Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
A MESSAGE FROM TONY VALLENCOURT
Celtics fan Tony Vallencourt (ADS) relates his memories of Boston Garden
— It makes no sense why this particular average joe character is delivering an address to the nation in a cold opening, nor does it make sense why this particular average joe character is delivering said address from behind a desk in a professional-looking office. He does mention in passing early in this cold opening that this is his sister’s office, but that just seemed like the writers hand-waving their sloppy decision to place this character in an office set.
— There are some funny lines here and there, but the format of this cold opening has gotten boring pretty fast. This cold opening also kinda feels like a sister sketch to Adam’s Gil Graham commentaries from Weekend Update, which makes me now realize that this cold opening would’ve fit more as a Weekend Update commentary. I’m not sure if that would’ve made it funnier, but at least it wouldn’t have been as out of place as it is in the cold opening slot.
— Adam’s delivery is kinda sloppy throughout this.
STARS: **
MONOLOGUE
host enjoys the opportunity to say naughty words & signs an autograph
— Very constant, fast-paced snappy comments from Bob, to a tiresome degree. He can’t go through more than 5 seconds here without making a “witty” aside for every situation. I wouldn’t complain about it if his “witty” asides were actually funny. I’ve never been that big of a fan of his stand-up comedy.
— (*groan*) The “Nipples ass wiener” bit…
— I recall once seeing that monkey-scratching-his-butt-and-sniffing-his-finger video that Bob explains was deemed un-airable for America’s Funniest Home Videos.
STARS: *½
AMAZIN’ LASER
Rerun from 1/21/95
TRACK TEAM
coach of a high school track team (host) reminds his runners to go fast
— Okay, the concept of a coach’s only “insightful” advice to his track team simply being “run fast” is actually fairly funny on paper, but it’s not working AT ALL in its execution.
— This sketch feels like a poor man’s version of the Plucky Ninjas sketch from John Goodman’s season 19 episode.
— Season 20-era Kevin Nealon as a high school track student???
— Ah, now we get a twist that Kevin and the rest of the track team are in their 40s. That’s the first sorta-laugh I’ve gotten during this entire sketch.
— Very lame fourth wall-breaking ending with Bob saying to the camera “Go to commercial FAST!”
STARS: *½
AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HATE VIDEOS
accidental violence from militia & KKK
— I’ve always hated this sketch in the past and considered it emblematic of some of season 20’s problems, but I get the feeling I’m gonna appreciate the sketch more now, especially since I’ve been more lenient on season 20 in my reviews than I used to be in the past.
— The corny laughter from the fake audience is cracking me up.
— Just now, the exploding head footage during the Farley/Spade militia scene absolutely SLAYED me, even though we just got an exploding head gag earlier in the sketch.
— I like the shot of Farley in the audience with a now-headless David.
— There’s yet another sighting of Jay’s real-life arm tattoo of a giraffe(?).
— Interesting twist ending with the show turning out to be a trap to arrest the hate group who wins the contest.
— Overall, my prediction was right: I enjoyed this sketch MUCH more than I did in past viewings. Some pretty good stupidly funny humor here, and a solid ending.
STARS: ***½
DANTÉ
fashion designer (CHF) flamboyantly tells people to leave his office
— It’s just plain surreal and kinda sad to hear Phil Hartman’s voice-over in a new sketch this season (not counting his old voice-overs in old recurring stuff that still appears this season, like Deep Thoughts or Daily Affirmation). The reason for Phil’s voice-over in this sketch is because this sketch originally got cut after dress rehearsal from the preceding season’s Nancy Kerrigan episode. Here’s a GettyImages picture from that cut version of the sketch.
— I’ve been noticing throughout tonight’s sketches that Farley has been sporting A LOT of facial hair. Supposedly, he grew it out for the filming of Almost Heroes, though there would end up being long delays before filming would start.
— A very tepid sketch so far, with the unfunny endlessly repeated gag of Farley ordering people to leave his office while a dramatic music sting plays. How the hell is this supposed to be funny?
— Feels kinda odd seeing Bob Saget in a role like this. In the cut Nancy Kerrigan version of this sketch, McKean (in what was his very first SNL episode) played Bob’s role.
— Overall, not a single laugh from me during this entire sketch.
STARS: *
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Creep”
WEEKEND UPDATE
British Little Girl (MWB) tells how television news happens in America
ELC is devastated because Full House has been cancelled
a clip from recently-deceased Howard Cosell’s appearance on SNL
— I love the audience’s very torn reaction to Norm’s hilariously brutal opening O.J. joke.
