Tag: 1986-87

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May 23, 1987 – Dennis Hopper / Roy Orbison (S12 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
after Easy Rider, Billy (host) & Captain America (DAC) regroup

— Good premise so far, showing the two main Easy Riders characters exiting a clinic after a clip is shown of what happened to them at the end of the movie.
— The debut of Phil’s great Jack Nicholson impression.
— Loved Phil-as-Nicholson’s delivery of the line “Maybe we should vacate these environs and motor north to Gotham.”
— Hopper’s motorcycle tricks in front of an obvious greenscreened background are fairly funny to watch.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Much like in Robin Williams’ monologue earlier this season, the regular home base stage is blocked by the brick wall that’s usually only reserved for this season’s musical guests. Still don’t understand why.
— Some funny drug jokes at the beginning.
— Wow, this is over already? This was extremely short and had very little focus on humor. It was basically just him mentioning how he’s clean and sober.
STARS: **½


CHURCH CHAT
Jenny Baker is defensive; host talks about his wilder days

— Funny line flub with Church Lady mistakenly pronouncing “Jessica” as “Jessikey” and then excusing herself for having “a little Satan” in her mouth.
— Didn’t care at all for the way Victoria’s interview ended.
— Some good laughs from Church Lady’s description of an orgy.
— The insane clip shown from Blue Velvet cracked me up.
— Overall, not one of the best Church Chat sketches and felt slower-paced than most installments, but this was still enjoyable, and the Hopper interview had a likable, fairly fun vibe.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Crying” & “Pretty Woman”


FRANK BOOTH’S “WHAT’S THAT SMELL?”
Judd Nelson (JOL) is the champ

— Very funny concept for a gameshow sketch, and a nice use of Hopper’s Blue Velvet character.
— I’m already laughing at Jon’s Judd Nelson impression just from his look.
— Jan’s Tammy Faye Bakker detailing a hallucination of hers, culminating in her declaring “Demonic sweaters, I rebuke you!” is a blatant and inferior re-write of her classic rant about demonic raisins in the Church Chat sketch she appeared in. As I said in a recent review, I always hate when SNL takes something that got a big laugh the first time and then basically re-do the exact same material, beat-for-beat, hoping lightning will strike twice.
— I’m getting a kick out of all of Hopper’s angry outbursts throughout the sketch.
— What an insane ending. I love it.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
Oliver North’s lawyer Tommy Flanagan says his client is innocent
AWB shows the class of ’87 how to juggle all their concerns & commitments

 

— Nice callback to the Nancy Reagan/Riddler joke from the previous episode, by showing an actual picture of Nancy as The Riddler this time.
— I guess I can’t complain about the appearance of Tommy Flanagan, as this IS the first time we’ve seen him in a while, compared to how frequently he was used last season. Also, from what I was told by a commenter on this site, this ends up being Flanagan’s last appearance for TWO years.
— Interestingly, Flanagan starts to say his usual “That’s the ticket”, but cuts it off and instead says “Isn’t that special?” A sign that Church Lady had eclipsed Tommy Flanagan in popularity this year.
— Flanagan’s overall commentary had some laughs, but yeah, the routine is still coming off fairly tired. I’m looking forward to that two-year break from him.
— I like how it’s becoming a yearly tradition for A. Whitney Brown’s season finale Big Picture commentaries to focus on that year’s graduates.
— Interesting change of pace with A. Whitney using several balls as a visual to make his point.
— Wow, it’s impressive to see A. Whitney successfully juggling several balls.
— At the end of this Update, during his end-of-season sign-off, Miller takes a picture of us viewers by snapping a flash photo at the camera. Didn’t Bill Murray get in trouble for doing the same thing in the final Weekend Update of the original era? Unlike in his case, however, Miller’s photo flash doesn’t leave a burn mark in the middle of the screen.
STARS: ***


PROBLEM DRINKERS FROM OUTER SPACE
alcoholic aliens land in Washington

 

— Some amusing stock footage of a flying saucer drunk-driving.
— I remember once reading a review that pointed out Hopper’s drunk voice in this sketch sounds like a bad Bill Cosby impression. I can’t unhear that while watching this now.
— Good reveal that the alcohol-loving aliens have two livers.
— Overall, ehh. While there were some highlights as pointed out above, and Phil’s delivery was funny, this overall sketch was too slow for my likes and it dragged.
STARS: **


THIS WEEK WITH DAVID BRINKLEY
Sam Donaldson (KEN) leans in chair

 

— Funny seeing this open with a shot of the Capital Building, considering the preceding sketch (Problem Drinkers From Outer Space) ended with stock footage of a flying saucer crashing into the roof of the Capital Building.
— Phil’s David Brinkley voice is making me laugh.
— In the live version I’m watching of this episode, the first instance of Kevin leaning back and almost falling out of his chair was marred by a camera delay where they cut to Kevin too late. I’m assuming this is fixed in the rerun version.
— This is a really silly, one-note sketch, but it’s making me laugh.
— I like how when asked if he’d be willing to switch chairs with Sam Donaldson, Dana’s George Will sternly responds in that stiff George Will delivery “No. This is my chair, I’ll sit here.”
— How are they pulling off this effect with Kevin’s chair repeatedly bouncing on the edge without actually falling over?
— I liked Jon’s “You gotta admit, that was amazing” in response to one of Donaldson’s near-falling-overs.
— Overall, a decent sketch despite the very thin and dumb premise. This had the type of Kevin Nealon silliness that I always like; the type of humor that very few people other than him can sell. I’m sure he wrote this sketch himself, as it felt like his style.
STARS: ***


CANNIBALISM INTERVIEW
questions posed during job interview check whether (host) is a cannibal

— A good laugh from Kevin’s first sudden cannibalism question to Hopper, as well as Hopper’s speechless reaction.
— I like how the cannibalism questions are hinting at sinister plans the execs seem to have.
— An overall okay sketch, though I felt it had potential to be even funnier. This feels like the type of sketch that, if it were done a year or so later when this SNL era fully hit its stride, would’ve been a brilliant absurd sketch that would be a cult favorite among comedy nerds like me. As the sketch stands, it was merely adequate and felt like something was missing.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “In Dreams”


LAST CHANCE
mechanics (host) & (JAH) beat investment broker (PHH) at his own game

— I got a laugh from Hopper’s bad “investment broker/broken car” joke.
— Hopper’s “If you see us gettin’ smaller, it’s because you’re leavin’” line got a good audience reaction.
— Overall, another sketch tonight that was merely okay. Not particularly hilarious or memorable, but had a nice charm to it.
STARS: ***


SWEENEY SISTERS
Liz & Candy Sweeney sing a medley to say “goodbye” for the summer

— Who was that doing the opening voice-over introducing the Sweeney Sisters? The voice didn’t sound familiar at all. Strange that they didn’t use Don Pardo for that.
— A different set up for the Sweeney Sisters, and I like this meta premise with them saying goodbye to this season of SNL.
— During the medley, I especially liked how they segued from The Trolley Song to So Long Farewell.
— Great screechy long note from Jan at the end.
— Overall, an entertaining and fitting way to end a season. I always appreciate any time SNL ends a season with something special and meta like this, instead of just ending a season with a normal generic sketch.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An average season-ender, and it actually felt kinda underwhelming. While there’s not much in the episode to really complain about, this wasn’t the most exciting way for a solid season like this to end. Most of the sketches tonight were merely okay and rarely rose above that level. Even Church Chat was just average. Almost nothing tonight stood out as really strong, and there’s not much about this episode that I’ll remember in the future. Considering this was both a season finale and a third-consecutive-live-week episode, maybe the people at SNL were understandably a little burned out and eager for their summer vacation.
— Season 12 as a whole was a very good inaugural year for this SNL era. This season did a fantastic 180 from the poor quality of the season 11; in fact, I’d call this the best rebound year in SNL history. This season also provided a good amount of classic moments, and we got an excellent new cast that puts a lot of other SNL casts to shame. All that being said, this season was not quite as strong as this era would later get. There were some things about this season that come off a bit odd and maybe even a little questionable compared to later seasons in this era. That’s understandable, as the tone of this era wasn’t set in stone yet; they were finding their voice this season.


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


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1985-86):
— a huge step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Season 13 begins, with host Steve Martin

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May 16, 1987 – Garry Shandling / Los Lobos (S12 E19)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
senators try not to upset Robert McFarlane (PHH) at Iran-Contra hearings

— Second episode in a row with a sketch set at the Iran-Contra hearings, and with Phil playing a person being questioned. Both sketches even have Akira Yoshimura as one of the senators.
— I like the senators sugarcoating their criticisms while coddling Phil as a suicidal Robert McFarlane. By the way, the only reason I’m familiar with Robert McFarlane and his then-infamous suicide attempt is because of jokes that were made about it in some of the earlier Weekend Updates this season. Otherwise, I’d be completely lost during this cold opening.
— Kevin’s delivery is particularly funny as one of the coddling senators.
— Great part with the senators all gasping in unison when Phil’s McFarlane slowly reaches in his pocket for something, as if he’s going to pull out a gun to commit suicide, only for it to just be a tissue to wipe off his sweat with.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about girlfriends past & present

— Very funny story about meeting a girl who’s hair is on fire.
— When talking about making love to a woman for 1 hour and 15 minutes, I love the reveal that it was the day you turn the clocks ahead.
— I like this meta premise of his monologue material being him doing stand-up about not knowing what to do for his monologue.
— Great ending with him walking off the stage, going across the studio, and arriving at the next sketch’s set after he decides not to do a monologue and to just move on to the sketches. Excellent way to segue into the next sketch.
STARS: ****


RETURNING A SWEATER
host screws up a department store sketch by breaking character & 4th wall

