Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Fred Silverman (JOB) announces that host is part of NBC’s new image
— The debut of John’s Fred Silverman impression.
— I wonder what John was referring to when making a passing mention of “that burrito thing” that Frank Zappa did.
— Funny line from John: “You’ll be NBSeeing a lot of Frank, and I’m not CBS-ing you, either.”
— Feels weird watching the show open with such a pro-Zappa piece, knowing the animosity the cast had towards him after working with him that week.
— Overall, this opening wasn’t bad in itself, I guess, but I found this to be too pandering towards Zappa and/or Zappa fans. I wasn’t too crazy about that. Tonight’s already getting off to an iffy start for me.
STARS: **
MONOLOGUE
host performs “Dancing Fool”
— For some reason, Zappa’s already onstage when the camera first cuts to homebase after the opening montage ends.
— Geez, just now, he made this blatant aside to the audience: “Remember I’m reading this off these cards underneath this camera here”. I… I don’t even know how to respond to that.
— Boy, is he going to be a weird host tonight.
— He’s launched into a musical performance that’s based on what he calls “an important social problem”: disco. It’s probably a good thing SNL didn’t let him speak too long; after all, we might have gotten a 70-minute anti-censorship rant from him. (give yourself a hand if you get which sketch that’s a reference to)
STARS: N/A
THE CONEHEADS AT HOME
Connie Conehead (LAN) receives parental advice before her date with host
— Lots of good recognition applause from the audience each time one of the three Coneheads makes an entrance in this.
— I said this before, but it always makes me laugh when the Coneheads mutter “mmmebs” whenever they’re angry.
— Prymaat’s story about how she saved her virginity for Beldar was funny.
— Zappa playing himself as Connie’s new boyfriend.
— Man, Zappa’s delivery is terrible. And he’s very blatantly looking off-camera while reading his lines off of the aforementioned “cards underneath this camera here”.
— And now, he’s broken character and spit out a large chunk of the food that he has just “consumed in mass quantities” while Dan is desperately trying to keep the sketch moving.
— Now Zappa can’t stop laughing.
— The ending with Beldar and Prymaat eating the Zappa record was too predictable.
— Overall, easily the weakest Coneheads sketch I’ve covered so far. It started fine, but boy, did everything go south once Zappa entered the scene.
STARS: **
BAXTER PRISON
a middle class family helps with prison overcrowding by housing inmates
— What the hell? A prison cell under the stairs in a living room?
— And now, we see that Garrett’s being held prisoner in the living room closet.
— Boy, this is a weird, weird sketch so far.
— Loved John’s line about his plan to break off the edges of lasagna and let them harden so he can use them as a saw.
— I’m liking the wild prison riot.
— Overall, such a strange sketch, but it worked well and I enjoyed it.
STARS: ***½
WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW
WEEKEND UPDATE
Celebrity Corner- BIM interviews Sid Vicious (BDM) & his mother (LAN)
Father Guido Sarducci comments on the papal election campaign
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about test-tube babies
— Well, I knew it was eventually going to happen, but Bill has now adopted a straight news delivery. I’m gonna miss the smarmy, proto-Dennis Miller delivery he used in his first two Updates.
— When Bill was introducing the “Celebrity Corner” interview, I expected Sid Vicious to be played by John or Dan, but it randomly ends up being writer Brian Doyle-Murray, who’s one of the last people I’d expect to play this type of role.
— The Sid Vicious interview wasn’t anything special. Doyle-Murray’s look made me laugh more than Laraine’s actual dialogue did.
— Father Guido Sarducci makes his Update debut.
— Sarducci’s overall commentary was fine, though there wasn’t anything I found worth noting in it.
— Where the hell did Dan come from? The camera just cuts from the end of Sarducci’s commentary to Dan sitting in Bill’s place at the desk, as if Dan was the anchorperson all along tonight.
— Ah, we’re getting a Point/Counterpoint, which explains Dan’s presence.
— The test tube baby debate between Jane and Dan was the usual good Point/Counterpoint stuff.