— A “Marion Barry loves crack” joke in two consecutive Updates.
— Morwenna Banks getting what would end up being her only character showcase on SNL. I recall hearing that this Little Girl character of hers is one that she was previously known for playing on a show in the U.K.
— For some reason, Morwenna is kinda reminding me a tiny bit of Mike Myers during this commentary. Something about her mannerisms and the British accent.
— Some parts of Morwenna’s commentary are more cute than funny, but I’m getting some good laughs here, and the humor in this commentary is a big change of pace from the usual tone of season 20. This is making me wish Morwenna would’ve been given the chance to showcase more of her style of humor before her insanely short-lived tenure ended.
— Funny concept of Ellen’s commentary, though her exaggerated crying voice is a bit much at times.
— I like Ellen’s line “I don’t remember the day I gave birth to quintuplets” when talking about how she remembers “important” moments in Full House more than she remembers significant events that happened in her own life.
— Bob Saget to Ellen: “Full House will always be in reruns.” Little did Bob know at the time how right he was. Two decades later, Full House still remains insanely popular in syndication, where it has enjoyed a renewed life.
— We get a tribute to the recently-deceased Howard Cosell, with an SNL clip of him in an Ed Grimley sketch from 10 years earlier. I love seeing this again, though a great clip from the fantastic season 10 being shown in the middle of a bad episode from the infamous season 20 is… well, kinda depressing. The classic season 10 clip just emphasizes the sad reality of the then-current state of season 20. Reminds me of how I felt watching a season 3 Mr. Mike sketch being replayed during the particularly awful Sarah Jessica Parker episode from earlier this season.
STARS: ****
KARL’S VIDEO
video store owner Karl bothers host & other customers
— A fairly interesting choice for a sketch to bring back, though I recall this second installment being a huge step down from the solid first one.
— Bob plays himself in this and David’s Karl character gushes over meeting him for the first time, which doesn’t make sense in the universe of this sketch, because in the first installment, Karl brags to Jeff Goldblum about how Bob Saget is a frequent customer and a “big porn freak”.
— Bob to David: “A little WD40 will straighten that creak you got in your throat.” No idea what that even means, but I laughed.
— The constant porn movie jokes throughout this sketch are getting tired.
— Overall, a few laughs, but this was indeed a huge step down from the first installment.
STARS: **
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
BOYZ II MEN
Boyz II Men (JAM), (host), (TIM), (ADS) do “I’ll Make Love To You” video
— Two minutes into this sketch, and I’m sitting here staring at my screen wondering what the bloody hell I’m watching. What in the world is the point of this sketch? Where’s the joke? Why are they singing the whole “I’ll Make Love To You” song with no comedic twist? Why are three white guys playing three of the four Boyz II Men members? Is THAT the joke? If so, why isn’t it funny? So many questions, so little laughs.
— The camera mistakenly stayed on Laura WAY too long after her bit was done. Sadly, that technical gaffe is probably the most screentime Laura has gotten in months.
— Yet another technical gaffe at the end, after the sketch fades to black.
— Well…. THAT overall sketch certainly was a colossal waste of my time.
STARS: *
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA?
too-easy show ends early
— As a 90s kid, this sketch brings back childhood memories of watching Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego on PBS.
— Tim, Laura, and Michael are pretty funny as Rockapella.
— There’s Molly clearly playing a proto Mary Katherine Gallagher. Feels kinda surreal seeing any hint of Mary Katherine Gallagher in a season 20 episode. That’s such a Ferrell/Oteri-era type of character.
— I like Bob’s frozen facial reaction to Molly’s unexpectedly detailed correct answer of where San Diego is.
— Not a bad premise so far.
— What the hell? What was with the camera cutting back to Ellen not saying anything while looking at the camera with her mouth open, then starting to say something before awkwardly cutting herself off after the camera cuts away from her? Seems to be a lot of gaffes throughout tonight’s episode.
— Overall, the first half of this sketch was fine, but the humor died off towards the end.
STARS: **½
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Red Light Special”
DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
bitter Stuart chides public for not seeing his movie
— Here comes the final Daily Affirmation sketch during Al Franken’s SNL tenure (not counting the surprise return the sketch would later make in the Al Gore-hosted episode from season 28). And, boy, what a famous installment this is.
— Great meta premise, with Stuart Smalley lamenting the fact that his movie is, as he calls it, “a box office disaster”. This premise is a nice change of pace for these Daily Affirmation sketches.