— The great meta theme of tonight’s episode continues in this sketch, with Garry constantly breaking the fourth wall, speaking to the camera, addressing cast members by their real name instead of their character name, etc.
— Phil is absolutely hilarious as a Frank Nelson-esque (a.k.a. the “Yeeessssssss?” guy) character.
— Ha, and now Garry stops in the middle of the sketch to flat-out do a direct-to-camera stand-up routine about sweaters.
— Phil’s angry, exaggerated delivery of “Thank you for shopping at BAAAAAMBEEEERGERRRRRRS!!!” absolutely slayed me.
STARS: ****½


THE PUPPY
jewel thief’s (DAC) canine mannerisms evade detective (PHH)

 

— I’m already getting a laugh just from Phil’s snooty Brit mustache, which looks as if it’s on upside-down.
— The gradual reveal of Dana’s puppy-esque actions are well-done.
— I’m especially laughing right now at Dana repeatedly jerking his head to the side as a hint to Phil that he’d like Phil to throw the ball again.
— Pretty solid and well-performed sketch overall, and Dana was very funny as the lead character.
STARS: ***½


SUPPORT GROUP
(host) tells his support group terrible, false stories about his mother

 

— I like Dana’s delivery in this. There are also hints of his Garth voice from the future Wayne’s World sketches in there. I think I recall hearing Dana based this voice on his own little brother.
— Love all these horror stories we’re told about Garry’s mother.
— I’m enjoying the progress of this sketch, with the outraged group members now heading over to Garry’s mother’s house to confront her.
— Very funny shocking reveal that the professor Garry had a sexual relationship with is his own father.
— Some really good reactions the group members have to Garry revealing he knew the professor was his father all along and that it’s what made their sexual relationship so exciting. Dana’s agoraphobic character especially has a funny response to that: “I love my apartment. I’m never going out again.”
— Wow at the reconciliation between Garry and his mother gradually turning into a passionate make-out session. Nice touch with Jon peeking in through the window after he and the other group members have left in disgust.
— Another fourth-wall break tonight, with Garry dropping character to humorously tell us “This is the worst character I’ve ever had to play.”
— An overall hysterical sketch that got funnier and funnier the more disturbing it became. This was fantastic.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Is That All There Is”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jimmy Stewart (DAC) dislikes the colorization of black & white movies

— Already starting off hot with a very strong Gary Hart/Donna Rice joke.
— In the rerun version I’m reviewing, there was a VERY obvious cut after Dennis’ Oliver North/Fawn Hall underwear joke. Right when Dennis turns to the straight-ahead camera to say something, there’s an abrupt cut to him facing the side camera as he starts the next joke. What was removed?
— Dana’s Jimmy Stewart is making some good arguments about why it’s wrong to colorize old black-and-white films, but where are the laughs here?  This commentary is kinda coming off as what people today would consider preachy or “clapter bait”.
— Okay, now the Jimmy Stewart commentary is finally getting funny with him getting worked up, threatening to kick the ass of anyone who colorizes any of his films, and warning Dennis not to push him.
— I like how it’s become a running gag these last two Updates for Dennis to talk about a random story in the news and then suddenly reveal it prompted George Steinbrenner to fire Lou Pinella.
STARS: ***


TEENY CAFÉ
Babette’s exclusive, pricey Teeny Cafe seats only five people

— I usually don’t care for this Babette character, but this particular sketch seems quite different and interesting.
— A laugh from the visual of Dennis Miller playing a hair-in-ponytail dignified waiter.
— The cutaway to Kevin eating in a closet was really funny.
— Not crazy at all about the song being performed now, even if Jon has some fairly amusing lyrics.
— Overall, this sketch started out interesting, but gradually devolved into a big ol’ pile of meh, which this Babette character is no stranger to.
STARS: **


HOLLYWOOD MOM
actress’ (Tracy Ullman) neglected baby gets even

   

— Random Tracey Ullman-starring film.
— This is already providing some good laughs right from the start, and unsurprisingly, Ullman is giving a funny performance.
— I like the sounds heard from SNL’s studio audience when the baby gets a hold of a big pair of scissors.
— Some more amusement from other dangerous things happening to the baby due to Ullman’s neglectful handling.
— Heh, the audience seemed too disturbed to laugh at the baby getting ahold of a gun. Guess that’s where the audience draws the line.
— Good dark ending with the baby shooting Ullman off-camera and then somehow driving away in a car.
STARS: ***½


REDNECK AIRLINE
(host) & (VIJ) are drenched with spit in plane’s chewing tobacco section

 

— Some funny gross-out humor from the initial visual of fake chewing tobacco liquid being sprayed onto Garry and Victoria from off-camera.
— Phil’s characterization here is great.
— Loved the reaction Phil’s character had to accidentally swallowing his chewing tobacco.
— A decent overall sketch, even if it didn’t really go much farther than the initial joke that was established early on.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “One Time, One Night”


HAPPY COUPLE
reconciliation & argumentation marks couple’s (DAC) & (JAH) anniversary

— I liked Dana’s overly-calm “Don’t do that again… don’t EVER do that again” to Jan.
— Whoa at Dana unexpectedly throwing a drink in Jan’s face.
— A good laugh from Jan putting out her cigarette in Dana’s meal and ordering him to “eat around it!”
— Garry’s funny as the pleasant waiter, especially his friendly “No necking!” when he walks in on Dana angrily strangling Jan.
— Yet another fourth-wall break tonight, with Garry as himself just casually informing Jan and Dana that the sketch is over. Proper way to end tonight’s episode in general.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A consistently solid episode. Teeny Café was the only thing all night that I didn’t care for. The rest of the sketches ranged from good to fantastic to hilariously disturbing. This episode was also helped by the unique touch Garry Shandling gave the show, with his meta, fourth wall-breaking style adding a great change of pace to SNL’s format.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Mark Harmon):
— a fairly big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Season 12 comes to an end, with host Dennis Hopper

Posted on

May 9, 1987 – Mark Harmon / Suzanne Vega (S12 E18)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
The New Charlie’s Angels- they eliminate presidential front-runners

— Clever topical concept.
— Great reveal of “Charlie” being a face-hidden Ted Kennedy.
— Loved Phil-as-Kennedy’s line about women being “harder to open than a liquor store in Nebraska”.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Certainly one of the more unique attire a host has ever made their monologue entrance in.
— The Mother’s Day/towel story was pretty funny.
— Is it an intentional joke that the audience keeps applauding at every mention of him winning Sexiest Man Alive?
— Ah, this has segued into a related sketch, much like William Shatner’s monologue earlier this season.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE 1986
Peter Graves (PHH) & Pat Stevens crown host People’s Sexiest Man Alive

— Interesting use of Phil’s Peter Graves impression outside of the Discover sketches.
— Similarly, this is a rare instance of seeing Pat Stevens outside of her talk show setting. At least she fits more in this sketch than in the Cabrini Green school assembly sketch she randomly appeared in the previous season.
— What’s with Nora’s dress occasionally fading transparently into the background behind her, as if she’s a hologram? I guess she’s being greenscreened into the shot.
— Dana is hilarious in this. This is my first time reviewing his John Travolta impression, though this isn’t its debut. According to the SNL Archives site, Dana actually debuted this impression in the last episode, but it was in a sketch that was removed from my rerun copy.
— Good line about intelligence costing the contestants points with the judges.
— Funny performance from Jon as F. Murray Abraham.
— I like the amusing touch with Mark and Jon holding hands in suspense when the winner’s going to be announced.
— The closing winner’s song performed by Phil’s Graves is making me laugh.
STARS: ***½


VERY SMART THEATER
young Attila The Hun (host) wants to make mobiles

— An initial laugh from the obviously fake library background behind Jon.
— Heh, and now they’ve jokingly acknowledged what I pointed out above, by having Jon slip a book into a book-shaped hole in the obviously fake library background.
— Phil angrily throwing an axe into Tom Davis’ back was hilarious, as was Tom’s reaction.
— Oh, god. Where is this going now with Mark’s Atilla the Hun breaking out into a sudden musical number?
— The studio audience is more amused by this sketch than I am so far.
— Man, that “preview of next week’s episode” scene at the end was just as weak as the rest of the sketch.
— Okay, Jon got me laughing at the end by lighting his cigarette with a bust.
— Overall, this sketch started out okay, but ended up really boring me, and the unnecessary mid-sketch musical number didn’t help. It’s way too early in the episode for a sketch this dull and slow.
STARS: *½


IRAN-CONTRA HEARINGS
senators change focus of Iran-Contra hearings to the Hart-Rice affair

— A sketch like this feels weird seeing in the middle of an episode. Feels more like I’m watching a cold opening that was moved to later in the episode. Adding to the confusion is that the following week’s episode actually DOES have a cold opening that’s similarly set at the Iran-Contra hearings.
— Another issue I have with this sketch is that it’s TOO topical and vague. The people in the sketch keep going on and on about “the senator” and “her”, without ever mentioning the names of the senator and woman in question. The only reason I know that they’re Gary Hart and Donna Rice is because of my familiarity with the Gary Hart scandal.
— I liked Dennis’ blunt comment about how Donna Rice’s face is “kinda goofy”.
— Another Akira Yoshimura sighting, and with some dialogue too.
— Proving my earlier point that this sketch is probably a rejected cold opening, this ends with Jon asking Phil “Are there any other statements you’d like to make?”, as if he was setting Phil up to say “Live from New York…” But of course, Phil’s response ended up being something completely different, which was probably a last-minute change if I’m correct that this was moved from the cold opening spot.
STARS: **½


EINSTEIN EXPRESS
when it has to be there the day before yesterday

 

— I love Phil’s intentionally exaggerated, cartoonish portrayal of Jon’s angry boss.
— Fantastic concept.
— A particularly funny part with Kevin’s panicked request to give birth control pills to his girlfriend 4 months in the past.
— Strong commercial overall. I’ve always considered this and the Jiffy Express commercial from the early 90s (a commercial about a delivery service that specializes in taking the blame for packages you send late) to be counterparts to each other. Wonder if they were both written by the same person.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Luka”


WEEKEND UPDATE
DEM reads the Montgomery Clift Notes for Moby Dick
for new Americans, AWB clarifies what the American dream is really about

— Love the long string of Gary Hart jokes.
— Dennis is on fire with the speed he’s going through the jokes.
— A. Whitney’s overall Big Picture commentary had some good comments as usual, especially the bits about the Columbia Record Club, the meek inheriting the earth, and the Elvis Presley fake-out. I also liked how he signed off with an oddly long-winded, verbose way of saying “The Big Picture”.
STARS: ***½


SALMON SPAWNING
after swimming upstream, salmons (host) & (VIJ) meet & decide to spawn

— Interesting concept.
— The salmonella STD joke was a groaner but a pretty funny one.
— Mark and Victoria did a good job playing off of a real flub where Mark mistakenly jumped ahead of the script while Victoria was speaking.
— Cute sketch overall, even if I wasn’t laughing all that hard.
STARS: ***


DAVE’S PARTY
by Richard Goldstone- adult concerns fill kids’ minds

 

— A unique short film for SNL. Something about this feels like a bit of a precursor to the Look Who’s Talking movies.
— I like the part with the foreign-accented sunglasses-wearing girl.
— Overall, this was well-made, but was another piece that was more cute than funny. This started losing its novelty for me after a while.
STARS: **½


AD COUNCIL
— A rerun… from LAST season. This feels really out of place in this season.


