Author: Stooge

Posted on

February 21, 1981 – Charlene Tilton / Todd Rundgren, Prince (S6 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Rocko Weineretto & Weindulah weigh in before their upcoming bout

  

— Immediately, we’re already opening with Joe’s SNL Sports persona.
— He sets up the Rocko Weineretto and Weindulah boxing match that’s happening later in this episode.
— The weigh-in part is pretty funny.
— Overall, this was a very short, straightforward cold opening just here to set up the upcoming match.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


MONOLOGUE
upon discovering girlfriend ANR was with CHR last night, JOP vows revenge

   

— Fun entrance from Charlene.
— This girl’s got energy and bubbliness for miles. I can see why it would annoy some viewers, but honestly, I’m finding it kinda endearing.
— The LFNY part was weird.
— That’s it? That’s the whole monologue?
— Oh, never mind, we get what appears to be a continuation of the monologue (or at least, I’m COUNTING it as a continuation), with Charlene meeting Charles backstage after having just talked about him when she was onstage.
— There’s another appearance of the “backstage SNL locker room” that we used to see all the time back in the original era.
— Joe “(menacingly) I’ll get that Charlie Rocket if it’s the last thing I do.” And tonight’s running premise is officially off. Unfortunately, it’s also not very funny so far.
STARS: **


GREATEST RECORDS OF ALL TIME
albums contain unlikely make out music

  

— Ann sure got changed fast from the monologue.
— LOL at “An evening with Hugh Downs”
— Not much to say here. Some laughs, but once you got the joke, there wasn’t much else to this.
STARS: **½


MISTER ROBINSON’S NEIGHBORHOOD
Mr. Speedy (GIG) delivers a package

     

— The debut of a legendary recurring Eddie Murphy sketch!
— I’m loving his version of the “won’t you be mine” opening song.
— Immediately, we get “bitch” as our very first “special word of the day”. Man this sketch is already starting hot.
— Classic bit with him asking viewers to test the word of the day on their mothers.
— We get the deep-voiced “Who is it?” door-answering bit, though I recall his delivery of it sounding a little funnier in some of the later installments of this sketch.
— Hilarious passing reference to Richard Pryor’s infamous freebasing accident.
— Overall, this was freakin’ great, and feels like such a breath of fresh air in a season like this. This sketch alone really embodies how much Eddie was the savior of this season. I’m looking forward to future installments of this sketch.
STARS: ****½


PORK PARADE
the Pork Queen (host) & her subjects get ready for the big parade

 

— Denny looks even tinier than usual, making her entrance through that little door at the beginning of this sketch.
— Okay, I finally got one laugh out of this dull sketch so far, at the reveal of Yvonne being known as the “Chitlin Princess”.
— Is Yvonne going to have ANY lines in this? Speaking of whom, what the hell has happened to her these last few episodes? It’s funny how back in my Karen Black episode review, I went on about how all the claims that Yvonne was a glorified extra during her featured player stint were exaggerated, as she had been getting a surprising amount of noteworthy speaking roles. I seem to have spoken too soon, as that Karen Black episode was followed by a long string of episodes where Yvonne either didn’t appear in or only appeared in a non-speaking bit role, including this sketch. She hasn’t gotten anything noteworthy to do since that Karen Black episode. This must be where her reputation nowadays for being such an underused cast member comes from.
— (groan) What in the world is this sketch going for?
— What’s with Gail occasionally making random pig snorting sounds? If that’s her attempt to save this awful sketch, it ain’t workin’. You know, I’ve liked Gail for most of this season, but I can’t help but notice that in the last few episodes, she’s begun resorting to playing some of her roles a little TOO cartoonish and over-the-top (e.g. Where’s Cooter, Was I Ever Red), which isn’t working for me. I can’t help but wonder if that’s an act of desperation from her, due to how badly this season has been bombing lately.
— Overall, boy, was this a bad, sloppy sketch. No idea why they thought this would be funny. This is exactly like the type of sketch that used to immediately come to my mind when thinking about how bad this season supposedly is.
STARS: *


ROCKET REPORT
CHR takes host for her first NYC subway ride

     

— Fun premise with Charles and Charlene at a subway, where Charlene is going to take her very first subway ride.
— Hey, Charles is actually interviewing people! This is the true strength of the Rocket Reports.
— Ha, the lights in the train suddenly going out brings back childhood memories of when that often happened when I rode on the New York trains as a kid.
— Overall, a pretty solid edition of Rocket Report. I’m guessing this ends up being the last-ever appearance of this segment. At least this ended on a good note.
STARS: ***½


A FIDDLER BE ON THE ROOF
a movie starring Stevie Wonder (EDM) as Tevye

 

— Funny visual of Eddie as Stevie Wonder singing Yiddish lyrics in Eddie’s now-famous old Jewish voice.
— Very short, and I would’ve liked to have seen them do more with this, but this was still fine for what it was.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Todd Rundgren performs “Healer”


WEEKEND UPDATE
David Stockman (GIG) prefers “Catch a crook, eat a meal” to food stamps

   

— (*sigh*) Here we go…
— As usual, a very tepid beginning with little-to-no reaction from the audience in response to the first few jokes.
— Oh, god, now Charles is resorting to repeatedly stomping his foot on the ground after a particular weak joke. Man, his increasing desperation for laughs these last few episodes is pathetic.
— Oh, great, now Charles is returning to the hyped-up, manic delivery he keeps falling back on these last few Updates.
— And now Gail has resorted to sheepishly repeating some of her punchlines after it bombs with the audience. God, Update is killing me with its sad desperation lately.
— The audience may not have seemed to mind that corny “Ragu music / Pastafarians” joke, but it had me groaning my head off.
— LOL, Gilbert looks like a little kid playing dress-up. What’s up with that? I guess his strangely-low chair has something to do with that, but seriously, if I had seen a screencap of this Update commentary without knowing that was Gilbert Gottfried, I’d probably think that was either a child or a woman under that wig and glasses.
— The “Catch a crook, eat a meal” program is a pretty funny concept in Gilbert’s commentary.
— The joke about President Reagan being a bad actor actually got a pretty good audience reaction.
— No idea how to respond to the bit with Charles delivering an exaggeratedly angry, manic rant towards President Reagan about saving money. Maybe I wouldn’t mind it if Charles hadn’t developed a tendency to randomly rely on hyped-up, manic delivery in general lately. This anti-Reagan/saving money rant also just seemed to be an excuse to receive clapter from the audience, which I probably wouldn’t have had a problem with back in those days, but our current Trump era has permanently burned me out on comedians relying on clapter in place of actual comedy.
— No Joe Piscopo SNL Sports commentary tonight, as Charles mentions that Joe will be hosting the aforementioned boxing match later in the show.
— An overall short Update tonight, which is one of the few saving graces of it.
STARS: **


LINCOLN BEDROOM
Lincoln Bedroom haunts Nancy Reagan’s (GLM) daughter-in-law Doria (ANR)

   

— Okay, this certainly looks like a weird sketch. I’m interested to see where this will go, though.
— What was with that random door-knocking sound when nobody was even knocking? Where did that come from?
— LOL at Eddie’s creepy entrance.
— Randomly throwing a Mary Todd Lincoln appearance into a sketch is usually always a sure-fire laugh-getter.
— Overall, despite an interesting premise and a good performance from Gail, this sketch didn’t amount to much.
STARS: **


GILLIE AND CHARLENE
rumors of CHR’s exploits lead both host & GIG to vow revenge against him

  

— Another instance of Gilbert being called by his backstage nickname “Gillie”.
— Gilbert’s sounding more sullen and bored than ever in this sketch.
— Now we’re resorting to a whole bunch of lazy gay jokes throughout this.
— Ha, that ending close-up of a sullen Gilbert Gottfried staring deadpan into the camera is a strangely classic image.
— Tonight’s “everyone wants to get revenge on Charles Rocket” throughline isn’t being pulled off well at all so far tonight. Only season 6 could manage to make a Dallas/“who shot J.R.?” take-off so dull.
STARS: *½


THE COMPETITION
a movie about finger-breaking piano rivals (JOP) & (GLM)

 

— This is a parody of a then-new Richard Dreyfuss/Amy Irving movie of the same title. The only reason I know that is because the copy I’m watching of this episode is the original live broadcast where, during one of the commercial breaks earlier in the show, there was actually a commercial for the Dreyfuss/Irving movie.
— Joe’s Richard Dreyfuss impression is fairly funny, though I’m guessing people who’ve seen this sketch without knowing what it was parodying have no idea he was even imitating Dreyfuss and they probably wondered why he was speaking in a high-pitched nasal voice.
— That’s it? Short, but kinda funny punchline, I guess.
STARS: **½


SPEAKING OUT
policewoman (DED) on unauthorized use of handicap toilets

— A very rare instance of Matthew Laurance starring in a sketch.
— Overall, this was a dull sketch that just washed right over me. I got a chuckle from one or two of Denny’s lines, but there was absolutely nothing noteworthy here.
STARS: *½


WOMEN BEHIND BARS
(DED) & (host) debate industrial revolution education

   

— The initial set-up to this is bringing back memories of that “Debs Behind Bars” sketch from season 5. It even looks like this is using the same set from that sketch.
— For some reason, it feels weird seeing Gail playing a tough, mean character.
— Yet ANOTHER silent role for Yvonne. Is that woman going to go through the entire second half of this season without speaking a single word?
— Never mind, Yvonne actually got one line just now. SHE SPEAKS!
— Pretty funny reveal that the dreaded “treatment” Charlene’s character will face is simply a debate involving the Industrial Revolution.
— Denny’s character pulling out a graph as a visual aid is kinda funny, and is the first noticeable laugh this whole sketch received from the studio audience.
— Overall, after taking a good unexpected turn mid-sketch, this unfortunately kinda petered out afterwards and was not as good as it should’ve been.
STARS: **½


SNL SPORTS
Weindulah outboxes Rocko Weineretto to win the title; Don King cameo

  

— Here’s the big boxing match the show kept hyping.
— Don King cameo.
— Weindullah’s various ways of taunting Weineretto are pretty funny.
— An overall decent bit, though I wasn’t laughing out loud and I almost started getting a little bored during some parts. But this had a goofy, fun charm to it, and I can appreciate all the commitment that went into this whole thing. I sure wouldn’t want to sit through another Weiner puppet fight, however.
STARS: ***


SUBMISSIVE SUGAR DADDIES
(host) shows why women should call Submissive Sugar Daddy Referral Service

 

— The visual of that jovial-looking old extra as a sugar daddy is kinda funny, I guess.
— That’s it? I didn’t care for this and it came off kinda pointless.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Todd Rundgren performs “Time Heals”


PARTY
Mary Louise rules her birthday party with Sam The Snake & an iron fist

 

— Hmm, what’s this? Joe introduces Denny as herself. Am I in for a random Denny Dillon stand-up segment?
— Hmm, she’s doing a character, in a one-woman show-esque piece. This is reminding me of how she previously did a guest spot on the show way back in SNL’s third episode ever, where she and her comedy partner (Mark Hampton) did a nun act.
— Oh, this is the same character she played earlier this season in the Ellen Burstyn episode.
— No idea how to feel about this act so far.
— Overall, I liked this character much better in a sketch format. Her routine doesn’t work as well in a one-woman show setting.
STARS: **


AFTER MIDNIGHT
(CHR) & (GLM) arouse each other while bathing a dog
when CHR gets shot during a sketch, the question is “Who Shot C.R.?”

     

— Charles is coming off more Bill Murray-esque than EVER in this. I can totally picture Bill playing this character.
— Boy, is this a weird sketch. Hope it’s a good one, though, because I’m kinda tired of being so consistently negative in tonight’s episode review.
— A sudden cut to a crosshair first-person perspective aiming at Charles. I now see where this is going.
— And there’s the gunshot.
— I’m suddenly getting excited about this sketch now, as we’re seeing a whole bunch of cast and crew members panickedly rushing into the scene and freaking out.
— Funny bit with Gilbert asking out Charlene in the middle of all the chaos.
— “Who shot C.R.?”
— Nice seeing the whole cast gathered together in the ending shot.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Prince performs “Partyup”

— Okay, it’s always been said that Prince supposedly drops an f-bomb when singing the lyric “Fightin’ war is such a fuckin’ bore”. However, I heard the lyric just now, and I’m 99.9% sure I heard him say “freakin”, not “fuckin’”. Is it just me?
— We’ll be returning to the discussion of f-bombs with a certain upcoming segment afterwards (you know the one)…


GOODNIGHTS
gun victim CHR says “I’d like to know who the fuck did it”

  

— Well, here it comes, folks…
— Aaaaaand there’s the legendary notorious moment. Charles: “Aw, man, it’s the first time I’ve ever been shot in my life. I’d like to know who the fuck did it.”
— The reactions from everyone onstage are freakin’ PRICELESS. Writing this review in real-time as I watch the episode, I can’t rewind to focus on each person’s reaction, but I’m quickly looking back-and-forth at various individual people, and there are so many funny different reactions. Meanwhile, Charles is just sitting there with a laid-back smug grin on his face like he’s proud of himself for what he just did.
— Even though I knew the f-bomb was coming and I’ve watched it quite a number of times in the past, it’s a VERY different experience now seeing it in the context of the entire season, where I’ve been watching and reviewing each episode in chronological order on a day-to-day basis for my SNL project. Arriving at the infamous f-bomb just now, I felt genuine shock when Charles said it and when I saw the cast’s reactions. That shocked feeling of mine made me come to the realization that due to my daily watching and reviewing of this season, I’ve developed a strange attachment to this cast. Definitely a different feeling from the last time I watched this f-bomb moment, where I had no kind of connection to this cast or season at all.
— I think I remember hearing that as soon as Charles dropped the f-bomb, one of the people working in the SNL control room threw his hands in the air, said “Well, there’s goes the end of live TV”, whipped off his headphones, threw it onto the control board, and walked right off the show, as if he thought SNL would be canceled right there on the spot.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Boy, am I getting tired of saying “another tepid episode”, but that’s become status quo for the show lately. Like I mentioned earlier, I kinda feel bad for being so consistently negative in my reviews these last few episodes, but I can’t help it if season 6 keeps handing me weak episodes lately. I’m starting to run out of different ways to say a sketch didn’t work. I loved tonight’s Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood debut, and about one or two other segments in this episode were fun (including Rocket Report), but there ain’t much else to praise here. At least the notoriety of the Charles Rocket f-bomb incident boosts this episode’s watchability, as otherwise, it would pretty much be indistinguishable from the rest of the string of mediocre episodes that began with Robert Hays.
— Needless to say, the f-bomb incident went on to cause a ton of controversy for SNL. The show (and particularly Jean Doumanian’s job as producer) had already been on thin ice with NBC brass throughout this troubled season, and the f-bomb incident is said to have been the final straw that would eventually lead to the firings of Jean Doumanian, Charles Rocket, and many of the remaining cast and writers. There’s still one episode left with everyone intact before the mass firings occur.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Deborah Harry):
— a very slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Bill Murray comes back to show them how it’s done

Posted on

February 14, 1981 – Deborah Harry (S6 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Ronald Reagan (CHR) discusses whether Frank Sinatra (JOP) is a hoodlum

 

— Oh, man, yet another cold opening starring Charles’ terrible Ronald Reagan impression. Stop trying to make Charles Rocket as Ronald Reagan happen, season 6.
— Geez, Charles’ impression sounds even worse tonight. What’s with the raspy/scraggly voice?
— That’s it? This overall cold opening was a pointless waste, and also a waste of Joe’s Sinatra impression.
STARS: *


OPENING MONTAGE
— SNL episode guides usually always list Funky 4 + 1 More (the very first rappers to ever appear on SNL, I believe) as the musical guest of this episode. However, I’ve noticed that they’re not credited at all in tonight’s montage. I guess their appearance tonight just counts as a cameo and not as the official musical guest, which is why I’m not going to list them as the musical guest in my title for this episode review.


