Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THIS WEEK WITH DAVID BRINKLEY
Bob Dole (DAA) loses his temper
— Dan Aykroyd makes his first of many special guest appearances throughout tonight’s episode. Good to see his Bob Dole impression back.
— Seeing Mark and Michael as David Brinkley and George F. Will, respectively, makes me kinda miss Phil Hartman and Dana Carvey’s impressions of them.
— A lot of funny lines from Dan’s Dole.
— I like the turn with Dole’s angel and devil giving him advice.
— When Dole and his angel & devil are all supposed to say “Live from New York…” in unison, the pre-taped angel and devil Doles are accidentally played a few seconds ahead of live Dole. This would later be fixed in reruns.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
Mighty Mack (host) & Elwood Blues perform “Flip, Flop, & Fly”
— When bragging about the benefits of being a five-timer, John says “You don’t even have to show up until Saturday.” I wonder if that’s an inside joke, considering John truly didn’t show up to SNL until late in this week, due to a scheduling conflict with the show Roseanne. That’s the reason we’ll be seeing so many Dan Aykroyd appearances tonight. That’s also the reason why all the SNL bumper pictures of John tonight are reused from John’s season 19 episode, reformatted to fit the style of this season’s bumper pictures (side-by-side comparison below).
— Interesting transition into a Blues Brothers number.
— Not sure what to say about this Blues Brothers number. The performance is kinda fun, but I’ve never cared for the revival of the Blues Brothers after John Belushi’s death, and needless to say, Goodman is no Belushi when it comes to these two characters.
STARS: N/A (I don’t usually rate segments like this)
BOB SWERSKI’S SUPER FANS
Irwin Mainway & Super Fans on Michael Jordan return; Brian Dennehy cameo
— The return of the Super Fans! I didn’t realize how much I missed this recurring sketch until its return tonight. And they have a great excuse to bring this sketch back with the then-recent announcement of Michael Jordan’s return to the NBA.
— I like the Pork Soda sponsor shown at the beginning.
— John takes over Mike Myers’ Pat Arnold character, who we’re told gained a lot of weight due to binge eating during Michael Jordan’s retirement.
— A significant meta moment with Farley, in character, ranting about how bad SNL has gotten lately, a moment made even more poignant by the slow zoom-in the camera does towards Farley during it. Some great self-aware lines during this rant, such as “They got that fat guy screamin’ all the time” (so very, VERY true) and “Pull the plug on that freakin’ thing.” I wonder if this whole meta bit was fueled by the fact that the infamous scathing New York Magazine article about the troubles of this season had come out the preceding week.
— Wow, now we get the return of Dan’s Irwin Mainway character. I love this hybrid of the Super Fans and Irwin Mainway. It fits perfectly, since Mainway always did have a Chicago-type accent.
— As usual, very funny dangerous toys displayed by Mainway. I especially like the Jordan Head toy’s warning label: “You be careful with that”.
— Now we get a Brian Dennehy cameo.
— An absolutely fantastic ending with Dennehy revealing he’s here to help set the record for most fat guys in a single sketch, a reveal that’s followed by a group photo being snapped of said fat guys.
STARS: ****½
THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER
calls & Tom Snyder’s (DAA) rambling marginalize host
— Wow, they’re bringing back all the classics tonight. A real treat and very fun. Such a turnaround from the dour Paul Reiser episode the preceding week.
— When it comes to impersonating Tom Snyder, Dan hasn’t lost it at all.
— I liked Snyder’s “We’re gonna get a lot of letters on that one” line after mocking the names of Chinese food.
— A lot of laughs during the John Goodman “interview”.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Grace, Too”
— The novelty of this choice of musical guest adds to the fun and special feel of tonight’s episode.
WEEKEND UPDATE
nervous Kato Kaelin (DAS) shows skills while testifying at the O.J. trial
— Interesting how they’re doing something a little different with David’s Kato Kaelin impression.
— Another instance of Laura giving an off-camera performance as Marcia Clark.
— Uh, yeah, no idea what to say about this Kato Kaelin segment so far, except that it feels more like a separate sketch than a Weekend Update commentary.
— A surprisingly fairly short Update.
