April 1, 1989 – Mel Gibson / Living Colour (S14 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Pete Rose’s (PHH) gambling info source Rain Man (DAC) has informed on him

— Rain Man is one of my favorite movies of all-time, so I’m already loving the idea of this parody.
— Solid Rain Man impression from Dana.
— Clever idea to do a Rain Man crossover with the Pete Rose scandal, by having Rose use Rain Man’s skills to help gamble.
— A good laugh from Rain Man’s “Don’t wuss out” line.
— Love the “1 minute to Wapner” reference.
— Very funny turn with Rain Man revealing all the people he told Pete Rose’s gambling secrets to.
— Great use of Ben Stiller’s dead-on Tom Cruise impression.
STARS: ****

OPENING MONTAGE
— Don Pardo certainly sounds better than the ghoulish, deathly way he sounded when he was sick in the previous episode, but you can tell he hasn’t fully recovered from his illness yet because he still sounds very subdued tonight compared to how energetic and booming his voice usually sounds in this era. Again, like the last episode, this would later be fixed in reruns by replacing his voice-over with one where he sounds like his usual self.

MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— This doesn’t seem to be offering anything other than unfunny repetitions of how he’s paid lots of money while he doesn’t have to work hard.
— Okay, this is finally starting to go into different territory, but it’s still nothing great to me. He’s handling himself well, though.
STARS: **

TALES OF RIBALDRY
suggestive story of a woodsman (host) & a lady (NOD)

— Jon is absolutely PRICELESS in this role.
— I love the pure delight that Jon is taking over how increasingly raunchy the story with Nora and Mel is getting.
— Good turn with Jon getting upset over Nora and Mel’s sudden decision to just go straight into the sex.
— During the brief cutaway to Mel and Nora getting ready for sex, Mel looked absolutely hilarious. It’s a little hard to describe, but he had his shirt pulled over head and was doing a strange hopping dance while having his leg high up in the air as he tried to pull off his boot (screencap below). He looked like an old-timey hunchback doing a weird dance routine.

STARS: ****

EXXON SCHOOL OF SUPERTANKER STEERING
incompetents can get good jobs via Exxon School of Supertanker Steering

— Some laughs from the overly-specific, complicated Exxon job that’s casually suggested.
— A decent topical reference to the then-recent infamous Exxon oil spill.
STARS: ***

COOKING WITH THE ANAL RETENTIVE CHEF
anal-retentive Gene (PHH) gets sidetracked before showing how to cook

— Phil’s anal-retentive character makes his debut.
— So many laughs from Phil’s overly-neat tendencies and nitpickishness over every little thing, even on how to wrap up food that he’s about to throw into the trash.
— Very amusing how this ended before he even got to start cooking the meal he was supposed to.
STARS: ****

JOSH ACID
sheriff Josh Acid’s (host) name binds him to use an unconventional weapon

 

— I wonder if this is a Jack Handey-written sketch. Something about the title of this has always reminded me of Handey’s Johnny Canal sketch from earlier this season. Plus, the absurd concept of this Josh Acid sketch seems right in Handey’s wheelhouse.
— Mel: “Acid is like a woman: a good one will eat right through your pants.”
— I got a good laugh from Mel’s simple explanation that he uses acid because that’s his name.
— Nora’s overly-specific descriptions of ways to die are pretty funny.
— Jon’s “fewer acid trips” pun and his knowing look into the camera afterwards was great.
— Hilarious how Mel’s watered-down acid merely stings Phil instead of seriously harming him.
— I love Phil’s intense screaming after getting a whole bunch of acid dumped on him by Nora.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Cult of Personality”

WEEKEND UPDATE
ALF asks television viewers if they found a wallet he left in a cab
Tommy Flanagan tells what he’s been up to lately
ALF found his wallet- it was actually in his other coat pocket

 

— Uh… what exactly was the point of Al Franken’s commentary? Just him asking viewers to find and return his lost wallet? I’m left wondering if this was a genuine plea, because it otherwise seemed completely pointless.
— I loved the very random bit with Dennis suddenly suffering an extended case of night sweats when remembering an apparently terrible production number that Rob Lowe performed at that year’s then-recent Oscars.
— Very strong joke from Dennis about (recent SNL host) Glenn Close boiling Roger Rabbit backstage at the Oscars after losing her fifth chance at a Best Actress award.
— Wow, Tommy Flanagan. We haven’t seen him in two whole years.
— Flanagan even addresses how this is his first appearance in a long time, by saying he’s gotten letters asking where he’s been.
— Quite striking in hindsight seeing Flanagan immediately go from talking about the president to talking about then-real estate mogul Donald Trump.
— An overall okay Tommy Flanagan commentary, though there were some groaners in there. I was expecting to enjoy this commentary more considering how long of a much-needed break we got from the formerly-overused Flanagan.
— At the end of Flanagan’s commentary, Dennis tells him a friendly “Don’t make it so long between visits.” I wonder if we ever see Flanagan again for the remainder of Jon’s SNL tenure (not counting Jon’s hosting stint in 1997), or if this ends up being his final appearance.
— Ah, we get a follow-up to Al’s baffling wallet bit from earlier, which gives it more context and is fairly funny if still kinda pointless.
STARS: ***½

MEL GIBSON, DREAM GYNECOLOGIST
ladies line up for an appointment with dream gynecologist host

 

— Classic reveal of the gynecologist being Mel as himself, which explains the waiting room full of eager women.
— Strong ending with Jon as the replacement gynecologist generating no interest from the ladies.
STARS: ****

LETHAL WEAPON VI
Riggs (host) & Murtaugh (Danny Glover) make a drug bust

— Danny Glover cameo!
— Some good laughs from Mel’s character always using his suicidal tendencies to get his way.
— Lots of technical glitches with the chroma-key screen in the background of the car scene. (second screencap above)
— Dana usually seems to play Scarface-type characters in settings like this. Another example is the Very Pregnant Cop sketch with Mary Stuart Masterson a few seasons later.
— Dana and Mel trying to out-crazy each other is pretty funny.
STARS: ***

AS WORLD TURN
Frankenstein’s well-spoken evil twin (host) replaces him

— Nice to see this back.
— Funny visual of Tarzan wearing intelligent glasses.
— Good characterization with Mel playing his evil Frankenstein twin in a dignified, articulate manner.
— When Mel whacks Phil on the head with a bat, he nearly knocks off Phil’s Frankenstein wig by accident. (screencap below)

— I like the bit with a bound-and-gagged Frankenstein saying an unintelligible statement, and then after the cloth is removed from his mouth, he repeats the statement in the same unintelligible manner.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Open Letter to a Landlord”

BELATED EASTER GREETINGS
Tonto, Tarzan, Frankenstein & evil twin sing “Peter Cottontail”

— These are always funny, and I love the change of pace with Mel’s out-of-place dignified speaking of the lyrics.
STARS: ****

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Surprise, surprise – yet another solid season 14 episode. Again, there were little-to-no lowlights tonight, and there was a high number of strong material. This season has gotten so consistently great, that at this point, I really have run out of things to say in my post-show summaries.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Mary Tyler Moore)
a slight step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Dolly Parton