Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
104TH CONGRESS
Newt Gingrich (CHF) disregards procedure & passes legislation rapid-fire
— Fun format to this cold opening.
— It’s Mark McKinney! His Barney Frank voice is very funny, albeit brief.
— Great energy and terrific pacing to this cold opening. Even Farley doing his typical season 20 screaming shtick has a lot of goodwill here and is perfect for this.
— A lot of good laughs from the increasingly insane proposals that Gingrich is rapidly passing.
— The Sonny Bono part cracked me up.
STARS: ****
OPENING MONTAGE
— Mark McKinney has been added to the cast tonight, joining as a repertory player.
Sadly, his brief debut in the cold opening ends up being his ONLY appearance all night. We’re already getting signs of how unfairly underutilized the poor guy is going to be in his SNL tenure.
MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)
— Some laughs from Jeff downplaying how bad it was that he was given poor treatment at Dumb and Dumber compared to co-star Jim Carrey, though this is kinda going on too long.
— Good line from Jeff about his kids calling Jim “dad”.
STARS: ***
ETERNA REST
Rerun from 11/12/94
MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY
near MLK Day, (TIM) exploits the white guilt of (host), (CSE), (ADS)
— You KNOW I loved Elliott’s line about bringing over some Three Stooges videos.
— I love Adam bluntly and repeatedly asking “You wanna get drunk and go to Atlantic City?”
— Very solid writing and acting in this sketch, and something about it feels kinda atypical of this season.
— The guys’ feigned excitement over the MLK Day gifts they’re receiving is really funny.
— Hilarious how Jeff gives Tim his laptop as a MLK Day gift, and Elliott gives Tim his wallet. Also a funny addition to the wallet bit with Adam telling Tim, regarding the wallet, “I went in on that, so that’s kinda for both of us.”
— Great ending twist with Tim and Ellen after all the white co-workers leave.
STARS: ****½
CHUNG / GINGRICH
Connie Chung (LAK) solicits more soundbites from Kathleen Gingrich (JAG)
— I feel like this is the most in-character we’ve seen Janeane all season. She’s giving a good “old lady” performance.
— Funny visual of a badly hidden camera in Connie Chung’s bag.
— I could do without Farley turning this into yet ANOTHER screaming season 20 performance of his, as if we didn’t already have one earlier tonight.
— Just now, Laura seemed to help Janeane when Janeane was late in delivering a line.
— A lot of laughs from Connie Chung’s deceitfulness throughout this.
— Now Farley’s yelling has gotten to the point where he’s accidentally yelled himself into a minor choking fit. (Perhaps some of the food he spit out moments earlier went down his throat.) His face is turning an uncomfortable-looking shade of red while he’s simultaneously yelling his dialogue and coughing uncontrollably.
— This sketch is going on pretty long and has a repetitive feel, but it’s still working well, and I absolutely LOVE the turn now with an angered Connie Chung busting through the door and holding Mama Gingrich at gunpoint.
— In addition to Janeane surprisingly putting effort into her characterization, Laura’s performance is surprisingly strong; probably her best performance of her entire short-lived SNL tenure.
— Tonight’s episode has been starting off hot with a lot of great sketches. This is season 20 I’m watching?!? I almost feel like I’m watching an episode from a few seasons earlier, from the late 80s/early 90s glory years. This Connie Chung sketch in particular, I can imagine appearing in the late 80s era. Nora Dunn could’ve played Chung and Jan Hooks would’ve been perfect as Mama Gingrich, complete with the wrinkly makeup Jan often wore when playing old ladies.
STARS: ****
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT
Ron Wood (MIM) mumbles along with stars of Nell
— Uh-oh, looks like I spoke too soon about how great tonight’s episode has been going. The episode’s quality comes to a screeching halt with this tired Ron Wood routine.
— The opening gag with the Entertainment Tonight hosts announcing obviously false ages of celebrities is funny, but I swear I remember that same gag already appearing in the Entertainment Tonight sketch from another infamous season, 1985-86, when Tom Hanks hosted. Probably not, though; this is most likely just a case of me getting both sketches mixed up with each other.
— This sketch just feels like a continuation of the weak Ron Wood Show sketch from this season’s premiere.
