Tag: 1984-85

Posted on

December 1, 1984 – Ed Begley Jr. / Billy Squier (S10 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Michael Reagan (JIB) denies using his connections to wage personal wars

— I immediately got a laugh just from the opening voice-over saying “Ladies and gentlemen, the adopted son of the president of the United States”.
— Jim’s eagerness to embarrass his family members had potential, but they ended that bit too early.
— Overall, didn’t care much for this. I’m usually not a fan of these one-person, straight-to-camera, address-the-nation cold openings.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
host roller-skates onto the stage, shoots a scene for St. Elsewhere

— Wow, great entrance with Ed busting onto the stage while smoothly roller-skating around.
— He’s already coming off very comfortable and loose in front of a live audience.
— Now he’s being told he has to film a scene for St. Elsewhere right there on the spot. Pretty funny idea.
— Wow, he’s doing everything in this monologue, now doing a bit where he literally “drops” the Jr. from his name.
— Overall, a very busy monologue, but it was certainly entertaining and Ed came off likeable.
STARS: ***½


KATE & ALI
Hepburn (MAS) & Muhammad (BIC) have typical sitcom problems

— Great concept for a Kate & Ali parody, replacing the title roles with Katharine Hepburn and Muhammad Ali.
— Yet another blackface role for Billy Crystal, but I can’t help but always like his dead-on Muhammad Ali.
— Good sketch overall.
STARS: ***½


STRATEGIC AIRBORNE CONTRACEPTIVE
— Rerun


BOOK BEAT
(GAK) tries to defend against (JIB)’s charges of plagiarism
time traveller (host) has come to SNL on a mission- fondle JLD’s breasts

— Another good instance of Jim playing an aggressive character.
— Gary’s defense of his plagiarism is pretty funny.
— Strange turn this has taken, with the sketch being “interrupted” by Ed teleporting into the scene as a man from the year 2096.
— Nice breaking the fourth wall with Ed being shown walking off the set and going through SNL’s backstage.
— Heh, WTF? The “important” thing that Ed’s character has come to do turns out to just be him squeezing Julia’s breasts while making a silly vocalization, and then walking off. Uh, wow, what a random direction for this sketch to go.
STARS: ***


SEVENTH WEDGE
(MAS)’s life depends on beating the Grim Reaper (host) at Trivial Pursuit

— LOL at the grim reaper entering as soon as Martin eats a supposedly non-poisonous worm.
— Seems to be a trivial pursuit theme throughout tonight’s episode.
— I liked a stumped Ed responding to the Lou Gehrig question by saying “I should know that – he’s dead”.
— Julia showing more interest in hooking up with the grim reaper than hearing about her boyfriend’s (Martin) pending death is pretty funny.
— An overall pretty well-written and well-performed sketch, with a good premise and funny jokes.
STARS: ***½


REFRIGERATOR MAGNET SAFETY ADVISORY BOARD
— Another rerun


LET’S WATCH T.V.
Chi Chi & Consuela talk about their favorite shows

— The return of Mary and Julia’s Chi-Chi and Consuela characters, now hosting their own TV show.
— Julia’s been getting a lot of airtime so far tonight.
— I liked the cheerfully-delivered line “Okay, let’s criticize some more shows”.
— Fairly funny how Julia was easily persuaded into giving all the drama shows a perfect rating.
— Overall, there were some laughs and the usual good chemistry between Mary and Julia, but this wasn’t much of an improvement over these characters’ not-too-great Ghostbuster Show appearance earlier this season.
STARS: **½


MARTY
Chayefsky characters Angie (BIC) & Marty (JIB) try to decide what to do

— This sketch has been going on for a while, and I still can’t figure out what exactly the joke is supposed to be here.
— Okay, I finally got my first laugh of the sketch, from Billy’s random Inuit idea.
— I’m liking how more and more outlandish and unrealistic Billy’s ideas for fun activities are getting, only for Jim to always uninterestedly shoot them down by saying he doesn’t feel like doing that. Kinda reminds me of that “Nah!” sketch (a.k.a. Our Generation) that Gary did back in season 8.
— This overall sketch had a slow build-up but ended up becoming a decent piece.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
CHG comments on John Gavin’s claim that Ronald Reagan is not “gaga”
RIH gives some home economy tips concerning free stuff you can get & use
GAK tries to prevent teen suicide by sharing his list of reasons to live
CHG interviews Nathan Thurm (MAS) about his company’s artificial organs

— After almost an entire year of a revolving door of guest anchors, Saturday Night News finally gets a permanent anchorperson in Christopher Guest. While I’m glad to no longer have to put up with seeing out-of-place guest hosts trying to come off as anchormen, I’m aware that Christopher’s anchorman tenure ends up being a huge disappointment.
— Boy, Christopher’s delivery is ALREADY coming off extremely dull, to the point where you can hardly tell when he delivers a punchline.
— Fun piece with Rich showcasing free stuff you can get from stores, which is a nice display of Rich’s usual quirky brand of humor. I like the “visible hand puppet” (which is just a clear plastic bag) and especially him demonstrating a foot-measuring device being used as a football field for roaches.
— Gary’s list of reasons to live is fairly funny, though I was kinda expecting the list entries to be funnier.
— Martin’s Nathan Thurm character returns, after making his debut in just the last episode.
— As usual, the Nathan Thurm bit is tickling me, even if his lines are basically a rewrite of his previous appearance in the last episode.
— And so ends tonight’s Saturday Night News. Christopher did not have a good first outing as anchorperson AT ALL. In theory, his knack for giving dry, deadpan performances seems like it would be a perfect fit for SNL’s news, but it just doesn’t come together at all. He makes Brad Hall’s anchorman delivery seem exciting by comparison.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Rock Me Tonight”


VAUDEVILLE FUNERAL
(MAS) & (BIC) musically eulogize their meshugana vaudeville-partner dads

— At first, I didn’t recognize Christopher in that wig and glasses.
— Fairly funny concept of a double funeral for a comedy team.
— I’m really liking the teaming of Martin and Billy during their vaudeville-esque biography of the deceased comedy team.
— Not much here in terms of laughs , but it’s impressive and fun seeing Martin and Billy performing this, and their chemistry is great.
STARS: ***


EYEBALL TO EYEBALL
loonies (MAS) & (CHG) interview museum curator (host)

— Martin’s random, overly-specific questions are increasingly cracking me up.
— Interesting reveal that Martin is only pretending to be the show’s host.
— Christopher’s performance here is great, with him initially seeming like the voice of reason but subtly turning out to be even weirder than Martin’s character. Now THIS is where Christopher’s knack for dry, deadpan performances pays off.
— I’m especially liking the part with Christopher showcasing his “treasure” of an insulation jacket.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “All Night Long”


ELEVATOR STOOL
architect (host) won’t compromise when (HAS) wants elevator stool removed

— Harry Shearer finally makes his first (and I guess only) appearance of the night. Man, it’s a shame how much the show has been struggling to find ways to work him into live sketches this season.
— Ah, here’s the sketch that’s famous for being the only Larry David-written piece to make it on the air during his entire one-season stint as a writer.
— Also, Larry would later re-use this sketch’s premise in a Seinfeld episode.
— This sketch is already cracking me up with the overly-specific questions being asked about the elevator operator’s use of the stool, such as does he get off the stool when he sees someone heading towards the elevator or does he wait until they’re actually IN the elevator?
— Man, it would’ve been fucking perfect if Julia were given a role here, considering the very Seinfeld-ish nature of this sketch.
— LOL at Harry and Ed’s childish physical fight on the floor.
— I liked Billy’s desperate “Call me” when leaving the office.
— Overall, a very solid writer-ly piece, even if this played to almost complete silence from the audience.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A good episode, though a drop in quality from the streak of strong episodes that preceded it. Still, there was quite a lot to like here, especially some of the more interesting and conceptual pieces in the second half of the show.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Ringo Starr

Posted on

November 17, 1984 – Ed Asner / The Kinks (S10 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Lou Grant (host) tries to rescue Mary Richards (MAG) from syndication

 

— Oh, this is a well-known and memorable cold opening.
— Nice reveal of the soldiers’ “objective” being Mary Richards.
— Fantastic premise of the soldiers on a mission to get Mary Richards out of syndication.
— I like the soldiers quoting lyrics to the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song in the form of a question.
— Pamela looks like she’s wearing the same dress that Melanie Hutsell would later wear whenever she played Jan Brady.
— Always fun to see Mary’s dead-on Mary Tyler Moore impression.
— The other cast members’ impressions of supporting characters from The Mary Tyler Moore Show are absolutely great as well. I especially like Billy’s Ted Knight.
— Lots of great lines throughout this.
— Billy-as-Ted’s outburst “Take me with you, Lou!!” was very funny.
— A magnificent cold opening overall.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
host shows pictures of “father figure” characters he’s played

