Month: December 2019

Posted on

October 24, 1998 – Ben Stiller / Alanis Morissette (S24 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

ROOFTOP BATTLE
stunt doubles of BES & his old boss LOM fight kung fu battle atop 30 Rock

 

— A nice change of pace for a cold opening in this era, and a unique setting, taking place on the roof of 30 Rock.
— I like Ben Stiller mentioning to Lorne his very short-lived featured player stint from 10 seasons ago and how Lorne used to cut all his sketches. It feels like just yesterday, I was reviewing those episodes that Ben was a featured player in.
— The physical fight between Ben and Lorne is pretty funny, with the blatant use of Asian stunt doubles.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— This season’s ever-changing theme music has been changed back to the one used in the Cameron Diaz-hosted season premiere. I guess SNL only uses this particular theme music when one of the stars of There’s Something About Mary is hosting.


MONOLOGUE
BES relishes applause intended for David Cone & other Yankees [real]

— I love that this is a continuation of the cold opening, with the camera cutting away from the home base stage after Don Pardo announces Ben to Ben landing on a car outside of 30 Rock, after having been thrown off the roof at the end of the cold opening.
— Speaking of which, Comedy Central’s old 60-minute version of this episode cut the cold opening (presumably because they couldn’t clear the rights to the music used during the Ben/Lorne fight; however, I think the online version of this cold opening on NBC.com simply removes the music), causing the first half of this monologue to make absolutely no sense, especially Ben saying “I think Lorne’s a little pissed at me.” The edited version tried to makes things slightly less confusing by removing the shot of Ben landing on a car outside of 30 Rock.
— Tim: “You think Stiller’s smoking crack again?” Will: “No, Stiller doesn’t smoke crack; that’s me.”
— Before Ben shows up backstage and runs like hell towards the home base stage, there’s a miscue where the SNL Band can be heard off-camera briefly starting to play the theme music again, before abruptly stopping when realizing they’re too early. I believe this gaffe would later be muted out in some reruns.
— Ben mistaking the audience’s wild applause for the Yankee players behind him as applause for himself is an okay gag, though I feel like SNL (or probably other TV shows) did this same gag some other time.
STARS: ***½


CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Sean Connery (DAH), Adam Sandler (JIF), Tom Cruise (BES)

   

— Yes!
— Jimmy has his breakout SNL moment, debuting an absolutely killer Adam Sandler impression. The voice and mannerisms are uncanny, in a way that you can tell Jimmy idolized Adam during SNL’s early 90s era (which Jimmy has later gone on to say is the first SNL era that spoke to his generation).
— Celebrity Jeopardy delivers yet another classic category mix-up, this time with Darrell’s Sean Connery misreading “Famous Titles” as “Famous Titties”. I also like how after Will-as-Alex-Trebek’s clarification on what the category really says, Darrell’s Connery can be heard off-camera exclaiming a disappointed “DAMN!”
— Good to see Ben’s always-funny Tom Cruise impression.
— Connery, during the “This is how many fingers you have” question: “I’ll show you a finger, Trebek!”
— I love how Jimmy’s Sandler is now breaking out into the Hannukah Song, complete with a guitar from out of nowhere.
— Much like the obligatory classic category mix-up, we get a classic Final Jeopardy answer reveal, with Connery’s initial answer, “Indoors”, turning into “I (*heart symbol*) Boobs.”
— Alex Trebek, during his sign-off: “That’s it for Celebrity Jeopardy. I’m going home and putting a gun in my mouth. Good day.”
STARS: *****


PRETTY LIVING
joyologist Helen expresses love for her yogi (BES)

— Jesus Christ, SNL. How do you follow up an installment of my absolute favorite recurring sketch from this era (Celebrity Jeopardy) with an installment of my absolute least favorite recurring sketch from this era (Pretty Living)?
— After sitting stone-faced through the first two-and-a-half minutes of this sketch, I finally got a chuckle, from Ben entering with a fake lazy eye.
— Some okay lines from Ana occasionally disclosing unhappy things about her personal life while keeping a smiling facade, but I feel like this SNL era is starting to overuse that type of humor, especially with Ana (e.g. the Hello Dolly sketch from the Kelsey Grammer episode).
— Just now, Molly doing one of her many leg-stretch moves caused her chair to almost tip over backwards, though she didn’t seem too phased by it, despite both Ana and Ben briefly dropping character to concernedly keep Molly’s chair from falling backwards.
STARS: *½


TV FUNHOUSE
“Heteroy” by RBS- Roy Fletcher’s superpowers can cure homosexuality

— Yet another daring concept from Robert Smigel.
— A hilarious opening theme song.
— One of the Coalition Crusaders, when seeing a gay biker: “Where there’s spokes, there’s sodomy!”
— A big laugh from one of the Coalition Crusaders trying to give the gay biker an interest in heterosexual sports by showing him pictures of clothed football players with their butt and crotch areas covered by censor bars.
— The “Thank you, thank you, Lord, for keeping my anus clean” song that the Coalition Crusaders are singing is priceless.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Thank U”


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ likens Israeli-Palestinian relations to meeting with an ex-girlfriend
JIF plays guitar & sings Halloween carols inspired by current pop songs
roommates Yasser Arafat (CHK) & Benjamin Netanyahu (WIF) share Gaza Strip

— I like Colin randomly saying “I’m Fred Savage” during his sign-on after the Update opening title sequence.
— Jimmy’s big breakout night continues, as he now gets to do an Update commentary as himself. I recall some SNL fans who saw this episode live later saying that they knew Jimmy would go on to be SNL’s next big star as they watched this episode.
— Odd how, after playing Adam Sandler earlier tonight, Jimmy’s now doing guitar songs on Update, which is something closely associated with Adam from his time as a cast member. (I recall an old SNL review from 1998 saying in regards to this Update commentary, “Apparently, Jimmy Fallon still thinks he’s Adam Sandler.”) At least the comedic concept of Jimmy’s songs tonight is different from Adam’s, as Jimmy’s songs involve him doing parodies of current hit songs while imitating the singers’ voices. This is a good use of Jimmy’s knack for doing celebrity impressions.
— I love how 1998 Jimmy’s shirt is.
— Jimmy’s coming off charming here, especially whenever the audience is applauding him after each song.
— I like how Jimmy is now doing a parody of Alanis Morisette’s “Thank U” song just minutes after Alanis performed that very song on the SNL stage. I wonder if this is the only reason why SNL placed that Alanis musical performance before Update, considering the fact that musical guests’ first performance in this era is usually always placed after Update.
— Man, listen to that big audience applause when Jimmy’s commentary is over. Yep, a star is indeed born tonight.
— After the tepid audience reaction to Colin’s first news joke that followed Jimmy’s commentary, I love Colin saying “Jimmy Fallon” in a soft-spoken voice while gesturing towards where Jimmy had been sitting earlier. Reminds me of similar ad-libs (e.g. “Prince, ladies and gentlemen”) that Michael Che would later make in his early Update days whenever a joke of his would bomb.
— I often complain about the awkward ad-libs that Colin has a bad habit of muttering towards the audience after certain jokes, but quite a number of his ad-libs tonight have actually been amusing me.
— Colin is throwing around his favorite word, “folks”, more than ever tonight, even during the set-ups to jokes.
— Some fun from how Will and Kattan are playing off of each other in this Arafat/Netanyahu commentary, though the material itself isn’t doing all that much for me.
STARS: ***


SPARKS
at a Halloween party, Zimmermans’ sex play makes (BES) & (ANG) nervous

— I like Ana quickly saying a passive-aggressive “He really does fall asleep, though” after Ben jokingly makes a comparison to himself falling asleep after sex. However, this is yet another example of Ana playing a character who discloses something bitter about her personal life while keeping a smiling facade.
— A particularly raunchy and funny part with Kattan trying to open a champagne bottle in a suggestive manner near his crotch while Cheri dirty-talks him for encouragement, followed by Cheri eagerly drenching herself in the champagne when it finally spurts out of the bottle.
— A fairly funny gag with trick-or-treating kids walking in while Ben shouts a very risque sexual comment, though the timing of that seemed a little off.
STARS: ***


REAL STORIES OF THE HIGHWAY PATROL
(WIF) & (BES) harass motorists

— Will, when finding out Horatio’s name is Jesus: “Am I supposed to believe the Son of Man drives a ’93 Mazda with a broken taillight?”
— Will and Ben are cracking me up with their motor-mouthed grilling of Horatio and Tim, especially the racist statements they keep throwing in.
— Feels a little weird hearing SNL make a mention of Steve Jobs as early as 1998, when Will and Ben are telling Tim the name of the man who founded Apple Computers. His last name is mispronounced in this sketch as “Jobes”, oddly enough, which I guess shows how little people knew about him back in ’98.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Baba”


LIVING WITH HIS PARENTS
30 year-old (BES) living with parents is hypersensitive to their remarks

— Ben is adding good realism to his performance. However, he’s bordering awfully close on annoying me, but that’s probably the point.
— I love Parnell’s mundane little asides to Ana throughout this sketch.
— Hilarious ending where, after Ben exits the house after freaking out at his parents all throughout the sketch, Parnell casually says in a frank-but-affable manner “I can’t wait for my own death.” Perfect delivery from Parnell on that line.
STARS: ***


STEVE WYNN’S BELLAGIO HOTEL AND CASINO
art lends Steve Wynn’s (BES) Bellagio Hotel & Casino buttloads of class

— It’s certainly fitting having impressionist Darrell Hammond playing classic impressionist Rich Little.
— I love the bizarre visual of Kattan’s Howard Hughes.
— Ben’s performance is nice, but his portions of this sketch aren’t doing anything for me. Maybe if I were familiar with Steve Wynn, I’d appreciate this sketch more. This feels like something that Ben lobbied hard to get on the show.
STARS: **


COINTREAU FOR CONGRESS / MASON IN ’98
solutions to bat problem dominate campaign ads of (BES) & incumbent (TIM)

 

— A hilarious random premise of two political opponents using their respective campaign ads to address a bat infestation in their town.
— I love the even-more-random detail of Tim’s politician being named Boo Mason.
— Kinda odd how all of these campaign ads are airing back-to-back instead of being spread throughout the episode like SNL usually does with a series of mock campaign ads. However, it strangely works in this specific case.
— I’m loving all of the absurdist humor in this sketch.
— A lot of laughs from Tim’s outlandish solutions to the bat problem (e.g. erupting a volcano to burn the bats, using larger and more aggressive bats to kill the bats).
— Tim suddenly getting attacked by bats right in the middle of his calm speech to the camera absolutely SLAYED me, especially his yell of “Son of a bitch!” right before the camera cut away from him. I cannot stop laughing right now.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode. Aside from the Steve Wynn sketch and the insufferable Pretty Living, everything in this episode worked for me, plus I found one classic in the always-reliable Celebrity Jeopardy, a near-classic in the TV Funhouse cartoon Heteroy, and an underrated gem in the series of absurd campaign ads at the end of the show. After having such a brief and unsuccessful stint as a featured player, it was good to see Ben Stiller being given lots of chances to shine in this episode, and he did well with those opportunities, which is also likely helped by his experience from his own sketch comedy show.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Lucy Lawless)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Another former cast member as host: David Spade

Posted on

October 17, 1998 – Lucy Lawless / Elliott Smith (S24 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NBC SPECIAL REPORT
GOP leadership is upfront about coup d’etat plans & disdain for citizenry

— The debut of Parnell’s Tom Brokaw impression.
— Right from this first appearance, Parnell’s Brokaw voice is spot-on and very funny.
— I like the voice Will’s using for Henry Hyde.
— Darrell’s Jesse Helms impression is always good for laughs.
— I like the random running bit with the republicans holding in a still, smiling pose towards the camera whenever they shake hands with each other (the fifth above screencap for this cold opening), which is a type of funny, silly gag that I find very representative and typical of this SNL era.
— The obnoxiously arrogant, gloating attitudes of the republicans is providing some good laughs here.
— Henry Hyde, on the possibility of America ever making a President Bruce Willis possible: “You’re all probably dumb enough to do it!”
— Creative use of “Live from New York…”, with the republicans hypnotizing the SNL audience and various others in the studio into saying it.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— The new theme music has been changed ONCE AGAIN. I don’t think there’s any other SNL season that’s experimented with the theme music as often as this season has been doing so far. The theme music being used tonight is the one that would soon go on to be regularly used for this opening montage, but until then, we still have a few more episodes where SNL will continue to experiment with different theme music.


