Month: August 2019

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April 10, 1993 – Jason Alexander / Peter Gabriel (S18 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Bill Clinton (PHH) makes an Indecent Proposal to Boris Yeltsin (CHF)

— Great sudden Indecent Proposal twist with Phil’s Clinton making an offer for a night with Boris Yeltsin’s wife, Naina.
— I got a laugh from the reason Phil’s Clinton gives to Mike’s George Stephanopoulos for his indecent proposal to Yeltsin: “I’m gonna give him the money anyway. Might as well have some fun.”
— Julia as Naina, in her accent: “It’s not my soul, it’s just my wagina.”
— I like the fact that this is the second consecutive episode with the underappreciated Julia Sweeney getting to say “Live from New York…”.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— The theme music would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version. Same goes for the following monologue.


MONOLOGUE
host dresses like Peter Pan & performs a static version of “I’m Flying”

— Pretty fun performance from Jason during the musical.
— Amusing turn with a disenchanted Jason stopping the musical, being “flown” over to Lorne, and Lorne being raised on a mechanical platform so he can be higher than Jason.
STARS: ***


JIFFY EXPRESS
Rerun from 10/24/92


WOODY ALLEN FAN CLUB
Woody Allen’s legal troubles are discussed at a meeting of his fan club

— Jason being cast as a Woody Allen-sounding fan seems very fitting.
— Good Woody Allen voices from all the guys. Jon Lovitz would’ve been perfect for this sketch if he were still in the cast (or available for one of his many cameos in this era), as he had a lesser-known recurring character in his early seasons who was basically the same as these Woody Allen fans in this sketch.
— David’s character is named Andrew Breckman, after frequent SNL writer Andy Breckman. I don’t know if this means he had a hand in the writing of this sketch (I don’t think he’s credited as a guest writer this week).
— The fan club members’ various ways of downplaying Woody’s problems are pretty funny.
— I like the ending with Jason doing a Woody Allen-esque direct-to-camera message.
STARS: ***


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


HUB’S GYROS
workers at Hub’s Gyros talk about (host)’s affinity for “the juice”

— A lot of things about the look of this sketch bring the original era’s Olympia Cafe sketches to mind. Even the layout of the restaurant set is kinda similar to Olympia Cafe’s set.
— Ha, there goes the first utterance of the soon-to-be-immortal line “You like-a the juice?”
— Robert Smigel’s accent in this sounds similar to the voice he would later use for Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.
— The ridiculous, endless repetitiveness of this is increasingly funny when you’re aware this is meant as a meta spoof of one-joke, catchphrase-driven sketches.
— I love how this has now gotten really meta with David entering the scene and asking the Hub’s Gyros employees for the sketch to finally end, and all the characters lampshading how unbearably repetitive the sketch is. I especially love Smigel’s line “Audience is getting pissed off.”
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Steam”


WEEKEND UPDATE
unattractive Bennett Brauer (CHF) explains why he’s an audience turn-off

— Farley debuts a new Update character: Bennett Brauer, which would go on to be a fairly well-known character of his.
— Funny format of the Bennett Brauer commentary, with his increasingly unpleasant revelations about himself while using air quotes. The quote about “not using silverware when eating” especially got a good laugh.
— Kevin’s “This just in” bit about the Rodney King jury verdict was awful. Not only was it not funny, but what the hell was with Kevin’s delivery? Judging from his awkward, hesitant delivery, it sounded like even he had no confidence in the material.
— David had a Hollywood Minute commentary cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal, which is surprising considering the popularity of the segment. Judging from the description I read of this cut Hollywood Minute, it’s the same one that would later make it on the air in this season’s finale.
STARS: ***


FOOD UNION
grocery store employees (host) & (ROS) try to find sanctuary during break

— I’m enjoying the escalation of this, with the increasingly smaller and less-convenient break rooms.
— Canteen Boy officially becomes recurring, making a random small “cameo” in this sketch.
— I’m actually liking Canteen Boy better in this small appearance than I do in most of his own sketches.
— Solid ending with the crawl space break room, and Rob having his ear chewed by a mouse.
STARS: ***½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


WEAK CRIME BOSS
mob boss (host) repeatedly errs by having thugs release (TIM) prematurely

— I loved Phil’s delivery of “Remember this YOUNG PUNK?!?” when he and Kevin bring Tim into Jason’s office.
— Funny turn after Jason initially tells Kevin and Phil they can leave, with Tim immediately beating Jason up.
— Great performance and character work from Jason.
— Okay, the repetitiveness of this sketch was funny to me for a good while, but is now starting to get tired to me towards the end of this.
— Overall, not a particularly great sketch, but I didn’t hate this anywhere near as much as I used to. There was a silliness to this sketch that kinda worked, and this was well-performed by most of the actors involved. However, I will never understand why this sketch is included in this season’s “Best Of” compilation special. What were they thinking?!?
STARS: **½


IGNORANT PROPOSAL
stakes lowered considerably in all-black version

— Wow, two consecutive sketches tonight with the criminally-underused Tim Meadows in a co-starring role. A huge rarity for him in this era.
— I like that we’re getting two different Indecent Proposal parodies tonight.
— Rock’s insistent line “If you don’t sleep with him, I will” was funny.
— Wait, now it’s revealed that Rock is playing Eddie Murphy? Boy, is that a weak impression of Eddie.
— Ellen playing Mary J. Blige here is amusing, considering Mary J. Blige was a musical guest on the show just two episodes earlier.
STARS: ***


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


TALES OF IRONY
three vignettes fail to contain any real ironic element

— I love Jason’s intense, over-dramatic performance as the host.
— Jason’s understated confused reaction to the spaceship vignette is cracking me up.
— The increasingly bad examples of irony in the vignettes are really funny, as are Jason’s increasingly baffled, frustrated reactions.
— I got a big laugh from the ending with Jason bitterly tearing a sheet of paper apart and angrily chewing it.
STARS: ****


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “In Your Eyes”


BLACK COWORKERS
changing traits make (host) repeatedly misidentify new black co-workers

— Wow, THREE co-starring roles tonight for Tim. I love it.
— I’m being amused by the direction this is going in, with Tim and Rock constantly switching places or changing appearances, causing Jason to constantly confuse them for each other, which they get offended by.
— Funny line from Tim about how Jason is a balding white guy with a blazer, so “I guess that makes you Bob Hope”.
— I love the randomness of Ellen deciding to take a nap right at the table, of course leading Jason to mistake the “D” shaved in the back of her hair for Tim’s hair.
— I’m enjoying how the silliness is escalating even further, with Tim, Rock, and Ellen now having their names changed to African names when Jason has briefly stepped out once again.
— When Jason returns after the aforementioned African name changes, I love David’s panicked gestures when trying to prevent Jason from saying the black co-workers’ old names.
— Good ending with Jason’s direct-to-camera message (the second sketch tonight to end with Jason doing that) pleading with viewers not to hurt him or set his house on fire after the upcoming Rodney King verdict.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Though this wasn’t one of the more standout episodes of this season, it was a quietly solid show. I appreciate a lot of the original premises we saw all throughout this episode. There were no recurring sketches at all (Hub’s Gyros doesn’t become recurring until later this season); just a night filled with a lot of mostly-good premise-driven original sketches. Jason Alexander was a very solid host, and it makes sense how good he was at playing different characters and how well he worked in SNL’s live format, considering all of his stage experience.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS

 


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Miranda Richardson)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Kirstie Alley

Posted on

March 20, 1993 – Miranda Richardson / Soul Asylum (S18 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
androgynous Pat sings “The Crying Game” for host & Stephen Rea [real]

— Yet another fantastic, creative usage of Pat. This Crying Game setting is particularly fitting for this character.
— I like Miranda Richardson’s various reaction shots during the song.
— This ends up being the final full-fledged Pat sketch (not counting Pat’s future appearances in recurring character group pieces like So Long Farewell from Phil’s final episode, or Recurring Characters For Unity from a little later this season), despite the fact that there’s still a little more than a year left in Julia’s SNL tenure. I recall once reading an interview with Julia years ago in which she explained that when she signed on to do a Pat movie somewhere around this time in early 1993, she didn’t get Lorne’s permission first. Lorne was not happy when he soon found out, and as a “penalty”, he forbid Julia from doing any more Pat sketches on SNL. In retrospect, that’s probably a good thing, as it caused Pat to bow out while the character was still funny, instead of eventually fizzling out like several popular recurring characters tend to do towards the end of their run.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host sings like Marilyn Monroe & tries to ingratiate herself with USA

 

— Great performance from Miranda during her musical number so far, with a lot of funny little comedic touches from her.
— I love how this is now starting to really get fun as the musical number really kicks into high gear and has Miranda doing a wild range of different things, featuring participation from male cast members.
STARS: ****


GREEN & FAZIO (PART 1)
Rerun from 10/10/92


THE RAIN PEOPLE
actor (PHH) frustrates (host)’s attempts to complete an emotional scene

— Very funny characterization from Phil here.
— Phil’s various ways of screwing up the scene are increasingly funny. I also love the growing-but-understated frustrations from Mike and Miranda.
— Phil’s adding so many funny dopey little touches to his characterization, such as him sitting in an eager listening posture when Miranda’s about to disclose to him a traumatic childhood memory of hers.
— Miranda’s over-the-top hysterical crying during the final, successful take of the movie scene is cracking me up.
— Hilarious turn with Phil stealing Miranda’s traumatic childhood memory during his Oscar acceptance speech, resulting in an outraged Miranda.
— An overall excellent sketch. Very funny, well-structured, perfectly performed, and stands out as some of Phil’s greatest SNL work.
STARS: *****


BAD NEWS
after WWII soldier (MIM) recovers, nurse (host) gives string of bad news

— I’m getting so many laughs from the bad news Miranda breaks to Mike in response to every positive thing Mike brings up.
— Priceless entrance from Rob as a three-legged Hitler.
— The frying pan bit at the end was great.
— An overall fantastic and strongly-written sketch with wonderfully bizarre British-style humor. This felt unusual and refreshing to see on SNL. Miranda herself must’ve had a hand in writing this, knowing her background in British comedy.
STARS: ****½