— Overall, I was not crazy about this Update. A lot of jokes either didn’t quite work for me or went over my head, and any laughs were mild at best until Point/Counterpoint saved the day.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
NIGHT ON FREAK MOUNTAIN
Jason & Sunset tempt stranded host with drugs
— Nice to see Paul Shaffer’s Don Kirshner.
— Oh my god at Zappa’s awful sarcastic mugging during Paul’s long spiel. Is this Zappa’s attempt to derail ANOTHER sketch tonight?
— The sequence with the model car in the storm was pretty funny.
— “Night on Freak Mountain”. Interesting turn this has taken. Considering this episode is from late October, I guess this will be our Halloween-themed sketch of the night.
— Hmm, the return of Dan and Laraine’s hippie characters. Eh, they’re okay, I guess, but I’m never overjoyed when they show up.
— Ugh, I am NOT liking the way this sketch has been going now.
— Not even John’s walk-on is saving this for me.
— Now Zappa has gone back to his annoying sarcastic mugging during another long spiel from Paul’s Kirshner, only this time, Zappa’s accompanying his mugging with sarcastic hand gestures for good measure. Good lord.
— Ugh, the “Don Kirshner always talks like he does on his show” joke has gone from being quite funny to very annoying.
— Finally, the sketch ends.
— Overall, boy, was that rough. After suffering through this sketch, I never want to see these Dan/Laraine hippie characters ever again. They were never all that interesting to me in the past, anyway.
STARS: *
WOMAN TO WOMAN
happy wife (JAC) vexes career-minded Connie Carson (GIR)
— Gilda’s failed attempts to get Jane to dislike her marriage life are fairly funny.
— Overall, this wasn’t awful, but I wanted more from this. I kept waiting for the premise to go somewhere more interesting.
STARS: **
THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
ALF & TOM show democracy’s inherent flaws with some negative campaign ads
— Thank god. Oh, Franken & Davis, please save this episode!
— What’s with Tom’s gray-looking hair?
— Haha, I like this format with Al and Tom each doing live political ads.
— The back-and-forth ads between Al and Tom started slow, but are now getting funnier. Not as funny as I was expecting it to be, though.
— Al suddenly interrupting Tom’s drunken ad to shoot him with a gun was pretty good.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
— Futaba!
— Not as funny as the last time Futaba showed up in a Zappa musical performance, but this was still very cool.
MR. BILL MOVES IN
by Walter Williams- Mr. Hands helps with a new flat
— Another Mr. Bill film already, after he just appeared in the last episode? I kinda don’t like when they use this character in consecutive episodes.
— Overall, despite my worries, this still gave me some pretty damn good laughs, though not as much as the last one, where he went to New York.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
— Very noteworthy that almost nobody in the cast interacts with Zappa at all; he stays at the front of the stage the whole time while most of the cast stays behind him. Man, even Louise Lasser and Ruth Gordon (two earlier hosts who were difficult for the original cast to work with) got warmer receptions from the cast in their respective episode’s goodnights than Zappa did.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Boy, let’s just say, this episode DEFINITELY lived up to its negative reputation. So much of this episode either frustrated or bored me, and it started feeling like a chore to sit through after a while. I’m surprised at the number of sketches I sat stone-faced through. I especially hated that awful hippie mountain thing. Even Weekend Update was below par. I don’t think I’ve had such a negative reception to an episode since probably season 2, which at least goes to show you how well the show had been doing since season 3.
— And Frank Zappa… man, no wonder the cast resented working with him. He mugged and half-assed his way through EVERY non-musical performance segment he appeared in, showing zero commitment or any visible interest in the material he was given; in fact, he came off as having DISDAIN for the sketches. He even managed to ruin a Coneheads sketch. I guess not every musical genius can be a good SNL host.
— As poor as this episode was, the really worrisome thing is, it might not even be the worst this season has to offer. After all, we still have the infamous Milton Berle episode coming later on in the year.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Fred Willard):
— a huge step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Steve Martin