Tag: 1980-81

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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

Posted on

November 15, 1980 – Elliott Gould / Kid Creole & The Coconuts (S6 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
the new castmembers learn about SNL’s glory days from bedfellow host

   

— Gail Matthius gets the honors of being the very first new cast member we see, as this sketch opens on a close-up of her waking up in bed.
— Gail calls herself a cross between Gilda and Jane.
— Charles Rocket calls himself a cross between Chevy and Bill, which is an obvious comparison as Jean Doumanian reportedly WANTED viewers to see him as the Chevy/Bill of the new cast.
— Ann Risley calls herself a cross between… Gilda and Laraine???  WTF?
— I’m iffy on the premise of Elliott telling the new cast drug stories about the original SNL and NBC in general, but there are a few okay lines in there, I guess.
— And now Gilbert Gottfried has called himself a cross between John Belushi and “that guy from last year, he did Rod Serling and nobody can remember his name”. Okay, two things: 1) Aww, poor Harry. 2) WHAAAAAT??!?!? How in the world is Gilbert freakin’ Gottfried a hybrid of Belushi and Shearer? I had thought the other newbies’ comparisons to the original cast were off, but THIS takes the cake.
— Denny Dillon gets the honors of delivering the very first LFNY of the new era.
— Overall, I’m not crazy about how this cold opening has started the new season off. Also, if you ask me, it was a bad decision to introduce the new cast by having them compare themselves to the old cast. Things were already automatically going to be tough for these guys, being the first new cast to come in since the beloved originals, so why make direct comparisons between the new and old cast? That’s just setting this cast up to look inferior in the audience’s eyes.
— It also didn’t help that the comparisons were so far off. If I HAD to pick which original cast member each newbie is most similar to, based on what (very) little I’ve seen of this season in the past and based on all the things I’ve read about this season over the years, I’d say: Denny Dillon = Gilda (cast member who specializes in playing the more silly/goofy female roles). Gilbert Gottfried = uhh… I dunno, this is a hard one. I guess Garrett by default, as they’re both kinda the cast’s odd man out. Gail Matthius = Laraine (I’m not sure why, to be honest; I’ve just always viewed them both as similar types). Joe Piscopo = Dan (utility player, great at doing fast-talking commercial pitchmen, a knack for celebrity impressions). Ann Risley = Jane (the straight-laced one of the group). And Charles Rocket = Chevy/Bill (okay, they got THIS one right).
STARS: **


OPENING MONTAGE

       

— A decent new opening montage. The animated shining lights in some of the still photos look great. The “painting-over” screen transition effect probably comes off cheesy nowadays, but I kinda like it. The montage in general has a slight New Wave vibe that’s very representative of the year 1980, which I find pretty cool.
— I definitely like the new theme music; probably one of the catchier themes the show’s ever had.
— Not crazy about the cast shots.


MONOLOGUE
host shows audience a few of his undergarments, trades for some of DED’s

     

— The new home base stage is okay, and I like the spiral staircase.
— What was up with Elliott’s entrance? As the elevator on the stage is coming down empty, he rushes down the spiral stairs and then jokingly(?) tries to pretend he’s exiting the elevator. Did something go wrong there? Was he supposed to be in the elevator when it came down, but wasn’t able to get in it in time?
— When listing off some of the crazy things he did on the show in the past, he mentions dressing up as a girl. Which sketch was that? I’ve just reviewed all of the first five seasons and can’t remember any sketches with him in drag.
— Oh, wait, I just remembered the goodnights of his May 1976 episode, where he and the rest of the cast were dressed as cowgirls. I guess that’s what he was referring to.
— Ugh, this underwear-sharing premise is not good.
— And now Denny has shown up to trade underwear with Elliott. It’s not making this monologue any funnier, unfortunately, but it’s noteworthy that between getting to say LFNY just a few minutes ago and now getting to perform alongside the host in the monologue, you’d think Denny is the cast member that Jean Doumanian is trying to push this season.
STARS: *½


THE PETROLEUM COUNCIL
Petroleum Council’s Burma Shave billboard books let you read as you drive

   

— Heh, I’m kinda liking this premise.
— Overall, a pretty nice and well-done commercial.
STARS: ***½