GREEN & FAZIO (PART 2)
Rerun from 10/10/92


EAGER & JONES
heterosexuals Eager (CHF) & Jones (TIM) sing duets as if they were gay

— As I mentioned recently, this sketch was originally cut after dress rehearsal from the Harvey Keitel episode.
— Amusing concept, and the songs and performances from Farley and Tim are a lot of fun.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Somebody to Shove”


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN gives a subliminal editorial about David Koresh & Branch Davidians
Hanna-Barbera paid ROS to discuss the educational merits of cartoons

— Kevin’s subliminal editorial on David Koresh was okay, though no subliminal lines stood out to me as particularly noteworthy here.
— A great blooper just now during Rob’s commentary: Rob says a line regarding tomato juice that makes no sense, then he makes a face showing that he’s aware something was wrong with the line he just read, then he saves himself with a great “That’s what it said” ad-lib, referring to the cue-card. Rob then gets Kevin involved in the ad-libbing by asking him to back him up. All of this gets a huge audience reaction.
— Rob’s whole cartoon commentary is a lot of fun.
— Rob claiming Elmer Fudd originated the Ride of the Valkyries tune reminds me of that Jeremy Irons “Looney Tunes Classics” sketch from two seasons earlier.
— Ellen had a commentary cut after dress rehearsal in which she played the president of the Eddie Murphy Fan Club being saddened by Eddie’s recent wedding, eventually launching into a song she wrote called “Eddie My Love”.
STARS: ***


MTV SPRING BREAK U.K. ’93
VJs get roughed up by British hooligans

— Adam is very funny in his imitation of the insufferable Pauly Shore.
— David’s Denis Leary is making me laugh.
— One of the various times throughout this sketch that the British hooligans knock Adam’s Pauly Shore to the ground and pile on top of him, Adam seems to forget that he’s supposed to say something to the camera, as the camera holds on a lengthy close-up of him exiting the pile while oddly not saying anything or even acknowledging the camera, resulting in long awkward silence until the camera cuts back to Mike’s Prince Andrew.
— An odd coincidence about Duran Duran being impersonated in this sketch is that Duran Duran was the musical guest on SNL that exact same Saturday exactly 10 years earlier (March 19, 1983).
STARS: ***½


RUSSELL SIMMONS’ DEF MAGIC SHOW JAM
foul-mouthed illusionists

— Hilarious concept right out of the gate.
— A dead-on parody of Def Jam Comedy.
— The overall sketch was short and sweet.
— When Rock later hosts in season 22, they do another Def Jam Comedy parody that’s a spiritual successor to this sketch, titled Russell Simmons’ Def Emergency Room Jam.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Black Gold”


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


DIETER’S DREAM
whorenun (host), shemale Susan, Marv Albert [real] inhabit Dieter’s Dream

— When Dieter is first shown in the studio audience at the beginning of this, you can hear a female audience member excitedly say “Oh, [inaudible] Sprockets!” when recognizing Dieter.
— A very creative different usage of Dieter. This dream format is a lot of fun.
— Ha, a random Marv Albert cameo!
— I love how this film is turning the weirdness of the already-weird Sprockets sketches up to a full 11.
— Susan the Shemale: “I want to poke out your eyes and make love to your skull.”
— The Electric Company-esque “whorenun” bit is absolutely priceless.
— I love the twist on the usual “touch my monkey” bit.
— Overall, I could not have loved this film more. This has got to be my absolute favorite Dieter appearance ever.
STARS: *****


JACK MCMANUS BAR
spineless pub owner (CHF) remembers celebrities taking advantage of him

— I’m not caring much for the repeated joke of Farley’s celebrity encounter stories always ending with him cowardly backing down on his bossy treatment of the celebrities.
— I am liking the way Farley is carrying this. His fun performance is making this weak material a little more tolerable for me.
STARS: **½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fantastic episode; one of the strongest of this great season. Aside from the last sketch, there was a consistent high quality throughout the night, we got a lot of standout great sketches, and nothing besides Weekend Update got below a three-and-a-half star rating. Miranda Richardson was a very strong and skilled host who blended perfectly into SNL’s format, which is no surprise given her aforementioned comedy background. U.K.-born hosts like her who are mostly known for doing serious roles but have any kind of comedy background usually always make for strong SNL hosts.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Goodman)
a fairly big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Jason Alexander

Posted on

March 13, 1993 – John Goodman / Mary J. Blige (S18 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Richard Laymer chats with David Koresh (MIM) in the Waco compound

— I like that SNL’s doing a parody of the infamous David Koresh/Waco incident going on at this time.
— Ha, Richmeister makes yet another sudden appearance in a completely unrelated sketch. I always appreciate how they occasionally put him in different situations like this.
— Some good cracks from Richmeister about Koresh’s multiple wives.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host & The Bravados [real] sing “So In Love”

— I like John proudly proclaiming he’s hosting during the Storm of the Century. There is something strangely kinda exciting about a live SNL episode airing during one of New York’s worst storms in history.
— When John says he wanted his fourth monologue to be special, you can hear a woman in the audience saying “You ARE special”, which John reacts to by looking towards the audience with a funny, sly smile.
— Funny line from John about a fellow passenger on the train volunteering to help kill SNL’s writers.
— The overall acapella song with The Bravados was fairly charming, though this isn’t one of John’s better monologues.
STARS: **½


WILSON COUNTERSINK FLANGES
for those with requisite technical knowledge

— I’m getting laughs from the increasingly fake-sounding, incomprehensible technical jargon, especially when it comes from Phil’s professional delivery.
— Good ending tagline about “lost prantkens”.
STARS: ***½


BIG BUDDIES
Bear (host) finds that Ox (CHF) has taken over as brain’s (ROS) protector

— Pretty funny turn with John’s burly jock finding out Rob’s nerd has made a new burly jock friend.
— The awkwardness of the forced banter between Farley and John is cracking me up.
— I like John repeatedly banging his head against the wall while saying “stupid” over and over for an absurdly long time, even if I’m not sure it was intended to be funny.
— I love the ending photo montage of John with his new nerdy friend, and then us seeing both of them happily pictured with the Farley/Rob duo.
— An overall solid, cute, and charming sketch, though something so quiet and not intended to be laugh-out-loud hilarious feels kinda odd as the lead-off sketch of an episode.
STARS: ***½


LET’S TALK AND TALK AND TALK AND TALK AND TALK ABOUT MOVIES
Soylent Green director (host) talks about his less successful sequels

— Some pretty funny random humor right out the gate with the show’s absurdly long title and Julia’s name being Mabel Blaster.
— Even before we’ve gotten to the real comedic meat with the Soylent Green sequels, the initial straightforward clip of Phil’s Charlton Heston in the original Soylent Green cracked me the hell up.
— The look on Kevin’s face while screaming at the end of the Soylent White clip is very funny.
— I’m loving the increasingly ridiculous sequels, made funnier by Phil’s memorable over-the-top utterances of “Soylent (insert thing here) is made out of people! It’s peeeoooopppplllleeee!!!” Contrary to some criticisms I’ve heard about this sketch, I feel the repetitive nature actually works well in this context.
— If you know me, you’ll know I loved the Soylent Stooges line.
— Looks like a clip titled Soylent Beef Kabobs was cut after dress rehearsal. During the Soylent Green II clip towards the end of this sketch, there’s a technical gaffe where a graphic on the bottom of the screen states the title “Soylent Beef Kabobs” (screencap below), before quickly disappearing and being replaced with the correct “Soylent Green II” title graphic.

STARS: ****


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Reminisce”


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN interviews newly-crowned Storm Of The Century (CHF)
old codger Buster Jenkins (CSR) blames spaceships for the huge deficit
Sleepyhead (ADS) eventually gives editorial on Yeltsin’s near-impeachment

— Farley’s Storm Of The Century character mentioning El Nino among several storms reminds me of the famous El Nino/Weather Channel sketch Farley would later do in his 1997 hosting stint. This Storm Of The Century commentary actually kinda feels like a precursor to that El Nino sketch, as both involve Farley playing a personification of a storm.
— Farley’s overall commentary was surprisingly really forgettable and just came and went.
— I’m getting good laughs from Rock’s old man character ranting about “them damn spaceships”. He’s also making some other funny absurd comments throughout this, especially him asking where are women going to pee in space, and him saying that a space helmet costs “A lot… and 18 cents”.
— Adam, who has recently become sure-fire Weekend Update gold, tries a new Update character: Sleepyhead.
— Ehh, the overall Sleepyhead commentary ended up not working. Adam’s usually good at pulling off this kind of goofy concept, but this was a swing-and-a-miss and was probably funnier in theory than in practice. I can definitely see why Sleepyhead never ends up becoming a recurring character.
STARS: ***


HOW’D YOU DO THAT?
guests tell origins of accidental disfigurements

— Funny visual of John entering the scene with long flat fingers and a towel hook stuck in his chin.
— I’m enjoying this sketch, but something about it feels oddly quiet. Maybe because each guest is entering with no entrance music or audience applause, for some reason.
— I love Rob as a plastic surgeon detailing how he can fix the guests’ disfigurements. When he’s giving Phil details, I like the goofy smile on Phil’s face.
— A particularly priceless entrance from Farley. Great makeup job on him.
— When being asked if there’s anything he can do to help Farley, I love the cutaway to Rob just grinning and smugly saying “No!”
STARS: ***½


CRUISE
while on a cruise, Linda Richman & (host) talk about all the great food

— (*groan*) Really, SNL? Two consecutive episodes with Linda Richman? However, at least we’re seeing her outside of the Coffee Talk setting this time. It’s usually nice when we get rare instances of recurring characters being taken out of their normal setting.
— While I appreciate the more slice-of-life aspect they’re going for here, the conversations between Linda Richman and John’s character are not interesting me and are making this sketch feel long. I’d probably be more into this if I actually liked the Linda Richman character.
— Okay, I finally did get one chuckle, from Linda Richman’s startled reaction to John’s Roman Catholic/Jewish fake-out bit.
STARS: **


BLOCK PARTY
partygoers pretend to believe eccentric loser Canteen Boy’s (ADS) stories

