Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
DEBATE PREP
Bob Dole (NOM) prepares to debate Bill Clinton; David L. Lander cameo
— I love Norm’s Dole inexplicably responding “No!” to the question about what programs he will institute to reach out to minorities.
— A good laugh from Norm’s Dole forcing Will to do a Ross Perot impression for his amusement.
— I like how Norm’s Dole is now forcing Will and Mark to do other celebrity impressions.
— A funny casual reveal of “Squiggy” being one of the panelists at the Clinton/Dole debate.
STARS: ***½
OPENING MONTAGE
— Mark McKinney’s new photo from the opening montage of the preceding week’s season premiere (first screencap below) has ALREADY been changed to a different photo (second screencap below).
MONOLOGUE
host describes her fantasy one-night stand with SNL
— An okay premise with Lisa’s teenage fantasy about having a one-night stand with a personified SNL. A few laughs here.
STARS: ***
CARIBBEAN ESSENCE BATH OIL
Caribbean Essence Bath Oil literally lifts you up & takes you away
— A big laugh from a dreadlocked, soap suds-covered Tracy Morgan rising from Molly’s bathtub out of nowhere.
— I love Tracy’s delivery of “Come, bathe with me.”
— Overall, a pretty funny commercial for what was Tracy’s very first big role.
STARS: ***½
SINGLED OUT
Mary Katherine Gallagher looks for love amongst Generation X
— Of all the Mary Katherine Gallagher sketches, I think this is the only one I’ve never seen before.
— An interesting topical setting for Mary Katherine Gallagher.
— The various statements that Tim cheers into the camera are hilarious, and are giving me more laughs than anything else in this sketch. I think I’d enjoy this sketch more if I was familiar with the show “Singled Out”.
— For once, the monologue that MKG performs is actually a song.
— The obligatory MKG pratfall felt odd and really forced this time.
— I like Will telling MKG “I just saw your underwear, I think I’m in love.”
STARS: **½
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL
air traffic controller Suel Forrester “helps” stewardess (host) land
— As I said in an earlier review, I’m always a sucker for Suel Forrester. I also like how he has a different occupation in each installment.
— Funny little touch with Forrester erasing one small specific part of his unreadable chalkboard scribbling and correcting it.
— Amusing ending, and one of the rare times a newspaper headline ending worked for me.
STARS: ***½
TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- Ross Perot & Larry King ramble
— Our very first “Fun With Real Audio” edition of TV Funhouse.
— The caricature drawings of Ross Perot and especially Larry King are amusing.
— I love the increasingly odd situations that Perot and King are shown in while serious real-life audio of them having a normal conversation is being played. The whole bit with the giant bug in particular is what would go on to be trademark Smigel humor in these TV Funhouse cartoons.
— During the TV Funhouse closing credits tonight, Lorne says to the dog he’s fighting with “Give… me… back… my… show!” instead of what we would later become familiar with hearing him say in the TV Funhouse closing credits: “Leggo my show! Leggo… my… show!”
STARS: ****
WEEKEND UPDATE
Bill Clinton (DAH) likes Independence Day’s “dead First Lady” plot
— You can ALREADY tell that Darrell-as-Clinton’s “Independence Day” review is going to go in the exact same direction as his “The American President” review from the preceding season, as soon as he’s mentioned the president’s wife in “Independence Day” getting killed.
— Yep, I was right about the direction of the Clinton commentary. (*yawn*) Predictable. Not caring for this lazy reprise.
— Darrell’s Clinton continues to gradually develop into the version that everyone today is familiar with, with Darrell now debuting the “laughs out loud then suddenly puts on a straight face” mannerism.
STARS: **** (mostly just for Norm)
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “If It Makes You Happy”
SINGLE AND LOVING IT
joyologist Helen (MOS) claims to enjoy manlessness
— Uh-oh. The debut of Molly’s joyologist character, Helen “I love it, I love it, I love it!” Madden, a character I’ve always found INSUFFERABLE. Interestingly, though, she has a different last name in this installment.