— After being displaced from Studio 8H in the first five episodes of this season due to election coverage, SNL is back in their regular studio this week and we get the return of the season 8-9 home base stage. While there are some minor alterations to the home base tonight (mainly some portions of it being painted blue), I prefer the temporary subway newsstand set they were using as the home base stage in the non-Studio 8H episodes.
— Very strong audience reaction to Ed’s entrance.
— This is the first of what will be quite a number of “career photo montage” monologues this season, where the host shows pictures of some of their movie roles. These monologues are never exciting and feel kinda lazy.
— Wow, Ed Asner was in “Roots”? I’m surprised I didn’t already know that.
— Interesting seeing a clip of his very first movie role.
STARS: **½


WALKING AFTER MIDNIGHT
by John Fox- (RIH) makes special shoes for mean boss (JIB)

— Oh, I’ve always loved this film.
— Jim’s great as an unlikable, mean boss.
— A good laugh from a customer walking face-first into the un-opening door after Rich removes its automatic door-opening mat.
— I love where this is going, with Rich getting a sly idea and gluing a cutout of the mat onto the bottom of each of his shoes.
— Very fun and well-done montage of Rich walking through the streets in his altered shoes, which opens various things he passes.
— Clever turn with Rich getting revenge on his boss by giving him the shoes.
— Excellent ending with the elevator shaft.
— I think I recall hearing this film was written by Andy Breckman and Rich Hall. No wonder I’ve always loved this film so much, if it was a collaboration between one of my favorite quirky writers and one of my favorite quirky performers.
STARS: *****


THANKSGIVING
Ed Grimley’s dad (CHG) saves him from a Rear Window-like Thanksgiving Day

— The great vibes of tonight’s episode continues, with the audience’s HUGE reaction to the initial sight of Ed Grimley at the beginning of this.
— LOL at Asner’s sinister look as he sights Grimley witnessing him murdering his wife.
— I love Grimley’s panicked running around the room and monologue-ing to himself after seeing the murder.
— Nice touch with a Pat Sajak picture being seen on Grimley’s wall.
— For some reason, I got a kick out of Grimley saying “Oh, give me a break!” when Asner’s about to strangle him with a tie.
— Ha, Christopher enters as a very Ed Grimley-esque relative (his brother, maybe?) and is doing a great job imitating his voice.
— Oh, turns out Christopher’s playing Grimley’s dad. Doesn’t Howard Cosell also end up playing that same role later this season?
— Very good sketch overall.
STARS: ****


60 MINUTES
Mike Wallace (HAS) exposes defective foreign novelty items

— I always like seeing Billy and Christopher paired together, as they always make a good team. This time, they debut their Minkman Brothers characters.
— The frequent pranks they’re playing on Harry’s Mike Wallace are pretty funny.
— Amusing visual of Asian sweatshop workers making novelty toys.
— Yes! The debut of Martin’s Nathan Thurm!
— Martin’s nervous, overly defensive characterization here is freakin’ hilarious, and the extreme close-ups of him also add to the humor.
— Martin: “(to the camera) Is it me? It’s him, right?”
— Overall, yet another in a long line of strong short films from season 10, even if this one wasn’t QUITE as fantastic as I had remembered it being.
STARS: ****


ME AND JULIO
Julio Iglesias (GAK) duets with more performers, including Alfalfa

— Another Jim-as-Willie-Nelson duet sketch?
— Oh, this is focused on Gary’s Julio Iglesias dueting with various other famous singers.
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus gets the “honors” of being the first of several white SNL performers over the years to play Diana Ross in blackface.
— Gary’s Iglesias-ized lyrics of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun are particularly funny.
— Fun seeing Gary rapidly going back-and-forth between all duet partners.
— LOL at the casting of Martin as Mick Jagger, which is perfect.
— Nice inclusion of Mary’s Alfalfa.
— An appearance from writer Kevin Kelton, playing Senor Wences.
STARS: ***½


BOWLING ALLEY
at the bowling alley, Ricky (BIC) opines & makes a 7-10 spare

— Oh, no. The fun streak of tonight’s episode comes to a screeching halt with the arrival of a Billy Crystal one-man-show character piece, a format that Billy will be using again later this season and is something that I’ve never liked from him.
— Okay, I admit the beginning of this is actually making me laugh, with Billy’s voice and the way he says “unbelievable”. However, I know this is going to get old FAST.
— Yep, I was right. I haven’t been laughing since the beginning of the sketch, and predictably, he’s completely running his “unbelievable” catchphrase into the ground.
— One of the things I’ve always disliked about Billy’s one-man-show pieces is they feel too self-indulgent, and also made it evident that Ebersol was giving Billy a little too much free rein this season.
— Okay, there’s a kinda-funny running gag where everyone he asks a friend about turns out to be dead.
STARS: **


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Paul Harvey (RIH) promotes fun weaponry as a Star Wars alternative
PLS apologizes for her out-of-control breasts & explains why it happened

— We get another instance of a corny, predictable, photo-based news joke.
— Rich’s portrayal of Paul Harvey is pretty funny. I have no familiarity with the real Paul Harvey, but I notice Rich is doing the same long mid-sentence pauses that Joe Piscopo did when playing Paul Harvey in a season 7 sketch.
— Funny visual of a “Wiffle Rocket”.
— I liked Rich-as-Harvey doing his version of the “war (huh!) good god ya’ll” song.
— A follow-up to Pamela’s memorable breast commentary from the last episode.
— Some pretty funny doctored newswomen pictures being displayed by Pamela.
— Good ending to Pamela’s commentary, with her left breast “apologizing” by moving up and down.
— Wow, tonight’s Saturday Night News is over already? Felt very short.
— I believe this thankfully ends up being the end of the dreaded “guest anchor” era of Saturday Night News. IIRC, starting in the next episode, a certain cast member becomes the regular anchorperson for the remainder of the season.
STARS: **½


TIPPI TURTLE
by Jack Zander- Tippi Turtle gets an innocent man arrested at the bank

— Tippi’s pranks continue to get crueler and funnier, with him now framing an innocent man with a “This is a stickup!!” note.
— Overall, shorter than usual but very funny.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Do It Again”


OLD PETER PAN
much older Peter Pan (host) catches up with Wendy (MAG) after dark

— Pretty funny initial visual of Ed dressed as an older and heavier Peter Pan.
— I liked Ed’s delivery of an overly-amorous “I want you, Wendy!” and then forcibly starting to kiss her.
— Peter Pan to Wendy, in the middle of an earnest discussion: “Can’t we at least get it on once???”
— This overall sketch was a nice, softer piece that had heart to it (which is something we rarely see in this Ebersol era). Felt like something that would normally be placed as the final sketch of the night, and I believe this originally DID air in that timeslot but was moved up to an earlier spot in the rerun version I’m reviewing.
STARS: ***½


YOU CAN’T PUT TOO MUCH
nuclear technicians puzzle what retiree (host) meant with his parting tip

— Looks like the same science lab set they previously used in the epic Turkey Lady sketch from last season’s Barry Bostwick episode. (side-by-side comparison below)

— Love the confusion over whether Ed’s “You can’t put too much water in the reactor” meant you should put in a lot of water or none at all. Great long simultaneous pause from the scientists during that confusion as well.
— Gary chiming in with his idiotic theory was funny, as was Julia’s response to him being “God, you’re useless.”
— I like the way this is escalating, with a whole bunch of other scientists now getting involved.
— Good ending with the off-camera explosion of the nuclear plant.
— Overall, this was a very solid sketch with a smartness that feels atypical of this era. This sketch would’ve felt right at home later this decade during the Phil Hartman/Jon Lovitz era.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Word Of Mouth”


NATIONAL ADOPT A NON-SMOKER DAY
get more kids to light up by supporting National Adopt A Non-Smoker Day

— Pretty funny idea with an un-adopted Jim bitterly countering the Great American Smokeout holiday by creating his own national holiday where you adopt someone and make them develop a smoking habit.
— An overall decent closing sketch, though felt like a bit of a step below the high quality of the rest of the show.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Yet another strong episode. This season has been on a really hot streak lately, with tonight being the fourth consecutive episode that I felt very highly about.
— In addition to most of tonight’s sketches being very good, I also like how some of them successfully attempted things that are atypical of this era (the heartfelt Peter Pan sketch and the smart You Can’t Put Too Much) and felt like sketches from an earlier or later era.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (George Carlin):
— a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Ed Begley Jr.

