Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
host wants to do show by himself after LOM sends him to his dressing room
— Regarding the cast’s pizza party, when Lorne is surprised by how high the pizza bill is, Dana explains “Lorne, we’ve got 17 people in the cast!” I like that little acknowledgment of the insanely large number of cast members this season. However, there are actually EIGHTEEN members of the cast at this point. I’ve always wondered who they were excluding in Dana’s line and, though I’m giving this too much thought, I have a few theories: 1) it could be either Al Franken or Robert Smigel, since they were more “writers who are only occasionally credited as featured players when they appear in a noteworthy role”. But why exclude only one of them in Dana’s line, especially since both of them are credited in tonight’s opening montage. 2) It could be Beth Cahill, since she doesn’t appear with the cast in this cold opening, presumably because she later appears in character as a stewardess during the connected monologue. And finally, 3) it could be Melanie Hutsell, who isn’t credited in tonight’s opening montage, despite being seen standing silently in the background of this cold opening with the rest of the cast.
— Speaking of which, standing silently in the background of this cold opening ends up being the only thing Tim, Ellen, and Rock get to do in this entire episode. Odd how ALL THREE of the only black members of this cast basically had to sit this episode out.
— I love Farley’s delivery of the immortal “Home Alone” line “Somebody’s gonna have to barf it up because it’s all gone!”
— One of the more memorable occurrences of Farley’s trademark furniture-breaking pratfalls.
— I liked David’s delivery of another immortal “Home Alone” line, “You’re such a disease!”
— Macaulay: “Why do I get treated like scum?” Lorne: “You’re a host.”
— An overall fairly short but fantastic cold opening, as both a spot-on “Home Alone” parody and a set-up to the monologue. It was fun seeing the ways famous “Home Alone” scenes were re-written to fit this particular situation.
STARS: ****½
MONOLOGUE
with LOM & the cast on a plane to Paris, host is Home Alone in the studio
— Great deviation from a usual monologue, with Macaulay entering to a completely empty studio, as a continuation of the “Home Alone”-themed cold opening.
— Rob being the cast member who gets the honors of riding in first class with Lorne while the rest of the cast is in second class is kinda odd, considering Rob is only a featured player at this point. I guess the Richmeister sketches really were THAT popular.
— Pretty fascinating seeing what SNL’s studio and backstage looks like when it’s completely empty.
— Very fun montage of Macaulay going wild in the empty studio, especially him wearing the vintage Coneheads prosthetic and him playing G.E. Smith’s guitar.
— Great use of Macaulay’s famous “Home Alone” hands-on-face scream.
— I love seeing Macaulay playing Super Mario Bros. 3 on the control room TV screens (fifth and sixth screencaps above). That was one of my absolute favorite video games when I was growing up.
— Lorne’s monotone repeated yelling of “Macaulay” as he’s racing down the hallway is very amusing.
— During everyone’s individual apologies to Macaulay, I liked Mike’s “I’m sorry I haven’t been in this sketch until now.”
— Second time this season where the end of the opening montage is replayed and the host makes a second entrance onstage, after Jeff Daniels’ monologue earlier this season.
— During the actual monologue, Macaulay keeps noticeably fidgeting with the zipper on his jacket, randomly moving it up and down repeatedly. Possibly a sign of how nervous the kid understandably is, standing alone in front of a live audience on live TV.
STARS: *****
THE LOVE TOILET
for couples who want to be together at all times
— Excellent reveal of the Love Toilet, after such a dead-serious set-up.
— The romantic, sentimental presentation of this product is making it that much funnier.
— Overall, short but perfect.
STARS: *****
BILL SWERSKI’S SUPER FANS
Bob Swerski brings daughter Denise (BEC) to Super Fan Thanksgiving meal
— For some reason, George Wendt’s Bob Swerski doesn’t do his usual intro to each character at the table.
— The school presentation scene with the kids wasn’t that funny or interesting, and understandably came off a little stiff.
— When Farley’s character is choking, he screams “I’M NOKING! NOKING!!” Haha, I never understood why he pronounced “choking” as “noking” (unless it was an attempt to make his voice sound muffled due to food being stuck in his throat), but that’s a line in this sketch that has always cracked me up and stuck with me over the years.
