April 5, 1980 – Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss / The Grateful Dead (S5 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

DISCLAIMER
Police Boat will not be seen tonight

COLD OPENING
Carter Held Hostage- Frank Reynolds (HAS) covers presidential agoraphobia

   

— Hearing Harry’s Tom Snyder voice-over talking during a picture montage of President Carter really makes one yearn for Dan Aykroyd’s presence this season.
— “Carter Held Hostage”. A very funny concept. Though why does this make me think of the upcoming 80-81 season? Maybe I’m thinking of the “America Not Held Hostage Anymore” cold opening I remember seeing from that season.
— Oh, it turns out Harry’s not playing Tom Snyder; he’s Frank Reynolds. I sure don’t see any difference with the voice, though. As much as I enjoy Harry Shearer, quite a number of his celebrity impressions this season are vocally interchangeable with one another.
— Boy, the audience is pretty quiet during this sketch.
— It almost seemed like Paula Prentiss forgot one of her lines at one point. Maybe that was just an odd character choice.
— A passing reference to President Carter’s infamous rabbit attack.
— I believe this is Harry’s very first LFNY.
— Overall, despite the promising concept, this ended up being not too great and the interview portions dragged.
STARS: **

MONOLOGUE
Paula downplays Richard’s irritation over being cut from the cold opening

— Richard’s increasing bitterness over being cut from the cold opening is pretty funny.
— Decent ending with Richard finding out his Barry Manilow impression was cut as well.
STARS: ***

JESUS CRUSH
little girls (GIR) & (LAN) fantasize about their dream guy Jesus

   

— I liked Gilda’s line about Jesus not being a snob because he hangs out with lepers.
— Did I hear right? Gilda’s character is named Debbie Nimrod????
— Gilda telling Laraine “You can have Lazarus” was great.
— Cute sketch so far.
— Gilda’s character mentions Bill Murray’s name as one of the many celebrities she and Jesus are going to the roller disco with.
— The ending with Paula was VERY awkward. What was up with that? Something seemed to go wrong. Also, why did it sound like she spoke with an accent at times?
— Overall, despite the weak ending, this was a very good sketch. Felt like something they would’ve done in the first two seasons.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Alabama Getaway”

POST-COITAL TORTURE
married (Richard) experiences paranoid guilt after infidelity with (LAN)

   

— Two back-to-back bedroom sketches co-starring Laraine tonight.
— Richard’s breakdown, repeating “Why am I here?” while banging his head against the door, is very funny.
— Loved Richard’s silent long scream when someone knocks on the door.
— The whole part with Laraine fooling Richard into thinking his wife has come over is absolutely great. Garrett confused reaction also added to the humor.
— Garrett’s comments are funny.
— Good ending.
— Overall, another solid slice-of-life sketch tonight.
STARS: ****

WEEKEND UPDATE
Big Vic Ricker reports on women’s golf & the probable baseball strike
ALF asks viewers to send him their receipts so he can avoid income taxes
BIM sings “Happy Birthday” to the Three Mile Island accident

     

— The return of Big Vic Ricker. Good to see Harry get a recurring character.
— Liked the part with Harry’s “Let’s see that one more time” (*no clip plays*) “Okay, let’s don’t.”
— Another follow-up to the Al Franken Decade storyline.
— Hmm, Al talking about how impressive the amount of money he makes is. Wouldn’t he later do an Update commentary with that same premise, in the Jeff Daniels episode from 1991?
— Okay, Al’s commentary ended up going in a different direction, but overall, it was completely forgettable. His Update bits haven’t been doing too well lately.
— The bit between Bill and Jane about how much money Jane is worth had some pretty funny lines from Bill, and for historical purposes, I liked hearing him make a reference to NBC’s infamous then-current disastrous variety show “Pink Lady and Jeff”.
— Bill brings back his usual smarmy singing of “Happy Birthday”, this time to the Three Mile Island incident. This was worth it just for the visual of a birthday cake with a nuclear meltdown birthday candle.
— During her sign-off, Jane says “Feel better, Larry”. Who was that referring to?
STARS: ***

ASSERTIVENESS TRAINING
Iris de Flaminio (JAC), Bobbi Farber, Christy Christina get assertive

  

— The debut of Jane’s Iris De Flaminio character. This is a well-known character from this season, and I’m surprised to see Jane didn’t start playing her until the homestretch of the season. It’s rare for a cast member to debut one of their most popular characters right before they leave the show. The only other example that comes to mind is Vanessa Bayer’s gibberish-spouting weather lady.
— Hmm, Jane’s doing the same voice she used as a Dolly Parton impersonator in the preceding episode’s David Susskind Show sketch.
— Always nice to see Gilda’s Bobbi Farber.
— Jane is great in this.
— Laraine explaining that her compliment to herself in the mirror was “I want to be inside you” was very funny.
— Where have I heard Laraine do that high-pitched laugh before?
— Once again tonight, Paula’s timing and delivery is coming off a little awkward at times.
— Oh, now I think I know why Laraine’s character and laugh seems so familiar. Is this her character from the E. Buzz Miller sketches?
— Strange ending with Paula and Laraine.
— Overall, a very enjoyable ensemble sketch for the female cast members, with each of them doing solid character work.
STARS: ****

THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
Khomeini the Magnificent (ALF) does Iranian version of Carnac bit

 

— Oh, they’re still doing the Franken and Davis Show? I had assumed they retired it this season.
— Funny concept with Al playing Ayatollah as Johnny Carson’s Carnac the Magnificent.
— The “Day-O” joke about the hostages in Iran was hilarious.
— Fun sketch so far.
— Al even managed to get laughs out of his line flub about a prayer rug.
— Tom’s good at doing the Ed McMahon laughing.
— The Shah/cat food joke was another hilarious one.
STARS: ***½

JOEY BISHOP FANS
Joey Bishop fans (BIM) & (GIR) find common ground with neighbors (hosts)

   

— The performers are doing a good job with the long, tense, stretched-out silences.
— A good laugh from Richard’s excitement when Joey Bishop first got mentioned.
— So much energy in this.
— Great sudden turn with Bill and Gilda’s mood turning sour when they disagree with Richard and Paula’s claim that Joey’s late show is better than his early show.
— Loved Bill’s angry yelling of “What people!!!” after slamming the door.
— Funny ending with Bill getting overemotional and asking for his pills, and relating that to Joey Bishop.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Saint of Circumstances”

MR. BILL STRIKES BACK
by Walter Williams- trip to the police backfires

     

— Wow, it’s actually been a good while since this character last appeared.
— “Sgt. O’Hanahan”. Heh, I see where going; O’Hanahan’s going to turn out to be Mr. Hands in disguise.
— Overall, not much to say, but this was pretty funny.
STARS: ***

GOODNIGHTS

 

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— This was easily the best episode from the second half of the season so far. While the prior episodes from this half of the season have been either disappointing or just average, tonight’s episode was very solid, with a lot of well-written and well-performed sketches. Aside from the cold opening, there weren’t any sketches that fell flat for me; pretty much everything in tonight’s show worked. I also like how we got several slice-of-life pieces, which has become more of a rarity at this late stage in the original SNL era; it made this feel more like an episode from the first three seasons.
— If there was any downside to this episode, it’s that I felt Paula Prentiss was kind of a weak co-host. She seemed to falter a bit in the sketches where she wasn’t working with Richard Benjamin. She did fine whenever she was alongside him, though.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Paul Simon and James Taylor):
— a step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Burt Reynolds