Month: February 2019

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December 3, 1983 – The Smothers Brothers / Big Country (S9 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
studio rain delay- Tom Seaver & Ron Luciano [real] hope show will go on

     

— Very creative idea for a cold opening, in which SNL has an in-studio rain delay. This is pretty fun.
— Great use of the home base stage, showing cast members occupying various parts of the stage’s doors and windows.
— Eddie being the only cast member not to appear in this makes it obvious that tonight is yet another episode that he won’t be making any live appearances in.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
Tom tries to snap a photo of Dick & audience singing “If I Had A Ship”

   

— Tom’s “haul ass” comment was hilarious.
— The whole “candid” picture-snapping bit is solid.
— Love the rapid-fire string of questions Dick is asking a befuddled Tom about his camera.
STARS: ***½


JAZZ RIFFS
— At first glance, this appears to be a re-airing of a sketch the show already did in the season premiere. However, according to something I recall reading years ago, this airing isn’t the same take that was done in the season premiere; it’s an alternate take from the Eddie Murphy “preview show” (which was a special taping where they filmed a whole bunch of Eddie Murphy sketches right before this season began, due to the fact that Eddie won’t be able to appear live in a number of episodes this season). I have no idea why there’s two different versions of this same sketch, nor why they inserted one into THIS episode. Is this replacing a sketch that aired in the original live broadcast? [ADDENDUM: Turns out this replaces TWO things: a sketch called “Know Your Neighbor”, and a Smothers Brothers musical number titled “Fantasy For Auto Horn & Electronic Pulse in D Minor”]


DREAMLAND
(JIB) can’t decipher (MAG)’s obvious sexual fantasy about him

   

— Ehh, not too sure of this premise with Jim’s character arrogantly assuming his female guests’ dreams are a subtle sexual fantasy about him.
— And now, the dream the third female guest (Mary) describes IS a subtle sexual fantasy about Jim’s character, and the big joke is that he’s oblivious to it. Bah, a very predictable and weak punchline.
STARS: *½


CARVEL
Tom Carvel (JOP) discovers franchisee’s (TIK) risque holiday ice cream

     

— Joe’s look and voice is really making me laugh.
— Hilarious bit with the “Jolly Jugs”.
— The other dirty ice cream creations are also funny, especially “Peter the Yule Log” and how the chocolate version of it has much more inches.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “In a Big Country”


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
GAK shows Huckleberry, his 21 year-old Cabbage Patch Kid
Dr. Jack Badofsky lists varieties of influenza
JOP asks new heavyweight champ Larry Holmes [real] if he’s retiring

       

— Brad’s opening joke with him venting about the overexposure of Cabbage Patch Dolls is amusing, and in retrospect, serves as a nice time capsule in regards to the big Cabbage Patch Dolls craze that was going on at this time around 1983.
— I’m getting some pretty good laughs from the commentary with Gary and his now-grown Cabbage Patch Doll. Judging from the voice, I’m assuming that’s Jim inside that costume. His growly voice in this reminds me of future cast member Horatio Sanz, for some reason.
— Another display of Gary’s great pratfall skills, when Jim angrily tosses him over the news desk.
— Brad’s bit about dirty-sounding station initials was just plain random.
— Wow, right off the bat with tonight’s Dr. Jack Badofsky commentary, the audience ALREADY loudly boos and hisses just over his opening “and then, in flew Enza” joke.
— Geez, this is a hostile audience. LOL, they’re booing very easily over quite a lot of Badofsky’s puns tonight.
— Pretty fun audience participation bit right now, with Badofsky having the audience try to guess what the next influenza puns are going to be, just based on his description of them. That’s an interesting change of pace for this character, and is at least calming down all the hostility that tonight’s crowd kept directing to him.
— Joe’s facial reaction to Larry Holmes sternly telling him to be quiet was pretty funny.
— The overall Joe/Larry Holmes commentary was fairly fun.
— I do kinda like the new running gag Brad has been doing lately, where he signs off under the name of a random celebrity (first Elvis Presley, now Betty Grable). Enjoy it while it lasts, because the clock is ticking down on Brad’s anchorman tenure. A change on Saturday Night News is soon coming, folks…
STARS: **½


CRISIS GAME ’83
John Glenn (Tom) & Jesse Jackson (EDM) react to problems

   

— Fun idea for a sketch.
— This is the first time all night we’ve seen either of our two hosts appearing in an actual sketch.
— Good casting of Tom Smothers as John Glenn, as there is a pretty strong resemblance between them.
— Oh, Eddie IS in the building tonight after all. Wonder why he wasn’t in the cold opening with the rest of the cast. And why in the world is the biggest star of this cast making his first appearance so late in the show tonight? [ADDENDUM: Turns out this sketch aired much earlier in the original live broadcast and ended up being the victim of “rerun reshuffling”, a habit that SNL had in the 80s and early 90s where the original sketch order in episodes gets completely rearranged in reruns, which is something that kinda irks me] Was he actually flown in from Hollywood in the middle of this episode or something?
— Eddie’s Jesse Jackson impression isn’t very good. I see what he’s going for, but I feel Joe captured Jesse’s fiery delivery much better when he played him earlier this season in that astronaut cold opening. However, neither Joe nor Eddie have nailed Jesse’s voice.
— I like the random inclusion of Gary as Carl Sagan and Brad as William F. Buckley.
— I got a laugh from the line about a computer nerd who’s “playing with his Wang… Computer”.
— The “prize” that Eddie’s Jesse Jackson was given was really funny.
STARS: ***


CLARK STREET GARAGE BAND
no-talent garage band auditions for record company representative (Dick)

  

— Ha, this band’s god-awful music-playing is cracking me up.
— I like Dick bluntly telling the band how bad they are.
— Some good laughs from the band members’ delusions, and Jim is great in the lead role here.
STARS: ***½


MENTL
a movie starring Barbra Streisand (JOP)

 

— Here we have yet ANOTHER Joe Piscopo impression relying on an insane amount of prosthetics that render him unrecognizable (until you hear his voice). I admit, the initial sight of him as Streisand made me laugh.
— I thought Joe-as-Streisand’s selfish rambling was kinda funny when it started, but this kinda ran out of steam fast, and then it just ended.
STARS: **


THE POINT
Tom tells “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” to illustrate Dick’s unrelated point

— Another funny and brief Smothers Brothers routine.
STARS: ***


AUTOGRAPH
(Tom) has to make repeated trips to get Dick’s autograph for his wife

  

— A fairly interesting idea having Tom play an average joe who’s afraid to interact with Dick, who’s playing himself.
— Eh, not caring too much for how this sketch is turning out so far. Tom’s performance is kinda tickling me, but the material itself isn’t too good.
— Okay, I do like the bit with Tom trying to pose as a waiter.
— What’s with the indoor raining all of a sudden?
— Oh, it’s a follow-up to the “rain delay” bit from the cold opening.
— THAT’S how this sketch ends? Weak. It felt like they couldn’t come up with any other way to end this.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Fields of Fire”


GOODNIGHTS

  

— Nice conclusion to rain storyline.
— Interestingly, both SNL episodes that the Smothers Brothers hosted had out-of-the-ordinary goodnights. The goodnights of the Smothers Brothers’ previous episode from a year earlier had them, the musical guest, and the cast taking turns jumping off a “ledge” that had been used for a sketch earlier that night, and tonight’s goodnights take place during an “indoor rainstorm”.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— First episode in a while that I wasn’t all that crazy about. Much like the previous episode that the Smothers Brothers hosted, tonight’s episode was hit-and-miss. Tonight might actually be the lesser of the two Smothers Brothers episodes, as their previous one at least had a few strong sketches that I gave a high four-star rating to, whereas tonight’s episode didn’t really contain anything I found particularly strong; nothing got higher than a three-and-a-half star rating from me. At the same time, however, tonight’s episode at least didn’t contain anything I found frustratingly god-awful like the Truck Driving Women and Inside Story sketches from the previous Smothers episode.
— Another kinda “off” thing about tonight’s episode is something about it strangely felt kinda sparse. Maybe that’s due to the fact that a sketch in my rerun copy was apparently removed and replaced with an alternate take of a sketch that already aired (Jazz Riffs).


