Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
cast wonders how to prove show’s live, host explains “now-was-gonnabe”
— Gary being berated for his idea is a funny continuation of the running gag with him being the SNL punching bag.
— Why does the “Saveco” logo hanging on a banner on the background wall seem so familiar to me? (you can see it above Sid Caesar in the second screencap above) Was it used in a previous sketch?
— A good laugh from Eddie’s idea of proving the show is live by just bluntly saying into the camera “It’s crap and it’s live”.
— A VERY strong audience reaction to Sid Caesar’s entrance, which eventually leads to a standing ovation.
— The cast (especially Julia) seems to be really honored to be working with Sid.
— Sid’s whole complicated “when now is over” philosophy is freakin’ hilarious.
— Love the “Let’s pull Kroeger’s teeth out” mantra.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)
— Very short, but it was nice to see sincerity from Sid and he managed to get his usual laughs.
STARS: ***
FUNERAL IN A CAB
(EDM) pitches the inexpensive burial alternative
— Eddie’s doing a good job as another fast-talking pitchman, after the Popeil prophylactic commercial from earlier this season.
— The concept of this is funny, and the whole sequence demonstrating the dead body’s journey is hilarious, especially how it ends with the body getting thrown in a garbage truck.
STARS: ****
HOTEL
hotel room time-warp demonstrates 30 year change in male-female relations
— Whoa, sudden black-and-white shift.
— Oh, I see what they’re doing, showing how much times have changed between 1953 and 1983 by showing the huge difference in how Sid interacts with his respective love interest in both time periods. I love the clever concept of this.
— Nice touch with 1953 Eddie being a stereotypical Rochester-from-The-Jack-Benny-Show type of servant after we just saw 1983 Eddie as a respectable businessman who seems to be on the same level of importance as Sid’s character.
— I love how they’re constantly going back-and-forth between the 1953 and 1983 scenes.
— This is fantastic so far.
— LOL, is Mary biting Sid’s bare skin while she’s tearing his shirt off?
— Loved Sid’s final line into the camera.
— Overall, that was terrific, and really appealed to me as someone who’s always been fascinated in seeing how much social norms have changed from how they were several decades earlier. I can’t help but kinda wonder what an updated version of this sketch would look like, showing how much times have changed from 1983 to 2019.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guests perform “Up Where We Belong”
WHINERS
a hospital patient (host) is stuck next to ex-hostage Whiners
— Damn, they fooled me at first into thinking this was going to be a funny original sketch centered around Sid as a recovering hospital patient, until I recognized Joe’s off-camera whines and realized this is the dreaded continuation of the previous week’s Whiners sketch that ended with a cliffhanger. Putting up with the Whiners in one episode is bad enough; having to watch them in TWO CONSECUTIVE EPISODES is unspeakable torture.
— Sid’s facial expressions alone are almost saving this sketch.
— Satisfying ending with Sid wrapping his medical tubes around the Whiners’ necks in an attempt to strangle them.
STARS: *½
SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Patti Lynn Hunnsacker (JLD) tells her parents “I’m sexually active”
spittin’ mad MAG tells us which federal agencies should be done away with
Dr. Jack Badofsky lists types of suicide
— Julia’s overall commentary did absolutely NOTHING for me. And worse, I think this teen character of hers eventually becomes recurring. Can’t say I’m looking forward to that.
— This is the first time during a “Spittin’ Mad Mary Gross” commentary where she actually describes herself with the words “spittin’ mad”. Until now, I had kinda been wondering why I’ve always seen SNL fans use the specific title “spittin’ mad” for these commentaries of hers.
— I got a good laugh from Mary’s suggestion to replace the surgeon general with a “chiropractor colonel”.
— Unfortunately, the rest of Mary’s commentary was a step down from her usual angry rants.
— Ugh, ENOUGH with this Dr. Jack Badofsky character already.
— Man, Badofsky’s puns are particularly bad tonight. I cannot believe so many of these groaners are getting big laughs from the studio audience. I guess this shows how different times were back in the early 80s, because I’m trying to picture modern-day SNL in 2019 having a Weekend Update character like Badofsky (I’m not sure who in the current cast would play him), and I don’t see it going over well at all; I can’t picture those corny old-fashioned puns getting laughs from today’s audience.
— Overall, a really bad Saturday Night News tonight, with NOTHING knocking it out of the park.
STARS: *½
HARRY ANDERSON
Harry Anderson [real] does a trick involving red rubber balls & handcuffs
— Whoa, how’d he do that marked cards trick at the beginning?
— Funny part with a handcuffed Harry somehow getting tangled around the audience volunteer’s arm.
— Great reveal at the end that he did the handcuff trick with a fake hand.
STARS: ***
CRIME AND SELF-PUNISHMENT
troubled inventor’s (host) silent film biography
— I’m slightly wary about approaching this, as I recall hearing that this is a VERY long sketch. I have no doubt that Sid will make it work, though.
— This is doing great at mimicking a silent movie.
— LOL at Sid’s blatantly fake speed-reading through the books.
— Very funny part with Sid repeatedly pulling back up a heart-attack-having Tim to keep him from slumping to the ground.
— I like the random detail of Sid pouring the poison he’s about to drink into a fancy wine glass.
— Overall, this was INDEED a very long sketch (easily one of the longest in SNL history; I would guesstimate that this was around 15 minutes long), and I can see why some people may have a lot of problems with it. While it dragged in certain spots, I personally can’t complain too much because I still felt that the overall film was interesting to watch progress and, as I expected, Sid made it fun and was tailor-made for it.
STARS: ***
A FEW MINUTES WITH ANDY ROONEY
only his books are worth reading
— They’re still doing these? Well, at least they’ve recently been cutting back on the frequency of Joe’s Rooney appearances.
— Heh, is that vagina quote from the Helen Gurley Brown book real?
— All the double-entendres with Rooney’s questions about Gurley Brown’s “book” are very funny.
— This badly petered out at the end, with Joe’s Rooney just saying the titles of his own endless number of books.
STARS: ***½
SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Professor Helmut (host) touts soap operas as the trade imbalance solution
— Wait, what the hell??? A second Saturday Night News tonight? This is insane. What, we didn’t get ENOUGH bad Brad Hall jokes the first time around tonight?
— I really don’t understand Ebersol’s tendency to do odd, unconventional things with SNL’s news segment. (I’m aware he would later start doing particularly unconventional things with the news in seasons 9 and 10)
— Hmm, maybe this might be worth it after all. We’re getting a guest commentary from Sid.
— Sid demonstrating the same soap opera scene in various different languages is hilarious, especially the random brief English interjections he keeps throwing in.
— Overall, while Sid’s commentary was very solid, I don’t understand why they couldn’t have just put it in the first Saturday Night News from earlier tonight instead of creating a separate one for it. Oh, Ebersol, you perplex me.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Joe Cocker performs “Seven Days”
GOODNIGHTS
cast makes host an honorary member of SNL
— This is wonderful, with Mary presenting Sid with a plaque declaring him an honorary member of SNL. All the genuine joy and emotions being displayed here are infectious.
— Are Eddie’s tears real, or is he just jokingly acting emotional?
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very enjoyable episode that got all the mileage out of Sid Caesar that they could. He was utilized perfectly tonight, being given lots of showcases for his trademark comedic style, and he delivered in every single performance. Tonight’s episode was far from perfect, but the show as a whole had a strong feel that I really liked. This is probably the most I’ve enjoyed an episode since the Howard Hesseman one from all the way back in October.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas):
— a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
The recent string of impressive comedic hosts continues, as Howard Hesseman makes his return, a mere four months after his last hosting stint