Posted on

November 10, 1984 – George Carlin / Frankie Goes To Hollywood (S10 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
GAK is mad that he wasted time developing a Walter Mondale impersonation

— I liked Gary-as-Mondale’s line “Nobody wants to lose an election by a whisker.”
— Interesting turn with Gary dropping character to complain about how, thanks to Mondale’s recent election loss, Gary already has to retire his Mondale impression after spending all summer working on it.
— Several good lines from Gary here.
— Nice “Live from New York…” variation.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
after a clip of host’s entrance on the first SNL, he talks about religion

— Very nice touch how this started with a clip of George’s monologue entrance from the very first SNL episode ever. The clip brought back nice memories of when I reviewed that episode back when I first began this project, and it makes me fully realize how far I’ve come along in the project.
— There’s the line “They told me if I did a real good job, they’d have me back”, which would go on to become a go-to line (with variations) for many hosts who return for their second hosting stint after a long time gap
— I like how he’s doing a callback to his controversial God stand-up routine from the first episode, and discusses how it received a complaint.
— Very funny line about how church and state both screw you up bad enough on their own, so “if you put them together, you got certain death”.
— Some good laughs from the “prayer” he’s doing.
— An overall great stand-up monologue as expected.
STARS: ****


NIGHT WATCH
while on patrol, night watchmen Willie & Frankie talk about pain

— This has always been the installment of this recurring sketch that I’ve been most familiar with and the most fond of, as my first viewing of it was my introduction to these characters and I liked them instantly.
— Funny talk about Willie and Frankie being a “stallion” with the ladies.
— I really like the part about pouring tabasco sauce into open foot wounds.
— This installment is even better than these sketches usually are, as some of Willie and Frankie’s descriptions of their masochistic actions are particularly making me both cringe and laugh at the same time.
— There’s Christopher’s “stripped down to the nude” line, which will eventually cause Billy to crack up.
— Yep, there’s Billy’s laughing. This is oddly a strong way to end this sketch.
— Overall, a great installment just like I had remembered.
STARS: ****


THE JOE FRANKLIN SHOW
Jackie Rogers, Jr. (MAS) & Senor Cosa (CHG)

— The debut of a sketch that would go on to be a season 10 staple. I was never all that crazy about these sketches before, but I get the feeling I’ll appreciate them more now.
— Speaking of debuts, this is also the SNL debut of Martin’s hilarious Jackie Rogers Jr. character.
— Nice to see George Carlin will actually be participating in sketches this time, unlike his first hosting stint where he only did stand-up pieces throughout the show.
— Christopher’s Senor Cosa character is cracking me up.
— Funny bit with Billy watching Christopher taking a drink of water in anticipation of seeing a ventriloquist trick, only for it to turn out Christopher’s simply taking a drink of water.
— I love how Jackie Rogers Jr’s book is titled “Damn You Daddy, Sir”.
— George’s details about firemen’s occupational hazards are pretty funny.
— Overall, as I predicted, I enjoyed this sketch more than I used to.
STARS: ***½


THE GHOSTBUSTER SHOW
sisters Chi Chi (MAG) & Consuela (JLD) are big fans

— Feels good to see Jim again for the first time in what feels like a while, after his absence in the last episode.
— More season 10 recurring characters debuting tonight, as we get the first appearance of Chi Chi and Consuela. Not sure if this Ghostbusters talk show is a great setting for them, though.
— I did get a laugh from the rumor about a Ghostbusters sequel starring Tim Matheson and Prince.
— Good characterizations from Mary and Julia here.
— Mary’s lines about how the black Ghostbuster “deedn’t do notheeng” are funny.
— Overall, this contained a few more laughs than I expected, but this still wasn’t too great as a whole.
STARS: **½


YE OLDE COMEDY SHOPPE
stand-up pioneer (host) does 18th century jokes at Ye Olde Comedy Shoppe

— Pretty funny concept of a colonial stand-up comedian.
— Eh, the stand-up jokes themselves aren’t turning out that great, but George’s delivery is making them work fairly well.
— Overall, decent execution of a so-so script.
STARS: ***


NOT A COP
(host) points to family tradition when son (BIC) doesn’t want to be a cop

— Pretty funny examples from Billy of why he’s not good at being a cop.
— I liked George’s “Thank god your mother’s not here to see this… she’s out on patrol” line.
— Billy and George are playing well off of each other here.
— Good ending.
STARS: ***½


TED’S BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS
Ted’s (host) Book Of World Records contains his achievements only

— I really like this, with George listing off some of his unimpressive, strange world records.
— I especially got a good laugh just now from “Most rattlesnakes ever milked: none!”
STARS: ****


PROFILES IN SPORTS
by Claude Kerven- intense chess club coach (JIB)

— Love Jim’s performance as an aggressive, violent Bobby Knight-esque chess coach.
— Great little part with the play that Jim draws on a chalkboard being a chess board, down to him even coloring in the dark squares.
— Hilarious part with a wild brawl breaking out among the coaches and the chess nerds.
— Good ending with Jim at the dinner table making chess-like moves with salt and pepper shakers.
— An overall fantastic film featuring what is possibly Jim Belushi’s most well-known SNL performance.
STARS: ****½


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
PLS introduces American men to her large, very agile breasts
host thinks Charlton Heston would make a good GOP candidate in 1988
host cures GAK’s “spot bleeding” condition by reminding him of shirt pins
Lew Goldman gives the sports report for members of his family

— Abrupt transition from George’s jokes to Pamela’s commentary, the latter of which didn’t even begin with the usual applause.
— Rare to hear Pamela speaking in her natural accent.
— Great concept of Pamela introducing us to her breasts.
— LOL at Pamela’s left breast slowly moving up while Pamela’s speaking to the camera.
— Great ending with Pamela’s breasts going completely out-of-control and throwing her over the desk.
— Some funny comparisons from George, between Charlton Heston and Ronald Reagan.
— Gary being introduced as a “science editor” initially made me almost think we were getting another Dr. Jack Badofsky commentary before I remembered Tim Kazurinsky isn’t in the cast anymore.
— Funny reveal that Gary’s “spot bleeding” is simply caused by him forgetting to remove the pins from his new shirt.
— Loved George’s “You’re a moron, Kroeger!” line.
— George is noticeably doing very few jokes between commentaries. Maybe a good thing, as he’s not a great fit for Saturday Night News.
— Haha, what was with an audience member shouting “LEW!! LEW!!” at the beginning of the Lew Goldman commentary?
— I liked Billy’s response to the aforementioned audience member: “Shut up, you idiot!”
— The Lew Goldman sports commentary is a just a variation of his earlier meteorologist commentary. Nothing too exciting here.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Two Tribes”


RICH HALL’S ELECTION REPORT
sound bites are mouthed by characters in a cartoon

 

— It’s about time Rich Hall appeared tonight. It’s a shame how underused he often tends to be.
— I love how Rich is using an old Heckle and Jeckle cartoon to represent Reagan/Mondale “footage”, which is pretty funny. As I mentioned in an earlier review, I always like when SNL does stuff like this.
STARS: ***½


STRATEGIC AIRBORNE CONTRACEPTIVE
cold war technology makes the Strategic Airborne Contraceptive possible

— Hilarious concept.
— Good visual of the device lighting up in the dark when detecting the possibility of love-making.
— Another great use of stock footage tonight.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Born to Run”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very good show, continuing the streak of really solid episodes that started with Jesse Jackson. A lot of tonight’s sketches were above average, and the overall show had a feel that I find very representative of this season as a whole.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Michael McKean):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Ed Asner

Posted on

November 3, 1984 – Michael McKean / Chaka Khan (S10 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Geraldine Ferraro (MAG) sings- Mondale should’ve let a woman be on top

— I’m surprised Mary’s “Walter and I are about to bite the big one” line didn’t get any laughs from the audience.
— Nice turn with Mary’s Ferraro and her back-up singers, the “Mon-dells”, singing an upbeat song about a woman “being on top”.
— Overall, not much else to say, but this was a decent opening.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
MMK’s Scottish dirge is interrupted by an audience member’s “Hey, Lenny!”