— Feels kinda awkward watching Jeff as Liam Neeson in this, knowing the notorious behind-the-scenes prosthetic nose incident that happened with Jeff earlier that week. (Link here for anyone not familiar with the story)
— This sketch was short enough, at least.
STARS: *½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Citysong”
WEEKEND UPDATE
DAS gripes about Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eagles, Green Day concerts he attended
O.J. survivor Marquerite Simpson (ELC) sings variant of “You Gotta Be”
— Haha, holy hell at Norm’s very blunt “bitch” jokes about Hillary Clinton.
— David’s rant about concerts has some funny comments, such as his imitation of Lynyrd Skynyrd fans yelling unintelligibly behind him, and him calling out Green Day on their faux British-isms.
— A particularly great O.J. joke from Norm tonight.
— Ellen’s Marguerite Simpson commentary being done in the form of a black-and-white music video is a very interesting change of pace for Update, and her You Gotta Be parody is pretty fun and catchy.
— Okay, the You Gotta Be parody doesn’t need to last TWO verses. They’re spreading the joke too thin.
— Two very interesting-sounding Update commentaries got cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal. One in which Jeff Daniels and Mark McKinney do a Point/Counterpoint as a Nazi and a KKK member, and another in which Norm throws to a supposedly old clip of Victoria Jackson performing one of her Weekend Update songs, but during that “clip”, Victoria unintentionally gives away the fact that it’s actually a new, live scene. That’s right, folks. I kid you not, a Victoria Jackson special guest appearance was cut after dress. What the hell, SNL?!? Why would you cut that?!?
STARS: ****
MYSTERY DINNER THEATER
mystery dinner theater actor (CHF) milks part by prolonging death scene
— This is a sketch that I’ve always hated and have considered to be a representation of some of this season’s problems. While I’ve found that doing these season 20 reviews has slightly softened my long-standing seething hatred of this season (that’s right, folks; while season 20 is still undeniably bad, I’m pleasantly surprised to now realize that it isn’t quite as horrible as I had always believed), I doubt I’m gonna develop any new goodwill towards THIS particular sketch during this current viewing.
— Mike is once again using his tired old Kenneth Reese Evans (host of Theatre Stories) voice for what’s supposed to be a generic British character.
— THREE screaming Chris Farley roles tonight? It was fine in the cold opening, but come the hell on, SNL.
— Aaaaaand for good measure, in addition to the obligatory Farley screaming, we get an obligatory Farley pratfall through a breakaway table, which feels tacked-on this sketch.
— As I watch this, I admit that this is material that I would’ve found funny had it been in one of Farley’s earlier seasons, before the days where him screaming his way through sketches was all too common. For example, Farley’s “My head just popped like a ripe melon!” line in this sketch would’ve absolutely slayed me if he delivered it in, say, season 17.
— This sketch was originally supposed to air in this season’s premiere, but got cut after dress. I’ve heard that that cut version of this sketch is included as a bonus feature on Steve Martin’s “Best Of” DVD, but I’ve never seen it. There’s a picture of that version of this sketch on GettyImages (see here), and I notice that Adam is in it, playing a character that doesn’t appear in the Jeff Daniels version of this sketch. Is Adam playing his Audience McGee character in that pic? And why does he have blood on his sweater and face?
STARS: *½
FILM BEAT
(CSE) documents host’s career with Dumb & Dumber potty clip
— Oh, here comes a Chris Elliott sketch that I’ve always loved.
— The constant replays of the Dumb and Dumber diarrhea clip are increasingly hilarious. A rare example of a juvenile one-joke sketch being pulled off well.
— I love the way Elliott keeps completely downplaying the use of the same clip after setting it up by claiming it’s from other Jeff Daniels movies. Jeff’s increasing frustration is fantastic.
STARS: ****½
GAY STRIPPER THEATER
queer male exotic dancers add drama to performances
— Oh, god, the title alone has me groaning, especially considering what SNL season this is.
— The name of Jeff’s character, Ryan Shiraki, is the name of an SNL associate producer who appears as an extra in several sketches throughout the 90s (most notably in Jamie Foxx’s season 25 monologue).
— Are they kidding me with this material so far?
— Why do they keep playing the EXACT SAME Snoop Doggy Dogg song for each stripper scene?
— More inside references with character names, as the names of the five strippers also happen to be the names of the five Kids in the Hall members (Mark, Bruce, Dave, Scott, and Kevin). But why tho? Because it’s Mark’s first week at SNL???
