October 13, 1979 – Steve Martin / Blondie (S5 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

MISCELLANEOUS
NBC is “Smart As A Peacock”

COLD OPENING
a doorman (GAM) turns away clergy at a Pope John Paul II (host) tour stop

     

— What was with the flashing “This Is Not A Repeat” disclaimer on the bottom of the screen?
— Oh my god, Garrett has a beard this season. And a very thick, graying one at that.
— I liked Jim Downey’s line about dry-cleaning a wine stain on the Pope’s outfit.
— LOL at Bill as “Monsignor Eldini”, a variation of his Jerry Eldini character.
— The audience immediately applauds Gilda’s walk-on.
— I’m surprised Steve’s appearance ended up being so short, but overall, this opening was a decent way to start the season.
STARS: ***

OPENING MONTAGE
— So far, this appears to be the same as season 4’s montage, though there’s some subtle differences right from the opening shot, where we get a new zoom-in on the old shot of the Statue of Liberty.
— We will eventually get a brand-new montage this season, but it’s not until mid-season.
— For the first time in SNL history, the theme music has been modified. I feel like I’m in the minority, but I’ve always preferred this season’s theme music to the original one from the first four seasons. It’s more catchy, I like the energetic drumming, and I especially LOVE the guitar-strumming in the last quarter of the theme.
— Ah, now there’s more significant differences in the montage; I’m seeing several new shots now.

 

— Weird seeing Jane as the first cast member announced, with Aykroyd and Belushi gone.
— The cast shots are the same from last season, except they each have a new background design of little squiggly lines.

 

— There’s no featured players credited yet at this point of the season; I guess we’re getting them a little later on. Anyone familiar with this season knows that a countless number of writers would be promoted to featured player status this season, plus a brand-new cast hire: Harry Shearer. Despite not being credited yet, I’ve heard that Shearer does make his on-camera debut tonight. I’m eager to see him. When you get so used to seeing the same 70s cast season after season, it can get exciting seeing SNL finally add someone new to the cast. I felt that same excitement when Bill Murray made his debut a few seasons earlier (and like Shearer, Bill also went uncredited in his first episode).
— By the way, with no featured players credited and with Aykroyd and Belushi gone, the cast tonight consists of only FIVE PEOPLE. That’s pretty crazy.

MONOLOGUE
host dances as the SNL Band plays “Stompin’ At The Savoy”

      

— A new home base stage! This is the third consecutive season premiere where they’ve changed the home base, and from what I remember of this season, we’re getting yet ANOTHER new home base at some point mid-season.
— Steve demonstrating male model poses is fairly funny.
— I like Steve getting mad at the SNL Band for randomly drowning him out.
— Steve’s eventual dancing to the music is great.
— Cool strobe lights effect.
— Overall, that was awesome.
STARS: ****

CRAIG’S TRAVELER’S CHECKS
use Craig’s (JID) Travellers’ Checks- he never leaves his apartment

   

— I really like this idea, and Jim Downey is perfect for a role like this.
— Overall, a solid commercial.
STARS: ****

SPANISH TUTOR
Spanish tutor (host) visits (BIM) & (GIR) to give a free language lesson

    

— Bill’s deadpan responses to Steve are making me laugh.
— Right now, Bill looks like he’s trying not to crack up at Steve.
— Overall, this sketch was a little too long and drawn-out for my likes. There were a few highlights, mostly from Bill, but I don’t feel it was a great idea to place this as the lead-off sketch of the season.
STARS: **½

THE VANDALS
a juvenile delinquent Vandal’s (ALF) pranks victimize a Centurion (host)

     

— Hey, is that Harry Shearer doing the opening narration?
— I got a big laugh from the opening prank from a giggling Franken and… uh, who’s that with him? Another writer, perhaps?
— Funny premise.
— Loved Garrett’s delivery of his “your sandals take the cake” line.
— Okay, here’s the point of the show where Aykroyd and Belushi’s absence is starting to be felt. We’re seeing a whole bunch of male writers and extras in this sketch to make up for the lack of male presence in the cast.
— Franken’s pretty funny as the disgraced vandal, and Bill is hilarious as his angry dad.
— Speaking of Franken and speaking of the felt absence of Aykroyd and Belushi, isn’t there a story that Franken was late on his cue to enter this sketch because he was distracted thinking about how great his role would’ve been for Belushi? I didn’t notice any late entrance from Franken here, though. Am I thinking of a different sketch?
— I liked the sudden turn with Steve ordering his assistant (Tom Davis) to kill and behead the family right after they have exited the scene.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Dreaming”

RISE
Rise spray lifts host & Buck Henry [real] above restroom germs

   

— Liked Steve’s line “Your seat will never make contact with THEIR seat.”
— The visual of Steve slowly rising above the stall is pretty funny.
— A bearded Buck Henry cameo!
— Why no audience response to Buck? You’d figure they’d go nuts over the visual treat of seeing the two most frequent hosts of this era appearing side-by-side in a sketch together.
— Buck actually looks pretty cool with a beard.
STARS: ***

