Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
deejay Dick Lanky (BIM) relies on listeners to do his research for him
— Dan’s entrance gets some good random applause.
— Unsurprisingly, Dan’s great at doing an authentic-sounding radio weatherman voice.
— As someone who once lived in Chicago for 10 years, it’s fun to hear so many Chicago-centric things (e.g. WGN, Oak Park) in this sketch; it’s really taking me back.
— And now, John’s entrance gets an even bigger applause than Dan’s.
— A pretty good opening sketch overall.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
host performs “Hello Mary Lou”
host performs “Travelin’ Man”
host performs “Fools Rush In”
— We get a musical performance in place of the monologue.
— Geez, this has practically turned into a concert, with an endless amount of musical numbers, one after another.
STARS: N/A
THE TWILIGHT ZONE
host is trapped in households of similar sitcom families
— Always good to see Dan’s Rod Serling.
— The Rick/Beaver Cleaver mix-up is funny.
— LMAO at John as The Beav. He’s doing a hilarious impression.
— Bill’s really funny as Eddie Haskell, too.
— Heh, now this has turned into a Father Knows Best mix-up.
— I’m loving where this sketch is going so far, and I’m also loving all the fast costume changes from Jane, Bill, and John.
— I’m having a hard time figuring out what this third sitcom is they’re parodying. I don’t recognize it. And what’s with Garrett as the low-talking maid?
— Haha, I love how Dan is now suddenly playing who I can tell is George Burns.
— Just judging from how Gilda’s voice sounds during her off-camera delivery of “Is that you, Ricky?”, I can already predict what the joke in this new scene is going to be: Rick is now in “I Love Lucy” and Gilda’s playing Lucy.
— I was right.
— Nice to see the return of Tom Schiller’s Ricky Ricardo impression, for the first time since season 1, I believe.
— LOL at Dan now playing Alfred Hitchcock. This sketch is making great use of Dan’s knack for impressions.
— Overall, man, I loved this. A very fun, elaborate, perfectly-executed sketch.
STARS: *****
ROCK AGAINST YEAST ’79
Candy Slice meets host at Rock Against Yeast ’79 backstage party
Candy Slice performs “Gimme Mick”
— Heh, I spotted Jane in the background crowd and judging from the big blonde hair and huge rack, I can already tell she’s playing Dolly Parton.
— A pretty good laugh from the concert being named “Rock Against Yeast”.
— John as Elvis impersonator: “I’m playing the latter part of The King’s life, after he discovered carbohydrates.”
— I love “Elvii” being the name of Dan and John’s duo Elvis impersonation act.
— The return of Candy Slice.
— I’m getting a kick out of the part with Bill’s manager character dragging Candy Slice through SNL’s backstage area and taking her over to the performance stage.
— During the aforementioned drag-through-backstage part, I heard someone’s voice repeatedly saying “Spanish gameshow” for some odd reason. I think that was a crew member’s voice, and I’m gonna guess “Spanish gameshow” means we’re getting the famous “Quien Es Mas Macho” sketch later tonight.
— I’m loving Gilda’s performance of “Gimme Mick”.
STARS: ****½
WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW
WEEKEND UPDATE
Chico Escuela says goodbye before leaving for his Mets comeback
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about cocaine & utility of prohibition
— I like how it’s now become a regular thing for Bill to casually announce a (made-up) news story about something tragic that’s soon going to happen to the planet, first with his “the earth is heading towards the sun” story in the last episode, and now his “life will cease to exist on March 1st of this year” story tonight.
— Jane’s intro to Chico Escuela’s commentary makes it seem like they’re retiring that character ALREADY. Hmm, surprising. I doubt his “retirement” will last, though. After all, I remember once seeing a later Update where Chico shows a pre-taped video of himself interacting with baseball players at a stadium.
— Chico’s “sarcastic bish” remark about Jane was very funny.
— Overall, a decent “final” appearance from Chico. I just KNOW we’ll be seeing him again, though.
— Loved Bill’s joke about a fictional rock group named Honest Abes being shot to death.
— Another good Point/Counterpoint with Jane and Dan. I’m still waiting until we reach that famous Point/Counterpoint that’s always shown in SNL highlight reels: you know, the one where Dan starts his rebuttal to Jane with (after “You ignorant slut”, of course) “Dried-up pieces of slunk meat like you should know–”. I wonder what episode that’s from. Considering we’re nearing the end of Dan’s SNL tenure, that episode has to be coming up very soon.
