January 31, 1987 – Paul Shaffer / Bruce Hornsby & The Range (S12 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
DAC, NOD, JOL are concerned that the show isn’t hip enough for PAS

— For some reason, this begins with the audience already applauding wildly while Paul is just shown talking on the phone.
— Paul Shaffer, the “hippest man in showbiz”? Is that tongue-in-cheek?
— Some laughs from the bar graph comparing SNL viewers to Late Night viewers. I especially like the part about SNL viewers being “more likely to have an operation”.
STARS: ***

MONOLOGUE
back home at SNL, PAS performs “Dirty Water” variant amid go-go dancers

— I like Paul reminiscing about his days in the original SNL.
— Hey, we get a very rare instance of G.E. Smith actually speaking on camera! Interesting hearing his voice during the whole bit with him objecting to Paul saying the SNL Band isn’t as good as his own, and how he helped G.E. get his first big break.
— I am absolutely loving Paul’s whole number about SNL.
— Overall, a strong musical monologue where SNL really went all out.
STARS: ****

WHAT’S MY ADDICTION?
Betty Ford Center alums identify dependencies

— Fantastic Johnny Cash voice from Phil.
— I liked Jon as David Crosby immediately blurting out “Not guilty” as an unrelated answer.
— Good part with the contestants immediately guessing Kevin’s addiction without even being given any clues.
— Pretty funny visual of Paul as Boy George.
— An okay sketch overall, but not a particularly memorable gameshow sketch from this era. Just average.
STARS: ***

SYNTHESIZER
PAS supplies incidental music during unexpected visit by girlfriend (JAH)

— I like Paul playing synthesized music related to every little situation.
— Ehh, this is kinda running out of steam fairly early.
— What was with the ending? Having Jan and Victoria’s characters re-enter the scene to join Paul’s upbeat musical number was a little too corny and hokey for my likes.
STARS: **½

THE GRENADA EXPERIENCE
relive the easy invasion with Time-Life book set

— I’m familiar with the real Vietnam Experience commercial this is parodying, as it aired during a commercial break in the live version I reviewed of the William Shatner episode.
— Love the part about 48 “comprehensive volumes” to document each hour of the Grenada experience.
— Overall, a funny and very clever, dead-on parody, though it helps if you’re familiar with the source material.
STARS: ****

WEEKEND UPDATE
America’s Cup Fact- DEM says those who follow sailing are trendy jerks
excerpts from the new Ferdinand Marcos workout video
cliches dominate KEN’s advice on dealing with post-Super Bowl depression

 

— The Air Pontiff sneakers bit was pretty funny.
— What the hell at this America’s Cup Fact bit that’s suddenly shown up just now?
— The Ferdinand Marcos workout clip was an okay bit.
— Some good laughs from the new baseball rules that Kevin says we should follow.
— Another funny line from Kevin, this time explaining why they got rid of carpeting in basketball.
— Kevin’s overall commentary was in the same vein as his last Update commentary where he constantly changes topics, but this was really solid and had a lot of funny lines.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Way It Is”

THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
PAS & Charlton Heston (PHH) hate discussing toupees

— First time a Pat Stevens sketch has her interviewing two guests instead of just one.
— Good to see the return of Phil’s very funny Charlton Heston impression that debuted in the Sideshow of the Stars sketch earlier this season.
— Loved Phil-as-Heston’s angry outburst, admitting his baldness.
— Phil’s Heston to Paul Shaffer: “Shut up, you obsequious organ grinder.”
— Overall, one of the more tolerable Pat Stevens sketches in a while.
STARS: ***

CHINESE NEW YEAR
on Chinese New Year, the Sweeneys sing a Far East medley for Ching Change

— No idea what to say about Paul’s stereotypical Chinese voice, except that the word “cringeworthy” comes to mind.
— Oh, god, and speaking of cringeworthy, this suddenly turns into a Ching Change sketch. Ugh.
— This sketch is fucking brutal to sit through so far.
— What??? Now this suddenly turns into a Sweeney Sisters sketch. Two recurring sketches in one? Where in the world is this sketch going???
— Overall, the Sisters’ medley was good, but not as strong as their medleys usually are. I wasn’t digging their appearance in this sketch as much. Maybe all the Ching Change crap that preceded their appearance had something to do with that, but I also think SNL’s starting to use the Sweeney Sisters too frequently lately.
STARS: **½

TICKET LINE
David & his new girlfriend (VIJ) wait in line to see Radio Days

— A random return of Jon’s Woody Allen-obsessed character. I’m one of the very few people (hell, probably the ONLY person) who kinda liked his first appearance from the previous season.
— I like the new addition of Dana as another Woody Allen-like character. He’s doing a particularly funny impression of Woody’s voice and mannerisms, which makes sense as he would later be cast as Woody himself in the cold opening from the season 18 premiere.
— This movie theater set seems to be made out of portions of SNL’s home base stage from the preceding season, most noticeably the ticket booth and the entrance door.
— Overall, another okay installment of this sketch that I’m sure I’m in the minority in liking.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mandolin Rain”

ASOCIACION MEXICANA DEL RIÑON
Asociacion Mexicana Del Rinon provides money for your kidneys

— I like how this is being done entirely in Spanish, making the subject matter of this ad comically confusing.
— Phil’s making me laugh as the eager Spanish spokesperson.
— An okay silly bit overall.
STARS: ***

SNL MEMORIES
PAS sings SNL’s history to the tune of “It Was A Very Good Year”

— Oh, I love how this song is reflecting on SNL’s history.
— Emotional lyric about when Belushi “was still alive”. I honestly almost got choked up after that lyric, as someone who’s been chronologically covering SNL’s timeline on a daily basis in this SNL project of mine, and feels like it was just yesterday when I was happily reviewing Belushi’s run as a cast member.
— I actually expected Paul to follow up the aforementioned emotional Belushi lyric with a similar one about Gilda, before remembering Gilda is still alive at this point in 1987. A bit hard to believe that there’s only one deceased SNL cast member at this time, but then again, the show is only 12 years old.
— I like the dark key change the song takes when Paul begins talking about “Doumanian’s year”.
— I’m kinda disappointed Paul glossed over the troubles of season 11. He kinda just transitioned from season 10 to season 12. Maybe the failure of season 11 was too recent at this time for Lorne to be eager about reminiscing over.
— Overall, an absolutely fascinating and well-done piece, detailing the evolution of SNL in a beautiful number, and making references to various catchphrases, characters, and cast members. Again, as someone who’s chronologically going through SNL’s timeline for this SNL project of mine, I especially loved this song.
— I’d like to have seen an updated version of this number at some point years later. They probably can’t do it anymore nowadays, though, as SNL’s history has gotten way too lengthy and erratic to cover in a three-minute song. The closest I can think of to an updated version of this song is Martin Short’s 1996 monologue, where he quickly does a vague spoken rundown of SNL’s then-21 year history by saying a whole bunch of back-and-forth “It was good, then it got really bad, then it got good again, then it– etc.”
STARS: ****½

SIDE NOTE: For some reason, the copy I’m reviewing of this episode has the Handi-Off commercial from next season inserted at this point of tonight’s episode. Not sure why; was it replacing something that was cut from the original live airing?

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very average and forgettable episode. A lot of pieces that were just okay, and a few ones that were subpar. Kind of in a similar vein to the unremarkable Steve Guttenberg episode, but I’d say tonight’s monologue and Paul’s SNL Memories song gives this episode the edge over Guttenberg.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Joe Montana and Walter Payton):
— a step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Bronson Pinchot