Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
BARBARA WALTERS OSCAR SPECIAL
Barbara Walters (CHO) prefers to interview in-character Oscar nominees
— After playing along with Cheri-as-Barbara-Walters’ constant “Show me the money” references, I like Tim’s Cuba Gooding Jr. suddenly saying a very stern “Seriously, STOP.”
— Feels a bit weird to review Mike Myers again for the first time since I covered season 20, but that’s something that’s always fun about covering episodes hosted by former cast members in this SNL project of mine.
— Mike’s insane, incoherent rambling as Geoffrey Rush is cracking me up.
— Funny Sling Blade impression from Darrell, but the material he’s been given isn’t the greatest.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
cast parades behind MIM as he sings about what it’s like to return to SNL
— According to Mike here, he took a lot of time off after leaving SNL to be with his family. I had always wondered why there was a two-year gap between him leaving SNL and him starring in movies. During that two-year gap, did SNL fans assume he was yet another SNL star who sadly faded into obscurity after leaving the show?
— Among some of the former cast members that Mike mentions have come back to host the show, Mike says “Chevy, Dan, Bill Murray…” Uh, Dan had yet to host by this point of the show’s history.
— I love the cast’s comically-gleeful jumping off the stage in the background when Mike begins traveling around the studio while singing.
— Catchy melody to Mike’s song.
— A very fun monologue, kinda feeling like a throwback to Steve Martin’s classic “Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight”. I’m always a sucker for this type of cold opening/monologue. I believe Nathan Lane does a monologue in the same vein the following season, but I haven’t seen it in ages, so I’m really looking forward to revisiting it.
— Hilarious visual of Norm getting whipped with a ruler for having a bad dress rehearsal.
— A memorable and funny part with Mike thinking Tim has visited the show to support him, only to be told by Tim “Uh, actually, I’m still in the cast.”
— After the aforementioned “I’m still in the cast” line, Mike asks Tim “Didn’t you leave with Farley and Spade?” I wonder if Mike was supposed to say Sandler instead of Spade, as Farley and Spade left an entire year apart.
— A very funny song from Tim bemoaning his hard-to-break 30-year SNL contract.
— I love Mike’s fake tap-dancing onstage.
— Fantastic touch with Mike being lifted in the air. Also a nice touch with the Canadian and American flags being displayed in the background.
— Overall, a phenomenal monologue that pulled out all the stops and has always been one of my personal favorites.
STARS: *****
AUDITION
Mary Katherine Gallagher auditions for a part in musical guest’s video
— Right from the start of this sketch, it’s noticeable that the brick wall in the background is oddly missing most of its bricks (as seen in some of the screencaps above). There’s a story behind this that Molly would later disclose in the “Live From New York” book. During the commercial break preceding this sketch, the crew members didn’t have enough time to finish setting up the fake brick wall for a pratfall Molly is supposed to do during the sketch. Before the show came back from commercial, Molly was so distraught over the unfinished brick wall that Lorne had to come over and console her, which lifted her spirits and gave her the confidence to perform the sketch in spite of the unfinished wall.
— Mike’s wonky-eyed supporting character is perfect for him, as it’s a very Mike Myers-esque character that I can easily imagine him having played when he was a cast member.
— While I’m enjoying this sketch, it’s starting to become a bit of a crutch to have Mary Katherine Gallagher meet celebrities, between her last appearance where she met Tina Turner, and now tonight’s appearance where she meets Aerosmith.
— I like MKG’s wild dancing to “Sweet Emotion”.
— In addition to the aforementioned backstory about this sketch’s unfinished brick wall, I believe there’s another interesting backstory about this sketch: I think I recall reading somewhere (possibly in the same “Live From New York” book mentioned earlier) that the NBC censors didn’t want Molly to lick Steven Tyler up and down during this sketch, but Molly defied the censors and did it anyway in the live show.
— Like a pro, Molly still sells her pratfall through the unfinished brick wall.
STARS: ***½
COFFEE TALK WITH LINDA RICHMAN
Linda & her cousin (ANG) sing their Oscar predictions
— The upbeat nostalgic vibe that Mike Myers’ return has brought tonight has put me in such a pleasant mood that I’m not even upset at seeing the return of Coffee Talk, a recurring sketch that I never cared for when reviewing Mike’s years as a cast member. It probably helps that I haven’t had to review a Coffee Talk sketch in quite a long while.
— Mike shows a bit of rustiness at the top of this sketch by flubbing his own character’s name.
— Ana seems perfectly cast as a Coffee Talk guest.
