Month: May 2019

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November 5, 1988 – Matthew Modine / Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (S14 E4)

COLD OPENING
a drill sergeant (PHH) assigns unwieldy nicknames to the new recruits

 

— Phil’s bad insults and terrible nicknames are absolutely hilarious.
— I love Kevin as the snickering soldier.
— Phil: “You think the army is one big…. joke…. building!”
— Some of my favorite bad nicknames so far are Mr. Eyes-In-Face Man and Mr. Feet-Attached-To-Legs.
— The army song is priceless, especially Phil dividing the word “army” into two different lyrics (“aaaaaaaa” and “rmyyyyyy”).
— One of Phil’s overall absolute funniest performances of all-time.
STARS: *****


OPENING MONTAGE
— Halfway through the montage, something seems to go seriously wrong with Don Pardo’s mic. His voice keeps cutting in and out for the rest of the montage, and some of the featured players and guests’ photos go by entirely without their name being announced at all.


MONOLOGUE
movie stills supposedly show host acting in various Oscar-winning roles

— Some laughs from the pictures he’s showing of “himself” in movie roles that he obviously wasn’t actually in.
STARS: ***


THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
there’s now room for minorities & blue collar workers in the GOP

— Funny contrast between the GOP’s small number of minorities and insanely large number of interchangeable white men with glasses.
STARS: ***½


THE LIBERAL
he’s (host) a fugitive on the run in a conservative world

 

— I’m getting some pretty good laughs from how the theme song is mostly just saying “run” over and over again.
— I like Jon coming out in crutches as the son who Phil accidentally shot in an earlier incident.
— Very funny line from Phil saying he was only eavesdropping on Matthew and Victoria’s conversation to pick up some stock tips.
— An overall well-done sketch, even if not every second of it was intended to be laugh-out-loud funny.
STARS: ****


CHURCH CHAT
Church Lady beats Morton Downey, Jr. [real] at his own game

— Church Lady mentions this is the first time we’ve seen her her in a while. It’s true; I’m surprised they waited this long to have her make her first appearance of the season, considering her popularity.
— A monkey replacing Geraldo Rivera as Church Lady’s first guest is really funny.
— Morton Downey Jr. is doing a good job getting the audience hyped up.
— I like Downey’s sudden outburst at Church Lady.
— A freakin’ epic moment with Church Lady standing up to Downey and going off on a bleep-filled rant at him.
— I love the shocked look on Downey’s face after Church Lady’s rant.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “What I Am”


WEEKEND UPDATE
based on celebrity reports, ALF says Dukakis will win electoral college
AWB blames election indifference on the lack of good candidates

 

— Odd moment where a white board-carrying stagehand suddenly walks in front of the news screen, only to immediately leave. (screencap below) A confused audience laughs out loud, and an amused Dennis ad-libs to the camera “TV vérité”.

— Okay, now that Al Franken’s segment has begun, we now see what the earlier stagehand blooper was all about. The stagehand mistakenly started setting up Al’s white board in front of the news screen too early.
— Impressive map-drawing from Al.
— Some good laughs from how seriously Al’s taking the political opinions of celebrities of the likes of Justine Bateman, Ally Sheedy, and Lisa Bonet.
— Strong overall segment from Al. The particularly enthusiastic audience applause at the end of his commentary shows they agree with me.
— A. Whitney: “The time will come when Jimmy Carter will look like a great president.”
— A. Whitney: “Maybe it’s perfectly safe to hand out the destiny of our nation to a pack of maple syrup-swilling squirrel worshipers.”
— Dennis ends tonight’s Update with an “Hey, Audrey, get well.” I wonder if that’s referring to long-time SNL staffer Audrey Peart Dickman.
STARS: ***½


DUKAKIS AFTER DARK
the doomed candidate (JOL) throws a cocktail party

 

— Oh, here’s a classic.
— Some really good laughs from Jon’s Dukakis admitting he’s aware how badly he’s going to be beat in the election.
— Fantastic premise with Dukakis giving up in regards to the election and throwing a party for everybody involved in his campaign.
— Very funny part with Dukakis admitting to Lloyd Bentsen that he was going to raise taxes “through the roof” if he got elected.
— Always love seeing Phil’s Ted Kennedy.
— Feels like we’ve barely been seeing Jan these last two episodes.
— Love Dana’s Jimmy Carter voice, and and I’m enjoying the part with him giving Dukakis advice on how to deal with losing an election, especially his line “I was oooonnnne pissed-off cracker.”
— Nora’s Joan Baez song has some hilarious lyrics.
STARS: *****


WIN, LOSE OR TIE
collegians’ & celebs’ reading & writing skills tested

— I like the caricature drawings shown at the beginning.
— The debut of Phil’s Burt Reynolds impression. His laugh alone is priceless.
— Classic little moment with Phil’s Reynolds cutting off Dana’s long-winded line to say “Just gimme the damn pen.”
— Ha, I love how the “clue” Burt Reynolds draws for the secret word is literally spelling out the word itself, and yet his fellow team members STILL have a hard time guessing what it is until its fully spelled-out.
— Hmm, now they’re repeating the exact same joke with the other team.  Ehh, not necessary.
— Okay, I admit, the bit with Victoria giving up on spelling “Louisiana” was pretty funny.
— The overall sketch as a whole wasn’t as strong as I though it would be, but it had such a fun atmosphere that I enjoyed it anyway.
STARS: ***


DUKAKIS
vote Dukakis to stop America from aging as horribly as Barbara Bush has

— Hilarious bit with pointing out how badly George Bush’s wife has aged, and then telling us if that’s what happened to his wife, imagine what he’d do the the country.
— Nice counter to the previous episode’s pro-Bush ads. Too bad this hasn’t been a runner throughout tonight’s episode like the Bush ones were in the last episode.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Little Miss S”


TWO SAMMIES
while watching hockey, (host) & Sammies exhibit more self-inertia

— These characters randomly make their return TWO YEARS after debuting in one of Dana and Kevin’s earliest episodes as new cast members. I’m sure all SNL viewers at the time had completely forgotten these characters by this point.
— Dana’s character voice sounds a little different in this one.
— Kevin’s idea of a Swiss army hockey stick is pretty funny.
— This overall installment wasn’t too bad, but not much happened in this one. It felt shorter than the first installment, and I enjoyed that one more than tonight’s.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode. The quality died down a little towards the end, but even that didn’t hurt the overall show much. There were some really fantastic and memorable pieces in this episode, particularly the drill sergeant cold opening, Church Chat, and Dukakis After Dark. This season continues to really impress.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Larroquette)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Demi Moore

Posted on

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

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

Posted on

October 15, 1988 – Matthew Broderick / The Sugarcubes (S14 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Dan Quayle (host) plays Graduate to Nancy Reagan’s (JAH) Mrs. Robinson

— Good entrance from Jan as Nancy Reagan.
— Great turn with this turning into a The Graduate parody.
— And there goes a recreation of The Graduate’s classic leg shot.
— Jan is always fantastic at playing seductive.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host outlines monologue rules- vulnerability, craziness, plug, wash hands

— I really like this Ferris Bueller-esque “Tips For The Monologue” format, with Matthew’s asides to the camera after going through each typical monologue cliche.
— Pretty solid monologue overall.
STARS: ***½


MCDONNELL-RAND
medical waste isn’t all bad- it can also improve your life in small ways

— Pretty funny concept.
— The casual everyday use of medical waste has some really good laughs, especially the part with Dana happily using syringe needles as corn cob holders.
STARS: ***½


THE FIVE BEATLES
flashback reveals why former 5th Beatle Albert Goldman (PHH) is bitter

 

— Funny gag with a screen ripple effect appearing when Phil throws to a flashback, only for the screen to immediately cut back to Phil still in present time, which he responds to by saying “Oh, concentrate harder, for goodness sake!”
— The Beatles performance with Phil as an out-of-place Beatle is pretty funny, especially him breaking out into a trombone solo, which kills the teen crowd’s enthusiasm.
— Dana’s Liverpool accent is very funny.
— Good casting of Jon as young Ringo, as I can see a resemblance.
— Kevin’s pretty funny as Elvis.
— I like the irony of Elvis telling Phil’s character to never let his weight get out of hand.
STARS: ***½


COOKING WITH MONKEY
(DAC) gives helpful hints for primate preparation

— Love the audience groaning when Dana reveals he’ll be cooking a monkey dish.
— Dana’s casual delivery of “Guests can be intimidated by the sight of a flaming monkey” was very funny.
— Another great bit with Dana showing a picture of baby monkey he’ll be preparing, and talking about how good a sample of that baby monkey tasted.
— This sketch is priceless so far.
— A lot of laughs from the restaurant guests’ various requests for which live monkey they’d like that’s on display in a glass cage.
— Dana, in a voice-over: “As we bid adieu to the French Monkey House, we……. say……. goodbye to the French Monkey House.”
— A big laugh from Dana’s line about one of his “patented monkey de-boners”.
— Clever detail with “Cooking with Monkey”’s mailing address being “Top of the Empire State Building”.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Birthday”


