Month: March 2019

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March 30, 1985 – Mr. T and Hulk Hogan / The Commodores (S10 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Prince (BIC) sings “I Am Also The World” with his bodyguards (hosts) near

— Yikes, right from the start of the show, I can see that the visual quality of the copy I’m reviewing of this episode is TERRIBLE. My apologies for how bad my screencaps for this episode will look.
— I liked the opening “Polka for Africa” bit.
— The initial dramatic close-up of Billy as Prince at the beginning of his performance made me laugh.
— Billy’s singing voice sounds NOTHING like Prince.
— Haha, Gary is really funny in his Bruce Springsteen impression.
— Pretty funny recurring gag with Mr. T and Hulk Hogan roughing up any singers who try to duet with Prince.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
Mr. T puts the “sleeper” hold on an audience member

— Tons of energy from Mr. T and Hulk here.
— LOL at the outrageous bit with an angered Mr. T roughing up a heckler in the audience.
— Overall, I’m not quite sure what to say about the monologue as a whole. The “wrestling promo” format of this felt weird and out-of-place in an SNL monologue, though I did get a small handful of laughs and, as I implied above, I loved T and Hulk’s energy.
STARS: **½


AFFAIR
Nathan Thurm’s mistress’ (MAG) husband (JIB) comes to confront him

— Hmm, Martin’s Nathan Thurm character starring in his own sketch? Interesting. Hope this is a change-up from his last few appearances, which suffered diminishing returns and couldn’t measure up to his great debut in that 60 Minutes short.
— Mary and Julia always seem to be paired together this season.
— I got a big laugh from Mary doing a humping motion with her leg while making out with Thurm.
— I’m liking how we’re seeing a different side of Thurm in this.
— The ending was kinda weak, but the overall sketch was better than I was expecting.
STARS: ***


CAMP CRYSTAL LAKE
(CHG) tries to sell (GAK)’s parents on Crystal Lake- Friday The 13th camp

— Haha, I love Gary coming to the horrible realization that the camp Christopher’s promoting is the same camp from the Friday the 13th movie series. As a huge Friday the 13th buff, I’m really enjoying this sketch’s premise.
— Some good laughs from Christopher’s ways of trying to downplay Jason Voorhees’ murders at the camp.
— Gary’s character recalls a scene in a Friday the 13th movie where Jason harpooned a guy through the eye. I wonder if that’s just SNL’s writers making up a scene, because the only harpoon-through-the-eye incident I remember in a Friday the 13th movie is from the third film, and it happened to a girl in that one, not a guy.
— LOL at the horror music sting and famous Friday the 13th “ch-ch-ch, ah-ah-ah” sound effect (which is actually Jason saying “ki-ki-ki, ma-ma-ma”) playing during Christopher’s sudden sinister turn when the family turns down his offer.
— Having Hulk Hogan enter the scene as Jason made good use of Hulk’s build. The “family’s hair standing on end” gag didn’t work for me, though.
STARS: ***½


FERNANDO’S HIDEAWAY
hosts talk about upcoming Wrestlemania extravaganza

   

— We get Fernando for the second episode in a row, and back in his old talk show setting this time. Normally, I’d complain, but I’ve always wanted to see this particular installment, due to a famous blooper that I’ve seen as a clip in several SNL specials.
— Ha, in response to Fernando badly quoting Mr. T’s “fool” catchphrase, Mr. T can be seen briefly flashing a big, toothy, out-of-character smile before immediately getting back into character. This is just a small glimpse of the famous blooper that’s coming up later in the sketch.
— I’m enjoying the juxtaposition of Mr. T/Hulk’s macho wrestling talk and Fernando’s lighthearted unrelated questions.
— Haha, here we are, the aforementioned famous blooper: After one particular ad-lib from Billy, Mr. T and Hulk just look at each other and then absolutely bust out laughing uncontrollably. Freakin’ hilarious. Immediately afterwards, Billy points out how Hulk’s chest muscles bounce up and down when he laughs, which causes Mr. T to once again bust out laughing even harder. This is all priceless. It’s quite a sight seeing these two huge, intimidating-looking men being reduced to uncontrollable giggles.
— Overall, a rare strong installment of this sketch. Assuming this ends up being the final installment (after all, this season only has two episodes left), this was a great way for the sketch to go out.
STARS: ****


HOUSES OF SHAME
(CHG) courts (MAS) in an example of fin-de-siecle prison homosexuality

— Interesting casting of Pamela at the beginning and, hey, they actually tamed her usual crazy 80s hair into a normal style for once (assuming that’s not a wig she’s wearing). (screencap below)

— I like Christopher’s walk-on as the old-fashioned gentlemanly-looking “Bull”, after the big build-up of him supposedly being an intimidating character.
— The whole interaction between Martin and Christopher is really funny so far, and Christopher is giving a fantastic performance.
— I love how there’s a randomly-placed porch swing in the middle of the prison.
— Classic line from Christopher: “(in a dignified, old-timey manner) Would you wear my pin… and be my bitch?”
— Good ending with Martin and his tough cellmate (Jim Belushi) giddily talking about Martin’s date like teenage girls at a slumber party.
STARS: ****


OHIO SAVINGS & LOAN
don’t worry about depleting your Ohio S&L funds- you can’t access them

— This seems to be another overly-topical season 10 sketch that’s completely lost on me as a modern-day viewer.
— Despite having no familiarity with the news story that this sketch is based on, I’m still finding myself getting a few laughs, and the audience seems to like it.
— I like the aggressive background yelling from Mary and Gary.
STARS: **½


THE JOE FRANKLIN SHOW
Irving Cohen (MAS) & Liberace [real]

— Another recurring bit making its return tonight after appearing in just the last episode. This particular recurring sketch is usually solid, but do we really need it two episodes in a row?
— I love how one of the sponsors Billy’s Joe Franklin plugs at the beginning is “Raymond Burr’s Nipple Rouge”.
— Random Liberace cameo.
— Liberace answering a blunt “No” to the question “Would you like to be that old?” (referring to Irving Cohen’s age) is a bit eerie in hindsight, considering Liberace’s passing just two years later.
— I liked Billy-as-Joe-Franklin’s way of connecting all the various sponsors into one single promotional piece.
— Martin’s Irving Cohen just walking off in the middle of his rant is really funny.
— Overall, there were some good moments, but the laughs weren’t as consistent as this sketch usually provides, and this was kind of a letdown from the particularly strong installment of this sketch in the preceding episode.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Night Shift”

— What was with the beginning of the performance, with Mr. T being onstage among the Commodores and then awkwardly being dismissed?