MONOLOGUE
audience members’ questions of host assume that Xena is a lesbian

— Even as a newbie, Horatio is already able to get laughs from the audience without even saying a word as soon as he stands up.
— I love Horatio and his buddy (played by SNL writer Matt Piedmont) cheering and dancing like idiots after Horatio’s “We’re both into chicks!” slam at Lucy Lawless.
— I believe this is the first comedic role that Tina Fey has ever appeared in on SNL. Hard to believe this is only two years before she would start doing Weekend Update, as her voice sounds so different in the pre-cast member appearances she makes.
— Paula Pell’s whole bit is hilarious, especially her asking Lucy “Are ya feelin’ it?”
STARS: ***½


SHIRT IN A CAN
(TIM)’s emergency garment is little more than spray paint

 

— Tim’s mysterious absence in the last episode (was he out sick?) made me realize just how much I value him in this cast, as it feels exhilarating to see him return tonight.
— Tim’s eagerness throughout this commercial is really funny.
— This commercial has such a wonderfully silly concept that Tim is absolutely perfect for. I’m not sure there’s anyone else in this cast who could sell this commercial as well as Tim.
— Some funny warning disclaimers thrown in throughout this (e.g. “Not for use on genital areas”).
— I love Tim’s panicked exclamation of certain lines, such as “It’s burning my skin!” and “DAMMIT!”, the latter of which seems to be the most well-remembered part of this commercial.
STARS: ****½


JUDGE JUDY
Judith Sheindlin [real] finds for slutty clown (host)

— Ana continues to play the defendant in every single Judge Judy sketch. I can’t understand why, other than the fact that Ana is always good at playing indignant roles like this.
— Lots of rooting for the Yankees throughout tonight’s episode. (The Yankees were in a World Series game that aired during this episode.)
— I love Tracy’s reaction to Lucy doing her whore clown dance on him.
— Just now, the real Judge Judy memorably walks on and replaces Cheri’s impression.
— I like the real Judge Judy’s comments about Cheri’s “bony ass”.
— [sarcasm]Oh, what a surprise. Another Judge Judy sketch with the plaintiff “surprisingly” winning once again.[/end sarcasm]
— You’d figure that, after the real Judge Judy took over tonight’s installment, that SNL would officially retire these Judge Judy sketches. But nope. Much like how SNL foolishly kept The Joe Pesci Show sketches going for one more installment after the real Pesci and DeNiro famously appeared, SNL still does one more Judge Judy sketch, proving once again that this era doesn’t know the proper time to quit with certain recurring sketches.
STARS: ***


THE HISTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL SCANDAL
Andrew Johnson had sex with a bird

— Fairly funny. Nothing else to say about this brief piece, other than it kinda reminded me of that short-lived recurring “Brief Histories” segment from the first two episodes of season 22.
STARS: ***


THE CLINTON MARRIAGE: WHITE HOUSE IN CRISIS
Clinton scandal discussion becomes a slumber party

 

— I’m liking the increasing shallowness of the female anchors’ conversation about the Clinton scandal.
— Now this is getting funnier and funnier as this gradually is literally transforming into a girls’ slumber party, right down to the female anchors suddenly wearing pajamas, eating popcorn, and giggling like schoolgirls. A very cute, charming, and fun sketch.
— This is a quintessential example of how strong this era’s female cast is when working together. Whenever I think of the fun chemistry the Gasteyer/Shannon/Oteri female group had, this is always one of the first sketches that comes to mind.
STARS: ****½


TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- LOM & Howard Stern pair up for big ratings

— Why does the animated version of Will Ferrell have gray hair?
— I love the comical exaggeration of how wild the audience is going during the Cheerleaders sketch (which isn’t too far removed from the real audience’s reactions back when the Cheerleaders were at their peak of popularity), especially one pregnant female audience member being so excited that she gives birth on the spot.
— This is a very clever spoof of Howard Stern’s criticisms of SNL, and the fact that his show was competing against SNL at this time.
— The “Lorne and Howard Stern falling in love with each other” turn isn’t working for me.
STARS: ****


STEVIE NICKS’ FAJITA ROUNDUP
Stevie Nicks’ (host) Fajita Roundup offers music & Tex-Mex cuisine

— Here comes a well-remembered sketch among SNL fans.
— Very funny random concept of Stevie Nicks promoting a fajita restaurant of hers.
— Lucy is doing a fantastic Stevie Nicks impression.
— A lot of laughs from the fajita-themed versions that Lucy’s Nicks is singing of her hit songs.
STARS: ****½


THE HOW DO YOU SAY? AH YES, SHOW
Antonio Banderas (CHK) is too sexy

— The debut of this soon-to-be-recurring sketch.
— While I often complain about SNL’s tired trope of giving a celebrity impression their own talk show sketch, this particular sketch has an amusing-enough atmosphere that makes me a little more forgiving.
— Though he’s playing a broad Mexican stereotype, Horatio’s goofy one-liners are cracking me up.
— Overall, this sketch was merely okay and I liked Kattan’s performance, but I can tell I’m going to get sick of this sketch fast when they make it recurring later this season.
STARS: ***


THE HISTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL SCANDAL
Mexican whores knew LBJ as “el BJ”

— Quick, simple, and hilarious.
— Considering the Mexican theme of this, it’s funny how this immediately followed the Antonio Banderas talk show sketch.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ talks about atmosphere surrounding the denunciation of Bill Clinton
murderous doll Chucky gives a reasoned commentary about Clinton scandal
in an attempt to kill COQ, Chucky returns disguised as Dominican Lou

 

— For the third consecutive episode, Colin precedes the Weekend Update opening title sequence by doing a straight-to-camera stand-up-style rant, though this time, they’ve done away with the green-screen behind Colin and now have him standing in front of a darkened Weekend Update set. Probably more fitting, as the use of a green-screen for Colin’s rants was a bit much.
— Colin’s opening rant ended abruptly, though they often seem to. He needs to come up with actual segues.
— Very unusual and interesting seeing Chucky from the Child’s Play movies making a live SNL appearance (promoting the release of Bride Of Chucky). When it comes to the most unconventional cameo guests in SNL history, Chucky is probably only second to Mike The Dog (from season 11’s Jay Leno-hosted episode).
— What was up with Colin abruptly saying “I don’t think so, Chucky” and Chucky responding (ala Joe Blow) “I’m serious, Colin, I wanna have this beer”? Chucky never asked Colin for a beer in the first place, so why did Colin respond like he did get asked? They completely skipped a line for some odd reason. Some kind of glitch with the Chucky doll?
— The Chucky commentary had a very weak ending that came off lame.
— I like seeing Colin using the punchline of a joke to go off on a mini-tangent about the whitewashing of terrorists in movies and TV shows. As I always say, Colin is much better and more comfortable at doing this stand-up type of material than he is delivering straightforward news jokes that require him to use a straitlaced delivery.
— And here’s something else I always say: Colin needs to ditch his habit of muttering awkward ad-libs towards the audience after certain jokes. They never work for me.
— Ha, Chucky coming back out, disguised as Dominican Lou. Pretty funny twist.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Waltz #2”


BIOGRAPHY
Jack Perkins (DAH) boozes during profile of Puff Daddy (TIM)

— Pretty funny seeing Darrell’s Jack Perkins doing a biography on Puff Daddy. I also love Darrell-as-Perkins’ way of pronouncing “Puffy” as “Poofy”.
— A funny visual of Tracy’s Suge Knight being interviewed from jail.
— The portions of this sketch with Darrell’s Perkins seems to be focusing a lot less on his drunkneness than usual, which is probably good, as that gag seemed like it would’ve gotten kinda old after a while.
— Hilarious how Tim-as-Puff-Daddy’s “Come With Me, Part 2” song is literally just him repeatedly saying “Come with me” over an old Aerosmith track.
— A very funny visual gag with Lucy’s Jennifer Lopez placing her oversized butt in front of the camera while making out with Tim’s Puff Daddy.
— Pretty funny Steven Tyler impression from Jimmy.
— Tracy’s comments as Suge Knight are hilarious.
— A big laugh from Darrell’s Perkins randomly speak-singing lyrics to “Rhinestone Cowboy”, then going off on a tangent where he questions what the hell ever happened to Glen Campbell.
STARS: ****


ART CLASS
Terence Maddox disgusts (host) & her class of sculpture students

— The copy I’m reviewing of this episode is unfortunately missing the entire first half of this sketch.
— When Terrence Maddox displays his pose “The Stinker”, both Tim and Ana can be seen breaking character and cracking up. Will Ferrell is so damn funny that he can even get the unbreakable Ana Gasteyer to lose it during a sketch.
— A hilarious part with Maddox misguidedly bragging about the A’s and B’s he got on a test he recently took for hepatitis.
— I love Maddox’s line about “grading on a curve”, referring to the shape of the erection he’s currently sporting.
— Will’s over-the-top crying as Terrence Maddox always kills me.
— Even though a lot of this sketch just feels like a rewrite of the first Terrence Maddox sketch, Will is still making this work for me.
STARS (for the half that I saw of this sketch): ****


GOTH TALK
Circe & Azrael report on grand opening of The Emporium of Evil

— This is the first Goth Talk installment without Jim Breuer, who’s character in these sketches will be missed.
— It took Lucy a pretty long time to realize she was mistakenly holding the newspaper upside-down when showing it to the camera.
— Jimmy and Horatio seem to be basically playing surrogates for Jim Breuer’s character.
— Ha, Will is playing his backstage alter-ego, Ron! For a description of who “Ron” is, read this explanation I gave in the comments section of a recent episode review.
— Overall, not one of the better Goth Talk sketches, though it had its moments.
STARS: **½


NATIONAL ANTHEM
at the World Series, Marty & Bobbi marry a medley to the National Anthem

— Feels very weird seeing a Culps sketch airing in the 10-to-1 timeslot.
— A good change of setting for the Culps, having them perform at the World Series.
— Pretty funny when a hot dog is thrown at Bobbi from off-camera when she and Marty try to kiss each other.
— During the song medley, I love the transition to “The Roof is On Fire”, especially hearing Bobbi Culp say “mother-trucker” as a way of censoring herself.
— The show must be running long, as the sketch-ending audience applause and the crossfade to an SNL bumper picture of Lucy Lawless is cued up a few seconds too early, before Will and Ana have even finished singing their final note.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

— Yep, the show was indeed running long. These goodnights got cut off very early.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very solid and fun episode. This episode had the type of fun-loving vibe that I typically associate with this late 90s SNL era (specifically this season and the following season 25). There was a good number of strong, memorable sketches tonight, and none of the sketches were particularly terrible for me.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Kelsey Grammer)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Four-episode season 14 featured player Ben Stiller makes his SNL return as a movie star

Posted on

October 3, 1998 – Kelsey Grammer / Sheryl Crow (S24 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BEDTIME AT THE WHITE HOUSE
in bed, Bill (DAH) gets icy reception from bitter Hillary (ANG) Clinton

— I like how cold and tense the mood suddenly gets when Ana’s Hillary Clinton enters the bedroom.
— Some good silent acting from Ana and Darrell.
— A great part with Darrell’s Bill Clinton flipping through channels and finding talk about the Lewinsky scandal on EVERY channel, eventually getting to the point where even the weather channel has the meteorologist comparing blowing winds to “Monica blowing the pres–” before Darrell’s Clinton quickly shuts off the TV in a panic.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— The new theme music from the preceding week’s season premiere has already been replaced with different theme music. The theme music tonight is actually the same one that was used in the first two episodes of the preceding season.
— After inexplicably not being credited in the opening montage in their first episode the preceding week, the three new featured players Jimmy Fallon, Chris Parnell, and Horatio Sanz are credited tonight.

— Shaquille O’Neal is credited as a special guest, which is noteworthy because, if I’m not mistaken, this is the last time SNL would ever credit a special guest in the opening montage. I believe that to this day in 2019, SNL has yet to credit any special guests in the opening montage since this episode from 1998.


MONOLOGUE
host sings rejected alternative Frasier theme songs

— The rejected Frasier theme songs that Kelsey Grammer is singing are fairly funny, though nothing special. Kelsey’s adding some charm to this.
STARS: ***


KCF SHREDDERS
(JIF) pitches bagged lettuce & mayonnaise to Generation X

— A random but very funny concept of presenting a mundane lettuce & mayo meal in the style of late 90s “x-treme” ads marketed towards Gen-Xers. This is a spot-on parody of those types of ads.
— A fun use of newbie Jimmy Fallon and his youthfulness. I also like the occasional bits with fellow newbie Horatio Sanz popping in.
— I love Tracy’s delivery of “I’m a BIG MAN, and I need a BIG SHREDDUH!”
— Hilarious how the kids meal comes with How Stella Got Her Groove Back action figures.
STARS: ****


THE DELICIOUS DISH
Margaret Jo & Terry talk wilderness food with naturalist-cannibal (host)

— Like the last installment of this sketch (from the preceding season’s Julianne Moore episode), this one takes place in a rare outdoors setting.
— I love that we immediately start off with some dark humor, where, after Ana says that autumn can only mean one thing, Molly says “Thoughts of a Christmas suicide” when she and Ana are simply supposed to say “leaves” in unison.
— Funny bit with Ana randomly complimenting Kelsey on a beard that he doesn’t have, just to fool listeners who can’t view the show.
— Hilarious dark turn with Kelsey getting increasingly worked up when disclosing a disturbing story about the desperate measures he once had to resort to when having nothing to eat but his friend Carl. This is the type of humor that I find Kelsey great at delivering.
STARS: ****


TERRY FERGUSON FOR SENATE
avoid sex scandals by electing eunuch Terry Ferguson (WIF) to the Senate

— Funny little detail with Will’s lack of eyebrows.
— Very funny premise with Will’s politician using his political ad to disclose the fact that he lost his genitals in a fire, and why that’s a good reason for you to vote for him. Will is always perfect for material like this.
STARS: ****


BIG BERNARD
(TRM) treats grown-up son (Shaquille O’Neal) as if he were still little

— Funny opening bit with Tracy questioning Shaq on how late he is.
— A priceless visual of Tracy struggling to get the oversized Shaq into a spanking position.
— Some good laughs from Shaq’s hamminess when smiling and laughing carelessly while getting spanked.
— A solid turn with Tracy following the spanking by having a heart-to-heart talk with Shaq.
— More great visuals, this time with Shaq laying on the side of the couch to place his head on Tracy’s lap, and then sitting in Tracy’s lap when being sung a lullaby.
— Tracy’s performance in this sketch is fantastic. Definitely one of his all-time best. I hope this made viewers at the time go “Why doesn’t SNL use this guy more often?”
— A great sentimental ending.
STARS: *****


TERRY FERGUSON FOR SENATE
Terry Ferguson has neither Washington-insider status nor genitals

— Hilarious how Will’s politician is using his opponent having genitals as a reason for you to not vote for him.
— Great line from Will about how the thought of sex gives him phantom pains where his genitals used to be.
STARS: ****


THINKING ABOUT BURRITOS
a dame (MOS) turns film noir private eye’s (host) thoughts to burritos

— Kelsey’s a natural fit for a film noir parody.
— I’m getting some good laughs from the increasing absurdity of how Kelsey keeps equating everything with his hunger for burritos. The silliness of this sketch, which I used to dismiss as just dumb and unfunny, is actually working well.
— Kelsey’s voice-overs throughout this sketch have a lot of funny lines.
STARS: ***½


