Tag: 1998-99

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December 5, 1998 – Vince Vaughn / Lauryn Hill (S24 E8)

NOTE: This review is a re-post. While trying to fix the problems my site was going through over the last day, I accidentally permanently deleted the original posting of this review. My apologies to the people who commented in the comments section of the original review, as those comments are now lost.

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS
oral sex experts testify for Senate committee investigating Bill Clinton

— Hmm, impeachment hearings. 21 years later, some things never change.
— Darrell’s Al D’Amato impression is cracking me up.
— The whole segment with Darrell’s D’Amato is solid.
— A funny lineup of celebrity oral sex experts being brought in to explain to the senate what oral sex is.
— It feels weird seeing someone other than Dana Carvey playing George Michael.
— I like the running bit with Parnell-as-Bob-Barr’s confusion over certain sexual terms.
— The struggling Tracy Morgan, after doing pretty much nothing the last few episodes (I can’t even remember when his last big role was), gets his very first “Live from New York…”!
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
to host’s relief, Alfred Hitchcock (DAH) isn’t upset about Psycho remake

— Boy, Vince Vaughn didn’t even get past one sentence (which he delivered awkwardly, by the way) in this monologue before SNL already had Darrell “interrupt” this as Alfred Hitchcock. Usually, monologues in this era that have a cast member “interrupt” the host let the host speak for a while before the cast member comes out. The fact that SNL didn’t even let Vince go past one mere sentence before bringing out Darrell’s Hitchcock is probably a sign of the “confidence” that SNL has in Vince, considering I recall him being a notably weak host in tonight’s episode.
— As expected, Darrell is doing a good Hitchcock impression.
— Vince is a stiff and bland straight man in this. I remember SNL reviewer Mark Polishuk (an SNL reviewing legend from the late 90s and early 00s) saying in his review of this monologue back when this episode originally aired, “Gee, Hitchcock’s been dead for twenty years but Vince Vaughn looked like the corpse here.”
— Overall, an okay enough monologue. Darrell’s Hitchcock had funny lines throughout, but I dunno, this monologue still felt like it could’ve been a little better. Vince’s blandness didn’t help.
STARS: ***


OOPS! I CRAPPED MY PANTS
Rerun from 9/26/98


DOG SHOW
David Larry (WIF) & Miss Colleen (MOS) prefer canine company

— This soon-to-be-recurring sketch makes its debut.
— Unlike most of the subsequent installments of this sketch, this one opens with a “Coming up next on Animal Planet…” intro. When watching this just now, that intro made me think we were getting a Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet sketch, until I remembered that sketch doesn’t debut until the end of this season. (The character Brian Fellow himself actually debuts in a Weekend Update commentary a few episodes from now.)
— Molly’s wig is blonde in tonight’s Dog Show debut, whereas in subsequent installments of this sketch, Molly wears a dark wig.
— Ha, the dog playing Mr. Bojangles keeps jumping into Will’s drum when it’s supposed to just sit still. After a while, Will ad-libs “Mr. Bojangles… not now”, which gets applause from the audience.
— Mr. Bojangles is absolutely stealing the sketch so far.
— I’m enjoying the bizarre humor of this sketch. I recall SNL writer Adam McKay later saying that he can’t believe that he somehow fooled Lorne into thinking that the absurdist humor in these Dog Show sketches was mainstream enough for these sketches to be placed in such an early spot in the episodes they appear in. Oddball sketches like this typically get buried around the 10-to-1 slot.
— The song Vince is singing to his dog is pretty funny.
STARS: ***


VEGAS PEEPERS
Trent Walker (host) makes a Swinger of Mr. Peepers with a Vegas road trip

— After the particularly awful sketch Mr. Peepers last appeared in during this season’s Kelsey Grammer episode, you can imagine my reaction to seeing him return tonight.
— Not even putting Mr. Peepers in this Swingers parody is adding much new life to this one-note character.
— Hmm, we actually get an interesting scene right now, with Mr. Peepers displaying some nice swing-dancing during the club scene. This scene is also giving me a reminder of the swing revival that was going on at this time in the late 90s.
STARS: **


MARRIED GUYS
spoken-for (host) & (WIF) mislead engaged (JIF) about joys of marriage

— The misleading info that Will and Vince are giving Jimmy on what to expect as a married man is providing a lot of laughs.
— I love Will’s overly specific description of thoughts you WON’T have about wanting to run away from your wife.
— Excellent ending exchange between Vince and Will: “Should we tell him the truth?” “Nobody told me. Screw ‘im.”
— Overall, a very well-written and well-performed sketch, and kinda had the feel of a sketch that would’ve appeared in an earlier SNL era.
STARS: ****½


BREW DUDE
Brew Dude party hat helps college students focus on beer, not books

— Maybe it’s the use of the word “Brew” in the commercial’s title, but I’ve always felt that this commercial seemed like something that Jim Breuer would’ve starred in if he were still on the show. He at least would’ve made a more convincing-looking college student than Will Ferrell, though Will is certainly fun in this.
— I love the random visual of Kattan as an immature William Shakespeare having his fart being lit.
— Nothing much to say about this overall, but was entertaining enough and funny in a silly way.
STARS: ***


LENNON MEMORIAL
ghosts of John Lennon (JIF) & Jerry Garcia (HOS) frustrate wisdom seekers

— Funny in retrospect hearing Vince say “John Lennon: John Legend”, years before a certain singer with the name John Legend would become popular.
— As I pointed out in my review of the Detectives sketch from the end of the Jimmy Smits episode from season 16 (where Smits as a detective kept reversing the verbs in fellow detective Dana Carvey’s sentences to sound wise), this Lennon Memorial sketch has the same premise as that Detectives sketch.
— I like how disillusioned the Lennon fans are gradually becoming by Lennon’s verbal reversal routine.
— This is getting increasingly funnier the more ridiculous Lennon’s verbal reversal routine is becoming. Despite the fact that this premise was already used in the aforementioned Jimmy Smits sketch, they’re making it their own in this sketch.
— Hilarious ending scene at the Jerry Garcia Memorial, with Horatio’s out-of-it Jerry Garcia badly doing Lennon’s verbal reversal routine.
STARS: ***½


EXXON-MOBIL MERGER
gas station employees mull the future in aftermath of Mobil-Exxon merger

— The dopey, misinformed conversation between Will and Vince’s rednecks is entertaining, as are the corrections that Parnell’s deadpan character occasionally gives to Will and Vince’s statements. I especially like Will snarkily suggesting that the merged version of Mobil and Exxon be named “Moron”, and Parnell responding “Except neither Mobil nor Exxon has an ‘r’.”
— Will and Vince have been having good chemistry with each other throughout tonight’s episode, which is no surprise in retrospect, considering the movies they’d later do together.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ marvels at Republicans’ persistence in pursuing impeachment
tree-chained Cinder Calhoun sings “Christmas Chainsaw Massacre”

— It feels kinda odd nowadays to see old Weekend Update jokes about how desperate REPUBLICANS are to impeach the president.
— Ha, an Update joke about a Chopper 4 crash, which immediately brings to mind a certain Mark McKinney sketch.
— An interesting change of pace for Cinder Calhoun, with her being broadcast live via satellite from outside of 30 Rock.
— I would normally assume that this outdoors footage of Cinder Calhoun is pre-taped, but it feels live, especially since Ana flubbed a line at one point.
— Cinder’s song is pretty catchy and has well-written comedic lyrics, though I’m not finding myself laughing all that much.
— I believe this ends up being the last time Ana ever plays Cinder Calhoun. I liked this character’s first few appearances, but got kinda burned out on her towards the end of her run. Can’t say I’ll miss her much, though Ana always did well in her performance as this character.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Doo Wop (That Thing)”


PSYCHO
cloying cheer of Norman Bates’ (host) mother (CHO) precipitated murder

— I’m not sure if it was intended to be funny, but I got a laugh from the opening chyron stating “A half hour before Norman Bates kills his mother”.
— Cheri is spot-on as a smothering, annoying mother oblivious to how she constantly embarrasses her son.
— A very funny line with the mother referring to Norman Bates as “Master Bates”.
— Overall, not much else to say, but I found this to be a decent and interesting Psycho parody.
STARS: ***


PIMP CHAT
Bishop Don ‘Mack’ Donald (TRM) & Pimpin’ Kyle (TIM) talk shop

— What’s this? The struggling Tracy Morgan gets his own showcase that can potentially become a recurring sketch? Wow, between getting to say his first “Live from New York…” earlier tonight and now getting to do this sketch, I see SNL really threw Tracy a bone this week.
— I love the very urban nature of the sketch, which feels refreshing and unconventional for this SNL era.
— A pretty good laugh from the sound of a mechanical, monotone, white man’s voice repeatedly saying “Give me the money” as Pimp Chat’s signal to start the “Pimp of the Month” segment.
— I recall hearing that SNL wanted Lauryn Hill to appear in this sketch, but she declined because she felt that the nature of this sketch was insulting to black women.
— Tracy briefly interrupting the show to roll down the window and yell to an unseen woman “Bitch, you got my money?!?” gave me a huge laugh, though at the same time, I’m starting to see what Lauryn Hill meant about this sketch. I’m trying not to let that ruin my enjoyment, though, because I’ve always had a soft spot for this sketch.
— Vince is hilarious in his performance as a white pimp, feeling like a precursor to the character he would later play in the movie Be Cool.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Ex-Factor”


DELCO CAT TOYS
Delco Cat Toys salesmen trade macho banter & test quality of new products

— Will and Vince’s great chemistry gets yet another showcase tonight.
— I love the juvenile bro talk that Will and Vince’s businessmen are casually speaking to each other with.
— Will’s imitation of a cat’s mannerisms are freakin’ dead-on and hilarious. He originally did this cat act in his SNL audition, and from what I’ve heard, he also did it on various talk shows prior to this episode.
— Will to Parnell: “It escapes me how we have not kicked your ass yet!”
— Will to Parnell: “Your office banter is weak!” Parnell: “(in a dopey, insulting manner) Yeah… well… that’s what your wife said!”
— Funny how this is the second sketch tonight with Will and Vince ganging up on Parnell and berating him.
— The whole bit with Will and Vince both trying out the scratching post is priceless.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode and, much like the Kelsey Grammer episode earlier this season, was better than I had previously deemed it to be. (Let’s hope the Bill Murray episode from later this season will also follow this pattern, as I used to consider the Kelsey Grammer, Vince Vaughn, and Bill Murray episodes to be season 24’s “Trifecta of Suck”.) There was a nice amount of things I found to be solid and fun in this episode, especially the final two sketches. Vince Vaughn was also a better host than I had remembered. My past memory of him in this episode had him being stiff, bland, uncomfortable-looking, and way too glued to the cue cards all throughout the show. As it turns out, aside from the monologue, I didn’t notice any of those things in his performances during my viewing of this episode just now. I was surprised to find myself laughing at quite a number of his performances, especially in Pimp Chat. And as I said a few times during the review, he displayed great chemistry with Will Ferrell.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jennifer Love Hewitt)
a moderate step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Alec Baldwin hosts the Christmas episode, with special musical guest Luciano Pavarotti with Vanessa Williams

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December 12, 1998 – Alec Baldwin / Luciano Pavarotti with Vanessa Williams (S24 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

APOLOGY
Bill Clinton (DAH) lapses into seduction while stressing his remorse

— Some good laughs from Darrell’s President Clinton delivering various “sorry”s to the camera, in light of senate recently voting to impeach him.
— Very funny line from Clinton about having the board game Sorry in his office.
— I love how Clinton is now using different camera angles, lighting, and background music to prove the sincerity of his “sorry”s.
— Now this is getting even funnier with Clinton’s “sorry”s turning to him seducing us.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
John Goodman [real] & JIF fuel host’s SNL fire a la A Christmas Carol