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jerry Lewis):
— a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Flip Wilson hosts the Christmas episode

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November 19, 1983 – Jerry Lewis / Loverboy (S9 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
during heart surgery, host dreams that Dean Martin (JOP) is his doctor

   

— Great entrance from Joe as Dean Martin. In typical Joe Piscopo fashion, he’s relying on tons of make-up for his impression, but in this particular case, it really DOES make his Dean Martin look pretty uncanny.
— Jerry reverts to his old goofy voice from his younger days as he’s speaking to Joe’s Dean Martin.
— Jerry seems genuinely amused during parts of this.
— Just now, I noticed a sudden cut, as if something were removed from my copy.
— Eddie makes his first live appearance in weeks, and his performance here as Sammy Davis Jr. is very welcome.
— Yep, Jerry’s definitely amused by the others’ performances, especially Eddie’s.
— A strange and awkward ending, but I loved Jerry’s “Live from New York…” delivery.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— You can hear a strange-sounding voice from the audience loudly cheering “Whuh-whuh-whooooaaaa!!!” all throughout this montage. Funnily enough, the voice sounds kinda reminiscent of future cast member Fred Armisen whenever he does a certain type of goofy, surfer-esque voice.


MONOLOGUE
JOP & EDM present a throne to host because he’s the real King of Comedy

     

— Huge extended applause break for Jerry at the beginning.
— I got a good laugh from his sudden passing-out pratfall immediately after claiming he’s not nervous.
— Joe and Eddie have suddenly entered with a throne for Jerry.
— Similar to my observation about Jerry seeming genuinely amused throughout the cold opening, now Joe’s the one who you can tell is genuinely amused during his interplay with Jerry.
— Very funny reaction from Eddie when hearing Jerry won a Nobel prize.
— I’m loving the way all three of these guys are playing off of each other. The natural rapport here is entertaining.
— Fun bit with Joe, Eddie, and the entire studio audience getting up and simultaneously doing wacky Jerry Lewis impressions. You can REALLY hear the aforementioned Fred Armisen-sounding audience member’s “Whuh-whuh-whooooaaaahhhhh!!!”s loud and clear during this part. Maybe I shouldn’t make fun, though; after all, I remember reading a comment from someone who had a theory that the audience member may have been a mentally-disabled person who Jerry knew from his work with special-needs people, and brought to the audience as a favor.
STARS: ****


WHAT FAMOUS PERSON DO YOU LOOK LIKE?
“What famous person do you look like?”; Florence Henderson cameo

     

— They’re going really heavy on the number of Man on the Street segments this season.
— Interesting random Florence Henderson cameo, posing as a random citizen saying she looks like Florence Henderson.
— LOL, right before that one guy answered “Gary Coleman”, I said to myself that’s who he looks like.
— This is very fun so far. I’m really enjoying most of the answers.
— Hilarious how almost every single black guy’s answer is “Eddie Murphy”.
— Funny ending with the woman saying she’s been told she resembles Mary Gross but doesn’t know who that is.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


THE FORUM
people say where they were when they heard JFK had been shot

   

— Jim is very funny with his reveal that he didn’t find out about JFK’s assassination until 9 years after it happened, when he was in college. I’m also liking Joe’s reaction to that.
— An even more hilarious reveal right now with Robin revealing she didn’t hear about the JFK incident until just before this interview.
— Okay, I initially liked Joe’s incredulous reactions, but he’s now getting a little too over-the-top with it. Here we have yet another display of his bad tendency to play some roles too big.
— Even though the escalation with each interviewee feels like it should be getting predictable by this point, I’m still getting a pretty good laugh from Tim as the final guest literally just now finding out about JFK.
— There’s the aforementioned audience member’s “Whoooooaaaaaahhhh!!” heard once again.
STARS: ***½


ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT
interviews with host & other celebrities

       

— Tons of airtime for Joe tonight.
— Julia’s interview was pretty funny.
— Weird seeing Joe doing a Robin Leach impression.
— Mary’s brief Suzanne Sommers interview was hilarious.
— I’m liking all the random humor throughout this sketch.
— Something about Jim’s look and facial expressions in this remind me so much of his brother John.
— I liked Jim’s dinner show comment.
— Overall, while this sketch felt all over the place, it was pretty interesting and didn’t have the usual Ebersol-era feel at all… or at least, not the seasons 7-9 Ebersol-era feel. I can picture this sketch airing in the season 10 portion of the Ebersol era, now that I think about it.
STARS: ***


FASCINATING PEOPLE AND THEIR FRIENDS
a Jewish Football Leaguer (host)

 

— Seems to be a lot of talk show-type sketches tonight.
— The “American Jewish Football league” premise is pretty funny.
— Haha, Jerry has ALREADY begun cracking up.
— Everything in this sketch is tickling me, even if the dialogue itself isn’t all that great. The performances and occasional breaking are putting this over.
— An okay twist with Tim suddenly coming to the realization “Wait a minute, Jews don’t play football!”
STARS: ***½


PARACHUTE
skydivers (host) & (EDM) realize there’s only one parachute while falling

 

— Very interesting visual effect.
— This seems like a tailor-made sketch for Jerry, and I really like seeing him and Eddie paired together.
— Some great lines from Eddie and Jerry.
— Very strange ending, with Eddie randomly breaking the fourth wall to plug an upcoming TV movie about JFK that’s airing on NBC. Maybe this ending was funnier back in 1983 (lots of JFK biopics and documentaries were apparently airing at this time, as this was the 20th anniversary of his assassination), but it hasn’t aged well at all.
— Nice reveal of how they pulled off the green-screen effect, with Eddie and Jerry actually laying upside-down on two adjacent platforms.
STARS: ***½


CORNET
Rosemary Clooney (JIB) sings the praises of Cornet paper products

— Jim’s fairly funny as Rosemary Clooney.
— Ehh, this sketch isn’t turning out to be anything special. The humor here is pretty dull and weak.
— Wow, during the sketch-ending audience applause, you can hear a PARTICULARLY loud and fierce “Whooooooooaaaaahhh!! Whuh-whuh!!” from the aforementioned Armisen-sounding audience member tonight.
STARS: **


THANKSGIVING DINNER
a rebellious college freshman (JLD) is home for a tense Thanksgiving meal

   

— Mary’s funny as the overly-apologetic mother.
— This sketch is an interesting realistic & pretty funny piece so far.
— Hmm, Jim playing a character with his own first name.
— Pretty funny part with Jim tying Julia to the chair and starting to force-feed her, though I kinda wanted that part to go even further.
STARS: ***


LARRY’S CORNER
the luckiest man on Earth (GAK) loses his claim to fame

  

— I wonder if this is the record for most talk show sketches in a single episode.
— There’s writer Andy Breckman’s favorite character name Dale Butterworth again.
— Haha, holy hell, this freakin’ KILLED me! I am in tears, practically rolling on the floor right now as I try to type this. Andy Breckman strikes again.
— I also love how brief this whole thing was. I said in my review of the previous Larry’s Corner sketch from earlier this season (the classic “milk coming out of nose” one) that the subsequent installments of the sketch will never be able to top that one. While I wouldn’t say tonight’s topped it, it came very close to at least equaling it for me.
— Andy Breckman is quickly starting to become one of my favorite SNL writers of all-time. Just out of curiosity, does anyone have a list of all the known sketches that he’s written throughout his SNL tenure? I’d love to know what Breckman sketches are in store for me in future episodes I cover.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO

 

— As I’m still laughing hysterically from the preceding sketch, Jerry continues to keep me in stitches just now with his random yell of “BABY, BABY!!!” while running over to the musical guests, before immediately going back into a straight face while returning to his “musical guest intro” spot.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Working for the Weekend”


AMERICAN IN PARIS
host watches (TIK) dub King of Comedy into French as if it were slapstick

   

— I like Tim’s awestruck interactions with Jerry. Jerry’s clearly amused by it too, judging from his ad-libbed responses.
— LOL at Tim’s young Jerry Lewis-esque goofy French dubbing.
— Just now, Jerry noticeably called Mary by her real first name. Was that a flub, or just another example tonight of a cast member playing a character with their own name?  My guess is the former, as the name Mary doesn’t quite fit her French character here.
— Some good physical work during Tim expressing that he wants to die.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
BRH narrates a version of The Day After suitable for preschool children
JIB would rather talk about football than engage in The Day After debate
JLD doesn’t have much time to complain about the length of her segment
MAG talks about how fed up she is with holiday traditions
Jim Brown (EDM) to JOP- “I want credit for my Dirty Dozen run yardage”

       

