Month: October 2018

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February 10, 1979 – Cicely Tyson / Talking Heads (S4 E11)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Emergency! starring Megan Marshack will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
JOB claims not to be angry about having his Deng piece cut from the show

 

— John looks pretty funny in that makeup.
— John: “I’ve got a #1 album on the charts.” What was he referring to there? Was that just a throwaway joke, or did he and Dan release a Blues Brothers album at the time or something?
— John, innocently: “Why would I hit Gilda?” Oh, I don’t know, maybe because you’ve done that in 30% of the sketches you were ever in.
— Harsh but funny line from John about how if SNL got canceled, he has Hollywood to move on to while Jane’s only post-SNL career option will be to “go back to Boston in some improv group”. Ouch!
— Much like the Mayor Ed Koch monologue in the season premiere, this cold opening is another reminder of how much John’s movie career has been taking off, which again makes you realize that his SNL departure is soon coming.
— Good ending with John taking a swing at Jane but missing her and punching the lockers.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
upon finding GAM impersonating her, host is upset by his lack of dignity

   

— LOL at Garrett coming out in that outfit as Cicely Tyson. This would pave the way for a few other monologues later in SNL history that had a cast member come out onstage impersonating the host (Kevin Nealon as Kevin Kline in 1993, Chris Kattan as Britney Spears in 2002; are there any others?).
— Some good laughs from Garrett not thinking SNL would actually get Cicely to host.
— Loved the part of Garrett’s contract stating that he “will play all parts darker than Tony Orlando”.
— When listing black female celebrities he’s impersonated on the show, Garrett mentions Leon Spinks’ mother among them. But he never played her; Gilda did, in that David Susskind Show sketch from the preceding season.
STARS: ***½


ELVIS PRESLEY’S COAT
— Rerun.


THE WIDETTES
the Widettes entertain a couple with similarly-sized butts (GAM) & (host)

    

— I can already tell right from the opening shot that this will be a Widettes sequel. Meh. Figures they’d do this sketch in an episode with a black host, who I’m guessing will be paired with Garrett as the Widettes’ similarly-big-bottomed friends.
— It’s too soon to bring this sketch back, considering I wasn’t crazy about the first installment from just TWO EPISODES AGO. I feel like SNL’s attempting to make these characters the new Coneheads (who may already be retired by this point in SNL’s run; we haven’t seen them since the terrible one with Frank Zappa back in October), but the Widettes don’t hold a candle to the delightful weirdness of the Coneheads.
— I admit, Jane bringing out a giant rectal thermometer to take Gilda’s temperature made me laugh.
— I was right about Cicely and Garrett appearing as a big-bottomed couple.
— Another SNL reference to President Carter’s hemorrhoid problem at the time.
— Didn’t care for the simultaneous pants-ripping ending.
STARS: **


THE SHAH’S FINAL DAYS
embassy receptionist Sherry tells visitors to wait

     

— Gilda’s high-pitched Iranian gibberish underneath that burqa is cracking me up. Doesn’t she end up reprising this same character in the Bel-Airabs sketch(es) from season 5?
— LOL at Laraine rocking out to “YMCA” by The Village People.
— Oh, man, not Dan’s recurring hippie character again. I previously stated that I never wanted to see his and Laraine’s hippie couple ever again after that dreadful Night on Freak Mountain sketch from the Frank Zappa episode.
— John’s pretty funny here, but I’m not sure where the heck this sketch is going so far.
— Man, Dan’s character is insufferable in this sketch. He won’t stop talking. This, along with the Widettes, may be the only recurring Dan Aykroyd character I don’t like.
— Haha, is that Bill’s voice doing the off-camera whiny foreign gibberish as The Shah? He sounds hilarious.
— Yep, it IS Bill, who has now shown up on camera. He’s really funny in this so far.
— Bill’s appearance ended up being too short; I wanted to see more of him.
— Overall, didn’t like this sketch much. There were a few good individual performances, but too much of the sketch dragged.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Take Me To The River”


FRONTIER MIDWIFE
Frontier Midwife (host) tries to deliver a baby in a male-only cabin

   

— A pretty good laugh from the frozen cat prop.
— I liked Bill’s “Does anyone know who this woman is?” after Cicely barged in and spent almost an entire minute giving orders.
— That ending with Cicely about to get raped by the group of cabin men….. I’m supposed to LAUGH at that???
— Despite a strong performance from Cicely, I wasn’t too taken with this overall sketch. (I’m starting to notice a theme in this review)
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
JAC’s eulogy for Sid Vicious is more appropriate to Nelson Rockefeller
DAA’s Strictly Speaking condemns an unfair U.S.-China trade agreement

     

— Oh, THAT’S who Megan Marshack is.
— Loved Bill’s random earth-heading-towards-the-sun news story.
— This is the first in a long time we’re seeing a mustached Dan Aykroyd (or “Stache-kroyd” as I saw someone once call him).
— Dan’s “hamburger-gobbling gooks” line caught me off-guard but made me laugh out loud.
— Overall, another funny fast-speaking, verbose, acid-tongued commentary from Dan.
— Short Update. I’m glad they finally managed to make it through an Update without any of this season’s narrow cycle of regulars (Roseanne Rosannadanna, Father Guido Sarducci, and Chico Escuela).
STARS: ***½


NICK RAILS
en route to Orlando, Nick “Rails” entertains passengers on the Auto Train

     

— I loved Bill’s screechy note at the end of his singing of “Freak Out”.
— The train setting is an interesting change of pace for this sketch.
— Garrett’s line about cruising the beaches for young white girls would’ve been funny if he hadn’t flubbed it (as usual).
— I got a big laugh from Bill’s line about throwing up all over his Volkswagen after seeing “Holocaust”.
— Overall, the usual great Nick the Lounge Singer sketch.
STARS: ****


BLACK PERSPECTIVE
host blames blacks’ poor image on black men

 

— First time we’re seeing this sketch since the famous installment with Julian Bond.
— Ah, I see that the bombshell line the host drops that offends Garrett in tonight’s installment is “The black man has always been such a loser”. It’s funny, but pales in comparison to Julian Bond’s “light-skinned blacks are smarter than dark-skinned blacks” bombshell. We still get the same “Say what?” response from Garrett.
— HAHA, I loved Garrett’s “Now listen, bitch….” line to Cicely.
— Very funny comment from Cicely about how black men ruined Detroit.
— I like the way Garrett and Cicely are playing off of each other.
STARS: ***½


WORLD AT WAR
during WWII, the Walker Brigade tries to exploit a loophole

   

— Interesting the way the Black Perspective sketch segued into this one.
— Bill’s narration voice-over sounds like his Richard Burton impression.
— Oh, now we see he IS playing Burton.
— The footage of all the soldiers with walkers looks like authentic 1940s footage, but it obviously can’t be.
— Overall, the premise was kinda thin, but they got enough mileage out of the amusing “soldiers with walkers” visual without running it into the ground.
STARS: ***


EX-POLICE
X-Police harass a pair of supposed lesbians (JAC) & (LAN)

    

— Funnily enough, Laraine giving Jane a backrub reminds me of the Franken and Davis “Porno for TV” sketch from the preceding episode.
— Oh, no. Another return of the X-Police. I may have given a very positive review of the first installment of this sketch, but this NEVER should have been made into a recurring sketch. Hell, I’d even take another installment of Mercy Killers over seeing this once again.
— Wait, now they’re officially titled “Ex-Police”? WTF? Why’d they change the original spelling of X-Police?
— Whoa at Bill’s angry “dyke!” outburst to Laraine. Jesus Christ.
— Ugh, everything in this sketch is pretty much a carbon copy of the exact same crap we’ve seen in the other two X-Police sketches, only with an uncomfortably angry homophobic premise.
— Considering we’re nearing the end of Dan’s SNL tenure (*sob*), hopefully this is the last time I have to put up with X-Police, Ex-Police, or whatever the fuck we’re supposed to call it. When I said earlier in this review that Dan’s hippie character and the Widettes are the only two recurring Aykroyd characters I don’t like, I clearly spoke too soon.  Man, it hurts to see my favorite original cast member doing his three weakest recurring characters in the same episode.
STARS: *