PET CHICKEN SHOP
Ching Change fights gang leader boyfriend (host) of sister Loose (NOD)

 

— Oh, dear god.
— Now Ching and his sister Loose are doing a bad Who’s On First parody using stereotypical Asian names. Groanworthy as hell.
— Okay, I actually got a laugh just now, from the gangsters briefly breaking out into a choreographed swan-type little dance when making their entrance.
— Wow, I’m actually enjoying this fight scene, especially the blatantly fake hits.
— LOL at the part with Ching pulling out Kevin’s heart.
— Unfortunately, they lost me at the end with Ching breaking out into song. Why do these sketches always have to end with Ching singing?
— Overall, probably the best Ching Change sketch ever, by default. I’m sure this recurring sketch will go right back to its usual unwatchable quality in the next installment.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Marlene on the Wall”


MYOWLING BIBLE
now you can share the religious experience with your cat

— Yet another piece tonight that’s more cute than funny. However, as a cat person, I can’t help but get a bit of a kick out of watching this.
— Overall, just an okay-at-best piece, but didn’t really feel necessary.
— In more recent years, SNL once did a fake ad titled The Bird Bible, starring Kate McKinnon and Mike O’Brien. In the review I did of that episode back when it originally aired (this was during my years as a reviewer of newly-aired SNL episodes), I dismissed the Bird Bible piece as a poor rip-off of this Myowling Bible sketch. Sometime later on, I came around on the Bird Bible piece and began appreciating the humor in it, whether it was intended as a Myowling Bible copy or not. In fact, I’d now say Bird Bible is the better of the two pieces, as it at least had actual jokes.
STARS: **½


PORTRAIT ARTIST
a novice sketch artist (KEN) makes countless mistakes on (VIJ)’s portrait

— I like Kevin explaining that even though he’s new at doing portraits, there’s no need to worry because he’s seen it done a lot.
— A good laugh from Kevin immediately drawing Victoria with a bulbous nose when saying he’s good at drawing noses.
— Nice touch with Kevin adding missing teeth to Victoria’s portrait when being told hockey is her favorite sport.
— I love the increasing amount of black smudges on Victoria’s face each time Kevin turns her head a certain way.
— I’ve always considered this overall sketch a sister sketch to Kevin’s Police Sketch Artist piece from earlier this season in the Bronson Pinchot episode.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Pretty underwhelming. There were some good things, but the overall episode felt forgettable and below standards for this season. The second half of the episode also had too many sketches lacking in intentional big laughs (I started losing count of the number of pieces I described as “more cute than funny”); one or two sketches like that in an episode is fine, but half of an episode filled with sketches not going for hard laughs is a bit much.
— The copy I reviewed of this episode is missing a sketch called He’s The One. Turns out the repeated Ad Council fake ad was added in reruns to replace it.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Garry Shandling

Posted on

April 18, 1987 – John Larroquette / Timbuk 3 (S12 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Pagan Easter Special- Casey Kasem (DAC) offers wife Jean (JAH) to Moloch

— Boy, this is a weird cold opening so far.
— Some good lines from Dana’s Casey Kasem, who has provided my only laughs so far.
— What is the point of this long, unfunny dance sequence with Dana and Jan?
— Overall, I was not crazy about this cold opening at all. Easily my least favorite opening of the season so far.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Some pretty good laughs from his claims of how much SNL begged him to host.
— Okay, I know the constant “two Emmies” mentions are an intentional joke, but it’s starting to be done TOO much.
— The overall monologue was mostly decent.
STARS: ***


SOLD-OUT GOLD
album contains classic hits made into commercials

— Second episode in a row with Jon’s David Crosby impression.
— Funny concept with an album of commercial jingle-ized 60s hits. Reminds me a bit of those record ads SNL used to do a lot in the Ebersol era (e.g. Heil Hits).
— The voices performing the commercial jingles are doing pretty funny impressions of the various 60s singers.
STARS: ***


MOTHER-IN-LAW
bad-ass mother-in-law (PHH) brawls with son-in-law (host)

— I like the hint of a barbecue incident that happened to Larroquette’s character as we’re shown a gruesome grill burn on his shoulder.
— The debut of what is probably Phil Hartman’s most forgotten recurring character: a woman who always gets into a huge physical fight with her daughter’s husband/boyfriend.
— Feels unusual to see Phil playing a character like this, but is also strangely refreshing in a way. He’s pulling this role off really well.
— Man, Larroquette’s punches to Phil’s face actually look real, made even more convincing by the fact that there aren’t any comically-fake punch sound effects being played; we’re instead hearing what sound like real-life punching sounds.
— Wow, the escalation of this brutal fight is getting INSANE. I love it.
— Entertaining sketch overall. That being said, I recall this character’s second (and final) sketch having an even crazier fight that, at one point, involves guns.
STARS: ***½


COLLECTING EVIDENCE
homicide detective (host) shows skill at handling evidence with a pencil

— Geez, A. Whitney Brown plays his SECOND dead body of the season. Really makes you wonder why they bother crediting him as a featured player in every single episode this season, when you can see how much they’re struggling to work him into sketches. I can see why in A. Whitney’s subsequent seasons, they only credit him as a featured player on occasional weeks, whenever he does a Big Picture commentary on Weekend Update.
— A pretty good laugh early on from a minor bit with Kevin’s various ways of saying the murder victim was a loner.
— I really like Larroquette picking up increasingly difficult evidence with a pencil, and the joy the other cops are getting in seeing this.
— LOL at Larroquette actually sharpening his pencil in preparation of picking up an eyelash.
— I liked the part with Larroquette tumbling over onto the floor while managing to still keep the eyelash-carrying pencil upright.
— Funny turn with Larroquette accidentally killing the not-actually-dead-yet “corpse” with his pencil.
— Overall, a very good sketch with a nice escalation and a strong performance from Larroquette.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
Robin Leach (DAC) talks about Fernando Valenzuela’s lucrative contract
Babette imagines she’s being seduced by a tax auditor

— Good to see Dana’s Robin Leach in his own Update commentary.
— Funny line from Dana’s Leach about tacos only filled with caviar.
— Wow, I’m surprised the Robin Leach commentary ended up being so short.
— I didn’t get Dennis’ joke about Reagan having five national security advisors. Must be an overly-topical bit that hasn’t aged well.
— I particularly liked Dennis’ Handcuffs Across America joke.
— Wow, Dennis is speeding though the last few jokes. I like that for some reason.
— Not excited to see Babette once again.
— Ehh, as expected, I ended up not caring for this overall Babette commentary at all, and this ended the exact same way her last few appearances did. I am SO tired of this character.
STARS: ***


HEAVEN
recently-deceased (host) finds that Heaven’s database has all the answers

— Oh, this is a sketch I’d always had a fondness for, but had completely forgotten about until now.
— I liked Larroquette’s reaction to hearing he once unknowingly walked over a buried treasure chest at a beach.
— I love the escalation of the type of questions Larroquette is eagerly asking Dana about his own life. I’d love to find out the same kind of info about myself.
— Very funny bit with Dana revealing Hitler is still alive, but “don’t worry, we’re really gonna nail him.”
— Hilarious reveal that Bruce Willis made a deal with the devil.
— Overall, a very solid sketch with low-key, relatable humor. This was just as good as I had remembered it being.
STARS: ****


THE AMAZING ALEXANDER
— Rerun


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Just Another Movie”


INSTANT COFFEE WITH BILL SMITH
married actors (host) & (JAH) in a musical about Kennedys

— The return of a forgotten talk show sketch that launched the Sweeney Sisters.
— Some good subtle laughs from how some of the (fictional) theaters being mentioned are named after random famous actors.
— Larroquette’s Jews in New York comment was funny.
— Interestingly, the format of this is the reverse of the previous Instant Coffee sketch. In that one, the talk show guests (the Sweeney Sisters) performed their act on stage first and then did an interview with Kevin’s character afterwards, whereas tonight’s installment is doing it in the opposite order with the interview first and performance second.
— Some good laughs from Jan and Larroquette’s odd way of “finding their characters”.
— What was with the abrupt ending? Why didn’t Kevin wrap up the show, or why wasn’t there at least an on-screen graphic of the “Instant Coffee with Bill Smith” title before the sketch faded to black?
— Overall, a pretty good sketch. While the whole musical/performance art-type thing Jan and Larroquette performed onstage isn’t really my type of humor, I can appreciate Jan and Larroquette’s comical performances, and I did get some laughs there.
STARS: ***


ICM
showbiz agents in NYC struggle to cope with a massive Los Angeles quake

— Very interesting set-up.
— Funny seeing (or hearing, in this case) Phil’s Charlton Heston impression so soon after Heston himself hosted the show.
— Good part with Jan’s rapid-fire rundown of which actors are alive or dead.
— A pretty well-done sketch overall.
STARS: ***½


