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”.

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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