CICELY SINGS SICILY
album of host doing songs native to homonymic island

 

— Not sure where the humor here is supposed to be coming from so far, other than the Cicely/Sicily name similarity, which is a concept I would’ve only found funny as a kid.
— Overall, what in THE WORLD was the point of this sketch???
STARS: *


LITELLA-VISION
GAM & host perform “Porky” & Bess duet on Emily’s show

  

— Well, if anything’s gonna save tonight’s tepid episode, it’s SURE to be my FAVORITE character Emily Litella! [/end sarcasm]
— While I’m not all that eager to see this character being brought out of the mothballs after a long hiatus, at least we’re seeing her in a different setting. I wonder why this sketch didn’t open with a title card or opening credits sequence.
— Oh, is this just another excuse to hear more singing from Cicely?
— Garrett’s Porky Pig-esque stutter-singing is kinda funny. BTW, tonight has got to be the most airtime Garrett’s received since the Julian Bond episode from season 2.
— The visual of a pig mask-wearing band was okay.
— Overall, odd sketch. I have no idea how to feel about it. I have a feeling it might grow on me on a re-watch.
— I wonder if Litella-Vision eventually becomes a recurring sketch, or if it ends up staying a random one-off.
STARS: undecided


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Artists Only”


GOODNIGHTS

— Why’d the band start playing before Cicely even delivered her goodnights speech? They completely drowned out what she was saying.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— I did not care much for this episode. In fact, it’s the first one in a good while that left me with such a “meh” feeling. There were a few good things tonight, but they were overshadowed by a surprisingly large amount of sketches I didn’t like. There was an upswing in quality around the middle of the show, but that was short-lived as it was followed by a string of real duds like Ex-Police and Cicely Sings Sicily. Tonight’s episode also contained some uncomfortable moments like the angry homophobia in Ex-Police and the pending rape at the end of Frontier Midwife.
— Cicely was a good host and gave some pretty strong performances, and it sure was refreshing seeing a black woman hosting the show for once. I just wish the show gave her better material.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Michael Palin):
— a big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Rick Nelson

Posted on

January 27, 1979 – Michael Palin / The Doobie Brothers (S4 E10)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Jimmy Carter’s (DAA) hemorrhoids affect the State Of The Union address

 

— Funny opening commentary from Tom Davis'(?) voice-over at beginning about President Carter’s “painful medical problem”.
— Amusing pained slow entrance from Dan’s Carter.
— Dan’s Carter’s use of hemorrhoid-related words to express the U.S.’s inflation problems is hilarious! A lot of big laughs there.
— The random “next president” disclaimer under the stock footage shot of Ted Kennedy was great.
— Overall, a very funny opening, and an improvement over the preceding State of the Union cold opening the show did in season 3.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
if only NBC had given non-wool socks to host, the show would be perfect

 

— Not sure how he can top his cats-down-the-pants monologue from last time.
— LOL at the woman in the audience who keeps loudly cheering “Woo!” after every single cast member name Michael mentions.
— Michael, in an ad-lib(?) regarding the audience: “Is that my mother up there?” Kinda funny hearing that, as Michael would later co-host SNL with his mother in the early 80s.
— I now keep hearing the distinctive laugh of the aforementioned “Woo!” audience member from earlier.
— Overall, this was pretty disappointing for a Michael Palin monologue. The whole “wrong socks” thing just wasn’t that interesting of a premise, despite Michael’s efforts to wring laughs out of it. They could’ve given him something much funnier than this.
STARS: **


NERDS MUSIC LESSON
lonely Mr. Brighton shifts his attention from Lisa to Enid to Todd

     

— These characters are now finally getting Coneheads-level huge cheers from the audience upon their entrance at the beginning.
— Nice continuity by bringing back Michael’s piano teacher character from last time he hosted.
— Michael: “You stir my manhood!”
— Funny sight gag with Bill entering with the bra over his eyes.
— Heh, I should’ve seen the ending coming where Michael turned his romantic attention towards Bill, but it still caught me off-guard and gave me a laugh.
STARS: ***½


WHAT IF?
the possibility of a Nazi Superman (DAA) is explored

       

— Jane’s back to being the “What If?” host, after Steve Martin took over her role last time.
— Oh, this is the Superman-as-a-Nazi one I’ve always heard about. I already love the concept alone.
— Garrett’s answer getting cut off was pretty funny.
— Some great laughs from Michael-as-Hitler’s speech about how many steps Russians are above other minorities/groups he hates (e.g. negro gypsy homosexuals).
— John doing his great Brando impression as Jor-El.
— I like the Nazi version of Superman’s name: Uberman.
— LOL at Dan’s x-ray vision revealing that Franken’s character is “a jew”.
— Overall, this was fantastic. Easily the best of the “What If?” sketches so far.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “What a Fool Believes”


WEEKEND UPDATE
fired Ohio State coach Woody Hayes (JOB) hits wife (GIR) in BIM interview
photos show Rosalynn Carter’s proclivity for being around mass murderers
Chico Escuela gives advice to athletes- “keep your eye on the ball”
Father Guido Sarducci analyzes the bill for the Last Brunch

       

— Hmm, a lesser-known edition of Bill Murray’s Celebrity Corner.
— Wow at John suddenly beating the hell out of Gilda. I kinda wish I was keeping count of the number of times John has done that to Gilda in a sketch, because it’s gotta be near the double-digits by this point in the show’s run.
— Chico Escuela’s whole “keep your eye on the ball” commentary was short and didn’t really go anywhere, but it still made me laugh. Hope they do more noteworthy things with this character in his future appearances, though.
— Amusing seeing Guido Sarducci with the sombrero.
— Funny story from Sarducci about a man trying to sell him a high school graduation picture of Jesus and the bill for the Last Supper.
— Loved the part of Sarducci’s Last Brunch story about the guy who just had egg and tea having to pay as much as others at the brunch who ate more.
— I think this is the first time they had Bill do the “pleasant tomorrow” sign-off instead of Jane.
STARS: ***


MILES COWPERTHWAITE
Charles Dickens’ Miles Cowperthwaite (host) comes of age as drool handler

       

— Oh, I heard about this sketch. Supposedly, it’s one of the longest and most elaborate sketches in SNL history. This must be around the time when the show started doing some really long sketches (e.g. the epic “Pepsi Syndrome”, which appears later this season); a trend that would carry over into season 5.
— Jane’s voice and accent are great.
— Oh my god at Dan’s whole scene so far. He is priceless!
— Some good gross-out humor here.
— Bill’s talking in a voice similar to his character in the Theodoric of York sketches.
— For some reason, the part with Michael giving Dan a loud bop with a mallet to stop Dan’s spasms is absolutely slaying me. I cannot stop laughing right now.
— Ah, here’s the part I always heard about, with John as the effeminate ship captain of The Raging Queen.
— Wait, what? The sketch is over already? It can’t be. I had always heard that most of this sketch took place on a ship, with John’s captain character being a huge part of the sketch. Instead, this sketch contained zero ship scenes, and John’s character only appeared in the last minute of the sketch. WTF? I’m also surprised to see that this sketch was NOWHERE NEAR as long as I had heard. I’m starting to think I must be watching a different Miles Cowperthwaite sketch than the one I heard about. I know Michael hosts again later this season; maybe that episode has a continuation of this sketch. Anyone know?
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Taking it to the Streets”


NAME THE BATS
(JOB) & (GIR) are attacked on (host)’s game show

    

— Strange but interesting concept so far.
— I’m laughing my ass off at Michael beating on the outside of the barn to make the bats show up inside.
— Part of the barn door falls off when Michael beats on the barn. Wonder if that was a real mistake.
— HAHA this is insane with Gilda and John’s various off-camera yells during the bat attack while Michael as the sadistic host is forcing them to stick to the game show’s premise and give the bats names.
— Great ending with Gilda and John’s “consolation prize”.
— Overall, wow, what a hilarious insane sketch that got great reactions from me. I think I just discovered a new favorite sketch of mine.
STARS: *****


THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
communists ALF, TOD, LAN, GIR preview their pornographic TV plan

     

— The concept of communist porn is pretty funny.
— I like the porn’s opening credits sequence.
— The stilted talk of “back-rubbing” as a raunchy sex act is good.
— HA at Franken loudly cracking Laraine’s neck.
STARS: ***


MR. BILL GOES TO COURT
by Walter Williams- Sluggo sues after Spot bites

       

— They waited two episodes since the last Mr. Bill film, but it’s STILL too soon to bring this back.
— Spot with the ball & chain around his rabies-infested mouth is a pretty funny visual.
— Interesting seeing Mr. Bill’s mom.
— Mr. Bill’s mom returning from the cross-examination room all beat-up gave me a good laugh.
— The electric chair ending was great.
— Overall, wow, that was actually really good. Just when I thought I had officially gotten tired of the Mr. Bill films, they win me back with this one.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS
host thanks viewers who mailed in socks

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Overall, a really strong show. While this unfortunately didn’t have the Monty Python-esque feel that Michael Palin’s previous episode had, there were still several great unique concepts I absolutely loved that were executed perfectly, like the Uberman and (one of my new all-time favorites) Name The Bats sketches, and there was also a really strong Miles Cowperthwaite piece.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Elliott Gould):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Cicely Tyson

Posted on

December 16, 1978 – Elliott Gould / Peter Tosh (S4 E9)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
the 28th Annual U.S.-Taiwan Table Tennis Open will not be seen tonight

— First time we’ve seen a show-opening disclaimer gag all season.


COLD OPENING
to conserve energy, Jimmy Carter (DAA) darkens White House Christmas tree

  

— Energetic audience reaction to the opening shot of Dan.
— Overall, the tree un-lighting premise was decent and this opening worked pretty well.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host & GAM dance & sing “Christmas Night In Harlem”

   

— Yet another Elliott Gould monologue that launches right into a song. I guess he was the Christopher Walken of the original SNL era.
— Ha at Garrett interrupting the song.
— I’m liking Garrett’s dancing.
— Overall, a fun number, and it was good to see a cast member get involved in a musical Elliott monologue for a change.
STARS: ***½


BABY NORWAY ALL-FLAMMABLE CHRISTMAS TREE
the Rovco All-Flammable Christmas Tree eliminates the need for cleanup

     

— Looks like we’re getting our usual absurd-premised Dan Aykroyd commercial.
— Not a hilarious concept, but still pretty funny and silly.
— I weirdly liked the extended ending showing the stagehands putting out the fires.
STARS: ***


THE WIDETTES
the big-butt Widette family (DAA), (JAC), (GIR), (JOB) makes buns puns

     

— The debut of this recurring sketch that I’ve always heard about. I’ve never seen these, but I’m dreading it based on my recently-mentioned dislike of “every member of a family has the same weird trait/big body part” sketches.
— John and Gilda pigging out on the fudge present they were given was pretty funny.
— The toilet paper gag ending was okay.
— Overall, not quite as bad as I was expecting, but I still wasn’t crazy about this.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


MOMMIE DEAREST
in a flashback, Christina Crawford (GIR) recalls her Mommie Dearest (JAC)

       

— Interesting use of Gilda’s catatonic Colleen character.
— I’m getting some good laughs from Jane’s violent outbursts to Gilda, and Gilda responding by hitting her own doll.
— I don’t know whether to laugh or cringe at Yvonne Hudson playing her maid role in such a ridiculously stereotypical, old-timey, over-the-top manner.
— LOL at Gilda’s Christmas present being the previous night’s dinner she reportedly gagged on.
— The return of Bill and Laraine’s Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn impressions, and the debut of a funny Clark Cable impression from Dan.
— Dan’s Gable to Jane’s Crawford: “Frankly, my dear, I could never make love to someone who’s shoulders are bigger than mine.”
— Gilda’s delivery of “Thank you!” was hilarious.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
during a LAN interview, Steve Rubell (JOB) disavows cocaine at Studio 54
BIM sings Fifth Symphony-inspired “Happy Birthday” to Beethoven
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about USA-China diplomatic relations
Roseanne Roseannadanna touches on holiday depression, gives JAC fruitcake

       

— A hot crowd tonight. They’re howling at everything.
— Funny sight gag with John’s cocaine mustache.
— John, about use of cocaine at the club: “Apparently, this is going on right under my nose.”
— Ha, nice twist at the end with John eating a powdered donut.
— Bill’s smarmy singing of “Happy Birthday” to Beethoven was brief but classic Bill Murray.
— That Clark Kent suit joke bombed completely.
— We’re getting another Point/Counterpoint.
— Heh, during Jane’s rant in Point/Counterpoint, you can tell a Roseanne Rosannadanna commentary is coming up because on the left side of the screen, you can see a part of Gilda’s unmistakable Rosannadanna wig.
— Dan’s rebuttal was freakin’ great, especially his remark about Jane’s “dried-out scuzz”.
— I must’ve seen this Rosannadanna commentary in an SNL highlight reel or “Best Of” special, because her whole funny spiel about spaghetti sauce stains in teeth sounds seems so familiar, and used to always be the first thing that came to my mind whenever I thought of this character.
— Rosannadanna’s commentary is now making the audience howl like crazy again, much like they were doing earlier this Update.
— HA at the nasty fruitcake Rosannadanna gave Jane.
STARS: ***½


ALCOHOLIC’S CHRISTMAS
to wino (host), liquor brand mascots are the true spirits of Christmas

 

— Interesting premise with the cast playing embodied versions of various liquors.
— Uh-oh, a musical number has suddenly broken out. Ugh.
— Overall, despite my perpetual dislike of unnecessary musical numbers in the middle of SNL sketches, this was a charming little holiday sketch, though I wanted to like this a little more than I did.
STARS: ***


BOB & RAY
Bob & Ray [real] simulate interview featuring a hard-luck holiday story

 

— This is my first time seeing Bob & Ray’s comedy act.
— Funny seeing Bob Elliott on SNL, knowing that a son (Chris) and granddaughter (Abby) of his would later go on to become cast members on the show.
— The comment about the Rockefeller tree was my only real laugh so far, and even that was more of a chuckle.
— Overall, I’m disappointed to say I found this only mildly funny at best. This started very slow, but got a little better as it went along. Considering the good things I’ve always heard about this comedy team, I feel bad for not liking this segment more. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that their material is usually better than this.
STARS: **½


ST. MICKEY’S KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
St. Mickey’s Knights of Columbus has its Christmas banquet

     

— Last time they did this sketch with Buck Henry, I mentioned that when I was much younger, I saw a version of this sketch with Elliott Gould in an old SNL Christmas compilation special. Something I’ll always remember about my initial viewing of this Gould version of the sketch is that for the first minute of it, I mistakenly thought that was future cast member Randy Quaid in John Belushi’s role. I remember confusedly going “Wait, what season does this sketch come from??? How can 1985-86 season cast member Randy Quaid be appearing in a sketch with Dan, Garrett, Bill, etc.?”, before realizing that was John Belushi I was looking at. I know that mix-up sounds very odd considering Quaid and Belushi normally look nothing alike, but in this sketch, there was something about John’s glasses and the certain way he was moving his mouth while speaking that reminded younger me of how Quaid looked in certain bespectacled roles on SNL. For what it’s worth, I don’t see the resemblance at all anymore.
— So far, the same problem I had with the first Knights of Columbus sketch is applying to this second installment: the parody of lodge meetings is a little TOO realistic and feels too long.
— I like Jane and Gilda as the two cooks, even without having any lines.
— Hey, I’m actually liking this part with the club members not knowing words to various Christmas carols, except Elliott being the only one who knows the “Good King Wenceslas” lyrics.
— Funny how I mentioned a season 11 cast member (Randy Quaid) earlier in this sketch review, because now I’ve noticed whenever this sketch shows a wide shot of the club, there’s a bespectacled club member on the bottom of the screen that strongly resembles season 11-era Robert Downey Jr. (circled in the screencap below) It obviously can’t be him, though; he would’ve only been about 13 years old at this time.