— Feels weird seeing a young Michael McKean on SNL 10 years before his cast member stint.
— I like him randomly deciding to launch into an 18th century Scottish acapella dirge.
— An unseen Larry David plays a heckler constantly interrupting Michael’s dirge to obnoxiously ask things like “Hey, Lenny, how’s your short friend Squiggy?!?” This is all cracking me up, though it probably wouldn’t be as funny to me if I hadn’t known this was Larry David.
STARS: ***


YOUNG CHRISTIANS FOR REAGAN
Ronald Reagan (HAS) proposes armbands for schoolkids who don’t pray

— For some reason, the way the camera is slowly scrolling on Harry’s Reagan is making me laugh.
— I like him revealing the identities of the two non-praying kids.
— Good harsh ending with his “They won’t have a prayer” line regarding the non-praying kids.
— An overall good sketch that strangely feels even more relevant in today’s political climate.
STARS: ***½


BABY DOUBLE
Brian DePalma’s latest film is about a criminal baboon heart

— I’m already liking this insane concept.
— It’s over already? Well, this WAS funny for what it was, though I felt it had potential to be be much more fleshed-out.
STARS: ***


FERNANDO’S HIDEAWAY
cameraman Bobby Fraraccio [real] is Barry Manilow

— The debut of Fernando’s talk show.
— Hilarious idea of Barry Manilow being portrayed by an overweight SNL crew member who couldn’t look less like Manilow.
— I love the added detail of a graphic of Manilow’s name showing up on the bottom of the screen during a close-up of the cameraman speaking.
— This is all coming off very funny, especially the questions Fernando’s asking the cameraman (“What’s it like being a sex symbol?”, etc.).
— Good part with the cameraman singing a Manilow song in a fairly flat manner.
— Overall, this will probably easily end up being the funniest Fernando’s Hideaway installment of the whole season.
STARS: ****½


THE FOLKSMEN
after 18 years apart, The Folksmen (MMK), (CHG), (HAS) reunite & rehearse

— Great that the three Spinal Tap actors have formed another mock musical group (who would end up being turned into a movie two whole decades later).
— Even just the general look of each Folksmen member (especially Harry and Christopher) as they’re each shown in a close-up at the beginning is making me laugh.
— The “Blood on the Coal” song being rehearsed is very funny.
— So many great little details here
STARS: ****½


THE FOLKSMEN: “OLD JOE’S PLACE”
The Folksmen perform “Old Joe’s Place”

— The way the preceding video package led into a live performance from the group reminds me of what SNL did with Spinal Tap in their musical guest appearance late last season.
— Christopher’s sheep-esque vibrato is a great laugh.
— Good little touch with the “Eat At Joe’s” light-up sign in the background being partially-unlit, rendering it saying “Ea A Joe’ ”.
— I like the ridiculously-faster tempo the song’s chorus is gradually going.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


BUDDY YOUNG JR. IS BACK!
— I already covered this short film in my review of the last episode. Turns out this film was actually originally aired in tonight’s episode and was added to the last episode in reruns.


FIRST DRAFT THEATER
drunk Reginald Rose (Nate Herman) edits 12 Angry Men

 

— Good to see the return of this strong sketch from the season premiere.
— I like the shots of the the author (who appears to be SNL writer Nate Herman) at the typewriter being seen constantly taking swigs from his glass of liquor and becoming increasingly disoriented.
— Funny “Harvey/Herve” typo leading to Billy doing his Herve Villachaise impression.
— The random jolly “Kids!” musical number from all the jurors is hilarious. I think I just spotted Jim Downey as the juror at the end of the table.
— Overall, this was very good, though I preferred the season premiere’s First Draft Theater installment a little more.
STARS: ****


MADONNA NAVEL ACCESSORIES
Madonna (PLS) sings “Lucky Star” to promote her line of navel accessories

— The very first Madonna reference in SNL history.
— Pamela seems to do a lot of solo sketches as a popular singer from this era. First Cyndi Lauper, then Billy Idol, now Madonna.
— Pretty random premise, and the sketch isn’t really making me laugh much.
STARS: **


PBS PLEDGEBRATION
Vincent Price (MMK) previews his horror-cooking show

— Perfect casting of Harry here as a PBS telethon host.
— I liked Harry’s line “Only 75% of our funds come from oil companies”.
— Funny Vincent Price impression from Michael; one that he would later reprise during his cast member stint 10 seasons later.
— Michael-as-Vincent-Price’s “spooky” delivery of cooking instructions is amusing.
— Very funny closing line from Harry regarding Jayne Meadows.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Feel For You”


RABBI
a strange rabbi (BIC) gives (MAS) advice about his wife’s unfaithfulness

— Martin’s speechless facial reaction to Billy’s irrelevant shoe story is priceless.
— Funny turn this has taken with Billy suggesting that Martin kill his unfaithful wife.
— Lots of laughs from what Billy’s original “bible” contains.
— Overall, a lot of funny random humor in this sketch, with good character work from Billy and a solid straight man performance from Martin.
STARS: ****


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Jeanne Kirkpatrick (JLD) does not reciprocate Jesse Jackson’s love jones
Dr. Ruth Westheimer (MAG) compares the election to sexual intercourse
RIH’s Election Report- voting-while-drunk is an alarming trend
Edwin Newman [real] reads state song lyrics that share a common trait

— Edwin Newman returns to SNL once again.
— I like his listed-off reasons for why he won’t be doing any jokes about the then-current election.
— Interesting casting of Julia as Jeanne Kirkpartick. Good wrinkly make-up on her as well.
— Oh, turns out Julia’s commentary is a rebuttal to Jesse Jackson’s love jones sketch from the last episode.
— Several funny lines from Julia. I’m surprised by how much they’re allowing her to be funny here, considering how often she’s wasted in forgettable normal roles on the show. Her performance here feels like a glimpse of what we would later come to expect from her in her post-SNL career.
— Mary’s Dr. Ruth commentary didn’t contain anything noteworthy overall.
— Rich’s commentary seems like it should be a standalone “Rich Hall’s Election Report” sketch.
— Decent commentary from Rich overall.
— The segment with Edwin reading off various official state songs is kinda funny just hearing the spelled-out lyrics being read in Edwin’s deadpan, professional voice.
— Haha, even Edwin’s sign-off at the end is funny.
STARS: **½


MONDALE HEADQUARTERS
Walter Mondale (GAK) & staff prepare for upcoming loss to Ronald Reagan

— Some good humor from the sad state of Mondale’s campaign.
— I like the staff members tip-toeing around telling Mondale that they’d like the voting to be unanimous for Reagan.
— Loved Gary’s goofy gleeful smile after saying “You’re in for a big surprise on Tuesday”.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “This Is My Night”

 

SNL FASHION REPORT
David Byrne (RIH) sings about his big suit

— Oh, I remember loving this Rich Hall sketch when I first saw it years ago.
— Yep, so far, this is coming off just as great as I remember.
— I especially love the shoulder-raising thing Rich keeps doing right now.
— Overall, as I expected, I absolutely loved watching this sketch once again. Hilarious performance from Rich as well.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

— We’re told that Jim Belushi couldn’t be there this week, but will be back in the next episode. I had been wondering where he was earlier tonight.
— Billy explains that Barry Manilow really did cancel, necessitating the use of a cameraman to fill in. I’m confused, because I remember once hearing a conflicting story that Manilow’s cancellation was actually just a made-up gimmick and it was planned all along for the cameraman to “fill in” as Manilow.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very good episode where, similar to the last episode, there was a pretty consistent run of good sketches, some of them being really strong.
— Michael McKean was a solid host. He came off like a natural for SNL and blended in perfectly with this cast. Makes one wish that THIS was the season he joined the cast, as his type of humor is much more in tune with this season’s style than the unfortunate direction the show was taking during his ill-fated cast member stint in seasons 19 and 20.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jesse Jackson):
— a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
SNL’s first-ever host George Carlin returns

Posted on

October 20, 1984 – The Reverend Jesse Jackson / Andrae Crouch and Wintley Phipps (S10 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
host asks Sammy Davis, Jr. (BIC) for help with what to do on the show

— I don’t know what I’m more surprised by: the fact that Billy is doing a blackface role in front of Jesse freakin’ Jackson, or the fact that Jesse Jackson actually ALLOWED it.
— Jesse’s impressions of politicians are pretty funny, especially his Reagan saying “The Grenada’s comin’ to get us!”, which was apparently an ad-lib judging from Billy’s response.
— Good performance from Jesse during the “Red Rubber Ball” song.
— A decent cold opening overall and shows that Jesse’s going to be a good sport tonight.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
blacks quickly assume control room duties upon host’s unplanned visit