— Feels odd seeing Helen Madden in a non-Pretty Living sketch (Pretty Living is the recurring sketch that she would go on to regularly appear in). I believe she also makes one other non-Pretty Living appearance, in the following season’s Samuel L. Jackson episode, before the Pretty Living sketches make their debut.
— A few minutes into this sketch, and I haven’t found much to laugh at here.
— Okay, I did get a laugh just now from Lisa being called out on how sad it is that she gets joy out of drawing herself into her favorite Cathy cartoon.
— Surprisingly, Molly’s characterization of Helen Madden is much lower-key here than it would later go on to be. There’s no endless repetition of “I love it!”, nor is there an excessive amount of exaggerated leg-kicking or leg gyrations. Why couldn’t her characterization always stay this low-key?
STARS: **
RANDOLPH HOTEL
five-star hotel bellmen (JMB), (CHK), (WIF) destroy guests’ luggage
— A simplistic premise, but I’m finding it pretty funny so far.
— Heh, when Chris throws a suitcase behind him without looking, he unknowingly smashes a light fixture in the background (the third above screencap for this sketch).
— When Ana walked on in that wig and started speaking, I actually mistook her for the recently-fired Nancy Walls until I saw her face. I guess I haven’t gotten used to not seeing Nancy on the show anymore.
— Okay, this sketch is starting to get kinda old and one-note.
— Okay, now they’re winning me back over with the sequence with all three bellhops simultaneously throwing and swinging around the luggage while standing in a circle. It’s just a very funny visual.
— Has Mark McKinney played a single comedic role this season so far? I’m pretty sure he’s only been used in dull straight man roles in the two episodes of this season so far, which is sadly an accurate sign of the direction his SNL tenure ends up going during this season in general.
STARS: ***
WYMINS POETRY NIGHT
Mickey The Dyke (CHO) emcees Wymins Poetry Night at a lesbian bar
— Another female-oriented sketch tonight featuring only the female cast? I sure hope this is better than that Single And Loving It sketch.
— Ana’s poem with various “men” puns is making me laugh.
— Cheri’s Mickey The Dyke is great as the emcee in this.
— Interesting husky, whispery voice on Molly.
— Strange how this is the second sketch tonight with a character doing a voice impression of Jack Nicholson, hand over forehead and all.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Is A Good Thing”
(Not included in the copy I’m reviewing of this episode)
EX-CONVICT WAITER
ex-con waiter Gene (COQ) harasses a dining couple (host) & (MAM)
— Colin attempts a new character, which does end up becoming recurring, though he only comes back one time, in the following season’s Nathan Lane episode.
— Colin is funny in this sketch, especially him trying to make amends to Mark by offering him to go outside and smoke a joint with him.
— I like Jim’s exasperated reactions at the end of the sketch.
STARS: ***½
BRIEF HISTORIES
explosives ensured the success of George Ferris’ Wheel
— Brief Histories from the the preceding week’s season premiere officially becomes a recurring segment, though it ends up being VERY short-lived. In fact, I think tonight’s edition is the final one.
— This is a bit different from the first one, as we now get to hear interview voice-overs from other people besides the narrator.
— This edition of Brief Histories is even funnier than the first one. I’m getting a lot of laughs from all the absurdist humor here.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very average and unexciting episode. Not terrible or anything, but there was barely anything in it that I’ll remember in the future. Hell, even now, right after I just watched and reviewed the episode, I’m having a hard time remembering half the sketches. I do appreciate that they heavily scaled back the number of recurring sketches after the excessive amount of them in the preceding week’s season premiere, but there still isn’t much to brag about tonight. Between the not-too-great season premiere and tonight’s overly average episode, this season hasn’t exactly been off to a thrilling start.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tom Hanks)
a very slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Hoo, boy. Things aren’t looking up for the unexciting start to this season, as Bill Pullman is the next episode. I recall that being a somewhat rough episode for this era’s standards.