MONOLOGUE
host reveals her roots & Cupid (EDM) shoots an audience member

   

— The cutaway to Deborah’s blonde-wigged “parents” in the audience wasn’t all that funny.
— Ha, Eddie’s entrance in that cupid outfit…
— I ask once again, that’s it? This was short as hell, contained almost nothing of note, and was a total write-off, which seems to have become status quo for the monologues these last two episodes. This season’s writers seem to have completely given up with the monologues.
STARS: *½


DON’T LOOK IN THE REFRIGERATOR
a horror movie about scary leftovers

 

— Another very quick bit that just came and went. I usually enjoy the “presenting a mundane, everyday annoyance as the subject of a horror movie” comedy trope, but this one just washed right over me.
— Good horror movie-esque scream from Deborah, though.
STARS: *½


LIVELYS
Phil Lively considers putting his father (DOP) in a nursing home

   

— This looks to be the return of the Livelys.
— Yep, it is. As I said in my review of this sketch’s first installment, I’m not sure if this’ll work as a recurring sketch.
— I do like the involvement of an unseen Don Pardo as Gail’s dad.
— Pardo’s voice-over delivering an angry “Somebody get my fork, I dropped my fork!!” cracked me up.
— Okay, I’m starting to notice that Pardo’s interjections are my ONLY laughs in this so far. Yeah, this whole “gameshow family at home” routine ain’t working a second time.
— The rehash of the gag with Gail vocalizing the Jeopardy theme wasn’t necessary.
STARS: **


NEWSBREAK
EDM reports on Jean Harris, Las Vegas fires, Poland

 

— What the hell? What’s this? Eddie Murphy for “Newsbreak”? Almost feels like a Weekend Update substitute. Does this mean the Rocket/Matthius Update has been dropped tonight, due to how horribly it’s been doing lately? If so, good riddance.
— Yeah, this segment is definitely coming off as an Update substitute so far.
— Eddie: “Stay tuned later tonight for a full report on Weekend Update.” Aw, dammit, so much for my hope that Update was dropped from tonight’s show.
— Overall, this segment was okay, I guess, and Eddie did fairly well, but I’m still baffled over why this is in the show and what this possibly means for Update.
STARS: **½


WHERE’S COOTER?
Tennessee Williams Authority deems Cooter (GIG) & kin a one-act play

   

— Ohh, boy, here comes an infamous sketch that I’ve always heard terrible things about. I’m curious to see just how bad this really is.
— As was pointed out a few days ago by a commenter in reply to my Gary Busey episode review from season 4, this sketch has the same set from the Muck-Jumper sketch from the Busey episode.
— I’m a minute into this sketch, and I’ve been hating pretty much everything I’ve seen so far.  What IS this???
— Man, is this dialogue annoyingly repetitive.
— WTF at Gail’s bizarre entrance?
— Oh my god at Gail’s delivery of her lines. I usually like Gail, but GOOD GOD is she annoying the hell out of me here. And the fake baby crying she’s doing into her arms – WTF??? I now feel like I’m seeing her play a rejected Laraine Newman character.
— Seriously, what the hell am I WATCHING in this sketch?
— The twist with this turning into a Tennessee Williams play is doing absolutely nothing to save this sketch for me. I hated the first half SO much that there needed to be a much funnier twist than THIS to excuse it.
— Overall, all I can say is: My god. That sketch definitely lived up to its negative reputation. If it weren’t for Commie Hunting Season, I’d probably consider this sketch to be the absolute bottom of the barrel for the season 6 episodes I’ve covered so far. Man, did I hate this.
STARS: *


ROCKET REPORT
CHR finds the answer to “How scary is Central Park?”

   

— I’m already liking this Central Park premise. Looks like this will be a return to form, after the last two mediocre Rocket Reports.
— Charles’ overdramatizing of everything in the park isn’t coming off as funny as I would’ve expected.
— Charles falling backwards onto the ground when running away in a panic was pretty funny.
— Overall, I think I need to stop saying “Hopefully tonight’s Rocket Report is an improvement over the subpar last one”, because I always end up being disappointed once again. Tonight’s Rocket Report had a few more decent moments than the last two Reports, but the overall film was still below par. What’s going on? Why have these usually-reliable Rocket Reports been so consistently forgettable lately? Are these segments only good when Charles just goes around interviewing random people face-to-face, like he used to do in the earlier films?
— I know I’m almost at the end of Charles’ short-lived SNL tenure, so I’m hoping to see at least ONE more good Rocket Report before his firing. I know there’s one Rocket Report he does with upcoming host Charlene Tilton in a subway train that has always looked kinda interesting to me, but I shouldn’t get my hopes up.
— I just realized that I have yet to like any segments so far tonight. None of the sketches have gotten higher than a mere two-and-a-half-star rating from me yet.
STARS: **½


CARD CORNER
Paulie Herman meets a girl from Jersey (host) in a card shop

 

— The return of Jersey Guy, or as I call, proto-Jay Leno.
— Here comes the obligatory “recurring character meets its similar counterpart played by the host” sketch that a lot of quirky recurring characters eventually do. Deborah’s doing a good job with the Jersey Guy-esque voice.
— Overall, a fairly good sketch, and I like how this was kept short enough. First decent sketch of the whole night.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Love TKO”


WEEKEND UPDATE
arch-conservative (GIG) claims there are no poor people in America
Polish ambassador (Andy Murphy) is ecstatic about the invasion of Russia
JOP interviews boxing & rapping hand puppet Weindulah (Marc Weiner)

     

— Just when I thought tonight’s episode was finally starting to pick up a bit, here comes along Weekend Update to kill the momentum.
— Oh my god at Charles slapping his desk while hammily fake-laughing after his first joke. Jesus Christ. Lately, I’ve been starting to see that the reports I’ve always heard about Charles desperately resorting to hammy over-the-top antics in his later Updates were 100% true. It’s sad to watch.
— Man, they need to stop these unfunny “audio clip” gags that Charles keeps doing this season. They ALWAYS fall flat and get no audience reaction.
— As usual lately, the studio audience is NOT into these awful jokes so far (neither am I, for that matter).
— First in a long time we’ve seen Gilbert at the Update desk. This Reagan philosopher character of his looks seems like it has potential, and hey, Gilbert’s actually showing energy in his delivery for once.
— Unfortunately, Gilbert’s bit just came and went with no laughs and no real point. A letdown.
— Yikes, Gail’s Reagan/“I forgot about it!” joke was particularly awful.
— Here’s something different. Mock breaking news from Charles that “Poland has invaded Russia”. Hmm.
— Hey, an Update commentary from frequent SNL extra Andy Murphy! Feels odd to see him in such a big speaking role.
— The Andy Murphy commentary ended up being another bit that initially looked interesting but turned out to be a forgettable letdown.
— Here’s our weekly Joe Piscopo SNL Sports commentary.
— A follow-up to the preceding episode’s Rocko Weineretto bit.
— Ha, I’m liking this early 80s-sounding rap song from “Weindullah”. I might be biased because I always get a kick out of hearing any kind of early 80s hip-hop. Same reason I’m looking forward to seeing tonight’s NOT!musical guest Funky 4 + 1 More.
— Big extended audience applause break after Weindullah’s rap.
— Joe announces a boxing match that we’ll be seeing in the next episode, between Weineretto and Weindullah.
— Overall, an even worse Update than usual this season, which is really saying something. The guest commentaries are usually the only saving grace this season, but even most of those managed to underwhelm tonight. And the Rocket & Matthius portions of Update continue to go further and further down the tubes, especially with Charles’ newfound desperation of hamming it up during certain jokes. Man, it’s almost becoming DEPRESSING to watch Update gradually die like this over the course of the season. I have to ask, is this the absolute worst state Weekend Update has EVER been in SNL’s 40+ year history? Then again, I haven’t gotten to the upcoming Brian Doyle-Murray “SNL Newsbreak” era yet, which supposedly is also terrible…
STARS: *½


BIG BROTHER
shy Big Brother (GIG) uses telescreen to ask prole (host) out on a date

— I’m getting an unintentional laugh from the giant lego-looking background behind Gilbert.
— Some awkward dead air before some of Deborah’s line deliveries.
— Gilbert’s line about feeling like a “schlep” made me laugh.
— Good twist with Gilbert suddenly turning Deborah down for being “too easy”.
— Overall, there were some issues that made this feel a little sluggish, but this was an overall decent sketch. Better than I thought it would be. Nice showcase for Gilbert as well.
STARS: ***


SWEET HEARTS
by Leon Ichaso- laundry robbers turn on one another

   

— Interesting-looking film.
— Oh, that’s Deborah as the female gangster. Took me a whole minute into this film to realize that. I didn’t even recognize her at first.
— Wait, IS that Deborah? In some angles, it looks like her, while in some other angles, it DOESN’T look like her. Hard to tell.
— I’m liking how this looks and feels like a genuine 1930s gangster flick.
— The bank-esque robbery of a laundromat is pretty funny.
— Okay, they’ve completely lost me. I don’t understand what’s been going on ever since the laundromat robbery scene ended. The random blow-up doll at the party, the three main characters holding a Mexican standoff over a pair of heart boxers… none of this makes sense to me.
STARS: **


SOHO LESBIANS
Pinky & Leo Waxman discover that niece (host) has a lesbian lover (GLM)

 

— Curious to see how this goes. For years, I’ve always assumed just from the title “Soho Lesbians” and the fact that it’s from way back in the 1980s that this was a crazy, wild, raunchy sketch.
— The audience laughs at Deborah and Gail simply telling each other “I love you” (which I doubt was intended to get laughs). The audience’s amusement at that shows how rare it was to see gay couples on TV back in these days.
— Hey, it’s Denny and Gilbert’s “What’s It All About” characters. Very interesting to see them in a different setting for once.
— They seem to be relying on the usual premise of Denny and Gilbert’s characters constantly cutting off others during a conversation, like they always do with their guests on “What’s It All About”.
— Wow, that’s it? This was actually a nice, realistic, low-key scene, and didn’t go the crazy, wild, “homosexuals are weird sex freaks” route I had always assumed this would go. I’m pleasantly surprised.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Come Back Jonee”


NEWSBREAK
people on the streets of NYC weigh in on Poland’s invasion of Russia
EDM reveals the premeditated nature of Poland’s invasion plan

   

— I’m still baffled why we need these Newsbreak segments when there’s already a full Weekend Update in this episode.
— Eddie throws to a remote segment with random people on the street being interviewed about the Poland/Russia invasion.
— That one guy’s “I thought they were going to go into France” comment gave me a pretty good laugh.
— Eddie’s delivery is coming off pretty sloppy, with constant line flubs. And honestly, he looks out of his element in this setting. If these Newsbreak segments are the show’s way of kinda “auditioning” Eddie as a potential Weekend Update anchor, I can see why he doesn’t end up getting hired for that spot.
— Speaking of Eddie, it feels like these Newsbreak segments are the only thing he’s been doing on the show tonight.  This is a waste of him.
— The picture of Poland soldiers heading towards Arctic Circle is pretty funny.
STARS: **½


KING KONG SYNDROME
Fay’s (host) date with a “big ape” (JOP) ends in the style of King Kong

   

— Heh, with Joe’s anger at playfully being called a “big ape” and his freaking out over seeing the Empire State Building statuette, I can see where this is going.
— And now I just realized Deborah’s wearing the white Fay Wray dress.
— Joe’s “transformation” into an ape is fairly funny.
— I do like Deborah unintentionally taunting Joe with a toy plane.
STARS: **½


DROPOUT
Vickie shuns Debbie while catching up with high school dropout (host)

 

— A Vickie valley girl sketch. Where’s Denny’s character?
— Oh, there’s Denny.
— Overall, this was unfortunately another sketch tonight that just washed right over me, with nothing in it standing out. Very forgettable. Knowing that the end of Gail’s SNL tenure is approaching, I wonder if this ends up being the last appearance of this character. If so, it’s sad that this usually-good recurring sketch ended in a whimper with both this and the weak Tommy Torture one with Ray Sharkey.
STARS: **


FUNKY 4 + 1 MORE: “THAT’S THE JOINT”
Funky 4 + 1 More performs “That’s The Joint”


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Yet another tepid episode, in what’s been a fairly lengthy string of them, starting with the Robert Hays episode. A very unremarkable show tonight where absolutely nothing stood out as particularly great, and most of the ratings I gave tonight’s sketches were in the unimpressive two-to-three star range. Most of the pre-Update half of the show was particularly weak, and it also doesn’t help that this episode contained one of my absolute least favorite sketches I’ve covered so far in my SNL project (Where’s Cooter). Update was also pretty much a disaster tonight. Even the highest-rated sketches were just things I found merely decent.
— Up until these last three episodes, I’ve been feeling that this season is a LITTLE better than its negative reputation, but man, I now seem to have reached a point where this season kinda bottomed out and pretty much just gave up. And from what I remember seeing of the infamous next episode (I saw the butchered Netflix version of it years ago, where about 50% of the sketches were edited out), things don’t get any better.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Sally Kellerman):
— a very slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Charlene Tilton, a.k.a. the notorious “I’d like to know who the fuck did it” episode

Posted on

February 7, 1981 – Sally Kellerman / Jimmy Cliff (S6 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Battle Of The World Superpowers will be delayed


COLD OPENING
Ronald Reagan (CHR) describes economy with charts, celebrates birthday

   

— Charles’ Reagan impression is still terrible, and I’m very wary about him anchoring his own sketch this time.
— The various chart drawings have a few chuckleworthy parts, but nothing great.
— What was with the weird pause before the other performers entered?
— Hey, it’s then-writer & future-castmember Terry Sweeney! (the guy holding the birthday cake in the second-to-last screencap above)
— I did like the LFNY.
STARS: **


OPENING MONTAGE
— Eddie is now credited as part of the main cast.


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— The director’s interrupting of Sally was pulled off very awkwardly.
— That’s it??!???! Kellerman braggingly lists off some of her many movies, the (barely-audible) director tries to cut her off, Kellerman continues listing off a few more movies, then she concludes the monologue? This has to be one of the most pointless, underwritten monologues I’ve ever seen.
STARS: *


ROCKET REPORT
CHR covers parade welcoming Iranian hostages’ return

   

— A Rocket Report THIS early tonight? Hope this one is better than the last episode’s disappointing Rocket Report.
— Charles overglorifying the exhibition sanitation team is fairly funny.
— Overall, this unfortunately was NOT an improvement over the last Rocket Report, and ended up being another ineffective one that I had almost nothing to say about. What’s happened to these Rocket Reports? They used to always be a reliable, fun segment, but it’s been in a bad slump lately.
STARS: **


ITALIAN STAND-UP
talent scout (host) sees Italian stand-up (GIG) perform for his relatives

   

— Hilarious beginning with Joe angrily throwing his TV out the window.
— Ha, oh my god at Gilbert’s entrance, looking like that.
— Denny’s funny as the mother.
— Good to see Gilbert in what seems to be a lead role, which has become a rarity for him in the last stretch of episodes I’ve covered.
— Okay, they’re now overdoing Denny’s bit.
— Love this role for Gilbert. His Italian goombah stand-up routine is giving me good laughs, and his performance is great.  Also nice to see him showing actual energy and enthusiasm for the first time in what feels like quite a while.
STARS: ***½


NAME THAT SIN
contestants (ANR) & (EDM) identify taboos via aural clues

— What’s with the dog-sounding audio clues? And why do I get the feeling that’s Gail doing those voices off-camera? If it is, that reminds me of how Laraine Newman would provide off-camera baby/ puppy sound effects for certain sketches back in the original era.
— Eddie’s “worshiping false buttocks” answer was random enough to make me laugh.
— WTF at this sketch so far.
— The “birth of Art Linklater” part was funny.
— Overall, I’m not quite sure how I feel about this strange, fast-paced sketch as a whole, though I appreciate the oddball premise and there were a few parts that did make me laugh.
STARS: **½


EYE, EAR NOSE & THROAT
body part close-ups accompany nasal piano solo

   

— Creative-looking film so far.
— Uh, wow was that fast. Also: uhhhh, I have no clue what to say about this overall film.
STARS: ????? (undecided)


WAS I EVER RED
snooty women relate breaches of mealtime etiquette

   