CRACK
— Another rerun


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hairstyles & Attitudes”


UNDER THE THINKING CAP
(no synopsis available)

 

— Uh, wow. What the heck is THIS???
— I don’t hear any audience laughter at all during this. Is the audience not miked during this, or are they just silent because they’re as weirded-out as I am?
— Overall, this strange film started growing on me a little towards the end, though that’s not saying much. I can kinda appreciate the creative oddball inventions that were presented throughout this, and something about the overall look and vibe of this film strangely had the feel of some of the Nickelodeon shows from my childhood in the early 90s, but I can’t say I laughed a single time during this entire film.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS / AL CAMOIN TRIBUTE
career retrospective marks cameraman Al Camoin’s [real] retirement

   

— Interestingly, the usual goodnights proceedings are interrupted with a special send-off for retiring SNL cameraman Al Camoin, who’s been with the show since the very beginning in season 1.
— Ha, when Victoria is giving a speech to Camoin, you can hear a male audience member wolf-whistling at her.
— Pretty funny video package of Camoin’s work over the decades, and they managed to get in yet another mention of the show “Hullabaloo”, which was also mentioned during the Francis Ford Coppola episode’s Grand Finale where Master Thespian was detailing the history of Studio 8H.
— Oh, wow. At the end of these goodnights, the camera actually slowly pulls away from the home base stage until it reaches all the way to SNL’s backstage, where two NBC pages then proceed to close the studio doors in front of the camera (last screencap above) as a reverse of how NBC pages are usually always shown opening the studio doors whenever this season’s opening montage ends. A very nice touch, and I believe this is the only goodnights in SNL history that ended this way.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Fairly solid episode. I hadn’t remembered much about this episode from my past viewings, which had me going into tonight’s viewing not expecting too great a show, a feeling that only got worse during that really weak, baffling cold opening. However, afterwards, I was pleased to see a consistently enjoyable episode. I also like how there were creative, interesting premises in quite a lot of the sketches. And I felt that John Larroquette added a likable air to the episode with the way he handled his roles.
— My copy of this episode is missing a sketch called Enigma. Apparently, the Under The Thinking Cap short film (as well as the two repeated fake ads) was added in reruns to replace the Enigma sketch, which may explain why there were no audience sounds heard during the film.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Mark Harmon

Posted on

April 11, 1987 – John Lithgow / Anita Baker (S12 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
stupid Marines (DAC) & (KEN) let spies into the USA embassy in Moscow

— Dana and Kevin’s excitement over getting some “fine soviet fur tonight” is hilarious.
— For some reason, this doesn’t feel like a cold opening I’m watching.
— I like Dana and Kevin’s obliviousness to the fact that they’re among spies.
— Nice to see a rare instance of a host appearing in the cold opening, though it makes this feel even more like I’m not watching a cold opening.
— I like how Lithgow has gotten to say “Live from New York…” in both episodes he’s hosted so far.
— An overall pretty good sketch, but felt kinda strange as a cold opening. Perhaps this was based on a news story at the time, which I guess would explain its placement as the cold opening (though I’m well aware that not every cold opening back in these days had to be political or topical, which is more than I can say for SNL nowadays).
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
a too-low boom mike blows the show’s chances of winning a Benchley award

— Some good laughs from Lithgow’s giddiness about this episode being up for a Benchley Award.
— Love his slowburn after the boom mic ruined the shot (“There goes the award-winning John Lithgow show!”), eventually getting so upset he works himself into an anxiety attack.
— An overall solid monologue that was perfect for John Lithgow. He’s great at pulling off a gradual reaction to something, like his last monologue when he had a slow descent into horror when realizing he’s on the air live and is not at dress rehearsal.
STARS: ****


ADOBE
— Rerun
[ADDENDUM: According to episode guides, this wasn’t even in the original airing of this episode. Was this added into reruns to replace something that got removed? All the originally-aired segments in this episode seem to be intact in the rerun version, judging from the episode guides.]


REVEREND DWIGHT HENDERSON, WORLD’S MEANEST METHODIST MINISTER
(host) is World’s Meanest Methodist Minister

— This is already a funny concept, and seems perfect for Lithgow.
— Only John Lithgow could make the sarcastically-delivered line “Enjoy your turkey and Cheez Whiz” sound so damn funny.
— I like him having the married couple dismissed from his office simply because their marital problems isn’t a subject that interests him.
— Nice touch with Lithgow and his visitors being separated by a pole barrier.
— LOL at Lithgow doing the imaginary violin miming during Jan’s sad story.
— I liked Nora’s line that ends with her calling Lithgow a “butthole”.
— The ending came off pretty weak.
STARS: ***


MASTER THESPIAN
Baudelaire teaches his protege how to replace Olivier

— Glad to see this in tonight’s show, as the best Master Thespians are always the ones with Lithgow’s Baudelaire character.
— I got a laugh from Lithgow’s throwaway line about a “question du jour”.
— I really liked Master Thespian trying to outdo Baudelaire by doing the “there’s a spot on your shirt” trick on himself.
— Overall, a strong sketch as expected. Lithgow is so perfect for these sketches, and it’s so much fun to watch him and Lovitz play off of each other in these.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sweet Love”


THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
Halston’s (PHH) name doesn’t mean what it used to

— Well, I guess I can’t complain much about seeing this again, considering they’ve really cut back on the number of these Pat Stevens sketches this season. We’re pretty much in the homestretch of season 12, and this is only the third time Pat Stevens has appeared all season. Compare this to season 11, where Pat Stevens was in about 60% of the episodes.
— What’s with the faint tinkly music I keep hearing in the background while Pat’s addressing the viewers?
— Good characterization from Phil.
— Some laughs from the cheap products that Halston’s name is now on.
— Overall, this had its moments, but ehh, I’m still feeling a little burned out on the humor of these sketches.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN’s editorial on surrogate motherhood is sprinkled with cliches
AWB questions the values underlying the Baby M case

— Looks like this is going to be yet another Kevin Nealon commentary where he constantly changes subjects.
— Kevin’s overall commentary had some funny lines, but these subject-changing commentaries of his have slowly been losing their luster for me lately.
— Okay, what the HELL just happened? As Dennis pulled out a pair of Jim Bakker brand shorts, audio suddenly played of somebody announcing “The winner is Paul Newman”, which is followed by the sound of a crowd applauding, then the audio suddenly gets cut off. Dennis looks a bit perplexed for a second, and then amusedly responds in a head-shaking kind of way “That Betty”. What in the world?!? Was that whole thing some kind of reference to that year’s then-recent Oscars? A non-sequitur? Was the “Betty” that Dennis referred to Bette Davis? Why was that audio played during a completely unrelated bit about Jim Bakker’s clothing line of shorts? Was that some kind of bizarre technical error? So many questions…
— A. Whitney’s commentary is already stating off with strong with his “masturbating into a cup” comments, even if I had no idea what that was referring to until he soon made it clear it’s a reference to a topical news story.
— A. Whitney’s overall commentary was particularly good. Probably one of his best so far.
STARS: ***½


LARAMIE VICE
Crockett (host) & Tubbs (KEN) smell drugs in the Wild West

— Dennis’ attempt at an Old West accent is hilariously bad. A. Whitney’s attempt, on the other hand, is surprisingly strong.
— Another Miami Vice parody. Ehh, I’m not too eager to see one after the awful Cleveland Vice sketch from the previous season.
— At least the opening credits sequence didn’t go on forever like Cleveland Vice’s opening did. I also liked the detail of Kevin Nealon being credited as “Kevin Michael Nealon”, ala Phillip Michael Thomas.
— Love Phil’s gravelly voice.
— Dana’s Scarface-esque performance is hilarious.
— Clever detail with the “Mary Todd Lincoln Rehab Center”, as an old-timey version of the Betty Ford Clinic.
— My biggest laugh of the whole sketch didn’t come until the very end, during the “preview of next week’s episode” scene where Lithgow badly lip-syncs to Don Johnson’s “Heartbeat” with a hilarious intense look on his face (second-to-last screencap above). I also got a huge laugh from the ensuing shot, where Dana getting impaled by a bull is pulled off VERY poorly with an extremely cheap-looking effect.
— Overall, while I enjoyed this more than the Cleveland Vice sketch, this still was nothing great as a whole. I’m thinking SNL needs to stay away from doing extensive, long-winded Miami Vice parodies. They’re 0-for-2 so far.
— IIRC, this sketch was originally placed as the post-monologue lead-off sketch during the original live airing. I can see why they pushed this into a much later timeslot in the rerun version I’m reviewing.
STARS: **½


DISCOVER
Peter Graves (PHH) doesn’t really comprehend bacteria

— Phil-as-Graves’ bad similes are cracking me up, especially the comparison between invisible bacteria and Heather Thomas’ breasts.
— Funny part with Phil’s Graves randomly getting caught inhaling from a gas tube.
— Overall, this was solid, but doesn’t quite compare to the classic first installment from earlier this season.
STARS: ****


THE FIGHTER
wealthy (PHH) hires washed-up boxer (host) to hit son (DAC)

— Good to see yet another black-and-white sketch this season.
— They seem to be going for even more authenticity than usual in this one, using a grainy visual effect that makes this look exactly like something from the early days of TV.
— Particularly good delivery from Nora in this.
— I remember a review I once read of this episode pointed out how Dana seemed to be doing a Jon Lovitz impression in this sketch. It’s true. The voice Dana is using as Phil’s son is eerily Lovitz-esque. So much so, that there’s no way that WASN’T intentional. Must’ve been some kind of inside joke between Dana and Jon.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Same Ole Love”


CROSS COUNTRY
cab driver (host) gets (JOL) from New York to San Francisco in 9 minutes

— Of the last three episodes, this is the second to end with a taxi sketch.
— I like how a mere $20 bill convinces Lithgow to do the ridiculous task of driving all the way to San Francisco.
— Very funny greensceen effect of the taxi driving insanely fast. I like how the greenscreen is randomly using black-and-white stock scenery.
— Also a very funny use of a model toy car to represent weather changes the taxi is driving through.
— Good ending with Lithgow beginning to head all the way back to Lovitz’s home just because Lovitz forgot his wedding ring.
— Very fun overall sketch that I’ve always loved.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Fun episode. While not perfect, I got a lot of enjoyment from the show as a whole, and the presence of John Lithgow certainly helped. He is now 2-for-2 in solid episodes.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Charlton Heston):
— a moderate step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
John Larroquette, our second consecutive host named John L.