— Adam tries out yet another new character tonight, though this is one that actually ends up becoming recurring.
— This particular Canteen Boy sketch was actually originally going to be performed earlier this season in the Danny DeVito episode, but got cut after dress rehearsal.
— Canteen Boy constantly using Canada in his obvious false stories feels like a callback to the High School Liars Club sketch from earlier this season, where Adam played a character who also kept using Canada in his lies.
— I got a laugh from Canteen Boy’s speechless, subtly panicked reaction to being asked if he’s worried someone will switch the water in his canteen when he’s sleeping.
— I like John’s obnoxious ways of messing with Canteen Boy’s head. I can picture Danny DeVito pulling off this obnoxious role well too, in the unaired original version.
— Despite some laughs, I wasn’t all that crazy about this sketch as a whole. I’m of the opinion that the Canteen Boy character is only remembered by SNL fans today because of the famous scoutmaster sketch with Alec Baldwin. The other sketches Canteen Boy starred in were never anything special, in my opinion.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sweet Thing”


TURKISH STOREKEEPER
once again, Turkish (ROS) is the target of (host)’s anti-Arab sentiments

— I’m liking the escalation of this sketch in the constant flashbacks. Like the Let’s Talk(x5) About Movies sketch from earlier tonight, this is another sketch where the repetitive nature actually works. And there’s something that tickles me about the fact that SNL’s stagehands have to constantly change the broken window, the “I’m not from Iraq/Libya/Iran” signs, and Rob’s facial hair all throughout this sketch. Aside from one instance early on in this sketch where there’s an accidental glimpse of the window being replaced behind John, the stagehands are doing a seamless job with all these quick changes.
— Good ending with John’s character, who has just made good with Rob’s Turkish character, being oblivious to the “U.S. Plane in Turkey Skyjack” headline on the opposite side of the newspaper he’s reading, and Rob trying to keep him from seeing it.
STARS: ***½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


TO BE SURE, IT’S TIME TO ROCK!
traditional Irish singers try rock classics & rap on new albums

— An enjoyable and solid concept, with the incongruity between the singers’ old-timey Irish singing style and the popular rock songs they’re performing.
— Nice little touch with the Irish version of Born To Be Wild spelling “born” as “bourne”.
— The Irish versions of I Can’t Get No Satisfaction and Should I Stay Or Should I Go are particularly funny.
STARS: ****


THE MAN WITHOUT A SHOUT
tragedy spurs (host) never to raise his voice

— There’s a gaffe early on where it takes a stagehand two tries to break the window with a ball, then he visibly walks right past the camera. Or was that intentional?
— Not too bad of a concept of us seeing how John’s refusal to ever raise his voice negatively affects his life.
— The resulting sketch as a whole didn’t do much for me. I did like John and Julia’s acting in this, but the execution came off fairly meh and forgettable.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS
musical guest’s mother [real] joins her on-stage

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— There were some fairly solid things throughout the night, and two things that I felt highly about (Let’s Talk(x5) About Movies and To Be Sure, It’s Time to Rock), but I dunno, this episode as a whole had a strangely quiet, kinda forgettable feel. Even some of the good sketches had an oddly quiet vibe. Not bad an episode overall, but not one of season 18 nor John Goodman’s more memorable episodes.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS

 


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bill Murray)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Miranda Richardson

Posted on

February 20, 1993 – Bill Murray / Sting (S18 E14)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Beverly Hills residents question Bill Clinton (PHH) about his policies

— Amusing detail of Kevin-as-Michael-Eisner’s Mickey Mouse tie.
— Sting’s Rod Stewart impression is really funny.
— Impressions aren’t usually Farley’s strong suit, but I like his Rob Reiner.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Father Guido Sarducci is credited as a featured player, for the first time since season 11.


MONOLOGUE
BIM talks about the good vibes of the past week as the truth scrolls by

— As always, a fun, energetic entrance from Bill.
— I appreciate Bill pointing out names of familiar faces from the original SNL staff who are still working there today.
— It’s the classic Buck Henry screen crawl monologue gag! I love that they’re doing this for a Bill Murray monologue, as it truly makes it feel like a throwback to the old days.
— I always like when Bill speaks in what I call his “Bill Murray-isms” (it’s a little hard to describe, but he just has a certain distinctive way of wording things).
— A lot of laughs from the screen crawl refuting every positive thing Bill is saying about then-modern-day SNL. The “He made Kevin Nealon cry” disclaimer especially got a huge laugh.
— Great how Bill is doing a very Nick the Lounge Singer-esque rendition of I Will Always Love You, which is nice compensation for the fact that we’re not getting a Nick the Lounger Singer sketch tonight.
STARS: ****


HIBERNOL
long-term cold & flu medicine lets (CHF) sleep through sickness

— Great visual of the oversized cup of medicine.
— Strong concept for a fake ad, and I like the graphic showing the colds and flus coming and going through Farley’s body as he sleeps through the winter.
— Very funny visual of Farley waking up with his hair, beard, and fingernails all being long.
— Overall, the early 90s era knocks one out of the park again with yet another very memorable fake ad.
STARS: ****½


THE WHIPMASTER
a not-so-proficient actor (BIM) takes over the title role

 

— Hilarious reveal of Farley with red marks all over his face after Bill’s repeated attempts to whip the cigar out of his mouth.
— Lots of funny instances of Bill’s unskilled whipping.
— I love Phil’s reaction to getting whipped in the crotch.
— Very funny bit with Bill using his whip to knock down an obvious dummy of Julia.
— Nice touch immediately after this sketch, with G.E. Smith and the SNL Band being shown playing an instrumental version of the Whipmaster theme song.
STARS: ****


FREQUENT FLYER
Frequent Flyer (BIM) gives unsolicited tips to his fellow passengers

— Second sketch in a row with Bill playing a character with his own theme song.
— Some trivia: this sketch was cut from the preceding week’s Alec Baldwin episode, where the Frequent Flyer character was played by Phil. Alec played the role that Mike is playing here.
— Bill’s getting laughs from his constant tips to fellow passengers. Not a hilarious concept, but Bill is solid in this role and is making this sketch work. I can’t help but be curious how Phil’s unaired version of this character compares to Bill’s. I’m sure Phil pulled off this role well in his own right.
— I like the ending with Frequent Flyer even giving tips to a terrorist hijacker.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You”


WEEKEND UPDATE
moron Hank Fielding gives perspective on Bill Clinton’s economic address
Father Guido Sarducci reviews Groundhog Day & relates a recurring dream
Hollywood Minute- Steve Martin [real] gives DAS his comeuppance

— After getting cut after dress rehearsal many times since his first appearance earlier this season, Robert Smigel’s Hank Fielding character finally makes it on the air again.
— I haven’t been enjoying tonight’s Hank Fielding commentary quite as much as the first one, but there are still laughs from this, especially him naming Gomer Pyle as an example of gays in the military.
— I like the idea of Father Guido Sarducci doing a review of Bill’s new movie Groundhog Day.
— Much like a lot of his commentaries from the past, tonight’s Guido Sarducci commentary is going on a really long time. However, he’s cracking me up throughout this one, with a lot of funny little comments.
— David’s Hollywood Minute is providing the usual laughs, especially the comment about Stevie Nicks. However, I didn’t get David’s “I don’t care what he said, I never touched the freak” quote when Brooke Shields’ pic came up.
— A memorable Steve Martin appearance during David’s Hollywood Minute, even if it is the type of “sneaker-upper” bit (I think that’s what it’s called, when a celebrity makes a “surprise” appearance to confront a cast member making fun of them) that would go on to be a tired, corny SNL trope.
— We’ve gotten quite a number of nice throwbacks to the original era in tonight’s episode, between Bill Murray’s presence, a Buck Henry-esque monologue, a Father Guido Sarducci commentary on Update, and now a Steve Martin appearance.
— What was with Steve at the very end of this Update? After signing off, Kevin turns to Steve and tries to start a conversation, but Steve snubs him by rudely turning away with an arrogant look on his face. I’d like to think that was just Steve doing a “bit”, but it doesn’t make any sense in this context.
STARS: ***½


MEN’S JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Tommy Two-Step (BIM) readies men’s jazz dancing ensemble for big show

— The pre-taped rehearsal montage is pretty fun.
— A good laugh from the ending of Bill’s inspiring story, where he reveals he puked into the orchestra pit.
— I love the goofy gleeful looks on Farley and Mike’s faces during their simultaneous choreography at front of the stage during the big show at the end of the sketch.
— An overall charming, cute, and enjoyable sketch, even if it wasn’t intended to be all laugh-out-loud funny. The next time Bill hosts in 1999, they do a sketch that feels like a spiritual successor to this, in which Bill is the leader of an all-male group of Knicks City Dancers performing for an unruly crowd. Unfortunately, I recall that sketch being really weak, though I haven’t seen it in ages, so maybe my opinion will change when I eventually cover that episode. I used to think that episode in general was surprisingly pretty wretched for a Bill Murray-hosted show, but now that I’m thinking back on it, I can recall a number of pretty solid things from that episode.
STARS: ***½


COFFEE TALK WITH LINDA RICHMAN
Linda & neighbor (BIM) discuss the year’s Oscar nominations

— Funny line about how Barbra Streisand deserves an Oscar just for keeping her nose.
— Bill’s character discussing that year’s Oscar nominees makes me have a disappointed realization that we didn’t see Bill do his trademark Oscar picks tonight. It would’ve been a treat to see that again.
— Overall, I kinda liked Bill’s characterization, but this sketch as a whole kept me largely uninterested, as usual for Coffee Talk.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Is Stronger Than Justice”


I’M CHILLIN’
today’s mother joke & a plug for Bitch Come Running cologne

— First time this recurring sketch has appeared all season. This also ends up being the last time we’ll ever see this sketch during Farley and Rock’s tenure as cast members (not counting when they bring the sketch back in Rock’s season 22 hosting stint, in which Jim Breuer replaces Farley’s character).
— A big laugh from the sponsor Bitch Come Runnin’ Cologne.
— I liked Farley’s line “Marky Mark ain’t nothin’ but Vanilla Ice in his drawers.”
— Very funny confused look that Rock gives Farley after Farley namedrops Gertrude Stein.
— Rock unfortunately stumbled over his delivery of the Mother Joke of the Day.
STARS: ***½