STARS: ***½
DOG RUN
(host) talks with (LAK) while his “dog” (ADS) mingles with canines
— I think the dog costume Adam is wearing is the same one that would later be worn by Will Ferrell in another John Goodman sketch, Happy Smile Patrol, from season 24. I’ll do a side-by-side screencap comparison between Adam and Will’s costumes when I eventually review that season 24 Goodman episode.
— A hilarious unscripted part with a dog almost attacking Adam for trying to hump it. Adam’s reaction is priceless.
— Not too sure about the premise itself, but it’s coming off pretty fun in the execution.
— Weak ending.
STARS: ***
RUSH AND HOWARD
Rush Limbaugh (DAA) manages to steal Howard Stern’s (MMK) act & entourage
— Nice to see Dan introducing a new impression, after bringing back so many of his old characters and impressions earlier tonight.
— A welcome return of Michael’s Howard Stern impression.
— I love Ellen’s impression of Robin Quivers’ hysterical laugh. Ellen’s better at imitating it here than she did in the previous McKean-as-Stern sketch from the preceding season.
STARS: ***
LOSERS
self-deluded losers (CSE), (DAS), (MOS), (host) can’t identify rejection
— Is this Elliott’s first appearance of the whole night?
— A rare occurrence of David actually showing effort in a performance this season. Why can’t his season 20 performances be like this more often?
— A solid premise that’s being executed well by the writing and by all the performances.
— Weird how this is the second sketch tonight to end with a group of people at a restaurant table having their photo taken.
STARS: ****
UNSOLVED MYSTERIES
trail of evidence fails to lead to origin of universe
— An interesting choice to bring back Dan’s Robert Stack impression, one of his more forgotten and underrated impressions from back in the day. I like how he’s now updated his Stack impression from the Untouchables-era one he used to do.
— Uh, I’m not really getting what the comedic through line here is supposed to be.
— That’s the whole sketch? I wanted this to be so much better than it was, especially since it included a rare occurrence this era of pre-taped outdoors footage.
STARS: *½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Nautical Disaster”
COAL MINERS
coal miners (KEN), (host), (DAA), (MAM) tell anecdotes about cave-ins
— The sudden dark ending to Dan’s first story, with someone dying in a cave-in, is pretty funny.
— Ehh, now they’re just repeating the cave-in story endings over and over again. I guess this wouldn’t be a season 20 episode without at least ONE one-joke sketch.
— Very interesting seeing so many great performers paired together in one sketch, but damn, couldn’t they have been given some actual funny material here?
— Oh, no, now the laziness of this sketch has gotten to the point where we get a text crawl ending, a sketch-ending crutch that SNL occasionally relies on.
STARS: *½
DENVER AIRPORT
in new Denver Airport, (CSE) surveys interest in penis-measurement device
CSE says he’s leaving SNL to make penis-measurer, is shot Oswald-style
— After a nice long string of episodes earlier this season where we got a delightfully oddball Chris Elliott piece on a weekly basis, there’s sadly been a complete absence of them in the last few episodes. Glad to see it make a return tonight.
— I love John’s facial reaction to being asked about a hypothetical penis-measuring device.
— Kevin also has some great responses to the penis-measuring device hypothetical, such as “I would have to know more” and “Would the device itself be heated?”
— Very interesting turn with Elliott breaking the fourth wall to make a big announcement to us.
— I love Elliott revealing he’s leaving SNL after “10 glorious years as a cast member” (a nice extreme exaggeration of his tenure on the show) to invent a penis-measuring machine.
— I like hearing the audience’s gradual realization that the black-and-white backstage scene of Elliott walking away with Lorne and a man in a cowboy hat is a Lee Harvey Oswald parody.
— Excellent gunshot ending, and I absolutely LOVE the comically pained look on Elliott’s face during the freeze-frame.
— Overall, one of my absolute favorite sketches of this entire season, and is probably Chris Elliott’s greatest SNL moment.