— The musical Oscar medley at the end, while normally not my type of thing, is harmless enough and actually has somewhat of a charm to it, and Ana in particular is performing it well (which is no surprise, given her musical background).
— Feels weird hearing a Coffee Talk sketch make a reference to the internet, showing how times have evolved since the last time this sketch appeared regularly.
— I’m glad this overall Coffee Talk sketch kept the number of utterances of the “I’m feeling verkelmpt, tawk amongst yuhselves” catchphrase down to only one. Back during Mike’s tenure as a cast member, there were some instances of that catchphrase being used as much as THREE damn times in individual Coffee Talk installments.
STARS: ***
PRIME MINISTER’S QUESTIONS
John Major (MIM) gives insulting responses to British MPs’ questions
— This sketch feels out of the ordinary for this era.
— Some really funny British characterizations from the cast.
— Hilarious visual with Mark’s ghastly British teeth.
— Good running gag with Colin constantly setting Mike up to be blown up by a bomb.
— Will’s out-of-place Oasis obsession is pretty funny.
— I’m enjoying the increasing absurdity of this sketch.
STARS: ***½
WEEKEND UPDATE
maintenance man Dominican Lou (TRM) hasn’t seen Oscar-nominated movies
Bill Clinton (DAH) dislikes Absolute Power’s “dead mistress” plot
— Does Norm have a cab to catch? He’s absolutely speeding through his Update jokes so far.
— Okay, Norm is starting to slow down now.
— We get the debut of Dominican Lou, which would go on to be Tracy’s first big solo recurring character.
— A fairly short commentary from Dominican Lou, but made me laugh enough, even if it was nothing special.
— Oh, no, not another Bill Clinton movie review. (*groan*) These always follow the EXACT SAME PATTERN, and it only worked for me the first time.
— Well, at least this Clinton movie review is going in a bit of a different direction, with Clinton actually hating the movie he’s reviewing and NOT mentioning anything about a dead First Lady.
— Goddammit, I spoke too soon. Now Darrell’s Clinton goes on about how the movie should’ve had the president’s wife get killed. Yawn. Next, please.
— Okay, I did like the Vince Foster suicide cover-up allusion that Darrell’s Clinton made just now.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Falling in Love”
SPROCKETS
Dieter & lover Helmut (WIF) present The Insane Academy Awards
— Unlike Coffee Talk, THIS is a Mike Myers recurring sketch that I genuinely like a lot.
— Interesting seeing Will playing a guest in a Sprockets sketch. That’s always one of the things I find fun about a former cast member coming back to host: seeing people in the current cast appearing in the former cast member’s old recurring sketches.
— Ha, when Will tries to pet Dieter’s monkey, it jumps out of the shot, which clearly isn’t part of the script.
— During Dieter’s interviewing of Will’s character, why do Mike and Will keep distractedly looking at the off-camera monkey? The audience is laughing hysterically too. We unfortunately can’t see whatever funny thing the monkey is doing. Mike is mugging up a storm in response to the monkey’s antics. Is Mike imitating a facial expression that the off-camera monkey is making?
— I love the bizarre Oscar nominees.
— Overall, this sketch was okay, but I wanted it to be longer and more fleshed-out. It felt a little too forgettable and truncated compared to the Sprockets sketches from Mike’s tenure as a cast member.
STARS: ***
SCOTTISH SOCCER HOOLIGAN WEEKLY
Andy & Ian recall regurgitation episodes
— Interesting to see this sketch back. It debuted in what was both Mike’s final episode as a cast member and Mark’s second episode as a cast member, and seemed to be intended as a passing-of-the-torch, as if SNL thought Mark would pick up the mantle that Mike would leave as a cast member. As we know now, Mark’s SNL tenure ended up going in a VERY different direction.
— Boy, that is one fake-looking headbutt.
— I can appreciate the blood, gore, and vomit of this sketch a little more tonight than I did in the previous installment of this sketch in season 20, considering that by this point in 1997, SNL has long moved away from the blood-gore-and-vomit shock humor that unfortunately dominated season 20.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Nine Lives”
PREMATURELY GRAY
young silverhairs discuss impact of colorless locks
— Some funny lines from Tim during his interview.
— I like the comically dour turn this sketch takes with Mike and Ana’s tragic plane story, and Molly attempting to keep the interview lighthearted.
— Another funny line from Tim, saying with a smirk, “I’m a dirty little dog.”
— A good laugh from Mark’s unintentionally tasteless joke towards Mike and Ana.