— Stuart to people who didn’t see his movie: “You were too busy getting drunk and beating your kids and cheating on your wife to see my movie!”
— I love the running gag with the various brands of cookies that Stuart’s overeating in his depressed state.
— Stuart, regarding Chessmen cookies: “I eat them, but you can stick them up your ass.” Legendary line.
— Stuart’s out-of-character bitterness here is freakin’ awesome. He is slaying me in this. This is also a nice thinly-veiled way for Al Franken to vent his real-life frustration with the movie’s lack of success.
— Overall, an excellent sketch and a strangely fitting way to end the series of Daily Affirmation sketches. This also felt like a fitting capper to a notorious SNL season, even though we’re still one episode away from the season finale. Now that I say that, I’m finding myself wishing that they saved this sketch for the season finale. This and the famous Polar Bear Cage sketch airing back-to-back would’ve been a great way to end this season. But nah, I’m glad this sketch aired in tonight’s episode instead, because this episode desperately needed a strong sketch.
STARS: *****
PACEMAKER
offputting (DAS) unwisely alienates those who could fix his odd pacemaker
— (*groan*) Yet another season 20 occurrence of David dragging out his shtick of playing snarky pricks, which is so tired and played out by this point of his SNL tenure. In this sketch, he’s coming off particularly tired and unlikable, even if the latter is the point of the character. Either way, it ain’t funny.
— Ugh, this sketch is PURE DEATH so far. What is with this season and horrible sketches taking place in a workshop? First the Mike Myers Fortune Cookie Factory tripe, and now this. It’s reminiscent of how this season keeps relying on terrible sketches dealing with ad execs pitching a commercial at a boardroom meeting.
— Very lame ending involving David’s character doing his snarky shtick on St. Peter. What a waste of Mark McKinney (note to self: get used to it).
STARS: *
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very rough episode, though not the disaster I remember it being in past viewings (hell, in the very early years of my SNL fandom, I even used to consider this to be the official “Worst. Episode. Ever.”). There were more highlights and okay moments than I had remembered, but they still were far outnumbered by the lowlights, some of which were painfully unfunny. But hey, at least we got an epic farewell installment of Daily Affirmation for the ages.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Courteney Cox)
a fairly big step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
It’s the end of an era. David Duchovny hosts the final episode of the season, before SNL goes through a major overhaul.
I haven’t commented much lately but it’s interesting going through this season and thinking about some of these sketches I haven’t seen in years but how some of the season actually wasn’t that horrible.
This episode ranks more on the lower end of the spectrum but I do agree that this Stuart Smalley bit is such a classic. I may even go as far to call it my favorite sketch from this season.
Bob Saget, being a 90s kid, sort of provides a nostalgic feel for me in retrospect but his standup is pure shock value and nothing else….and he didn’t do too well in this episode either.
I believe they also cut Morwenna Banks’ Update bit for the edited rerun which is a shame. I get that it may not have gotten a great response from the audience but in terms of pure character work, it was a nice little gem of a moment. Her other work has shown what a wonderful talent she truly was and it is a shame SNL wasted her….but the biggest missed opportunity for me still remains Danitra Vance who was a true comedic genius.
It’s going to be weird to transition to the Will Ferrell era after this…especially since those were a lot of the episodes I first got to see air live.
I’m amused that the other sketch I can remember that is a parody of Carmen Sandiego (the recent Where in the World is Kellyanne Conway?) also dedicated a lot of time in getting the set and look of the show right only to also abruptly end after a one-joke premise.
After the last Deep Thoughts I remember it fades to the bumper in COMPLETE silence.
“Ouch, mein Jews!!!”
Only thing I really have to say here is to bring up a weird, nitpicky thing that I noticed when I watched the “Hate Videos” sketch (albeit quite a while ago): we’re supposed to believe these are out-of-the-blue and therefore logically single-take home videos, but the head explosions require a sudden cut to a close-up (shot with, IIRC, a perfectly still “handheld” camera at that). Granted that cut is definitely necessary to execute the gag, and I recognize that I’m getting incredibly nitpicky, but it’s a minor logistical thing that kind of bemused me when I watched that sketch.
Going by the Doc’s bet-taking on the Cox comments: 3 sketches with a 1-star rating, though if you include 1-and-a-half-star sketches, that makes 5. One more show to go on the “Bad Boys” journey…
Dude. That’s a bit much.
As I said, I was being incredibly nitpicky.
