Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
during concession speech, candidate (BIM) lists his campaign missteps
— I like the off-camera supporters always yelling “No!”
— Good line from Bill about a big mistake in his campaign being his decision to make “Let’s raise property taxes sky-high” the theme.
— Overall, a decent opening.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
on-screen crawl & scenes from Star Wars divert from host’s boringness
— Yet another “screen crawl monologue” with Buck Henry.
— I particularly like the line about how the people at SNL consider a show with Buck to be “midway between a show and a week off.”
— Seemed to be some words missing from the part of the crawl that strangely said “Of course, next week the pressure starts all Carrie Fisher hosts.”
— Funny part with them showing Star Wars clips while Buck continues droning on.
— Yet another big laugh from the show’s idea to do “Star Whores” for the following week’s Carrie Fisher episode.
— Overall, the funniest of the three(?) Buck Henry “screen crawl monologues” I’ve covered so far.
STARS: ****
ROVCO CHINCH RANCH
(DAA) plugs a do-it-yourself fur coat kit
— I like this usual absurd Aykroyd-starring commercial concept.
— The fur-remover part of the machine is really funny.
STARS: ***½
SAMURAI OPTOMETRIST
Futaba makes a new pair of glasses for Mr. Dantley
— As usual, I can already tell from the set when Buck makes his entrance that this will be a Samurai sketch.
— Kinda wary about how this will turn out, considering how underwhelmed I was with the last Samurai sketch they did with Buck.
— Futaba’s mini-sword (or was it a big knife?) having an eye flashlight on the bottom that he looks into Buck’s eyes with was a funny touch.
— Eh, overall, despite some chuckleworthy parts, this was unfortunately another fairly tepid installment, much like the last one. It’s sadly obvious these Samurai sketches are past their prime at this point. They clearly should’ve let these sketches retire with grace after the epic “Samurai Night Fever” installment.
— Knowing that this is John’s final season, I have to wonder if this might have ended up being the very last Samurai sketch, unless they do one in the Buck-hosted season finale (John’s last show).
STARS: **½
UNCLE ROY
“Uncle” Roy (host) is naughty while babysitting Terri (LAN) & Tracy (GIR)
— When talking about going to see the movie Foul Play, I like Jane’s line “I’m dying to see that new young comedian that falls down”, a tongue-in-cheek reference to a certain former Not Ready For Prime-Time Player who co-stars in that movie.
— I can tell by the way they’re setting up the appearance of Jane’s friend Roy that this will be the debut of a certain infamous Buck Henry character: Uncle Roy! I’m a bit surprised to learn here that he’s just a friend of Jane’s and is not actually an uncle to the girls.
— Classic part with Uncle Roy eagerly snapping plenty of pictures of the girls’ exposed underwear when they have their nightgowns pulled over their heads.
— Haha at the part with him having the girls throw him all their dirty laundry.
— Overall, funny and incredibly daring, and Buck was the perfect host to pull off such an undesirable role. Hard to believe there was once a time long ago when SNL could get away with this type of humor.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
WEEKEND UPDATE
fat Elizabeth Taylor (JOB) chokes on chicken during an interview with BIM
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about Iran’s Shah Pahlevi
— Ha, it’s the classic Belushi-as-Elizabeth-Taylor “Celebrity Corner” interview that’s often been shown in various SNL/John Belushi highlight reels.
— John slobbishly eating chicken during the whole interview is a great touch.
— LOL at the extended choking part.
— Overall, that whole interview segment definitely lived up to its reputation as a classic John Belushi performance.
— Bill’s Jimmy Hoffa thumb-in-a-box thing was just weird. At least he seemed to be aware of dumb the bit was, judging from him trying to hide his smirk from the camera afterwards.
— Not too crazy about some of the Update jokes so far.
— A great “one in the hand is worth two in the bush” punchline to the news story about a contraceptive that’s implanted in the hand.
