October 22, 1988 – John Larroquette / Randy Newman with Mark Knopfler (S14 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
space alien Michael Dukakis (JOL) tells superiors his plan isn’t working

— Good gag with Jan breaking out a thesaurus while she’s in the middle of listing off many different ways of calling Dukakis robotic.
— Great reveal of Dukakis being a leader of an alien planet.
— I love how the three aliens speaking to Dukakis look and talk exactly like him. Phil is especially funny here in his impression of Dukakis’ voice and mannerisms.
— A brief technical error where the camera mistakenly cut to a quick shot of Phil, Nora, and Dana leaving the set they were on.
— Funny turn with Dukakis deciding that his running mate Lloyd Bentsen is “gonna have to die” just because he discovered Dukakis’ alien secret.
STARS: ***½

OPENING MONTAGE

— Not counting the season 11 finale, this is Al Franken’s first time being credited as a semi-regular featured player since season 5. Tonight’s episode begins his second consecutive run as a featured player, which lasts until 1995.

MONOLOGUE
host challenges anyone to topple him from his place as King Of The Studio

 

— I’m liking Larroquette’s enthusiasm for doing the show again.
— Strong turn with him boldly challenging anyone to steal his limelight.
— Wow, his sudden brief scuffle with the college boy “audience member” came out of nowhere and was really funny.
— Great part with Larroquette physically forcing Dana to call him “King of the Studio”.
STARS: ****

CARBON PAPER
come back to carbon paper- rediscover the now-obsolete duplication method

— I almost expected this to turn into a variation of the Einstein Express commercial.
— Clever twist with carbon paper being Victoria’s solution.
— Nice ending with Victoria’s ink-smudged hand.
STARS: ***½

DAN QUAYLE: PRESIDENT
Quayle (DAC) doesn’t want to hold the top job

— Funny opening screen crawl story, especially the part with a delirious Bush mistaking his wife for George Washington.
— Dana Carvey is the latest in the revolving door of actors playing Dan Quayle this season.
— Hmm, we seem to have another instance of Kevin’s real-life baldness being on display. The previous season’s Siskel & Ebert sketch has often been said by some SNL fans to be the only time Kevin went on-air with his baldness unhidden, but now it looks like its happened at least twice.
— I like Dana’s very extended, non-verbal reaction to finding out he’s now the president.
— Ha, the above-mentioned non-verbal reaction turns out to be the entire sketch.
— Didn’t care for the ending “preview of next week’s episode” scene with Quayle walking up in bed.
STARS: ***

PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST
everything Picasso (JOL) touches is valuable art

— Oh, here’s something that’s always been one of my personal favorites, even though I don’t think it’s a particularly famous sketch among SNL fans.
— Lovitz, braggingly: “I’m Picasso!”
— Lovitz is hilarious as an obnoxious, egotistical Picasso. This sketch is a perfect example of how much an over-the-top Jon Lovitz performance can often really enhance a sketch.
— Great part with Picasso blowing his nose into a napkin and then having waiters fight over it as if it’s a work of art.
— Yes! Another appearance from Phil as a Frank Nelson-esque boss.
— Lovitz hammily saying into the camera “WHAT A REVOLTIN’ DEVELOPMENT!” while washing dishes freakin’ KILLS me every time I’ve seen this sketch. His delivery of that is absolutely priceless. The sad “wah-wah-wah-waaaahhhh” trombone sound effect that follows that line also adds to the hilarity.
STARS: *****

THE CRESTS AND TROUGHS OF VERNON HAWLEY JR.
country singer Vernon Hawley, Jr.’s (host) album traces emotional swings

— I’m already getting laughs just from the visual of Larroquette badly lip-syncing to his own voice.
— Larroquette’s performance is a dead-on and funny imitation of typical country singers.
— I love the constant back-and-forth mood changes with the songs he sings snippets of.
— The “I’m Drunk” song was hilarious.
— Along with the jokingly bad lip-syncing, I also like the detail of how Larroquette’s not even trying to look like he’s convincingly playing the guitar.
STARS: ****

BUSH
unlike great presidents, Dukakis is short- vote for Bush, he’s taller

— Very funny use of Dukakis’ lack of height as a reason to vote for Bush.
STARS: ****

PETE’S FOUNTAIN
diner patrons trade double entendres with a big-butt waitress (NOD)

— Good reveal of Nora’s huge behind, which is made especially funny by all the loud moving sounds it makes as she walks around.
— I’m enjoying Phil’s amusement from Nora’s various suggestive comments.
— Strangely, this sketch ended without any audience applause, which is rare.
— Wow, I’m surprised this sketch ended so soon without taking the initial premise far. However, I found this sketch fine as a silly, quick, minute-and-a-half-long piece.
STARS: ***