WET ‘EM DOWN!
(host) wets Baywatch, Hal Linden, Christine Baranksi, Patti LuPone [real]

— I’m not caring for where this has been going so far.
— It’s now a minute later, and yeah, this is just a one-joke sketch that’s doing absolutely nothing for me.
— Feels odd seeing “Barney Miller” (‎Hal Linden) and one-time SNL host Christine Baranski making a cameo in this context.
— The ending kinda gave me my ONLY laugh of the entire sketch, just because of how comically out-of-place it looked seeing Tracy and Horatio hosing down Broadway performers on a theatrical stage.
STARS: *½


THE BEST OF HORATIO SANZ
volume 1 of The Best of Horatio Sanz doesn’t quite fill the videotape

— In the same vein of the preceding episode’s “The Best of the First 20 Minutes of Saturday Night Live” fake ad, we get another fake ad spoofing the overabundance of “Best Of” specials that came out in this time period. Of the two spoofs, tonight’s “Best of Horatio Sanz” would go on to be the more well-remembered of the two.
— An absolutely brilliant and hilarious idea to do a tongue-in-cheek “Best Of” ad for a new cast member who’s only appeared on the show for an episode-and-a-half so far and has done nothing noteworthy.
— I love the portion of this ad announcing things like “The walk-ons! The thumbs-ups!”
— Announcer: “Horatio Sanz is still alive, but someday, he won’t be.”
— A particularly hilarious sudden part with “Some material from The Best Of Dan Aykroyd included”, as we see a clip from a Coneheads sketch.
STARS: *****


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ likens the problem of debtor nations to that of tapped-out friends
French playboy Tropical Storm Georges (host) luxuriates in his power

— Like the last episode’s Weekend Update, the Update opening title sequence is preceded with Colin doing a straight-to-camera rant in front of a green-screen, though we get different images displayed in tonight’s green-screen.
— The audience is pretty quiet during Colin’s opening rant.
— The Update theme music has been replaced with a new one. Too bad, because I absolutely loved the previous theme music, and this new one isn’t as good.
— The live via satellite interview with Kelsey playing an embodiment of Tropical Storm Georges feels like a knock-off of the famous El Nino bit that SNL did with Chris Farley a year earlier.
— Kelsey’s characterization here is good, but the commentary itself is completely forgettable to me.
— Not too great of an Update tonight, overall. Colin’s delivery of a lot of jokes had that uncomfortable stiffness that plagued some of his earliest Updates from the preceding season.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “My Favorite Mistake”


LONDON PEEPERS
(host)’s socialization try proves Mr. Peepers is animal, not human being

 

— After seemingly being officially retired a year earlier in a Claire Danes-hosted episode (in which Mr. Peepers was sent back to live in his natural home in the wild, and reunited with his family), Mr. Peepers gets resurrected tonight for no apparent reason.
— I love the painting of Horatio as a clown lit on fire (screencap below).

— Bah. Only 50 seconds into this sketch, and I’m almost instantly reminded of why I was happy they retired Mr. Peepers in the first place. No laughs from me here.
— Okay, I finally got a laugh, from the part with Mr. Peepers peeing on the dinner table.
— Only two episodes into his SNL tenure, and we already get our very first minor glimpse of a Jimmy Fallon character break (something that would later become all too common), as Jimmy can be seen helplessly smirking out of character at Kattan when Kelsey and Mr. Peepers exit the scene.
— This sketch feels really dead. Very little of this is working and the audience is largely silent, the latter of which is unusual, as the crowd usually always goes wild whenever Kattan does his Peepers shtick.
— Overall, easily my least favorite Mr. Peepers sketch, and that’s saying something. Definitely should’ve kept this character retired after the Claire Danes episode.
STARS: *½


MAAKIES
by Tony Millionaire- chopped-in-half rat becomes a mermaid

— The second and final Maakies cartoon to air on SNL.
— Wow, and tonight’s cartoon is now over, with me having said nothing about it while watching it. Overall, the random humor in tonight’s Maakies cartoon was even more random than the first one. I don’t hate these Maakies cartoons (though I’m aware A LOT of SNL reviewers did back when these originally aired), but I think I like these cartoons more for the animation style and voice work than for the actual comedy. I do appreciate the weird and disturbing tone that these cartoons are going for, but they never quite hit the mark for me, and they feel a little too out-of-place in this SNL era. It’s no surprise that Maakies didn’t last long as a recurring segment. I wouldn’t be surprised if “Tony Millionaire” tried to get more of these on the air as this season went on, but they kept getting cut after dress rehearsal.
STARS: **½


MORNING LATTE
Tom & Cass bug new producer (CHK); Shaquille O’Neal cameo

 

— An unusually late spot in the show for this recurring sketch to air, as it’s typically aired much earlier as one of the first post-monologue sketches.
— As always, I enjoy the way Will and Cheri play off of each other in these sketches.
— Funny part with Will and Cheri disclosing the fact that Cheri recently underwent surgery to have a baboon’s ovaries and a raccoon’s uterus transplanted inside of her, to increase her chances of having a baby.
— Very funny mix-up from Cheri referring to rappers as “rappists”.
— I like Will and Cheri’s tasteless comments about the producer’s (Kattan) sexual harassment past.
— Kattan is giving a solid performance as the producer. Odd, though, how that role isn’t being played by Kelsey (who’s nowhere to be seen in this sketch), as the host usually always plays the producer in these Morning Latte sketches.
— Shaq’s presence in a second sketch tonight reminds me that Tim Meadows is strangely completely absent in this episode. Very odd for Tim at this point of his SNL tenure, especially after the strong showing he had in the preceding week’s season premiere. I remember an old SNL review from this time in 1998 asking at one point, in regards to Tim, “Did Shaq scare him away?”
— I like the visual of Cheri trying to make gang signs with her hands.
— Shaq is awfully stiff in this sketch, and not in the funny deadpan way that he’s known for being in more recent years.
— SNL finally went through a Morning Latte sketch without anyone yelling an obligatory “You stupid bitch!” (or any variation thereof) towards Cheri.
STARS: ***½


HELLO DOLLY
personal problems pervade saccharine pitch of (host) & (ANG)

— The debut of a lesser-known recurring sketch from this era.
— I’m really liking Ana’s performance, as she’s coming off exactly like the type of person who would host a doll show like this.
— I like the running bit with Kelsey casually mentioning in passing some disturbing things about himself.
— Funny line from Ana about once putting the Lavender Angel doll under her shirt and trying to nurse it.
— Some good laughs from how it’s becoming more and more apparent over the course of the sketch that Ana and Kelsey have some serious unsettling personal issues.
STARS: ***½


THE LUMBERJACK CLASSIC
lumberjacks blame timbersports champion (WIF) for hogging Jesus’ backing

— Right out of the gate, Kelsey badly flubs his opening line by accidentally introducing Will by the name of his own character, which gets some laughs from the audience and causes Kelsey to crack up (the first above screencap for this sketch). I like Will’s reaction during this: not only does he stay in character, but he jokingly starts walking out of the shot while Kelsey’s laughing, only for Kelsey to pull him back into the shot.
— A solid parody of athletes always giving credit to Jesus for helping them win.
— Good line from Horatio about Will hogging all the Jesus.
— Very funny bit with Kattan as a Jewish lumberjack, complete with a yarmulke.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Surprisingly nowhere near as bad as I had remembered it being. Until doing this review, I had always considered this episode to be a real dud, and among the absolute worst episodes of this entire era. I know a lot of other SNL fans over the years have disliked this episode as well (at least in the past; I’m not sure what the general consensus for this episode is nowadays). I was pleasantly surprised to see during tonight’s viewing that this episode was much better than I used to give it credit for. The first half of this episode was actually strong for the most part, and the overall show had a lot of stuff that was pretty good. I even came around on that Thinking About Burritos sketch, which I used to cite as a prime example of how terrible this episode is. However, most of the lowlights of the night were particularly lousy for this era’s standards (Wet ’em Down, London Peepers), but the amount of those was thankfully kept to a minimum.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Cameron Diaz)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Lucy Lawless

Posted on

September 26, 1998 – Cameron Diaz / The Smashing Pumpkins (S24 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OPRAH 2002
Linda Tripp (John Goodman) et al recall Lewinsky affair

— This is the second consecutive season premiere to begin with an Oprah cold opening.
— Decent fake-out with the “Oprah 2002” title screen immediately being followed by us seeing Tracy as a very heavyset, porkchop-eating woman, who we’re supposed to assume is what Oprah will look like in 2002, only for us to find out Tracy is just playing a woman who’s introducing Oprah.
— Interesting how this takes place four years in the future, looking back on the Lewinsky scandal.
— Tim’s delivery is a bit sloppy.
— I like the tanned, mustached look of Darrell as 2002 Bill Clinton.
— Chris Parnell gets the honors of being the one in tonight’s trio of new cast members who gets to appear right at the top of show in the cold opening. I wonder if viewers at the time were watching this cold opening asking themselves “Who in the world is that playing Kenneth Starr?”
— John Goodman makes his first of many cameos this season.
— A particularly energetic “Live from New York…” from Tim to kick off this season.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Season 23’s drab opening montage has thankfully been done away with after only one season, and we get a new montage tonight.

 

— After season 23’s experiment with doing an opening montage with no traditional New York City scenery, we get a welcome return of NYC scenery tonight.
— I know this isn’t a popular opening montage among SNL fans, but I have a very soft spot for it. There’s a reason for that. You see, this is the very first SNL episode I ever saw, when NBC reran it during the summer of 1999. I was either 14 or 15 years old at the time, depending on when in that summer this rerun aired (my birthday is in July), which I realize is quite older than the age that most people are when they first discover SNL. After my first SNL viewing, I would go on to be a very casual SNL viewer for the next year, where I would only tune into bits and pieces of the show on occasional Saturday nights on NBC while flipping the channel back and forth between that, MADtv on FOX, and other channels. (And to be honest, 14/15-year-old me had a bit more of a preference for MADtv than SNL back in those days, until I started really getting into older SNL reruns on Comedy Central.) Anyway, because my earliest memories of being an SNL viewer are from seasons 24 and 25, which both use the opening montage that’s introduced in tonight’s episode, this opening montage now has huge nostalgic, sentimental value to me. It brings back nice memories of the early days of my SNL fandom.
— I will admit that the cast photos in this opening montage are pretty bland.
— I’m not caring for the new theme music, but not to worry, because it doesn’t last. The early episodes of this season are going to have A LOT of experimentation with different theme music for the opening montage, until they finally settle on one.
— Jimmy Fallon, Chris Parnell, and Horatio Sanz have been added to the cast tonight, all joining as featured players, which begins a new tradition of it being a requirement for every new cast member to join as a featured player. Something odd, though: neither Fallon, Parnell, nor Sanz are credited in tonight’s opening montage! Very unusual. Some SNL fans have had a theory that perhaps the graphics department wasn’t yet finished with the featured players portion of this opening montage. Another theory I’ve seen is that perhaps SNL was taking a page out of MADtv’s playbook by not crediting extras who are occasionally given noteworthy co-starring roles in sketches (something that was kinda common on MADtv in their first 5 or so seasons).
— I like the unique way the end of this opening montage transitions to the “ON AIR” sign on SNL’s home base stage (screencap below).


MONOLOGUE
without provocation, host gets tough with audience member (Hugh Fink)

 

— We get a new home base stage.
— Very random premise, with Cameron Diaz putting on a badass persona and picking on an innocent audience member (played by SNL writer Hugh Fink).
— I’m not too sure what to think of this random monologue, but I’m getting enough laughs, and Hugh Fink is making a good foil in this.
STARS: ***


MASTERCARD
MasterCard made possible the priceless aspect of the Lewinsky affair

— Very funny twist at the end.
— Short and sweet.
STARS: ****


SIDE NOTE: Starting in tonight’s episode, SNL shows a brief glimpse of the next sketch being set up during each commercial break, which would go on to be a weekly part of the show that still remains to this day in 2019.


