January 17, 1998 – Sarah Michelle Gellar / Portishead (S23 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

SELF DEFENSE TEST
Unabomber’s (WIF) pitch to represent himself in court is unconvincing

— Always good to see Will’s Unabomber.
— Funny reference to a real-life then-recent incident where the Unabomber tried to hang himself with a pair of underwear.
— I love the reveal of the Unabomber’s law degree just being a Denny’s placemat with “I’m a lawyer” written on it.
— Unabomber: “I miss the old days when I had it all: a shack. A bucket. That was pretty much it.”
STARS: ***½

MONOLOGUE
host tries to improvise reciprocation when castmembers give her gifts

— A big deal right now: Norm makes his first live appearance since the Weekend Update firing fiasco, to thunderous applause from the audience. Very nice to see this.
— After the thunderous applause ends, Norm humorously says to the audience “I gotta do this skit now.” That, combined with the lit cigarette in his hand, show that ever since his Update firing, he’s in FULL-ON don’t-give-a-fuck mode, and I love it.
— Norm, to Sarah: “I’ve watched All My Children, you know, never since you left.”
— I feel sorry for Darrell having to follow Norm’s epic appearance.
— I’m liking the increasingly over-the-top nice gifts Sarah is being presented with by the cast, as well as Sarah’s desperation to find something to give back to them.
— I love Sarah giving Darrell a bag of pot from a purse that she snatched from an audience member (Paula Pell).
STARS: ****

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT SMALLPOX
Spice Girls (MOS), (host), (ANG), (CHO), (CHK) speak out about smallpox

— Oh my god, Chris as Scary Spice? Not that I want to see Tim or Tracy thrown in drag once again, but is throwing Chris in brownface drag any better? Granted, the brown make-up he’s wearing is light (so much so, that I’m not even sure if he’s wearing it), but still…
— I gotta say, as questionable as the decision to cast Chris as Scary Spice is, I’m finding myself laughing at his mannerisms and facial expressions in this. It’s so silly that it’s funny.
— An overall short and fairly thin bit, but pretty funny for what it was.
STARS: ***

THE VIEW
Glenn Close (ANG) visits; Debbie Matenopoulos (host) is chided

— Speaking of Tracy in drag…
— I absolutely love how Cheri’s Barbara Walters is upping the ante on her singing of The View theme song in the last View sketch, by now singing the theme in German.
— A good laugh from Sarah’s Debbie Matenopoulos saying “If I had a clone, I’d make out with myself.”
— Spot-on casting of Ana as Glenn Close, as I can see a pretty strong resemblance. It’s something about the eyes.
— When all of the women are talking over each other while greeting Ana’s Glenn Close, I like Tracy’s Star Jones being heard telling Glenn “You are one of the whitest women I ever seen.”
— As good as Claire Danes was as Debbie Matenopoulos in the first View sketch, I’m liking Sarah’s take on Debbie even more.
— Very funny ending with Barbara Walters forcing Debbie to stand in the corner after one particularly idiotic statement she made.
STARS: ****

MEN ARE FROM MARS, WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS
counselor Dr. John Gray (NOM) doesn’t fit his own gender stereotypes

— I have no familiarity with what John Gray acts or sounds like, but I’m loving Norm’s performance as him. He is giving this his all and is consistently cracking me up. And knowing his knack for good impressions, I’m sure his take on John Gray is spot-on.
— A big laugh from Norm’s Gray unconvincingly talking about how men love women’s “big wonderful fannies”.
— I like Will’s constant confusion during his and Sarah’s various testimonials.
STARS: ***½

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS
Spice Girls (MOS), (host), (ANG), (CHO), (CHK) nix rheumatoid arthritis

— Ah, this is a runner.
— A technical glitch, in which the ending voice-over says “To learn more about smallpox, visit…. etc.”, despite the fact that the topic the Spice Girls covered in this particular sketch was rheumatoid arthritis, not smallpox. They must’ve mistakenly played the ending voice-over from the first Spice Girls sketch by mistake, which I can’t understand, considering both Spice Girls sketches are pre-taped.
— Overall, it wasn’t necessary to make this a runner, but I still got some amusement from this. There better not be a third edition of this tonight, though. (I am aware, however, that they later do another one of these in the Cameron Diaz episode from the following season.)
STARS: **½

DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY DINNER
irritable patriarch (WIF) fumes during a hypersensitive family dinner

— Oh, I had completely forgotten about this sketch until now. This is a well-liked sketch among SNL fans, and has been a favorite of mine.
— I love the portions of the sketch with the long, tense stretches of non-dialogue among the family while we hear their utensils loudly clanking on the dinner plates.
— Great delivery from Will with his stern “Can I finish the story?” when Ana asks an innocent question in the middle of his story.
— Some really funny vicious lines that Sarah delivers to her parents throughout this sketch, especially “Shut up, you drunken witch!”
— Funny how this is the second sketch tonight to have a running gag where various people talk in unison, and then, as their simultaneous talking dies down, one of them is heard saying an absurd statement. (The other sketch that happened in tonight is The View.) During one of the times in this sketch that the family’s yelling in unison dies down, Will delivers the classic line “I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!”
STARS: *****

ROAD TO NAGANO
at a pre-Olympics competition, bad girl Tara Lipinski (host) skates angry

— Haha, Chris as Kerri Strug, basically just doing his Kippi Strug bit from an earlier Weekend Update commentary (which has grown on me since I originally reviewed it about a month ago).
— Good brash portrayal of Tara Lipinski from Sarah.
— Some funny rude actions from Sarah’s Lipinski while skating, such as drinking beer and giving someone the finger.
STARS: ***½