— The bit about Jesse’s “cost-efficient campaign” is fairly funny.
— Great punchline to Jesse’s story about walking on water, with the newspapers printing a headline that says “Jesse Can’t Swim”.
— Jesse’s stories here are really long-winded, which reminds me of the first half of Bob Uecker’s monologue in the last episode, but at least Jesse has better delivery than him.
— I love how everybody in the control room runs out in a panic when they realize Jesse’s coming. Speaking of which, I’m pretty sure I saw Heino Ripp among the crew. I thought he retired after the Flip Wilson episode last season (during the goodnights in that episode, they ran a “Nine years of thanks to Heino Ripp” credit and then cut to a shot of him in the control room). Did he return this season after only being away for half a year?
— Haha, absolutely classic reveal of the white control room crew being quickly switched with a black crew, in an effort to fool Jesse.
— I liked how the black director actually had to be told feedback’s a bad thing.
STARS: **½ for the first half, ****½ for the second half


ELEVATOR
while stuck in an elevator, Willie (BIC) & Frankie (CHG) talk about pain

— The debut of Christopher and Billy’s “I hate when that happens” characters. I know these sketches are pretty polarizing (along with everything else Billy Crystal does on the show) among SNL fans, but I always really liked these sketches.
— The descriptions of their increasingly masochistic actions are funny and there’s some really good interplay between Christopher and Billy here.
— Overall, while no particular line stood out to me here, I enjoyed this sketch as expected. These characters are off to a good start.
STARS: ***½


WRONG VOICE, RIGHT FACE
anachronistic Billy Idol’s (PLS) new album- Wrong Voice, Right Face

— Good Billy Idol impression from Pamela, and it especially comes off funny to me after I recently saw Billy Idol’s SNL musical performances while reviewing the Don Rickles episode from the previous season.
— Pretty funny satire on the incongruity between Billy Idol’s punk rock look and old-timey crooner voice.
STARS: ***


REFRIGERATOR MAGNET SAFETY ADVISORY BOARD
kids like to eat refrigerator magnets- be aware of the warning signs

— I love the concept of this.
— Funny part with the metal surgical tools flying onto the boy’s stomach.
— Another good visual with the boy uncontrollably turning to the north repeatedly.
— Overall, another pretty strong and memorable (to me, at least) season 10 filmed piece.
STARS: ****


THE QUESTION IS MOOT!
host’s politics make game show answers unimportant

— Looks like the same gameshow set they used for the previous week’s “7X4” sketch. (side-by-side comparison below)

— I liked Julia lying about her name for no apparent reason.
— Don Pardo’s overly excited description of the red car is really making me laugh.
— This is a strong concept, with Jesse immediately shutting down the contestants’ answers to go off on various angry political rants.
— Also, it’s funny how the premise of this is an exact reverse of the “7X4” sketch’s premise. “7X4” deals with a gameshow host’s frustration as the contestants keep answering the question before he even finishes asking it, and “The Question Is Moot” deals with frustrated contestants not being able to finish giving their answers before the gameshow host cuts them off.
— I keep cracking up every time Jesse sternly says the mantra “The question is moot!”
— Julia: “Who gets the car???” Jesse: “I get the car!”
STARS: ****


FIRST CLASS
while seated next to host on a plane, Ed Grimley sees a demon on the wing
host’s second trip to the control room prompts another white evacuation

— Some recognition applause from the audience upon Ed Grimley’s entrance.
— Nice continuity from the last Ed Grimley sketch, by having Grimley mention he was recently on Wheel of Fortune.
— I like Grimley’s shame in saying “whorehouse” after finding out Jesse’s a reverend.
— LOL at a random monster appearing outside the plane window. We’re going into Twilight Zone territory all of a sudden.
— I think I see original SNL writer Alan Zweibel as one of the passengers seated in front of Grimley and Jackson. I think I’m also seeing then-current writer Kevin Kelton seated across from Grimley and Jackson, but I really can’t tell.
— Funny and interesting breaking-the-fourth-wall turn, with Jesse giving up on the sketch and walking off the set while saying “This is just dumb! This stupid.”
— LOL at director Dave Wilson’s panicked “He’s coming again!”
— Seems kinda unnecessary to repeat the “white control room crew gets quickly substituted with a black crew” joke, but I still laughed.
— I’ve just now noticed frequent Ebersol-era extra Clint Smith among the black crew this time.
STARS: ***½


TIPPI TURTLE
by Jack Zander- Tippi Turtle annoys with musical greeting card mechanism

— Great prank idea, with Tippi hiding the music chip from a musical greeting card in random places to annoy people.
— Very funny seeing people being driven crazy by the elusive music.
— For a second, when the “The End” screen showed up, I honestly expected it to be followed by the TV Funhouse ending credits while the “Saturday TV Funhouse” jingle plays. I guess this shows how I’m so used to SNL’s go-to animated segment being Robert Smigel’s later series of cartoons.
STARS: ****


JUST KIDDING
(BIC) bugs (JIB) by alternating news of son’s death with “just kidding”

— I got a laugh from Billy revealing the son’s head is in the bag he’s carrying.
— The insane back-and-forth alternations of Billy joking and being serious is a fairly thin premise, but it’s being executed well.
— I liked Jim’s “I lost my place here” when being confused over which of the two stories Billy is currently on.
— I love the panicky part with Pamela and Jim screaming hysterically when pulling out a severed head from the bag.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
host deconstructs Ronald Reagan’s answers from presidential debate
rebuttal-giving Young Republicans’ representative (MAS) is scared of host
JIB starts to rap, host shows him how it’s done

— Are these “jokes” from Jesse even jokes?
— Okay, Jesse’s unique news joke style is now beginning to grow on me.
— I like the segment with Jesse deconstructing clips of Reagan’s statements from that week’s Reagan/Mondale presidential debate. Also, this is making me remember that SNL doesn’t do ANY debate sketches during this election, which I believe makes this the only time in SNL’s entire run where they go through a presidential election without doing any sketches parodying the debates. The 1980 elections don’t count, as the 1980-81 season of SNL didn’t begin until November, right after that year’s elections ended.
— I liked Jesse counting the length of Reagan’s long mid-sentence pause in one clip.
— The frozen look on Mondale’s face in reaction to a questionable statement from Reagan was really funny.
— Interesting seeing Martin Short doing a commentary at the desk as a normal character.
— Funny concept with Jesse’s deadpan reactions intimidating Martin during Martin’s criticisms of Jesse.
— The return of Rappin’ Jimmy B.
— I’m liking Jesse’s reactions to Jim’s rapping attempt.
— Jesse’s semi-rapping about white suburban kids trying to act black is pretty funny.
— Overall, the best edition of Saturday Night News in a while. Who would’ve guessed that Jesse would be such a good guest anchor?
STARS: ***½


BUDDY YOUNG JR. IS BACK!
insult comedian Buddy Young, Jr. (BIC) is back on-stage

— Billy is absolutely killing me with his portrayal of an old-timey insult comic. I’m loving his put-downs to the crowd. It also helps that my aforementioned recent viewing of last season’s Don Rickles-hosted episode renewed my appreciation for insult comics.
— Pretty funny happy testimonials from the insulted audience members.
— Overall, yet another strong season 10 pre-tape.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Andrae Crouch performs “Right Now”


JEANE KIRKPATRICK
host admits he has a love jones for Jeanne Kirkpatrick

— Pretty funny revelation that Jesse only got into politics to be closer to Jeanne Kirkpatrick.
— Jesse waxing poetic about Kirkpatrick has some laughs, and I’m really liking his performance here.
— Nice touch at the very end with Jesse doing a little solo slow-dance.
STARS: ***


RICH HALL’S ELECTION REPORT
undecided voters’ league chief (CHG) is indecisive
Mr. Blackwell (HAS) lists fashion disasters at Soap Opera Digest awards

— Good to see this Rich Hall showcase back.
— Doesn’t feel like we’ve been seeing much of Christopher tonight.
— Christopher as the Undecided Voters League president constantly changing his mind over everything is a very predictable premise, but Christopher is pulling it off well with his dry delivery.
— Very strange how Rich’s live outtro segued into a “guest commentary” by Harry as Mr. Blackwell. So this Rich Hall Election Report has suddenly turned into a thinly-veiled continuation of tonight’s earlier Saturday Night News? What the HELL?!? Ebersol continues to make baffling decisions with SNL’s news segment. Thank god this is the final season I have to put up with that.
— Harry’s delivery is tickling me so much and it’s making his fashion critiques come off really funny.
STARS: *** for the Rich Hall/Christopher Guest half, ***½ for the Harry Shearer half