SUBSTITUTE TEACHER
during writers’ strike substitute teaching gig, BIC uses comedy on toughs

— Billy mentions a recent writer’s strike that had just happened. This explains why there was such a long gap between the preceding episode (which aired in mid-February) and tonight’s episode (which aired in late March).
— I like the montage of the bad neighborhood while “Rock Around the Clock” plays.
— A good somewhat-meta bit with Billy asking the kids to review Eddie Murphy’s comedy album. Some funny lines here.
— The turn with Billy teaching the kids about comedy is actually pretty charming.
— Overall, this was actually a pretty nice and well-done film, even if it felt like typical Billy Crystal self-indulgence.
STARS: ***


TOXIC WASTE
Fisherman Bob (JIB) says you can catch lots more fish with toxic waste

— For some reason, the set-up of this is reminding me of a fishing ad that Robert Downey does in next season’s Ron Reagan-hosted episode.
— A somewhat funny idea to use toxic waste to catch fish, though this ad is nothing too great.
STARS: **½


STEVE LANDESBERG
Steve Landesberg [real] does stand-up about professions Jews don’t enter

— I remember this guy from the sitcom Barney Miller. He’s good at doing lots of different voices.
— Interesting tidbit about how he was originally supposed to host this episode.
— The bit about certain professions Jews don’t take up is fairly tepid. I’m not getting much laughs here.
— A nice mention of this being the 10th anniversary of SNL, even if the way he brought it up was abrupt.
— His bit about a redneck mistaking three black girls for the Supremes and asking them to do a number was okay.
— Overall, despite a few laughs, this wasn’t one of the better stand-up guest performances I’ve seen on SNL. He displayed a lot of good accents, but I wasn’t laughing much during this.
STARS: **


TRASH TALK
Rowdy Roddy Piper & Bob Orton [real] talk trash at hosts in absentia

— Wow. I thought tonight’s earlier monologue was too WWF-feeling for SNL, but this Rowdy Roddy Piper video takes the cake. What’s this doing on SNL?
— Now Mr. T and Hulk are doing a rebuttal to Rowdy Roddy Piper’s trash talk video. This doesn’t even appear to be a comedic bit. Where are the jokes?
— Overall, what was the point of this whole segment? Just there to hype up the then-upcoming Wrestlemania?
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Animal Instinct”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A strange-feeling episode. While there were some good things throughout the show and not TOO many terrible segments (though there was a drop-off in quality towards the end of the show), I dunno, I’m not too crazy about what I just watched. At times, it felt like this episode was going for an SNL/WWF hybrid, which didn’t work too well tonight. (If you want to see an episode where that DOES work well, watch the episode that The Rock hosted in season 25) Mr. T and Hulk Hogan barely even felt like hosts; they basically just occasionally popped up throughout the show to hype up the next day’s Wrestlemania.
— I also just realized, there was no Saturday Night News AT ALL, for the second time this season. It’s always weird the rare times the Ebersol era does away with the fake news segment, which is usually an important SNL staple.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Pamela Sue Martin):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Christopher Reeve

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February 16, 1985 – Pamela Sue Martin / The Power Station (S10 E14)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OPENING MONTAGE
— For the second and (to this day in 2019) last time in SNL history, an episode begins with no cold opening. Tonight’s show just abruptly starts at the beginning of the opening montage.


MONOLOGUE
host points out former Dynasty co-star Joan Collins (JIB) in the audience

— I like the audience being heard murmuring “Show it!” when Sue Martin is hesitant to show candid photos of Joan Collins.
— Fairly funny, if cheap, sight gag of Jim as Joan Collins.
STARS: ***


STRATEGIC AIRBORNE CONTRACEPTIVE
— Rerun


THE JOE FRANKLIN SHOW
Jackie Rogers, Jr. & Red Skelton (CHG)

— Hmm, we get four guests this time instead of the usual three.
— Gary’s initial facial expression during his intro as the Alan Alda impersonator is really funny.
— Another initial big laugh, this time from the visual of Christopher’s great make-up as Red Skelton.
— As usual, Martin is hilarious as Jackie Rogers Jr.
— In that get-up, Pamela Sue Martin looks like future cast member Jan Hooks dressed in character.
— Haha, Gary’s Alan Alda voice is DEAD-ON.
— Sue Martin’s inane psychic shtick is quite funny. Good reactions to her from Billy as well.
— I’m liking Gary’s use of out-of-place M*A*S*H quotes.
— Great line with Jackie Rogers Jr. saying “Jackie’s getting a chubby” when holding hands with Sue Martin.
— Jackie Rogers Jr.’s dance and lip-sync sequence is a freakin’ riot.
— Overall, a particularly strong Joe Franklin Show installment that was even better than these sketches usually are. A lot of really funny performances, especially from Christopher and Martin.
STARS: ****


THAT WHITE GUY & HIS WIFE
half of A Couple Of White Guys & his wife (host) do some more white rap

— The return of Jim’s upper-class white guy rapping character.
— His and Sue Martin’s “tight walk” in unison is pretty funny.
— Overall, while I didn’t find this to have quite the infectious goofy charm that the first one with Alex Karras did, this one was still good and arguably had better-written lyrics than the first.
STARS: ***


NIGHT OF 100 STARS
Fernando talks to Teri Garr, Susan Lucci, Lynn Swann, Ann-Margret [real]

— Fernando in another new setting, though like I said last time, there’s only so much I can take of him.
— I did laugh at him pronouncing “herpes” as “jerpes”.
— Haha, Rich’s Robert Latta out of nowhere, wandering into another random setting! I like how it’s become a weekly gag on SNL for Rich’s Latta to pop up in a random place.
— Overall, this felt as tedious as I was worried it would, and the appearances from the various celebrities didn’t give this the boost that one might expect.
— During his live outtro, Fernando interestingly segues into a Rich Hall stand-up piece, which takes us to our next segment.
STARS: **


PLEXIGLAS
RIH does stand-up by employing various pieces of plexiglass

— Interesting idea of doing “plexiglass impressions”.
— I’m already loving this. Very funny so far.
— The bit with the oversized contact lenses is particularly funny.
— All of the variations of car windows are very good.
— Overall, a great segment. It’s amazing how Rich got this much humor out of a simple plexiglass prop.
STARS: ****


CALLED SHOT
(Clarke Gordon) tells of JIB making good on Babe Ruth-like promise to boy

— Interesting beginning, with (who I’m assuming is) an SNL crew member telling us stories about the original cast. I like the comical bit about how “Jane, you ignorant slut” was originated.
— Funny how Jim’s so-called biggest fan tells him “I love it when you do Buckwheat”.
— I like the extensive pre-taped scene with Jim at the children’s hospital. Turns out there wasn’t going to be any pre-taped portions back when this sketch was originally planned for a few episodes earlier. There’s a backstory from SNL writer Kevin Kelton about how he was confronted by a fuming Jim Belushi, who absolutely WENT OFF on him for suggesting that this sketch be postponed until a little later in the season in order for them to pre-tape portions of it. And then it turned out that the finished product of the sketch went so well that afterwards, Jim ran up to Kelton backstage and happily gave him a big ol’ bear hug.
— I really like how this sketch is getting even more extensive and ambitious, now showing the preparation of Jim’s “Aunt Willoughby” sketch, complete with shots of a (fake) unresponsive audience. I’m loving all of this.
— Great build-up to Jim’s big entrance as Aunt Willoughby.
— Good payoff with Jim’s dance routine receiving an absurdly positive reception.
— Overall, a fascinating, unique, and well-done sketch.
STARS: ****


MESSENGERS
messengers Willie & Frankie talk about pain while waiting for an elevator

— At least they waited a while since the last appearance of these frequently-used characters.
— Though this is still paling a little in comparison to the first few Willie and Frankie sketches, I’m getting more laughs than I did in their last appearance. I especially like the line from Billy about shoving an Empire State Building statuette up his nose, as well as the bit about him sitting in the garbage disposal.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
CHG & Dwight MacNamara have different explanations of how ChromaKey works

— Christopher is seen casually drying off and combing his hair at the beginning, as if there was a close call with there almost being a repeat of what happened in the last episode, where Christopher was stuck anchoring Saturday Night News with horrible-looking disheveled hair.
— Christopher’s Orson Welles joke was pretty funny.
— Funny how the kiddie letter asking about pictures on the news screen turns out to be from David Letterman, right after Christopher refrained from doing a viewer mail segment because “That’s what David Letterman does”.
— The return of Gary’s educational film narrator character from that assembly sketch last season.
— Boy, that hilarious warbly narration voice Gary does gets me every time.
— Fairly funny bit after Gary’s commentary, where Christopher’s doing a news story but the picture on the news screen is out-of-focus, so Christopher taps the side of the screen to correct it.
— Whaaaa? Saturday Night News is over ALREADY??? Wow, this was short as hell and featured no actual guest commentaries at the desk.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Some Like It Hot”

— Hey, the group’s saxophone player is Lenny Pickett, mere months before he ends up joining the SNL Band in season 11!