— Funny beginning with Alec complaining about this being his 8th time hosting “this friggin’ show”, because all the stuff going on with the president’s impeachment makes Alec question what the point is of doing comedy.
— Ha, John Goodman makes YET ANOTHER cameo this season. I think it’s safe to say that he’s gotten more screen time so far this season than cast member Tracy Morgan. By the way, tonight is the THIRD episode this season that Tracy ends up being completely absent in (the other two episodes being Ben Stiller and Jennifer Love Hewitt). Just let that sink in, people: we’re only halfway through this season, and Tracy has already been absent in THREE EPISODES.
— I like the bit with Lorne telling Darrell that they’re gonna have to let him go if Alec has a bad show tonight.
— In the “Live from New York” book, Alec mentions how John Goodman flubbing a line in this monologue resulted in an upset Alec muttering “asshole” under his breath. This incident must’ve happened at dress rehearsal, because it’s nowhere to be seen in the live version I’m currently watching.
— Jimmy’s only been on the show for half a season at this point, and he already gets a good amount of applause from the audience when walking on in this monologue as himself.
— A now-famous aspect of this monologue is SNL accurately predicting that Jimmy would go on to host SNL in December 2011. The exact date is a little off, though, as this monologue states that it would be on December 12, whereas it ended up being on the 17th.
— Fun seeing a future rendition of SNL’s opening montage.
— Hilarious gag in the future opening montage with John Goodman being a cast member.
— Interesting how this 2011 rendition of SNL has Don Pardo replaced by a “Don Pardo 9000” robot. SNL probably thought back in 1998 that there was no way the real Pardo would still be announcing for SNL in 2011, or even be alive. Little did they know…
— A very strong and fun monologue overall.
STARS: ****½


NBA ON NBC
NBC’s NBA lockout coverage puts an exciting spin on negotiations’ tedium

— A funny concept of this ad, presenting NBA lockout negotiations in the style of a typical hyped-up “NBA on NBC” promo.
— I like the various fake-out announcements of featured guests such as “Michael Jordan…..’s agent”.
STARS: ***½


MORNING LATTE
chitchat of Tom & Cass gets into (host)’s personal life

— I like Will and Cheri’s reaction to hearing Alec explain what Global Warming is.
— Funny bit from Cheri about an apology letter that her husband wrote to her for cheating on her.
— We get a variation on the usual “You stupid bitch!” outburst from the producer character in these Morning Latte sketches, by having him tell Will and Cheri to take the gingerbread cookies and “shove ’em in YOUR ASS!” That line only worked for Alec’s great delivery of it.
STARS: ***½


CHILDREN’S CLOWN
mannish 6 year-old girl (host) engenders lust in hospital clown (MOS)

— A very bizarre and interesting premise, with Alec playing a six-year-old girl who supposedly has a condition that makes her look like a grown man.
— Alec’s little girl characterization is funny in how he’s casually just playing it as his normal self.
— Holy hell at Molly and the “six-year-old girl” suddenly making out with wild passion.
— I’m enjoying the disturbing and twisted nature of this sketch, though I can see it being off-putting for some people. I also recall some SNL reviewers from this time in 1998 comparing this to the notorious Canteen Boy sketch that Alec appeared in, though this Clown sketch is pretty tame compared to that.
— I like Molly’s mock-dramatic soliloquy after she gets fired.
— Boy, not only was Ana’s nurse character suddenly making out with the “six-year-old girl” a predictable and unnecessary ending, but it died with the audience.
— Not sure whether or not I like the ending screen crawl revealing that the “six-year-old girl” was later proven to be a 42-year-old man. It kinda felt like a cop-out to avoid a Canteen Boy-like controversy. I did like the last part of that screen crawl, with the screen crawl voice-over (Parnell) saying “Ain’t love a kick in the pants?”
STARS: ***½


TV FUNHOUSE
by RBS- at the first Christmas, Harlem Globetrotters & Jesus play hoops

 

— A funny and spot-on parody of the Harlem Globetrotters animated series from the 70s.
— I love the low-budget laugh track heard all throughout this, with the exact same audio being played of a man literally saying a monotone “Ah ha ha ha ha.”
— Funny visual of Baby Jesus dunking a basketball.
— Nice touch with the ending credits of this TV Funhouse being displayed in a special fancy style.
STARS: ***½


10-10-1776-5-28-1830-242-3-316-68-22
long distance code mnemonic comprises USA human-rights violations

— A great spoof of those long-distance phone commercials from this time period.
— Hilarious how Alec and Ana are treating the complicated breakdown of the insanely-long phone number as if it’s simple.
— I love the very random historical events being used to help you remember each section of the long phone number. This is a very strong piece.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guests perform “Adeste Fideles”


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ details the maneuvering surrounding the Bill Clinton impeachment vote
TIM, Vanessa Williams, Janice Pendarvis [real] do a sexy Kwanzaa carol

— Some funny vocal impressions from Colin during his opening straight-to-camera rant about President Clinton’s impeachment. I especially like Colin’s Richard Lewis impression.
— Funny unscripted bit with Colin hiding his face with his hand in amused embarrassment (the fourth above screencap for this Weekend Update) over butchering the foreign name of an Olympian.
— A strong and memorable comment from Colin about a now-safe-and-clean New York: “New York has become your crazy drinking buddy who got married and had kids.”
— Here comes Kwanzaa Timmy! This is a popular commentary of Tim’s.
— This Kwanzaa Timmy song is fantastic. Also, nice use of the “Kwanzettes” backing up Tim.
— I like Colin’s exclamation of “Yes!” when Kwanzaa Timmy asks him “Are you in?”
STARS: ***½


THE DELICIOUS DISH
Margaret Jo & Terry salivate over Pete Schwetty’s (host) holiday balls

— Needless to say, here comes a legendary sketch. This is airing much later in this episode than I would’ve expected it to, not only because of what a classic it would go on to be, but because the Delicious Dish sketches in general are usually always placed upfront in the first half of the episodes they appear in.
— This is the first time in a while we’ve seen the Delicious Dish ladies back in the NPR studio, after their last two sketches took place outdoors.
— I love Molly’s brief mention of her “excessive rat problem” at home.
— Aaaaaand there’s the epic turn, with Alec’s line “The thing I’d most like to bring out is my balls.”
— Ana: “My mouth’s watering just thinking about those balls.“ Molly: “It’s been years since I’ve seen any balls.”
— Every single line about Pete Schwetty’s balls is a freakin’ RIOT. I can’t quote anymore lines, or I’d literally end up quoting the entire conversation in this sketch.
— Okay, I do want to quote what is probably universally known as the signature line of this sketch: “No one can resist my Schwetty Balls.” Perfectly delivered by Alec.
— Another thing that makes this sketch great is when you remember that Delicious Dish is a radio show, and you wonder what it must sound like to listeners of this show hearing all of the suggestive talk of “balls”.
— Speaking of what the “balls” talk must’ve sounded like to listeners, I’m surprised this overall sketch didn’t have a moment with either of the Delicious Dish ladies going “Wow, the phone lines are really lighting up tonight.” Maybe I missed it during tonight’s viewing due to laughing so hard throughout the sketch; I could swear from my past viewings that this sketch had that part in it. Maybe I’m thinking of the far inferior sequel they’d later do to this sketch, where Alec’s character promotes his Schwetty Wieners.
STARS: *****


IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS
impeached Bill Clinton’s (DAH) defenders assail his character at hearings

— Feels odd seeing a topical Impeachment Hearings sketch being buried towards the end of an episode, but understandably, SNL didn’t want to place this too close to the solo Clinton cold opening.
— Jimmy’s look as Alan Dershowitz is cracking me up.
— Ha, now Kattan’s look is even funnier as David Kendall.
— Tim playing O.J. Simpson as one of the speakers is worth a laugh.
— A black female extra can be seen playing Maxine Waters on the panel of representatives. Oh, come on, SNL, are you trying to snub Tracy? Tracy played Maxine Waters in the Impeachment Hearings cold opening from the last episode, so naturally, that should’ve been a perfect excuse to have him make AT LEAST one appearance tonight. Is he out sick this week or something?
— Although I’m enjoying this sketch, some parts of it are dragging a little.
STARS: ***


CHANUKAH HYMNS
album features very-unfestive Jewish holiday songs

— I like the accent Alec’s using in this sketch.
— Will’s stiff singing is very funny.
— Some good laughs from all of the bad Chanukah songs being advertised.
STARS: ***½


BULL & BEAR
the drunk businessmen honor Bill Brasky’s Wall Street prowess

— The return of Bill Brasky, after a year-long absence! This ends up being the final installment of the regular run of Bill Brasky sketches. Decades later, it would be revived for one night only, in a Paul Rudd-hosted episode.
— Fun seeing Alec Baldwin AND John Goodman appearing together in a Brasky sketch, considering the host who appeared in the previously-aired Bill Brasky installments was either just Alec or John. By this point, SNL had pretty much no choice BUT to do a Brasky sketch with both hosts present, as all of Will’s castmates who regularly played Brasky buddies (David Koechner, Mark McKinney) were long gone.
— Alec: “Brasky went public with his own buttocks and made 7 million!”
— Alec, in the middle of Will’s Brasky story: “I masturbate to the Teletubbies!”
— Will, on Brasky: “He has a toenail on the end of his penis!”
— Will: “Brasky named the group Sha Na Na! They did not wanna be called that!”
— John: “They use Brasky’s foreskin as a tarp when it rains in Yankee Stadium!”
— I like that this Brasky sketch is going on longer than usual.
— Hey, why’d this sketch end without Tim ever showing up as his usual “Hey, are you guys talking about Bill Brasky?” character? After all, they had Ana show up as her usual “You men smell awful!” character, so where was Tim?
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very solid Christmas episode and Alec Baldwin episode. Not only was this episode strong, and not only were there no sketches that I found weak, but we got a great one-two punch of classics Kwanzaa Timmy and Schwetty Balls airing back to back with each other. I also like how the novelty of having Luciano Pavarotti as a musical guest gave this episode a special feel, as did the use of a full orchestra being shown playing music in the studio during some of the commercial breaks.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Vince Vaughn)
a moderate step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 1999, with host Bill Paxton

Posted on

November 21, 1998 – Jennifer Love Hewitt / Beastie Boys (S24 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

REENACTMENT
Monica Lewinsky (MOS) & Linda Tripp (John Goodman) gab on phone & pig out

— A John Goodman cameo for the second consecutive episode, and for the third overall episode this season so far. Does he live in Studio 8H this season?
— I love Parnell on the other phone line as a desperate Kenneth Starr.
— I like the bit with Tripp and Lewinsky lying to each other about what they’re eating.
— A disgusting but funny part with Tripp being heard on the toilet during her and Lewinksy’s phone conversation.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host & Ben Willis (Muse Watson) sing “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”

— Nice touch with the SNL Band in the background wearing pilgrim outfits, due to this episode being near Thanksgiving.
— Funny reveal of the co-star who Jennifer Love Hewitt says she’s feuding with turning out to be the killer from the I Know What You Did Last Summer movies.
— Pretty funny visual of Jennifer holding the killer’s hook hand while he apologizes sincerely to her.
— I typically don’t care for musical numbers in monologues, but this one is fairly charming enough.
STARS: ***


THE LADIES’ MAN
Leon gives inappropriate advice & plugs Skanksgiving Day

— Funny bit with Leon Phelps mentioning his “Skanksgiving Dinner” event.
— Interesting turn with Leon actually showing emotions and getting teary-eyed when telling a caller about how important family is during Thanksgiving.
— Funny story from Leon about how he once shot his brother with a gun during one Thanksgiving dinner.
— Great ending with a rapidly-scrolling list of all the ladies Leon made love to this year. Some interesting names I caught in the rapidly-scrolling list were Jane Doe, Dolly Parton, Tawny Kittain [sic], and Balinda Carlise [sic].
STARS: ***½


MORE DUETS THAT PROVE THAT I AM THE BEST SINGER IN THE WORLD
Celine Dion’s (ANG) duets album proves she’s the best singer in the world

— I got nervous at first, thinking this was going to be another installment of the one-note Celine Dion Show talk show sketches, before remembering that this is a duets album sketch.
— Here’s our weekly spot-on Jimmy Fallon impression. His imitation of Michael Stipe’s dancing is particularly funny.
— Interesting that Jennifer is playing Jewel, just one episode after Jewel herself was a musical guest on SNL.
— Horatio’s Meat Loaf is cracking me up.
— While this sketch is basically repeating the same joke from the Celine Dion Show sketches, it’s coming off more fun in this different setting.
STARS: ***½


THE HOW DO YOU SAY? AH YES, SHOW
Antonio Banderas (CHK) paws coed (host)

— Unfortunately, unlike the preceding Celine Dion sketch, this does turn out to be the return of a one-note talk show sketch. I liked the first installment of this Antonio Banderas sketch enough, but can tell it will not hold up as a recurring sketch.
— After playing the main band member in the first installment of this sketch, Horatio is mysteriously absent in tonight’s installment. Jimmy’s mostly-silent band member from the first installment has now taken over Horatio’s place as the main band member and is given the same type of dialogue that Horatio had, and Darrell has been added as a new mostly-silent band member who’s basically doing what Jimmy did in the first installment. I’ve always wondered if the reason Horatio dropped out of this sketch is because he (or SNL) perhaps felt bad about playing such a broad Mexican stereotype so early into his tenure as SNL’s first Hispanic cast member.
— Some laughs from Kattan’s Banderas treating Jennifer’s breasts like two people.
— After one of the many times he teases taking off his shirt, I like Banderas briefly putting his hands on the top of his pants and asking if he should bring out his “friend”, referring to his penis.
— Overall, not quite as bad as I was expecting, but I still didn’t enjoy this as much as the first installment.
STARS: **½