— The child-friendly version of “The Day After” was an interesting idea (and also reminded me of the Tom Schiller-drawn “Artist’s Rendering” childlike drawings the show used to often do during the Chevy Chase era of Weekend Update), but didn’t really land for me.
— Another point-counterpoint between Brad and Jim? Is this going to be a rehash of the bit with Jim being called out on stealing catchphrases from the original SNL era?
— Oh, this one is different, I see, with Jim’s rebuttal trailing off into off-topic football talk.
— Loved Jim’s ridiculous claims of ABC airing “The Day After” as a pilot for a series that will feature different cities being nuked in every episode.
— Brad’s Lebanese Roulette joke gave me a good laugh.
— Julia’s been doing lots of Saturday Night News commentaries this season. I think she’s been appearing on SNN even more than the usual SNN staple Tim Kazurinsky has lately.
— Oh, this is the bit where Julia’s entire commentary only consists of her saying “Boy, do I hate the way things are run around here. In dress rehearsal, this speech was 4½ mintues long! Back to you, Brad.” I’m not 100% sure where I remember seeing a clip of this before (probably in the “SNL in the 80s: Lost and Found” documentary from Kenneth Bowser), but this was a very funny quick bit, and was most likely written as a way for Julia to vent her real-life frustrations regarding her lack of airtime.
— I think this is our first Spittin’ Mad Mary Gross commentary of the season. After going heavy on these last season, they seem to be scaling back the number of these lately.
— Mary’s mistletoe complaint was very funny.
— Impressive fast-paced delivery from Mary during the whole “pre and post holiday parties” portion of her commentary.
— Ugh, every week this season, Brad keeps doing this groanworthy bit where he follows a guest commentary by saying “Here now with more news is Brad Hall. (to himself) Thanks, Brad.” I admit, that’s the type of gag that an anchorperson like Kevin Nealon or Chevy Chase could make funny, but it never works with Brad and it ALWAYS dies with the audience. Well, I don’t have much longer to put up with seeing him do that gag, considering what’s about to happen to him a few episodes from now.
— FIVE guest commentaries tonight?!? What is this, a Brian Doyle-Murray era “SNL Newsbreak” all of a sudden? [ADDENDUM: I was mistaken; there were only four guest commentaries tonight. For some reason, it felt like more than that as I was watching this episode.]
— Eddie in that make-up as Jim Brown is a pretty funny initial sight.
— I got a good laugh from Eddie’s “Imma probably go throw some white ladies out the window” line.
— I admit, Brad did get a laugh from me just now by randomly announcing himself as Elvis Presley during his sign-off at the end.
STARS: **½


JERRY SCHTICK
host gives JOP & EDM tips on how to impersonate him

   

— Joe’s impression of older Jerry Lewis’ voice seems to have gotten better than it used to be. Maybe working with the real Jerry all week helped Joe finally nail the voice.
— Oh, this turns out to be a “next week” promo, with Joe announcing that next week’s episode will be a rerun of last season’s Joan Rivers episode, and the following week will be a new episode hosted by The Smothers Brothers.
— The whole interplay between Joe and Jerry feels very loose and ad-libby.
— Joe brings out Eddie to do his famous dead-on impression of Jerry’s wacky younger voice.
— This is fun as hell, even if it just feels like an extension of the monologue from earlier tonight.
STARS: ***½


GUSTY
Gusty (JIB) sings a song in honor of the whales

 

— I’ve been liking a lot of what Jim Belushi has been doing on the show so far in his SNL tenure, but the punchline of this sketch with his “whale sounds” didn’t really work for me.
— The format of this reminds me of the educational film narrator sketch that Gary did in the last episode, in that both sketches are a quick blackout gag with someone giving a presentation in front of an unseen audience. I liked Gary’s sketch much better, though.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

 

— We’re told that Loverboy won’t be able to perform their scheduled second number due to the show running long. I’m guessing it was all the ad-libbing and character-breaking tonight that caused the show to run long.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An insanely fun episode, which was to be expected with Jerry Lewis as the host. The writing itself was far from perfect, but the fun atmosphere to the whole show was very infectious, there were barely any segments I didn’t like, and a few parts of the show (especially Larry’s Corner) gave me some of the biggest laughs that I’ve gotten from SNL in a while. This episode was a blast for me to watch.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Teri Garr):
— a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
The Smothers Brothers

Posted on

November 12, 1983 – Teri Garr / Mick Fleetwood’s Zoo (S9 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
pom-pom girls teach some unorthodox cheers to the new girl (host)

   

— The bad cheers being demonstrated are pretty funny.
— Teri’s overly-wordy, long-winded cheer was delivered really well.
— An overall decent piece, but felt a little odd in the cold opening slot.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— No Jim Belushi credited tonight. This must be the episode I heard he took off early in his tenure, I’m assuming because of being tied down to a play he was doing at the time, “True West”. I wonder if that’s also the reason he didn’t officially join the cast until the third episode of the season.


MONOLOGUE
host thinks she remembers the audience but isn’t quite sure

 

— Not the best idea for a monologue, but something about it works pretty well with Teri, and at least they’re actually GIVING her a monologue this time, unlike in her previous episode.
— Pretty funny reaction from her when she asks the audience to tell her their name.
STARS: **½


MISTER ROBINSON’S NEIGHBORHOOD
a nutrition lesson from stolen groceries

   

— Looks like tonight’s another episode where Eddie will be appearing on tape all night.
— The stolen grocery bag reveal is pretty funny.
— Great part with the comparison with the chicken and the hidden t-bone steak.
— A pretty solid Mister Robinson installment overall.
STARS: ***½


THIRSTY GUY
Thirsty Guy contraceptive sponge- designed for the quicker picker-upper

  

— I’m already finding this contraceptive sponge premise funny.
— The cream test that Robin demonstrated was hilarious.
— Really good piece overall.
STARS: ****


HISTORY: THE REAL STORY
obnoxious Abraham Lincoln (JOP) provokes assassination

 

— I’ve been noticing lately that Tim always seems to play the host of shows like this.
— Joe is perfect in this role. His obnoxious behavior as Lincoln is absolutely hilarious, especially his bad “Gettysburg address” joke.
— Poor Julia stuck in yet another role with no lines.
STARS: ****


DION’S
Blaire gets upset when he sees Dion Dion kissing customer (ROD)

   

— Good to see the team-up of Dion Dion and Blair again.
— LOL at Eddie’s reaction to flubbing a line.
— I really like the interesting turn this has taken with Robin trying to start a relationship with Dion.
STARS: ***½


CORONET MAN
educational film narrator Dwight MacNamara (GAK) speaks at an assembly

— Hilarious reveal of Gary’s educational film narrator speaking in the same manner as the bad quavering audio from old educational films shown from a projector. Gary’s imitation is dead-on, and I also like how he’s even vocalizing the opening music of a typical educational film in the same manner.
— And the sketch is quickly over. This was a really funny blackout gag.
STARS: ****


DOPEBALL
a song about drugs in professional athletics

     

— I think this is the first time Joe has done an SNL Sports bit outside of the news segment since season 6.
— This “Dopeball” song is fantastic.
— Okay, this song is turning out to be pretty long, though still funny. I feel like this should be a little shorter, though.
— I like how they included a clip from one of Joe’s earlier SNL Sports commentaries, where he pours cocaine onto the news desk.
— Really funny part with a wind-up bowling ball walking across a line of cocaine.
STARS: ***½


CAFFEINE ACHIEVERS
caffeine achiever host gets increasingly agitated while making commercial

  

— Interestingly, Teri mentions Jane Curtin among celebrities who like coffee.
— The constant re-takes are kinda funny.
— The still-photo montage of blown takes isn’t doing anything for me.
— I didn’t care much for this sketch as a whole. It started off fairly promising, but ran out of steam halfway though for me. This also ruined the streak of solid segments the show had going after the monologue.
STARS: **


JOEL HODGSON
Joel Hodgson [real] does an explosive card trick & imitates Batman

     

— He’s already making me laugh here with his sullen delivery.
— Haha, the card “trick” bit was very funny.
— What was with the brief audience applause when he asked director Dave Wilson how much time he has left?
— Very funny fake-out with the dove.
— Good ending with the sideways Batman climbing bit.
— Overall, a hilarious debut segment for Joel Hodgson, with just about every gag in this getting a big laugh from me. I’m definitely looking forward to his later appearances this season.
STARS: ****


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Linda Ellerbee (JLD) talks about being fired from NBC News Overnight
GAK reviews Star 80 & shows off a sexy camisole from the film
Ann Landers (MAG) reads a letter from El Salvador & gives military advice
TIK shows Chicago Sun-Times readers what to expect from Rupert Murdoch