FIRST DRAFT THEATER
how The Holy Bible came to reach its current form

   

— Fairly funny bit with the narration beginning in a Star Wars-esque manner, only for the author (Gary Kroeger) to dismiss it as being no good.
— Uh-oh. Here’s an infamous blooper, where off-screen narrator Christopher Guest accidentally drops some of the pages of his script right when he’s in the middle of a sentence, resulting in about 15-20 seconds of PAINFUL dead air while he retrieves the script and tries to find where he left off. Yikes! As you can imagine, this is BAD; actually kinda fascinating in a trainwreck-y way. Heh, at one point, you can even hear Christopher embarrassedly whispering an out-of-character “I know” to someone.
— The sketch awkwardly carries on when Christopher FINALLY continues his narration. Needless to say, the blooper has really thrown this whole sketch off.
— I’m liking Gary’s various different ways of “erasing” his typos on the stone he’s carving his script into.
— Ugh, they’re REALLY overdoing the gag with the camera cutting to a close-up of Billy just shrugging at the camera with a puzzled look whenever he gets called out on something. He’s done it about 4 times in this sketch so far, and it’s less funny with each repetition.
— Okay, I like the ending with Billy’s Adam and Eve story getting all raunchy and pornographic, as well as the accompanying shot of said raunchy story being frantically written (or carved, rather) by Gary.
— Overall, a letdown. This sketch was nowhere near as well-written as the prior First Draft Theater sketches were, and it goes without saying how much this was marred by Christopher’s dropped-script blooper.
STARS: **


DYNASTY’S GREATEST FIGHTS
Linda Evans (host) & Joan Collins (PLS) feud as they plug catfight album

— Wow! Pamela Stephenson sure is giving us a nice eyeful of her… uh… well, you know…
— Loved Stephenson’s funny over-the-top scream when Sue Martin pulls her wig off.
— Overall, the two Pamelas were fine in their performances, but the sketch itself was really weak and felt underwritten.
STARS: *½


TOM, DICK AND HORNY
teen sex comedy stars Hanks, Hulce, Cruise

— Okay, wow, well, that sure was short. No idea what to say about the overall piece other than it didn’t make me laugh, came off as filler, and in hindsight, only serves as an interesting snapshot of a time when the now-known-for-starring-in-big-Oscar-bait-dramas Tom Hanks was known for mostly just starring in silly, raunchy comedies.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Get It On”


SHOOTOUT AT THE ZEPPLIN CORRAL
a high-society party exists inside a wild westerner’s bullet

— What the hell is this?!? I actually thought this was a real commercial at first, before realizing this must be an SNL piece.
— I can’t understand where this is going. Seems to be a whole bunch of random, indiscernible things happening, with some weird kind of tie-in to the Hindenburg disaster.
— And it’s over. Yeah, I have no idea what in the world I just watched, nor do I know what this was going for.
STARS: ??????


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— I came into this expecting an odd and pretty weak episode, after the reviews I had read over the years. After now watching the episode, I certainly agree about the odd vibe of the episode, with strange factors like the lack of a cold opening, the Called Shot sketch being so extensive and having a very non-SNL feel, a cast member (Rich Hall) randomly getting to do the type of stand-up segment that guest performers usually do, an unusually brief Saturday Night News, the infamous moment in First Draft Theater with Christopher Guest’s dropped-script blooper producing 15 seconds of horribly-awkward dead air, and the show ending with a bizarre artsy animated short that only succeeded in leaving me baffled. So yes, quite a weird vibe to the overall show. As for the actual quality, the first half of the show was actually pretty good and featured quite a lot of things that I liked, but man, the quality fell off a cliff HARD in the second half. Once Saturday Night News (which itself wasn’t all that great, though that’s nothing new) ended, there weren’t ANY good segments left for the rest of the show. Despite the things I liked in the first half, the overall show averages out to kind of a lesser episode for this season’s high standards.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Mr. T and Hulk Hogan

Posted on

February 9, 1985 – Harry Anderson / Bryan Adams (S10 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
while Ronald Reagan is addressing Congress, Robert Latta (RIH) wanders in

— LOL at the random walk-on from Rich as Robert Latta, with his name professionally being displayed on the bottom of the screen as “Robert Latta, wanderer”.
— Interesting how they’re puling this off, greenscreening Rich’s Latta into actual footage of the State of The Union address. This is the type of thing they SHOULD’VE done with that Reagan Inauguration cold opening from a few episodes earlier.
— I got a pretty good laugh from Rich’s Latta randomly presenting Reagan with a birthday cake.
— And just now, the Alka Seltzer bit was even funnier.
— An overall pretty funny, short, and unique cold opening that made interesting use of Rich’s impression.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
despite promising “no more geek stuff,” host eats Skippy The Guinea Pig

— I liked the callback to some of his previous SNL appearances, accompanied by a picture montage of those appearances. One of the pictures shown was of Harry’s gruesome “needle through the arm” trick that I remember made me wince like CRAZY.
— Ha, the audience groans at his mere mention that the guinea pig does acrobatic tricks.
— Harry, regarding the guinea pig: “He can’t work with a caucasian drummer.”
— Wow, holy hell at Harry stuffing the guinea pig into his mouth and chewing it. Amazing. How in the WORLD did he pull that trick off?
STARS: ****


THE KATE & ALI VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL
a Valentine’s Day Special for Hepburn (MAS) & Muhammad (BIC)

— I enjoyed the first Kate & Ali sketch, but I’m not sure it needs to be recurring.
— I like the random detail of their Valentine’s special being three hours long.
— The bed scene is pretty funny and is taking this into a different direction.
— Overall, not bad.
STARS: ***


AMERICAN PROFILES
Herb (CHG) & Al (BIC) Minkman at Mets Fantasy Camp; Bud Harrelson cameo

— I love seeing the Minkman Brothers again.
— Strangely, I laughed at how their first names (Al and Herb) were displayed on the bottom of the screen in quotation marks for whatever reason.
— This is the first pre-taped short we’ve gotten in a while. I’ve been noticing that this season (especially the second half) hasn’t been as heavy on pre-tapes as legend has it.
— I got a good laugh from the part with them explaining that their fake plastic vomit now comes with “40% more peas”, and how they named the vomit “Mr. Queasy”.
— This baseball training footage with the Minkmans is fun.
— Good trick with the Minkmans’ remote-controlled baseball.
— Pretty solid film overall, even if it doesn’t measure up to the Minkman Brothers’ 60 Minutes short from earlier this season.
STARS: ***½


DUELING MAGI
host & Doug Henning (RIH) try to out-illusion each other

— Clever premise for a Dueling Banjos parody.
— Something about the look of Rich’s Doug Henning is even funnier than usual in this one.
— Once again tonight, I’m stumped over how they pulled off a certain magic trick; this time, it’s the trick with Pamela magically appearing inside the fake house box.
— Great ending with Harry just bluntly shooting Rich’s Henning in the back of the head.
STARS: ***½