To be fair, that was really more of a Personal Preference/Semi-Joke thing; I won’t fault anybody who actually likes some of the sketches, even years after the fact…either that, or the “badness” of the episode wore off over time–Especially on “Hate Videos”, I actually kinda enjoyed that one when I first saw it, but then did an about face when watching it in a rerun years later. Nowadays, it’s really more of the “Dumb” kind of Funny in spite of its premise (Also, the fact that Franken Wrote the sketch–according to Saget’s recent memoirs, “Dirty Daddy”–gave me sort of a fresh perspective on it).
As for the Rest of the Episode, it’s still pretty on par with it’s badness; The Ones I would Personally give One Star (or less) to would include the Monologue, F.A.S.T., Boyz II Men, Sandiego & Pacemaker; but even despite all of that, it’s STILL not as bad as Sanders or Reiser.
I remember a review on the SNL forum bashing the name of Rockapella as being a cheap pun and typical of Season 20’s lazy humor…
Despite, you know, Rockapella actually being the name of the house band on “Carmen Sandiego.” Doi.
This whole episode seems like it was a lot funnier during the pitch/write/readthrough process but fell apart once the sketches actually got put into production.
Also, Bob Saget’s standup stresses me out. He couldn’t let a single sentence he said sink in.
He’s the segue king, don’t you know.
If a musical number needed a Garrett-Morris-type funny credit crawl, it’s that Boyz II Men thing. To me, the Saget episode feels like a relative minimum of new material laced with out-takes (Dante), burn-offs (three Deep Thoughts with Jack Handey) and lazy filler (Boyz II Men).
At least with 1980-81 and 1985-86, SNL puts up a FIGHT with those seasons’ penultimate episodes. These days, I hate it the least of the five infamously 1994-95 episodes, but it’s still so listless. Daily Affirmations aside, this is an episode where the show runs out the clock on the season before NBC plunges the knife in.
*Damn it, “Daily Affirmation” and “five infamous”. Nipples ass wiener.
I wish I knew what Norm’s Mariah Carey Christmas joke was!
The joke was that it was released by “Crap Co.” records. No idea why he did it in MAY, however.
Yeah this show wasn’t good, the one time I watched it when I got this season on DVD I was bored to death by the 2nd half post Update.. but the first was interesting. Hate Videos cracked me up much like it did with you. The Dante skit made me laugh to for being so stupid.. it was a perfect fit for Chris though. Woulda loved to seen it a year earlier when Chris was more into the show.. this show in particular showed how burned out he was. He was ready for it to be over so he could do movies by that point. Sandler no, Farely yeah.
As much as I love Saget he wasn’t the best pick for this show.. they coulda at least moderated his monologue to work better. The rushing didn’t help.
Hard to believe season 20’s almost done.. passed by fast it did.
This episode unintentionally does a great job of being a good period piece, though. Saget, TLC, Boyz II Men, Carmen Sandiego, Karl’s Video, AFHV…it paints a very ‘90s picture.
I may be alone on this…but I don’t think the FAST sketch is all that bad. It’s mercifully short, and I like the gag with Chris “did you mean fat?” it’s so stupid, I know. And I like Tim’s “I broke my leg” and the gag with McKean and Nealon being really old high-school students was funny (I remember watching the sketch at the beginning thinking? We’re supposed to bye those two as high school students) 🙂 I don’t know, it’s not like it’s a good sketch…maybe I’m just an idiot. 🙂
I like America’s Funniest Hate Videos. It’s a good parody of AFV, the big problem is they replay all the videos for the end to vote on the winner. I know that’s what the actual show does, but it really drags out the sketch (it does have the good gag of Chris sitting next to his head-less partner, though).
Now, Dante…ugh. This is bad. I’m a sucker for Chris Farley playing big and loud, but this sketch does nothing for me. It’s a downer. It’s amazing to me how much this sketch is featured in the documentary “I am Chris Farley” I was like “Come on guys! There are SO many better sketches to show off Farley’s work on the show.”
Anyway, Carmen SanDiego sketch had its charms, and Morwenna shined a little bit in her WU role, and Stuart Smalley’s giant F.U. to the audience was great, even if it was indulgent. Not a good episode by any means, but I’d say the “best” of the “terrible” episodes of this season. Faint praise, I know. 🙂
Thanks to Leo Dolari for finding this podcast…starting at about 13-14 minutes, Brian Kelley talks about his season 20 experiences, including when he first started at the show, writing Nutrific for the season premiere, and also writing this cold open. It actually was meant as an Update piece, but the original cold open wasn’t working. One of the reasons it’s so sloppy is because they were still putting the words onto the cue cards near airtime.
https://maximumfun.org/episodes/round-springfield/brian-kelley/
25 years later and still don’t see what the joke was supposed to be in the Boyz ll Men sketch.