WHITE HOUSE
Rosalynn (ANR) convinces Jimmy (JOP) Carter to be glad he lost

   

— Boy, it feels weird seeing new people taking over the impressions of the Carter family, after I’ve gotten so used to seeing the original cast in these roles.
— I guess it wouldn’t have been possible for them to do this sketch in the original era anyway, considering Rosalynn and Amy Carter were both played by Laraine Newman.
— Them talking about Jimmy Carter’s then-recent loss in the 1980 election makes me realize that thanks to this season’s late start (mid-November, people!), we weren’t able to get any election sketches while the presidential race was still going on. That might be a good thing, though, because I’m not sure how these new writers would’ve handled a presidential debate sketch.
— I will say that Denny IS very convincing as a little girl.
— I’m not sure about Joe’s Jimmy Carter impression. I guess it’s not bad, but it’s so generic compared to Dan Aykroyd’s very detailed, spot-on impression.
— Good lord at the part with President Carter blaming the Jews for not voting for him…
— An overly horny Rosalynn Carter? I don’t think I like where this is going.
— WTF at the ending?
STARS: **


SIDE NOTE: Hmm, I see they’re continuing the traditional “Coming up next” caption gags from the previous era.


BILLY-GRAM
(CHR) delivers a singing Billy-Gram to cohabitating couple (host) & (ANR)

 

— The premise of a singing religious telegram doesn’t seem all that great.
— Man, Charles is pretty hammy in this with his over-the-top facial expressions and delivery.
— That’s the whole sketch??? Wow, this was short!
— I didn’t find this sketch all that great, but I guess it wasn’t too terrible and at least they kept it from running longer than it needed to.
STARS: **½


AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY
(GLM) demonstrates breast cancer self-examination dos & don’ts

 

— Gail’s vague instructions while she’s being obscured by a black bar isn’t all that funny.
— And that’s it? Not much of anything here. Boy, I have NOT been crazy about tonight’s episode so far.
STARS: **


WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT
Pinky (DED) & Leo (GIG) Waxman interview host

 

— Gilbert’s heavy Jewish accent is great.
— I just realized that it feels weird seeing Elliott performing in sketches alongside people who AREN’T the original cast.
— Denny and Gilbert’s characters aren’t bad so far, and I’m seeing potential there.
— I never knew Elliott was once married to Barbra Streisand. It’s hard for me to picture them as a couple.
— Overall, a pretty good sketch with some decent laughs all throughout. This feels like the first live segment I really liked all night.
STARS: ***½


FOOT FETISH
by Randal Kleiser- two shoes have sex on the beach

     

— Elliott introduces this film by saying it’s the first in a series of “Short Shots”, which is apparently going to be this era’s name for the short film portions of the show.
— Hilarious seeing the stop-motion wild sex between the two shoes.
— Another very funny gag with the female shoe giving birth to a smaller shoe.
— Yet another inspired gag with a doctor cutting the newborn shoe’s shoelace as if it’s an umbilical cord.
— Overall, wow, that was great.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mister Softee”


WEEKEND UPDATE
GLM can’t bring herself to tell John Anderson (JOP) that he didn’t win
The Rocket Report- CHR tries to get the scoop on the new Lennon-Ono album
author (GIG) claims his book proves that Ronald Reagan is already dead

         

