Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Jackie Mason (host) apologizes & endorses Ronald Lauder for NYC mayor
— Hilarious Jackie Mason impression from Rick Moranis.
— Lots of rapid-fire funny lines.
— Strange how both cold openings this season so far have a meta segue into “Live from New York” with the speaker (George Bush, Jackie Mason) having an exchange with someone off-camera who keeps urging him to say “Live from New York”, which he initially refuses to do.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
host plays with SNL Band, works around the studio, delivers a baby
— Love the immediate deviation from a normal monologue, with Rick excitedly rushing over to the SNL Band to play with them. This is only the beginning, folks.
— Yes! Now he’s gone completely wild, going from playing with the SNL Band to riding around on a camera crane seat, dancing his way backstage, ironing Jon Lovitz’s pants, displaying special camera effects from the control room, applying Nora Dunn’s make-up, and even helping a woman give birth! And all of this occurs while the SNL Band plays a very extended version of SNL’s theme music. This is easily the longest the theme music has ever been continuously played in an SNL episode, clocking in at around 4½ minutes.
— Words cannot express how much I’ve always loved this overall monologue. Extremely fun, out of the ordinary, and easily one of my absolute all-time favorite monologues ever.
— For some reason, later airings of this episode would remove a portion of the scene where Rick is riding around on the camera crane seat (the fourth screencap above with Rick high in the air on the crane isn’t shown in reruns). The reruns would also replace the applying-Nora’s-make-up and delivering-a-woman’s-baby scenes with the dress rehearsal version. The most noticeable difference is that the dress version of the Nora scene has a smaller and completely different group of people standing in the background (which humorously includes a still-pantsless Jon Lovitz) than the live version has. (side-by-side comparison between dress and live below)
STARS: *****
THE BIG BITCH BULLDYKE BUSTOUT OF ’89
Leona Helmsley (NOD), Zsa Zsa Gabor (VIJ), Bakkers (JAH) & (host) go nuts
— Wild beginning with the prison fight involving Nora’s Leona Helmsley, Victoria’s Zsa Zsa Gabor, and a heavyset black woman.
— Excellent Zsa Zsa make-up on Victoria.
— From what I remember of my old viewings of Comedy Central’s 60-minute version of this episode back in the day, I swear they cut the part showing the “The Big Bitch BullDyke Bustout of ’89” title. I had no idea that off-color title for this sketch even existed until I was surprised to later see it during NBC’s airing of this episode on “Classic SNL” in 2002. I’m guessing Comedy Central removed the title of this sketch for censorship reasons, due to the combo of the words “bitch” and “bulldyke” (which probably seems fairly tame for Comedy Central standards today in 2019, but remember, their edited version of this sketch was made sometime back in the 90s).
— I love the sudden entrance from Rick as Jim Bakker. Also, if you’ve ever seen a picture of the real Jim Bakker, you’d agree that casting Rick Moranis as him was a no-brainer.
— Great to see the return of Jan’s Tammy Faye Bakker.
— Love the banjo music playing during the map footage screen transition.
— The beginning of the convenience store scene has a funny little part with Jon’s purchases: a Playboy, a Penthouse, a large coffee, and a No-Doz.
— Always a very funny visual of Jan’s Tammy Faye having mascara running down her face whenever she cries.
— I’m loving all the insane intensity of this sketch.
— Ha, the car-driving-off-a-cliff stock footage is the same one that was used in the Toonces sketch that debuted in the previous season’s finale and would famously go on to be used in future Toonces sketches.
— A very strong overall sketch and featured great performances from all involved.
STARS: ****½
HONEY, I SHRUNK HANS & FRANZ
the tiny musclemen deal with a mouse
— I really like this idea of a crossover between Honey I Shrunk The Kids and Hans & Franz.
— Funny visual of Hans and Franz lifting a lemon and pistachio nuts.
— I like how their guest is an obviously-greenscreened mouse.
— An unintentionally amusing blooper when Hans and Franz say that their mouse guest has left even though the greenscreen is still showing the mouse behind them, which they then kinda acknowledge with an ad-lib.