WHILE YOU WERE GONE
after coming home 20 minutes late, (JIB) finds his wife (MAG) remarried

— A man’s life changing drastically when he’s only been out for 20 minutes is a good premise, even if it reminds me of some sketch premises I’ve seen other times over the years (not just on SNL).
— I liked the hard, overemphasized “t” Mary pronounced at the end of her line “Life is for the prompt!”
— Pretty good sketch overall.
STARS: ***


RONALD REAGAN JEANS
guaranteed to voluntarily shrink by five percent

— A fairly funny idea presenting footage of a Reagan speech as a Calvin Klein Jeans ad.
— Good tagline: “Guaranteed to shrink by 5%”.
STARS: ***


OSCAR TALK
Ricky & Phil play Trivial Pursuit, predict Academy Award winners

— Billy’s “underwear/waistband” insult to Christopher made me laugh out loud.
— I’m liking the idea of these guys doing Oscar picks.
— Great look on Christopher’s face when being told that the character Pinocchio is just a cartoon.
— This sketch is going on for an awfully long time.
— Like last time, Christopher and Billy start cracking each other up at the end (at one point, Christopher almost spit out what he was drinking when Billy made an apparent ad-lib).
— Overall, a kinda hit-and-miss sketch and wasn’t consistently funny like these characters’ last appearance was. This one still had its moments, but the sketch desperately needed to be shortened. The tedious lengthiness of this sketch is another sign of Ebersol giving Billy Crystal too much freedom in doing whatever the hell he wants to on the show.
STARS: **½


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Caspar Weinberger (RIH) is holding his breath until he gets $285 billion
a montage shows the Reagans & other prominent people kissing & embracing
Buddy Young, Jr. describes his unpleasant Hawaiian restaurant experience
Buddy Young, Jr. & Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Christopher Reeve [real]

 

— Good lord, Christopher’s hair looks fucking TERRIBLE. He had his hair greased back in the last sketch, so I’m guessing the make-up people hurriedly tried to un-grease and comb it back into its normal style, but weren’t able to make it in time before the show returned from commercial, thus leaving it looking like THAT. Yikes. He would’ve been better off just keeping the greased-back style from the last sketch.
— Also, right before saying his intro, Christopher noticeably looks up at his hair in the monitor and makes a “WTF?” squinty-eyed look. (first screencap above)
— For some reason, even just the initial sight of Rich as Casper Weinberger is making me laugh. It’s something about Rich’s wig combined with his usual skinniness and lankiness.
— I like Rich deciding to childishly hold his breath until he gets his 285 billion dollars. Nice touch with him occasionally looking at his watch during the breath-holding.
— Oh, no, a lengthy picture montage of political figures being affectionate? Ugh, I see Saturday Night News STILL seems to be occasionally relying on leftover Brian Doyle-Murray “SNL Newsbreak” scripts from season 7.
— Haha, great visual of a still-holding-his-breath Rich now having fake, cartoonish bulging eyes.
— Good payoff with a balloon of Rich’s overinflated head popping.
— Billy’s Buddy Young Jr. character from that short film earlier this season returns in a live setting this time.
— Billy’s doing good at playing off of the audience reactions.
— Interestingly, Billy now goes into the studio audience, where he interacts with some of the celebrities in the front row: Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. Good to see the latter on SNL again, as I found him to be a fun host back in season 7.
— And now, we see in the row behind Jennings and Cash is Christopher Reeve (who ends up hosting the show a few episodes from now).
— After almost bumping crotch-first into the desk as he’s making his return to the Saturday Night News set, Billy ad-libs “Whoa, I was almost Jewish AGAIN.”
— Another ad-lib, with Billy calling out Christopher’s disheveled hair by asking him “Who does your hair, Chris, a tornado?”
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Somebody”


SALEM WITCH TRIALS
during Salem trials, (MAS) tries to defend (GAK) against witch charges

— Rich is coming off particularly Norm Macdonald-esque in this sketch, with his humorously casual, uncommitted, “I don’t give a damn”-type performance. Speaking of Rich, he’s surprisingly been getting a lot of airtime tonight, which is great to see considering how underutilized he often is.
— Martin’s giving a strong performance as an anachronistic 20th century-style lawyer in a colonial setting.
— Haha, I got a huge laugh from how Jim’s big speech, after a long, silent, dignified build-up, just turned out to be him pointing at Gary while shouting “WIIIIIIIIITCH!!!”
— The whole goat bit with Pamela is hilarious.
— Funny ending with Gary’s devilish chanting as his hand burns through the bible it’s placed on.
STARS: ****


HATS
host shows how a ring of felt can be shaped to make many kinds of hats

— Nice self-made baseball cap trick.
— I’m liking the many varieties of hats he’s making out of the felt piece.
— Fairly charming ending.
STARS: ***½


SMALL TIME AGENCY
singer (JLD) can’t go solo because Aunt Helen (MAG) saved her life twice

— I like the look of Gary’s old-timey agent character.
— Amusing characterization and performance from Mary here.
— Very funny ridiculous use of stock footage in the flashbacks of life-saving events.
— Mary fighting with the fake snake is hilarious.
— An overall strong sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Run to You”


GOODNIGHTS
host proves Skippy’s OK, brings Carol Burnett [real] on-stage

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Good episode with a lot of solid material, especially in the second half of the show. Nothing much to complain about, though Billy Crystal’s freedom to do overly-long, loose bits was very apparent tonight and had varying degrees of success.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Pamela Sue Martin

Posted on

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

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

Posted on

January 19, 1985 – Roy Scheider / Billy Ocean (S10 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
inaugural preview has Nancy prompting Ronald Reagan during oath of office

— Not too great-seeming a premise of altering footage of President Reagan’s inauguration by dubbing in “Nancy” whispering Ronald’s lines to him after the chief justice says them.
— Yeah, the gag is ALREADY getting one-note and old.
— That sounds like Pamela doing the dubbed-in voice of Nancy. Strange that they didn’t get Mary to do the voice, considering she actually played Nancy on the show before.
— An overall strange and weak choice for a cold opening. I can’t think of any other cold opening in SNL history that relied entirely on stock footage, though I may be forgetting one or two.
STARS: *½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— The punchline to the Knicks story was okay but nothing great.
— I did like the joke about no republicans in New York.
— An overall pretty short, straightforward monologue.
STARS: **½


SUPER SUNDAY
Ricky & Phil (CHG) temper their insults because it’s Super Sunday

— The return of Billy’s “unbelievable” character Ricky.
— I always like seeing Christopher and Billy teamed together.
— Christopher and Billy’s back-and-forth name-calling is funny, especially the “smegma” remark.
— As expected, I’m really enjoying the way both performers are playing off of each other here.
— Surprised to hear the word “douchebag” in a sketch from 1985.
— Christopher: “You smell like a rhino’s nipples.”
— A pretty good laugh from Christopher buying Pez for dessert.
— Hmm, what happened just now? When reading off the titles of various porno tapes that he rented, Christopher comes across one particular title that makes him laugh out of character and, while showing Billy the title, asks “Are you gonna say it?”, which came off like an ad-lib. Billy starts laughing out of character too, and neither of them end up reading the title aloud. Wonder what happened. Did someone at SNL jokingly slip in a particularly dirty porno title that couldn’t be uttered on national TV?
STARS: ***½


GOOD COP, BAD COP
(host) wants to do “good cop, bad cop” on (JIB), but Lawrence is inept

