Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
TIK, MAG, EDM break into host’s office to see how he got himself on show
— LOL at Tim screwing up his “He has more phonelines than viewers” line.
— The audience applauds as soon as Eddie first speaks in this.
— Eddie’s hair looks very different this season.
— Hilarious prank call from Eddie to Mr. T.
— Interesting segue to “Live from New York…”
STARS: ***
OPENING MONTAGE
— Same montage as the last two seasons.
— While the theme music is also the same, it sounds GREAT this season. It has a much funkier, catchier sound than it did in seasons 7 and 8.
— No new cast members tonight; the cast is the exact same as it was the preceding season. However, a certain new cast member IS joining the show a few episodes from now.
— For the first time ever, we see the SNL Band playing on the home base stage’s rooftop when the opening montage ends, which would go on to be a tradition until 1986.
MONOLOGUE
host stresses quality while his bonehead programming decisions scroll by
— Ha, they’re doing the “humorous disclaimers show up under a person during their speech/song” bit that the original era often did. A welcome return.
— “Gilligan Meets the Harlem Globetrotters”? That was a real thing once???
— Decent monologue overall. Felt like a nice throwback to the classic Buck Henry monologues from back in the day, even if this one wasn’t as strong.
STARS: ***
CALVIN KLEIN CREAM PIES
for girls you hate, like Martha (JLD)
— Yet another Calvin Klein Jeans parody in this SNL era.
— LOL, holy hell at somebody suddenly smashing a pie into Julia’s face during her conceited rambling. Good twist.
— Don’t they end up reusing this same joke in a cold opening later this season? In fact, I think it’s the very next episode.
STARS: ***½
JAMES WATT
James Watt (JOP) is depressed because minority groups don’t like him
— Another return of Joe’s impression of Secretary of the Interior James Watt, who’s White House tenure is apparently on its last legs by this point.
— Great joke with Watt getting his drink of water from a mini oil well dispenser.
— Loved Joe’s ending line: “Isn’t it ironic? My last true friends: two Jews, a woman, a black, and a cripple.”
— Good sketch overall.
STARS: ***½
JAZZ RIFFS
sax player (EDM) admits he does weddings & parties for money
— A pretty good laugh at the initial sight of Eddie in that ridiculous mask.
— Funny “Excuse me” ad-lib from Eddie in response to a faint booming sound from off-camera.
— A lot of laughs from the part where Eddie’s complaining about the songs he’s most often asked to perform.
STARS: ***
FELN’S DISCOUNT FOOD AND CLOTHING WAREHOUSE
things to wear & eat
— Looks like another cast member has a new hairstyle this season. Joe trimmed his fro!
— Funny premise with Joe selling mixtures of clothes and fruit. And as usual, great manic pitchman delivery from him.
— Joe seems like he’s trying not to laugh now, which is making the silly, fast-paced nature of the sketch even more fun.
STARS: ***½
SHOW IDEAS
EDM turns down host’s program ideas; the Whiners want their own show
— Eddie once again oddly wears an open leather jacket without a shirt underneath.
— LOL at Brandon in that trendy early 80s leather outfit. I also like how the back of his jacket has NBC’s then-current “Be there” slogan in shiny lettering.
— Eddie’s “Oh, you’re talking negro” realization about Brandon was very funny.
— Strange in retrospect seeing Eddie talking about how he’s perfectly happy staying at SNL, as if he had no plans on leaving any time soon. As we know now, he already had one foot out the door by this point, and would be completely gone before this season is even over.
— Brandon: “I can make you bigger than Gary Coleman.” Eddie: “I got parts in my body bigger than Gary Coleman.”
— The Whiners appearing out of nowhere. Oh, god.
— Considering that the Whiners were in the previous season’s finale I just reviewed yesterday (in what was probably the Whiners’ worst sketch yet), you can imagine how it feels to have to review them two days in a row.
— Brandon’s put-downs to the Whiners are kinda funny, if a bit corny (it’s probably his delivery).
— Overall, not TOO insufferable for a Whiners piece, though I still could’ve done without it.