MCDONALD’S
to get free food, Honker poses as meat inspector testing for tainted beef

— Always nice to see Bill’s lesser-known Honker character.
— Bill’s delivery as this character always consistently cracks me up, especially the way he just now repeatedly said “salt” with his mouth full of food.
— Honker’s scheme to getting free food is pretty funny.
— During Ellen and Rob’s grossed-out reactions to Bill jamming a thermometer into the burger’s “rectum”, I liked Rob repeatedly saying “Shouldn’t have done that!”
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Every Breath You Take”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly solid episode. There were no real classics, but this was a fine and consistently good episode (minus Coffee Talk). Bill Murray was a great, fun, laid-back, and expert host as always, and it’s always interesting seeing him work with different casts whenever he comes back to the show.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Alec Baldwin)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Our annual John Goodman episode

Posted on

February 13, 1993 – Alec Baldwin / Paul McCartney (S18 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
after Dateline NBC anchors admit ethical lapses, Toonces drives them home

 

— Funny line from Julia’s Jane Pauley about Dateline being a cheap knock-off of 60 Minutes.
— I like how the NBC mishaps the anchors are apologizing for are getting more and more ridiculous.
— Reruns of this episode use the dress rehearsal version of this cold opening (you’ll see why later in my review of this opening). One big difference between the live and dress version is that the live version I’m currently watching doesn’t have the meta bit with Mike’s Stone Phillips apologizing for SNL’s crass comments about Chelsea Clinton in a recent Wayne’s World sketch (during that apology, Mike gets in a dig at himself by mentioning that the Wayne’s World sketch starred an overrated performer). SNL’s director apparently didn’t receive notes that that portion of this cold opening was removed after dress, because there’s one point where, after one of Julia-as-Jane-Pauley’s news items, the camera mistakenly cuts to a close-up of Mike’s Stone Phillips as if it’s his turn to tell the next news item, but he’s just sitting silently while an off-camera Julia is the one doing the next news item.
— Odd moment where, as the Dateline show is fading to black, Julia is heard mistakenly saying her “Well, that was pretty painless” line way too early, when she’s supposed to say it a minute later when she and Mike are shown in the car.
— Toonces! First time we’ve seen him since late last season. They’re clearly phasing him out by this point, as this is among his final stretch of appearances, each of which feature him only making a surprise appearance towards the end of an unrelated sketch.
— After the car crash, there’s a malfunction with the chroma-key screen behind the car, as it isn’t showing any scenery.
— I love the idea of Toonces meowing “Live from New York”, though even that had technical issues. The audio of Toonces meowing LFNY fails to play when the LFNY subtitle appears on the bottom of the screen, then the meowing starts playing too late right as the SNL theme music begins.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host generously tips cast & crew to get special backstage treatment

— Fun monologue with Alec going around the studio thanking and bribing various crew and cast members for their efforts. I love how Alec is smoothly navigating through this monologue with total ease, showing how extremely comfortable he had become as a regular host by this point.
— Fantastic how during Lorne and Paul McCartney’s conversation, we get a clever reference to Lorne’s famous Beatle Offer sketch from the original era. The studio audience seemed to miss the reference because they were too busy going “Woo!” at the mere sight of Paul.
— When Alec returns to the home base stage, you can see a section of a football field laid out on the floor in front of the stage (you can also see it on the floor in the second above screencap for this monologue). This is leftover from the preceding episode’s SNL Halftime Spectacular sketch.
STARS: ****


THE CLUCKIN’ CHICKEN
Rerun from 11/21/92


THE MIMIC
(JUS) hires self-proclaimed master of 1000 voices (host)

— I like the 1960s aesthetic to this.
— Paul McCartney as a butler is actually a clever reference to the preceding week’s also-legendary and also-English-accented musical guest Mick Jagger playing a butler in a Prince Charles sketch. Unfortunately, this reference is lost on a lot of viewers nowadays, as the Prince Charles sketch has kinda faded into obscurity over the years (partly because it was cut from Comedy Central’s old 60-minute version, and partly because I don’t think it’s available online) while this Mimic sketch is very well-known and fondly remembered by SNL fans.
— Great opening title sequence.
— This sketch is an excellent display of Alec’s comedic talents. His horrible, cartoonish-sounding imitations of Julia’s character and her husband are hilarious.
— I love how Alec is now doing bad imitations of miscellaneous sounds, such as bird-squawking and pier noises.
— Funny turn with Alec revealing it was him who made the phone call to Julia recommending him to her.
— Classic ending with Alec telling the butler in a McCartney-esque voice “But, Jamison, you can’t throw yourself out, I’m you!”
STARS: *****


THE CHRIS FARLEY SHOW
CHF asks musical guest some dumb questions

— Here comes a legendary Chris Farley classic that would go on to be among his most defining SNL moments.
— Farley’s usual routine of “You remembeeerrrrr when…”s, pulling his hair in anger after making a faux pas, and asking the guest off-topic questions are coming off particularly charming in this installment.
— I love Paul actually having to clarify to Farley that the “Paul is dead” thing was a hoax and that “I didn’t really die”.
— Wonderful part with an excited Farley silently mouthing what appears to be “Awesome! Fuckin’ A, man! Fuckin’ A!” to the camera, in response to Paul’s answer to the question about the “The love you take is equal to the love you make” lyric.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Get Out Of My Way”


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN gives a subliminal editorial about early days of Bill Clinton’s term
ADS sings an ode to his “Red Hooded Sweatshirt”; Linda McCartney cameo

 

— Kevin’s subliminal editorial contains the usual good laughs, especially the subliminal lines about J. Edgar Hoover being an example of a strong woman in the White House, and Hee-Haw being the right forum for Bill Clinton.
— WTF? Why did a picture of George Burns randomly show up on the news screen briefly during Kevin’s news item about a Dallas Cowboys parade? That gaffe caused the Cowboys parade joke to completely bomb with the audience.
— Oh, NOW I see why a George Burns picture mistakenly showed up, as the aforementioned Cowboys parade joke was followed by a mention of George Burns’ birthday.
— Adam’s guitar songs officially become a recurring Update segment.
— Nice topic for Adam’s guitar song tonight. Much like his preceding Turkey Song from earlier this season, the lyrics here are very fun and charmingly goofy, though I appreciate how this one is actually telling a coherent story and isn’t just a collection of random, non-sequitur lyrics.
— The obligatory participation from Kevin during Adam’s song is particularly great here, with the intermittent close-ups of Kevin looking into the camera to say some of the brief lyrics (e.g. “dip dip dip”, “sham-a-lam-a-ding-dong”).
— And now, the “audience” participation is making this song even more fun, especially with Paul and Linda McCartney’s involvement.
— Between these guitar songs of his and his smash-hit Operaman commentaries, Adam has recently become Weekend Update gold.
— An interesting tidbit about the Red-Hooded Sweatshirt song: it was originally going to be performed in the Harvey Keitel episode from earlier this season, where instead of being a Weekend Update commentary, it was going to be a standalone sketch in which Adam performs the song on, I’m assuming, the home base stage. That version of the song also obviously didn’t feature participation from Paul and Linda McCartney. Also in that version of the song, Adam set it up by saying he feels bad that the preceding week’s episode (Danny DeVito) used the word “ass” about a dozen times, so he wants to sing about something nice: his red-hooded sweatshirt.
— I loved the audience’s “Ohh!” response to Kevin’s “And now, for the lighter side of the news” one-liner when a picture of Michael Jackson shows up on the news screen.
— Very nice touch at the end of this Update, with Kevin working “dip dip dip” into his usual “I’m Kevin Nealon, and that’s news to me” sign-off.
STARS: ****


FRANCAIS
French teacher (host) makes sure students’ inflection matches his

— A lot of laughs so far from each student eventually catching on that Alec wants them to say their French phrases in the same goofy, gleeful inflection that he’s using. Farley’s attempt at the inflection is particularly priceless.
— Adam’s very Adam Sandler-esque over-the-top gibberish when repeating Alec’s French phrase was hilarious.
— Surprisingly, this is Phil’s first appearance all night (not counting the Cluckin’ Chicken repeat), and it’s just a small role at the tail end of this sketch.
— Very funny ending with Alec getting the crap beat out of him when trying to correct real Frenchmen’s language.
STARS: ****½


SOAP OPERA DIGEST
TV doctor (host) mispronounces medical terms

 

— Funny mock-dramatic entrance from Phil, who has a great soap opera-esque look in this. I think that’s the same wig he wore in another memorable soap opera parody, All My Luggage from two seasons earlier.

— By the way, this ends up being Phil’s final appearance tonight. An episode with Phil only having two measly walk-on roles, both being in sketches buried after Weekend Update, is unheard of (at least until the upcoming season 19, where we’ll sadly see Phil often pushed to the side), especially considering how particularly heavily he dominated the preceding week’s episode, appearing in almost every single sketch in a lead role. Maybe SNL felt he needed a breather after that? He was in several cut dress rehearsal sketches from this episode, one of them having him in a lead role that will later be recast with host Bill Murray in the following week’s episode (I’ll reveal which sketch that is when I review that episode).
— Alec’s hot streak tonight continues, as we get another all-time memorable performance from him here. His various medical mispronunciations are great. I especially love the “ay-nal cay-nal” (anal canal) one. The premise itself isn’t particularly amazing, but Alec is absolutely perfect for this material and this is a quintessential example of how his dry, serious delivery can make certain dialogue hilarious.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Biker Like An Icon”


THE GAP
Gap employees Kristy & Lucy both think (host) is their guy

— This sketch officially becomes recurring.
— I like how there’s nice continuity, with Mike’s character referencing his appearance in the preceding Gap Girls sketch, as he makes a passing mention of the baggy outfit the Gap Girls convinced him to buy in that sketch.
— Adam and David’s catty comments early on in this sketch are cracking me up.
— Tim’s character makes a passing mention of Tater Junction, which is where a future Gap Girls sketch takes place in (the famous one with Farley’s “Lay off me, I’m starving!” moment).
— The fast-paced back-and-forths between Alec and Adam during their conversation are really well-delivered and entertaining.
— Farley’s Gap Girl character makes her debut here.
— Rob’s Donut Hut character is very funny, especially the bitchy looks she constantly gives the other girls.
— Overall, an improvement over the first Gap Girls installment.
STARS: ***½