THE VIEW
Mark McGwire (WIF); Debbie Matenopoulos (host) battles raccoon

— A new opening title sequence for these View sketches. I like how in the intro shot for Star Jones, we see Tracy as himself getting his Star Jones wig applied.
— I’m not too happy about the fact they they did away with Cheri’s Barbara Walters singing The View theme song.
— I like Molly-as-Meredith-Viera’s random “I am not wearing underpants” revelation.
— Ana’s Joy Behar impression makes her View debut.
— Will’s look as Mark McGwire is making me laugh.
— I got a good laugh from the picture of Will’s McGwire being hugged by his son, played by Darrell (the third-to-last above screencap for this sketch).
— I love Cheri’s Barbara blurting out at Cameron’s Debbie Matenopoulos “I will destroy you!”, before covering her own mouth in a shocked “Oh!”-type manner.
— A very funny “Dare Debbie” segment, with the View ladies trying to do away with Debbie by trapping her in a bag with a raccoon.
STARS: ****


OOPS! I CRAPPED MY PANTS
Oops! I Crapped My Pants can withstand full blasts from seniors’ bowels

— One of the more famous fake ads in SNL history.
— The reveal of the product is absolutely priceless.
— This hilarious commercial is made even better by the fact that the elderly couple is played by real elderly people and how they’re playing this so straight.
— A great line from the elderly man on how he knows so much about Oops I Crapped My Pants: “I’m wearing them… and I just did.”
— In Comedy Central’s 60-minute versions of this season’s episodes, this fake ad was strangely added to nearly EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. I kid you not, people. Just one of many examples of baffling, shoddy edits in Comedy Central’s versions of this season’s episodes.
STARS: *****


THE LADIES’ MAN
Leon & (host) act out scenes from the Starr Report

— A great change of pace, with Leon Phelps theatrically performing The Starr Report.
— The various vignettes that Leon and Cameron are performing are a lot of fun.
— Tim’s stumbliness from the cold opening is carrying over into this sketch a little, though he managed to make his flubbed line in this sketch funny.
— I love Leon’s line about having his wang “mouthified”.
STARS: ****


THE BEST OF THE FIRST 20 MINUTES OF SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
The Best Of The First 20 Minutes Of SNL redefines straight-to-videotape

— A clever self-deprecating take-off of the endless barrage of SNL “Best Of” specials that were aired on NBC that summer. Even if you didn’t have knowledge of that, this commercial still works, as the idea of an SNL “Best Of” special consisting of just the first 20 minutes of an episode is simply funny. There was once a similar gag on Weekend Update in the first episode after SNL’s 15th Anniversary Special, where Update anchorperson Dennis Miller presented a highlight reel of the next 15 years of SNL, which was just a sloppy montage of sketches from earlier that same night.
— Much like the Oops I Crapped My Pants ad, part of the reason why this fake ad is working so well is because it’s being played so straight.
— SNL would soon get even more mileage out of spoofing their own over-reliance on “Best Of” specials in the very next episode, where they do a “Best Of” fake ad for a certain new cast member.
STARS: ****


THE NEW HOLLYWOOD SQUARES
the game goes on despite collapse of the board

— Interesting concept of the Hollywood Squares board collapsing and severely injuring the celebrity players.
— Right in his very first appearance, Jimmy Fallon displays his knack for celebrity impressions. His Gilbert Gottfried impression is absolutely spot-on and is cracking me up. Bonus points to Jimmy for doing an impression of a former SNL cast member.
— Overall, this sketch was okay and the various celebrity impressions were fun, but this didn’t come off quite as strong as I think SNL wanted this creative concept to come off.
STARS: ***


TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- Richard Nixon haunts Bill Clinton address

— This is the second consecutive season premiere to have a TV Funhouse that consists of “outtakes” from something. Hopefully, this will be much better than the fart-filled Casablanca Outtakes cartoon from the last season premiere.
— A lot of laughs from Kenneth Starr holding up various semen-stained women’s clothing behind Bill Clinton. I’m kinda surprised SNL can get away with this, even in animated form.
— An absolutely priceless bit with dripping semen from the ceiling making Clinton’s hair stick up, as a nod to a famous scene from Cameron Diaz’s then-recent hit There’s Something About Mary.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ thinks it’s time to stop obsessing over the Lewinsky affair
Dominican Lou wants $1,000,000 for a baseball vaguely tied to Sammy Sosa

 

— As I mentioned earlier, this is the first SNL episode I ever saw. And more specifically, this Weekend Update is the very first thing I saw in the episode. Since Colin Quinn was my official introduction to SNL, I’ve always wondered if that’s the reason why I’ve never been quite as harsh on him as an Update anchorperson as a lot of other people are.
— Right out of the gate in tonight’s Update, before the opening title sequence is even shown, we get a big change of pace by abruptly opening with Colin doing a straight-to-camera rant while standing in front of a green-screen. Very interesting. Nothing like this had ever been done by an Update anchorperson before this point.
— Now that Update has begun proper, we see that SNL has a new Update set.
— Colin is really going all Colin Quinn on tonight’s Update, as he’s now doing another straight-to-camera rant (this time behind the desk), this time doing a breakdown of Bill Clinton’s testimony about the Lewinsky scandal, complete with actual clips of the testimony. I prefer Colin doing stuff like this to him trying to sound like a traditional Update anchor.
— Dominican Lou’s excitement while gushing about Sammy Sosa is charming.
— Tonight’s overall Dominican Lou commentary was okay, but nothing memorable or special.
— An unusually short Update.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Perfect”


THE ROXBURY GUYS
at the Moomba Club, foxy (host) picks up Roxbury Guys, Festrunks

— Surprisingly, this is the first Roxbury Guys sketch since the Helen Hunt Christmas episode from half a year earlier. And the only reason we’re even seeing a Roxbury Guys sketch tonight is because the ill-fated A Night At The Roxbury movie is about to open. By the way, tonight’s sketch also ends up being the final sketch that the Roxbury Guys ever appear in. I’ve heard a theory from some people that perhaps SNL lost the rights to continue doing Roxbury Guys sketches after the movie came out. The same thing happens a year later to Mary Katherine Gallagher after the movie Superstar comes out. Then again, earlier in this decade when the first Wayne’s World movie came out, SNL still continued doing Wayne’s World sketches on a regular basis.
— Not many laughs from me so far during this sketch.
— The audience apparently shares my opinion, as they’re fairly silent during a lot of this sketch, minus occasional random screaming cheers from some girls.
— The Festrunk Brothers! Fun twist.
— Even though it feels weird seeing the Festrunks being played by an older, slower, and less thin Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin, I’m still enjoying this, and this is bringing back nice memories of reviewing the original Festrunk Brothers sketches back when I covered the original SNL era.
STARS: **½


WITCHES BREW
words fail odor of witches’ brew; Jonathan Richman & Tommy Larkins cameos

— Odd premise, but I’m getting some good laughs from the creative disgusting descriptions of what the witches’ brew smells like.
— The off-camera yells from townspeople complaining about the smell have some solid lines. Tracy steals the sketch by not even being onscreen while yelling “That smells like Sasquatch’s nuts!”
— We randomly end the sketch with a cameo from the musician guys from There’s Something About Mary (Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins) singing a song about the bad smell of the witches’ brew. Kinda funny, if out of place.
STARS: ***½


GAP
“This is so easy” says sax-playing Bill Clinton (DAH)

— I love the idea of a Gap commercial starring a smug, sax-playing Bill Clinton.
— Again, short and sweet.
STARS: ****


JINGLEHEIMER JUNCTION
new cast member (WIF) spells disaster for kids show

— While the Weekend Update from tonight’s episode is the first thing I ever saw on SNL, Jingleheimer Junction has the distinction of being the first actual sketch I ever saw on SNL. This and Weekend Update are the only two things I remember seeing on SNL that night.
— And, boy, what a sketch for me to be introduced to SNL with. I am very honored to have this well-known classic be the first SNL sketch I ever saw.
— True story: in my original viewing of this sketch, I mistook Will for Colin Quinn. As I said above, Weekend Update was the only other thing I remember seeing in this episode during my original viewing, and when Will entered this Jingleheimer Junction sketch, I remember thinking to myself “Hey, it’s the news guy again!”, thinking Will was the same guy who I had seen anchoring Weekend Update. I was so damn proud of myself as a new SNL viewer for being able to recognize the same SNL cast member in two different segments. Little did I know that Will and Colin were two different cast members. As embarrassing as that mix-up sounds, that ain’t all. I spent my first year as a casual SNL viewer thinking Chris Kattan and Jimmy Fallon were the same person. I kid you not, people. And then eventually, I saw both Kattan and Jimmy standing next to each other in a sketch (from Jennifer Aniston’s season 25 episode) and my mind was blown.
— A priceless visual of the Jingleheimer Junction members innocently standing in an order that causes their shirts to spell out a letter-scrambled “fuck”.
— Tim’s reactions throughout this sketch are great. Between the Oprah cold opening, the Ladies’ Man sketch, and now this, Tim has been having a strong night.
— I love how after Horatio Sanz says “We’re supposed to learn about friendship, Joe”, Tim angrily snaps back at him “Shut up, Umberto!”
— Hilarious how every instance of “fuck” nearly being spelled out gets cut off by a “Please stand by” screen. When I first saw this sketch as a new SNL viewer, I remember being shocked at how close they kept coming to spelling out “fuck”, a shocked feeling that made me realize I was watching something special and daring.
— This overall fantastic sketch was the perfect length, not being dragged out too long.
STARS: *****


GAP
“This is not easy” says electric guitarist Hillary Clinton (ANG)

— Another creative political-themed Gap ad.
— I like how uncharacteristically badass Ana’s Hillary is coming off in some portions of this.
— These Gap parodies tonight are very well-done and have a lot of good little details in them.
STARS: ****


A MESSAGE FROM THE SPICE GIRLS
Spice Girls (MOS), (CHO), (CHK), (host) give advice for pregnant mothers

— Another Spice Girls PSA sketch, after the two that appeared in the preceding season’s Sarah Michelle Gellar episode.
— No Ginger Spice this time? I guess this was after she left the group.
— Like last time, I’m laughing more than I feel I should at Kattan’s mannerisms as Scary Spice.
— Some funny lines here, such as Molly’s Baby Spice proudly saying that if she has twins, she’ll give them each a different name.
STARS: ***


MAAKIES
by Tony Millionaire- proletarian Drinky Crow deadens himself

— “Tony Millionaire”?
— The debut of a very short-lived recurring segment. Strange how SNL feels the need to have two unrelated animated segments in the same episode, with both TV Funhouse and this.
— I believe these Maakies cartoons would later be turned into an Adult Swim series, titled something like “The Drinky Crow Show”.
— A strangely likable bizarre theme song.
— Interesting minor detail with the squirrel having a human right hand.
— Random ending with the crow blowing his brains out with his new gun.
— Overall, a very, very unusual cartoon. It felt completely out of place on SNL, but I’m all for SNL trying new things. I didn’t laugh all that much at this cartoon, but its weirdness did keep me interested in a way. However, I can’t even imagine how many SNL viewers were completely put off by this weirdo cartoon.
STARS: **½


GAP
“This is easy” says Kenneth Starr (CHP) as he jigs amid evidence

— Chris Parnell gets his very first lead role!
— I love how in his first big showcase, Parnell gets to show off his dancing skills. His dancing in this is hilarious.
— The fact that each of tonight’s Gap ads have the person in it randomly saying a variation of “This is easy” makes me think that these are a parody of a specific series of Gap commercials from this time. Oh, well, even without being familiar with them, these parodies still work for me.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid season premiere. I may be biased a little due to this being the first SNL episode I ever saw, but I feel that almost the entire episode was enjoyable, we got two all-time classics (Oops I Crapped My Pants and Jingleheimer Junction), and we got plenty of fun Lewinsky scandal-based material. I also like the new feel and look SNL had in this season premiere, compared to the last few seasons that preceded this. I was also surprised by how shorter-than-usual a lot of segments felt, leaving room for a higher number of overall segments (especially pre-taped fake ads and cartoons) than a typical episode from this era has.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1997-98)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Kelsey Grammer

Posted on

May 9, 1998 – David Duchovny / Puff Daddy featuring Jimmy Page (S23 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE X FILES
Mulder (host) rebuff puts Janet Reno (WIF) in Krycek’s (Nicholas Lea) arm

— A good reveal of “Deep Throat” turning out to be Will’s Janet Reno.
— I like Mulder’s facial reaction to Reno’s invitation for him to come over, watch the movie Aliens, and have brie.
— Hilarious line from Reno about treating Mulder to an unbelievably ferocious orgasm, which is her definition of a UFO.
— Reno drop-kicking Molly’s Scully to the ground was pretty funny.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host gets frustrated upon dropping a pick into his boyhood guitar

— David is coming off more charismatic here than he did when he last hosted SNL in season 20.
— I’m enjoying David’s increasingly frustrated demeanor when trying to get the pick out of the guitar, eventually getting to the point where he smashes the guitar to pieces while saying he hates his father.
STARS: ***½


CHEERLEADING CAMP
(host) instructs Craig & Arianna at Paula Abdul [real] Cheerleading Camp

— After getting their sketch buried in a late spot in the show when they last appeared, the Cheerleaders are back in their usual spot as the lead-off sketch of the night. Just when I thought SNL was phasing out these dying characters…
— Actually, despite what I said above, there’s only two more Cheerleaders sketches remaining after tonight’s episode, one in each of the following two seasons. So, yep, these characters are being phased out after all.
— David’s offbeat characterization in this is cracking me up. This is completely unlike the deadpan, dry performances he gave all throughout his season 20 episode. I’ve been impressed by all of his performances so far tonight.
— David: “My nipples are the size of dinner plates.”
— I like the Jerry Springer Show cheer that Craig and Arianna do.
— A laugh from Craig and Arianna initially confusing Paula Abdul for both Rosie Perez and Debbie Allen.
— Overall, an improvement over the subpar sketch the Cheerleaders last appeared in with Scott Wolf. This didn’t have the sad, desperate, dying feel that was evident in the Scott Wolf Cheerleaders sketch.
STARS: ***


TV FUNHOUSE
“A Hard One To Swallow” by RBS- The Ambiguously Gay Duo seeks origins

— Surprisingly, this entire season has only had TWO Ambiguously Gay Duo cartoons total. That’s very little compared to the preceding season.
— Interesting how this is a continuation of the ending from the last Ambiguously Gay Duo cartoon.
— A lot of laughs from the suggestive uses of the phallic crystals.
— The ending felt abrupt.
— During the TV Funhouse ending credits, there’s a change made to Lorne’s final “Leggo… my… show!”, where we now get an echo-ish effect used on the word “show”, which is a funny touch. Did they only do that because it’s the final TV Funhouse of the season?
STARS: ****


CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Sean Connery (DAH), Minnie Driver (MOS), Jeff Goldblum (host)

   

— This is the first Celebrity Jeopardy sketch without Norm Macdonald’s Burt Reynolds, who was a staple of these sketches until now. Darrell’s Sean Connery impression, making only his second appearance in a Celebrity Jeopardy sketch, ends up becoming the new staple of these sketches.
— David continues to step it up tonight, as his Jeff Goldblum impression is hilarious and spot-on.
— A classic category mix-up, with Darrell’s Connery reading off “therapists” as “the rapists”.
— I absolutely love Will-as-Alex-Trebek’s angry delivery of “It’s a friggin’ hammer!” when the contestants can’t figure out what the object he’s holding is.
— A great and memorable part with the very long-winded clues given for the “Who is the current U.S. president?” question, which the camera has to keep scrolling down in order to show the entire thing.
— Will’s Trebek has been having so many great lines tonight. We now get yet another one: “And the show has reached a new low.”
— Sean Connery: “(triumphantly) Then I’m the cock of the walk!”
— What’s up with Will’s voice? It’s strangely sounding more and more hoarse as this sketch goes on.
— Alex Trebek: “Mr. Goldblum evidently doing Tai Chi over there.”
— Overall, an all-around classic. This was what I feel is the first of many five-star-worthy Celebrity Jeopardy sketches.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Come With Me”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Dominican Lou disregards Bill Clinton & complains about a rival super
unshaven & pantyhoseless Cinder Calhoun says “Unshackle My Legs”