— Overall, this sketch started out kinda dull as usual, but surprisingly gained some good momentum towards the end and got me to like it. Definitely an improvement over the first installment.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


DUBS TREES
Honker assumes control of a Christmas tree lot & makes a sale

     

— LOL at Bill getting caught peeing near the trees.
— Oh, is this another appearance from Bill’s Honker character?
— Wow, interesting role-reversal with Gilda playing a mom and Jane playing her child for once. It’s funny, because I was just thinking a few days ago how I would like to see a sketch where always-great-at-playing-moms Jane and always-great-at-playing-kids Gilda would switch roles.
— Yeah, this IS Honker. I always like this weird character.
— Jane’s actually pretty adorable in her portrayal of a child. Too bad it doesn’t seem she got cast in roles like this more often.
— Overall, good sketch.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Overall, a pretty decent Christmas episode. Nothing outstanding, and most of the sketches stayed in just the 3 to 3½-star range, but the overall show had an nice, enjoyable Christmas-y feel to it that I liked, no doubt partly helped by Elliott Gould’s always-warm presence. A welcome contrast to how the previous season’s Christmas episode (Miskel Spillman) strangely had almost NO Christmas-themed material.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Eric Idle):
— a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
We enter 1979, with Michael Palin, our second Monty Python alum host in three episodes

Posted on

December 9, 1978 – Eric Idle / Kate Bush (S4 E8)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Telepsychic Ray (DAA) makes up callers’ fortunes as he goes

— I’ve always liked these sketches when I saw them years ago.
— Funny part with Dan hastily cutting off the call from Tom Davis(?) that starts with him saying “My sister wants to take some butter–”.
— An even better part with the “sick friend” prank call from Jane, and then Dan, after realizing he’s been tricked, predicts that Jane will be the one to get sick.
— Nice meta segue into LFNY.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host goes backstage when the writers fail to deliver a monologue on time

         

— Some funny awkward stalling from Eric while waiting to be given the monologue.
— I’m liking what I always call “the unintentional backstage tour”, whenever a host is shown going all around backstage.
— Are those showgirls I’m seeing in the background? I wonder if this is what started the traditional gag of backstage sketches always having a llama, showgirls, and an Abraham Lincoln.
— The writers room being a smoke-filled drug den is a priceless gag, especially knowing all the real-life backstage drug stories we’ve heard about the original SNL era.
— Ah, there’s the background Lincoln. Still haven’t seen a llama, though.  Does the random horse from earlier count?
— Speaking of horse (*TERRIBLE SEGUE ALERT*), Gilda’s voice sounds quite hoarse in this.
— A good laugh from Eric apathetically breaking the Tunisian jar after talking about how valuable it is.
— Eric’s foreign chanting is hilarious.
— Eric: “She says she cannot marry him as she has boils.”
STARS: ****½


THE FRENCH CHEF
Julia Child (DAA) bleeds profusely after cutting herself

   

— Oh, its the famous Julia Child sketch!
— Dan’s way of saying “saltine” was a very funny little touch.
— “I’ve cut the dickens out of my finger.”
— SNL’s very first instance of an “excessive bleeding sketch”, and boy is this one a riot.
— The audience is getting a huge kick out of this.
— Liked him pointing out that the phone he tried to call 911 on is just a prop.
— Great ending with him passing out.
— Overall, a true classic, and possibly my favorite of SNL’s excessive bleeding sketches.
STARS: *****


MADRIGAL
host, LAN, JAC, BIM sing a madrigal about a ship put to sea in May

 

— Never realized until now that Laraine and Eric have the exact same hairstyle.
— Judging from Garrett’s set-up and the way the song is going so far, is this going to be another serious performance like Garrett’s operatic performance in the last episode? Then again, it’s hard to take this song seriously when Eric has that hilarious facial expression.
— Hey, this song’s structure and lyrics are actually subtly comedic, especially with they way it’s amusingly being delivered in such a straight manner.
— The sudden “sank” part was a perfect ending.
STARS: ***½


THE WOMAN HE LOVED
Prince Charles (host) & hick teen love (LAN) bicker

     

— Dan is great as the cop.
— I liked John genially saying, while carrying a shotgun, “I’m gonna go down there and blow their heads off.”
— The abruptly shifting music during the back-and-forth cutaways from the plane footage to the England footage is a funny contrast.
— Pretty funny when Eric came back to the trailer after his long trip just to deliver a brief message to Laraine before leaving again.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WHAT DO YOU
the game’s sound effect rules take entire show to explain

 

— LOL at the name “Lord Lupus”.
— This is absolutely hilarious with Eric explaining the convoluted game show rules with all the various sound effects.
— Overall, this was a fantastic little sketch. I loved the silliness, fast pacing, and Monty Python-esque vibe, and this was performed wonderfully with Eric’s flawless, rapid-fire Brit delivery.
STARS: ****½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
during a BIM interview, Valerie Harper (GIR) finds out she’s not Jewish
Chico Escuela gives a baseball-centric sports report
BIM & JAC debate prospect of oral sex moratorium pending ERA ratification
Father Guido Sarducci explains what his trip to 42nd Street was like

       

— Yeah, Gilda’s voice is DEFINITELY shot tonight.
— Great reaction from Gilda’s Valerie Harper when being told she’s not Jewish.
— Chico Escuela making his Update debut.
— Chico’s lack of knowledge over the sports he’s covering is making me laugh.
— It’s good to see Garrett finally having a hit character, after four years on the show.
— Very funny Women Rights segment with Jane calling a moratorium on performing oral sex on males.
— Haha at Bill’s objection to Jane’s moratorium.
— Bill’s “hoardes of rats” news story was great.
— The whole nude wrestling story part of Father Guido Sarducci’s commentary is really good.
— Overall, a strong Update.
STARS: ****


CANDY SLICE
burned-out punk singer Candy Slice (GIR) shows up at the studio wasted

     

— Judging from the recording studio set, I think we’re getting our debut of Gilda’s famous Candy Slice character.
— Yep, it is! This is gonna be great.
— Why does the name of Bill’s character, Jerry Aldini, sound familiar? I’m pretty sure he played a character with that name sometime prior to this, but I can’t remember which sketch.
— I wonder if rehearsing this sketch all week explains why Gilda’s voice has been so hoarse throughout tonight’s episode. She probably blew her voice out from scream-singing during all the rehearsals.
— LOL at Gilda brushing her armpit hair.
— John and (especially) Gilda are both fighting to keep a straight face (fourth screencap above) after Gilda failed at her attempt to spit booze in John’s face.
— “If You Look Close, You Can See My Tits”. Surprised to hear that in a 70s episode.
— Gilda’s punk rock-style singing and dancing during her performance are great, and her real-life temporary hoarseness actually kinda fits the song’s style well.
STARS: ****


CONSUMER PROBE
Irwin Mainway’s endangered species fashions displayed

    

— Always nice to see Irwin Mainway, though I can’t help but notice the similarities to Dan’s Telepsychic character we saw just earlier tonight. Both characters have basically the same voice, are sleazy, and wear sunglasses. The same can also be said for Dan’s E. Buzz Miller character.
— The “trumpeter swan slippers” are really funny.
— I like the vest made of human skin with human teeth for buttons.
— Jane’s indignant reactions throughout this are all great.
STARS: ****


THE CANINE CHORUS
by Aviva Slesin- (BIM) is the agent for a band of singing dogs

 

— Hmm, a new SNL filmmaker.  As long as it ain’t Gary Weis, I don’t mind.  I was nervous for a second when Eric mentioned Gary Weis’ name during the intro to this film.
— The back-and-forth cutaways between Bill’s phone conversation and the barking dogs are fairly funny.
— Did this get cut off too early? This “ended” right when the camera cut back to a shot of Bill as if he was going to continue speaking.
STARS: ***


COCHISE AT OXFORD
the Apache Indian (BIM) joins (host)’s rhetoric class

     