NAKED WOMAN THEATRE
(host) responds to complaints the show has received

— Alec’s dignified delivery while defending the show’s random use of naked women is fairly funny, but this sketch is nothing particularly great, especially compared to most of what preceded it tonight.
— I absolutely love the way this ended, with Alec’s host character seguing into the following Daily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley sketch by saying viewers in other parts of the country will see that instead of the Naked Woman Theatre play that’s about to take place. Feels like a nice throwback to times when the original SNL era would segue from one sketch to another in this manner.
STARS: **½


DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
Stuart deconstructs some Valentine’s Day cards

— It’s nice to see more and more of a glimpse into Stuart’s personal life, as he now mentions recently getting out of a toxic relationship with someone named Dale.
— I’m getting some good laughs from Stuart deconstructing Valentine cards and relating them to issues like co-dependency.
— The ending was actually sweet and heartwarming, with Stuart detailing how he’s going to send himself a bouquet of roses with a sentimental note to show himself some much-needed appreciation.
STARS: ***½


THE BODYGUARD: THE SERIES
David Hasselhoff (host) & Patti LaBelle (ELC) in The Bodyguard TV series

— Funny concept of a David Hasselhoff/Patti LaBelle-starring Bodyguard TV series.
— Eh, I’m not caring too much for how the Alec/Ellen scenes are turning out.
— The testimonial quote from Jay Leno is priceless (the third above screencap for this sketch), and serves as a reminder that the infamous late night war between Leno and David Letterman was taking place around this time. Funny thing is, the Leno jokes in this sketch still remained relevant decades later during the 2010 late night war between Leno and Conan O’Brien, which is when I first saw this sketch.
— I like how the ending of this went further with the Leno bit, with Kevin popping in as him and smugly bragging “I got to stay!”
— According to GettyImages, Mike Myers had a part cut after the dress rehearsal version of this sketch where he plays an assailant shooting Alec’s Hasselfhoff (pic here).
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hey Jude”

— Funny to think that while this absolutely legendary performance is going on, Al Franken is somewhere in the studio stealing jeans from the Gap Girls set, as he would later disclose in the “Live from New York” book.


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A phenomenal episode, and one of the best and most memorable of this early 90s era. So many things to rave about in tonight’s episode: there were lots of classic moments all throughout, there was a long streak of sketches receiving a four or five-star rating from me until we got towards the end of the show, and the overall episode had a very fun and charming vibe. To say nothing of what Paul McCartney’s mere presence brought to the show. While a lot of hosts would get overshadowed by such a heavy dosage of McCartney throughout an episode (Paul Rudd knows what that’s like), we thankfully had Alec Baldwin as tonight’s host. Alec, who had already proven himself twice as a fantastic host before tonight, gave what I personally feel is his strongest hosting performance of all time in this episode, enhancing every single sketch he was in with masterful performances and having some of the most memorable roles of his SNL hosting stints.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Luke Perry)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Bill Murray

Posted on

February 6, 1993 – Luke Perry / Mick Jagger (S18 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Bill (PHH) & Hillary (JAH) Clinton greet oddballs & (Giorgio Armani)

 

— I love Rob’s psychotic, secretive spiel about his “notes” that he’s handing to Phil’s Clinton.
— Kevin just walking on and responding to Clinton’s greeting with “You black son of a bitch!” was priceless.
— Farley is dead-on in his imitation of trash-talking wrestlers.
— Funny segment at the end, with Clinton’s formal apology to the prime minister of Italy for the rough treatment he received by the White House guards when being mistaken for a crazy person.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
Obi-Wan Kenobi (PHH) counsels host on what to do on-stage

— Some good laughs from Phil as a Obi-Wan Kenobi giving Luke advice, and Luke constantly pointing out how ill-conceived this idea is. This is being executed well.
— I love the part with the “audience member” (writer David Mandel) suddenly yelling “You suck!” to Luke, and Obi-Wan then advising Luke to “kick his ass and take his wallet”.
— I got a big laugh from Phil pointing out how much Luke is bombing in his monologue (“I’m the only thing getting any laughs!”).
STARS: ****


CHAMELEON XLE
— Rerun from 11/14/92


THE TAMPON PRINCE
Prince Charles (DAC) abdicates to be Camilla Parker-Bowles’ (JUS) tampon

— The BBC1 station ID at the beginning is the same one used in the recurring Simon sketches.
— Good makeup and prosthetics on Dana’s Prince Charles.
— Very funny announcement from Prince Charles that he will live as a tampon in Camilla Parker Bowles’ “trousers”.
— I love how they’re actually showing the tampon transformation process.
— Mick Jagger’s delivery as the butler is priceless and has gotten a great audience reaction.
— Dana’s angry “I can’t walk away, I’m a tampooooonnnn!” outburst cracked me up.
— This ends up being Dana’s final lead role during his tenure as a cast member, as tonight is his last show. He appears in one more sketch later tonight, but it’s just a supporting role.
STARS: ***½


YARD BOY
dumb yard boy (host) doesn’t catch older woman’s (JUS) sexual overtures

— Odd how Luke is just now making his first sketch appearance of the night. I guess they couldn’t find a role for him in the preceding lead-off sketch.
— Very good characterization and delivery from Julia here.
— Despite Julia’s solid performance, this sketch hasn’t been going anywhere too interesting and feels kinda quiet for a sketch placed this early in the show.
— The ending with Phil made me laugh.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sweet Thing”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Operaman sings about gays in the military & other current events
Mick Jagger (MIM) & Keith Richards (musical guest) debate censorship

— A much lighter-colored suit than usual for Kevin tonight.
— The usual funny news items from Operaman, especially the one about Bill and Hillary Clinton, and the one making fun of the “horror” of Al Gore’s dancing.
— This is the first Operaman commentary to end with roses being thrown at him from off-camera, which would go on to be a tradition for his commentaries.
— In retrospect, it sure is something nowadays to see an old Update joke making fun of cellphone users, where the punchline is that most people don’t care if people who use cellphones die.
— A very memorable Point/Counterpoint commentary right now, with Mike doing a dead-on and funny Mick Jagger impression while Mick does a dead-on and funny Keith Richards.
— I recall once hearing that this is the very first time in SNL history that a musical guest ever appeared on Weekend Update. [ADDENDUM: Not including musical guests who are also hosting that night.] If that’s true, then it’s surprising that it took SNL 18 years for that to happen, considering how many occurrences we’ve had since then of musical guests showing up on Update. Hmm, come to think of it, have there been many occurrences of that? It feels to me like there is, but now that I’m thinking about it, barely any examples are coming to mind. There IS Paul McCartney in the very next Update, though (plus the Update from the 2010 episode he’s a musical guest in).
— The “Mick, you ignorant slut” line was a great callback to SNL’s Point/Counterpoints from the original era.
STARS: ***½


MAGIC FISH TOWN MEETING
dwindling population of wish-granting magic fish is topic of town meeting

 

— Here comes a sketch that I’ve always loved. The oddball, creative humor is right up my alley, and this is a great ensemble piece for the cast. I’m curious who wrote this sketch. Jack Handey?
— I love the brief cutaway to a silent, big brain-having Al Franken. Actually, is that Al Franken? (the fourth above screencap for this sketch) I’ve always assumed it was him, as it looks like him to me, but it’s hard to tell with that makeup, and SNL Archives doesn’t list him in this sketch. The fact that Tom Davis is seated next to him kinda supports my theory that it’s Franken.
— The randomness of Mike pulling on his ear with one hand while spanking his behind with his other hand as he’s casually speaking cracks me up.
— Hilarious part with a regretful, long erection-having Adam asking if there’s a magic fish that can undo a wish.
— Phil’s head exploding out of nowhere during his poignant speech is a freakin’ riot.
— After the aforementioned head explosion, the shot of Julia standing up and asking “Who did that?!?” would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version (and rather sloppily, might I add). The reason for this dress rehearsal substitution is because in the live version of that shot of Julia, you can see a glimpse of somebody trying to hide from the camera in the window behind her, while holding an unidentifiable object (screencap below).

STARS: ****½


SNL HALFTIME SPECTACULAR
Michael Jackson (CSR) lip-syncs during the SNL Halftime Spectacular

— Quite a laugh from hearing Don Pardo imitate the Wayne’s World catchphrase “Not!” while announcing the (fake) sponsor Wayne’s World Potato Chips (a product that I’m almost surprised didn’t become a real thing, considering Wayne’s World’s huge popularity at the time).
— Wow, this is a VERY out-of-the-ordinary, unique piece for SNL. I absolutely LOVE how they’re going all out on this extensive, ambitious piece, exploring the entire studio. Very fun.
— Great touch with the Richmeister and Pat mascots.
— A lot of laughs from the blatantly lip-synced Michael Jackson song medley, with Rock’s MJ having a hard time keeping up with the rapid song changes.
— Now this is getting even more extensive and fun with the audience participation, involving audience members revealing a flipcard message.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Don’t Tear Me Up”


HIGH SCHOOL LIARS CLUB
contestants bluff to impress fellow students

— Right out of the gate, there are a lot of sloppy minor issues with this sketch: 1) The gameshow board is oddly already showing all the questions that are going to be chosen later in the sketch, instead of revealing those questions one-by-one as they’re each chosen. 2) One of the numbers covering a question on the board is sloppily hanging off, as if it were literally just pasted on in a hurry right before airtime. And 3) the usually-flawless Phil Hartman actually makes a big gaffe at one point while he’s reading the categories off the board.
— Not caring much for how this sketch has been going so far. Most of the contestants’ lies aren’t doing much for me. I do like Adam’s lies, especially how most of them randomly involve Canada, and when he resorts to stealing David’s police-station-burned-down excuse at one point.
— Another blooper: when the camera is supposed to zoom into the question on the board that states “How did you get to party with Van Halen?”, we instead see a number covering the question. I’ve never seen the rerun version of this sketch, but I’m betting it’s replaced with the dress rehearsal version to hide all of the sloppiness in this live version.
— The back-and-forths between David and Rob are funny.
— Does Farley have a sore throat? Something about his voice here sounds kinda hoarse to me.
STARS: **