WEEKEND UPDATE
AWB is worried about the high animal extinction rate

 

— Wow, this Update opens with a particularly HUGE extended applause break for Dennis, even moreso than he usually gets. Even he himself looked kinda surprised.
— Liked the random baseball bit with Dennis, and it resulted in his trademark “Ha-HAAAA!” laugh that always kills me.
— Fantastic joke from Dennis regarding Dan Quayle holding a pumpkin.
— Hmm, a Trump joke.
— A. Whitney’s hair has really grown out over the summer.
— A decent overall commentary from A. Whitney tonight, with my favorite line being his comment regarding us needing animals for medical research.
STARS: ****


NUDE BEACH
at a nude beach, (host) & some other guys talk about their penises

— Funny use of a strategically-placed beam to hide the guys’ nudity.
— We’re surprisingly seeing Dennis making a lot of non-Update appearances tonight.
— Kevin, upon greeting Dana: “Hey, penis looks great today.”
— Love Kevin casually telling Matthew he has a pretty small penis.
— The frequent casual use of the word “penis” in general is freakin’ priceless.
— Holy hell, this Penis Song they’re singing is hilarious.
— Kevin’s mock-serious message to the camera has some really funny lines, especially him saying he’s disheartened by the snickering he heard from the audience throughout the sketch, and telling those of us who missed the point of the sketch to “grow up”.
— An overall absolutely fantastic, classic sketch. You can tell by the energetic audience applause at the end that they loved it too.
— This sketch was originally cut after dress from the previous week’s Tom Hanks season premiere. I’m aware that version of this sketch is available in the extras section of Hanks’ SNL “Best Of” DVD, but I’ve yet to see it. While the sketch was classic enough with Matthew Broderick in the role, I can only imagine how EVEN BETTER it must’ve been with Hanks, who would’ve been PERFECT for this sketch.
STARS: *****


THE THUMPER FAMILY
fundamentalist clan threatens damnation for hassles

— Interesting intro from Don Pardo’s voice-over.
— Not sure if I’m going to like this sketch. This is a point I’ve brought up before (when talking about The Loud Family and The Widettes sketches from the original era), but I’m usually not big on sketches where the premise is everybody in a family having the same distinctive trait. More often than not, I find that type of sketch pretty groanworthy, though there are some exceptions, of course.
— I will say Jan is giving a great performance.
— Excellent outburst from Phil upon his entrance.
— Hmm, this sketch isn’t too bad. It’s so ridiculously over-the-top that it’s hard for me not to laugh.
— Decent ending.
STARS: ***


LEARNING TO FEEL
Denise Venetti gives frightened patients simple answers

— OH, NO. Not this again. I was hoping they left this in season 13.
— Hmm, no “look at yourself” advice from Nora to tonight’s first guest? Maybe tonight’s installment of this sketch is going in a different direction after all.
— Jon’s pretty funny as a paranoid guy who’s convinced he’s always being followed by someone.
— Hmm, Nora didn’t give a “look at yourself” advice to tonight’s second guest either. However, the advice she’s substituting it with isn’t any funnier.
— Okay, with this third interview taking place right now, I’m noticing the pattern where Nora’s advice to tonight’s various guests is making them realize “You’re frightened”, which automatically solves their problems. Yeah, not funny.
STARS: *½


LAURIE HAS A STORY
(LAM)’s yarn is sidelined; Catherine O’Hara cameo

— Hmm, a random Laurie Metcalf/Catherine O’Hara film.
— IIRC, this must’ve been around the same time the sitcom Roseanne debuted.
— Is SNL doing this film to make up for the fact that Laurie Metcalf has the dishonor of being an SNL cast member for only ONE episode, in Dick Ebersol’s hastily-retooled SNL a mere month after Jean Doumanian’s firing?
— Seeing Catherine O’Hara alongside Laurie Metcalf reminds me that they were almost SNL castmates. In the aforementioned hastily-retooled SNL at the end of season 6, Catherine O’Hara was originally one of the new cast members hired. However, she immediately quit after being scared off by Michael O’Donoghue’s berserk antics behind the scenes. Upon telling Ebersol she quits, O’Hara recommended fellow SCTV cast member Robin Duke as her replacement, which is how Robin got hired for the show.
— The brief Andy Warhol story was pretty funny.
— I liked the whole choking part at the end.
— Pretty good film overall.
STARS: ***


HOLLYWOOD SALUTE
gangster film actor (JOL) extended persona to western

— Wow, this is now Dennis’ FOURTH non-Update appearance of the night. This has got to be an all-time record for him.
— Jon and Phil playing their General Custer and Indian roles as 1920s gangsters seems fairly funny.
— This sketch hasn’t been all that great so far, though I’m liking it more for the performances than for the writing. Phil and Jon are playing off of each other very well here.
— The joke with Jon’s unconvincing Indian war-whooping as he made his exit was pretty funny.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Motorcrash”


BABY
baby (host) & fairy (PHH) nonchalantly answer others’ taunting questions

— Boy, this is kind of a strange sketch.
— Some good humor from Matthew’s deadpan delivery while casually explaining his baby traits to his obnoxious teasing peers.
— Fun random walk-on from Phil as a fairy.
— Like Matthew, Phil’s lines explaining his fairy traits to the teasing peers are made funnier by his casual, proud delivery.
— Overall, this was one hell of a goofy, silly sketch. I’m kinda not sure what to think of it, but it had a weird charm that I liked. I feel like only this SNL era could make a sketch like this work.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A comedown from the phenomenal season premiere, but that was to be expected after how ridiculously high the bar was raised by that episode. I still enjoyed tonight’s episode, even though it was just average as a whole. The first half of the episode was fine, but there was a noticeable drop-off in quality during the last half-hour or so. However, we at least got the classic Nude Beach sketch tonight, as well as an underrated, forgotten gem in Cooking With Monkey.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tom Hanks)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
John Larroquette

Posted on

October 8, 1988 – Tom Hanks / Keith Richards (S14 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Pumping Up With Hans & Franz- clips show the guys “up close & personal”

— Not too excited to see the season start off with a recurring sketch that I was starting to get sick of by the end of last season.
— Hans’ confusing talk about picking up laundry without a claim check was pretty funny.
— Hmm, maybe it’s because it’s the start of a new season, but it turns out I’m surprisingly finding myself in a more tolerant mood towards these two characters than usual tonight.
— The slow-motion Olympic profile utilizing clips of last season’s Hans and Franz sketches is interesting. Also, the fact that SNL already had enough Hans and Franz footage to make a full montage out of, despite these characters having debuted only a year earlier, shows how heavily-used these characters have been in such a short amount of time.
— Another thing I noticed about that Hans and Franz montage is that it really shows how different SNL looks in this new season compared to how it looked the previous season. (just compare the visual look of the first screencap above with the last three screencaps above)
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— New montage!

   

— Very interesting blue screen filter used for this.
— The SNL logo has been changed. This new circular one is probably my favorite SNL logo of all-time, though I may be biased because it’s used during my favorite SNL years (late 80s and early 90s).
— Some really good shots of the cast, especially Dennis Miller’s cool shot in the convertible.
— A lot of VERY memorable visuals throughout this, particularly the static-y TV screen laying in front of a river, Nora Dunn and Jan Hooks laughing hysterically in the backseat of a car, an old man looking at the camera with a deadpan facial expression while sitting in front of a moving ferris wheel, the person who’s shown right after the SNL logo (fourth screencap above), the “Sin Will Find You” neon cross, the pants-less(?) guy bopping along to music (third-to-last screencap above), the close-up of a dog looking at the camera while getting its belly rubbed, and the shot of the entire cast gathered together at a restaurant table.


