February 2, 1985 – Alex Karras / Tina Turner (S10 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Prince (BIC) via Hulk Hogan (JIB)- “replace host with musical guest”

— For the first time since season 8, we get a continuation of the running joke of Gary Kroeger’s sketches always getting cut.
— I usually always enjoy backstage cold openings in this era, though they don’t seem to appear much anymore at this late stage in the Ebersol years.
— Haha, when “Prince” shows up, Larry David is seen as the poor sap who Jim-as-Hulk-Hogan roughly throws out of the way.
— Jim Belushi as Hulk Hogan seems like perfect casting on paper, though he’s not really pulling off the voice, instead just going for a generic gruff voice.
— Yet another blackface role for Billy Crystal, though I can’t help but crack up at the visual of him as Prince. Also, it would become quite common for non-black SNL performers to be cast as Prince; he would later be played by Chris Kattan and, most famously, Fred Armisen.
— I loved Jim’s angry “Who the hell’s that?!?” when being told Alex Karras is tonight’s host.
— The running gag of Prince whispering his statements into Hulk Hogan’s ear so Hogan can relay them aloud is something that would later go on to become a regular part of Fred Armisen’s Prince sketches.
— Billy’s actually pretty funny as Prince, especially the intense, long stare he gave the camera as he walked away after making out with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
— The football game footage of Alex Karras features the voice of Billy himself doing the Howard Cosell impression we heard him do in the season premiere.
STARS: ***½

MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— He makes a passing joke about his wife calling him “Dergabil” (not sure how to spell it). I didn’t get that joke at all, though the name is certainly funny-sounding.
— Wow, he sure seems to giggle at himself a lot.
— Nothing else to say about his monologue, overall. Much like Roy Scheider’s monologue in the last episode, it was short, straightforward, and unnoteworthy.
STARS: **

MISS MALONE
Ed Grimley’s neighbor Miss Malone (musical guest) comes to borrow oranges

— Grimley’s triangle dancing is freakin’ hilarious!
— Very funny visual of his fridge overflowing with onions.
— Good interaction between him and Tina Turner.
— The dummy of Tina Turner flying into the apartment from the open window gave me a good laugh.
— Solid ending with Tina joining Grimley in his triangle dance. She surprisingly looks right at home doing that dance.
— Overall, a strong and memorable installment of this recurring sketch.
STARS: ****

TIME
Time magazine is proud of its shoddy journalism

— Funny satire of Time Magazine so far.
— Clever ending.
STARS: ***

A COUPLE OF WHITE GUYS
A Couple Of White Guys (host) & (JIB) deliver their upper-class white rap

— Interesting the way this was introduced by Pamela as herself, as if the group we’re about to see is an actual musical act that’s guesting on SNL.
— The return of Jim’s rapping routine, though at least this is a different outing for it.
— I like that Alex is joining him this time.
— Their dancing is actually making me laugh.
— Love the part where this suddenly turns into a brief parody of Grandmaster Flash’s The Message.
— There are some pretty good laughs from Jim and Alex’s lyrics proclaiming their whiteness, and this has a really infectious goofy charm that I can’t help but like.
STARS: ***½

KELLY COLA
abusive Kelly Cola founder (host) finds tasty ingredient- (BIC)’s sweat

— Mary’s overly basic explanation of sales was pretty funny.
— I liked Gary’s pathetic slogan “It’s a cola AND an aluminum can!”
— What a visual of Billy’s profusely-sweating wig, a gag that would go on to be used several more times on SNL throughout the decades.
— Hmm, the name of Billy’s character is revealed to be Dale Butterworth. Ah, it’s our Andy Breckman-written sketch of the night.
— Funny part with Billy implying he killed 27 men at an Alka Selzer factory (accidentally?) and then doesn’t even go into detail of how it happened.
— Ha, Billy drinking his own sweat in a cup is  pretty insane.
— Billy seems to be having a hard time keeping a straight face throughout this sketch.
— Good sketch overall.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “What’s Love Got To Do With It”

POWER FROM GIVING
the book helped federal employee (JIB) find Ed Meese

— Well, THIS is certainly relying on very topical humor that’s completely lost on me as a viewer from 34 years later.
— Overall, this was way too topical for its own good. Not sure what the joke here was supposed to be, but whatever news story this was referencing must’ve been something that ended up quickly becoming lost to time.
STARS: *½