Posted on

March 28, 1987 – Charlton Heston / Wynton Marsalis (S12 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
God (host) shows up in Oral Roberts’ (PHH) office looking for his money

— Jan’s wearing Ana Gasteyer’s future Bobbi Mohan-Culp dress, which Julia Louis-Dreyfus also seemed to favor a lot back in the Ebersol era.
— Perfect casting of Charlton Heston as God.
— A very topical cold opening. The only reason I “get” it is because of the many jokes this season’s Weekend Updates have been making about the Oral Roberts/money/God situation.
— Funny performance from Phil.
— I liked Phil’s “Oh, father, who art in my office” line.
— The way Jan ran when hurrying to the phone cracked me up.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Huge extended applause break for Charlton to start this monologue off.
— Funny line about him aging 10 years just this one week.
— I’m getting some good laughs from his disapproval of the “new school” way of doing things, as he details the laziness he’s witnessed behind the scenes at SNL.
STARS: ***


THE FRUITING
a horror movie about a house under siege by citrus

— I love how what seems to be a fruit commercial is slowly turning into a horror movie with people being attacked by fruit.
— Overall, a strong fake ad that I had completely forgotten about until now.
STARS: ****


THE NEW PAPER CHASE
a professor (host) teaches future croupiers at UNLV

— Good reveal that this “tough” course turns out to be for blackjack.
— I like Charlton as the very stern professor.
— I got a cheap laugh from how after Charlton says “If you have time for basketball…”, the camera does a cutaway to the one black student in the class.
— The jackpot questions that Phil’s being quizzed on are pretty funny.
— Good line about Phil’s uncle being Jimmy The Greek.
— Boy, this ending scene showing a “preview” of next week’s episode is almost as long as the main part of sketch itself was.
— A well-written and well-performed sketch, though the ending scene could’ve used some shortening.
STARS: ***½


THE PRESIDENT HAS MUSTARD ON HIS CHIN
sloppy leader (host) in miniseries

— Funny concept.
— I’m getting some amusement from the seriousness of the talk between Charlton and his aides, all the while the camera is on a close-up of him with that ridiculous mustard stain on his chin.
— Pretty good sketch. They would later do a follow-up to it in Charlton’s next hosting stint in season 19, titled The President Is Illiterate, though that sketch is more fleshed-out than this one was.
STARS: ***


CHURCH CHAT
Jim (PHH) & Tammy Faye (JAH) Bakker discuss their troubles

— A lot of laughs from Church Lady breaking down Jim Bakker’s 15 minutes in the motel with Jessica Hahn.
— Jan’s hilarious detailing of her hallucinations gives us the classic line “Demonic raisins, I rebuke you!”
— Jan’s Tammy Faye crying with mascara running down her face is very memorable. There are some versions of this sketch that show an accidental early shot of Jan applying the fake running mascara onto her face, and some versions that don’t show it. The version I’m watching is the latter. I think the former version can be seen on Dana’s “Best Of” special.
— Phil’s pleading to viewers is really funny.
— Great ending with Church Lady’s message to anybody currently involved in a famous scandal.
— Overall, one of the best Church Chat sketches of all-time.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “J Mood”


WEEKEND UPDATE
VIJ lies on the newsdesk & recites her poem “The Life Of A Rug”

 

— Loved Dennis’ opening bit about Jim Bakker and Jessica Hahn.
— Good bit with Dennis explaining various religious terms.
— The first half of Victoria’s commentary with her laying on the desk while rambling about nonsense was very off-putting to me, but she won me over in the second half where she, while still laying on the desk, recites a poem about the life of a rug.
— Nice random bit with Dennis doing an impression of the lead singer from The Bangles, which just involves him shifting his eyes in a tight close-up. (last screencap above)
— Overall, the second Update in a row where Dennis was on fire with his jokes.
STARS: ***½


BROOKFIELD ZOO BANQUET
Sweeneys sing a medley to celebrate the opening of a new primate house

— This sketch is rough so far. Phil’s obnoxious rambling story isn’t working for me at all, as much as it pains me to say ANYTHING negative about something performed by Phil Hartman.
— The visual of a deadpan Dennis Miller in a monkey mask provided a laugh. (second screencap above)
— This is the second time a Sweeney Sisters sketch had a long, misleading beginning before they appeared.
— The Sweeney Sisters appeared one week too late. I’m still of the opinion that they should’ve been paired with Nick the Lounge Singer in the previous week’s Bill Murray-hosted episode.
— The Sisters’ overall medley of monkey-related songs was particularly good tonight. If only the pre-Sweeney Sisters half of this sketch weren’t so bad…
STARS: ***


THE HUSTLER OF MONEY
a movie about flamboyant young bowler Wince (BES)

 

— Out of nowhere, we suddenly get a random short film starring a young Ben Stiller, two years before he would begin a (very short-lived and forgotten) featured player stint on the show.
— We also get an appearance from John Mahoney.
— Stiller’s Tom Cruise impression is funny, especially the facial expressions.
— Did I just see Danny Aiello in a quick cutaway? (last screencap above)
— Overall, a well-done and entertaining film. Just from this one piece, I can see why SNL would later hire Stiller as a cast member (too bad that doesn’t end up working out in the long run, though).
STARS: ***½


THE SLAVE DRIVERS
(host) debriefs the guys after the pyramid is complete

— The concept of this is tickling me.
— Funny part with Kevin being presented with the Golden Bullwhip Award.
— I liked Dana saying his named is spelled “owl, wavy lines, falcon”.
— Decent part with Charlton’s accidental creation of a right-side-up pyramid.
— Overall, a hard sketch to figure as a whole. I know I pointed out several highlights above, but don’t let that fool you: there were long stretches where things just dragged, and the sketch as a whole felt very long. While the performances were solid and, again, there were several highlights, they weren’t enough to justify the tedious long length of this sketch.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Juan (E. Mustaad)”


UNLV
KEN clarifies- UNLV not a good school, Rebel cagers not good students

— Why is Kevin speaking into a microphone? Seems kinda unnecessary in the setting of this sketch.
— Kevin’s defense of the Paper Chase sketch is providing some pretty good laughs.
— I like Kevin’s “to sum up” recap at the end.
— Overall, Kevin was perfect for this. This wouldn’t have worked as well with most other performers. Kevin has a type of delivery that always makes material like this funny.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty average episode. There were good things and we got one classic sketch (Church Chat), but the overall show wasn’t as strong as it felt like it should’ve been. Some sketches suffered from their length (particularly The Slave Drivers) or from having too many different unrelated things going on (Sweeney Sisters).
— Charlton was a decent host and his performances came off much more slick than his performances in his second hosting stint years later in season 19, where he was kinda sloppy and came off lost at times (though that’s understandable; after all, he was quite old by then). That being said, I feel his season 19 episode is the stronger and more memorable of his two episodes, which is kinda surprising because SNL was in much worse shape in season 19 than they were in season 12.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
John Lithgow

Posted on

March 21, 1987 – Bill Murray / Percy Sledge (S12 E14)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
LOM & his lawyers convince BIM to fulfill missing show in his contract

— A good and clever premise with Lorne claiming Bill owes them one episode from his days as a cast member, which leads to tonight’s hosting gig.
— Some good laughs from Bill’s reaction to possibly having to do the show for 10 years.
— Bill seemed to make Lorne crack up just now. (second screencap above)
— This cold opening would later be cut from all reruns and be replaced with the dress rehearsal version of the first “Liberace in Heaven” cold opening from earlier this season (the one where Liberace’s by himself, not the one where he’s interviewed by Robin Leach).
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
BIM intends to help the USA regain its comedic supremacy

— Great energetic entrance from Bill.
— He mentions this is the 500th broadcast of SNL. Obviously, he’s counting reruns, because as far as just new episodes go, this episode is only somewhere in the two hundreds.
— Great comment about how the French “used to be funny, but all they have now is Jerry Lewis and the Smurfs.”
— Overall, a very solid monologue. Bill was excellent, and this featured him speaking in his usual Bill Murray-isms that never fail to crack me up.
STARS: ****


NEW YORK TELEPHONE
compulsive gambler (JOL) reaches out & touches his bookie

— Here’s something else that would also later be removed from reruns.
— Interesting camera angles throughout this.
— I love Phil’s sleazy voice on the other end of the phone.
— Good punchline with this seedy gambling ad unexpectedly turning out to be a New York Telephone promo.
STARS: ***


ONE-NIGHT STAND
obnoxious (BIM) won’t leave (JAH)’s apartment after a one-night stand

— Love Bill’s dancing and lip-syncing while he’s setting up the blaring stereo speakers.
— Bill is so perfect in this role, and I like how oblivious he is to Jan’s aggravation towards him.
— Dennis’ Def Leppard(?) shirt looks familiar (screencap below), but I’m not sure why. I think I remember seeing that same shirt being worn by someone in a sketch from the early 90s era.

