January 10, 1981 – Ray Sharkey / Jack Bruce & Friends (S6 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
a bullet teaches Jimmy ‘The Weasel’ Fratiano (MAL) not To Tell The Truth

 

— The copy of this episode I’m reviewing is missing the very beginning of this cold opening, but this appears to be a “To Tell the Truth” parody.
— Funny twist with Charles shooting Matthew Laurance after Matthew confessed to being the real Weasel.  The gunshot was pretty realistic-looking, too.
— A great LFNY from Eddie. This is also, I believe, the very first time a featured player has ever said LFNY on the show. I remember hearing that some of this season’s repertory players were upset over the decision to have a featured player open the show.
STARS: ***

MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

 

— Very excited entrance from him.
— He’s coming off very New York-y, even saying “fuhgettaboutit”.
— Okay, now he’s saying “fuhgettaboutit” way too often…
STARS: **

WORK TIME
manual laborers drink beer before the job to prepare for Work Time

   

— The announcer’s “You’re completely bombed out of your skull” line made me laugh.
— The “work time” montage of drunken workers failing at their jobs is pretty funny.
— Strange how they’re showing production credits at the end of this, something you don’t usually see in an SNL fake ad.
STARS: ***

WASP INTERPRETER
Italian (host) translates feelings of repressed WASP couple (CHR) & (ANR)

   

— Charles playing a character with his same first name.
— Ray’s “worse than leftover fettuccini in bed” line made me laugh.
— I’m iffy about this premise, but Ray is REALLY into his performance.
— Heh, and now Ray’s throwing lamps across the set.
— Now I’ve noticed Ann’s character is named after herself, too.
STARS: **½

TOMMY TORTURE
Vickie & Debbie meet punk rocker Tommy Torture (host) at a new wave club

   

— Right from the beginning of this, I’m loving how “early 80s punk” everything in the club looks.
— Another Vickie and Debbie sketch. This punk club is a very interesting setting for them.
— Ray’s unintelligible drunken statements are kinda funny.
— Ray’s song sounds like it could’ve been a real punk song from that time period.
— Huh? THAT’S all Vickie and Debbie have to say after Ray’s performance? What a weak ending.
— Overall, despite a great performance from Ray, this was a disappointing Vickie and Debbie outing. This sketch was too all over the place and didn’t come together well. It also didn’t help that the audience was silent for pretty much the entirety of the sketch, not even reacting to the (very) few half-funny lines.
STARS: *½

CITIZENS FOR A BETTER AMERICA
(GIG)’s labor plan asks for Ronald Reagan to give him a “hum” job

— These last two episodes, we seem to be seeing the emergence of a more sullen, monotone Gilbert Gottfried, where his misery from working on the show this season starts becoming visible in his performances. His delivery in this sketch is coming off quite unenthusiastic. A contrast to his energy level in some of his earlier performances from the beginning of the season.
— A fairly juvenile premise, but I’m finding some humor here.
— “Mr. President… give me a humjob.”
STARS: **½

BAR / JANUARY 11TH
in a bar, (host) advises unemployed & depressed Jimmy Carter (JOP)
CHR gives an on-the-scene report about NYC’s big January 11th celebration

     

— I was little tough on Joe’s Jimmy Carter impression in my review of the season premiere, but his impression has improved tonight. The make-up is a lot better, too; he now looks more like Carter than Dan Aykroyd ever did.
— Ray: “All you gotta do is sit on your duff and daydream.” President Carter: “Oh, I’ve been doing that for the last four years.”
— Huh? What the fuck just happened? Why did we suddenly cut to an outside shot of a crowd of people while the voice of Charles Rocket is reporting? What happened to the President Carter sketch that I was in the middle of watching? Did the recording of the Carter sketch get cut off in the copy of the episode I’m watching? Am I now watching a Rocket Report segment? WHAT’S GOING ON?!??!
— The Charles Rocket segment is at a gathering where they seem to be celebrating the arrival of January 11 like it’s New Years. Fairly funny idea, even if I’m still baffled over why the hell I’m now seeing this instead of the President Carter sketch I was in the middle of watching.
— Where is Rocket in this anyway? We can’t even see him while he’s reporting. Is he somewhere in the middle of the crowd? The camera shot is from such a far away angle that I can’t find him in the crowd. Also, is this segment actually being performed live from outside the building? We rarely get outdoor live scenes on SNL, aside from the handful of Christmas episodes that have goodnights held at the Rockefeller skating rink.
— Ah, the camera has zoomed in closer and we can now see Charles more clearly.
— Okay, NOW it makes sense to me why they abruptly went from the middle of the Carter sketch to the January 11th celebration; they’re attempting to make this feel like an authentic instance of “regular programming gets interrupted by New Years celebration when the ball is about to drop”. That’s actually a very interesting, unique idea for SNL. Still feels like they could’ve done a less abrupt transition, though. Maybe they could’ve had the Carter sketch get cut off with some kind of “We interrupt this sketch to bring you this special report” announcement, and THEN cut to Charles at the outside crowd.
— I’m loving seeing the in-studio celebration, where even the audience is involved.
STARS: ***½ (the ½ is just for trying something unique and elaborate)