— Oh, poor Kevin Nealon, having to be dragged into this. Why, oh, why couldn’t you have left with Phil last season, Kevin?
— Thank god this sketch is finally over. This was dreadful.
STARS: *
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Here”
AEROSMITH GREATEST HITS 1990-1994
Steven Tyler (ADS) & Joe Perry (JAM) play Aerosmith’s same-sounding songs
— A weak one-joke bit that, while it may be making a good point about the sameness of Aerosmith’s songs, is just going on and on and on, with no laughs from me.
— Adam has done some really good impressions of rock stars throughout his SNL tenure (e.g. Eddie Vedder, Axl Rose), but his Steven Tyler certainly ain’t one of them. Even looking at his Steven Tyler as just a typical Sandler-esque goofy characterization (like the Tom Jones impression he would do later this season), it’s still not working for me.
— The most interesting thing about this sketch is a backstory told by Jay Mohr in his SNL book, involving him and Adam nearly coming to blows right before this sketch went to air. As the story goes, about a minute or two before this sketch started, Jay kept telling Adam that he should change his sunglasses, as Jay felt that the sunglasses made Adam resemble Elton John more than Steven Tyler, but Adam kept waving it off, basically telling Jay that a change of sunglasses isn’t necessary. Jay’s refusal to stop needling Adam about the sunglasses eventually led to Adam losing his temper and yelling “Why don’t you shut the fuck up?!?” in Jay’s face. As a result, Jay was initially stunned and speechless, then got angry and REALLY wanted to punch Adam, but refrained because they were standing right by the audience members in the floor seats, and Jay knew that if the floor seat members saw some little-known featured player like him getting into a fight with a popular fan-favorite like Adam, some of them would rush to Adam’s defense. So Jay and Adam just went on and performed the Aerosmith sketch, which Jay claims “killed with the audience” (I’d love to know which sketch he was watching, because in the sketch I’m watching, the audience is mostly dead silent), then after the sketch was over, Adam turned to Jay and said “We’re good. Respect”, putting an end to the negative tension between them.
STARS: *
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very mixed episode. There were some REALLY strong sketches, especially in the first 15 minutes, but there was also an equal amount of absolutely terrible sketches, especially in the last 15 minutes. However, the strong sketches are worth bragging about, especially for this season’s standards. Some really great stuff. I just wish they could’ve kept that momentum going for more of the show.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (George Foreman)
a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
David Hyde Pierce hosts. We also get the last hurrah of Mike Myers.
Oh boy, we get one of my favorite fake ads in the next episode! This season may be a steaming pile of shit, but a lot of the fake ads are still pretty good.
If I remember right, Chris performed his Newt impression for the real deal and members of Congress. I can’t recall if it was while this season was going on, or shortly after.
Nature and/or Lorne really abhorred a vacuum in these days. Mike Myers’ on his way out? Great, grab Mark McKinney! I guess KITH had concluded production.
Wow, talk about random (and welcome): Victoria Jackson on SNL in 1995.
I’m not really seeing Elton John in Adam’s appearance, but I sure ain’t seeing Steven Tyler, either.
Jay was right about Adam’s dumb glasses. It’s a total fluff sketch, but it’s faaaaar from one star bad. I used to think it was one of the better pieces of the season. I was wrong, but it’s still decent enough.
Tomorrow’s episode has one of my favorites of the season (Poetry Class) and a “what could have been” sketch with Mike and Mark that I always enjoyed.
I can’t remember all DHP’s episode but there’s also a brief sketch where he’s on a train that I remember enjoying. He’s a much better host than I’d anticipated.
Looks like he did it in April 1995.
Thanks!
Victoria story is unbelievable!
I believe the reruns of this episode use the dress version of “Gay Stripper Theater” as Daniels hair is different and the set isn’t the same I believe.
Again very little Spade in this show
The Film sketch with Elliott seems like a classic 10 to 1 type one joke sketch (a similar one I have a guilty pleasure love for is the Tracy Morgan Rocket Dog sketch). It’s a shame that two rather stupid sketches come afterwards.
I often feel like Jay’s stories are more or less true but have to be filtered down a few notches, as he seems to exaggerate reactions for everything.
Jay’s book if I remember seems to have a REALLY rosy-tinted image of how well this season went over.
