November 8, 1986 – Rosanna Arquette / Ric Ocasek (S12 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

DISCLAIMER
newsreel shows why World Series caused SNL to be taped; Ron Darling cameo

— Interesting way to open the show, explaining in a newsreel footage-esque piece how for the first time in SNL’s 11-year history, a live episode was pre-empted and had to be taped for a later week.
— Random observation: Ron Darling strongly resembles Andy Kaufman.
— Funny how comically serious Ron Darling’s speech about finding out SNL was pre-empted is.
— Overall, I loved how they presented this whole thing, and Don Pardo’s dialogue was well-written.
— I really have to wonder how hardcore SNL fans back then, especially ones who aren’t baseball fans, reacted on that fateful night of October 25th when finding out that a live episode they were probably eagerly awaiting (especially in a new-and-improved season of SNL like this) wasn’t going to air after all. I’m trying to imagine what it would be like if that happened nowadays (even though I’m currently on a hiatus from watching new SNL episodes).
— Also, here’s something else I’ve always wondered: if this episode was originally scheduled to air on October 25th but got pre-empted, why did they wait TWO weeks to air it on November 8th? Why not air it on November 1st, the week after it was originally scheduled? Was a non-SNL program already planned to air in SNL’s timeslot on November 1st?
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)

COLD OPENING
Tommy Flanagan poses as LOM, sells host on a “neck with producer” sketch

— The whole “Neck with the Producer” thing is pretty funny.
— Here comes yet another Tommy Flanagan appearance. But not to worry, because IIRC, after tonight’s episode, SNL goes really light on him for the rest of the season, and he barely (if ever) appears in any of the subsequent seasons of Jon Lovitz’s SNL tenure.
— I like Flanagan’s ridiculous claims to Rosanna about how the “Neck with the Producer” script contains a hidden message about the homeless.
— Uh-oh. During Flanagan’s long consecutive string of lies, I can tell they’re adding in canned laughter. It’s the dreaded return of season 11’s infamous practice of sweetening audience reactions in reruns. I understand why they had to use that practice back THEN, considering season 11’s dire quality, but why use it NOW, during an actual good season? Me thinks Lorne is taking a few too many liberties with the fact that he had several weeks to tweak this pre-empted episode before it aired.
— I got a pretty good laugh from Lorne’s reaction to the “Neck with the Producer” script.
— Overall, one of the better Tommy Flanagan sketches in a while.
STARS: ***½

MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Rosanna immediately starts this monologue by excitedly asking the audience “How about those Mets?!?”, which reminds me of how Malcolm-Jamal Warner similarly started the last monologue by asking “How about those Red Sox?” Unlike that, however, Rosanna’s Mets mention would later still be left intact in reruns.
— A fairly promising idea, with Rosanna thinly veiling her criticisms of President Reagan to appease the equal time rule.
— Wow, it’s over already? This was a VERY short monologue; too short, in fact. This felt like it had good potential to go further.
STARS: **

THE PEOPLE’S COURT
a white trash hairdresser (host) sues Mephistopheles

 

— I love this premise and it’s a great way to use Jon’s Mephistopheles. This is the most well-known Mephistopheles sketch, and probably the absolute best.
— Very funny reveal of Jan’s character being Rosanna’s mother, when both characters look almost the exact same age.
— Love the various split-screen parts of this.
— Memorable ending with Mephistopheles’ message into the camera, ordering us to worship him.
— Overall, a fantastic sketch that’s well-deserved of its high status.
STARS: *****

CHURCH CHAT
Church Lady scolds Jenny Baker (VIJ), host, musical guest

— Good to see this back.
— More signs that tonight’s pre-empted episode was heavily tweaked before airing: I can tell this sketch is a mixture of live and dress rehearsal, because the Halloween decorations on Church Lady’s desk keep disappearing and reappearing in different shots. (compare her desk in the two screencaps below)

— I didn’t know Rosanna Arquette had a reputation for being so political, which now explains the monologue she did earlier tonight.
— Ric Ocasek seems pretty out of it here, though maybe that’s just acting.
— Love Church Lady’s reaction to the raunchy clip played from a The Cars music video.
— Church Lady has some really hilarious comments to Ocasek.
— Interesting part with Rosanna’s angry rant to Church Lady, ending with her calling Church Lady a bitch, which appears to humble her for a moment.
— At the end, they transition from this sketch to the next segment by using the same “page turning” screen effect that they used at the end of Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s monologue.
— Overall, a bit of a step up from the debut of this sketch back in the season premiere, but this still isn’t quite at the level these sketches would later be, and they still need to cut back on the overabundance of “Could it beeeeee…. SATAN?!?”s.
STARS: ***½

HELMSLEY SPOOK HOUSE
Leona Helmsley (NOD) shows off her high-class den of horrors

— The debut of Nora’s Leona Helmsley impression, which has always been one of my favorite Nora Dunn roles.
— An okay piece overall, though this didn’t really seem to be trying to be all that funny. It felt like the realistic haunted house features could’ve had more laughs.
STARS: **½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Emotion in Motion”

PORK
pole-vaulter (KEN) plans on dining on pork- his body can take it

— Funny reveal of pork being athlete Kevin’s training food of choice, and the announcer’s tagline to eat pork while you’re still healthy.
STARS: ***

