Month: November 2018

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March 15, 1980 – Paul Simon and James Taylor / David Sanborn (S5 E14)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
for SNL’s hundredth show, LAN, JAC, GAM, GIR summon spirits of MOD & JOB

   

— A mention of this being SNL’s 100th episode.
— Hey, a Mr. Mike cameo!
— Loved O’Donoghue’s line “Did I mention that since I left, the show really sucks rubber donkey lungs?”, which is a criticism he really did famously state about this season of SNL (and maybe season 4, too) during an interview, I believe.
— Good comeback from Laraine to O’Donoghue, giving him a sarcastic “By the way, congratulations on Mondo Video”.
— The male voice that a possessed Jane is miming sounds like John Belushi doing his Samurai gibberish.
— Yep, it IS Belushi!
— A welcome return of John’s traditional “but noooooo” rant, complaining about doing this “cheap séance sketch”.
— Overall, a pretty fun cold opening, featuring an interesting premise and nice visits from some alums. Too bad they didn’t get Dan Aykroyd, though. Was he unavailable that week?
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Okay, this episode has always been listed on SNL sites as having no host, and lists Paul Simon, James Taylor, and David Sanborn as the musical guests. However, I noticed that in the section of tonight’s opening credits where the host is usually announced, Don Pardo says “With Paul Simon and James Taylor” (“with” was typically how Don announced hosts in the opening montage back then, instead of announcing them as “your host” or any variation thereof) while David Sanborn is announced separately as the musical guest. Looks like all those SNL sites are wrong; this episode DOES have a host – two, in fact. Lorne seemingly considers those two the hosts of this episode as well, because the famous 1990 monologue with Tom Hanks being inducted into the Five-Timers Club includes Paul Simon as one of the club members, which used to baffle many SNL fans (including myself), as it was always thought that Paul has only hosted FOUR times (seasons 1, 2, 11, and 13). Well, now I see that he actually HAS hosted host five times. And, hey, who knew James Taylor ever hosted SNL as well?
— So, after all that, I just have to ask: where did this decades-long misconception that this episode has no host come from?


MONOLOGUE
commuter BIM sings a song about what a typical day in NYC is like for him

     

— Looks like Bill gets the honors of doing the 100th monologue. Maybe THIS is why everybody thinks this episode has no host. But then again, when The Rolling Stones hosted the previous season, they didn’t do a monologue either – Mayor Ed Koch randomly did. Yet I don’t see any episodes guides listing THAT episode as having no host.
— Hey, we get a remodeled home base stage! Are they doing this because it’s the 100th episode?
— The new home base is a replica of a subway set, and it reminds me of a more extensive version of the subway newsstand home base stage they would later use temporarily at the beginning of season 10.
— Bill going into a Nick the Lounger Singer-esque number about New York.
— Loved Bill’s little jumping dance interlude.
— This song is really starting to get amped up, and damn, Bill is REALLY going all out with an insane, energetic performance. He’s cracking me the hell up.
— Loved Bill shouting “NEW YORK!!!! I LOVE YOU SO!!!!” and then doing a flip onto the floor.
— Funny little part with him spitting on the “spitting is unlawful” sign.
— Overall, I got a lot of enjoyment out of this, and Bill’s increasingly manic performance freakin’ killed me.
STARS: ****


HORIZON SYSTEM 12
the Horizon System 12 is the largest television system ever

   

— This parody of then-contemporary TV sets is serving as a nice little time capsule.
— Nice graphics for an SNL fake ad from 1980.
— That’s the whole thing? Not much of a joke. There was no audible laughing from the audience, either.
STARS: **


THE BIGGEST LEPRECHAUN
Patrick Moynihan [real] narrates the tale of The Biggest Leprechaun (PEA)

   

— A big role for Peter Aykroyd?
— Oh, I see they needed someone tall for the role, and Peter IS the tallest of all the cast members and featured players this season, so…
— Great voice from Harry.
— Overall, eh, I didn’t care for this. A pretty dull sketch.
STARS: **


TODD’S CAMPAIGN
Todd’s quest to be student body president is threatened by moon blackmail

   

— SNL has surprisingly been cutting back on The Nerds lately. This is only their third appearance of the season, and the season is almost over. I wonder if this ends up being these characters’ last appearance.
— I like how these sketches always make a mention of Mrs. Loopner’s famous egg salad.
— Uh, what the hell is Garrett doing??? Very awkward entrance from him, with him silently looking around every area of the house for some reason, like a paranoid weirdo. What in the world??? The audience is DEAD SILENT during this part, too.
— Oh, now I see what Garrett was doing. He’s Todd’s bodyguard, so he was scoping out the house to make sure it’s safe for Todd to enter. Still, it feels like that could’ve been executed in a less-awkward way.
— I like Garrett’s “I’ll just say it was me” plan, regarding the mooning picture of Todd.
— Fairly weak ending.
— Overall, despite an interesting premise for the Nerds, this ended up being just average. If this turns out to be the final Nerds sketch, this was not the best way for them to go out.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
hosts perform “Cathy’s Clown” & “Sunny Skies”
hosts perform “Take Me to the Mardi Gras”


WEEKEND UPDATE
during a polemic on economics, Ralph Nader [real] bashes the Ford Pinto
BIM models different hats on a dummy of Ayatollah Khomeini
Roseanne Roseannadanna wanders from breast-feeding to Bo Derek

         

— What’s that thing hanging off of the upper clock behind Jane? (first and sixth screencaps above)
— A cameo from SNL one-timer Ralph Nader.
— Another Nader reference to hot dogs having rat excrement, which was originally a line he said in the cold opening of the season 2 episode he hosted.
— Nader’s commentary was pretty dull overall. Not even the visual of a Pinto toy car lighter came off all that funny.
— Jane’s presumably made-up news story about Walter Cronkite being attacked by a swarm of Malaysian butterflies is an interesting variation of this season’s Jane/Cronkite story arc.
— Haha, Bill’s WTF-type facial reaction to Jane’s Malaysian butterflies story was great. (fifth screencap above)
— Bill to Jane, regarding Cronkite: “You’ll do anything to get in that old geezer’s pants, won’t you?”
— Bill’s Ayatollah hats segment was decent. I liked the SNL meta-reference with one of Bill’s looks for Ayatollah being “the Jake and Elwood routine”.
— First time we’ve seen Roseanne Rosannadanna in a while.
— Rosannadanna’s rant about Bo Derek’s nose hairs is fairly funny.
— The rest of Rosannadanna’s commentary did nothing for me, not even her little song at the end. I’m so burned out on this character. Couldn’t they at least try doing something different with her instead of just the same tired routine every single time? Even Emily Litella got put in different settings every now and then.
STARS: **½


MEDIEVAL BAND
(BIM)’s lack of rhythm irks fellow minstrels during gig for queen (JOB)

   

— Ah, here’s the infamous “flogging” sketch that contains an epic Paul Shaffer slip-up.
— This seems to be possibly the biggest role Shaffer has gotten in a sketch so far.
— James Taylor surprisingly sounds like a natural doing the medieval accent.
— Haha, there it is! Shaffer’s accidental f-bomb when he was supposed to say the fake swear word “flogging”. Some people in the audience react for a bit, but the performers immediately keep the sketch going. I didn’t see any visible realization from Shaffer after his mistake, unlike the infamous puffed-out-cheeks facial expression future cast member Jenny Slate made after her similar f-bomb slip-up in a sketch where she was supposed to say “friggin” over and over.
— Belushi again!
— Oh my god, John’s voice and accent…
— John sounds like Dan Aykroyd as Julia Child.
STARS: ***


TALK OR DIE
guests’ lives are threatened on (Michael Palin)’s talk show

     

— Random Michael Palin appearance!
— This sketch is already starting hot, with a great stunt at the beginning involving Michael flipping a man over the table. You don’t usually see stunts THAT physical in a live sketch.
— Interesting premise.
— The audience seems to be more familiar with who Jane is playing than I am.
— A REAL spider on Garrett’s shoulder?
— Pretty exciting sketch so far.
— The random bear attack is funny.
— Overall, a crazy sketch that was pretty fun, helped by the usual reliable Michael Palin performance.
STARS: ***½


NEW YORK STATE WINES
Honker & bums (PEA) & (GAM) are wine critics; Patrick Moynihan cameo

   

— Another sketch with Garrett playing a subway wino? Didn’t he just do a character like this in the recent Elliott Gould episode?
— Another rare Peter Aykroyd showcase.
— I still keep hearing Dan Aykroyd’s voice every time Peter talks in a sketch.
— Hey, it’s Bill’s Honker character.  Perfect addition to this.
— Another Senator Moynihan twist?
— I got a good laugh from Garrett spitting out the wine after drinking it, which Moynihan also seemed VERY amused by. (last screencap above)
— I wasn’t crazy about the overall sketch, but it had some worthy individual parts.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Anything You Want”


THE DAVID SUSSKIND SHOW
surgery hasn’t helped celebrity lookalikes

    

— Bill’s Susskind impression seems to be different every time he plays him. I can’t judge the accuracy of Bill’s impression, having no familiarity with Susskind.
— The pre-Elvis surgery picture of Harry looking like Rod Stewart was hilarious.
— I love the out-of-place voice Jane is using as the Dolly Parton lookalike.
— Funny line from Jane about having “sections of [her] buttocks implanted in [her] breasts.”
— Hilarious make-up job on Tom Davis’ face.
— You can hear an audience member audibly say “Thank god” when Bill mentions Paul Simon breaking up with Art Garfunkel.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

 

— Lorne makes a very rare goodnights appearance. This is also the earliest episode I recall seeing him in a suit, which would later become his default look whenever he would appear on-camera.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— The best episode of the disappointing second half of this season so far, which still isn’t saying much, as this episode was just average. Still, it was helped by all the energy of this being the 100th episode, and also helped by all the star-studded guest appearances. It also helps that the weaker sketches were kept to more of a minimum than in the last few episodes.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Richard Benjamin and Paula Prentiss

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March 8, 1980 – Rodney Dangerfield / The J. Geils Band (S5 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
host gets little respect from dressing room hog Father Guido Sarducci

   

— Weird seeing a Rodney Dangerfield/Father Guido Sarducci interaction sketch.
— I’m not caring for this. The whole ‘Sarducci moving in, helping Jane with money issues, and introducing an Italian family’ thing just isn’t funny to me. To say nothing of how burned out I am on seeing Father Guido Sarducci in general this season.
— Nice transition to the opening montage, by initially showing it start up on the TV monitor.
STARS: **


OPENING MONTAGE
— Strangely, there’s no saxophone heard at all during the theme music tonight, which is very unusual for SNL. Is the SNL Band’s sax player out sick, or is he there but just not miked very well? The theme music in general has a strange muffled sound to it tonight.