Though honestly, him trying to dictate to a more experienced, well-known cast member? I can see that.
I loved Ellen’s “You Gotta Be” parody. That’s more like something that would have been done on Mad TV or in later SNL years.
And wow! I’m shocked over the cut Victoria Jackson appearance. I actually have gotten to know Victoria the last few years. She lives in the Nashville area now, and plays regularly at a songwriters night that I play at. She sometimes does “The Boyfriend Song” that she did with Willie Nelson in 1987. Next time I see her I’ll ask her what the story behind the 1995 appearance was.
The YGB parody reminded me of In Living Color – it was definitely not the norm for SNL of these years.
That’s nice of you to ask Victoria a question for fans. I’m glad your experiences with her are positive. If you get a chance I hope you’ll tell her some of us think her work on the show still holds up pretty well. (and several of her sketches have been put on the SNL Youtube channel this year)
Some thoughts: First, great cold open, maybe the best one of the season. Great update as well but they cut a rare host appearance on update and a Victoria Jackson bit that sounds kinda similar to the one Kevin Nealon did in season 26? Wild stuff, man.
Laura does a great job as Connie Chung (2nd time in 3 episodes she has played an Asian woman) and I think the main difference between her and Mike is while Mike leans into the accent, Laura tones hers down for her impression.
Re: the supposed KITH bit in Gay Stripper Theater. The sketch wasn’t in the CC 60-minute version and I’ve only seen the live version once but IIRC Michael’s character is Shane, not Kevin because it stood out as being a weird name choice for an older actor. SNLarchives also says Shane. Hopefully, this is a weird little change between dress and air that you have to be looking for to notice.
Finally, since the musical guest rarely gets mentioned, I was first made aware of Luscious Jackson because they guest-starred on Nickelodeon’s Pete & Pete in the episode “Dance Fever” (The show had a lot of rock musician cameos). Another Pete & Pete/Season 20 connection, the day after Dana Carvey/Edie Brickell aired, the Pete & Pete episode “X=Why?” features guest stars Janeane Garofalo and Steve Buscemi who had a cameo in John Travolta/Seal a week earlier.
Jack Casavantes, Michael didn’t play one of the strippers, he was one of the strippers’ boyfriend sitting in the audience. There IS a stripper in the sketch mentioned by the name of Kevin, but he’s not played by anybody, which is why SNL Archives doesn’t list him. The character of Kevin wasn’t shown in the sketch because he had a twisted ankle or something like that, so his father (played by Farley) filled in for him.
Thanks for the clarification, Stooge
They don’t seem to try to make any suggestion her Connie is Asian. One could say that’s erasure, but I think if you have a white woman playing an Asian woman, it’s still better than the alternative – yellowface or some kind of awful attempt at an accent, etc. I kind of wish this wasn’t one of Laura’s bigger showcases, but she does a great job in the sketch and I’m glad she got a chance to show what might have been if they’d tapped into her humor more and not just had her playing bit roles.
Not that bad a show honestly.. Jeff was a large reason why he was always an ace on the show and brought out a lot in the cast and writers when he hosted, it’s a shame he never did it more. The first few skits are really, really good. The Gingrich skit had me rolling the first time I watched it as I wasn’t expecting it to keep getting worse for him. Farley’s Newt Impression was always fun, shame it happened at the end of his run and not earlier.
I don’t mind the ET skit, it isn’t super funny but it mocked how excessive that show’s always been. Mike’s Ron Wood impression isgold as was the celeb impressions from Jeff and JG, her’s always makes me LMAO because she nailed how silly Nell really was. Jay was 100% right about the glasses though, it made Adam look stupid. I love Aerosmith that’s something Tyler would never wear.
Next show’s not bad but it sets up a rough 2 weeks of shows that are the low point of the season. Newhart’s show is rough for me to watch, just so boring it is. Sanders’s show was at least a fun boring. Then comes the Clooney show which is one of my all time favorite episodes.. go figure. Season 20 at least had random streaks it wasn’t 100% rough like 11 was or 6 was near the end.
Oh man looking at the caps and yeah like I mentioned above they def. used the dress version of “Gay Stripper Theater” in reruns. Daniels isn’t wearing a wig and set is more bright and colorful. I also believe Daniels is wearing glasses in the dress and the table he sits at is more decorated
Janeane nearly got a sketch on the air.
