   

— Funny concept.
— Ha, I didn’t foresee Laraine getting the injection in THAT part of her body.
— John’s loud yell when getting injected was hilarious.
— Overall, a really good commercial that felt very quintessential of 70s SNL.
STARS: ****½


WEEKEND UPDATE
LAN’s interview with mine inspector (ALF) is cut short by a cave-in
Roseanne Roseannadanna wanders from income tax to bad odors

      

— Boy, that Walter Cronkite/Jean Stapleton joke got almost ZERO laughs from the audience.
— Another Al Franken coal miner commentary? His one from earlier this season was really bad.
— Haha, oh my god at the mine caving in shortly after the Franken commentary started. That came out of nowhere.
— Roseanne Rosannadanna’s nasty rant is funny as usual, especially the story about her childhood classmate Hernando Rosannadanndo.
— At the end during the sign-off, was Dan not even there? The camera suspiciously stayed on just Jane, when they usually show both anchors.
STARS: ***


BLURRY
on an airplane, (host) sees that (JOB)’s myopia has disillusioned him

   

— I got a decent laugh from the picture of John’s wife being blurry and out-of-focus like everything else he’s described.
— That’s the whole sketch? Meh. The performances were fine, but I didn’t care for this premise.
STARS: **


SHOWER MIKE
Richard Herkiman & wife reunite bickering couple (JOB) & (host) in shower

  

— Is this going to be a sequel to Bill’s Shower Mike sketch?
— It is. I used to think the first one was a one-off piece. Not sure if this will work as a recurring sketch.
— I like how they upped the ante from the last one by adding a fourth person to the shower this time.
— The wife of John’s character is named Judy. Knowing that these Shower Mike sketches were inspired by John’s real-life wife Judith/Judy giving Bill a microphone-shaped bar of soap as a gift, I wonder if that was an intentional shoutout.
— Overall, not anywhere near as good as last time, but still a pretty good sketch.
STARS: ***


THE CONEHEADS ON EARTH
Prymaat discovers Beldar is having an affair with student driver (host)

    

— The set-up of this with Jill in a hotel bed talking to her off-camera lover who’s in the next room makes this feel like we’re in for a Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute sketch. But I know that’s impossible, because they only did that sketch one time, when Margot Kidder hosts next season.
— Ha, it’s Beldar as the lover! At least I was right about the lover being an Aykroyd character.
— Interesting premise with Beldar having an affair.
— Jane’s muttering of “Mmmebs… mmmebs” whenever she’s distressed is really funny to me.
— Hilarious line with Dan telling Jane “No one gives cone like you.”
STARS: ****


CELEBRITY CRACKUP
Tony Orlando (BIM) & others discuss their problems

    

— This was originally supposed to air in the Chevy Chase episode earlier this season, but got cut due to tension between Bill and Chevy that reportedly hampered the sketch.
— Ha at Gilda playing Claudine Longet, which makes me think of a certain controversial season 1 sketch.
— Garrett playing Richard Pryor? Well, this impression is going to suck.
— Garrett’s frozen depressed, almost-catatonic facial expression is kinda funny, at least.
— Bill almost looks like he’s going to laugh right now.
— Ha, I too almost thought Garrett said “coke” instead of “cope”.
— Bill’s doing really well in this. And I’m sure he’s happy not to have to deal with Chevy’s presence this time. Speaking of whom, I wonder which celebrity Chevy was going to play in the original version of this sketch.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


SERIOUS SONG
host sings an amusing song about relationships

— I can tell right from the start of this that we’re in for a Jill Clayburgh non-comedic musical performance. She did one in her season 1 episode, too.
— I guess I was wrong about this 100% being a “non-comedic musical performance”, as there’s at least some humor in some of her spoken asides throughout the song. I still don’t feel right giving this performance a rating, though.
STARS: N/A


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A fine if somewhat average episode. There wasn’t much that stood out as particularly strong, but most of the sketches were still pretty enjoyable and there wasn’t much I disliked aside from the monologue and the Blurry sketch.
— Like last time, Jill Clayburgh did an adequate if unmemorable job hosting. The type of roles she got and the way she played them reminded me a little too much of Jane Curtin, though. Then again, you can say the same thing for Candice Bergen whenever she hosted in this era, and she was certainly more compatible for SNL than Clayburgh was.


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

 

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Christopher Lee

Posted on

March 11, 1978 – Art Garfunkel / Stephen Bishop (S3 E13)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Jacques Cousteau Gets An Underwater Enema will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
Modern Crimes- (DAA) & (JOB) rob Charlie Chaplin’s (GIR) grave

     

— I’m enjoying how this is such a dead-on spoof of silent movies.
— A very interesting and unconventional idea for a cold opening.
— Haha, Gilda as Chaplin.
— I like how LFNY was “said” via silent movie subtitles.  This is the only time I can think of in SNL history where the LFNY was done silently.  I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if there was another occurrence that I’m forgetting right now.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
audio glitch in host’s perormance of “Wonderful World” provokes JOB rant

   

— Right off the bat, he’s launched into a musical performance with no setup.
— Hmm, the performance has suddenly stopped due to “technical difficulties”. Looks like this could be pretty funny, especially with John now walking onstage.
— Funny line about Garrett having to drive Jane Pauley to work every morning.
— I’m curious what John’s line about NBC putting “part 3 of Loose Change on before part 2” was referring to. Sounds like an amusing technical screw-up NBC made in their programming.
— I feel a “But nooooo” coming from John.
— Ah, there it is!
— John’s starting to sweat profusely for some reason. I notice that’s been happening a lot with him this season.
— I like John’s “Oh, by the way, nice hair, Artie” addendum after he walked offstage.
— This has gone back to a serious musical performance.
STARS: ***½ for the comedy portions


KROMEGA III

— Rerun


TOMORROW
Tom Snyder (DAA) reveals battered husband’s (host) identity

   

— Dan’s delivery as Snyder is hilarious as usual.
— Funny visual with Art as an identity-hidden shadowy figure.
— The whole “battered masturbating husband” premise is very funny.
— A lot of good laughs from Dan’s Snyder inadvertently giving away Art’s identity in various ways.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


MIRACLE IN CHICAGO
ghost of Mayor Daley (JOB) appears at an Irish pub

— The opening song that Bill is listening to on the jukebox is actually a tune that was often played by the SNL band in this era.
— Great entrance from John. And his look as Daley is really funny.
— John’s long speech isn’t all that funny and is deservedly getting a very tepid audience reaction.
— Overall, I didn’t enjoy this much. I feel like I didn’t get what this was going for.
STARS: **


KISS CONCERT
stage door guard (JOB) keeps musical guest & others out of a Kiss concert

     

— John’s exchange with Stephen Bishop before throwing him out was great.
— Dan looks absolutely hilarious in that KISS makeup.
— Overall, a pretty solid sketch with some funny bits and nice character work from the cast.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
Mighty Mouse film documents wonderdrug Hemomycin’s anti-clot action
while reviewing Coming Home, BIM eats crow & says “Vietnam was a mistake”

       

— The news story of Charlie Chaplin’s body being stolen from his grave – oh, so THAT’S why they did that cold opening earlier tonight.
— Garrett’s delivery is even odder than usual, which is really saying something.
— The “Mighty Mouse” clip in Garrett’s commentary was kinda funny, but Garrett already did something like this on Update before.
— Yikes, Dan misses his cue to do the next news story, thinking it was Jane’s turn.  Then we have to wait for him to find the story as he awkwardly shuffles through his papers. This is, what, the second or third time this season he’s made that mistake?
— Oh, man – now Dan lost his place in the middle of the above news story. Good lord. Frequent blunders like this just goes to show you why he only lasted one season on Update.
— Bill scores with yet another solid review commentary.
— WTF at Dan’s socked feet visibly resting on the desk during Jane’s hippo joke. (right side of the below screencap)

STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (ART GARFUNKEL)


LOOKS AT BOOKS
nerds Todd & Lisa talk about the fate of the class of ’77

  

— The Nerds! Weird how their first appearance had them doing a radio show interview, and now they’re doing a talk show interview. I wonder how long until we start getting Nerds sketches that followed the conventional format they’re now remembered for.
— Bill’s character has a different last name than the one that would go on to be used regularly for him.
— Overall, not much going on here premise-wise, but Bill and Gilda were funny with their anecdotes and mannerisms, and the studio audience was getting a big kick out of this.
STARS: ***