— This has some importance to me, as it’s one of the first sketches from this era that I can remember ever seeing, in a rerun back in my early days as an SNL fan. I had a special liking for both the strange concept and Bill’s performance, despite the fact that this isn’t a terribly hilarious or particularly memorable sketch from what I recall.
— LOL at Bill’s entrance as Cochise.
— The class, asking what kind of Indian Cochise is: “A woo-woo Indian or an Indian-Indian?”
— The class hypothesizing how ducks “take a leak” is really funny.
— For some reason, the part of this sketch that stuck in my memory the most from my first viewing is when Bill throws a tomahawk off-camera at Eric, then the camera pans over to Eric hilariously staring fearfully at a tomahawk planted into the chalkboard next to his face, then he naively asks the class “Who threw that?”
— Overall, this sketch was very different from what I had remembered from my first viewing. I had no recollection of all the long discussions between Eric and the class, and I was surprised to see that this sketch was mostly focused on that. Despite being the title character, Bill as Cochise was barely a factor in this and didn’t even show up until halfway through the sketch. I’m kinda disappointed by that, because I had remembered really liking Bill’s Cochise performance.
— Overall, I still liked the sketch, though.  The discussions between Eric and the class had some good moments.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


GOODNIGHTS

  

— What’s with the paper Eric’s holding? At first, I thought this was going to be a comedic bit where he finally received the monologue the writers were supposed to give him earlier. Perhaps that WAS the intention, but maybe the show ran long and thus, Eric didn’t have enough time to do the bit. Just a theory of mine. These goodnights were kinda sloppy in general (it opens with Eric and the cast in the process of making their arrival onstage, as seen in the first screencap above).
— When announcing next week’s guests, Don Pardo says that Mr. Mike will be a special guest. Did Mr. Mike end up canceling or getting bumped, because I was told that his only two cameos after leaving SNL were in this season’s Buck Henry season finale, and next season’s 100th episode.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Yet another very strong Eric Idle episode. He’s 3-for-3 in great episodes so far. Tonight had an impressive number of sketches that received a high rating from me, and there were no sketches I disliked.  And just like in his first two episodes, the writers did a great job catering to Eric’s specific comedic style.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Walter Matthau):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Our Christmas episode of the season, hosted by Elliott Gould

Posted on

December 2, 1978 – Walter Matthau / (no musical guest) (S4 E7)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Fred Silverman (JOB) adds terrible shows to NBC’s programming grid

 

— Funny premise with Fred Silverman intentionally trying to one-up himself in increasingly bad TV show concepts to keep up with successful bad shows on other networks.
— Overall, a clever, sharp jab at both NBC’s struggles at the time and Fred Silverman’s infamy for making terrible programming decisions.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host ponders the comedic differences between himself & SNL

 

— Good bit at the beginning with him having a napkin hanging out of his nose as a bet.
— I’m liking his story about the cast.
— Amusing hearing the audience disappointingly go “aww” when he announced he’s not going to drop his pants.
— Overall, a good old-fashioned story monologue.
STARS: ***½


EPOXY-DENT
a helicopter test proves it prevents denture slippage

     

— Is… is that our old friend, short-lived original cast member George Coe as the spokesperson??? If so, wow, I’m surprised. I thought he stopped making appearances after season 1. Wonder why they randomly called him back for this commercial, after a three season absence.
— The part with the “Epoxy-Dent Chopper Test” is hilarious, and really makes this commercial.
STARS: ****


BAD NEWS BEES
(host) counsels young ballplayers about buzzing off

     

— Good idea to do a crossover between the Bees and Bad News Bears.
— I got a big laugh from Dan proudly mentioning how he and a whole swarm of his bee friends “gang-stang” a female bee behind a bowling alley.
— The bee euphemisms for masturbation are pretty funny (e.g. “pulling his stinger”, “buzzing off”, etc.), as was Bill asking John “Why is there honey all over your sheets?” post-masturbation.
— The Reggie Jackson story was great.
— Overall, a very fun and charming Bees sketch. I heard that this actually ended up being the final Bees sketch the show ever did. If that’s true, they went out on a good note.
STARS: ****


THE OLYMPIA CAFE
Nico negotiates a new soft drink allegiance for the Olympia Cafe

    

— The part with the roach spray was pretty funny.
— Overall, this was good, but not one of the more memorable Olympia Cafe sketches. There wasn’t really anything worth noting here.
STARS: ***


BEDROOM
in her old room, (GIR) acts more like (host)’s daughter than (BIM)’s wife

   

— A lot of good little lines so far, such as Walter telling Gilda how she looked like Edward G. Robinson back when she was a newborn.
— I’m liking Walter’s increasingly hostile reactions to Bill.
— LOL at Bill’s random “I am the walrus” reference.
— What the heck was with the ending (Bill: “Why don’t you go sleep with YOUR wife and I’ll sleep with MINE?”, followed by a long, awkward silence)? Didn’t like it. It’s my only gripe with this otherwise strong slice-of-life sketch.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
LAN’s item on gays mourning in Chinatown comprises Maoist footage
JOB works himself into a frenzy while discussing holiday depression

    

— Pretty funny segment with stock footage of Chinese communist groups being passed off as a Gay Rights gathering.
— Love the part of John’s story about suddenly pulling out a shotgun and going berserk over a bad Christmas.
— Overall, another good rant from John.
— Fairly short Update.
STARS: ***


THE NEW DICK
master conspirator (host) plots return of Richard Nixon (DAA) presidency

   

— Some laughs from the “The New Dick” bumper sticker.
— Walter’s kinda marble-mouthed during parts of this.
— I like Jane as a cranky Pat Nixon.
— Great crack from Jane about Nixon’s “New Dick” slogan.
— Overall, this was fine, though there have been funnier sketches with Dan’s Nixon.
STARS: ***½


WOMAN TO WOMAN
Connie Carson interviews a model women love to hate (LAN)

— Odd technical error during the opening title sequence.
— Gilda’s snarky insults to Laraine are pretty funny.
— Overall, nothing great, but a nice step up from the forgettable first installment of this sketch from earlier this season.
STARS: ***


GARRETT MORRIS: “DALLA SUA PACE”
GAM performs “Dalla Sua Pace” from Don Giovanni

  

— We’re getting another operatic performance from Garrett. Walter’s set-up makes it seem like this performance will be a serious segment.
— So far, there’s no comedic screen crawl disclaimer that usually interrupts Garrett’s operatic musical numbers. Looks like this WILL be a serious segment. I guess this is the closest we’re getting to an actual musical performance tonight, considering this is a rare episode that has no musical guest. To my knowledge, the only other two episodes in SNL history that have no official musical guest are Rob Reiner’s episode from season 1 and Sigourney Weaver’s episode from season 12 (and no, Buster Poindexter was NOT the musical guest in the latter episode, despite what many SNL episode guides state; he was just a special guest that night).
— Loved Walter’s dismissive delivery of “We’ll be right back with the regular crap” after exuberantly applauding Garrett’s performance.
STARS: N/A


SURPLUS STORE
owner of government surplus store (host) consoles & advises (LAN)

     

— I got a laugh from Laraine’s concept of using canteens as disco purses.
— Jane’s whole broken English spiel about “nine snowboots” is very funny and I love the thick accent she’s using.
— Funny comment from Walter telling Garrett to “get rid of this communist here”, referring to Jane.
— Amusing touch with Walter constantly wiping his face off during Dan’s heavy effeminate lisping.
— Good ending with Walter deciding who to sell the “fruity canteens” to.
STARS: ***½


NETWORK BATTLE OF THE T’S AND A’S
— Rerun


MR. BILL IS LATE
by Walter Williams- Spot & animal trainer Mr. Sluggo

 

— Oh, man, ANOTHER one of these? Didn’t I just say in my last review that I’m getting tired of these Mr. Bill shorts after how frequently they’ve been appearing this season? It’s getting to the point where I now almost groan when the “The Mr. Bill Show” title pops up, which I hate to admit because I’ve always liked this character in the past.
— That’s it? That’s the whole thing? Practically nothing even happened here, and it was only about 50 seconds long! What was the point of this???
— Overall, yeah, they need to cut back on this character BIG TIME. Tonight was his worst appearance yet.
STARS: *


