Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Geraldine Ferraro (MAG) sings- Mondale should’ve let a woman be on top
— I’m surprised Mary’s “Walter and I are about to bite the big one” line didn’t get any laughs from the audience.
— Nice turn with Mary’s Ferraro and her back-up singers, the “Mon-dells”, singing an upbeat song about a woman “being on top”.
— Overall, not much else to say, but this was a decent opening.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
MMK’s Scottish dirge is interrupted by an audience member’s “Hey, Lenny!”
— Feels weird seeing a young Michael McKean on SNL 10 years before his cast member stint.
— I like him randomly deciding to launch into an 18th century Scottish acapella dirge.
— An unseen Larry David plays a heckler constantly interrupting Michael’s dirge to obnoxiously ask things like “Hey, Lenny, how’s your short friend Squiggy?!?” This is all cracking me up, though it probably wouldn’t be as funny to me if I hadn’t known this was Larry David.
STARS: ***
YOUNG CHRISTIANS FOR REAGAN
Ronald Reagan (HAS) proposes armbands for schoolkids who don’t pray
— For some reason, the way the camera is slowly scrolling on Harry’s Reagan is making me laugh.
— I like him revealing the identities of the two non-praying kids.
— Good harsh ending with his “They won’t have a prayer” line regarding the non-praying kids.
— An overall good sketch that strangely feels even more relevant in today’s political climate.
STARS: ***½
BABY DOUBLE
Brian DePalma’s latest film is about a criminal baboon heart
— I’m already liking this insane concept.
— It’s over already? Well, this WAS funny for what it was, though I felt it had potential to be be much more fleshed-out.
STARS: ***
FERNANDO’S HIDEAWAY
cameraman Bobby Fraraccio [real] is Barry Manilow
— The debut of Fernando’s talk show.
— Hilarious idea of Barry Manilow being portrayed by an overweight SNL crew member who couldn’t look less like Manilow.
— I love the added detail of a graphic of Manilow’s name showing up on the bottom of the screen during a close-up of the cameraman speaking.
— This is all coming off very funny, especially the questions Fernando’s asking the cameraman (“What’s it like being a sex symbol?”, etc.).
— Good part with the cameraman singing a Manilow song in a fairly flat manner.
— Overall, this will probably easily end up being the funniest Fernando’s Hideaway installment of the whole season.
STARS: ****½
THE FOLKSMEN
after 18 years apart, The Folksmen (MMK), (CHG), (HAS) reunite & rehearse
— Great that the three Spinal Tap actors have formed another mock musical group (who would end up being turned into a movie two whole decades later).
— Even just the general look of each Folksmen member (especially Harry and Christopher) as they’re each shown in a close-up at the beginning is making me laugh.
— The “Blood on the Coal” song being rehearsed is very funny.
— So many great little details here
STARS: ****½
THE FOLKSMEN: “OLD JOE’S PLACE”
The Folksmen perform “Old Joe’s Place”
— The way the preceding video package led into a live performance from the group reminds me of what SNL did with Spinal Tap in their musical guest appearance late last season.
— Christopher’s sheep-esque vibrato is a great laugh.
— Good little touch with the “Eat At Joe’s” light-up sign in the background being partially-unlit, rendering it saying “Ea A Joe’ ”.
— I like the ridiculously-faster tempo the song’s chorus is gradually going.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)
BUDDY YOUNG JR. IS BACK!
— I already covered this short film in my review of the last episode. Turns out this film was actually originally aired in tonight’s episode and was added to the last episode in reruns.
FIRST DRAFT THEATER
drunk Reginald Rose (Nate Herman) edits 12 Angry Men
— Good to see the return of this strong sketch from the season premiere.
— I like the shots of the the author (who appears to be SNL writer Nate Herman) at the typewriter being seen constantly taking swigs from his glass of liquor and becoming increasingly disoriented.
— Funny “Harvey/Herve” typo leading to Billy doing his Herve Villachaise impression.