— Hilarious bit during the “noking” sequence where, while receiving the Heimlich Maneuver, Farley coughs up an entire uneaten pork chop.
— The debut of Beth Cahill’s Denise Swerski character.
— Each Super Fan pulling up their shirt to show a nasty scar would later have a dramatic music sting added to each scar reveal in reruns of this episode.
— The sequence with Farley as his character’s own wife is very funny.
— Overall, despite some great moments from Farley, this Super Fans installment wasn’t as strong as these sketches usually are. SNL themselves apparently share my opinion, as evidenced by the fact that reruns of this episode bury this sketch after Weekend Update.
STARS: ***
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on a Mafioso’s embarrassing first date
FLASHBACK
Richard Laymer has a flashback of himself (host) in Catholic school
— As usual, I wasn’t laughing much during the first minute or so when it was just Richmeister doing his typical naming shtick, but as usual, we eventually get a nice turn that takes the sketch in a new and entertaining direction.
— Funny seeing Macaulay doing a dead-on Richmeister impression while playing a child version of him.
— Not much to say about the overall sketch, but it was fine.
STARS: ***
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on laughing at old ladies falling down
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Baby Universal”
WEEKEND UPDATE
VIJ does an important-sounding editorial so people will think she’s smart
in absentia, ADS takes part in a tense Thanksgiving meal with the family
— The opening dirty conversation between Kevin and two crew members was a funny and different way to start Update. It reminded me of the phone intros that Chevy Chase would always start his Updates with.
— The Update set has been changed a bit. The big “Weekend Update” logo that used to be on the back wall behind Kevin has now been removed. Not sure why.
— Victoria’s commentary is a complete carbon-copy of her last Update commentary, where she gives an intelligent editorial and then it’s eventually revealed that somebody else wrote it for her. I didn’t care for this the first time, so why would I want to sit through it a second time?
— When Victoria asks the audience if they think she’s smart, which is supposed to elicit cheers from them, there’s a long stretch of no response from them at first, then they hesitantly start applauding. Victoria then laughs embarrassedly and mutters to Kevin “They don’t think I am.” Reruns of this episode cut out the awkward silence after Victoria asks the audience if they think she’s smart, making it seem like her question immediately receives applause.
— The basic premise of Adam’s commentary is ALSO a rehash of something he’s already done on Update before, but unlike Victoria’s bit, 1) I actually liked this commentary the first time, and 2) tonight’s version of it is actually being performed even funnier than the first version.
— Adam’s dinner conversation has a nice escalation, getting to the point where he threatens his dad with a knife, has a breakdown, and flips his dinner plate off the desk.
— Just when I thought Kevin had found his niche as an anchorperson with his last two Updates, tonight’s overall Update ended up being his weakest so far. The jokes weren’t too great. The poor commentary from Victoria didn’t help. Adam was the biggest highlight of tonight’s Update.
STARS: **½
UNFROZEN CAVE MAN LAWYER
Cirroc (PHH) pretends to be unsophisticated
— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut!
— Great opening title sequence, as usual for this era.
— Yet another set of great fake sponsors from Jack Handey. I especially liked the one for National Escort Service (“If we don’t get a prostitute to your door in 15 minutes, you don’t pay!”). We also get a Happy Fun Ball callback as one of the sponsors!
— Phil’s characterization here is brilliant. I can’t picture anyone else ever doing justice to this character the way Phil is.
— The execution of this sketch isn’t even particularly laugh-out-loud hilarious in itself, as it’s mostly just straight dialogue, but the combo of the ridiculous caveman lawyer concept and Phil’s masterful characterization is making this a quietly hilarious gem.
STARS: ****½
SIMON
fellow neglectee Trevor (host) shows some of his work
— This is the first time a Simon sketch has had a guest.
— Particularly energetic call-and-responses from audience throughout this sketch.
— When being asked if he’s ever shown his disturbing drawings to a psychiatrist, I liked Macaulay’s response “I did, and he wept openly.”