STARS: **
GUMBY & POKEY
Gumby & Pokey (JOP) rehearse a scene for their reunion show
— Pokey being portrayed with an old Jew voice like Gumby is fitting and funny. Is that Joe in the Pokey costume?
— Yep, I guess it IS Joe.
— Joe-as-Pokey’s complaints about his health problems are making me laugh.
— Hmm, not too sure about the parts with Pokey constantly “breaking wind”, though at least they refrained from using a fart sound effect, unlike later eras of SNL.
— Joe’s “They can’t see me laughing behind this thing” ad-lib was hilarious, though it didn’t land with the audience.
— I see they’re putting Brad’s overacting tendencies to good use by having him play an over-the-top, flamboyant, gay dance choreographer.
— Fun moment with Eddie and Joe dropping character and goofing around with each other as the sketch ended.
STARS: **½
MAN ON THE STREET
host hits the pavement to promote NBC’s fine programming, like Manimal
— What’s the audience laughing at during Brandon’s non-comedic intro? They seemed to be amused by something going on off-camera that we viewers can’t see.
— Brandon’s ridiculous, desperate ways of getting average joes on the street to tune into NBC’s (doomed) fall schedule are very funny, and he’s a good sport for agreeing to do this piece.
— I especially like the part with him sticking flyers for the show “Manimal” onto car windshields.
— Another really funny part with him using a bullhorn to stop a CBS guy from promoting his network’s shows.
STARS: ****
LARRY’S CORNER
duck noise, nasal milk, thirsty guy synchronicity
— Oh, is this going to be the “milk shooting out of nose” sketch that I’ve always heard great things about?
— Yep, from Brad’s intro, I can tell this IS going to be that sketch! I’ve always wanted to see this.
— I think that’s writer Andy Breckman playing the bearded friend. If so, was he one of the new writers hired for this season, or was he already part of the writing staff prior to this season?
— Haha, this is freakin’ HILARIOUS.
— Overall, this sketch definitely lived up to its reputation. The big gag with all three of the guys simultaneously doing their respective thing slayed me.
— I think they eventually go on to make “Larry’s Corner” a recurring sketch, though I doubt any of the subsequent installments will live up to tonight’s.
STARS: *****
SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
JOP gives a recap of the baseball playoffs so far
TIK catches up on the NY Post headlines he missed over the summer
— Brad’s not wearing his usual suit jacket, instead just being seen in a shirt, vest, and tie, which I think goes on to be his regular anchorman attire this season.
— Joe’s fast-paced recapping of all this season’s World Series games is pretty fun, though kinda light on laughs.
— Was that a mustached Tartikoff briefly seen handing Brad a “breaking news” paper? (fourth screencap above)
— Brad’s “Mr. T and Mr. Coffee” joke was such a groaner that it’s almost funny in itself.
— A mention from Brad of Chevy Chase’s 40th birthday. The punchline to that joke (“He’s 40… and I’m not”) was a nice callback to Chevy’s famous Weekend Update catchphrase.
— Tim keeps alive his impressive streak from last season, where he did a news commentary in every single one of the last nine episodes of the season.
— The AIDS headlines that Tim’s showing are SNL’s very first mention of the infamous AIDS epidemic from this decade.
— Tim’s overall “Salute to Journalism” commentary tonight was decent and an improvement over his last subpar edition of the segment.
— A surprisingly short Saturday Night News overall tonight, compared to some of the overlong ones from last season.
— Brad seems to have a new ending tagline this season: “Thanks for comin’ out in the rain.”
STARS: **½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Pink Houses”
RENT-A-GUN
suspicious-looking (TIK) rents a gun from a sporting goods store
— Tim’s shadiness is pretty funny.
— I liked Tim’s reaction to Joe’s banks question.
— Funny bit with Tim explaining he only needs one stocking because it’s for his “half-sister”.
— Overall, despite the aforementioned highlights, the sketch as a whole still felt it could’ve been a little better.
STARS: **½
REVIEW
Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert [real] review the night’s sketches
— Second season premiere in a row with Siskel and Ebert giving instantaneous reviews of the night’s sketches while the show’s still in progress. I had no idea this became a semi-recurring bit. Fun to see this back. They should’ve continued to make this a tradition for every season premiere.