— The random jolly “Kids!” musical number from all the jurors is hilarious. I think I just spotted Jim Downey as the juror at the end of the table.
— Overall, this was very good, though I preferred the season premiere’s First Draft Theater installment a little more.
STARS: ****
MADONNA NAVEL ACCESSORIES
Madonna (PLS) sings “Lucky Star” to promote her line of navel accessories
— The very first Madonna reference in SNL history.
— Pamela seems to do a lot of solo sketches as a popular singer from this era. First Cyndi Lauper, then Billy Idol, now Madonna.
— Pretty random premise, and the sketch isn’t really making me laugh much.
STARS: **
PBS PLEDGEBRATION
Vincent Price (MMK) previews his horror-cooking show
— Perfect casting of Harry here as a PBS telethon host.
— I liked Harry’s line “Only 75% of our funds come from oil companies”.
— Funny Vincent Price impression from Michael; one that he would later reprise during his cast member stint 10 seasons later.
— Michael-as-Vincent-Price’s “spooky” delivery of cooking instructions is amusing.
— Very funny closing line from Harry regarding Jayne Meadows.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Feel For You”
RABBI
a strange rabbi (BIC) gives (MAS) advice about his wife’s unfaithfulness
— Martin’s speechless facial reaction to Billy’s irrelevant shoe story is priceless.
— Funny turn this has taken with Billy suggesting that Martin kill his unfaithful wife.
— Lots of laughs from what Billy’s original “bible” contains.
— Overall, a lot of funny random humor in this sketch, with good character work from Billy and a solid straight man performance from Martin.
STARS: ****
SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Jeanne Kirkpatrick (JLD) does not reciprocate Jesse Jackson’s love jones
Dr. Ruth Westheimer (MAG) compares the election to sexual intercourse
RIH’s Election Report- voting-while-drunk is an alarming trend
Edwin Newman [real] reads state song lyrics that share a common trait
— Edwin Newman returns to SNL once again.
— I like his listed-off reasons for why he won’t be doing any jokes about the then-current election.
— Interesting casting of Julia as Jeanne Kirkpartick. Good wrinkly make-up on her as well.
— Oh, turns out Julia’s commentary is a rebuttal to Jesse Jackson’s love jones sketch from the last episode.
— Several funny lines from Julia. I’m surprised by how much they’re allowing her to be funny here, considering how often she’s wasted in forgettable normal roles on the show. Her performance here feels like a glimpse of what we would later come to expect from her in her post-SNL career.
— Mary’s Dr. Ruth commentary didn’t contain anything noteworthy overall.
— Rich’s commentary seems like it should be a standalone “Rich Hall’s Election Report” sketch.
— Decent commentary from Rich overall.
— The segment with Edwin reading off various official state songs is kinda funny just hearing the spelled-out lyrics being read in Edwin’s deadpan, professional voice.
— Haha, even Edwin’s sign-off at the end is funny.
STARS: **½
MONDALE HEADQUARTERS
Walter Mondale (GAK) & staff prepare for upcoming loss to Ronald Reagan
— Some good humor from the sad state of Mondale’s campaign.
— I like the staff members tip-toeing around telling Mondale that they’d like the voting to be unanimous for Reagan.
— Loved Gary’s goofy gleeful smile after saying “You’re in for a big surprise on Tuesday”.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “This Is My Night”
SNL FASHION REPORT
David Byrne (RIH) sings about his big suit
— Oh, I remember loving this Rich Hall sketch when I first saw it years ago.
— Yep, so far, this is coming off just as great as I remember.
— I especially love the shoulder-raising thing Rich keeps doing right now.
— Overall, as I expected, I absolutely loved watching this sketch once again. Hilarious performance from Rich as well.
STARS: ****½
GOODNIGHTS
— We’re told that Jim Belushi couldn’t be there this week, but will be back in the next episode. I had been wondering where he was earlier tonight.