— I’m already not liking Ann’s delivery as the host of this sketch. It’s bringing back bad memories of her performance as the host in Dying to Be Heard.
— A fictional character named Jennifer Holliday??? Then again, I suppose the real Jennifer Holliday wasn’t famous at this time yet.
— Very cartoonish performance from Gail. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
— The rich snob premise seems perfect for Sally Kellerman, judging from the impression I’ve been getting from her in this episode.
— Boy, is this sketch a chore to watch so far. We’re two minutes into this, and not a single laugh from me yet.
— All the talk about a dog being served for dinner, vomiting, etc. just seem like desperate attempt for laughs. It’s still not working.
— Jesus, where is this GOING?
— The “cold soup” twist was just plain weak.
STARS: *


IRANIAN JOKE BOOK
stage fake executions & other wacky stunts with the Iranian Joke Book

 

— Who are these people on my screen right now during this prisoner execution scene? I don’t recognize a single one of these performers.
— The streak of Joe and/or Charles playing a commercial pitchman in every episode continues…
— The Iranian Joke Book twist seems kinda funny so far.
— I know I’m saying this a lot tonight but: that’s it??? That’s the whole thing? This one did not work for me as a whole.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Am The Living”


WEEKEND UPDATE
EDM says Emancipation Proclamation wasn’t signed, so get yourself a Negro
JOP interviews boxing hand puppet Rocko Weineretto (Marc Weiner)

     

— Charles’ manic, over-the-top delivery of his very first joke (Reagan slashing) just came off DESPERATE. I couldn’t help but cringe. And it’s way too early in tonight’s Update for that kind of over-the-top joke delivery; you can’t do that right out of the gate.  I’ve always heard that Charles starts resorting to frantic, overly hammy delivery in this season’s later Updates; this must be the beginning of that.  Oh, god.
— Yikes at Gail’s bad “Iran/toasters” joke. The audience reaction said it all.
— Yes, an Eddie Murphy commentary!
— Loved Eddie scolding the audience for laughing at his reveal that Emancipation Proclamation wasn’t signed.
— Eddie urging the audience to take a black person home as a slave is a riot!
— Eddie: “The password will be: ‘Hey, you black Alabama porch monkey, come with me, I’m your master.’”
— Eddie does his now-trademark “Heh heh heh!” laugh at the end of his commentary. This is the first time I recall seeing him do that laugh on SNL.
— Charles’ “Alexander Haig for gym class” joke was another groaner tonight. I got more laughs from Charles’ off-put facial reaction to how badly that joke bombed.
— Geez, Charles’ last few jokes were all met with silence.
— Here’s our weekly Joe Piscopo SNL Sports commentary.
— “Rocko Weineretto”. Oh, I had forgotten that puppeteer Marc Weiner does some bits in the second half of this season.
— This Rocko Weineretto segment is bringing back nice memories of watching Marc Weiner’s Nickelodeon show “Weinerville” back when I was a kid.
— Funny and impressive work from Weiner here. Also, how’s he making the “mouth” move?
— Overall, yet ANOTHER Update this season where the commentaries are the only thing worth a damn, while the actual Update anchors deliver one bomb after another.
STARS: **


PARENT & CHILD
(JOP) & (ANR) explain their kinky foreplay to son (GIG)

   

— I really hate to admit it, but seeing Ann Risley in that S&M outfit is awfully pleasing to my eyes…
— Funny visual of a tied-up Joe hopping around to get his suburban dad-esque glasses and smoking pipe.
— Overall, this ended up dying off after the aforementioned glasses/pipe bit, and the remainder of the sketch just came and went without anything really funny happening.
STARS: **


A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A HOSTAGE
public attention holds returnee captive

   

— Another interesting-looking film tonight.
— I often enjoy any use of a “first-person perspective” P.O.V. camera angle technique.
— Some good laughs from the cleaners guy getting excited over meeting the hostage, and the cleaner guy’s wife coming out to snap pictures of the hostage.
— Clever ending with the evil Uncle Sam.
STARS: ***


LEAN ACRES
trainer (host) gets tough on Lean Acres fat farm attendees (DED) & (ANR)
audience member interrupts skit to protest portrayal of the overweight

     

— Boy, those are some fake-looking slaps.
— So far, this has been yet another tedious sketch with pretty much no laughs.
— Whoa, strange turn this has suddenly taken, with a fake audience member from above interrupting the sketch to complain about the fat-shaming premise.
— Ha, now this has turned into the audience member doing stand-up comedy-style “you’re so fat” jokes to the heavyset female writer, complete with a rimshot. All these sudden turns are really saving this sketch. The second half of this sketch feels so atypical of this season.
STARS: *** (just for the second half)


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Gone Clear”


IRANIAN STUDENT COUNCIL
Teheran University student council mulls its post-kidnapping activities

 

— For some reason, I kinda liked the throwaway line about Baghdad Tech having a goat mascot.
— Good performances in this, even though the material isn’t anything to write home about.
STARS: **½


NEW YORK
by C.F. Bressler- claymation street scenes pay homage to NYC

   

— Yet ANOTHER interesting-looking short film tonight. I’m liking the claymation format of this.
— Overall, wow, this was very well-done and interesting to watch.
STARS: ***½


PILLOW PETS
(GIG) pays more attention to his pillow “pets” than to his wife (ANR)

 

— Another bedroom sketch tonight with Ann and Gilbert. Looks like the same bedroom set too. Unfortunately, Ann’s not wearing the S&M outfit again…
— Also, what’s with all the airtime Ann’s getting tonight, anyway? Feels like she’s been in every single sketch.
— We get the return of Gilbert’s sullen, mopey delivery, though it seems to fit the character he’s playing in this.
— I liked Gilbert’s blunt “Oh, you were wrong” response to Ann saying she thought he’d have a lot of love to give her.
— I’m liking how overly passionate Gilbert’s character is about treating his pillow pets as real pets.
— Overall, short sketch, but a good showcase for Gilbert.
STARS: ***½


TELEVISED TRIAL
televised trial takes on the format of a talk show; Jim Fowler cameo

   

— The plaintiff is named Jose Gomez? I can already tell this will be a Gilbert Gottfried character.
— Yep, it IS. Looks like yet another big role for Gilbert in this episode. Wow, what a night for him. Looks like the writers finally remembered he’s in the cast.
— A hand puppet?
— What’s with the TV screen framing being used for the ENTIRE sketch? I thought it was only going to be used for the beginning of this, which would’ve been enough.
— Wild Kingdom’s Jim Fowler appearing with an alligator. I feel like this is the first cameo appearance of the whole season. I didn’t even realize until now the complete lack of cameos this season. Given the season’s quality and how much bad press the show was receiving, did SNL have a hard time getting celebrities to make cameos?
— Overall, I wasn’t crazy about this sketch, but I guess it wasn’t too bad in itself and it at least had a fun vibe to it.
STARS: **


SALLY KELLERMAN: “STARTING OVER AGAIN”
host performs “Starting Over Again”

— At this point, I had almost forgotten that tonight’s episode even has a host, considering how little she’s appeared in the post-Update half.


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Another weak episode, though this one didn’t frustrate me as much as the preceding Robert Hays one did. Maybe because unlike that one, there were some watchable pieces scattered throughout this episode, which kept me from completely losing interest, whereas the Hays episode’s only watchable pieces were all in the pre-Update half, leaving the post-Update half to be an unbearable endless string of duds. However, tonight’s episode was still a disappointment, the trademark weak season 6 writing kept rearing its ugly head, Weekend Update continues to be dire, and there weren’t any sketches that stood out as particularly great or memorable; nothing in this episode received a rating over three-and-a-half stars. And the less said about Sally Kellerman’s performance as host, the better.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Robert Hays):
— a very slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Deborah Harry

Posted on

January 24, 1981 – Robert Hays / Joe “King” Carrasco & The Crowns, 14 Karat Soul (S6 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Iranian hostages’ return won’t mean the end for Ted Koppel’s (JOP) show

  

— Here’s the “America Not Held Hostage Anymore” cold opening that I recently said a season 5 cold opening (“Carter Held Hostage”) reminded me of.
— I’m disappointed in Joe’s Ted Koppel impression. It’s coming off very bland and generic, and just sounds like Joe’s normal voice.
— Funny bit with Koppel’s announcement about how they’ll be spending each week profiling a different hostage. “With 52, that should kill a year.”
— Awkward scene with Ann whining at the press outside her door. Her acting came off pretty bad (as usual).
— That’s it? This cold opening felt a little too short and they could’ve done much more with this.
STARS: **½


MONOLOGUE
host alters his delivery by monitoring on-screen instant Nielsen ratings

 

— Seem to be a lot of monologues this season that immediately begin with with the hosts trying way too hard to hype up the audience. Some people have had a theory that The Powers That Be were telling the hosts to do this, out of desperation due to how poorly this season was doing and how much the show was getting slaughtered in the press.
— Hmm, the Nielsen rating number on the screen going back and forth in reaction to what Robert’s saying. I liked this premise better the first time, when Buck Henry did it once back in the original era. Why have some of the recent monologues been feeling derivative of monologues from the 70s, like how Karen Black’s monologue had the same premise as Chevy Chase’s season 3 monologue? (though I did like Karen’s a little better)
STARS: **


DAZOLA
(DED) says psilocybin is what makes Dazola mushroom spread a-maize-ing

 

— This seems to be the sister sketch to the “Dopenhagen” bit from earlier this season with David Carradine, right down to the whole idea of taking the first letter of a real brand name (Copenhagen, Mazola) and replacing it with a ‘d’.
— That’s Patrick Weathers in the red costume (a tomato), right? I thought I saw it listed in some places that Matthew Laurance plays the tomato in this, but that sure doesn’t look like him to me.
— Overall, not much to say about this. Despite the drug premise, this ended up being nothing special.
STARS: **


LOVE AMERICAN STYLE
host has a date with an inflatable prostitute

 

— Robert’s pretty funny with his eagerly pulling the blow-up doll’s string to hear the remainder of its sultry sentences.
— Hilarious ending with an inflatable black pimp showing up.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE SPORTS CENTRAL
Asteroids pro Eddie Atari (EDM) shoots space rocks & the Goodyear Blimp

   

— Oh, it’s the Eddie Atari sketch that I’ve always wanted to see!
— I love seeing those old-school early 80s video game graphics.
— Great unique use of Eddie.
— I liked the “What keeps you going?” “Quarters!” exchange between Matthew and Eddie.
— Fun sketch so far.
— Always funny hearing an “Oh, the humanity!” reference.
— Overall, not the classic I was expecting, but still a very enjoyable sketch.
STARS: ****


REAGANCO
look to Reaganco brand products for wallpaper, linoleum tiles, cosmetics

 

— This season continues it’s streak of having Charles and/or Joe play a pitchman once an episode; a streak that I believe started in the third episode of the season.
— The corpse comment about Reagan was pretty funny.
— Overall, an okay ad.
STARS: ***


SAVE-A-NETWORK TELETHON
JOP, ANR, DOP invite viewers to pledge a premise

     

— Interesting idea.
— I like the idea of desperately asking viewers to call in and “pledge a premise” to the struggling NBC.
— The NBC products Ann is showing reminds me of the Reaganco thing we just saw right before this.
— I recognize the deli worker as SNL’s cue card guy from these early eras. I remember seeing him in Jodie Foster’s season 2 monologue and in Chevy Chase’s aforementioned season 3 monologue.
— No idea what to think of Joe’s now un-PC line about the show Pink Lady & Jeff having a “Jap theme”. I guess this wouldn’t be a season 6 episode without at least one bad racial joke.
— Great one-liner from the cameraman, where he responds to Joe asking what NBC means to him by saying “I don’t want to lose my job, Joe”.
— An on-screen appearance from Don Pardo!
— It always feels so weird to see the familiar Pardo voice actually coming out of the man himself.
STARS: ***½


PRE-SUPERBOWL PRE-GAME PREVIEW
(host), (ANR), (CHR) spout silly hype

— The laughs from the audience are mild at best so far. I personally haven’t been laughing AT ALL yet.
— And it’s over. Overall, I could not have been more bored by this sketch.
STARS: *½


THE FOREIGN FILM
by William Dear- (Michael Nesmith) speaks nonsense

 

— Ha, I’m liking how the subtitles on the bottom of screen are phonetically spelling out the foreign dialogue instead of translating it.
— Okay, is that the ONLY joke in this? The joke ain’t as funny after the first 15 seconds.
— Oh, man, apparently it IS the only joke in this. This is going NOWHERE.
STARS: *½


FUNERAL
sports organist Harry Osborne [real] fills in at a funeral service

   

— Who’s that as the organ player?
— Haha, this is pretty funny with him playing inappropriate sports anthems at the funeral.
— Loved the part with an off-camera piano “slide” sound being heard when the casket top was closed and then re-opened.
— I’m not liking Charles’ delivery here as the exasperated straight man. Something about his performance is bugging me.
— Wait, that was Gilbert playing the dead body in the casket the whole time? Poor guy. Why couldn’t they have just used a dummy, an extra, or even one of the male featured players? No wonder Gilbert’s developed such a sullen, sourpuss attitude these last few episodes. The show’s misuse of his talents seems to be getting worse and worse as the season goes on.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
CHR tries to elicit an apology from an Ayatollah Khomeini mannequin
Tiffany Fleur (ANR) emcees a fashion show for engineering students
JOP derides Super Bowl XV teams, predicts outcome via electric football
frozen assets prevent EDM from recovering $80 spent on undelivered dope

         

— A pretty dead start to Update tonight, with Charles’ string of opening jokes getting tepid audience reactions.
— Isn’t that the same dummy of The Ayatollah that Bill Murray did a segment with in an Update from the previous season? (side-by-side comparison below) Ugh, so not only has Charles Rocket been aping Bill Murray’s persona all season, but now he’s flat-out doing cheap knockoffs of Bill’s bits too?

 

— Boy, that Ayatollah bit was just plain stupid. Gail’s little addition to it afterwards didn’t help, either.
— So far, Gail’s Update jokes tonight have been getting a better audience reaction than Charles’.
— Spoke too soon. Gail’s Eldridge Cleaver joke just now was TERRIBLE and noticeably received loud groans from the audience.
— Yet ANOTHER Update commentary from Ann? Man, why does SNL keep trying to make Ann Risley happen?
— The nerd fashion show bit is okay.
— Funny sight gag with one of the nerd models having a pocket protector glued to his bare chest.
— Overall, hey, Ann’s bit actually wasn’t too bad for once! However, I’m sure that’s due to the fact that most of the focus wasn’t on her. However, her delivery didn’t come off stilted or flat for once.
— Here’s our weekly Joe Piscopo SNL Sports commentary.
— Joe’s “who cares?” assessment of the two Super Bowl teams is pretty funny.
— Okay, I’m starting to get a little tired of Joe’s gimmick with him bringing out some kind of sports toy during his Update commentaries. This is, what, the third or fourth time he’s done that so far?
— At the beginning of Eddie’s commentary, he actually stops the audience from applauding by telling them to hold it. Not sure what that was all about, but I laughed. Eddie just has a way of making little things like that funny to me.
— Hilarious with Eddie revealing he’s holding his Iranian reefer dealer hostage.
— I also liked Eddie’s line about freezing his “assets” off.
— Tonight’s overall Update was a big step down. After a promising upswing in quality with Charles and Gail’s jokes in the preceding episode’s Update, I see we’re back to the usual dreariness.
STARS: **


DISCO MELTDOWN
dance club at nuclear plant is Dena Disco’s (DED) hangout

 

— Denny Dillon as “Deena Disco”.
— Hmm, disco was still around in 1981?
— Denny: “(singing) My shoes are disco, my hair is disco, even my handwriting is disco!” Are they kidding me with this stuff?
— What am I even watching??? Where’s the joke?
— A disco being held at a nuclear power plant. I usually enjoy random sketch premises in this vein, but this particular one is coming off just plain dumb and is lacking actual good humor.
— Overall, boy, this was awful. This is pretty much the type of bad sketch I always imagined season 6 was filled with before I started doing reviews of this season.
STARS: *


ROCKET REPORT
CHR purports to give Ronald Reagan’s daily itinerary

   

— The audience is very unresponsive so far. I’m not finding this film too great myself.
— The horse being named “Darkie” – ugh, yet ANOTHER example of unnecessary racial humor in season 6.
— Overall, wow, I couldn’t find anything good to really say about this. This just came and went without any really good moments standing out. Definitely a big step down from the usually strong Rocket Reports.
STARS: **


THE PACESETTER
(JOP) demonstrates how The Pacesetter can jolt amateur theater to life

   

— When the camera first cut to Ann, I almost thought that was Karen Black at first. Something about Ann’s hair in this and the way her face looked with her head thrown back like that. I guess I still have Karen Black on the brain after having just reviewed an SNL episode she hosted.
— I like the premise of jolting an actor with an electric shock to make them speed up the pacing.
— Okay, well, THAT sure died off fast. Much like the Foreign Film earlier tonight, this went from “funny” to “that’s the ONLY joke???” really fast.
— In the shots of Joe in the studio audience, you can see just how dead tonight’s audience is. They look pretty subdued compared to how SNL audiences are usually seen.
STARS: **


RAVI SINGS
Ravi Shankar (PAW) interprets American romantic ballads on his new album

 

— Oh my god at the make-up on Patrick Weathers. And the only reason I’m aware that this is Patrick Weathers is because of some reviews I read of this sketch in the past. Well, that and the fact that Patrick’s making the same over-the-top bug-eyed facial expressions that he made as a tomato earlier tonight in the Dazola sketch. (a side-by-side comparison is below) Otherwise, I never would’ve been able to tell that’s him in this sketch. I mean, I’ve already been having a hard enough time recognizing him in his normal look, so how would I have recognized him under all that heavy dark make-up?

