Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
NBC’S CHRISTMAS SALUTE TO OUR BOSNIAN TROOPS
Jay Leno (DAH) & other celebrities perform for USA’s Bosnian troops
— After getting some brief samples of Darrell’s Leno voice earlier this season, we finally see him actually playing Leno.
— I liked Darrell-as-Leno’s “Some of these are apparently just for me” line after some of his jokes have gotten a tepid audience reaction.
— Jesus, Tim’s face looks hideous in drag. And where are his eyebrows?
— The debut of what would go on to be one of Molly’s most famous impressions: Courtney Love.
— Very funny Courtney Love impression from Molly, and after having recently sat through Hole’s unintelligible singing when covering the preceding season’s George Foreman episode, I’m enjoying Molly’s dead-on imitation of Love’s singing style.
— I’m loving Norm’s George Burns impression.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
host sings “Ain’t Got No Home” in soprano & frog voices
— Another variation of The [George] Carlin Line (“I did such a good job hosting (insert large number here) years ago that they couldn’t wait to have me back”), with Madeline mentioning that her last time hosting 18 years ago “seemed to go really well”.
— Some good laughs from Madeline detailing how she waited and waited for the phone call to host SNL again after her 1977 hosting stint.
— Uh, not sure at all what to say about Madeline’s “Ain’t Got No Home” number, except it feels like a waste of her talents. It’s also a stiff musical performance that not even the two front-and-center SNL Band members are adding much life to.
— Okay, Madeline changing her pitch to a froggy, gravelly voice made me laugh at first, but got old after a while.
STARS: **
GANGSTA BITCH BARBIE
Rerun from 10/7/95
BASKETBALL GAME
at a basketball game, Craig & Arianna do more unsanctioned cheering
— These characters officially become recurring.
— As sick as I know I’m eventually going to get of this soon-to-be-overused-and-grating sketch, I’m still finding these characters fairly fun and endearing in this second installment. And after the troubled preceding season, I understand the need for SNL to push big and energetic recurring characters like this.
— I loved the brief Shaft bit that the Cheerleaders did just now.
— The Ice, Ice Baby performance is really fun.
— Overall, I think I actually liked this even more than the first installment. Enjoy my goodwill towards these Cheerleaders characters while it lasts, folks, because this is probably as high as my praise is going to get (minus the installment with Jim Carrey).
STARS: ***½
JOHN-JOHN MACKEY’S STORM TRACKER ACCU-CAST
macho weatherman John-John Mackey (TIM) lets storms know who’s boss
— Tim continues to have a fantastic season. Here’s yet another great showcase for him that I’ve always loved.
— Great part about how John-John Mackey tells a storm “That’s right, bitch, now go make me a sandwich!”
STARS: ****
BIRD CLAWS
while in a giant bird’s talons, (DAK) & (host) lay blame for predicament
— Oh, I absolutely love this. Such a creative premise and a unique format, especially with all the dialogue consisting entirely of Madeline and Koechner sarcastically quoting something the other said before they ended up in this predicament.
— The constantly-changing sky scenery in the greenscreen background is distracting. Could SNL really not find one continuous shot of a sky?
— While lowbrow, I liked the “They can’t poop when they’re flying!” ending.
STARS: ****
LEG UP
Russian ballerina’s (host) culture gap is eventually bridged
— Yeah, I’m officially tired of seeing this recurring sketch.
— Still some funny zingers from Molly and Cheri, but tonight’s installment of this recurring sketch has such a meh feel compared to the first two installments.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Comedown”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Bronx-born St. Nicky (COQ) tells how he became Santa Claus
— I liked Norm’s “Probably gonna end up in Jersey with a meathook up my ass” ad-lib after his joke about Frank Sinatra.
— SNL writer Colin Quinn debuts his THIRD Update character in the last four episodes. Can somebody remind me again why SNL has yet to begin crediting Colin as a featured player at this point? Hell, he’s certainly been getting more consistent airtime than credited repertory player Jim Breuer, who, by the way, is completely absent in tonight’s episode. We’re only halfway through this season, and Jim has already been absent in TWO or THREE episodes so far. Jesus Christ.
— Some funny wiseguy lines from Colin’s St. Nicky, but this commentary has too much of a same-y feel to Colin’s earlier Update characters, and this particular character isn’t working for me as well as Joe Blow and Lenny The Lion.
— Unlike in the preceding episode, tonight’s “Or so the Germans would have us believe” joke is followed by Norm doing a camera staredown, which would go on to be a tradition for that running joke.
— Funny hearing Norm casually mention Dayton as part of a news story, since this is just a few episodes after the Stan Hooper sketch from the Laura Leighton episode, where Norm’s Hooper kept incredulously repeating the word “Dayton” throughout the sketch.
STARS: ****
ANTIQUE SHOP
Lucien & Fagin are bound by their antique shop’s 90-day return policy
— When Koechner’s Fop character pops in, you can hear only one sole audience member give him recognition applause.
