Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
pianist (host) wants no part of Dooneese
— (*groan*) Another Lawrence Welk sketch.
— This cold opening begins rather awkwardly with a smiling Fred just silently staring at the camera for an extended amount of time before finally speaking. I’m not sure if the reason for this weird long pause of Fred’s is because perhaps 1) Fred hadn’t yet realized he was on the air, 2) there was a “The Lawrence Welk Show” title screen that was supposed to precede the opening shot of Fred but failed to show up, or 3) the audience was supposed to applaud before Fred spoke (you know, that dumb, pointless “Have the audience applaud at the beginning of every cold opening for no good reason” thing that SNL’s been doing in recent decades). Either way, clearly someone missed a cue.
— Ugh at that joke with Fred’s Lawrence Welk saying his favorite fingerlake is the middle one.
— When this originally aired, I remember thinking Elton John looked very Stuart Smalley-esque in this.
— As usual, nothing to say about the actual content of the Dooneese portions of this sketch. Same-old same-old.
STARS: **
MONOLOGUE
new father host describes aspects of his paternal role
— I like Elton mentioning his last time on the show was as a musical guest way back in 1982, then saying that, of all the things he tried back in the early 80s, SNL is the safest to try again.
— Elton is coming off as a total natural here, and is very likable, even doing a self-deprecating and actual funny gay joke about himself at one point (when mentioning that his new baby rejected the breast).
— An overall charming and fairly solid monologue.
STARS: ***½
KY JELLY LADIES SHOT PUT CHAMPIONSHIP 1985
Pete Twinkle, Greg Stink & brother Steve Stink (Tom Hanks) cover lady shot putters (KRW) & (Carmelo Anthony)
— The first appearance this recurring sketch has made in a year. And with that, we, of course, get the return of Will Forte! Feels so nice to see him for the first time since his departure from the cast.
— Hmm, no audience applause for Will’s cameo.
— Now we get a cameo from Carmelo Anthony, not too long after he started playing for the New York Knicks.
— Jason and Will’s characters are coming off as funny as ever.
— And now this sketch’s bevy of cameos continues, as we get TOM FREAKIN’ HANKS out of nowhere. Hard for anyone to complain about all the cameos in this sketch when two of them include Will Forte and Tom Hanks.
— Tom is great as Greg Stink’s similarly-traited brother.
— Pete Twinkle: “Make a little room for Paco, put some SAUCE on that taco………..(*extremely long pause, leading at one point to a brief cutaway to Tom Hanks staring at the camera with a frozen smile*)………..KY lubricant yelly!”
— Greg Stink, on his trip to Vegas: “They got the loosest slots.” Pete Twinkle: “Hey, speakin’ of loose slots, KY Jelly!”
STARS: ****
FANCY A JAR, DO YOU? / KNIGHTS OF THE REALM
Britcom has (BOM), (KRW), glass containers
host, Michael Caine (Tom Hanks), Bono (ANS), other knights weigh response to dragon attacking London
— Hmm, a British-accented Seth Meyers voice-over at the beginning of the BBC News special report.
— I like the bit with Paul’s fancy-named news anchor saying he’s filling in for an anchor simply named Fat Danny.
— I love Tom Hanks as Michael Caine, and I also love how it’s starting to feel like Tom’s the co-host of tonight’s episode.
— Elton accidentally messed up his “Sting taking forever to come” joke, but he had a charming reaction.
— Elton’s deadpan remarks to others throughout this sketch are great.
— Funny bit with a clone of Bill’s Richard Branson showing up immediately after Bill’s Branson got killed in a rocket accident.
— A particularly great snarky remark from Elton right now, with his Spider-Man slam to Andy’s Bono.
— I love Paul, as the news anchor, professionally delivering the breaking news that Sting “jizzed all over [the dragon] until it died.”
STARS: ****
LASER CATS THE MUSICAL!
coerced Tom Hanks [real] supports feline sci-fi
— Yes! Yet another appearance tonight from our unofficial co-host Tom Hanks.
— Our annual Laser Cats short. Hard to believe there’s only one left after this, as the following season is Andy’s final season, and it’s been a tradition to do one Laser Cats short per year ever since Andy’s first season.
— Great reveal of Tom being forced to push Laser Cats on Lorne because Bill and Andy are holding Wilson The Volleyball hostage.
— A good change of pace with tonight’s Laser Cats being a musical.
— I like Bill and Andy yelling at a passerby for entering the sideways-shot scene and ruining the illusion that Bill and Andy are climbing a wall.
— Funny running gag of a guy in a Spider-Man costume crashing into things in the background during a failed flying stunt, which I assume is making fun of the infamously troubled state of the then-current Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark play.
— Very fun involvement of Elton as the villain.
— I love the visual of a shrunken Andy jumping through the gap between Elton’s two front teeth.
— A hilarious voice for Wilson The Volleyball at the end. I think that’s Bill doing the voice, but I’m not 100% sure.