The Boys II Men “sketch” (not sure if I can call it a “sketch” if there’s no comedy) was always emblematic to me of this terrible period in which the “bros” were very much in charge and a lot of female talent (Janeane Garofalo, Sarah Silverman) was wasted. I cringe at the thought of Laura Kightlinger having to force her way through that “sketch.”
They didn’t just underuse the women. They misused proven comedy masters Michael McKean, Chris Elliott and Mark McKinney. It seems Sandler and Spade ran the show, when they’re really best in small doses.
The good news was that the retooling in Season 21 led to a stable system of bringing in new talent as featured players and then promoting them. It’s fun to go back a few years and see how talented the featured players were.
I was in the audience for the Dress Rehearsal. The Cold Open in dress was political sketch with Farley playing Newt Gingrich. The “Message from Tony Vallencourt” in Dress was during Weekend Update. I guess the original Cold Open didn’t play well.
@Scott Hardesty Interesting, and definitely is noticeable. Thanks for the info. Do you remember anything else that was cut from dress?
I only remember one more being cut. I believe it was called “Rock and Roll Realtor” with Jay Mohr. I think it was resurrected for the David Duchovny show. I have heard they usually cut three or four sketches between Dress and the Live show.
This episode probably wouldn’t have been viewed so poorly if they had shifted the Carmen Sandiego parody and especially the Stuart Smalley sketch to the pre-Update half of the show. The latter is a classic and I really enjoyed Saget’s performance as the panicked host in the former. Also, Spade has no business playing the lead role in two sketches. Mark, Morwenna, or Chris Elliott should have gotten a feature instead.
Also this episode could have used a lot more of airtime for Tim.
RIP Bob Saget
Unreal
Whelp, Bob Saget died… https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2022/01/09/bob-saget-dead-danny-tanner-full-house-host-americas-funniest-home-videos/9153405002/
Could this be the next Vintage SNL?
I don’t see why, since it’s amongst the top 25 worst SNL episodes of all time.
Oh, that’s gonna be a challenge for the poor Vintage editor…Hate Videos and the Daily Affirmation are guarantees, IMO, Possibly Karl’s Video too… and you could make a case for San Diego, I dunno if you can make a case for Boyz II Men though…
We’ll see if it happens.
RIP Bob
Where can you watch this episode (and others) in its entirety? Peacock has stripped down episodes with missing sketches and NO musical performances…thanks in advance for your responses. 🙂
Two words: Internet Archive.
As far as I can tell, the joke of the Boyz II Men sketch is that it’s a spoof of “romantic” music videos, with campy embellishments of various cliches that might appear in such a video. If they’d created an original group instead of being “Boyz II Men,” and also done an original song instead of a cover, that intent might have come across more clearly, because as it is, it’s just confusing. Assuming that was the intent, of course.
If you’re paying close attention, Morwenna ends up with Jay at the end, and Molly ends up with Bob, despite the fact that it should’ve been the other way around based on the pictures they were crying over in their bedrooms. It was probably a genuine blooper, since this sketch, like so much of this season, feels pretty sloppily executed. The premise could’ve been funny, but it seems like they put in a minimal amount of effort.
I watched this episode again and don’t really think it’s as bad as the other infamous “worst 5” episodes. It’s subpar, for sure, but I think it hover just above the real train wrecks, perhaps with the Steve Martin episode.
Surprised Bob did not look at Tim and say nothing cause you know black people are fast runners.
Yeah, what was the Mariah joke?
Always thought it was odd how little she was referenced in 90s media considering she was arguably the decade’s biggest pop star.
Oh, saw the answer above. Crap Co records, eh? Guess you had to be there.
Peace we are out of here
I always thought that was Bob Saget playing St Peter in the Pacemaker sketch
It makes me wonder why Bob Saget was never on SNL during the ’80s as a guest performer.
Morwenna’s character was from a British TV sketch show called Absolutely, which ran from 1989 to 1993 and the Little Girl was a popular regular across the run, so it makes total sense that she’d give it a try on SNL. She brought the character back a few years ago when there was a radio revival of the series, giving a childlike view on things like Brexit and #MeToo.
This episode aired on the TBD network today and the home video sketch made the cut