— Hans, to a sucking-up Rick Moranis: “Don’t be kissing our tiny buttocks now.”
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Satellites”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Mr. Subliminal comments on Manuel Noriega & the situation in Panama
PHH gives George Steinbrenner Health Watch update for hopeful Yankee fans
detestable stereotype Frenchy (JOL) offends & disgusts during commentary
— I really liked Dennis’ opening bandaged middle finger bit regarding a picture of Bush.
— After sounding fairly low-energy in the previous week’s season premiere, Dennis’ delivery is back to its usual self.
— Kevin’s Mr. Subliminal makes his very first Weekend Update appearance.
— An unintentional laugh from Kevin’s accidental Noriega/Norwegian line flub.
— Another overall great subliminal routine from Kevin.
— Loved the rowdy audience response to Dennis’ Ben Johnson/horse joke.
— Great idea of a segment called the George Steinbrenner Health Watch, featuring a rare Update appearance from Phil Hartman.
— A funny new Jon Lovitz character: Frenchy, “the man you love to hate”.
— I love Jon’s constant “I’m Frenchy!” and “Didn’t mean to offend anybody”.
— Kinda feels like they’re setting up Frenchy to become a recurring character, but we end up never seeing him again.
— Loved Dennis’ Jim Bakker joke at the end.
STARS: ****
RESORTS INTERNATIONAL HOTEL
Merv Griffin (host) does all the work at his money-losing hotel
— Can’t judge the accuracy of Rick’s Merv Griffin impression, but he’s coming off very funny, especially the laugh he keeps doing.
— I like how it’s gradually being revealed that Merv Griffin is doing all the work in his casino, even being the parking valet.
— The laundry bit is really funny.
— An appearance from Phil’s Donald Trump impression.
— Much like the first time he played him, Phil’s Trump doesn’t sound as good as it would sound in later appearances his Trump makes. In these early Trump appearances, Phil’s just doing a generic fast-talking, somewhat-high-pitched New York accent, not really capturing Trump’s voice or cadence.
STARS: ***½
WILD HORSE
(PHH), (host), (MIM), (NOD) unsuccessfully try to ride a wild horse
— This sketch has a goofiness that I’ve always really liked. Despite this being a very repetitive, thin sketch that mainly consists of a close-up of each character bouncing out-of-control on the back of a wild horse and then a dummy of that character being thrown to the ranch fence, I’ve always found this sketch funny. This cast is just always good at pulling off silly sketches like this.
— I wonder why Mike was the only performer who didn’t get a dummy of himself thrown into the scene. Mike did his own stunt instead.
— Good ending gag with a male horse being thrown to the ranch fence like the humans were.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Ghetto Of My Mind”
NEW COMMISSIONER
new commissioner (PHH) alters baseball rules in memory of Bart Giamatti
— I’m getting a lot of laughs from the increasingly ridiculous and over-the-top new baseball rules created as a dedication to the recently-deceased Bart Giamatti. I also like how the people at the conference are giving increasingly more hesitant applause at each insane new rule that’s announced.
— The already-funny dialogue is being made that much funnier by Phil’s fantastic low-key, mock-serious delivery here, which is tickling the hell out of me. This is one of the best displays of Phil’s ability to make absurd dialogue sound hilarious by delivering it completely straight.
— Phil: “From now on, everyone in this room, including myself, will be known as A. Bartlett Giamatti.”
— Love Phil’s angry response to Kevin’s reasonable objection to the new baseball rules.
— Great ending with everybody singing the new “Bartball” anthem.
STARS: ****½
BABY TALK
in a bar, (JAH), (NOD), (VIJ) bother a cute guy (host) with baby talk
— Some pretty good laughs from the ladies’ increasingly baby-ish gushing over Rick’s cuteness. Jan is especially funny at doing the baby voice.
— Reminds me a little of a bar sketch they would later do the following season with Jeremy Irons.
STARS: ***
WORD BUSTERS
contestants have to come up with the correct pain response
— Mike’s cheesy facial expression as Mark Linn-Baker (from Perfect Strangers) is dead-on.
— Love the format of this gameshow sketch, with contestants getting hit until they utter the correct pained response they’re supposed to.