— Siskel and Ebert acknowledge that Piscopo and Murphy are the stars of this cast. While that’s something we all knew, it’s interesting to hear it actually being said on the air.
— Funny part with Siskel overpraising Tartikoff’s performances in hopes that NBC will pick up their syndicated show.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)
MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
— I like how the earlier joke from the Man on the Street sketch carried over into this, with Brandon handing a confused John Cougar and his band “Manimal” flyers.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Crumblin’ Down”
BE THERE
watching networks other than NBC leads to damnation & heart disease
— I almost thought the reverend was Brad Hall with his hair slicked back, before I realized its just an uncredited outside actor (along with the guy playing the doctor).
— Fairly funny premise with NBC using a reverend and doctor to sternly force people to refrain from tuning into other networks.
— The ending “NBC: Watch us or die and go to hell” tagline was pretty funny.
STARS: ***
ETHEL’S DINER
resilient diner owner Ethel (MAG) takes a series of tragedies in stride
— I see where this sketch is going, where Mary’s going to keep receiving increasingly bad news, only for her to keep a stiff upper lip in reaction to it.
— The audience is absolutely dead during this sketch. Then again, I can’t blame them; there ain’t much to laugh at here.
— Weak punchline at the end.
STARS: *½
GOODNIGHTS
— In addition to the theme music in tonight’s opening montage, even the goodnights music has a bit of a funkier sound this season.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty average start to the season. The episode as a whole wasn’t particularly strong, but wasn’t weak either. Certainly a satisfying-enough season premiere. There was also a nice recurring theme with all the jabs at NBC’s struggles and desperation, and Brandon Tartikoff proved to be a good sport, despite only playing himself all night.
— You can already sense the beginning of the end for Eddie Murphy’s SNL tenure. As I said in my last review, the preceding season 8 seemed to be him hitting his absolute peak, and judging from from tonight’s episode and the fact that his movie career was really taking off, I think season 9 will feature a still-very-funny-but-more-complacent Eddie.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1982-83):
— about the same
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman
’tis Breckman in “Larry’s Corner,” which I believe he also wrote; I do believe this was his first episode on the SNL writing staff. I think the reverend in “Be There” is another writer, Andrew Smith.
1981’s “The Harlem Globetrotters on Gilligan’s Island” was the final official Gilligan production. They got the title wrong, but it was made and aired in NBC.
When I first saw this episode, I thought the thought the doctor in the “Watch NBC” sketch was Steve Martin with dark hair. It’s clearly not him, though.
Is this the season when David Spinozza joined the SNL band? If so, that would account for the added funk in the themes.
I thought Tartikoff did a great job considering he’s not an actor, AND he let the show have carte Blanche in making fun of the network. All of the fall shows this year would fail, but little did anyone know that the next season, NBC’s fortunes would soar.
David Spinozza left the band at the end of the 7th season. Tom Barney replaced Neil Jason on bass thus having a funkier sound on the theme as he slaps the bass. The band was reduced to a sextet therefore eliminating the fuller sound the band always had in previous seasons until 1985 when Lorne Michaels returns.
Tom Barney had several stints in the band before being replaced by James Genus several years ago. Marcus Miller was brilliant in his time with the band… I think he started as a teenager. Ray Chew was a teenager when he played on SNL too (percussion and keys), but I don’t think he was 13, as his Wikipedia bio purports.
Highlights: James Watt (I remember when he was quoted saying that infamous remark), Gumby and Pokey (another confirmation how good Joe and Eddie were as a team), and the second Siskel & Ebert commentary of the show as its going on. I remember about this time John Cougar adding Mellencamp to his name so I’m a bit puzzled why it wasn’t done so during the credits when this show originally aired…
I just watched this episode on Internet Archive. The James Waat sketch is hilarous. I’m surprised that biting of a political sketch got on since Dick Ebersol didn’t want much political humor on during his tenure. And The Gumby and Pokey sketch is a classic! I actually even found Mary’s Ethel sketch to be ok too, not in a hilarious way but in an off beat end of show kind of way that sometimes ends shows, like a Marilyn Suzanne Miller piece. And I think this was Tim Kasurinsky’s single best episode. He appears in almost everything.
