Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
footage of wrestling match between Andy Kaufman & Jerry Lawler teased
— Just a quick, straightforward announcement of an Andy Kaufman wrestling match we’ll be seeing later in the episode.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)
TALENT ENTRANCE
MONOLOGUE
Christopher Lloyd, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza, Judd Hirsch [real] bow
— Danny’s already getting lots of good laughs right off the bat. I had forgotten what its like to have an actual funny actor hosting this season, after the endless string of non-comedic hosts we’ve had in the second half of this season.
— The audience boos loudly when Danny announces that ABC has just canceled Taxi.
— Very nice idea having the Taxi cast show up to take the final bow they never got to do on their show.
— Oh, this is during Andy’s neckbrace phase.
— Lots of great infectious energy from the one-by-one entrances of the Taxi cast.
— The studio audience is actually giving a standing ovation now.
STARS: ****
TAXI
Louie DePalma (host) takes a taxi to ABC headquarters & blows up building
— Ah, Taxi’s opening credits. Considering it’s been a very long time since I last watched a rerun of that show, it’s making me very nostalgic seeing these credits & theme song again.
— LOL at the sight of Danny moping outside ABC’s headquarters.
— Ha, Danny blew up the ABC building! Hilarious.
STARS: ****
WHINERS
(host) is stuck next to Doug & Wendy Whiner on an airplane
— Ohhh, the Whiners officially become recurring characters. Their return actually received APPLAUSE from the audience tonight.
— I got a good laugh from Mary as the stewardess forcibly throwing another passenger’s blanket at the Whiners when they complain about how cold they are.
— Another good laugh from other passengers eagerly requesting a headset in unison when Mary’s handing them out.
— Great ending with Danny purposely wrecking the Whiners’ box of china after they spent the whole sketch telling him to be careful with it.
— Overall, probably one of the more tolerable Whiners sketches ever, just due to all the various funny things happening around them, whereas in the first Whiners sketch, Tony was the only thing holding it together.
STARS: **½
EXECUTIVE STRESS TEST
(host) has to pass an unannounced stress test to get promoted
— Boy, those are some disturbingly exaggerated sexual moans from Mary over the phone.
— Great appearance from Eddie as a no-nonsense drug dealer.
— Haha, holy hell at the herpes revelation from Christine.
— Good twist with the stress test reveal.
— The knife ending was kinda weak in theory, but Danny’s acting made it funny.
— Overall, a pretty solid sketch and featured strong performances from all involved.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mickey Mouse”
SNL NEWSBREAK
Dr. Jack Badofsky lists types of rabies
MAG reports from Central Park that she’s found Annie’s Sandy
Argentine responses to a Falklands ink blot test
Lou Grant (TOR) gives the weather report
— I’m starting to realize that Christine’s delivery as an anchorperson is just wrong for SNL Newsbreak. She’s so OVERLY professional-sounding that it kills the humor.
— Yet another Dr. Jack Badosfsky appearance.
— During these last two Badofsky appearances, I’m noticing a trend where his commentaries start out not working for me at all, and then after about a minute or so, I find myself starting to actually laugh at some of his puns. I don’t know if this means he always uses his weakest, corniest puns up front before getting to the better material or what, but it’s just something I’ve been noticing.
— Good risque ending to Badosfky’s commentary, with Linda Lovelace-induced rabies being named “Fellabies”.
— Yet another “Mary interviews the wrong person” gag. This routine is getting tired.
— What’s with the dog’s growling? Or is that a sound effect they’re playing?
— Mary’s overall commentary didn’t work for me at all.
— Oh, no, Brian has begun listing off responses to a Falklands ink blot test. Here comes our dreaded weekly “long screen crawl” gag.
— I admit, some of the early entries in this screen crawl list are actually pretty funny, but I just know this crawl is going to get tired fast.
— Yep, I was right.
— Once again, Brian’s ends his spiel long before the accompanying screen crawl stops scrolling, forcing him to stall for time.
— Christine’s Rely tampon joke was actually really funny.
— Tony’s Lou Grant impression seems to have improved, or maybe it’s just growing on me.
— The Lou Grant weatherman segment was okay overall, but nothing special.
— Overall, for this season’s standards, tonight’s SNL Newsbreak was actually somewhat short. I’m glad it didn’t go on forever like it did in the last few episodes.
