Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Live With Regis (DAC) & Kathie Lee (JAH)- morning talk in Saudi Arabia
— Pretty funny visual of Kathie Lee’s overly sunscreened baby, as well as Dana’s Regis pointing out he looks like Al Jolson.
— I like the occasional cutaways to the soldiers’ stone-faced reactions to Regis and Katie Lee doing their usual shtick in this out-of-place setting.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
host can’t remember anyone during “This Is Your Life”; Bert Parks cameo
— I like the sudden “This Is Your Life” turn. Nice change of pace for a monologue.
— An okay joke with Hopper not remembering anything from earlier in his life for obvious reasons.
— A good laugh from Hopper acting like he’s just now meeting Jack Nicholson for the first time.
STARS: ***
NIKEY TURKEY
the inflatable bird is perfect for large holiday gatherings
— I love how early 90s everything about this is. Brings back nice memories of rap music videos from this time period.
— Very amusing concept and fun song.
STARS: ****
TOONCES, THE CAT WHO COULD DRIVE A CAR
even in his dreams, Toonces manages to drive over a cliff
— An interesting change of pace, with us seeing Toonces’ dream.
— Toonces showing up in his underwear is a funny visual.
— Toonces shockingly speaking like a human is a riot. Is that Don Pardo doing his voice?
— Funny brief appearance from Farley as a firecracker-holding bad little boy chasing the car. This bit role unfortunately ends up being Farley’s ONLY appearance of this entire episode.
— Good deviation during the usual car-falling-off-a-cliff bit, with the car actually stopping mid-air, only to continue falling and eventually crash as usual.
STARS: ***½
INFLATABLE DOLL PARTY
(host) & his friends treat inflatable dolls as if they were real women
— Pretty funny reveal of the blow-up dolls at the party.
— Hopper, regarding if he’s seeing anybody other than his blow-up doll girlfriend: “When you got steak at home, huh, why go out for hamburger?”
— Funny cutaway to Rob making out with one of the dolls.
— The somewhat thin premise is starting to lose its novelty a bit towards the end of this sketch.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Obvious Child”
WEEKEND UPDATE
CSR dislikes the government taxing him to make prisons more comfortable
DEM lip-syncs a story on Milli Vanilli
— So many good jokes from Rock about taxes, checks, and prison overcrowding.
— Rock, on how criminals in prison should be fed: “If you miss a meal, go to death row and get the extra meat off the electric chair.”
— It’s amazing in hindsight how strongly Chris Rock has been doing in his SNL tenure so far and how he’s been getting so many opportunities to shine, considering how notoriously bad his airtime soon ends up getting for the remainder of his SNL tenure. What went wrong?
— Pretty strong overall Update for Miller tonight.
STARS: ****
BOWMAN’S RETIREMENT PARTY
co-workers silently mock (JUS) & (musical guest) upon learning of liaison
— The co-workers mocking sexual gestures in the background are funny, especially Dana’s gestures.
— Strange way for the sketch to end.
— Surprised by how short this overall sketch was.
STARS: ***
THE CIVIL WAR
Confederate soldiers prepare to have group photo taken
— Phil’s amusing aggression throughout this is the only entertainment I’ve been getting so far.
— Overall, a very dull sketch. I understand what they were going for, but for a realistic slice-of-life piece, this missed the mark.
STARS: *½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Proof”
WHAT ANIMAL WERE YOU RAISED BY?
(host) recalls his non-human guardians
— Looks like the same set from the Slapped By Beaver Tails sketch earlier this season.
— I liked Hopper’s imitation of a faulty plane.
— Funny reveal that Hopper shot his own flamingo parents.
— Hopper’s delivery of “If you got hungry enough… you would EAT DUNG!” made me laugh out loud.
— I recall some people saying that this sketch would’ve been perfect for Christopher Walken. While I thought Hopper was fine in this overall sketch, it’s undeniable that Walken indeed would’ve killed in this. For example, that whole “eat dung” quote from above would’ve come off freakin’ priceless had it been delivered by Walken.
STARS: ***
SUDDEN PRESSURE
Schillervision- 1950s-style program features Man-Bra ad & bathroom run
— As usual for Tom Schiller’s period pieces, this is an accurate recreation of 1950s TV.