— Good to see another Lawrence sketch.
— Feels strange seeing Jim Belushi again for the first time in a while. This is his first episode back as a rehire after being fired a few episodes ago.
— In the version I’m watching, there appeared to be a brief edit when Roy angrily pulls Lawrence to the side after his “sad cop” routine. I wonder what was edited out.
— Jim’s smart-assed remarks to Roy are pretty funny.
— I’m enjoying Lawrence’s constant failure to understand what “bad cop” means when he and Roy are doing the “good cop/bad cop” routine.
— I like Roy snapping and insanely going into both the good cop AND bad cop routine, much to Jim’s confusion.
STARS: ***½


STEVEN WRIGHT
Steven Wright [real] does stand-up about his hobbies, imitates bowling

— His delivery always KILLS me.
— Overall, this was a fucking riot as his SNL appearances usually are. Some of my favorite random one-liners tonight were the ones about being afraid of widths instead of heights, his dwarf friend posing for trophies, his “imitation” of a bowling ball going in the gutter, and him owning a picture of Houdini having his keys locked in his car.
STARS: ****


FOLDGERS CRYSTALS
— Rerun from last season


IN PRAISE OF WOMEN
Julio Iglesias (GAK) gets fresh with 3 unsexy females

— Decent scenario for Gary’s Julio Iglesias impression.
— Pamela looks completely unrecognizable in that wrinkly, old make-up.
— Funny bit with Gary having Julia sit on his knee to tell him about her book.
— The sketch is getting fairly one-note, but Gary’s giving a strong performance and is making me laugh with his constant sleazy, passionate comments about what he loves about women.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Ann Landers’ (MAG) poll shows 97% of guys prefer “the act” to hugging
CHG says “no ads,” so Paul Harvey (RIH) fools him by talking in Russian
British journalist Angela Bradleigh likes football players’ bodies
JIB says “follow my rules in movie theater or receive an air horn blast”

— This is the earliest that Saturday Night News has been on in a while.
— Much like Mary’s last Ann Landers commentary, I didn’t care too much for her overall commentary tonight and nothing really stood out to me in this one.
— Rich’s Paul Harvey has been appearing an awful lot this season.
— Ha, Rich angrily muttering “Punk!” to Christopher made me laugh out loud.
— I’m not caring for how Rich is using the exact same promotional props from his last appearance.
— You can hear one particular audience member’s loud laugh all throughout tonight’s Saturday Night News, especially during Christopher’s “dunces marching in the inauguration” joke just now.
— Pamela’s dirty sexual comments about football players are providing a few laughs, and is at least taking this into a different direction from the previous commentary she did as this character.
— Geez, FOUR guest commentaries tonight?
— Jim’s loud outbursts here are pretty funny.
— Some good movie theater rules from Jim, especially the “Leave the baby at home” one.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Caribbean Queen”


SCALPER
(host) won’t accept less than $5,000,000 for his 2 Super Bowl XIX tickets

— LOL at Roy charging an insane amount of 50 million dollars for two Super Bowl tickets.
— Love the way a smugly-satisfied Roy keeps deadpan-ly saying “Five. Million. Dollars.”
— Rich’s offer of bearer bonds is really funny.
— I’m loving Jim’s increasing desperation in the ridiculous things he’ll offer just to get those tickets.
— Interesting turn with a despondent Roy returning home.
— Haha, holy hell at Roy suddenly getting struck by lightning and being reduced to a smoking pile of clothes on the floor.
— Overall, I really liked this. A very well-written and well-executed sketch.
STARS: ****


THE FLAMING PARROT
transvestite lounge pianist Penny Lane (BIC) talks with (host)

— Billy as a drag queen?
— I like Billy playing the Jeopardy theme on the piano while trying to guess Roy’s name.
— More good uses of Billy playing certain famous tunes on the piano to relate to the various situations during his and Roy’s conversation.
— Surprisingly, I’m actually liking Billy’s characterization here.
— A touching turn this has suddenly taken.
— An overall surprisingly good sketch.
STARS: ***½


MENTAL HOSPITAL
in a mental hospital, Consuela visits self-admitted patient Chi Chi

— Nice to see these two characters in a normal setting instead of a talk show for once.
— Gary is hilarious as a wildly-dancing mustached mental patient who thinks he’s John Oates.
— A decent amount of funny little lines during Mary and Julia’s conversation. I especially liked Julia explaining she covered for Mary by absurdly telling their friends Mary’s having warts removed at a mental hospital.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Loverboy”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A (mostly) consistently good episode, with a pretty fun vibe throughout. The cold opening and Saturday Night News were the only things I wasn’t crazy about.
— I’ve been noticing that for a season that has a reputation for being insanely heavy on filmed pieces, they’ve been going really light on them these last few episodes. I don’t think there were ANY short films in the last two episodes. Honestly, it feels like this season has been gradually relying less and less on pre-tapes with each passing month. Makes me wonder if it was only the first few episodes that earned this season its reputation for being pre-tape heavy.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Kathleen Turner):
— a fairly big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Alex Karras

Posted on

January 12, 1985 – Kathleen Turner / John Waite (S10 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
in Donahue green room, Fernando asks Bernie Goetz (RIH) to be on Hideaway

— Yet another Fernando sketch, though at least he’s in a new setting this time. Still, there’s only so much of this character I can take.
— I do kinda like his excitement over the green room having “two midget transvestites and a nazi!”
— Some of his comments to the dwarf transvestites (played by frequent Ebersol-era extras Butch and Pepe) are pretty funny.
— Funny seeing Rich as the infamous Bernard Goetz (a.k.a. The Subway Vigilante).
— When talking about how rough things have been going for his show lately, Fernando makes a reference to the recent Manilow cancellation incident.
— The tense part with Fernando asking Goetz for a quarter is a good reference, though probably too topical for the modern-day viewers who have no familiarity with Goetz’s subway incident.
STARS: **½


MONOLOGUE
pictures of host’s movie roles show a trend of increasing sexiness

— As she points out, she’s the first female host of the season, which is pretty crazy considering we’re halfway through the season. Even stranger, I think this season goes on to have only one more female host (Pamela Sue Martin). This has to be an all-time record for lowest number of female hosts in a single season.
— The mud-in-hair/brunette joke was terrible.
— She calls out Jack Nicholson in the audience, who turns out to be some random curly-haired guy. A decent gag, I guess, though I feel like SNL did a similar gag one other time (can’t remember when).
— Uh-oh, looks like this is turning into another boring “career photo montage” monologue from this season.
— Yep, I was right, unfortunately.
STARS: **


MACDOUGLASS-DRUMMOND
military supplier MacDouglass-Drummond’s products are basic yet costly

— I’m surprised this is the first time this season that we’re seeing Harry in a commercial pitchman role, considering how often he did these roles to perfection during his earlier stint in season 5. It’s great to see him back in this role.
— Loved Harry’s “But, wait, there’s less!” line
— Another great one-liner, with Harry’s fast-paced delivery of “It boils, it boils, it even boils!”
— An overall strong and smart satirical ad.
STARS: ****


WATERSKIING
Willie & Frankie talk about pain while taking part in a water-ski pyramid

— I love this very random setting for Willie and Frankie.
— I like the continuity of how these sketches always make a mention of the secretary at Sheidelman Suits who Billy’s character has the hots for.
— Nice reveal at the end when the camera pulls back and shows how this sketch was pulled off.
— Hate to say it because I usually really like these characters, but the formula of their sketches is starting to get stale due to how heavily SNL has been relying on these. None of Willie and Frankie’s gruesome stories stood out in tonight’s overall sketch, and quite a number of their stories kinda washed over me with me just chuckling at them by default.
STARS: **½