— This overall Simon installment wasn’t too great and was marred by the excessive childish fart jokes, even if it makes sense in an SNL episode hosted by an 11-year-old.
STARS: **
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on good Earth-ruling dog breeds
YOUNG SUPERBOY
Lex Luthor (PHH) & Superman (KEN) think Young Superboy (host) is adorable
— This sketch was originally intended for Fred Savage two seasons earlier, but it got cut after his episode’s dress rehearsal. You can tell that the pre-taped intro sequence with Mike, Victoria, and Tom Davis (first screencap above) was originally filmed for that episode, because it has an older look compared to the rest of tonight’s episode. Mike’s hair also looks different from how it typically looks this season.
— Young Superboy’s theme music was previously used as the theme music for another superhero sketch: Drunk Man from season 13’s Angie Dickinson episode. That music would later famously go on to be Norm Macdonald’s Weekend Update theme from seasons 21-23.
— I’m guessing Farley’s role was originally played by Jon Lovitz in the Fred Savage dress rehearsal.
— This sketch has been going NOWHERE interesting. It’s just villains going “Aww” over Young Superboy saying cute things.
— Okay, I finally got a good laugh, from Kevin’s Superman saying he “had a rather large ass” as a kid.
— Very weak sketch overall. It says something about the difference in quality between the Fred Savage episode and tonight’s episode that a poor sketch like this was rightfully deemed not good enough to air when Savage hosted, yet it makes it on the air in tonight’s episode, where they seem to be kinda struggling to come up with kid-friendly material.
STARS: *½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “If There Is Something”
DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
visiting nephew (host) bugs serious Stuart with joke
— Didn’t we just see this sketch two episodes ago? More signs that the writers were struggling to come up with material this week.
— After an okay set-up during the first minute or so, it appears that the repeated “You know what? Chicken butt” joke is going to be the ONLY joke for the remainder of the sketch.
— Stuart’s “You know why? Chicken thigh” twist was kinda cute, at least.
— Okay, I did like the ending with Stuart showing he’s a good sport by incorporating the “You know what? Chicken butt” joke into his usual “I”m good enough, I’m smart enough, etc.” tagline. This is still easily the weakest Daily Affirmation sketch so far, though.
STARS: **
U.S. FON
U.S. Fon doesn’t offer caller ID- too much information can be a bad thing
— The shocked, speechless look on Phil’s face when Julia reveals she knows his phone number is cracking me up.
— Good ending line from Phil: “She’s got my number…….. Now I’m gonna have to kill her.”
STARS: ***
MEDIEVAL SCALDERS
medieval scalder (CHF) bonds with his son (host) & abuses peasants
— Nice to see the usually energetic Farley starring in such a serious, calm, and low-key role. He’s doing a good job here.
— I loved the brief bit with Adam getting shot through the neck with an arrow. His reaction was very funny.
— When telling Macaulay a story of accidentally spilling molten lead all over Macaulay’s grandfather’s leg, I got a laugh from Farley responding to Macaulay’s “What happened to him?” question by chuckling and casually revealing “He died”.
— Despite some laughs, the overall sketch ended up being kinda forgettable. Not even the ending with Dana did much for me.
STARS: **½
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on what to do if your parachute won’t open
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— As usual with episodes hosted by children, there was a fun novelty feel to this show. However, judging this like a normal episode, this was actually below par for this season. Tonight had a higher number of weak sketches than usual for this season. And considering a child was hosting, the show seemed to try to take the safe route by relying on more recurring sketches than usual, but unfortunately, aside from Richmeister, each of those recurring sketches had their weakest installment by this point of their respective runs (Super Fans, Simon, Daily Affirmation). Also, most of the second half of the show was a sea of forgettable material. It doesn’t help that even Weekend Update was fairly off. Still, there were a few strong highlights, mainly the epic cold opening/monologue combo and the Unfrozen Cave Man Lawyer debut. Macaulay Culkin did fine for a host his age.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Linda Hamilton)
a step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
The unconventional hosts keep on comin’, as M.C. Hammer helms our next episode