— Here we go…
— Something about the new Update atmosphere feels dead with the way tonight’s Update has begun. Feels like something’s missing (and no, I don’t mean Jane and Bill).
— Why are there two screens on the Update set?
— That Shirley Temple Black joke was just plain BAD.
— Man, we’re a few jokes in and I have yet to laugh at any of them so far.
— Hmm, Gail as an Update reporter in a remote segment. I knew she had similarities to Laraine!
— Haha, Joe is really funny as an out-of-it John B. Anderson. I can’t judge the accuracy of the impression, having no familiarity with the real John B. Anderson beyond his silent cameo in the previous season’s Teri Garr episode, but it does seem like Joe’s going for accuracy with the voice and mannerisms.
— Hmm, a joke about Chevy Chase. Seems that Chevy caused some controversy at the time by publicly calling Cary Grant a “homo”. Oh, Chevy’s up to his old tricks, I see…
— Boy, I am not liking Charles’ delivery of the Update jokes.
— Oh, man, the whole Saturn rings audio sample bit was AWFUL.
— Ah, the debut of “Rocket Report”. Supposedly, from all the things I’ve read about this season, the Rocket Report segments are where Charles is really in his element this season.
— Pretty funny with Charles trying to interview garbagemen about John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s garbage.
— Overall, the Rocket Report debut was a success, and Charles came off really well in it.
— And now we’re back to bad Update jokes, unfortunately. That Anita Bryant “homosexuals do it in a cage” joke was another dreadful one.
— Wow, that one joke got absolutely no audience response just now.
— We get our very first desk piece of the new Update era. Gilbert Gottfried gets the honors.
— Why the heck does Charles keep correcting people who call him “Charlie”? This is the second time he’s done it in tonight’s Update, and both times, it came off awkward and got no response from the audience.
— Gilbert’s performance was pretty funny overall, but the commentary itself was only okay.
— “Good night and… watch out.” I kinda like the idea of that as the new Update tagline, but Charles’ delivery of it was way too cocky for my likes.
— Overall, man, that was rough. If this is the new direction Update will be going in for the rest of the season, we are in big trouble. And one of the very few highlights, Rocket Report, soon gets spun-off into a standalone segment in the show, so there goes one of the only things the new Update has going for it.
STARS: **


AT ONE WITH…
sergeant (JOP) drills a member of the Gay Brigade (CHR)

 

— Another talk show sketch tonight?
— The “Gay Brigade”? Uh-oh…
— Joe and Charles are great with all their fast-paced back-and-forths. They’re giving me some really good laughs.
— Ugh, that line about Fort Dix being where the gay soldiers are stationed was a groanworthy joke.
— Overall, I’m not too sure about the material itself, but man, I absolutely LOVED Joe and Charles’ performances & delivery.
STARS: ****


HEART TO HEART
by Mitchell Kriegman- relationship-induced change seen

   

— When this started, I almost thought the girl in bed was Laraine Newman. I guess I still haven’t gotten used to not seeing the old cast.
— The subtlety of the girl being played by a slightly different-looking actress every time the camera cuts back to her is pretty funny and is being executed well.
— Ha, funny how the change in actresses has gradually become more and more obvious, culminating in a heavier woman being cast in the role during the final scene.
— An overall good film.
STARS: ***


SNL SPORTS
JOP does play-by-play for the nose wrestling bout between (host) & (CHR)

  

— Right off the bat in his first episode, we get the debut of Joe Piscopo’s SNL sportscaster persona. I wasn’t expecting to see that so early in his SNL tenure. His delivery here is a little more generic than it would later go on to be.
— Oh my god at this premise.
— Geez, we get yet ANOTHER unnecessary racial joke tonight, with the line about nose wrestling being dominated by Italians and Jews. (*groan*)
— Despite my initial iffiness towards the premise, this nose wrestling bit does have a bit of a strange charm to it.
STARS: ***


DATE
40 year-old (host) has an awkward dinner date with teenager Vickie (GLM)

— Elliott just called Gail “Vicky”. Is this gonna be the debut of Gail’s Valley Girl character?
— Okay, she said “grody” just now. Yep, this IS the Valley Girl character.
— I’m still seeing some of Laraine in Gail, as I can DEFINITELY picture Laraine doing a character like this.
— Some of the audience members are getting a kick out of Gail’s character. I have read that this character was considered somewhat groundbreaking for its time, as the valley girl craze hadn’t blown up just yet.
— What the heck kinda shirt is Gail wearing? I can’t tell what the picture on it is supposed to be.
— Funny line from Gail about her Marine boyfriend being “sort of black”.
— Overall, this seemed like this was going to be a nice character piece for Gail, but the sketch ended up being pretty flat. Nothing interesting really happened. I’m hoping this character’s future appearances are an improvement.
STARS: **


THE ACCORDION KILLER
(GLM) goes undercover to trap musical menace (CHR)

     