MONOLOGUE
host’s backstage conversations reveal that he truly is a really nice guy

 

— Feels kinda weird but fun reviewing a Tom Hanks episode again so soon after I reviewed his previous episode just two days ago.
— Some good humor from Tom’s humbleness over the press labeling him the nicest guy in Hollywood.
— Interesting fake-out with the monologue “ending”, only to continue when Tom arrives backstage afterwards. This false ending is something they’d later repeat in Tom’s season 17 monologue (the one where he goes off on a Joe Pesci-esque “How am I funny?” rant to Phil Hartman backstage).
— The backstage scenes have a lot of very funny exaggerations of Tom’s niceness, helped by the use of sentimental background music and dramatic close-ups of Tom’s face.
— Phil’s angry tirade in the control room is cracking me up.
— The very first on-screen appearance of then-SNL-writer Conan O’Brien (“Careful, Mr. Hanks, this horse bites everyone!”).
— We also get a noteworthy appearance from fellow SNL writer Bob Odenkirk as an NBC page getting manhandled by two thugs. This is the first time in this SNL project of mine that I’ve caught an Odenkirk sighting, but I just found out his first SNL appearance was actually as a background audience member in the BushWhacked cold opening that I covered in the previous season. A shame I didn’t notice him there.
— I love Tom’s overreaction to realizing he forgot to thank the audience for coming.
— Overall, one of my all-time favorite backstage monologues. So many memorable parts here.
STARS: ****½


FIRST CITIWIDE CHANGE BANK
Paul McElroy (JID) explains their mission

— The concept of a bank specializing in change is hilarious.
— I love the mock-seriousness of the testimonials and disclaimer screens.
— Jim Downey is fantastic in this. One of the best displays of how his dead-serious delivery can make absurd dialogue come off hysterical.
STARS: *****


ABC CAMPAIGN 88
Diane Sawyer (JAH) moderates Michael Dukakis (JOL) vs. George Bush (DAC)

— Good beginning with Tom’s Peter Jennings announcing what’s currently airing on other channels, as part of the Bush camp’s demands.
— Love Jan’s performance as Diane Sawyer.
— The gag with Bush being on a higher platform than Dukakis as they shake each other’s hand after making their entrance would later be copied in a George W. Bush/John Kerry debate sketch in 2004. The gag didn’t even make sense in that context! It made sense here because Dukakis is much shorter than Bush Sr., whereas neither Kerry nor Bush Jr. are short. Ugh, don’t get me started on what a failure those Bush/Kerry debate sketches were. I’m eventually going to have to cover the awfulness that is SNL in 2004 anyway.
— Kevin’s Sam Donaldson impression now has the comically-thick eyebrows that his impression is remembered for today.
— Hilarious bit with Dukakis using a mechanical lift to reach over the podium.
— A good laugh from a deadpan Dukakis “proving” how enraged and off-the-handle he is right now.
— Dana’s Bush impression has further developed over the summer, though it’s STILL not at the cartoonish, exaggerated level it would later be.
— Love the whole absurd argument between Bush and Dukakis regarding a time machine.
— Priceless part with Jan’s Diane Sawyer getting a bowl of popcorn thrown at her out of nowhere after kindly telling the audience to hold their applause.
— There’s Dana-as-Bush’s memorable, inane “Stay the course, a thousand points of light” speech.
— Dukakis’ rebuttal to the aforementioned inane Bush speech: “I can’t believe I’m losin’ to this guy!” A legendary moment that defines this debate sketch.
— Great part with Bush demonstrating a bulletproof bubble.
— Dukakis: “My parents were little people… little, swarthy people.”
— Bush, when explaining he didn’t know the Iran arms sale would go to the Contras: “I was told the money was going to the bombing of abortion clinics.”
— I love the commitment to this debate parody, with them even going so far as to do a post-debate analysis with Tom’s Peter Jennings and Phil’s David Brinkley.
— I’ve said it before, but I love Phil’s David Brinkley voice.
— Hilarious “food for maggots” line from Phil’s Brinkley.
— The debut of SNL child extra Jeff Renaudo’s Dan Quayle impression, which would go on to be a running gag. Very inspired joke to have Quayle played by a child, as a comical exaggeration of Quayle’s young age.
— Overall, this classic is among SNL’s greatest debate sketches of all-time, as well as among SNL’s best political satire in general.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Take It So Hard”


MR. SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Mr. Short-Term Memory (host) is forgetful during a dinner date with (VIJ)

— The debut of a very memorable Tom Hanks recurring sketch.
— I love the opening credits sequence of this.
— Tom’s increasing forgetfulness is very funny, with him even forgetting who his date is a minute into the sketch.
— Phil’s reactions are great.
— Tom is so fun as this character.
— I love how Phil is now making up stuff to go along with Tom’s forgetfulness.
— Hilarious part with Tom spitting out food that “mysteriously” got into his mouth, and then complaining in an outrage “This restaurant serves already-been-chewed food!”
— Good ending with the “mysterious” wallet Tom finds in his pocket.
STARS: ****


FIRST CITIWIDE CHANGE BANK
more customer testimonials in praise of First Citiwide Change Bank

— Very funny line from Phil detailing the type of foreign change he received for a five-pound note.
— An overall equally-classic follow-up to the classic Part 1 of this ad.
STARS: *****


WEEKEND UPDATE
at the All-Drug Olympics, KEN reports on (PHH)’s weightlifting attempt

 

— I loved Dennis’ suggestion of a presidential system called the “volleyball-tocracy”, where 6 men are elected president and one of them serves until he screws up and then one of the other men is rotated into the role for a while.
— Dennis is on fire so far tonight.
— Very funny concept of an “All-Drug Olympics”.
— Phil making a very rare Weekend Update appearance.
— A freakin’ PRICELESS and classic gag with Phil’s arms coming off during his attempt to lift a huge barbell. Great touch with the fake blood and those stringy organs hanging out of his arm sockets.
— Funny line from Kevin about how Phil’s character doesn’t have much pain right now, but tomorrow “he’s really gonna feel that.”
— An overall fantastic Update. My favorite Dennis Miller Update so far.
STARS: ****½


GIRL WATCHERS
the desensitized losers experience deja vu at their high school reunion

— Jon’s unibrow from the first installment of this sketch is missing tonight. Guess the unibrow was just a one-time thing.
— I said this last time these characters appeared, but I always love Jon and Tom’s smug, slow delivery in these sketches.
— Jon: “She caught the shine on my forehead and just kept on truckin’.”
— Jon, to an approaching woman: “It’s been a while…” (approaching woman passes them by) “…aaaand it’ll BE a while.”
— Kevin’s appearance here is much funnier than his appearance in the first Girl Watchers sketch. Love his bragging about his unappealing wife, especially him hinting that she’s “not the clean one”.
STARS: ****


JEW, NOT A JEW
contestants try to identify celebrities’ lineages
Feldman’s Kosher Pickles’ You Make The Call- yes, Sandy Koufax was a Jew

— There goes Jan in Ana Gasteyer’s future Bobbi Mohan-Culp dress one again.
— Speaking of Jan, I’m watching the live version of this episode, and Jan’s hair in this sketch looks very different from how I remember it looking in reruns. The rerun version of this sketch must be from dress rehearsal. (side-by-side comparison of Jan’s hair below)

— Great part with Tom explaining the rules of what qualifies as a Jew.
— Fun sketch so far.
— Nice “You Make The Call” segment.
— Al Franken voice-over: “Sandy Koufax: Baseball great. Jew.”
— A strong and memorable sketch overall.
STARS: ****


BIG
outtakes from Big show Josh (host) using his size to bully the other kids

— I like Tom’s threatening repetitions of “Look how big I am!” to a kid he’s bullying.
— Very funny part with Tom casually shoving a kid to the ground at the end of a scene.
— The baseball scene is a freakin’ riot, especially the child umpire eventually running away from Tom’s pending tackle.
— Nice segue at the end to introducing Keith Richards’ musical performance.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Struggle”


THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
Barbara Bush (PHH) & Kitty Dukakis (JAH) bicker

— Strange that a well-established recurring sketch like this is appearing at the end of the night.
— Some laughs from Pat Stevens’ explanation of a First Lady “runner-up”.
— Pat’s constant ignorance and mistakes towards her guests are coming off funnier than usual tonight.
— Funny line about Kitty Dukakis being addicted to amphetamines for 26 years.
— The way Jan’s Kitty Dukakis keeps pushing her husband Michael’s political issues is making me laugh.
— Love the cattiness between Kitty Dukakis and Barbara Bush.
— Overall, easily my favorite Pat Stevens installment so far. Also, contrary to my worries, this thankfully wasn’t a carbon copy of the previous Pat Stevens sketch that Phil’s Barbara Bush appeared in. In fact, I feel this was the better of the two.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An absolutely fantastic way to start the season. By far, one of the best season premieres I’ve reviewed so far. And what a stellar return the show made after such a long writers’ strike & summer break. This episode was firing on all cylinders, giving us lots of strong sketches all night and producing some all-time memorable and classic moments. Very rarely, if ever, have I done a review where I consistently gave out so many four and five-star ratings. And of course, it doesn’t hurt that Tom Hanks did his usual masterful job as host. With this season premiere, I feel that I’ve officially arrived at the late 80s era fully hitting its stride.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1987-88)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Matthew Broderick

Posted on

February 27, 1988 – Judge Reinhold / 10,000 Maniacs (S13 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Pumping Up With Hans & Franz- USA Olympic skier (host) isn’t very pumped

