Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Ross Perot (DAC) ditches Admiral Stockdale (PHH) on the side of the road
— A very topical cold opening that still holds up, despite the Admiral Stockdale incident that this is based on (from the then-recent vice presidential debate) being obscure to later audiences. What helps this topical cold opening still remain very funny to later audiences who have no knowledge of Stockdale is Phil’s absolutely priceless performance and the fact that Dana’s Perot gives a nice rundown of all the bizarre things Stockdale did at that VP debate, the latter of which in retrospect provides good context to later viewers.
— It wasn’t until years after I first saw this cold opening that I was finally exposed to clips of the real Stockdale at the VP debate. “Oh. My. God.” is basically all I can say in response to his behavior there. Hell, at one point in that debate, Stockdale really did say “Who am I? Why am I here?”, which Phil’s Stockdale also famously says here (which is why the audience applauds when he says it).
— Huge laughs from Dana’s Perot going on and on about how all of the questionable things Stockdale did at the debate were pure brilliancy.
— Phil is absolutely killing me in this. Every single thing he’s doing and saying here is an absolute riot. I especially loved the random exclamation of “I’m outta ammo!” Definitely one of Phil’s funniest performances of all time.
— Classic turn with Perot suddenly zooming off in the car when Stockdale has stepped outside.
— Hilarious sudden reveal of Stockdale running after the car.
— Overall, this is hands-down one of my absolute favorite cold openings of all time.
— This ends up being Dana’s only appearance all night. After appearing in a normal amount of sketches in the first three episodes of the season, tonight’s episode begins the phasing-out of Dana, as we’re not too far away from his mid-season departure. In most of the remaining episodes of his SNL tenure, we’ll be seeing him in a significantly reduced role, and there will even be some episodes in that stretch that don’t feature him AT ALL.
STARS: *****
MONOLOGUE
host sings “Let’s Face The Music” & dances with castmembers & others
— Tonight, it officially becomes a tradition for Christopher to break out into a fun song-and-dance for his monologues.
— Very charming seeing Christopher taking turns dancing with each individual female cast member.
— Now this is getting even more fun with Christopher going off-stage, running into a robed Jan Hooks backstage, and then her joining him in a dance.
— I love Lorne sternly putting a stop to Christopher and Jan’s dancing, then refusing Christopher’s offer to join him in a dance, then suddenly giving in. I also love the use of a starry spotlight during the Christopher/Lorne dance.
— Fantastic monologue overall.
STARS: ****½
JIFFY EXPRESS
Jiffy Express will take the blame for packages you send late
— Great concept for a fake ad, and feels like a companion piece to the Einstein Express fake ad from the late 80s.
— Very solid spokesperson performance from Rob, continuing the strong season he’s been having so far.
— I love the footage showing the company’s process of making your package look beat up.
— Kevin’s irate delivery of “You guys are pathetic! People get fired over this kind of thing!” always cracks me up whenever I see this commercial.
STARS: ****½
THE CONTINENTAL
The Continental flirts when a woman comes to reclaim her glove
— Here comes another thing that officially becomes a Christopher Walken SNL staple tonight.
— This has always been my favorite installment of this great recurring sketch, though I might be biased since it’s the installment I’ve seen the most. (It’s also the installment that’s rightfully included in Christopher’s “Best Of” special)
— Julia’s brief appearance, fleeing from The Continental’s apartment in a panic, is the only time a performer other than Christopher Walken has ever appeared in a Continental sketch.
— I love the little part with The Continental playfully wrestling the coat away from the woman who we’re seeing the perspective of.
— As usual, big laughs from the woman bolting towards the door after The Continental says something particularly rude, only to have The Continental hurriedly jump in front of the door to block it. That never fails to be funny in these sketches.
— I got a big laugh from the woman suddenly throwing her drink into The Continental’s face after he compliments her “decolletage”.
— A pretty memorable blooper right now, where after the second time the woman throws her drink into The Continental’s face, Christopher’s fake mustache starts peeling off (the third-to-last above screencap for this sketch), which gets a huge reaction from the audience. His deadpan facial reaction during all of this is great.
