February 28, 1998 – Garth Brooks (S23 E14)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

PHONE CHAT
Bill Clinton (DAH) phones Saddam Hussein (WIF) & Monica Lewinsky (MOS)

— I like the initial visual of Will’s Saddam, eating from a bowl of cereal.
— Great turn with Molly’s Monica Lewinsky being on the other line.
— I love how increasingly casual this three-way phone conversation is getting, especially when it gets to the point where they’re talking about tonight’s episode of Dawson’s Creek.
— Saddam Hussein, when greeting Monica Lewinsky: “Monica! You never call me anymore!”
— Brilliant joke with Saddam thanking Monica for the beret.
— I like how even more random and casual this phone conversation is getting, with Tim Meadows as himself joining in.
— This sketch is such a blast. Whenever I think of how much fun SNL had with the Lewinsky scandal, this is usually always one of the first sketches that comes to mind.
— Great variation of “Live from New York…” with Will’s Saddam opening the show by saying “Livetime from the New York, it’s Saturday Fun Hour!”
STARS: ****½

OPENING MONTAGE
— After being removed from the opening montage in the last two episodes, Norm Macdonald has been reinstated back into the montage.

MONOLOGUE
host relives stint in psychedelic revival band with a trippy guitar solo

— Right off the bat, Garth is already coming off very likable, loose, and comfortable.
— Great turn with Garth performing a psychedelic song, complete with hippie attire worn by Garth, a green-screen background of psychedelic images, and a zooming-in-and-out camera effect. This alone lets you know what a surprisingly fun host Garth is going to be tonight.
— Good self-deprecation from Garth during his “We got a great show for you tonight” spiel, calling tonight’s musical guest “very lame”.
STARS: ****

COWBOYS
on the range, host claims kinship with real cowboys (WIF), (JMB), (TIM)

— Already a laugh early on from Garth’s contemporary cowboy being seen in this old-timey western setting.
— I love the utter confusion from the other cowboys when Garth’s cellphone rings.
— Great delivery from Will when finally asking Garth “What in the hell are you talkin’ about?!?”
— The premise is fairly thin, but the execution is pretty solid, especially with Garth giving such a strong performance.
STARS: ***½

MANGO
host’s career goes downhill after he falls under the spell of Mango

— Funny how the group of men sitting at the table in the opening shot of this sketch is the exact same group of performers we saw in the preceding Cowboy sketch, minus Tim. They’re seated in the same order too.
— This is a very famous Mango installment; in fact, the most famous of them all, I’d say.
— Watching this after recently watching and reviewing the preceding Mango sketches makes me realize how much tonight’s famous Mango installment is just following the EXACT SAME pattern as the previous installments.
— Despite my above complaint about how this Mango installment is lazily following the exact same pattern as previous installments, tonight’s installment is working much better, due to the fact that 1) it’s funny to see that all the craziness in this sketch is happening to Garth Brooks as himself, instead of Garth simply playing a character like Brendan Fraser and Samuel L. Jackson did in the previous Mango installments, and 2) Garth is giving a freakin’ fantastic performance.
— Garth’s whiny delivery of “Sons of bitches!” when pushing back the crowd of Mango admirers absolutely slayed me.
— Funny how Mango mentions Ben Affleck as one of his celebrity admirers, considering SNL would later do a Mango sketch with Ben Affleck playing himself falling under Mango’s spell, when Affleck makes his hosting debut in season 25. I can’t remember, but I bet that particular Mango installment acts like Affleck never met Mango before then, which kinda screws up the continuity of this recurring sketch (certainly not a big deal, though).
— Great ending yell from Garth of the line “MANGOOOOOOO!”
STARS: ***½