— Billy explains that Barry Manilow really did cancel, necessitating the use of a cameraman to fill in. I’m confused, because I remember once hearing a conflicting story that Manilow’s cancellation was actually just a made-up gimmick and it was planned all along for the cameraman to “fill in” as Manilow.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very good episode where, similar to the last episode, there was a pretty consistent run of good sketches, some of them being really strong.
— Michael McKean was a solid host. He came off like a natural for SNL and blended in perfectly with this cast. Makes one wish that THIS was the season he joined the cast, as his type of humor is much more in tune with this season’s style than the unfortunate direction the show was taking during his ill-fated cast member stint in seasons 19 and 20.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jesse Jackson):
— a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
SNL’s first-ever host George Carlin returns
I always found it interesting that McKean joined SNL (and apparently had a bad experience) even though he is good friends in real life with Guest and Shearer, who both reportedly had bad experiences with SNL as well (Shearer in particular).
If I remember the story, Michael took the SNL gig because he was recently divorced, and wanted something to do while living in New York – so he accepted the offer to be ‘the new Phil Hartman’, as it were. (It’s so awkward seeing Michael in what’s easily SNL’s worst season, though – a seasoned actor doing such awful material.)
In the Hill/Weingard book, it’s mentioned that Harry Shearer went to Jean during the summer of ‘80 and proposed bringing in Guest and others from his circle to give the show a new creative direction, but she rejected the idea. I imagine season 6 might have looked a lot like this episode if that had happened.
Also, does anyone know if this is the actual origin of the Folksmen? Or did they have another appearance someplace (such as The Credibility Gap or something) of which I’m unaware?
Shearer met with Doumanian and basically asked for complete creative control of the show and,um, was turned down
Sad!
Rich Hall as David Byrne=hilarious!
Recently rewatched one of my favorite films, A Mighty Wind, so I had to go searching for this episode and find the first appearance of The Folksmen. Really interesting to see this rendition of “Old Joe’s Place.” They took a more subtle approach to it in the movie, and I think it worked much better there.
As a huge Talking Heads fan, that David Byrne impression by Rich Hall is such a joy for me. He nails the odd movements that David Byrne does throughout Stop Making Sense.
The rabbi sketch is perfect. It’s not the funniest sketch I’ve ever seen, and it’s not one of my favorite sketches, but it’s exactly what I feel a sketch should be like. Good premise, constant stream of humorous lines, good punchline to close it out.
I really wish I were able to find the full version of this episode and not the edited rerun, because I really wanted to see that First Draft Theater sketch. The first one, in the season 10 premiere, was so funny.
This was my third exposure to Fernando, and I’m already tired of him.
Here’s my commentary and rating of the musical performances.
I Feel For You
— Decent job by the rapper at the beginning.
— So Stevie Wonder’s harmonica on this song is obviously irreplaceable…but the keyboardist and guitarist are doing their dead level best to cover his lines and pulling it off pretty well. About as well as you could expect without Stevie himself there to play his divine harmonica.
— I like Chaka’s classy black dress and necklace. She looks fabulous. Job well done by the wardrobe department. She’s also dancing around well to the song and her voice is great.
— Nice job by the keyboardist putting his own spin on what formerly was Stevie’s EPIC harmonica solo. He’s not trying to replace Stevie and his choices here work very well.
— This is a really tough song to recreate live, and not just without the harmonica. The studio version has a larger than life quality that’s tough to duplicate live. This version is a bit more subdued but the band and Chaka are pulling it off very well.
Stars: ****
This is My Night
— This song is a decent R&B groove but isn’t quite as special as Feel For You. Nothing much to complain about here, though.
— The keyboard seems a bit high in the mix compared to the guitar but that’s probably splitting hairs.
— Fine job by Chaka Khan and her backup singers again on vocals.
Stars: ***
A couple days ago, Billy Crystal himself set the record straight on Barry Manilow in the first Fernando’s Hideaway sketch in an interview with Seth Meyers. He really did cancel right before the show. Check it out! https://youtu.be/q-zaytiPvfE?t=80