MONOLOGUE
host does self-deprecating stand-up, solicits OK signs from audience

  

— I already know I’m gonna love this.
— A particularly great one-liner from Rodney about sticking his head out the window and getting arrested for mooning.
— The audience gives automatic recognition applause when Rodney says his “no respect” catchphrase.
— Another particularly great one-liner that killed me was the one about Rodney’s son putting Krazy Glue in Rodney’s Preparation H.
— The whole part with Rodney sincerely asking the audience to give him the “okay” hand sign for when he’ll walk off was very interesting, and took this monologue into an unexpected direction.
— Overall, an excellent monologue.
STARS: *****


THE NIGGERRAND
invest in the Niggerand, the gold coin mined by South African laborers

 

— Uh, wow, what a premise.
— Part of the reason why this is working is the way a premise like this is being played so straight in typical Harry Shearer fashion.
— I liked the line about “the gift that keeps on grinning”.
STARS: ***½


DR. SHOCKLEY’S HOUSE OF SPERM
host dreams he’s the most popular donor at Dr. Shockley’s House of Sperm

     

— Another sketch that has me saying “Wow, what a premise”.
— I like the names of other sperm banks Bill mentioned (“Jizz World”, “Jelly Barn”).
— Loved Bill showing the group of sperm samples from the U.S. Olympic hockey team.
— Rodney’s involvement is making this even better.
— Haha, Rodney slipping in a few more of his stand-up jokes.
— The scene with Garrett and Yvonne Hudson is good, especially Bill explaining to them that Tony Orlando is the closest to a black donor he has available for them.
— Funny how this is turning into everybody requesting Rodney as a donor.
— I love how there’s randomly a Nazi couple among the crowd of people at the store.
— I didn’t care for the ending. A disappointing way to end an otherwise very good sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Stinks”


WEEKEND UPDATE
BIM interviews Jerry Mathers & Tony Dow [real] about Vietnam death rumor
Father Guido Sarducci interviews an Italian who underwent a race change

     

— Good callback to the famous Generalissimo Francisco Franco running joke from the Chevy era.
— WTF? What was with Bill’s off-camera “Remember these two guys?” while the camera is still on Jane?
— Oh, now we see what happened: Bill had mistakenly started his next bit too early before Jane did the second part of her two-part Francisco Franco joke. Some good laughs from that blooper.
— An interview with Jerry Mathers and Tony Dow. Boy, do they look weird with grown-out late 70s hairstyles.
— Mathers and Dow acting like their “Leave it to Beaver” characters is pretty cute, if not all that hilarious.
— Ouch, Jane’s traffic deaths/births joke didn’t get ANY laughs from the audience. I was hoping to get a good ad-lib from her out of that, but she instead just moved on to the next joke.
— *groan* The season 5 oversaturation of Father Guido Sarducci continues…
— Ugh, this whole Italian conversation between Sarducci and the other guy is a chore to sit through.
— Okay, I got a minor laugh from Sarducci’s line about Greek people who want to have a nationality-change operation into Arabs. The rest of this commentary is a waste, though.
— Jane ends Update by kindly saying “Goodnight, Walter”, as yet another reference to the running joke about her and Walter Cronkite.
STARS: **½


MANHASSET
(host)’s relationship with 10 year-old (LAN) mirrors Manhattan

     

— Rodney’s opening narration was funny at first, but went way too long (even if that was the point).
— Why is the opening city montage continuing to go on for a ridiculously long time, even after Rodney’s narration stopped?
— If this is supposed to be set in modern day, why is this in black-and-white?
— Geez, this premise is creepy. Rodney having a relationship with a 10 year old???
— I’m starting to think this is a parody of an actual movie that I’m only vaguely familiar with. (ADDENDUM: it’s Woody Allen’s “Manhattan”)
— I’m not caring for this so far.
— The cheap look of Bill and Rodney “walking” in front of a chroma-key screen is almost funny in itself.
— Rodney’s joke about finding a guy at the bottom of his waterbed was hilarious, and felt like the first big laugh I got from this whole sketch so far.
— “The End”. Finally, it’s over. Man, I got very little enjoyment out of this whole sketch, especially the longer and longer it went on (and, boy, was this a long sketch). The uncomfortable pedophilia premise didn’t help, either… which is odd, because I always laugh at the Uncle Roy sketches with Buck Henry. Not sure why the pedophilia premise works for me there, but bothered me here.
STARS: *½


ROAD TO MOSCOW
Curt Gowdy (HAS) & athletes mull USA Olympic boycott

 

— Geez, this entire sketch came and went with me being very bored and finding absolutely NOTHING to note for this review. I didn’t laugh a single time here. I think that preceding Pedophilia sketch soured my whole mood for this episode.
STARS: *


100TH EPISODE
GIR & JAC tell viewers that next week’s SNL will be the 100th episode

— Jane and Gilda are wearing the same robes they wore in their strange interlude during the Micro-Dentists sketch from the last episode.
— Oh, this is an announcement of next week’s episode being SNL’s milestone 100th episode.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


SUBSTITUTE JUDGE
people in court play schoolroom pranks on a substitute judge (BDM)

     

— This is a well-known sketch that I’ve never seen for myself until now. Considering the bad mood the last few sketches put me in, I could use a strong sketch right about now.
— I liked all the off-camera murmuring of “crotch???” when the court heard that “Crotch” is the substitute judge’s last name.
— Future one-time SNL host Rob Morrow appears in this as one of the background jurors, which he would later memorably point out in his monologue.
— I like this premise of treating a substitute judge like a substitute teacher.
— Gilda sneakily returning the gavel is hilarious.
— I wonder if this sketch was written by the same person who wrote that Thanksgiving dinner kids table sketch from earlier this season. They’re both in a similar vein.
— Rodney’s immature one-liners are cracking me up.
— What the hell’s that loud buzzing sound while Brian’s speaking right now?
— Oh, it’s everybody in the court humming.
— Overall, a fun and very solid sketch.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sanctuary”


AMERICA ON THE JOB
American Garment Inspectors Association is saluted

   

— Ah, I recognize Peter Aykroyd’s voice as the narrator, based on how much the narrator sounds like Peter’s brother Dan.
— And now we see for ourselves that it IS Peter. I thought this was just going to be an off-camera narrator role for him, but it turns out he’s actually playing a spokesman. Interesting role for him.
— Is this Gilda’s “I clean up, okay?” recurring character?
— Strange sketch.
— Yikes, Peter may have his brother’s great spokesman-type voice, but he sure doesn’t have his brother’s impeccable delivery or straight man skills. Peter’s coming off fairly stumbly with his lines, and he almost cracked up at one point. Is this why he usually doesn’t get much airtime?
— Uh, what exactly was the point of this whole sketch? This was another sketch tonight where there wasn’t anything worth noting about the actual content.
STARS: *½


GOODNIGHTS

 

— Everybody onstage and in the audience is giving Rodney the “okay” hand sign, as a classy callback to his monologue.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Yet another fairly disappointing episode from the second half of season 5. While the memorable House of Sperm and Substitute Judge sketches were a riot, not to mention Rodney’s stand-up monologue, there wasn’t really anything else worth bragging about. The show especially hit a really bad lull around the middle, with two back-to-back sketches that I hated (Manhasset and Road To Moscow). This was also yet another season 5 episode that suffered from too much Father Guido Sarducci.
— This overall episode was nowhere near as funny as a Rodney Dangerfield-hosted SNL should be. Rodney himself was fine as host, but I wish he instead hosted during a better season.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
SNL’s 100th episode! Hosted by… no one!

Posted on

February 23, 1980 – Kirk Douglas / Sam & Dave (S5 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
a trip to host’s dressing room reveals he’s very short & has no dimple

  

— The visual of Kirk standing on his knees to make himself look short is pretty funny.
— Good gag with one of the make-up people being seen carrying a pair of fake legs.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host’s godchild Alexandra [real] is his most loyal fan

 

— He makes a passing mention of his son Michael Douglas when talking about which one of his sons has their own children.
— Overall, there weren’t any real jokes in this, but it was at least a heartfelt monologue.
STARS: **½


WHAT IF?
implications of Spartacus (host) in a Piper Cub are explored

     

— They’re still doing these sketches? I thought the Superman Nazi one from season 4 was the final one.
— Garrett’s trying way too hard with his “funny” body language. This reminds me, it’ll be interesting watching him throughout this episode, because there’s an infamous story about him having a terrible breakdown during rehearsals earlier that week. IIRC, they were doing blocking for a sketch and Garrett was late. After being called over the intercom numerous times, Garrett came storming over to the set, angrily threw his jacket down to the floor, and went on an absolutely INSANE, drug-fueled, nonsensical, screaming rant about various things, culminating in him complaining about always being watched by an invisible hypnotist robot on his shoulder. Lorne and others had to go over to Garrett to calm him down. Needless to say, this whole incident was during a time when Garrett’s drug addiction had really taken its toll on him.
— The Spartacus/piper cub premise doesn’t sound too promising. Maybe because I don’t know what a piper cub is.
— Oh, I see a piper cub is an old-fashioned plane. I’m still not too sure I’m crazy about this premise, though.
— I’m liking Kirk’s overexcitement.
— At the end, the “Man from U.N.C.L.E. / dinosaurs” premise Jane mentioned as the next episode’s topic sounds more promising than the actual sketch they just did.
STARS: **


THE MICRO-DENTISTS
tiny tooth doctors work in Anwar Sadat’s (GAM) mouth

         

— Interesting seeing Harry playing straight man to Garrett’s Anwar Sadat, because there’s another Garrett Morris-related backstage story regarding this episode. After being appalled when seeing how bad Garrett’s Sadat “impression” was during rehearsals, Harry kept pleading with the writers to give him the Sadat role, explaining he could do a much better impression. Much to Harry’s annoyance, the writers insisted on keeping Garrett in the role. Maybe they just felt sorry for Garrett after his aforementioned breakdown earlier that week.
— Garrett’s delivery in this is pretty bad and too drawn out, and yeah, his Sadat “impression” merely consists of him just doing a generic accent.
— “Micro-Dentists”. Interesting premise.
— Good line from Bill about the brushing-up-and-down method being a fraud.
— Impressive giant “mouth interior” set.  I love it.
— Another funny line from Bill, regarding him having drank three pots of tea earlier.
— Good part with the taste buds attacking.
— Out of nowhere, during the big climax, we get a sudden cutaway to Jane and Gilda as themselves on SNL’s home base stage.
— Jane and Gilda very awkwardly explain to us viewers that the show won’t be able to do a special effects sequence that was required for the sketch they interrupted. This is all weird as hell, made even stranger by Jane and Gilda’s giggly nervousness and how unrehearsed this was. You can tell Jane and Gilda were thrown out there at literally the last minute.
— I liked Harry’s guilty demeanor when Garrett was pointing out that it felt like he was being fondled while he was unconscious.
— Ah, there’s yet another ending theme song sung by Bill Murray to the tune of the ending themes from other epic mini-movie sketches from around this time (e.g. The Black Shadow, First He Cries, etc.).
— Overall, a well-done and pretty fun epic sketch, despite the odd interlude with Jane and Gilda.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “You Don’t Know Like I Know”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Ronald Reagan’s (HAS) damage-control spot has additional ethnic jokes
ALF supports reinstating the draft- it will only affect him positively

     

— For the first time in a while, we get another Update where the background international clocks have joke labels. One of the clocks seen behind Jane is labeled “Timex” (as seen in the third screencap above).
— And now, one of the clocks seen behind Bill is labeled “Bulova” (as seen in the fourth screencap above).
— Bill’s whole republican story bit was really funny.
— Whoa, the debut of Harry’s Ronald Reagan impression. I had no idea he ever played Reagan this season; I was only aware he did that impression during his second SNL stint in the 84-85 season.
— I see Harry’s Reagan impression was great right from the start.
— Funny bit with Bill revealing to Jane that he lost his virginity at age 9, but his first time “with a partner” was at age 13.
— Haha, and now Bill is visibly fighting to keep a straight face after that virginity bit. (fourth screencap above)
— I see we’re getting another continuation of the “Jane has a love jones for Walter Cronkite” running premise this season.
— Eh, Jane’s Cronkite bit tonight ended up being not too funny and felt forced.
— Al Franken’s overall commentary was very forgettable and a maybe little TOO dry for my likes.
STARS: ***


BAR MITZVAH
drunk last-minute replacement Nick “Collins” sings at a bar mitzvah

   

— Why does the audience keep laughing so hysterically at every single Yiddish word Tom Schiller keeps saying? It isn’t THAT funny.
— Now they’re laughing hysterically when Kirk is saying Yiddish words.
— Ah, Nick the Lounge Singer. I had a feeling this sketch would have a sudden turn where a recurring character makes an appearance, though it seemed they tried to mislead us into thinking this was going to be a normal run-of-the-mill sketch.
— Funny part with Bill/Nick sending the birthday boy to get him another drink.
— I’m loving Nick’s Jewish variation of “There’s No Business Like Show Business”.
— Overall, I didn’t feel this was the funniest Nick the Lounge Singer sketch, but Bill did a particularly great job performing the songs in this.
STARS: ***½


PRIMETIME SATURDAY
Tom Snyder (HAS) seeks flakiness in Republican candidates’ brothers

   

— They haven’t stated who Harry’s playing, but this appears to be a Tom Snyder impression. If so, I never knew Harry ever played him on SNL. Weird seeing someone take over Aykroyd’s beloved impression so soon after his departure; I’m guessing SNL fans back then weren’t too happy about that.
— Paul Shaffer looks funny in that wig and mustache.
— Okay, Harry just did the famous laugh. Yeah, he’s DEFINITELY playing Snyder.
— Harry’s funny in this.
— I liked Harry’s casual statement at the end about Ted Kennedy being an only child.
STARS: ***


KIRK’S GREATEST KIRKS
album has host aping mimics’ impersonations of him

   

