January 30, 1988 – Carl Weathers / Robbie Robertson (S13 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
BushWhacked!- George (DAC) uses Morton Downey-like approach to seem tough

— Unlike in his first two appearances, Dana’s Bush is now starting to physically look like how we remember him today. The voice is slowly getting there, but still sounds very different from what we’re now used to.
— I love how this is Bush doing a Morton Downey Jr.-esque talk show in a desperate attempt to prove he’s not a wimp.
— I got a huge laugh from a crowd member being heard exclaiming “Moron!” during Phil’s trade policy explanation.
— Good part with Bush’s crowd being confused by his unsure explanation of a report, and Bush following that silence by awkwardly saying “……I’m talkin’ tough!”
— Funny touch with Dana-as-Bush’s “Live from New York” being followed by Phil dropping him onto the ground.
STARS: ****

MONOLOGUE
host sings a high-pitched rendition of “What About A Rainbow”

— Another rare instance of G.E. Smith speaking on-camera.
— I love the juxtaposition of Carl Weathers of all people breaking out into a sappy rainbow song.
— An overall solid monologue. Carl’s high-pitched singing was really funny, and I loved his commitment to the bit.
STARS: ****

HANDI-OFF
— Rerun

THE NFL TODAY
Jimmy The Greek (PHH) overcompensates for his prior racism
King Cobra’s You Make The Call- yes, Kenny Stabler threw like a racist

 

— Amusing how the football montage that’s usually shown during the NFL Today opening credits has been replaced with out-of-place clips of important black figures in history, due to controversy over comments Jimmy The Greek made about blacks.
— Nice touch with a now-overly-PC Jimmy The Greek wearing a Jesse Jackson ’88 button on his suit.
— The racially-based You Make the Call segment is funny.
— Great part with Phil’s Jimmy The Greek starting to go off on a uncomfortable tangent about black athletes mating with physically strong black women, which gets cut off by a “Please stand by” screen.
STARS: ***½

DEMOCRATIC DEBATE 88
Pat Schroeder (NOD) moderates Democratic presidential candidates’ debate

 

— The debut of Jon’s Michael Dukakis impression, which will go on to play a huge part in election-related sketches next season where he’s the democratic nominee.
— I love the look on Phil’s face as Bruce Babbitt.
— Nora’s maniacal crying-hiding laughter is great.
— When asked what he was listening to when smoking pot, I knew Kevin’s Al Gore was going to answer Pink Floyd.
— Funny “oil and vinegar” speech from Jon’s Dukakis.
— Not sure what Kevin’s going for with that mouth thing he’s doing as part of his Gore impression, though it IS funny.
— Carl-as-Jesse-Jackson’s speech is really funny, and Carl is nailing Jesse’s speaking style, if not the voice itself.
— Nora as Pat Schroeder: “Senator Simon… why the bow-tie?”
— Excellent part with us hearing the inner thoughts of each candidate. I especially liked Jesse Jackson’s inner thought being (regarding Dick Gephardt) “Boy, he is not funky AT ALL”, and Gary Hart’s inner thought being him checking out a woman in the audience.
— Overall, a strong democratic debate sketch with lots of funny moments and impressions. I’m looking forward to the republican counterpart of this debate sketch that appears in the next episode.
STARS: ****

MOTHER-IN-LAW
tension between boyfriend (host) & bad-ass mother-in-law causes shootout

— The second and final appearance of Phil’s now-forgotten mother-in-law character. She has a bit of a different look in this sketch, especially with the new addition of glasses.
— Phil’s coughing laughter cracked me up.
— I liked Phil’s shocked facial reaction to seeing Jan’s boyfriend is black.
— Wow, this has quickly escalated into an insane shootout fight.
— At the end, right before the camera faded to black, a photo can be seen falling off the wall in the background, I’m guessing due to all the “gunshots” the set sustained earlier in the sketch.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Testimony”

WEEKEND UPDATE
Phantom Of The Update DEM removes his mask to reveal a nasty scar
VIJ recites her poem “The Life Of A Table” while imitating one
AWB gives his thoughts about battles between the Israelis & Palestinians

— Nice random change of pace with this Update beginning with Dennis doing a Phantom of the Opera bit.
— I got a big laugh from Dennis’ incredulous reaction to the pain he unexpectedly experienced when peeling off his fake scar, only to reveal that he was just “Acting!” ala Master Thespian.
— Good overall Life Of A Table commentary from Victoria, and featured her doing some impressive table-walking on the desk at one point.
— A. Whitney’s overall Big Picture commentary had some funny comments as usual, especially his crucifixion suggestion and his comment about Israel being smaller than Long Island while having a lower percentage of Jews.
— Boy, Dennis’ “Rocky” joke about Sylvester Stallone’s marriage was TERRIBLE.
STARS: ***½

SITCOM ACTRESS
actress’ (JAH) pimp-like agent (host) thwarts her attempt at a new life

— Strong acting from Jan when detailing what she has to deal with at auditions.
— I’m really liking the intensity between Carl and Jan.
— Funny turn with Phil’s interest in Jan immediately diminishing as soon as he learns she’s an actress in videotaped sitcoms.
— Overall, an interesting sketch that featured great performances.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Somewhere Down The Crazy River”

MASTER THESPIAN
Master Thespian envies Ching Change’s ability to play Othello (host)

— Carl explaining how he pulls off a Chinese look is pretty funny.
— Surprisingly, Carl is coming off as a natural for a Master Thespian sketch.
— Funny part with Master Thespian’s absurd beans advice to Carl.
— For some reason, SNL episode guides (including the one that I borrow sketch synopses from in my reviews) consider Dana’s Chinaman character in this sketch to be Ching Change. I don’t understand why. This is clearly NOT Ching Change. He has a different name and everything. The only similarity is the voice, but that’s only because it’s probably Dana’s go-to voice for every stereotypical Asian role.
STARS: ***

THE GARDEN
by Tom Radtke- hairdresser (NOD) makes art with dead clients

— Hmm, “A film by Nora Dunn”.
— I like Nora’s voice in this.
— Overall, not sure what to think of this strange film. If it was supposed to be funny, it didn’t succeed in making me laugh much nor did it really appeal to me, but it did come off as a well-done character piece.
STARS: **½

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode. The quality died down a little towards the end, but otherwise, this was a consistently good episode, and the first half in particular had some really strong material. I also liked Carl Weathers as the host and felt he had a lot of good energy.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Robin Williams)
— a mild step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Justine Bateman