— An interesting and very different use of these Fops characters compared to what we’re used to seeing from them.
— This Fops installment isn’t well-liked among SNL fans compared to the more traditional Fops appearances, but I’m enjoying this sketch and am still getting the usual laughs from Koechner and Mark’s performances.
— I like Madeline’s rant regarding the bad luck she wishes upon the Fops.
STARS: ***
FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
putting his head out of the car window
— Surprisingly, this is the first time Fuzzy Memories has appeared in quite a while. I had been under the impression that these Fuzzy Memories segments were a weekly thing this season.
SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS gives his wish list for 1996
— Good bit from Spade about women going into modeling just to get proof of their attractiveness.
— I got a pretty good laugh from Spade’s brief-but-relatable bit complaining about co-workers eagerly asking if he saw the previous night’s episode of Friends.
— The segment about overused expressions Spade hopes will go away in the upcoming year 1996 has some laughs, especially the meta Buh-bye bit.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Glycerine”
WEDDING VOWS
(WIF) & (host) express their love with clumsy, self-composed wedding vows
— So many hilarious lines in Will and Madeline’s wedding vows, especially the “good like wood” bit, Will’s diamond balls analogies, Madeline calling Will a “thing filled with goo”, and Madeline’s detailed spiel about “weird humpin’”.
— A great use of both Madeline and Will’s talents.
STARS: ****½
FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
responding to a family crisis
— Two Fuzzy Memories in one night?
OLD GLORY INSURANCE
— Another rerun tonight, this time from 11/18/95
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An average episode, with a hint of a meh vibe, especially for a Christmas episode from such a good season like this. The second half of this episode also had an off feel, with an unusual amount of filler segments and repeated fake ads. I also don’t like how Madeline Kahn’s talents felt kinda wasted in some sketches, though the Wedding Vows sketch made up for that.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (David Alan Grier)
a step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
We enter the year 1996, with host Christopher Walken
According to her recent biography (“Being The Music: A Life”), Kahn was a replacement host for this episode, but they don’t specifically say who she’s replacing. Anybody know what was big in Movies/TV happening around Christmas 1995?
Well, Toy Story was out (Hanks or Allen?). So was Ace Ventura (Carrey, of course, hosted at season’s end). There’s also GoldenEye (Brosnan would host several years later) and Father of the Bride Part II (tempting fate to have Steve Martin back so soon?).
Robin Williams, maybe (Jumanji would come out this week). He had hosted early on in another “rebuilding” season (Season 12.)
Madeline Kahn actually did have a film to plug that week – Oliver Stone’s Nixon, where she played Martha Mitchell, would come out Christmas Day
Watched this one on E years ago.. Kahn felt so out of place which was a bummer as I loved her first show.. 2nd one not so much. She was having a comeback then due to being on Cosby’s CBS show so not a bad pick, just wish they used her better.
Thankfully Bush was very good in their performances, I get chills hearing the audience cheer like crazy when they started performing.
My guess is probably Robin or Jim.. Lorne probably wanted to end the first half of the season on a bang since they were getting good reviews, ratings were down more than 94/95 but the critics loved the show and that was good enough to keep it going. Ratings went up the next year once the audience got used to Ferrell and co.
Cosby wouldn’t premiere until Sept. of 1996. Kahn was plugging “New York News” a CBS drama that had just been cancelled a few weeks before.
I just saw David’s comment. Never mind.
“Cosby” wouldn’t debut for another year. Wasn’t Kahn on “Central Park West?”
I could’ve originally sworn Colin was credited all throughout the season but didn’t realize until recently they didn’t start crediting him and Fred Wolf until Chris Kattan joined towards the end of the year. I guess in reruns they later added Colin and Fred into the FP credits in the earlier episodes they appeared in which is what lead to my confusion on that. Don’t think I’ve ever seen this particular Colin piece, I always enjoyed his pre-anchor bits, his gruff Brooklyn guy as different characters always worked for me. I especially like the ex-con guy he tried out later in the year.
I don’t know why but Darrell’s Leno impression just kills me. His delivery of “…apparently these are just for me” or whatever is one of my favorite line deliveries ever. I wish they did more with it beyond the couple few times they brought it back.
I love Madeline Kahn so I’m sentimental toward this episode. She was a very odd choice for this era and for this time in her career, so I’m not surprised to learn she was a replacement, but she does well enough.
The wedding vows sketch is right up her alley, and thankfully Will didn’t ruin it with his scream-acting (he comes close once but then calms back down). She’s also a fun foil to the Fops, who probably should not have come back so early, but are good value (David Koechner is just terrific in this one).
The bird sketch is one of those ideas with such a fun concept that it carries a great deal of goodwill into the sketch itself. I always forget David did this – I keep thinking it was Will.