RAINBOW COALITION
host lists people not accepted in the Rainbow Coalition, like Dick Cavett

— Funny format with Jesse listing people who are excluded from his Rainbow Coalition.
— I like the pictures being shown to accompany the listed-off people.
— LOL at Jesse’s repeated exclusion of Dick Cavett.
— Loved the meta part with one of the excluded people being anybody who advised Jesse to do SNL after Eddie Murphy left.
— What was that weird moving thing that can be seen on the bottom right corner of the screen at the very end? It looked kinda like it was a framed photo of Jesse that a crew member was trying to hand Jesse but he failed notice. What’s that all about? (screencap below)

STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Wintley Phipps performs “Tell Me Again”


GOODNIGHTS
musical guests perform “Soon & Very Soon”

— A rare on-screen appearance from Dick Ebersol, being handed an album of Jesse’s presidential campaign speech.
— A deviation from the normal goodnights, with the usual goodnights music being replaced with Jesse, the musical guests, and the cast all singing “Soon and Very Soon”.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A solid and very consistent episode. There weren’t any segments I disliked, the sketches ranged from good to great, and there were a few well-remembered things like The Question Is Moot and the second half of the monologue.
— For non-actor standards, Jesse Jackson did a very good job as host. He carried himself well, had good delivery of his comedic lines, and was able to handle several solo sketches with ease. He even did a surprisingly good job guest anchoring Saturday Night News.
— My copy of this episode is apparently missing a sketch where Jesse addresses the fact that this season’s SNL cast has no black performers. Sounds like an interesting piece, and I’m surprised the show would openly acknowledge their lack of minorities in this cast.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bob Uecker):
— a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Future cast member Michael McKean hosts

Posted on

October 13, 1984 – Bob Uecker / Peter Wolf (S10 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Robin Williams’ (MAS) ad libs makes Password difficult for his partner

— Martin’s Robin Williams impression is already cracking me up.
— Martin’s dead-on here.
— I liked the meta part with the SNL/Gilda Radner reference.
— Wow, this is over already? This might been too short for its own good and didn’t really go beyond its basic premise.
STARS: **½


OPENING MONTAGE
— The season 8 canned theme music that was used in the previous week’s episode has been changed to a new canned theme that sounds like it was made for this season.


MONOLOGUE
host gets a pre-recorded phone call from Ronald Reagan (HAS)

— Interesting shot of the audience at the beginning of this, where you can tell this isn’t Studio 8H. (screencap below)

— Bob’s story has some funny parts, but his delivery is a little too slow-paced for its own good.
— The return of Harry’s Reagan impression from season 5.
— Also, this is Harry’s first live appearance of this season, as all his appearances in the previous week’s season premiere were pre-taped.
— I liked Harry-as-Reagan’s line “I had to get ready for my disaster”.
— Not to nitpick, but it looks like it’s daytime outside the Oval Office window behind Harry, even though we’re supposed to believe this phone conversation is happening live.
— Haha, as soon as I pointed out the above, it’s revealed that Reagan’s half of the phone conversation was taped earlier that afternoon, much to Bob’s surprise. Funny reveal.
STARS: ***


SNAP, CRACKLE & POP
Snap (MAS), Crackle (CHG), Pop (BIC) perform their nightclub act

— Fairly funny concept of Snap, Crackle, and Pop as nightclub entertainers. I also like how they’re being played by three of the new ringers of this cast.
— Didn’t care for the reveal of Billy’s bride being a WAY underage little girl (who looks like the same child actress from the Grandpa Howard Cosell sketch in the last episode).
— Jim’s heckling is pretty funny.
— I’m loving Christopher’s heated-up rant to Jim.
— Funny line about how Kellogg’s was going to replace Pop with a black guy named Thud.
— Heh, whoa at Christopher pulling out a gun.
— Good sketch overall. I initially was expecting this to be kinda corny, but I like the dark directions it ended up taking.
STARS: ***½


AN AMERICAN PORTRAIT
Cyndi Lauper (PLS) musically salutes Dylan Thomas

— A decent if kinda exaggerated Cyndi Lauper impression from Pamela.
— This sketch is just plain weird so far.
— Overall, not sure this quite worked. Can’t say I laughed much during this.
STARS: **


LITTLE LEAGUE TRADE
a little league coach (host) trades his son (BIC) to another family

— Billy playing a character with his own first name…
— Bob: “Your mother and I made a mistake when we had YOU.” Heh, damn.
— Pretty funny reveal that Bob is releasing Billy from the family.
— I’m starting to notice tonight that Bob Uecker’s natural voice sounds kinda like John Goodman’s.
— Bob’s delivery isn’t working too great for this sketch. The dialogue itself is pretty good, but Bob is being too un-comically serious here.
— I liked the reveal that Billy’s being traded to Billy Martin’s family.
STARS: **½


L’S
Tom Brokaw (HAS) asks NBC news chief Lawrence Grossman (MAS) for less L’s

— A funny way of centering a sketch around Tom Brokaw’s distinctive pronunciation of L’s.
— I’m liking Harry’s Brokaw impression here.
— I’ve been enjoying how this sketch is going, though the studio audience is VERY quiet.
STARS: ***


THE MAMIE EISENHOWER CENTER FOR THE DULL
Dr. Troy Sorren (MAS) for the Mamie Eisenhower Center For The Dull

— I got a pretty good laugh from how even the Center for the Dull’s building has a dull design. (second screencap above)
— Ha, Bob Uecker’s “dullness” is being displayed by showing him doing the same speech he did earlier tonight in the monologue.
— Good spokesman performance from Martin here.
— A pretty solid commercial overall.
STARS: ***½


7X4
contestants ruin too-easy game show by repeatedly jumping the gun

— Already, right from the beginning, I’m getting the feeling this is our Andy Breckman sketch of the week.
— Considering how up until now, every sketch so far tonight has starred the new cast members, it’s nice to see the overlooked veterans (and Rich Hall) leading a sketch.
— I liked the joke with Rich, as a character named Andy A. Abbott, asking “Will we be going alphabetically?”
— I’m loving Gary’s growing frustration with the contestants’ over-eagerness in answering too early.
— Very funny sketch overall, and also featured a strong Gary Kroeger performance.
STARS: ****


NEGRO BASEBALL
Negro Leaguers (BIC) & (CHG) remember glory days; Yogi Berra cameo

— Uh……….
— Yeah, I’m speechless during this so far. No idea where to begin addressing what I’m watching.
— Okay, Billy’s “contact hitter” line made me laugh.
— Christopher looks and sounds absolutely unrecognizable in this. The only reason I know it’s him is because of comments and reviews I’ve read of this sketch over the years.
— I hate to admit it, but the dialogue in this is winning me over. There are actual funny lines in here that are tickling me (e.g. smelt night).
— Boy, this film has been going on for a long time.
— Christopher’s delivery of the “The Russians couldn’t stop us from gigglin’” line cracked me up.
— Overall, I’m very conflicted on this. I hated the blackface aspect as well as the fact that this is yet another in a long line of racial Billy Crystal roles, and it also doesn’t help that this film was so long, but the film was well-made, well-written, and featured lots of funny lines all throughout. I’m very torn.
STARS: **½ by default


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Lights Out”


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Geraldine Ferraro (MAG) responds to Barbara Bush’s derogatory comments
Lew Goldman (BIC) gives the weather forecast for members of his family

— They’re still using the new Saturday Night News opening sequence that was introduced in the last episode, but they’ve inexplicably gotten rid of the new set and have brought back the old one from the last two seasons.
— Awkward beginning with Bob sitting in silence for a few seconds before finally saying his intro. It’s as if he were waiting for applause that never came.
— Unsurprisingly, Bob’s delivery is not working here as an anchorperson.
— Okay, I did manage to get a laugh from Bob’s nice save after misreading Barbara Bush as “Barbara Rush”.
— Mary’s whole commentary came and went without me caring for it at all.
— I groaned so much at Bob’s joke that all four of the celebrities in a displayed picture with their hands on their chests (for the national anthem) are having heart attacks. And I could SWEAR that SNL already used that same punchline for a similar photo in a Weekend Update joke from the original era.
— Now we’re getting MORE lazy picture-based jokes.
— Billy’s meteorologist segment as an old Jewish guy is okay. It helps that this was reportedly co-written by (then-new writer) Larry David, which would make sense as this IS kinda in his voice.
STARS: **


LOST & FOUND
naive cop (host) lets (CHG) lay claim to entire lost & found department

