Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Wayne’s World- Wayne & Garth laud Bill Clinton with a top 10 list
— Mike Myers makes his return, after being on hiatus all season filming So I Married an Axe Murderer. And what better way to reinstate him into the show than with a Wayne’s World sketch?
— This actually ends up being the final Wayne’s World sketch while Dana and Mike were both in the cast together.
— Wayne breaks the news that Garth recently got pubes. Uh, wasn’t there ALREADY a Wayne’s World sketch where they made that announcement about Garth? (read here) I guess Mike’s been gone so long, he forgot he already used that pubes bit.
— When laughing in character, Dana’s glasses accidentally fly off and he then calls attention to it.
— As usual, lots of great comments during the Top 10 list, especially the remarks about Bill Clinton’s huge head, and the whole hope/intercourse bit.
— There’s the infamous Chelsea Clinton bit that would get SNL in trouble, forcing them to remove that portion of this cold opening in reruns with a VERY glaring edit. In that portion, Wayne and Garth basically talk about how “adolescence has thus far been unkind” to then-13-year-old Chelsea, then they predict that “under the right clinical condition”, she can possibly be a babe in waiting. Reportedly, Hillary Clinton got up in arms about those lines, publicly complaining that it was in poor taste for SNL to make those jokes about a minor.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
host sings “Johnny B. Goode” while NBC programming notes scroll by
— Tom proudly brings up the fact that his new show, The Jackie Thomas Show, premiered on ABC this week with incredible ratings. Feels weird to hear this in retrospect, because I have absolutely no memory of The Jackie Thomas Show, and I watched ABC fairly regularly in this era. (I was just a little kid back then, though, so maybe that’s why I have no recollection of The Jackie Thomas Show.) Those “incredible ratings” must not have lasted long.
— He mentions Gary Oldman was originally supposed to host this episode, but canceled for personal reasons (“He personally hates the show”, jokes Tom). I recall hearing that Oldman pulled out because a co-star of his convinced him not to host. I’m not 100% sure, but I think I heard the co-star in question was Malcolm McDowell, who was apparently still bitter over how bad his own SNL hosting experience was back in season 6. I guess nobody told him how much better SNL’s state now was in 1992.
— Boy, judging from the jokes here, it seems that even back in these days when he and Roseanne were still together, Tom knew their relationship wouldn’t last.
— The screen crawl promoting NBC’s Tuesday night line-up is kinda funny, but nothing great.
— I’m conflicted over the Johnny B. Goode performance, as I’m always a sucker for hearing that song, but I can’t say the same for hearing Tom Arnold sing. Plus, I can’t help but be reminded of SNL making fun of Tom singing that song in a less-than-stellar season 20 sketch pairing Tom Arnold and Madonna in a TV movie biopic.
— Awkward ending with the close-up of Tom not saying, singing, or doing anything, except just grinning into the camera.
STARS: **
SEX AND PEER PRESSURE AT VALLEY HIGH
gay teens in PBS afterschool special
— Third episode in a row with a gay-themed sketch. (The Michael Keaton episode had the Outweek sketch and the Sinbad episode had the Gloria Brigade sketch. We also have a lesbian Christmas party sketch coming up in the episode after this Tom Arnold one.) To me, this particular sketch is funny not because it’s a gay couple, but because of how this gay couple’s relationship is being presented in the same way as heterosexual relationships in typical dramatic after-school specials. This sketch is nailing all of the after-school special cliches.
— Nice to see David playing against type here. His crying outburst when returning home is particularly funny.
— Good mock-dramatic delivery from Julia of the line “I think I’d better leave you two… alone.”
— The fake programs that Phil lists off are providing pretty good laughs, especially “Nude Black Man Today” and “History of Police Brutality, hosted by Ice-T”.
STARS: ***
MCDONALD’S
Bill Clinton (PHH) explains Somalia by eating food at McDonald’s
— Fantastic use of Phil’s Clinton, and this would go on to be a very memorable sketch.
— Classic line with Clinton telling his secret service men “There’s gonna be a whole bunch of things we don’t tell Mrs. Clinton. Fast food is the least of our worries.”
— Very funny how Clinton is pigging out on patrons’ meals while he’s mid-conversation with them about serious issues. Every single time I watch this sketch, it never fails to make me very hungry. Another Clinton sketch that has the same effect on me is one of Darrell Hammond’s earliest Clinton appearances, in which he pigs out on various types of food in the middle of the night while calling up several people on the phone (even if that sketch is nowhere near as memorable as this Clinton At McDonalds sketch).
— I absolutely love how Clinton’s now using the patrons’ meals to demonstrate the dire situation in Somalia.