— During their simulated pummeling, I like how Hans and Franz are rapidly repeating “pummela pummela pummela” over and over.
— Memorable part with Hans and Franz’s chests moving in unison.
— I got an unintentional laugh from how the box of “Weaties” is noticeably spelled without the “h”. (last screencap above) I’m assuming that’s for copyright reasons, kinda like how when some of the fake ads from the Ebersol era would use real brand names, they’d spell it slightly differently (e.g. Buddweiser, Foldger’s Crystals).
— Overall, not too bad in itself, but to be honest, I’m starting to get kinda tired of these characters. Until doing this SNL project of mine, I never realized how one-note Hans and Franz are. After a few installments, you start to realize that their shtick isn’t all THAT funny. Did we need to see these one-note characters so frequently this season?
STARS: **½


MONOLOGUE
host whistles a cowboy song

— Interesting turn this has taken, with the home base stage being darkened and stagehands putting up western-like set pieces as Judge describes a story.
— This whistling song kinda has a charm, but it’s going on far too long for my likes. Some of the brief stuff Judge is doing in between the whistling is fairly funny, though.
STARS: **


WILSON TRAP DOORS
they reliably remove unwanted people from your office

 

— Even though I’ve never seen tonight’s episode before, I’m very familiar with this fake ad. I must’ve seen this in one of the “SNL Goes Commercial” compilation specials.
— Love Jon’s nervous smile when Phil looks at him after noticing his failed trap door attempt.
— Dana’s scream when falling down the trap door was very funny.
— Excellent part with an innocent guy suddenly crashing leg-first through the floor while he was casually walking towards Jon’s desk. I also love how Jon angrily bangs his fists on his desk during that part.
— This commercial is freakin’ hilarious so far.
— Great ending with Kevin, and I absolutely LOVED his scream when falling down the trap door. That scream of his had me howling.
— This overall commercial has always been one of my absolute favorite SNL fake ads of all-time, and is usually one of the first things that come to mind whenever I think of how great the fake ads in this era were.
STARS: *****


CHURCH CHAT
televangelists Pat Robertson (ALF) & Jimmy Swaggart (PHH)

— Good to see Al Franken’s funny Pat Robertson impression back. That smile alone always cracks me up.
— Pat Robertson: “Hitler’s brain is being kept alive in Paraguay.”
— Very funny entrance from Phil as an over-the-top crying Jimmy Swaggart.
— Some really great lines from Church Lady towards Swaggart.
— Phil’s performance is hilarious.
— The back-and-forths between Robertson and Swaggart are cracking me up.
— The “If You’re Happy and You Know It” number was an okay ending to the sketch.
STARS: ****½


JORGE GARCIA, NICE GUY DICTATOR
absolute power hasn’t corrupted Jorge Garcia, Nice Guy Dictator (host)

— They seem to like doing this type of sketch in this late 80s/early 90s era. In the preceding season 12, John Lithgow had that Reverend Dwight Henderson, World’s Meanest Methodist Minister sketch, and several years later, Tim Robbins stars in a (terrible) sketch titled Sweet Jimmy, The World’s Nicest Pimp.
— I liked Judge’s modest “sorry” after angrily yelling “SILENCE!”
— I got a laugh from Judge sternly ordering his soldiers to give Phil a ride home.
— This sketch is too slow-paced for my likes.
— Very weak and abrupt ending.
— This overall sketch as a whole didn’t work for me, despite some laughs early on.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Like the Weather”


WEEKEND UPDATE
electrical storm cuts one-man mobile uplink unit ALF’s Florida report

— Nice addition of a neck brace on one-man mobile uplink unit Al Franken.
— Excellent sight gag with Al suddenly getting struck by lightning.
— I already like this idea of A. Whitney doing an analysis of each of this year’s presidential candidates, where I can already tell there’s going to be some good lines.
— Very good bit about A. Whitney and his daughter each coming up with a lie against his wife.
STARS: ***½


DEREGULATED AIRLINE
(host) flies on a filthy, crime-ridden post-deregulation airline

— This kinda reminds me of the tobacco-spitting airline sketch from the previous season’s Garry Shandling episode.
— Some really good visuals in this sketch.
— Good part with Jan’s stewardess character suddenly tearing open her blouse when flirting with Judge.
— Decent ending with Jon as a preacher touting a bible.
STARS: ***


THE COP & THE PROSTITUTE
unlikely couple has career clash

— Judge’s cop being overly accepting towards Victoria’s profession is fairly funny so far.
— Not sure I care for where the rest of this sketch has been going.
— Overall, the audience seemed really tickled by the normalcy that Judge and Victoria’s odd relationship was being treated with, but I found myself fairly bored throughout this.
STARS: **


WHEN GREAT MINDS MEET
temporally disparate historical figures waste time

— The set-up of this reminds me of a really bad sketch the show would do several years later with Jeff Goldblum, titled History’s Great Over-Thinkers, where Goldblum tries to interview a panel of important historical figures like Leonardo DaVinci and Thomas Edison.
— I like how this is turning into the historical guests trying to get each other’s names straight.
— Some good laughs from the guests’ confusion whenever one guest casually mentions something that wasn’t around yet in the other guests’ respective time periods.
— I love Jon’s frustration.
— Good sketch overall. This was pretty much a far better version of the later History’s Great Over-Thinkers. Or more accurately, I should say History’s Great Over-Thinkers was a much worse version of this earlier sketch.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “What’s the Matter Here”


PIRATES
pirates (KEN) & (DAC) prefer birds other than parrots on their shoulders

— I love the visual of Dana and Kevin’s pirates having a penguin and swan on their shoulder instead of a parrot.
— Hilarious walk-on from Judge, with his shoulder having a bird perch with three small parakeets on it.
— I liked this overall sketch a lot. Something about the escalating silliness of it embodied what I love about this era of SNL.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Considering this ends up being the unintended final episode of the season due to a writers’ strike, this was not the best way for the season to end. There were still some really good things tonight, particularly a strong installment of Church Chat, but I felt the weaker segments weighed down the show quite a bit. Still, I found more good than bad in this overall episode; I just wish this season could’ve gone out with more of a bang.
— Season 13 as a whole continued the growth of this still-somewhat-new era, but the season was honestly not quite as strong as I had been expecting. I was kinda surprised to see that it was a little more on the average side than I had remembered. A majority of the episodes were just good or average, not great. Aside from Paul Simon and Tom Hanks, there weren’t any episodes that I feel stand out as classics or near-classics. However, on the other hand, there at least weren’t any particularly terrible episodes either. Angie Dickinson is probably my least favorite episode of the season by default, and even that episode was merely forgettable rather than outright weak. There’s plenty of things to like about this overall season, but much like the preceding season 12, it feels like SNL is still taking steps towards the full potential that this era eventually reaches.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tom Hanks)
a step down


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1986-87)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
After a long writers’ strike and summer break, SNL finally makes its return, in what I feel is possibly SNL’s greatest season EVER. Season 14 kicks off with host…… Tom Hanks?!?! Wow, didn’t we literally just see him host? I’m certainly not complaining, though. He’s indeed THAT good to bring back so soon.

Posted on

February 20, 1988 – Tom Hanks / Randy Travis (S13 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Dick Buttons (PHH) loves (host)’s cowboy-themed figure skating routine

— Love Phil’s look in this.
— Funny use of Tom Hanks.
— Amusing little part with Tom skating to the Bonanza theme.
— A good laugh from all of the low scores Tom receives.
— Tom being too out-of-breath to speak during his interview is a bit that would later be reused in another Olympic ice skating cold opening starring a host: Jason Priestley. Never realized until now that that Priestley cold opening was basically a variation of this one, though that one is still good in its own right.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— I like Tom’s excitement over his freedom of being able to do whatever he wants on live TV.
— Some pretty funny reasons from him for not wanting to vote.
— When listing off this year’s presidential candidates who’s names he can’t remember, I love how he referred to Jesse Jackson as “Jermaine Jackson”.
STARS: ***½


THE BEAN CAFE
customers at The Bean Cafe narrowly avoid telling jokes about flatulence

— Funny concept of a cafe that serves just beans.
— I’m loving all the fake-outs with a potential fart reference turning out to be something innocent.
— Characters: “Beans, beans, good for your heart… beans, beans, GREAT for your heart!”
— Hilarious part with Tom using a lighter by a bending-over Kevin to make sure his pants don’t have wet paint on them.
— Great sketch overall.
STARS: ****


GIRL WATCHERS
desensitized losers (host) & (JOL) take female rejection in stride

— The debut of Jon and Tom’s Girl Watchers characters.
— Nice touch with Jon having a unibrow.
— Jon and Tom’s confident, smug, slow delivery when putting themselves down is freakin’ great.
— Didn’t care too much for the ending with Kevin by himself.
STARS: ****


THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
GOP wives Elizabeth Dole (JAH) & Barbara Bush (PHH)

— I thought Phil’s Barbara Bush didn’t debut until a Pat Stevens sketch from the upcoming season 14 premiere, where Pat interviews both Barbara Bush and Kitty Dukakis.
— Hilarious exchange with Pat telling Barbara, regarding George Bush, “You must be so proud of your son”, and Barbara having to inform her that George is her husband. Again, that’s an exchange that I mistakenly thought was in the aforementioned Kitty Dukakis sketch.
— Some pretty funny unintentionally insulting comments from Pat towards Barbara.
— Okay, after watching this entire sketch, I’m now both curious and wary to re-watch the upcoming Kitty Dukakis sketch, to see if it’s a carbon copy of this sketch.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Forever & Ever, Amen”


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN fumbles for words & gets numbers wrong during Olympic report
sick of dumb blonde image, VIJ recites “serious” poem about Daniel Ortega
JOL strays from budget topic to declare viewers should “Get to know me!”