— Another sketch with a very enthusiastic Kirk Douglas performance.
— Interesting and funny concept.
— Kirk is very funny doing exaggerated impressions of himself.
— I like how the names of Kirk impersonators on the bottom of the screen keep getting more and more random (e.g. Jackie Kennedy, Jackie Gleason, Alex Haley, Hayley Mills, your doorman).
STARS: ****


MASK OF FEAR
by TOS- break-in victims learn that they’ll be skiing

     

— Yet another Schiller Reel that’s in black-and-white.
— It’ll be interesting to see where this is going.
— “You’re going skiing”? Eh, this plot twist isn’t working for me.
— And that’s it? Not too great. I actually enjoyed the long suspenseful build-up to the punchline more than the punchline itself.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Soul Man”


WOMEN’S BATHROOM
at Sardi’s, bathroom attendant (GIR) gets host’s autograph on paper towel

   

— Feels like we’ve barely seen Gilda all night. Looks like this could be an interesting character for her; it seems different from her usual types of characters.
— I like the part with Gilda confusing Kirk for other lead actors by quoting famous lines he never said.
— Overall, I wasn’t too crazy about this sketch as a whole, and I didn’t like Gilda’s character as much as I thought I would.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A fairly forgettable episode that, while not too bad, felt like nothing special as a whole. The big centerpiece sketch of the night, Micro-Dentists, was strong and there was also a Nick the Lounge Singer installment that was carried by a particularly great Bill Murray performance, but they were surrounded by a lot of average or ho-hum material.
— Kirk Douglas was a fun, likable host, and had a lot of infectious enthusiasm in his performances. I wish he had hosted during an earlier season in this era, back when the writing was better.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Rodney Dangerfield

Posted on

February 16, 1980 – Elliott Gould / Gary Numan (S5 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
outside Richard Nixon’s brownstone, Father Guido Sarducci waits for him

  

— Another season 5 episode that unexpectedly starts with a Weekend Update segment.
— Oh, it’s a follow-up to Father Guido Sarducci’s Japan arrest.
— I wonder who in the cast, if anyone, will play Nixon in this, now that we don’t have Aykroyd anymore.
— Don Novello’s voice sounds a little hoarse tonight.
— At first, I assumed Sarducci was in front of a chroma-key screen, but it appears that he actually IS outdoors.
— Overall, nothing special, despite a few okay lines here and there. I guess this was just here to set up a segment we’ll be coming back to later tonight.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

 

— Gotta love how laid-back Elliott always is as an SNL host. He casually begins eating a licorice stick as soon as he makes his entrance in this monologue.
— Oh, it’s a carrot he’s eating.
— Liked his “It’s got balls” comment about why he loves SNL.
— It’s over ALREADY??? Geez, this was almost as short and pointless a monologue as Teri Garr’s from two episodes ago.
— Hey, I just realized, there was no musical tap-dancing number. Isn’t that supposed to be Elliott’s regular thing in the monologue every time he hosts?
STARS: ??? (undecided)


JEWESS JEANS
Rhonda Weiss models the kosher designer denim

   

— A Gilda Radner classic that I’ve always loved. Easily the best use of her Rhonda Weiss character.
— I really like the late 70s-sounding commercial jingle.
— Great ending with the announcer’s “You don’t have to be Jewish…” being followed by Gilda’s “…but it wouldn’t hurt.”
STARS: *****


KENNEDY-POWELL DEBATE
Jody Powell (BDM) subs for Jimmy Carter during Ted Kennedy (BIM) debate

     

— Always good to see Bill’s Ted Kennedy impression.
— I almost thought the person sitting opposite of Bill’s Kennedy was Harry Shearer as President Carter, but it turns out to be Brian Doyle-Murray as Carter’s press secretary, who’s sitting in for the president tonight. Bah, poor excuse to not have anyone do a Carter impression, if you ask me. I don’t understand; did SNL feel Dan Aykroyd’s Carter impression was so untouchable that there was no need to even bother having anyone take over that role this season? I still say Shearer could’ve possibly done a half-decent Carter voice.
— As I said sometime recently, I always like seeing Murray brothers Bill and Brian interacting with each other in a sketch. Is this is the only season in SNL history where two relatives were in the cast at the same time?
— Good Chappaquiddick comment from Brian.
— Overall, a pretty good debate sketch.
STARS: ***½


BECAUSE THE WINE REMEMBERS
Everett & Giorgio Gallo wine is made & shipped with care for winos

 

— Eh, didn’t care much for this. This came off as just quick, forgettable filler.
STARS: **


THE INCREDIBLE MAN
yellow snow leads to the Canadian Wizard of Oz

       

— Interesting idea for a Wizard of Oz knockoff.
— The altered “Over the Rainbow” lyrics started out pretty funny, though the humor in the song died down after a while.
— Gilda making her Catatonic Colleen face after knocking herself dizzy on her bed’s backboard.
— Jane playing a character named Gilda. Heh.
— Good voice on Jane.
— The knockoff version of the yellow brick road being “the yellow line in the snow” is hilarious.
— At first glance, I almost thought that was Dan Aykroyd as the frozen hockey player. Must be his brother Peter. I still have a hard time recognizing him in sketches.
— Seeing as how this IS a sketch about Canadians, I guess Peter’s a natural for this. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he’s the one who wrote this.
— Garrett’s role as a flying monkey has often been said to be the most demeaning role he has EVER gotten on the show, and is also said to be a perfect example of how poorly used he was this season.
— I liked Laraine’s “I didn’t even get out of the castle and I’m melting!!” line.
— Funny how the Incredible Man’s headquarters are a cheap mobile home.
— I just spotted a stagehand accidentally entering the shot.
— Incredible Man knocking Gilda out with a board while Gilda’s in the middle of doing the “no place like home” knockoff was pretty funny.
— Another blooper, where during the dream-ending screen transition, they mistakenly cut back to the snowy forest set briefly and you can see Peter Aykroyd getting out of character.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Cars”

— Adding to what I said earlier about how lovably laid-back Elliott Gould always is as a host, he pulls out a cigarette and starts smoking right in the middle of his intro to this musical performance.


WEEKEND UPDATE
Father Guido Sarducci believes the Nixons are late because of long movie
JAC sends a message to retiring Walter Cronkite by unbuttoning her blouse

     

— We get a continuation of the Sarducci/Nixon remote from earlier.
— This Sarducci piece is starting to kinda remind me a remote segment he would do a decade later (during a special guest appearance) about finding the Pope’s missing wallet, and I remember not even being crazy about that one.
— Bill seems visibly unsure of how to pronounce “Entenmann’s”.
— Bill’s “big fat slob” report was great; felt like a bit of a callback to his rant about fat people a few episodes ago.
— Jane’s sultry message towards Walter Cronkite is yet another good continuation of the “Jane has a love jones for Cronkite” running joke this season.
— Not a great Update tonight, overall.
STARS: **


PRISON RECRUITING
college basketball coach (host) heavily recruits jailed murderer (GAM)

   

— The increasing number of all these people entering Garrett’s cell to try to recruit him seems like a fairly promising premise.
— Yvonne Hudson playing a character with her own first name.
— Laraine’s seems like she’s almost playing a variation of her child psychologist/baby mogul character.
— Okay, this sketch ain’t turning out as funny as I thought it would be.
— Garrett’s frozen facial reaction at the end was kinda funny, but overall, I didn’t care for this sketch.
STARS: **


ALL TIME RADIO
all-time radio station deejay (HAS) keeps listeners chronologically aware

 

— Oh, here’s the Shearer radio sketch from this episode that I’ve heard is REALLY good.
— I liked Harry’s “I almost asked your question for you” ad-lib after he accidentally greeted a caller with “What time is it?” when the caller was supposed to ask him that.
— The clock has said 4:15 for much longer than a minute.
— The angry caller complaining about getting fired sounds an awful lot like John Belushi. I know he’s off the show, but seriously, the caller sounds way too much like Belushi to NOT be him. Is he making some strange kind of uncredited voice cameo or something?
— Oh, now they addressed exactly what I pointed out earlier about the clock being on 4:15 for way too long. Turns out the clock is broken.
— I think I just heard Yvonne Hudson’s voice as one of the callers.
— Hmm, Harry keeps making more occasional line flubs, but he’s so damn good at recovering from them with natural little ad-libs without missing a beat in his great rapid-fire delivery.
— Overall, a very good sketch, though I wouldn’t say this is better than Harry’s earlier radio show sketch from the Howard Hesseman episode. Either way, Harry continues to add a much-needed breath of fresh air to this increasingly shaky season, carving out a niche for himself with his creative sketch premises and great delivery.
STARS: ****


THE SUBWAY GENIE
a subway genie (host) takes (GIR) on an underground tour of NYC

     

— For anyone keeping count, this is now the FOURTH sketch Yvonne Hudson has been in tonight, and she isn’t even in the cast yet!
— I liked Yvonne’s “Get a job, turkey!” line to Garrett.
— Is this sketch supposed to be a character piece for Garrett?
— What the hell? This sketch has been going on for minutes, and I can’t find anything to say, as practically nothing has been entertaining or interesting ever since the direction this took with the genie appearing.
— Hmm, a fourth-wall breaking ending.
— Yeah, the fourth-wall break did NOTHING to save this sketch.
— Overall, this seemed to have good intentions, but the resulting sketch didn’t work for me at all.
STARS: *½


NIXON IN NEW YORK
Father Guido Sarducci talks to one of Richard Nixon’s new neighbors

— Another continuation of tonight’s Sarducci runner.
— Don Novello’s sorta-hoarse voice from earlier tonight is sounding even worse now.
— I like Sarducci’s “candid” complaints about SNL making him stand out in the cold all night, when he thinks he’s not on the air. “If I get pneumonia, I’m gonna sue ’em.”
— A mention of “The Rocky Horror Show”, which gets instant enthusiastic applause from the studio audience.
— The reveal that the question Sarducci wants to ask Nixon is “If you could be an animal, what would it be?” wasn’t all that funny. Tonight’s Sarducci remote hasn’t really been taking off.
STARS: **


KRAMER VS. GODZILLA
movie has custody battle pitting man against monster

   

— “From Yoshimura Studios in Japan”. Heh, nice reference to a certain SNL staffer and frequent on-camera extra.
— I love the concept of this “Kramer vs. Kramer” parody. I remember hearing about this sketch before.
— Harry seems to be trying with his Dustin Hoffman impression, but I’m not sure that he’s nailing the voice.
— Ah, there’s Akira Yoshimura himself.
— Haha, Akira doing the badly-dubbed Japanese movie lip-syncing is funny.
— Overall, short but decent. I was expecting this to be a little better, though.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Praying to the Aliens”

 

— Haha, Elliott does an even more unique musical guest intro this time, by just silently holding up a cue card which has his line on it.


GOODNIGHTS
the Nixons’ limousine arrives just as the show ends

  

— Maybe it’s just me, but Elliott’s sounding a little too somber during his goodnights speech.
— Don Pardo announces that next week’s host will be “Kirk Douglas, with musical guest James Brown”. Brown must’ve ended up having to cancel, because Sam & Dave turn out to be the musical guest in that episode. Brown would later appear the following season, as one of the many great musical guests of the 80-81 season.
— After the scrolling ending credits are done, we get a sudden cutaway back to Guido Sarducci and his barely-there-anymore hoarse voice, who catches up to Nixon (played by an extra) and bombards him with the question “What animal would you be?” over and over. This is one of the rare times SNL has done a post-goodnights scene. In fact, I think the only other one in SNL history may be in Bob Newhart’s episode from 1995.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty “meh” episode. There were some good things, but there were too many weak, dull segments, especially in the post-Update half. The Father Guido Sarducci segments also weren’t the best thing to have as a running thread throughout the show. This season has not been doing well ever since they came back from Christmas break; there has yet to be a good episode in the 1980 half of the season. The burnout from the writers is starting to becoming evident.
— Elliott Gould did his usual laid-back approach to hosting, though I think I got more laughs just from his interesting musical guest intros than from anything he did in tonight’s actual sketches. Not even his monologue featured anything noteworthy. This would end up being his final time hosting in the original era, which is a little bittersweet, especially when you know what unfortunately lies ahead in his next (and final) SNL stint the following season, hosting the inaugural episode of a doomed new cast.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Chevy Chase):
— a very slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Kirk Douglas

Posted on

February 9, 1980 – Chevy Chase / Marianne Faithfull, Tom Scott (S5 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
while visiting Gerald Ford (CHC), Henry Kissinger (ALF) plays it safe

   

— It’s the same huge living room set from the Bel Airabs sketches.
— The return of Franken’s funny Henry Kissinger impression.
— Huge, and I mean HUGE audience applause for Chevy’s walk-on. The applause goes on for almost half a minute. At one point while waiting for the long applause to die down, Chevy jokingly pretends to walk off the set.
— Loved Franken’s monotone “Oh, yes” after the applause finally stopped.
— Man, the traditional cold opening-ending Chevy pratfall came off disappointing tonight. This pratfall looked tame compared to the great ones he did as a cast member.
— Overall, despite the disappointing ending, this was a decent opening with the usual standby Chevy-as-Ford humor that we haven’t seen in a long while.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— New opening montage!