— Overall, this sketch ended up being better than I initially thought it would. I also like how it felt like the type of talk show panel sketch that would’ve appeared on SNL in the late 80s/early 90s years (which I guess is fitting, considering who’s hosting tonight).
STARS: ***½
I GOTTA EAT, TOO
Tito Jackson’s (TRM) album & video are meant to put food on his table
— I love Tracy-as-Tito-Jackson’s sudden stern delivery of “You damn right!” after he lightheartedly says we probably think he’s desperate to achieve the money that his younger brother gets.
— A pretty good solo sketch for the underused Tracy Morgan, which makes this his second big showcase of the night.
— A good laugh from Tito only playing the bassline of a certain song before ending the scene by suddenly singing the words “I Want You Back”.
— I like Tito’s bad imitation of Michael Jackson’s trademark dance moves.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Another good season 22 episode. As has been common lately, barely anything stood out as particularly great in this episode (the monologue was the only thing all night that I gave a rating over three-and-a-half stars to), but I felt that every single sketch worked, and the monologue is an all-timer for me. It was also fun seeing the return of old Mike Myers sketches; even Coffee Talk came off a little more tolerable after a fairly long hiatus. Mike also did a solid job in the original sketches he appeared in tonight, coming off just like he was a cast member again.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Sting)
about the same
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Rob Lowe
Tomorrow’s episode is somewhat stand-out among others from this season- not only because of the musical guest (long story short, not stand-out in a GOOD way), but because of what Norm does during Update.
Ah, the days when a cast member sticking around for 30 seasons seemed like a ridiculous thought! *cough* Kenan
(I honestly wouldn’t have minded 30 years of Tim Meadows on SNL)
“Who am I, anyway?” Were they trying to ape A Chorus Line?
Mike got a lot of mileage out of that wonky-eye character who always used the “on account of the eye” line. Remember him doing it in an MTV Awards skit a year or so later. And then he played him again in that View From The Top movie in 2003.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wACoO5rCn_I
Plus there was Kevin Pollak’s character in Wayne’s World 2 that had the eye without any pigment, at which Wayne and Garth could not stop staring. At the time, I wondered if it was some sort of callback since Aerosmith also appeared in the movie.
Given their history, Myers and Aerosmith was a very natural host/musical guest pairing.
The weird thing about Mike Myers seemingly passing the torch to McKinney is that McKinney’s SNL involvement PREDATES Myers’. Granted, McKinney was a writer for the 1985-86 season and occasional voice-over, and McKinney’s almost four years older than Myers. McKinney didn’t fit in the 1980s, while he fit in the 1990s on a cast that tried desperately to replicate past glories, then a cast that better suited his talents whenever SNL actually used the guy. I wish SNL had passed the “comedic talent vital to show” end of Myers’ torch, rather than the “have him largely do bit roles while we focus on other talents” end.
This was one of those oddly edited Comedy Central reruns that moved the cold open to another part of the show. I remembered it cut off after Darrell says “show me the money” or something like that.
Does anybody know why those reruns were so poorly edited compared to the pre-94 shows?
Someone with a better memory can probably set these dates correctly, but I seem to recall CC only played shows from season 6 through 16 or so for a long time… then all of a sudden added 17-23 or so around 1999? So it would just be a case of the edits being done in two batches, many years apart
Re: weird edits in post-1995 episodes – The advent of the Internet/streaming/DVDs and consolidation of recording/publishing ownership in the music industry in the mid-to-late 1990s may have made the copyright owners more aggressive in policing music rights issues
@Kubelsky Looking at old schedules on alt.tv.snl…
CC had the rights to Seasons 17-18 as early as 1994, while Season 19 episodes were gradually being added to the lineup between Fall 1995 and Summer 1996.
Shows from Seasons 21-23 began airing in early 1999, being marketed as “Saturday Night Live: The Next Generation”. Season 20 also began airing around that same time, which is probably why they suffer from the same questionable editing choices as the Next Gen episodes despite being from a different era.
….I need to go outside more often.
Thanks for clearing up some confusion I had about the dates of the reruns getting to Comedy Central. I started watching SNL in Season 22, while catching a lot of the reruns from Season 21 on NBC.
I was confused, because Season 20 was nowhere to be found on Comedy Central. It was the missing link. Until more recently, I never knew that there was a season bridging the Farley/Sandler/Nealon/Myers era and the Hammond/Oteri/Ferrell era. I would see the Chanukah song on clip shows, and I wondered “when the hell was Adam Sandler on a Norm Macdonald Weekend Update?” I was always used to seeing Sandler at the news desk with Kevin Nealon. I guess I tuned in just before CC caught up with Season 20.