STARS: *****
ED GLOSSER, TRIVIAL PSYCHIC
Ed Glosser, Trivial Psychic (host) annoys co-workers with ho-hum visions
— Fantastic concept of Christopher having the unimpressive ability to see insignificant things in people’s future.
— Some really great creepy close-ups of Christopher’s face throughout this, especially during his scene with Rob and Phil.
— I loved Christopher’s passioned “You don’t get it, do you? You’re wasting coffee!” to Rob.
— Christopher’s trivial visions are all hilarious.
— Solid ending to what is absolutely one of Christopher Walken’s all-time best sketches.
STARS: *****
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on the status of pudding-traversing ants
— This is missing from my copy of this episode.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Tennessee”
WEEKEND UPDATE
undecided voter Jan Brady (MEH) likens candidates to her family members
Hollywood Minute- DAS defines terms for public figures on the decline
— Melanie’s Jan Brady is funny as usual, this time talking about the presidential election. Like with her last Update commentary, it’s fun seeing Melanie’s Jan relate things to famous scenes from random Brady Bunch episodes.
— David’s breakout Update segment, Hollywood Minute, officially becomes recurring tonight.
— Like in his inaugural Hollywood Minute from earlier this season, we’re getting a nice fast-paced, energetic, snappy delivery from David, which is quite different from his more deadpan, lower-energy delivery that would soon become his trademark a little further into his SNL tenure.
— Some of my favorite slams in David’s overall commentary tonight were about Vanilla Ice, Madonna’s “Sex” book, Kriss Kross, and the Encyclopedia Britannica guy.
— Fairly solid night for Kevin, with a lot of funny jokes and very minimal line flubs.
STARS: ***½
STALK TALK
guests discuss the nature of their obsessive trailing
— A huge laugh from Christopher claiming his girlfriend’s name is Bitch.
— Christopher is perfect as this creepy character.
— Jan is a riot as an obsessed David Hasselhoff fan. I even liked the little bit with her staring down Rob after Rob says he also likes Hasselhoff “……a lot”.
— Christopher’s story about hiding in the bushes and making bird noises to distract his girlfriend is priceless. I also like how when saying he got arrested for that incident, he mentions he was also naked during it and that “there were a variety of charges” made against him.
— Great ending with Christopher very randomly telling Julia “I think about you when I masturbate. I bet that… that disgusts you , doesn’t it?”
— A very strong sketch with solid ensemble work from everyone, though Christopher and Jan definitely ran away with this.
STARS: ****½
IT’S PAT
androgynous Pat’s new boss (host) is discombobulated by gender dysphoria
— Another Pat sketch already, after we just got one in the last episode? I’m not complaining, though.
— When Julia makes her entrance as Pat, part of a female stagehand can accidentally be seen behind Julia for a good while (the first above screencap for this sketch) before moving out of the shot. This shot would be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version.
— Christopher’s prolonged dramatic asides to Phil about how troubled he is by Pat’s androgyny are freakin’ hilarious, especially Christopher’s mention of how he’s “in a tizzy” and how Pat’s behavior is “not at all the norm”.
— This is such an unconventional Pat sketch, but I am absolutely loving it. The lack of focus on Pat and the redirected focus on Christopher’s perplexed reactions to Pat is very interesting, and Christopher is making this priceless in his typical Walken-esque way.
— I love how when Christopher “jumps” out of the window, he casually just walks out of the scene through the window and doesn’t even attempt to make it look like he jumped. That’s the type of “not giving a damn” acting that Christopher (and Norm Macdonald) can make funny.
STARS: ****½
SINEAD O’CONNOR GOODTIME HAPPY JAMBOREE
Sinead O’Connor (JAH) is booed off-stage during a Goodtime Happy Jamboree
— Another great use of Jan tonight.
— I know SNL making fun of the Sinead incident in this manner probably doesn’t sit well with a number of people, considering Sinead wasn’t exactly wrong in her point about the Catholic church (and that’s all I’m going to say about it; I really prefer not to use my SNL reviews to go into this type of serious issue), but personally, this spoof doesn’t bother me at all.
— Good walk-on from Phil as Kris Kristofferson silently consoling Jan’s Sinead, parodying what happened while Sinead was booed at a then-recent concert.