       

— Wonder why they decided to randomly change the montage halfway through the season.
— Ah, there’s the famous “Lorne in a crowd” shot. (fourth screencap above)
— Man, I LOVE these opening credits. The cast shots look great, the stop-motion style is unique, the colors look cool, the spraypainted Saturday Night Live logo on the subway train door is very memorable, and the overall visual quality of the montage is simply fantastic. Easily one of the all-time best opening montages in SNL history.
— Harry Shearer has been promoted to the main cast! This is the first of only a few times in SNL history where someone goes from a featured player to a repertory player right in the middle of a season.


MONOLOGUE
once-feuding CHC & BIM musically dispel any bad vibes between them

  

— When the opening montage ends, Chevy (who is visibly VERY out-of-breath, by the way) is strangely already seen onstage before Pardo even announces him. Did Chevy make his entrance too early when the montage was still running?
— Chevy does the “jokingly pretend to walk off-stage during a long applause break” thing once again.
— Wow, he seems OUT OF IT, and his delivery is coming off very mumbly.
— He addresses rumors of him not getting along with the cast last time he hosted, and brings out Bill Murray onstage to prove a point. Hmm, I guess even back then, the public was aware of the backstage fistfight Chevy and Bill got into right before airtime when Chevy previously hosted.
— Bill’s entrance gets a very good audience response in its own right.
— I admit, it IS nice to see Chevy and Bill getting along so well in this.
— The song medley is pretty funny and is coming off Nick the Lounge Singer-esque.
— I really liked the “We Shot the Sheriff” part.
— Overall, thank god for Bill’s entrance and the song medley, because Chevy had been doing a very rough job out there by himself.
STARS: **½


PRE-CHEW CHARLIE’S
all the food at Pre-Chew Charlie’s (BIM) restaurant is easy to digest

     

— Wow, quick transition for Bill, with very little time in between his exit in the monologue and this sketch starting up. I’m always amazed at how quickly SNL cast members are able to go from sketch-to-sketch.
— Handlebar mustaches are always worth a laugh.
— Hilarious disgusting concept. A spiritual predecessor to that famous sketch from 2000 where Julianna Margulies played a dinner guest at a house where a family feeds each other pre-chewed food mouth-to-mouth.
— Great uproarious audience reaction.
— This feels like the kind of crazy restaurant commercial Dan Aykroyd would’ve played the spokesman of sometime during the first four seasons.
— LOL, during the sketch-ending applause, Brian Doyle-Murray keeps trying to hand his fork over to Chevy, but Chevy’s so out-of-it, he doesn’t even notice Brian’s fork (last screencap above) and it takes him FOREVER to finally realize. Boy, he has not been doing well tonight so far.
STARS: ****


THE BEL AIRABS
middle-eastern family entraps congressman (TOD) in Abscam

   

— This is the installment of this sketch I remember seeing years ago.
— Weird seeing that same huge living room set twice tonight.
— Chevy’s pistol-whipping line was pretty funny. But, man, he’s still coming off as a mess and is looking kinda lost.
— Someone in the audience can be heard going “ooooh” for some reason when Bill walks on.
— I can’t say enough how much Gilda cracks me up in these Bel Airabs sketches.
— The scene with Laraine and the goat came off awkward.
— Instead of using Kareem Abdul Jabbar as a gag name during the fake ending credits like they did last time, the gag name in tonight’s fake ending credits is Spiro T. Agnew.
— Overall, an interesting premise and a well-done sketch, though I didn’t laugh at this one as much as I did during the first Bel Airabs installment.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Marianne Faithfull performs “Broken English”

— Jesus Christ, is this a joke? Why does her voice keep cracking so horribly?


WEEKEND UPDATE
BIM says we should draft women- if we lose, the Russians look like jerks
BIM sings “Happy Birthday” to George Washington & Abraham Lincoln busts

     

— I liked Jane’s mid-joke “god bless you” ad-lib when Bill coughed off-camera.
— The Alan Zweibel picture gag continues. (second screencap above) Haha, I’m loving this running joke, and I hope it keeps going.
— Bill’s commentary on President Carter drafting women was hilarious. Classic Bill Murray.
— Great dirty comment from Jane about Walter Cronkite, as a reference to that “First Love” short she did earlier this season.
— Bill’s ridiculously-wordy birthday song to Washington and Lincoln busts was really funny.
— Hmm, no Chevy appearance on tonight’s Update. Surprising. Probably for the best, though, considering how badly his performances have been going so far tonight.
— Come to think of it, there were no guest commentaries at all tonight. Guess we didn’t need it, though, as this Update was a strong night for Bill and Jane.
STARS: ****


YOU CAN’T WIN!
contestants face impossible odds; Bert Convy cameo

         

— Chevy’s rough night continues, as right out of the gate in this sketch, we get lots of line flubs from him as he’s reading off the index cards in his hand.
— I really like this part with the cast members in the studio audience excitedly “coming on down” when their name is called.
— Holy hell, Chevy’s delivery is fucking TERRIBLE in this sketch so far. He cannot get a word out without stumbling over it, and he sounds very drugged-up and mush-mouthed. Drugs would certainly explain what the fuck is going on with him tonight, because he is definitely not himself. When I remember the smooth, calm-and-collected delivery he had during his years as a cast member, it’s sad to watch him in the state he’s in tonight.
— Geez, Garrett’s not making things any better by badly flubbing a joke himself, though in his case, that’s typical. He consistently stumbles over his lines on a weekly basis.
— I like the idea of the ridiculous “Pot Of Gold” challenge with Laraine.
— Chevy is noticeably starting to wipe sweat off his forehead. Come to think of it, he HAS been visibly sweating all throughout this episode.
— Man, do I hate Chevy’s delivery in this. What is going ON with him? He’s getting worse and worse, to the degree that he’s now started to develop a strange habit of occasionally mumbling unintelligible little things while nervously laughing. He also keeps jumping ahead of the script while stepping on others’ lines, and keeps making long awkward pauses while he tries to find his next line on the index cards he’s reading off of. I even hate the little bizarre ad-libbed things he keeps doing, like awkwardly tossing away some of the index cards for no apparent reason.
— Chevy to Bill: “I know you’re a wreck. Now, I want you to pick a number–” Bill to Chevy: “You’re a little jumpy yourself.” Haha, excellent ad-lib from Bill, who’s clearly seeing what a mess Chevy is in this.
— A Bert Convy cameo.
— Jesus Christ, Chevy did a particularly INTENSE forehead sweat wipe just now while greeting Convy.
— Oh my god, just when I thought Chevy’s disastrous performance in this sketch couldn’t get any worse, now he said “Sho does se” when he meant to say “So does she”. Normally, I would facepalm in reaction to such a bad line flub, but honestly, this particular flub was so bad that it has me absolutely DYING with laughter right now as I type. Haha, Chevy doesn’t even seem to be aware of his mistake. Bert Convy is certainly aware, though, and his facial reaction is PRICELESS. (screencap below)

— Yet another sketch tonight with fake ending credits, and in the same font and color as the one from Bel Airabs, too. Only this time, there’s no apparent jokes within the credits.
— Overall, geez louise, what a failure. This sketch actually had a promising idea and had potential to be pretty great, but boy should they have saved it for another host. If you’ve noticed above, I had A LOT to say about this sketch, and almost all of it was about how unbelievably bad Chevy was. He hurt this sketch so much and butchered practically every single line he had here, which is especially unfortunate, considering this was a VERY LONG gameshow sketch in which he played the host, and thus, he was required to do A LOT of talking during this. I bet whoever wrote this sketch regretted the decision to give Chevy so much dialogue while he/she was watching this sketch backstage.
STARS: *


SPEAKING OF FASHION …AND OTHER THINGS
Mr. Blackwell (HAS) discusses CHC’s line of clothes

     

— The debut of Harry’s Mr. Blackwell impression, which is one of the very few things from Harry’s stint this season that would carry over into his second SNL stint years later in the 84-85 season.
— Interesting format, with the low-budgeted public access black-and-white look and shaky camera.
— Ugh, Chevy AGAIN keeps stepping on others’ lines and jumping ahead of the script.
— WTF? Is Chevy’s clip-on mic mishap real?
— Okay, the mic mishap is probably part of the sketch, considering the “low-budget talk show” premise, but given the disastrous way Chevy’s performances have been going all night, it easily could pass for a real blooper.
— Heh, I admit Chevy briefly speaking loudly right into his clip-on mic gave me a good cheap laugh. Probably the first natural, intentional laugh I got from him all night.
— Oh, god, now Chevy’s mush-mouthed delivery from the You Can’t Win sketch has come back. Are we in for another hilarious “sho does se”-type line flub?
— Overall, this had a pretty intriguing format and featured the usual great dry Harry Shearer performance. But ultimately, this sadly ended up being yet another promising sketch that was overshadowed by a bizarre, terrible Chevy performance that dragged it down.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Marianne Faithfull performs “Guilt”


LINDEN PALMER, HOLLYWOOD’S FORGOTTEN DIRECTOR
by TOS- career recalled

     

— Another display of Schiller’s love for doing black-and-white shorts. Come to think of it, almost every single one of his films so far been in black-and-white.
— Overall, not much to say here. This wasn’t one of Schiller’s better films, but this at least had a nice charm to it and was well-made.
STARS: **½


THE TALKING LETTER
Honduran’s poison darts cut short (JAC)’s audio tape to mother (LAN)

     

— Jane’s snobbish voice is pretty funny.
— Interesting transition to making Jane’s ongoing message now sound like it’s being played on tape by Laraine, despite the fact that Jane is actually still delivering the message live.
— It feels strange seeing a live sketch with so much absolute silence from the audience (which is something I’ll probably have to get used to for next season). Though I’m not even sure if this sketch is even attempting laughs, the way it’s been going so far. I get a feeling SOMETHING’S gonna happen, though.
— Interesting camera angles from the ceiling. That kind of camerawork is another thing that’s strange to see in a live sketch.
— Bill suddenly getting shot in the neck with a dart was hilarious. It came completely out of nowhere.
— Great Akira Yoshimura appearance at the end.
— Overall, wow, what a bizarre, very unconventional sketch. I didn’t know what the heck I was watching at first, but in the end, after the random surprise ending, I actually really like this overall sketch. An interesting little experiment. And, hey, there was no Chevy to ruin this, either!
STARS: ****


CHEVY CHASE AND TOM SCOTT: “16 TONS”
CHC, Tom Scott, SNL Band perform “16 Tons”

 

— Now we’re getting a Chevy Chase musical performance? Uh-oh.
— At first, in those sunglasses and the fact that he’s sitting behind a piano, I almost thought Chevy was reprising “Very White”, the Caucasian Barry White character he did in a sketch from season 1.
— Is this going to be a comedy bit, or is he actually going to attempt a legitimate song?
— Looks like it’s a legitimate song.
— This performance makes me wonder, is Chevy hosting tonight to promote that now-infamous 1980 album of his?