SASSY’S SASSIEST BOYS
Russell Clark (PHH) with impudent heartthrobs

— Interestingly, this sketch is starring the exact same four lead performers from the High School Liars Club sketch that preceded this (Phil, Luke, David, and Adam), and they’re even playing the same type of role they each played in that sketch: Phil as the show’s host, and Luke, David, and Adam as the three young guests.
— Phil’s many “Sassy!” variations into the camera are consistently funny. This is a premise that could’ve gotten old FAST, but Phil’s performance is so funny.
— Good Christian Slater voice from David.
— Adam is hilarious as young, Marky Mark-era Mark Wahlberg.
STARS: ***½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on the need for plane crash-site security


QUEEN SHENEQUA’S DARK MOMENTS IN BLACK HISTORY
Super Bowl XXVII folly

— An awkward brief pause after Ellen introduces herself as Queen Shenequa, as if she were expecting a big response.
— Well… this sketch sure came and went. This ended up being a really weak piece and it fell flat. Another failed attempt at giving Queen Shenequa her own sketch.
— This was actually originally going to be the first of a three-part sketch tonight, but the second and third parts got cut after dress rehearsal. In the second part, the “dark moment in black history” that Queen Shenequa focused on was her friend taking back a cheating boyfriend who gave her a stolen diamond ring. In the third part, the “dark moment” focused on John Amos leaving the sitcom Good Times.
STARS: *½


SAYING GOODBYE
country boy (host) tells folks (MEH) & (PHH) goodbye before leaving home

— The audience is howling at Melanie throughout this sketch.
— I absolutely love Phil’s voice in this so far.
— Damn, Phil is giving one hell of a performance.
— Speaking of Phil, he’s been having a VERY big night in general. He’s appeared in literally almost EVERY SINGLE SKETCH in tonight’s episode, with most of his appearances being lead roles, in which he anchored the sketches like the consummate pro he is. And even in some of his smaller roles, he made a positive impact (e.g. the Yard Boy sketch). This episode is a great microcosm of Phil’s utmost importance as “The Glue” of SNL.
— Overall, wow, this was a wonderful slice-of-life, dramatic, emotional piece, in an era where sketches like this had pretty much become extinct. Phil was PHENOMENAL here, and Luke and Melanie were both very solid in their own right.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent episode, though I’ve always felt it comes off really average compared to the strong episodes that it’s surrounded by around this point of the season. Watching and reviewing the episode just now, my opinion of it is a bit higher than it used to be, even if it’s still not a particularly great or memorable episode. I appreciate how the second half of the episode contained a few interesting, creative, out-of-the-ordinary pieces (Magic Fish Town Meeting, SNL Halftime Spectacular, and Saying Goodbye), all of which I found to be strong.
— Farewell to Dana Carvey. Right out of the gate early in his SNL tenure, he had possibly the strongest first episode an SNL cast member has ever had, and played a pivotal role in helping SNL do an instant huge turnaround after the troubled season 11. He would go on to have a fantastic run and would become an SNL legend, as well as being in my personal list of top 3 favorite cast members of all time. Even though SNL prepared us for his departure by phasing him out to an extreme degree during his last few months on the show, I’m still going to miss being able to review him regularly.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS

 


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Harvey Keitel)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Alec Baldwin / Paul McCartney

Posted on

January 16, 1993 – Harvey Keitel / Madonna (S18 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
musical guest inaugurates happy Bill Clinton (PHH) a la Marilyn Monroe

— Pretty fitting casting of Mike as Barbra Streisand, given the Coffee Talk sketches.
— We’ve officially arrived at a new presidency during SNL’s timeline. The Clinton years are gonna be quite a doozy for SNL.
— Ellen’s Whoopi impression is cracking me up, even if I feel she’s not nailing the voice.
— A lot of laughs from the cutaways to the Clinton family’s differing reactions to Madonna’s Marilyn Monroe-esque singing, with a horny Bill, an upset Hillary, and a confused Chelsea.
— I love Bill making the “call me” gesture to Madonna while hugging Hillary.
— Regarding the ending with Madonna revealing she was directing her sultry singing towards Chelsea, I’m kinda surprised SNL would go there after the then-recent controversy over their comments about Chelsea in a Wayne’s World sketch.
— Madonna messes up when saying “Live from New York…”, instead saying “Live from S–” before cutting herself off, pausing for a second, and then saying it correctly.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
host thinks musical guest’s fans are there to see him

— At times, Harvey’s voice reminds me a bit of future cast member Colin Quinn for some reason.
— A simple premise, but there are some decent laughs from his obliviousness to the excitement being for Madonna, not him.
STARS: ***


JIFFY EXPRESS
— Rerun from this season’s Christopher Walken episode


BATHROOM ATTENDANT
fancy restaurant bathroom attendant (KEN) makes (host) self-conscious

— I love the realization when it’s gradually revealed that Kevin’s a bathroom attendant.
— A quintessential Kevin Nealon premise, as he’s always great at pulling off this type of concept.
— The awkwardness of this situation is providing lots of laughs. I’m also liking some of the little things like Kevin tearing off pieces of toilet paper in advance.
— Hilarious how Harvey is trying to use the newspaper to hide himself from Kevin.
— Chris Farley returns from his second rehab stint of the season, only to make a quick 3-second walk-on at the end of this sketch, which ends up being his ONLY appearance of tonight’s episode. Odd. I used to wonder if perhaps he got out of rehab just a day or so before this episode, and this was the only sketch they could manage to throw him into on such short notice, but then I learned he was in a few cut dress rehearsal sketches from this episode, including a now-well-known Eager & Jones sketch (Farley and Meadows as a musical duo who sing as if they’re gay) that will make it on the air later this season.
STARS: ****½


TRANSIT WORKERS
mush-mouthed transit workers produce unintelligible subway announcements

— Harvey’s completely unintelligible speech over the subway intercom is a hilarious spoof of how hard it is to understand the muffled announcements made over subway intercoms. As someone who grew up in New York, this sketch brings back childhood memories of often being baffled by those muffled announcements in New York subways.
— Great reveal of Harvey’s casual speak being just as muffled as his intercom voice, along with his co-workers.
— Ellen’s muffled speak in particular sounds hilarious when it’s heard over the intercom.
— I love the confused look on Tim’s face during Ellen’s intercom announcement.
— Funny PSA from an equally-muffled-voiced spokesman played by Phil.
— This sketch was kept the right length for a premise like this.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Fever“


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN gives a subliminal editorial about Bill Clinton’s inauguration
CSR discusses racial stereotypes, declares “yakoo“ as new anti-white slur
Hollywood Minute- DAS reviews 1992 celebrity news & recent movies

— I recently said that I wonder if the best days of Kevin’s subliminal routine are far behind us, but I feel his subliminal editorial tonight on Bill Clinton’s inauguration was his strongest in a while. The best subliminal terms in this one were Joey Buttafuoco, McNugget, and one-term.
— Funny how so many people in the audience just responded “Oooooh” to Kevin’s joke about the Clintons keeping daughter Chelsea chained up in a dungeon below the White House.
— I like Rock’s mini-rant about wishing there were more positive stereotypes for black people.
— Rock’s suggestions for a new racial slur against white people are okay. His use of placards for each slur is bringing back memories of Tim Kazurinsky’s Dr. Jack Badofsky commentaries from 10 years earlier.
— Tonight’s overall Hollywood Minute surprisingly felt a little below par for David’s standards. A number of his slams tonight didn’t hit as hard as usual. He still had some funny comments here, especially the one about Cindy Crawford’s attempt at singing in a recent commercial, and him about to do a joke about Madonna, only to nervously refrain when remembering she’s at the show tonight.
— Much like the preceding episode, Robert Smigel had an Update commentary cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal in which he reprises his Hank Fielding “Moron’s Perspective” character giving an analysis of Bill Clinton.
STARS: ***


IT’S PAT
(host) tries to figure out the gender of fellow castaway androgynous Pat
Audience McGee intercedes to maintain androgynous Pat’s aura of mystery

— I love Harvey’s diary entry about he and Pat having had sex 8 times and him STILL not knowing what gender Pat is.
— In interviews, Julia has famously talked about how she was once approached by a female fan who said she knows Pat’s a woman, because of the way Pat’s head was positioned in tonight’s sketch when sharing a kiss with Harvey. Turns out that was just a natural, subconscious move from Julia and wasn’t intentional for this character.
— Yet another Pat sketch with a refreshing twist, as we get a great fourth-wall break with Audience McGee putting a stop to Pat’s big gender reveal. I especially love McGee bringing up NBC’s pending loss of Cheers and David Letterman as reasons why we need Pat.
STARS: ****


BUSH’S SWAN SONG
George Bush (DAC) cleans out desk & talks with Dan Quayle (Jeff Renaudo)

— Damn, where ya been, Dana? This is the first time we’ve seen Dana in THREE episodes, and this ends up being his ONLY appearance of tonight’s episode, in a sketch buried in the back half of the show. Geez. Lately, it’s ALREADY been starting to feel like Dana’s officially left SNL. He only has one episode left before that happens.
— I love how Bush’s only response during a phone call he receives is a frankly-delivered “Bomb ’em. I’m still the president; bomb ’em good.”
— Nice premise for the final Bush sketch of his presidency. I’m loving all the wistful reminiscing from him here.
— Very funny prank Bush leaves for the about-to-take-over Bill Clinton, involving the removal of the device inside the oval office phone’s mouthpiece.
— I love the big ball of foil Bush rediscovers.
— Jeff Renaudo, the child actor who regularly plays Dan Quayle, has really grown since the last time we’ve seen him. Dana’s Bush even mentions how tall he’s getting.
— I’m liking how Dana’s Bush is particularly goofy and giddy during certain parts of this sketch.
— I usually DESPISE that Tomorrow song from Annie, but given the nature of this sketch, the song actually feels fitting and heartwarming in this context.
— Overall, a solid final Bush sketch that was both funny and bittersweet. This actually would’ve been really fitting as Dana’s final SNL sketch. It could’ve been his official sendoff. Unfortunately, as we’ll see, his actual final episode turns out to feature no special sendoff pieces for him at all. It’s just a run-of-the-mill episode for him. A shame.
STARS: ****