DON’T LOOK BACK IN ANGER
by TOS- elderly JOB visits the SNL graveyard

     

— Oh, it’s “Don’t Look Back In Anger”, possibly the most well-known short film of the entire original SNL era.
— Excellent make-up job on John. I remember the first time I saw this, I had a hard time convincing myself that that’s John Belushi under all that make-up; he looked so unrecognizable, not to mention how well he changed his voice to sound “old”.
— For some reason, I hadn’t remembered the beginning with John on a train.
— In a strange way, the unintended irony of the premise with John outliving all of his fellow cast mates makes this film even more poignant.
— Can’t help but notice how chilling it is that Gilda’s the first cast member who’s death John talks about.
— Very interesting hearing the way each cast member died.
— I liked the dig at Bill’s on-again off-again mustache from this time period.
— A mention of Dan’s webbed toes.
— That close-up of John slowly looking up into the camera with sly, sinister eyes when he’s about to say the classic “cuz I’m a dancer” line (fourth screencap above) is a great touch that makes me smile every time I watch this.
— Fantastic ending with John happily dancing on his castmates’ graves.
— Overall, an indisputable well-done classic.
STARS: *****


ANDY KAUFMAN
audience doesn’t want to hear Andy Kaufman [real] read The Great Gatsby

   

— Haha at Andy’s dignified accent. I think I know what famous piece this is going to be…
— When talking about his earlier SNL appearances, it was impressive how he seamlessly went from his “normal” dignified voice to his earlier character voices and then back to his “normal” voice.
— Ah, my earlier hunch was right: this is the famous performance with him doing a reading of the Great Gatsby.
— Heh, what the hell is up with one of the audience member’s VERY loud coughing fit during Andy’s reading?
— It’s so funny hearing the audience’s audible slowburn as Andy continues droning on and on.
— This is fucking hilarious! I cannot stop laughing.
— HAHA, now the audience is angrily starting to boo.
— Andy: “Let’s keep it down, please, because we have a long way to go.”
— Loved the fake-out with him making the audience happy by walking off in anger, then he comes back, says he was just kidding, and then goes right back into the reading of Gatsby, much to the audience’s displeasure.
— Haha, this is KILLING me. My throat is hurting from laughing so much.
— Random Lorne walk-on.
— Another great fake-out with Andy finally answering the audience’s requests to play a record, only for the record to end up being ANOTHER continuation of him reading Gatsby.
— Overall, this is such a classic Kaufman bit, and is the quintessential representation of his knack for making the audience uncomfortable and testing their patience.
STARS: *****


THE LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR SLEEPYTIME PLAYSET
the Looking For Mr. Goodbar playset brings sex & violence to children

   

— LOL at Gilda’s way of making the doll “drink”.
— Gilda’s so realistic in how she’s playing with the dolls the exact way a real child would.
— The increasingly inappropriate nature of this is very funny.
— The second toy commercial this season that ends with a “from Mainway” tag.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (ART GARFUNKEL)


GOODNIGHTS

— This was INSANELY short. The show must’ve ran long. Wonder if Kaufman was to blame.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A really solid episode with very little to complain about. Things got especially great towards the end of the show, where we got two back-to-back all-time classic pieces (Don’t Look Back In Anger, The Great Gatsby) and a strong final sketch (Looking For Mr. Goodbar).
— Hard to say anything about Art Garfunkel’s performance as host, considering he barely even did anything in any of the sketches. And the very few sketches he did appear in were all in the first half of the show. His only appearances in the second half were just in musical performances. The only thing I can say about him as host is he did okay with what the writers gave him and didn’t come off too awkward.
— Belushi had an amazing night, having a dominant presence with a lead role in a majority of the sketches, and giving strong performances in all of them, one of which stands out as one of his best performances of all-time (Don’t Look Back In Anger).


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (O.J. Simpson):
— a slight step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Jill Clayburgh

Posted on

February 25, 1978 – O.J. Simpson / Ashford & Simpson (S3 E12)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
James At 16 Marries Roman Polanski will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
GIR answers “What happens when SNL is out of show-opening ideas?”

 

— Right off the bat, Gilda’s already coming off adorable and endearing with her ad-libbed reaction to the audience’s delayed applause.
— I think I remember this being shown as the cold opening  in Gilda’s “Best of” compilation. I’m not 100% sure, though, as Gilda did a number of cold openings like this where it was just her as herself speaking to the camera while standing in front of a curtain backdrop.
— Funny how all the questions are from people with the first name Kevin.
— Ha, and now it’s been revealed that the show’s writers made up all the questions Gilda’s reading.
— Overall, a very solid way to start the show, and a prime example of Gilda’s immense charm and likability as a performer. I can see why this was used to open her “Best of”.
STARS: ****


OPENING MONTAGE
— After the preceding episode’s revert to the original opening montage from the first two seasons (presumably due to Chevy hosting), they’re back to using this season’s jumbotron montage.
— Hmm, a big change, however: most of the cast now has new shots. Dan and Gilda, the first and last cast member announced, still have the same shot from before, in which they’re posing in front the jumbotron that’s displaying their name, but all the cast members announced in between them have new shots where they’re shown in a random place in the city.

 

— I particularly like John’s shot with him doing his trademark eyebrow-raise, and Bill’s shot with him giving a deadpan wink to the camera.
— This is actually the FOURTH time this season where they updated the cast shots. I can’t think of any other time in SNL history where an opening montage went through so many modifications throughout a single season.


MONOLOGUE
Conehead host tells inspiring life story about reaching his goals

— OH MY GOD at O.J.’s entrance, boogieing down to the theme music while wearing a friggin CONEHEAD prosthetic! Haha, I’m ALREADY getting a fun vibe from him as a host. This has eased the tension that I was worried I would have as a modern viewer watching a pre-infamy O.J. Simpson.
— The occasional bits with the band interrupting him with loud music is kinda funny, but boy is his story very long-winded and dull, and it’s being played too straight. I feel kinda bad for being down on this, because he’s coming off so likable, but it’s not enough to make this story interesting.
STARS: *½


SAMURAI NIGHT FEVER
Futaba & brother (host) go disco dancing

       

— I’m really liking Bill’s performance as the angry Italian father.
— It’s Futaba, somehow back from the dead!
— Yes, Samurai Night Fever!!! I’ve always been eager to finally see this sketch.
— The juxtaposition of Futaba at a dinner table with his Italian family is quite funny.
— John’s fake Japanese gibberish is particularly amusing in this one. I think John’s trying to go for a Futaba/John Travolta hybrid in his delivery.
— Funny part with O.J. not wanting to be black anymore.
— We’re now at a disco. I’m liking how extensive this sketch is becoming.
— Dan: “This is the life: to be young, stupid, and have no future at all!”
— Love how 70s this all is.
— Haha at the sequence with Futaba on the dance floor. This is great. His cartwheels and flips are awesome.
— I like how after the sketch ended, the camera pulled back and showed how they made the chroma-key set look like a disco dance floor.
— Overall, this lived up to my high expectations. Easily one of my favorite Samurai sketches.
STARS: ****½


GREAT MOMENTS IN SPORTS
Babe Ruth’s (JOB) broken promise produces karma

   

— LOL at John’s Babe Ruth casually stuffing his face with a hot dog and beer.
— Garrett makes one of the least-convincing little kids ever. It’s almost funny in itself.
— I’m liking O.J.’s various antics whenever the camera cuts back to him.
— Very funny part with Garrett’s reaction to finding out over the radio that he’s dying.
— The constant emotion swings over Babe Ruth’s near-home runs are pretty amusing.
— Good line from O.J. about this being another example of “a white man breaking a promise to a poor little colored boy”.
— Great twist at the end that Garrett’s sick boy character was actually a young Hank Aaron.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


MOHAWK MASTER
the Mohawk Master clippers help maintain your punk hairdo

  

— I remember years ago on the SNL Archives site, when going through the “commercials” section, I stumbled upon a screencap of Dan using the mohawk shavers on his own head and I remember thinking this looked like a hilarious commercial.
— I welcome just about any commercial that has Dan doing his manic, fast-paced pitchman shtick.
— Funny concept, but the overall commercial didn’t quite live up to my expectations. It wasn’t bad, though, just average.
STARS: ***


THE RAID ON NICOSIA
NBC’s all-star Big Event is based on recent events

     