GOODNIGHTS

 

— Feels like there’s barely anybody onstage anymore.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty rough show. Though thinking back on it, there were actually some good things in the first half. The second half, while a lot worse, at least had a weird experimental sketch that I was oddly fascinated by (The Talking Letter). However, there was a very unpleasant feeling to this overall episode that kills a lot of the goodwill. That unpleasant feeling is no doubt due to the host’s performance. Speaking of which…
— I don’t know WHAT was going on with Chevy tonight, whether it was too much cocaine or too much painkillers. The man was definitely on SOMETHING, because my god, what a disastrous overall performance from him tonight. He was an absolute MESS throughout this episode, coming off very out-of-it, mush-mouthing and stumbling his way through his lines, looking fidgety and jumpy (as Bill pointed out in a great ad-lib at one point), visibly flop-sweating his way through every sketch, and not even nailing his traditional cold opening-ending pratfall. He was particularly awful in You Can’t Win, where he couldn’t get one clear sentence out for the entire sketch, seemed to be sweating worse and worse as the sketch went on, and kept making bizarre, unfunny little ad-libs that were met with confused silence from the audience. That embarrassing “sho does se” line flub of his continues to crack me up every time I think about it. When people often mention Louise Lasser, Milton Berle, and Frank Zappa as the most infamous hosting performances from the original SNL era, they DEFINITELY should be including tonight’s Chevy stint in there as well.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Elliott Gould

Posted on

January 26, 1980 – Teri Garr / The B-52’s (S5 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
seeking Paul McCartney interview, Father Guido Sarducci gets arrested

   

— Don Pardo’s opening mention of “the crisis in Tokyo” gets immediate big laughs from the audience. I take it this is a spoof/variation of the Iran hostage crisis going on at the time?
— Oh, this turns out to be coverage of Paul McCartney’s infamous Japan arrest.
— Whoa, a Weekend Update segment right at the beginning of the episode. There’s something you don’t see every day.  Boy, this feels strange.
— Some really funny lines during Bill and Jane’s day-by-day analysis of the McCartney arrest.
— This use of Father Guido Sarducci is a good change of pace for him, and the concept of him carrying a luggage full of marijuana just to intentionally get himself arrested is pretty funny.
— I like Sarducci’s way of sneaking in hidden cries of help to us viewers.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Peter Aykroyd, Jim Downey, and a mustached Brian Doyle-Murray receive their very first featured player credit tonight.

  

— Wow, there are A LOT of featured players credited tonight in general – about 7 or 8 of them. Geez. It’s funny how much larger the featured player cast is than the repertory cast.


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Sorry, folks, I blinked and missed this whole monologue!
— But seriously, as I briefly mentioned in my review of Candice Bergen’s December 1975 monologue, this Teri Garr monologue has to be the shortest in SNL history (Bergen’s aforementioned monologue is probably a close second). It literally only consists of her saying that she’s happy to be there, and that there’s so much show to get to tonight that they’re just going to go right ahead with it. The End.
— I wonder what the story behind this lack of a monologue is. How do you not write a funny monologue for Teri freakin’ Garr? I feel bad that they just left her out there to awkwardly and clumsily segue into the rest of the show. To her credit, she looked game and upbeat, at least.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


CRAIG’S TRAVELER’S CHECKS
— Rerun


CAUCUS
presidential hopefuls do chores for housewife (host); John Anderson cameo

         

— Feels kinda weird seeing George Bush being played by anyone not named Dana Carvey. Jim Downey seems to be attempting some kind of voice, but it’s not sounding very Bush-esque to me. Then again, this is 1980; people back then probably weren’t as familiar with Bush’s voice as they would become years later.
— Yes! The return of Bill’s hilarious Ted Kennedy.
— Gilda’s walk-on receives some audience applause, despite the fact that she’s just playing a random supporting character. Shows how popular Gilda was around this time. She also received a huge amount of cheers earlier tonight during the opening montage.
— Funny inclusion of Laraine’s Rosalyn Carter. This is reminding me that SNL would strangely go through this whole season without ANYONE portraying the president (Jimmy Carter). Couldn’t Shearer have given it a shot?
— Great Chappaquiddick reference with Bill’s Kennedy offering to drive Teri’s car.
— There’s Garrett’s sloppy, stumbly delivery once again……
— This is turning out to be a great showcase for the featured players.
— Tom Davis is giving a really good performance in this.
— Is that an audience member shown as John B. Anderson at the end of the sketch?
STARS: ***½


DEBS BEHIND BARS
jailed preppies (host), (JAC), (GIR) try to survive

     

— It’s kinda funny hearing the awkward audience sounds in the background during the intro photos of the women.
— I feel like this is parodying a movie I’m not familiar with.
— There’s Garrett in drag as a sassy woman once again……
— Are we supposed to believe there’s glass between Bill and Teri, because there clearly isn’t one.
— Is Laraine playing a real person? The name Gloria Vanderbilt sounds familiar.
— Funny blooper when Laraine’s earring falls off and then after staring at the camera with a mock(?) panicked facial expression (fourth screencap above), she quickly whips off her other earring right before the camera cuts away.
— The voice Peter Aykroyd’s using in this sketch sounds a lot like his brother Dan.
— Didn’t care for the ending preview scene with the girls meeting their male counterparts, and it went on too long for my likes.
— Overall, despite a few parts, I did not enjoy this much. It feels like too much of it went over my head.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Rock Lobster”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Big Vic Ricker (HAS) discusses the Super Bowl & possible Olympic boycott
college student (PEA) tells LAN why he supports the draft
keep gold prices high & get an Al Franken Decade medallion, says ALF

       

— Feels weird seeing Update again tonight, after the early appearance it made in the cold opening.
— I liked the “Perrier Spill” bit.
— These last few Updates, they keep using that funny Alan Zweibel picture (second screencap above) in different contexts. It seems to have become a running gag.  It’ll be funny to see how long they keep it going.
— Ah, a new Update character. Feels like it’s been a while since Harry last had a really big role.
— Harry’s doing great as this character and I like his delivery.
— Good little part with Harry throwing to a videotape only to realize they don’t have one.
— A Laraine remote segment, which is also doubling as a rare Peter Aykroyd showcase.
— That’s it? The Laraine/Peter commentary is over already? I guess it was a funny quick gag, but I was hoping this would give Peter more to do, after he won me over in that “Java Junkie” short in the last episode.
— Bill’s commentary about fat people was really funny.
— We’re getting yet another guest commentator. Wow, this is one long Update. Unusual for this era.
— After appearing on Update in a string of consecutive episodes earlier this season, Al Franken returns.
— Oh, it’s a follow-up on the Al Franken Decade bit.
— The commemorative Al Franken coin was pretty funny.
— Haha, I love the part with Al passing off a penny as an “Abraham Lincoln Medallion”.
STARS: ***


ANCHOVY COUNCIL OF AMERICA
new ads for the Anchovy Council by (host) & (HAS) target black consumers

     

— As always, it feels weird seeing Don Novello in a normal non-Father Guido Sarducci role.
— Tom Davis’ voice in this is pretty funny.
— There’s an odd part where, while Harry is giving a long explanation of anchovy research, the camera holds for a VERY long time on a random close-up of Bill grimacing and smirking out of character while hesitantly chewing on some anchovies. (fourth screencap above) During a discussion of this sketch on an old SNL messageboard years ago, someone there had a theory that Bill must’ve had a strong hate for anchovies and, knowing this, the people at SNL played a bit of a joke on him by showing a very-lengthy close-up of him making sour faces while eating the anchovies.
— When the camera finally cuts away from that lengthy close-up of Bill, Jane can be seen staring at him kinda funnily.
— This one guy in the audience has a loud standout laugh that I keep hearing throughout the sketch.
— I loved Harry’s little “I’m glad we all understand averaging” comment.
— Another amusing quick comment from Harry, with him ad-libbing a humorously obvious “It hasn’t started yet” while he was waiting for the videotape to start playing.
— The scene with Garrett and Yvonne Hudson is really good. Why do I feel like this anchovy-loving couple of theirs is the same as their bad clam-loving couple?
— Heh, funny ending to the Garrett/Yvonne scene, with Garrett immediately asking “Glass of water, please?” as soon as the director yelled “cut”.
— Overall, this sketch had several good aspects but I feel some shortening needed to be done, as this sketch felt too long and some parts dragged.
STARS: **½


BAD PLAYHOUSE
a production of The Great Mr. Potatohead Famine

     

— Whaaaa? A “Bad (insert type of play here)” sketch WITHOUT Aykroyd???
— Hmm, Laraine as “Lady Pinth-Garnell”.
— Laraine’s intro wasn’t too good. Dan usually got more laughs than that during his intros in these.
— A fairly funny weird play so far.
— I like Bill’s walk-on.
— What in the world happened at the beginning of Bill’s song? I’m guessing he missed his cue to start singing? Throughout his song, it looks like he and Gilda are both trying to keep from laughing. (second-to-last screencap above)
— Overall, the play had a funny first half, but it ran out of steam for me halfway through and I lost interest. Also, Laraine as the female Leonard Pinth-Garnell did not work for me AT ALL.
STARS: **½


BABY MOGUL
baby mogul Paula Kirsch (LAN) & Marilyn Nasalman (GIR) negotiate a deal

   

— Gilda’s wearing the same wig from the sexual harassment meeting sketch in the last episode.
— Wait, this is the return of Laraine’s child psychologist character? Wow, I didn’t know they ever made that character recurring.
— Laraine’s childlike crying was scarily realistic. Very dead-on.
— Overall, there’s not much I can find to say about this sketch. A lot of the performances were solid, especially Laraine’s, but I got pretty bored during the sketch after a while. That seems to have become a theme with these last few sketches. Man, what’s happening to the show tonight? There’s too many sketches that are overlong and/or have trouble keeping their momentum the whole way through.
STARS: **½


MR. BILL GETS HELP
by Walter Williams- Mr. Hands employs hypnosis

       

— Well, we haven’t seen this character in a while, so no initial groan from me tonight.
— Funny visual of the psychiatrist having his face hidden.
— I kinda liked the part with a flattened Spot being used as a Christmas tree ornament.
— I enjoyed the hellish, trippy nightmare sequence featuring Mr. Hands and Sluggo.
— This is the first time they’ve shown the “The Mr. Bill Show” title this season.
— Overall, wow, I’m surprised by how much I didn’t hate this. I guess Mr. Bill still has a little of that old spark left in him when they space his appearances out more. What kind of alternate universe am I in where I enjoyed a Mr. Bill film more than I enjoyed most of the night’s sketches?
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Dance This Mess Around”

— Strangely, before the performance ends, the camera cuts to a bumper picture of Teri Garr and stays on it for a long time as we can faintly hear the performance continuing and then concluding. The show must’ve been running late. I wonder if that also explains the sloppy camerawork throughout this song.


GOODNIGHTS

  

— Oh, it turns out that “audience member” who was shown at the end of the Caucus sketch was actually the real John B. Anderson.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— SNL begins the 1980s with a underwhelming, below average episode. As I said earlier, a lot of the sketches suffered from having an overlong, dragging feel and had a hard time keeping the momentum they started with. There at least weren’t any sketches that were flat-out terrible, but there also weren’t any sketches that I feel stood out as particularly strong, either. With this episode, I get the feeling I’ve officially reached the beginning of the infamous downhill slide of season 5.
— Teri Garr came off likable (as usual), but I wasn’t crazy about the way SNL utilized her tonight. It feels like they kinda wasted her with too many generic female roles. To say nothing of that poor excuse for a monologue she was handed. As funny as Teri is, she doesn’t seem to have much luck with hosting good SNL episodes, as I’ve always found her season 11 episode to be absolutely wretched. I can’t remember how her season 9 episode goes, but I’m assuming it’s a good episode just based on the fact that SNL was generally in better shape in season 9 than they were in seasons 5 and 11.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Chevy Chase

Posted on

December 22, 1979 – Ted Knight / Desmond Child & Rouge (S5 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
from Panama, Shah Pahlevi (BIM) celebrates Christmas with friends

     

— The return of Bill’s impression of The Shah.
— The pinata was pretty funny.
— Interesting way to work in Gilda’s Baba Wawa, who SNL has (wisely) been using very sparingly these last two seasons.  Her wig looks different tonight.
— Haha, we get the debut of Al Franken’s Henry Kissinger impression, which I remember he would later do quite a number of times in the mid-late 80s era. Franken’s impression is a lot more accurate than the one Belushi used to do, and is really funny.
— Overall a pretty good way to start tonight’s Christmas episode.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host admits he’s Steve Martin’s long-lost father & does his son’s act

   

— Heh, he randomly begins the monologue immediately acting like Steve Martin, doing Steve’s whole act (arrow-through-head, microphone electrocution, etc.)
— Funny bit with him revealing he’s Steve Martin’s father.
— Ted to Steve: “I rambled into Texas… and your mother.”
STARS: ***½


DIFF’RENT STORKS
to boost sagging ratings, NBC adds more Gary Coleman to its lineup

 

— A pretty funny quick sendup of NBC’s ratings troubles at the time, by having them desperately milking one of their very few then-current hit shows (“Diff’rent Strokes”).
STARS: ***