— For the first time in months, a Colin Quinn Update begins with him going right into the traditional news jokes instead of doing a straight-to-camera rant.
— Surprisingly, this is the first time we’re seeing Dominican Lou in an entire year.
— I love Tracy-as-Dominican-Lou’s heavy-accented pronunciation of “I could beat him”, which comes out sounding like “I coo be heem”.
— I got a good laugh from Dominican Lou’s response to the Puerto Rican flag-burning controversy from the most recent episode of Seinfeld: “I don’t care. They Puerto Rican. I Dominican.”
— Cinder Calhoun’s pantyhose protest song isn’t as funny as her usual songs. I hate to say it, but I think I’m starting to get a little tired of this character. Thankfully, I believe she has only one appearance remaining (and it’s one where she’s shown live via satellite reporting from Lilith Fair, so at least we get a bit of a change of pace for her there).
STARS: ***


MANGO
host is enraptured by Mango; cameos by John Goodman, Matt Lauer, Al Roker

— After every single preceding Mango sketch used the exact same template as each other, SNL finally does something different with a Mango sketch. I’m sure I still won’t be crazy about this sketch, though, especially since we don’t have Garth Brooks around to save it again.
— The usual montage of the host being distracted by a thought-bubble fantasy of Mango while trying to do daily activities is coming off a little better than usual tonight, with the amusing Today Show scene. I’ll just ignore how awkward it now feels to see a Matt Lauer cameo, knowing what we now know about him.
— A memorable part with Matt Lauer’s thought-bubble fantasy being about Al Roker doing Mango’s dance.
— Random John Goodman cameo. A precursor to the countless number of Goodman cameos we’re soon going to be seeing in the upcoming season 24.
— Uh, is Goodman drunk? Something sure seems… off about him here.
STARS: **½


OPRAH
Goat Boy is reunited with his brother (host)

 

— Feels kinda weird seeing an Oprah/Goat Boy crossover.
— This ends up being Goat Boy’s final appearance, as tonight turns out to be Jim’s last episode before getting fired over the summer. I like Jim, but I can’t say I’m going to miss this particular character.
— I definitely didn’t need the addition of David Duchovny as Goat Boy #2.
— This sketch has been doing nothing for me. The sketch is just a whole bunch of Jim and David doing goat-braying sounds over each other. Ugh, why not also bring back Chevy Chase as “Cow Man” while we’re at it? That’s the only way this sketch can get any worse for me.
— Okay, this sketch sure has taken a unexpected turn all of a sudden, with David’s Goat Boy #2 gradually trying to hump Jim’s Goat Boy out of nowhere, eventually leading to both of them getting into a fight with each other. I admit, that’s actually making me laugh.
— Overall, blah, though this did get a little better with the aforementioned turn near the end. For a sketch that ends up inadvertently being Jim’s swan song, Jim deserved to go out on a better note.
STARS: **


INTERBANK
Interbank will do much more than replace your stolen travellers’ checks

— It feels kinda rare for a season finale to have a new pre-taped fake ad.
— Very funny bit with Interbank chasing down and attacking Chris for stealing Will and Molly’ travellers checks.
— Now this gets even funnier with Interbank also hunting down Chris’ friends and relatives, and setting fire to their homes.
— I’m loving the increasing darkness of this.
STARS: ****


FROM THE EARTH TO THE AREA AROUND THE EARTH: THE STORY OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE
a ho-hum Shuttle mission

— This sketch is awfully slow-moving, even if that’s the point. Maybe I would find this funnier if I were familiar with what this is parodying.
— The sketch suddenly picks up with Will and Tim’s prank Bill Clinton message, in which they take turns doing comically bad Bill Clinton impressions. This is hilarious, especially how Tim’s Clinton says “I like sex.”
— Overall, despite the hilarious Clinton bit, I did not care much for the rest of the sketch, and felt it came off underdeveloped and forgettable, especially for what ends up being the final live sketch of the season. Or, again, I might have appreciated it more if I were familiar with the source material it parodied.
STARS: **½


THE GOLORDS
Golords battle James Cameron & his army of Leonardo DiCaprio clones

 

— This ends up being the final Golords short, as this recurring segment doesn’t last beyond this season.
— I’m getting a kick out of the male Golord’s endless screaming as he takes a very long fall down a pipe.
— As usual, we get some very funny gruesome, gory visuals during the climactic fight scene. I especially like the female Golord dipping one of the Leonardo DiCaprio clones into an acid bath, resulting in the clone’s skeleton being exposed.
— Overall, this Golords short was fine, but didn’t feel quite as strong as these usually are. However, it’s been fun reviewing these Golords shorts this season. These turned out to be much better than I used to find them in the past.
STARS: ***½


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY

— Here comes yet another “last” tonight, as this ends up being the final Deep Thoughts that Jack Handey ever does on SNL.
— Unfortunately, tonight’s Deep Thought wasn’t the best note for these to go out on.


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not the best season finale. I couldn’t help but feel a little underwhelmed by this episode, though it was mainly because of the post-Weekend Update half of the show, which was largely kind of a bore. There were certainly good things tonight, mainly in the first half, but I found this overall finale to be a little on the forgettable side.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Matthew Broderick)
about the same


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS (Note: These picks were hastily made off the top of my head and will naturally be missing some deserving sketches. I don’t have enough time to do full, thought-out “Best Of” picks for this whole season)

   


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1996-97)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 24 begins, with Cameron Diaz as host, and three new cast members joining the show. This is also a very special episode for me, as it has the distinction of being the very first SNL episode I ever saw (though my viewing was during a summer 1999 rerun on NBC).

Posted on

May 2, 1998 – Matthew Broderick / Natalie Merchant (S23 E19)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE LADIES’ MAN
Leon Phelps takes calls & puts Viagra to the test

— This sketch’s growing popularity has gotten to the point where the sketch is now appearing as the cold opening for a change.
— This is the first of what will be quite a number of Viagra mentions in tonight’s episode, which serves as a reminder of just how big a story Viagra was when it first came out around this time.
— I like Leon Phelps singing a brief “Old man’s penis” jingle.
— Fun premise with Leon downing an entire bottle of Viagra to see if it has any effect on him.
— Hilarious how Leon is using a “butt-ugly” picture of Sally Jessy Raphael to de-arouse himself, which ends up not working for him.
— I was about to say that it’s not necessary for them to repeat the joke from an earlier Ladies’ Man sketch where Leon gets disgusted when hearing about an old couple having sex, but we end up getting a nice twist this time with Leon actually being aroused by that due to the Viagra he took.
— I love Tim’s very intense delivery of “Live from New York…” at the end of this cold opening. One of my personal all-time favorite LFNYs.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
TRM & JMB favor host with their rendition of Godzilla sound effects

— I feel kinda bad for how Tracy’s entrance was met with dead silence, with the audience not giving him any of the usual applause that cast members in this era typically seem to get when they walk onstage as themselves in a host’s monologue.
— There’s a backstory about how this monologue is at least partly responsible for Jim getting fired after this season. Jim went into great detail about it in an interview I saw years ago on YouTube. My memory of it is pretty fuzzy, and the story is too lengthy for me to go into detail about here. Someone in the comments section of this review can probably dig up a link to the interview. If so, thanks in advance. I’ll just say that the backstory Jim tells about this monologue heavily involves Adam McKay and the negative tension that’s always existed between Adam and Jim. Adam is painted in a very negative light in the story.
— Ehh, this monologue is pretty much just a knockoff of the monologue that Jim did with Jeff Goldblum the preceding season, which itself was only mildly funny. Not sure this rehash was worth Jim getting into such a heated confrontation with Adam McKay over, jeopardizing his own job security.
— I do like the addition of Tracy to Jim’s routine. Tracy’s imitation of the Godzilla theme is fairly funny.
STARS: **½


FLEX
hormones & steroids included in Flex Speed Stick give you an animal edge

 

— I love the visuals of various cast members turning into scary beasts and going wild on innocent bystanders and animals.
— A huge laugh from Will letting out a spray of urine onto his victim.
STARS: ****


THE VIEW
the ladies fawn over George Stephanopoulos (host)

— For once, a View sketch has Debbie Matenopoulos being played by Ana instead of the blonde female who’s hosting SNL that night.
— I like Cheri-as-Barbara-Walters’ angry one-liner outbursts towards Ana’s Debbie Matenopoulos throughout the sketch, especially when Cheri’s Barbara follows one outburst of hers by putting her hand over her own mouth in a shocked “Oops!” manner.
— A good laugh from Molly’s Meredith Viera casually giving us way too many details of her sexual desire for George Stephanopoulos.
— Very funny part with Barbara forcing Debbie to go inside a cage.
— Tracy seemed to kinda botch his line “I would beat you on a cracker” (or whatever that was he was trying to say).
STARS: ****


SPARKS
Zimmermans take offense when neighbor (host) tries unambiguous foreplay

— The Zimmermans officially become recurring characters. Unlike their first appearance, where they were by themselves, they now have another couple to play off of, which would go on to be a regular thing for these sketches.
— I like Molly’s sour hint that she and Matthew aren’t very sexually active with each other.
— Some pretty good laughs from Chris repeatedly banging his hand on the table while sexually-aggressively telling Cheri where to place the painting.
— Tonight’s installment of this recurring sketch is definitely working better than the first installment, now that the Zimmermans have a normal couple to play off of.
— Good turn with Cheri using her sexual flirtatious method on Matthew, with Matthew eventually getting really into it until he makes a raunchy statement that offends everybody.
STARS: ***½


PRETTY LIVING
joyologist Helen & her seashell craftsman boyfriend (host)

— (*sigh*) Oh, god. Now this sketch officially becomes recurring. I don’t have a shred of the goodwill towards this sketch that I have towards the Zimmermans sketches.
— This sketch is really missing something without Julianne Moore as Ana’s co-host, who provided my only laughs in the first installment of this sketch.
— What happened just now? Why did Ana and Matthew both go off-script to pick something up off the floor and hand it to Molly’s Helen Madden? I guess Molly accidentally dropped something when doing one of her many leg-stretches, but I can’t tell what it was.
— As usual, the audience is eating up Molly’s endless “I love it!” leg-stretching routine while I sit completely stone-faced through the entire sketch.
— Okay, I finally got a laugh, from Ana bitterly letting us know what crappy gift she got when her fiancee went to Hawaii. However, that kinda felt like a line that would’ve been more fitting for Julianne Moore’s co-host character from the first installment of this sketch.
STARS: *½


VIAGRA
Regis Philbin [real] & men on the street angrily say “no Viagra for me”

— I love how the men being interviewed on the street about Viagra are played by the entire male cast, Matthew Broderick, and some male SNL writers and staff members.
— Hilarious seeing Leon Phelps as one of the men being interviewed about Viagra, especially given the cold opening he did earlier tonight. Weird seeing Leon with a goatee, though. I guess this was filmed earlier this week before Tim shaved for tonight’s episode.
— Akira Yoshimura! (the third-to-last above screencap for this sketch)
— A rare non-Update appearance from Colin.
— Regis Philbin’s message is hilarious, especially him telling us with a calm smile “You can go straight to hell.”
— A very fun and fast-paced segment.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ wants to see Bill Clinton exercise executive privilege to the max

— During Colin’s obligatory opening straight-to-camera rant, I like his whole side bit about people at SNL running up the show’s bill and stealing things from the show.
— Ooh, a Joe Piscopo joke. And as expected, the punchline is about him being a washed-up has-been.
— Some strong jokes from Colin so far in this Update.
— Colin’s Jerry Springer joke reminds me that I recall once hearing there was a Jerry Springer Show sketch that got cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal. In the sketch, Matthew Broderick played Jerry Springer, and his guests were Darrell and Ana as the Clintons. I believe I also heard that Darrell suffered a real-life injury at one point in the sketch (which may be the reason for the sketch getting cut), when he got hit by a chair thrown in the air as the performers were acting out a typical Jerry Springer Show fight.
— Holy hell, Update is over already? This Update was seriously only about 3-4 minutes long. I kid you not, people. This may have topped the Update from the Roma Downey episode as the shortest Update in recent memory.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Kind & Generous”


THE CELINE DION SHOW
Shania Twain (MOS) & Gloria Estefan (host)

— Yet another talk show sketch tonight? And has EVERY SINGLE SKETCH so far tonight been recurring?
— At least the segment with Darrell as Celine’s husband is something that wasn’t done in the first installment of this sketch.
— Another difference from the first installment is that all the guests are brought on together instead of one-by-one.
— A cheap laugh from how unfeminine Matthew looks in drag.
— I’m getting bored with the repetitive joke of Ana’s Celine always singing over her guests whenever each of them try to sing a solo song. I like Ana’s Celine impression, but I’m glad this ends up being the last time we ever see her in her talk show sketch (I recall her appearing in some good non-talk show sketches later on).
STARS: **½


PRIME MINISTER’S QUESTIONS
Tony Blair (host) hears British MPs’ questions on Teletubbies & more

— Kinda surprised they’re bringing back this sketch from over a year ago when Mike Myers hosted. Oh, and by the way, that makes this yet ANOTHER recurring sketch tonight, keeping alive tonight’s streak of all recurring sketches.
— A second rare non-Update appearance from Colin tonight.
— I love Will’s voice in this.
— Hmm, I see Will’s Oasis obsession from the first installment of this sketch has been replaced tonight with a Teletubbies obsession. I admit, there’s more comedic potential in this Teletubbies obsession of his.
— A funny out-of-place appearance from Tracy as an American tourist.
— It was unnecessary for this sketch to end the exact same way the first one did, with the host repeatedly punching Will.
STARS: ***