STARS: *****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— One of the more popular episodes of this troubled season, and rightfully so. This was a great and very fun episode, and had a VERY atypical feel for this season. Of course, a big part of that atypical feel is due to the return of beloved things from the past, most of those things being from special guest Dan Aykroyd, who added much-needed life to the proceedings tonight (and might as well have been billed as tonight’s co-host if they were going to use him THIS heavily). I used to consider it a sad sign that they had to resort to bringing back old things from better days in order to have a truly strong episode this season (a move that, again, may have been fueled by the then-recent scathing New York Magazine article about the show), but that sadness has somewhat diminished for me now that my long-standing hatred of this season has recently softened to a degree while doing these reviews.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Paul Reiser)
a huge step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Season 11 rebel Damon Wayans hosts. We also get yet another new addition to this season’s cast.
I actually love the Dog Run sketch, very stupid and silly but it made for some great live moments. Probably my favorite use of Farley and Sandler together all season.
Same goes for the Unsolved Mysteries sketch – it plays a little subtle, but the overall joke works for me.
I’ve seen the Losers sketch get panned before, but I think it’s a very strong piece too. Great performances from all involved.
The Penis Measurement Device sketch is an all-timer. I wish there were more sketches like this on the show.
And to top it all off, an AMAZING Hip performance. This is far and away my favorite episode of the season.
I know this is almost more of a Dan Aykroyd episode, but this episode kicks off Goodman’s strongest run of episodes. His first five are sturdy, but episodes 6-9 are his best.
Thank goodness for John and Dan. Can you imagine if the parade of NBC stars continued (“And your host, CHRIS NOTH!” … “And your host, SELA WARD!” … nothing against either two, but you see what I mean, right?), or if they dared try an all-cast show?
I wonder what the worst ending of a sketch is: the text crawl or the newspaper headline flash? I suspect the latter because while I think some text crawls have been funny, if always slow-paced, I don’t remember ever finding a headline flash ending funny (exception might be the one where Pearl Harbor ends up as a buried lead, but that’s a sketch where the whole point was headlines).
A common complaint with The Tragically Hip is that they were huge in Canada yet never fully crossed over into the US market, which was what their SNL appearance “failed” to foster:
https://www.straight.com/music/738106/tragically-hips-most-fabled-failure-made-it-canadas-greatest-ever-band
I always find that reasoning specious. The Hip hadn’t charted in the US since “Courage” (Billboard #16 Mainstream and Modern Rock, 1993). To get on the show despite not recently having something popular enough for US promotional notice, the band needed a Dan Aykroyd in their corner. It sucks, but that was SNL in the 1990s and it’s SNL now. While I’ve never been a Hip fan, they have good songs, and I certainly don’t discount what they mean to Canadian music.
I’m surprised Aykroyd’s officially hosted ONCE. I realize Aykroyd normally refused the call re: hosting, but this is his episode. It’s not like Goodman shows up infrequently on SNL in the 1990s and early 2000s, especially when he plays Linda Tripp often enough in 1998-99 that he’s a de facto cast-member for a few months.
Also, Stooge, when you say “bizarre Buddhist-type character” I think you mean “Hare Krishna” – a mainstay at airports at the time. Think of the joke from Airplane!
After a terrible episode, SNL gets back into the groove with old favorites John Goodman and Dan Aykroyd. This is an enjoyable episode, not the best of the season, but pretty solid. Aykroyd brings back lots of old favorites, Dole (when does MacDonald start portraying him, can’t wait for that), Tom Snyder, Blues Brothers, and I loved the collision of worlds with Irwin Mainway and the Superfans.
I also find the Dog sketch and Deluded Losers pretty enjoyable, and then of course Chris Elliot’s bizarre and unique penis-measuring device. Again, this season proves that this season lived-or-died by its host.
You’d think that The Tragically Hip would be at home on SNL, considering that they got their name from an SNL sketch!
I think the George Clooney episode is undeservedly getting a good reputation here because it is so much more watchable than came before. I think this episode, again following dogshit, earns its stripes. Even the somewhat cringey Blues Brothers revival works for me due to its energy compared to the utter death of the previous week’s monologue. Oh and I think The Tragically Hip got their name from an Elephant Parts sketch. But I think there is/was a British band named Bassomatic after one of this episode “host”’s iconic segments.
It was an Elephant Parts sketch. But it actually appeared first (as did a lot of material from that collection) on a Doumanian-era SNL.