STARS: ***½
¡¿QUIEN ES MAS MACHO?!
game show invaded by illegals-seeking Untouchables
— Ah, I was right; the earlier overheard utterance of “Spanish gameshow” WAS alluding to this now-well-known sketch.
— I’ve never seen this sketch for myself before, aside from a clip in an SNL documentary. For some reason, I had always thought this sketch was from season 5, when Bill was the go-to guy for practically EVERY male lead role (due to Dan and John not being on the show anymore).
— This is great so far, and I’m really liking the format.
— Heh, why has this suddenly turned into an Untouchabales crossover? I do always like seeing Dan’s dead-on Robert Stack/Eliot Ness impression, though.
— All-in-all, while I still don’t get what connection the gameshow portion of this sketch was supposed to have to The Untouchables, I enjoyed this overall sketch a lot. I wouldn’t call it a classic like many SNL fans seem to, though. I feel that this sketch would’ve been stronger if the gameshow portion just kept going, without the Untouchables interruption.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hard Times for Lovers”
HELIUM
host softens the blow of bad news by inhaling helium prior to delivery
— Weird but funny concept.
— I wonder why they’re so obviously using a voice modifier to give Rick that helium-sounding voice instead of having him actually inhale real helium.
— Overall, short but decent.
STARS: ***
BARBER SHOP
barbers (BIM) & (host) share other merchants’ worries regarding new mall
— I heard about this. Apparently, this is a sister sketch to Scotch Boutique, as it takes place at the same mall.
— Bill’s story about a hospital patient dying during a haircut Bill was giving him was really funny.
— Nice continuity having Gilda appear as her Scotch Boutique character.
— John’s appearance had a pretty funny pay-off.
— Overall, a nice, enjoyable, laid-back slice-of-life sketch, much like the original Scotch Boutique, though not quite as strong.
STARS: ***½
PICASSO: THE NEW YORK YEARS
by TOS- only mundane details are recalled
— I believe this is the first time Schiller has made an appearance in his own film.
— Overall, while this wasn’t anything great nor laugh-out-loud funny, it was fairly interesting in that usual Tom Schiller way.
STARS: ***
RICK NELSON: “DREAM LOVER”
host performs “Dream Lover”
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Overall, a solid episode. There weren’t really any segments I disliked, and the first two sketches of the night (The Twilight Zone and Rock Against Yeast) were both epic, fun, and elaborate. The second half of the show had some pretty strong work as well (Quien Es Mas Macho and Barber Shop).
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Cicely Tyson):
— a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Kate Jackson
The third show being parodied in the Twilight Zone sketch was Make Room for Daddy/The Danny Thomas Show; I feel like they should have just cut this part, the jokes aren’t that good and that show didn’t offer as much easily parodied stuff as the others (indeed, this part IS cut in some compilations of the sketch I’ve seen).
I was going to say Ricky Nelson was kind of a lame host, but he seemed a game host, especially for basically a non-actor. I think his delivery in Quien Es Mas Macho is actually really funny.
Which Candy Slice song did you like more?
I liked “Gimme Mick” more, since it was more memorable.
Seemed strange they had Judy Collins as a musical guest and she ends up performing only one song. They should just have had Rick Nelson do double duty.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this episode but it surprised me. Rick Nelson made an appealing host and played along nicely, and although I usually tune out a bit during musical segments, his musical numbers played to his strengths much better than the usual laugh-at-myself monologue would have. It set a warm tone for the whole show that made it enjoyable.
I laughed at Bill Murray’s radio host trying to get Frank Borman on the phone – as the president of Eastern Air Lines, Borman encountered renewed celebrity by appearing in the airline’s commercials. Another one of those pop-culture things “SNL” preserves like a time capsule and brings back for those of us who are older than sometimes we want to think about.
The “Twilight Zone” sketch was a hoot, especially when Danny switches out Rod Serling for George Burns and then Alfred Hitchcock (and each switch had to have been a champion bit of quick make-up work). I wonder if including Danny Thomas was just a way for them to work in a big spit-take scene. All of it, of course, catnip to an audience that grew up with these shows.
I was happy to see “Quien Es Mas Macho?” at last but was wondering how they were going to make the premise last through a full sketch…then we have that Python-esque interruption with Eliot Ness busting in and (literally) breaking the show up.
Judy Collins was lovely but sounded (to me, at least) off-key in a few places. Also surprised she only got one song.
