Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
PRESS CONFERENCE
O.J. Simpson (TIM) lies about money available for civil suit judgement
— A very funny overhead shot of Tim’s O.J. leaving from a bank with a wheelbarrow of money bags, and even stopping at one point to happily wave to the overhead camera.
— A big laugh from Tim’s O.J. muttering the n-word in a different voice, in a bad attempt to pretend it was one of the reporters who said it.
— I think SNL would later replace this cold opening with the dress rehearsal version in reruns. I recall the reruns of this episode having Tim deliver “Live from New York…” in a different way than he delivers it in the live version I’m currently watching.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
host gets a Scream-style phone call from DAS, but it isn’t very scary
— The joke with Neve following up her clarification on the pronunciation of her first name by pronouncing words like “believe” in the same way her first name is pronounced is very reminiscent of a poorly-executed joke from Bronson Pinchot’s monologue from 10 years earlier. Tonight’s version of that joke was executed a little better.
— Ha, that’s clearly David Spade’s voice on the phone, trying to sound sinister.
— A funny call-waiting bit with Neve casually telling the second sinister caller “I already got a creep on the other line”.
— A laugh from the voice of David being heard singing “Sister Christian” when Neve returns to his call after the aforementioned call-waiting bit.
— And now, David has been exposed and we see him onscreen, making his first cameo since leaving the cast a year earlier.
STARS: ***½
CARIBBEAN ESSENCE BATH OIL
Rerun from 10/5/96
JACKPOT
contestants can’t understand game show emcee Suel Forrester
— An interesting use of Suel Forrester.
— This is being executed pretty well, and as I always say, I’m a sucker for the Suel Forrester routine.
— The speed round part is funny, with the use of electric shocks whenever contestants get a question wrong.
STARS: ***½
THE DELICIOUS DISH
essay contest winner (host) joins Margaret Jo & Terry during pledge drive
— I’m kinda surprised at the frequency that this recurring sketch has been appearing so far, but I’m not complaining much, as I always enjoy this particular recurring sketch.
— As always, Ana and Molly are getting a lot of humor out of the mundane.
— Neve is doing a good job at speaking in the soft-spoken NPR style.
— Unlike the first two installments of this sketch, we didn’t get Cheri as a caller in tonight’s overall installment, but we did get Mark as a caller once again, which proves my theory that the show Delicious Dish has no more than two listeners.
STARS: ***½
TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- State Of The Union address is crashed
— Looking forward to this. Smigel has been having a very strong track record with his Fun With Real Audio cartoons so far.
— A huge laugh from Newt Gingrich licking the spilled beer on his desk.
— I love the visual of a straitjacket-wearing Ross Perot giving his speech in a sanitarium.
— A particularly hilarious part with the giant rabbit’s screaming sounds when giving a speech.
STARS: ****½
SIDNEY’S PARTY
Sidney Prescott (host) is embarrassed by her cousin Arianna & Craig
— A good fake-out at the beginning, when we’re shown a horror movie-esque first-person perspective of someone creeping into the party, only for it to turn out to be the Cheerleaders.
— I like the “Jamie Lee, where’s her bra, I don’t know, I don’t know” cheer that Craig and Arianna do.
— Nice turn with Neve using a Ghostface disguise to scare out all the guests.
— I myself am surprised at the positive reception I’ve been giving the Cheerleaders sketches lately. Like I said in a previous review, it turns out that these Cheerleader sketches are actually tolerable when they have an actual storyline.
STARS: ***
JANET RENO’S DANCE PARTY
attending teens receive some tough talk
— They’re making this recurring ALREADY??? I don’t want to complain, considering how much I absolutely loved the first installment of this sketch, but they’re bringing this sketch back too soon. It debuted just TWO EPISODES AGO.
— By the way, is tonight’s episode going to be another Rosie O’Donnell episode-type recurring character fest? Literally every single sketch so far tonight has been recurring.
— So far, there’s been nothing new in tonight’s Janet Reno Dance Party installment. Everything is being repeated from the first installment, right down to the small appearance from Darrell’s President Clinton at the top of the basement stairs. Hell, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think they were literally just re-airing the first installment of this sketch.
— Okay, we now get something that’s actually new in this sketch, with a “Teen Talk” segment.
— I love Will’s Reno saying “Bullcrap, you liar!” when Ana says she’s 17.