OPRAH
Monica Lewinsky (MOS) waffles about Bill Clinton oral sex

— Good ad-libbing from Tim when he has a difficult time speaking with his mouth full of food.
— What the hell? Why am I hearing game show buzzer sounds in the background all of a sudden? (*remembers that there are two game show sketches that will be appearing later tonight*) Ah, right. I guess we’re hearing an SNL crew member testing out the buzzers for whichever game show sketch is coming up next. Why do that during a sketch in progress, though? Did they think we wouldn’t hear it in the background?
— Fairly funny how Monica Lewinsky’s book contradicts her claim that she didn’t give oral sex to Bill Clinton.
— Overall, the writing for this sketch was a little “ehhh”, but the sketch was passable, mostly due to Tim’s fun performance.
STARS: ***

TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- David Brenner makes the talk show circuit

— Hilarious premise of an endlessly-rambling David Brenner being dropped down from one talk show to another.
— Conan!
— I love the bit with Conan and Andy Richter struggling to get the trap door to open. Makes me wonder if Smigel was the writer behind that Wilson’s Trap Door fake ad that SNL did 10 years earlier (one of my favorite SNL fake ads of all time).
— I howled at the bit where David Brenner immediately falls straight through Tom Snyder’s talk show because Snyder’s guest chair is already facing down towards an open trap door.
— This cartoon in general is priceless.
— Brilliant gag with Sally Jessy Raphael’s show being below hell.
STARS: ****½

OLD FRENCH WHORE!
prostitutes & high school students team on game show

 

— A well-loved Tina Fey-written game show sketch.
— The concept of this game show sketch is hilarious.
— Great casting of Garth as one of the French whores. And he actually looks more convincing in drag than I would’ve thought.
— Tim, regarding the French whore he’s paired with: “She smells like whiskey and feet!”
— Chris: “I think my whore is dead.”
— Garth is playing his role very well, and I love the premise of his character being the one French whore who’s actually wise.
— A great mock dramatic monologue from Garth, complete with a spotlight shined on him.
STARS: ****½

WEEKEND UPDATE
host is Cinder Calhoun’s “Adonis in Blue Jeans,” but he’s not interested

— Our very first Colin Quinn Weekend Update mention of Old Dirty Bastard, who I recall Colin would go on to mention quite a bit throughout his Weekend Update tenure.
— Some mildly funny jokes from Colin so far tonight, but he’s still coming off very stiff during his delivery of them.
— Good Irish/condoms joke from Colin, which allowed him to use a looser delivery that he’s clearly more comfortable with.
— The running gag in Cinder Calhoun’s commentaries with her using an accent whenever she pronounces Spanish words reminds me of an NBC News sketch that SNL did with Jimmy Smits in season 16, as well as a lesser-known Weekend Update commentary that Victoria Jackson did a year before that.
— Cinder’s love song to Garth is funny, as is Garth’s uncomfortable facial expressions and his singing of his rejection of Cinder’s love.
— For the first time, Colin ends Update by saying “I’m Colin Quinn, that’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it”, which would go on to become his regular tagline for Update.
STARS: **½

WHO’S MORE GRIZZLED?!
inured (host) & (Robert Duvall) vie on game show

— Two sketches in a row tonight that’s a game show.
— Norm!
— Clearly, the audience shares my excitement over seeing Norm’s first appearance in weeks, as we get a great audience reaction to Norm’s entrance.
— Nice use of tonight’s credited special guest Robert Duvall.
— I remember when I first saw this sketch, I didn’t recognize Garth in that wig and beard. I seriously spent the entire sketch thinking that was an uncredited random old man playing Garth’s role, and I wondered why the hell SNL would give such a big role to an unknown extra and pair him with a legendary actor like Robert Duvall.
— Garth, to Norm: “I don’t much care for you.” Norm: “(smiling) A lot of people don’t.” An intentional clever meta reference to Norm’s recent predicament on SNL.
— Garth continues to impress me tonight, as he is really disappearing into character in this (which is probably part of what contributed to me not recognizing him when I first saw this sketch).
— Norm is making a solid straight man and game show host in this.
— So many funny grizzled demonstrations from Garth and Duvall.
— Always nice to see SNL’s lighting designer Phil Hymes appear in a sketch (last screencap above), though he messes up his one line in this sketch. I think SNL would later replace his portion of this sketch with the dress rehearsal version in reruns.
— I love how after Duvall’s God rant, Garth gives him a long, speechless, disturbed look, and then says “Damn. You are grizzled.”
STARS: ****½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Two Pina Coladas”