WEEKEND UPDATE
(GIG)’s crime forecast gives urbanites the info needed to weather the day
JOP comments on Joe Frazier’s unretirement & predicts bowling will be big
EDM suggests the draft board pass him over in favor of Garrett Morris

         

— Whoa, whoa whoa. HUGE changes to Update tonight, which I was not expecting. The Update set has been remodeled, the Update logo graphics are different, and Gail Matthius is now at the desk as a co-anchor. Wow. I guess SNL is well-aware of the dire state that Update has been in this season, and are making some drastic mid-season changes to improve the segment.
— After starting off tonight’s Update by doing several consecutive news jokes, Charles FINALLY acknowledges he has a new co-anchor, and gives Gail an intro. There’s no comedic lines during this; just a straightforward intro, audience applause for Gail, and then Gail going right into the next news story.
— Oh, man, they got Gail doing the same type of lame “misinterpret a news picture” jokes that Charles has been doing all season? How is having two different people doing the same type of weak jokes we’ve been suffering through all season supposed to be an improvement?
— This Murder Map segment with Gilbert seems to have promise.
— Gilbert’s commentary is pretty funny, with him doing a professional, meteorologist-esque coverage of murders across the country.
— Here’s our weekly Joe Piscopo SNL Sports commentary.
— Joe’s delivery is now finally starting to sound like the energetic delivery his SNL Sports pieces would become famous for.
— Joe using the toy bowling game is pretty funny, especially his ad-libbing when the bowling ball didn’t go the right direction at first.
— Heh, WTF? Why is the bowling ball toy from Joe’s commentary now moving across the desk while Charles is in the middle of a joke? Is that an ad-lib from Joe off-camera? Either way, it’s hilarious, and serves as a welcome distraction from whatever lame punchline I’m sure Charles’ joke has.
— Now we have to wait for Gail to find her next news story as she awkwardly shuffles through her papers. Yikes. That’s bringing back bad memories of Dan Aykroyd’s sloppiness as an Update anchor back in season 3.
— Man, Gail’s jokes have been TERRIBLE tonight, and the audience ain’t havin’ it. They are DEAD.
— A commentary from Eddie that’s based on his young age (19).
— Eddie: “If I get drafted, who’s gonna be the token black on Saturday Night Live?” Meanwhile, Yvonne Hudson is probably somewhere backstage, sheepishly raising her hand.
— We get a brief sample of some of the soon-to-be-famous celebrity impressions that Eddie would debut in full later in his tenure (Stevie, Cosby).
— Haha, I love Eddie urging the army to draft Garrett Morris instead of him.
— Eddie: “Word has it that [Garrett Morris] has a lot of free time right now.” LOL! Poor Garrett, though. I mean, damn, it hadn’t even been a full year since he’s left the cast, and ALREADY his former show is making a joke like that about his post-SNL career.
— Overall, as usual this season, the guest commentaries were the only thing saving tonight’s Update. The mini-overhaul that Update has gone through seems to have done NO good so far, as I think the Update jokes may have actually gotten even WORSE. Poor Gail ESPECIALLY got stuck with nothing but duds and groaners tonight. The conspiracy theorist in me almost wonders if they added Gail to Update and deliberately gave her such terrible jokes just to make Jean Doumanian’s golden boy Charles Rocket look better by comparison.
STARS: **

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Dancing On Air”

FILMED CONFESSION
a suspect (GIG) & his interrogator (host) develop a cinematic confession

  

— What was with Ray’s prop gun accidentally falling on the floor?
— The premise of this is fairly interesting, and something about it kinda reminds me of that Televised Execution sketch that Bill Murray did in his very first episode as a cast member. It’s also reminding me of another sketch, but I can’t put my finger on which sketch that is.
— I’m really liking Ray’s performance.
— Gilbert’s acting in this is starting to get really good, and he seems more into it compared to the sullen demeanor we’ve been seeing from him lately.
— LOL at Ray revealing the camera has run out of tape right in the middle of Gilbert’s confession.
STARS: ***½

HAVE A NICE DAY
smiley faces pervade a gore-filled horror movie

   

— I’m liking the silly idea of this horror movie parody.
— Announcer: “So stupid, you cannot believe grown men and women would stoop so low for a couple of million thousand bucks.”
— Overall, there were a few okay parts, but this didn’t turn out to be as funny as I thought it would.
STARS: **½

WHITE BABIES
in the park, (EDM) sells (JOP) & (ANR) a black market white baby for $500

 

— Hilarious concept with Eddie and Ray selling white babies at the park. I can already tell this is going to be a really funny Eddie Murphy sketch.
— The line about a previous purchase of a white baby that turned out to be a bowling pin was hilarious.
— LOL at the baby being in a garbage can.
— Denny’s baby being named “Splotchy” gave me a pretty good laugh.
— Overall, okay, this didn’t turn out to be quite the classic Eddie Murphy sketch the set-up had me expecting it to be, but it was still pretty funny.
STARS: ***½

AUDIENCE CAPTION

— For the first time this season, we get the return of the original SNL era’s “audience caption” gag that they stopped doing sometime in the middle of season 4. But, boy, tonight’s coleslaw/underwear caption is just plain stupid and is trying way too hard at copying something that the original era did so well.
— I heard there’s an audience caption later this season where a lady being captioned looks VERY pissed off. That’ll be funny to see.