 

— Is… is he lip-syncing? Why?
— Is there even a joke in this? What IS this??? What are they going for here??? God, you’re killing me with tonight’s episode, SNL.
STARS: *


CUT ‘N’ CURL
Reagan dispute teases out differences of opinion between Roweena & Nadine

   

— I remember liking this sketch last time it appeared earlier this season.
— What the hell? What was with the “$40,000” and all that “Dream Date” text that suddenly flashed on-screen for a few seconds? (screencaps below) Must be a technical error involving on-screen text that’s supposed to be displayed for a later sketch in this episode.

 

— Hmm, what’s with Gail’s aside to the camera? They didn’t do this last time this sketch appeared.
— Now Denny’s doing the “aside to the camera” thing. What is the point of all that? I’m not liking it.
— Overall, a very strange installment of this sketch, and a big step down from these characters’ first appearance. Almost nothing worked in this. And it probably would’ve helped if there were a third person for Gail and Denny to play off of, like how the first one had Jamie Lee Curtis’ New Wave-ish character.
STARS: *½


EDDIE’S PROMOTION
EDM claims that his promotion to full SNL castmember won’t go to his head

  

— An announcement from Eddie that he has been promoted from a featured player to an official cast member. Very good news, and this promotion was LONG overdue. And nice applause from the audience in response to this announcement.
— He was still credited as a featured player earlier tonight in the opening montage, but I’m assuming he’ll start being credited with the main cast in the next episode.
— Funny ending with him disproving his claim that he won’t “go Hollywood”.
— As a rule, I don’t give a rating to segments like this, though I wish I could considering how much better this segment is than the last handful of dreadful sketches.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


DREAM DATE
(CHR) tells how to send in $40,000 for a chance at a Dream Date

  

— Oh, so THIS is what that technical error from the “Cut ‘N’ Curl” sketch was all about.
— What the hell? This was yet another sketch tonight that came and went with me not getting any laughs from the so-called humor.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
14 Karat Soul performs “I Wish That We Were Married”
14 Karat Soul performs “This Time It’s For Real”


NATIONAL ENQUIRER
National Enquirer editorial board makes tough decisions about next issue

   

— Joe’s line about a one-winged bird who only flies in circles kinda made me laugh. It’s probably an old joke that’s been around for ages, but I’ve never heard it before, and at this point of tonight’s dreary episode, I am so desperate for ANY laughs.
— Yet another sketch where Gilbert says his lines with a monotone, drawn-out, half-assed delivery. When I think back on how energetic he looked in the early episodes of the season and then see how increasingly miserable he’s become in the last few episodes, it reminds me so much of Janeane Garofalo’s stint on the show years later during season 20 (another infamous season) – how she started that season looking energetic and happy in her performances, and then a turning point came with the Sarah Jessica Parker episode where, from that point on, Garofalo’s misery from working on the show and the contempt she had for some of her castmates was written all over her face in every sketch and she no longer put any energy into her performances, coming off as a monotone sourpuss in almost everything. We’re seeing the EXACT SAME THING with Gilbert this season.
— “Cripples are big now.” Ugh, just STOP with the poor attempts at offensive shock humor, season 6.
— A lot of this sketch is falling completely flat for me.
— Another ugh at that bad low-brow ending with the guys agreeing to do a piece romantically linking Desi Arnaz Sr. and Jr. to each other.
— Overall, yet ANOTHER terrible sketch tonight with almost no laughs. Man, tonight’s episode has been dying a miserable death.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Joe ‘King’ Carrasco & The Crowns performs “Don’t Bug Me Baby”


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Man, what a rough night. This is like the type of episode most people probably automatically think of whenever season 6 gets mentioned. I’ve been finding out through doing these reviews that this season wasn’t quite as horrible as legend has it, but this particular episode was bad enough to almost make me forget that. Though thinking back on the first half of the episode, while it certainly had its share of bad segments, there were actually some inspired, funny sketches scattered throughout it, mainly Eddie Atari and Save-A-Network Telethon. But damn, what the hell happened afterward? Once Update showed up, that seemed to officially kill any momentum that was left and the show never recovered. The post-Update half of the show was absolutely DIRE, with one dud after another, and a very bored-sounding (and looking) studio audience. Some of the least funniest sketches of the whole season were in the second half of tonight’s episode alone.
— It’s a shame that after the preceding week’s surprisingly strong Karen Black episode, the weaknesses of season 6 came back with a vengeance tonight. And the real worrisome thing is, as bad as this episode was, I’ve heard that the next episode is supposedly even worse.
— Robert Hays was a very bland, unmemorable host. Did absolutely nothing of note tonight. Well, he was decent in the Love American Style sketch, I’ll give him that.
— The copy of this episode I reviewed is missing a short sketch titled “Ordinary Elephant People”, which is a fake promo for a TV movie about an Elephant Man-esque family. I saw that sketch years ago and recall not finding it anything special, though it wasn’t terrible. The most noteworthy thing I remember about it is that Gilbert Gottfried uses his now-recognizable screechy voice, yet he STILL manages to come off sounding monotone and depressed in it.  Man, working on the show this season is DESTROYING that man.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Karen Black):
— a huge step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Sally Kellerman

Posted on

January 17, 1981 – Karen Black / Cheap Trick, Stanley Clarke Trio (S6 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
departing Jimmy (JOP), Rosalynn (ANR), Amy (DED) Carter strip White House

   

— Ann’s line about Nancy Reagan clawing her way up the stairs was good.
— The line about Nancy Reagan not killing people but “just marrying them instead” kinda died with the audience.
— I’m liking the Carters’ panicked rush to take all the valuable things in the White House.
— Another funny turn with what I’m assuming is an off-camera Gail as Nancy Reagan announcing through a bullhorn that the Carters need to leave now. Sounds like she’s using her famous midwestern “Don’cha know”-type voice/accent, for some reason.
— Yet another weak segue to LFNY. Why are this season’s writers having so much trouble coming up with good LFNYs?
— Overall, a pretty strong cold opening for this season, and for once, Ann Risley gave a performance I actually liked.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— The “say anything just to get applause” premise is reminiscent of Chevy Chase’s season 3 monologue.
— Funny how her announcement of “I don’t use drugs!” received hesitant applause and even some booing.  A sign of the times.
— I thought this would just be a simple “audience wildly applauds after everything Karen says”, but interestingly, the joke seems to be that the applause keeps varying from loud-to-mild depending on what she says.
— Wow, that was a fast monologue.
STARS: **½


THE LEGENDARY COMPOSERS
album has classical origins of contemporary hits

 

— I like how one of the songs listed is “Theme from Dukes of Hazzard”, even if Charles flubbed the title.
— Loved the two-sided Beethoven/Manilow bust.
— An overall decent commercial.
STARS: ***


FOUNDATION FOR THE TRAGICALLY HIP
Foundation For The Tragically Hip solicits donations to abet the trendy

— Pretty funny, and I love how they’re making this feel like an authentic commercial, using outside actors and delivering the funny subject matter and lines in such a straight manner.
— Some really funny lines here.
— Did the band The Tragically Hip REALLY get their name from this sketch?
STARS: ****


LIVELYS
game show emcee Phil Lively (CHR) & wife Frances (GLM) meet the neighbors

   

— A famous sketch from this season.
— Charles and Gail are doing a great job holding normal, casual conversations in a game show manner.
— I like Gilbert and Denny entering as the confused normal couple and being treated as game show contestants. Gilbert’s sullen demeanor that we’ve been seeing so much lately actually works here.
— Funny turn with Gilbert having to guess in a quiz show manner the year of the wine he’s drinking.
— Charles is surprisingly great throughout this.
— Overall, wow, that was a very strong sketch, especially for this season’s standards. I’m aware they bring this back later this season, but I’m not sure if it’ll work as a recurring sketch.
STARS: ****½


REAGAN / SINATRA
Frank Sinatra (JOP) lobbies for Nancy Reagan (GLM) to be vice-president

 

— The debut of Joe’s Sinatra impression.
— Hey, they actually put Charles’ Reagan in a wig this time.
— Man, his Reagan impression is still terrible, unfortunately.
— I’m really liking Joe’s performance as Sinatra.
— Nice twist at the end with Gail’s Nancy Reagan. For some reason, that reminds me of the “Hillary is the one REALLY running the White House” jokes the show would later make during the Phil Hartman years of Bill Clinton’s presidency.
STARS: ***


ROCKET REPORT
CHR honors cabbie Rich Schmaltz [real], NYC daredevil

    

— What was with the delayed beginning? This started with just dead air as we saw a silent black screen for a long time, and then, while we’re still seeing a black screen, a Pardo voice-over strangely introduces the segment instead of them simply using a “Rocket Report” title screen like they’ve usually been doing this season.
— Geez, quite a daring beginning with Charles leaning far over the railing of the roof of the building. What if he had fallen? Did they have some kind of protective net or something just in case?
— The whole cab part is great. I like how they’re presenting the cab driver as a stunt-taking daredevil and are dramatizing the risky turn he’s attempting to make, with Charles even showing us a layout of the risky turn.
— Overall, one of the best Rocket Report’s I’ve covered so far.
STARS: ****


MONA LISA
a museum security guard (CHR) ends his relationship with Mona Lisa (host)

 

— Strangely, this is the first sketch Karen Black has appeared in all night. I had been wondering where she was.
— Loved Karen loudly telling the off-camera Whistler’s Mother painting to drop dead.
— Karen’s very good in this, and Charles is also doing well.
— Funny ending with Karen hesitantly doing the famous Mona Lisa “smile”.
— Man, tonight’s episode has been on fire so far.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Cheap Trick performs “Baby Loves to Rock”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Mary Lou James (ANR) suggests dumb dieters try disguising portion sizes
Rush to the Sunbelt!- stock newsreel footage documents southern migration
JOP decries scalping of Super Bowl XV tickets, then tries to move a pair
CHR excitedly lists the star-studded lineup for the Reagan inauguration

       

— What was the point of that “scotch and soda” bit between Charles and Gail? It got no reaction from the audience.
— Oh, no, here comes another Ann Risley Update commentary.
— I guess the material itself isn’t bad, but Ann’s attempt at pulling off a snarky, sarcastic delivery is just plain WEAK.
— That’s it? That’s the whole Ann Risley commentary? What was with the awkward ending, with no audience applause and Gail messing up the name of Ann’s character?
— The “Rush to the Sunbelt!” bit was pretty funny, and I always like when SNL uses random old stock footage shots out of context.
— Here’s our weekly Joe Piscopo SNL Sports commentary. I think this is also the first time he’s doing it on Charles’ side of the Update desk.
— Ha, Joe’s bit was very short, but had a very funny turn. I think they’re able to get away with having Joe do an SNL Sports segment on Update every single week because his bits are always short.
— This is the second episode in a row where Joe uses a prop from his commentary to try to sabotage Charles while Charles is in the middle of an Update joke. In the last episode, Joe ran a wind-up bowling ball toy across Charles’ desk, and this time, he’s waving Super Bowl tickets in front of Charles’ face. To Charles’ credit, he always seems to have a good sense of humor about it, which I wouldn’t have expected after all the things I’ve heard about his alleged big ego.
— Good bit with Charles’ fast-paced, hyped-up rundown of events at the upcoming presidential inauguration.
— The Nancy Reagan inaugural dress bit was just dumb.
— Overall, a surprising improvement over the dreadful last Update. Even though they still need a lot of work, the jokes from Charles and Gail were a little better, and the audience was more generous to Gail than they were in the last Update. Gail’s still coming off pretty green as an anchor, though. I’ll be generous and give Update its first passing rating of the whole season so far.
STARS: ***


60 MINUTES
Dan Rather (JOP) investigates lack of female CBS journalists

     

— I can’t judge the accuracy of Joe’s Dan Rather impression, because I’m more familiar with older Dan Rather from more recent decades. Knowing Joe, I’m sure it’s a good impression, though.
— I got a big laugh from the cutaway to Joe’s facial reaction after being told “1 out of every 4 weeks, women wouldn’t be able to work”.
— The “Take this job – you’re dead” letter was very funny.
— I like the segment with an “unidentified” Walter Cronkite.
— Overall, pretty good. This felt kinda like a typical pre-taped segment that would’ve aired in season 10.
STARS: ***½


HOSPITAL BED
hospitalized stroke victim (GIG) is unable to communicate with visitors

  

— I’ve heard about this sketch; from what I’ve read about it, it sounds like a very serious, low-key piece with a subject matter that’s always sounded depressing as hell to me. Still interested to see how this goes, though. After all, I was expecting to be depressed by the controversial “First He Cries” sketch from season 5, only to end up getting good laughs from it.
— I commend them for the intriguing format, with having a single camera be the main character’s P.O.V.
— Gilbert’s sarcastic old Jewish voice-over is actually pretty funny, and this is another good use of his now-perpetual sullen delivery.
— Surprised that this is Eddie’s first appearance of the whole night, after how much he dominated the last episode. He IS still just a featured player, though.
— Eddie’s “He about as alive as a baked potato” line made me laugh.
— Some really good character work here. Karen’s character is especially funny and well-done.
— I liked Karen’s “I nearly had a stroke” faux-pas.
— LOL at Gilbert’s deadpan “Oh my god, she’s gonna sing” line about Denny.
— Nice how Gilbert eventually started singing along with Denny in his head.
— This sketch is starting to get really touching now.
— For some reason, the ending actually gave me a nice smile, even though I’m not sure if it was supposed to.
— Overall, I came into this expecting a depressing sketch, but I ended up finding this sketch to have a perfect mix of humor and sentimentality. They did an excellent job with this, in both writing and performances. The original SNL era would’ve been proud.
STARS: ****½


FAIR DINKUM CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS
JOP calls the championship match of Fair Dinkum, Scottish game of manhood

 

— Another appearance tonight from Joe’s SNL Sports persona.
— WTF at this?
— This is kinda reminding me of the nose-wrestling bit from the season premiere, though that one ended up winning me over. Not sure what to think about THIS one.
— And it’s over already. Wow, that was quick.
STARS: **


APARTMENT BUILDING
in the hallway, (YVH) confronts neighbor (EDM) about his loud stereo

 

— Yvonne to Eddie: “[N-word], are you deaf?!?” Ha, I’m surprised to hear that being said on SNL. I love it!
— Yvonne’s insult about Eddie’s nose was really funny.
— Haha, I’m loving Eddie and Yvonne’s whole back-and-forth insult match.
— Eddie’s Ray Charles line was hilarious.
— Funny turn with Eddie changing his tune when seeing Yvonne’s big boyfriend.
— Good ending with Eddie coming back out to spit on Yvonne’s door.
— Yvonne’s been getting more noteworthy speaking roles this season than I had thought. From everything I’ve heard about this season, I had always been under the impression that Yvonne was basically a glorified extra during her featured player tenure, only being given useless non-speaking bit roles most of the time. Now I see that those reports were fairly exaggerated; the woman has been doing SOME stuff this season so far. Hell, she’s certainly doing more than Patrick Weathers, who gets listed in the opening credits as a featured player in every damn episode yet I never notice him in any sketches (aside from his great turn as Bob Dylan). Where is he??? Am I just having a hard time recognizing him in sketches, much like my misadventures with Peter Aykroyd throughout season 5 (who I was usually only able to identify by his Dan Aykroyd-esque voice than by his actual face)?
STARS: ***½