— I like the quick-paced “dramatic” intros with the cast playing celebrities.
— Overall, a pretty fun ad.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
discovered manuscript reveals “Moonlight Sonata” & “Night & Day” link
BIM warns Oscar nominee Woody Allen not to take the Orson Welles route
LAN interviews naked host from the Buffalo Bills locker room
Roseanne Roseannadanna strays from dental hygiene to Woodstock

       

— For the first time in a while, Update wasn’t preceded with a mini-segment where one of the anchors “previews” what’s to come in tonight’s Update. I guess that was a short-lived experiment.
— Another Dan joke that’s accompanied by someone shown in the news screen writing something extensive on a chalkboard. I still think that’s Tom Schiller’s hand we’re seeing.
— First time in a while where we get a review from Bill “Now get out of here, ya knuckleheads” Murray.
— Bill’s overall commentary was funny, and an improvement over his last two or three review commentaries.
— For once, we have a Laraine remote segment where Laraine’s actually funny in it. I’m getting some pretty good laughs from her getting all hot-and-bothered over O.J.’s nudity.
— Only Roseanne Roseannadanna’s third Update commentary, and already she’s become an audience favorite, judging from the huge recognition applause they gave her tonight.
— Hmm, the letter Roseannadanna’s reading tonight is from someone named “Bob Van Ry” (which is an inside joke, BTW, as that’s the name of one of SNL’s stage managers) instead of the usual Richard Feder.
— As usual, Roseannadanna’s nasty rant is a riot. Some really good laughs here.
— Loved Jane’s sudden loud “What the HELL are you talking about???!!” outburst at Roseannadanna.
STARS: ***


O.J.’S RECORD
host uses voodoo to keep Walter Payton from breaking his rushing record

   

— Haha, great reveal with O.J. secretly sabotaging Walter Payton via a voodoo doll.  I’m really liking this premise.
— Did the usually-unbreakable Dan Aykroyd actually start cracking up at the end? (screencap below) It looked like it, but perhaps he was laughing in character as part of the script.

— Overall, a very good sketch. O.J. was great in this.
STARS: ****


THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
ALF’s brain tumor hurts his joketelling, so TOD solicits audience support

   

— Oh, the Franken & Davis “tumor” one. I remember hearing about this one before.
— Franken’s drawn-out delivery, and him getting lost mid-jokes and screwing up the punchlines are being pulled off well.
— Overall, a daring, ballsy premise that had a good payoff.
STARS: ***½


MANDINGO II
hot passion between slaves & whites breaks taste boundaries

     

— Garrett in drag once again…
— The increasingly-fiery model set and Dan’s steamy narration are hilarious.
— Is the DVD version I’m watching of this sketch edited? Around the part when they briefly show make-out sessions between Laraine & DragGarrett and Bill & O.J.(!), there’s a lot of weird fast, sloppy cuts that make it seem like portions were spliced out of it. Does anyone know what this is all about?
— Speaking of the Bill/O.J. kiss, that moment actually has importance: it was apparently the very first interracial same-sex kiss in TV history, which was pointed out by O.J. himself during a segment in SNL’s 15th anniversary special (though IIRC, he jokingly explains that it was actually Walter Payton who kissed Bill Murray).
— Overall, what a wild sketch.  This was a friggin riot and I love the way it escalated.
STARS: ****½


E. BUZZ MILLER’S ANIMAL KINGDOM
film footage shows copulating fauna

   

— Interesting how E. Buzz Miller hosts a different show in each of his sketches. That’s a good way to keep the character fresh.
— Overall, nothing much to say here other than that this contained the usual funny E. Buzz Miller sleaziness.
STARS: ***½


HERTZ
host learns image-wary Hertz gave his car rental to Walter Payton

   

— Ha, random brief Emily Litella cameo.
— A very quick commercial, but the punchline gave me a good laugh and I liked the irritated look on O.J.’s face during the ending freeze-frame.
— I recall hearing that this is the last new pre-taped fake ad of the whole season, despite the fact that there’s still about 8 episodes remaining.  Apparently, we get nothing but repeated fake ads from here on out this season, which sounds pretty lazy.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


CELEBRITY BATTLE OF THE SEXES & RACES
black men easily best white women

    

— Funny concept.
— Laraine has surprisingly been getting tons of airtime tonight. It feels like she’s appeared in practically every single sketch, which is a refreshing change from how invisible she’s been coming off this season.
— LOL at Garrett’s look as Leon Spinks.
— Some really funny lines with Bill listing off all the earlier events.
— I’m not sure, but I think that’s frequent extra and future obscure featured player Yvonne Hudson as the lady hosing down Laraine and Gilda.  If so, this must be one of her earliest SNL appearances.  I’m surprised, because I thought she didn’t start popping up on the show until season 5.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— What a fun episode. While this wasn’t exactly an all-time classic episode or anything, the sketches were consistently enjoyable and the show had a fun, silly, easy-going vibe that I loved. I’m pleasantly surprised, because I came into this episode kinda dreading the inherent awkwardness of watching an O.J. Simpson-hosted show through modern eyes. Glad to see I was wrong about the awkwardness; in fact, I enjoyed the episode so much, O.J.’s post-1994 infamy wasn’t really on my mind after the first few minutes of the show. And O.J. himself actually did a very good job as host, giving a lot of fun performances and having a good sense of humor, which was evident right from the beginning of the monologue where he randomly made his entrance in a Conehead prosthetic.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Chevy Chase):
— a moderate step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Art Garfunkel

Posted on

February 18, 1978 – Chevy Chase / Billy Joel (S3 E11)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Little House On The Prairie Burns To The Ground will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
Gerald Ford (CHC) talks geography after confusing Suez & Panama Canals

   
— The obligatory return of Chevy’s Gerald Ford. Watching SNL episodes in chronological order, it feels a little weird seeing Chevy on the show again after getting so used to the show without him since his departure.
— Right out of the gate, Chevy looks a little distracted in his performance. Understandable, considering that mere minutes earlier, he and Bill Murray famously got into a big fistfight backstage. I’m curious to see if there will be any visible tension in the cast’s performances throughout this episode.
— A reprisal of the memorable gag with Chevy’s Ford answering a glass of water as a phone.
— Chevy’s Ford to his wife Betty: “Thank you, Ron.”
— The map demonstration was really funny.
— And there’s the return of the traditional ending fall.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Strangely, they reverted back to the opening montage from the first two seasons.

   
— Weird seeing this montage again. Is SNL only doing this to add to the night’s nostalgic “old school” feel with Chevy’s return?


MONOLOGUE
CHC shamelessly garners applause from the audience using various ploys

   
— It’ll be interesting to see how this monologue goes, considering this is SNL’s very first alumni-hosted episode.
— Chevy’s coming off really fidgety in this; obviously he’s still shaken up over the fight.
— Is all the frequent cheap applause part of the joke?
— Yep, I guess it is. This ain’t too funny so far.
— I feel like SNL ended up using the same “host keeps saying things to get frequent cheap applause” premise in another host’s monologue years later, but I can’t figure out which host it was.
— Oh, great, now he’s launched into a song. Ugh.
— Well, at least the song was brief.
— Overall, this monologue was kind of a disjointed mess, not helped by Chevy’s slightly off performance. I didn’t laugh much here.
STARS: **


MOTH MASHER
the Moth Masher compresses & plasticizes to ready insects for your wallet

   
— Nice to see another commercial with Dan doing his usual manic fast-talking pitchman.
— The bizarre nonsensical premise and the way it’s being played like it’s totally normal is great. I especially like the part about putting the plasticized moth into your wallet.
STARS: ****


AFTER LOVE
(CHC) & (GIR) evaluate their performance during a post-coital discussion


— I’m really liking Gilda’s various strange lines about her orgasms.
— This sketch is starting to have the feel of a Marilyn Suzanne Miller piece.
— Very funny part with Chevy explaining he said his own name during the sex because of all of his nights spent alone.
— Great “It’s your apartment” reveal at the end.
— Overall, a very well-written sketch and featured strong performances from Gilda and Chevy.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


KING
Jack (DAA) & Bobby (BIM) Kennedy bug Martin Luther King Jr. (GAM)