MATERNITY WARD
candy stripers Craig & Arianna stumble upon pregnant classmate (host)

— The Cheerleaders make their first appearance in a quite a long while (for their standards). This ends up being their ONLY appearance this entire season, then they only appear once in the following season and that’s the last we ever see of them.
— I wonder if the only reason they’re doing a Cheerleaders sketch tonight is to keep up the tradition of doing these sketches whenever a Party Of Five cast member hosts in this era (Neve Campbell, Scott Wolf, and now Jennifer Love Hewitt).
— Interesting how Jennifer is playing Alexis, a previously-unseen character who Arianna usually always shouted at to off-camera in previous Cheerleaders sketches.
— Funny line from Craig about how this is only the second time he’s ever seen a vagina, the first being when his grandmother fell in the tub.
— A good use of Beastie Boys’ Ad-Rock.
STARS: ***


TV FUNHOUSE
by RBS- The Ambiguously Gay Duo misses the subtext of fans’ letters

— Tonight’s recurring-heavy episode continues, as we get an Ambiguously Gay Duo cartoon, for the first time this season.
— Ah, a change of pace, with Ace and Gary reading fan mail.
— Big laughs from the increasingly perverted letters Ace and Gary are reading off.
— Very funny bit with the X-Ray Specs.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ relates credentials of those involved in Clinton impeachment hearings

— A particularly good amount of funny lines during Colin’s opening straight-to-camera rant.
— Ah, finally, Colin ends an opening straight-to-camera rant with an actual segue into the Update opening title sequence, instead of SNL just abruptly cutting to the title sequence after Colin finishes a sentence in his rant.
— Colin is more marble-mouthed than ever in tonight’s Update, and that’s saying something.
— No guest commentaries in tonight’s overall Update.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “3 MC’s and One DJ”


CLEAN TEEN DEODORANT SPOKESPERSON SEARCH
Clean Teen Deodorant Spokesperson Search finds Mary Katherine Gallagher

— Tonight’s recurring-heavy episode continues. Seeing the Cheerleaders and Mary Katherine Gallagher in the same episode makes this feel like an episode from 1996, back when both recurring sketches were at their peak of popularity and frequently appeared on the show. Am I in for a Roxbury Guys or Goat Boy sketch next, to complete the 1996 feel of tonight? (Obviously not, as Jim Breuer is no longer on the show at this point, and SNL retired the Roxbury Guys after their movie bombed earlier this season.)
— This Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch reminds me an awful lot of the one with Elle MacPherson, where MKG competed in a teen modeling contest. We even get Will playing the contest emcee in both MKG sketches, and doing a solid job both times.
— A good laugh from Cheri quickly doing an “f you” arm gesture towards the camera when she doesn’t get chosen as one of the finalists.
— Overall, some laughs, but MKG’s antics in this sketch had a bit of a tired feel, and this MKG installment paled in comparison to the similar one with Elle MacPherson. Even the Cheerleaders came off fresher tonight than MKG did, though it’s obvious that we’re nearing the end of the road for both recurring sketches. I can’t remember how many remaining MKG sketches there are during Molly’s tenure as a cast member. Off the top of my head, I can only remember the Black Angels one with Gwyneth Paltrow later this season (one of the better MKG sketches) and the Jewish basketball team one with Jerry Seinfeld at the beginning of the following season, plus a special quick musical number MKG performs with the SNL Band in Molly’s final episode as a cast member.
STARS: **½


LET’S MAKE THIS HAPPEN!
Hollywood players (WIF) & (host) pitch to LOM

 

— Hey, an actual original sketch tonight.
— The use of slots reminds me of another gameshow sketch in this era: Food, Sex, or Cars.
— Speaking of the slots in this sketch, former one-season SNL cast member David Koechner can be seen among the rapidly-scrolling pictures of celebrities in one of the slots (screencap below).

— Speaking of former cast members, when a picture of Harry Anderson popped up in one of the slots, I actually thought that was Dana Carvey at first.
— I love the premise of this sketch, and it’s being executed well.
— I like the randomness of “the sound of a producer being serviced by a prostitute” being used to signal the show to go to the “Ultimate Pitch” round.
— This sketch now gets very meta, with Lorne being who Jennifer and Will have to pitch a movie to.
— A fun and solid sketch overall.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sabotage”


HUSSEIN’S HIDEAWAY
Saddam Hussein’s (WIF) private bunker is marked by adolescent trappings

— Always good to see Will’s Saddam Hussein impression.
— Some good amusement from the inspectors teasing Saddam over the personal items they find in his bunker.
— A funny and charming mock-sentimental turn this sketch takes towards the end.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not as good as the long string of solid episodes that preceded this. This is the first episode all season that I don’t have a bunch of positive things to say about. That’s certainly not to say that this was a subpar episode, as I still enjoyed a good amount of the show, but the overall episode was a little too recurring-heavy for my likes, and there were barely any standout strong segments.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Joan Allen)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Vince Vaughn

Posted on

November 14, 1998 – Joan Allen / Jewel (S24 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OPPOSITES ATTRACT
Bill Clinton (DAH) & Newt Gingrich (CHP) dance & sing “Opposites Attract”

— Will already gets a laugh right from the start, with his Bob Livingston smugly laughing while replacing Newt Gingrich’s desk name plate with his own.
— A hilarious slyly-delivered greeting from Darrell’s President Clinton: “Hey, guys, just came to see if I’m impeached yet!”
— I love Will’s Livingston shoving Parnell’s Newt Gingrich while walking out of the office.
— A great line about “sick, illiterate kids with gunshot wounds”.
— Funny turn with Clinton and Gingrich breaking out into a romantic musical number, especially when they begin traveling around the studio and dancing in front of a green-screen with constantly-changing scenery.
— Parnell gets to show off his nice singing voice here.
— And there goes the obligatory kiss between Clinton and Gingrich. I used to find that funny, before man-on-man kissing in comedy (especially on SNL) became an overused and hacky crutch.
— Only six episodes into his featured player stint, and Parnell already gets his first “Live from New York…”.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— This season’s ever-changing theme music has been changed back to the one used in the Lucy Lawless episode from earlier this season. SNL finally ends up settling on this as the regular theme music, as it will be used for all of the subsequent episodes this season and the following season.


MONOLOGUE
host’s theater experience leads (WIF) to think she’s the band Steppenwolf

— Will’s long gray-haired fan of the band Steppenwolf is pretty funny.
— The premise of this monologue is simplistic and fairly lazy, but Will is making the best out of it with his funny performance.
STARS: ***


THE JENSON MINT
stick it to panhandlers with The Jenson Mint’s Fake Change For Vagrants

— I like that Parnell gets to star in the post-monologue fake ad two episodes in a row (with Mercury Mistress being the first ad).
— The fake coin is hilarious, especially the side with the middle finger.
— A big laugh from the Pat Buchanan dollar bill with the words “Suck it!”
STARS: ****


MARTHA STEWART LIVING
Martha Stewart’s (ANG) mother (host) is a source of Thanksgiving friction

— I love the bitter tension between Ana’s Martha Stewart and her mother.
— Joan is great as Martha Stewart’s testy mother.
— I’m enjoying the whole back-and-forth between Martha and her mother regarding a childhood Thanksgiving memory of Martha’s.
STARS: ****½


VH1 SPIRITUALITY AWARDS
transcendent celebrities receive acknowledgment

— I like Christ being casually included in the middle of the announced list of featured guests.
— Kattan’s Andy Dick impression makes its debut.
— Very funny pairing of Tracy’s Maya Angelou and Jimmy’s Marilyn Manson.
— When a graphic of Alanis Morissette’s name is supposed to show up onscreen as Cheri’s Alanis Morissette accepts her award, SNL accidentally puts up a graphic that states “Linda Ham, NASA Flight Director” (the third above screencap for this sketch). Haha, that graphic is intended for a Harry Caray sketch later tonight.
— Cheri’s Alanis impression is weak. Even male cast members Jim Breuer and Jimmy Fallon have previously done better Alanis impressions than that.
— I love Will’s Jesus looking laid-back in a casual pair of glasses.
— Very funny bit with Will’s Jesus about to open an envelope containing the name of the winner, only to go “Why am I even opening it? I’m all-knowing.”
— Speaking of weak celebrity impressions, Tim as Will Smith.
— Kattan’s mean-spirited one-liners as Andy Dick are cracking me up (and would later start a public feud between Kattan and Dick).
— Joan could not look any less like Madonna, but her performance as Madonna is solid and she has a lot of funny lines.
— Joan’s Madonna to Molly’s Courtney Love: “The goal of Buddhism is to attain nirvana, not break it up.”
— Overall, one of the rare SNL award show sketches that I actually really liked.
STARS: ****


TRIAL
defense attorney Suel Forrester cross-examines witness (John Goodman)

— I love Parnell’s look when the camera first cuts to him (the first above screencap for this sketch).
— Surprisingly, this is the first time Kattan has played Suel Forrester since season 22. This character completely skipped season 23. This weird pattern for Forrester continues, as he skips the following season 25, then comes back in season 26. Probably a good thing this character only appears every other season, as it keeps him fresh.
— Our second of many John Goodman cameos this season.
— I like Tim’s ‘“Did you just call me a chicken?” response to Forrester’s unintelligible yell of “Objection, your honor!”
— A particularly funny unintelligible line from Forrester, with him saying what sounds like “Can you tie a titty?”
— I like Goodman’s confused facial reactions to Forrester.
STARS: ***½


SPACE, THE INFINITE FRONTIER
in death, Harry Caray (WIF) remains goofy

— The final installment of this sketch, and the first time Will is playing Harry Caray after Caray’s death earlier that year.
— Given the “Linda Ham” technical error from the Spirituality Awards sketch earlier tonight, it would’ve been funny if this Harry Caray sketch accidentally put an Alanis Morissette name graphic onscreen when Joan’s Linda Ham was introduced.
— Linda Ham: “Please forgive me for asking this, but… didn’t you die?” Harry Caray: “Yes, I did. What’s your point?” I love how after that exchange, the sketch immediately goes on like normal, as if nothing is strange about a dead Harry Caray hosting a talk show.
— A big laugh from Caray randomly exclaiming “LINDA HAM!” several times in  a row, then asking her “Does your name ever make you hungry?”
— I love Caray offering Linda Ham to make “sloppy martian love” with him in the back of his dune buggy on Mars.
— I can’t tell if Joan is laughing for real right now or if it’s in character (the last above screencap for this sketch).
— Overall, a riot. To me, none of the Space The Infinite Frontier follow-ups equal the classic first one with Jeff Goldblum, but tonight’s came very close.
STARS: ****½


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ discusses Iraq inspection tensions & the possibility of war
ultramedicated Colette Reardon previews upcoming prescription drugs

— Colin’s “catering mistake” joke about the movie Babe has always been one of my all-time favorite Update jokes of his.
— Nice to see Cheri’s Collette Reardon in a new setting.
— Colin’s a stiff straight man to Collette Reardon.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hands”


LEARNING WITH JENNIFER TILLY
host & French Stewart (JIF) drop in

— While this is yet another case of SNL’s lazy trope of putting a celebrity impression into their own talk show sketch, I am interested in the bizarre, unconventional atmosphere of this particular sketch. Plus, I have the benefit of knowing in hindsight that this sketch never becomes recurring.
— I’m getting laughs from the wacky “wiggle” music that Cheri’s Jennifer Tilly is dancing to.
— I hate to criticize a second celebrity impression of Cheri’s tonight, but her Jennifer Tilly voice isn’t high-pitched enough. I’ve seen much better impressions of her. Between Tilly, Alanis Morissette, and Cheri’s weak recurring Fran Drescher impression, I didn’t realize until now how bad Cheri is at doing celebrity impressions (Barbara Walters notwithstanding).
— Funny bit with Tilly saying she learned to use a fancy computer, which just turns out to be an Etch-A-Sketch.
— This portrayal of Jennifer Tilly as a learning-obsessed simpleton seems kinda random to me, but perhaps this portrayal is based on how she comes off in interviews.
— I like Joan finding a way out of the interview by faking an emergency phone call.
— Ha, Jimmy as French Stewart, the role he was born to play. His look as him is uncanny, and he’s doing a spot-on imitation of his voice.
— Speaking of Jimmy’s look as French Stewart, something about the facial expressions Jimmy’s making kinda remind me of Mike Myers for some reason.
STARS: ***