DINER
in a diner, (host) & Paulie Herman order Five Easy Pieces of wheat toast

   

— Another Jersey Guy sketch. At least they waited a while since the last time he appeared.
— I’m still hearing Jay Leno in Joe’s Jersey Guy voice.
— Karen’s having good rapport with Joe in this.
— Great intense rant from Karen to Denny as the waitress, referencing a famous scene from Five Easy Pieces.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Cheap Trick performs “Can’t Stop It But I’m Gonna Try”


SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE ACTION DOLLS
CHR plays with SNL Castmember Action Dolls to show how much fun they are

   

— I’m loving the meta-ness of doing a fake ad about SNL cast action dolls.
— Gilbert’s being called by his backstage “Gillie” nickname.
— This is fun, and Charles is doing a good job demonstrating the whole thing. Charles has been having a rare strong night in general.
STARS: ***½


WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT
host has a breakdown because subject keeps changing

 

— What’s this doing buried at the end of the episode instead of airing in the first half like the prior installments of this sketch did?
— The set is different and looks more low-budget, with just a background consisting of black drapes. Maybe that’s intentional, since this IS supposed to be a public access talk show.
— Good laughs from Karen going crazy with different accents and then suddenly acting like a monkey.
— Overall, not a noteworthy installment of this sketch, but Karen’s performance helped it.
STARS: ***


NATIONAL HANDGUN ASSOCIATION
(MAL) uses (EDM) to mug a couple because “People kill people, not guns”

 

— Interesting how they’re using the home base stage as a sketch setting, and are having Joe and Ann exiting from that stage’s elevator. Reminds me of how the home base stage from the first two seasons was often used as the setting for sketches taking place in cafes or basements.
— Matthew using Eddie as a weapon was a kinda-funny sight gag for about two seconds, but I’m not sure about the rest of this so far.
— Wow, that was short as hell. (I feel like I’m saying that a lot in this review) The overall “people kill people” gag was typical corny season 6 humor, even if the visual initially gave me a chuckle.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Stanley Clarke Trio performs “Wild Dog”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A consistently strong episode; by far the best I’ve covered from this infamous season so far. This episode was just as good as I had always heard it was, and this was also a big improvement over Karen Black’s surprisingly disappointing season 2 episode. Karen also did a much better job hosting tonight than she did in season 2, where I was iffy on a lot of her performances. She was great tonight. This episode was so good, even Update was passable, for the first time all season.
— This episode also featured some of the better performances from my least favorite members of this cast: Ann was very good in the cold opening, Charles was great in various sketches. Even Gilbert (who I thought I would like when this season began, but have ended up being kinda disappointed by him) had his moments tonight.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ray Sharkey):
— a huge step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Robert Hays

Posted on

January 10, 1981 – Ray Sharkey / Jack Bruce & Friends (S6 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
a bullet teaches Jimmy ‘The Weasel’ Fratiano (MAL) not To Tell The Truth

 

— The copy of this episode I’m reviewing is missing the very beginning of this cold opening, but this appears to be a “To Tell the Truth” parody.
— Funny twist with Charles shooting Matthew Laurance after Matthew confessed to being the real Weasel.  The gunshot was pretty realistic-looking, too.
— A great LFNY from Eddie. This is also, I believe, the very first time a featured player has ever said LFNY on the show. I remember hearing that some of this season’s repertory players were upset over the decision to have a featured player open the show.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

 

— Very excited entrance from him.
— He’s coming off very New York-y, even saying “fuhgettaboutit”.
— Okay, now he’s saying “fuhgettaboutit” way too often…
STARS: **


WORK TIME
manual laborers drink beer before the job to prepare for Work Time

   

— The announcer’s “You’re completely bombed out of your skull” line made me laugh.
— The “work time” montage of drunken workers failing at their jobs is pretty funny.
— Strange how they’re showing production credits at the end of this, something you don’t usually see in an SNL fake ad.
STARS: ***


WASP INTERPRETER
Italian (host) translates feelings of repressed WASP couple (CHR) & (ANR)

   

— Charles playing a character with his same first name.
— Ray’s “worse than leftover fettuccini in bed” line made me laugh.
— I’m iffy about this premise, but Ray is REALLY into his performance.
— Heh, and now Ray’s throwing lamps across the set.
— Now I’ve noticed Ann’s character is named after herself, too.
STARS: **½


TOMMY TORTURE
Vickie & Debbie meet punk rocker Tommy Torture (host) at a new wave club

   

— Right from the beginning of this, I’m loving how “early 80s punk” everything in the club looks.
— Another Vickie and Debbie sketch. This punk club is a very interesting setting for them.
— Ray’s unintelligible drunken statements are kinda funny.
— Ray’s song sounds like it could’ve been a real punk song from that time period.
— Huh? THAT’S all Vickie and Debbie have to say after Ray’s performance? What a weak ending.
— Overall, despite a great performance from Ray, this was a disappointing Vickie and Debbie outing. This sketch was too all over the place and didn’t come together well. It also didn’t help that the audience was silent for pretty much the entirety of the sketch, not even reacting to the (very) few half-funny lines.
STARS: *½


CITIZENS FOR A BETTER AMERICA
(GIG)’s labor plan asks for Ronald Reagan to give him a “hum” job

— These last two episodes, we seem to be seeing the emergence of a more sullen, monotone Gilbert Gottfried, where his misery from working on the show this season starts becoming visible in his performances. His delivery in this sketch is coming off quite unenthusiastic. A contrast to his energy level in some of his earlier performances from the beginning of the season.
— A fairly juvenile premise, but I’m finding some humor here.
— “Mr. President… give me a humjob.”
STARS: **½


BAR / JANUARY 11TH
in a bar, (host) advises unemployed & depressed Jimmy Carter (JOP)
CHR gives an on-the-scene report about NYC’s big January 11th celebration

     

— I was little tough on Joe’s Jimmy Carter impression in my review of the season premiere, but his impression has improved tonight. The make-up is a lot better, too; he now looks more like Carter than Dan Aykroyd ever did.
— Ray: “All you gotta do is sit on your duff and daydream.” President Carter: “Oh, I’ve been doing that for the last four years.”
— Huh? What the fuck just happened? Why did we suddenly cut to an outside shot of a crowd of people while the voice of Charles Rocket is reporting? What happened to the President Carter sketch that I was in the middle of watching? Did the recording of the Carter sketch get cut off in the copy of the episode I’m watching? Am I now watching a Rocket Report segment? WHAT’S GOING ON?!??!
— The Charles Rocket segment is at a gathering where they seem to be celebrating the arrival of January 11 like it’s New Years. Fairly funny idea, even if I’m still baffled over why the hell I’m now seeing this instead of the President Carter sketch I was in the middle of watching.
— Where is Rocket in this anyway? We can’t even see him while he’s reporting. Is he somewhere in the middle of the crowd? The camera shot is from such a far away angle that I can’t find him in the crowd. Also, is this segment actually being performed live from outside the building? We rarely get outdoor live scenes on SNL, aside from the handful of Christmas episodes that have goodnights held at the Rockefeller skating rink.
— Ah, the camera has zoomed in closer and we can now see Charles more clearly.
— Okay, NOW it makes sense to me why they abruptly went from the middle of the Carter sketch to the January 11th celebration; they’re attempting to make this feel like an authentic instance of “regular programming gets interrupted by New Years celebration when the ball is about to drop”. That’s actually a very interesting, unique idea for SNL. Still feels like they could’ve done a less abrupt transition, though. Maybe they could’ve had the Carter sketch get cut off with some kind of “We interrupt this sketch to bring you this special report” announcement, and THEN cut to Charles at the outside crowd.
— I’m loving seeing the in-studio celebration, where even the audience is involved.
STARS: ***½ (the ½ is just for trying something unique and elaborate)


WEEKEND UPDATE
(GIG)’s crime forecast gives urbanites the info needed to weather the day
JOP comments on Joe Frazier’s unretirement & predicts bowling will be big
EDM suggests the draft board pass him over in favor of Garrett Morris

         

— Whoa, whoa whoa. HUGE changes to Update tonight, which I was not expecting. The Update set has been remodeled, the Update logo graphics are different, and Gail Matthius is now at the desk as a co-anchor. Wow. I guess SNL is well-aware of the dire state that Update has been in this season, and are making some drastic mid-season changes to improve the segment.
— After starting off tonight’s Update by doing several consecutive news jokes, Charles FINALLY acknowledges he has a new co-anchor, and gives Gail an intro. There’s no comedic lines during this; just a straightforward intro, audience applause for Gail, and then Gail going right into the next news story.
— Oh, man, they got Gail doing the same type of lame “misinterpret a news picture” jokes that Charles has been doing all season? How is having two different people doing the same type of weak jokes we’ve been suffering through all season supposed to be an improvement?
— This Murder Map segment with Gilbert seems to have promise.
— Gilbert’s commentary is pretty funny, with him doing a professional, meteorologist-esque coverage of murders across the country.
— Here’s our weekly Joe Piscopo SNL Sports commentary.
— Joe’s delivery is now finally starting to sound like the energetic delivery his SNL Sports pieces would become famous for.
— Joe using the toy bowling game is pretty funny, especially his ad-libbing when the bowling ball didn’t go the right direction at first.
— Heh, WTF? Why is the bowling ball toy from Joe’s commentary now moving across the desk while Charles is in the middle of a joke? Is that an ad-lib from Joe off-camera? Either way, it’s hilarious, and serves as a welcome distraction from whatever lame punchline I’m sure Charles’ joke has.
— Now we have to wait for Gail to find her next news story as she awkwardly shuffles through her papers. Yikes. That’s bringing back bad memories of Dan Aykroyd’s sloppiness as an Update anchor back in season 3.
— Man, Gail’s jokes have been TERRIBLE tonight, and the audience ain’t havin’ it. They are DEAD.
— A commentary from Eddie that’s based on his young age (19).
— Eddie: “If I get drafted, who’s gonna be the token black on Saturday Night Live?” Meanwhile, Yvonne Hudson is probably somewhere backstage, sheepishly raising her hand.
— We get a brief sample of some of the soon-to-be-famous celebrity impressions that Eddie would debut in full later in his tenure (Stevie, Cosby).
— Haha, I love Eddie urging the army to draft Garrett Morris instead of him.
— Eddie: “Word has it that [Garrett Morris] has a lot of free time right now.” LOL! Poor Garrett, though. I mean, damn, it hadn’t even been a full year since he’s left the cast, and ALREADY his former show is making a joke like that about his post-SNL career.
— Overall, as usual this season, the guest commentaries were the only thing saving tonight’s Update. The mini-overhaul that Update has gone through seems to have done NO good so far, as I think the Update jokes may have actually gotten even WORSE. Poor Gail ESPECIALLY got stuck with nothing but duds and groaners tonight. The conspiracy theorist in me almost wonders if they added Gail to Update and deliberately gave her such terrible jokes just to make Jean Doumanian’s golden boy Charles Rocket look better by comparison.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Dancing On Air”


FILMED CONFESSION
a suspect (GIG) & his interrogator (host) develop a cinematic confession

  

— What was with Ray’s prop gun accidentally falling on the floor?
— The premise of this is fairly interesting, and something about it kinda reminds me of that Televised Execution sketch that Bill Murray did in his very first episode as a cast member. It’s also reminding me of another sketch, but I can’t put my finger on which sketch that is.
— I’m really liking Ray’s performance.
— Gilbert’s acting in this is starting to get really good, and he seems more into it compared to the sullen demeanor we’ve been seeing from him lately.
— LOL at Ray revealing the camera has run out of tape right in the middle of Gilbert’s confession.
STARS: ***½


HAVE A NICE DAY
smiley faces pervade a gore-filled horror movie

   

— I’m liking the silly idea of this horror movie parody.
— Announcer: “So stupid, you cannot believe grown men and women would stoop so low for a couple of million thousand bucks.”
— Overall, there were a few okay parts, but this didn’t turn out to be as funny as I thought it would.
STARS: **½


WHITE BABIES
in the park, (EDM) sells (JOP) & (ANR) a black market white baby for $500

 

— Hilarious concept with Eddie and Ray selling white babies at the park. I can already tell this is going to be a really funny Eddie Murphy sketch.
— The line about a previous purchase of a white baby that turned out to be a bowling pin was hilarious.
— LOL at the baby being in a garbage can.
— Denny’s baby being named “Splotchy” gave me a pretty good laugh.
— Overall, okay, this didn’t turn out to be quite the classic Eddie Murphy sketch the set-up had me expecting it to be, but it was still pretty funny.
STARS: ***½


AUDIENCE CAPTION

— For the first time this season, we get the return of the original SNL era’s “audience caption” gag that they stopped doing sometime in the middle of season 4. But, boy, tonight’s coleslaw/underwear caption is just plain stupid and is trying way too hard at copying something that the original era did so well.
— I heard there’s an audience caption later this season where a lady being captioned looks VERY pissed off. That’ll be funny to see.


SURROGATE MOTHERS
unruly surrogate mothers (YVH) & (DED) worry moms-to-be (GLM) & (ANR)

   

— What? Ann and Gail as flat-stomached allegedly-pregnant women whose due dates are approaching?
— Oh, I see where this is going. Yvonne and Denny are Ann and Gail’s surrogates.
— Some laughs from Denny wildly acting rebellious against her employer by doing things that will be dangerous to the baby she’s pregnant with.
— Haha, Denny’s threatening to take LSD.
— Are they kidding me with that terrible ending with Yvonne saying the “I don’t know nothing ’bout birthin’ no babies” movie quote? *groan*
STARS: **½


THE MAN WITH THE BLACK HAT
by William Dear- man has pants-around-ankles

  

— Interesting format with us only being able to see the feet of the main character and everyone he interacts with.
— The ending with the guy meeting a similarly-pants-dropped lady was kinda cute, I guess.
STARS: **½


STOP-A-NUT
Stop-A-Nut personal protection unit offers armored defense against crime

   

— There’s the same park set from earlier. I guess that set is to this episode what the mall set was to the last episode (David Carradine).
— Ha, insane sketch so far, especially Ray as an old lady fighting with the armored suit!
— The interior picture of the armor suit is very funny.
— Haha, I love seeing Eddie blasting “Rapper’s Delight” on his boombox.
STARS: ****


THE WAITER-MAKER
(host) tries to mold (GIG) into a superstar server

     

— Not too sure about this premise.
— Okay, this sketch is getting more interesting with Gilbert’s character.
— I love the comedic vamping for time by showing a series of various “10 shifts later” “Okay, make that 20 shifts later” etc. title cards while Gilbert is apparently doing a lengthy costume change off-camera.
— Eh, the sketch petered off again after a while, and I didn’t care for the ending.
STARS: **


COMMERCIAL
(JOP) pitches an unspecified, nonexistent product that costs only $9.99

 

— They seem to be doing lots of sketches this season with either Joe or Charles playing a pitchman.
— Wow, well, that was quick. I did like Joe’s fast-talking performance and how overcrowded the screen had gotten by the end with all the displayed text. Still could’ve been funnier, though, and probably would’ve actually benefited from being a little longer and going further with the “commercial about nothing” premise.
— I usually compare Joe’s pitchman performances to that of Dan Aykroyd’s, but this particular commercial was something I could picture Harry Shearer doing well in season 5.
STARS: **


KILLING TIME
EDM does stand-up about an inner-city insult contest

   

— Oh, this is going to be the legendary occurrence where the show was running short and they threw Eddie out there at the last minute to kill time by having him do a piece from his stand-up. I’ve heard so much about this over the years and have always been dying to see it. Chris Rock also talked about it during a segment on SNL’s 40th anniversary special.
— Right off the bat, I’m already loving Eddie’s energy and demeanor.
— The whole “Yo mama got a mouth in the back of her neck and the bitch chew like this… (*proceeds to demonstrate*)” bit absolutely killed me.
— I love Eddie’s various characterizations in this, going back-and-forth between different voices as he’s doing a retelling of an argument. Reminds me of Richard Pryor doing that in his stand-up pieces from the episode he hosted back in season 1.
— Overall, wow, that was freakin’ great. From the beginning, I was already loving this just for whole impromptu-ness behind the show’s decision to have a cast member go out onto the home base stage to kill time by doing straight stand-up comedy, but Eddie ended up delivering big-time. He not only handled this unplanned segment with total ease, but he was hilarious and killed with the audience. This would end up being a very important part of Eddie’s SNL tenure, as it was pretty much the turning point where this 19 year old kid started being officially viewed as the undisputed breakout star of the cast.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Livin’ Without Ja”


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Not a terrible episode, but not really a good one either. There were a lot of promising sketch premises that unfortunately ended up petering out. Sketches that felt like they should’ve been very strong turned out to be either merely decent or flat-out weak. Even the January 11th celebration segment, which I commend for going outside the box and doing something unheard of for SNL, was executed clumsily with a too-abrupt transition from the President Carter sketch it interrupted.
— Despite me going into this episode having no familiarity with Ray Sharkey, I ended up finding him to be a fun host. He had a lot of great energy, made some of the more iffy sketches become more watchable with his commitment, and seemed to be more prominent tonight than most hosts in these early SNL seasons are, as he appeared in practically every single sketch, even playing an old lady in the type of sketch that would usually place a cast member or writer in that role.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (David Carradine):
— a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Karen Black

Posted on

December 20, 1980 – David Carradine / The cast of “The Pirates of Penzance” (S6 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
DOP puts the kibosh on JOP’s plans to be both castmember & SNL announcer

 

— They seem to be attempting the type of “backstage locker room” cold openings the original SNL era often did.
— Joe practicing a Pardo impression would later get put to good use in reality during the season 9 episode that Jamie Lee Curtis hosted, where Joe had to fill in for a laryngitis-stricken Pardo.
— I loved Pardo’s “I’m everywhere” line.
— Abrupt segue to LFNY, if it can even be called a segue.  Joe just randomly said it with no set-up. This season’s writers seem to be struggling to come up with good LFNY segues.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Yvonne Hudson receives her first credit as a featured player, becoming SNL’s very first black female cast member.