— I liked this overall sketch a lot, and Bill and Jan were both strong in their performances.
STARS: ****


DONAHUE
monologue drifts away from & back to “The New Celibacy”

— Great to see this back.
— In the live version I’m watching of this episode, Nora reveals her horrible sole sexual experience was with Joe Piscopo, which is hilarious though mean (after all, this is only THREE YEARS after the man left SNL). However, in the reruns of this episode, they show the dress rehearsal version of this sketch, where Nora’s bad sexual experience is revealed to be with stand-up comedian Gallagher instead of Joe Piscopo.
— More evidence that they show a different version of this sketch in reruns: Victoria’s hair looks kinda different in both versions. (side-by-side comparison below)

— I like the title of Jan’s softcore porn films, especially “Debbie Hugs Dallas”.
— A lot of laughs from the part with Jon explaining his celibacy wasn’t a conscious choice, and how even prostitutes “wouldn’t go for it”.
— When asked about the risk of STDs, I loved Jon responding “I would take that chance in a SECOND! Be–lieve me!”
— I absolutely love how Phil, while delivering a very rambly rant, heads backstage, grabs a bite from the snack table, walks back to the Donahue set, and then suddenly throws to Victoria after he’s finished speaking. However, there was a technical error, where the camera fails to follow Phil when he first heads backstage, which hurt the gag a bit. I wonder if this is one of the reasons why this sketch is replaced with the dress version in reruns.
STARS: **** (the dress version shown in reruns gets ****½)


NICK SLAMMER
Nick “Slammer” & Marc Shaiman [real] entertain prisoners behind bars

— Yes! Nick the Lounge Singer!
— Good setting for him this time, in a prison.
— Yet another change that would later be made to this episode in reruns: Kevin’s hilarious “This is my bitch” line regarding Jon’s Ivan Boesky (a topical bit) would be bleeped out in reruns. I don’t know if it’s because of the context the word “bitch” was used in, or if it’s because maybe the real Ivan Boesky complained to the show.
— Kevin reminiscing about when he first fell in love with Jon’s Boesky is providing some good laughs.
— Bill’s Nick has some particularly strong transitions into the songs he’s relating to situations in this sketch.
— I especially like the part now with Bill’s Nick breaking out into Party Like It’s 1999.
— Overall, the usual great Nick the Lounge Singer piece. That being said, I’ve always kinda felt it was a missed opportunity to not pair Nick with the Sweeney Sisters. The Sweeney Sisters were basically the Nick the Lounge Singer of the late 80s, and it would’ve been interesting seeing team together.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
after a six-year absence, BIM returns with his Oscar picks for 1987

— I’m liking all the jokes about the televangelists scandal (which SNL will get even more great mileage out of in the following week’s episode, especially in a memorable Church Chat sketch).
— Aside from two lame photo-based jokes (which I feel Dennis unfairly gets a bad rap for over-relying on; he’s barely done ANY photo-based jokes in the Updates I’ve covered so far, but then again, I am pretty early in his Update tenure), Dennis is on fire with a lot of these jokes so far tonight.
— Good bit with Dennis demonstrating a Rubik’s Condom.
— Alright! The return of Bill’s Oscar picks!
— And there’s goes the tradition of Bill giving short-shrift to the supporting actors/actresses category.
— Bill dismissing movie sequels and saying he’ll probably never do a Ghostbusters 2 is certainly funny to hear in hindsight, considering…
— I got a good laugh from Bill saying Platoon and Hannah & Her Sisters are basically the same movie.
— Bill’s overall Oscars segment was the usual great stuff.
STARS: ****


IT’S A GIRL
an obstetrician (PHH) delivers only girls- he removes testes if necessary

— Some laughs from Bill’s frustrated reaction to hearing his baby’s going to be a girl.
— Very dark reveal that many of the “female” babies Phil’s delivered have had to receive a special operation to remove their penis and testicles.
— Funny walk-on from Jon as a grown-up version of one of the “female” babies Phil’s delivered.
— I love how this is now taking an even darker turn with Phil’s tense “ boys are bad” monologue, complete with dramatic background music.
— Overall, a sketch that I’ve always loved, for its humorously dark subject matter and fantastic Phil Hartman performance.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “When A Man Loves A Woman”


IL RETURNO DE HERCULES
the out-of-shape demigod (BIM) can’t lift a rock

— The usually-impeccable Phil Hartman actually has a hard time delivering his opening narration, stumbling over a few words. Very rare to see Phil giving a clumsy performance. This would result in YET ANOTHER change made to reruns of tonight’s episode: Phil’s narration is replaced with Al Franken doing a flub-less take.
— Dana’s facial expressions and badly-dubbed American voice are hilarious.
— Funny visual with Bill’s gut hanging out.
— I love the deadpan dubbed voice Jim Downey is using for Bill.
STARS: ****


TOUGH PARENTS
(DAC) feels pressured by his overdemanding parents (BIM) & (NOD)

— I like how tense this is increasingly getting.
— Geez, now Dana pulls out a pistol.
— Funny how Bill is instructing Dana on how to properly attempt to shoot him.
— Excellent very dark ending with Dana shooting Nora and Bill, followed by Bill happily concluding that “Mikey can shoot.”
— Overall, I liked this for similar reasons I liked the disturbing It’s A Girl sketch earlier tonight, only with the darkness reaching a full 11 this time.
STARS: ***½


TAXI
cab driver Honker & fare (DAC) relate their recent experiences

— The return of Bill’s Honker character.
— Funny story from Honker about kidnapping a prostitute to save her from a pimp. I also like how Dana is hesitantly going along with the story.
— Pretty poor greenscreen work at the end when Honker was “driving” away.
— Overall, a decent sketch that offered amusing weirdness.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A great episode, as expected with Bill Murray hosting. There weren’t any sketches I disliked tonight, and a lot of the sketches were strong. I also like how several of the post-Update sketches took on a more dark, disturbing tone than we’re used to seeing on SNL. This overall episode has always been one of my personal favorites from this whole era, though I might be biased because it’s one of the earliest episodes I recall ever seeing in a Comedy Central rerun, very early in my SNL fandom when I had mostly only seen new episodes (this was in 1999, by the way) and hadn’t yet been exposed to a lot of reruns of older seasons on Comedy Central. Because of that, I have very fond memories of this episode.
— Bill Murray was his usual great self. One of the things I always like about seeing a former cast member hosting is seeing how well they work with a completely different cast. Bill had a really good chemistry with this cast and fit well in this era’s style.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Valerie Bertinelli):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Charlton Heston

Posted on

February 28, 1987 – Valerie Bertinelli / The Robert Cray Band (S12 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Don Regan (KEN) & Nancy (JAH) Reagan cuckold oblivious Ronald (PHH)

— Nice to see we’re not getting a third consecutive cold opening with Phil’s Liberace in heaven.
— Amusing part with Reagan requesting increasingly smaller and simpler summaries of a report.
— Loved Phil-as-Reagan’s whole long-winded run about “I may not know about foreign policy or the budget or trade relations or… etc.”
— This is the second sketch Phil has played Reagan in, and they’ve already ditched the “secret mastermind” premise from his first appearance, and are just having him play Reagan in the typical doddering manner. It’s probably for the best, as I guess the mastermind characterization wouldn’t have lent itself well to repeat appearances.
— Good reveal of Jan’s Nancy and Kevin’s Don Regan involved in a secret affair.
— Decent opening overall.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— I almost thought her mention of doing a TV movie titled “Vigilante Hooker” was genuine, before she followed it up with titles of other obviously fake movies.
— The “woman next door” punchline was a weak way to end this.
— An overall short, ho-hum monologue.
STARS: **


MCSOOSHI
— Rerun


HARD NEWS CAFE
(PHH) & (host) eat amid journalists at Hard News Cafe; Edwin Newman cameo

— I like the gag with the reporter patrons collectively trying to call over the waitress in the same manner they would at a press conference.
— The debut of Kevin’s Sam Donaldson, an impression I’ve always liked from him, though he’s not wearing the fake thick eyebrows that would later become a regular part of the impression.
— I like how Dana-as-Ted-Koppel’s casual speak still has him talking in a very Nightline-esque manner.
— A good laugh from Jon’s “You guys suck!” to Koppel and Donaldson.
— Great to see Edwin Newman appearing on the show again, after being a friend of the show during the Ebersol era.
— Funny touch with Newman nitpicking Jon’s grammar when throwing him out.
STARS: ***½


DISCOVER
Peter Graves’ (PHH) ignorance of basic chemistry is apparent

— Unsurprisingly, Phil’s doing a spot-on impression of Peter Graves’ voice.
— A huge laugh from Phil foolishly asking if the molecule model on display is actual size.
— Loved Phil unsuccessfully trying to walk off with the gold in his pocket.
— LOL, holy hell at the part with Phil’s Graves knocking over the heavy osmium, causing it to crash many floors below.
— Love Phil-as-Graves’ way of always saying “aaaalright”, especially him happily saying it after Jon panickedly explains that Graves has just exposed them to deadly radioactive californium.
— Overall, this sketch was a riot. There were lots of funny moments all throughout, and every little thing about Phil’s performance absolutely tickled me.
STARS: ****½


DINNER AT THE VAN HALEN’S
roadies help out with dinner at the home of host & Eddie Van Halen [real]

  

— I like the concept of roadies preparing the Van Halen’s dinner as if it’s a rock concert.
— Good part with the roadies forcefully shining flashlights on Valerie’s hair to show the guests her highlights that she has just mentioned.
— Seeing Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli side-by-side reminds me of how people used to always say they look more like siblings than spouses. It’s true; they do have eerily similar facial features.
— Overall, a fairly short sketch that ended at the right time before the joke started getting old.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Smoking Gun”


WEEKEND UPDATE
contest winner (JOL) hangs out with David Lee Roth (DAC) in a hotel room
KEN uses cliches to tell what he knows about preparing income tax returns

   

— This marks the very first time Dennis has started an Update with “Good evening, what can I tell ya?”, which would go on to be his trademark opening line.
— Some good material from Dennis snarking on President Reagan’s poor memory.
— Very funny David Lee Roth impression from Dana.
— A good laugh from Jon as the David Lee Roth contest winner holding up a “Help me” sign during Roth’s raving.
— Another Kevin Nealon commentary that deals with him constantly changing his topic.
— Kevin’s overall commentary had some laughs, though I didn’t like this one as much as his last two commentaries with this premise.
STARS: ***½