— Mark Linn-Baker, during a long-winded answer to the question of how he’s so good at this game: “…a vast medical knowledge, nerve endings, pressure points and the like. I could go on.” Phil (deadpan, but with a fake smile): “Please don’t. I was asking out of politeness.”
— I particularly like the segment with Jan and Kevin, culminating in Jan’s collapse to the ground producing a “crash” sound instead of the correct “thud” sound.
— Kevin’s silent cocky facial expression throughout this sketch always makes me laugh.
— The speed round with Jon and Mike is hilarious.
— Nice touch with Jon’s bleeding lip at the end.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very strong episode, and a nice bounce back after the a-little-too-average season premiere. The quality was very consistent tonight, nothing was weak, a lot of the sketches were exceptionally solid, and we got one of my personal favorite monologues of all-time.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bruce Willis)
a fairly big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Kathleen Turner. Random thought: the musical guest in the episode I just reviewed, Rickie Lee Jones, strongly resembles Kathleen Turner. They should’ve had Jones as the musical guest for Turner’s episode, just so we could be treated to the freaky sight of them standing side-by-side during the goodnights.
You’ve said “this cast is good at doing goofy/silly sketches” a lot so far, and I agree–I wonder just why sketches like the horse one here would be so funny with this cast and probably die a painful death in like the 92-94 cast.
I love the Word Busters sketch!
Strangely, I do remember seeing this episode on Comedy Central back in the late 90s/early 2000s and I remember them leaving the entire monologue and “Big Bitch Bulldyke Bustout of ’89” sketch completely intact but I don’t remember seeing the cold open for this one at all which leads me to believe they might have edited THAT out.
Promo:
Re: the Jim Bakker sketch… I also remember CC making some kind of abrupt edit near the beginning of it, possibly due to music… but NOT to the title screen, which surprised me. I assumed they actually would have edited the title out given the terms Stooge mentions. Also, is that Mel Brandt doing the voiceover at the beginning of the sketch? Maybe Don Pardo wasn’t comfortable saying those words?
When NBC repeated this show, the replaced the Cold Open with one featuring Wayne’s World taking place at Home Base. It ended with Wayne saying “Taped a week from tonight, it’s Saturday Night!”
A mom, would you have a copy of that?
This was the very first episode I ever watched. I was only 10 years old, but I remember the Word Busters and the Tammy Faye sketches being exceptionally funny to me.
And that monologue! RM should have hosted solo more than once. He was such a cornerstone of 80s comedy.
I’m surprised John Candy never hosted in the late 80s or early 90s.
To that, I’ll add Eugene Levy especially since he and Candy’s previous hosting stint was cancelled because of a writers strike…
Rickie Lee Jones appeared in the prison scene.
RIP Jackie Mason.
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1419086494669623300
Very rowdy crowd during Update. I had to laugh at the one guy who kept whooping for Dennis after he had already begun his first joke.
Looking at Rick ad Merv Griffin reminds me of the first time I saw this impersonation: On “SCTV” where he played him as if he’s doing Sheriff Taylor on “The Merv Griffen Show” in black-and-white with everyone else in the cast playing the other Mayberry characters (though Dave Thomas as Gomer/Jim Neighbors singing “Theme from New York, New York” is plugged as Fred Travelina because of his bad impersonation!)
This seems like the appropriate place to post this since it’s 35 years today that the Fairness Doctrine (Equal Time Rule) was repealed. And here’s the connection between that and Jim Bakker: https://www.wksu.org/community/2021-09-24/when-the-eyes-of-canton-were-on-jim-tammy-faye-bakker
That Monologue is great
Wildest cold opening ever.
I don’t think todays SNL would have a sketch titled “Big Bitch Bull Dyke Bustout of 89”. But I could be wrong.
The prison sketch was perfect. They let it run long enough to actually build the premise and tell a bunch of good jokes. Its also a nice showcase of Nora’s talents, which is important cuz they didn’t always give her great material.
In case anyone doesn’t know, this is from a year when Steinbrenner was seriously mismanaging the Yankees and many New Yorkers were vocal about their dislike for the man.