SOUTHERN GALS
(host) & other hick tourists think their NYC adventure is just great

— The return of the Southern Gals characters from the preceding season’s Claire Danes episode.
— I like the New York location for these characters, after they toured in Paris in their previous sketch.
— Like last time, a lot of funny little comments from the ladies all throughout this.
— Funny ending with a New York rat suddenly appearing on Molly’s shoulder.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Down So Long”


TARMAC TALK
(TIM), (host), Jerry Seinfeld (JIF) are blown around runway

— Yet another talk show sketch tonight, but I love the very random setting of this one.
— I like the various effects SNL is using to give off the illusion that this sketch is really taking place in a tarmac.
— Jimmy displays yet ANOTHER dead-on celebrity impression, this time doing a funny Jerry Seinfeld. So far in his SNL tenure, Jimmy has been carving out a great niche for himself as a reliable impressionist.
— I love Jimmy’s Seinfeld constantly questioning the logic of this show.
— Great visual of Tim hanging on to a pole when a particularly strong wind from a nearby airplane blows everything away.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Yet another in a long line of solid season 24 episodes. This season has been on a roll. Tonight’s episode had a nice consistency to it, and there weren’t any segments that I disliked. There was also a good number of standout strong segments.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (David Spade)
about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Jennifer Love Hewitt

Posted on

November 7, 1998 – David Spade / Eagle-Eye Cherry (S24 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THERAPY
DAS complains to his therapist (Brad Pitt) about the curse of fame

— I got a good laugh from how, as an example of how he can’t remember the names of the newer SNL cast members, David says he kept calling Tim Meadows “Jim” all week, and then you remember that Tim was David’s castmate for years.
— Random Brad Pitt cameo. It’s surprising that, to this day in 2019, this is the only time he’s ever appeared on SNL.
— You can tell this cold opening is pre-taped, as the reveal of Pitt’s presence would’ve gotten a bigger audience reaction had he been there live in the studio.
— Lots of pretty funny lines from David throughout this.
— A funny subtle gag with Pitt needing to glance at his pad to remember David’s name, after David went on and on about his own stardom.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— This season’s ever-changing theme music has been changed back to the one used in the Kelsey Grammer episode from earlier this season.


MONOLOGUE
DAS does stand-up about a polar bear mauling & the archetypal Cops perp

— I love David’s opening line, regarding coming back to SNL as a host: “(in a sly voice) Now the pupil has become the teacher!”
— Funny bit about a drunk guy hallucinating a bear signaling him to come over.
— I love David’s rundown of every redneck stereotype seen in every episode of Cops.
— Surprised this is over already. I wanted more stand-up.
STARS: ****


MERCURY MISTRESS
the Mercury Mistress is the car you can both drive & have sex with

— A fake ad that would end up never being re-aired, as it was deemed too raunchy at the time.
— A very juvenile but hilarious concept, and Parnell is perfect for this. Speaking of which, this is the very first of what would be quite a number of perv roles that SNL would cast Parnell in over the years.
— I love the visual of a blurred-out hole on the car.
— Hilarious bit with Horatio as a car burglar getting busted trying to have sex with Parnell’s car.
— The ending bit felt a little unnecessary, as the visual of Parnell humping the car started to get a little old.
STARS: ****


PRESS JUNKET
Monica Lewinsky (MOS) & publicist (DAS) screen potential interviewers

— A fun excuse to bring in a lot of celebrity impressions.
— Our first time seeing Darrell’s Phil Donahue impression in a few seasons.
— I love Ana’s Diane Sawyer saying, in regards to Barbara Walters, “That whore” and “Walters, I will KICK YOUR ASS!”
— Very funny bit with Cheri’s Barbara Walters coming back in while badly disguised as Sally Jessy Raphael.
— David is perfectly cast in this role.
— Jimmy displays yet another solid celebrity impression, though I recall him later saying that he feels his Howard Stern sounds more like Alan Alda.
— I love Molly-as-Monica’s childlike gleeful reaction to receiving a box of Snackwells.
— Great bit with Tim’s Oprah being carried in by a group of worshipers chanting her name.
— A good laugh from Tim’s Oprah mentioning how her movie Beloved is “eating it hard at the box office”.
STARS: ****


MACK NORTH
Mack North (WIF) relishes victory in exorbitant post-election attack ad

— Hilarious how Will’s politician is taking out a mean-spirited post-election ad to obnoxiously brag about his victory over his opponent. A perfect Will Ferrell role.
— I probably shouldn’t share this, but I remember when I first saw this, in a Comedy Central rerun, Will’s delivery of “Hey, you ate it! Now eat me!” made me laugh so uncontrollably hard that I seriously almost went to the bathroom on myself.
STARS: ****


ACCRUING EQUITY AND MAKING HOT, SWEET LOVE
finance & fornication mingle

— A very unconventional and creative concept.
— David looks very funny in that wig and mustache.
— I love the use of sensual lighting and soft background music when each panelist is describing their love-making.
— Ana’s love-making story has a lot of hilarious details and word choices.
— David’s love-making story about sex on a Wendy’s rooftop has a lot of funny bizarre turns.
STARS: ****


MACK NORTH
Mack North accosts vanquished opponent Fred Peete (CHP) in a parking lot

— Again, Will’s obnoxious demeanor in this is slaying me.
— A big laugh from Will’s particularly harsh line to his opponent: “Your kids are that extra kind of chubby that you just KNOW that they’re gonna grow up fat.”
— I love the scene with Will confronting his opponent (Parnell) in a Target parking lot and childishly harassing him.
— Good ending with Will saying to his camera crew “Let’s get ‘im! Let’s GET ‘im!” when his opponent drives away in a hurry.
STARS: ****


DRILL SERGEANT
drill sergeant (WIF) aggressively solicits love-life advice from recruits

— Man, tonight’s episode is on a roll.
— Will is perfect as a typical loudmouthed drill sergeant.
— Will’s insults towards the soldiers are hilarious.
— Will is great at mixing sensitive requests for relationship advice and abusively screaming at his soldiers.
— A classic example of Will trying to make a scene partner break during a sketch, as he tries to make David crack up by repeatedly bumping his own hat against David while David is giving a long speech to him.
STARS: ****½


MANGO & KIWI
new dancer Kiwi (DAS) seems to have stolen Mango’s magic; CSR cameo

— I guess I spoke too soon about tonight’s episode being on a roll. Here comes Mango.
— Mango gets an obligatory “recurring character meets a character with similar traits, played by the host” sketch.
— Chris Rock cameo!
— Fun seeing Rock, Tim, and David appearing in a sketch together for the first time since the early 90s when they were castmates.
— Rock’s mesmerized reaction to David’s Kiwi character is cracking me up.
— A laugh from how the only admirer Mango has left is an old homeless man.
— Overall, a bit more fun than usual Mango sketches, though I still wasn’t too crazy about this as a whole.
STARS: **½


MACK NORTH
Mack North uses a Fred Peete mask to further rub in the election results

— A somewhat funny concept of Will’s politician using a cardboard cut-out of his opponent’s face to speak as him, but this third ad feels a little unnecessary and they should’ve just left these Mack North ads at two.
STARS: **½


HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA
kids’ attempts to wish grandma “Happy Birthday” via phone displease (WIF)

— Wow, is tonight The Will Ferrell Show? He’s had a lead role in almost EVERY SINGLE SEGMENT so far tonight. I’m certainly not complaining, though I’m sure that some viewers back then who didn’t like Will were complaining when this episode originally aired (I can just picture them saying “Ugh, ANOTHER sketch tonight with Will Ferrell screaming his way through?”).
— I love Will interrupting the kids’ first singing of “Happy Birthday” to tell them calmly with a smile “Don’t half-ass it, okay?”
— Sketches with Will playing an angry father berating children never fail to crack me up. I’d like to think that the dad he’s playing in this particular sketch is the same dad from the “Get off the shed!” sketches.
— Kid: “Is grandma gonna die?” Will: “She is if you don’t nail it this time!”
— Odd how this is the second sketch tonight with Will using “horses ass” as an insult.
— Great turn with Will now directing his anger towards his mother on the phone, telling her “You can go straight to hell! I’m a lawyer! I go to court… and… talk with big words! You’re the devil!”
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ analyzes the gifts given by Bill Clinton to Monica Lewinsky
Hollywood Minute- DAS & lookalike hand puppet engage in celebrity gossip

— Colin’s opening straight-to-camera rant tonight is funnier than usual.
— I believe this is SNL’s very first mention of Osama Bin Laden (who Colin calls “Osam Bin Laden”). Little did they know at the time what a frequently-uttered name that would become on their show a few years later…
— I love the exuberant German accent Colin uses to pronounce “Der Spiegel” (and throwing in an obligatory utterance of the word “folks” after it, for good measure).
— Colin’s “Gucci knock-off” joke was excellent, and is one of his best Update jokes ever.
— Spade returns with the Hollywood Minute!
— Interesting concept with David using a hand puppet of his early 90s-era self to do tonight’s Hollywood Minute.
— The use of the hand puppet is helping save some of the weaker jokes in tonight’s Hollywood Minute and allows for David to make lots of fun ad-libs towards his puppet.
— Uh-oh! An Eddie Murphy photo has now popped up during the Hollywood Minute commentary.
— Ha, after David’s hand puppet’s Holy Man/holy crap joke about Eddie, David references the controversy over his own Eddie slam from an earlier Hollywood Minute by telling the puppet “Don’t say that. We’re friends now” (which the puppet responds to with “That’s not what I heard!”).
— Funny blooper with David briefly forgetting to change his voice when speaking as the hand puppet.
— A random but funny gag with the camera doing a cutaway to SNL’s cue-card guy holding up tiny cue cards for the hand puppet.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Save Tonight”


FELICITY
(DAS) ruins Felicity scene by also speaking Keri Russell’s (MOS) part

— Tim, as the Felicity director: “I have a good feeling this could be the episode that makes people turn on the TV and say ‘Hey, there’s a show on TV called Felicity.’”
— Another good line from Tim, after David ruins the filming of a scene: “That was perfect, and yet, not good at all.”
— The concept with David’s character speaking Molly-as-Keri-Russell’s lines is getting really one-joke, one joke that isn’t all that funny and is having no escalation in humor as it goes on.
— Tim continues to provide most of my only laughs in this sketch, though his delivery of his lines is now starting to get a little stumbly.
STARS: **


DR. LAURA
Dr. Laura Schlessinger (ANG) berates callers to her radio program

— Ana’s bitchy, unlikable portrayal of Dr. Laura is good. I have no familiarity with the real Dr. Laura, but from what I remember reading in old 1998 SNL reviews of this episode, SNL’s parody is pretty spot-on.
— I love the dark humor with Ana’s Dr. Laura driving an emotional caller to suicide, complete with a loud gunshot being heard.
— Hilarious line from Will as a caller talking about going online and ordering up Dr. Laura’s “Steamed clam special”, referring to her nude photos that were recently leaked online.
— David is well-cast as an obnoxious child.
— Surprised that the sketch is over already. This was pretty short, and I kinda wish David had more to do. Seemed like kind of a waste to bring the host on for just the last minute of a sketch, and not give him much to say or do.
STARS: ***½


BACHELOR PARTY
chaperone (DAS) lays down the ground rules for bachelor party attendees

— The shirt that David’s wearing is the same one Tim wore in a season 22 sketch where he played a character named Jerry Steve Dave, The Magic Man (side-by-side comparison below).

— Yet another role tonight that David is perfect for. And there are some laughs from him telling the guys what nasty things they’re allowed to do to the strippers while also urging them to treat the strippers with class. I doubt these lines would be as funny if any host besides David Spade were delivering them.
— The fun performances from all the guys are elevating the material. And the various statements that Tim’s shouting out in excitement throughout the sketch are hilarious.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A mostly consistently solid episode. The first half had an impressive long string of great pieces, though the quality slowed down a little in the post-Update half. David Spade fit back into the show perfectly and, as I kept stating throughout the review, was cast into roles that fit him to a T.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ben Stiller)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Joan Allen

Posted on

October 24, 1998 – Ben Stiller / Alanis Morissette (S24 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

ROOFTOP BATTLE
stunt doubles of BES & his old boss LOM fight kung fu battle atop 30 Rock

 

— A nice change of pace for a cold opening in this era, and a unique setting, taking place on the roof of 30 Rock.
— I like Ben Stiller mentioning to Lorne his very short-lived featured player stint from 10 seasons ago and how Lorne used to cut all his sketches. It feels like just yesterday, I was reviewing those episodes that Ben was a featured player in.
— The physical fight between Ben and Lorne is pretty funny, with the blatant use of Asian stunt doubles.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— This season’s ever-changing theme music has been changed back to the one used in the Cameron Diaz-hosted season premiere. I guess SNL only uses this particular theme music when one of the stars of There’s Something About Mary is hosting.