— Classic blooper right now where Phil has so much food in his mouth that he has to stop in the middle of his line because he can no longer speak, and after breaking a bit, he’s handed a drink by Rob in a fantastic ad-lib.
— Solid “Race you to the Pizza Hut!” ending.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “From Hank to Hendrix”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Roseanne Arnold [real] rails against assertiveness double standards
KEN would like to give harasser Bob Packwood a taste of his own medicine
Queen Shenequa’s review of The Bodyguard concerns deleted sex scenes
— That real-life clip of a Belgium emissary picking his nose at a conference and then eating the boogers… wow. If that Clinton At McDonald’s sketch gave me a huge appetite, this clip absolutely killed that appetite.
— A surprise Roseanne appearance.
— Roseanne’s double standards commentary wasn’t as strong as I was expecting, though there were some laughs. Kevin’s “Boy, what a bitch!” comment after she left was very funny, even if you could see it coming from a mile away. It was his delivery that sold it.
— Queen Shenequa’s last few appearances didn’t quite work for me, but I kinda like the idea of her doing a movie review in tonight’s commentary.
— Hmm, tonight’s overall Queen Shenequa commentary didn’t quite work for me either, though I did like the audience participation bit at the end regarding what women like to do after sex.
STARS: ***
BILL SWERSKI’S SUPER FANS
Super Fans visit Bob Swerski in the hospital; Dick Butkus cameo
— We get our first Super Fans sketch of the season.
— Nice change of scenery for this sketch.
— Very funny bit with Farley’s barbecue sauce IV and him using it on his food.
— Interesting use of a Dick Butkus cameo.
— Entertaining pre-taped sequence with Farley’s out-of-body experience.
STARS: ***½
DOGS
grunge band Dogs (ADS), (MIM), (ROS), (DAC), (RBS) performs a canine song
— A very unique change of pace to SNL’s format. They’re even using the musical guest stage for this performance.
— Great visual of Adam’s many nipples.
— This sketch is amazing so far. A fantastic, creative, and fun take-off of the grunge craze. SNL is going all out on this.
— So many great touches throughout this, and a lot of funny lyrics.
— I loved Rob’s “squeeze toy” music solo.
— I’ve always noticed that SNL Archives claims David has a part in this sketch as a spectator, but I never notice him any of the times I’ve seen this sketch. Where is he?
— Great ending with all of the band members humping a giant leg that’s brought onstage.
STARS: ****½
TALES FROM THE AMBULANCE
paperclip distributor (host) faces downsizing
— A variation of the Tales From the Barbecue sketches from the preceding season.
— The use of funny fake sponsors at the beginning makes me wonder if this is a Jack Handey sketch, and if so, does this mean he also wrote the Tales From the Barbecue sketches? Those sketches didn’t feel like Handey’s typical work to me.
— I like the absurdity of Rock actually stopping his ambulance vehicle in the middle of the road just to tell a story to David.
— Funny bit with Tom “accidentally” breaking the paperclip tray, thinking that solves his problem.
— The paperclip tale has a silliness that I like, but at the same time, parts of it are coming off kinda uninteresting.
— Funny ending with Rock and David.
STARS: **½
PORNO BUYERS’ SERVICE
Porno Buyers’ Service representative (ROS) is efficient but not discreet
— Funny line from Rob as the spokesman, regarding Tom: “This man has been here two hours. Two hours he could’ve spent at home… masturbating.”
— Rob as the spokesman is very funny throughout this whole sketch, especially his constantly embarrassing Tom.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Harvest Moon”
— Not included in my copy of this episode.
G.E.D. CLASS REUNION
high-school equivalency degree recipients attend 10-year class reunion
— Phil’s bitter lines during his intro speech are great.
— During his mention of his short-lived job working at an all-girls school, I liked Tom slipping in “Then I did some time” before quickly moving on.
— During Rob’s entrance, his skeevy grin alone has me cracking me up.
— The absurd brevity of Rob’s scene was funny.
— I love the dark turn this sketch has taken with Tim’s fast-paced rundown of which classmates are dead or missing. Excellent delivery from Tim.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode. For some reason, I always remember this episode as being a little on the “meh” side (Tom Arnold being the host may have something to do with that, though he turned out to not be too bad tonight), but then whenever I actually watch it, I usually find myself pretty satisfied with its quality. A lot of this episode stayed in just the “pretty good” range, but there were a few really strong pieces, including a forgotten gem (Dogs).
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Sinbad)
a mild step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Glenn Close hosts the Christmas episode
“Dogs” is a really underrated classic no one ever talks about. Sandler is fantastic in it.