PET CHICKEN SHOP
Ching Change thinks he’s found the perfect match in (host)

— Ohho, boy…
— Well, we get the debut of Nora as Ching’s sister, Loose Change, so that’s…. something.
— There was a least one interesting moment so far, with Ching Change following up a lie with “Yeah, that’s the ticket.”
STARS: *½


STOMPIN’ 8H
Eddie Van Halen [real] & SNL Band perform “Stompin’ 8H”


WASHINGTON CENTER COSMETIC SURGERY
(NOD) endorses low-cost plastic surgery at Washington Center

— There was absolutely no joke here AT ALL. It was just a serious, straightforward ad with Nora as a spokesperson promoting a cosmetic surgery center. Having seen tonight’s episode several times in the past, I’m well aware that this ends up being Part 1 of a two-part ad, in which the punchline is delivered in the second ad. However, I can just imagine how confused first-time viewers of this episode were when Part 1 of this commercial aired. I’m sure there were a lot of people going “Wait… what the hell? Was that a real commercial??? There wasn’t even a joke!” I probably had that same reaction myself the first time I saw this episode, but that was so long ago, I can’t remember.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


LET’S GO TO THE MOVIES
collegians (host) & (JAH) on The Color Of Money

— Jan and Valerie are very accurate in their characterizations here, but is this sketch GOING anywhere?
— Well, at least this overall sketch didn’t run too long considering the thin premise, but the sketch just came and went without offering anything other than a generic stereotypical 80s teen girl conversation.
STARS: **


WASHINGTON CENTER COSMETIC SURGERY
get redress for cut-rate plastic surgery with Washington Center Attorneys

— Hilarious follow-up to the first ad, and Nora’s disfigured Joker-esque look was a great visual.
— Very clever and kinda ballsy for SNL to set up a two-part ad like this, airing the first part as a serious non-comedic segment and waiting until Part 2 to reveal the joke.
STARS: ****


ON BROADWAY
guy who replaced Yul Brynner in The King & I (PHH) rants

— Two talk show sketches in a row hosted by Jan??? And it feels a little odd seeing her play a normal, mature talk show host immediately after the over-the-top valley girl-esque host we had just seen her playing moments ago, though if anything, this at least proves her wide range as a performer.
— Good part with Phil rudely knocking on Jan’s head while asking “Hello, anybody home?!?” I also liked Jan’s angry reaction to that.
— I’m really liking Phil’s growing frustration, especially him angrily beginning to cut his hair with scissors to resemble Yul Brynner.
— The studio audience is unusually dead during this sketch so far.
— Good appearance from Nora (who has really woken up the quiet studio audience) with her angry rant to viewers. I especially loved her saying “You want Yul Brynner? Dig him up!”
— Funny ending with Phil revealing Zorba The Greek is the next show he’ll be doing.
— Overall, a pretty solid sketch, though not quite as strong as I had remembered. I used to consider this an underrated Phil Hartman gem that should’ve been included in his “Best Of” (actually, maybe it was; in fact, that may have been where I first saw it… not sure, though), but after watching the sketch now, I was slightly disappointed to see it wasn’t quite as great as I used to find it. I still like the sketch quite a lot, but I’m now starting to think I’ve always loved it more for Phil’s (and now Nora’s) performance than for the actual material, though the material was fine.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Right Next Door”


OPERA SINGER DOCTOR
an incompetent doctor (JOL) regrets not becoming an opera singer

— Featured player A. Whitney Brown makes his ONLY appearance of the night as a dead body. Ouch.
— Very funny part with Dana slowly dropping dead after being told by Jon that he has only a week to live from a blood clot. His death results in a simple “Maybe less” response from Jon.
— I also like how the aforementioned death was immediately followed by Valerie asking over the intercom “Is he dead yet?”
— Another great use of Jon’s beautiful operatic singing voice.
— An overall kinda odd sketch, but an enjoyable one and felt very fitting in the 10-to-1 slot, which is perfect for this type of experimental piece.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty good episode, though there isn’t much to say about it as a whole. There was at least one really strong sketch (Discover) as well as two great Phil Hartman performances (On Broadway and the aforementioned Discover).


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Bill Murray

Posted on

February 21, 1987 – Willie Nelson (S12 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Afterlife Styles of the Rich & Famous- an interview with Liberace (PHH)

— I like this concept of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous interviewing dead celebrities.
— Hilarious Robin Leach impression from Dana, and I like the way he says “I don’t know whhyyyyyy”.
— Another Liberace in heaven cold opening for the second episode in a row???
— Wow, a sudden appearance from Jon’s Mephistopheles.
— A decent opening overall, though I still find it strange that they’ve done two cold openings in a row starring Phil’s Liberace in heaven.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host plays guitar & sings “Nightlife”

— Judging from how the home base stage is laid out upon Willie Nelson’s entrance, with his band members and their instruments already occupying the stage (and the SNL Band being nowhere in sight), you can tell this will be a musical monologue.
— I was right. After a quick intro, Willie has immediately thrown to a straightforward, non-comedic musical performance.


GENERAL DYNAMICS
— Rerun


GREAT MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF WHITE TRASH
wed cousins (Danny DeVito) & (NOD)

— Our first of several appearances tonight from credited special guest Danny DeVito.
— I liked Nora’s line about Danny getting better-looking with every drink she takes.
— Funny ending reveal of Danny and Nora turning out to be first cousins.
STARS: ***


POLICE WIRE
(Danny DeVito) winds up incriminating himself while wearing a police wire

— Some really good laughs from the mobsters talking about the huge crimes a police wire-wearing Danny has committed in the past, all the while Kevin and A. Whitney’s police officers are listening on in shock.
— I’m liking Danny’s various nervous reactions.
— Funny twist with mob boss Jon Lovitz’s “dark plan” turning out to simply be raising funds for an outdoor basketball court.
— I was kinda expecting more from the ending.
STARS: ***½


GREAT MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF WHITE TRASH
a party girl (JAH)

— I liked Jan’s “What kind of car you got?” when Phil’s trying to flirt with her.
— Overall, this didn’t work as well as the last one did. There weren’t any big jokes here.
STARS: **½


CHURCH CHAT
host & Church Lady sing “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers Anymore”

— Danny DeVito front and center in yet another sketch tonight. They might as well have credited him as a co-host instead of a special guest.
— Great line from Danny about Church Lady not “having her ticket punched” in a long time.
— Love the superior dance-off between Danny and Church Lady.
— First time they’ve ever used the echo at the end of Church Lady’s “Could it be… SATAN?!?” catchphrase.
— I liked Church Lady’s over-eagerness in opening her present.
— Good ending with Church Lady and Willie singing a romantic duet together
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
upside-down VIJ shows her stars & stripes panties while reviewing Amerika
AWB has some thoughts about Glasnost & China’s billion-plus population

 

— Dennis starts this off with a monotone “Isn’t that special?”
— I didn’t get the Martha Raye, denture-wearer joke.  Commercial reference?
— I liked Dennis’ bit about an AIDS-ridden Garfield being given his own separate page in the newspaper.
— Our very first instance of a Victoria Jackson Weekend Update handstand.
— I like how Victoria is giving a review of a miniseries while still doing her handstand.
— Second episode in a row with an A. Whitney Brown commentary. After how surprisingly weak his last one was, I’m not sure I’m too happy to see another one so soon.
— A. Whitney’s overall commentary tonight was thankfully a return to form for him. He had the usual amount of funny lines, and the audience was also more into it than they were last time.
STARS: ***


REDNECK TANNING PARLOR
modern Southerners get their red necks at (host)’s tanning parlor

— Great southern voice from Jan.
— Very funny visual of Kevin’s insane tan.
— I enjoyed Willie’s mock-dramatic speech at the end.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Partners After All”


GREAT MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF WHITE TRASH
a welfare cheat (KEN)

— An overall okay installment that was a little better than the second one.
STARS: ***


BAR
Tommy Flanagan tells host that he also has a new movie & album coming out

— Wow, from my past viewings, I had no memory of Tommy Flanagan appearing in this episode. According to a commenter on this site, there’s also one more Flanagan appearance remaining this season, but I have no memory of that one either. I had always remembered the Walter Payton one being the last appearance Flanagan makes before the show puts him on a very long hiatus.
— Strange how the last two Flanagan sketches have taken place in a bar.
— When Willie plugs his new movie, Flanagan responds “Oh, yeah, I heard about that on Church Chat.” Great little meta moment there. I always love the rare times an SNL episode has sketches overlap with each other.
— I got a chuckle from Flanagan saying he’s starring in a movie titled “The Hook-Nosed & Balding Stranger”.
— I like how “And yet it happened” has become a new catchphrase in the last two installments of this sketch.
— Overall, a lot of this was the same old tired Flanagan stuff, but this had a few moments and I liked the interplay between Flanagan and Willie.
STARS: **½


THE BOYFRIEND SONG
host & VIJ play guitar & sing “The Boyfriend Song”

— Wow, Victoria gets to debut TWO of her trademarks tonight. First a handstand on Update, and now a ukulele song.
— I liked Victoria having to clear the air about her quaalude lyric.
— Cute song from Victoria so far, and I love the chemistry between her and Willie.
— Overall, a nice piece, and considering how much trouble she’s been having standing out among this season’s new cast, it’s good to see Victoria having a breakout night in tonight’s episode.
STARS: ***


TRUCK STOP CAFÉ
(host) uses Patsy Cline music to woo truck stop waitress Anita (JAH)