MONOLOGUE
BES relishes applause intended for David Cone & other Yankees [real]

— I love that this is a continuation of the cold opening, with the camera cutting away from the home base stage after Don Pardo announces Ben to Ben landing on a car outside of 30 Rock, after having been thrown off the roof at the end of the cold opening.
— Speaking of which, Comedy Central’s old 60-minute version of this episode cut the cold opening (presumably because they couldn’t clear the rights to the music used during the Ben/Lorne fight; however, I think the online version of this cold opening on NBC.com simply removes the music), causing the first half of this monologue to make absolutely no sense, especially Ben saying “I think Lorne’s a little pissed at me.” The edited version tried to makes things slightly less confusing by removing the shot of Ben landing on a car outside of 30 Rock.
— Tim: “You think Stiller’s smoking crack again?” Will: “No, Stiller doesn’t smoke crack; that’s me.”
— Before Ben shows up backstage and runs like hell towards the home base stage, there’s a miscue where the SNL Band can be heard off-camera briefly starting to play the theme music again, before abruptly stopping when realizing they’re too early. I believe this gaffe would later be muted out in some reruns.
— Ben mistaking the audience’s wild applause for the Yankee players behind him as applause for himself is an okay gag, though I feel like SNL (or probably other TV shows) did this same gag some other time.
STARS: ***½


CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Sean Connery (DAH), Adam Sandler (JIF), Tom Cruise (BES)

   

— Yes!
— Jimmy has his breakout SNL moment, debuting an absolutely killer Adam Sandler impression. The voice and mannerisms are uncanny, in a way that you can tell Jimmy idolized Adam during SNL’s early 90s era (which Jimmy has later gone on to say is the first SNL era that spoke to his generation).
— Celebrity Jeopardy delivers yet another classic category mix-up, this time with Darrell’s Sean Connery misreading “Famous Titles” as “Famous Titties”. I also like how after Will-as-Alex-Trebek’s clarification on what the category really says, Darrell’s Connery can be heard off-camera exclaiming a disappointed “DAMN!”
— Good to see Ben’s always-funny Tom Cruise impression.
— Connery, during the “This is how many fingers you have” question: “I’ll show you a finger, Trebek!”
— I love how Jimmy’s Sandler is now breaking out into the Hannukah Song, complete with a guitar from out of nowhere.
— Much like the obligatory classic category mix-up, we get a classic Final Jeopardy answer reveal, with Connery’s initial answer, “Indoors”, turning into “I (*heart symbol*) Boobs.”
— Alex Trebek, during his sign-off: “That’s it for Celebrity Jeopardy. I’m going home and putting a gun in my mouth. Good day.”
STARS: *****


PRETTY LIVING
joyologist Helen expresses love for her yogi (BES)

— Jesus Christ, SNL. How do you follow up an installment of my absolute favorite recurring sketch from this era (Celebrity Jeopardy) with an installment of my absolute least favorite recurring sketch from this era (Pretty Living)?
— After sitting stone-faced through the first two-and-a-half minutes of this sketch, I finally got a chuckle, from Ben entering with a fake lazy eye.
— Some okay lines from Ana occasionally disclosing unhappy things about her personal life while keeping a smiling facade, but I feel like this SNL era is starting to overuse that type of humor, especially with Ana (e.g. the Hello Dolly sketch from the Kelsey Grammer episode).
— Just now, Molly doing one of her many leg-stretch moves caused her chair to almost tip over backwards, though she didn’t seem too phased by it, despite both Ana and Ben briefly dropping character to concernedly keep Molly’s chair from falling backwards.
STARS: *½


TV FUNHOUSE
“Heteroy” by RBS- Roy Fletcher’s superpowers can cure homosexuality

— Yet another daring concept from Robert Smigel.
— A hilarious opening theme song.
— One of the Coalition Crusaders, when seeing a gay biker: “Where there’s spokes, there’s sodomy!”
— A big laugh from one of the Coalition Crusaders trying to give the gay biker an interest in heterosexual sports by showing him pictures of clothed football players with their butt and crotch areas covered by censor bars.
— The “Thank you, thank you, Lord, for keeping my anus clean” song that the Coalition Crusaders are singing is priceless.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Thank U”


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ likens Israeli-Palestinian relations to meeting with an ex-girlfriend
JIF plays guitar & sings Halloween carols inspired by current pop songs
roommates Yasser Arafat (CHK) & Benjamin Netanyahu (WIF) share Gaza Strip

— I like Colin randomly saying “I’m Fred Savage” during his sign-on after the Update opening title sequence.
— Jimmy’s big breakout night continues, as he now gets to do an Update commentary as himself. I recall some SNL fans who saw this episode live later saying that they knew Jimmy would go on to be SNL’s next big star as they watched this episode.
— Odd how, after playing Adam Sandler earlier tonight, Jimmy’s now doing guitar songs on Update, which is something closely associated with Adam from his time as a cast member. (I recall an old SNL review from 1998 saying in regards to this Update commentary, “Apparently, Jimmy Fallon still thinks he’s Adam Sandler.”) At least the comedic concept of Jimmy’s songs tonight is different from Adam’s, as Jimmy’s songs involve him doing parodies of current hit songs while imitating the singers’ voices. This is a good use of Jimmy’s knack for doing celebrity impressions.
— I love how 1998 Jimmy’s shirt is.
— Jimmy’s coming off charming here, especially whenever the audience is applauding him after each song.
— I like how Jimmy is now doing a parody of Alanis Morisette’s “Thank U” song just minutes after Alanis performed that very song on the SNL stage. I wonder if this is the only reason why SNL placed that Alanis musical performance before Update, considering the fact that musical guests’ first performance in this era is usually always placed after Update.
— Man, listen to that big audience applause when Jimmy’s commentary is over. Yep, a star is indeed born tonight.
— After the tepid audience reaction to Colin’s first news joke that followed Jimmy’s commentary, I love Colin saying “Jimmy Fallon” in a soft-spoken voice while gesturing towards where Jimmy had been sitting earlier. Reminds me of similar ad-libs (e.g. “Prince, ladies and gentlemen”) that Michael Che would later make in his early Update days whenever a joke of his would bomb.
— I often complain about the awkward ad-libs that Colin has a bad habit of muttering towards the audience after certain jokes, but quite a number of his ad-libs tonight have actually been amusing me.
— Colin is throwing around his favorite word, “folks”, more than ever tonight, even during the set-ups to jokes.
— Some fun from how Will and Kattan are playing off of each other in this Arafat/Netanyahu commentary, though the material itself isn’t doing all that much for me.
STARS: ***


SPARKS
at a Halloween party, Zimmermans’ sex play makes (BES) & (ANG) nervous

— I like Ana quickly saying a passive-aggressive “He really does fall asleep, though” after Ben jokingly makes a comparison to himself falling asleep after sex. However, this is yet another example of Ana playing a character who discloses something bitter about her personal life while keeping a smiling facade.
— A particularly raunchy and funny part with Kattan trying to open a champagne bottle in a suggestive manner near his crotch while Cheri dirty-talks him for encouragement, followed by Cheri eagerly drenching herself in the champagne when it finally spurts out of the bottle.
— A fairly funny gag with trick-or-treating kids walking in while Ben shouts a very risque sexual comment, though the timing of that seemed a little off.
STARS: ***


REAL STORIES OF THE HIGHWAY PATROL
(WIF) & (BES) harass motorists

— Will, when finding out Horatio’s name is Jesus: “Am I supposed to believe the Son of Man drives a ’93 Mazda with a broken taillight?”
— Will and Ben are cracking me up with their motor-mouthed grilling of Horatio and Tim, especially the racist statements they keep throwing in.
— Feels a little weird hearing SNL make a mention of Steve Jobs as early as 1998, when Will and Ben are telling Tim the name of the man who founded Apple Computers. His last name is mispronounced in this sketch as “Jobes”, oddly enough, which I guess shows how little people knew about him back in ’98.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Baba”


LIVING WITH HIS PARENTS
30 year-old (BES) living with parents is hypersensitive to their remarks

— Ben is adding good realism to his performance. However, he’s bordering awfully close on annoying me, but that’s probably the point.
— I love Parnell’s mundane little asides to Ana throughout this sketch.
— Hilarious ending where, after Ben exits the house after freaking out at his parents all throughout the sketch, Parnell casually says in a frank-but-affable manner “I can’t wait for my own death.” Perfect delivery from Parnell on that line.
STARS: ***


STEVE WYNN’S BELLAGIO HOTEL AND CASINO
art lends Steve Wynn’s (BES) Bellagio Hotel & Casino buttloads of class

— It’s certainly fitting having impressionist Darrell Hammond playing classic impressionist Rich Little.
— I love the bizarre visual of Kattan’s Howard Hughes.
— Ben’s performance is nice, but his portions of this sketch aren’t doing anything for me. Maybe if I were familiar with Steve Wynn, I’d appreciate this sketch more. This feels like something that Ben lobbied hard to get on the show.
STARS: **


COINTREAU FOR CONGRESS / MASON IN ’98
solutions to bat problem dominate campaign ads of (BES) & incumbent (TIM)

 

— A hilarious random premise of two political opponents using their respective campaign ads to address a bat infestation in their town.
— I love the even-more-random detail of Tim’s politician being named Boo Mason.
— Kinda odd how all of these campaign ads are airing back-to-back instead of being spread throughout the episode like SNL usually does with a series of mock campaign ads. However, it strangely works in this specific case.
— I’m loving all of the absurdist humor in this sketch.
— A lot of laughs from Tim’s outlandish solutions to the bat problem (e.g. erupting a volcano to burn the bats, using larger and more aggressive bats to kill the bats).
— Tim suddenly getting attacked by bats right in the middle of his calm speech to the camera absolutely SLAYED me, especially his yell of “Son of a bitch!” right before the camera cut away from him. I cannot stop laughing right now.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode. Aside from the Steve Wynn sketch and the insufferable Pretty Living, everything in this episode worked for me, plus I found one classic in the always-reliable Celebrity Jeopardy, a near-classic in the TV Funhouse cartoon Heteroy, and an underrated gem in the series of absurd campaign ads at the end of the show. After having such a brief and unsuccessful stint as a featured player, it was good to see Ben Stiller being given lots of chances to shine in this episode, and he did well with those opportunities, which is also likely helped by his experience from his own sketch comedy show.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Lucy Lawless)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Another former cast member as host: David Spade

Posted on

October 17, 1998 – Lucy Lawless / Elliott Smith (S24 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NBC SPECIAL REPORT
GOP leadership is upfront about coup d’etat plans & disdain for citizenry

— The debut of Parnell’s Tom Brokaw impression.
— Right from this first appearance, Parnell’s Brokaw voice is spot-on and very funny.
— I like the voice Will’s using for Henry Hyde.
— Darrell’s Jesse Helms impression is always good for laughs.
— I like the random running bit with the republicans holding in a still, smiling pose towards the camera whenever they shake hands with each other (the fifth above screencap for this cold opening), which is a type of funny, silly gag that I find very representative and typical of this SNL era.
— The obnoxiously arrogant, gloating attitudes of the republicans is providing some good laughs here.
— Henry Hyde, on the possibility of America ever making a President Bruce Willis possible: “You’re all probably dumb enough to do it!”
— Creative use of “Live from New York…”, with the republicans hypnotizing the SNL audience and various others in the studio into saying it.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— The new theme music has been changed ONCE AGAIN. I don’t think there’s any other SNL season that’s experimented with the theme music as often as this season has been doing so far. The theme music being used tonight is the one that would soon go on to be regularly used for this opening montage, but until then, we still have a few more episodes where SNL will continue to experiment with different theme music.