— Great ending with Will’s Reno diving into the mosh pit.
— Overall, a weak start, but the sketch got better and better as it went along. This is still a somewhat big step down from the debut of this sketch. There would be better follow-ups of this sketch to later come, especially the one with Rudy Giuliani.
STARS: ***½
WEEKEND UPDATE
Hollywood Minute- DAS comments on showbiz items from his post-SNL days
— Special guest David Spade bringing back Hollywood Minute.
— Oof, David’s jokes are starting off rough so far.
— I like David’s ad-libbed aside “Thanks for that joke, Norm” when one particular joke of David’s gets a tepid audience reaction.
— Okay, David’s jokes are getting better and better as this goes along.
— Wow, I’m surprised to see David taking a harsh shot at the Dan Aykroyd/John Goodman Blues Brothers revival act. No argument from me, though. Should’ve let the Blues Brothers die with John Belushi.
— Hmm, they’re letting tonight’s Hollywood Minute go on a lot longer than usual, obviously because David’s a special guest.
— Odd how Norm cut himself off before finishing the obvious punchline of his Michael Jackson joke, then let the audience get their laughs out, and then repeated the set-up of the Michael Jackson joke before cutting himself off again.
— And now Update just randomly ends after that awkwardly cut-off Michael Jackson joke, without Norm even saying his usual sign-off.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Little Wonder”
20/20
a Mia Farrow (ANG) interview turns into a Woody Allen (DAS) movie
— A very funny and spot-on Woody Allen impression from David Spade, which comes as no surprise, considering the Woody Allen Fan Club sketch he was in several seasons earlier, where he, a few other cast members, and host Jason Alexander all played very Woody Allen-esque fans of Woody.
— Interesting visual of Ana’s Mia Farrow stepping out of the TV to confront Woody in his living room.
— I like the increasing number of random people appearing in Woody’s living room, including Darrell’s Hugh Downs showing up just to ask for the bathroom.
— Boy, those are some heavy eye prosthetics on Molly as Soon-Yi. I know they’re attempting to make Molly look Asian, but the eye prosthetics instead make her look kinda freaky.
— Overall, I enjoyed how this sketch gradually turned more and more into a typical Woody Allen movie, right down to randomly having ending credits.
STARS: ***½
BASKETBALL COURT
urban teens (CHO) & (host) scope out some guys at the playground
— I like how 90s this sketch feels.
— So far, this sketch isn’t particularly hilarious, but it’s interesting in a realistic way. I’m enjoying the authentic feel of the various conversations between the young urban characters.
— As much as I hate to make this comparison, this sketch kinda feels like a better version of that god-awful Homegirls sketch that Rosie O’Donnell, Melanie Hutsell, and Ellen Cleghorne did in the season 19 episode that Rosie hosted.
— Good sarcastic line from Cheri: “Yeah, right, and I haven’t had chlamydia four times.”
STARS: ***
NAZI GERMANY
during a Hitler speech, Rolf & fellow Gestapo members gossip about Fuhrer
in order to evaluate the sketch, TIM & LOM employ its style
— The return of Colin’s Rolf character from the preceding season’s Christine Baranski episode. I like this black-and-white WWII setting for this character.
— Like the last time this sketch appeared, tonight’s installment has some funny relatable conversations between Colin and the other characters.
— Nice ending with Lorne and Tim in the control room, and I love the little hug Tim gives Lorne at the very end. I recall the latter eventually becoming a bit of a running gag between Tim and Lorne.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Scary Monsters”
ADVENTURES OF THE WHITE TRASH DISASTER TRAILER
incest amid high winds
— Boy, this is one bizarre sketch.
— I did get one laugh just now: Jim’s redneck character saying “Smell like cat food and ass in here!” when he enters the room that Neve and Chris have just had sex in.
— What the hell is this sketch?!?
— And the sketch is now over. Overall, yeah, I have no idea what the hell I just watched. All I know is I barely laughed. I wanted to like this, as I’m usually always down for a sketch with an oddball premise, but this was just dumb and baffling.
STARS: *½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A (mostly) consistently decent episode. Not much to say about it, but it was a satisfying show. Nothing was particularly great aside from TV Funhouse, but almost the entire show ranged from okay to pretty good. Pretty much in the same league as the then-recent Rosie O’Donnell episode.
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 mild step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Chevy Chase