— Nice to see this end differently from most of the other Laser Cats shorts.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & Leon Russell [real] perform “Hey Ahab”
WEEKEND UPDATE
SEM matches GOP presidential hopefuls & Celebrity Apprentice counterparts
Moammar Khadafy (FRA) lobbies for the end of USA military action in Libya
recently-recaptured cobra has again escaped from Bronx zookeeper (KET)
Nicolas Cage (ANS) covets Jake Gyllenhaal’s [real] role in Source Code
— Uh-oh. Another innocent Weekend Update mention of Donald Trump considering a presidential bid, this time with Seth being a skeptic by calling it a “fake presidential run” and asking “Why are we talking about this guy [Trump] like he really might be president?” Ohho, Seth, if you only knew…
— Seth’s Apprentice-style breakdown of the GOP candidates is fairly clever and has some laughs.
— Ohhhhhhh, god. I am so fucking sick of 1) Fred playing Moammar Khadafy for so many consecutive episodes (this being the third consecutive episode), and 2) Fred playing so many Middle Eastern leaders in general this season, especially on Update lately.
— Ugh at all the lame, intentionally-dated pop culture references that Fred’s Khadafy is making, a gag that I recall SNL previously doing to death with Horatio Sanz, back in the days when he was SNL’s go-to performer for Middle Eastern leaders. And just like Fred, Horatio would play every Middle Eastern leader the exact fucking same, and it eventually got so tired.
— More and more groan-worthy parts of Fred’s commentary the longer it goes on. This commentary is TERRIBLE, and gives me yet another excuse to call Fred out on being the absolute bane of this season. And I still have TWO MORE SEASONS to put up with his tired nonsense.
— Why in the world is Fred’s Khadafy making a contemporary CSI reference right now, when earlier portions of this same damn commentary established the fact that Libya is so behind the times on pop culture that they’ve only recently received shows and music from the early 90s? This inconsistency just adds to what a mess this awful commentary is.
— Pretty funny reactions from Kenan when realizing the snake in his basket has gotten loose.
— Meh, I’m not caring for Kenan’s hammy overacting when beating the snake to death. Instances of Kenan hammily chewing the scenery can be really funny at certain times (especially in more recent years, when he only uses that hamminess at the right times), but this particular instance is coming off as some low-level Nickelodeon-esque stuff (which was my complaint about Kenan’s performance in the very polarizing St. Kat’s Middle sketch from earlier this season).
— The debut of “Get In The Cage”, which would go on to be the definitive use of Andy’s Nicolas Cage impression.
— Mm, I can’t tell if that “Block-duster” joke from Andy’s Cage is “so bad, it’s good” or just plain bad.
— The rest of this “Get In The Cage” commentary is working just fine.
STARS: ***
ROYAL ENGAGEMENT
Queen Elizabeth (FRA) & Prince Philip (BIH) want punk music at royal reception
— I liked the first installment of this sketch, but I’m iffy on the idea of making it recurring.
— Another funny instance tonight of Elton putting someone down with a deadpan snarky comeback.
— Even though the turn with Fred and Bill’s Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip brashly speaking to their guest in crude accents is no longer a surprise the second time around, there’s still some laughs from it here.
— This is starting to go a little heavy on the gay jokes about Elton.
— Ooh, a change of pace, with the turn involving the punk rock musical performance. Another instance of Fred working his real-life love of punk rock into the show, this time complete with him showcasing his drumming skills. No complaints from me here.
— Another fun display of silly dancing from Taran.
STARS: ***
THE SILVER SCREEN
gay partner cinefiles (host) & (TAK) quarrel & make up
— A sketch centering on a TV show starring two gay men reviewing movies? Hmm, never saw that in a sketch comedy show before. (*coughcoughInLivingColorcoughcough*).
— This sketch is at least taking a different-enough direction from the Men On Film sketches from In Living Color, but unfortunately, it’s a far less-interesting direction. I’m not finding myself laughing much here.
— The actions and dynamic between Taran and Elton’s characters are way too repetitive for my likes, despite Taran’s fun performance.
STARS: *½
THE OLD WEST
gruff gay cowboy’s (host) overtures go unrequited in an Old West saloon
— Wow, TWO consecutive sketches starring Elton as a gay character? And both of which came right after a sketch that made some gay jokes about Elton himself (Royal Engagement)? Really, SNL? I know Elton is openly gay, but having all these gay-themed sketches starring him is just plain lazy of the writers. On top of that, this particular sketch isn’t even the first time that this season did a sketch with a male host playing a gay cowboy in the Old West (the gift-wrappers sketch with Jeff Bridges).
— The cutaways to Jason’s puzzled reactions to Elton’s homosexual implications are getting old.
— My first and only laugh of this sketch came from something that’s not even in the script: Elton’s solid little ad-lib when his hat accidentally falls off.