STARS: **½
PUDGE & SOLOMON
Solomon does his dance while Pudge plays his new song
— Good to see these characters back.
— Feels like Eddie hasn’t been appearing much in tonight’s show; a contrast to how much he dominated the last few episodes.
— Eddie’s comments about John Hinkley are really funny.
— I’m also getting laughs from Eddie and Joe’s conversation about “Puerto Ricans” being in the Falklands.
— Joe’s “I want a meal, not a snack” insult was hilarious.
— Nice to see Danny getting involved in this, though he’s not as good at doing the type of “black voice” that Eddie and Joe are effortlessly doing.
— Good ending with Eddie’s doing “his dance”.
STARS: ***½
ENZO
Enzo mouthwash- it can freshen even Ozzy Osbourne’s (TIK) breath
— Oh my god at Tim’s look as a bloody-faced 80s-era Ozzy Osbourne. And the casting decision to have HIM of all cast members play Ozzy seems pretty random.
— While this overall commercial had a decent idea, the result didn’t really work for me. This was very forgettable.
STARS: **
COME ON OUT AMERICA
— Rerun
TABLE TALK
TOR shows how to intimidate the wine steward
— I’m really liking Tony’s outbursts at the waiter and his subsequent Vic Salukin-esque sadistic laughter into the camera afterwards.
— Overall, a pretty solid showcase for Tony.
STARS: ***½
NO MORE WRESTLING
wrestling match between Andy Kaufman & Jerry Lawler [real] causes injury
Andy Kaufman [real] apologizes to wrestling fans, retires from the mat
— A Brian Doyle-Murray-conducted interview with Andy.
— Haha, I always crack up at Jerry Lawler’s whole fast-talking “Andy Kaufman, you’re about to get hurt, son” rant, as I’ve seen that clip multiple times before, in a documentary about Andy’s wrestling career that Comedy Central used to air an endless amount of times back in the day. (I think the documentary is titled “Andy Kaufman: I’m From Hollywood”)
— Some big laughs from Andy’s constantly ducking in and out of the ring when Lawler’s about to begin wrestling him.
— Lawler: “Are you here to wrestle or act like an ass?!?!”
— Seeing Andy repeatedly getting brutally pile-driven head-first into the ring floor is really making me wince, even if I know he didn’t REALLY get injured from it (his use of a neckbrace in the present-day scenes is just an act, IIRC, as is the whole rivalry between him and Lawler).
— LOL at the loud “Ohhh!”s from the crowd during the second pile driver Andy received (which looked PARTICULARLY painful).
— Oh, geez, now they’re replaying those wince-worthy pile drivers in slow-motion. I can’t look.
— After the wrestling video package ends, Andy gives a sincere apology for his entire wrestling shtick and announces he’ll never wrestle again, which receives genuine applause from SNL’s audience.
STARS: ***½
LOOKS AT BOOKS
(TIK) claims that the Beatles stole ideas from the Nazis
— Was it intentional to reuse the title of a Jane Curtin-hosted recurring talk show sketch (I believe Chevy hosted it at one point too) from the original era?
— A decent laugh from the record covers and titles shown.
— Overall, while the premise of the Beatles stealing their music from the Nazis was really promising, the sketch ended up being a little forgettable. This felt like a weaker prototype of two better sketches they would do later this era: the “Heil Hits” sketch where Tim advertises an album of Hitler-ized hit songs and the famous talk show sketch with Eddie claiming the Beatles originally had a black member (him).
STARS: **½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Predict”
GOODNIGHTS
host’s mom Julia [real] curses out ABC in Italian
— Great bit with Danny’s mother cursing out ABC in Italian.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— One of the better episodes of the second half of this season, which I was expecting considering the host. While nothing was really classic tonight, the show had a nice flow with mostly solid material. Even The Whiners and SNL Newsbreak were a little more tolerable and didn’t hurt the show as much as usual.
— Danny DeVito did an unsurprisingly fun job hosting and you can see why he would go on to be a fairly frequent host for the rest of the 80s as well as the 90s. I’m definitely looking forward to reviewing his other episodes.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Robert Culp):
— a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Season 7 comes to an end, with host Olivia Newton-John