PROM LIMO
(CHO), (host), (MOS), (WIF) think their prom limo ride is the coolest

— Finally, an actual ORIGINAL sketch tonight. Unfortunately, I never cared for this particular musical sketch during my previous viewings of tonight’s episode. I’ll try to keep an open mind this time.
— I do always enjoy Will’s portrayal of young, fratboy-ish, overconfident guys.
— The musical that the prom teens are singing kinda has its charm, but otherwise, I’m a little bored during this.
— A funny random ending gag, in which Will gets beheaded by an overpass. I’m surprised by how fast they were able to switch Will with a headless body double.
STARS: **½


TENACIOUS D
Tenacious D [real] performs “The History of Tenacious D” & “Double Team”

— For the first time since way back in 1986, SNL has credited special guest comedians perform their own comedy act on SNL’s home base stage, something that used to be common for SNL. Too bad tonight’s return to this old tradition ends up just being a one-time thing. (However, I think I recall once hearing that Johnny Knoxville’s whole Jackass routine was originally in consideration to be a recurring SNL segment for season 25, a year before Jackass became a big breakout show on MTV. Knoxville and his buddies were going to perform their Jackass comedy act live onstage at SNL, but SNL ended up passing on the idea. I’m not sure of the validity of that whole story, though.)
— Funny opening intro that Matthew is forced to read off of an index card that Tenacious D gave him.
— Interesting seeing a young, pre-famous Jack Black.
— I’m probably not the best person to judge a Tenacious D song, as I’m not all that familiar with their work outside of their later SNL appearances, but I’m aware of the basic gist of their act in general, and I’m enjoying their performance tonight. And I love how out-of-the-ordinary this whole segment feels for this SNL era. It truly does kinda feel like I’m back to reviewing an SNL episode from the 70s and early-mid 80s, back when special guest performers doing their comedy act was common.
— A crazy high note that Jack sang just now.
— I like the turn with Jack acting out a soft conversation with off-camera audience members.
— The “sucking on toes” part of the song right now is very funny.
STARS: ***½


COMIC MINDS
the drug humor of Orbit (WIF) & Larry (TRM) was based on PCP

— The name of Matthew’s character, Matt Peedman, seems to have been based on then-current SNL writer Matt Piedmont.
— Tracy has been getting more airtime than usual tonight.
— Very funny concept of Will and Tracy’s comedy team trying to one-up Cheech and Chong’s marijuana-themed comedy team by making their drug theme PCP, of all things.
— The first sound clip played of Will and Tracy’s PCP comedy act is hilarious, especially Tracy’s panicked repetition of the line “I got the ice in me!” Tracy’s delivery of that line is priceless.
— The second sound clip is also cracking me the hell up. I love Will’s insane panicked screaming.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— I don’t feel too crazy about this episode, though it really wasn’t too bad. However, a large chunk of the episode had a bit of a lazy, too-familiar feel, especially with the heavy over-reliance on recurring sketches (which is something that this season had thankfully been moving away from), talk show sketches, and even a rehashed monologue. It didn’t help that some of the recurring sketches were things I didn’t need to see be brought back. There was still a pretty good number of sketches I enjoyed tonight, though, even some of the recurring stuff.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Greg Kinnear)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 23 comes to an end, with host David Duchovny. It’s also the end of the road for Jim Breuer’s SNL tenure.

Posted on

April 11, 1998 – Greg Kinnear / All Saints (S23 E18)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

MARTHA STEWART LIVING
Easter fun & a half-hearted nod to Passover

— Interesting seeing a Martha Stewart Living sketch as a cold opening for a change.
— Some good laughs from Ana-as-Martha-Stewart’s dismissive attitude towards Passover, especially her line about “giant Jew crackers”.
— Random use of a host at the end of a cold opening.
— Greg Kinnear being quick to respond “Dear God, no!” when asked if he’s Jewish was very funny.
— While Ana is saying “Live from New York…”, the camera man seems confused, as the camera starts to zoom into a silent Greg Kinnear at first, before suddenly panning over a bit and zooming into Ana. I wonder if Greg said LFNY in dress rehearsal, and the camera man perhaps wasn’t informed of the change between dress and live.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host analyzes his As Good As It Gets co-stars’ Oscar-winning performances

— Solid premise with Greg obsessing over why he lost the Oscar. I love how it gets to the point where he pulls out a TV and over-analyzes an As Good As It Gets scene he was in, playing it in slow-motion, and even using a telestrator to draw on the screen in the same manner as football analysts.
— Greg is handling himself really well in this monologue.
STARS: ****


COOKIE DOUGH SPORT
Rerun from 10/4/97


NAME THAT DOG
game show contestants try to guess pooches’ appellations

— A funny idiotic premise for a game show.
— I love Tim’s over-enthusiasm throughout the sketch.
— A good laugh from how Chris’ score total in the “Wall of Dogs” round (where you have to quickly guess the name of 10 dogs who are brought out together) ends up being a whopping 0.
— Ehh, it wasn’t necessary to repeat the above-mentioned “Wall of Dogs total score being 0” joke with Tim.
STARS: either ***½ or ****, I can’t decide yet


NEW HORIZONS
Marty & Bobbi perform a drug medley for patients at a rehab center

— Funny line during Greg’s opening speech: “Freon won’t get you high. It will kill you.”
— The Culps again this season? I actually always enjoy this recurring sketch, but I can’t help but feel we’ve already seen it enough times this season.
— I like the running bit in tonight’s installment with the Culps occasionally admonishing the crowd for laughing during their speech.
— Funny bit with Marty Culp thinking someone in the back is using sign language to refer to his wife Bobbi as a “j-hole”, which he is then told by Bobbi is actually sign language for “a-hole”.
— I like how the songs in tonight’s Culps song medley have a drug theme.
— I love the Culps singing an opera-ized version of “Insane in the Membrane”.
STARS: ***½


FIVES
(CHO) endures obnoxious blind date’s (host) compulsive need to high-five

 

— A perfect sketch for Greg Kinnear, who is solid at pulling off this character’s ridiculous habit of giving high-fives for every little situation. I especially like when he starts getting elaborate with the style of his high-fives.
— I love the quick bit with Darrell fake-laughing and then just walking off when Greg requests a high-five from him (the third and fourth above screencaps for this sketch).
— Very amusing reveal that Greg has named his penis Anthony.
— Weird how this is the second consecutive sketch tonight to use the insult “a-hole”.
— Funny turn with Greg somberly asking Cheri for a low high-five after she mentions bad news about her ailing grandfather.
— Good ending with Darrell’s “Grow up” comment to Cheri.
STARS: ****


TV FUNHOUSE
For, I believe, the only time in SNL history, a new SNL episode re-airs a TV Funhouse from an earlier episode. Tonight’s re-airing is a season 22 “Fun With Real Audio” cartoon with Tom Snyder stalking Dolly Parton. I wonder what the reason for this re-airing is.


THE HOUSE OF DOGS
Thurmond Sykes (TRM) pitches House of Dogs as a source of dangerous mutts

— Two dog sketches tonight? Am I watching a modern-day episode from season 45?
— I love Tracy’s line about how his dogs only care about “chewing faces and nuts”.
— Tracy’s a good spokesman for this sketch.
— Haha, Greg is playing his game show host character from the Name That Dog sketch! I always love the very rare times on SNL where one sketch crosses over into another sketch in the same episode.
— Funny detail with Greg’s obviously-fake hand.
— The ending text crawl is going on too long.
STARS: ***


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ considers what Holy Week would be like had there been no Resurrection
Gunner Olsen delivers heavy metal-enhanced news stories to the crowd

— Man, is Colin capable of going through a single joke without muttering an unnecessary, barely-coherent ad-lib afterwards?
— Hmm, it’s like Colin somehow heard my above complaint, because immediately after I wrote it, Colin has thankfully gone through a long string of jokes without making any ad-libs after them.
— A particularly harsh and funny O.J./murderer joke from Colin tonight. Norm would be proud. By the way, anyone who believes Norm was fired for doing O.J./murderer jokes clearly has no memory of Colin’s Updates (which is understandable), because Colin’s been getting away with doing plenty of O.J./murderer jokes in his Update tenure so far, and as far as I know, he didn’t have Ohlmeyer on his ass for it.
— Colin’s straight-to-camera rant about Easter is pretty funny, but his delivery is off during certain parts.
— The return of Gunner Olsen, who’s making what ends up being his final appearance.
— Once again, Jim is doing a solid rock star imitation and is displaying fantastic energy. I just wish the lyrics he sings about news stories were actually funny, like Operaman’s lyrics were. Where are the jokes in Gunner Olsen’s lyrics? I guess these Gunner Olsen commentaries are more about the performance than the lyrics, but we’ve already seen Jim do it all in the first Gunner Olsen commentary. There’s nowhere left for this bit to go. Thankfully, however, Jim is still making this fun with his performance.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Never Ever”


KOPPEL BROTHERS
Ted Koppel (DAH) & his junkie younger brother (host) reunite & reconcile

— Pretty fun having Greg play Ted Koppel’s similarly-voiced brother. Greg’s doing a good Ted Koppel voice, which shows that he probably came in to SNL at the beginning this week with this impression in his back pocket, and asked the writers if he could do his impression in a sketch with Darrell’s already-existing Koppel impression. I bet that’s also how we ended up with John Turturro playing Christopher Walken’s similarly-voiced brother in one of Jay Mohr’s Christopher Walken Celebrity Psychic Friends Network sketches.
— Hilarious line from Greg as Koppel’s brother: “Smoking cigarettes through a filter is like sucking tit through a sweater.”
— Some laughs from hearing Greg’s character talking so much about drugs in that professional Koppel voice he’s using.
— Good ending, showing Greg’s character in bed with two Asian businessmen while emotionally reacting to a report he’s watching his brother Ted do on TV.
STARS: ***½


THE PLANK
Captain Kidd (Bob Hoskins) makes (WIF) walk a really, really long plank

— I’m curious to finally see this sketch for my very first time. I recall someone on an SNL message board once naming this sketch in a list of all-time worst SNL sketches, but I’ve also seen some people defend this sketch over the years.
— Bob Hoskins becomes the latest in season 23’s recent habit of randomly bringing in a legendary actor (e.g. Robert Duvall, John Hurt) as a credited special guest and putting them in a sketch or two.
— The ridiculousness of how long it’s taking Will to walk to the end of the insanely-long plank is decent. Things get funnier when the pirates try coming up with alternative ways to kill Will. The idea of one of the pirates running in front of Will and sawing off the remainder of the plank is hilarious.
— Very funny fake-out when we hear an off-camera splash, as if Will finally fell off the plank, only for it to turn out that something just fell out of Will’s pocket.
— I love Darrell’s defeated delivery of “This is just unacceptable” before walking off. Between the Fives sketch earlier tonight and this sketch, I’m surprised by how many laughs I’ve been getting from Darrell in non-impression roles tonight.
— Weak ending.
— Overall, pretty good. Definitely not “Worst sketch ever” material. However, I can’t help but feel that this could’ve been even better. I bet SNL’s late 80s era would’ve done more with this sketch’s premise.
STARS: ***½


THE ROBIN BYRD SHOW
fresh-faced (host) is victim of faulty booking

— Even though the preceding installment of this sketch was an improvement over the first one, I can’t help but be kinda happy that tonight’s episode is the last time we’ll ever be seeing this sketch.
— Greg’s out-of-place family-friendly cowboy character is pretty funny.
— I liked Greg ad-lib about being out of breath.
— Hmm, while I’m enjoying the whole mix-up with Greg’s character, Cheri and Tim’s timing and delivery is starting to feel off and is kinda taking me out of the sketch.
STARS: **½


FORMER HOSTS OF LATER REUNION
Later reunion brings together host, Bob Costas (DAH), thousands more

 

— Uh-oh. The endless announcing of many former Later hosts one-by-one is bringing back unwanted memories of that awful Super Sports Tours sketch from the season 20 premiere, in which an endless number of baseball players are announced one-by-one for a cruise they’ll be on.
— This Later sketch is such a knock-off of the Super Sports Tours sketch that it even has the same fake-out where the announcer finally stops listing off names and just says “and many more…”, only for him to immediately follow it up by actually announcing each of the names in that “and many more” list.
— Okay, this is getting funnier when the announcer’s listing-off of names starts getting increasingly sped-up to a comical degree.
— Notably, one of the many Later guest hosts mentioned in this sketch is then-current SNL cast member Jim Breuer. Are they just throwing him into this as a random meta joke, or did he actually guest host Later at one point?
— Hmm, now they’re even rapidly scrolling a long list of extra names, divided into three columns, which is exactly what the Super Sports Tours sketch did at one point. It’s official: this sketch has to be written by the same person who wrote Super Sports Tours.
— I got a laugh from the stock footage of a huge award show crowd when we’re shown all the Later hosts in attendance at this reunion special.
— I love the part with all of the off-camera Later hosts interviewing Bob Hoskins in unison. Funny uncomfortable facial reactions from Hoskins during that.
— Overall, better than it initially seemed like it was going to be. This is what that Super Sports Tours sketch should’ve been.
STARS: ***


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode. Most of the episode consistently stayed in just the “pretty good” range, but there were a few fairly strong pieces, and none of the sketches fell really flat for me; even the sketch I gave the lowest rating to (The Robin Byrd Show) wasn’t too bad. Greg Kinnear was a pretty solid and charming one-time host, and I like the way he carried himself throughout the episode, coming off as comfortable and experienced as someone who’s already hosted the show before.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Steve Buscemi)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Matthew Broderick

Posted on

April 4, 1998 – Steve Buscemi / Third Eye Blind (S23 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

MULTIPLE BROADCASTS
viewers choice is Lewis Lapham [real] or farcical Bill Clinton (DAH) skit

