May 18, 1991 – George Wendt / Elvis Costello (S16 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
because it’s DEM’s last show, LOM lets him say the opening line

— A good way to announce on the air that this is Dennis’ last episode.
— This is the first time Dennis has appeared outside of Weekend Update since all the way back in season 14.
— I loved Lorne asking Dennis “You’re not gonna come back every week and hang out on the set like Lovitz, are you?”, and then going on and on about how pathetic Lovitz is for doing that. I recall hearing that Lovitz actually got upset by this when watching the show this night. Maybe Lorne should’ve stood on stage during the goodnights while holding up a “LOVITZ- I WAS JUST KIDDING” sign, ala Dennis in the goodnights of the Catherine O’Hara episode.
— Dennis makes a big deal about how he’s always wanted to say “Live from New York…”, as if he’s never gotten the chance to say it before. He must’ve blocked season 11 out of his mind (or took to heart Madonna’s claim that season 11 was a “horrible, horrible dream”), because he actually DID say “Live from New York…” previously, in the Burger King/Herb cold opening from the aforementioned season 11.
— Funny how Dennis’ “Live from New York…” in this cold opening doesn’t start the show, as Lorne just keeps this opening going.
— Very interesting having Lorne be the one who delivers the official “Live from New York”, the only time in SNL history he would ever do so.
STARS: ***½

MONOLOGUE
host manhandles a lookalike of Queen Elizabeth

— George’s rough handling of the queen is pretty funny so far.
— I like the queen fearfully trying to walk away as soon as George begins talking about wrestling.
— Great camera perspective of the queen being spun around.
STARS: ***½

LIL’ GENERAL FIREWORKS
kids love to have harmless fun with explosives

— Good idea for a summer commercial.
— Pretty funny treatment of huge explosives as family-friendly fun. The explosions of casual things are providing some laughs.
STARS: ***

MR. NO-DEPTH PERCEPTION
two-dimensional guy (KEN) throws a dinner party

— This can be considered a sister sketch to Tom Hanks’ Mr. Short-Term Memory, as the name, opening credits sequence/theme song, and concept are in a similar vein. Wonder if both characters are from the same writer.
— Kevin is perfect for this character and is pulling off this humor really well.
— I particularly like the part with Kevin casually sticking his head straight through the glass window (and not even reacting to it) when checking to see if their friends are outside the house.
— Kinda surprised this overall sketch remained a one-off and never became recurring.
STARS: ****

BILL SWERSKI’S SUPER FANS
Bob Swerski (host) & other Super Fans talk about the Bulls & the Bears

— George Wendt takes over as the new host of this sketch, Bob Swerski, replacing Joe Mantegna’s Bill Swerski, who the show writes off as recovering from a heart attack.
— Much like the last time they did this sketch, we get some funny outlandish Bears scenarios from the guys.
— An overall enjoyable installment, though I didn’t find this quite as strong as the first installment. There would be better ones to come later on.
STARS: ***½

MIDDLE-AGED MAN
Retired Man (host) helps Middle-Aged Man battle Independent Widow (JAH)

— This ends up being this character’s final appearance.
— Love the addition of Jan as Independent Widow.
— A funny turn with cookies being Middle-Aged Man’s kryptonite.
— I like how we meet Retired Man, who was mentioned in an earlier installment of this sketch.
— Jan’s screaming reaction to the giant roach was really funny.
— A big laugh from the gruesome blood that results from Middle-Aged Man crushing the giant roach.
— Nice little touch with the roach crawling over the text in the disclaimer shown at the end.
— I like how this overall installment had a more epic feel than the first two Middle-Aged Man installments, involving more characters, more action, and more scenery changes. In retrospect, a nice way for this character to go out.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Other Side of Summer”

WEEKEND UPDATE
General Norman Schwarzkopf (CHF) challenges Evander Holyfield to a match
CSR tells why there won’t be a black vice president

— (*sigh*) Hard to believe we’ve officially arrived at Dennis Miller’s final Weekend Update.
— Farley makes his very first visit to the Update desk, though he appeared in two previous Updates “via satellite” (the Roseanne/Tom Arnold commentary and the marathon runner commentary).
— A classic turn in the middle of Farley’s commentary, with him suddenly getting up, declaring “I WANT HOLYFIELD! I WANT HOLYFIELD!”, and hyping up a huge match between him and Holyfield. A great early display of Farley’s Belushi-esque knack for playing roles where he slowly goes from calm and professional to worked-up and loud. I’m also loving watching Dennis’ reactions to him. Over the course of this season, it’s been fun seeing Dennis’ interactions with the new kids in the cast.
— Lots of very funny comments from Rock about how we’ll never see a black vice president, because some black guy will just kill the white president so the black VP can become president. I especially love Rock saying how he would have nothing to worry about if he got arrested for killing the white president, because every black guy in prison would treat him like a hero.
— Dennis’ final Update joke is unfortunately a lame “misinterpreting a photo” type of joke, something that he’s been relying on way too much this season.
— A very nice, sentimental, and classy goodbye speech from Dennis at the end, with him thanking everyone he’s worked with at the show and saying he’s gonna miss working here. You can tell by his voice that he was on the verge of tears.
— After getting so used to reviewing Dennis Miller Weekend Updates for the past six seasons (the longest-tenured Update stint at this point in the show’s history), it sure is going to feel weird reviewing a brand-new version of Update next season.
STARS: ***