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An overall good episode and had some really strong segments in the first half. As expected, Walter Matthau was a funny host and added a nice old-fashioned curmudgeon vibe that I liked.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Carrie Fisher):
— a moderate step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Eric Idle

Posted on

November 18, 1978 – Carrie Fisher / The Blues Brothers (S4 E6)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
musical guest performs “Soul Man”

     

— I’m loving Garrett’s very energetic intro.
— Wow, what an entrance from Dan and John, especially John’s great cartwheel. I remember a slow-motion shot of that cartwheel was used to represent John during the “in memoriam” montage of SNL’s recent 40th anniversary special.
— I absolutely love Dan and John’s sudden wild dancing when the background music for “Soul Man” kicks in.
— Hmm, Dan is actually singing along with John during the chorus. I guess I was wrong in my review of their last appearance where I said my memory of Dan singing with John in Blues Brothers’ performances was faulty.
— Dan and John’s act is coming off more polished and perfected than their Blues Brothers debut in the preceding season.
— Overall, a freakin’ amazing musical performance and really got me hyped-up for the show.
STARS: N/A


OPENING MONTAGE
— Very energetic, loud applause from the audience during the cast announcements. Dan, John, and Bill got by far the most applause. Poor Laraine, on the other hand, was the only one who received almost no applause. Even GARRETT got more than her.


MONOLOGUE
Obi-Wan Kenobi (DAA) guides host as she tells a Star Wars-themed joke

 

— Hmm, walking out in her Princess Leia costume.
— I remember hearing there’s a noticeable technical error in this, where they accidentally cut to a brief shot of a Carrie Fisher stand-in waiting in front of a chroma-key screen for some kind of special effect that’s supposed to happen in the sketch that follows this.
— Who’s that doing Obi-Wan’s voice-over? His increasingly-obnoxious laugh is pretty funny.
— Oh, that’s Dan as the voice-over, it now sounds like.
— Ah, THERE’S the aforementioned technical error with the female stand-in. Wow, that was weird as fuck. (screencap below)

— Wait, the monologue’s over? What in the world happened? Why’d this end in such awkward, eerie silence, with no applause or laughter from the audience? Was the audience THAT thrown off by the aforementioned technical screw-up?
STARS: ***


BEACH BLANKET BIMBO FROM OUTER SPACE
Princess Leia (host) is a Beach Blanket Bimbo From Outer Space

       

— Another amusing technical error, where a “Coming Up Next” caption gag mistakenly shows up onscreen when they meant to display the “Beach Blanket Bimbo From Outer Space” title.
— The teenagers’ exaggerated 1950s dialogue is pretty funny.
— Gilda as Annette Funicello: “I’m Annette, this is my boyfriend Frankie, and these are my breasts.”
— Al Franken is funny as an immature teen.
— Some good laughs from Dan’s portrayal of Vincent Price.
— I usually despise when SNL sketches suddenly break out into cheesy musical numbers, but I can let this one slide because of the fun, infectious energy and because of how well the sketch had been going.
— Garrett: “There’s nothing I like better than entertaining white middle-class kids on the beach.”
STARS: ****½


LOUD FAMILY
members of the Loud family (BIM), (JAC), (GIR), (host) disturb the peace

     

— I can already tell from the way Jane’s talking at the beginning that this is going to be the Loud Family sketch I’ve always heard about. I’ve never seen this sketch for myself until right now, but I’ve heard that this has inexplicably been aired in some of SNL’s Thanksgiving compilation specials, despite having NOTHING to do with Thanksgiving.
— Going into this sketch, I’m a little wary of the premise, since it sounds like the kind of bad, one-joke “every member of a family has the same weird trait/big body part” sketch I usually don’t like. The same kind of thing I believe The Simpsons were making fun of in that “Big Ear Family” sketch of theirs. This is the same reason I’m dreading those upcoming “Widettes” sketches I’ve always heard about.
— Pretty funny contrast when Dan enters as a character who talks in a soft-spoken manner.
— The avalanche story was amusing.
— John entering in earphones is a nice touch.
— Hilarious part with Bill and Jane’s loud lovemaking sounds from their bedroom, even if I saw it coming as soon as they said they’re going upstairs to their room.
— Overall, wow, that was a lot better than I thought it would be. This was the RIGHT way to pull off a premise like this.
STARS: ****


MERCY KILLERS
orderlies (DAA) & (BIM) euthanize the wrong patient (GAM)

    

— John’s “Face it, she’s a vege” line was really funny.
— “Mercy Killers”? Haha, is this a sister sketch to X-Police?
— Love the sitcom-esque ending credits, with the theme song sung by Bill.
— Overall, pretty funny. Considering how those X-Police sketches got old pretty fast, it’s probably a good thing they’ve shook things up by doing a different, fresh variation rather than another tired retread.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
Father Guido Sarducci shows depositor gifts offered by the Vatican Bank
Roseanne Roseannadanna wanders from quitting smoking to sauna sweat

   

— LOL at the real story of a restaurant being named Sambo’s.
— Bill’s screaming during the Neil Armstrong joke was great.
— I’m ashamed to admit it took me a few seconds to get Bill’s Vietnamese “fried lice” joke. Bill’s reaction to the audience’s reaction was good, too.
— This is the very first time where a guest commentator is doing their desk piece next to Bill instead of next to Jane.
— Great part during Father Guido Sarducci’s commentary with him showcasing a “how-to” book on how to weasel your way around the confessional.
— Overall, Sarducci delivers another pretty funny and relatable commentary.
— Oddly, we jump from one guest commentary (Sarducci) to another (Rosannadanna), with no news stories in between.
— As usual, some pretty big laughs during Rosannadanna’s commentary, especially the story about Dr. Joyce Brothers having a sweat ball hanging off her nose.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


MR. BILL GOES FISHING
by Walter Williams- Mr. Hands helps catch a whale

   

— Eh, I went through this whole short without laughing too much, overall. I hate to say it, but I’m starting to get tired of the Mr. Bill shorts. SNL’s been relying on them too often this season. Like I said in an earlier review, Mr. Bill’s better in small doses.
STARS: **


TOMORROW
cheerful Linda Blair (host) reflects on her rocky adolescence

— Dan’s Snyder makes another mention of “stage manager Bobby Brown”, which I can’t help but laugh at for the wrong reason.
— Dan was excellent randomly listing off a whole bunch of drugs in rapid succession, with no set-up.
— The whole cocaine part is hilarious.
— Overall, the usual strong Dan-as-Tom-Snyder sketch, featuring some really good laughs and a very good performance from Carrie.
STARS: ****


THE WORLD BAR
Marseilles barfly Brandy (host) sells a sailor (BIM) on mutual funds

  

— Looks like we’re in for a more dramatic sketch.
— Wait, a barfly discussing mutual funds? I guess this IS supposed to be a comedic sketch after all. Not crazy about this premise, though.
— The hand-under-the-table bit during Bill and Carrie’s conversation is pretty funny.
— Overall, I didn’t care much for this, despite another strong performance from Carrie.
STARS: **


BAD RED CHINESE BALLET
New York Yankee (GAM) represents imperialism

   

— I can’t tell which female cast members are playing which soldiers. Or are they all played by writers/extras?
— Garrett’s random walk-on (or slide-on) as the Yankee was pretty funny.
— Overall, this was decent, but lately, I feel like these “Bad Showcase” sketches are starting to lose the magic of the first few installments.
STARS: ***


ROMAN HOLIDAY
by TOS- woman has fun despite death of her husband

   

— The old lady’s voice sounds just like someone who’s been on SNL before, but I’m not sure who I’m thinking of. Ruth Gordon? Miskel Spillman?
— A slow start so far for a Schiller’s Reel. This almost feels more like typical dull Gary Weis fare (I’m so glad he’s gone this season, BTW) rather than Schiller’s usual interesting work. I dunno, maybe because I sometimes don’t care much for SNL shorts that star random unfamiliar actors instead of cast members.
— Okay, this got a little funnier after a while, with the wife’s constant flirting, and the husband keeling over face-first into his meal. Not one of Schiller’s better films overall, though.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An overall fun and very well-done episode, featuring some really memorable sketches and performances. The quality of the show died down towards the end, but the overall show was still strong. Carrie Fisher worked well with this cast, and should’ve hosted a second time during this era.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Buck Henry):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Walter Matthau