— This is SNL’s very first mention of George W. Bush, or “George Bush Jr.” as Dennis referred to him tonight. Funny seeing how young GWB looked back then. (first screenap above)
— Oh, please don’t tell me Kevin’s commentary is going to be yet another one of his topic-changing bits. The set-up has me thinking this is going to be different.
— I was right. Thankfully, Kevin’s commentary is going in a completely different direction from his topic-changing routine.
— Funny part with Kevin confusing the word “preliminaries” for “suppositories”.
— The rest of Kevin’s commentary has had other pretty funny bad guesses for words/names he can’t immediately remember, especially him naming Connie Chung as the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl.
— Another Victoria commentary with her doing a “The Life Of A (insert object here)” poem.
— Oh, wait, it turns out this is the famous commentary where Victoria removes her blonde hair, ditches the high-pitched voice, and reveals she’s a dark-haired, normal-pitch-voiced, intelligent woman who’s only been doing the dumb blonde bit as an act. I’ve always wondered what episode this came from, after seeing a clip of it in the “SNL in the 80s: Lost and Found” documentary.
— For some reason, I love how Victoria’s poem is titled “Ortega’s Mustache”.
— Victoria’s performance here is great. She’s very committed to the bit and is coming off SCARILY convincing in her characterization.
— Hmm, interestingly, Victoria’s commentary ends with her removing her dark-haired wig and going back to her high-pitched voice, revealing the dumb blonde bit IS her true self after all. I almost feel that was unnecessary, though I have to laugh at the absurdity of the fact that Victoria was wearing a wig under a wig.
— Boy, this is an unusually long Update. Probably the longest one Dennis has ever had so far.
— Feels weird seeing Jon doing a commentary as himself.
— The debut of Jon’s memorable “Get to know me!” routine. This is another thing tonight that I thought wasn’t performed until next season.
— I like the reveals of which celebrities wrote the letters that Jon reads from people who were nothing before they “got to know me!” Funny enough, one of the letters is revealed to be from Donald Trump, which makes this the second SNL episode in a row that mentioned him.
STARS: ***½


GIANT BUSINESSMAN
Giant Businessman (PHH) deals with noisy neighbors without using his size

— Yes! I’m very excited to finally see this sketch, as I’ve always read great things about it.
— I’m already loving this, just from the interesting greenscreen work in the opening scene, and the opening credits sequence & theme song.
— Great visual of Phil in that tiny living room set.
— Tom is perfect for this role as a rowdy neighbor.
— Tom’s threatening delivery of “I’m not gonna forget this, Giant Businessman!!!” cracked me up.
— Funny ending with Giant Businessman fearfully calling the witness relocation program simply because Tom yelled at him.
— I loved the silliness of this overall sketch.
STARS: ****


APPLE SUPPORT SYSTEMS
tech support operator (KEN) guides (host) through computer confusion

— Tom’s panicky demeanor is making me laugh.
— A good laugh from a confused Tom freaking out when the computer turns on.
— Nice ending.
STARS: ***


CASEY KASEM SINGS THE BEATLES
countdown king (DAC) covers the Fab Four

— Hilarious concept.
— I love the part of Helter Skelter where Dana’s Kasem vocalizes the guitar and “boing” sounds.
— SNL seems to get quite a lot of mileage out of doing these “out-of-place people cover Beatles songs” ads, with other examples being the Cuban Beatles ad from season 5 and the “Beatles Songs You Kind Of Know The Words To” ad that appears next season.
STARS: ***½


DELIVERY ROOM
expectant father (DAC) misinterprets sounds coming from the delivery room

— Funny premise with Dana constantly hearing something from the delivery room that makes him think his wife has given birth, only for him to find out that what he heard pertains to something completely unrelated. This sketch has a silly, charming feel that I find very representative of this SNL era. Also, something about this premise almost feels like a companion piece to tonight’s earlier Bean Cafe sketch.
— Great meta turn with Tom revealing they can’t come up with an ending to this sketch, and then proceeding to bash this sketch’s quality.
— Good ending line with Tom’s “Goodbye, you poorly-developed characters, you.”
STARS: ****


SENTIMENTAL VALUE PAWN SHOP
a pawn shop owner (PHH) pays full sentimental value for personal items

— I’m liking the trivial things that Phil gladly pays full sentimental value for.
— Funny bit about Kevin’s tiny piano being worth more when Kevin’s mother is dead.
— I’m enjoying Phil’s voice and characterization in this.
— Another funny little bit, with it being revealed that a bronze shoe Nora chooses is from an adopted baby.
— Pretty good ending regarding the ashes of a phone caller’s father.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “What’ll You Do”


STAND-UPS
(DEM) & other observational stand-ups continue their act backstage

— Oh, yeah, I had forgotten that they briefly continued this recurring season 11 sketch two seasons later.
— I’m glad to see them doing this sketch in tonight’s episode, because out of all the performers in the earlier installments of this recurring sketch, I found Tom Hanks to be the funniest at doing the Seinfeld-esque delivery.
— Great bit about “What do you say to God when he sneezes?”
— I liked the cream/milk fight between Jon and Dennis.
— The whole Gilligan’s Island “three hour tour” bit is very funny.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A consistently solid episode, and definitely one of my favorites of the season. As I said in my last review, I had never seen this (nor the next) episode before, but I’ve always figured this must be a good episode, knowing 1) how well Tom Hanks usually works with this particular cast, and 2) how soon they bring him back for his next hosting stint. I was not let down tonight. And I like how some of this episode’s one-off sketches were so perfectly suited for Tom Hanks, to the degree that it’s hard to imagine another host pulling off those sketches as well as he did. Also, something I always love about Tom’s hosting stints from this era is that his chemistry with this cast is so good that at times, he comes off as an honorary member of the cast, basically being to this late 80s cast what Steve Martin was to the 70s cast.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Justine Bateman)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 13 comes to a premature end, thanks to a writers’ strike. Judge Reinhold hosts.

Posted on

February 13, 1988 – Justine Bateman / Terrance Trent D’Arby (S13 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Bob Dole (DAA) dominates the Republican presidential candidates’ debate

— I like that they’re doing a republican version of the debate sketch from the last episode.
— Hmm, there’s not as many candidates in this one as the previous episode’s democratic debate sketch had.
— Love the smile on Al Franken’s Pat Robertson.
— Dan Aykroyd! Surprisingly, this is the first time he’s appeared on SNL since leaving the cast a decade earlier. This is also the debut of his Bob Dole impression.
— Dana’s Bush impression continues to grow, with him further developing the exaggerated hand movements, though they’re still fairly tame compared to what would later come.
— Dead-on Dole voice from Dan. While I’ve always preferred Norm Macdonald’s later take on Dole, I can still appreciate Dan’s.
— Funny part with Nora’s Pat Schroeder telling Al’s Pat Robertson “It’s easy to remember your name”.
— Hilarious voice and mannerisms from Al’s Robertson impression.
— Robertson’s list of things he’s accomplished is really funny.
— Strange but amusing seeing Bush being portrayed uncharacteristically angry and defensive. Is he still in BushWhacked mode from the previous episode’s cold opening? Or maybe this is how the real Bush acted at the actual debate.
— Great line from Dole sarcastically asking healer Pat Robertson to “heal” Dole’s right arm.
— Assuming Dan’s “Pete/Pierre DuPont” mix-up was a genuine line flub, he saved himself afterwards with an ad-lib.
— Dole to Bush: “George, how would you like this pen stuck right in your neck?”
— Overall, another very funny debate sketch, though I felt the democratic one was a bit funnier. This was still solid, though.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Nothing really to say here. This monologue kinda just came and went fairly quickly with no particular huge laughs.
STARS: **


FAMILY TIES
nested flashbacks document barely-averted Keaton disasters

   