NEW YORK ON FIVE DOLLARS A DAY
Bernhard Goetz (RIH) shows you how

— Nice to see the return of Rich’s Bernard Goetz impression, and now starring in his own sketch. Now THIS is a topical bit that I actually get, as the Subway Vigilante incident had enough infamy to last through the decades.
— His favorite movie scenes being famous insane violent scenes is an obvious but pretty funny joke.
— Of the two tough-looking black guys that show up, the one to Rich’s right is actor Damon Evans, best known as the second Lionel from The Jeffersons. Feels weird seeing him on SNL. How’d he go from a co-starring role in a hit sitcom to a silent extra in an SNL sketch?
STARS: ***

FRITZ’S BAIT AND TACKLE
back in Minnesota, Walter Mondale’s (GAK) sobbing attracts moose

— A random return of Gary’s Walter Mondale, months after his election loss.
— Something about Julia’s face looks different in this.
— I liked Gary’s goofy, gleeful, tongue-sticking-out smile after being told “You would’ve made a good president”.
— Pretty funny background animal sounds during Gary’s weird crying.
— Alex, Billy, and Christopher are making me laugh as the goofy giggling rednecks.
— Strange ending. Felt like there should’ve been more to this.
STARS: ***

SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Robert Latta (RIH) wanders onto the set & shows photos of his other trips
nervous weasel Nathan Thurm defends the Tobacco Growers of America
JIB’s restaurant review betrays his affinity for air horn blasts

— Nice opening callback to the Kelly Cola sketch, by having tonight’s Saturday Night News be sponsored by Kelly Cola’s “Brow Brew”.
— Ha, a joke of Christopher’s gets randomly interrupted by a walk-on from Rich as the strange Robert Latta.
— Also, funny in hindsight how Christopher’s interrupted joke was about “real estate mogul” Donald Trump.
— I like the doctored photos of Rich as Latta wandering into various big events.
— Another return of Martin’s Nathan Thurm.
— Tonight’s Nathan Thurm commentary is pretty much washing right over me. Hate to say it, but Thurm has been suffering diminishing returns every time they bring him back. From my past viewings of this season, I had remembered Nathan Thurm always being a hilarious character, but now that I’m reviewing this season, I’m coming to the realization that he was only really funny in his first appearance in that pre-taped 60 Minutes piece. None of his subsequent appearances have measured up; they’re basically just him repeating the same lines he did in his first appearance.
— What’s with the Captain Kangaroo jacket on Jim?
— Ha, just now, he actually mentioned how his jacket makes him look like Captain Kangaroo.
— I got a laugh from Jim saying he doesn’t want to hear a male gay couple’s sexual conversation while he’s eating a bratwurst.
— The return of Jim’s airhorn, after using it in his Saturday Night News commentary from the last episode.
— Some funny lines during Jim’s loud outburst.
— Jim’s commentary had kind of had a weak payoff.
STARS: **½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Better Be Good To Me”

TUESDAY NIGHT TITANS
on Vince McMahon’s (RIH) show, Captain Lou Albano (host) talks politics

— Good casting of Rich as a young Vince McMahon, as he actually does facially resemble McMahon here.
— Alex’s walk-on as Captain Lou Albano is quite funny, complete with rubber bands.
— Boy, this sketch is weird so far.
— I’m surprised to find out from this sketch that “midget” was considered an un-PC term even back then in the 80s. Thought that wasn’t until more recent years.
— Man, this sketch is not working so far, and the execution is coming off awkward.
— Billy once again breaks character and laughs during a sketch tonight.
— I do like the breaking-the-fourth-wall right now, with Alex chasing Billy off the set and around SNL’s audience, knocking over the cue card guy in the process.
— Pamela appearing out of nowhere as a ranting and raving Cyndi Lauper. I think this is Pamela’s first actual sketch appearance of the whole night, by the way (her intro to Jim and Alex’s rap performance from earlier tonight doesn’t count).
— Overall, aside from the chase sequence, this sketch did nothing for me, and the whole thing was kind of a mess.
STARS: *½

NEW AUCTIONEER
an auctioneer (CHG) uses unorthodox methods to sell antiques

— Haha, wow at Christopher suddenly throwing the expensive finger bowl behind him, breaking it against the wall when nobody bids for it.
— For some reason, the sudden cutaway to Gary and Mary as rich snobs silently observing Christopher is cracking me up.
— I love how the madness of this is escalating, with Christopher now presenting angora kittens in a sealed box containing one minute of air, much to the anger of the bidders (Julia calls Christopher the Anti-Christ).
— LOL at where this is now going, with Christopher bringing out a silver bullet.
— Good dark ending.
— An overall strong, quintessential Christopher Guest sketch.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Private Dancer”

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An okay episode, though felt only average for this season’s standards. There were a few strong pieces (Ed Grimley, New Auctioneer), but there were also a few things I found pretty awful as well (Tuesday Night Titans, Power From Giving).

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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Harry Anderson