CHUDD HARASSMENT CASE
grievance board pretends to care about (JAC)’s sexual harassment charges

   

— Am I in for another dull “group meeting” sketch, like the Teacher’s Strike sketch from the last episode?
— A sketch about sexual assault allegations.
— Bill, regarding his secretary: “I got her ‘Charlie’ for Christmas”. What does that mean?
— I like Gilda’s character. Why do I feel like I’ve seen Gilda in that wig before?
— Shearer agreeing with Ted about women being attracted to men with power was pretty funny.
— Loved Jane’s angry delivery of “You slime!!!”
— Ted sounded really funny during his “ashamed” crying outburst.
— I bet as soon as the ladies leave, Ted’s going to immediately drop the “crying” act and start laughing out loud with the other men.
— I was right.
— And that’s the ending? Meh, I was hoping there’d be more to it. That was a weak, predictable way to end this.
STARS: **½


POLICE P.S.A.
at holiday time, police officer (host) has tough words for the public

 

— Ha, Ted’s cop character being named “Bob Kopp” is really funny to me for some reason.
— The way Ted said “I’m tellin’ ya once!” cracked me up.
— Uh… that’s it? This was very short and seemed completely pointless.
STARS: *½ (the ½ is only for Ted’s performance)


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Tumble In The Night”

— Why’d Gilda introduce this performance instead of Ted?
— Hey, it’s a young-looking, short-haired G.E. Smith as the musical guest’s guitarist! (screencap below)


THE TONIGHT SHOW
(no synopsis available)

— A continuation of the “NBC is shoving Gary Coleman down our throats” premise from earlier.
— As silly as the idea seems, I could actually picture 70s-era Gary Coleman guest-hosting The Tonight Show. On a similar note, is it strange that I think it would’ve been interesting if he had hosted an SNL episode sometime during the early years of “Diff’rent Strokes”?
STARS: ***


WEEKEND UPDATE
Roseanne Roseannadanna goes from picking a charity to thawing Gene Shalit

     

— Good bit about Bill having nude snapshots of Jane.
— That Tony Orlando “Quote of the Year” never gets old.
— We haven’t seen Roseanne Rosannadanna in a while, thankfully. I’m glad they’re going lighter on her this season.
— That being said, I still didn’t care for her overall commentary tonight. Only part I liked was the story of her mistaking Gene Shalit for a poodle. The rest: meh. If you’ve seen one Roseanne Rosannadanna Update commentary, you’ve pretty much seen them all.
STARS: ***


NERDS NATIVITY
(host) directs Todd, Lisa, other nerds during Christmas pageant rehearsal

         

— Ah, the Nerds Nativity sketch that I’ve always heard about. Wasn’t there some controversy over this sketch, or a story that there was something the censors refused to allow in it?
— Franken’s making me laugh as the wiseass student.
— LOL at Alan Zweibel as a donkey.
— Interesting seeing Harry Shearer in a very un-Harry Shearer-like role.
— Loved the tense build-up of a seething Ted slowly walking over to seemingly confront Bill, only to end up simply telling him “Consider yourself warned.”
— Overall, this was fine, but not one of my favorite Nerds sketches. Compared to other Nerds outings, this was a little too slow-moving for my likes.
STARS: ***


ANDY KAUFMAN
Andy Kaufman & Diana Peckham [real] wrestle; Buddy Rogers cameo

       

— Here’s the follow-up to Andy’s challenge from a few episodes ago.
— Interesting… uh… hair on that Buddy Rogers…
— Haha, I love how they have security guards and a barber waiting by the side in case Andy loses the match.
— I’m starting to like this long set-up to the match.
— Andy comes out onstage to a huge chorus of boos and hisses from the audience.
— LOL at Andy intentionally pissing off the audience even further with his little message to female audience members, telling them to cook him a meal if he wins.  His smug smile after saying that was hilarious, too. (sixth screencap above)
— It’s amusing me hearing the various things the audience is exclaiming  throughout the match. So unusual seeing all this on SNL.
— The crowd went fucking WILD when the girl started pinning Andy.
— Haha, I keep hearing a guy in the audience bellowing out helpful directions to the girl.
— Andy denies the girl her extra minute after the match has ended. The audience is absolutely FURIOUS at him right now.
— Overall, another fascinating Kaufman wrestling segment.
STARS: ****½


BOB HOPE’S CHRISTMAS IN TEHRAN
Bob Hope’s Christmas In Teheran features Gary Coleman

— The Gary Coleman gag continues.
— It’s getting old now.
— Boy, that doctored photo of Coleman looks terrible.
STARS: **


SAMMY SELTZER JR.
Sammy Seltzer, Jr. lets you stomach Sammy Davis, Jr.’s (GAM) overexposure

 

— Ha, is this Garrett’s so-bad-it’s-good Sammy Davis Jr. impression that we haven’t seen in a long time?
— Yep, it is.
— Garrett as Sammy: “This Christmas, I’ll be saturating the media everywhere you turn.” Oh, you mean just like Gary Coleman?
— This turns into a random Alka-Seltzer parody. I’m guessing the real Sammy was doing Alka-Seltzer ads at the time.
— Overall, funny idea, I guess, but the execution of it was just plain weird. I’m not sure what to make of it.
STARS: **


JAVA JUNKIE
by TOS- (Teri Garr) abets (PEA)’s coffee jones

         

— “Java Junkie”. I’ve always heard this being mentioned as one of Schiller’s most memorable SNL films.
— “Starring Peter Aykroyd”. This must be the Schiller film that I’ve recently been told features a great Peter Aykroyd performance.
— I wonder when SNL begins crediting Peter as a featured player in their opening montage. He’s had several speaking roles in some of the past few episodes and now gets to star in his own short film, but he’s yet to receive a featured player credit.
— A Teri Garr appearance. Always nice to see her, but it’s weird that she’s making a cameo tonight, considering she actually hosts the next episode. Maybe they didn’t have the next episode’s host/musical guest booked yet when they filmed this.
— I love this so far, and it has the perfect look and feel of a 1950s thriller.
— Very clever part with Peter’s rehab being at Maxwell House.
— Overall, man, that was freakin’ great. And Peter really WAS good in this, like I had been told. I’m aware that his overall SNL tenure ended up being very forgettable, but he can say he had at least one standout strong performance.
STARS: *****


CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS
(JAC)’s visiting father’s (host) gaudy holiday decorations irk everybody

   

— It appears this is going to be a take-off of families that get ridiculously over-the-top with their Christmas decorations.
— Ha, Ted is perfect in this role.
— Funny bit about the complaint from the airport regarding the family’s Christmas lights.
— Hilarious how Ted had hired three actual actors to stand in a nativity display in the yard.
— Garrett: “Man, we gettin’ frostbite standin’ in that display!”
— When rattling off asinine ideas for Halloween decorations at the very end of the sketch, I liked Ted saying “We’ll dig up Bela Lugosi!”
STARS: ****


IRAN: THE COUNTRY AND THE CRISIS
more Gary Coleman in an NBC special

 

— Yep, this gag has been run into the ground, even if that’s kinda the point.
— Announcer: “After the late news where you can’t see the guy.” I don’t get it; what was that referring to?
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Goodbye Baby”


GOODNIGHTS

  

— What was with the “’Human Fly’ footage furnished by…” credit? (third screencap above) I don’t remember seeing any Human Fly clip in this episode. Must’ve been in a sketch that got cut for time.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— SNL ends the 1970s with a pretty good episode. While there was a number of weak segments, there was also some really strong stuff after Update (Java Junkie, Kaufman wrestling, Christmas Decorations), and the overall show had a good vibe, even when things weren’t quite working. And as expected, Ted Knight was a fun host and added quite a lot to the sketches with his humorous performances.
— I’m still waiting to see ANY evidence of the alleged cast burnout that I’ve always heard about this season. The cast seems fairly energetic in the episodes I’ve covered so far. I guess the burnout doesn’t start showing until sometime in the second half of the season, which I hear is also the point where this season in general really starts falling apart.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
For the first time in my SNL project, we enter a new decade! Teri Garr hosts the first SNL of the 80s.

Posted on

December 15, 1979 – Martin Sheen / David Bowie (S5 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
(BIM) undergoes a cheap & quick sex-change operation

    

— Is the childhood picture they showed of Bill’s character a real-life picture of Bill himself as a kid? (screencap below) Probably not, which is too bad, because I always like seeing what SNL cast members looked like as kids.

— In my recent season 4 finale review, I mentioned how the “Not For Transsexuals Only” sketch feels odd to watch in today’s transsexualism-sensitive climate. Well, that goes double for this cold opening.
— Pretty funny premise with Bill choosing the less-expensive sex-change procedure, which he then immediately goes through right on the spot.
— Jane’s accent is both very realistic and is increasingly making me laugh.
— Fairly decent pay-off with the reveal that all the surgeons did for Bill’s “sex-change operation” was simply put a wig and dress on him.
— A funny little touch with the look Bill gave the camera after saying LFNY.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Al Franken receives his first credit as a featured player, a title he’d be credited under for MANY years, on-and-off, until 1995.


MONOLOGUE
host solicits donations for Toys For Tarts- give gifts to needy hookers

 

— Martin, regarding tonight’s show: “We’re going to be doing some very funny business… at least they think it’s funny.”
— The “Toys For Tarts” campaign for prostitutes is a pretty funny bit.
STARS: ***


LE SHOE
Le Shoe is ugly footwear, but its French aura makes it fashionable

   

— Tom Schiller’s brief appearance made me laugh. For some reason, whenever he plays ethnic or foreign-accented characters, he reminds me so much of future cast member Fred Armisen.
— Overall, this was a pretty forgettable, nothing-special parody of French weirdness.
STARS: **


DARK SHADOWS
in her bedroom, little girl (GIR) cries wolf over nighttime spooks

       

— I remember this classic sketch well; I believe I saw this in an old SNL Halloween compilation special back when I first started becoming an SNL fan.
— Feels like we rarely see Gilda play little girls anymore at this late stage of SNL’s 70s era.
— LOL at Garrett slowly sneaking in Gilda’s dark room and lighting up a cigarette.
— I like the reveals of what the “monsters” actually are and how the parents are treating it like its normal, especially the family of gypsies randomly being under the bed.
— Holy hell, the brief glimpse of a bloodied grotesque monstrous creature in the closet was both very funny AND genuinely unsettling, and got a hilarious audience reaction. The close-up of Gilda’s silent reaction is fantastic, too.
— Great ending.
STARS: *****


TEACHER’S STRIKE
striking teachers debate whether to accept school board’s latest offer

   

— The opening close-up of a board of scheduled events noticeably lists, among other events, a Knights of Columbus meeting, which I take it is a reference to a certain recurring sketch from season 4.
— I got a good surprised laugh from Bill’s snarky “You got the hots for the black ones” comment to Jane.
— Bill is great in this sketch with his attitude and constant wisecracks.
— Gilda’s pretty funny as the nitpicky English teacher.
— Overall, despite some funny characterizations, I was not a fan of this sketch and found most of it dull.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Man Who Sold The World”


WEEKEND UPDATE
JAC solicits Christmas cards sent out of pity to “Poor Pahlevi”
BIM implicitly slams two former SNL castmembers while panning 1941
Father Guido Sarducci performs his duties as spokesman for Mr. Tea

      

— We’re getting more hidden background gags regarding the international clocks on the Update set. This time, I’ve noticed the clock behind Jane is labeled “Lunch Time”.
— Liked Bill’s delivery of “I ain’t givin’ this sucker back to nobody” when quoting a black guy carrying a stereo on his shoulder.
— Ah, now I’ve noticed the clock behind Bill is labeled “Good Time”.
— This segment with Bill giving his opinions on upcoming movies (Star Trek: The Motion Picture, The Jerk, 1941, etc.) looks like it’s going to be awesome.
— Was Bill really cut out of “The Jerk” like he says here?
— Bill’s discussion of “1941” is hilarious with him cruelly snubbing Belushi and Aykroyd while acting like other stars of that movie were the ones who recently left the SNL cast.
— Loved how Bill’s movie segment ended with him urging the audience to just “take your kids to see Meatballs again”.
— The audience is liking Father Guido Sarducci’s “Mr. Tea” demonstration a lot more than I am. I don’t get it; is “Mr. Tea” a real product?
— Sarducci’s “Big Christmas, Little Christmas” idea is kinda interesting, but not exactly funny.
— Overall, bah, Sarducci’s overall commentary did pretty much nothing for me. Boy, does this character get kinda tiring every now and then. And from what I’ve heard, I still have A LOT more appearances from him to put up with for the remainder of this season. *groan*
STARS: **½