— Great Michael J. Fox voice from Dana.
— I love Victoria’s crazy wig as Jennifer.
— Hilarious blooper with half of Kevin’s fake beard hanging loose off of his face (third screencap above), which got a great audience reaction.
— I’m loving this format of flashbacks within flashbacks, and I also love how you can tell these flashbacks are being performed live.
— Good running gag with Victoria-as-Jennifer’s only dialogue throughout the sketch being “Yeah”.
— Some good laughs from the family’s casual acceptance of the fact that Jennifer’s dying.
— Mallory: “The doctor said we could do far more good for Jennifer if we just stay here in the kitchen.”
— Freakin’ hilarious with the family throwing to a flashback of a Jeffersons clip, with George and Weezie themselves throwing to a flashback. The insanity of this sketch is getting funnier and funnier.
— I’m enjoying the craziness of how each flashback is now undoing itself back into the preceding flashback.
— Overall, an excellent sketch and one of my all-time favorites.
STARS: *****


LEARNING TO FEEL
Denise Venetti again advises “look at yourself”

— They’re making this recurring ALREADY? They just debuted this sketch two episodes ago, and it’s way too one-note to make recurring.
— Even Jon’s character is basically the same as his character from the first installment of this sketch.
— Okay, I got one laugh so far, from Nora telling Phil “If you looked at yourself, you wouldn’t want to masturbate.”
— Overall, as expected, this hit the same basic beats from the first installment and came off tired. Felt unnecessary.
STARS: *½


WEEKEND UPDATE
one-man mobile uplink unit ALF reports on New Hampshire primary weather

— Quite a lot of airtime for Al Franken tonight. Wonder why he never receives a featured player credit for any of his appearances this season and last. They don’t begin crediting him as a featured player again until next season.
— Some funny lines from Al about each presidential candidate’s weather preference.
— Nice taped sequence of Al riding on the road in a snowmobile.
— Hmm, a Trump joke.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Wishing Well”


TALKING BEHIND HER BACK
(host)’s paranoia is justified- perfect people at a party do laugh at her

— Okay, I wasn’t sure about this premise at first, but I’m now liking the absurdity of all the high-class party guests talking about Justine’s stupidity.
— The ending left me wanting this to go further.
STARS: ***


FRIDAY NIGHT VIDEOS
host & George F. Will (DAC) chat awkwardly

— The awkwardness of Dana and Justine’s conversation KINDA has some chuckles, but what is the point of this?
— And now, out of nowhere, an SNL bumper picture abruptly cuts this sketch off while it was still in progress. We’re nowhere near the end of tonight’s episode in the copy I’m watching, but I remember when NBC aired this episode on “Classic SNL” back in 2006 (where the ending of this sketch was also cut off), this sketch was at the very end of the episode, which I assume is where it originally aired during the live broadcast. If so, then the show probably ran long, which would explain this sketch’s premature cut-off.
— After the abrupt non-ending, all I can find myself saying about this overall sketch is: what the hell??? Instead of being humorously awkward, this sketch was just… awkward. Not to mention dull as hell.
STARS: *½


INSPIRATION
Derek Stevens’ muse of a girlfriend (host) wants him to move out

— Another Derek Stevens sketch.
— There’s too much of a sameness to all of Justine’s roles so far tonight. She’s basically just playing the same generic character in every sketch, and SNL’s not even ATTEMPTING to give her anything comedic to do.
— This sketch isn’t working for me so far.
— Overall, boy, was this a flop (our second one in a row tonight). Thankfully, I think it’s the last we ever see of Derek Stevens, who never should have been made recurring after his legendary original one-off sketch.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Under My Thumb”


ST. VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE
(KEN)’s “foolproof” bank robbery plan is “in & out, nobody gets hurt”

— I’m liking Jon’s overly specific questions.
— Very funny part with Kevin substituting “in and out, nobody gets hurt” with a rhythmic “ba ba ba, ba-ba-ba-ba” to help his henchmen remember it.
— I absolute LOVE Phil’s aggressive outbursts throughout this.
— A good laugh from the mix-up with a revolving door as explained in the epilogue screen crawl ending.
— Overall, I liked this sketch a lot. Also, the premise and writing had a very Kevin Nealon-y feel, where you can tell he wrote this himself. The “ba ba ba, ba-ba-ba-ba” part especially seemed like something out of his playbook.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— This episode is hard for me to figure as a whole. What was good in this episode was particularly great, but what was weak was absolutely terrible. Very mixed episode with almost no middle ground, but I’d say the good slightly outweighed the bad.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Carl Weathers)
— a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Tom Hanks. I’m excited to see this as well as the episode after that (Judge Reinhold), because, out of all the episodes from season 11 to early season 44 (up to the Steve Carell episode), this season’s Hanks and Reinhold episodes are the only ones I’ve never seen before starting this SNL project of mine.

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January 30, 1988 – Carl Weathers / Robbie Robertson (S13 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
BushWhacked!- George (DAC) uses Morton Downey-like approach to seem tough

— Unlike in his first two appearances, Dana’s Bush is now starting to physically look like how we remember him today. The voice is slowly getting there, but still sounds very different from what we’re now used to.
— I love how this is Bush doing a Morton Downey Jr.-esque talk show in a desperate attempt to prove he’s not a wimp.
— I got a huge laugh from a crowd member being heard exclaiming “Moron!” during Phil’s trade policy explanation.
— Good part with Bush’s crowd being confused by his unsure explanation of a report, and Bush following that silence by awkwardly saying “……I’m talkin’ tough!”
— Funny touch with Dana-as-Bush’s “Live from New York” being followed by Phil dropping him onto the ground.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host sings a high-pitched rendition of “What About A Rainbow”

— Another rare instance of G.E. Smith speaking on-camera.
— I love the juxtaposition of Carl Weathers of all people breaking out into a sappy rainbow song.
— An overall solid monologue. Carl’s high-pitched singing was really funny, and I loved his commitment to the bit.
STARS: ****


HANDI-OFF
— Rerun


THE NFL TODAY
Jimmy The Greek (PHH) overcompensates for his prior racism
King Cobra’s You Make The Call- yes, Kenny Stabler threw like a racist

 

— Amusing how the football montage that’s usually shown during the NFL Today opening credits has been replaced with out-of-place clips of important black figures in history, due to controversy over comments Jimmy The Greek made about blacks.
— Nice touch with a now-overly-PC Jimmy The Greek wearing a Jesse Jackson ’88 button on his suit.
— The racially-based You Make the Call segment is funny.
— Great part with Phil’s Jimmy The Greek starting to go off on a uncomfortable tangent about black athletes mating with physically strong black women, which gets cut off by a “Please stand by” screen.
STARS: ***½


DEMOCRATIC DEBATE 88
Pat Schroeder (NOD) moderates Democratic presidential candidates’ debate

 

— The debut of Jon’s Michael Dukakis impression, which will go on to play a huge part in election-related sketches next season where he’s the democratic nominee.
— I love the look on Phil’s face as Bruce Babbitt.
— Nora’s maniacal crying-hiding laughter is great.
— When asked what he was listening to when smoking pot, I knew Kevin’s Al Gore was going to answer Pink Floyd.
— Funny “oil and vinegar” speech from Jon’s Dukakis.
— Not sure what Kevin’s going for with that mouth thing he’s doing as part of his Gore impression, though it IS funny.
— Carl-as-Jesse-Jackson’s speech is really funny, and Carl is nailing Jesse’s speaking style, if not the voice itself.
— Nora as Pat Schroeder: “Senator Simon… why the bow-tie?”
— Excellent part with us hearing the inner thoughts of each candidate. I especially liked Jesse Jackson’s inner thought being (regarding Dick Gephardt) “Boy, he is not funky AT ALL”, and Gary Hart’s inner thought being him checking out a woman in the audience.
— Overall, a strong democratic debate sketch with lots of funny moments and impressions. I’m looking forward to the republican counterpart of this debate sketch that appears in the next episode.
STARS: ****


MOTHER-IN-LAW
tension between boyfriend (host) & bad-ass mother-in-law causes shootout

— The second and final appearance of Phil’s now-forgotten mother-in-law character. She has a bit of a different look in this sketch, especially with the new addition of glasses.
— Phil’s coughing laughter cracked me up.
— I liked Phil’s shocked facial reaction to seeing Jan’s boyfriend is black.
— Wow, this has quickly escalated into an insane shootout fight.
— At the end, right before the camera faded to black, a photo can be seen falling off the wall in the background, I’m guessing due to all the “gunshots” the set sustained earlier in the sketch.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Testimony”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Phantom Of The Update DEM removes his mask to reveal a nasty scar
VIJ recites her poem “The Life Of A Table” while imitating one
AWB gives his thoughts about battles between the Israelis & Palestinians

— Nice random change of pace with this Update beginning with Dennis doing a Phantom of the Opera bit.
— I got a big laugh from Dennis’ incredulous reaction to the pain he unexpectedly experienced when peeling off his fake scar, only to reveal that he was just “Acting!” ala Master Thespian.
— Good overall Life Of A Table commentary from Victoria, and featured her doing some impressive table-walking on the desk at one point.
— A. Whitney’s overall Big Picture commentary had some funny comments as usual, especially his crucifixion suggestion and his comment about Israel being smaller than Long Island while having a lower percentage of Jews.
— Boy, Dennis’ “Rocky” joke about Sylvester Stallone’s marriage was TERRIBLE.
STARS: ***½