       

— I like the brief “viewer roll” Julia’s Linda Ellerbee is showing to thank her loyal viewers, especially the subtle joke with two of those viewers apparently being her own parents (judging from their last name).
— Julia’s commentary had a decent punchline at the end.
— Gary’s commentary seems to slowly be turning into him once again detailing how skimpily-dressed some of the women in the movie he’s reviewing were.
— LOL, Gary upped the ante from his last commentary of this nature, by pulling off his wardrobe to reveal the lingerie that was worn in the movie he’s reviewing.
— Mary’s overall Ann Landers commentary was really short. I liked her voice as Landers, but the commentary itself wasn’t anything special to me.
— A lot of Brad’s jokes are bombing BADLY tonight.
— Lots of guest commentaries tonight, while there’s very few jokes from Brad. Probably a good thing, though I can’t help but see this as the writing being on the wall for Brad regarding his soon-to-come mid-season firing as anchorperson.
— Funny part of Tim’s Salute to Journalism commentary with the Heineken kidnappers.
— Decent ending to Tim’s commentary with the cat litter box bit.
STARS: **


KENNEDY: THE MAN BEHIND THE WOMAN!
Marilyn Monroe (host) gives JFK (JOP) advice about the Berlin crisis

   

— Two sketches tonight about former presidents, though I think the reason for this JFK one is because at this time, it’s around the 20th anniversary of JFK’s assassination.
— Joe and Gary are hilarious playing off of each other in their fast-talking Kennedy accents.
— Good casting of Teri as Marilyn Monroe.
— Decent premise with Teri’s Marilyn secretly giving JFK intelligent advice on the Berlin situation.
— Teri’s Marilyn impression is turning out to be kinda disappointing. She’s not really nailing the whispery, sultry voice; it sounds too much like her normal voice.
— The interplay between Joe and Gary is now getting even funnier, with the frequent “the ah, the ah, the ah” bits.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Tonight”


SARCASTIC MOTHER SUPERIOR
a nun’s (MAG) sarcasm gets her in trouble with Father Alexander (TIK)

 

— There’s Mary once again playing her favorite type of role: a nun.
— Mary’s constant sarcasm is pretty funny.
— The ending was very weak and predictable.
STARS: **½


SHE’S A WITCH
(GAK) claims wife (JLD) will turn him into a rabbit when they get home

  

— I’m liking Gary’s sudden “Help me, she’s a witch” reveal about his wife.
— Funny twist that Gary’s “rabbit transformations” were all just a bogus prank from his wife, and I liked Gary’s delivery of “I am so gullible”.
— An overall interesting random sketch for this late in the show.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Way Down”


WHAT’S THE STUPIDEST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE?
answers to “What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done?”

   

— I like one guy’s answer being he set fire to his grandmother’s house.
— A few funny answers here, but not as much as these Man on the Street segments usually have. I’m getting more laughs from the quirkiness of a lot of the interviewees than from their actual answers.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


GOODNIGHTS

 

— Teri confirms that Jim Belushi indeed had to miss tonight’s episode due to “True West”, and then the camera pans over to show that he’s onstage, looking like he literally just arrived in the building.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Much like the previous week’s episode, this was an overall pretty solid show with a strong, impressive first half and a drop-off after Saturday Night News. This was also a big improvement over the previous episode Teri hosted.
— I feel like with these last two episodes, this season has really begun taking off.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Betty Thomas):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Jerry Lewis

Posted on

November 5, 1983 – Betty Thomas / Stray Cats (S9 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
spacesuit-wearing Jesse Jackson (JOP) thinks staff is better than “stuff”

 

— Oh my god at Joe as Jesse Jackson.
— I recall hearing that the whole spacesuit theme, as well as some of the references Joe makes here, are very topical political references that have become lost to time over the years since this episode’s original airing.
— I can’t exactly call Joe’s Jesse Jackson impression dead-on, but I am liking his fiery performance here.
— That’s it? It’s over already? What exactly was the point of this? Again, it must’ve been funnier to audiences in 1983 who got all the topical references. Watching it in modern times, this seems like it has no jokes at all.
STARS: *½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

  

— Some laughs from the gun hidden under her skirt and the bit with the nightstick.
— Not much to this overall monologue, but she handled this really well and came off likable.
STARS: ***


SWAN BREAK
(JIB) dances in a Flashdance-style version of Swan Lake

     

— I like the random inclusion of Jim’s out-of-place character.
— Love the sudden turn this has taken, with the song “Maniac” playing and Jim sloppily going through all of Jennifer Beals’ classic Flashdance moves.
— Jim is really funny in this, and this feels like the type of sketch his brother John would’ve made a popular classic if it were done in the original era.
— The obligatory “lay back in a chair as water splashes down from above” part was funny due to the heavy amount of water that splashed Jim, which knocked off his wig. Judging from his amused reaction, I don’t think that was supposed to happen.
STARS: ****


CURLY AUDITION
Elvis look-alike (JOP) auditions for role of Curly in a 3 Stooges tribute

  

— A Three Stooges sketch! If you know me, you’ll know how I feel about seeing this.
— I loved Joe taking off his Elvis wig, revealing a Curly-esque look, and how he’s now going into random Curly sound effects throughout the song he’s singing.
— What the–? This suddenly gets cut off by a “special report”, which I guess leads us into our next segment. I actually wanted to see this sketch go on longer.
STARS: ***½


SPECIAL REPORT
shortchanged USA tourist leads to invasion of Switzerland

     

— Pretty funny premise of the U.S. invading Switzerland. I like how SNL is going out of their way to make this appear real, even going so far as using an outside actor to play the anchorman delivering the breaking news. And I think that’s head writer Andrew Smith playing the White House press secretary holding a conference.
— An appearance from Brad’s Saturday Night News anchorman persona. Why is he reporting from a generic news set instead of the usual Saturday Night News set?
— The whole “shortchanged at a chocolate shop” scene is quite funny.
STARS: ***½


PERFECTLY FRANK
ad exec (JOP) subliminally seduces psychologist (host)

  

— The title almost had me thinking this was going to be another Frank Sinatra-themed TV show sketch.
— Funny concept with Joe subliminally saying seductive things to Betty. But, boy, does Joe’s subliminal delivery pale badly in comparison to future cast member Kevin Nealon’s. Joe’s too broad with the way he’s doing the subliminal lines. The routine is funnier with Nealon, partly because of the way he says it so deadpan and subtle.
— Gary gets some laughs at the end.
STARS: ***


JAMES BROWN’S CELEBRITY HOT TUB PARTY
Godfather of Soul (EDM) gets in

   

— Ahh, here’s an all-time classic! I always enjoy seeing this one.
— Right off the bat after he’s made his entrance, Eddie is already coming off amazing in this.
— Oh, I’m absolutely LOVING this song.
— Hilarious how he’s musically narrating his actions as he’s hesitantly dipping into the hot tub.
— And already, we’re out. This sketch was the perfect length, and the fact that this whole thing just turned out to be his drawn-out entrance into the hot tub is very funny.
— Overall, one of Eddie’s all-time best, as well as one of SNL’s all-time best.
— This was the first airing of what will be several Eddie Murphy sketches this season that were taped during a special “preview show” right before the start of this season so Ebersol could insert them into episodes that Eddie will be missing this season while he’s off in Hollywood filming movies.  Eddie not being in the building tonight explains why Jesse Jackson was played by Joe in the cold opening.
STARS: *****


YOU WIN A DOLLAR
(JIB) endures dangerous stunts in vain hope of a buck

     

— Brad plays another gameshow host. The hokey, corny delivery Brad often uses on SNL actually fits well in the role of a cheesy gameshow host.
— There’s SNL’s very first use of the name Dale Butterworth, which would go on to be one of the trademarks of Andy Breckman-written sketches.
— I’m already liking the concept of contestants eagerly striving to win just one dollar.
— Haha, oh my god at the bowl-filled-with-razor-blades part and Jim’s hand emerging from the bowl while covered in blood.
— This is getting more and more insane, with Jim now being forced to “bob for chicken wings” in a deep fryer.
— All of Jim’s reactions are fantastic.
— I like Brad’s constant “Oh, one more thing” additions to the initially pleasant-sounding Love Tent challenge.
— Brad: “Do we have a consolation prize for him, Don?” Don Pardo: “(exuberantly) No!”
— Overall, this very strong sketch was a riot. Between this and the Larry’s Corner sketch from the season premiere, new writer Andy Breckman has been having a VERY promising start so far. I’m not aware of the subsequent sketches he’s written (at least not off the top of my head), but whatever they are, I’m definitely looking forward to them.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “She’s Sexy + 17”


UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer addresses Unanswered Questions Of The Universe

 

— This is the first time this character has ever appeared outside Saturday Night News.
— His various questions about the human body are pretty funny.
— Seems to be a legit mailing address that he asks viewers to send in unanswered questions to, so he can answer them later on. I wonder if SNL ends up following through on this.
STARS: ***


THE GUMBY STORY
Gumby directs the movie version of his life story

    

— You can REALLY tell just by the visual quality of this sketch that it’s another piece that was taped before the start of this season.
— Eddie as Gumby to his impersonator: “Who told you say dammit, dammit?!”
— Funny part with Gary trying various gestures to get Joe’s attention while he’s on the phone.
— I like Robin’s walk-on as Gumby’s dumpy-looking wife.
— Surprised to see Jim in this, considering this was taped before the season began and Jim didn’t officially join the cast until the third episode of the season.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
outdated & inappropriate file footage is used to document Swiss invasion
people on the street react to the news of the invasion
BRH warns JIB against using catchphrases & bits from the original SNL
Ronald Reagan (JOP) addresses USA regarding the invasion of Switzerland
Slopes of Fear- a CIA film shows Swiss links to the communists

           

— Nice how they’re keeping up the Switzerland invasion premise from earlier tonight.
— Funny segment with the Switzerland invasion “file footage” consisting of old out-of-place stock footage and silent movies.
— The reactions of people on the street learning about the Switzerland situation has a few laughs.
— I like how Brad calls Jim out on copying his “you ignorant slut” rebuttal from Dan Aykroyd.
— Ha, now Jim’s going through various other catchphrases from the original era (“but nooo”, “excuuuse meee”, etc.) all of which get shot down by Brad because they belong to the original cast. Also, nice touch with one of Jim’s borrowed phrases being Bill Murray’s “I love you, now get out of here, I mean it”, which usually isn’t as often-quoted as the other 70s catchphrases Jim’s quoting here. The audience gave instant recognition laughter when Jim quoted it, though.
— Jim is now griping about how unfair it is that people will turn against him for doing anything even remotely reminiscent of famous things his brother John did in the original era.
— As someone who recently reviewed the entire original era, I personally got much more of a kick out of Jim’s overall commentary than most people probably would.
— Brad’s joke about Big Bird dying of anorexia was hilarious.
— Another follow-up to the Switzerland storyline. Now we’re seeing Joe’s Reagan impression giving a press conference on the Switzerland situation.
— Now Joe throws to a “Slopes of Fear” documentary about Switzerland. SNL’s really going all-out on this whole storyline.
— Funny part of “Slopes of Fear” where they “translate” the yodeling in a stock footage clip.
— Overall, one of the better editions of Saturday Night News.
STARS: ***


JANE FONDA’S PREGNANCY, BIRTH, LABOR, RE-ENTERING THE JOB MARKET, TRYING TO CATCH A MAN, TRYING TO KEEP A MAN, MAKING NEW FRIENDS, HOLDING YOUR BREATH, AND GOING OVER YOUR CREDIT LIMIT WORK OUT
(ROD) goes into labor during Jane Fonda’s (host) pregnancy workout

   

— Longest sketch title ever?
— Whoa, a very distracting audio glitch has suddenly started in my copy, where the dialogue is overlapped with audio of the same dialogue being replayed a second later. I was once informed by fellow SNL fan & reviewer Ben Douwsma that audio glitches like this are common in these old Comedy Network reruns whenever they removed something from a sketch. I wonder what was removed from this particular sketch.
— Okay, thankfully, the audio glitch is over.
— Mary giving up in the middle of the workout and breaking out a cigarette is funny.
— I saw Robin going into labor coming from a mile away.
STARS: **½


MEMOREX
Memorex video tape captures FBI’s close framing of Lee Iacocca (JOP)

  

— This seems a little too topical, but unlike the cold opening, I can still follow this well-enough.
— I liked Brad blatantly calling Iacocca “Mr. Ia-COKE-a”.
— Good Memorex twist at the end.
STARS: ***


CRISIS ’83 UPDATE
footage of American evacuees & their horror stories about Switzerland

   

— The American returnees’ various complaints about the “torture” they endured in Switzerland are really funny.
— Yet another viewer-submission mailing address being displayed tonight (this time on the topic of what country do we want U.S. to invade next), though this one is obviously fake.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Won’t Stand in Your Way”


MISFITS
at a support group meeting, transsexuals miss their former male lives

 

— Uh, okay… this is going to be an… uh, interesting premise.
— It IS a change of pace, though, how they’re using female performers in these roles instead of putting male performers in drag for these roles.
— Robin’s unibrow makes her resemble one of Cheri Oteri’s more obscure recurring characters: the unattractive, accordion-playing Italian daughter Maria.
— I feel like I shouldn’t be laughing at this sketch in today’s world, but I am getting some laughs from the transsexuals going on about what they miss about being a man. It’s something about the performances that’s winning me over; Betty and the female cast members are getting really into this.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A solid episode, especially the first half. The quality dropped off after Saturday Night News, but overall, this is my favorite episode of this season so far. Also, the Switzerland Invasion running premise gave the night a unique feel and the show was fully committed to it.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Candy):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Teri Garr

Posted on

October 22, 1983 – John Candy / Men At Work (S9 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
JIB’s friend host hasn’t shown up yet, Mr. Mambo (host) says “told ya so”

  

— Right at the start of his first episode as a cast member, Jim Belushi is already front-and-center.
— Pretty funny part with Eddie and Joe coming up with an emergency plan to host the show as The Honeymooners.
— Great entrance from John Candy, and I’m liking his character here.
— Jim gets to deliver “Live from New York…” on his first night.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Interestingly, to keep up the Mr. Mambo premise of the cold opening, the regular SNL theme music is replaced with mambo music tonight.
— This mambo theme is a fun change of pace, though it’s coming off very out-of-place in this particular opening montage.


MONOLOGUE
JOP & EDM kill time doing Ralph Kramden & Ed Norton; host finally arrives

   

— Good Honeymooners impressions from Joe and Eddie.
— John being at a loss for what to do in his monologue was kinda funny at first, but hasn’t been going anywhere interesting.
— I love the way they transitioned out of this monologue by having John just walk over into the next sketch as it begins, which continues the fun vibe of tonight’s episode.
STARS: **½


OLD COUNTRY SKI LODGE
Doc Edmund (EDM) tries country remedies for broken leg & baby delivery

  

— This has had a slow start, but I’m liking Eddie and Robin’s entrance as old doctor and nurse.
— Very funny part with Eddie advising Julia to “push her egg down” during sex.
— Some good character work from Eddie here, especially the laugh he keeps doing.
— This overall sketch wasn’t good enough to justify its long length, but there were some highlights here and there.
STARS: **½


VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED LITTLE RASCALS
Miss Crabtree’s (ROD) class is evil

     

— Interesting premise.
— Great effect with the Rascals’ glowing eyes, though I’m not sure how they’re pulling off that effect.
— So we’re just supposed to forget that Buckwheat got killed off last season? What’s he doing here? Or is this different because this is supposed to be the Rascals when they were still just kids and not grown-up yet?
— Tim giving intentionally dangerous advice to the Rascals is pretty funny.
— Unexpected twist at the end where it turns out the Rascals’ “evilness” was just them playing a gag on the teacher.
STARS: ***½


PHONE BOOTH CONFESSION
a priest (host) uses adjacent phone booths to hear (JIB)’s confession

   

— Ha, I like the concept of holding a confessional in adjoining phone booths.
— Some funny realistic humor here from all the difficulties that would naturally arise from delivering a confessional through a pay phone.
STARS: ***½


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Joanna Carson (JLD) justifies the amount of alimony she wants from Johnny
Dr. Jack Badofsky lists the many types of acne

     

