May 26, 1979 – Buck Henry / Bette Midler (S4 E20)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Mr. Bill visits SNL; JAC complains that she’s never said the opening line

           

— I normally would groan at the appearance of yet ANOTHER Mr. Bill film, but at least I was prepared for this one, since I had already known this season’s finale cold opening stars him.
— I admit, I am liking this meta premise with him having a ticket to see SNL.
— Liked the scene with him meeting John Belushi and receiving an autograph.
— Good ending with Mr. Bill suddenly getting sat on while in the middle of saying LFNY.
STARS: ***…….. Whoa, wait, it turns out we’re not done yet after all. The opening montage suddenly gets cut off by a screaming Jane Curtin, who’s complaining about never having said LFNY.
— Come to think of it, I never noticed that Jane has yet to say LFNY. Well, a solo LFNY, that is; she has said LFNY in unison with the rest of the cast at least three times before (in the Fran Tarkenton, Sissy Spacek, and Mary Kay Place episodes).
— LOL at Jane’s casual mention that Chevy was “fired” from the show.
— Another laugh during Jane’s rant, this time from her dismissively referring to Mr. Bill as “Gumby”.
— John gets a LFNY for his final episode, after saying LFNY in almost every single episode from the second half of this season. I do hope Jane gets at least one solo LFNY next season (her final season), but I’m doubtful; I recall looking at the “Live from New York…” section of SNL Archives’ Season 5 page a few years ago, and I don’t recall seeing any solo Jane LFNYs in there.  Oh, well, she wouldn’t be the only SNL veteran who never got a solo LFNY; off the top of my head, there’s also Nora Dunn, Vanessa Bayer, David Spade (not counting his hosting stints), and Victoria Jackson.  Probably some others, too.
STARS: *** for the Mr. Bill half, **** for the Jane/John half

OPENING MONTAGE
— Michael O’Donoghue has returned as a guest tonight, after leaving the show a year ago.

MONOLOGUE
the picture size decreases as host’s monologue becomes less interesting

     

— Good premise with us being able to view a test group’s level of interest in the show.
— Amusing how the screen is getting increasingly smaller as Buck’s droning on with a boring speech.
— Now it’s gotten even funnier with the screen suddenly going back to normal size during Buck’s negative rant about “cleavage, jiggling buttocks, etc.”
STARS: ***½

RAY’S DISCO ROLLER FISHING PARK
Ray’s (BIM) Disco Roller Fishing Park combines three popular pastimes

   

— A kinda-funny idea, but it doesn’t seem like can hold up for a whole commercial.
— Overall, I was kinda right, as the premise lost steam fairly fast, but I did love Bill’s performance as the spokesperson; he carried this really well. Kinda wish they had Dan in that role, though, considering tonight’s his last night and this would’ve been our last chance to see him as a pitchman. Between the Roach Brothel commercial in the preceding episode and now this Disco Roller Fishing commercial, it’s almost as if SNL’s already preparing to make Bill the go-to guy of the post-Aykroyd/Belushi era. Hope he’s prepared, because he’s gonna get quite a workout next season, getting a huge majority of the lead male roles.
STARS: **½

SAMURAI BAKERY
Mr. Dantley orders a wedding cake from Futaba

     

— As usual, I can immediately tell from the way the set looks when Buck makes his entrance that we’re getting our obligatory Samurai sketch. This will be the last time I’m able to say that.
— The number-calling bit was pretty funny.
— Boy, that fruitcake/gay voice part……
— A pretty good laugh from the “master-baker”/masturbater mix-up.
— John waves goodbye to the camera while Pardo’s doing the closing announcement. Is that John’s way of saying “farewell” for good?
— Overall, despite the fact that Futaba has undeniably been past his prime in his last few appearances, tonight’s wasn’t too bad. I’m probably more tolerant of the character’s routine tonight because I know it’s his final sketch. He had a fantastic run back in his prime (which I would say officially ended after the “Samurai Night Fever” installment).
STARS: ***

BLIND AMBITION
Richard Nixon (DAA) claims that the Watergate tapes were done as a joke

       