BUSH
Dukakis is a foreigner- vote for Bush, his parents were born in America

— Another good ad using a comically flimsy reason to not vote for Dukakis.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “It’s Money That Matters”

WEEKEND UPDATE
Lyndon LaRouche (ALF) delineates his far-reaching conspiracy theories
many disclaimers precede KEN’s controversial message of “go out & vote”
DEM debates Dennis Miller (DAC) on divorce of Robin Givens & Mike Tyson

— Some really good election-related material from Dennis tonight.
— Al Franken’s Lyndon LaRouche telling blatant lies about political figures reminds me of the Lyndon LaRouche Theater sketch from season 11, where Randy Quaid was the one who played LaRouche telling blatant lies about political figures. In fact, I think some of Franken’s lines tonight are directly lifted from that sketch. I’m guessing Franken himself wrote that sketch, especially since he appeared in it as Henry Kissinger.
— Funny part with Franken-as-LaRouche’s random water-drinking break.
— And now, Franken-as-LaRouche’s line about “the greatest lie of them all: that I… am… insane” is something that’s DEFINTELY lifted from the Lyndon LaRouche Theater sketch, where Quaid delivered the exact same line in the exact same manner. Since barely anybody was watching SNL back in season 11, maybe Franken feels he can get away with reusing parts of the Lyndon LaRouche Theater script without anyone noticing, except decades-later SNL nerds like me.
— I’m liking Kevin’s long-winded, never-ending “take my opinion with a grain of salt” warnings before stating his political opinion regarding the election.
— An okay payoff to Kevin’s commentary.
— Dennis’ rant about the messy Robin Givens/Mike Tyson divorce has some good lines, especially his “Head Of The Class” dig.
— Another point/counterpoint with Dana as Dennis. Good to see this back.
— Dana has a much better Dennis Miller wig this time. In my review of his previous appearance last season, my only gripe was that his wig looked nothing like Dennis’ hair.
— A lot of really solid lines from Dana’s Dennis during his rant, and it’s always a great touch when he works in Dennis’ trademark “Ha-HAAAA!” laugh and hair-flip.
STARS: ***½

SEX LIFE
while in a restaurant, (host) & (VIJ) can’t keep their sex life private

— Interestingly, they’re using the musical guest stage as the set for this sketch. As a side note, I love this season’s musical guest stage. It has such an elegant, fancy look.
— Some good laughs from Larroquette and Victoria’s obnoxious stories about their wild sex life.
— Funny “Somebody DID get it backward” double entendre from Larroquette regarding him and Victoria once having sex in a car.
— Victoria: “Hell, I broke a bed once masturbating!”
— I like Phil’s panicked delivery when hurriedly calling a waiter over when Larroquette and Victoria are heard off-camera having loud sex.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Dixie Flyer”

THIS OLD HOUSE
Bob Vila (host) gives fix-up tips for a haunted house

— Dead-on casting of Larroquette as Bob Vila.
— The maternal dress Victoria is wearing has been used quite a lot over the years for pregnant characters in sketches. The only example that comes to mind right now is Christine Ebersole as Princess Diana in a gameshow sketch from season 7.
— I like Kevin and Victoria’s casual, non-worried reveals of various evil forces that are living in their house.
— Love Larroquette’s concept of using a sound baffle in the ceiling to make the demonic screaming rant in one room sound more conversational.
— Excellent reveal of Kevin’s back having a whole bunch of screwdrivers stabbed into it. I also liked how after Kevin keels over from that, Larroquette jovially says to the camera “Well… Tom’s dead.”
STARS: ****½

BUSH
Dukakis’ heritage isn’t northern European- vote for Bush, he’s whiter

— Biggest laugh out of all the Vote Bush ads so far. The “Bush: He’s Whiter” ending was priceless.
STARS: ****½

GAY COMMUNIST GUN CLUB
(host) & (PHH) take calls from potential members

— I love Phil explaining the show’s bizarre premise in that professional Phil Hartman delivery.
— This sketch’s concept is hilarious and very memorable, and it’s being executed perfectly.
— I like how the callers asking if they can join the club only fit in one or two of the show’s three categories.
— Phil: “The National Gay Alliance has yet to sponsor one bare-butt safari.”
— Larroquette, while signing off: “And remember…. there is no God, but if there was, we think he’d be a gun-loving homosexual.”
STARS: *****

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very strong episode. I enjoyed the entire show a lot, no segments were weak in my eyes, there were plenty of particularly great highlights all throughout the night, and one sketch is one of my all-time personal favorites (Picasso).

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Matthew Broderick)
a step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Matthew Modine