My guess on audio effects vs. actually inhaling helium in the “Helium Manufacturers” spot: more control over the effect. (I also wonder if Nelson didn’t want to do anything that messed with his voice.)
@Jodie excellent points. I felt the same way about Judy… “Hard Times” should have been a huge hit but only reached #66. And I’ve wondered if that’s because she seemed to be struggling a bit in this performance. Watch the lead guitarist (maybe Elliot Randall, also from
Boz Scaggs in season 2?) ) off to the right when the cameras pulls back during applause: he seems to be giving her a sympathetic look as if he could tell she was having a rough night. I wonder if it’s the same weather/AC issue Laura Branigan seems to have had a few years later?
For the Twilight Zone, I agree with everyone’s comments but I feel like Father Knows Best actually confused the audience and killed some momentum. And then Make Room For Daddy could have gotten to the spit take sooner. Other than that, it was great.
I can see how the spit take was the punchline for that segment of the sketch. Actually, I think the Father Knows Best part was also less remembered and started the lull, though I’d think the “Father” character holding forever tightly to the coffee cup would be recognized as (also) being a reference to the coffee commercials the actor was doing at the time (late ’70s).
After great recognition applause as Dan went from Serling to George Burns, the latter’s showbiz story seemed to slow the momentum as well. Despite all that, this sketch is one of my all-time favorite SNL sketches. Brilliant satire. And a tour-de-force for the actors playing so many classic TV characters in one sketch. I especially loved how Nelson’s first name played so perfectly into the I Love Lucy part,
I will say that having watched a ton of Father Knows Best episodes the performance of Laraine as Betty is especially accurate–she was always doing that passive-aggressive-neurotic whiny shtick. John’s Bud does not resemble or act like the real Bud in the slightest, though.
I recognized most of the extras playing patrons at Candy Slice’s backstage party as writers and production staff (we’ve seen them all the time in the bg, no need to ID) except the big burly guy with the Donny Osmond hair, mustache, and roadie jacket. Current glance at the sketch… I believe that is a rare appearance of visual artist Bob Pook, best known for designing the SNL bumpers and especially the bumpers for Late Night w David Letterman. Here’s a nice segment of Bob at work for LN in the mid 80’s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd-_cZGMyns
Pook passed away back in February of 2023
Gilda’s range never ceases to amaze me.
Nelson wasn’t exactly what you could call a non-actor. Not only did he appear in 14 seasons of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, he even had a handful of films to his credit, including the Howard Hawks classic Rio Bravo (with the Duke, Dino, & Angie Dickinson), and (who could forget?) The Wackiest Ship In The Army, supporting Jack Lemmon. None of this is to say he was Oscar material necessarily, but he could definitely hold his own.
I can’t believe the Muhammad Ali / Ray Charles joke didn’t get a bigger audience reaction. Best Update promo yet.
I also can’t believe that Lloyd Bridges es mas macho – any fool knows it was Jack Lord. Why, in one episode of Hawaii Five-O he stopped a crazed Vietnam vet who lunged at him with a bayonet by grabbing the razor sharp blade with one hand as he pulled out his gun with the other and shot the assailant dead on the spot. And all he needed for first aid was to pull his handkerchief out of his pocket and wrap it around his fingers as he called for the meat wagon. Let’s see the Sea Hunter match that!
Little know tip: inhaling helium from a gas canister like the one Rick is faking using in the helium scene is very dangerous. Helium has the effect of displacing oxygen in the body, and taking in a larger more pressurized amount can cause severe damage such as hemorrhaging, embolisms, a stroke or even a heart attack. I guess they didn’t want him to die for the sake of a joke (although it would have been way funnier visually if he had used a balloon instead).
^Indeed, Woody nailed it. Watched his Behind the Music last year, it was a fun watch. Rick was honestly the first modern definition of a crossover star. Did the sitcom for ages to help his folks out, then he got the itch and wanted to do his own thing and went into music and had a solid career as a 50’s rocker until his style got old. He then switched to Country-Rock and had an up and down career but had a ton of respect from everyone, until that plane crash killed him on 12-31-85. Very sad end for him.
Lorne musta been a fan of him and so were probably all of the cast, in a lot of the early shows they booked who they enjoyed as much as the big stars. He even went out of his way to give the early version of the Nelsons a chance in 1986, they did the Ron Reagan show as an unsigned high school band pretty much in a wacky booking. They were the very first SNL musical guest to be unsigned ever on the show.