Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
CHC explains why he’ll do the show via satellite from Burbank
— I like how this opened on Chevy doing his trademark “raunchy phone conversation” opening gag, though I swear the “beads” conversation he’s doing in this sketch was already used in a Weekend Update of his from the first two seasons.
— I’m surprised we just got a simple “I”m Chevy Chase” introduction, with no “and you’re not” added after it.
— Interesting slow reveal that Chevy is actually being displayed on a TV monitor on SNL’s (new) home base stage.
— Chevy eventually explains that, due to a missed flight, he’s not in New York but in Burbank, as SNL’s first bi-coastal video host.
— Has it ever been confirmed whether this whole “missed flight” thing was genuine or just a gimmick? My theory is it’s a gimmick. I doubt they would’ve been able to get this whole “via satellite” thing prepared on time if it were done on such short notice like we’re led to believe. And besides, SNL was known for doing unconventional gimmicks throughout the Ebersol era.
— Nice ending with the crew members inducing a trademark Chevy pratfall by tipping his TV monitor over.
— We get the return of “Live from New York…” for the first time since season 6! Very nice to hear it again. And who better to deliver the re-introduction of LFNY than the guy who delivered it in SNL’s first episode ever?
STARS: ***
OPENING MONTAGE
— It’s the same opening montage from the previous season, but right off the bat, there’s a noticeable difference, as the opening shot of a woman lighting her cigarette with a conventional lighter has been replaced with an awesome-looking shot of a construction worker lighting his cigarette with a torch.
— After being replaced in season 7, beloved original announcer Don Pardo is back! It feels so refreshing hearing his voice again after I’ve gotten so used to Mel Brandt’s season 7 announcing.
— The SNL logo looks to be in a more orange-red color compared to season 7’s plain-red logo. Something about the sizing or the letter spacing of the logo looks a bit different tonight too.
— The cast shots have all been changed. I really like the idea of that, as I’ve always said that whenever a new SNL season uses the same opening montage from the preceding season, they should at least update the cast shots, just to keep things somewhat fresh. Aside from this season, the only other time SNL would go on to do that would be in season 22.
— The new cast members joining the show tonight are Brad Hall, Gary Kroeger, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
MISCELLANEOUS
(no synopsis available)
— Just a very brief post-opening montage continuation of the cold opening, with Chevy still “on the floor” and announcing that he’ll be back. Much like in season 7, I see SNL is still toying with the idea of whether to do a monologue or not. However, I believe monologues officially go back to being a regular weekly thing after tonight’s episode.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)
ART OPENING
Tyrone Green is the darling of the New York art scene
— The return of Eddie’s famous “Cill my landlord” character Tyrone Green.
— As if the wild cheers Eddie received in tonight’s opening montage wasn’t enough of a sign that he had become a huge star by this point, the energetic audience applause that his entrance receives in this sketch certainly shows you. This really sets the tone for this season, as IIRC, this is the season where Eddie reaches his absolute peak as a cast member.
— LOL at Eddie’s casual “Okay, bitch” line to Robin.
— Gary Kroeger and Brad Hall make their debut playing an effeminate gay art couple.
— I like the one collage that Eddie titled “Smart-Ass White Boy Blues”.
— For some reason, Eddie randomly starts breaking in response to Mary asking him a question. (second-to-last screencap above)
— I like Eddie angrily turning down a request to recite the “Cill My Landlord” poem. Probably a good thing, as we’ve already seen him repeat that poem in a sketch with Mary last season.
— Eddie’s “I Hate White People” poem is pretty funny. I know him spelling out “white” as “W-I-T-E” is just a knock-off of his funnier “C-I-L-L” from the original Prose and Cons short, but this still managed to crack me up a lot. It was something about the intense squinty-eyed look he gave the camera during his extreme close-up while spelling out “W-I-T-E” that slayed me.
STARS: ***
JOE TAKES A BRIDE
JOP announces that he’s fallen in love with Rose Kennedy & wants nuptials
— As proof that he’s become the #2 most popular member of this cast, Joe’s “I’m Joe Piscopo” intro at the beginning of this sketch gets a very big reaction from the audience.