MONOLOGUE
host shuffles a soft-shoe while singing “I Wanna Be A Dancin’ Man”

   

— I remember hearing a rumor that Carradine pulled a Kris Kristofferson and got drunk shortly before airtime. However, he seems fine in this monologue.
— He made a pretty funny “That didn’t work” ad-lib when his line about his father forbidding him from using his feet got a tepid reaction.
— Another ad-lib with him saying “Just reading the cards, that’s all”. Who is he with that ad-lib, Frank Zappa?
— A song-and-dance number. Wouldn’t have expected that from him.
— There’s no joke to this musical number, but it has a charm to it and is fairly fun.
— I liked Charles’ “This is supposed to be a comedy show” acknowledgment.
— Very funny part with David kicking Charles off the stage.
STARS: ***


GUN CITY
(JOP) makes a Crazy Eddie-style pitch for Christmas firearms

   

— Joe’s doing great at channeling his inner Aykroyd, with his fast-talking manic pitchman delivery.
— Insane premise, and feels a little weird to watch nowadays with our controversial gun control debate, but the concept is coming off great with Joe’s performance and all the various guns he’s rapidly advertising. I’m getting a lot of laughs from this.
STARS: ****


MENSWEAR STORE
Caine (host) gets fashion advice from owner of black menswear shop (EDM)

   

— Judging from Eddie’s wig, is this the debut of his Velvet Jones character?
— Nah, it doesn’t seem to be, as Eddie’s using a different voice. I’m loving his voice in this sketch, though.
— Eddie’s smooth delivery and ease as a performer in this is leaps and bounds above most of the rest of this season’s cast.
— Eddie’s “You a tacky-lookin’ white dude, let me tell you that” comment had me laughing out loud.
— Oh my god, is that Gilbert with fake Asian eyes and insane make-up?
— What the hell was with David’s unsure delivery of that one line just now, where even he gave a puzzled look towards the camera afterwards?
— What’s with the sudden loud music sting? Are they playing that at the wrong time?
— Geez, David’s timing has gotten really off all of a sudden. What was with that long, long awkward pause of his? Man, this sketch in general seems to have gone off the rails.
— The ending with David destroying the store was kinda funny, but it wasn’t enough to save all the bad flubs, timing issues, and miscues this sketch suffered from towards the end. I think I’m now starting to believe that aforementioned rumor about David being drunk.
STARS: **


CEDAR MALL
Vickie & Debbie hang out at the mall & talk with cool boys (JOP) & (CHR)

 

— Good to see these characters back, and this is an interesting setting for them.
— I liked Gail’s vague recapping of an earlier conversation she had, by saying “and Steve goes… and I go… and he goes…”
— Ha, Charles as an overconfident jock, the role he was born to play.
— Overall, another good Valley Girl sketch.
STARS: ***


ROCKET REPORT
derelict Santa Claus (CHR) wanders the streets of NYC

     

— They seem to keep re-designing the “Rocket Report” title screen every time this segment appears.
— Is that Charles himself as the hobo Santa in the cutaways? Hard to tell with the big Santa beard obscuring his face, but that looks like Charles’ nose.
— I can’t help but feel this Hobo Santa bit seems like a role Bill Murray would’ve been great for.
— The juxtapositions between Charles’ (as himself) glowing statements about Santa and the bad stuff we see “Santa” actually doing are pretty funny.
— Overall, this was very different from the usual Rocket Reports, and didn’t work as well as the usual formula does. Still had a decent amount of laughs, though.
STARS: ***


DYLAN & GUTHRIE
Bob Dylan (PAW) & ailing Woody Guthrie (host) converse via song lyrics

 

— This is a famous sketch from this season and, from what I hear, is Patrick Weathers’ only claim to fame during his short-lived SNL tenure.
— I can’t judge the accuracy of David’s Woody Guthrie impression, as I have no familiarity with Guthrie. David seems to be going for an accurate impression, though.
— Patrick’s doing a great Dylan impression.
— I like Patrick’s Dylan stealing potential lyrics by writing down the stuff David’s Guthrie is saying during the conversation.
— Daylight Savings Time?  In December???
— I’m surprised by how short this ended up being. This overall sketch wasn’t quite the classic I had been expecting from comments I read over the years, but this was still a very good sketch.
STARS: ****


THE HOME VERSION OF DALLAS
turn domestic turmoil into TV drama with The Home Version of Dallas

     

— Wow at the wild beginning, with a drunk Gail fighting with Joe, yelling something to him about a “two-bit slut”, and then slapping her daughter (Denny). I’m not used to seeing that much craziness so early in a sketch.
— Another sketch tonight with a cast member playing a pitchman. This time, it’s Charles.
— The “Dallas” twist is funny.
— Haha, Denny looks hilarious in the Charlene Tilton wig.
— Overall, a pretty solid sketch and a good sendup of the Dallas craze going on at the time.
STARS: ***½


MR. BILL’S CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
by Walter Williams- painful yule memories

     

— Weird seeing a Mr. Bill short in this era. There’s actually a bit of a backstory behind this, where this was supposed to air in the previous season’s Christmas episode (Ted Knight), but got cut for time at the last minute. As compensation, SNL’s airing it a year later in tonight’s Christmas episode.
— Some of the scenes from this (toy train running over Mr. Bill’s mom, Sluggo in a Box, a flattened Spot being used as the star on a Christmas tree) were actually shown as a flashback clip in a Mr. Bill short from the second half of last season.
— And now, this sled part is yet another scene that was shown in the aforementioned Mr. Bill short from last season. This makes me feel too much like I’m just watching a repeat of that short.
— Overall, I didn’t enjoy this all that much, due to already seeing many parts of it in the aforementioned short.
STARS: **


KUNG FU CHRISTMAS
a movie starring Caine & Bruce Lee (EDM)

   

— “Bruce Lee is back, but this time he’s black!” (*Eddie jumps into the scene as Bruce Lee*) Hilarious.
— Gilbert as the fake-Asian-eyed sensai again?
— This ended earlier than I wanted. It looked like it was just starting to take off.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE
ANR’s holiday suggestions revolve around lard wrapped in plastic bags
JOP opines regarding NBC’s announcerless, statistics-only NFL broadcast

     

— Okay, I’m starting to notice this season’s Updates are relying A LOT on “picture gags”, where they show a news picture and jokingly misinterpret it to make it seem like it’s a picture of something weird. It’s a very lazy resort that a lot of Update eras are guilty of sometimes relying on (even strong Update anchors like Jane Curtin and Dennis Miller), but I swear it seems almost like that’s the ONLY kind of joke that Charles Rocket does in his Updates. Ugh.
— What is with all the racial humor this season?
— Ann Risley with her own Update commentary? Uh-oh…
— A constant mentioning of lard wrapped in a plastic bag. Is that the ONLY joke in Ann’s commentary?
— Overall, Ann’s commentary fell completely flat. Man, am I gonna get ANY good Ann Risley performances out of this season? I haven’t been liking ANYTHING she’s done so far and her delivery is always so damn stiff and bland.
— Charles’ mere mention of quaaludes automatically receives cheap audience applause. Much like the overreliance on racial jokes, all the forced drug humor is another season 6 staple that I’m getting increasingly sick of.
— I guess Joe’s SNL Sports commentaries really ARE a weekly thing. This is the fourth Update in a row now.
— Ha, Joe makes a passing mention of NBC’s Don Ohlmeyer, a name that would later gain infamy with Norm Macdonald fans.
— Joe silently displaying stats on the screen about himself and his salary is really funny.
— Overall, Charles has had worse weeks before, but I’m still not liking his Update jokes nor his tendency to give cocky looks to the camera after certain punchlines. He barely had any jokes that I laughed at tonight.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs a medley of songs from The Pirates of Penzance


HEROIN IN HARLEM
rich white drug users visit Harlem for an authentic heroin experience

   

— Interesting premise with snobby whites visiting Harlem for heroin.
— “You’re probably the kind of guy who worries about dirty needles.” Hoo boy. That may have been an innocent joke in 1980, but little did they know about the then-upcoming AIDS epidemic that would have everyone panicking.
— I really like the part with Charles eagerly taking a picture of Eddie threateningly holding a knife to Gail’s throat.
— Nice unexpected twist with Eddie turning out to be an undercover cop.
— Eddie: “(in a whitebread voice) I am sick and tired of you junkies coming up and giving Harlem a bad name! You should have stayed on Park Avenue where you belong!”
STARS: ***½


VIRGIN SEARCH
NBC exec’s (MAL) worldwide search for a virgin eventually leads to GLM

   

— Gail as a different girl in every scene? Stuff like this seems to be happening a lot tonight, like the earlier Rocket Report where Charles played dual roles.
— Whoa at that Roman Polanski comment from Gail’s young French character.
— Didn’t Gail already play a nun earlier tonight?
— Gail as a nun implying she lost her virginity to Father Guido Sarducci was hilarious.
— Exec: “No virgin anywhere… except my mother.”
— Gail is funny as a crazy early 80s punk girl. “I’m saving myself for Carl Sagan!”
— Gail’s using her real name. It looks like the twist of this film will be that this is how Gail got hired by SNL.
— Overall, a pretty funny film and a really nice showcase for Gail.
STARS: ***


DOPENHAGEN & HAPPY DAZE
(host) goes smokeless with Dopenhagen & Happy Daze instead of lighting up

— More country singing from David tonight?
— David keeps messing up, calling “Dopenhagen” by the wrong name.
— Overall, the humor didn’t work and this felt like pure filler. David’s weak performance didn’t help.
STARS: *½


KFC LOVERS
(host), (DED), (EDM) mourn Colonel Sanders while eating fried chicken

 

— There’s that same mall set again tonight.
— What’s with all the Carl Sagan references tonight?
— I chuckled at the part with David responding to Eddie’s “Gimme some skin!” greeting by literally giving him a piece of fried chicken skin.
— Whether intentional or not, this sketch is making me hungry for some KFC right now.
— Eddie’s story about how fried chicken was discovered was pretty funny.
— The “thigh bone connected to the rib bone, etc.” part felt unnecessary.
— Overall, a decent sketch, if nothing special.
STARS: ***


THE DANCING MAN
by Mitchell Kriegman- (Bill Irwin) can’t resist disco

     

— I remember seeing this Bill Irwin guy on another TV show. He’s really good at doing rubbery physical comedy.
— His uncontrollable spastic dancing is pretty funny.
— LOL at the boombox-carrying black delivery guy shaking his head in response to Irwin’s dancing.
— Good ending with him dancing out onto the street.
STARS: ***½


WELFARE COUNSELING
welfare recipients (YVH) & Caine are told to take up prostitution

  

— Yet ANOTHER sketch with David playing his Kung Fu character?
— I sure am getting tired of that “I seek water” line that David’s character keeps saying tonight.
— Very awkward moment with David’s long pause and then Yvonne seemingly jumping ahead of the script. Or maybe Yvonne was just trying to ad-lib her way out of David’s weird pause. Denny did a good job trying to keep the sketch going at that part. But, man, the drunk rumors about David HAVE to be true.
— We get an accidental close-up of a door very briefly.
— Overall, this sketch didn’t do much for me. The bloopers were more noteworthy to me than the material itself. At least we didn’t get Gilbert in that ridiculous Asian make-up once again. Speaking of which, is that ALL Gilbert has gotten to do tonight?
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs a medley of Christmas carols


GOODNIGHTS

 

— Wow, what a jam-packed stage.
— Gilbert doesn’t look very happy. He’s probably upset that he had to spend the entire episode just playing the same role, which was a waste of his talents. I had always heard that he increasingly looks more and more depressed as this season goes on.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Pretty decent for a season 6 episode. While it was far from being without its faults, there was a fairly high number of good sketches throughout the show, and there wasn’t too much stuff that I hated. Overall, an okay Christmas episode.
— After a positive start with a fun performance in the monologue, David Carradine ended up being a disappointment. It felt like he played nothing but his Kung Fu character and country singers all night, and his alleged drunkenness led to quite a number of awkward moments from him that threw off the material.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jamie Lee Curtis):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
We enter 1981, with host Ray Sharkey

Posted on

December 13, 1980 – Jamie Lee Curtis / James Brown, Ellen Shipley

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Mean Majority members intend to impose their morality on the rest of us

 

— The “Let’s Spit on the Flag” title is the closest I’ve come to even cracking a smile at this so far.
— What a terrible LFNY. The segue to it was weird and didn’t work, and the studio audience didn’t know what to make of it, judging from their VERY delayed applause.
— This season has had a lot of bad LFNYs in general so far, come to think of it.
— Overall, a very weak start to the show. What the heck WAS this?
STARS: *


OPENING MONTAGE
— We finally get the addition of this season’s featured players. Matthew Laurance, Eddie Murphy, and Patrick Weathers each receive their very first credit tonight.