   
— Bill Murray’s first appearance of the night. I’m eager to see what his performances will be like tonight, considering how heated I know he is after the scuffle with Chevy.
— Bill and Dan’s Kennedy accents are really funny.
— Dan: “It seems the good ones, they die young.” Clever reference to the Billy Joel performance that preceded this. Speaking of which, some SNL fans are under the misconception that the Chevy/Bill backstage fight actually happened during the aforementioned Billy Joel performance, instead of happening before the show started. It IS funny, though, to imagine Billy Joel singing about good people dying young while Chevy and Bill are beating the crap out of each other.
— Dan: “Have you ever slept with a white girl?” Garrett: “Does your sister count?”
— A pretty forgettable sketch overall, despite decent performances.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
a phony phone call from CHC displaces DAA from the anchor desk
LAN’s attempt to interview striking miner (ALF) is foiled by his coughing
JAC doesn’t fall for CHC’s attempt to displace her via a phony phone call
straying from topic of Spinks-Ali fight causes JOB to become animated
Emily Litella welcomes CHC back to Weekend Update; JAC tells them off
with GAM’s help, CHC repeats the top story for the hard-of-hearing

             
— The sponsored “Pussywhip” bit at the beginning was very funny.
— Haha, that’s clearly Chevy’s disguised voice talking to Dan over the phone.
— Dan announces he “has to split” after receiving family emergency news.
— Chevy has suddenly returned to the desk in Dan’s spot, and he’s even wearing his old anchorperson suit from the first two seasons. You can hear a guy in the audience very audibly exclaim “Alright!!”
— Over the years, I’ve heard some behind-the-scenes stories that Chevy taking over as Update anchor tonight was one of his demands that week, arrogantly explaining that “my fans expect it”. Reportedly, Jane was FURIOUS over this. This was just one of MANY ways that Chevy is said to have pissed off everybody at SNL that week (and as we know now, Chevy pissing off everybody at the show would go on to be a regular thing every time he hosted in the future).
— Ha, Chevy doing a Mr. Ed voice once again.
— What the heck was the point of Franken’s coal miner commentary? It was weak and one-joke.
— Another phone call from a disguised Chevy, this time trying to lure Jane away from the desk.
— Jane’s “Nice try, Sparky” response to Chevy’s failed phone call ruse was great.
— LOL at Jane’s casual mention of Leon Spinks being “one of the ugliest heavyweight champs of all-time”.
— This is John’s first appearance of the whole night, surprisingly.
— During his story, John makes a passing mention of “Brian Doyle-Murray, Bill’s brother”.
— And now, John mentions a roommate named Steve Bushaikis, which is also the name of one of John’s more obscure recurring characters on the show.
— There’s the “But nooooooo” line, which pretty much officially becomes John’s catchphrase at this point.
— John’s whole roughhousing/boxing gloves bit with Jane was hilarious, especially Jane’s panicking and her passing out.
— Emily Litella shows up out of nowhere, happily greeting her favorite Update anchor “Cheddar Cheese”. As tired as I’ve gotten of this character, she’s actually coming off endearing here.
— Jane to Litella: “(angrily) First I get slugged by Belushi, now I gotta deal with YOU!”
— Chevy brings back his famous “making faces behind someone’s back” routine while Jane’s continuing to rant on at him and Litella.
— Jane’s aggression when calling out Chevy for greedily taking over Update is clearly part of the script, but you just know there’s definitely a lot of real-life anger she’s venting there.
— To conclude tonight’s Chevy Chase-Era Weekend Update Nostalgia Tour, we get the return of “News for the Hard of Hearing”. They’re really going all out in bringing back all of Chevy’s beloved Update staples.
— Overall, what an epic Update. Easily the best of the season so far. Kinda sad, though, that it took Chevy’s return for SNL to have its first above-average Update of the whole season. Really shows how fairly rough the quality of Update has been this season.
STARS: ****


BAGGAGE INSPECTION
customs trainee (CHC) inspects luggage of drug smugglers (JOB) & (LAN)

   
— I got a good laugh from Garrett hiding a joint in his mouth when trying to sneak away.
— Hilarious part with the cocaine leaking out of Laraine’s “chest”.
— During Bill’s funny walk-on at the end, he actually interacts with Chevy very briefly. Surprisingly, there was no visible tension at all, which at least shows they’re both very professional performers when they’re in character during a sketch.
— Overall, a very good sketch.
STARS: ****


THE VOICE
by Gary Weis- (Valri Bromfield) provides the soundtrack to LAN’s bad day

   
— A rare Laraine Newman showcase. I mentioned in an earlier review that she’s been really invisible this season.
— A very bizarre short so far, but the strange off-camera operatic singing and Laraine’s growing frustration are both making me laugh.
— What the–? Is that Valri Bromfield? The stand-up who did that awful “teacher” routine in SNL’s very first episode? How random that she pops up as a punchline at the end of this short. It looks like she’s even wearing the same outfit she wore in the first episode.
— The weirdness of this whole short was certainly more entertaining than the snooze-worthy humor Gary Weis usually offers.
STARS: ***


SERMONETTE
Church of Confusion holy man (CHC) tells a rambling story


— Chevy’s voice is kinda funny, but where in the WORLD is this going???
— Okay, now Chevy’s trying too hard with the “funny” voices here.
— And the sketch is over. I’m still left wondering what in the WORLD I just watched.
STARS: *½


GREAT MOMENTS OF WAR
at a checkpoint during WWII, GIs use USA culture quiz to root out Nazis

  
— Funny little detail with Bill quietly counting to himself in German.
— Predictable ending with John not knowing the answer to the Cleveland Indians manager question himself.
— I’m a little torn on this sketch as a whole. I felt the writing was tepid, but the performances were fun and made it worth watching.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


ENDINGS
CHC interrupts LAN, GIR, JAC during a badly-written old lady sketch
Twilite Zone- cast tries several methods to get out of a skit with no end
Jaws V- the Land Shark fools the women with promises of a sketch ending
GAM sees cast dead on the floor, ends show with “That’s All Folks”

       
— Gilda’s basically just doing an old-timey version of her Emily Litella voice.
— The fourth wall has broken with Chevy entering the scene as himself and calling for the sketch to end because “the piece is going nowhere”.
— Haha, sudden “Twilight Zone” twist. I always love Dan’s dead-on Rod Serling impression.
— Ha, and now we get a sudden John-as-Truman-Capote twist.
— Love the reveal of John randomly not wearing any pants.
— I’m loving all the false endings and weird meta-turns this sketch keeps taking in their attempt to “get out of the sketch”.
— Haha, now we get the return of Landshark!
— Overall, this was fantastic. Easily one of my favorite meta sketches of this whole era so far, which is saying something, as this era has had lots of memorable meta sketches.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS
CHC plays organ with SNL band

 
— Chevy is seated at a piano as the cast crowds around him like he’s some sort of music legend. Ugh, his penchant for self-indulgence is on full display here.
— The DVD version I’m reviewing of this episode cut the goodnights very short. I had always heard that during these goodnights, a seething Bill Murray can be seen pacing back-and-forth in the background the whole time while giving Chevy a death stare. That description doesn’t quite match what I saw here, but it’s close enough: Bill makes a late entrance while looking miserable and he briefly shoots a particularly unhappy look towards Chevy hamming it up at the piano. Dan and John then stand by Bill, seemingly for two reasons: 1) to lighten him up and calm him down, and 2) to show solidarity with him, as if to say “We’re not on Chevy’s side”.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An okay episode, which exceeded my expectations. I came into this expecting a rough show, due to the backstage drama right before airtime and the fact that Chevy-hosted episodes usually have a reputation for being pretty tepid (probably due to his aforementioned habit of making everyone at the show miserable whenever he hosts). While tonight had a few subpar sketches here and there, the episode was decent for the most part and there were a few very strong segments, particularly the last sketch and the After Love sketch.
— The cast did a good job of hiding any tension during the sketches. Chevy himself, on the other hand, was visibly a little shaken early on in the show, but after the monologue, he got his concentration down and became his old self again, for better or worse.
— BTW, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the details of the Chevy/Bill fight, here’s an old article (from 1999) I dug up.


