December 6, 1986 – Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Martin Short / Randy Newman (S12 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
stumblebums KEN, CHC, Steve, MAS attend meeting at the Gerald Ford Clinic

— Funny premise here, between a Gerald Ford Clinic and a Stumblebums Anonymous meeting.
— Hilarious entrance from Martin Short.
— I like how each host enters in a clumsier fashion than the last, culminating in an impressive long stretch of physical stumbles from Chevy. When it comes to doing the stumblebum routine, I see Chevy’s still got it at this point.
— Overall, a short but sweet opening, and a fun way to introduce tonight’s three hosts.
STARS: ***½

MONOLOGUE
a confident Steve proclaims “I’m Me!” as he marches through the studio

   

— For the first time this season, after the opening montage ends, we’re shown two NBC pages opening the backstage doors that have the SNL logo on them (screencap below), which leads into the camera zooming towards the home base stage as the host(s) makes their entrance. This would go on to become a regular thing for pretty much the remainder of this season, I believe.

— Boy, it’s an amazing sight, seeing these three guys onstage hosting together.
— Chevy mentions his recent rehab stint, which Dennis Miller previously hinted at during his sign-off in the season premiere’s Weekend Update (“Good luck, Chevy; you are in our thoughts”).
— Great bit with Martin trying to forcefeed painkillers to a reluctant Chevy.
— Steve wistfully mentions he hasn’t stood on this stage in a long time. Indeed, aside from a cameo at the end of an Eddie Murphy-hosted episode from 1982, this is Steve’s first hosting stint since way back in the original era. I can only imagine how excited SNL fans in 1986 must’ve been when hearing the news that Steve was finally making his hosting return. Until this point, it was probably assumed that Steve was taking the Buck Henry stance of retiring as a host to remain loyal to the original cast.
— LOL at Martin humorously shoehorning his great Katherine Hepburn impression into his pep talk to Steve.
— Some aspects of Steve “It’s Me” song, especially the solo from stage manager Joe Dicso and the visual of the cast marching behind Steve as he goes around the studio, remind me so much of a certain famous “Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight” musical number he would later do in his 1991 hosting stint.
— Funny part with Steve encountering a lookalike in the audience doing Steve’s 70s shtick, complete with an arrow-through-the-head prop.
— Love how in Lorne’s brief appearance, he just deadpan-ly asks “Are you about through, Steve?”
— Overall, wow, what an incredible monologue. While I found it kinda strange how it eventually just turned into a big-ol’ Steve Martin showcase halfway through, leaving the other two hosts in the dust, I’m not complaining because the Steve Martin showcase was very fun, Chevy and Martin each got their individual moment in the spotlight early on, and the overall monologue was fantastic. I loved the extensive staging of this whole thing.
STARS: ****½

MASTERMIND
away from the cameras, Ronald Reagan (PHH) is a dynamic, effective leader

— The debut of Phil’s Ronald Reagan impression. Out of the many people who’ve portrayed Reagan on SNL, I’ve always considered Phil’s take to be the quintessential version.
— Great Reagan make-up on Phil, giving him the face wrinkles, turkey neck, and everything. We’ve come a long way from Randy Quaid’s Reagan impression just the year before, where the only thing the make-up people did was just slick his hair back, which did NOTHING to help his non-resemblance to Reagan.
— There’s the famous turn after Nora leaves, where Phil’s “doddering” Reagan is immediately revealed to actually be a brilliant, complex, stern man in charge.
— Amusing seeing Dennis with his trademark 80s hair greased down into a normal, neat style. (third-to-last screencap above)
— I absolutely love how when being told he has to take a photo with a girl scout, Phil’s Reagan angrily responds “DAMN!” and “This is the part of the job I hate!”
— Haha, now he’s speaking in fluent Arabic over a phone speaker.
— We also get the debut of Dana’s hilarious Jimmy Stewart impression. For some reason, I hadn’t remembered that part of this sketch.
— Overall, a masterpiece. This is among some of SNL’s greatest political satire, and Phil was amazing to watch here. Definitely one of his all-time best performances, which is really saying something.
STARS: *****

COUCH CUSHIONS
(CHC)’s sofa search for the channel changer turns up missing valuables