— An overall short but inspired, very funny, and memorable piece.
STARS: ****
PROFESSOR C AND THE SUPER SLEUTHS
sleuths watch their mentor (host) undergo embarrassing medical procedures
— Funny little part with the comically fake sound effect of the dog in Kevin’s arms barking.
— Pretty funny with the sleuths’ awkwardness when having to stay in the room while Christopher’s using a bedpan.
— Another laugh now from Phil detailing how he’s about to catheterize Christopher’s penis.
— Good ending with Christopher happily taking a newspaper photo while Ellen gives him an enema.
STARS: ***½
PLEA
Audience McGee (ADS) to Sinead O’Connor (JAH)- “love, don’t hate”
— More good comedy mined from the Sinead incident.
— Very funny with the various notorious figures who’s picture Jan’s Sinead keeps claiming she REALLY meant to tear, only to panickedly try to come up with another notorious figure when the audience disapproves. I’m getting big laughs from how Jan keeps quickly transitioning from a fiery, angry voice to a suddenly sheepish demeanor whenever she gets booed.
— We get the debut of Adam’s very funny Audience McGee character. He’s particularly hilarious in this sketch.
— Fun ending.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “People Everyday”
— This is missing from my copy of this episode.
THE BOULEVARD OF BROKEN BALLS
(host) sings about catching crabs on “The Boulevard Of Broken Balls”
— This memorable musical piece ends up being the final sketch submitted by former SNL writer Michael O’Donoghue.
— An overall excellent musical number with priceless and well-written lyrics. I can definitely picture this O’Donoghue-penned piece appearing in the original era.
STARS: *****
GOODNIGHTS
— Christopher congratulates Toronto on having just won that night’s World Series against the Atlanta Braves. During the ensuing cheering in the studio, canuck Phil Hartman can be seen letting out particularly loud and energetic cheers, while Georgia-born Jan Hooks comically pouts and boos (the first above screencap for these goodnights). Phil’s Canadian pride over Toronto winning the World Series would later be turned into a musical sketch the following week, where Phil is accompanied by a certain female canuck who happens to be hosting that night.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— And so ends what I’ve always considered to be probably my favorite SNL episode of all time. After watching this episode just now, my opinion has not changed at all. This was such a phenomenal episode, and I had an absolute blast from beginning to end. And not only was there nothing that I disliked, but almost every single segment received an impressive four or five-star rating. Add in Christopher Walken doing his second fantastic job as a host and solidifying himself as a sure-fire thing for SNL, and you have an episode that’s a force to be reckoned with. Just a perfect, perfect episode in my eyes, and holds a very special place in my heart.
— No Chris Farley in tonight’s episode. He’s going through a rehab stint at this time (his first of two this season alone), which will cause him to also miss the following week’s episode. Interesting how we have both his and Mike Myers’ temporary absence overlapping with each other, plus there’s also Dana’s diminishing presence. I guess this is one of the positive things about having such a large cast this season, because in a much smaller cast, the simultaneous lack of appearances from three standout audience favorites would impact the show HUGELY.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Joe Pesci)
a mild step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Catherine O’Hara hosts SNL’s third and (as of 2019) final live episode to air on Halloween
Man, even when she isn’t in the cast Jan Hooks is incredible.
I haven’t seen these in so long, I kept trying to remember which episodes she was in that didn’t involve Hillary. Nice to stumble onto one. I remember the first time I saw this musical monologue, Jan up there with the other ladies in the cast. I was so hazy as I didn’t think she was an actual rep player at the time. Just shows how special she was to still be included this way – slotted right back in like a cast member.
Seeing her with having fun with Phil in the goodnights is also lovely. Gets you a bit emotional.
I’m ambivalent on the mockery of Sinead O’Connor. On the one hand, it’s something that was a big deal enough that probably deserved some jokes about. On the other hand, there’s a distasteful sort of feeling that the only reason the show is making the jokes is because of hurt ego. On yet another hand, O’Connor also had a good point. In my opinion, I think maybe an Update joke last week and perhaps just one of the two things tonight (the Audience McGee one I think) would have been sufficient. The Pesci monologue last week, while funny, also had kind of a smug satisfaction.