— The Man-Bra commercial is priceless.
— The rest of the film is just average, though I like the “Gandhi With the Windy” scene.
STARS: ***
STAN DUFFY’S GAMBLING TO WIN
Stan Duffy (KEN) fails to heed his own advice
— This is the type of thing that Kevin is always great at selling.
— Very funny progression with Kevn’s downward spiral as each of his advertised gambling rules fail him, eventually leading to him advertising a gambling tape called “Hiding and Creating an Alias” while he still tries to keep an upbeat mood.
— The twist at the end with the alcoholism tape was good.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Late in the Evening”
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Much like the last episode, this was a forgettably average episode. Not much was weak, but not much was great either. The overall show just had an unexciting, unmemorable feel.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jimmy Smits)
about the same
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
John Goodman
The “Gambling to Win” sketch was based on this actual series of Gambling videos from the 80s called “So You Wanna be a Gambler”; Nealon’s impression isn’t 100% identical, but it’s there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyr–G-iQVM
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Ah, good old, VHS Vault, Berating Dan Patrick.
Is that the same blow-up doll from that Ralph Nader sketch?
I noticed that when Comedy Central reran syndications of SNL, they always skipped this one. The episode didn’t seem that bad to me, especially the Bowman’s Retirement Party sketch. Also, is it me, or does it look like Hopper is flipping the bird while he’s adjusting his shades in the final bumper?
The rumor was that CC misplaced the tape of it.
Hopper is flipping the bird in the final bumper. If you watch the end of his S12 monologue, he does the same thing despite not wearing glasses. Most likely they had him do it intentionally for the bumper.
I don’t know which came first, but Seinfeld had The Bra for the Man ! Kramer called IT the Bro And George’s Father who was played by Jerry Stiller called It the Mansier ! Maybe, Larry David came up with the Idea and told that Person who made that Film !
The retirement party sketch appears to be on the same set as the Richmeister sketches
I was in the audience for this show. After it went off air, Paul Simon and band came back and played a 45 minute (or so set) in honor of Lorne Michaels’ birthday. My friend and I were in the balcony maybe 20ft from the band: a sonic experience I will never forget. Steve Martin was in the VIP booth which was like a glass zoo enclosure we audience members in the balcony filed past on our way out. A delectably (for me at least) awkward moment shared with Mr Martin when our eyes briefly met and we exchanged kinda sad and forced truncated waves. Funny. The show was otherwise “meh.”
That monologue’s not far off from the truth. If you watch the Easy Rider commentary, Hopper basically acts like he’s seeing the movie for the first time.
Is it me or did this episode feel off at the core?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHx__2xaMdU
Judging from this promo it looks like Dennis musta been a fill in host. His name isn’t listed in with the hosts names here; instead it’s oddly Christian Slater. It lists quite a few hosts and musical guests who showed it (Paul is on it.) Wonder what happened? It must have not been bad because Slater showed up the next year.
Dennis wasn’t really a factor in this episode which is very, very odd. Instead they focus on Paul. I was very disappointed considering how much I loved the 1987 episode Dennis hosted.
the sex doll sketch would be a reference to Hopper’s role in the 1986 film River’s Edge
That Regis and Kathy Lee sketch could have been loaded with more jokes. Its a good use of Dana and Jan but they needed a little more time and better writing. I like the alternative monologue with This is your Life. The lady who plays Hoppers daughter is writer Erin Fraser. She also worked on Waynes World 2, Tommy Boy, Stuart Saves His Family, Black Sheep, and A Night at the Roxbury. Also she did 229 episodes of Conan. Phil always does a great Nicholson. And already Chris Rock is getting his own segments. Man is on fire and he just started SNL. The blow up doll sketch is just icky. It wasn’t funny.
First acknowledgement of Milli Vanilli scandal. Office scandal sketch also could have been much funnier if they took it further and made better jokes.
Overall boring, but some solid work from the young guys. Same as the rest of the season, they come up with good premises but can’t make enough jokes to keep it entertaining.
Sadly Erin Fraser passed away last year at just 53