— I’m liking the increasingly absurd and excessive number of things found in the couch cushion, especially the black bananas.
— And now this has gotten even funnier with the skeleton of the family dog.
— Funny random Paul Williams cameo as the latest thing found in the couch. [ADDENDUM: According to commenter Jurb, that was actually Marc Shaiman playing Paul Williams.]
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Longest Night”

THE EGGSHELL FAMILY
a cautious clan deals with an incoming phone call

 

— Funny how the family appears to be playing Scrabble, considering Scrabble letters are one of the things found in the couch during the Couch Cushions sketch.
— Not sure how to feel about this sketch so far.
— Yeah, I’m not liking where this has been going.
— Some awkwardness from Steve during the sketch-ending audience applause. It looked like he mouthed an out-of-character “What was that?” to Martin. I’d like to think that was Steve second-guessing the material he had just performed, because boy did I not care for this sketch. This just didn’t work, despite the performers’ best efforts.
STARS: *½

A HOLIDAY WISH
Steve delineates increasingly-selfish Christmas desires

— A very famous piece that’s often included in SNL’s annual Christmas compilation special.
— Loved the line “First would be the crap about the kids…”
— Hilarious line about an extended 31-day orgasm.
— Very funny how overly complicated the wishes are getting, and how he’s debating with himself which wish he should put first.
— Overall, a true classic, and a very quintessential Steve Martin piece.
STARS: *****

WEEKEND UPDATE
co-anchor CHC tracks Ronald Reagan’s rapidly-declining approval rating
DEM’s Iran-Contra See n’ Say refuses to incriminate itself
press secretary Tommy Flanagan bluffs about Iran-Contra

— Oh, we get the return of Chevy at the Update desk, this time being Dennis’ co-anchor.
— Hilarious punchline from Dennis about comedian Gallagher still being a jerk.
— Chevy’s Reagan approval rating poll bit fell completely flat.
— Ha, and just now, Dennis acknowledged the same thing I pointed out above, by sarcastically saying “Thank you, Chevy; exciting story there.”
— God, Chevy and Dennis’ “chemistry” is painfully awkward. Dennis’ hip 80s, self-aware, meta style clashes terribly against Chevy’s old-school, professional, mock-straitlaced style. Doesn’t help that Chevy’s not exactly on his game in tonight’s Update.
— The “Congressional Subpoena See-and-Say” bit initially seemed like a promising idea, but didn’t work in its execution.
— Yet another Tommy Flanagan appearance.
— Flanagan’s line about his mistress being Jeane Kirkpatrick was the only real laugh I’ve gotten in his commentary so far.
— Flanagan’s overall commentary was pretty lackluster. It’s beyond obvious that this character is past his prime, and even the studio audience didn’t seem as into his bit tonight as they usually are.
— Chevy’s coming off a little marble-mouthed at times, which I’ve noticed often seems to be the case in a lot of his guest appearances on SNL (the biggest example being his disastrous season 5 hosting stint, particularly his legendarily horrific performance in the “You Can’t Win” gameshow sketch). It’s strange, because his delivery was usually so clear and calm back when he was a cast member.
— Funny ad-lib with Dennis saying (regarding him and Chevy) a tongue-in-cheek “How’s that for witty banter between us?” At least he seems to be fully aware of the awful chemistry between him and Chevy.
— Ugh, stop with the cutaways to the approval rating poll.
— While I want to appreciate the fact that Dennis is having fun with his and Chevy’s clashing styles, it’s cringeworthy seeing Dennis doing his trademark high-pitched laugh and head-bobbing during Chevy’s straitlaced jokes.
— Overall, this Update was a freakin’ mess. While there were a few funny news jokes from Dennis, all of his side gags fell flat, the Tommy Flanagan commentary was the same old tired stuff we’ve been seeing ad nauseam from this character, none of Chevy’s bits worked at all, and the “chemistry” between both anchorpersons was an experiment gone terribly, terribly wrong. Overall, easily the weakest Dennis Miller Weekend Update I’ve covered so far.
STARS: **

THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
Corazon Aquino (JAH) isn’t interested in girl talk