Yikes that Chelsea Clinton joke has not aged well. No way that should have made air
McDonalds is of course an all timer
This was one of the eras lurching into “I hate PC” which meant just saying whatever garbage you wanted to say. Chelsea Clinton was repeatedly trashed in all kinds of outlets. A few years ago Nicole Sullivan said that the one time she stood her ground at Mad TV was when she refused to appear in a sketch bashing Chelsea.
SNL had done jokes about Amy Carter, so maybe thought this was the same, but they were never quite this crass.
I agree about Chelsea. BTWm I don’t think the word was clinical… Yikes.
The Jackie Thomas Show was created, aired and went off the air in what was apparently the period where Tom and Roseanne were at their most powerful and insufferable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jackie_Thomas_Show
While Clinton at McDonalds is the unmistakable classic of the episode, I really love Sex and Peer Pressure. Some great acting against type by Spade, Arnold and Myers to an extent. I wonder if Tab Hunter ever saw it?
The camera cuts (or rhythm of such) was choppy during the live air of Dogs so the red-lit camera missed Spade’s brief spot, but it can be seen in the dress version.
(@ 1:50)
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/dogs/n10357
Thanks, rssk.
Farley did a guest spot on “Jackie Thomas” and that’s where Tom Arnold did an intervention and convinced Chris to go to rehab. Hence the few shows he missed at the beginning of the season.
Of course things got real worse when in the next Glen Close episode Farley is caught with drugs at the office and after considering firing him Lorne sends him back to rehab
Wow, I forgot all about Dogs. That SNL cast as fake bands is the kind of thing SNL should do more often, they did it a bit more in the 70s.
Also I really forgot how good Rob Schneider was on SNL, people like to shit on him now and act like he’s one of SNL’s alltime worst cast members, but he was actually one of the the more solid of the “Bad Boys” crew.
I remember Tina Fey mentioning after Jan Hooks’ death that she couldn’t believe Rob Schneider had a bigger career than Jan did. I thought to myself wow, people must really hate him. I think his movies and whatever has been going on in his personal life in recent years have obscured his SNL work. He was a very solid player, very underrated. He had very good timing and an easy confidence which gave most of his sketches a bit more life. His actual work on the show holds up well.
Love Jan obviously but that was a weird shot to take at Rob by Tina. Obviously I don’t agree with the anti-vix stuff he promotes and his movies were dreadful but he was solid on the show
Unfortunately, the shitty opinions of modern day Rob, Dennis & Victoria have mostly ruined their legacy, when all had really solid tenures.
Add Jim Bruer to that list, unfortunately.
And I think they were trying to make “Garth got pubes” a running joke. It was in Wayne’s World 2, as well.
I get the feeling the after school special sketch was mostly an excuse to have a pop at PBS for perceived liberal leanings. Around this time they were facing controversy for the upcoming gay-themed Tales of the City.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_City_(1993_miniseries)#Production
Anyway, it’s a decent sketch. I’m sure he’d been playing them before and I just forgot/didn’t watch them but it’s kind of funny seeing Spade popping up over and over in teenager roles after three and a half seasons of appearances. He’s also pretty good in the ambulance sketch. Does the end of that remind anyone else of something Eddie Murphy would have done?
I did not remember Tom’s monologue. At least now I understand why they had that endless Johnny B Goode sequence in Roseanne’s later episode. If only that had made the sketch funny. Anyway, I thought Tom did alright in this episode. Underneath all the smugness and delusions, he was always a more than competent everyman performer, as he showed here.
I liked seeing Dana on the drums in the DOGS piece (which wasn’t really for me, but was certainly very unique). Of all the long-term players, Dana fit in best with this era’s cast. Dana tends to blend in well with the casts on all his hosting gigs. I remember him jamming out with Armisen and Hader in his last stint.
Roseanne’s entire career was about skirting the line between “I can’t do this because I’m a woman, right?” and spoofing the idea that someone can get away with horrible behavior because they claim sexism. So having her actually talk about it wasn’t especially funny, aside from Kevin’s comment afterward. I did enjoy Ellen Cleghorne’s commentary. It’s funny how The Bodyguard went, in the space of the hiatus, from a movie just mentioned dismissively by Chris Rock to a movie so popular they played the big song at the close of one sketch and devoted an entire WU commentary to it.
I wonder why most of the cast and Neil Young had on hoodies or had their shirts over their heads in the goodnights.
I don’t dislike the Swerski sketches but have no huge love for them either. This one was a nice variation on the usual themes and the usual restaurant set. I liked the tunnel of light moments with Farley, although seeing him on the floor, in closeup, “dying,” was…unsettling.