— Boy, Brad’s opening NBC “Be There” joke was fucking terrible.
— Brad’s second joke wasn’t any better. Geez, he’s off to a very rough start tonight.
— Okay, his jokes are starting to get A LITTLE better, but still nothing to write home about.
— When mentioning having to sleep with Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show guest hosts once a week, Julia mentions Bill Cosby as one of them and makes a pudding sex joke regarding him, which comes off cringeworthy in hindsight for obvious reasons.
— I liked Julia’s “He’s not funny upside-down either” line regarding watching Carson’s Tonight Show while having sex.
— I like the fake-out with Tim’s “Balzac-ne” pun, where it ends up being for something much more innocent than the name would have you expect.
— Tonight’s overall Dr. Jack Badofsky commentary was kind of a letdown. Nothing stood out in this one aside from the aforementioned “Balzac-ne” one, nor did we get any of Tim’s usual funny ad-libs in response to the audience’s reactions.
— I’ve been noticing that this season’s editions of Saturday Night News have been quite short so far. I’m glad, because I wasn’t crazy about the overly-lengthy format they often used in the second half of last season. Though the fact that they’ve been shortening Saturday Night News this season could be a sign of the writing being on the wall for Brad, who’s tenure as an anchorperson is soon coming to an abrupt end.
STARS: **


MOVIE CONTRACT
EDM agrees to be in Dr. Tongue’s (host) 3D Chicks in Their Underwear

 

— John’s cheap 3D “effect” with the pen was pretty funny.
— Oh, this just turns out to be a musical guest intro. Clever way to shake up the segment.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Doctor Heckyll & Mr. Jive”


EDDIE IN NEW JERSEY
a look at EDM’s suburban New Jersey lifestyle

   

— Very interesting-seeming segment, showing Eddie’s new life in Jersey.
— Eh, the humor here is turning out to be pretty predictable and basic. Nothing special or clever at all.
STARS: **


BACKSTAGE WITH RONALD MCDONALD
Ronald McDonald (JOP) shows his nasty side in his dressing room

   

— Poor underused Gary Kroeger is just now making his first appearance of the night, and it’s just in a straight role.
— The return of Joe’s portrayal of Ronald McDonald, though at least his clown make-up is a lot less disgusting-looking than it was in that “McMillan and Wife” parody he did with Susan Saint James.
— Is this premise going to be Joe playing McDonald as an egotistical diva backstage, similar to that Pope sketch that Joe did two seasons ago? Considering how I pretty much hated that one, I’m not looking forward to seeing a knockoff of it.
— Pretty funny joke with Ronald McDonald’s “secret sauce” being liquor.
— Ugh at that groanworthy part with Ronald McDonald showing a perverted interest when hearing there are 7-year-olds waiting to see him, only to be disappointed to find out they’re boys and not girls.
— This overall sketch was a small improvement over the aforementioned Pope sketch.
— Something about this had a quintessential Ebersol era feel; one of those sketches that I can’t picture appearing in any other era.
STARS: **½


CANDACE’S FANTASY SHACK
(JIB) becomes the millionth customer at Candace’s (host) Fantasy Shack

   

— John is really funny as Candace.
— LOL at the huge size difference between “Candace” and Tim.
— Interesting character choice from Julia, using a random lisp for her Princess Leia-dressed character.
— Something about Mary-as-Dorothy’s delivery of “I like to be who I am… a whore!” made me laugh.
— Funny “millionth customer” twist.
STARS: ***


POLY-ROCK
Poly-Rock denture cream lets old musicians play guitar with their teeth

  

— For some reason, I almost thought Brad was playing Ozzy Osbourne at first, and I was about to ask “Didn’t Tim play him last time?” (in that “geek’s mouthwash” commercial), before I realized Brad just seems to be playing a fictional rocker.
— Nothing really to say about this overall commercial. It was really generic and just came and went.
STARS: **


BACKSTAGE
William B. Williams (host) & Ed McMahon (JOP) introduce musical guest

— I always crack up at Joe’s McMahon laugh.
— Another fake-out with a sketch turning out to be a musical guest intro. I’m liking this theme tonight.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “It’s a Mistake”


MEN BEHIND BARS
(host) & (JIB) are glad to be back in prison for the winter

   

— Who’s the big guy playing the prison guard? Strangely, it kinda looks like the show’s director Dave Wilson, though I don’t see how it could be him.
— Lots of Jim Belushi for his first episode.
— Not too sure about this premise.
— Okay, I’m slowly starting to like this sketch more and more.
— I admit to getting a very cheap laugh from the off-camera effeminate voices from another prison cell.
— The “Why do you always have to be the last one to say ‘goodnight’?” bit was quite funny.
— An overall pretty good sketch that worked as a more quiet, relatable, realistically-humored piece, much like the Confessional sketch earlier tonight. And much like that sketch, John and Jim worked very well together.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

  

— John thanks “True West for letting Jim Belushi out tonight”. I’m assuming True West was some kind of play or show that Jim was in the middle of co-starring in when making his SNL debut.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty decent though average episode; not as strong as you would expect a John Candy-hosted episode to be (which I recall also saying about the episode that Candy’s SCTV castmates Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas co-hosted together last season). That being said, there was a fun, good vibe to the episode (Candy’s presence certainly helped in that regard) and the pacing of the show felt fairly quick.
— Jim Belushi had a huge first night, gave strong performances, and is already fitting in well on the show. This is making me look forward to the rest of his tenure.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Betty Thomas

Posted on

October 15, 1983 – Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman / Eddy Grant (S9 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Calvin Klein Cream Pies- Andie (JLD) tries on a pair

  

— Yet ANOTHER Calvin Klein Jeans parody on SNL.
— I recall hearing that the “Andie” that Julia’s playing here is actually a young Andie MacDowell, which would explain the curly hair and southern accent.
— This uses the exact same twist from last week’s Calvin Klein Jeans parody, with Julia suddenly getting a pie smashed into her face during her rambling. Doesn’t come off as funny this time, since we already just saw it being done. Was the gag really necessary to repeat?
— I do like how she got hit an additional time while in the middle of saying “Live from New York…”.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
hosts’ dialogue is like the corny banter of award show presenters

— This is an accurate parody of bad, unfunny awards show banter. However, the problem is, this parody is just as unfunny as the real thing.
— Overall, a waste of DeVito and Perlman.  I’m not too crazy about the way tonight’s episode has been starting so far.
STARS: *½


MISTER ROBINSON’S NEIGHBORHOOD
the products of sleeping around show up

   

— Loved Eddie hinting at what’s in the basket by asking viewers, as a riddle, “What’s black and Puerto Rican and has my eyes?”
— The part with “bastard” being the Word of the Day is funny, and has an interesting backstory from writer Kevin Kelton about how they weren’t allowed to say the word “bastard” on air, so they worked around it by having Eddie just point to the word on the board and ask viewers “Can you use this word in a sentence? Cab drivers can!”
— Overall, one of the stronger installments of this sketch in a while, with a good change-of-pace premise and lots of funny lines from Eddie.
STARS: ****


CRAZY EDELMAN
discount psychiatrist Crazy Edelman (JOP)- his prices are insane

  

— Yet another “Crazy Eddie” parody from this era.
— This is a hilarious and clever twist on the usual type of “Crazy Eddie” commercial, by having the pitchman of the “insane” ad be an actual psychiatrist. Great performance from Joe as well.
STARS: ****


WHAT WOULD FRANK DO?
Dion Dion wins on Sinatra’s (JOP) game show

     

— This sketch was inspired by a phrase that Joe was infamous backstage for always telling the writers (“Frank wouldn’t do that”) whenever a script they handed him for a Frank Sinatra sketch contained something that he felt was inaccurate to the real Frank.
— Ha, Eddie’s Dion Dion character is one of the contestants.
— Eddie’s hysterical excitement over both hearing what his prize is (Sinatra singing to him) and seeing Sinatra show up is very funny.
— This was pretty good overall, and a unique approach for a gameshow sketch.
STARS: ***


SMALL WORLD
It’s A Small World riders panic when their boat breaks down in the tunnel

   

— Mary Gross plays yet ANOTHER nun.
— Eddie’s Vietnam comment was pretty funny.
— I love how increasingly insane and dark this sketch is getting.
— Nice touch with the dolls in the background being heard chanting “One down, four to go” after Tim gets killed off.
— Good use of frequent SNL extra Andy Murphy as a robot Grover Cleveland.
— I’m really enjoying the part with the spooky-sounding voice of an un-thawed Walt Disney on the loudspeaker forcing the main characters to sing “Mickey Mouse”.
— I like how as the sketch ended, they revealed how this sketch was green-sceened.
STARS: ****


ODYSSEY OF A PAPERCLIP
why mom warns “you don’t know where it’s been”

     