SURROGATE MOTHERS
unruly surrogate mothers (YVH) & (DED) worry moms-to-be (GLM) & (ANR)

   

— What? Ann and Gail as flat-stomached allegedly-pregnant women whose due dates are approaching?
— Oh, I see where this is going. Yvonne and Denny are Ann and Gail’s surrogates.
— Some laughs from Denny wildly acting rebellious against her employer by doing things that will be dangerous to the baby she’s pregnant with.
— Haha, Denny’s threatening to take LSD.
— Are they kidding me with that terrible ending with Yvonne saying the “I don’t know nothing ’bout birthin’ no babies” movie quote? *groan*
STARS: **½

THE MAN WITH THE BLACK HAT
by William Dear- man has pants-around-ankles

  

— Interesting format with us only being able to see the feet of the main character and everyone he interacts with.
— The ending with the guy meeting a similarly-pants-dropped lady was kinda cute, I guess.
STARS: **½

STOP-A-NUT
Stop-A-Nut personal protection unit offers armored defense against crime

   

— There’s the same park set from earlier. I guess that set is to this episode what the mall set was to the last episode (David Carradine).
— Ha, insane sketch so far, especially Ray as an old lady fighting with the armored suit!
— The interior picture of the armor suit is very funny.
— Haha, I love seeing Eddie blasting “Rapper’s Delight” on his boombox.
STARS: ****

THE WAITER-MAKER
(host) tries to mold (GIG) into a superstar server

     

— Not too sure about this premise.
— Okay, this sketch is getting more interesting with Gilbert’s character.
— I love the comedic vamping for time by showing a series of various “10 shifts later” “Okay, make that 20 shifts later” etc. title cards while Gilbert is apparently doing a lengthy costume change off-camera.
— Eh, the sketch petered off again after a while, and I didn’t care for the ending.
STARS: **

COMMERCIAL
(JOP) pitches an unspecified, nonexistent product that costs only $9.99

 

— They seem to be doing lots of sketches this season with either Joe or Charles playing a pitchman.
— Wow, well, that was quick. I did like Joe’s fast-talking performance and how overcrowded the screen had gotten by the end with all the displayed text. Still could’ve been funnier, though, and probably would’ve actually benefited from being a little longer and going further with the “commercial about nothing” premise.
— I usually compare Joe’s pitchman performances to that of Dan Aykroyd’s, but this particular commercial was something I could picture Harry Shearer doing well in season 5.
STARS: **

KILLING TIME
EDM does stand-up about an inner-city insult contest

   

— Oh, this is going to be the legendary occurrence where the show was running short and they threw Eddie out there at the last minute to kill time by having him do a piece from his stand-up. I’ve heard so much about this over the years and have always been dying to see it. Chris Rock also talked about it during a segment on SNL’s 40th anniversary special.
— Right off the bat, I’m already loving Eddie’s energy and demeanor.
— The whole “Yo mama got a mouth in the back of her neck and the bitch chew like this… (*proceeds to demonstrate*)” bit absolutely killed me.
— I love Eddie’s various characterizations in this, going back-and-forth between different voices as he’s doing a retelling of an argument. Reminds me of Richard Pryor doing that in his stand-up pieces from the episode he hosted back in season 1.
— Overall, wow, that was freakin’ great. From the beginning, I was already loving this just for whole impromptu-ness behind the show’s decision to have a cast member go out onto the home base stage to kill time by doing straight stand-up comedy, but Eddie ended up delivering big-time. He not only handled this unplanned segment with total ease, but he was hilarious and killed with the audience. This would end up being a very important part of Eddie’s SNL tenure, as it was pretty much the turning point where this 19 year old kid started being officially viewed as the undisputed breakout star of the cast.
STARS: ****½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Livin’ Without Ja”

GOODNIGHTS

 

---

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Not a terrible episode, but not really a good one either. There were a lot of promising sketch premises that unfortunately ended up petering out. Sketches that felt like they should’ve been very strong turned out to be either merely decent or flat-out weak. Even the January 11th celebration segment, which I commend for going outside the box and doing something unheard of for SNL, was executed clumsily with a too-abrupt transition from the President Carter sketch it interrupted.
— Despite me going into this episode having no familiarity with Ray Sharkey, I ended up finding him to be a fun host. He had a lot of great energy, made some of the more iffy sketches become more watchable with his commitment, and seemed to be more prominent tonight than most hosts in these early SNL seasons are, as he appeared in practically every single sketch, even playing an old lady in the type of sketch that would usually place a cast member or writer in that role.

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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Karen Black