UNFROZEN CAVE MAN LAWYER
Cirroc tries primitive act in Mexican court

 

— Speaking of final sketches, this ends up being the final Unfrozen Cave Man Lawyer sketch during Phil’s tenure as a cast member, not counting the one they would later do when Phil hosts in season 21.
— As usual, some nice bizarre fake sponsors at the top of the sketch. I especially like how one of the sponsors is the planet Xylon, made funnier by the announcer’s cheerful reading of the planet’s warning to us earthlings: “Change your ways or we’ll come there and destroy you!”
— An interesting change of pace for this recurring sketch, with this installment taking place in Mexico City and all the dialogue being delivered in Spanish.
— I’m enjoying how the Spanish version of Cirroc’s usual “Your world frightens and confuses me” speech to the jury comically has a few select English words thrown in.
— Rob’s mostly serious speech went on for a long time, but I liked his use of air quotes when saying “shakes” and “shimmies” during his Spanish dialect.
— This sketch ended on a really empty, weak note with Cirroc just silently smiling into the camera. And why was there no “preview of next week’s episode” scene at the end, like these sketches usually end with?
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Bad Girl“
musical guest tears up a photo of the “real enemy“– Joey Buttafuoco


AN INSANE IDIOT AND HIS COLLECTION OF DESCENDING-SIZE DEER HEADS
an insane idiot (host) shows his collection of descending-size deer heads

— I love that we get two back-to-back oddball Jack Handey sketches tonight (not counting Madonna’s musical performance in between).
— The increasing absurdity of this sketch is fantastic, especially when the descending-size deer heads start getting less and less deer-related, such as a mouse with deer horns glued to it, and an ant along with its three eggs.
— Harvey is executing this really well. There’s probably not many hosts who could pull off such a bizarre premise this well all by themselves in a solo sketch.
— Great reveal of the sketch’s title at the end. I like that they waited until then, because if they had displayed the title right at the beginning, I feel that the randomness of this sketch wouldn’t have worked quite as well.
— This overall sketch has always been one of my personal favorites, and some of Jack Handey’s best work.
STARS: *****


CAB
(MIM) & (JUS) get alternating orders to get in or out of (host)’s cab

 

— Ha, they’re not even attempting to make that street backdrop look real.
— I’m getting some laughs from the ridiculous back-and-forths with Harvey repeatedly letting Mike and Julia in his cab, then sternly ordering them to get out over every little disagreement.
— Funny how even Phil’s cop is getting into the “get in/out of the cab” act.
— Pretty funny ending, though the studio audience took an unusually long time to applaud.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

— For some reason, the scrolling credits abruptly stop halfway through, even as the goodnights continue. The same thing happened in the preceding season’s Christmas episode hosted by Steve Martin.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very strong episode, and the best in a while. Not only did every single sketch work for me tonight, but a lot of them were particularly great. This is usually always one of the first episodes to automatically pop up in my mind whenever I think about how strong this particular season is.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Danny DeVito)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Luke Perry hosts, and we get Dana Carvey’s last hurrah

Posted on

January 9, 1993 – Danny DeVito / Bon Jovi (S18 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Bob & Bill Swerski write a letter to protest firing of Mike Ditka [real]

— Yet another unique use of the Super Fans. They’re especially treading new territory here.
— Alongside George Wendt in his usual Bob Swerski role, we surprisingly have Joe Mantegna returning as Bill Swerski, the original Super Fans host. The reason for his return is presumably because of the lack of Chris Farley, who will not be appearing in tonight’s episode, as he’s currently in another rehab stint (his second this season alone).
— Now we get a mention of the absence of Farley’s character, who’s written out of the sketch as recovering from a particularly massive heart attack when he heard the news of Mike Ditka’s firing.
— Some good laughs from the Super Fans returning all of their ridiculous Bears memorabilia as well as season tickets they purchased for the 1993 season through the 2032 season.
— I love the part with Mantegna’s character accidentally dripping cheese sauce on the letter Wendt’s character is writing.
— Nice pre-taped scene with the real Mike Ditka reading the letter and then calling up NASA as a response.
STARS: ****


OPENING MONTAGE
— Dana Carvey is credited in tonight’s montage, despite the fact that he will once again not be appearing in the show. I’m confused as to why he was removed from the preceding episode’s opening montage and yet is kept in tonight’s opening montage, when he’s absent in both episodes.


MONOLOGUE
dysfunctional vaudevillians host & ROS will do anything for a laugh

— Fun energetic entrance from Danny, dancing all around the home base stage.
— I love Danny and Rob’s “I’ll Do Anything For a Laugh” musical number, with them taking turns musically listing off all the ridiculous, embarrassing, painful thing they’ll do to entertain us. I’m enjoying the vaudevillian approach to this.
— When concluding the monologue after the song is finished, I really liked Danny announcing tonight’s musical guest by saying “Top that, Bon Jovi!” instead of the usual “Bon Jovi is here.”
STARS: ****


CANIS
— Rerun from the Nicolas Cage episode


AARON SPELLING’S AMY FISHER 10516
Tori Spelling (MEH) in FOX TV-movie

— Pretty funny idea of a 90210-ized version of the Amy Fisher story. Also, very good casting of Danny as Joey Buttafuoco.
— Boy, Melanie is really doubling-down on the mugging in this particular Tori Spelling appearance.
— Didn’t care too much for how this overall sketch turned out. After a funny start, it didn’t go as far as it should’ve and got too dominated by the mugging.
STARS: **


SIMON
American tub-sharer Vinnie (host) has ties to the mob

— Danny is hilarious as a wiseguy Italian kid, especially his more crude versions of Simon’s signature lines (e.g. saying “My mummy’s sleeping with the fishes” instead of “My mummy’s sleeping with the angels”, and saying “Were you lookin’ at my ass?” instead of “Were you looking at my bum?”).
— The drawings being displayed are funnier than usual, especially Danny’s violent drawings.
— Overall, an improvement over the usual Simon sketches. Danny provided a good boost to this.
STARS: ***½


MASTERPIECE THEATRE
the PBS Amy Fisher tale is “The House Of Buttafuoco”

— Several technical issues at the beginning. The Masterpiece Theatre opening title sequence actually stops at one point before continuing, you can hear SNL stagehands mumbling to each other, and you can also hear loud running footsteps in the studio, which might be Mike Myers and Danny DeVito rushing to get changed from the Simon sketch to this sketch, considering these two sketches are airing back-to-back, with no commercial break in between.
— Always refreshing to see a Jan Hooks special guest spot, and she’s great in this role.
— Now THIS is a funny presentation of the Amy Fisher/Joey Buttafuoco story.
— I love how various dignified people throughout this sketch, including Jan as the host, are pronouncing the name Buttafuoco phonetically.
— Mike’s butler role is basically just Mike doing his Kenneth Reese-Evans character (the host of the Theatre Stories sketches). He’s using the exact same voice, vocal tics and all.
— Amusing seeing Danny as Buttafuoco again tonight.
— Funny touch at the very end with Jan exhaustedly slumping back in her chair as the camera zooms out.
STARS: ***½


SHIFTY EYES
restaurant patrons imply guilt via suspiciously shifting their eyes

— I like the format of this sketch, and this is the type of sketch that the late 80s/early 90s years are usually good at pulling off.
— This is starting to get especially funny with other characters getting into Danny’s eye-shifting act, especially Phil as the waiter doing it when angrily asked “What were you doing back there, playing with yourself?”
— Good ending with Kevin.
STARS: ***½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on coaxing a spirit back to its body
— Not included in my copy of this episode.


AMY FISHER: ONE MESSED-UP BITCH
BET’s Buttafuoco variant

— I love how it’s a running gag tonight for each female cast member to play a different version of Amy Fisher. Very fun.
— A funny concept of a BET-ized version of the Amy Fisher story, and it’s being executed pretty well.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Bed of Roses”


WEEKEND UPDATE
on a technicality, Jan Brady (MEH) names Leprechaun the year’s best movie

— Wow, tonight’s Jan Brady commentary just came and went, and surprisingly did not work for me. The bit was too brief for its own good, I didn’t find the “Leprechaun is the only movie that’s come out so far this year” spiel funny, and Melanie’s penchant for flubbing lines was on full display here.
— Kevin’s joke where he basically implies Madonna is a slut made me laugh out loud, considering Madonna’s going to be the musical guest in the very next episode.
— Robert Smigel had a commentary cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal, in which he reprised his Hank Fielding “Moron’s Perspective” character and gave an analysis of president-elect Bill Clinton. We’ll be seeing this character return later this season.
STARS: ***


THE GAP
Gap employees Kristy (DAS) & Lucy (ADS) hassle Di & other customers

— There’s a funny subtle blooper at the beginning. This sketch opens on a shot of two extras playing customers looking through some clothes, but they linger way too long and are very late on their cue to exit the scene. If you listen closely during that part, you can actually hear an off-camera Joe Dicso (SNL’s stage manger) whispering to them in an increasingly agitated tone “Go! GO! GO!!” before the extras FINALLY exit the scene.
— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring sketch debut!
— Good characterizations from Adam and David here.
— A sudden return of Melanie’s Delta Delta Delta character, Di. I never cared much for those sketches, but it feels odd and a little sad seeing Melanie’s character without her two friends played by Siobhan Fallon and Beth Cahill, as this just brings back a reminder of how Siobhan and Beth deserved to be given more of a chance and shouldn’t have been fired so early.
— I’ve refreshingly been fairly tolerant of Melanie Hutsell throughout this SNL project of mine, compared to how overly harsh I used to be towards her, but tonight’s episode has unfortunately been highlighting her worst tendencies as a performer, between her excessive mugging in both this sketch and the Amy Fisher/Tori Spelling sketch and her line flubs throughout her Jan Brady commentary on Update.
— I found this overall Gap Girls debut decent, but it felt a little empty without Chris Farley, knowing what a scene-stealer he would go on to be in most future installments of this sketch.
STARS: ***


BOOKS ON TAPE
Charlton Heston (PHH) helps convert Madonna’s book Sex to Books On Tape