Posted on

November 11, 1978 – Buck Henry / The Grateful Dead (S4 E5)

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

Posted on

November 4, 1978 – Steve Martin / Van Morrison (S4 E4)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Jimmy Carter (DAA) tries to convince us that “inflation is our friend”

— Dan: “Our economic system is screwed, blewed, and tattooed.”
— I liked Dan’s casual order over the phone to “roll off some of them 20s”.
— Yet another good line from Dan: “I believe the watchwords for the 80s should be: ‘let’s party’.”
— Overall, a pretty solid presidential address opening.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host gives trained animal BIM crackers for performing various stunts

     

— Haha at Steve making his entrance with his head in a vice.
— Heh, he’s not even aware of his head being in a vice, and wonders why he has a headache.
— Loved his bit about how he doesn’t smoke marijuana at dusk because that’s when “the little fat man would come”.
— Pretty funny with Steve treating Bill like a trained dog.
— Wow at the part with Bill successfully jumping through the fiery hoop. How’d he learn how to do that?
— After this and Steve’s last monologue with the magician routine, Steve and Bill have developed into nice little comedy team. And it’s a testament to Bill’s talents that he’s able to hold his own in a Steve Martin monologue back when Steve was in his prime.
STARS: ****


ELVIS PRESLEY’S COAT
live in concert, Elvis Presley’s Coat sings his greatest hits

   

— Ah, I’ve always heard about this fake ad.
— A pretty funny concept and good execution.
STARS: ***½


WHAT IF?
impact on WWII of flying Eleanor Roosevelt (JAC) is considered

   

— Hmm, Jane’s not the host this time like she was in the previous “What If” sketch.
— Some technical issues at the beginning: Steve’s microphone sounded muffled for a while, then there was a weird abrupt jump cut to Laraine when she wasn’t even saying or doing anything. It kinda looked like something was edited out there. (I’m watching the DVD version of this episode)
— The dramatization scene is okay so far; an improvement over the weak Napoleon/B-52 one from the first “What If” sketch.
— Eleanor Roosevelt flying while being bombed was a funny visual.
— Another technical error, with the camera randomly cutting to a shot of mail letters while Garrett was in the middle of speaking. I’m guessing that mail shot was supposed to be used later in the sketch for a mailbag segment, like the first “What If” sketch had.
— Yep, there’s the mailbag segment.
STARS: ***


THEODORIC OF YORK, MEDIEVAL JUDGE
medieval judge Theodoric of York tries (LAN) on devil-consortion charges

     

— Ah, I can already tell from the set and costumes that this will be our Theodoric of York sequel.
— Love Gilda’s performance as “Brungilda”.
— Boy, is Bill’s pig loud.
— Bill’s sudden scream when walking on hot coals made me laugh out loud.
— The audience applauds Belushi’s entrance.
— Very funny part regarding which body part of John’s will be cut off for committing adultery.
— This is the second time Theodoric of York has killed Jane’s daughter Laraine.
— Overall, not as classic as the original installment of this sketch, but this was still very enjoyable.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
Diana Ross (GAM) sings “Over The Rainbow” during an interview with BIM
BIM dons a “Stop The Shah!” mask & goes on about fascist knuckleheads
on-screen “Kill The Illiterates” text scroll contradicts JAC’s commentary
JOB’s comments about voter apathy grow into a rant about drug use

         

— A memorable “sponsored by” bit at the beginning with “Colonel Lingus; the southern fried chicken that takes a lickin’”.
— Not even a full minute into Update, and we’re ALREADY launching into another edition of Bill Murray’s Celebrity Corner.
— Oh my god at Garrett as Diana Ross.
— The Diana Ross segment was pretty funny, helped by Bill’s amusing interviewing skills.
— Bill’s “Stop the Shah!” mask bit was funny in how random and ridiculous it was.
— Loved the scrolling anti-illiteracy disclaimer during Jane’s rant defending illiterates.
— Strangely, a “coming up next” caption gag accidentally shows up onscreen when John begins his commentary. (screencap below) There seems to be quite a lot of technical errors in tonight’s episode.

— John makes another reference to his friend Steve Beshakis.
— And there’s the “but nooooo!”
— John’s rant has especially gotten funny when it turned to the topic of Mongolian hash.
— Overall, a solid Update; much better than the subpar one from the last episode.
STARS: ***½


FESTRUNK BROTHERS
while cruising in a bar, the Festrunks hit on (GIR), (LAN), (JAC)

    

— Oh, the Festrunk Brothers! Haha, they showed up out of nowhere, after the first minute of this sketch made me think it was going to be centered around Jane, Laraine, and Gilda as single ladies. Nice fake-out there.
— LOL at the Festrunks’ vibrating sex toy machine (a drill with a feather duster attached to the bit).
— Loved Steve’s comment about his and Dan’s “crispy” chest hair.
— Overall, another great Festrunk Brothers sketch.
STARS: ****


NERDS / HOSPITAL
Charles Knerlman & Todd fight over Lisa while visiting her in hospital

      

— The sketch begins with Garrett looking like he’s playing his character from the Nerds Science Fair sketch.
— Yep, it’s a Nerds sketch. Interesting setting for them tonight, in a hospital room.
— Mrs. Loopner: “Introduce me to your nice young negro friend.”
— Good to see the return of Steve as “Chaz the Spazz”.
— Funny fight between Todd and Chaz.
— Garrett in drag TWICE tonight??? Good lord, SNL writers…
— Hey, wait a minute! We saw Garrett earlier in this same sketch playing a male character! How’d he get changed so fast into a woman?
— Sweet ending with Gilda’s Lisa bringing out her teddy bear for comfort.
STARS: ***½


LOOKS AT BOOKS
author of Mauled (DAA) gives common-sense bear advice

   

— Hmm, I wonder if Jane playing the host in this sketch is the reason Steve took over her place as the host of tonight’s earlier “What If” sketch. They probably realized it would’ve been too redundant to have Jane play two talk show hosts in the same night… yet somehow, we’re NOT supposed to think it’s too redundant to see Garrett in drag twice in the same night???
— Haha, oh my god at Dan’s mauled face.
— That’s the whole sketch? Wow, that was literally only one minute long. Reminds me of very early season 1, back when the show regularly did quick little sketches (e.g. “Victims of Shark Bite” from SNL’s very first episode ever).
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


RESTAURANT
waiter (DAA) annoys host & GIR with his impressions of them

 

— I like Dan quoting & referencing Steve and Gilda’s various catchphrases and characters.
— Whoa, the sketch abruptly gets cut off right when Steve’s in the middle of angrily telling off Dan’s character. The show must’ve run out of time. The preceding musical performance from Van Morrison also awkwardly ended while his song was still in progress.
STARS: N/A (incomplete sketch)


GOODNIGHTS

  

— Steve, while still on the set of the last sketch, announces that “we’ll finish this sketch on the next show I’m on in February; we had a technical problem tonight.” What was the technical problem? I did mention earlier that there seemed to be an unusual amount of technical errors popping up throughout the show.
— Also, IIRC, Steve never did end up hosting in February of this season. In fact, I believe the next time he hosted was the premiere of season 5, when Dan was no longer in the cast, which means they never got a chance to finish the cut-off sketch. Also, it’s kinda sad to come to the realization that tonight’s episode was the last time Steve would host during the Aykroyd/Belushi era. I had no idea earlier tonight that I was watching what would end up being the final Festrunk Brothers sketch (not counting their later cameos in recent decades).

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A consistently good episode, despite what happened to the last sketch. While it goes without saying that tonight couldn’t hold a candle to Steve’s legendary preceding episode with The Blues Brothers, this was still an enjoyable show in its own right. I wouldn’t call anything in this episode a classic, but every sketch worked and nothing got a rating below three stars. I also like how the recurring sketches that were used tonight placed the characters in brand-new settings (Theodoric of York as a judge, Festrunks at a bar, Nerds in a hospital room).