HEY, REMEMBER THE 80’S
Brian Setzer (CHK) & Kevin Rowland (host)

— Meh, this sketch once again. However, this thankfully ends up being the final installment.
— I love Garth’s spot-on imitation of Kevin Rowland’s dancing.
— Ha, I like the inclusion of Cyndi Lauper and Captain Lou Albano.
— In the “Live From New York” book, Cheri mentions that her family came to the show the night of this episode to see Garth Brooks in person (I think Cheri says that the reason for that is her dad was a country singer himself, or something like that), and it ended up being a sad experience for Cheri, because, as she claims, she was completely cut out of the live show. Cheri’s memory must be faulty, because she’s actually appeared in two sketches so far tonight. And, no, she wasn’t referring to the second Garth Brooks-hosted episode, either, because I recall Cheri and Garth doing a “Simmah dah nah!” sketch together in that one.
— During the Cheri-as-Cyndi-Lauper performance of “True Colors”, we get a hilarious random appearance of Will playing the “Soy Bomb” guy who interrupted Bob Dylan’s then-recent performance at that year’s Grammys.
— Overall, a little better than most Hey, Remember the 80s sketches. Even Jim’s Goat Boy shtick didn’t bug me as much as usual this time.
STARS: ***

LOEWS
trapped moviegoers try to survive endless stream of Shelley Long trailers

— Interestingly, the name of Shelley Long’s character in the “My Mom, The Mime” trailer is Diane Carbonal, which is the same name of an Ana Gasteyer recurring character who’s a news reporter.
— Ha, Tracy playing what would go on to be known as a classic Tracy Morgan type of role.
— I love the moviegoers’ suffering through horrible movie previews, most of which inexplicably seem to star Shelley Long and feature the song “I Feel Good”. This is freakin’ priceless.
— Great bit with the cheerful Loews Theater jingle revealing that the doors are locked from the outside.
— I am absolutely loving the moviegoers’ gradual descent into madness over the course of this sketch.
— Haha, holy hell at the convincing visual of Will having his limbs torn apart.
— Molly: “SHELLEY LONG HAS DIED FOR YOUR SINS, YOU SONS OF BITCHES!” That has got to be one of my favorite Molly Shannon line deliveries ever.
— Yet another fantastic bit is Jim’s reveal about a perpetually-smiling Tracy: “Oh, god! He’s got no lower half! He’s eaten his own legs!”
— Could’ve used a bit of a better ending, but overall, this sketch was an absolute masterpiece. One of my favorite sketches of all time.
STARS: *****

LAY LADY LAY
(WIF) visits (Robert Duvall)’s hospital bed to sing “Lay Lady Lay”

— I like Will quietly entering as a hospital worker and randomly starting to sing “Lay Lady Lay” to a sleeping Robert Duvall.
— A good laugh from Will repeatedly yelling “You shut up!” during his and Duvall’s back-and-forth arguing.
— Sweet turn with Duvall having a change of heart, letting Will sing to him, and even joining in on a duet.
— Immediately after the nice duet ends, I love Will’s sudden delivery of “I’m gonna bathe you now.”
— I found this to be an overall nice way to end the show. This sketch probably wouldn’t have worked outside of the 10-to-1 spot.
STARS: ***½

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A strong episode, one that I feel is one of the best of this season. Every single sketch worked for me, one of the sketches was an all-time favorite of mine (Loews), and many other sketches were both great and very memorable. Even Mango and Remember The 80s were good, for crying out loud. Also adding to this episode was Garth Brooks, who turned in one of the most surprising hosting performances from a non-actor in SNL history. He did a very good job in every single sketch and came off natural, very fun, and funny. I’m looking forward to seeing him return two seasons later.

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

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Roma Downey)
a big step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Scott Wolf