— An amusing premise with Joe announcing that over the summer, he’s fallen in love with Rose Kennedy.
— Decent pre-taped video of Joe going for a romantic walk on the beach with Kennedy.
— The football-throwing bit was pretty funny.
STARS: ***
JOHN HINCKLEY FOR PRESIDENT
John Hinckley (BRH) announces he’s a candidate for president
— Funny reveal that Brad is playing John Hinckley.
— A good sketch so far, and Brad’s doing fine playing an unabashedly crazy Hinckley.
— Good subtle bit at the very end, where he slowly puts the pillow into his mouth right before the camera fades to black.
STARS: ***½
MYSTERY THEATRE
Zacherley (John Zacherle) & a video Land Shark
— I’m afraid I have no familiarity with this horror show host making a cameo.
— He is coming off pretty funny in this, though.
— Ha, the familiar Jaws/Landshark music sting is heard as Julia Louis-Dreyfus is heading to the door.
— Okay, tonight’s whole “Chevy missed his flight to New York” thing DEFINITELY has to be a gimmick, because how else would Chevy have his Landshark costume available in Burbank? Am I supposed to believe he always randomly carries that costume in his luggage?
— There’s the famous and always-funny “Candygram” routine.
— Landshark being displayed on a TV screen was kinda fun, I guess, but it’s disappointing not to see him attacking a woman who answers the door like he usually does. Made this feel anticlimactic.
STARS: **½
MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
Danny DeVito [real] introduces musical guest
— Danny DeVito on SNL again!
— Nice to see Danny shutting off Chevy’s typical self-indulgent bragging.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”
SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
JOP’s football strike resolution proposal appeals to players’ drug habits
during a phone call to James Watt, BRH gives him a piece of his mind
Father Andrew B. Titus (TIK) dislikes Reader’s Digest’s condensed Bible
Tonight Show set in Burbank doubles for Tel Aviv during CHC’s report
— The debut of a revamped version of SNL’s news segment, featuring a new title, a new anchorperson, and a new set.
— Speaking of the new set, I like it a lot, especially the NYC nighttime skyline background.
— Hmm, Brad is wearing glasses in this. IIRC, that doesn’t go on to be a regular thing during his tenure as anchorperson.
— His very first joke is already self-referential, naming himself as one of America’s most trusted newsmen. Not sure how to react to that.
— He’s taken off the glasses already.
— His delivery isn’t too bad so far. However, I wonder if he eventually gets worse over time, because my past memories of watching reruns of this era seem to recall Brad having an annoyingly cheesy, exaggerated, unnatural delivery. I wonder if maybe he actually IS using that same cheesy delivery tonight and I’m not noticing it because suffering through a whole season of Brian Doyle-Murray makes Brad’s delivery sound less awful to me by comparison.
— Good to see a Joe Piscopo SNL Sports appearance as the very first guest commentary of the revamped Saturday Night News.
— Joe’s cocaine bit was very funny.
— Interesting-seeming bit with Brad calling up Secretary of the Interior James Watt.
— Brad’s sudden screaming outburst to Watt over the phone actually gave me a big laugh, even if it was a bit too heavy-handed in its politics (which would make it fit perfectly on modern-day SNL).
— A new character from Tim.
— A lot of funny complaints from Tim about the ridiculous changes made to the condensed bible.
— Weak punchline at the end of Tim’s commentary.
— Brad has randomly put his glasses back on after Tim’s commentary. Why doesn’t he make up his mind?
— Chevy’s remote segment is serving as a nice view of Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show set. Unfortunately, that’s just about the only worthwhile thing about this whole segment.
— Overall, tonight’s Saturday Night News debut was a small step up from the dreary SNL Newsbreaks of season 7, but they still have a LONG way to go.
STARS: **½
VIDEO VICTIMS
by Claude Kerven- children addicted to video games
— Good premise for a mockumentary.
— I love the way this really captures the arcade craze from this time period in the early 80s. It’s also fun to see so many of the (now) old-school video games from the time.
— The drug addiction-esque downfall of the kids is very funny.
— Hilariously shocking part with the little girl prostitute who has to earn her money “the hard way”.
— The old foreign-accented guy as “11 year old Timmy” was funny as hell.