— Our night of “lasts” continues, as we now get the last hurrah for Dan’s always-hilarious Nixon. I’m definitely gonna miss this impression.
— Always love Jane’s cranky take on Pat Nixon. She always has some funny snarky one-liners.
— I like the idea of doing a live “flashback” scene.
— LOL, I remember first seeing this “Nixon and his assistant say Watergate-related things in their knowingly-bugged office while laughing like hyenas” scene as a clip in SNL’s Presidential Bash special from 2000. I remember finding this scene absolutely hilarious back then.
— The above-mentioned scene is just as funny as I remember, especially Dan falling out of his chair laughing at one point.
— Hey, Dan’s Nixon is watching the Three Stooges on TV! As I said in an earlier review, as a huge Three Stooges fan, you’ll be seeing me geek out at any reference SNL makes to them.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Married Men”

— Weird how this is the second consecutive episode where a musical guest has performed a song with the same title (“Married Men”).

WEEKEND UPDATE
a Rolling Stones lyric leads GAM to ask where the horny black women are
Roseanne Roseannadanna rambles from gas crisis to sand in JAC’s swimsuit

     

— Ah, I remember seeing this Garrett Morris commentary, where he talks professionally about a racist Mick Jagger lyric regarding sex-crazed black women, before suddenly dropping his professional tone to desperately ask “Where ARE all of these black girls, man?” His delivery of that is great; probably one of my favorite Garrett Morris moments from his entire SNL tenure.
— As I predicted two episode reviews ago, here’s Roseanne Rosannadanna’s obligatory season finale appearance.
— Most of Rosannadanna’s commentary tonight was the standard stuff that I’ve slowly been getting tired of lately, but I did kinda like her story about Jane at the beach, especially the line “She just wouldn’t take her hands out of her pants!”
STARS: ***

UNCLE ROY
pedophilic “Uncle” Roy tells Terri & Tracy a story before bedtime

     

— Only in the 70s could SNL not only get away with doing a one-time sketch starring a character like this, but actually end up making a RECURRING SKETCH out of it.
— Ha, there’s ol’ Roy breaking out the Polaroid.
— I liked Buck’s panicked delivery of “Simon says ‘Higher, higher!!’” while eagerly waiting for the girls to lift up their nightgowns.
— Did the lights turn off too early?
— As usual, the risque humor here is helped by the usual great performance from Buck, one of the very few people who could pull off a character like this without making him come off hateable. Though I’m wondering where else they can take this sketch in subsequent installments without it running out of steam already. I feel like they’ve already done everything they could with the concept.
STARS: ***½

THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
TOD tries to do comedy routine despite ALF’s having become a Hare Krishna

   

— Ha, Franken as a Hare Krishna. This makes me wonder, did Franken and Davis write that bizarre “Danger Probe” sketch from this season’s premiere where Belushi played a Hare Krishna? That sketch did feel like their handiwork.
— Al saying his new name is Ajhnat Dippivad (sp?) is really funny.
— A good laugh from Tom unexpectedly snipping off Al’s ponytail and Al worrying that everyone will now think he’s a Buddhist.
— Overall, could’ve been a little better, but it gave me enough laughs.
STARS: ***

THE OLYMPIA CAFE
an insurance adjuster (JAC) visits after a fire destroys the Olympia Cafe

      

— Our final Olympia Cafe sketch.
— Good premise with the cafe recovering from a recent fire.
— John falsely claiming to the insurance adjuster that he and all his employees lost golf clubs in the fire is pretty funny.
— I love John’s speechless, dramatic reaction to the insurance adjuster turning them down.
— John’s only resort after the insurance deal fell through being to declare “We dance!” and lead a Greek circle dance is hilarious. Nice way to end the final installment of this great recurring sketch.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Martha”

CLONES EXIST NOW
by TOS- a report on the status of duplication science

     

— Hmm, the words “Schiller’s Reel” are displayed in a red font this time instead of the usual plain white font.  The red font gives it almost an eerie, horror movie vibe, though I doubt that’s the intention.
— Loved the black-and-white stock footage of a scientist “going insane”.
— Overall, eh, aside from a few funny parts early on, I didn’t find this all that funny or interesting, though it had a decent idea.
STARS: **

