Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
special interest groups in favor of censorship besiege a bookstore
— A good laugh from the “Cash or charge?” bit with Jan as the book returner.
— I’m absolutely loving the concept of this, and it’s being very well-performed.
— The typical over-dramatic war cliches are very amusing in this setting.
— Strong ending with Phil.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
William Hurt [real] gives host a number of backhanded compliments
— Funny idea with a humble Glenn bringing out William Hurt to talk about her for her.
— I’m getting some good laughs from Hurt’s rundown of negative things about Glenn, delivered in a backhanded way. Glenn’s facial reactions are also very good.
— Another funny line from Hurt, regarding how he places Glenn in a top 5 list of actresses… in her age group.
STARS: ***½
BIG RED
— Rerun
GROUP THERAPY
fellow support group members lend encouragement & advice to Alex (host)
— Kevin: “I think that’s what we call a warm fuzzy.”
— Dana is playing the same hilarious character he played in another group therapy sketch from two seasons earlier. I think the other group therapy members are also the same.
— Great use of Glenn’s Fatal Attraction character.
— I really liked the reactions to Glenn’s “I boiled the rabbit” line coming out of nowhere.
— So many funny lines from Glenn here.
— I love Kevin’s nonchalant attitude towards Glenn’s disturbing lines.
STARS: ****½
PUMPING UP WITH HANS & FRANZ
clip of the duo’s Fantasy Dinner Date video
— Good change of pace, with this focusing on a “Fantasy Dinner Date” tape where we get a first-person camera perspective.
— I love Hans and Franz clinking their wine glasses in unison in place of their usual simultaneous clap.
— Phil’s Helmut is always funny to see, though this time, he’s not wearing the usual see-through shirt that exposes his humorous flabbiness.
— Hans and Franz altering their usual Hans and Franz-isms to sound romantic is pretty funny.
— Amusing little touch with Phil sneaking in another look at the “date” before leaving.
— Good part with Hans and Franz each sloppily kissing the camera lens, fogging it up.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Bamboleo”
WEEKEND UPDATE
DEM lists prices the Ayatollah has put on other people’s heads
AWB thinks we have enough to worry about with fundamentalism in the USA
DEM sings Cat Stevens’ hit song “I’m Being Followed By A Big Muslim”
George Michael (DAC) shows off his butt & talks about its powers
— Loved Dennis’ David Duke/Deliverance joke.
— We get another funny callback to the “Bucketman lives!” joke from an earlier Update, which has become a running gag.
— What the hell? Why is Dennis repeating the EXACT SAME rant about the flawed American legal system that he did a few episodes earlier? I’m not kidding; he’s literally repeating all of the exact same lines from that rant. Is he not aware that he already used this material on the show before?
— A. Whitney, on Jehovah’s Witnesses: “Five of them showed up, tried to gang-save me in my own living room.”
— A. Whitney, on the White House’s view of abortion: “According to the Washington Post, Dan Quayle thought Roe v. Wade were alternative ways to cross the Potomac.”
— No idea how to respond to Dennis’ VERY extended singing of Cat Stevens.
— A lot of funny details from Dana’s George Michael on how he prepared his butt for the Grammys.
— All of Dana’s many “Look at my butt” variations to Dennis are particularly funny tonight.
STARS: ***
49TH ANNUAL WESTMINSTER MAD DOG SHOW
rabid pooches compete at the 49th Annual Westminster Mad Dog Show
Circle Mad Dog Food- Wilford Brimley (PHH) plugs humane euthanasia
— The classical theatrical music heard at the very start of the sketch had me thinking for a second that this would be a Master Thespian sketch.
— An okay-ish concept.
— Glenn’s line about the inbred dog was funny.
— Second time this season where Phil’s Wilford Brimley has appeared in an ad in the middle of a sketch.
— Love how the last can of mad dog food that Brimley displays is “100% poison”.
— This overall sketch wasn’t really working for me in the first half, but it picked up a little in the second half, starting with the Brimley ad.
STARS: **½
SIDE NOTE: What the…? Instead of the usual bumper picture featuring the host or musical guest, we strangely get a Jan Hooks bumper just now (screencap below). Very random. I wonder what the reason for this was.
MASTER THESPIAN
Romeo & Juliet co-star & lover Astoria DuBois V (host)
— Ha, looks like we DO get a Master Thespian sketch tonight after all!