Agreed about the Clooney episode. It’s fine, but it’s basically one mid-tier Jack Handey sketch away from being less than fine.
Not a bad show, George’s show was better though. That one was a little more fun, but this one’s a good return to form they got over JG’s drama here where the last show they seemed in a real funk.
They shoulda just let Dan host this one and sent Goodman home until the finale.. woulda made for another good show and gave Dan a much deserved hosting stint. He owns the show more than John did which is saying a lot because John was always gold when he hosted back then. John was just here on this show and he didn’t contribute much, probably his worst one of the 90’s, not really his fault he couldn’t help it.
I loved the Unsolved Mysteries skit.. it’s kinda dry but it was perfectly absurd for what they were trying to do. Dan’s Stack impression was always great. Same for Elliott’s sketch, great return to form for him.
I like the Wayans show, but it coulda been better. He shoulda hosted a lot earlier than he did too.. making him wait 9 years to host was dumb. He woulda been fun in 1991 or 1992 with that group.
SNL has a tendency NOT to have people from a rival sketch show host while they’re still on the show. Go figure.
With Damon, that still means he could have hosted after he left In Living Color in 1992. Season 20 SNL backstage drama has NOTHING on ILC’s backstage drama.
SNL was never in competition with SCTV and they still waited until Moranis/Thomas/Candy left the show before they had them on. I think SNL liked some of those ILC guys, but were waiting for the show to disappear before welcoming them in.
SNL was in competition with SCTV in the sense that the two shows fought over the same talent, with Candy and OHara being the focus.
SCTV is a special case. Talent-wise, SCTV steeled itself against SNL, but the start/stop production schedule was SCTV’s greatest nemesis. To properly compete against SNL, SCTV needed regular yearly resources allocated to it, and once NBC picked up SCTV both shows were on the same side of the ‘war’ (which, in this case, was against ABC’s Fridays).
Also, Candy had Big City Comedy and the Roadshow pilot for NBC in 1980-81, so it wasn’t just SNL courting him that season.
I found some of Dan’s later appearances to be somewhat sad, mostly because they heavily relied on nostalgia (usually of the Festrunk brothers). This episode is different, because it’s an incredible use of his talent in 1995, not in 1975. Even in the sketches that don’t entirely work for me (the overly self-aware lines from Farley in the Swerski sketch, along with Dan veering into E Buzz Miller territory at times rather than Irwin Mainway; the Rush Limbaugh/Stern sketch feels like a very thin premise used to put out two big impressions; the Unsolved Mysteries piece just seems pointless [if it was meant to parody the show, then as a fan of UM I can get the idea, but it wasn’t fleshed out enough]), there are plenty of things to enjoy. And other than the lazy crawl ending, I actually liked the coal miners sketch – the performances, especially from John Goodman, help add to the atmosphere of the piece. And there are so many interesting pieces – the “losers” sketch is the type of piece that is so difficult to find on the show by this time (although the ending with McKean taking their photo and jeering them annoyed me, as it ruined the vibe they’d built up), and the Tom Snyder sketch is absolutely perfect.
One of the other impressive elements of this episode is that, other than Jay Mohr and Tim Meadows, everyone in the cast gets a chance to shine. That’s very rare for this season. And it shows that you can have a high-profile alum return for big moments while still properly using your cast. Unfortunately this is something that was rarely learned in later seasons. The closest was Bill Hader’s extended cameo in John Mulaney’s 2019 episode – which is fitting, as I think Hader is the only cast member who has ever come remotely close to capturing Dan’s very unique skillset on SNL.
I also love that the audience gives Dan a hearty round of applause when he’s about to introduce the musical guest, which he clearly wasn’t expecting. One of those nice, warm moments so hard to find in this era.
I never had any interest in Blues Brothers 2000 (and to be honest I’m not that into the Blues Brothers either way), but Dan was on The Conners this past week, reuniting with John Goodman. Put a smile on my face.