The night school sketch was fine, overall, but had that punching down vibe that reminds me of worse sketches to come.
Boy they are continuing to get any use possible out of that office set. I wonder just how many episodes it’s appeared in this season.
The McDonald’s sketch is an all time classic. I don’t even think you can say anything more. Phil at his best. Sublime. And just as good now as it was then, if not better.
The Valley High sketch is decent, but I think the audience clued me into why those kind of sketches generally bum me out. I get that the sketch is mostly mocking awkward after school specials and not gay people, but the framing of the sketch still suggests the very idea of a gay couple in this situation as funny. You seen this when they first cut away to Mike and David in the car, and the audience immediately laughs, because “ha ha it’s two men acting like a couple”. Now I know the sketch didn’t present that as a joke, and it’s on the audience for simply laughing at the set up of “two men dating”, but you can see how they’d been conditioned to naturally see that as funny. Especially when, as Stooge pointed out, it was their third episode in a row to have a sketch like this.
Oh man…I LOVE the Clinton at McDonald’s sketch. When he’s using everyone’s food as an object lesson to explain the Somalia situation…it kills me. So funny. One of the best political sketches the show has ever done. Priceless.
Jack Handey took half this season off and doesn’t return to the credits until Keitel/Madonna, so he likely didn’t write Tales From The Ambulance.
Toooo manyyyy sketches in 44 years without wide-known authorship. Should be some sort of official SNL database, so the writers who make the cast shine can get more recognition.
Wow, Mike really slimmeddoewn for that movie, I guess. He looks like he did back in season 14.
I always thought the Chelsea joke was way worse. Thought they said something like, “She won’t make you schwing,” which is definitely wrong. What they actually said, in contrast, seems very tame. Probably still shouldn’t have said it, though.
I don’t think Gary and Malcolm were ever in a movie together, even though they did know each other. You think Anthony Hopkins was the co-star who convinced him instead?
The Clinton at McDonald’s sketch is an interesting example of a political sketch whose “political point” is kind of vague (if any)–the basic point is that Clinton likes eating junk food. On paper, this seems awfully thin and one can easily picture a lot of modern day sketches that would suck if this same basic humor was used (Donald Trump is only concerned about his hair!). But this sketch proves to be very funny, almost like a slice of life political sketch, capped by fine performances and writing.
Was everybody at the end going for a Cornholio impression?
I have no problem with the Chelsea joke. The premise of Wayne’s World is two teenage high school students have a night-time cable TV talk show, and in this segment of the sketch they are talking about another younger teenager. The joke is anchored on the assertion that she wasn’t good looking (which was not untrue). Pretty sure I’ve heard a ton of far more savage jokes about someone’s looks, even about young children.
If you’re trying to sexualize it, Wayne and Garth are talking about what she could look like in the future – you know, like when she’s in high school. There’s no “schwinging” going on, and there’s definitely nothing so blatant as what is presented in the Sex and Peer Pressure sketch a little later in the program, the entire premise of which is, two high school teenagers – of different ages – going “all the way”.
There is nothing wrong with the Chelsea joke as it is, beyond individual sensibilities. Public figures are always fair game when it comes to satire, regardless of their age. I totally get that someone like Hillary would have a problem with it and use whatever newfound influence she had to raise a stink about it, though.
In the end, it’s a joke. If you want to read more into it, that’s totally up to you. Far from the “edgiest” thing I’ve seen on this show, either before or after this aired. And let’s not forget, it was late night viewing, and intended for an adult audience no less.
I also have no problem with Rob, or Dennis, or Jim Breuer, or anyone presenting views in opposition of the mainstream narrative. If anything, the public discourse needs more of that.
“Dogs” has my vote for best segment so far this season, the much better edited dress version moreso than the live version. I can’t poke a hole in it, everything about it was clever and perfectly executed, right down to the frisbee.
By the way, are we all going to gloss over the fact that in the Porno Buyers’ Service sketch Chris showed the camera an uncensored view of a nude photo in that copy of Hustler? It may be blurry in video copies of this episode, but I’m sure it was more than visible when the show originally aired.
Wholeheartely agree with your view of the Chelsea joke. And “SNL” inadvertently showing pics of nude women happened twice during that show’s first season so what happened in the Porno Buyers’ Service sketch is nothing new…
Really? I had no idea, I first started watching the show during its second season, and when I started watching the series again recently, I was going to start at the beginning but landed on Season 11 for some reason (Jon Lovitz I think).
Not that I was complaining mind you, I just thought it was interesting that the Chelsea joke and Rob brought out the criticism that they did but no one mentioned the porno sketch. I’m totally okay with it and even get a chuckle out of it.