MONOLOGUE
audience members’ questions of host assume that Xena is a lesbian

— Even as a newbie, Horatio is already able to get laughs from the audience without even saying a word as soon as he stands up.
— I love Horatio and his buddy (played by SNL writer Matt Piedmont) cheering and dancing like idiots after Horatio’s “We’re both into chicks!” slam at Lucy Lawless.
— I believe this is the first comedic role that Tina Fey has ever appeared in on SNL. Hard to believe this is only two years before she would start doing Weekend Update, as her voice sounds so different in the pre-cast member appearances she makes.
— Paula Pell’s whole bit is hilarious, especially her asking Lucy “Are ya feelin’ it?”
STARS: ***½


SHIRT IN A CAN
(TIM)’s emergency garment is little more than spray paint

 

— Tim’s mysterious absence in the last episode (was he out sick?) made me realize just how much I value him in this cast, as it feels exhilarating to see him return tonight.
— Tim’s eagerness throughout this commercial is really funny.
— This commercial has such a wonderfully silly concept that Tim is absolutely perfect for. I’m not sure there’s anyone else in this cast who could sell this commercial as well as Tim.
— Some funny warning disclaimers thrown in throughout this (e.g. “Not for use on genital areas”).
— I love Tim’s panicked exclamation of certain lines, such as “It’s burning my skin!” and “DAMMIT!”, the latter of which seems to be the most well-remembered part of this commercial.
STARS: ****½


JUDGE JUDY
Judith Sheindlin [real] finds for slutty clown (host)

— Ana continues to play the defendant in every single Judge Judy sketch. I can’t understand why, other than the fact that Ana is always good at playing indignant roles like this.
— Lots of rooting for the Yankees throughout tonight’s episode. (The Yankees were in a World Series game that aired during this episode.)
— I love Tracy’s reaction to Lucy doing her whore clown dance on him.
— Just now, the real Judge Judy memorably walks on and replaces Cheri’s impression.
— I like the real Judge Judy’s comments about Cheri’s “bony ass”.
— [sarcasm]Oh, what a surprise. Another Judge Judy sketch with the plaintiff “surprisingly” winning once again.[/end sarcasm]
— You’d figure that, after the real Judge Judy took over tonight’s installment, that SNL would officially retire these Judge Judy sketches. But nope. Much like how SNL foolishly kept The Joe Pesci Show sketches going for one more installment after the real Pesci and DeNiro famously appeared, SNL still does one more Judge Judy sketch, proving once again that this era doesn’t know the proper time to quit with certain recurring sketches.
STARS: ***


THE HISTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL SCANDAL
Andrew Johnson had sex with a bird

— Fairly funny. Nothing else to say about this brief piece, other than it kinda reminded me of that short-lived recurring “Brief Histories” segment from the first two episodes of season 22.
STARS: ***


THE CLINTON MARRIAGE: WHITE HOUSE IN CRISIS
Clinton scandal discussion becomes a slumber party

 

— I’m liking the increasing shallowness of the female anchors’ conversation about the Clinton scandal.
— Now this is getting funnier and funnier as this gradually is literally transforming into a girls’ slumber party, right down to the female anchors suddenly wearing pajamas, eating popcorn, and giggling like schoolgirls. A very cute, charming, and fun sketch.
— This is a quintessential example of how strong this era’s female cast is when working together. Whenever I think of the fun chemistry the Gasteyer/Shannon/Oteri female group had, this is always one of the first sketches that comes to mind.
STARS: ****½


TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- LOM & Howard Stern pair up for big ratings

— Why does the animated version of Will Ferrell have gray hair?
— I love the comical exaggeration of how wild the audience is going during the Cheerleaders sketch (which isn’t too far removed from the real audience’s reactions back when the Cheerleaders were at their peak of popularity), especially one pregnant female audience member being so excited that she gives birth on the spot.
— This is a very clever spoof of Howard Stern’s criticisms of SNL, and the fact that his show was competing against SNL at this time.
— The “Lorne and Howard Stern falling in love with each other” turn isn’t working for me.
STARS: ****


STEVIE NICKS’ FAJITA ROUNDUP
Stevie Nicks’ (host) Fajita Roundup offers music & Tex-Mex cuisine

— Here comes a well-remembered sketch among SNL fans.
— Very funny random concept of Stevie Nicks promoting a fajita restaurant of hers.
— Lucy is doing a fantastic Stevie Nicks impression.
— A lot of laughs from the fajita-themed versions that Lucy’s Nicks is singing of her hit songs.
STARS: ****½


THE HOW DO YOU SAY? AH YES, SHOW
Antonio Banderas (CHK) is too sexy

— The debut of this soon-to-be-recurring sketch.
— While I often complain about SNL’s tired trope of giving a celebrity impression their own talk show sketch, this particular sketch has an amusing-enough atmosphere that makes me a little more forgiving.
— Though he’s playing a broad Mexican stereotype, Horatio’s goofy one-liners are cracking me up.
— Overall, this sketch was merely okay and I liked Kattan’s performance, but I can tell I’m going to get sick of this sketch fast when they make it recurring later this season.
STARS: ***


THE HISTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL SCANDAL
Mexican whores knew LBJ as “el BJ”

— Quick, simple, and hilarious.
— Considering the Mexican theme of this, it’s funny how this immediately followed the Antonio Banderas talk show sketch.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ talks about atmosphere surrounding the denunciation of Bill Clinton
murderous doll Chucky gives a reasoned commentary about Clinton scandal
in an attempt to kill COQ, Chucky returns disguised as Dominican Lou

 

— For the third consecutive episode, Colin precedes the Weekend Update opening title sequence by doing a straight-to-camera stand-up-style rant, though this time, they’ve done away with the green-screen behind Colin and now have him standing in front of a darkened Weekend Update set. Probably more fitting, as the use of a green-screen for Colin’s rants was a bit much.
— Colin’s opening rant ended abruptly, though they often seem to. He needs to come up with actual segues.
— Very unusual and interesting seeing Chucky from the Child’s Play movies making a live SNL appearance (promoting the release of Bride Of Chucky). When it comes to the most unconventional cameo guests in SNL history, Chucky is probably only second to Mike The Dog (from season 11’s Jay Leno-hosted episode).
— What was up with Colin abruptly saying “I don’t think so, Chucky” and Chucky responding (ala Joe Blow) “I’m serious, Colin, I wanna have this beer”? Chucky never asked Colin for a beer in the first place, so why did Colin respond like he did get asked? They completely skipped a line for some odd reason. Some kind of glitch with the Chucky doll?
— The Chucky commentary had a very weak ending that came off lame.
— I like seeing Colin using the punchline of a joke to go off on a mini-tangent about the whitewashing of terrorists in movies and TV shows. As I always say, Colin is much better and more comfortable at doing this stand-up type of material than he is delivering straightforward news jokes that require him to use a straitlaced delivery.
— And here’s something else I always say: Colin needs to ditch his habit of muttering awkward ad-libs towards the audience after certain jokes. They never work for me.
— Ha, Chucky coming back out, disguised as Dominican Lou. Pretty funny twist.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Waltz #2”


BIOGRAPHY
Jack Perkins (DAH) boozes during profile of Puff Daddy (TIM)

— Pretty funny seeing Darrell’s Jack Perkins doing a biography on Puff Daddy. I also love Darrell-as-Perkins’ way of pronouncing “Puffy” as “Poofy”.
— A funny visual of Tracy’s Suge Knight being interviewed from jail.
— The portions of this sketch with Darrell’s Perkins seems to be focusing a lot less on his drunkneness than usual, which is probably good, as that gag seemed like it would’ve gotten kinda old after a while.
— Hilarious how Tim-as-Puff-Daddy’s “Come With Me, Part 2” song is literally just him repeatedly saying “Come with me” over an old Aerosmith track.
— A very funny visual gag with Lucy’s Jennifer Lopez placing her oversized butt in front of the camera while making out with Tim’s Puff Daddy.
— Pretty funny Steven Tyler impression from Jimmy.
— Tracy’s comments as Suge Knight are hilarious.
— A big laugh from Darrell’s Perkins randomly speak-singing lyrics to “Rhinestone Cowboy”, then going off on a tangent where he questions what the hell ever happened to Glen Campbell.
STARS: ****


ART CLASS
Terence Maddox disgusts (host) & her class of sculpture students

— The copy I’m reviewing of this episode is unfortunately missing the entire first half of this sketch.
— When Terrence Maddox displays his pose “The Stinker”, both Tim and Ana can be seen breaking character and cracking up. Will Ferrell is so damn funny that he can even get the unbreakable Ana Gasteyer to lose it during a sketch.
— A hilarious part with Maddox misguidedly bragging about the A’s and B’s he got on a test he recently took for hepatitis.
— I love Maddox’s line about “grading on a curve”, referring to the shape of the erection he’s currently sporting.
— Will’s over-the-top crying as Terrence Maddox always kills me.
— Even though a lot of this sketch just feels like a rewrite of the first Terrence Maddox sketch, Will is still making this work for me.
STARS (for the half that I saw of this sketch): ****


GOTH TALK
Circe & Azrael report on grand opening of The Emporium of Evil

— This is the first Goth Talk installment without Jim Breuer, who’s character in these sketches will be missed.
— It took Lucy a pretty long time to realize she was mistakenly holding the newspaper upside-down when showing it to the camera.
— Jimmy and Horatio seem to be basically playing surrogates for Jim Breuer’s character.
— Ha, Will is playing his backstage alter-ego, Ron! For a description of who “Ron” is, read this explanation I gave in the comments section of a recent episode review.
— Overall, not one of the better Goth Talk sketches, though it had its moments.
STARS: **½


NATIONAL ANTHEM
at the World Series, Marty & Bobbi marry a medley to the National Anthem

— Feels very weird seeing a Culps sketch airing in the 10-to-1 timeslot.
— A good change of setting for the Culps, having them perform at the World Series.
— Pretty funny when a hot dog is thrown at Bobbi from off-camera when she and Marty try to kiss each other.
— During the song medley, I love the transition to “The Roof is On Fire”, especially hearing Bobbi Culp say “mother-trucker” as a way of censoring herself.
— The show must be running long, as the sketch-ending audience applause and the crossfade to an SNL bumper picture of Lucy Lawless is cued up a few seconds too early, before Will and Ana have even finished singing their final note.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

— Yep, the show was indeed running long. These goodnights got cut off very early.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very solid and fun episode. This episode had the type of fun-loving vibe that I typically associate with this late 90s SNL era (specifically this season and the following season 25). There was a good number of strong, memorable sketches tonight, and none of the sketches were particularly terrible for me.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Kelsey Grammer)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Four-episode season 14 featured player Ben Stiller makes his SNL return as a movie star

Posted on

October 3, 1998 – Kelsey Grammer / Sheryl Crow (S24 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BEDTIME AT THE WHITE HOUSE
in bed, Bill (DAH) gets icy reception from bitter Hillary (ANG) Clinton

— I like how cold and tense the mood suddenly gets when Ana’s Hillary Clinton enters the bedroom.
— Some good silent acting from Ana and Darrell.
— A great part with Darrell’s Bill Clinton flipping through channels and finding talk about the Lewinsky scandal on EVERY channel, eventually getting to the point where even the weather channel has the meteorologist comparing blowing winds to “Monica blowing the pres–” before Darrell’s Clinton quickly shuts off the TV in a panic.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— The new theme music from the preceding week’s season premiere has already been replaced with different theme music. The theme music tonight is actually the same one that was used in the first two episodes of the preceding season.
— After inexplicably not being credited in the opening montage in their first episode the preceding week, the three new featured players Jimmy Fallon, Chris Parnell, and Horatio Sanz are credited tonight.

— Shaquille O’Neal is credited as a special guest, which is noteworthy because, if I’m not mistaken, this is the last time SNL would ever credit a special guest in the opening montage. I believe that to this day in 2019, SNL has yet to credit any special guests in the opening montage since this episode from 1998.