— The educational film-esque presentation of the paperclip’s ridiculous journey started out a little slow, but I like how increasingly disgusting it’s now getting.
— The ending fell kinda flat, though I did like the little touch of them playing a deadly gunshot sound effect when Gary decides to use the paperclip as a toothpick after being warned not to.
STARS: **½


SPANISH CLASS
a teacher (Rhea) insists that all in-class conversation be “en Espanol”

   

— Was Joe’s late entrance at the beginning a real mistake? He adds a “sorry” to Rhea as the teacher, which came off like an ad-lib.
— The “yo/joe” bit with Gary was funny.
— Eddie’s great in his walk-on.
— This sketch is kinda reminding me of a more well-known French Class sketch that Alec Baldwin would do 10 years later.
— Decent ending.
STARS: ***½


BOOK BEAT
a stalker’s (Danny) works appear to have a common theme

   

— I like the unflattering picture of Mary (I think) on the cover of the “Candidly Debra” book.
— An okay surprise ending with Danny getting shot by Debra from the audience, though something about that part felt like it could’ve been a little better.
— Quick sketch.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
fired newscaster (JLD) cries sexism, is unaware of her facial expressions
GAK’s review of Never Say Never Again focusses mostly on the Bond Girls
Dr. Ruth Westheimer (MAG) blames teen pregnancies on media influences

         

— Brad’s random “Still to come” bit threw me off at first, making me mistakenly think he was throwing to a mid-news fake ad like Weekend Update often used to do after a “Still to come” bit back in the first two seasons.
— Heh, WTF at Julia’s brief random crazy face just now?
— Oh, I see what Julia’s going for.
— Julia’s overall commentary was actually pretty funny. While the humor was really broad and basically a mug-fest, Julia pulled it off really well, especially the good comic timing she displayed when she kept seamlessly going back-and-forth from a deadpan, serious delivery to a goofy voice & face. Considering how often she’s gotten stuck in dull straight roles during her SNL tenure so far, it was refreshing to see her doing something like this.
— Interesting seeing Gary doing a commentary as himself.
— Gary increasingly demonstrating how much skin the Bond Girls showed in the latest Bond movie is funny, and I love how overly into it hes getting.
— Brad’s corny “Bingo was his name-o” joke about Reagan made me groan like crazy.
— Mary’s Dr. Ruth commentary about too much sexual messages on TV has taken a confusing turn just now. She’s started griping about Ronald Reagan’s Big Macs, McNuggets, and McMuffins. What in the world does Reagan have to do with those things?
— Interesting big blooper, where Mary actually stops in the middle of her commentary to point out (while still speaking in character) that she’s being informed by off-camera crew members that something’s wrong with the way her clip-on mic is applied. I had been wondering why I kept hearing fuzzy sounds from her mic throughout her commentary. Great ad-libs from Mary in response to all of this.
— I’m glad Mary’s Dr. Ruth commentary didn’t end with the usual finger-in-hole gesture gag they ended all of her previous commentaries with.
— Hmm, no commentary from Tim Kazurinsky tonight, ending his 10-episode streak of appearing in every edition of Saturday Night News.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Don’t Wanna Dance” & “Electric Avenue”


AUTOGRAPH HOUNDS
autograph seekers (TIK), (Rhea), (Danny) compare notes; Dick Cavett cameo

    

— I like the character work that Tim’s doing here.
— Random Dick Cavett cameo.
— I admit, Cavett’s sarcastic response to being asked “Anyone in there?” was funny, as was Danny’s dismissive attitude towards him.
— Strange moment at the end of Cavett’s scene. First, the audience began applauding as if his scene had ended, even though he was still onstage, then he asked Danny “Why do you guys always have those ear-flap hats?”, which was apparently an ad-lib judging from Danny’s genuinely taken-aback reaction. Then Cavett takes off Danny’s hat and wears it on his own head as he exits the scene, resulting in a funny outraged “He took my hat!” response from Danny.
— A pretty good sketch overall, with funny characterizations from each of the main performers.
STARS: ***


THE AMOS ‘N ANDY SHOW
this new version features (EDM) & Andy Rooney (JOP)

 

— Another sketch crossing over Andy Rooney with an old TV show. It wasn’t that funny last time they did it (“The Honeyrooneys” sketch from two seasons ago), and this one is making me laugh even less. It doesn’t help that I’ve never watched “Amos ‘n Andy”, though I’m aware of the basics of that show.
— This overall sketch was pretty much a dud.
STARS: *½


MASTERPIECE HUMOR
the final episode of “A Kangaroo Walks Into A Bar”

    

— Pretty funny concept for a “Masterpiece Theater” parody.
— The big gag with the miniseries conclusion turning out to just be a four-second silly punchline after Tim gave such a dignified, lengthy intro to it didn’t work for me.
— Something about the fancy ending credits that’s being scrolled by onscreen is really tickling me.
STARS: **


BODY GUARD
mourners attack a negligent bodyguard (ROD) at a politician’s funeral

   

— Not sure what to think of this sketch so far. It’s awfully redundant.
— The cast is really committed in their performances, though, which is the only high point I’ve been able to find in this.
— I didn’t get the ending with Brad.
— A terrible one-joke sketch overall.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Living on the Front Line”


GOODNIGHTS

 

— Eddie, seen with his girlfriend around his arm, interrupts Danny’s goodnights speech to tell him he’s getting married.
— Another big announcement, with Danny informing us that “Jimmy” Belushi will be joining the cast in next week’s episode.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Kind of a strange episode, in that it started very rough with a cold opening that was just a lazy rewrite and a dull monologue, before suddenly getting really strong for a while with a string of very solid sketches and inspired premises, then the quality slightly lowered down to a decent level and stayed there until it died off badly with the weak final three sketches of the night. A varying episode as a whole, but the funny and inspired highlights of the night still make it an overall pretty enjoyable show.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Brandon Tartikoff):
— a very slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
John Candy

Posted on

October 8, 1983 – Brandon Tartikoff / John Cougar (S9 E1)

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

Posted on

May 14, 1983 – Mayor Ed Koch / Kevin Rowland & Dexy’s Midnight Runners (S8 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OPENING MONTAGE
— For the first time in SNL history, an episode doesn’t have a cold opening, and just goes straight into the opening montage. I’m not 100% sure, but I think the only other instance of this would later happen in the Pamela Sue Martin episode from season 10.


MONOLOGUE
host lists things about Ronald Reagan that bug him

— He immediately starts this off with his “How’m I doin’?” catchphrase, which he also started off his monologue with in the season 4 episode hosted by the Rolling Stones.
— Good premise with him freely saying what he REALLY thinks about the president.
— He’s coming off funny and likable in this.
— Who was he referring to when talking about how someone who once insulted him on the street ended up becoming governor?
— Pretty funny ending with him lamenting having to host this “cockamamie comedy show”.
STARS: ***


WHAT’S THE MOST DISGUSTING THING YOU’VE SEEN IN NEW YORK?
responses to, “What’s the most disgusting thing you’ve seen in New York?”

  

— Some really funny anecdotes here so far. I especially like one person’s answer being seeing Bella Abzug naked.
— Uh, wow at that anecdote about a guy who committed suicide by jumping off a building and had to have his body carried away in multiple bags. The sicko in me kinda likes how that dark story contrasted against all the other stories told here so far.
— What was with the sappy, non-comedic ending with one guy going against the grain by saying there’s nothing wrong with the city and he’s proud to live in it? I guess Koch being in the building tonight had some influence on SNL’s decision to end this film like that.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


MISTER ROBINSON’S NEIGHBORHOOD
an inventory of stolen goods

  

— At first, I got excited and mistakenly thought this was going to be the installment where Ed Koch fills in for Mister Robinson. I guess that’s from next season.
— They’ve noticeably been relying on this sketch less and less lately. It’s surprisingly only appeared twice all season. Maybe Eddie’s getting tired of doing these.
— A good laugh from “entrepreneur” being spelled “ontapanure” on Robinson’s famous “Word of the Day” board.
— I love the part with him displaying a stolen earring with a chunk of ear still attached to it.
— The fire escape ending felt weak.
— Overall, not one of the better installments of this sketch, though it was still watchable. I wonder if these are running out of steam, though.
STARS: ***


LEDGE
host & Frank Sinatra (JOP) try to talk (EDM) down from a ledge

     