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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
The controversial hosts keep on comin’, as our next episode is helmed by The Juice himself, O.J. Simpson

Posted on

January 28, 1978 – Robert Klein / Bonnie Raitt (S3 E10)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Charlie’s Angels Catch The Syph will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
MOD & Tina Turner (GAM) join to perform “Proud Mary”

     
— We start off with the debut of Paul Shaffer’s Don Kirschner impression. Funnily enough, his name is displayed on the bottom of the screen in the same memorable font as the one used in SNL’s opening montage from the first two seasons.
— Is this gonna be a Blues Brothers number?
— Oh, it’s actually “The Mr. Mike and Tina Turner Revue”.
— Yet another instance of Garrett in drag.
— The juxtaposition of Mr. Mike doing a Least Loved Bedtime Tale during the song is great.
— Oh my god at Garrett’s sudden wild dancing. Hilarious!
— Wow, Garrett’s giving a great performance in this.
— A very energetic and inspired way to start the show.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about the time he played Shylock when back in college

 

— He points out that the first time he hosted was one of SNL’s very first episodes back when “nobody knew what they were doing yet”.
— Uh, didn’t he already do this “college brochure” bit in his monologue last time he hosted? I’m almost certain he did.
— The “subtle” antisemitism bit was hilarious, especially the sudden loud “HEY, JEW BOY!!!” remark.
— I’m liking a lot of his frequent little side comments & ad-libs during his routines.
— Overall, some really entertaining stand-up comedy here.
STARS: ****


THE OLYMPIA CAFE
Pete Dionasopolis’ (JOB) Olympia Cafe features a tripartite menu

   
— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut!
— I spotted Don Novello in the background. This must be his very first on-camera appearance.  I didn’t even know he was a writer yet at this point; he  must’ve been a recent mid-season hire.
— I’m loving the authentic feel of this whole thing, making this seem like we’re at a real cafe. Lots of subtle dead-on details in the performances.
— Bill’s ineptness when dealing with Robert’s order is hilarious.
— Ah, there’s the classic part with John rapidly pointing out to Robert all the “chee’burger chee’burger chee’burger”s that the patrons are having for breakfast when Robert complains that it’s too early for a cheeseburger.
— Overall, a strong debut.
STARS: ****


X-POLICE
X-Police terrorize a cohabitating couple (host) & (LAN)

   
— The return of X-Police! I think I’m in the minority in loving the first time they did the sketch, judging from lots of negative reviews I’ve read of that sketch from other SNL fans.
— Bill’s “slut” remark to Laraine got a good audience reaction.
— I loved Robert’s exaggerated growl when running towards the window to jump out of it.
— Overall, this was WAY too similar to the first X-Police sketch, basically doing all the exact same stuff with no variation. And while I liked the first time they did the sketch, I was looking forward to the sketch’s subsequent installments exploring different ground, not just repeating everything from the first one. Are the rest of the X-Police sketches (assuming there ARE any) like this?
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
Roseanne Roseannadanna’s topic wanders from an aneurysm to toenails

     
— This Update opens with a “sponsored by” gag, which, IIRC, would become a regular part of Update for a while.
— Finally, our first mention of “radioactive lobsters”, which kicks off the now-famous running premise of tonight’s episode. It’s about time. All the comments I had read about this episode over the years had me thinking the lobster premise was established right from the start of the show, which is why I’m surprised to see it didn’t happen until halfway through the episode.
— WTF at the accidental cutaway to Jane smiling hammily at the camera when Dan was doing the math formula joke.
— Why do I get the feeling that’s Tom Schiller’s hand that’s shown writing on the chalkboard?
— Ha, Jane made a funny ad-libbed “Was it worth it?” meta-comment after her brief Casey Stengel joke got badly screwed up by the camera.
— What the hell? Now Jane’s awkwardly stalling for time while Gilda is off-camera getting ready for an upcoming Roseanne Roseannadanna commentary. Jane acknowledges the fact that there’s still several news stories remaining but says there’s no point in doing them anymore (presumably because of how badly the last few jokes got screwed up). Holy hell, this Update has gone completely off the rails. What the fuck went wrong? It’s not every day you see an Update anchor actually aborting a joke on the air because of how sloppily things were going.
— Roseannadanna doing an aneurysm commentary. Haha, I can’t wait to see how gross this is going to get.
— Roseannadanna didn’t let me down. Her whole rant was very funny, especially the part about warts.
— Hmm, no letter from “Richard Feder” in tonight’s Roseannadanna commentary.  I thought that was a staple of all her appearances.
STARS: **½


NICK WINTERS
at a ski lodge, Nick “Winters” sings & Jimmy Joe Red Sky (DAA) reports

     
— Nick the Lounge Singer!
— I can tell from Bill’s outfit that this is going to be the installment with the famous moment where he sings lyrics to the Star Wars theme. I’ve often seen that as a clip in various SNL highlight reels, but I’ve never seen the full sketch itself.
— Bill’s opening “da da da” number hilarious.
— A good laugh from Robert calling Bill a pimp.
— I love Bill’s singing of “That’s The Way (Uh-Huh Uh-Huh) I Like It”.
— There’s the classic Star Wars number! It’s just as fantastic as I remember.
— Overall, an excellent second installment of this sketch; even better than his debut from late in the preceding season. This just may be the character at his absolute peak.
STARS: *****


FROGS LOOK AT FILM
Jerry Lewis (host) & The Nutty Air Traffic Controller

  
— Well, judging from the show’s title and Laraine’s intro, THIS is going to be a weird sketch.
— Who’s gonna play Jerry Lewis? I can’t picture anyone in this cast playing him, so I guess it’s gonna be Robert.
— Yep, it IS Robert.
— What’s with the studio audience? They’re completely silent.
— The concept reminds me of Lucy A-Bomb sketch. Dan’s even playing his uptight straight man character the same way he did in that sketch.
— Overall, a very accurate Jerry Lewis parody and a decently-performed sketch, though not anything I’d call great (then again, I’m in the minority in not finding Lucy A-Bomb to be a classic, either).
STARS: ***


NERD ROCK
KLOG deejay plugs album of nerds Todd (BIM), Lisa (GIR), Spaz (host)

   
— At first, I almost thought this was going to be a sequel to Dan’s AM/FM sketch.
— Is this the debut of Bill and Gilda’s Nerds characters?
— Hmm, never mind. Bill and Gilda’s characters in this aren’t named Todd and Lisa, so I guess this is just an early prototype of the Nerds sketches.
— Then again, just now, Bill did the noogie routine his Todd character would become well-known for.
— And now, Jane entering as a character called Mrs. Loopner proves that this IS the official debut of the Nerds.  Interesting seeing how different the sketch was in its first appearance.
— Overall, a pretty funny sketch; Bill was especially strong in it. Weird, though, seeing him play Todd with a mustache; all the Nerds sketches I saw in the past had a clean-shaven Bill.
STARS: ***½


LOBSTER UPDATE
JAC breaks in with a news flash- giant lobsters are headed for NYC


— I had been wondering when the heck they were going to continue the lobster premise that was established on Weekend Update. I have to say, I’m kinda disappointed to see that the premise hasn’t been dominating this episode as much as I was expecting it to.
— Robert’s comment about lobsters not eating Orthodox Jews was pretty funny.
STARS: N/A


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
— Ha, in the middle of the performance, we get a news update scrolling across the screen regarding the whereabouts of the giant lobsters. Great commitment to the premise, having it actually “interrupt” a musical performance. They’re starting to go all out with this concept, which is exactly what I wanted to see when I came into this episode.

 


RHONDA & BARBARA
Rhonda Weiss & Barbara talk & smoke some dope

   
— The audience is getting a huge kick out of the stoner humor in this, which shows what a novelty that type of comedy was back in the 70s.
— This has been way too slow so far, but I just now finally got my first big laugh, with the “I hear a black man stealing your jewelry” bit.
— The fourth wall has broken with Jane and Gilda dropping character to question what the hell that sudden odd noise is. Must be a continuation of the lobster premise.
— The audience went nuts at the sight of John walking on in a Bee costume.
— There’s the “Attack of the Atomic Lobsters” title. I guess I should separate the remainder of this into its own segment.
STARS: ???