APOCALYPSE NOW
(host) embarks on a mission to terminate production of Apocalypse Now

           

— Geez, that creepy long opening close-up of Martin’s upside-down face…….
— Oh, I see this is an Apocalypse Now take-off.
— I like how this sketch is about Apocalypse Now’s troubled production, as I’ve always been fascinated by all the horror stories of what a nightmare it was to film that movie.
— LOL at the foot-paddling boat scene with Garrett and Martin, while Garrett’s agitatedly ranting to Martin.
— I’m liking the many scene changes. I appear to be in the middle of yet another epic, mini-movie-type sketch that the show was really good at doing around this time.
— Hey, it’s Akira Yoshimura!
— Who’s the extra playing Marlon Brando? Man, I miss Belushi.
— The studio audience doesn’t seem into this anymore; they’ve been pretty dead for a while.
— Haha, I’m loving Bill as Francis Ford Coppola. His portrayal of him is very funny.
— Decent ending with the set explosion while “This Is the End” plays.
— Overall, a very long sketch, but I found it interesting and well-done, even if there weren’t that many laugh-out-loud parts throughout it. I may be biased due to my aforementioned fascination with Apocalypse Now’s backstory.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “TVC-15”

 


FIRST LOVE
by Aviva Slesin- BIM visits his old canine flame

   

— Another Aviva Slesin film.
— Oh, it’s another “First Love” film, like the Jane Curtin/Walter Cronkite one from the last episode.
— What’s with the random light applause from one audience member during the opening narration sequence?
— Ah, Bill’s the focus of the film this time.
— Judging from the descriptions Bill’s giving, I can already tell that the big reveal is that his first love, “Fanny”, will turn out to be either a horse or dog.
— I was right, it’s a dog.
— Eh, I’m not caring too much for this so far,
— And that’s it? It’s over. Overall, this was a letdown.
STARS: **


FOREVEREADY
(BIM) taunts Foreveready spokesman Robert Conrad (host) & dad (BDM)

     

— This feels so specific, that it must be a then-topical parody of a real Robert Conrad ad from the time.
— Bill easily punching out Martin gave me a laugh.
— Fairly funny how this is devolving into Sheen’s Conrad turning into a whining bullied child.
— There’s Brian Doyle Murray in what feels like his first on-camera appearance all season. I know he eventually begins receiving a featured player credit at some point later this season.
— Whoa at Bill’s line “You’re almost as big a dick as your son.” Heh, how in the world did SNL get away with saying that in freakin’ 1979?
— I always like anytime we get to see Murray brothers Bill and Brian interacting with each other in a sketch. Bill pushing and tripping Brian over a bent-down Tom Davis was quite a sight here.
STARS: ***


MURDER
criminals (host) & (GAM) kill any potential witnesses to their evil deeds

       

— Haha, I’m loving the escalation of this, with the ridiculous growing number of innocent bystanders Garrett and Martin have to shoot for “knowing too much”.
— Heh, now the phone is ringing. Lemme guess: they’re somehow gonna shoot the person over the phone for “knowing too much”?
— Nope, didn’t happen. Would’ve been funny, though.
— Overall, I loved this. This sketch felt atypical of this season, and came off more like something that would’ve appeared earlier in the show’s run, during the first two seasons.
STARS: ****


MINOTA AM3
Minota AM-3 camera- for special moments, like Bruce Jenner (host) divorce

   

— Another sketch with Martin playing a celebrity doing a commercial.
— I think Bill has appeared in literally every single sketch tonight so far.
— LOL, it just dawned on me how unintentionally hilarious it is in retrospect that the same episode that began with a sex-change operation cold opening also contains a Bruce Jenner sketch.
— Overall, I didn’t get this at all. This was incredibly short, the “taking a picture of your divorce proceedings” premise came off weak to me, and this commercial spoof seemed a little TOO topical to still hold up well today.
STARS: *½


REVISIONS OF FREUDIAN THEORY
TOD tells ALF about the nasal stage

— There seems to be a lot more sketches than usual tonight.
— Oh, is this a disguised “Franken and Davis Show” piece? Has “The Franken and Davis Show” officially been retired this season?
— Eh, not too funny so far.
— The “penis shame” bit at the end had some laughs and ALMOST saved the sketch.
— Yet another short sketch tonight.
STARS: **


MARTIN SHEEN HAIRSPRAY
host is JAC’s favorite styling aid

   

— A mock-commercial playing on Martin Sheen’s name. Is this what paved the way for future mock-commercials like “Jon Hamm’s John Ham”, “Peter Sarsgaard’s Sars Guards”, and the like?
— Haha, the Martin Sheen “hairspray” just being him deadpan-ly spitting into Jane’s hair is great.
— Overall, that was very  silly but I found it hilarious.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Boys Keep Swinging”

 

— Wow, how in the world did they film this technique? Also, when Fred Armisen (man, I’m mentioning him quite a bit in this review) later did a Bowie tribute on SNL when Bowie passed in 2016, I think this is the performance he talked about being amazed by as a kid in ’79.


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— After three strong consecutive episodes, it looks like we’re back to the usual Season 5 shakiness. Not too great of an episode tonight; there were some good highlights, but the overall show was way too up-and-down, strangely feeling like it followed some kind of good-sketch-bad-sketch-good-sketch-bad-sketch pattern.
— This episode had the largest number of sketches in quite a while. I was surprised at how many quick little sketches they fit into the second half of the show. I had gotten so used to the “longer sketches, shorter number of overall segments” format the show’s regularly been using since the back half of season 4.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
The 1970s come to an end. Ted Knight hosts the final episode of the decade.

Posted on

December 8, 1979 – Howard Hesseman / Randy Newman (S5 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Great Moments In Rock & Roll- James Brown (GAM) abandons Scottish music

   

— Oh, this is going to be a James Brown parody? Uh-oh, I don’t think I’m looking forward to seeing Garrett horribly butcher an impression of him.
— That’s Peter Aykroyd as the guy Garrett’s talking to, right? In certain angles, I can see a very-slight physical resemblance to his brother Dan.
— I’m actually liking Garrett in this.
— Haha, the Scottish version of James Brown’s “Please, Please, Please” is pretty funny, and I’m genuinely liking Jane, Laraine, and Gilda’s background singing.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Don Novello receives his first credit as a featured player.


MONOLOGUE
to guard against extremism, host leads audience in a pro-restraint chant

  

— I like the (then-contemporary) Betamax mention, simply for retrospective historical purposes.
— Mr. Bill reference.
— Howard’s doing great leading the audience in various chants.
— Was the unseen audience member’s “What if it takes forever?” a scripted bit?
— Overall, a strong monologue with good energy, thanks to Howard. He’s always been good at doing monologues that get the audience involved, judging from what I’ve heard about some of his later monologues from the early 80s.
STARS: ****


THE BEL AIRABS
(host) & (GAM) try to steal fortune of Abdul (DON) & kin

       

— Bel-Airabs! I remember really liking the installment of this recurring sketch that I once saw years ago, though it wasn’t the one from this episode; it was the installment from the Chevy Chase episode later this season.
— The Beverly Hillbillies-esque theme song and opening credits is brilliant, as is the overall concept of this whole sketch.
— I liked Bill painting pubic hair onto the Venus De Milo statue.
— Gilda as a wild, high-pitched foreign gibberish-screaming, burqa-wearing Granny is absolutely hilarious to me.
— Feels weird seeing Don Novello playing such a big non-Father Guido Sarducci role after I’ve gotten so used to seeing him as only Sarducci lately.
— Wow, Jane is dead-on as Nancy Kulp’s Beverly Hillbillies character (I forgot her name).
— How’d they pull off that hand-chopping bit so fast?
— Funny subtle joke with Kareem Abdul Jabbar being listed among the middle-eastern names in the scrolling ending credits.
— Overall, that was great.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “It’s Money That I Love”
musical guest performs “Pants”


WEEKEND UPDATE
paternity suit victim Chico Escuela on backboard-shatterer Darryl Dawkins
ALF says goodbye to the selfish ’70s & introduces the Al Franken Decade

      

— Random Update joke about Chico Escuela. Is this going to lead into a commentary from him?
— Yep, it did. First time we’ve seen him all season.
— We get a clip of yet another Daryl Dawkins backboard-shattering incident.
— Chico’s “rubber breaks” comment was great.
— Third episode in a row with Al Franken doing an Update commentary. I wonder why they have yet to begin crediting him as a featured player in the opening montage this season.
— Oh, this is going to be the famous Al Franken Decade bit. From the clip I had seen of this in the past, I had always assumed this came from the final episode of 1979 (the upcoming Ted Knight episode).
— I like how they keep displaying Al’s name and occupation on the bottom of the screen whenever he says “me: Al Franken”.
— Overall, a fantastic and memorable Franken commentary, made even better in retrospect by the fact that he would later do follow-ups to this at the end of the next two decades.
STARS: ***½


OLD FLAME
(GIR) explores personal growth with old (BIM) & new (host) boyfriends

 

— So far, this appears to be a quieter, realistic, slice-of-life type of sketch that we haven’t been seeing much of anymore in this late stage of SNL’s 70s era.
— I liked Howard’s “I’m starting to feel bad now” after sitting through Bill and Gilda’s sappy conversation.
— I got a good surprised laugh from Howard’s “candy ass” comment. I didn’t even know that was a term yet in the 70s.
— Interesting semi-touching ending with Gilda.
STARS: ****


STEREO 105
WKRP star host shares studio time with real deejay Steve Marvin (HAS)

   

— Ah, a radio show sketch starring Harry Shearer. This is gonna be good.
— Interesting backhanded comment from Howard regarding CBS moving WKRP in Cincinnati’s timeslot. That’s probably Howard venting some real-life frustration with how CBS infamously kept screwing over his show.
— Howard confusedly trying to follow Harry’s hand signals is good.
— I’m loving the authenticity of how they’re making this feel like we’re at a real radio show. Lots of good little details, especially in Harry’s performance.
— Harry’s asinine statements are getting funnier and funnier.
— Great part with Howard grabbing Harry by the throat to get some words in.
— Howard’s been doing a good job with his slowly-mounting frustration throughout the whole sketch.
— Do they eventually make this sketch recurring? I had recently heard that Harry does a particularly great radio sketch later this season in (I think) the Elliott Gould episode, and I’m wondering if that one is a sequel to tonight’s radio show sketch.
STARS: ****


THE NUCLEAR FAMILY
radiation-sick power plant neighbors are lethargic

    

— Just judging from the title and opening credits sequence, why do I think this sketch sounds like something from the 81-82 season?
— Hey, it’s Peter Aykroyd once again. With all these somewhat-big speaking roles he’s been getting in this episode, why wasn’t he credited in tonight’s opening montage?
— I initially said this sketch looks like a premise from the 81-82 season, but now this sketch is starting to remind me a little of the “Those Unlucky Andersons” sketch the show would later do in the 85-86 season.
— The glow-in-the-dark stomach ending was decent.
— Overall, I’m not quite sure what to think of this sketch, but I guess I found it okay enough.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Story of a Rock & Roll Band”


FIRST LOVE
by Aviva Slesin- JAC keeps missing Walter Cronkite

   

— “Aviva Films, N.Y.” Looks like this is going to be another Aviva Slesin film. Much like her(?) two films from last season, is this going to be another Bill Murray-starring film centered on animals?
— Ah, a film starring Jane Curtin. There’s something you don’t see everyday in this era.
— I’m liking the drawn-out awkwardness of this.
— Good slow reveal that she doesn’t actually know Walter Cronkite.
— Never mind, it turns out she DOES actually know him.
— Who’s doing Kronkite’s voice over the phone? Doesn’t sound like it’s Bill.
— Nice ending.
— Overall, a good showcase for Jane, who continues to have a strong season.
STARS: ***½


THE HOLIDAY INN HORROR
maid (GIR) repeatedly disturbs guests’ slumber

     

