November 19, 1988 – John Lithgow / Tracy Chapman (S14 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
dieting Oprah Winfrey (JAH) has delusions of food during her show

— Hoo, boy.  Jan as a blackface Oprah…
— I gotta say, though, Jan’s impression sure is making me laugh. It’s a testament to her talents that she can make a role like this come off so funny.
— Very funny bit with Oprah hallucinating her two staff members’ heads as food.
— Jan as Oprah: “Look at the butt! Look at the butt!”
— Now they’re humorously taking the food hallucinations further with the food props the performers playing Oprah’s guests are wearing on their heads.
— I love how this has now escalated to the guests’ conversation randomly having out-of-place food words inserted in place of normal words.
STARS: ****

MONOLOGUE
host offers sarcastic-sounding Thanksgiving words & plays guitar

— Interesting jacket.
— I like his sarcastic reading of a Thanksgiving letter.
— Not sure why this has suddenly turned into a guitar instrumental. I was enjoying where this was going before then.
STARS: **½

LONG WHITE BEARD
Long White Beard silently makes your point- tardiness is unacceptable

— I absolutely love this silly concept. It’s hilarious to me.
— Very funny visual of an entire boardroom simultaneously turning their chairs to show a tardy Phil their long white beards. I also love the subsequent shot of them impatiently tapping their fingers on the table and an embarrassed Phil quietly going “Ooouuuch” to himself.
STARS: ****

ANIMAL CONFESSION
a priest (host) hears confessions from dogs at St. Bernard’s Church

— Nice ad-libbing from both Lithgow and the first dog’s voice-over when the dog faces away from the camera.
— Another clever ad-lib with Lithgow’s “I believe W.C. Fields was right.”
— Boy, the ending with the assistant dog got botched really badly. Lithgow once again ad-libs his way out of it by telling the dog “You were so good at the dress rehearsal”, which was a good way to end this sketch.
— Speaking of dress rehearsal, this sketch would later be replaced with the dress version in reruns. I can see why, as the bloopers with the dogs are funnier there, and at one point features a great ad-lib with Lithgow telling one constantly barking dog “You’re not to bark; you’re in a sketch.”
STARS: *** for the live version, ***½ for the rerun version

MASTER THESPIAN
Baudelaire fakes death to get Master Thespian’s role as Hamlet

— Yes! These sketches are always perfect with Lithgow.
— I love Master Thespian being fooled by Baudelaire’s flimsy doctor disguise.
— The “Do you mind keeping your voice down?!?” part during the phony phone call was hilarious.
— Great part with Master Thespian fooling himself with a phone call.
— An overall fantastic John Lithgow-involved Master Thespian sketch as always.
STARS: ****½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mountains O’ Things”

THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
Margaret Thatcher (host) denies royal family ties

— I got a good laugh from Pat smelling a page of her Vogue magazine and then gleefully going “That was Cher.”
— The perfume picture of Pat is really funny.
— Very extended audience laughter when Lithgow enters as Margaret Thatcher.
— Great voice on Lithgow here.
— I liked Pat asking Thatcher “Are you oily or dry?”
STARS: ***½

WEEKEND UPDATE
Jimmy Stewart’s (DAC) poem about his dog reduces DEM to tears
letters from Mother Teresa & Japan support JOL’s order- “Get to know me!”

 

— Dana-as-Jimmy-Stewart’s dog poem has some good laughs.
— Dennis’ ridiculous-sounding high-pitched crying during the Jimmy Stewart dog poem is cracking me the hell up.
— Jimmy Stewart, in response to Dennis’ crying: “What are you, a woman? Maybe you should name yourself Denise Miller; you certainly have the hair for it!” Dennis: “………Cool it with the hair, Jimmy.”
— I like how after the Jimmy Stewart commentary ended, Dennis poked fun at his own crying attempt by saying “Probably why you don’t see me acting more on the show.”
— Loved the audience’s offended reaction to the Baby Jessica joke.
— The return of Lovitz’s “Get to know me!” routine.
— Funny part with a letter-writer who started to get to know Lovitz but stopped.
— Loved the letter Lovitz reads from Japan.
STARS: ***½

THE ALAMO
at the Alamo, (host)’s call for volunteers creates much waffling

— Funny opening bit regarding the exact number of Mexicans out there.
— Great part with the soldiers going back-and-forth on their decision to follow Jan who’s offering sex but has “the burning disease” in her loins.
— Loved Davy Crockett suddenly keeling over.
— Very funny appearance from Phil as “Strange Bob”.
— Kevin’s Tarzan making an appearance outside of the Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein pieces!
— I like how increasingly absurd this sketch is getting, with Franken and Davis now randomly appearing as aliens Zacdu and Mondo.
— A good laugh from Zacdu and Mondo’s lame demonstration with the chicken.
— Solid ending with the fake-out regarding choosing black/white beans.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Freedom Now” & “Baby, Can I Hold You”

THANKSGIVING
Marge Keister tends to overstuffed male family members on Thanksgiving

 

— We haven’t seen Marge Keister in what feels like a long time. I don’t think she appeared at all in season 13, unless I’m forgetting something.
— Funny initial visual of each husband entering the scene with a bloated gut.
— Amusing slice-of-life aspect with the guys opening their belts in unison to let the air out.
— Jan’s getting some really good laughs from her great delivery of her lines.
— Victoria’s very brief, throwaway walk-on ends up being her ONLY appearance of this entire episode.
— Did a fart sound effect fail to play when a straining Phil lifted his behind off the chair? Something definitely seemed to go wrong there, because it results in a rare instance of Phil breaking character and kinda laughing to himself.
— I can appreciate this overall sketch as a low-key, relatable piece. Nothing great, but I found it okay and it had a certain charm.
STARS: ***

SKELETON
osteology professor’s (host) fear of skeletons makes his job difficult

— Lithgow’s first screaming reaction to looking at the skeleton made me laugh out loud.
— Funny visual of a ridiculously tiny skeleton being used to help Lithgow get over his fear.
— Loved his whispery “Ohh!” exclamation when seeing the tiny skeleton.
— This role is so perfect for Lithgow.
— Good hysterical laughter from him when seeing the skeleton dressed as a pirate.
— I really liked the ending with Phil and Lithgow going back-and-forth with their alternating reactions to the skeleton with and without the pirate costume.
STARS: ***½

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly solid episode, and I liked almost everything in it. Lithgow did his usual great job as a host and the show used him well in roles that perfectly suit both his comedic style (e.g. Skeleton) and ad-libbing skills (Animal Confession). It’s a shame this ends up being his final hosting stint.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Demi Moore)
a mild step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Danny DeVito