THE CARSENIO SHOW
Johnny Carson (DAC) borrows from Arsenio’s program

— An absolutely hilarious concept. I love this hybrid of Arsenio and Johnny Carson.
— I like how this is bringing back memories of another fantastic Arsenio parody the show did previously with Rob Lowe.
— Carsenio: “Buddy Hackett is in my house!”
— Good segment with Carsenio breaking down the street lingo he’s been using.
— Phil as Ed McMahon: “That is the straight stuff, o funkmaster!”
— I love Carsenio demonstrating how to do “the wild thing”, while asking “Is this dope? Is this dope stuff?”
— When asked about the whooping audience, I got a big laugh from George’s response being a blunt “The truth is, Johnny, they’re morons.”
STARS: *****

BURGER BARN DRIVE THRU
a family’s order at Burger Barn’s drive-through gets very complicated

— A lot of laughs from George being forced by his family to make increasingly confusing and complicated changes to their fast-food order.
— I especially love Jan as the grandmother, and she has some really funny lines.
— Good growing frustration from George.
— Excellent angry loud outburst from George at the end when putting an end to the madness and starting over with a simple fast-food order.
— An overall very solid and relatable slice-of-life sketch.
STARS: ****½

THE SHINDELLS
lyrics of doo-wop group stray into members’ personal lives

— Pretty funny doo-wop performance from the guys.
— I like Dana awkwardly trying to keep the song going by sporadically adding in melodic “shwop-shwop”s into the middle of his argument with George.
— George to Farley: “Why didn’t you tell me, you fat pig?” Farley: “Hey, you’re just as fat as I am, man!” Other guys: “(singing) Maaaaaybe fatter!”
— Nice conclusion.
STARS: ***½

IT’S PAT
barber’s (host) small talk doesn’t reveal the sex of androgynous Pat

— A lot of characters tonight with their own opening credits sequence and theme song, between Mr. No-Depth Perception, Middle-Aged Man, and now Pat.
— The usual laughs from Pat responding to potentially-gender-revealing questions with gender-unspecific answers.
— I like the mention of Pat having a group of friends named Terry, Frances (or Francis), and Robin.
— A priceless part with George’s very focused brushing around Pat’s chest and crotch.
— This sketch ended a little awkwardly.
STARS: ***½

DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on memories of family outings

I’M CHILLIN’
Onski plugs Long Leak malt liquor & You’re That Guy credit

— Quite a lot of airtime for Rock tonight, which is refreshing.
— On a similar note, Farley’s been in tons of sketches tonight; far more than a featured player typically gets. A nice way to end what has been a fantastic rookie year for Farley, by far the standout newbie of the season.
— Great “Mother joke of the day” delivered by Rock: “Your mother’s so old, I told her to act her age and the bitch dropped dead.”
— Very funny photo of a grimacing Don Pardo wearing a trendy 8-ball jacket.
— Rock’s description of the “You’re That Guy” credit is pretty funny.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “So Like Candy”

THE SUNRISE SHOW
singer of kids’ songs (host) switches to raunchy lyrics

— (*sigh*) Jan Hooks’ final sketch as a cast member. I’m glad they gave her the 10-to-1 spot of the season finale, even if they (I assume) weren’t aware at the time that she’s leaving.
— Ha, is George wearing Elvis Costello’s beard?
— I like Jan’s gleeful singing of George’s kid-friendly songs, as a sample of his work.
— George suddenly breaking out into a raunchy sexual song is very funny, made even more priceless by the way his thick fake beard makes his raunchy facial expressions look.
— Another great turn with the tone of George’s raunchy song suddenly changing to a jolly, kid-friendly melody as he sings about wanting to get a woman to make various animal sounds during sex.
STARS: ****

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A consistently very solid and fun episode, with no real lowlights. A great way to end the season. George Wendt was a strong host, and was allowed to give even funnier performances than the unique previous episode he hosted.

— This was the final episode for both Jan Hooks and, of course, Dennis Miller. Dennis’ tenure ended with a bit of a whimper, as he was clearly burned-out during the last three months and began using a more monotone and low-energy delivery, looked fairly tired, and half-assed his trademark scribble-wildly-on-a-sheet-of-paper move during his tagline. It didn’t help that the quality of his jokes went downhill as well, often relying too heavily on corny “misinterpreting a photo” type of jokes. However, none of this takes away from the amazing tenure he had as a whole. Right from the start, he completely reinvented Update at a time where the segment desperately needed a boost after the dire quality of it during the non-Lorne years in 1980-1985. Dennis made Update important, hip, laid-back, and most importantly, very funny. And as much as I kept harping on the lethargy of his performances during his last three months, he still was reliable for laughs, especially with his usual knack for funny ad-libs. All-in-all, Dennis is easily my favorite Update anchor of all-time (tied with Norm Macdonald). And as for Jan Hooks, I cannot find enough great things to say about her. She ended a fantastic tenure that was consistently strong from beginning to end. She was an incredibly valuable cast member who could do pretty much no wrong and could handle ANYTHING the writers threw at her. Much like how Dennis is my favorite Update anchor of all-time, Jan is my favorite female cast member of all-time and one of my all-time favorite cast members in general. She will be sorely missed in the cast, especially when you’re aware of how badly the female cast ends up struggling during the next few seasons. However, at least we eventually get frequent special guest appearances from Jan during seasons 18 and 19.

— Season 16 as a whole was another in a long line of very good seasons, even if this one wasn’t QUITE as strong as the season that preceded it. Aside from the notorious Steven Seagal flop, this was a season impressively filled with episodes that ranged from okay to excellent. This was also a very exciting year with a lot of freshness, as we got a huge influx of new featured players over the course of the season, as well as lots of debuts of big recurring segments (including Deep Thoughts). This combo of new featured players and important new recurring segments have kicked off the gradual start of an era of its own, even as this season held on to many important aspects of the preceding 1986-1990 era.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Delta Burke)
a step up

HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1989-90)
a very slight step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Season 17 begins, with host Michael Jordan. We start off the season with three new featured players and a new Weekend Update anchor.