NOSE HAIR TRIMMER
nose hair trimmer Walter sells (CHG) on importance of groomed nostrils

— Always nice to see Gary’s underrated Walter character.
— This appears to be a variation of Walter’s “shoe tier” sketch from last season’s Flip Wilson episode, only this time, Walter’s bizarre occupation is “nose hair trimmer”. I’m loving this strange concept.
— Christopher appears to be playing the same character he played in the Jewish Deli sketch in the last episode.
— LOL at Billy’s walk-on with long, braided nose hairs.
— Absolutely hilarious ending with Rich casually walking by and tripping over Christopher’s (invisible) long nose hair that Walter is pulling, sending all three men crashing onto the ground.
STARS: ***½


SAFECO
Joan Collins (PLS) proves the strength of Dura Guard II plate glass

— Pamela is perfectly cast as Joan Collins.
— Pretty funny concept of a plate glass company using Joan Collins as battering ram against her will.
— This overall commercial didn’t end up playing out quite as funny as I was expecting.
STARS: **½


HYPNOTISM BY FIRE
to ensure daughter’s safety, Brad Allen (MAS) hypnotizes boyfriend (BIC)

— Pretty funny detailed look for Martin’s character, giving him a huge belly, bald cap, and glasses.
— Some good physical work from Martin throughout this.
— Holy hell, Billy’s wig almost came right off after Martin smacked the back of his head a second time.
— Haha, Billy’s now-uneven wig looks ridiculous.
— While talking to Martin and Julia, Billy stops mid-line as the audience keeps laughing hysterically at his uneven wig. He doesn’t seem to realize what the heck is going on until Martin and a chuckling Julia both adjust his wig for him, which causes him to crack up. An absolutely fantastic blooper here.
— Also, we get some really good back-and-forth ad-libs from Martin and Billy right afterwards.
— For some reason, I laughed at Mary’s off-camera delivery of “Nooooooo!” when asked if she’s going to come downstairs.
— An overall mostly forgettable and overlong sketch that was boosted by a classic blooper.
STARS: **½


PREDICTIONS
Jeane Dixon (MAG) tells what the stars predict for 1985

— Mary looks kinda freaky in this. Her facial expressions are kinda creeping me out.
— I’m pretty sure I just heard the voice of Larry David playing yet another off-camera heckler, this time as a guy who yells “That already happened!” in response to Mary’s Elvis prediction. I guess even back in 1984-85, SNL saw the comedic potential in Larry David’s shouty voice.
— I liked Mary casually pronouncing “holocaust” as “holycoast”, as a clever callback to her preceding prediction that a celebrity will mispronounce “holocaust” and not be aware of it.
— Interesting meta bit with Mary predicting host Kathleen Turner’s mind will wander in the next sketch.
— Overall, despite Mary giving her all, this wasn’t too great and quite a number of the predictions fell kinda flat.
STARS: **½


THE JOE FRANKLIN SHOW
Doug Henning (MAS) & Alan Arkin (CHG)

 

— The initial sight of Martin as a buckthoothed Doug Henning cracked me up.
— I’m enjoying Christopher’s Alan Arkin voice and general grumpiness.
— I like how in these sketches, Billy’s Joe Franklin always has to work in a plug for Matzos by Streit’s.
— Kathleen’s bad lip-syncing of her own song is funny.
— Overall, another good Joe Franklin sketch, and each performer got their share of laughs. Lately, I’ve been appreciating these Franklin sketches more than I used to when I was younger, back when I dismissed these sketches as being kinda boring.
STARS: ***½


BOXER
punchy retired boxer Tony Minetti (BIC) reminisces while vending peanuts

— OH, NO. Here’s our second Billy Crystal one-man-show character monologue of the season. I’ve already talked earlier this season about how much I dislike these.
— Also, man, tonight’s episode has been going REALLY heavy on Billy Crystal. Aside from the MacDouglass-Drummond and Predictions sketches, Billy has been in literally EVERY SINGLE SKETCH in this episode so far, and almost all of his appearances have been lead roles.
— I did get one chuckle so far, from the line about a boxer starting to bleed at the weigh-in.
— Overall, aside from the above-mentioned line, I got absolutely no laughs from this sketch. This was even worse than the one-man-show character piece Billy did earlier this season.
STARS: *½


FAST LOVE
maneater (host) manipulates jilted (MAS) into pursuing a relationship

— Funny part with Kathleen implying she’s a multi-orgasmic woman.
— I like the overly 80s look of the various party-goers. You’d almost think this was a modern-day piece set in the 80s, judging by how stereotypically 80s so many people in this sketch are dressed.
— Speaking of which, it’s funny how a plain-dressed Larry David (in yet another background extra role this season) sticks out like a sore thumb among the trendily-dressed background extras.
— Kathleen’s out-of-nowhere “Lucky for you, I’m ovulating tonight” was hilarious.
— An overall pretty nice, realistic piece.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
a summary of recent appointments to Reagan administration posts
GAK shows off his 1985 “Kroeger A Month” beefcake calendar
Reagan financial advisor Doug Henning (RIH) makes CHG cough up some dough

— I see this is yet ANOTHER episode this season where Saturday Night News is oddly buried towards the end of the show [ADDENDUM: And yes, this is how the episode originally aired], which serves as more evidence of Ebersol’s diminishing confidence in the segment.
— The rundown of which White House staff members are being replaced with which celebrities has some laughs, but the bit is too long-winded for my likes. Brings back bad memories of the overlong bits Brian Doyle-Murray regularly did on SNL Newsbreak back in season 7.
— Very funny concept of Gary’s commentary, with him showcasing his self-made “Kroeger A Month” beefcake calendar for the year 1985.
— Funny calendar pictures of Gary here, and some good little self-deprecating lines thrown in throughout this.
— Christopher actually made me laugh, with his deadpan “That’s very sad” response to Gary’s overall commentary.
— Rich Hall takes over the Doug Henning impression that we had just seen Martin Short playing earlier tonight, making this a rare instance of two different performers playing the same celebrity in two separate sketches in the same episode.
— Rich makes a meta comment about what I just pointed out above, by commenting how it’s “amazing that there are two Doug Hennings on this show”.
— Haha, Rich’s fake buck teeth fell out!
— Nice save with Christopher handing Rich a spare pair of fake buck teeth.
— Rich’s Henning getting Christopher to magically cough up money into the bucket is pretty funny. Not sure how that trick was pulled off in real life.
— What was with the ending of this edition of Saturday Night News? Christopher didn’t even sign off. It just ended with the audience’s applause after Rich’s Henning commentary was over, as Christopher just silently stares at the camera completely deadpan. WTF?
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Saturday Night”