ATTACK OF THE ATOMIC LOBSTERS
large seafood invades Rockefeller Center
host describes the scene as the lobsters wreak chaos in the studio

       
— Haha, a pre-taped special effect sequence of the lobsters in the city. Hell yeah! I’ve been waiting the whole episode for the lobster premise to fully take off.
— The cheesy stop-motion effects is adding to the great surreal-ness of this whole thing.
— They truly are going all out with this, now even getting the audience involved.
— Klein on Belushi’s death: “He had his whole life ahead of him… or at least two or three more years, anyway.” Yet another prediction of John dying in a few years… and we haven’t even reached whichever episode has “Don’t Look Back in Anger” where John says at one point “They all thought I’d be the first to go”.
— Wow, this whole thing is getting INSANE. I love it.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS
(MOD) & (TOD) develop a plan to cook the crustacean menace

   
— A continuation of the lobster attacks. Hell, even the Robert Klein bumper pic that preceded these goodnights had screaming and lobster noises in the background instead of the usual piano music and audience applause that always precedes the goodnights. It can’t be said enough how much I’m enjoying the way they’re going all out with this whole thing. Earlier in the episode, I expressed disappointment over how light the first 2/3rds of this episode was on the lobster premise, but they’re making up for it IN SPADES with these last 15 minutes.
— Now Pardo’s getting involved in the action.
— I’m loving the strange conversation between the two off-camera voices (who appear to be Tom Davis and……. Bill Murray, maybe? No, wait, I think it’s Michael O’Donoghue) while the scrolling end credits is displayed over a snowy static screen. Such a unique, unconventional, deadpan way to end an SNL episode.
— Among the scrolling end credits: “Lobster roars by Chevy Chase”. Wait, WHAT?!?!??!

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Oh my god, I can’t believe the greatness I just witnessed! Uh, sorry, folks, I’m still on a natural high from that epic ending. As someone who’s a fan of anytime SNL breaks their own format and anytime they do a rare “conceptual episode”, I got such great pleasure out of how the Atomic Lobster premise progressed. This definitely lived up to all the hype from over the years.
— The rest of the episode was no slouch, either. Between that wild Mr. Mike/Tina Turner opening number, a solid stand-up monologue, the debuts of some of the most defining recurring characters of this whole era (Olympia Cafe, Nerds), and what’s probably the most well-remembered Nick the Lounge Singer installment of all-time, there was plenty to love in this overall great episode.
— Robert Klein did another solid job hosting, and he also held his own during the whole lobster attack, doing excellent narration of all the carnage.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Steve Martin):
— a big step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Chevy’s back… and boy, does something infamous happen backstage right before airtime

Posted on

January 21, 1978 – Steve Martin / The Dirt Band, Randy Newman (S3 E9)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Bruce Jenner Wins The Javelin Catch will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
Jimmy Carter’s (DAA) State Of The Union address bores Congressmen

   
— I’m expecting this to be long, as SNL’s State of the Union parodies over the years tend to be very lengthy.
— The disclaimers in the stock footage cutaways are pretty funny.
— I’m also liking John and Bill’s antics in background.
— Wow, I’m surprised this is over already. Contrary to my earlier prediction, this was not long at all; in fact, it was shorter than a lot of cold openings in general are.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host electrocutes self, tells how to be a millionaire & never pay taxes

   
— The “John Belushi stole my $50!” bit was great.
— I like how the microphone electrocution bit was such a random non-sequitur.
— Overall, the usual strong Steve Martin monologue.
STARS: ****


SWILL
— Rerun


THE MYSTERY OF BIGFOOT
ranger (host) overlooks obvious clues pointing to (JOB) as Bigfoot

   
— Well… this whole sketch certainly came and went with nothing to note at all. Overall, I wasn’t crazy about this, and I felt the premise and the jokes were too obvious. No way should this have been the first sketch of the night.
STARS: **


FESTRUNK BROTHERS
Georg & Yortuk Festrunk meet their Croatian computer dates (JAC) & (LAN)

    
— The Festrunks in their second appearance.
— These characters are already getting good recognition applause from the audience.
— The characters now have the hats that would become part of their trademark look.
— Computer dating was a thing even back in 1978?
— I really like the turn this has taken with the brothers’ “American” dates turning out to be wild Croatians who are basically the female version of the Festrunks.
— John is hilarious as the Croatian uncle.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (THE DIRT BAND)


THE BODY FLOSS
Body Floss is the Swedish way to make hygiene efficient & fun

  
— Ha, why in the world was Garrett randomly in the shower with Bill? I had to laugh at how there was no acknowledgement of that within the sketch.
— I got a good unintended(?) chuckle from Steve’s frozen smile into the camera at the end.
— Overall, a pretty ho-hum fake ad, but the performances were fun at least.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
Roseanne Roseannadanna rambles from lack of heat to disgusting food

   
— Funny hearing an innocent mention of Fred Silverman being NBC’s new president. If they only knew back then how doomed his reign at NBC would be…
— Jane’s endless list of President Carter’s poor track record in his first year in the White House was eye-opening to me and made me start to understand why people back then were already predicting he’d end up a one-termer. Again, going through these SNL seasons in chronological order is providing a great history lesson for me.
— Roseanne Roseannadanna in her very first Update commentary.
— Roseannadanna’s disgusting food rant and Jane’s reaction are pretty funny. A good way for this character to make her Update debut.
— Short Update.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (RANDY NEWMAN)


FAMILY FEUD
Coneheads win despite unconventional answers

   
— I like the voice Bill is using, even though I can’t really judge how accurate of a Richard Dawson impression it is, as the Dawson era of Family Feud was before my time. I do know enough about Dawson to know that 1) Bill’s impression doesn’t look anything like him, and 2) Bill’s habit of kissing the female contestants is accurate to the real Dawson.
— The interplay between John and Bill is pretty funny.
— An interesting, fresh setting for the Coneheads.
— I liked the “the big one” answer to the “What do people like to bite?” question.
— Richard Dawson to Beldar: “I want you to tell me the first thing comes into your head… which will probably be a low-flying plane.”
STARS: ****


WHAT IF?
tonight’s simulation involves Napoleon (JOB) with a B-52

  
— Jane’s obligatory talk show host of the night being named “Joan Cage” seems to be a variation of the “Joan Face” name she had in an earlier talk show sketch this season.
— The Napoleon/B-52 concept doesn’t seem all that promising.
— Ha, Steve just sounds like he’s reusing his Festrunk Brothers voice.
— The whole dramatization is actually quite dull.
— I do know “What If?” ends up becoming a recurring sketch, and while I’ve never seen any of the subsequent installments yet, I did hear that one of them is about Superman as a Nazi, which sounds much more promising than tonight’s installment.
— Jane saying at the end that the next episode’s topic is “What if God and Superman got into a fight” seems to have been part of the inspiration for the aforementioned Superman Nazi sketch.
STARS: **


HOLLYWOOD HOMES
by Gary Weis- host tours Hollywood homes of his “close personal friends”

   
— I like the part with Steve talking to “Sonny Bono”.
— The repeated joke of Steve yelling a celebrity’s name outside of their mansion and getting no answer is starting to get a little tiring.
— Very funny part with Steve claiming he’s standing outside of Rin Tin Tin’s house.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (THE DIRT BAND & STEVE MARTIN)


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Well, it had to happen sooner or later: a Steve Martin episode that was average. Before this point, all of his episodes were strong and memorable, so I was kinda disappointed to see that tonight’s didn’t measure up. While this was far from a bad episode, there weren’t anywhere near as many well-remembered sketches that Steve’s episodes from this era usually have, and tonight also had a few more ho-hum sketches than I’m used to seeing in his episodes.
— It felt like there was an unusually low amount of sketches tonight, which may be something I have to get used to soon, as I recall seasons 4 & 5 often had episodes with a small amount of sketches.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Miskel Spillman):
— a slight step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Robert Klein, a.k.a. the “Attack of the Atomic Lobsters” episode!!!