— A good laugh from the bit with Tim smugly calling himself “the star of Saturday Night Live”, though it got no reaction from the audience.
— Fun premise of viewers being able to “choose” between two broadcasts.
— I cracked up at Tim’s introduction to the Clinton sketch, bluntly describing it as a comedy scene about Clinton’s dong.
— Funny progression to the Clinton sketch with it turning into a wild, silly sex party. This is another cold opening this season that shows how much fun this SNL era has with the Lewinsky scandal.
— I like how even more absurd the sex party gets with Goat Boy now randomly being thrown in. It’s fun seeing unrelated SNL recurring characters/impressions collide.
— I love the turn with Tim taking off his Oprah wig and revealing he’s actually O.J.
— Turns out I was wrong in an earlier review this season where I said Jim Breuer went through his entire SNL tenure without ever getting to open the show with a “Live from New York…”. He’s one of various people who say it during the big group LFNY at the end of this cold opening.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
TIM, ANG, WIF unsuccessfully try to help host return to his improv roots

— I’m enjoying Steve Buscemi’s dissatisfaction with the audience’s suggestions, eventually getting to the point where Steve has to be held back from angrily walking over one particular audience member. I also like Steve telling another audience member “We’re trying to do improv, not stupid-ass-suggestion-prov.”
— Some pretty good laughs from Steve’s “improv” just being quotes from his movies.
STARS: ***½


XEROX ASSJET 790
Rerun from 9/27/97


THE MAD TEA PARTY
truly mad Hatter (host) ruins tea party of Alice (MOS) & Hare (John Hurt)

— Among SNL fans, this is probably the most well-remembered sketch from tonight’s well-liked episode.
— I recall once hearing that Norm Macdonald, who hadn’t “officially” departed as a cast member yet, was originally supposed to play the Hare character that tonight’s credited special guest John Hurt is playing, but something happened during rehearsals of this sketch that caused Norm to walk out for good, causing the preceding Julianne Moore-hosted episode to end up as his final episode as a cast member. Does anyone know more details about what caused Norm to walk out during rehearsals of this sketch? I’m very curious to hear about it.
— Seems pretty random to cast John Hurt in this role. I do love his slowburn, though, after hearing that Steve’s Mad Hatter washes his hands 100 times a day because they smell like his mother.
— Mad Hatter: “I’m so mad, I constantly burn my penis with red-hot cigar butts!”
— Mad Hatter: “I build little race cars out of my poop!”
— Great reveal that the Mad Hatter is just some stranger who wasn’t even invited to the tea party.
— The Mad Hatter putting his fist in his mouth and having a fit is slaying me.
STARS: *****


MORNING LATTE
to (host)’s dismay, Didi Conn’s [real] Grease role snubbed

— As usual, several funny dense lines from the hosts played by Will and Cheri.
— I like Steve’s growing frustration throughout the interview.
— There goes our obligatory yell of “YOU STUPID BITCH!” It gets less and less funny in each passing installment of this sketch.
— After the “YOU STUPID BITCH!” part, I do like Steve storming off while saying “I think I’ll blow my brains out.”
STARS: ***½


GOTH TALK
the Prom of Doom is held in the high school boiler room

— Another refreshing change of scenery for this recurring sketch.
— A big laugh from Will’s song being interrupted by the door next to him swinging open and smacking him in the face.
— Unfortunately, this ends up being Jim’s final appearance in a Goth Talk sketch (we’re nearing the end of his SNL tenure).
— I absolutely love Steve as the affable-but-creepy janitor. He is adding so much to this sketch.
STARS: ****


TV FUNHOUSE
“Titey” by RBS- Disney’s cheerful spin on Titanic uses celebrity voices

— A hilarious idea of a Disney-fied version of Titanic.
— Fun hearing actual celebrities doing voices in this, including Gilbert Gottfried making his triumphant SNL return!
— Smigel is always great at mimicking the styles of certain animation genres when spoofing them, and tonight’s cartoon is a dead-on and very funny parody of typical animated Disney movies from this era.
— That’s Molly Ringwald singing as Anne Frank? Never knew she had such a good singing voice.
— For some reason, during the ending credits of this TV Funhouse, a no-audio freeze-frame shot of Lorne fighting with the dog replaces the usual moving shot of Lorne fighting with the dog while repeatedly saying “Leggo my show!”
STARS: *****


STUFF WE MADE
(JMB) & (host) show their crappy & creepy constructions

— Jim’s doing an accurate imitation of how hosts of do-it-yourself shows typically speak.
— I love Steve’s display of his “ScareJeff”, which he made to scare his wife’s new husband. I also like Steve’s detail of how he uses his “ScareJeff” while wearing a leather mask and playing German techno music.
— Good ad-lib from Jim when he accidentally says “sandpiper” instead of “sandpaper”.
— A great disturbing bit with Steve showcasing his ghost squirrel bike.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
Reggie White (TRM) extends his offensive remarks to cover more groups

— Colin’s opening straight-to-camera rant about Paula Jones was fairly forgettable.
— Some really good traditional news jokes from Colin tonight, even if I still don’t like his habit of muttering an unnecessary ad-lib after every damn joke.
— Speaking of Colin’s habit of muttering ad-libs after the jokes, when the audience is laughing at his Etch-A-Sketch joke, Colin quickly mutters a barely audible “Tina Fey”. I’m guessing Tina was responsible for that Etch-A-Sketch joke, and Colin was giving her on-air credit after seeing how well the audience reacted to it.
— Colin’s Daylight Savings Time joke was so bad, it was good. I also liked the actual funny ad-lib Colin made afterwards about the lameness of that joke.
— Tracy-as-Reggie-White’s commentary about minorities that he hates is cracking me up, in a silly way.
— Reggie White: “You ever see a midget in a suit? That is nasty!” Such a perfectly Tracy Morgan-esque line.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “How’s It Going To Be”


JUDGE JUDY
(ANG) & hip-hop dance instructor (host) litigate

— Why does Ana always play the plaintiff in Judge Judy sketches?
— I love the look of Steve’s dance instructor, with the mullet and 80s leather jacket.
— As always, Tracy’s various sassy one-liners as the bailiff are cracking me up.
— Funny bit with Steve demonstrating his “White Tornado” dance.
— In addition to Ana always playing the plaintiff, these Judgy Judy sketches also always end with Judge Judy “surprisingly” siding with the defendant. That twist isn’t even a surprise anymore. Shake things up, SNL writers.
STARS: ***½


JOB INTERVIEW
volatile (host) interviews jobseekers (CHK) & (Natasha Henstridge)

— Oh, here comes a favorite of mine.
— I love the tense and off-beat conversation between Chris and an irritable Steve.
— A particularly memorable bit with Steve thinking UCLA is pronounced “yuckla”.
— Steve, after mentioning he’s not familiar with the college UCLA: “I heard of Pepperdine. Why didn’t you go to Pepperdine?”
— The whole part with Steve talking about the last time he had sex is priceless.
— I love Steve telling Chris he can continue the interview even after letting him know he didn’t get the job.
— Steve: “(angrily) I TELL YOU I HAVEN’T HAD SEX IN 9 YEARS AND YOU TELL ME YOU’RE ALLERGIC TO CATS?!?”
— Hilarious sudden turn with Steve randomly giving Chris the job after all, when Chris has an angry outburst regarding wanting to leave.
— Natasha Henstridge cameo? Ooookay. Not only is it random as hell and not only is she not even given any dialogue, but the audience is dead silent, giving her no recognition applause whatsoever. I do love how Steve calls her “John”, though (as a callback to the name he kept incorrectly calling Chris earlier in the sketch).
STARS: *****


I TOOK A GAY GUY TO PROM
(ANG), (CHO), (MOS) remember their queer beaus

— Random premise, but I like how this is pre-taped and how they’re using special screen filter effects for each interview, giving this a realistic documentary look.
— Gay stereotypes abound here, and I’m not sure how it would come off by today’s standards, but I’m getting enough laughs here.
— I like Molly’s interview descending into insane nonsense, with her calling her prom date various different celebrity names.
STARS: ***


JIM HALSEY’S TRUCK DRIVIN’ MUSEUM
the Kenworth RX-40TD is profiled

— Some good laughs from the uselessness and awkwardness of Steve’s character, just silently and uncomfortably gesturing during Will’s profile of the truck.
— Overall, a simple, short sketch, but Steve absolutely made this whole thing.
STARS: ***½


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A great episode, and has always been one of my favorites of this season. Not only were there a lot of strong sketches tonight, but Steve Buscemi was a fantastic host, giving a great performance in every single sketch and consistently making me laugh all throughout the show. I also love the way the show utilized him, giving him plenty of roles that showcased his knack for playing oddball characters. There’s no excuse for SNL waiting 13 years after this episode to have him host again.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Julianne Moore)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Greg Kinnear

Posted on

March 14, 1998 – Julianne Moore / Backstreet Boys (S23 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE STARR REPORT
prosecutor Kenneth Starr (WIF) stops Bill Clinton skit to subpoena DAH

— A lot of laughs from Darrell-as-Clinton’s excitement over the Starr Report.
— Very funny book cover that Clinton displays.
— An interesting and funny fourth-wall turn with Will’s Kenneth Starr subpoenaing Darrell for playing the president.
— I love Will’s Starr telling Darrell “Shut your hole, Hammond!”
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
Gloria Stuart (CHO) performs Titanic scene to upstage Oscar rival host

— Funny performance from Cheri as Gloria Stuart.
— A good passive-aggressive line from Gloria Stuart about how the Oscar academy would rather give awards to people like Julianne Moore who takes her clothes off whenever the camera starts rolling.
— Amusing line from Gloria Stuart about losing the part of the rapping grandma role in The Wedding Singer.
— I like the fake ship set quickly assembled onstage.
STARS: ***½


THE DELICIOUS DISH
cultist (host) invites Margaret Jo & Terry to join sorghum farm compound

— Ah, a change of scenery in this Delicious Dish installment, with this taking place outdoors in a field.
— Julianne seems like she’ll be perfect for this recurring sketch.
— Molly: “Broom fiber? You just blew my mind.”
— Great turn this sketch suddenly takes, with Julianne’s casual reveal of the farm compound being a creepy, dark cult.
— Julianne’s insane, disturbing dialogue is made even funnier by her overly serious, soft-spoken delivery.
— I love how Ana is getting increasingly uneasy from Julianne’s various revelations about the cult.
STARS: ****


THE LADIES’ MAN
(host) helps Leon show how to handle relationship stages

— For the first time ever, a Ladies’ Man sketch gets recognition applause during Tim’s opening dialogue.
— We get a very welcome change of pace in tonight’s Ladies’ Man installment, with this one diverting from the usual “Leon Phelps answers question from callers” format by doing an Alfred Hitchcock-esque “The Ladies’ Man Presents” presentation, with Leon and Julianne demonstrating various love-making tips.
— Funny bit with Leon speeding up the clock.
STARS: ***½


BAND SHOT
Kenneth Starr (WIF) interrupts SNL Band to haul off Lenny Pickett [real]

— A fantastic continuation of the end of the cold opening, with Will’s Kenneth Starr now interrupting an SNL Band shot to subpoena Lenny Pickett.


PROMO

— Wow, the Kenneth Starr running gag even carries over into the “Next show” promo, which has a fake host/musical guest line-up (Robert DeNiro / The Rolling Stones). I absolutely love how SNL is going all out on this running gag.
— It’s weird in retrospect to see that this was back at a time when Robert DeNiro hosting SNL was considered an exciting and promising idea. If people back then only knew…


BARBARA WALTERS OSCAR SPECIAL
Matt Damon (JMB) & Ben Affleck (CHK)

 

— I like Cheri-as-Barbara-Walters’ cheesy intro speech, using the titles of that years Oscar-nominated movies as puns.
— Very funny scene with Barbara in bed with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
— Funny to see in retrospect that this was at a time where Ben Affleck was known as simply “Matt Damon’s friend”.
— Well, this is it – Norm Macdonald’s final appearance as a cast member. At least he gets to go out doing what is probably my favorite celebrity impression of his: Burt Reynolds.
STARS: ***½


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
Kenneth Starr (WIF) interrupts Jack Handey

— Didn’t this Lost Deep Thought about a boy who wanted to be an acrobat air already?
— Oh, wait, this turns out to get interrupted by Kenneth Starr. Yes! I love how this running gag is getting even more absurd as the show goes along.
— The fact that the conversation between Handey and Starr is captioned in the usual Deep Thoughts screen crawl is hilarious.
— I love Will’s Starr saying “You shut up, you shut up.” It’s just such a Will Ferrell-esque way of wording “shut up”.
— Starr, regarding Handey: “Let’s cuff him, he’s got dope in his pocket.” Ha, that probably explains a lot about Handey’s humor.


WEEKEND UPDATE

— I’m enjoying Colin’s opening rundown of the various women who Clinton fondled.
— Colin’s Asteroid joke feels like a throwback to the old Weekend Update eras of the 70s and 80s.
— Colin’s delivery of traditional news jokes has been getting a little better lately, but he can’t shake his habit of making unnecessary ad-libs to the audience after every damn joke. It’s getting increasingly annoying to me.
— No guest commentaries tonight.
— Overall, not a bad Update.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “As Long As You Love Me”


PRETTY LIVING
joyologist Helen espouses her philosophy

— This soon-to-be-recurring sketch makes its debut.
— Right out of the gate, this sketch has a case of what’s known as “early installment weirdness”, as this debut of Pretty Living has two hosts, played by Ana and Julianne, whereas all subsequent installments of this sketch would only have Ana as the sole host.
— Molly’s already-existing Helen Madden character now appears, and as we now know, she would go on to regularly appear in these Pretty Living sketches.
— Oh, god, and there goes Helen Madden’s constant over-the-top “I love it!”s and physical gyrations. I prefer Helen Madden’s pre-Pretty Living appearances, where Molly’s characterization of her was much more low-key. I never could stand the over-the-top characterization Molly does in these Pretty Living sketches.
— I like the running gag with Julianne dropping subtle hints of disturbing personal issues of hers. In fact, that’s been providing my only laughs in this entire sketch.
— Overall, blah. I can’t believe this would go on to become such an often-used recurring sketch. And unfortunately, the subsequent installments of this sketch don’t have Julianne Moore to be the sole saving grace.
STARS: *½


HEINEKEN
Kenneth Starr (WIF) interrupts a Heineken commercial to serve a subpoena

— This segment is a bit rare to see, as it’s removed from some copies of this episode.
— Amazing how the Kenneth Starr running gag is even carrying over into what you initially assume is a real commercial break. This Kenneth Starr running gag just keeps getting better and better.
— That strangely sounds like Michael McKean doing the voice-over for this commercial. There’s no way that’s him, though.