— Another sudden appearance from “Weekend Update Station Manager” Dan Aykroyd, again sitting in Bill’s place at the desk. I guess another Point/Counterpoint is coming.
— Dan: “Jane, you poor misguided scrag.”
— Tonight’s Point/Counterpoint wasn’t as funny as usual. Disappointing. I feel like they’ve been relying a bit too much on this segment lately.
— Overall, a hit-and-miss Update.
STARS: **½
GREAT PERFORMANCES
The Death Of Rasputin (JOB) is hard to bring about
— Oh my god at John’s look. Hilarious!
— Hmm, John falling through a breakaway table. Somewhere on the night this originally aired, I bet a young Chris Farley was watching and taking notes.
— Speaking of Farley, the premise of this sketch with Belushi repeatedly getting back up every time the others “kill” him reminds me of a Farley sketch that I’ve always hated: a mystery dinner theater sketch from the infamous season 20 where Farley was a hammy actor who refused to die during a death scene in a play.
— Funny fake-out where the other actors finally stop beating John with tools repeatedly, take a brief breather, then suddenly continue beating John with tools repeatedly.
— LOL at the dynamite part. This is getting funnier and funnier.
— Overall, I got some good enjoyment out of this sketch. It’s kinda hard to say why this one worked for me while the later Farley sketch didn’t. Better writing & acting, I suppose.
STARS: ***½
NICK SANDS
Nick “Sands” entertains patrons in a bar outside of Las Vegas
— Bill’s Nick the Lounger Singer character finally receives recognition applause from the audience.
— Haha, I absolutely love the part with Bill singing the Shaft theme song.
— Is that one of the Grateful Dead members at the table with John?
— Wait, how is a blonde wig-wearing Laraine at the table with Buck and Gilda when I thought I saw her earlier in the sketch in a dark wig sitting at the bar. (first screencap above) I guess that woman at the bar is someone else. Maybe SNL writer Anne Beatts? After all, there have been sketches in the past where I initially mistook Beatts for Laraine.
— Overall, a pretty solid Nick the Lounger Singer, but not one of the best. Still enjoyable.
STARS: ***½
MORE FLU TO WORRY ABOUT
(host) warns of the inconsiderate Australian flu
— A variation of the “More Insects to Worry About” sketches. Not too excited about seeing this back, after the weak installment they did in Buck’s last episode.
— The cheesy Johnny Carson/“ideal host” bit was pretty funny.
— Overall, another underwhelming edition of this sketch. I hope this sketch hasn’t become a new staple in Buck’s episodes.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
ST. MICKEY’S KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
St. Mickey’s Knights of Columbus welcomes speaker Chico Escuela (GAM)
— During John’s introductions of each club member at the table with him, he calls Garrett’s character Chico Escuela. I had been wondering when that character was gonna make his debut. Interesting how he’s debuting as a small part of a group sketch before later being “spun-off” into his own Weekend Update desk pieces, which is the same way Roseanne Rosannadanna made her debut.
— Funny part with Garrett’s speech consisting only of the now-famous “Baseball been berry, berry good to me” line, much to the other club members’ confusion.
— Eh, I wasn’t too crazy about this sketch overall. I found myself a little bored during parts of it. I know they do at least one more installment of this sketch a little later this season with Elliott Gould, as I remember seeing that one in an old SNL Christmas compilation special years ago. Unfortunately, I recall finding that installment somewhat dull as well, and I remember wondering why they would put it in a compilation special. Maybe it’s just me who doesn’t care much for these sketches.
STARS: **½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A decent Buck Henry episode, and a step up from the underwhelming season finale he hosted months earlier. That being said, tonight was still not quite up to the high standards of a typical Buck Henry episode, and the last two sketches ended the show on a disappointing note. As a whole, though, tonight’s episode was still okay.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Steve Martin):
— a moderate step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Carrie Fisher / The Blues Brothers