SITCOM ACTRESS
actress’ (JAH) pimp-like agent (host) thwarts her attempt at a new life

— Strong acting from Jan when detailing what she has to deal with at auditions.
— I’m really liking the intensity between Carl and Jan.
— Funny turn with Phil’s interest in Jan immediately diminishing as soon as he learns she’s an actress in videotaped sitcoms.
— Overall, an interesting sketch that featured great performances.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Somewhere Down The Crazy River”


MASTER THESPIAN
Master Thespian envies Ching Change’s ability to play Othello (host)

— Carl explaining how he pulls off a Chinese look is pretty funny.
— Surprisingly, Carl is coming off as a natural for a Master Thespian sketch.
— Funny part with Master Thespian’s absurd beans advice to Carl.
— For some reason, SNL episode guides (including the one that I borrow sketch synopses from in my reviews) consider Dana’s Chinaman character in this sketch to be Ching Change. I don’t understand why. This is clearly NOT Ching Change. He has a different name and everything. The only similarity is the voice, but that’s only because it’s probably Dana’s go-to voice for every stereotypical Asian role.
STARS: ***


THE GARDEN
by Tom Radtke- hairdresser (NOD) makes art with dead clients

— Hmm, “A film by Nora Dunn”.
— I like Nora’s voice in this.
— Overall, not sure what to think of this strange film. If it was supposed to be funny, it didn’t succeed in making me laugh much nor did it really appeal to me, but it did come off as a well-done character piece.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode. The quality died down a little towards the end, but otherwise, this was a consistently good episode, and the first half in particular had some really strong material. I also liked Carl Weathers as the host and felt he had a lot of good energy.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Robin Williams)
— a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Justine Bateman

Posted on

January 23, 1988 – Robin Williams / James Taylor (S13 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Pumping Up With Hans & Franz- the duo criticize Jimmy The Greek’s remarks

— This again so soon? While it’s good that these characters are continuing to gain popularity, do we really need them two episodes in a row? Granted, SNL had a month-long Christmas break between these last two episodes, but I’m watching/reviewing these SNL episodes in chronological order on a day-to-day basis, and thus it feels like Hans and Franz literally just appeared.
— Interesting change of pace at least, with Hans and Franz here to talk about controversial statements Jimmy The Greek recently made about black people having superior thighs to white people.
— I got a big laugh from them mentioning Webster (Emmanuel Lewis) as proof that black people aren’t stronger than white people.
— An overall decent cold opening with some funny comments toward Jimmy The Greek.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about safe sex & the importance of using condoms

— I absolutely LOVE Robin’s entrance in this, busting through the doors and immediately going into a very extended, energetic, fun dance sequence all around the stage as the SNL Band continues playing the theme music (first screencap above). This has always been my personal all-time favorite entrance that a host has ever made for their monologue. Hell, this entrance of Robin’s was so epic that SNL even used a clip of it for an In Memoriam to Robin that was added to a season 39 summer rerun when Robin died in 2014.
— Robin’s whole talk about prophylactics has tons of funny lines.
— Now he’s making me laugh even more with his bit about Shakespearean actors in porn.
— Incredible monologue overall. I loved this just as much as Robin’s season 12 monologue. You can tell the audience found this phenomenal as well, judging from their particularly huge applause at the end.
STARS: ****½


COMPULSION
— Rerun


BIRTH TAPE
to recommend birth filming, (host) shows video of wife (VIJ) having baby

— I’m really liking this premise.
— Very funny reveal that Victoria’s the one holding the camera while she’s in labor.
— Memorable and hilarious part with Robin stretching out his mouth to imitate what Victoria looks like “down there” in her labor-induced state.
— I like the use of an obvious doll that Victoria has birthed.
— A fun overall sketch and was absolutely perfect for Robin.
STARS: ****


LEARNING TO FEEL
Denise Venetti (NOD) tells patients “look at yourself”

— Nora’s intense hand-on-face expressions when giving her guests advice are pretty funny.
— I liked Nora’s rapid, confusing, back-and-forth “Look at Glenn, look at Ann” to Phil and Jan.
— This overall sketch was okay and Nora gave a good performance, but you got the joke of the sketch really quickly and it didn’t expand from there. I’m not looking forward to this sketch eventually becoming recurring.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Never Die Young”


WEEKEND UPDATE
one-man mobile uplink unit ALF reports on the caucuses from Iowa

— Loved Dennis’ opening line, where he vaguely addresses the aforementioned controversial Jimmy The Greek statement by saying “So what if their thighs are bigger than ours? It’s that other thing that eats at me.”
— Lots of rapid-fire random one-line jokes from Dennis so far tonight.
— The debut of Al Franken’s one-man mobile uplink unit, a bit that I’ve always liked.
— A good laugh from Al professionally detailing the pain he’s in from carrying around all the gadgets.
— Good overall commentary from Al.
— Great ad-lib from Dennis after a blown joke resulted in deadly silence from the audience.
— Dennis’ random “What IS normal heterosexual sex?” bit didn’t work at all.
STARS: ***½


THE 8TH ANNUAL ACE AWARDS
reruns, tickers, infomercials get their due

— Dana is very funny in his impression of stand-up comedian Gallagher.
— I have no idea who Robin is playing, nor why the camera keeps cutting to such an extreme close-up of him whenever he speaks.
— Strange sketch so far.
— Jon’s acceptance speech has a few laughs, which is more than I can say for almost anything else in this sketch so far.
— The clips they’re showing are making less and less sense. If that’s the joke, it’s not working.
— I’m enjoying Nora’s impression of Shelley Duvall.
— For some reason, I liked Phil’s grumpy facial reaction when he’s announced as the winner.
— Overall, despite a few bright spots, I was not a fan of this sketch. The randomness in it just didn’t work. SNL usually has a poor track record with award show sketches, and this one is no exception.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Sweet Potato Pie”


I WUV YOU
(host)’s inability to sincerely say “I love you” irks girlfriend (JAH)

— A promising use of Robin’s knack for doing different voices.
— If you know me, you’ll know I loved the quick part with Robin doing Three Stooges voices.
— The ending was… okay, I guess.
— Overall, ehh, I wasn’t too crazy about this sketch as a whole. Not sure what about it didn’t work for me.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Lonesome Road”


DISCOVER
Peter Graves (PHH) interviews spirits channelled through (host)

— Some particularly funny bad analogies from Phil’s Graves early on in this.
— Some big laughs from Robin’s channeling of Lambda’s spirit.
— Robin channeling a random Jewish guy from Pittsburgh is pretty funny.
— This is strange for a Discover sketch. For once, the humor is more focused on the guest than on Phil’s Graves.
— Overall, this was okay for what it was, but I definitely prefer the previous Discover sketches. It didn’t feel right seeing Graves as basically a straight man for once, when the appeal of these Discover sketches has always been Graves’ idiotic statements and actions.
STARS: ***


60TH BIRTHDAY
on his 60th birthday, host is visited by chip-off-the-old-block son (DAC)

— Love this concept of Robin playing himself as an old man in the future.
— When it’s announced that Ronald Reagan is still alive at age 106, I loved a surprised Robin commenting how he assumed in the past that all that would be left of Reagan in the future is a wig and a colon.
— Another great line from Robin, this time remarking how future Michael Jackson looks like a photo negative of Katharine Hepburn.
— Very fun and dead-on Robin Williams impression from Dana.
— After a very long run of wacky ad-libs from his son, I love Robin’s only response to that being “I should’ve worn a prophylactic.”
— Some funny lines about where Robin’s career has gone in the future.
— Lots of great back-and-forths between Robin and Dana throughout this sketch.
— Absolutely loved the line about Dennis Miller being a U.S. Senator. Even funnier in hindsight, considering that prediction ended up coming true for another SNL performer from this era.
— After the aforementioned Dennis Miller mention, Dana works in his impression of him. Robin’s response has me wondering if that was an ad-lib on Dana’s part.
— Robin, after his son has left: “I don’t have the heart to tell him he’s a foster child.” That hilarious line was not only a killer way to end this sketch, but was also a perfect end to tonight’s episode in general. However, I’m aware that this sketch originally aired earlier in the show during the original airing, and was moved to the end of the show in the rerun version I’m reviewing.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty fun episode, as is usually the case whenever Robin Williams hosts. However, I’m not as big a fan of this episode as I was of Robin’s season 12 hosting stint. That episode was pretty much flawless in my eyes, whereas tonight’s episode had a disappointing post-Update half, aside from the 60th Birthday sketch. That being said, what worked in this episode worked well, and there were some memorable moments.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Paul Simon)
— a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Carl Weathers

Posted on

December 19, 1987 – Paul Simon / Linda Ronstadt with The Mariachi Vargas (S13 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
the apostles prepare a surprise party for Jesus’ 30th birthday

— I like the humorously casual discussion the apostles are having about Jesus.
— Very funny bit with Jon wanting Jesus to turn the pitcher of water into wine.
— Jan’s abrupt “Live from New York” had no real segue and seemed awkwardly shoehorned in. That, coupled with the fact that host Paul Simon appeared in this, makes me wonder if this wasn’t the cold opening in dress rehearsal.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Much like in the previous season’s Christmas episode (William Shatner), the SNL Band plays a snippet of “Joy to the World” at the beginning of the opening montage before segueing into the regular theme music.