ART CLASS
nude model Terence Maddox (WIF) grosses out those trying to sketch him

— This soon-to-be-recurring character makes his debut. Unlike Pretty Living, THIS is something I’m actually happy to review the debut of.
— I love the students’ disgusted reactions to Terrence Maddox getting an erection. Also hilarious is his various euphemisms for his erection.
— Will is selling this character in the way that only he could.
— A particularly funny disgusting bit with the cheese grater.
— I love Maddox’s bizarre crying.
— Funny ending line from Maddox, letting the students know that he’s about to crap on top of their cars.
— Nice ending with a montage of professional sketchings of Maddox.
STARS: ****


TV FUNHOUSE
“Conspiracy Theory Rock!” by RBS- the news Media-Opoly is exposed

 

— Oh, this is a well-known and controversial TV Funhouse, one that would be banned from reruns.
— This parody of School House Rock is freakin’ spot-on and very fun. Very daring as well, with all of the shady things being revealed about corporations and the media.
— A funny interruption, with the NBC “Please Stand By” screen.
— A fantastic meta part, with the song now discussing “why they took Norm Macdonald away”. This is strangely fitting being aired in what ended up being Norm’s final episode.
— Overall, a brilliant masterpiece. Bravo to Smigel for having the balls to do this.
STARS: *****


GOOD MORNING WITH LIZA!
Gillian Anderson (host) & Joel Grey (CHK)

 

— Meh, I really could do without the return of this sketch. Didn’t care for this the first time, and it’s not like SNL has a shortage of celebrity-hosted talk show sketches in this era.
— Pretty spot-on casting of Julianne as Gillian Anderson, though maybe I just feel that way because of the red hair.
— Even though the scotch/“It’s coffee to me!” bit was reused from the first installment of this sketch, Molly delivered it in a more amusing way tonight.
— Overall, most of this sketch was as weak as the first installment. Thankfully, this is the last time they ever do this sketch.
STARS: **


THE GOLORDS
Golords foil Canadian plot to make Alan Greenspan raise interest rates

— I like the random bit of business with the male Golord inflating his blow-up doll while casually having a normal conversation with the female Golord.
— The climactic fight scene has hilariously gruesome gore, such as the female Golord cutting a bear in half with a chainsaw, and a villain getting a huge hole shot right through his head.
STARS: ****


SHIRTLESS BIBLE SALESMEN
shirtless Bible salesmen (WIF) & (TIM) lob non sequiturs at (host)

— Ha, two sketches tonight starring a shirtless Will Ferrell?
— Among the abundant randomness when Will and Tim make their entrance, I love the subtle joke of Tim’s name being Kent State.
— This sketch is wonderfully absurd. There’s a hilariously bizarre non-sequitur being delivered every few seconds. Too many to highlight in this review.
— A great pairing of Will and Tim. This sketch is perfectly utilizing the traits that I love most about both Will and Tim as performers.
— Great ending line: “Come on, let’s go untie that kid.”
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty strong episode, minus the two bad talk show sketches (Pretty Living and Good Morning With Liza). We got a brilliant TV Funhouse, two strong bizarre Will Ferrell pieces (Art Class and Shirtless Bible Salesmen), one of the best Delicious Dish installments, and a great & ambitious running gag throughout the show involving Will Ferrell’s Kenneth Starr impression.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Scott Wolf)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Steve Buscemi

Posted on

March 7, 1998 – Scott Wolf / Natalie Imbruglia (S23 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

LARRY KING LIVE
Bill Clinton’s (DAH) accusers appear via satellite

— I love Molly’s Monica Lewinsky greeting Darrell’s Bill Clinton as “Lefty”.
— Colin makes his very first sketch appearance since becoming Weekend Update anchor two months earlier.
— I’m liking the increasingly large number of accusers that Norm’s Larry King is introducing.
— Though she’s made a few onscreen appearances prior to this, this is the first time in this SNL project that I’ve noticed a Tina Fey sighting on my own without having it pointed out to me after I’ve posted my review of an episode. She looks so baby-faced in this (the second-to-last above screencap for this cold opening).
— A very funny split-screen shot of all the accusers speaking in unison. I also like the shocked look on Darrell-as-Clinton’s face immediately after that.
— Good part with Larry King sternly cutting off Clinton’s attempt to use “Live from New York…” as a way of getting out of yet another jam.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host & audience members (DAH), (JMB), (CHO) share New Jersey roots

— Feels a little odd seeing Darrell in this type of role. Jim, on the other hand, is tailor-made for this role.
— An overall short and simple, but decent, monologue.
STARS: ***


T.G.I. FRIDAY’S
T.G.I.Fridays star server (host) coaches trainee Mary Katherine Gallagher

— I like Will’s stern T.G.I. Friday’s boss saying “Maybe that B.S. flies over at T.J. McWhiskers, but not here.”
— I remember the first time I ever saw this sketch, it was in a Comedy Central rerun shortly after I first started getting into SNL. The Mary Katherine Gallagher movie Superstar had recently opened, which I saw commercials for pretty frequently. Having no idea that the movie was spun off from SNL and having no idea that tonight’s Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch originally aired a year-and-a-half before the movie came out, I sat through this sketch thinking that SNL was doing a spoof of Superstar. I had no idea the same actress who I saw playing MKG in commercials for Superstar was the same one playing MKG in the sketch I was watching.
— A fairly refreshing setting for Mary Katherine Gallagher, who we also refreshingly haven’t seen in quite a while.
— Quite a lot of fairly big non-impression roles for Darrell tonight.
— A new addition to MKG’s usual sniff-hands-after-putting-them-under-armpits routine, with her doing a random boob-squeeze on herself afterwards.
— I love the very random food combo items the customers order off the menu, such as Lucky Charms-coated shrimp.
— A laugh from MKG presenting Ana and Darrell with a plate of spaghetti after falling butt-first onto it on the floor.
— When a male extra is helping MKG off the floor after her pratfall through a restaurant table, I love how the extra slowly tips over out of his chair, which he humorously doesn’t even seem phased by.
STARS: ***


THE CELINE DION SHOW
“the best voice in the world” Celine Dion (ANG) upstages divas

— The debut of Ana’s Celine Dion impresion. I’m not too crazy about the lazy idea of giving her her own talk show sketch, a tired go-to SNL trope for celebrity impressions.
— Very funny Celine impression from Ana, and she’s leading this sketch well.
— A laugh from Cheri’s Mariah Carey saying “I’ve got a very nice ass” when answering Celine’s question “What’s new with you?”
— Though it’s a typical man-in-drag gag, Tim’s look as Erykah Badu is funny.
— A good line that Tim’s Badu sternly delivers to Ana’s Celine: “That don’t go down smooth in Baduland, honey.”
— Nice touch with the SNL Band being shown playing the Celine Dion Show theme music after the sketch ends.
STARS: ***½


PARTY OF FIVE
a black guy (TRM) gets involved with Bailey (host) & clan

— I only have very vague memories of watching Party Of Five a few times as a kid in the 90s. I’m assuming Will is playing Matthew Fox’s character, Molly is Neve Campbell’s character, and I can definitely tell Cheri is Lacey Chabert’s character.
— Funny visual of a hospital gown-wearing Will laying in a hospital bed right in the middle of the kitchen, of all places.
— I love how Tracy’s first exit is immediately followed by the family standing in confused silence, then asking “Who was that?!?”
— Tracy is solid in this. Between the Loews sketch in the preceding episode and now this sketch, SNL finally seems to be getting the hang of how to properly utilize Tracy.
— A very funny detail of Tracy eating a slice of pizza in one of the pre-taped interstitial shots of him driving a car in a hurry.
— The ending was dumb, but cracked me up anyway, especially with the panicked look on Tracy’s face when running in front of the green-screen.
STARS: either ***½ or ****, I can’t decide yet


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ gives his thoughts on how interns should be treated
COQ makes an analogy between Iraq diplomacy & peer group politics
heavy metal singer Gunner Olsen (JMB) fashions the news for young viewers

— We open with Colin doing another straight-to-camera stand-up-style breakdown of a news story.
— Colin’s straight-to-camera breakdown ended up being solid.
— I love Colin’s offensive two-part Puerto Rican flag joke, though he almost ruined it with an awkward long pause before the first punchline. He clearly needs to work on his delivery.
— The debut of a short-lived Jim Breuer character: Gunner Olsen.
— A dead-on and funny rock star imitation from Jim.
— The concept of Gunner Olsen singing various news stories in a heavy metal style while his lyrics are captioned on the bottom of the screen feels like a poor man’s version of Adam Sandler’s Operaman, only with the music genre being heavy metal instead of opera, and SNL doing away with the graphics of photos that were typically displayed next to Operaman. Actually, I can picture Adam Sandler himself playing this Gunner Olsen character as well. Jim even sounds kinda Sandler-esque when singing in a higher register.
— Some unintended cracking up from Jim in reaction to the audience’s enthusiasm.
— Despite the similarities that this Gunner Olsen commentary has to Operaman, I am loving Jim’s performance and energy here.
— Wow, Jim even does a stage dive off of the Update desk at the end of his commentary. Damn, he went all out as this character.
— An overall decent night for Colin. The traditional news jokes he did were a little better than usual, and he had his usual solid straight-to-camera stand-up-style news breakdowns here and there. Jim also added great energy with his commentary.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Torn”


THE 3RD ANNUAL REENACTMENT AWARDS
dramatic re-creationists get their due

— A fairly funny concept, but I’m wary of this sketch, as SNL has a poor track record with their award show sketches.
— I like Tim’s acceptance speech.
— Cheri and Ana are great at selling the awfulness of typical award show banter.
— Who in the world is that playing John Crane (the second-to-last above screencap for this sketch)? I guess it’s just an extra, but I almost thought it was a cameo from some celebrity that I’m not familiar with.
— During Scott’s Tommy Lee musical number, I like the cutaway to stock footage of a celebrity in the audience (not sure who it is) watching with a deadpan facial expression while his finger is resting on his lips.
— Overall, this sketch wasn’t as bad as I was worried it would be, but I still wasn’t too crazy about this.
STARS: **½


EAST LAKE CINEMA
host & Party of Five are old news to Titanic-obsessed Craig & Arianna

— Much like Mary Katherine Gallagher earlier tonight, we get the Spartan Cheerleaders in a fairly refreshing setting. However, something about their appearance in this sketch feels sad. Like perhaps these characters are officially past their prime by this point. (And I know that quite a lot of people would say I’m being way too generous by saying it took this long for the Cheerleaders to finally reach their official expiration date, but hey, while doing these reviews, I surprisingly haven’t been hating the Cheerleaders quite as much as I expected to. These sketches are often more tolerable and charming than I feel people give them credit for.)
— I think part of the reason for the aforementioned sad, pathetic feel of this particular Cheerleaders sketch is because it’s airing so late in the show. I can’t think of any time prior to this that a Cheerleaders sketch was buried so late in an episode. SNL is clearly aware that these characters are dying.
— Arianna: “You know what we need to do?” Craig: “Finally experiment with each other sexually?”
— Overall, not horrible, but yeah, a definite step down from the usual Cheerleaders fare.
STARS: **


ISSUES
on break from BYU, Jeff’s cousin (host) tokes for the first time

— Wow, tonight’s episode has, by far, the largest number of lead roles that the invisible Jim Breuer has gotten all season. It’s like SNL finally remembered he’s in the cast.
— The return of this sketch reminds me of a funny negative comment I once read in an old SNL review that was written back when this episode originally aired: “If I promise to rent Half-Baked when it’s on video, will they stop letting Jim Breuer play potheads?”
— Why is the guest in these Issues sketches always played by Ana?
— At least the concept of Scott being unfamiliar with how it feels to be high is taking this sketch into a somewhat different direction from the first installment.
— Overall, not bad. No big loss, though, that this ends up being the final appearance of this short-lived recurring sketch.
STARS: ***


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


GUITARISTS
coeds (CHO), (MOS), (ANG) fall for duelling troubadours (host) & (CHK)

— A laugh from Chris mumbling his way through the portion he doesn’t know of the song “Danny’s Song”.
— Another laugh from Chris, this time when he acts like he’s going to sing a song based on the name of Cheri’s character, Diana, only to inexplicably break out into the song “Gloria”.
— I like the girls turning against Chris when he sings an original song they don’t know.
STARS: ***


BREATH SPRAY PLUS
Breath Spray Plus trades purse clutter for potential safety hazards

— They must be airing this as last-minute time filler, as it’s rare to debut a new fake ad at the end of an episode.
— I love the shot of Will laying down while screaming in an alley after getting his eyes sprayed with mace from Ana’s Breath Spray Plus.
— A lot of laughs from the increasingly complicated directions for the spray’s dual-action switch settings.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A blandly average episode. Not bad, but very forgettable, especially the post-Weekend Update half. Nothing was particularly terrible in tonight’s episode, but nothing stood out to me as great either, besides the Breath Spray Plus commercial thrown in at the end of the show and maybe the Party of Five sketch.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Garth Brooks)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Julianne Moore. It’s also Norm Macdonald’s final episode.