Dan was featured heavily because of John’s conflict with shooting Roseanne but I’m pretty sure he was also there to help promote the release of Tommy Boy. Hence the Dennehy cameo as well
RIP Brian Dennehy. Surprisingly isn’t this the only appearance he ever made on SNL? Pretty positive he never hosted. Always thought it was perfect casting with him as Farley’s dad in Tommy Boy.
Even though it was really because of Blues Brothers 2000 and John Goodman hosting; and the Hip as the musical guests, a common rumour before this aired was to help boost the sagging ratings from thus hard-to-watch season. Who else here has heard that back then?
Here’s my review of the musical performances
Grace, Too
— LOVE Aykroyd’s Canada t-shirt and the crowd does too! Great to see Dan introducing them, the show isn’t even pretending he’s not a cohost on this episode.
— You can tell Dan is SO excited to be introducing these guys. Good to see him letting his hair down here.
— Haha, love the alteration of the first line to insert the band’s name. clever!
— I love Gord’s gesturing and head bopping. It’s so goofy but it works somehow.
— Great job by the sound board mixing this song, all the instruments are harmonizing so well, especially in the instrumental break between chorus and second verse
— I like Gord’s outfit, a striking red shirt, big ole belt, and black jeans. Nice tough no-frills look
— These guys are so in the pocket. The interplay between the two guitarists is great, and so is the bass. And of course the drummer is really driving this song home.
— An absolutely DYNAMITE performance. A great tonic in a troubled season.
STARS: *****
Nautical Disaster
— More easygoing feel to this first verse, and Gord’s doing a great job of driving the song with his voice.
— Ok, the tempo just increased. Nicely executed.
— Gord is still doing a good job of leading this song. The previous song was more instrumentally driven. This one is wordier and a bit more poetic lyrically but he’s selling it well.
— Once again, great weaving interplay between the guitarists.
— Great guitar solo here toward the end.
— Not quite as captivating as Grace, Too but still a solid tune.
STARS: ***1/2
I keep trying to find if there’s a specific name for the melody the SNL Band plays when John sets up the Blues Brothers portion of the mono. IK it’s commonly used for them, but I can’t seem to find if there’s a specific name for it.
I think Carvey and Travolta are consistently funnier episodes, but this episode easily has the best vibe that’s totally atypical of the season.
The goodnights are actually really fun. Everyone is really thrilled about Aykroyd’s presence. Even Chris Elliott is happy to be there! Aykroyd is wearing a Callahan Auto Parts shirt to promote Tommy Boy.
I love the Brian Dennehy cameo in the Superfans sketch, I always loved that guy. His lone hilarious line reminded me of Patton Oswalt’s stand-up bit about meeting him.
Deluded Losers was just another one-joke sketch to me, as well-performed as it was. Coal Miners worked far better in my opinion, as the performers played actual characters. Dan nailed his, and Mark’s KITH experience really shone through. It was nice to see Kevin be a part of it too, given how the season was going for him. And it even sounded like they were in a cave, nice touch. They could have closed it out with something like a graphic of their gravestones, but who knows, maybe the “lazy” scroll was just easier to produce.
Absolutely killer set from The Hip, arguably the two best songs from their Day For Night release. I tend to agree with Frederick’s music review elsewhere in the comments, but I would push “Nautical Disaster” up to 4 and a half stars, just shy of full marks as the vocals in my copy of the show could have been more prominent in the mix – not that Gord didn’t rise to the occasion. It’s also one of my favourite Hip songs, Gord’s poetic tendencies are on full display, and the lyrical imagery is so damn devastating. (And thanks to Gord’s penchant for freestyling, he finished the performance beautifully with a fitting line from a song by fellow Canadian band Skydiggers).
And sure, Dan Aykroyd was the reason they were there, but for most intents and purposes, this was their introduction to the United States. A well received appearance on SNL was still a big deal at the time, season 20 or no season 20. I’m not exactly a Hip fanatic so I’m not sure how much harder they tried to break into the lucrative U.S. market, especially as their lyrics became even more Canadian-centric as time went on. Maybe it was an artistic choice. Maybe they never really wanted it badly enough, maybe they were satisfied right where they were. I’m sure an actual Hip fan could clarify.
I did find it funny that Mark’s story in Coal Miners started with someone dislocating his hip. I wonder if that was an ad-lib?