I think it was wise to keep the S8 cast intact, despite the quick firing and re-hiring of Gary. I do wonder if Jim Belushi was a potential replacement for him.
The Ebersol era needed some stability, and S8 and 9 provided that for a while after the craziness of S7 and the changes for 8.
This was also the time the SNL home base would be lit different colors, instead of blue and gold, during the musical segments.
In actuality, The Brady Brides was the final straw for Fred Silverman’s tenure as head of NBC, as after it bombed, Silverman was shown the door, which left Tartikoff (and Grant Tinker, fresh off of MTM Enterprises) to pick up the pieces and helped shaped NBC’s Mid-to-Late 80s era.
This will seem wildly off-topic, but it’s not:
The whole Silverman-to-Tinker thing is interesting since the two men had obviously crossed paths in the past, but are very different. Silverman was at CBS and Tinker’s MTM was first turning out hits for the network.
By the time Freddie got to NBC, he was trying to counterprogram against all the hits he had put on at the other two networks (“MASH” and “Laverne & Shirley” being two prime examples). MTM, meanwhile, was transitioning from mostly sitcoms to mostly dramas. The NYT article below talks about Silverman resigning in July ’81 because the chairman of parent company RCA wouldn’t publicly support him. Not good.
Silverman had terrible luck, as acknowledged in the article: he angered Johnny Carson and Lorne Michaels with his personality, he weathered a writer’s strike AND an actor’s strike, the 1980 Olympic boycott wiped out the network’s planned promotion, RCA was having money troubles due to diversification and also losing its place as a tech leader, affiliates were defecting… about the only things he did right were Shogun, Hill Street Blues, and signing David Letterman. (We can credit/blame him for Pat Sajak, Facts of Life and Real People).
If you look at the shows Silverman approved before leaving, for the 1981-82 season, they were ambitious but not very good: “Lewis & Clark” with Gabe Kaplan, “Gimme a Break!,” Michael Landon’s “Father Murphy,” a revival of “Maverick” with James Garner, and “Love, Sidney” (mentioned in the monologue).
During that season, Tinker was working quickly to add better shows, like “The Billy Crystal Comedy Hour,” the ambitious “Chicago Story,” “McClain’s Law” with James Arness, “Fame,” and “Teachers Only” from Carson productions. The timing could be coincidence, but “One of the Boys” (the Dana Carvey/Mickey Rooney extravaganza) also debuted in the spring of ’82, under Tinker’s watch.
He had to give up his share of MTM while heading NBC, but he was much less confrontational than Freddie – so Tinker maintained his contacts in the TV world and was able to put together a pretty good slate when programming his first season (1982-83): Cheers, St. Elsewhere, Buffalo Bill, Remington Steele, Family Ties, The A-Team, Knight Rider, Mama’s Family, and Silver Spoons.
What’s the common thread in all of this? Brandon Tartikoff was programming the network this entire time (until 1991). As much as he’s mocked here by his buddy Dick Ebersol, he would go on to greenlight L.A. Law, Law & Order, ALF, The Cosby Show, Seinfeld, The Golden Girls, Wings, Miami Vice, Saved by the Bell, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Night Court, Punky Brewster, Hunter, Highway to Heaven, 227, Matlock, Amen, In the Heat of the Night, Quantum Leap, Midnight Caller, Unsolved Mysteries, A Different World, My Two Dads and, of course, MANIMAL.
Forgot the link:
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/01/arts/silverman-quits-at-nbc-tinker-to-succeed-him.html#:~:text=Fred%20Silverman%20announced%20yesterday%20that,the%20parent%20corporation%20of%20NBC.
The audience giggling over Tartikoff’s film intro seems to be reacting to Eddie and Joe horsing (sorry!) around after the Gumby sketch, which they were doing at fade-out.
I’m not fond of the Larry’s Corner sketch, not being a fan of gross-outs. But it’s interesting that this one was used as the skit being interrupted by Buckwheat is Shot in most compilations featuring the latter.