STARS: *½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & Leon Russell [real] perform “Monkey Suit”
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— From what I gather, this episode seems to have somewhat of a reputation for being among this season’s worst, but I disagree. After watching and reviewing this episode just now, I didn’t find it any worse than a typical episode from this season. In fact, I actually found this episode to have far more good than bad, and I especially really liked the solid string of segments that aired between the monologue and the first musical performance. Elton John also added to this episode by being a pretty fun, likable, and game host. Too bad this episode fizzled out really badly with the final two sketches of the night, though. But aside from those two and the cold opening, I’m not sure why this episode is seemingly disliked by a number of SNL fans.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Laser Cats The Musical!
KY Jelly Ladies Shot Put Championship 1985
Knights Of The Realm
Monologue
Royal Engagement
Weekend Update
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Silver Screen / The Old West (tie)
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Zach Galifianakis)
a very slight step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Helen Mirren
I certainly don’t remember anyone ever criticising this episode- although I don’t remember THAT much from it besides John’s monologue and performances.
I believe “Knights of the Realm” was a Kelly/
Schneider piece. Well at least Schneider. She had started her guest writing run around this time and of course would be hired full time the next season.
I believe she also writes the Digital Short in the Helen Mirren episode coming up tomorrow.
John Mulaney mentioned in some interview or another that Elton was in a bad mood for much of the week, unhappy with his material, until he got his monologue. He thought it was great, and was then in much better spirits.
He may have mentioned that in multiple interviews, but I know for sure John and Seth talk about that in John’s ‘Seth off air’ episode on the Late Night podcast, if people want to hear what he has to say. Mulaney manages to remember word for word the jokes of the monologue he and Seth wrote, which to me is rather impressive!
Elton is also an acknowledged asshole. Nate Herman said he was a dick in season seven.
people dislike this one? I always thought it was a fun little burst of energy from this part of the season.
According to Michael Caine, I think he said this on Graham Norton or some interview, Tom Hanks’ impression of him here is one of the better ones he’s seen. Unfortunately he referred to SNL as ‘The Late Show, in New York’, I believe.
Not sure if this falls under “Ripoff” or “Coincidence”, but that “Knights of the Realm” sketch reminds me a little too much of this “Year 2000” joke from Conan–as told by Jeff Goldblum in 2002 (2:54 if the auto-cue doesn’t work)…
https://youtu.be/jMZy7UrHJxY?t=174
I was not on the SNL newsgroups that many of you were on back then, but I found this episode almost insulting at the time with the huge number of unnecessary gay jokes in the second half. Elton seems like a cool guy, he’s a rock legend — and this was the best they could come up with? But on the other hand, I get the sense he would put his foot down if the jokes bothered him. I just felt like it was pretty one-note. Kind of like the endless sketches about Paulina Porizkova being attractive in the Bronson Pinchot episode. At some point, someone needed to say “enough already.”
The Old West was another James Anderson/Mike O’Brien sketch.
I remember the bad stuff left me in a sour mood, but the first half had some decent material (except for Dooneese), and the Forte and Tom Hanks cameos were welcome.
The Silver Screen and Old West sketches left a bad taste in my mouth with the whole “let’s have two men kissing and make it a punchline” angle. That just wasn’t funny. It was more typical, hacky gay humor. Those ruined the episode for me.
Knights of the Realm with the dragon parts reminded me of a show on BBC 2 called Dragons’ Den, which is the UK’s version of Shark Tank. SNL could have also played that angle.
I think this is pretty well known, but it’s worth saying anyway – because where else would I have the chance! The whole ‘Get in the Cage’ segment is essentially a desperate last attempt from Andy to get things on update, because his things would always get cut after dress. His thought being, and he ended up correct in this, that they can’t cut something if a special guest showed up just to do his update feature, so he could be as crazy as he wanted and it not get cut. Perhaps bending the rules is a theme in Andy’s SNL career? Realising if you just shoot stuff yourself you don’t have to pitch them (digital shorts), and realising you can avoid getting cut if you have cameos (get in the Cage)….
You Probably Know More Than I Do, But, I Think Andy Gets Plenty OF Things On Week End Up Date Like The Bad Singer, Some Times Nick Cage Or Mark Wahlberg Or Cathy Or Even The Geese ! Andy Is In A Lot OF Sketches And OF Course There Are The Digital Shorts ! I Don’t Agree That Andy Can Not Get His Stuff On The Air !
All I really remember from this ep is Sir Elton’s mentioning his previous stint on the show in ’82 (the one with Johnny Cash as the host), his quip about that Spider-Man musical, his performances with Leon Russell (which I don’t remember being entertaining), and perhaps the return of Twinkle and Stink though I really don’t remember Tom Hanks’ appearance…
As an Elton superfan, I remember being surprised and excited he was hosting. Seemed like such an odd booking. I also thought it was a given he would do a solo performance of Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting, but alas, it was not to be.