  


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

 

— I got a laugh from Jamie doing what she feels she’s expected to do tonight: a loud, horror movie-ish scream.
— Quick monologue, which seems to have become par for the course this season. This one was fine for what it was.
STARS: ***


CLOVIN HIND JEANS
only brains come between Brooke Shields (GLM) & her Clovin Hind Jeans

 

— This accurately captures the look of the famous Brooke Shields Calvin Klein commercials from that time.
— Funny punchline, and this overall commercial was short and to the point.
STARS: ***½


THE ATTACK OF THE TERRIBLE SNAPPING CREATURES
(host) battles clothespins

     

— I see we’re getting our obligatory horror movie parody out of the way early tonight.
— “Laurie”? Is Jamie playing her character from “Halloween”?
— I’m iffy about the premise, though Jamie and Gail are giving it their all.
— Funny visual at the end with Jamie staggering back to the apartment while covered entirely with clothespins.
STARS: **½


CARD GAME
Paulie Herman plays three-card monty with (EDM) in a bus station

  

— Looks like we get an Eddie Murphy-starring sketch, and early in the episode too. I’m excited to see this.
— Jersey Guy is back ALREADY?
— The audience gives recognition applause at Joe’s “I’m from Jersey, are you from Jersey”, even though this is only the second time he’s appeared.
— We’re already seeing early evidence of Joe Piscopo’s Sinatra obsession, with him briefly singing “Start Spreading the News” after hearing that Eddie’s from New York.
— The reference to tonight’s musical guest James Brown felt kinda shoehorned in.
— Overall, I still don’t mind Joe’s character (I just KNOW I’m eventually gonna get tired of it, though), but this sketch wasn’t anything great. If anything, it was at least nice seeing the early stages of Eddie and Joe’s onscreen chemistry.
STARS: **


WHO IS GILBERT GOTTFRIED?
by Linda Lee- a recap of GIG’s path to SNL

       

— A segment with Gilbert as himself on the home base stage?
— Oh, he’s only there to throw to a short film starring himself.
— Strange joke with his parents living in a revolving door.
— Good gag with him selling “fresh-squeezed water” from a sponge.
— This film isn’t turning out too funny so far.
— Okay, this has gotten a little better with the part where he holds up a bank just so he can film an SNL audition tape on the bank camera.
STARS: **½


DYING TO BE HEARD
poetesses commit suicide, have their works read on TV

   

— Interesting concept and format.
— The whole scene with Jamie is really funny, especially her ridiculous method of killing herself.
— Hilarious part with Gail(?) having killed herself ahead of schedule.
— Still not caring for Ann Risley’s performances. She’s a little too monotone in this.
— Overall, a pretty strong sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
James Brown performs “Rapp Payback”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Woodswoman (DED) says “not in my backyard” to Appalachian nuclear waste
JOP poetically summarizes some recent Major League Baseball transactions
consumer reporter EDM recommends that the poor start eating dog food

       

— The Weekend Update logo on the front of the desk is now gone.
— Ugh at Charles’ cocky laughing after the Breznev rocket joke.
— Charles’ delivery sounds different from the previous Updates, and he keeps doing this head-bobbing thing after some of the jokes.
— I had heard about this Woodswoman commentary years ago, but I thought I remember hearing Ann played this character. Instead, it’s actually Denny.
— Not caring for all the cheap clapter with Denny’s Reagan-bashing statements.
— “I been it, I seen it, I am Woodswoman!”
— Wow, Charles’ joke about only aborting female fetuses was met with boos from the audience. Another example of season 6 trying WAY too hard at shock humor, only for it to backfire on them.
— I kinda laughed at the Howdy Doody/“Heavy Doody” joke, even though it was a corny one.
— Joe’s SNL Sports commentaries seem to have become a weekly thing on Update, as this is the third episode in a row with one.
— I’m loving Joe’s fast-paced rhythmic recap of baseball trades.
— Surprised Joe’s commentary is over already, but I enjoyed it.
— Eddie in his very own Update commentary.
— Interesting voice Eddie’s using.
— Eddie eating from a can of dog food is getting a big reaction from the audience, though I find it only okay; not hilarious. An obvious step down from his fantastic Update commentary in the preceding episode.
— Tonight’s overall Update is hard for me to figure. Aside from the one joke that got booed, Charles’ jokes didn’t bomb nearly as badly as they have lately, and it felt weird hearing him consistently get laughs from the audience for once. However, just because THEY liked it doesn’t mean I automatically have to, as I was still “meh” on a majority of his jokes tonight. I’m also not too sure his new delivery is the right direction for Update.
STARS: **


POKER AND DRUGS DON’T MIX
examples of stoners’ misplayed hands prove that poker & drugs don’t mix

   

— The overhead camera angle is making Ann kinda resemble Jane Curtin.
— Strange but kinda funny part with a voice-over depicting the queen card having an affair with the jack card.
— Weird sketch so far.
— What? That’s the end? I thought this sketch was going somewhere interesting, but the result just came off kinda dumb.
STARS: **


CLOVIN HIND JEANS
if Brooke Shields’ (GLM) Clovin Hind Jeans could talk, she could act

 

— Gail as Brooke Shields: “If [the Clovin Jeans in her closet] could talk, I could act”. Funny.
STARS: ***


BADGER CONVENTION
at their convention, Badger Club members hassle a waitress (host)

   

— Corny concept and humor so far.
— Eddie’s voice is kinda making me laugh, though it’s reminiscent of the voice he just used earlier tonight on Update.
— Jamie’s performance seems unusually stiff. Who is she, Ann Risley all of a sudden?
— Gilbert’s voice is borderline sounding like his now-famous screech.
— Holy hell, the part with the Badger club members “badgering” the waitress – ugh, you’re killin’ me with your trademark corny humor, season 6.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
James Brown performs a medley of his hits

 


TORTU-MATIC
toughen yourself up with the Tortu-Matic physical pain endurance unit

 

— Seems like another typical season 6 concept, but this might have some promise.
— The visual of Charles using the torture device is not as funny as they probably thought it’d come off.
— Overall, this fell completely flat for me.
— The more I think of it, the concept itself wasn’t bad, as this seems like the type of insane fake product that Dan Aykroyd would’ve sold really well during the original era. Not sure why it didn’t work at all here… well, besides the obvious fact that Rocket ain’t no Aykroyd. Maybe they should’ve gotten Piscopo to perform this.
STARS: *½


HOT DOGS FOR GAUGUIN
by Martin Brest- (Danny DeVito) stages a disaster

       

— Danny DeVito!!!
— DeVito looks so young in this.
— I like the other guy’s off-camera “Oh my god” when hearing DeVito’s Statue of Liberty plan.
— Fascinating film so far.
— Great ending with DeVito missing the Statue of Liberty’s head blowing up.
— Overall, this felt like the first thing I’ve liked in the post-Update half of the show so far (aside from James Brown’s epic medley). This season has been having a lot of interesting short films.
STARS: ****


CUT ‘N’ CURL
Roweena (GLM) styles hair of Nadine (DED) & weirded-out daughter (host)

 

— Ha, Jamie coming in with that crazy early 80s trendy look…
— As a kid of the 90s, I recognize the voice Gail’s using as being the same voice she would later use as the mom on the early 90s animated series “Bobby’s World”. As a side note, whenever I saw the name Gail Matthius during that show’s ending credits as a kid, I remember assuming “Matthius” was pronounced “Matthews”.
— Heh, now Gail has just said “Don’cha know?”, which would become her “Bobby’s World” character’s catchphrase.
— Funny comment from Denny about Jamie looking like “a mermaid on drugs”.
— Overall, this was a decent realism scene with good character work from Gail and Denny.
STARS: ***


CLOVIN HIND JEANS
Brooke Shields (GLM) recites a limerick about her Clovin Hind Jeans poses

— Not as funny as the first two.
— At the end, the audience sounded unsure of when to applause.
STARS: **


OSSELOTS
Camille Black (ANR) & her cycle gang are committed to burying road kill

 

— Oh my god, is Ann coming off miscast AS HELL in this role.
— What the heck am I watching?
— Ann to Jamie: “Keep your hands off, bitch.” Sad that that line is the closest I’ve come to chuckling so far.
— Overall, this was AWFUL. Terrible writing, and, man, Ann Risley has yet to impress me so far with her performances this season.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Ellen Shipley performs “Fotogenic”


GOODNIGHTS
host reminds audience of the upcoming vigil for John Lennon

  

— During the scrolling credits, I noticed a credit for “Gillie’s film”. What was that? The Gilbert Gottfried film? Is “Gillie” his backstage nickname?

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— After the promising upswing in quality with the last episode, season 6’s struggles unfortunately return, as we got a weak episode tonight. The writing was bad and a lot of segments fell flat for me, especially in the post-Update half of the show. There weren’t many sketches I was crazy about, but the big highlights of the night for me were Dying To Be Heard and Hot Dogs For Gauguin.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ellen Burstyn):
— a pretty big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Our Christmas episode of the season, hosted by David Carradine

Posted on

December 6, 1980 – Ellen Burstyn / Aretha Franklin, Keith Sykes (S6 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Those Incredible TV Shows will not be seen tonight

— Oh, great, now this season is taking a stab at the original era’s opening disclaimer gags…


COLD OPENING
David Rockefeller (CHR)- “the USA is going co-op, prepare to be evicted”

   

— Funny premise with America “going co-op” and how the poor will receive a note evicting them from the country.
— Ugh, I HATED Charles’ LFNY delivery, and what the hell was with his goofy bug-eyed stiff head-bopping and frozen open-mouthed smile? (screencap below)

— Overall, a pretty good cold opening.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Well, this was short, but Ellen had great energy and came off likable, which provided a good start to the show.
STARS: **½


ED MCMAHON SCHOOL OF LAUGHING
yuk it up like the king of second bananas

 

— Joe’s very first commercial pitchman role, which he would go on to often play on the show.
— Pretty funny concept and an overall decent commercial.
STARS: ***


WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT
Pinky & Leo Waxman ask host about her movie roles

 

— The return of this promising sketch from the season premiere.
— So far, this one has the same premise as the first installment, where the host constantly gets cut off by Denny and Gilbert, but this one is going pretty well so far.
— Liked the line about how the audience at a dinner theater “put down their forks and wept” during a play.
— Gilbert randomly assuming Ellen is “probably a bisexual” was a really funny turn.
STARS: ***½


ROCKET REPORT
CHR exposes ferry passengers’ secret sexual behavior

   

— This segment now has a new, fancier title screen, after the simplistic, plain one that was used in the last episode.
— Funny idea with Charles thinking that everybody on the ferry has spent all day having sex.
— I got a good laugh from the “beaucoups of sex” line from the first guy being interviewed.
— Strangely, the studio audience hasn’t been laughing at all so far.
— I like Charles’ doubtful looks at the camera when people are telling him their occupation.
— Okay, I’m starting to hear audience laughter now.
— Overall, a pretty good Rocket Report, though it’s a few steps down from the last one.
STARS: ***


VIDEO DATE
Paulie Herman (JOP) records an interview tape for a video dating service

 

— I wonder why the camera’s hiding Joe’s face at the start of this. I guess we’re getting some kind of reveal.
— Okay, now that we see the goofy look on Joe’s face, this appears to be the debut of his Jersey Guy character.
— Yep, there it is: “I’m from Jersey! Are you from Jersey?”
— Joe’s voice is sounding almost Jay Leno-esque at times.
— Overall, a good debut for this character. However, I’m wary about approaching his future appearances, as this seems like a character that I’m going to get tired of pretty fast. Same reason I’m dreading having to eventually cover a certain other Joe Piscopo recurring character later on: The Whiners.
— Tonight’s episode in general has surprisingly been starting off well. Every single sketch has been good so far.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Aretha Franklin performs “United Together”


WEEKEND UPDATE
JOP remarks on Roberto Duran’s “no mas” performance vs. Sugar Ray Leonard
Raheem Abdul Muhammed (EDM) denounces quotas for white basketball players
Dr. Calvin Zukow (GIG) has first-hand proof that women don’t have orgasms

       

— A few changes have been made to the Update set. It certainly looks better.
— Charles’ first joke tonight, about Gerald Ford not knowing where Poland is, got a pretty tepid audience reaction, but at least SOME people laughed, which is more than I can say about any of Charles’ jokes from the last Update.
— Oh my god, that Reagan hand-farting joke was AWFUL. Are they kidding me with that?
— I admit to laughing at the Dolly Parton “Secretary of Milk” joke, even though it was kinda cheap.
— Some of Charles’ last few jokes have been met with complete silence, which is serving as a bad reminder of his disastrous last Update.
— The heavyset “photo” of Roberto Duran that Joe showed was pretty funny.
— Joe’s about to bring on a guy named Raheem Abdul Muhammad? Oh my god, that means…
— Yep, there’s he is: Eddie Murphy! In his very first speaking role! I’m surprised to see this, because he has yet to be credited as a featured player so far this season. I guess Doumanian’s plan is to work Eddie into the show very gradually, first giving him a non-speaking role as a background extra in the preceding episode, and now giving him an uncredited big speaking role in an Update piece.
— Wow, Eddie’s KILLING IT so far in this commentary. His delivery is great, his lines are funny, and he’s getting lots of laughs from the audience; more laughs, in fact, than almost any of the actual cast members have gotten so far this season. No wonder SNL eventually adds this kid to the cast.
— Loved Eddie’s comment about how white people’s next method of copying blacks will be to go on welfare.
— The ending with Eddie bringing out the boombox was great.
— Overall, what a fantastic debut for Eddie Murphy, and it feels great witnessing the very beginning of his emergence as SNL’s breakout star. The fact that it was a 19 year old kid performing this great Update commentary makes it all the more impressive.
— In a way, it’s fitting that Eddie’s first speaking role had him paired with Joe, as those two would go on to make a great team on the show.
— Now we’re right back to the usual Update awfulness, as Charles follows the great Eddie/Joe segment with a “This bulletin just handed to me” bit that received absolute SILENCE from the audience.
— Heh, Charles’ “touching Lilian Carter’s face” joke was actually pretty funny.
— Hmm, there seems to be a malfunction with the Update news screens, as the Weekend Update logo has been visible behind the news pictures during the last few jokes.
— Charles’ joke about Ed Koch kissing Bella Abzug was hilarious.
— Is Gilbert going to appear in EVERY Update this season? And strangely, I think each of his commentaries so far have been as a different doctor character.
— Gilbert’s female orgasms commentary didn’t really work for me, and I’m starting to get a little tired of seeing him on Update every single week. None of his bits have been all that great so far.
— Overall, a bit of an improvement over the disastrous last Update. Charles’ jokes were marginally better this time, though he still had a good number of weak jokes that completely bombed. He has a long way to go before his Updates can even be considered HALF-decent.
STARS: **


OUR FRONT DOOR
suburban family eagerly learns about junkie’s (CHR) life

   

— I like Joe’s performance as a cheesy suburban dad; he’s reminding me of the way Dan Aykroyd played these roles in the original era.
— The subtle joke of Charles putting the coffee spoon into his pocket got no reaction from the audience. (boy, how many times have I pointed that out about Charles tonight?)
— Charles’ line about his potholders being made by speed freaks was pretty funny.
— Is that soon-to-be-added-to-the-cast Patrick Weathers as the sniper guy? (last screencap above)
— Overall, I found the initial concept to be somewhat intriguing, but the resulting sketch did not work. In the end, I’m left wondering what was this sketch was even going for.
STARS: **


PEPE GONZALES
by Leon Ichaso- NYC’s only bullfighter (GIG) is profiled

     

— A short film starring Gilbert. This looks to be very interesting.
— Funny gag with Gilbert gulping down an entire bottle of Scope.
— A New York street bullfighter. Funny concept.
— The narration is adding an interesting, if not funny, touch.
— Overall, I was kinda let down by how this turned out. The idea was funnier than the execution. (again, I feel like I’m repeating myself tonight) I think I got more entertainment just from all the great outdoor shots and the general cinematography than from the material itself.
STARS: **½


PLANNED PARENTHOOD
Vickie & her friend Debbie (DED) visit (host) at Planned Parenthood

 

— This is the first Vickie valley girl sketch where she’s paired with her friend, played by Denny.
— The portion of the sketch asking about orgasms is particularly funny.
— Overall, a pretty good sketch, and this established Gail’s character much better than her underwhelming debut in the season premiere did.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Aretha Franklin performs “Can’t Turn You Loose”


LESSON
Mary Louise’s (DED) sock puppet Sam The Snake terrorizes tutor (host)

  

— I said this before about Denny when talking about her Amy Carter impression in the season premiere, but once again, she looks and acts very convincing as a little girl.
— There’s Ann. This almost feels like the first time we’ve seen her all night. In fact, she hasn’t been appearing much this season in general so far. Are the writers having a time figuring out what to do with her?
— Overall, this sketch was pretty weird, but I guess I liked it enough and got some laughs from Denny’s lines.
STARS: ***


THE TONI TENNILLE SHOW
Jean Harris’ (DED) innocence claims ignored

 

— Guess I spoke too soon about Ann being underutilized. Looks like she gets a lead role here. Maybe NOW I’ll finally be able to form an opinion of her.
— Ann’s speaking in a kinda flat, stilted delivery.  Eh, maybe that’s just a part of her Toni Tennille impression.
— Overall, this sketch wasn’t terrible, but I wasn’t crazy about it and I didn’t care for Ann’s performance; she was too bland and stiff for my likes. (though, again, there’s a slight chance that’s just her mimicking Tennille) I’ve been saying I’m trying to get some kind of impression of what Ann’s like as a performer, but the impression I got from this sketch was not good.
STARS: **


FISH HEADS
by Bill Paxton- a musical tribute to the seafood discards

       

— I’ve always heard great things about this Bill Paxton short.
— Haha, this is delightfully weird so far, and the song is very catchy.
— Overall, wow, I LOVED just about every single thing about this bizarre little music video, even the very 1980 feel to it. Looks like my list of personal favorite SNL short films has a new addition.
STARS: *****


BLAME THE KIDS
parents (CHR) & (ANR) blame divorce on kids (Mitchell Kriegman) & (GLM)

  

— I see Ann STILL has that stilted, flat delivery. So much for me giving her the benefit of the doubt by assuming that was just part of her Toni Tennille impression.
— Charles as the dad is coming off Bill Murray-esque in this (though nowhere near as good).
— Whoever the guy playing the son is strangely reminds me of modern-day SNL cast member Kyle Mooney.
— I like the cruelness of this sketch’s concept, and it’s being executed well.
— Why did the lighting suddenly get really dim just now?
— The ending should’ve had a little more to it.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Keith Sykes performs “B.I.G.T.I.M.E.”