— Wow, I’m surprised they waited this long to have Pat Stevens make her first appearance of the season, considering how oft-used she was last season. Unlike with Tommy Flanagan, SNL seems to be aware that they need to severely dial back the frequency of Pat Stevens’ appearances.
— The pre-interview portion of tonight’s installment didn’t work for me at all. Just felt like Pat Stevens was treading the same old ground she’s already covered before.
— Pat asking Jan’s Aquino about the 3,000 pairs of shoes is pretty funny.
— I loved Jan-as-Aquino’s facial reaction to being asked how her husband (who was assassinated years ago) is currently doing.
— Overall, some laughs, but by this point, this recurring sketch feels like it’s run its course. That probably doesn’t end up being true in the long run, because I recall there being some funny installments in later episodes to come (e.g. the Barbara Bush/Kitty Dukakis interview with Phil and Jan).
STARS: **

HALSEY & ROARKE, BRITISH CUSTOMS
British customs agents (Eric Idle) & (DAC) inspect suspicious items

— ERIC IDLE! Very random but awesome.
— While this sketch is in a not-too-late time slot in the rerun version I’m watching, this originally aired as the final sketch of the night, which is INSANE. Why in the world would you bury a freakin’ Eric Idle cameo at the end of an episode?!? SNL probably would’ve been better off saving his cameo for a more conventional episode, because I feel like the novelty of having Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase all hosting together caused Eric Idle’s big cameo to get lost in the shuffle and become an afterthought on SNL’s part.
— This sketch is pretty funny so far, and I like seeing Eric and Dana teamed together.
— Funny how they believed Martin’s very obvious lie.
— Overall, a decent sketch, though it started feeling a little one-note after a while and wasn’t as great as an Eric Idle-starring sketch should’ve been.
STARS: ***

THE DEVIL & ED GRIMLEY
Mephistopheles comes to Ed Grimley’s apartment to steal his soul

— Ed Grimley!
— I like how his mere mention that it’s time to play the triangle receives audience applause in anticipation.
— Haha, and there goes Grimley’s hilarious triangle dance.
— Great sudden inclusion of Jon’s Mephistopheles. I always like when recurring characters from different eras meet.
— Nice touch with one of the relatives Grimley mentions being his Uncle Basil, which is the character Howard Cosell memorably played in the final Ed Grimley sketch from Martin’s tenure as a cast member.
— Fantastic turn with Grimley using his framed Pat Sajak photo to ward off Mephistopheles.
— An okay ending with Grimley and Mephistopheles doing the triangle dance together.
STARS: ****

CHURCH POTLUCK LUNCHEON
Church Lady & Minister Bob (CHC) act superior at a potluck luncheon

— Good change of pace seeing Church Lady outside of the Church Chat setting.
— Church Lady has some really funny comments to Victoria.
— Yes!  We get the debut of Church Lady’s priceless superior dance, which is a riot.
— Good turn with Jan showing up drunk and bitter towards Church Lady.
— Certain aspects of this sketch strangely remind me of future cast member Nancy Walls’ first Gail Lafferty sketch (the bake sale character who constantly threatened other ladies with an ass-kicking) from 10 years later. Both sketches even look like they have the same set, and both sketches even have a walk-on from the host playing a minister (Chevy in this sketch, Tom Arnold in the Gail Lafferty sketch).
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Roll With The Punches”

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A fairly solid episode, though not quite as strong as I was expecting with this spectacular trio of hosts. The biggest highlights of this episode were phenomenal (monologue, Mastermind, A Holiday Wish), but there were a few things that REALLY didn’t work for me (The Eggshell Family, Weekend Update, portions of The Pat Stevens Show), and the overall show didn’t feel like the classic it should’ve been. Still, I can’t complain much because I certainly enjoyed most of the show.
— The three hosts came off very fun and it was nice seeing them blend in with this cast during the sketches. It was particularly good to see Steve Martin on the show again after such a long hiatus, as his return reminded me of how much fun I had reviewing his frequent episodes from the original era. Sure his style by this point in the mid-80s has noticeably become more toned-down and mellow than this manic style from the 70s, but he’s still as funny and reliable as ever. I’m glad he goes back to being a frequent host after this episode. I’d also like to add that Chevy Chase came off a little more likable tonight than he usually does in his hosting stints. I’ve never heard any backstage stories about him acting nasty towards this season’s cast like he’s acted towards other casts, so I’d like to think that recently coming out of rehab humbled his ego and kept him in check for a while. Maybe the fact that he had two people co-hosting with him also had something to do with that.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Robin Williams):
— a slight step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Steve Guttenberg