WEEKEND UPDATE
AWB discusses how censorship is futile & hypocritical

— Loved Dennis screaming “AAAAH!” as a save when he screws up his U.S./Russia joke, and then reveals to the audience “I am a human being too”.
— A. Whitney’s overall Big Picture commentary tonight was one of his better ones in a while. Some of the noteworthy funny comments were about degrading eye shadow, anti-crack commercials, and how HBO is currently re-running C.H.U.D. for the 47th time.
— Overall, this has got to be the least amount of things I’ve ever had to say about a Weekend Update in all the episodes I’ve covered so far, but that’s not to say this was a poor Update or anything. I still got my usual laughs.
STARS: ***

TWO SAMMIES
Sammies (KEN) & (DAC) watch TV, drink beer, doubt self-improvement odds

— I really like Kevin and Dana’s characterization and chemistry here.
— Haha, Kevin’s line about having to “cop a squirt” got a really good audience reaction.
— “Ahh, that’s ANOTHER thing I’m never gonna do, right?!?”
— Interesting camera angle from the top of the stairs when Phil and Nora are leaving. (third screencap above)
— Fun turn that Phil’s character ended up taking at the end.
— Pretty good sketch overall. You can tell they were setting these two characters up to become recurring. However, here’s the strange thing: these characters only ended up coming back once, and it was TWO YEARS LATER. Geez, by that point, most SNL fans at the time probably completely forgot about these characters’ first appearance.
STARS: ***

DOG BASEBALL
by William Wegman- canines’ owners watch their pets play

— The return of William Wegman. Back in the original SNL era, he did some short films with his dog Man Ray. I also recall him doing one in the Ebersol era.
— Instead of being with Man Ray this time, Wegman is shown with a whole bunch of dogs.
— Wegman’s amusingly-monotone voice-over and descriptions of each dog are making me laugh.
— Overall, I have mixed feelings about this film as a whole. On one hand, some of it bordered on being a little boring, but on the other hand, I like how this had an almost Jack Handey-esque feel, with the bizarre atmosphere, comically-mundane presentation, and monotone voice-over.
STARS: **½

MAKE JOAN BAEZ LAUGH
Howie Mandel’s (JOL) glove-on-head does it

— Interesting concept for a gameshow sketch.
— Phil’s gameshow host is named Big Bill Franklin, which is also the name of the gameshow host he played in the Quiz Masters sketch from the season premiere.
— Nora’s portrayal of a humorless Joan Baez is really good.
— I liked the “whatever” face Phil gave to the camera as an aside after one particular dour statement Nora’s Baez made.
— Jon’s portrayal of Howie Mandel is hilarious. His constant “What? What? What?”s are confusing to me, though. I’ve never known Mandel to constantly say “What?”, but it must be an accurate part of the impression because I recall future cast member Mike Myers later doing the same thing when playing Mandel in a locker room sketch from the Wayne Gretzky episode in season 14.
— Good conclusion with Nora’s Baez doing a laughing spit-take when seeing Jon’s Mandel do the “surgical glove on the head” trick.
STARS: ***½

PORK
enjoy pork after a workout- it’s when your heart can withstand it

— A decent continuation of the earlier pork commercial, and a funny ending visual of a cooked pig.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Keep on Laughin'”

MISS CONNIE’S FABLE NOOK
clowns Koko (DEM) & Mishu (DAC) teach giant Lebee (KEN) about patience

— Here’s a fleshed-out version of the Koko character that Dennis gave us a sample of in the season premiere’s Weekend Update.
— I wonder if the “Mishu, you’re standing in the stream” part was a real blooper or just part of the script.
— Kevin’s orge-ish grunting as the giant is KINDA amusing me, but I’m just desperate for a laugh at this point of the sketch.
— Boy, Dennis looks like he’s about to start busting out laughing any second.
— Wow, overall, I have absolutely no idea what to make of this sketch. All I know is I didn’t laugh. This sketch felt really out of place on SNL, and seemed like one big inside joke on Dennis.
STARS: *½

I SAW GOD
(host) sings “I Saw God”- He supports her decision to become a star

— Geez, where has Rosanna been? This is the first time we’ve seen her in a sketch since the first half of the episode.
— The audience seems to kinda like the “I Saw God” song so far, but it’s not working for me. I do kinda find the chorus melody catchy, though. Rosanna’s singing voice, on the other hand – yeesh.
— Overall, another strange, random sketch tonight that left me more puzzled than amused. Maybe this was attempting a more charming, softer piece, but if so, it missed its mark for me.
STARS: **

PANGO, GIANT DOG OF TOKYO!
Japanese miniatures are terrorized

     

— Wow, I thought the preceding two sketches were weird, but I can already tell that THIS is gonna take the cake.
— The overly-detailed dialogue during the science lab scene is making me laugh.
— The subsequent scenes has some pretty funny dialogue as well so far.
— Overall, yep, as I expected, a very bizarre film. There were some amusing lines throughout most of it, but the film went on too long and started kinda dragging towards the end.
— This film would later be cut from all reruns and be replaced with a different film titled “Coffee and Cigarettes”, starring Roberto Benigni and Steven Wright. Strange, by the way, how tonight’s episode would receive modifications in reruns, considering the original airing wasn’t even live. You’d figure they’d ALREADY have made all the necessary modifications to the episode before it even first aired.
STARS: **½

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— The episode felt underwhelming compared to how this season had been going, and kinda had the typical burned-out feel that a lot of “third consecutive week” episodes have. There was actually some good stuff in the first half of this episode, however, particularly The People’s Court. It was the back half of the show where the quality seemed to gradually die off very badly. There were lots of strange things towards the end of the show that just didn’t work and confused me over what they were going for.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Malcolm-Jamal Warner):
— a fairly big step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Sam Kinison, fresh off his controversial stand-up performance in the Malcolm-Jamal Warner episode