LONELY OLD LADY
young girl (GLM) finds that old lady (host) is more lonely than scary

  

— A lot of sketches tonight with cast members playing children.
— Gail’s voice in this sketch sounds EXACTLY like how Laraine Newman sounded whenever she would play a little girl.
— Gail’s story about the rumor of what Ellen does with cats is really funny.
— The ending was great and had a sentimental feel that I really liked.
— Overall, a well-done attempt at the type of realistic, quiet, semi-dramatic, slice-of-life pieces the original SNL era was so good at doing. If this sketch aired in that era, I’d probably just give it a three-and-a-half star rating, but it comes off stronger in a questionable season like this, which bumps up the rating.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Wow, I’m surprised by how good this episode was. Most of the sketches worked, nothing was too terrible, and the show in general had a nice, positive vibe to it, which feels odd to see in a season 6 episode. Easily the best of the three episodes so far this season, and a complete turnaround from what we just saw in the episode right before this.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Malcolm McDowell):
— a huge step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Jamie Lee Curtis

Posted on

November 22, 1980 – Malcolm McDowell / Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band (S6 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
(DED) tells executee son (GIG) to sit up straight in the electric chair

 

— Such a somber beginning to this so far.
— That’s it? THAT’S the big punchline??? “Sit up straight!” Oof.
— I can see what they were attempting, much like some of the quick “blackout gag” cold openings Chevy sometimes performed in season 1, but boy was this particular attempt a swing and a HARD miss.
— This is probably the lowest rating I’ve given to a cold opening so far in my SNL project.
STARS: *


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— There’s been no real jokes so far, just a straightforward story about him failing to renew his work permit. Fairly interesting story, though.
— The joke at the end about him only doing SNL to get a new permit was okay.
STARS: **½


MUTUALLY OMAHA’S WILD KINGDOM
Jim Fowler (JOP) goes In Search of the Negro Republican

   

— This is famous for being the very first sketch that the soon-to-be-added-to-the-cast Eddie Murphy appears in, as a background extra. It’ll be fun trying to spot him in this.
— In this sketch, Charles looks so much like future cast member Gary Kroeger. This makes me feel like I’m watching an episode from 1982-1985.
— “In Search of the Negro Republican.” Funny, promising concept.
— Ah, there’s Eddie! (on the lower right corner of the third screencap above) Man, it’s weird seeing him as a mere background extra, knowing the superstar he’d soon become.
— Charles narrating the sequence with Joe putting a sedative in the subject’s drink to immobilize him is pretty funny.
— Overall, despite a promising concept, the sketch ended up being just average. Not bad, though.
STARS: ***


TOBACCO GROWERS OF AMERICA
tobacco growers’ representative (GIG) says lungs are to blame for cancer

 

— I like how Gilbert’s delivery is slowly getting more and more worked up during this.
— Haha, you can now start to hear small hints of Gilbert’s now-famous screechy voice.
— Overall, a pretty solid sketch and a strong showcase for Gilbert. This felt like something that also could’ve been written for John Belushi during the original era. Wait, is THIS why Gilbert compared himself to Belushi in the season premiere’s cold opening?
STARS: ***½


SERF CITY
feudal surfing pioneers (host) & (CHR) oppress peasants

 

— Malcolm’s voice is pretty funny.
— What the hell at this premise??? This whole “using serfs for surfing” thing is exactly the type of corny humor I came into this season expecting. And the addition of the tickling aspect is just weird.
— Ugh, I’m not liking the bad way they’re using surfing puns, like the “Serf’s up” and “hang 10” groaners.
— Okay, I got a pretty good laugh just now from the serfs’ whining “Oh nooooo!” off-camera when hearing Malcolm’s idea of taking them out to be ridden in the water.
STARS: **


WHITE HOUSE
Amy Carter (DED) likes new parents Ronald (CHR) & Nancy (GLM) Reagan

   

— Hmm, interesting premise of an alternative future where the Reagans adopt Amy Carter after being inaugurated.
— WTF at Charles’ Ronald Reagan impression??? I mean, I guess I kinda see what he’s trying to go for with the voice, but man, he’s NOT EVEN CLOSE to nailing it. The voice sounds ridiculous. And what’s with the over-the-top facial expressions and head-bobbing? And why no attempt from the make-up people at making him look like Reagan? He’s not wearing a wig or anything. Reminds me of a gripe I’ve always had with the Reagan impression Randy Quaid would later do in season 11.
— I liked Denny’s line about grits.
— Denny’s constant paranoia is pretty funny, especially her hiding under the table.
— Overall, a decent sketch, with Denny getting some good laughs and Gail doing a nice job carrying the majority of the sketch in a straight role.
STARS: ***


SHOWDOWN
by Ken Friedman- romantic conflict causes Wild West shootout

     

— Strange cinematography format, with just one camera panning back-and-forth between the three characters whenever any of them speak.  What’s the point of that?
— The graphic, bloody gunshot hits are kinda making me chuckle.
— Heh, the sudden use of out-of-place weapons like a machine gun and a bomb are pretty funny.
— Weak ending with the girl not being worth fighting over.
— Strange film overall. I kinda liked some aspects, but the thing as a whole didn’t fully work for me and I’m not quite sure what it was going for.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hot Head”


WEEKEND UPDATE
CHR interviews Yoko Ono (DED) & house husband John Lennon (host)
JOP predicts Duran-Leonard rematch outcome with Rock-’em Sock-’em Robots
Dr. Murray Abromowitz (GIG) complains about last week’s episode of SNL

       

— Wow, that opening joke about a fire escape device bombed HARD. There was not a single laugh from the audience. Tonight’s Update is already starting on a bad note.
— Oh, great, now Charles has resorted to repeating a punchline (“He only shot an occasional birdie”) when it got no audience response the first time.
— Boy, is Update rough tonight so far. The jokes are even worse than last week, and that’s saying something!
— Feels strange seeing a John Lennon/Yoko Ono interview segment, knowing that this episode was a mere few weeks before Lennon’s murder.
— “Yoko is just loco about my cocoa.” (*groan*) Another display of corny season 6 humor.
— The cleaning/cooking bits with Lennon are okay.
— Charles’ nuclear reactor joke is yet ANOTHER Update joke that got absolutely no audience reaction. Man, he is dying out there in tonight’s Update.
— The debut of Joe’s SNL Sports Weekend Update commentaries. His delivery here is very low-key compared to the more manic style that would later become the trademark of his sports Update bits.
— Joe’s fast-talking Spanish impression of Roberto Duran made me laugh out loud.
— Joe breaking out the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots to demonstrate how he predicts the boxing match will go is great.
— Wow, Joe’s overall commentary was quick, but not only was it easily the best part of tonight’s Update so far, but it was also easily some of the biggest laughs I’ve gotten from this whole episode so far.
— Oh my god at Gilbert’s look and voice.
— A very meta commentary, with Gilbert’s character complaining about the offensive material from SNL’s season premiere the previous week.
— Gilbert calls out the season premiere for having too many homosexual and jew jokes, which is exactly some of the gripes I had with that episode.
— Charles said his “Goodnight and watch out” tagline differently this time. At least he didn’t look cocky like he did when saying it in the last episode.
— Overall, if it weren’t for the guest commentaries, I would’ve given this Update the lowest possible rating from my 1-5 star system. Charles’ delivery at least wasn’t quite as bad as it was in the season premiere, but the jokes themselves were DREADFUL tonight and I lost count of the number of jokes that received total silence from the audience. Seriously, his portions of tonight’s Update were fucking DIRE. Update has gotten off to a horrible start so far this season.
STARS: *½


AMERICAN MILK ASSOCIATION
American Milk Association spokesman Alex DeLarge (host) touts moloko

— A reprise of Malcolm’s character from A Clockwork Orange.
— That’s it? Wow, what was even the point of this?
STARS: *½


GOTHIC NOVEL SHOP
bookstore owner (host) meets customer’s (ANR) exacting romance novel need

   

— Looks like this could be a sketch where I’ll finally be able to form some kind of an opinion on Ann Risley, who left me with no impression after the season premiere.
— The overly-specific novel categories (heroes with a speech impediment, etc.) being shown are pretty funny.
— “A handsome bastard who stutters.”
— I’m really liking Malcolm’s delivery in this.
— Didn’t care for the ending with Malcolm coming out of the backroom as the specific character Ann was looking for.
— Despite the ending, this was a pretty solid and pretty well-written sketch.
— Ann was decent in this, but I’ve come away from this sketch STILL not having much of an impression of what she’s like as a performer. Of the new cast, she’s been the hardest to figure so far.
STARS: ***½


THE 100 YEARS WAR
university extension course gives minimalist summary

 

— For something where the brevity was supposed to be the comedy, this could’ve come off a little funnier.
STARS: **½


THE LEATHER WEATHER REPORT
dominatrix-meteorologist (DED) punishes (CHR)

   

— Here’s an infamous sketch that’s had a very negative reputation over the years. It’s often been cited as a prime example of how bad this season is.
— Charles’ stretched-out monotone “Ooooouuch.” kinda made me laugh.
— WTF at this so far?
— Denny’s unintentional malfunction with the whipped cream “snow” was a little funny.
— Overall, man, I did NOT care for this. I wish I could agree with some of the online SNL fans that have been defending this sketch in more recent years, but the premise and material of this sketch was iffy for me and the execution did nothing to help it, despite the fact that Denny was certainly trying. My only two aforementioned laughs were minor chuckles, one of which was just from a blooper.
— While I definitely don’t agree with this sketch’s reputation as one of the worst SNL sketches ever, I can kinda understand why it’s been so hated. But in my eyes, the sketch was merely bad, not worthy of being on any “Worst Ever” lists.
STARS: *½


COMMIE HUNTING SEASON
on commie hunting season’s opening day, rednecks are anxious to get going

 

— Ohhh, boy, we get two notorious sketches back-to-back tonight. From everything I’ve heard about this one, this supposedly IS deserving of its status as one of SNL’s worst sketches ever, unlike Leather Weather.
— Aaaaand there it is, the infamous “shoot yourself a jew or [n-word]” line. God, it’s just as bad as I’ve always heard, and wow at the absolutely DEAD, long, stretched-out silence from the studio audience after that line was uttered. Man, that was tense as hell. Did the performers pause so long after that line because they were actually EXPECTING it to get laughs?
— God, this material isn’t funny at all so far, and the sketch is going NOWHERE interesting.
— The sudden shooting of Malcolm from out of nowhere did nothing to help this.
— And it’s over. Overall, yeah, this was an EPICALLY bad sketch that’s fully deserving of it’s negative reputation. What the fuck was this sketch even going for??? And yeah, that infamous aforementioned “jew or [n-word]” line can’t be ignored, not only for the poor decision to put a line like that in the show, but also for how it seemed to suck all the life out of the entire studio audience at that moment. Seriously, that portion of the sketch received one of the most uncomfortable, tense, drawn-out silences I’ve EVER heard in an SNL episode.
STARS: *


THE ROCKET REPORT
CHR interviews pedestrians on 5th Avenue

     

— Well, hopefully this will lighten my mood after what the hell I’ve just sat through.
— Interesting how the Rocket Report segment from the previous week’s Update has gotten spun-off into its own separate spot in the show.
— I’m already liking the fun format of this one, with Charles interviewing random pedestrians on a busy New York street.
— Charles is really good in this.
— Amusing part with Charles thinking the young black guy was from India because of his hat, until noticing that guy’s hat is just a backwards cap.
— Ha, now he keeps randomly assuming normal-looking pedestrians are on drugs.
— All the asinine questions he’s asking the pedestrians are really funny.
— Overall, very solid; even better than the season premiere’s Rocket Report.
STARS: ****


ROYAL STRIPPERS
prudish (host) searches for Jack The Stripper, finds Prince Charles (CHR)

     

— What the—? Is that Gilbert in drag?
— Yeah, it’s definitely him. I can tell by the voice he’s using, which is basically a female version of his now-famous screechy voice.
— Now we get Malcolm in drag.
— The screen is pretty blurry with all the unnecessary street fog.
— We’re a minute-and-a-half into this sketch, and I have yet to laugh a single time.
— I can’t tell who’s playing Prince Charles, thanks to the screen blurriness. Is that Rocket?
— Overall, what in the world did I just watch? I got absolutely no laughs from this, the execution was really bad, and I spent most of the sketch just trying to make out who some of the performers were through that thick, blurry fog. This felt almost like a Monty Python sketch gone terribly wrong.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Ashtray Heart”

— Did I just hear someone in the audience VERY loudly say “shit” at the end of the performance? It sure sounded like it. Haha, I find that hilarious for some reason. The version of this episode I’m watching is an old Comedy Central rerun, so it’s strange that they didn’t censor that part.


SOMEONE IS HIDING IN MY APARTMENT
by Mitchell Kriegman- eerie co-living

   

— Looks like an interesting film, just based on the title.
— Another Mitchell Kreigman-starring film, which I guess is going to be a regular thing this season. I liked his Heart To Heart short from the season premiere.
— Overall, I ended up being kinda disappointed in this. It wasn’t all that bad, I guess, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as his last film.
STARS: **½


THE WINE CELLAR
(DED) suggests American wines for American foods

 

— Funny part with Denny sampling wine while eating a Baby Ruth.
— Decent visual of the American wine being in a beer can.
— I liked Denny’s line referring to French wine as “sissy frog pittle”.
— Overall, a decent sketch and Denny pulled this off really well.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

 

— Okay, now that I’m hearing a more full version of this season’s new goodnights theme music, I’m not finding it too great. The music isn’t bad in itself, but it’s missing that great sentimental, semi-dramatic feel that the original goodnights music has.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Well, there went the episode that, for the longest time, used to be universally dubbed the official “worst SNL ever!” Do I agree with that? Definitely not. But, MAN, was this a rough episode. There was a small handful of good things scattered throughout the episode, particularly Rocket Report and Gothic Novel Shop. But weaker segments dominated the night, and the worst of the weaker segments were not just bad, they were REEAAALLLY bad. Dreadful. Two sketches in particular, Royal Strippers and (especially) Commie Hunting Season, were some of the most laughless dreck I’ve had to sit through so far in this SNL project of mine. The latter sketch has the added factor of being OFFENSIVELY bad. It also doesn’t help tonight’s episode that the Charles Rocket portions of Weekend Update were PAINFUL, with joke after joke receiving nothing but crickets from the audience.
— Malcolm McDowell was a pretty good host and I liked the enthusiasm he showed in his performances. The show certainly seemed to utilize him better than they did Elliott Gould the previous week.
— Feels like we barely saw some of the cast. I can hardly remember anything Gail and Ann were in tonight. Charles, on the other hand, seemed to be in practically EVERY SINGLE SKETCH.
— It’ll be interesting to see where this season goes from here. I felt that the season premiere was surprisingly somewhat okay and showed some promise in the post-Update half, while tonight’s episode was fairly awful. Will this be the episode that leads to the rest of the season being as horrible as I’ve always heard, or will the rest of the season play out more like the season premiere where, despite the bad aspects of the show, I can find a decent amount of silver linings that’ll make the season seem not so bad? We’ll see.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Elliott Gould):
— a big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Ellen Burstyn