MONOLOGUE
host & senator Paul Simon [real] tell how their engagements are confused

— Great start with Paul making his monologue entrance alongside senator Paul Simon.
— Some good laughs from the mix-up over which Paul Simon was supposed to host, as well as them recalling times where one of them mistakenly showed up at an event meant for the other.
— An overall funny, charming, and memorable monologue.
STARS: ****


PUMPING UP WITH HANS & FRANZ
(no synopsis available)

— These characters are now officially popular, with them immediately getting a good amount of audience applause while they’re introducing themselves at the beginning of this.
— Some laughs from them forcing an injured Paul to do a workout.
— Nice to see the reappearance of Phil’s flabby Helmut character.
— Good continuity, updating us on Helmut’s physical progress since his last appearance, even showing still photos of his last appearance.
STARS: ***½


MASTER THESPIAN
Master Thespian improvises while tackling Santa role at Macy’s

 

— Funny moment with the camera pulling back and revealing that Master Thespian’s journal writing has been taking place in a men’s bathroom.
— Love seeing another appearance of Phil as a Frank Nelson-esque boss (“Eee-Yeeessssssss?”).
— The “pull my finger” bit was hilarious, especially Phil’s grossed-out vocalization. Only this era could get away with that kind of fart humor without it coming off groanworthy.
— I like this premise of Master Thespian as a mall Santa.
— Very funny overdramatic reaction from Master Thespian when he gets fired.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Los Laureles” & ” La Cigarra”


CASTAWAYS
(host) is amazed by craftsmanship of gifts given by fellow castaway (VIJ)

— Good laughs from Victoria revealing she made Paul’s watch herself, detailing the complicated process of how she made it with limited resources.
— More solid humor from how cheap Paul’s gifts look in comparison to Victoria’s.
— Great ending with the reveal of a hidden motor scooter.
— An overall very strong and charming sketch. One of Victoria’s best.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
the people say Gary Hart’s crazy for re-entering the presidential race
NBC’s shocking find is a clip of Jerry Lewis
DEM & Dennis Miller (DAC) debate whether Gary Hart’s decision was sound

 

— Decent bit with “The People” giving their opinion on Gary Hart.
— Dennis is coming off a little marble-mouthed at times tonight.
— Hilarious random bit with Dennis presenting a goofy 1950s clip of Jerry Lewis as “shocking and disturbing” footage.
— Dennis’ message towards Donna Rice was great.
— Yes! The debut of Dana’s Dennis Miller impression. As I mentioned earlier this season in my review of the Candice Bergen episode, Dana’s Dennis impression was supposed to debut that night in a similar point/counterpoint debate on Weekend Update, but there was a mix-up with Dana erroneously thinking the segment got cut, leading Dennis to awkwardly abort the segment on-air.
— Dana’s impression of Dennis is freakin’ dead-on and hilarious. I’ll ignore the bad wig, though.
— An overall excellent commentary from Dana’s Dennis.
— A very strong overall Update from Dennis, and a great comeback after the slump his Updates have been in the last handful of episodes.
STARS: ****


SUBWAY
(PHH) solicits money on a subway car by changing his story with each pass

 

— Love the turn with Phil revealing his hobo bit was just an act for a play he’s performing in.
— I really like where this is going, with Phil constantly switching his story and personality. This is a great showcase of Phil’s talents.
— Excellent ending with Phil changing his act to a stick-up robbery.
STARS: ****


SKI LODGE
in a ski lodge, Sweeney sisters “treat” host to a medley of his songs

— Okay, here’s the sketch that commenter Rssk informed me that the now-notorious Brynn Hartman appears as an extra in (and supposedly is even shown during a close-up at one point). Even though it will probably feel kinda chilling seeing her, I’ll keep my eye open on which female extra may possibly be her. I’m not very familiar with what she looked like, though. All I have to go on is the fact that she had blonde hair.
— I like the Sweeney Sisters launching into a Paul Simon medley, accompanied by a shot of Paul looking uncomfortable.
— Funny part with the Sisters forcing a reluctant Paul to join in during the name parts of the 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover chorus.
— A very solid Sweeney Sisters sketch overall.
— Okay, so… which blonde female extra was Brynn? The ski accident victim in the leg cast (seen in the first screencap above, as well as in the background of the last two screencaps above) or the woman in the winter sweater (seen in the background of the fourth screencap above)? I’m guessing it’s the former. Can anyone confirm?
STARS: ****


SUCCINCTLY SPEAKING
Tonto (JOL), Tarzan (KEN), Frankenstein (PHH) opine

— The debut of Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein.
— I like Nora casually introducing Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein as her talk show guests, as if it’s perfectly normal to have them on.
— This is sometimes inaccurately remembered by SNL fans as being a Pat Stevens sketch. Nora is actually just playing a generic, non-recurring talk show host here.
— I like Nora suddenly going from asking Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein simple questions to asking them about the INF treaty.
— There goes the most well-remembered part of the sketch, and a legendary SNL moment in general: Phil suddenly busting out laughing uncontrollably one of the times he’s supposed to say “Fire bad!” Absolutely classic, made even more noteworthy by the fact that it’s a usually-unflappable pro who’s breaking character so badly. While Phil would go on to have a (very) few minor instances of laughing out of character in later seasons (most notably a Matt Foley sketch from the Martin Lawrence episode, where an absurd line flub from Chris Farley causes every cast member in the scene, including Phil, to lose it and crack up), they were nowhere near as major as his character break in this sketch.
— The hilarity continues as the sketch concludes with Phil’s Frankenstein walking around destroying the set while Phil is still laughing out of character. It almost feels like getting up and destroying the set was an ad-lib from Phil in an attempt to divert attention away from his character breaking, though it’s obviously not, because the wall he tears through is clearly a breakaway prop.
STARS: *****


SEASON’S GREETINGS
Tonto, Tarzan, Frankenstein sing “Away in a Manger”

— And with the debut of debut of Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein in the preceding sketch, we now get the debut of a recurring segment with them performing a holiday song.
— This is great. It’s kinda hard to explain why this is so funny, especially as it eventually becomes a recurring bit, but it just works and has a silliness that I love about this era of SNL.
— For some reason, a stagehand is seen mopping in the background throughout this.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & musical guest perform “Under African Skies”


TEXAS DINER
at the truck stop, Anita & friends reflect on the events of the past year

— Hmm, here’s a sketch that I have no memory of from my past viewings of this episode.
— I think this is the same diner waitress (Anita) that Jan played in a well-done slice-of-life sketch from the Willie Nelson episode the previous season. Never knew this was a recurring character. I wonder if it’s also the same character Jan plays in the memorable Sexual Tensions Diner sketch with Alec Baldwin.
— Interesting argument these people are making of why 1987 was such a bad year (Black Monday, televangelist scandals, Oliver North, etc.).
— I like Jan’s character occasionally speaking in uncharacteristic intelligent, complicated terms.
— Overall, this was a nice, low-key, realistic piece, which is something this cast is always great at pulling off. Jan, in particular, shined here, as she usually does as this character.
STARS: ***½


A MESSAGE TO FUTURE VIEWERS
JOL uses sci-fi cliches to address those watching the show in syndication

— Here’s another sketch I have no memory of ever seeing in the past. I thought I remembered tonight’s overall episode really well.
— I love this premise of Jon delivering a message to future generations watching this episode in syndication. I always get a kick out of this type of thing, as well as seeing what people in the past thought the future would be like.
— Some funny wild assumptions Jon is making about the future, and I liked his line threatening to invent a time machine so he can come and kill us future viewers.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A great episode. Easily my favorite of the season so far, and was very welcome after a string of episodes ranging from average to forgettable (the Bergen, DeVito, and Dickinson episodes). Everything in tonight’s episode worked for me, and there were lots of memorable sketches and moments, as well as a fun, feel-good vibe, all of which are things I always love to see in an SNL Christmas episode.
— I’d like to add that Phil Hartman had a particularly fantastic night. I think he appeared in literally every single sketch except for Castaways and Message To Future Viewers. This episode was one of the finest displays of Phil’s strengths, versatility, and “glue”-like skills. And to put it over the top, he had an all-time legendary moment with his Succinctly Speaking character break.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Angie Dickinson)
— a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter 1988, with host Robin Williams