— I loved Jon’s way of pronouncing Glenn’s character’s name.
— Glenn seems like she’ll be a perfect fit for this sketch.
— Glenn, on making love to Master Thespian: “You screamed like a man afflicted with a bad case of botulism for which there is no known cure.”
— Glenn: “You insufferable fool, you overbearing ham.” Master Thespian: “Make up your mind!”
— Glenn’s “I wasn’t even in the bed” reveal was great.
— Glenn’s repeated slapping of Master Thespian is very funny.
— Master Thespian, when Glenn asks him what his wife’s name is: “Her name… is ACTING!” Glenn: “I have some shocking news: you’ve been divorced for years.”
STARS: ****
LEVELS
host musically explains the 9 different levels on which JOL offended her
— Interesting how this is the second sketch in a row pairing Glenn and Jon together.
— Surprised to see Mike Myers appearing in a bit role here, as he didn’t receive his usual credit in tonight’s opening montage, which made me assume he wouldn’t be appearing at all in this episode.
— This is a VERY creative and complex piece that I’m getting a lot of enjoyment from.
— Jon’s ending “bitch” line came out of nowhere and was hilarious.
— I loved this overall piece. A really impressive, complicated, and fun sketch.
STARS: ****½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Djobi Djoba”
JEALOUS OF JANELLE
an elderly woman (host) is still envious of her recently-deceased sister
— Great character work from Glenn here. Even just the mouth mannerism she’s talking with is making me laugh.
— Solid supporting work from Jan in her own right.
— Funny story about sister Janelle’s mole.
— I’m getting some good laughs from Glenn’s various comments about Jan’s “ugly” daughter.
— Very strong writing in the sketch to go along with the strong performances.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— I’m starting to run out of different ways of saying “Yet another solid season 14 episode” or “This season is on fire”, but all of it IS true. Tonight’s episode managed to be even better than the string of solid episodes that’s preceded it since January. I felt very highly about most of the sketches tonight, especially in the post-Update half, and Glenn Close was a great host.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Leslie Nielsen)
a mild step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Mary Tyler Moore hosts. We also get ANOTHER new addition to the cast.
Rarely have we ever had such a perfect synergy of performers and writers on this show. Before or since. Yes, I am biased. I was born in 1976. But honestly, did it really ever get any better than this era? I happen to think that my age is incidental and I just lucked out.
Agreed. The only era that approaches 86-93 in terms of quality are the original years (75-80, and that 5th season wasn’t all that great, so the first four seasons 75-79)
Aykroyd, Belushi, and Carvey had impeccable timing in terms of their tenures on the show, didn’t they?
Lorne Michaels was still pretty young and must have brought a lot of energy after not being with the show for several years. Crack writing staff (Conan O’Brien, Robert Smigel, Jim Downey, et. al.) and amazing cast (including the underrated women). They took chances and pushed the envelope creatively, but not at the expense of the comedy. And yes, I’m biased too, born in 76, lol
I was born in 1988 but I most certainly view 1986-1993 as the true golden era of SNL with 1975-1979 as a close second. My first live experiences with the show would’ve been 1998ish so I guess I do have a slight fondness for the the late 90s/early 2000s but it doesn’t compare to the golden era.
Yeah, This was a good season overall. In fact the show won its first Emmy since 1977 for this season.
Outstanding Writing in a Variety Series — https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1989/outstanding-writing-for-a-variety-series
The group therapy sketch is one of the best from not only the 86-90 era, but also of all-time. Everyone, including Glenn, had chemistry with each other. Since this is also on YouTube, it’s great to re-watch over and over again.
RIP William Hurt
“Janelle’s Special Day,” a sketch from the early ’80s TBS series “Tush” (rhymes with “brush”), has just enough similarities to “Jealous of Janelle” that I’d guess it’s a predecessor, and that both sketches were written by Bonnie and Terry Turner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAc-fhrnGhY
Besides being the main writers for “Tush,” the Turners were also performers on the show. In “Janelle’s Special Day,” Bonnie plays the mom and Terry and Jan Hooks play her kids.
I thought they accidentally edited in a repeat sketch. Turns out Dennis was just doing the exact same material on a different night. Was that a mistake, or deliberate?
But overall, OK episode. I didnt laugh out loud but the Alex bunny-killing joke was good.
Oh crap! Just realized Mike Meyers was in the episode, but he was not credited at the beginning. Not as a feature player or guest or anything. Odd.