— An absolutely priceless use of Phil’s always-funny Charlton Heston impression, having him narrate Madonna’s Sex book.
— Heston’s various suggestions for vagina euphemisms are hilarious, especially “furburger”.
— Danny as Al Goldstein is really funny in his own right, with his horny descriptions of the raunchy book photos.
STARS: ****½


UNBELIEVABLE NEW BREAKTHROUGHS
Mary Jo Buttafuoco (JAH) & hair-in-a-can

— Tonight’s Amy Fisher running gag continues, with even infomercials now getting in on the Amy Fisher dramatization craze.
— Jan is hilarious as Mary Jo Buttafuoco, with her imitating Mary Jo’s talking-out-the-corner-of-the-mouth side effect from getting shot, and her constant mentions of that “crazy teenage bitch” who tried to kill her.
— Overall, short but very well-executed.
STARS: ****


HITMAN
hitman (host) doesn’t hide his occupation from his wife (JUS) very well

— Not caring much for this so far. I will say that I am liking Danny and Julia’s performances and the way they’re playing off of each other.
— Okay, I’m starting to be kinda amused by some of the instances of Danny immediately following his usual “Stay outta my business!” warnings to Julia by asking her specific things that would give her knowledge of his “business”. This is still nothing great to me, though.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Wanted Dead or Alive”


ADULTS LIVING AT HOME
support group for adults still living with their parents holds a meeting

— Pretty funny subject matter for a support group sketch.
— Kevin’s character is particularly funny, with his constant denial that he lives with his mother. Even something about just the physical look of his character is making me laugh.
— I love Danny’s obnoxious pride in living with his mother, and detailing how he has her doing EVERYTHING for him.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode, though not quite as strong as I remembered. Some portions of this episode were a little more average than I recalled, but I still found this to be an overall enjoyable show, and it had a few really strong highlights. And this episode still contained the fun vibe that I had remembered it having, helped by Danny DeVito’s always-fun presence and the Amy Fisher running theme throughout the show.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Glenn Close)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Harvey Keitel

Posted on

December 12, 1992 – Glenn Close / The Black Crowes (S18 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Queen Elizabeth (MIM) lists the terms of the Charles & Di separation

— This starts off with no context given for what Mike’s Queen Elizabeth is talking about; she just immediately launches into a listing-off of “Charles will keep (insert thing here), she will keep (insert thing here).” I’m aware that this is about the separation between Prince Charles and Princess Diana, but I wonder if other viewers watching this in reruns are lost at first.
— I’m liking how the listed-off terms of the separation are getting more and more outlandish, such as Charles and Diana’s son Henry being raised by apes, and Diana doing a porn scene with Fergie.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Dana Carvey has been removed from the montage, though he hasn’t officially left the cast yet. We will not be seeing him make any appearances tonight, nor will he be appearing in the next episode (though he IS credited in the montage in that one).


MONOLOGUE
people from host’s hometown sing a “Silver Bells” variant with her

— Unique monologue with Glenn bringing out actual community workers from her hometown. Very generous and classy of Glenn to do this.
— I particularly like the part with the self-described incredibly shy market owner mouthing along to a dubbed singing voice.
— An overall very charming and fun monologue.
STARS: ****


WHAT’S THE BEST WAY?
game show features directions-giving New Englanders

— Funny Boston accents here. Adam is especially nailing his and has been having lots of funny lines.
— I love Phil’s rambly, more old-fashioned New Englander.
— Some good laughs from Glenn always trailing off into travel tips during her answers.
— Tim’s bushman character speaking with tongue-clicking sounds would go on to be something that Tim would always do whenever he would speak in African language during sketches.
STARS: ****


COFFEE TALK WITH LINDA RICHMAN
sister Judy (host) discusses Linda’s daughter’s engagement

— Two drag roles for Mike in just the first half of tonight’s episode alone.
— The return of this sketch is, to me, the one downside of Mike’s return after his long hiatus.
— Some self-deprecating humor with Linda Richman complaining about her daughter Robin’s non-Jewish fiancee, as Mike Myers is referring to himself there, considering the Linda Richman character is based on the mother of Mike’s then-fiancee Robin.
— As usual, I didn’t care for this overall sketch, but it was at least fairly short.
STARS: **


A MESSAGE FROM MICHAEL EISNER
Michael Eisner’s (PHH) holiday reminder- don’t forget about tax increases

— I liked Phil-as-Eisner’s greeting: “Last week, I made 200 million dollars. How are you?”
— A VERY brief sketch that ended almost as soon as it began. This felt almost pointless, even if it did have one or two funny lines.
STARS: **


BAND SHOT
going to commercial, KEN & G.E. Smith [real] play guitar


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sometimes Salvation”


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN gives a subliminal editorial about British royal family’s troubles
Operaman sings, is reunited with brother (JOL) & his new wife (host)

— Kevin’s subliminal commentary on the royal separation was merely good; a step below the usually great Mr. Subliminal material. I can’t help but feel the peak of Kevin’s subliminal routine is far behind us, as I haven’t been all that crazy about the last few occurrences. I did love the topical Letterman mention at the end of this one, though.
— Billy Ray “Sear-us”? Did I seriously just hear Kevin pronounce Billy Ray Cyrus as that? He has a bad habit of absurd name mispronunciations on Update in general.
— As usual, lots of great news items from Operaman. The Amy Fisher one was especially funny, and I loved the melody of the “Au revoir, sayonara, etc.” bit directed towards Prince Charles and Princess Diana (I know that melody is from a classical song, but I don’t know the name of it).
— Interesting change of pace with Operaman’s brother appearing from under the desk. Great use of Jon Lovitz (in the final occurrence of his frequent early 90s cameos) and his operatic-trained voice.
— Fitting addition of Glenn to the Operaman reunion segment.
— Another rare occurrence of a Kevin Nealon-era Update ending with a guest commentary.
STARS: ***½


TOAST TO SCROOGE
Bob Cratchit’s (PHH) wife (host) still doesn’t like changed man Scrooge

— Very solid performances from Phil and especially Glenn.
— I normally don’t have a problem with Mike Myers (aside from Coffee Talk, I guess), but his performance in this sketch kinda makes me see why some SNL fans are annoyed by his so-called mugging tendencies.
— Overall, not the most exciting sketch, but I can appreciate the subtle approach this took and it was perfect for Phil and Glenn’s acting styles, who both sold this material well.
STARS: ***


TORI
Aaron Spelling’s spoiled daughter (MEH) touts 90210 fragrances

— This sketch makes its second and final appearance.
— I like the addition of Tim as The Love Boat’s Ted Lange.
— Funny line about how it’s in Jason Priestley and Luke Perry’s contract to sleep with Tori (“Thank you, daddy”, replies Melanie’s Tori).
— Despite some laughs, this was an overall fairly forgettable installment, kinda like the last time they did this sketch.
STARS: **½


ORGASM GUY
the least bit of pleasure causes Orgasm Guy (ROS) to climax

— Rob’s phenomenal season continues with his hilarious performance in this sketch.
— Some really funny subversions with some things not eliciting the orgasmic reaction from Orgasm Guy that you’d expect.
— Great part with David’s long statement that mentions a whole bunch of Orgasm Guy’s favorite things that were brought up earlier in the sketch, just so David can get a rapid succession of orgasmic reactions from him.
STARS: ****


LESBIAN CHRISTMAS PARTY
lesbians & sperm donor (KEN) share politically-correct holiday gathering

— Fourth episode in a row with a gay-themed sketch.
— I like Kevin describing his sperm-providing process as “I just took a normal event, put it in a Tupperware cup, and put a lid on it.”
— Funny line from Melanie about an all-women production of 12 Angry Men.
— Quite a lot of guitar-playing from Kevin throughout tonight’s episode.
— Not 100% sure what to make of this sketch as a whole, but I did find it had a charm and a nice slice-of-life approach.
STARS: ***


DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
Stuart prepares to visit his dysfunctional family

— Several funny lines from Stuart about his dysfunctional family.
— Nice callback with a mention of Stuart’s sister Jodi, who we met in a previous installment of this sketch, where she was played by Roseanne.
— I really like the part with Stuart’s “disease/dis-ease” confusion.
— He repeated the “I’m ‘should-ing’ all over myself” line from an earlier installment, but the way he said “should-ing” this time really made it sound like the actual swear word that it’s based on. I almost did a double-take.
— Lots of funny indecisive back-and-forths from Stuart at the end.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Non-Fiction”


DRUMMER BOYS
drummer boys ADS, TIM, MIM, DAS, KEN, ROS, CHF, CSR slap their stomachs

— I like Adam’s build-up at the beginning, where he slowly walks to the center of the home base stage and very gradually reveals what he’s going to do.
— Ha, I absolutely love this, with all the guys slapping their stomachs to the tune of Little Drummer Boy. A fun random segment, made even funnier with the gag of Farley fidgeting, pulling his own hair in a fit, and nervously looking back at the guys behind him throughout the song.
— Surprisingly, this 10-to-1 sketch is Farley’s first and only appearance of the night. There’s a sad backstory that may explain this. After being out of rehab for a month, Farley relapsed badly earlier this week when he was distraught over a big sketch of his bombing at the readthrough (I think the sketch was called Puppy Lawyer). He then got busted with drugs in his office, and Lorne reportedly considered firing him before deciding that he should be sent back to rehab over the holidays. Because of this, we won’t be seeing him appear in the next episode.
— This is also Rock’s first and only appearance of the night, but that’s no surprise. Given how many episodes he’s been completely sitting out this season, he’s sometimes lucky to even be in ONE sketch in an episode.
— I wonder why Phil is the only male cast member missing from this.
— There’s some little touches that make this musical number even more charming for me, such as Rob oddly holding his shirt up with his mouth and Rock chewing gum throughout the song.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent episode, but feels really average and kinda unexciting. Thinking back on it, however, the episode quality was actually a little better than it feels. While there were a few weak spots, we got some solid things, a few really strong things, and a few pieces that, while not hilarious, had a nice Christmas-y charm. Overall, not the best Christmas episode in SNL history, but certainly had enough good things to still make this episode worth watching.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tom Arnold)
about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 1993, with host Danny DeVito

Posted on

December 5, 1992 – Tom Arnold / Neil Young (S18 E8)

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