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Frank Zappa):
— a huge step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Our second consecutive episode hosted by an SNL favorite; this time, it’s Buck Henry

 

Posted on

October 21, 1978 – Frank Zappa (S4 E3)

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

Posted on

October 14, 1978 – Fred Willard / Devo (S4 E2)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
SNL audience member Honker (BIM) thinks he’s at a Yankee game

 

— Is this Bill’s Honker character making his debut?
— It indeed seems to be.
— Boy, the audience member to Bill’s right looks uncomfortable as HELL.
— A very random way to start the show, but I’m liking this. Boy, do I miss these days when you never could guess what kind of random cold opening SNL would start with.
— Loved Bill’s sudden deadpan realization that “this isn’t a Yankee game.”
— Overall, a strange but funny opening. Bill was freakin’ hilarious as this weird character.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— I love the fast-paced, energetic way the theme music is being played tonight.
— Tonight’s montage has added a new shot that wasn’t in the season premiere’s montage, showing a group of construction workers.

— Oh, wait, I think the shot of “construction workers” was actually musical guest Devo.


MONOLOGUE
after impersonating Elvis, host recalls a favorite childhood gag

   

— Fred Willard making his entrance in an Elvis outfit as the band suddenly starts playing an Elvis beat… this is gonna be an interesting monologue.
— I’m not sure if this Elvis musical performance of Fred’s is even intended to be funny. I hope this song isn’t going to be the whole monologue.
— Ha, I liked the “It’s only me!” reveal.
— Thankfully, his monologue has gone into a different direction from the Elvis beginning. Fred is now doing well here and is getting good laughs out of me.
STARS: ***½


TWO GUYS WHO ARE LAWYERS
get low-cost legal aid from Two Guys Who Are Lawyers (DAA) & (host)

   

— Dan’s pitchman delivery is different than usual. Instead of doing the usual manic fast-paced talk, he’s going more for a comically stiff delivery that’s an accurate mockery of the type of delivery in cheap local ads.
— LOL, I’m enjoying this sketch’s concept.
— Dan and Fred are a funny team in this.
— Haha at one of the testimonials being Gilda as Patricia Hearst.
STARS: ***½


STUNT MAN
years of dangerous feats catch up with aging stuntman Cliff Preston (JOB)

     

— Man, Garrett’s delivery is even sloppier than usual in all his sketches so far tonight.
— The audience applauds Belushi’s entrance for some reason. Then again, he IS a breakout movie star at this point of his career.
— Haha, I like the detail of John’s character’s stunt mattress having his name on it.
— Kind of a one-note premise that I’m not crazy about. John is pulling it off fairly well, though.
— LOL at John’s character missing the stunt mattress and dying.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW

— Oh, I see they’re still continuing these mini Update previews this season. I had hoped they ditched that after season 3. I don’t like having to include these segments in my reviews, because they’re so short and pointless.


WEEKEND UPDATE
Celebrity Corner- BIM interviews Lucille Ball (GIR) & husband Gary (ALZ)
DAA is offended by football cheerleaders’ revealing uniforms

       

— I liked the opening “sponsored by Bleu Balls” bit.
— Bill’s still using his smarmy “now get outta here, ya knuckleheads”-type delivery from his Update debut in the previous week’s season premiere. Thank god, because I find that delivery so refreshing for Update. I’m kinda dreading seeing him eventually ditch that and go for a plain, straight, professional delivery.
— We get the debut of “Bill Murray’s Celebrity Corner”, which I know goes on to become a recurring segment.
— Gilda’s raspy voice as an aging Lucille Ball is great. I especially liked her raspy attempt at doing the trademark “Lucy cry”.
— Funny comment from Gilda’s Lucille Ball about her and Rose Marie having a conversation about time ravaging their faces.
— Dan makes his first appearance on Update since being removed as an anchorperson to become a “station manager”.
— I’m loving Dan’s overly-stern, fast-paced delivery while chiding football cheerleaders’ “lewd” attire.
— LOL, great line from Dan concerning the “visible bumps surrounding the areolas” under the cheerleaders’ uniforms.
— Dan’s commentary was great overall.
STARS: ***½


FIVE A.M.
phone talk of (LAN) & ex-boyfriend spurs one-night stand (host) to leave

   

— Laraine on her ex-boyfriend: “We had conflicting careers: I worked and he didn’t.”
— This seems to be a performance piece for Laraine.
— Loved the twist with Fred turning out to be a pizza deliveryman.
— Overall, a strong, more subtle sketch with good realistic acting, which seems to have become Laraine’s new niche since the last quarter of season 3.
STARS: ****


ON THE SPOT
school lunch provider Irwin Mainway rebuts nutrition worries

 

— Ah, a different use of Irvin Mainway.
— Dan’s hair looks the most 70s I’ve ever seen it, in both this and the earlier Two Guys Who Are Lawyers commercial.
— A lot of huge laughs from the description of Mainway providing kids with a lunch consisting of pureed insects, ravioli stuffed with chalk, and dog milk.
— Overall, another very funny Irvin Mainway sketch, even if I prefer his past “Consumer Probe” sketches a little more.
STARS: ****


MR. BILL GOES TO NEW YORK
by Walter Williams- tourism & torture

     

— Nice change of pace having Mr. Bill in the city.
— I liked the “clean up after your dog” bit regarding Spot’s severed body parts.
— Overall, this was quite short but still hilarious.
STARS: ****


BOBBI FARBER
via phone, Bobbi Farber tells mother she wants to change her kids’ names

 

— Hey, it’s the Farbers… well, just Gilda’s character so far, anyway.
— The Farbers have kids? I don’t remember them being mentioned in any of the previous Farber sketches.
— Some very good realism in Gilda’s performance as she’s carrying on a phone conversation while making a meal.
— Gilda’s excessive “alright”s when about to hang up the phone is making me laugh.
— Wait, that’s the whole sketch??? Why no Belushi as Larry Farber this time?
— Despite my surprise when this sketch ended, this was another well-done performance piece tonight, this time showcasing Gilda.
STARS: ***½


CROSSROADS
God (DOP) tells (JOB) to sacrifice son (BIM) in test of faith

     

— Is “Crossroads” the same church show they did in that weird sketch with Chevy from Chevy’s season 3 episode?
— I like the bluntness of Fred as the preacher saying “I find myself depressed as hell”.
— Bill, while eating: “Great sparrow, mom.”
— Haha, Don Pardo as the voice of God. Perfect casting.
— Fred’s constant asides about his personal life problems, and his attempts to tie that back into the story he’s presenting is pretty funny.
— Just now, John said the name “Shlomo” very strangely and drawn-out, which made Bill break character and laugh. (screencap below)

— Funny ending with God Pardo saying “Wait, don’t do it!” too late right after John has killed Bill.
STARS: ***½


SCOTCH BOUTIQUE
traffic is low at the Scotch Boutique adhesive tape specialty store

   

— Oh, it’s the Scotch Boutique sketch I always heard good things about. I’m glad to finally get to see this.
— Bill and Garrett’s brief visit was very funny.
— Overall, not as comedic as I was expecting, but this was such a great, well-written, and well-performed piece that, like several other sketches tonight, relied on subtle performances. Everybody did a great job with this.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A consistently solid episode that actually got even better after Update. The post-Update half of this episode was a haven of low-key, realistic pieces that showed how well-rounded the original cast was; the type of sketches that would seem foreign to viewers nowadays if modern-day SNL attempted it.
— Fred Willard was as good a host as expected, and he did very well as the lead in certain sketches like Crossroads and Scotch Boutique.
— I liked this episode so much, I’ll even praise the musical performances. I rarely mention musical guests in my reviews, but boy, were Devo’s two performances fascinating to watch.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (The Rolling Stones):
— a moderate step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Frank Zappa. I’m morbidly looking forward to seeing why he’s considered one of the more infamous hosts of this era.