— Christopher’s obvious scheme is pretty funny.
— I’m still hearing John Goodman in Bob’s voice.
— Not caring for how this sketch has been turning out. This premise with Christopher feels like it SHOULD be working, but the sketch is way too slow-moving for its own good and is coming off very dull.
STARS: *½


TIPPI TURTLE
by Jack Zander- Tippi Turtle tries mailing a lighter-than-air package

— The debut of Tippi Turtle, who’s segments I’m well aware of, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen any of them until now.
— This may be the very first instance of SNL having an animated cartoon segment, unless I’m forgetting something from an earlier season (I’m not counting any claymation films).
— Very funny theme song.
— I love the laugh that Tippi Turtle keeps doing.
— An overall pretty solid quick segment with a funny prank.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Need You Tonight”


SNL MAILBAG
letters reveal obsessed ex-con is coming to SNL to stalk JLD

— The reveal that the letter written about Julia’s looks comes from a prisoner is pretty funny.
— Even funnier with the creepier next letter revealing the prisoner is being released in three weeks despite being admittedly guilty.
— I’m liking the escalation this is taking, with the prisoner getting closer and closer to 30 Rock with each passing letter that Julia and Mary read.
— Decent ending with Mary romantically walking off with the prisoner.
STARS: ***


FRESH BASEBALL
host & (RIH) tout the nutritional value of fresh-squeezed baseball juice

— I like the ridiculous concept of Bob touting juice from freshly-squeezed baseballs as if they’re oranges.
— Great visual of the cup of baseball juice having red baseball seams in it.
STARS: ***½


NBC SPORTS UPDATE / GOODNIGHTS
Vin Scully (HAS) & Joe Garagiola (BIC) assess host’s performance on SNL

— I always like when SNL does this type of “sports commentators review a sketch that has just aired” piece.
— Nice change of pace for the goodnights.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very average episode. Kind of a letdown after how strong the season premiere was, and it also didn’t help that Bob Uecker was underwhelming as a host.  There were still things to like tonight, even if nothing stood out as truly great besides 7X4.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (no host):
— a fairly big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Jesse Jackson

Posted on

October 6, 1984 – (no host) / The Thompson Twins (S10 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Lifestyles of the Relatives of the Rich & Famous- Nelson Hepburn (MAS)

     

— Starting off the season with a pre-taped cold opening is very interesting and a sign of things to come regarding this season’s heavy usage of pre-tapes.
— I love that Martin Short is front-and-center right at the beginning of his first episode.
— Good premise for a “Lifestyles of Rich and Famous” parody, interviewing relatives of celebrities.
— Great Katherine Hepburn impression from Martin, playing her maternal third cousin.
— The interview with Martin is great, with lots of funny details in his stories.
— Love how throughout the interview, they keep cutting to the same shot of Harry Shearer as Robin Leach nodding.
— I like the beautiful shot they just showed of NYC at dusk. (screencap below)

— Christopher Guest as a relative of Charlie Callas is hilarious with his uncontrollable Callas-esque actions. He’s pulling this off perfectly.
— Overall, this cold opening got the season off to a strong start already, and I like how the only performers featured in this were some of the new cast members.
STARS: ****


OPENING MONTAGE
— New opening montage!

       

— The theme music, which is the same as the one from the last three seasons, is noticeably canned tonight. The reason for this is because the early episodes of this season are performed in two different studios, due to NBC News using Studio 8H for election coverage. Tonight’s canned theme sounds like the same one they used last time SNL was forced out of Studio 8H for election coverage, which was back in October 1982.
— This new montage is absolutely INCREDIBLE. The innovative style, the amazing graphics, the wildly creative use of each cast member, the freakin’ opening shot of a giant roach looking at flying hot dogs… this has always been by far my favorite SNL opening montage, and is probably the most elaborate, expensive-looking one SNL has ever had, at least until season 29.
— Joining the cast tonight are Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, Rich Hall, Harry Shearer (who had an earlier stint in the cast back in season 5), Martin Short, and Pamela Stephenson. Wow, that’s a lot of newbies.


MONOLOGUE
BIC does stand-up about what it’s like to grow old

  

— Adding to the excitement of having a new opening montage is the fact that we also have a new home base stage, though this one is only temporary while the show is in a different studio.
— Billy Crystal gets the honors of doing tonight’s monologue since there’s no official host.
— Nice mention of this being the milestone 10th season of SNL.
— I’m liking his material on dreading having reached the 35-50 age range, and I can somewhat relate, since I’m only months away from reaching that age range myself. (I was born the same year this episode originally aired; in fact, this is the first live episode to air in my lifetime, as I was born during the summer)
— Okay, here’s where the monologue is starting to fall apart, with him talking about watching Poltergeist with a black audience. It’s just a whole bunch of tepid “black people yelling at the movie screen” jokes, and features the questionable use of Billy’s penchant for doing black voices. The “That’s why we don’t swim!” joke was especially groanworthy.
— Okay, he’s winning me back a little with his bit about “old” people telling youngsters about the (then) not-too-long-ago Beatlemania and Woodstock, though it’s kinda weird watching this in modern times because people who were around during the Beatles heyday and Woodstock really would be getting up there in age nowadays, and it’s now perfectly understandable for children today to have no knowledge of The Beatles or Woodstock.
— Boy, this monologue is going on for a LONG time.
— I liked his line “I have such respect for women… and Alan Alda.”
— Some laughs from his horrific facial expressions when acting out a baby being born.
— Overall, a hit-and-miss monologue, and suffered from its length. A definite step down from Billy’s solid monologue when he hosted last season. I did appreciate, though, how this had a “10 years” throughline to keep it related to SNL’s milestone 10th season.
STARS: **


OLYMPICS 1984: A SPECIAL REPORT
by Bruce Van Dusen- Olympic flame reverts to Greece

      

— The first guy holding the torch strangely resembles a young Mick Jagger.
— Good premise.
— Boy, is Rich Hall lanky in those gym shorts.
— The detailed journey of the torch is pretty funny.
— Good payoff with the long, long journey just leading to a guy simply blowing out the torch.
STARS: ***


RICH HALL’S ELECTION REPORT
Walter Mondale’s many fundraising dinners

     

— A nice way to introduce Rich Hall to us.
— I like the ridiculously high prices Rich is being charged for every little thing.
— Some good laughs from his attempts to hail a motorcade in a busy street.
— Surprised at the part with Mondale subtly giving the finger (which was uncensored, by the way).
— A somewhat-young Reginald VelJohnson is one of the people seen behind Rich during the aforementioned “Mondale flipping the bird” scene. (last screencap above)
— The live outtro with Rich ended kinda awkwardly.
STARS: ***½


WHEEL OF FORTUNE INTERVIEW
Pat Sajak fan Ed Grimley (MAS) wants to be a Wheel of Fortune contestant

     

— Hilarious blooper at the beginning, where Christoper Guest (in his first live appearance as a cast member, no less) bumps his head on a low boom mic. (first screencap above) I love his reaction: at first, he tries to play it off like nothing happened, by pretending to take notice of something in the letter he’s holding while making a “WTF?” gesture with his free hand, then he looks upwards towards the boom mic for a second before continuing on with the sketch.
— Good reveal that Christopher’s about to jump out the window to his death.
— Another funny reveal, where we find out Christopher’s job is interviewing potential Wheel of Fortune contestants.
— The SNL debut of Martin Short’s memorable character Ed Grimley.
— Julia’s bit role as a secretary introducing Ed Grimley to Christopher would later be shown as a clip in Julia’s monologue during her season 41 hosting stint, used as a representation of the type of “memorable” roles she was typically given during her SNL tenure.
— Even in this bit role, however, Julia still gets a laugh with her facial reaction to Grimley saying they had a nice chat.
— I love Grimley’s excited running back-and-forth while monologue-ing to himself when he’s left alone in the room.
— Grimley’s hilarious as he’s acting out a scenario of how his Wheel of Fortune adventure will go.
— Ha, even THIS sketch is succumbing to this season’s habit of doing lots of pre-tapes, with us now seeing filmed footage of Grimley leaving the office after his interview is over.
— The heavyset guy in the elevator with Grimley was just seen in the pre-taped Rich Hall Election Report.
— The part with a dummy of Christopher falling on Grimley out of nowhere had me howling.
STARS: ****


GRANDPA HOWARD
babysitter Howard Cosell’s (BIC) verbosity puts his grandkids to sleep

   