Posted on

December 17, 1977 – Miskel Spillman / Elvis Costello (S3 E8)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
How The Grinch Raped & Strangled Christmas will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
JOB ushered host into SNL’s drug culture by giving her a joint

 
— Having John worry about what will happen if Miskel Spillman forgets her lines is kinda silly. Are we viewers supposed to forget that all the lines on this show are WRITTEN ON CUE CARDS?
— John: “I plan to be dead by 30.” Heh, I feel bad for now laughing at that, but his casual delivery of it was damn good. FWIW, he was only off by three years in his prediction.
— Buck!
— Funny reveal that John gave Miskel a joint.
— Buck: “John, your joints overwhelm even an experienced drug user like myself.”
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
Buck Henry [real] introduces host, winner of the Anyone Can Host Contest

 
— Good continuation of the cold opening’s premise, with Miskel making her monologue entrance while holding a fruit bowl.
— I like how Buck is continuing to act as basically the emcee of the Anyone Can Host contest.
— A huge applause break from the audience when Buck officially announces Miskel as the winner of the contest.
— Miskel acting high the whole time is decent, especially her constant refusal to give the fruit bowl to Buck.
STARS: ***


MEAT WAGON ACTION TRACK SET
Meat Wagon toy ambulance attends to gruesome slot car racing accidents

 
— An okay ad, but I felt it wasn’t quite as dark and gruesome as it needed to be.
— The mention at the end of the toy being “by Mainway” was a hilarious callback to a certain Dan Aykroyd character.
STARS: ***


AMERICAN DATE THE SELF-CONSCIOUS ASSOCIATION
LAN says the self-conscious & the extremely obnoxious should go on dates

   
— Bill’s pretty funny during the self-conscious date with Gilda.
— Laraine seems kinda out of place as the spokesperson; maybe cause Jane or Dan usually play this type of role.
— Dan’s voice as the member of the Really Stupid People’s Amalgamation was hilarious.
— An overall good sketch that took a lot of unexpected turns with the various groups that were introduced.
STARS: ***½


THE GIFT OF THE MAGI
JAC narrates a variant of The Gift Of The Magi enacted by (JOB) & (GIR)

   
— That sure was one long build-up to the punchline. And I’m not sure how to feel about this punchline, considering it’s yet another sketch with Belushi beating up a woman, a routine that’s very hit-and-miss with me. I suppose it’s fairly funny in this particular sketch, since it came out of nowhere after such a long, saccharine set-up.
— I did like John working in his “But noooooo” line from Update (which hadn’t yet become a catchphrase for him at this point).
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW
(no synopsis available)


WEEKEND UPDATE
JAC calls Dan Aykroyd fan Jimmy Carter (DAA) during Menachem Begin summit
GAM does a Point Of View about whites using blacks as scapegoats
BIM is disappointed in Miracle On 34th Street’s ambiguous stance on Santa
NBC Dancing N is revealed to be Emily Litella
Emily Litella’s editorial about the “sst” landing in NYC drives JAC crazy
JAC rings out recently-deceased New Year’s Eve bandleader Guy Lombardo

       
— Anchorman Dan now has glasses.
— The Jimmy Carter call is okay. Is that a pre-taped Dan doing the Carter voice, or is he doing it live?
— Ah, the camera revealed that Dan’s indeed doing the voice live.
— A clip is shown of the infamous then-recent Kermit Washington/Rudy Tomjanovich NBA fight. If you’re not familiar with that incident, the injuries that Tomjanovich sustained from that punch were BRUTAL; it literally almost killed him.
— I loved Garrett’s dumbfounded reaction to seeing that “whitey” was indeed hit in the aforementioned clip.
— Bill got a noteworthy good reaction from the audience after he started his commentary. It’s nice to see how popular he’s become with the audience.
— Bill’s overall commentary was very up-and-down, being funny in some moments and dragging in other moments. It kinda hurts to admit that I’ve been kinda underwhelmed with his last few review commentaries in general.
— I did like the camera panning over to Jane’s deadpan WTF-type facial reaction when Bill’s commentary oddly ended with him sleeping on a pillow.
— Emily Litella has been revealed as the NBC Dancing N. So was that always Gilda in that costume during all of the Dancing N’s appearances earlier this season?
— Jane begrudgingly lets Litella do a commentary for the first time all season. Can’t say I’ve been missing her presence this season; I had been hoping she was retired by this point.
— Jane’s loud angry rant at Litella was great.
— The way Litella’s commentary ended made it seem like this is intended to be her final appearance. I hope that’s true, but then again, the recent Samurai sketch that ended with Futaba killing himself still didn’t stop them from soon continuing to do more Samuari sketches, so I’m not getting my hopes up about Litella’s alleged retirement.
— The New Years ball drop bit was a creative way to honor the then-recently-passed Guy Lombardo.
STARS: ***


SARTRESKY & HUTCH
philosopher cops handle hostage situation

     
— Funny concept for a Starsky and Hutch take-off.
— The camera stayed on Garrett WAY too long at the end of the police station scene.
— Ha, Buck in a sketch.
— Dan’s sudden “blow his freakin’ head off” in the middle of his usual philosophizing was really funny.
— The fake freeze-frame ending was good.
— I wanted to like this more than I did. It started fine and featured an unsurprisingly great performance from Dan, but I felt like the sketch’s quality gradually died down as it went along.
STARS: **


THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
ALF sings a tribute to parents Joe & Phoebe [real], then gets mad at them

   
— Wow, Franken’s parents are tiny.
— Franken suddenly blowing up at his parents is hilariously unexpected.
— Surprisingly, Davis was pretty much a non-entity in this.
STARS: ****


E. BUZZ MILLER’S ART CLASSICS
paintings of naked broads on display

 
— Dan’s hyena-esque laugh is hilarious.
— I’m getting some good laughs from Dan’s sleazy comments about the paintings, especially the picnic one.
— Overall, a much better E. Buzz Miller sketch than his debut in the Ruth Gordon episode.
STARS: ***½


GIRLFRIEND
college student (JOB) introduces elderly girlfriend (host) to his parents

 
— Looks like this will be an actual meaty role for Miskel, after being a non-entity for most of the night.
— Kinda funny how John and Miskel’s relationship is being treated like it’s normal.
— Funny ending, but overall, this sketch felt kinda lazy and underwritten.
STARS: **½


WINO SANTA
drunk department store Santa (BIM) enjoys vetoing girl’s (GIR) wish list

  
— Almost thought at first that this was going to be a sequel to the Santa-Wrap commercial.
— Bill’s gruff voice as Santa is making me laugh.
— I’m loving Bill’s Santa being a sarcastic asshole to Gilda.
— Overall, a quick, random sketch, but it was strong and Bill’s performance was excellent. Add this to the list of lesser-known early Bill Murray gems.
STARS: ****


MR. MIKE’S CORAL WATERS CAFE
LAN sings Madame Butterfly aria while MOD makes a Soiled Kimono

     
— This is the Mr. Mike sketch that was shown decades later as an encore presentation (introduced by Bill Murray) in the Sarah Jessica Parker episode from season 20, in tribute to O’Donoghue after he had passed. It was a very nice and well-meaning tribute, but it also sadly emphasized how far SNL’s quality had fallen in 1994, considering this Mr. Mike sketch was FAR better, FAR more clever, and FAR more entertaining than any of the actual new material that aired in that dreadful episode (with the possible exception of Norm Macdonald’s Weekend Update)… but I’ll go more into all of that when we reach that season.
— It’s nice to now see this sketch in the context of the actual episode it originally aired in.
— A very creative variation on the usual Least Loved Bedtime Tales.
— The text crawl with the story of the Soiled Kimono is the usual hilariously dark Mr. Mike-type humor that I love.
— I liked the “Are you kidding me?”-type look O’Donoghue gave Laraine after she asked “Do you eat the butterfly?”
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

 
— Ah, there’s the the legendary moment with Costello abruptly cutting off the song, then saying “I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, there’s no reason to do this song here”, and then launching into “Radio, Radio” – a song he was forbidden to do on the show.
— I’m sure there’s no truth to this, but I remember hearing a rumor that after Costello switched to “Radio, Radio”, a pissed-off Lorne walked up next to the camera and held his middle finger up to Costello for the remainder of the performance. Again, I’m sure there’s no truth to that, but it sure is funny to picture 70s Lorne just standing there while giving the finger for two minutes straight with a deadpan look on his face.
— IIRC, Costello would later do a tongue-in-cheek recreation of this legendary song-switch moment during a performance with Beastie Boys at SNL’s 25th anniversary special.


GOODNIGHTS
host’s granddaughter [real] joins her on-stage

     
— Miskel looks adorable in that Christmas outfit.
— What’s with all the cutaways to various crew members throughout the studio? Is SNL just doing this because it’s the holidays?