MONOLOGUE
host sings rejected alternative Frasier theme songs

— The rejected Frasier theme songs that Kelsey Grammer is singing are fairly funny, though nothing special. Kelsey’s adding some charm to this.
STARS: ***


KCF SHREDDERS
(JIF) pitches bagged lettuce & mayonnaise to Generation X

— A random but very funny concept of presenting a mundane lettuce & mayo meal in the style of late 90s “x-treme” ads marketed towards Gen-Xers. This is a spot-on parody of those types of ads.
— A fun use of newbie Jimmy Fallon and his youthfulness. I also like the occasional bits with fellow newbie Horatio Sanz popping in.
— I love Tracy’s delivery of “I’m a BIG MAN, and I need a BIG SHREDDUH!”
— Hilarious how the kids meal comes with How Stella Got Her Groove Back action figures.
STARS: ****


THE DELICIOUS DISH
Margaret Jo & Terry talk wilderness food with naturalist-cannibal (host)

— Like the last installment of this sketch (from the preceding season’s Julianne Moore episode), this one takes place in a rare outdoors setting.
— I love that we immediately start off with some dark humor, where, after Ana says that autumn can only mean one thing, Molly says “Thoughts of a Christmas suicide” when she and Ana are simply supposed to say “leaves” in unison.
— Funny bit with Ana randomly complimenting Kelsey on a beard that he doesn’t have, just to fool listeners who can’t view the show.
— Hilarious dark turn with Kelsey getting increasingly worked up when disclosing a disturbing story about the desperate measures he once had to resort to when having nothing to eat but his friend Carl. This is the type of humor that I find Kelsey great at delivering.
STARS: ****


TERRY FERGUSON FOR SENATE
avoid sex scandals by electing eunuch Terry Ferguson (WIF) to the Senate

— Funny little detail with Will’s lack of eyebrows.
— Very funny premise with Will’s politician using his political ad to disclose the fact that he lost his genitals in a fire, and why that’s a good reason for you to vote for him. Will is always perfect for material like this.
STARS: ****


BIG BERNARD
(TRM) treats grown-up son (Shaquille O’Neal) as if he were still little

— Funny opening bit with Tracy questioning Shaq on how late he is.
— A priceless visual of Tracy struggling to get the oversized Shaq into a spanking position.
— Some good laughs from Shaq’s hamminess when smiling and laughing carelessly while getting spanked.
— A solid turn with Tracy following the spanking by having a heart-to-heart talk with Shaq.
— More great visuals, this time with Shaq laying on the side of the couch to place his head on Tracy’s lap, and then sitting in Tracy’s lap when being sung a lullaby.
— Tracy’s performance in this sketch is fantastic. Definitely one of his all-time best. I hope this made viewers at the time go “Why doesn’t SNL use this guy more often?”
— A great sentimental ending.
STARS: *****


TERRY FERGUSON FOR SENATE
Terry Ferguson has neither Washington-insider status nor genitals

— Hilarious how Will’s politician is using his opponent having genitals as a reason for you to not vote for him.
— Great line from Will about how the thought of sex gives him phantom pains where his genitals used to be.
STARS: ****


THINKING ABOUT BURRITOS
a dame (MOS) turns film noir private eye’s (host) thoughts to burritos

— Kelsey’s a natural fit for a film noir parody.
— I’m getting some good laughs from the increasing absurdity of how Kelsey keeps equating everything with his hunger for burritos. The silliness of this sketch, which I used to dismiss as just dumb and unfunny, is actually working well.
— Kelsey’s voice-overs throughout this sketch have a lot of funny lines.
STARS: ***½


WET ‘EM DOWN!
(host) wets Baywatch, Hal Linden, Christine Baranksi, Patti LuPone [real]

— I’m not caring for where this has been going so far.
— It’s now a minute later, and yeah, this is just a one-joke sketch that’s doing absolutely nothing for me.
— Feels odd seeing “Barney Miller” (‎Hal Linden) and one-time SNL host Christine Baranski making a cameo in this context.
— The ending kinda gave me my ONLY laugh of the entire sketch, just because of how comically out-of-place it looked seeing Tracy and Horatio hosing down Broadway performers on a theatrical stage.
STARS: *½


THE BEST OF HORATIO SANZ
volume 1 of The Best of Horatio Sanz doesn’t quite fill the videotape

— In the same vein of the preceding episode’s “The Best of the First 20 Minutes of Saturday Night Live” fake ad, we get another fake ad spoofing the overabundance of “Best Of” specials that came out in this time period. Of the two spoofs, tonight’s “Best of Horatio Sanz” would go on to be the more well-remembered of the two.
— An absolutely brilliant and hilarious idea to do a tongue-in-cheek “Best Of” ad for a new cast member who’s only appeared on the show for an episode-and-a-half so far and has done nothing noteworthy.
— I love the portion of this ad announcing things like “The walk-ons! The thumbs-ups!”
— Announcer: “Horatio Sanz is still alive, but someday, he won’t be.”
— A particularly hilarious sudden part with “Some material from The Best Of Dan Aykroyd included”, as we see a clip from a Coneheads sketch.
STARS: *****


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ likens the problem of debtor nations to that of tapped-out friends
French playboy Tropical Storm Georges (host) luxuriates in his power

— Like the last episode’s Weekend Update, the Update opening title sequence is preceded with Colin doing a straight-to-camera rant in front of a green-screen, though we get different images displayed in tonight’s green-screen.
— The audience is pretty quiet during Colin’s opening rant.
— The Update theme music has been replaced with a new one. Too bad, because I absolutely loved the previous theme music, and this new one isn’t as good.
— The live via satellite interview with Kelsey playing an embodiment of Tropical Storm Georges feels like a knock-off of the famous El Nino bit that SNL did with Chris Farley a year earlier.
— Kelsey’s characterization here is good, but the commentary itself is completely forgettable to me.
— Not too great of an Update tonight, overall. Colin’s delivery of a lot of jokes had that uncomfortable stiffness that plagued some of his earliest Updates from the preceding season.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “My Favorite Mistake”


LONDON PEEPERS
(host)’s socialization try proves Mr. Peepers is animal, not human being

 

— After seemingly being officially retired a year earlier in a Claire Danes-hosted episode (in which Mr. Peepers was sent back to live in his natural home in the wild, and reunited with his family), Mr. Peepers gets resurrected tonight for no apparent reason.
— I love the painting of Horatio as a clown lit on fire (screencap below).

— Bah. Only 50 seconds into this sketch, and I’m almost instantly reminded of why I was happy they retired Mr. Peepers in the first place. No laughs from me here.
— Okay, I finally got a laugh, from the part with Mr. Peepers peeing on the dinner table.
— Only two episodes into his SNL tenure, and we already get our very first minor glimpse of a Jimmy Fallon character break (something that would later become all too common), as Jimmy can be seen helplessly smirking out of character at Kattan when Kelsey and Mr. Peepers exit the scene.
— This sketch feels really dead. Very little of this is working and the audience is largely silent, the latter of which is unusual, as the crowd usually always goes wild whenever Kattan does his Peepers shtick.
— Overall, easily my least favorite Mr. Peepers sketch, and that’s saying something. Definitely should’ve kept this character retired after the Claire Danes episode.
STARS: *½


MAAKIES
by Tony Millionaire- chopped-in-half rat becomes a mermaid

— The second and final Maakies cartoon to air on SNL.
— Wow, and tonight’s cartoon is now over, with me having said nothing about it while watching it. Overall, the random humor in tonight’s Maakies cartoon was even more random than the first one. I don’t hate these Maakies cartoons (though I’m aware A LOT of SNL reviewers did back when these originally aired), but I think I like these cartoons more for the animation style and voice work than for the actual comedy. I do appreciate the weird and disturbing tone that these cartoons are going for, but they never quite hit the mark for me, and they feel a little too out-of-place in this SNL era. It’s no surprise that Maakies didn’t last long as a recurring segment. I wouldn’t be surprised if “Tony Millionaire” tried to get more of these on the air as this season went on, but they kept getting cut after dress rehearsal.
STARS: **½


MORNING LATTE
Tom & Cass bug new producer (CHK); Shaquille O’Neal cameo

 

— An unusually late spot in the show for this recurring sketch to air, as it’s typically aired much earlier as one of the first post-monologue sketches.
— As always, I enjoy the way Will and Cheri play off of each other in these sketches.
— Funny part with Will and Cheri disclosing the fact that Cheri recently underwent surgery to have a baboon’s ovaries and a raccoon’s uterus transplanted inside of her, to increase her chances of having a baby.
— Very funny mix-up from Cheri referring to rappers as “rappists”.
— I like Will and Cheri’s tasteless comments about the producer’s (Kattan) sexual harassment past.
— Kattan is giving a solid performance as the producer. Odd, though, how that role isn’t being played by Kelsey (who’s nowhere to be seen in this sketch), as the host usually always plays the producer in these Morning Latte sketches.
— Shaq’s presence in a second sketch tonight reminds me that Tim Meadows is strangely completely absent in this episode. Very odd for Tim at this point of his SNL tenure, especially after the strong showing he had in the preceding week’s season premiere. I remember an old SNL review from this time in 1998 asking at one point, in regards to Tim, “Did Shaq scare him away?”
— I like the visual of Cheri trying to make gang signs with her hands.
— Shaq is awfully stiff in this sketch, and not in the funny deadpan way that he’s known for being in more recent years.
— SNL finally went through a Morning Latte sketch without anyone yelling an obligatory “You stupid bitch!” (or any variation thereof) towards Cheri.
STARS: ***½


HELLO DOLLY
personal problems pervade saccharine pitch of (host) & (ANG)

— The debut of a lesser-known recurring sketch from this era.
— I’m really liking Ana’s performance, as she’s coming off exactly like the type of person who would host a doll show like this.
— I like the running bit with Kelsey casually mentioning in passing some disturbing things about himself.
— Funny line from Ana about once putting the Lavender Angel doll under her shirt and trying to nurse it.
— Some good laughs from how it’s becoming more and more apparent over the course of the sketch that Ana and Kelsey have some serious unsettling personal issues.
STARS: ***½


THE LUMBERJACK CLASSIC
lumberjacks blame timbersports champion (WIF) for hogging Jesus’ backing

— Right out of the gate, Kelsey badly flubs his opening line by accidentally introducing Will by the name of his own character, which gets some laughs from the audience and causes Kelsey to crack up (the first above screencap for this sketch). I like Will’s reaction during this: not only does he stay in character, but he jokingly starts walking out of the shot while Kelsey’s laughing, only for Kelsey to pull him back into the shot.
— A solid parody of athletes always giving credit to Jesus for helping them win.
— Good line from Horatio about Will hogging all the Jesus.
— Very funny bit with Kattan as a Jewish lumberjack, complete with a yarmulke.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Surprisingly nowhere near as bad as I had remembered it being. Until doing this review, I had always considered this episode to be a real dud, and among the absolute worst episodes of this entire era. I know a lot of other SNL fans over the years have disliked this episode as well (at least in the past; I’m not sure what the general consensus for this episode is nowadays). I was pleasantly surprised to see during tonight’s viewing that this episode was much better than I used to give it credit for. The first half of this episode was actually strong for the most part, and the overall show had a lot of stuff that was pretty good. I even came around on that Thinking About Burritos sketch, which I used to cite as a prime example of how terrible this episode is. However, most of the lowlights of the night were particularly lousy for this era’s standards (Wet ’em Down, London Peepers), but the amount of those was thankfully kept to a minimum.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Cameron Diaz)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Lucy Lawless

Posted on

September 26, 1998 – Cameron Diaz / The Smashing Pumpkins (S24 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OPRAH 2002
Linda Tripp (John Goodman) et al recall Lewinsky affair

— This is the second consecutive season premiere to begin with an Oprah cold opening.
— Decent fake-out with the “Oprah 2002” title screen immediately being followed by us seeing Tracy as a very heavyset, porkchop-eating woman, who we’re supposed to assume is what Oprah will look like in 2002, only for us to find out Tracy is just playing a woman who’s introducing Oprah.
— Interesting how this takes place four years in the future, looking back on the Lewinsky scandal.
— Tim’s delivery is a bit sloppy.
— I like the tanned, mustached look of Darrell as 2002 Bill Clinton.
— Chris Parnell gets the honors of being the one in tonight’s trio of new cast members who gets to appear right at the top of show in the cold opening. I wonder if viewers at the time were watching this cold opening asking themselves “Who in the world is that playing Kenneth Starr?”
— John Goodman makes his first of many cameos this season.
— A particularly energetic “Live from New York…” from Tim to kick off this season.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Season 23’s drab opening montage has thankfully been done away with after only one season, and we get a new montage tonight.

 

— After season 23’s experiment with doing an opening montage with no traditional New York City scenery, we get a welcome return of NYC scenery tonight.
— I know this isn’t a popular opening montage among SNL fans, but I have a very soft spot for it. There’s a reason for that. You see, this is the very first SNL episode I ever saw, when NBC reran it during the summer of 1999. I was either 14 or 15 years old at the time, depending on when in that summer this rerun aired (my birthday is in July), which I realize is quite older than the age that most people are when they first discover SNL. After my first SNL viewing, I would go on to be a very casual SNL viewer for the next year, where I would only tune into bits and pieces of the show on occasional Saturday nights on NBC while flipping the channel back and forth between that, MADtv on FOX, and other channels. (And to be honest, 14/15-year-old me had a bit more of a preference for MADtv than SNL back in those days, until I started really getting into older SNL reruns on Comedy Central.) Anyway, because my earliest memories of being an SNL viewer are from seasons 24 and 25, which both use the opening montage that’s introduced in tonight’s episode, this opening montage now has huge nostalgic, sentimental value to me. It brings back nice memories of the early days of my SNL fandom.
— I will admit that the cast photos in this opening montage are pretty bland.
— I’m not caring for the new theme music, but not to worry, because it doesn’t last. The early episodes of this season are going to have A LOT of experimentation with different theme music for the opening montage, until they finally settle on one.
— Jimmy Fallon, Chris Parnell, and Horatio Sanz have been added to the cast tonight, all joining as featured players, which begins a new tradition of it being a requirement for every new cast member to join as a featured player. Something odd, though: neither Fallon, Parnell, nor Sanz are credited in tonight’s opening montage! Very unusual. Some SNL fans have had a theory that perhaps the graphics department wasn’t yet finished with the featured players portion of this opening montage. Another theory I’ve seen is that perhaps SNL was taking a page out of MADtv’s playbook by not crediting extras who are occasionally given noteworthy co-starring roles in sketches (something that was kinda common on MADtv in their first 5 or so seasons).
— I like the unique way the end of this opening montage transitions to the “ON AIR” sign on SNL’s home base stage (screencap below).