— I like the police station set-up with Elliott and Gilbert. This seems like it could be a good mini-movie mock-thriller sketch.
— This sketch is now starting to have a very Land Shark vibe to it.
— Gail playing a character with her own first name. Reminds me of when the original cast often did that back in season 1.
— Funny climax with the police officers coming in playing bagpipes, which causes Charles’ character to die.
— Overall, not bad, even if it was basically a poor man’s Land Shark.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “There But For The Grace of God Go I”


GIDGETTE GOES TO HELL
by Jonathan Demme- shark eats surfer chick

     

— This is introduced by Elliott as being our second “Short Shot” of the night.
— Very interesting format. Again, much like this season’s new opening montage, this short has kind of a 1980 New Wave music video feel that I’m liking.
— Overall, a weird short, but I enjoyed it and found it interesting to see where it was going.
— Strange that two of the three short films tonight have taken place on the beach.
STARS: ***


SPEED LISTENING
speed listener (DED) relaxes efficiently with accelerated music

 

— This speed-listening premise is pretty funny and is something I can picture the original cast doing.
— Denny’s “half-fast/half-assed way of listening to music” line was good.
— The short lengths of the songs listed in the screen crawl is worth a few good laughs.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS
host introduces cast & announces they’ll “be around forever”

 

— Elliott re-introduces each cast member by first name.
— There’s Elliott’s now-ironic “We’re gonna be around forever” statement about the new cast. IIRC, Steve Martin would later make a similar ironic statement during the goodnights when he hosted the premiere of the infamous season 20.
— Oh, wow, I forgot that the goodnights music this season is different. Man, it’s weird to see an SNL episode ending with anything that’s NOT the traditional goodnights music we’re all so familiar with.
— The live version of this episode, which I’m reviewing, cuts the goodnights off pretty early, so I can’t really give a critique yet on the quality of the new goodnights theme. I recall kinda liking it when seeing a few episodes from this season years ago.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Well, there it is. Man, I feel so weird after watching this episode, considering how I had gotten so used to reviewing the original SNL era.
— I surprisingly didn’t dislike this overall episode as much as I was expecting to. While the episode had a very rough start during the first 20 minutes or so, the show slowly got a little better as it went along. The post-Update half featured quite a lot of stuff that I found decent. Overall, while not great by any means, the new SNL era is showing at least a little promise so far. Right before I watched this episode, a very small part of me was worried I’d break down halfway through the episode, whining “I miss my old cast!!! It ain’t the same without them!!!” Instead, I ended up experiencing a feeling of excitement watching and reviewing a new SNL era after only reviewing the first five seasons.
— I am aware that the alleged awfulness of season 6 supposedly doesn’t start fully kicking in until a few episodes into the season, when all the bad press the season soon starts getting begins to negatively affect the mood of the show.
— A bad trend I noticed throughout the night that I’m worried will be a trend throughout the whole season is reliance on overly-corny humor and unnecessary racial jokes. Also, it looks like I’m gonna be in for one difficult season of Weekend Update.
— I was surprised at the large number of segments in this episode. So many quick sketches and various films stuffed into a 90-minute episode, which reminds me of how the early episodes from season 1 were so jam-packed with MANY segments and had so much variety. Feels kinda nice to see that again, after I had gotten so used to the longer sketch format from seasons 4 and 5.
— Elliott Gould was not utilized well AT ALL tonight. He seemed to be cast in nothing but dull straight roles all night, and he looked out of his element with this new cast. A shame we weren’t able to see the charm that he always had when hosting in the original era.
— Of the new cast, I’d say that Joe, Gilbert, and Denny seem to be the cast members who I’m looking most forward to seeing more of, just based on how they performed in this episode. I think I’m gonna like Gail as well, but it’s a shame that the two sketches that showcased her tonight (American Cancer Society and Date) weren’t good.  Charles already seems to be getting pushed as the “star” of the new cast, but I’m iffy on him; his mugging & cheesy delivery in Billy-Gram and his cockiness & weak delivery on Update were all off-putting to me. I see SOME potential in him, though, as I liked his performance in the Rocket Report segment and his delivery in Gay Brigade. As for the remaining cast member, Ann, I couldn’t form any kind of opinion on her at all. She’s the only one who left me with no impression.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1979-80):
— a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Malcolm McDowell. A very notorious episode, as, until more recent decades, it was widely considered to be the definitive “worst SNL ever”.