THE GOLORDS
Golords save Super Bowl XXXII from anthrax-wielding Saddam Hussein

— Surprisingly, this is the first Golord short to air since the third episode of this season. I had forgotten about these until now.
— Saddam Hussein’s horniness from seeing an Arabic porn magazine is very funny.
— Some of the dolls seated behind the Golords are noticeably celebrity dolls that appeared in earlier Golord shorts, such as Bill Gates and Bill Clinton. There’s also a Jay Leno-looking doll sitting in the row in front of the Golords, even though we never got a Jay Leno appearance in a Golords short before this (nor am I sure we ever get one after this).
— I love Saddam saying, in reaction to seeing the female Golord naked, “I’d like to launch a scud into her airspace!” It’s also hilarious when that line immediately gets followed by a screen saying “Script repair underway”, which then gets followed by a shot of Saddam saying a much tamer sleazy line about the naked female Golord: “I’d like to spend midnight at the oasis with her!”
— Very funny visual effect of Saddam’s face melting off.
STARS: ****

GOTH TALK
Circe embarrasses her Orlando rival, Countess Cobwella (host)

— Good subplot with Jim’s character being drunk behind the couch. A change of pace from the usual bits with him in these Goth Talk sketches.
— The “lost retainer” bit is funny on paper, but is coming off kinda awkward in the execution.
— I’m liking the negative tension between Molly and Sarah’s characters.
— After it being established right from the very first Goth Talk sketch that the real first name of Chris’ Azrael Abyss character is Todd, I’m surprised it’s taken us this long to find out the real first name of Molly’s Circe Nightshade character: Stephanie.
— Funny video of Sarah cheesily dancing and lip-syncing to Ace of Base. I also like the detail of the 80s vest jacket she’s wearing.
STARS: ***½

WEEKEND UPDATE
to O.J. Simpson (TIM), all mass killings are crimes of passion

— The title sequence has been slightly modified, as it now ends with a title plate with the words “Weekend Update with Colin Quinn”.

— Colin came off kinda awkward during his sign-on, which was drowned out by the audience’s opening applause.
— Yeah, much like in his Update debut last week, Colin’s attempt at a straitlaced news anchor delivery during his jokes is not working for me.
— I’m noticing that Colin keeps making unnatural pauses in his sentences.
— I love Colin’s “huge balls” joke about two World Trade Center robbers who showed their faces on security cameras.
— Ah, Colin is now using his natural stand-up delivery when doing an addendum to the aforementioned World Trade Center robbers story. Clearly, this is where his niche as an anchorperson is: doing stand-up-style breakdowns of news stories.
— Good rant from Colin about a 13-year-old girl touring with the Allman Brothers, though it had an empty ending, which is a problem with some of the stand-up-style breakdowns and rants he’s been doing tonight.
— I like Tim-as-O.J.’s line about trying to solve the mystery of who bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
— A few other funny comments from Tim’s O.J.., most of which allude to him being a murderer, which proves even further that Norm was, in fact, not fired from Update for doing too many harsh O.J. jokes.
STARS: **½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Only You”

THE ROBIN BYRD SHOW
anti-porn crusader (ANG) infiltrates panel

 

— I love Tim’s goofy dancing to “I Like to Move It”.
— Cheri’s overdoing it with the temporary blacking-out moments while she’s in the middle of dialogue.
— Funny reveal that Sarah’s stripper-esque dance was a tribute to Princess Diana.
— Good turn with Ana’s porn protester.
— Overall, this was an improvement over the first Robin Byrd Show sketch.
STARS: ***

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER
plot shift will fill the Seinfeld void

— I’m enjoying this concept, doing a hybrid of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the about-to-end Seinfeld.
— Will’s Jerry impression is good (though feels a little weird in retrospect, knowing that Jimmy Fallon is only half a year away from joining the show), but Darrell’s George is iffy.
— Very funny Kramer impression from Jim, though he’s nailing the mannerisms better than the voice.
— Much like Ana playing Glenn Close earlier tonight, Sarah playing Elaine is good casting, as she’s a dead-ringer for her in that wig. Come to think of it, even without the wig, there are already some facial similarities between Sarah and Julia Louis Dreyfus.
— In addition to the facial resemblance, Sarah’s Elaine is also a solid impression.
STARS: ***

TIGER BEAT’S ULTRA SUPER DUPER DREAMY LOVE SHOW
teens (host) (MOS), (CHO), (ANG) gab with Jonathan Taylor Thomas’ director (NOM)

— A funny and very accurate parody of teen girl culture from this era.
— A big laugh from Ana’s disturbing comment about Christina Ricci, and how it contrasted against what the other girls were saying in that conversation.
— I particularly like the “future star” segment about a baby actor.
— Good turn with Norm’s out-of-place old man character in such a setting like this.
— An epic Norm blooper now happens, with Norm removing his fake mustache, which had begun slowly peeling off, and telling the girls in a great ad-libbed bit “This is not a real mustache”, proceeding to go on about a guy he bought the mustache from, culminating in Norm saying “I asked ‘Will it fall off?’, he said ‘NO!’”
STARS: ****

THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY

— This is the first Lost Deep Thought all season that I feel could roll with the original Deep Thoughts of the early 90s.

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty solid episode. The quality was consistently good, I liked just about every sketch, and the show contained a personal favorite of mine (Dysfunctional Family Dinner). Sarah Michelle Gellar stood out tonight among other young hosts from this era. She did well in every sketch, was likable, and had a few strong moments, proving herself worthy of soon becoming a recurring host.

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

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Samuel L. Jackson)
a step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Our annual John Goodman episode, this time with him again being joined by special guest Dan Aykroyd