WEEKEND UPDATE
Father Guido Sarducci talks about merchandizing linked to the Pope’s tour
Father Guido Sarducci announces the Find The Popes In The Pizza Contest

       

— Weird seeing Bill with much shorter hair this season than usual.
— What’s that red flash on the Lilian Carter picture? (second screencap above)
— Bill getting caught singing “16 ounces in just one calorie” was random but funny. I assume what he was singing was a then-current commercial jingle.
— The “James Earl Ray/scratch-and-sniff greeting cards” joke was hilarious.
— When complaining about the Pope not getting paid for the use of his picture on t-shirts, Father Guido Sarducci says “First they did it to Mr. Bill, now the Pope”, which gets a great audience reaction. What was the Mr. Bill mention referring to?
— Sarducci has some pretty funny comments about the records put out by various popes.
— I love the whole “Find The Popes In The Pizza” contest.
— Overall, a much-better-than-usual commentary from Sarducci.
STARS: ***

GREAT MOMENTS IN ROCK HISTORY
with Carole King (LAN) lost in “You’ve Got A Friend,” (host) gets stabbed

     

— LOL at Steve suddenly getting mugged by Garrett out of nowhere.
— Garrett’s new graying beard makes him look more believable in a shady role like this.
— Ha, this is hilarious with a bleeding Steve’s ignored pleas for help while Laraine sings on.
— The “Call out my name” part was really funny.
— Steve’s frozen facial expression when dead is cracking me up.
STARS: ****

THE DAVID SUSSKIND SHOW
witnesses say Hamilton Jordan uses cocaine

   

— They put a lot more make-up on Bill than the last time he played Susskind.
— I still can’t get used to Garrett’s new beard. He probably doesn’t keep it for long, anyway.  Besides, how’s he gonna play any of his frequent drag roles with that big ol’ beard?
— Jane’s character is introduced as Audrey Peart Dickman, which is the name of one of SNL’s staff members from that time. This is actually the second time they’ve used that name for a Jane character, after a season 1 Weekend Update from the Chevy era where Jane played a guest commentator (in one of Chevy’s usual “make goofy faces behind a commentator’s back” bits).
— Is that red I keep seeing on Steve’s palms? Must be leftover fake blood from the preceding sketch.
— Not a very good sketch overall, and I can’t find anything to really say about any of the actual content of it.
STARS: **

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Hardest Part”

THE BOLSHOI BALLET
Russian security ventures on-stage to prevent Bolshoi Ballet defection

   

— Harry Shearer! I’m happy to see his on-screen SNL debut.
— Right off the bat, Harry’s already proving to be an adept live performer, with his straight-laced “Thank you” ad-lib after one person in SNL’s audience randomly applauded in the middle of his speech.
— Gilda’s appearance makes me realize we haven’t been seeing much of her tonight. I had heard about her lack of airtime this season and how exhausted she often comes off, due to her filming her one-woman show/movie “Gilda Live!” during the course of the season.
— Boy, this ballet act is weird, but kinda funny so far.
— I like Jane in this.
— Steve’s palms are still looking really red-ish.
— Overall, this was well-performed, but I got kinda bored with it halfway though. This was nowhere near as funny as I initially thought it was going to be.
STARS: **½

THE ALL NEW MR. BILL SHOW
by Walter Williams- Mr. Hands foils retooling

       

— *groan*
— After being inundated with these in the back half of the previous season, this is the last thing I wanted to see on the season premiere.
— Hmm, the “All-New Mr. Bill”.
— These injuries are so predictable so far.
— The lighter fuel and magnifying glass bit is actually kinda funny.
— I did like the disco ball dropping on Spot at the end, especially the simple “thump” sound effect they used.
— Overall, I admit to kinda liking the format of this one and there were a few parts of the short I found okay, but I still found it hard to even chuckle at most of the Mr. Bill injuries, considering how burned out I’ve become on the redundant humor in these.
STARS: **½

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?
tourists (host) & (BIM) wonder- “What the hell is that?”

   

— Ah, I instantly recognize which memorable sketch this is going to be. This has always been one of my favorites.
— Hmm, I don’t remember this having background music. The music is adding an interesting touch to this.
— Steve’s already funny in this, but Bill is making it even better doing his “talking out the corner of the mouth” routine.
— Such a unique sketch, and Steve and Bill are doing a great job making so much out of such an intentionally-meager setting.
STARS: *****

GOODNIGHTS

 

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Yep, the cracks are definitely starting to show. As I expected, I’m seeing instant signs of a decline in quality this season.
— This episode had its moments, including a creative closing sketch that’s one of my all-time favorites, but tonight had too many underwhelming parts for a season premiere in this era. There was also a bit of a sad feeling, as this episode is pretty much officially the beginning of the end for this era.
— The show also has a noticeably different feeling post-Aykroyd/Belushi; without them, tonight had a pretty empty aura and it feels strange seeing so many on-camera writers scrambling around, trying to pick up the slack. Bill Murray had a strong night, though, and I am looking forward to seeing him as SNL’s new utility guy this season. I also can’t wait to see more of new hire Harry Shearer.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1978-79):
— a fairly big step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Eric Idle