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An overall pretty good episode that got better as it went along. The first half of the show was just average, but the second half had several really strong sketches.
— One minor complaint I have is that for a Christmas episode, this barely featured any actual holiday-themed sketches.
— Miskel Spillman did very little of note, but it was probably intentional to go light on her, for several obvious reasons. This was probably the best we could get out of an 80-year-old grandmother who has no kind of acting experience. She did okay with what she was given, didn’t mess up too badly (aside from a few awkward pauses before some of her lines), and she came off endearing. Overall, SNL’s daring “Anyone Can Host” experiment has ended up being a moderate success.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Mary Kay Place):
— a slight step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
We enter 1978, with Steve Martin returning

Posted on

December 10, 1977 – Mary Kay Place / Willie Nelson (S3 E7)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Grizzly Adams Sets Fire To His Head will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
host & castmembers resolve to do SNL’s peppiest show ever

     
— The whole set-up to this is reminding me of the cold opening of the Fran Tarkenton episode.
— Bill’s back to having a mustache for the first time since his first few months on the show.
— Dan’s shame when saying “I, for one, can’t” was pretty funny.
— The whole marching band ending with the cast one-by-one busting through a sheet and calling out their name is adding a lot of great energy.
— LOL, did I just hear Dan call himself “Gary” during the cast roll-call?
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host reads entries from her eighth-grade diary concerning a rebuff


— Uh…..
— Yeah, overall, I was very bored during the whole diary read, waiting for a funny twist that never came. And the alleged payoff at the end about “Danny” Aykroyd wasn’t enough to make up for it.
STARS: *½


HEY YOU!
(GIR) eschews subtlety with Hey You!, the perfume for one-night stands

     
— Ah, this famous commercial.
— Overall, this was excellent and featured one of Gilda’s most well-known performances. This season continues to be on a roll with strong, memorable fake ads.
STARS: *****


MORE INSECTS TO WORRY ABOUT
(JOB) on lens beetles & funny ants


— I heard this was supposed to air in the preceding episode, but got dropped for technical issues.
— John’s delivery of “This makes me wanna vomit” was a good laugh.
— Good ending with John getting angrily worked up when explaining what “funny ants” are.
— Overall, a good sketch.
— Not sure what kind of “technical issues” prevented this from airing the previous week; this was just a straightforward talk show sketch with two people talking the entire time. It’s not like this included lots of clips, graphics, or anything.
STARS: ***½


TOTAL WOMAN
devotees of Total Womanhood system are subservient toward husbands

  
— Mary Kay is fitting in pretty well with the female cast members here.
— Heh, Laraine looks kinda like Harpo Marx in that combo of the curly blonde wig and the man outfit she’s wearing during her and Gilda’s enactment.
— Loved Laraine saying (while acting as a man) that Gilda’s dog collar “makes me hot”. I feel like Laraine hasn’t had a lot of great moments so far this season, but I’m liking her in this sketch.
— Overall, a really good and well-written sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW
(no synopsis available)


— Wow, an actual promo with Jane “previewing” what’s to come in tonight’s Weekend Update? There’s something you don’t often see on SNL.
STARS: N/A


WEEKEND UPDATE
bellboy (GAM) apes Johnny Roventini with a “call for Garrett Morris”
LAN demonstrates facial expressions that reveal the presence of a lie
forced into retirement by CBS, Eric Sevareid (BIM) says goodbye
JAC & DAA send get-well message to ailing cue card man Al Siegel

       
— Hmm, the Update set now has a screen in the middle, where the news story pictures are now going to be displayed from. This is a smart change, because I wasn’t crazy about how they had previously been displaying the pictures this season.
— No Pardo intro at all in this Update.
— What in the world was with the bit with Garrett walking on as a bellhop loudly announcing “Call for Garrett Morris!” in an exaggerated manner? The bit was so brief and random, and why was he announcing a call for himself? The audience gave an applause of recognition during his bit, so I’m assuming it was a reference to something I’m not familiar with.
— Laraine’s mic wasn’t working when she started talking. Also, there’s a distracting shadow on her that keeps moving.
— Overall, Laraine’s commentary was pretty pointless and weak. After impressing me in the last sketch, she’s unfortunately gone back to her typical forgettable season 3 performances.
— Interesting seeing Bill do an Update commentary as someone other than himself for once.
— Where’s Bill’s recently-grown-back mustache? Did they put flesh-colored make-up over it to make him resemble the guy he’s playing here? Ha, since when does this era care about accuracy in making a cast member look like who they’re impersonating? I thought that didn’t start happening until Harry Shearer came aboard in ’79.
— Bill sounds an awful lot like he’s doing his Walter Cronkite impression, even though he’s not playing him. Is this his default voice for ALL news anchors?
— Cronkite-type voice aside, Bill ended up doing a great job here. His delivery was fantastic and he had some really good witty remarks.
— Nice ending with Dan and Jane using a cue card to wish a “get well soon” to SNL’s ailing cue card man Al Siegel.
STARS: ***


MARRIED IN A MINUTE!
everything goes right for young women new to NYC

   
— Is the year 1961 a recurring theme tonight? It’s the year this sketch takes place, and it’s also the year the diary entry that Mary Kay read in the monologue came from.
— Heh, Garrett’s still dressed in the bellhop uniform he wore minutes ago.
— Another female ensemble sketch tonight.
— I’m getting a lot of laughs from the girls’ non-stop overly-convenient fortunes. Their performances are great, too.
— Good part with Mary Kay getting ecstatic over receiving a platter of a big pile of dirt as a “gift”.
— Haha, now the girls’ already-over-the-top good luck has gotten even funnier with Jane receiving a letter from God.
— Overall, a great sketch, and I loved the way this escalated.
STARS: ****


ANDY KAUFMAN
as Foreign Man, Andy Kaufman [real] tells a joke & tries levitation trick

     
— I recognize this already; I think I saw clips from this years ago in an Andy Kaufman documentary. I’m looking forward to seeing this in its full context.
— Love the part of the foreign gibberish song with Andy going back-and-forth between a crying high-pitched voice and an evil low-pitched voice.
— Haha, I like how even after the song, he’s continuing to casually speak in foreign gibberish as if the audience understands him. He’s even doing it during the audience member participation segment.
— Classic part with Andy doing a wild, fast-paced jig, then suddenly stopping and holding his side in pain. That was another thing that I had previously seen as a clip in the aforementioned Kaufman documentary.
— Overall, this whole thing was phenomenal. Absolutely one of the best appearances I’ve ever seen Andy do, and is a great example of why I’ve always been such a big fan of his.
STARS: *****


BAD MUSICAL
the story of Dutch microscope pioneer Leeuwenhoek (JOB)

     
— Funny line from Dan about how the musical closed just two-and-a-half minutes after opening on Broadway.
— Mary Kay’s solo “Maybe I’m too big for him” song actually sounds really good. Doesn’t that kinda ruin the concept, though? I thought this whole musical is supposed to be “bad”.
— Bill suddenly going into a sleazy “Let’s have sex” song is hilarious.
— I liked Gilda’s very random little jig, and the way she just abruptly stopped and then sheepishly walked off.
— Despite the aforementioned funny moments, I was underwhelmed by this sketch as a whole. The musical didn’t seem as “bad” or as weird as these Leonard Pinth-Garnell sketches usually are. I don’t know if I missed the main joke, or if this simply lacked the weirdness I usually love from these sketches.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


FARBERS CHANUKAH
Bobbi Farber explains Hanukkah’s origins to neighbors (BIM) & (host)

     
— The Farbers!
— Funny turn this has taken with Bill’s blunt “the Jews killed Christ” comment and the Farbers becoming uncomfortable by that.
— Hmm, John playing an additional role during the flashback. I remember hearing about a funny blooper in this sketch, in which Bill breaks character and cracks up when John’s makes his hasty return from the flashback set to the present-day set.
— Okay, here we are. In the corner of the screen when the camera was on just Gilda, Bill, and Mary Kay, it was clearly visible when John made his return to the set. That got a good reaction from the audience.
— Also, LOL at John’s now-ruffled hair, from the quick-change he did after the flashback scene.
— Hmm, no character break from Bill, though. Contrary to what I had heard, he actually kept his composure fairly well and didn’t really laugh, though he could be seen wiping away a tear and making an ad-lib about being “misty”.
— Overall, an okay Farbers sketch, but there have been more noteworthy ones.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

 
— Tonight’s episode must’ve ran short, because the scrolling ending credits don’t start rolling until about a minute and a half after the goodnights music has started.
— When announcing the guests for next week’s episode, Pardo says that The Sex Pistols will be the musical guest. They must’ve ended up canceling at the last minute, because the musical guest for that episode would actually end up being Elvis Costello… who would memorably pull a certain infamous move that night.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty strong show, which is a pleasant surprise to me. For some reason, I was expecting a more average episode; probably because I have zero familiarity with Mary Kay Place. This episode turned out to be dominated by lots of solid, well-done segments, and there was only a small amount of lowlights.
— Mary Kay wasn’t a stand-out host, but she blended into the show finely and worked especially well with the female cast.


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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
— Anyone Can Host contest winner Miskel Spillman