I agree that it feels a bit like hurt ego and embarrassment, similar to the way they milked the Kanye situation this past season (although at least with Sinead I can understand why they felt tricked, whereas with Kanye they knew exactly the type of anything goes personality they were booking). It’s part of SNL becoming such an entity unto itself, I guess.
I didn’t mind the bits in this episode, even if they felt slightly overegged. The first jamboree sketch reminded me of something from the early seasons (actually the entire episode had an early seasons feel). I was much more put off by Pesci’s monologue, which just felt extremely gross and unnecessary to me.
Off the top of my head, there’s at least three more jokes about Sinead’s appearance. More immediately, when Madonna performs in January. Two years after that, a reference during Alec Baldwin’s first monologue after Canteen Boy. And a mention during the Cuba Gooding, Jr. episode.
The Stockdale sketch helped cement him in the public eye as addled, which apparently he was not, but it shows SNL’s impact in these years. It’s a brilliant sketch on every level, and was the first thing I thought of when I heard about Ross Perot passing away.
I’d been wondering why Chris Farley wasn’t there. The absence of Farley, Myers and a more minimal role for Carvey changes the tone of the show – while some cast members still don’t get a look in, there’s a more experimental feel and less shtick and catchphrase. Walken was the ideal host for that type of format. The hosts also seem to be leaned on more this season, which is good, as all of them have delivered. I guess Lorne probably went out of his way to get strong hosts for a period when some of his heavy hitters were unavailable or leaving.
Sketches like the hospital room sketch would become more common in a few seasons but here the writing still had more subtlety to make them stronger.
Walken became known as a self-parody not too long after this, but this hosting gig sort of straddled the line of that period and the respected actor he was before, which means we get some wonderful material (like the Boulevard of Broken Balls song) we wouldn’t later on. Walken is a great addition to everything he’s given, and it shows their trust in him that they were willing to make Pat into an afterthought for his existential crisis. That is a very good sketch, only let down by Phil commenting on the irony of Pat calling something weird – needless self-awareness that reminded me too much of more recent seasons. (speaking of Pat, I wonder if, beyond saving time, one of the reasons they cut the “What’s that?” line from the song a while back is because it is a bit more mean-spirited than most of the Pat sketches became).
I’d forgotten that this Continental sketch didn’t end with the woman punching him, as we got later on. It’s still a great sketch though.
Does anyone know who wrote Stalk Talk? A great balance of black comedy. I love Jan in this, although Rob is also very good. Julia strikes just the right ground between dispassionate host and woman disturbed by what she’s seeing. Walken is fantastic at adding so much malice to what could have easily been played as silly or fun. It adds much more dimension to the sketch.
Another classic episode. At the time this aired, I was in middle school and didn’t know as much about primetime TV… so for years, I assumed Jan’s many cameos were a result of “Designing Women” being cancelled the previous spring (1991-92 season). But that’s not the case — the show was cancelled at the end of THIS season, and Jan was still on it! For her to fly back and forth from Hollywood every couple weeks just for some cameos shows how much she loved SNL. Why didn’t Lorne just invite her back on the show for season 19? Aside from Julia Sweeney, it’s not as though any female castmembers were making a big impact. And didn’t he consider inviting Dana back for season 20? Maybe having Jan back would have actually allowed Julia more freedom to take on roles that weren’t either a generic friend, or Pat. Like you, my appreciation for Jan’s work has skyrocketed while following the One SNL a Day project.
Ha I was sure Designing Women was cancelled after Jane’s first season as well! Man did that show get terrible towards the end. I believe Dixie Carter and Linda Bloodworth Thomason were at each other’s throats around this time
I think that CBS moved the show to a death spot in its last season, as they wanted done with it. Jan’s first season was highly rated, but the second one was not. I watched the show at the time and was excited to see her on there but she never really got material worthy of her talents.
Jan talked about how bad her stage fright was so I wonder if she was happy to just return periodically, at least while Phil was there. I don’t think she would have come back once he was gone.
If I’m not mistaken, “Boulevard of Broken Balls” was indeed the last sketch O’Donoghue ever submitted to the show…when he was ALIVE. But didn’t they do another sketch of his that he submitted long ago that eventually got on Years After his death? The one where Norm MacDonald was Lou Gehrig (Or was that a rumor that he wrote that one)?
