November 17, 1990 – Dennis Hopper / Paul Simon (S16 E6)

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

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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