— Overall, wow, this film was excellent and incredibly well-done.
STARS: *****
REVIEW
Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert [real] review the show & criticize CHC
— Adding to the exciting feel of tonight’s episode is a Siskel and Ebert cameo where they give “history’s first live review of a TV show still in progress”. Fun idea.
— Hmm, they’re reviewing a “PTC” sketch that hasn’t even aired yet in the copy of the episode I’m watching. The sketch order must’ve been shuffled around in my version.
— Them naming Chevy as the “dog of the week” is pretty funny.
— Heh, the “picture” of Chevy in the background turns out to be live, as he suddenly starts doing his famous “making faces behind someone’s back” bit, which is a pretty nice blast-from-the-past, but it’s never been my favorite recurring Chevy routine.
— Funny line about “one of the great acting hand jobs of all time”.
— Assuming Siskel and Ebert’s sketch reviews are their genuine opinions and aren’t scripted lines, I’m finding their comments about the sketches to be quite interesting.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)
POPIEL GALACTIC PROPHYLACTIC
Popiel Galactic Prophylactic & Dura-phram- EDM touts the tough devices
— Wow, Eddie’s doing a great pitchman voice.
— Hilarious concept.
— After Eddie fires the gun at the prophylactic, somebody (I think one of the two extras playing the wrestlers) mistakenly runs past the camera, temporarily blocking Eddie.
— Haha, lots of funny fast-paced craziness in this sketch.
STARS: ****
LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN
Gumby & a Bob the Dog film
— Joe is absolutely dead-on as Letterman; even the look is scarily accurate.
— Hmm, Gary Kroeger appearing as Paul Shaffer (a dead-ringer, by the way). Is this the first time in SNL history where a former cast member was impersonated by someone?
— Joe’s even nailing Letterman’s trademark laugh.
— Haha, Tim as Larry “Bud” Melman.
— Joe throwing two pencils behind him and breaking the window made me howl.
— A welcome return of Eddie’s Gumby.
— Ah, Eddie’s Gumby now has the angry delivery I’ve always been familiar with, unlike the low-key delivery he used in his debut last season.
— Great stories from Eddie’s Gumby, especially the “someone eat my buns” story about Poppin’ Fresh (the Pillsbury Doughboy).
— Overall, this was a riot. I got lots of laughs throughout this whole sketch, and it was also a solid parody of Letterman’s “Late Night”.
STARS: ****
PTC CLUB
April May June (JLD) preaches, (GAK) heals audience members
— Ah, here’s the aforementioned PTC sketch.
— Nice to see a showcase for Julia on her first episode.
— Very good character work from Julia here.
— Brad’s “soft rock” bit was pretty funny.
— Oh my god, Julia’s increasingly psychotic detailing of fighting Satan was insane and hilarious.
— Gary’s whole audience interaction bit is FANTASTIC so far. He’s giving an excellent performance here, and is handling his interactions with various audience members with so much ease that you can’t even tell this is his first night as a cast member.
— LOL at the unscripted part with a male audience member volunteering to be the person who puts his hand on the female audience member’s breast.
— Overall, this was a pretty strong showcase for the three new cast members. I’m aware that this is reportedly a sketch that they had done together in their improv days at the Practical Theatre Company (which I guess is where they got the “PTC” abbreviation for this sketch), which explains why this had such a polished feel.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Under Pressure”
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A good way to kick off the new season. The feel of this episode was quite different from the previous season, and there was a nice quality to tonight’s show, especially in the second half where there was a consistent run of very solid material. Some of the season’s big changes and the various guest appearances throughout the night also added to the exciting feel of the episode. The fact that the “Chevy hosting via satellite” gimmick is a complete afterthought in my mind right now shows how good the rest of the show was.
— The three new cast members got some good showcases tonight, especially with the PTC Club sketch. Due to my past viewings of a handful of episodes from this era, I’m already somewhat familiar with how the three newbies’ respective SNL tenures end up turning out, but based on just tonight’s episode, I would say Gary is the newbie I’m looking most forward to seeing more of, especially after his great work in PTC Club.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1981-82):
— a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Louis Gossett Jr.