— The parents having to “translate” Cosell’s verbose greeting to the kids is fairly funny.
— I congratulate Billy on looking NOTHING like Howard Cosell.
— That being said, he IS doing a good vocal impression, at least.
— Ha, the part with the boy tearing off Cosell’s toupee and running away with it is making me laugh.
— I think that’s Billy himself doing the voice of O.J. Simpson being heard from the TV screen. If I’m correct, then that makes this ANOTHER example tonight of Billy doing a stereotypical black voice. Oh, god.
— Billy-as-Cosell’s long-winded stories just aren’t interesting or funny, even if that’s the point in the universe of this sketch. More and more, I’m losing what little interest in this sketch I initially had.
STARS: *½


SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING
by Claude Kerven- Lawrence (MAS) & Gerald (HAS) are synchronized swimmers

     

— Here we go! One of the most well-loved, memorable pre-taped films in SNL history, and is probably widely considered the quintessential example of how strong this season’s short films are.
— Harry and Martin’s opening synchronized dancing in time to the music is hilarious (the gleeful look on Harry’s face is especially cracking me up).
— Martin’s big-foreheaded look is great.
— I like how dry Harry’s explanation of how he got into synchronized swimming is. Dead-serious delivery of something inherently silly is something Harry Shearer always excels at, and it’s nice to see that back on display on SNL after his season 5 stint.
— Pamela Stephenson looks unrecognizable in this. Maybe I just have a hard time recognizing her without the crazy 80s hair.
— I can see why Pamela’s scene is often removed from some versions of this film, as it’s not really a crucial part, but her scene is still good in its own right.
— Great inclusion of Christopher as a Waiting for Guffman-esque choreographer.
— There’s the classic “Hey, you! I know you! I know you!” bit.
— Christopher is excellent and is stealing this film.
— Another great Christopher Guest line, this time regarding killing himself with a Veg-O-Matic.
— Martin’s wild, spastic arm dance when he and Harry are standing in front of the pool is a riot.
— Overall, a brilliant and hilarious mockumentary that’s well-deserving of its status as a classic. This was absolutely perfect in every way.
STARS: *****


AUDIENCE CAPTION

— The return of the “audience caption” gag that was often done in the original era (it was briefly brought back in season 6, with less-than-stellar results).
— It’s quite appropriate that the first audience captionee this season is Rob Reiner, who has an important part in SNL’s history as the host of SNL’s third episode ever.
— It’s also appropriate that Reiner is shown right after a mockumentary short film featuring Harry Shearer and Christopher Guest, as Reiner had recently directed those two performers in a certain famous mockumentary of his own.


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
Walter Mondale (GAK) & Geraldine Ferraro (MAG) introduce musical guest

— Good to see the underrated Gary and Mary not getting lost in the shuffle tonight, considering all the showcases we’ve been seeing for the star-studded group of newbies.
— Good makeup on Gary’s Mondale.
— A decent, quick little pre-musical guest bit.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hold Me Now”


THE BULGE
by Andy Breckman- (JIB) stuffs his pants to attract ladies

         

— I almost thought the blonde guy laughing at Jim was Brad Hall. (second screencap above) I guess I haven’t gotten used to not seeing Brad on the show anymore.
— Heh, I like where this is going, with Jim getting a scheme-y look on his face after seeing Gary stuffing the front of his pants.
— Hilarious how Jim is going overboard with stuffing the front of his pants with literally EVERYTHING he can find nearby.
— Love the sly look Jim gave the camera when finding a cabinet full of cleaning products.
— Haha, amazing visual of Jim slowly re-entering the club with his ridiculously huge, clunky bulge.
— Everyone’s reactions to Jim’s bulge are great.
— Good ending shot of Jim’s bulge resting outside an open window in the cab that he and two ladies have taken off in.
— A minor detail, but I really liked the use of the background songs that played all throughout this, which added a nice touch.
STARS: ****½


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Fernando advises celebrities to enter the Betty Ford Clinic for publicity

     

— Wow, nice new opening credits sequence for Saturday Night News.
— Great new set too. Sadly, however, both the new opening sequence and the new set would end up getting dropped very soon (I think in the very next episode), and the show would revert to the old Saturday Night News opening and set. I never understood why. Why introduce a great new opening and set, only to immediately go back to the tired old one from the last two seasons?
— Billy’s Fernando wig looks different than usual.
— I’m glad he didn’t overdo the “You look mahvelous” shtick during his intro.
— Oh, I spoke too soon. HERE’S the dreaded overlong “mahvelous” talk. *groan*
— The photo montage of “celebrities” covering their faces from the camera seems strangely familiar, like something SNL had already done either last season or the season before.
— There are some laughs from which celebrities Fernando is suggesting should check into Betty Ford clinic to revitalize their careers, but this segment isn’t anything too great.
— A mention of how downhill Alan Thicke’s career was going at the time, as this was during his doomed talk show-hosting stint. Little did they know that a year later, Growing Pains would revitalize his career.
— Tonight’s Saturday Night News is over already, with no guest commentaries.
— Not very good overall, and as I said in my review of the previous season’s finale, I’m already starting to get kinda tired of Fernando. I came into this season thinking I wasn’t going to be quite as salty towards Billy’s SNL tenure as some people are, but I dunno… between tonight’s overlong monologue, his dull (and also overlong) Howard Cosell sketch, his overabundance of stereotypical black voices, and now this weak Saturday Night News starring his overdone Fernando, Billy’s not exactly off to a great start so far this season.
STARS: **


FIRST DRAFT THEATER
an early version of Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep

    

— For some reason, I’m already getting laughs just from the way the opening voice-over announced the sketch’s title.
— Funny part with the grammatically-confusing “silver flask wearing a red silk skirt” line leading to a visual of a flask in a dress.
— Christopher: “She had the kind of figure that… made you wanna have sex with her.”
— Christopher: “She opened up like a… cheap sandwich that wasn’t wrapped properly.”
— Loved Christopher literally saying “Aieee, he’s got a gun!”
— Some technical glitches after Jim slaps Christopher with a gun.
— I liked the random, overly-wordy description of Jim’s eyes.
— I’m really enjoying this sketch’s format of re-doing scenes after the writer discovers writing gaffes. This is reminding me a bit of that great “The Writer” sketch from Bill Murray’s season 6 episode, though with its own original spin.
— Very funny part with the whole “Loomis” confusion, followed by the writer frantically looking through his script and realizing there IS no character in his story with that name.
— Great sketch overall, with a clever format, an endless number of funny lines, and strong lead performances.
STARS: ****


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Bob Guccione (JIB) explains to JLD why he publishes sleaze

    

— Oh, so this is going to be one of those episodes that has multiple Saturday Night News segments throughout the night. Man, Ebersol toys around with the format of SNL’s news segment way too much in this era.
— Julia Louis-Dreyfus as an anchorperson? This feels weird to see.
— I laughed at Jim’s Penthouse philosophy of “If it smells, it sells”.
— The raunchy Norman Rockwell paintings are pretty funny, especially the “Funny Uncle Otto” one.
— Very short Saturday Night News overall. This was decent for what it was.
STARS: ***


BOOK BEAT
iron pipe through (CHG)’s head hampers interview with (RIH)

   

— Wow, what an opening visual of Christopher with a pipe through his head.
— I’m already getting the feeling this is an Andy Breckman-written sketch, as this has the vibe of his unique, premise-driven talk show sketches from last season.
— Christopher blanking in the middle of his question is pretty funny.
— Great escalation in how out-of-it Christopher is, especially his sudden crying breakdown before immediately going to back into a straight face.
— Overall, a fun Christopher Guest showcase. His perpetually-deadpan facial expression is great for this type of role.
STARS: ***½


KILLING TIME
MAS kills some time because the show is running a little late

— Martin, while on the home base stage, explains that the show is running late and they’re going to go back to commercial and then come back to another Thompson Twins performance.
— The scheduling tonight did seem a little “off” to begin with, with the first commercial break of the night not coming until almost a half-hour(!) into the show. Maybe the heavy usage of pre-taped segments threw the scheduling off.
— Martin’s ways of comedically vamping for time are fairly funny.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Gap”


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Wow, what a season premiere! The show had such a new, exciting feel tonight, which was a lot of fun to see. And the quality of the episode was strong, with many great pieces. The heavy usage of pre-taped segments (which all ranged from pretty solid to classic) also gave the show an interesting vibe that I liked. The new season is off to a VERY good start so far.
— Of the new cast members, it’s no surprise that the already-famous ones were the ones who seemed to dominate the episode. Christopher Guest especially had a strong night, getting lots of laughs, showing tons of potential as a versatile everyman-type player, and managing to steal some of the pieces he played a supporting role in (e.g. Synchronized Swimming).


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1983-84):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Bob Uecker