NOT FOR TRANSSEXUALS ONLY
sex-changed (host) & (LAN) swapped genitalia

 

— The title is a variation of the “Not For Ladies Only” sketch(es).
— This is the second time we’ve ever seen Buck in drag, after that short film from season 2 where he gets a womanly makeover for Halloween.
— This premise feels weird watching in 2018, considering what a sensitive subject transsexualism is nowadays.
— Buck’s “Thank you” when Laraine inadvertently complimented him on his penis size made me laugh.
— Very funny line from Laraine saying she wants to “pork as many broads as possible”.
— A short and sweet sketch. Your mileage may vary on this, but I felt this sketch thankfully didn’t have quite the uncomfortable feeling I was worried this would have through modern eyes.
— Oh, wow, this ends up being the last sketch of the season?
STARS: ***

IMPRESSIONIST MICHAEL O’DONOGHUE / GOODNIGHTS
MOD does impression of Elvis Presley having needles plunged into eyes

     

— Oh, looks like that Transsexuals sketch ISN’T our last sketch of the season after all, as we get our Mr. Mike segment squeezed in during the spot where the goodnights usually occurs.
— Overall, this is the same old needles-in-the-eyes routine as always, but I’m getting a kick out of seeing O’Donoghue wildly climbing all over the studio audience as the credits roll, which is a fairly fun way to end a season.

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty enjoyable season finale, and an improvement over the underwhelming Buck-hosted season finale from a year earlier. Most of the sketches were good, and we got some interesting cases of format-breaking, such as Jane interrupting the opening montage to complain about not getting to say LFNY or Michael O’Donoghue’s needles-in-the-eyes routine overlapping with the ending credits.
— I wish John and Dan were used more for what ended up being their last show. Dan especially seemed really underutilized tonight – Nixon was the only noteworthy role he got.
— After reviewing these first four seasons, I’ve come away with a higher opinion on John and Dan than I used to have. Before familiarizing myself with these original-era episodes, I used to just remember John for his loud, wild, outrageous roles. Going through his SNL tenure while doing these reviews has taught me that he displayed far more range than just being a wild fat guy. I’ve gained a big appreciation for his underrated versatility and reliability; the writers could cast him in literally any type of role and he’d play it very convincingly. He was even good at doing various celebrity impressions, too, and not just impressions of heavyset celebrities. Hell, he was even good at doing serious, dramatic acting when a scene called for it, such as various instances in the Olympia Cafe sketches. As for Dan, while I’ve always had lots of admiration and respect for his importance as SNL’s original utility player, doing these 70s reviews has made me SUCH a big fan of his SNL work that I came to realize he’s my absolute favorite of the original cast. I would often be in awe watching his adept performances & delivery, and some of the hardest laughs I’ve gotten in the first four seasons have been from him. And he had a lot of the qualities that I love in an SNL cast member: skills as an “everyman” player, consummate professional, strong impressionist, and a knack for doing really weird, creative sketches (though unfortunately, it feels like we saw less and less of those weird, creative sketches of his as his tenure progressed). It goes without saying that John and Dan will both be sorely missed from the cast, especially when when you’re aware of how the show would end up struggling without them next season.
— Season 4 overall was a very good year. It’s often considered by many to be the peak of 70s SNL, though to be honest, I personally feel season 3 was a little better. Still, this season boasts an impressive large number of classic sketches and strong episodes, even despite containing two of the absolute worst episodes I’ve had to cover this whole era (Frank Zappa, Milton Berle). We also got the start of a fascinating trend towards the end of the season, where we got long, extensive, epic, mini-movie-type sketches, such as the classic Pepsi Syndrome. I actually felt a little bittersweet watching this season, knowing that not only is it the last year where the core 70s cast is fully intact and fully energized, and not only is it the last great year of the original SNL era, but it also ends up being SNL’s last really great year in general for quite a long time. I won’t be getting another season this strong until I reach, oh, season 10, I’d say.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Maureen Stapleton):
— a slight step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
We enter season 5, the final year of the original SNL era. Steve Martin hosts.