STRICTLY FROM BLACKWELL
(MAS) in dinner theater version of Irma La Douce

— What’s with the oddly silent beginning during the “Strictly From Blackwell” title screen?
— I liked Harry’s random line about “the James Franciscus Theater”.
— Hmm, Martin’s character is named Bobby Bouchet (last name pronounced “boo-SHAY”). Heh, isn’t that the same name of Adam Sandler’s character in the movie The Waterboy?
— As usual, Harry’s Mr. Blackwell voice is cracking me up, and there are lots of low-key funny back-and-forths between him and Martin.
— Martin’s reveal that his biological parents are JFK and Marilyn Monroe is really funny.
— Pretty solid sketch overall.
— Unfortunately, this turns out to be the end of the road for Harry Shearer’s second SNL tenure. After this episode, Dick Ebersol fires him for a backstage incident that happened earlier that night after dress rehearsal, where Harry reduced a beloved female staffer to tears when chewing her out over a minor issue. Harry had a reputation for being too demanding and stern behind the scenes at SNL, and I guess the aforementioned incident was the final straw for Ebersol. This makes Harry the second cast member to be fired in the middle of this season ALONE. Boy, Ebersol sure doesn’t play around. However, unlike the first fired cast member this season (Jim Belushi), Harry doesn’t eventually get rehired. He’s gone for good, folks. Considering how much he famously hated working at SNL, he probably wouldn’t have wanted to get rehired anyway. Too bad, as I’ve always loved what he brought to the show during both his SNL stints (seasons 5 and 10).
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An overall disappointing episode, especially when compared to the usual quality this season. I did like the memorable bloopers tonight (Billy Crystal’s wig in Hypnotism By Fire, Rich Hall’s fake buck teeth in Saturday Night News), but the show was dominated by lots of forgettable sketches. Aside from the two Harry Shearer sketches, no segments stood out as particularly great tonight. This episode was also too heavy on Billy Crystal for my likes, with him receiving Kristen Wiig levels of overexposure.
— Strange scheduling tonight too, with Saturday Night News and John Waite’s first (and ONLY) musical performance not coming on until the last 20 minutes of the show. I wouldn’t be surprised if a second musical performance was originally scheduled but ended up getting cut at the last minute due to the show running long. Maybe it was all the aforementioned bloopers that threw off the scheduling of the show.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Eddie Murphy):
— a big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Roy Scheider

Posted on

December 15, 1984 – Eddie Murphy / The Honeydrippers (S10 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Alfalfa magnifies a newspaper photo & discovers Buckwheat is still alive

— I liked Mary’s exaggerated double-take when spotting Buckwheat in a crowd photo.
— LOL, a replay of the classic “Buckwheat gets shot” clip, which never fails to crack me up.
— Hmm, a “To be continued…” ending.
STARS: N/A (not sure if I should rate this, since it was just a short, straightforward set-up to a later sketch)


OPENING MONTAGE
— Despite being fired, Jim Belushi is still credited in the opening montage, due to the fact that the continuous side-scrolling style of this season’s montage makes it impossible to edit out any of the cast members. The show would face this same problem a little later this season when a certain other cast member gets fired.


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— After getting used to no longer reviewing him since late last season, it’s good to see Eddie back on SNL.
— What a suit he’s wearing. In a later interview, Eddie addressed this monologue and admitted that him wearing this type of overly fancy suit is a sign that you don’t wanna be around him behind the scenes because he’s “not acting right”. Apparently, it’s true, as Billy Crystal would later go on to say that Eddie was a NIGHTMARE to work with that week.
— I’m liking Eddie’s various self-deprecating comments about his recent box-office bomb Best Defense, which he says is “a movie that sucked REAL bad”.
— Great story about how he was convinced to do Best Defense, and how it led into him hosting this episode.
— Funny part with him admitting “not everything in tonight’s show is hysterical”, and how most SNL hosts lie to you by saying it’s gonna be a great show; you usually end up seeing some things that suck. Gotta love Eddie’s bluntness here.
— He throws to a short film starring him, which takes us to our next segment (and what a famous one it is).
STARS: ****


WHITE LIKE ME
by Andy Breckman- undercover as a caucasian, EDM is shocked by white life

— Here’s an all-time classic, well-known piece with Eddie investigating what it’s like to experience America as a white man.
— Hilarious that he’s studying how to be white by watching Dynasty and reading Hallmark cards.
— A freakin’ hilarious initial sight of White Eddie. Very good make-up job on him.
— Love the walk he’s doing.
— I always like Jim Downey’s delivery of “Go ahead, take it”, as well as Eddie hesitantly following those instructions.
— Yet another great part with the whites in the bus breaking out into party mode after the sole black passenger leaves.
— So much great social commentary here.
— I think the guy playing the white boss is the same guy who’s appeared in several Ebersol-era pieces, usually playing doctors (such as the doctor who officially announces Buckwheat’s death in the legendary Buckwheat Gets Shot sketch).
— Great line from White Eddie: “What a silly negro!”
STARS: *****


THE END OF BUCKWHEAT
Buckwheat staged his death to evade a killer, who turns out to be Alfalfa

— The anticipated return of Buckwheat.
— I liked him just pushing Mary’s Alfalfa out the door when having no answer to her asking what his “ailment” is.
— For some reason, just the idea of Buckwheat having a tattoo on his chest that says “mother” amuses me.
— After his fake beard gets removed by Alfalfa, Eddie-as-Buckwheat looks into the camera and exclaims “D’ohhhhhhh!” in a silly high-pitched voice. That absolutely SLAYED me.
— Interesting turn with Alfalfa getting revenge on Buckwheat for a childhood frog-in-the-pants prank. Strong performance from Mary here.
— Looks like we now officially have the REAL death of Buckwheat.
STARS: ***½


MISTER ROBINSON’S NEIGHBORHOOD
the easy way to make a Cabbage Patch Doll

— The night of returning Eddie Murphy favorites continues, as we now get this popular recurring sketch.
— This is probably a well-remembered installment among SNL fans, due to its annual inclusion in SNL’s older Christmas compilation specials from the 90s.
— I love how his idea of a homemade Cabbage Patch Doll is to tear off the head of a regular doll and replace it with a head of lettuce.
— Seeing as how Tim Kazurinsky isn’t on the show anymore, I wonder who that is doing Mr. Landlord’s off-camera voice this time. Gary, maybe?
— Overall, another good Mister Robinson, even if this isn’t one of my absolute favorite installments of this sketch.
STARS: ***½


NEWSMAKERS
Communists’ (MAG) & (JLD) schoolyard chant wastes time

— Were we supposed to see Billy hastily applying his clip-on mic at the beginning?
— I’m liking Mary and Julia randomly going into a very extensive superstitious childish chant after they’ve “jinxed” each other by saying the same thing simultaneously. I especially like the Egyptian dance part of the chant.
— Great reaction afterwards from Billy, with his deadpan “What the hell was that?”
— Funny turn with Mary and Julia STILL launching into another rendition of their chant routine even after simply coughing in unison.
— Feels weird seeing Billy playing a straightman to Mary and Julia. Usually, it’s the other way around.
— This obviously started getting repetitive after a while, but the overall sketch was still good and I’m usually always a fan of the rare times SNL allows Julia Louis-Dreyfus to be funny.
STARS: ***


BLACK HISTORY MINUTE
Shabazz K. Morton (EDM) on George Washington Carver

— I’m already laughing from the beginning, just from Eddie’s silent, head-thrown-back posture when the camera first shows him.
— I love the character name Shabazz K. Morton.
— I almost feel like Eddie might as well be playing his Raheem Abdul Mohammed character here. There’s not much difference in the characterization.
— Funny soul/soil line flub, which gets a laugh from the audience.
— And there’s Eddie’s legendary ad-libbed response to the audience: “So I messed up, SHUT UP!!!” An absolutely classic moment. He also adds a great “Stop clappin’ ‘fore ya’ll make me smile!” afterwards. Eddie always had a penchant for fantastic ad-libs whenever anything went wrong in a sketch.
— Another funny line flub with Eddie’s “This pastes pretty g– tastes pretty good”. When the audience laughs at that, Eddie ad-libs a callback to his earlier ad-lib by angrily saying “Yeah, keep on smilin’!”
— The line about George Washington Carver’s method to compress peanuts into phonograph needles gave me a pretty good laugh.
— Very funny reveal of the names of the two white men who stole George Washington Carver’s peanut butter recipe: Edward “Skippy” Williamson and Frederick “Jif” Armstrong.
— Overall, great sketch, elevated by Eddie’s reliable delivery and terrific ad-libbing skills.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Rockin’ at Midnight”