Man, that Tito plays a mean theme from Barney Miller!
And bass player, I can tell you that the Barney Miller theme is incredibly fun to play… most people today don’t know it, sadly.
If you’ve ever seen British Parliament on C-SPAN, that is a totally accurate level of insanity in this sketch. Probably my favorite from this episode next to the monologue and Tito Jackson.
Funny to think that Tim’s “30-year contract” will finally end about the time Stooge catches up to the present day on these reviews. (Although if it’s 30 seasons, he’d actually have been done THIS season). Aside from Jim Downey, Kenyan, Al Franken, and Darrell Hammond, has anyone else come close to even 20 years of involvement (I’m including people who were castmembers or featured players, but may also have logged a lot of time in other roles)?
*As a
*Kenan
Stupid phone
Not a cast member, but Akira Yoshimura (production designer since Season 1!) has been an extra/had occasional speaking roles in sketches since the beginning (he played Sulu in seasons 1 and 44!)
Joe Dicso was there forever, too, and appeared once or twice on camera. Not the stretch that Yoshimura has, but he’s up there.
Herb Sargent (the script consultant/Update producer for the first 20 years of the show; I think he only missed the Doumanian year, and continued to submit Update jokes until he passed away during the Fey/Poehler Update era)
Who was Norm mentioning at the end of Update? Was somebody in the hospital?
I’ve noticed for a while now that in the goodnights Molly always stands in one spot and does a little dance. I wonder how long that continues…
I was so fatigued with Mike Myers by his last few seasons that I wasn’t looking forward to watching this, but he did a good job as host – much less showboating and some very solid performances throughout the night. And his going into Wayne mode while introducing the first Aerosmith song put a smile on my face.
That monologue song makes me appreciate just how good Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight was. “It’s hosting it’s hosting” doesn’t exactly have the same ring. I do love Tim’s part – his vocal was also one of the highlights of NGPiiT so it’s a good throwback.
It’s interesting to see this episode a few days after Will Ferrell’s most recent episode, where he pointedly did not bring back any old characters. I think Myers mostly gets the balance right – the football hooligan barely even counts as recurring considering he only appeared once before this. And Coffee Tawk is a real blast – much better than most of the previous editions (I also loved that they included the Bill Macy Maude joke even though they must have known the audience wouldn’t get it). The only mistake was Sprockets – this reminded me very little of the old sketches, as somehow they stumbled into a funny accent version of a Brian Doyle Murray photo joke. And whereas past versions of the sketch managed to generally carry on the pretense of Sprocket’s demisexuality, the awkward way he and Ferrell behaved as “lovers” just gave away that these were two straight actors fumbling their way through a joke – something that might get some laughs in the many “ew lol they’re kissing!” sketches we have to come, but had no particular place here.
The original sketches had a stronger success rate. The grey hair talk show (Mark lamenting that his wife doesn’t have grey hair too and joking that he will book a flight for them was hilariously dark), Tracy Morgan as Tito, and most of all the Parliament sketch, which was crazy and entertaining throughout. It’s interesting to contrast Myers’ John Major (then in his last few months as PM) to the perpetually grey (literally grey) version made famous on Spitting Image.
Betty Boothroyd is still going strong, and making headlines.
Yeah Ferrell as Deiter’s lover was pretty lousy and I don’t think the future Sprockets were much better. Somehow prior casts and writers were able to develop the faux German pop culture in a really funny way which they were unable to duplicate. Still too bad the Sprockets movie didn’t work out because Myers didn’t like the script, though perhaps he was right to pull out.
I just rewatched the monologue; it’s kind of interesting that Molly is used as an example of sketches being cut and barely appearing considering a) there’s a MKG sketch in this episode and b) this actually ends up being Cheri and Chris’s final appearance of the night (only appearance for the latter)
I remember watching the Sprockets sketch from this episode recently on NBC.com (complete with generic music replacing the Kraftwerk theme!) and noticed how much Myers had visibly aged from the last time they did Sprockets a few years earlier (“Das ist Jeopardy.”)
BTW, Ferrell was actually on tap to play “Dieter’s lover” in the Sprockets film before it was cancelled by Myers
At the end of the musical monologue, look below: Norm waves his small Canadian flag and Tim waves his small American flag (from opposite corners of the stage).
This will be the Vintage on April 23.
Bumping as it’s tonight’s Vintage.