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
The Sartresky and Hutch sketch isn’t a masterpiece, but it’s the kind of sketch I always think about when I think “what makes SNL different than other types of comedy shows [of this era]?”
Wino Santa is a carryover from the National Lampoon Radio Hour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXhmIoRjgaU
Around the time of the 15th anniversary special, People magazine caught up with Miskel Spillman, who was 92 at the time. Apparently, she still watched and enjoyed the show in the late 1980s, especially “that fella in the dress …”
Dana Carvey?
Most (if not all) of the folks on this site were not even gleams in their parents eyes when this aired, but I confess that I participated in the “Anyone Can Host” contest. I remember that you had to send in a postcard with your pitch. I don’t remember what I wrote but I’m sure it was the height of high-school hilarity and thus completely cringeworthy. Everyone dodged a bullet when SNL passed on my entry. :/
I have read the explanations behind Costello’s performance of “Radio Radio” and why he changed course from “Less Than Zero.” For the life of me, I can’t make heads, or tails out of it! It seems a rebellious thing to do, and I get that the subject matter of “Less Than Zero” was UK-centric, but otherwise, who cares? It’s a great performance and a great moment, but to me, there’s not a heck of a lot behind it. Apparently, Costello’s record label wanted him to play “Less Than Zero.” Supposedly, Lorne Michaels was “furious” and then banned Costello from the show, but why would he give a crap? Is it just because Costello did something different than scheduled? I thought it had something to do with the song itself, but there’s nothing profane or scandalous about the song. Sure, it’s anti-corporation or anti-commercial, but that’s not a risque message or anything. .
Lorne was probably mad about the timing and blocking messed up. You may not buy it, but the story has always been that NBC owned radio stations and didn’t like radio getting criticized.
Chris W is right. You can tell that the cameras are just trying to give adequate coverage to everything and that Dave Wilson, not knowing the song, probably told them to just hold their shots so he could switch back and forth and keep things basic. And since there were special good nights planned, I’m sure Lorne was extra concerned about timing. “Radio Radio” (on record) is only 11 seconds shorter than “Less Than Zero” BUT, Elvis was playing “Zero” a lot faster than the record. So there’s a could chance he went long. Still a cool moment and I wonder if he was inspired by Jimi Hendrix once doing something similar on a live BBC show hosted by Lulu.
The Soiled Kimono reminds me of Claire Trevor’s big scene from Key Largo