— Judging from how Gilda looks in her initial walk-on, is this going to be her Rosa Santangelo (“I clean up, okay?”) character?
— Yep, it is.
— Judging from how Dan Aykroyd-ish the voice-over narrator sounds, I think that’s once again Peter Aykroyd in yet another speaking role tonight.
— Gilda using an axe to get through the door is very funny.
— This has the reliable sketch comedy trope of presenting an everyday annoyance as the subject of a horror movie. This sketch also feels like something that would’ve fit perfectly among the various bad horror movie trailers in Christopher Lee’s season 3 monologue.
— Loved Howard’s appearance as the cruel desk clerk.
— Overall, a very good closing sketch.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Really solid episode, with every single segment working, some of which were very well-written and performed.
— Howard Hesseman was a great host, which is no surprise considering both his improv background and how good a recurring host I’ve heard he was later on in the Ebersol era.
— The show has been on a strong winning streak these last three episodes. Can’t help but wonder when this season goes back to being shaky again. Also, I’ve always heard that the cast comes off really burned-out this season (I’ve especially been keeping my eye on Garrett, as it’s known that his drug problems reached its breaking point this season), but I have yet to see evidence of that so far, so I’m also wondering when that will start.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bea Arthur):
— a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Martin Sheen

Posted on

November 17, 1979 – Bea Arthur / The Roches (S5 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Ronald Reagan’s aide (HAS) outlines candidate’s nap-filled schedule

 

— Who in the world is this guy in the make-up chair and who is he playing? He was addressed as “governor”, but I didn’t hear clearly when Laraine said his name.
— Haha, I get it now – the joke is it’s then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan being played by an elderly extra, as a comical exaggeration of Reagan’s age.
— Shearer’s perfect in this as the aide, detailing Reagan’s extensive schedule in his usual impeccable delivery.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Love the way the theme music sounds tonight.
— Ah, not only is Harry Shearer finally back in the credits, but Tom Davis and Paul Shaffer receive their very first featured player credit, beginning a season-long trend of then-current writers being billed as featured players whenever they have a noteworthy role in the show.

 

— This is also the very first time in SNL history where featured players are actually announced under the title “Featuring…” instead of “And a little of…”


MONOLOGUE
after host sings “Let Me Love You,” pianist PAS passionately kisses her

  

— We get a serious musical number.
— Ha, great ending with Shaffer suddenly throwing Bea over the piano and making out with her.  He did something kinda like that at the end of Dyan Cannon’s monologue, too, back in season 1.
STARS: ***


SPUD BEER
boat people lift their spirits with the potato-based brew

   

— Hey, a sudden Spud Beer callback!
— I always love hearing the jingle, and it’s interesting how they updated the lyrics in this one.
— Can’t think of many other times in SNL history where they actually did a sequel to an earlier fake ad.
STARS: ***½


FIRST HE CRIES
(BIM) tries to cope with his wife’s (GIR) mastectomy

         

— Okay, I’ve always been curious about this sketch. From all the things I’ve heard about it over the years, it sounds like a semi-dramatic sketch that seems really heavy for SNL, dealing with such a serious, depressing subject matter.
— I recently learned they originally wanted to do this sketch the previous week with Buck Henry, but he declined due to the subject matter (which is an interesting turning-of-the-tables, as Buck’s usually the host who willingly does sketches that were turned down by other hosts). Which role would Buck have played, the husband? The doctor?
— Loved Bill’s comically overdramatic “Why me??!!” while looking skyward.
— The screen crawl is making me realize that this sketch is going to be more comedic than I had thought; I especially liked the part of the crawl that mentioned the “anguish of living with half a woman”.
— Bea snapping at Gilda is a funny turn, especially the line “You took away something very important to him.”
— Liked Bill dismissively referring to Gilda as “Miss Uniboob”.
— Good scene between Bill and Laraine.
— Great ending freeze frame with Bill grabbing Gilda’s butt.
— Ha, we get yet another variation of the “Mercy Killers” theme song, with Bill singing this sketch’s ending theme in the same melody as “Mercy Killers” and “The Black Shadow”. It’s gotten to the point where I instantly crack up as soon as I hear that melody at the end of a sketch. I’ve been told we get at least one more theme song in that style, in the Micro-Dentists sketch from later this season. I recall seeing that sketch before, but have no memory of a theme song in it.
— Overall, I’m surprised by how much I liked this. I got some good laughs all throughout, this was nowhere near as semi-depressing as earlier hearsay had me expecting it to be, I loved Bill’s performance, and I always enjoy the epic, mini-movie-type sketches this era does.
STARS: ****


DROP OUT
(TOD) not wanting to go to school leads to a Soviet takeover of the USA

     

— What in the world was that VERY loud, long mechanical squeaking sound at the beginning? Bill and Jane appeared to be trying to play it off like it was part of the sketch, but judging from the way the sketch has been going after the sound stopped, the sound seems too random to have been part of the sketch.
— Bill’s funny as the dad, but where is this going?
— Tom Davis’ frequent “fine with me”s are pretty funny.
— Haha, I now like where this is going. Looks like this is going to be another extensive sketch with multiple scenes and sets, much like the preceding sketch.
— The Russian invasion kitchen scene kinda started abruptly, almost as if something was edited out. (I’m reviewing the DVD version of the episode, as usual)
— Funny little bit at the end with one Russian soldier (was that Franken?) staying behind to eat the son’s waffle.
— Overall, this was a lot shorter than I had assumed it was going to be, but I enjoyed this sketch a lot.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Bobby’s Song”


WEEKEND UPDATE
shattered backboard footage documents fate of unused DC-10 windshields
in the name of science, ALF uses various methods to torture live roaches
Hindenberg footage chronicles end of Thanksgiving parade Snoopy balloon

         

— I liked how a clip of the famous Darryl Dawkins backboard-shattering dunk was used to represent the DC-10 windshield. The joke isn’t terribly funny in itself, but I guess I just enjoy any excuse to see that Dawkins dunk clip.
— Ha, I just noticed that one of the international clocks on the wall behind Bill is simply labeled “A Clock” instead of the name of a state or country.
— Another Franken commentary. I believe this is going to be the infamous roach-killing bit I mentioned in the last review.
— Ah, it is.
— Was the idea for this Franken commentary inspired by the name of tonight’s musical guest, or is it just a coincidence?
— In a weird way, it’s ballsy to do a segment slowly killing live cockroaches on live TV.
— In the middle of Franken’s commentary, I now just noticed the two international clocks on the wall behind Jane are simply labeled, respectively, “A Clock” and “A Watch”. Heh, from now on, I’m going to watch out for the clocks in the rest of this season’s Updates to see if there are other hidden gags like this.
— Ha, I kinda like how Franken’s roach experiments are getting increasingly more ridiculous and sadistic.
— Overall, I’m not too sure how to feel about Franken’s commentary as a whole, but I didn’t completely hate it like a lot of SNL fans seem to.
— Geez, that Snoopy balloon/Hindenburg bit was awful, and deservedly got a tepid audience reaction. And unfortunately, THAT’S what they end tonight’s Update with.
STARS: **½


THANKSGIVING DINNER
eating Thanksgiving dinner in aunt’s (host) basement makes adults regress

   

— A pretty predictable direction this sketch is headed in, with the adults slowly acting like kids.
— Overall, while I initially wasn’t crazy about this premise, the performances gradually won me over and this ended up being an overall pretty fun sketch.
STARS: ***


WOMAN TO WOMAN
Connie Carson seeks downside to (host)’s ideal motherhood

— I’ve never been too crazy about this series of sketches.
— I liked Gilda’s stern delivery of “You heard me.”
— Okay, this sketch has started getting a little funnier with the drug story about Bea’s kids.
— Overall, there were a few decent moments, but as a whole, this was yet another “Woman To Woman” installment I wasn’t too crazy about. I hope this ends up being the final appearance of this sketch.
STARS: **½


SAVECO
Tom Clay tells why Saveco’s prices are low- they resell recalled products

  

— The return of Harry’s Tom Clay pitchman character from the Hotel-Motel Art Fair sketch earlier this season.
— Harry’s doing another great job as an insanely-fast-talking spokesperson, and I like the premise of this a lot.
STARS: ****


BACKER’S AUDITION
(PAS) & (HAS) preview their rock opera about Charles Manson & Jay Sebring

       

— There’s the same set from the party scene in First He Cries.
— Wow, tons of airtime for Paul Shaffer tonight.
— Interesting set-up to the song.
— Harry and Paul are making an interesting team.
— Strange sketch so far.
— Bill’s song and his overly intense singing style was hilarious.
— I don’t know what to think of this sketch anymore…
— Garrett’s psychotic “9” song is cracking me the hell up.
— MAN, this is one long sketch…
— Funny how into it Harry is in the background during Gilda and Bill’s duet.
— Overall, wow, I had a roller coaster of emotions watching this, constantly shifting from laughing-out-loud mode to either “What IS this?” or “This sketch is STILL going on?” But now that the sketch is over, I can recognize that it was actually very good and intriguingly weird. My occasional impatience with the length is probably just due to my natural dislike for Broadway-type musical sketches, but looking back on this sketch as a whole, I can put my anti-Broadway bias aside for now and admit that this was a strongly-written and strongly-performed sketch.
STARS: ****


MR. BILL BUILDS A HOUSE
by Walter Williams- Mr. Hands aids construction

     

— *groan*
— Okay, Mr. Bill and his trailer home being dragged by the car made me chuckle, I admit.
— Ugh, the rest of this just ended up being the usual “Mr. Bill gets dismembered over and over” stuff that does nothing for me anymore.
— I’ve been noticing that they haven’t been using the “The Mr. Bill Show” title screen in his shorts this season. Does that have anything to do with the then-ongoing legal battle over Mr. Bill’s ownership?
STARS: *½


CUBAN BEATLES
revival band Los Beatolos Cubanos performs Latin takes of Fab Four hits

  

— A pretty damn funny idea. I’m already liking this.
— Wow, I don’t recognize ANY of the performers playing the band.
— Okay, I’m starting to recognize some of them. There’s Paul Shaffer once again (wow, tonight’s really his night), I think that’s Tom Schiller as the lead singer, and MAYBE that’s Garrett as the drummer in the back? Who’s the tall one on the far right end of the screen? The mysterious Peter Aykroyd, perhaps? Alan Zweibel?
— Liked Bill’s testimonial.
— The scrolling list of song titles are really funny.
— Overall, a very solid short little sketch.
STARS: ****


ANDY KAUFMAN
Andy Kaufman [real] taunts female viewers & invites them to wrestle

  

— Well, this appearance came out of nowhere. Why wasn’t Andy credited in tonight’s opening montage like he always is whenever he’s making a guest appearance in an episode?
— His taunting rant about how he’ll be seen wrestling on every single show we watch is really funny.
— Boy, he is in full-on villain mode in this one. You can tell he is just ITCHING for viewers to hate him.
— Ha, there he goes once again intentionally riling up the studio audience with his sexist statements about women.
— Oh, it turns out this is just setting up an invitation for any female viewers to send in a letter accepting a challenge to wrestle Andy live on SNL’s upcoming Christmas episode. IIRC, SNL actually does end up following through on that.
— Bea’s deadpan post-Kaufman message was great.
— I like how this era has so much fan participation-type contests; stuff like Anyone Can Host, Find the Popes in the Pizza, Kill Morris the Cat, home movies, etc. Whatever happened to those days? I know it carries over into the early 80s a bit, where they would even go one step further by doing interesting live “call-in poll” gimmicks like the Larry the Lobster thing. But it’s too bad that fan participation events like that eventually goes away by the mid-80s.
STARS: N/A (not really a rateable segment)


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hallelujah Chorus”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A strong episode. There was some really solid writing and several great segments. I also like how this episode took a lot of risks with more ambitious, daring pieces, such as First He Cries, Backer’s Audition, and even Franken’s roach-torturing bit.
— Bea Arthur was a surprisingly forgettable host, carrying very little of the show and not being the comedic focus of anything. That’s pretty disappointing, considering I’ve always found her funny on shows like “Maude”; I came into this episode expecting her to be a good host.
— Very good night for featured players Harry Shearer and Paul Shaffer, both of who received tons of airtime for newbie standards and had a lot of really good performances. Shearer has been adding a breath of fresh air to the cast this season in general.
— After a shaky first three episodes of the season, tonight’s episode and the solid preceding episode with Buck Henry almost have me wondering if we’re experiencing a return to the greatness from seasons 3 & 4, but I’m aware that’s not how the remainder of this season plays out.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Howard Hesseman