“My mom was a stand up, and was friends with Janeane when she was on the show. Janeane pitched a sketch my mom wrote as her own (because my mom didn’t work for snl). It was about someone locking themselves out of their car at a truck stop, and they go inside to ask if there’s a coat hanger or something that they can slip through their window to unlock the car. They see a stick hanging on the wall and they go “what about that stick” and the truckers say “what did you just say. You don’t talk about that stick. That’s the truck stop stick.” Something like that, I haven’t heard the story in a while. Anyway it made it to dress, and my mom was having friends over to watch it when it aired, and Janeane called and said it got cut. “
David, I have details on that cut sketch you described.
From a list describing cut sketches from this episode:
“Sketch Name:Senor Sticky
Cast: Jeff Daniels/Out-Of-Towner, Chris Elliott, Janeane Garofalo, Michael McKean, Mark, Laura Kightlinger
Sketch Synopsis:
Jeff plays an out-of-towner entering a Southern hick truck stop, after locking his keys in the car. He hopes to get some help, and notices a stick behind the counter. He asks to borrow it to pry open his car door, but no one in the establishment will let him. Jeff becomes fed-up and finally grabs the stick. Two of the locals tackle him. Suddenly, another man, Michael, comes in and breaks the fight up. He looks like the others, except oddly, he is wearing an elegant scarf with his overalls. He convinces his friends to let Jeff use the stick. Michael then tries to apologize for the others’ simple-minded behavior, explaining that their like children with bad teeth. Jeff understands, and starts to head for his car. However, Michael desparately pleads with Jeff to take him with him.”
Yep, and I told her that.
The monologue is always a bit odd to me because it gives the impression that Jeff Daniels is a relative unknown compared to Jim Carrey, rather than Daniels being a well-respected actor and a previous host. Jim was a BIG star at this time, to be sure, but it doesn’t quite land. It doesn’t help that the audience doesn’t really have the big response to hearing Jim’s name that I think the show expected, leaving a slightly deflated feeling for the rest.
The story about the gay stripper sketch is that supposedly some of the people on the show were upset that Mark McKinney got in without an audition, so they gave the strippers the names of the KitH cast members to try to push his buttons. He didn’t care. That says it all (yet again) about the backstage atmosphere that season, and also makes me wonder if Mark was standing beside Laura Kightlinger in the goodnights as a bit of solidarity, considering the treatment she got.
(those goodnights are probably some of the more fun I can remember from this season – lots of people joking and laughing and smiling)
My main complaint with that sketch, beyond how incredibly unfunny it is, is why you would have a male stripper sketch and not have Jay Mohr up there? Surely that’s got his name all over it. Come on.
For me Farley’s phlegmy screaming derails the cold open and at times threatens to do the same in the Gingrich and Chung sketch. (the murder mystery sketch is awful as well). He also misses his timing on the first spit take. Fortunately there’s enough good stuff in the Chung sketch to shine through. It’s a scathing and right on damnation of shady media tricks of this era, and Laura and Janeane are first rate throughout.
Watching this episode reminded me of a comment I saw today from someone trying to use Norm and his era as an example of the show being too political today. Not only do we have two political sketches leading off the night, we also have Hillary just flat out being called a “bitch” on Update (imagine if that was done these days). People either never watched the show, tuned out most of the material, or just don’t mind political content unless it is not a view they share.
Back to the episode, I’ll say I feel like Janeane tries very hard in all her pieces tonight – she’s also decent in a nothing part in the needless Myers mugfest, and she’s really good in that short moment starting off the dinner theater piece. I think she must have only truly given up toward the very end of her tenure.
Jeff and Elliott make the movie clip sketch work for me. On paper it should be repetitive, but Jeff’s slow burn and Elliott’s mercenary obliviousness are a perfect combo.
Tim playing OJ probably helped keep him on past this season, but Ellen got better material out of the trial – she has another good Update piece coming where she plays a juror or potential juror. The episodes around this time are a bit of hot streak for her. The MLK sketch here is also pretty solid, and yes, feels like something from an earlier period.
Not my favorite episode of the season – I’d actually forgotten a huge chunk of it – but still worth watching. Daniels is a very smooth, compelling presence, and I’m sorry he never hosted again.