I think O’Donoghue’s Gehrig sketch was a little different than the Norm one. IIRC, O’Donoghue’s version had Gehrig breaking down into a pathetic rant, while the Norm version was more along the lines of Norm’s typical wiseass humor.
Does anybody know if there were plans to simply have Jan become a regular cast member again at this time?
Anyways, this episode is fantastic! Love it.
Dennis Miller had a great bit defending Admiral Stockdale only a couple of years after this happened: “ Now I know (Stockdale’s name has) become a buzzword in this culture for doddering old man, but let’s look at the record, folks. The guy was the first guy in and the last guy out of Vietnam, a war that many Americans, including our present President, did not want to dirty their hands with. The reason he had to turn his hearing aid on at that debate is because those fucking animals knocked his eardrums out when he wouldn’t spill his guts. He teaches philosophy at Stanford University, he’s a brilliant, sensitive, courageous man. And yet he committed the one unpardonable sin in our culture: he was bad on television.”
I just re-watched this show for the first time in I don’t know how many years. Definitely one of the all time best episodes. I remember being hysterical over the Perot-Stockdale sketch when it first aired, and it was a big deal being replayed on news programs in the week following. The Ed Glosser Trivial Psychic sketch is just classis Christopher Walken, with his “I don’t know” line when asked how he got his powers. Same with his reactions to Pat. I totally didn’t remember the Super Sleuths sketch. Really liked that one as well. And Jan Hooks has a bunch of great stuff in this show. She really was a nice sort of re-addition to the show at the time. I remember some friends and I in 7th grade at the time hoping she would come back as a full time cast member.
Ed Glosser Trivial Psychic sketch just saw for the first time and I wished Jan Hooks was in it. A great opening with Julia Sweeney though.
Here is a line for Ed Glosser from the future: “Oh my God, in the future these filmed extreme closeups will provide amazing “high definition” detail of an actor’s face, and make you retch.”
I think that’s one of Jan Hooks best sketches for sure. When she lets out that insane laugh to Julia lmao. I nearly fell out of my chair. I had to rewind it a couple times.
Wow, I’m a few years late in finding this site, but I’m glad I did. I used to post at the old snl.com forum years ago, just after Stooge first retired from his reviews (and seems to have done so now). Glad to see that at least for a few years he was back at it, this site has been a great source of killing time at work and has reignited my enthusiasm for the show.
This is my favorite SNL of all time. Walken’s my favorite host, because more than any other recurring host he brought such a unique identity and sensibility to his stints. It helps that this is my favorite season in my favorite era (1986-93) of the show.
So many home runs in this episode – the cold opening, the monologue, Ed Glosser, Stalk Talk, Broken Balls, and several other near perfect bits. Nothing in this episode would get less than four stars for me, and I’d probably go the full five for the monologue and Stalk Talk.
I think it’s actually a benefit that Carvey, Myers and Farley shuffle in and out throughout the first half of the year – they’re forced to work around their departures, and as noted we get less recurring fare and more conceptual one-off bits. Phil’s still in his prime (was he ever not?), Jan’s back, the Bad Boys are grounded and still employ dynamics to their performances. In fact this season has the perfect balance between the respective sensibilities of the Hartman / Nealon / Carvey team and the Bad Boys. The last season where everything clicked.
Long time, no see, Ryan Fletcher. Great to have you here. I always enjoyed your contributions to the old saturday-night-live.com forum.
Cool to have you back Ryan Fletcher! I can remember reading your reviews on the old s-n-l.com forum. Remember reading jojo’s as well
Christopher and Jan starred together in Batman Returns the same year.
I was at the dress rehearsal for this show. The Perot / Stockdale sketch was not the original cold opening. And I can remember 2 sketches that didn’t make the cut. There was Leon the Cool Centaur. Tim Meadows played Leon and Walken was a high school gym teacher trying to get him to play sports. The joke of the sketch was Leon defecating more or less continuously. The other sketch I remember was Invasion of the Personal Space Invaders. Aliens came to Earth and just got in everyone’s personal space.