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Paul Harvey (RIH) sneaks ads into The Rest of the Story on Kennedys
British journalist Angela Bradleigh’s (PLS) analysis is unintelligible
EDM discusses the recent glut of celebrity dolls

— Saturday Night News makes its return after not appearing in the last episode.
— Christopher’s actually showing personality at the beginning, with him urging the audience to continue applauding.
— Unfortunately, it’s right back to Dry City for Christopher, with his bland delivery of the news jokes.
— I do like Christopher’s meta joke about Eddie Murphy starring as young Frank Sinatra in a biopic titled “Old Blue Eyes is Black”.
— I always like Rich-as-Paul-Harvey’s various product promotions.
— Christopher’s bit about finding the USA on the world map fell COMPLETELY flat.
— For once, Pamela Stephenson actually gets to do a character!
— Pamela’s British-accented gibberish is pretty funny, especially how she occasionally throws in random comprehensible statements (at one point, inexplicably breaking out into a verse from the 12 Days of Christmas song).
— Very few jokes from Christopher so far tonight. He’s basically just transitioning from one guest commentator to another.
— Eddie’s wearing his old Raheem Abdul Mohammed early 80s Adidas tracksuit.
— Eddie’s various homophobic comments about Ken dolls haven’t aged well.
— Very funny part with Eddie making the Brooke Shields and Mr. T dolls kiss each other, and then imagining that Brooke’s mom is going “(sternly) Brooke, you’re kissing this tremendous negro on television”.
— Loved Eddie pointing out how the gremlin doll has Miles Davis’ facial features.
— Eddie’s whole bit with the Michael Jackson doll is hilarious.
STARS: **½
[ADDENDUM: It turns out that in the original airing of tonight’s episode, Saturday Night News was oddly buried all the way towards the end of the show as the third-to-last segment of the night (they moved it up to an earlier timeslot in the rerun version I’m reviewing), which ties this with the previous season’s Flip Wilson episode as the latest that SNL has ever aired their fake news segment in an episode. With Saturday Night News being completely eliminated from the previous week’s episode and now it airing insanely late in tonight’s episode, it’s become very obvious that Ebersol has absolutely NO confidence left in the segment. Thank god there’s only half a season left of this nonsense before Lorne comes back. Ebersol clearly never had a damn clue what he was doing with SNL’s news segment.]


LISHMAN’S DELI
Gumby reunites with (CHG), Irving Cohen & Lew Goldman at a deli

— Another random Alan Zweibel sighting this season, this time as an employee behind the counter in the background. Was he a frequent guest writer this season or something?
— Good to see Martin’s Irving Cohen, as I wasn’t able to review his debut appearance from the George Carlin episode due to that sketch (“In Thickeness and In Health”) being removed from my version.
— Boy, this sketch doesn’t seem to be going anywhere interesting so far.
— Amusing seeing a young Larry David so prominent in the background throughout this. (you can see him to Rich Hall’s right in the screencap below)

— The return of Gumby.
— Another funny fictional character name tonight, with the moniker Adolf K. Musselman.
— At first glance, Rich in that wig and glasses strongly resembled Joe Piscopo in character.
— Rich’s sarcastic “Oh, I guess that was some OTHER green jew” to Gumby made me laugh.
— Man, this sketch has mostly been going NOWHERE.
— Not sure what made Billy lose his composure and start cracking up (fourth screencap above), but that was pretty funny.
— This overall sketch did not work for me. To paraphrase a comment I remember once reading about this sketch on Reddit: “How do you have comedy greats Eddie Murphy, Martin Short, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Rich Hall, and Larry David all in one sketch, and not a single funny moment be produced?”
STARS: *½


LIFESTYLES OF THE RELATIVES OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS
Denise Lewis (MAS)

— Good to see this back again.
— Unsurprisingly, Martin’s doing a great Jerry Lewis impression as his niece. His scene, however, pales in comparison to his Nelson Hepburn interview from the first installment of this sketch, as Nelson Hepburn was a more fleshed-out and interesting character.
— Love the fact that they’re showing out-of-place footage of an outdoors Robin Leach (Harry Shearer) nodding during an indoors interview.
— Funny visual of Billy as Yul Brenner’s travel agent aunt. Even with the bald head, Billy actually looks convincing as a woman. I remember when I first saw a screencap of him in this sketch long before I actually watched the sketch, I mistook him for Pamela Stephenson.
— Nice ending with Eddie as a James Brown relative musically directing traffic in the street.
STARS: ***


MILESTONES
Bishop Tutu (EDM) accidentally ruins Doug Flutie’s (RIH) Heisman Trophy

— I’ve always had a biased love towards this sketch, as I first saw it in 2000 as a young teenager while watching a Comedy Central airing of Eddie’s “Best Of” special, which was my very first exposure to his SNL tenure. This was one of the first sketches I caught in that special, and I have great memories of being so tickled by so many things in this sketch and being surprised that they got so much humor out of such a simple, thin premise. However, I also remember wondering who the hell the two white guys (Christopher Guest and Rich Hall) were. It’s understandable that I didn’t know Rich Hall yet back then, but it’s probably surprising to some that I didn’t recognize Christopher Guest. Then again, I was probably a little too young back then to be familiar with his movies.
— Funny random pairing of Desmond Tutu and Doug Flutie.
— The back-and-forth whispery arguing between Christopher and Eddie is really cracking me up.
— Love the cutaway to Eddie and a mechanic using some kind of torch to fix the trophy.
— Hilarious visual of the horrible-looking melted trophy after the aforementioned torch procedure.
STARS: ****


CLIMBING THE STAIRS
the fate of a WWII platoon depends on Lawrence’s stair-climbing ability

— Good to see the return of Lawrence.
— Funny explanation from Lawrence that he never learned how to climb the stairs because it never came up in his life.
— Great aggressive delivery from Gary here.
— A big laugh during the stick figure drawing part, where Lawrence asks “Which is me?” and Gary angrily responds “THE ONE WITH THE HEAD, LAWRENCE!”
— This is the first time tonight that I’ve really noticed Jim Belushi’s absence, because he would’ve been perfect for this sketch as one of the angry soldiers playing straightman to Lawrence. I can see Jim playing Billy’s role.
— Some really good physical comedy from Martin here in his bizarre attempts to climb the stairs.
— Pretty funny ending with the phone.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Santa Claus is Back in Town”


KILLING TIME
with 30 seconds to kill, EDM describes scheduling mishap & plays piano

— According to Eddie, we missed a dirty joke that he told the audience right before the show came back from commercial break.
— Eddie humorously explains to us that SNL timed the show wrong; tonight’s episode ended up being 30 seconds longer than they scheduled, so they’re forced to do this random “killing time” segment.
— Funny how Eddie quickly rushes to play the piano just seconds before they run out of time and go back to commercial break. Eddie’s always had a knack for making these “killing time” segments entertaining.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


GOODNIGHTS
EDM announces Willie Day’s [real] retirement

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty strong and memorable episode as expected. A lot of solid stuff throughout the show, and Eddie commanded the stage and provided lots of laughs just like in his cast member days. It was also nice to see his popular characters return for one last time.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ringo Starr):
— a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
We enter 1985, with host Kathleen Turner