— Jan gets to play yet another white trash waitress tonight.
— I got a good laugh from Jan’s “Comin’ in once a month, like cramps” complaint about Willie.
— I loved how Jan briefly stopped in the middle of her heated rant to happily greet a customer and then immediately continued her rant without missing a beat.
— I like Jan’s adamant “You get away from that jukebox right now” warning to Willie, only to easily melt when the romantic music starts playing from the jukebox.
— Overall, I really liked this. A very charming, softer, slice-of-life sketch and, while Willie was fine in his role, you can probably tell from my review that this sketch was all about Jan. It really showed off her excellent performance skills. While not quite on the same level as her memorable performance in the later Sexual Tensions Diner sketch with Alec Baldwin, this felt like an early precursor to it, only with a more sentimental touch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Blue Eyes”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A better episode than I had remembered it being. I said in my last review that if this Willie Nelson episode was as weak as I remember, it would continue the recent consecutive string of underwhelming episodes, making it official that we’re in a mid-season slump. However, I was pleased to find myself enjoying this episode. While this was far from a particularly great episode, it had a nice flow and consistency to it, and there weren’t any segments that were particularly bad. And although there was a bit too much of a same-y feel to quite a number of the sketches, having a redneck/white trash theme (which I guess is to be expected in a Willie Nelson-hosted episode), I can appreciate how it gave this episode a strangely likable, down-home feel.
— As a host, Willie Nelson didn’t stretch himself at all, just playing himself or characters like himself all night. However, he didn’t bring down any sketches either. On a scale of country singer hosts (off the top of my head) with Kris Kristofferson being the lowest level and Garth Brooks being the highest, I’d say Willie was above the Kristofferson level, but below the level of Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bronson Pinchot):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Valerie Bertinelli

Posted on

February 14, 1987 – Bronson Pinchot / Paul Young (S12 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Liberace (PHH) plays the piano in Heaven- it’s all the censors will allow

— Some laughs from Phil’s Liberace impression.
— And it’s over already. Phil as dead Liberace: “If you think the censors are gonna let us do more than this, you’re crazy!” That’s literally the only dialogue in this.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host tells a tale about a lost Valentine he hasn’t tried too hard to find

— A lot of SNL reviewers seem to think that Bronson Pinchot saying Don Pardo mispronounced his last name was unscripted. (Bronson explains his last name is pronounced “pin-CHOW”, not “pin-CHO”) Literally every review I’ve read of this episode points out how unlikable Bronson instantly came off for having the nerve to rudely call out Don Pardo on live TV over a simple mistake. I’m personally of the opinion that Bronson correcting Pardo was a scripted joke. Those aforementioned SNL reviewers seem to completely ignore the fact that Bronson immediately followed up his Pardo correction by saying “We have a terrific show for you tonight”, pronouncing “show” in the same manner as how he claimed his last name is pronounced (“pin-CHOW”). It’s a VERY lame joke, but it makes it obvious to me that him correcting Pardo was all in the script. Does anyone reading this know for sure? Also, does anyone here know the true pronunciation of Pinchot? I could swear Pardo’s “pin-cho” pronunciation was correct.
— I like the band accompanying Bronson’s Valentines remembrance with soft piano music.
— An okay comedic turn at the end of Bronson’s story, but there was WAY too long of a build-up for my likes. A long, dead-serious set-up like that needed a funnier punchline than what we got.
STARS: **


AMERIDA
(PHH) can’t stand the changes caused by Canada’s takeover of USA

— I love the concept of this.
— All the little touches with Canadian terms being interjected into the family’s conversation are really funny.
— Phil’s whole “I remember the days when our country didn’t have to… etc.” rant is fantastic. His whole objection to Canada taking over American traditions is even funnier if you’re aware of the irony there: Phil Hartman is Canadian in real life.
STARS: ****½


NIGHTLINE
Henry Kissinger (ALF) & others discuss “Amerida” plausibility

— Very nice way to carry over the Amerida storyline into a separate sketch. Very rare for SNL to do something like this.
— The debut of a funny Ted Koppel impression from Dana.
— Good to see Al Franken back as Henry Kissinger.
— I got a big laugh from Al’s Kissinger concluding that the Amerida concept “was just stupid”.
— Bronson’s getting some good laughs with his Carl Sagan.
— Good random part with the Nightline secret word.
STARS: ****½


SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SWIMSUIT ISSUE
Paulina Poriskova [real]- “boys love Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue”

— Funny part with the “Do Not Disturb” sign.
— Good ending with the random cutaway to a hobo claiming “And I need it too!”
STARS: ***


JINGLE
Derek Stevens feels OK about selling out after Ringo Starr (JOL) approves

— At least this seems like this will be going in a different direction from Derek Stevens’ previous two sketches.
— After Phil’s character has entered the recording room, there’s a noticeable loud feedback hum that’s been going on for a fairly long time, at least in the live version I’m watching of this episode. Maybe it was later fixed in reruns.
— The reworked, commercial jingle version of Choppin’ Broccoli sounds okay, but it’s not really funny or anything.
— Overall, not terrible, but not great either. I’m still of the opinion that they never should have made Derek Stevens recurring. I’m aware of at least one more appearance he makes, which I recall being PARTICULARLY bad, in next season’s Justine Bateman episode.
STARS: **½


VALENTINE’S DAY
Serge (host) relays (PHH)’s Valentine’s Day offerings to Babette

— Hmm, another recurring character I’m not too crazy about, though taking Babette out of the Weekend Update setting and giving her her own sketch tonight will hopefully keep this from following the tired formula of her Update commentaries.
— Ha, Bronson reprising his character from Beverly Hills Cop
— Okay, Bronson’s character got some laughs early on in this sketch, but I really don’t like where this sketch has been going since then. The pacing is way too slow and dull, and the conversation between Bronson and Phil is dragging.
— Overall, blah. Didn’t care for most of this sketch at all.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “War Games”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jacques Cousteau (DAC) describes the mating ritual of the napkin fish
AWB looks for alternatives to the recently-voted Senate pay hike
DEM promotes safe sex by donning a Weekend Update Body Condom

    

— During the opening shot of Dennis, what’s with the top of a crew member’s head being seen next to Dennis under the desk? (first screencap above)
— I love how the suggestive sumo wrestling picture had no joke from Dennis. He just showed the picture, let the audience laugh, and then moved on to the next joke, leaving the sumo wrestling bit a completely random non-sequitur.
— Dana’s Jacques Cousteau commentary has a lot of good parts so far, especially the line about napkin fish having six penises.
— Boy, there’s a female audience member with a high-pitched loud giggle that can be heard all throughout tonight’s episode, especially during this Cousteau commentary.
— This overall Cousteau commentary was really funny and just might be one of Dana’s more forgotten Weekend Update gems (or maybe it’s just me who had forgotten it).
— Funny bit with Dennis bringing out a glass of water just so he can do a spit-take in reaction to People Magazine calling Bruce Willis a “renaissance man”.
— Haha, I love how Dennis is commemorating Valentine’s Day by showing a live-action video of an actual beating human heart, which results in squeamish groans from the studio audience.
— A. Whitney’s overall Big Picture commentary tonight was actually really underwhelming. This lacked the large amount of witty comments he usually makes, and the studio audience was DEAD. Not even the aforementioned Loud Giggling Audience Lady could be heard, for once tonight.
— Good ending to tonight’s Update, with Dennis demonstrating the Weekend Update Body Condom.
STARS: ***½


THE LIFE OF GOLDA MEIR
Golda Meir‘s (Paulina Poriskova) good looks were important

 

— An unintentional laugh from Kevin’s badly-applied eyepatch. You can clearly see his real eye under it.
— Wow, and the sketch is already over. What in the world was the point of this? Just to let us know that Golda Meir was attractive? There wasn’t a single intentional laugh and the overall bit felt pointless and truncated.
STARS: *


SKETCH ARTIST
via impersonation, police artist (KEN) helps (host) identify a mugger

— Love this concept of a police sketch artist using his own face to match someone’s descriptions of a mugger.
— Bronson: “He was white.” Kevin: “Oh, good; that’ll save us some time.”
— A good laugh from Kevin copying his altered face in the copy machine.
— Overall, a strong and very Kevin Nealon-y sketch. You can totally tell he wrote this. My only complaint is that Bronson was kind of a weak straight man. He looked uninterested during his performance, as if he was going through the motions.
STARS: ****


HARDWARE STORE
a hardware store gigolo (host) hopes Marge Keister will go for him

— Boy, there goes Loud Giggling Audience Lady once again tonight, as loud as ever this time.
— The lights-turned-out bit was pretty funny.
— This sketch had a slow first half, but it’s starting to get a little funnier with Bronson’s emotional breakdown about how he’ll never make it as a gigolo in a hardware store.
— Overall, not one of the better Marge Keister sketches, but this improved a little as it went along.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Long Run”


MISS CONNIE’S FABLE NOOK
Koko, Mishu, Lebee try to get princess (Paulina Poriskova) to smile

— Oh, no, the return of… THIS.
— Boy, is EVERY sketch Paulina Porizkova in tonight just going to keep mentioning ad nauseam how beautiful she is? We can clearly see she’s hot, so why must all her sketch appearances be accompanied by characters informing us of her beauty over and over and over?
— Kevin’s ogre-ish grunting provided my only semi-chuckles in the first installment of this sketch, but he’s going too heavy on it in tonight’s installment.
— Finally, I got a slight laugh, this time from Jan’s line about Kevin’s character being “giddy for approximately two years”.
— Overall, I pretty much hated this once again. IIRC, this is thankfully the final installment of this sketch I’ll have to suffer through.
STARS: *½


BUSTER POINDEXTER
Buster Poindexter [real] performs “Heart of Gold”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Boy, was I underwhelmed by this episode. It was even weaker than the forgettable episode that preceded it. Kinda discouraging to see two less-than-stellar episodes back-to-back, considering how well this season had been going. Tonight’s episode had a fairly ho-hum feel, with only the Amerida/Nightline double-header and Sketch Artist standing out as strong. Even some usually-reliable things like A. Whitney Brown’s Big Picture had an off night.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Paul Shaffer):
— a moderate step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Willie Nelson. Unfortunately, I recall this episode being fairly weak too. Hopefully my recollection is wrong, because if not, it looks like we’re in the middle of a mid-season slump.