Most of the comments I’ve heard about Madeline’s monologue have been negative, which I understand, but I’ve always enjoyed it. I suppose it’s down to the low-key feel, how different this feels for this time period of the show, and the quiet confidence in her performance.
I couldn’t watch the Cheerleaders sketch so that saved me 5 minutes.
This episode reminds me of one of the reasons I don’t care for the Leg Up sketches, even though it’s a very silly thing to be annoyed by. They play real people and they mention real people, but most of what they say makes no real sense about those people. If this were a one-off, or if the sketches were better, then it wouldn’t bother me as much, but neither of those were the case. As it is, I just watched this one to see Madeline. I kind of like her turn here as it reminds me a little of her classic sketch as Marlene Dietrich and Gilda as Baba Wawa.
The cold open is, other than Norm as George Burns, an example of what annoys me in this era. Just loud and grating. Cheri’s Fran Drescher is very, very off. Distractingly off. It would take nearly 20 years for the show to have a good Fran Drescher impression, which is kind of odd considering this was when she was at her peak of popularity.
Oh (sorry I hit send too quickly) and while it does feel very filler-ish to have two Fuzzy Memories in one episode, I think these are two of the best. The first one in particular is just random insane Jack Handey brilliance.
I don’t know, I actually think the Fran Drescher impression is dead on, especially the annoying laughter.
To me the laughter just sort of sounds like the generic laugh Cheri uses in various sketches, but I don’t know. I kind of wonder if Molly might have been better as Fran – I guess it’s silly to speculate about 25 years later.
The original artist of Ain’t Got No Home was Clarence “Frogman” Henry, and his frog voice was quite celebrated. I thought it was a nice little diversion, and it was good to see Lenny and Lino back there bopping around on their saxes. (Incidentally, even though Lino Gomez is now playing bari sax, Lew Del Gatto is still involved with the band as a contractor and arranger. He does return to play at some point, and will stay through 2005, when he’s replaced by Ron Blake.)
So bummed that Peacocktv.com cuts out half the content on this episode: the monologue, the wedding skit, cheerleaders & musical guest. What even is the point?
Loved seeing Madeline Kahn work with my all-time favorite SNL cast though. The MK/Molly Shannon/Cheri Oteri combo was fantastic in my opinion. Hard to believe she’d be gone almost exactly 4 years from the airing of this episode 🙁
Comedown
— The guitars sound off key here
— The parts of the verses with just Gavin singing, the bass and the drums are pretty good. I like the walking bassline.
— Pretty awkward licks by the lead guitarist.
— First chorus is fine, I guess.
— More awkward licks by the lead guitarist. This guy seems out of sorts.
— Ok, these guys can go ahead and wrap this song up now, thank you, it’s wearing out its welcome for me.
— Full disclosure: I’m not the biggest fan of this band. I’ve especially never liked this song. But even attempting to put my bias aside, there’s something that seems objectively off about this performance. The bassist did well, the drummer was ok, Gavin’s singing is…just kinda there, and the lead guitarist is out to lunch. I guess it just wasn’t the lead guitarist’s night, he does to his credit sound much better on the studio version of this song. Maybe there was a soundcheck or tuning issue or something.
STARS: **
Glycerine
— Definitely some bonus points on this one for bringing a real string section along.
— Gavin’s singing is fine here, and a step up from his singing on the previous song. He looks better than he sings, which is I guess some of his appeal.
— Nice transition from using the standard electric guitar tones to using distortion halfway through the song. I must say it was well executed and is adding some power to this ballad.
— The strings are harmonizing very well and are mixed at an audible level by the sound board.
— Love the brief string outro.
— Credit where it’s due, this is a good performance.
STARS: ****
The Accu-Weather forecast reminds me of an SCTV skit with Dave Thomas as a hoodlum doing a tornado warning – “No tornados better come around here if they know what’s good for ’em.”
I know I’m way late to this conversation but I just had to defend the Spartan Cheerleaders
I’ve been watching the seasons in order for a few months (and reading your reviews) now and I couldn’t wait to get to this season.
I was in high school during this time period and it was 100% the Spartan Cheerleaders that got me hooked on SNL. I had watched occassionaly during the Farley/Sandler years because I knew the from the movies but when the first Spartan Cheerleader sketch came out, the next Monday at school EVERYONE was talking about it. Obviously, this is early Internet days so it was really hard to find. I can remember someone recorded the show on VHS and we actually sat in the library at lunch and watched it.
From that week on, you had to watch SNL every week to see if there was another Spartan Cheerleader sketch…..if not, you’d come to school Monday and would be out of the loop.
This episode, because of the Spartan Cheerleaders, is the first one I have a memory of watching live.
I dont mind the spartans. They aren’t great but are usually solid. Like them much better than MKG or Joyologist or Goat Boy, but not as much as Delicious Dish, Goth Talk, Culps, or Celebrity Jeopardy.