— WTF? Another sketch with Eddie about to jump off a ledge? I liked the first one they did earlier this season, but is this REALLY necessary to turn into a recurring sketch?
— Koch: “How’m I doin?” Eddie: “I’m about to jump off this ledge and you ask me ‘How’m I doin”?!?”
— I like Eddie’s rapid-fire listing-off of all the things he finds wrong with New York.
— Satisfying part with Eddie shoving the Little Orphan Annie girl off the ledge.
— Haha, the quick part with Brad appearing out of nowhere as a ruined stockbroker and immediately jumping off the ledge slayed me.
— Pretty funny random inclusion of Joe’s Sinatra.
— Not sure how to feel about the whole “Start Spreading the News” performance from Koch, Eddie, and Joe. It’s a fun performance, but it’s not comedic, and I was kinda enjoying where this sketch was going before then.
— Since Eddie’s character fell off the ledge at the end (which was a weak and lazy gag), hopefully that’s the end of this recurring sketch.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Come On, Eileen”


THE ENQUIRER
— Rerun


BALD NO MORE
Bald No More hair stimulant gives host a mane like Don King’s [real]

   

— Koch is getting more laughs here.
— Another Don King cameo, after his appearance in that heavily-hyped Marc Weiner hand puppet boxing match from season 6.
— A good laugh from the sloppy goop being put all over Koch’s head and it dripping onto his face.
— How does Eddie get his tongue to look so freakishly big when he sticks it out like that? He did the same thing in that Casablanca ski lodge sketch earlier this season.
— Fairly funny visual of Koch in the Don King wig.
STARS: ***


LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN
Gumby visits; Marv Albert cameo

     

— Good to see another sketch with Joe’s dead-on Letterman impression.
— I like the part with him taking us through a tour of the NBC men’s room.
— Him describing SaniWrap as being a “protective shield against god knows what” made me laugh.
— I like how Tom Snyder’s voice was heard from inside the bathroom stall yelling “Get the hell out of here” to Joe’s Letterman and then doing his trademark laugh.
— Gumby returns as Letterman’s guest, after the great sketch they did together in the season premiere.
— Interesting-seeming odd part with a claymation blooper reel from Gumby movies.
— Hmm, the first blooper clip with Marvin Hamlisch wasn’t too funny.
— Okay, the second blooper clip is funnier, especially Gumby’s yell of “Oy!” when seeing boulders falling towards him.
— Overall, a pretty good sketch, but I felt this was a step down from the Gumby/Letterman sketch from the season premiere.
STARS: ***½


HARRY ANDERSON
Harry & Leslie Anderson [real] escape strait jacket & ropes, respectively

   

— Loved Harry’s “I appreciate the estimation” ad-lib to the female volunteer when she gave him too much crotch room when tying the crotch strap part of Harry’s straitjacket.
— Great part with Harry shoving his female assistant’s chair away to prevent her from untying herself before him.
— Overall, as usual, a fun Harry Anderson performance.
STARS: ***½


WHINERS
Wendy Whiner recalls Doug’s experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam

   

— Ugh, another Whiners sketch ALREADY? Didn’t we just see them a mere three episodes ago when Joan Rivers hosted?
— Because we apparently haven’t gotten ENOUGH offensive Asian stereotypes on the show lately, here’s yet another season 8 sketch with cast members playing cartoonish, over-the-top Asian caricatures. Ugh, you’re killing me with this, Ebersol-era SNL.
— Boy, this overall sketch was fucking TERRIBLE, even worse than the usual Whiners dreck. Not even Eddie could save this.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Celtic Soul Brothers”


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Patti Lynn Hunnsacker complains about her nightmare prom date
Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer lists ways to tell if you’re stupid
MAG gets her dander up about network programming
Don King [real] promotes upcoming fights while JOP cuts his hair

       

— Oh my god, Brad’s cringeworthy Mexican voice during his Fernando Valenzuela joke made me groan like crazy.
— Julia’s story about her terrible prom date has some okay lines, but as usual with her commentaries as this character, the whole thing is just stereotypical teenage 80s humor (maybe it was funnier to people in 1983 than it is to me in 2019). This character feels like a real waste of Julia’s talents, knowing the comedic greatness she would later go on to achieve in her post-SNL career.
— Here’s Saturday Night News’s obligatory Tim Kazurinsky appearance of the week. For anyone keeping count, this is the NINTH consecutive episode where he does a news commentary. Wow. Let’s see if this impressive streak carries over into the beginning of next season.
— What in the world did I just hear an unseen audience member loudly yelling out at the beginning of the Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer commentary?
— Oh, I see, the audience member yelled the correct pronunciation of Havnagootiim’s name, as a correction to Brad’s (intentional) butchering of the name when introducing the segment. Brad and Tim are doing a good job playing off of that audience member’s interjection.
— Tim’s “how to tell if you are stupid” topic seemed like it would be an interesting change of pace for this character, but this one didn’t end up going as well as the usual Havnagootiim commentaries do. Several parts of his listed-off signs of stupidity fell flat.  Nice ending, though, where they did a clever crossover with Tim’s recurring “Salute to Journalism” commentaries, by having Havnagootiim slam the New York Post.
— All throughout tonight’s Saturday Night News, Brad keeps randomly uttering some weak ad-libs in a silly high-pitched voice. This made me come to a realization that something I REALLY don’t like about Brad as an anchorperson is that he’s too hokey in his delivery and tries too hard when doing some of his goofier bits and ad-libs. Even when intentionally mispronouncing Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer a few minutes ago, Brad delivered it too over-the-top and cartoonish.
— WTF was with Brad’s “The correct time” bit?
— As usual, some good complaints from Mary during her Spittin’ Mad rant. I especially liked her gripe about The New Odd Couple: “Why not do a white Diff’rent Strokes or a Japanese Jeffersons?”
— What was Mary referring to when she explained Laverne and Shirley recently got canceled because “Laverne bit somebody!” Is that referring to something Penny Marshall got in trouble for doing in real life?
— Tonight’s Saturday Night News feels like it’s going on forever.
— Fun payoff to Joe’s SNL Sports commentary with him cutting Don King’s trademark tall hair while King promotes an upcoming boxing match.
STARS: **


BIRTHDAY A GO-GO
a women’s club watches an exhibitionist (TIK) deliver a strip-o-gram

   

— LOL at the part of Tim’s strip act where he did an Egyptian dance while wearing a t-shirt over his head like an Egyptian headdress. That’s been the only part of his strip act that’s made me laugh so far.
— Good twist with Tim turning out to be an escaped mental patient posing as a stripper.
— So this ends up being our final sketch of the season? Not the best note for season 8 to end on, but at least it didn’t end with a repeated fake ad like season 7 frustratingly did.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

  

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— I pointed out in my last review that SNL has been following a never-ending “fun episode, lesser episode” cycle during the last few months of this season. And since yesterday’s episode was a fun one, I was worried it meant that if the aforementioned cycle continued, tonight’s episode would be a lesser one. Unfortunately, I turned out to be right. This episode was pretty forgettable for a season finale, and despite a few pretty solid segments, I can’t think of anything that stood out as really great. We also had a particularly dreadful Whiners sketch and an even weaker Saturday Night News than usual.
— Season 8 as a whole was surprisingly a blast for me to review. It was FAR from one of the best seasons ever, but there was a more comfortable and assuring feel to the overall show than the preceding season 7 had.   There was also a surprisingly good amount of episodes that had a very fun atmosphere, particularly the Joan Rivers one. This season also had a much more impressive roster of hosts than the preceding season did, especially during the stretch of episodes from December to February where we got a long consecutive string of comedy greats helming the show (The Smothers Brothers, Eddie Murphy, Lily Tomlin, Rick Moranis & Dave Thomas, Sid Caesar, and Howard Hesseman). Another thing that made this season a joy to review is the show’s star Eddie Murphy reaching his absolute peak in both performance quality and airtime. After getting so used to his consistently strong showing this season, I’m sure it’s going to feel a little odd seeing Eddie’s extremely reduced airtime next season while he’s busy filming movies in Hollywood.
— This season was also apparently good enough for Dick Ebersol to make no firings from the cast afterwards, which makes this the first season in years where everybody in the cast came back the next season. Though I do recall reading a Gary Kroeger article a few years ago where at one point, I think, he explains that Ebersol actually originally fired him after this season due to his lack of airtime and not having any breakout roles, before an irate Brad Hall talked Ebersol into rehiring Gary. However, my memories of that story are fuzzy, so I’m not sure how accurate my re-telling is.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Stevie Wonder):
— a fairly big step down


HOW THIS SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1981-82):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Season 9 begins, with host Brandon Tartikoff