This is also another example of what happens when this season has a charismatic and confident host who has some sketch ability. When they don’t, well…
If they sang To Sir With Love to Newt, that would be as cringe worthy as the Obama tribute.
The Chris Elliott sketch in this one is one of my all time favorites. I can’t watch a Jeff Daniels movie without thinking of him as Jeff “Diarrhea Head” Daniels.
SNL has always beem political but the difference now is that it’s brazenly taking sides. I mean, Gingrich is considered a far-right Republican, but Farley’s impression makes him a pretty likeable, sympathetic character. He even tells his mother over and over again that he loves her. This is obviously a far cry from today where they’ve gone so far as to literally portray a political figure as death itself.
I’d say the Clinton material in the Hartman era was pretty heavy in taking sides, but I guess we’re going to end up derailing the topic, which is my fault anyway.
I did get a mini chuckle out of the Mystery Dinner Theater sketch using the names of NBA players Bob McAdoo, Kurt Rambis, and Kevin McHale for no apparent reason.
Looking forward to David Hyde Pierce, as that episode contains what I’ve always felt was the quintessential Season 20 sketch in Tales of Little Women. Obviously, I don’t mean that as a compliment…
This is a pretty entertaining episode. I remember watching it live. The Cold Opening is great. The Connie Chung skit is a little overkill, especially since Farley had already done Newt in the cold open, and repeats the same joke over and over but it works and it’s a good send-up of “gotcha” and misleading media. Elliott showing the clip from Dumb & Dumber over and over is also really funny. Comedy is really subjective, sometimes stupid repetition is really lazy and cringeworthy, and sometimes it’s just stupidly hilarious. I’m not sure what makes it work in some material and not in others, but I do know that this sketch works for me.
The MLK sketch is also really entertaining, even though you can see the ending coming from a mile away. The performances really sell the concept, it’s a good sketch.
I don’t find Mystery Dinner Theater THAT awful. It’s not fantastic, but I do like Farley milking the death scene forever. I didn’t remember the skit, so I watched it on NBC.com. I must admit, watching it separately and independently from the rest of the show probably put the sketch in a better light, I may not have liked it as much if sandwiched in all the other (and better) one-joke premises in this episode.
Also, why “McKeesport Dinner Theater”? That’s a rather odd Pittsburgh reference, reminiscent of the type Joe Flaherty would constantly drop into SCTV sketches.
Kevin Nealon talks about the Jeff Daniels mask incident (warning – it gets a bit gross):
Oh man that sounds absolutely horrible and terrifying. I don’t blame Daniels one bit for being in a somber mood the night of the show
This was from the other Jeff Daniels episode I’m assuming right?
Oops nevermind see now its the Liam Neeson sketch. Was thrown off since Nealon says it was for playing Leno.
Here’s my review of the musical performances
Citysong
— Great sax soloing throughout the song
— Interesting contrast between the beatnik-y verse vocalist and the more straighforward chorus vocalist
— This one’s growing on me as it goes on
— I really dig the bohemian vibe they’ve got here.
— Also some strong work from the drummer
— Exactly the kind of unusual band that SNL should be featuring
STARS: ****
Here
— Wow, there’s quite a heavy disco vibe to this one.
— Once again I appreciate that there’s two co-lead singers with distinct styles involved here.
— Nice flow to this tune. And the keyboardist has added some good texture to both songs tonight.
STARS: ***1/2
Was Luscious Jackson a fill-in for a musical guest that cancelled? There was a lot of buzz around them in ’96-’97 because of the “Naked Eye” single. The only reason I can think of to book them on SNL in early ’95 is the Beastie Boys connection (LJ was the first signing to the Beasties’ Grand Royal label)
Gay Stripper Theater is pretty crazy. No one ever says “But hey, did you see that other sketch where Chris Farley also plays a stripper?” My how the mighty have fallen by Season 20, with bookends of such opposite quality.
“Film Beat” almost feels like a precursor to what Conan would do when Paul Rudd is his guest, showing the same clip from “Mac and Me” and passing it off as whatever film Rudd’s promoting.
RIP Vivian Trimble.
https://deadline.com/2023/04/vivian-trimble-dies-luscious-jackson-keyboardist-was-59-obituary-1235319823/
Bummer! she had some cool one-off solo projects post-LJ
Never really understood why the Entertainment Tonight sketch was in the Best of Mike Myers (unless it was short enough it could fill a hole).