MONOLOGUE
without provocation, host gets tough with audience member (Hugh Fink)

 

— We get a new home base stage.
— Very random premise, with Cameron Diaz putting on a badass persona and picking on an innocent audience member (played by SNL writer Hugh Fink).
— I’m not too sure what to think of this random monologue, but I’m getting enough laughs, and Hugh Fink is making a good foil in this.
STARS: ***


MASTERCARD
MasterCard made possible the priceless aspect of the Lewinsky affair

— Very funny twist at the end.
— Short and sweet.
STARS: ****


SIDE NOTE: Starting in tonight’s episode, SNL shows a brief glimpse of the next sketch being set up during each commercial break, which would go on to be a weekly part of the show that still remains to this day in 2019.


THE VIEW
Mark McGwire (WIF); Debbie Matenopoulos (host) battles raccoon

— A new opening title sequence for these View sketches. I like how in the intro shot for Star Jones, we see Tracy as himself getting his Star Jones wig applied.
— I’m not too happy about the fact they they did away with Cheri’s Barbara Walters singing The View theme song.
— I like Molly-as-Meredith-Viera’s random “I am not wearing underpants” revelation.
— Ana’s Joy Behar impression makes her View debut.
— Will’s look as Mark McGwire is making me laugh.
— I got a good laugh from the picture of Will’s McGwire being hugged by his son, played by Darrell (the third-to-last above screencap for this sketch).
— I love Cheri’s Barbara blurting out at Cameron’s Debbie Matenopoulos “I will destroy you!”, before covering her own mouth in a shocked “Oh!”-type manner.
— A very funny “Dare Debbie” segment, with the View ladies trying to do away with Debbie by trapping her in a bag with a raccoon.
STARS: ****


OOPS! I CRAPPED MY PANTS
Oops! I Crapped My Pants can withstand full blasts from seniors’ bowels

— One of the more famous fake ads in SNL history.
— The reveal of the product is absolutely priceless.
— This hilarious commercial is made even better by the fact that the elderly couple is played by real elderly people and how they’re playing this so straight.
— A great line from the elderly man on how he knows so much about Oops I Crapped My Pants: “I’m wearing them… and I just did.”
— In Comedy Central’s 60-minute versions of this season’s episodes, this fake ad was strangely added to nearly EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. I kid you not, people. Just one of many examples of baffling, shoddy edits in Comedy Central’s versions of this season’s episodes.
STARS: *****


THE LADIES’ MAN
Leon & (host) act out scenes from the Starr Report

— A great change of pace, with Leon Phelps theatrically performing The Starr Report.
— The various vignettes that Leon and Cameron are performing are a lot of fun.
— Tim’s stumbliness from the cold opening is carrying over into this sketch a little, though he managed to make his flubbed line in this sketch funny.
— I love Leon’s line about having his wang “mouthified”.
STARS: ****


THE BEST OF THE FIRST 20 MINUTES OF SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
The Best Of The First 20 Minutes Of SNL redefines straight-to-videotape

— A clever self-deprecating take-off of the endless barrage of SNL “Best Of” specials that were aired on NBC that summer. Even if you didn’t have knowledge of that, this commercial still works, as the idea of an SNL “Best Of” special consisting of just the first 20 minutes of an episode is simply funny. There was once a similar gag on Weekend Update in the first episode after SNL’s 15th Anniversary Special, where Update anchorperson Dennis Miller presented a highlight reel of the next 15 years of SNL, which was just a sloppy montage of sketches from earlier that same night.
— Much like the Oops I Crapped My Pants ad, part of the reason why this fake ad is working so well is because it’s being played so straight.
— SNL would soon get even more mileage out of spoofing their own over-reliance on “Best Of” specials in the very next episode, where they do a “Best Of” fake ad for a certain new cast member.
STARS: ****


THE NEW HOLLYWOOD SQUARES
the game goes on despite collapse of the board

— Interesting concept of the Hollywood Squares board collapsing and severely injuring the celebrity players.
— Right in his very first appearance, Jimmy Fallon displays his knack for celebrity impressions. His Gilbert Gottfried impression is absolutely spot-on and is cracking me up. Bonus points to Jimmy for doing an impression of a former SNL cast member.
— Overall, this sketch was okay and the various celebrity impressions were fun, but this didn’t come off quite as strong as I think SNL wanted this creative concept to come off.
STARS: ***


TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- Richard Nixon haunts Bill Clinton address

— This is the second consecutive season premiere to have a TV Funhouse that consists of “outtakes” from something. Hopefully, this will be much better than the fart-filled Casablanca Outtakes cartoon from the last season premiere.
— A lot of laughs from Kenneth Starr holding up various semen-stained women’s clothing behind Bill Clinton. I’m kinda surprised SNL can get away with this, even in animated form.
— An absolutely priceless bit with dripping semen from the ceiling making Clinton’s hair stick up, as a nod to a famous scene from Cameron Diaz’s then-recent hit There’s Something About Mary.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ thinks it’s time to stop obsessing over the Lewinsky affair
Dominican Lou wants $1,000,000 for a baseball vaguely tied to Sammy Sosa

 

— As I mentioned earlier, this is the first SNL episode I ever saw. And more specifically, this Weekend Update is the very first thing I saw in the episode. Since Colin Quinn was my official introduction to SNL, I’ve always wondered if that’s the reason why I’ve never been quite as harsh on him as an Update anchorperson as a lot of other people are.
— Right out of the gate in tonight’s Update, before the opening title sequence is even shown, we get a big change of pace by abruptly opening with Colin doing a straight-to-camera rant while standing in front of a green-screen. Very interesting. Nothing like this had ever been done by an Update anchorperson before this point.
— Now that Update has begun proper, we see that SNL has a new Update set.
— Colin is really going all Colin Quinn on tonight’s Update, as he’s now doing another straight-to-camera rant (this time behind the desk), this time doing a breakdown of Bill Clinton’s testimony about the Lewinsky scandal, complete with actual clips of the testimony. I prefer Colin doing stuff like this to him trying to sound like a traditional Update anchor.
— Dominican Lou’s excitement while gushing about Sammy Sosa is charming.
— Tonight’s overall Dominican Lou commentary was okay, but nothing memorable or special.
— An unusually short Update.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Perfect”


THE ROXBURY GUYS
at the Moomba Club, foxy (host) picks up Roxbury Guys, Festrunks

— Surprisingly, this is the first Roxbury Guys sketch since the Helen Hunt Christmas episode from half a year earlier. And the only reason we’re even seeing a Roxbury Guys sketch tonight is because the ill-fated A Night At The Roxbury movie is about to open. By the way, tonight’s sketch also ends up being the final sketch that the Roxbury Guys ever appear in. I’ve heard a theory from some people that perhaps SNL lost the rights to continue doing Roxbury Guys sketches after the movie came out. The same thing happens a year later to Mary Katherine Gallagher after the movie Superstar comes out. Then again, earlier in this decade when the first Wayne’s World movie came out, SNL still continued doing Wayne’s World sketches on a regular basis.
— Not many laughs from me so far during this sketch.
— The audience apparently shares my opinion, as they’re fairly silent during a lot of this sketch, minus occasional random screaming cheers from some girls.
— The Festrunk Brothers! Fun twist.
— Even though it feels weird seeing the Festrunks being played by an older, slower, and less thin Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin, I’m still enjoying this, and this is bringing back nice memories of reviewing the original Festrunk Brothers sketches back when I covered the original SNL era.
STARS: **½


WITCHES BREW
words fail odor of witches’ brew; Jonathan Richman & Tommy Larkins cameos

— Odd premise, but I’m getting some good laughs from the creative disgusting descriptions of what the witches’ brew smells like.
— The off-camera yells from townspeople complaining about the smell have some solid lines. Tracy steals the sketch by not even being onscreen while yelling “That smells like Sasquatch’s nuts!”
— We randomly end the sketch with a cameo from the musician guys from There’s Something About Mary (Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins) singing a song about the bad smell of the witches’ brew. Kinda funny, if out of place.
STARS: ***½


GAP
“This is so easy” says sax-playing Bill Clinton (DAH)

— I love the idea of a Gap commercial starring a smug, sax-playing Bill Clinton.
— Again, short and sweet.
STARS: ****


JINGLEHEIMER JUNCTION
new cast member (WIF) spells disaster for kids show

— While the Weekend Update from tonight’s episode is the first thing I ever saw on SNL, Jingleheimer Junction has the distinction of being the first actual sketch I ever saw on SNL. This and Weekend Update are the only two things I remember seeing on SNL that night.
— And, boy, what a sketch for me to be introduced to SNL with. I am very honored to have this well-known classic be the first SNL sketch I ever saw.
— True story: in my original viewing of this sketch, I mistook Will for Colin Quinn. As I said above, Weekend Update was the only other thing I remember seeing in this episode during my original viewing, and when Will entered this Jingleheimer Junction sketch, I remember thinking to myself “Hey, it’s the news guy again!”, thinking Will was the same guy who I had seen anchoring Weekend Update. I was so damn proud of myself as a new SNL viewer for being able to recognize the same SNL cast member in two different segments. Little did I know that Will and Colin were two different cast members. As embarrassing as that mix-up sounds, that ain’t all. I spent my first year as a casual SNL viewer thinking Chris Kattan and Jimmy Fallon were the same person. I kid you not, people. And then eventually, I saw both Kattan and Jimmy standing next to each other in a sketch (from Jennifer Aniston’s season 25 episode) and my mind was blown.
— A priceless visual of the Jingleheimer Junction members innocently standing in an order that causes their shirts to spell out a letter-scrambled “fuck”.
— Tim’s reactions throughout this sketch are great. Between the Oprah cold opening, the Ladies’ Man sketch, and now this, Tim has been having a strong night.
— I love how after Horatio Sanz says “We’re supposed to learn about friendship, Joe”, Tim angrily snaps back at him “Shut up, Umberto!”
— Hilarious how every instance of “fuck” nearly being spelled out gets cut off by a “Please stand by” screen. When I first saw this sketch as a new SNL viewer, I remember being shocked at how close they kept coming to spelling out “fuck”, a shocked feeling that made me realize I was watching something special and daring.
— This overall fantastic sketch was the perfect length, not being dragged out too long.
STARS: *****


GAP
“This is not easy” says electric guitarist Hillary Clinton (ANG)

— Another creative political-themed Gap ad.
— I like how uncharacteristically badass Ana’s Hillary is coming off in some portions of this.
— These Gap parodies tonight are very well-done and have a lot of good little details in them.
STARS: ****


A MESSAGE FROM THE SPICE GIRLS
Spice Girls (MOS), (CHO), (CHK), (host) give advice for pregnant mothers

— Another Spice Girls PSA sketch, after the two that appeared in the preceding season’s Sarah Michelle Gellar episode.
— No Ginger Spice this time? I guess this was after she left the group.
— Like last time, I’m laughing more than I feel I should at Kattan’s mannerisms as Scary Spice.
— Some funny lines here, such as Molly’s Baby Spice proudly saying that if she has twins, she’ll give them each a different name.
STARS: ***


MAAKIES
by Tony Millionaire- proletarian Drinky Crow deadens himself

— “Tony Millionaire”?
— The debut of a very short-lived recurring segment. Strange how SNL feels the need to have two unrelated animated segments in the same episode, with both TV Funhouse and this.
— I believe these Maakies cartoons would later be turned into an Adult Swim series, titled something like “The Drinky Crow Show”.
— A strangely likable bizarre theme song.
— Interesting minor detail with the squirrel having a human right hand.
— Random ending with the crow blowing his brains out with his new gun.
— Overall, a very, very unusual cartoon. It felt completely out of place on SNL, but I’m all for SNL trying new things. I didn’t laugh all that much at this cartoon, but its weirdness did keep me interested in a way. However, I can’t even imagine how many SNL viewers were completely put off by this weirdo cartoon.
STARS: **½


GAP
“This is easy” says Kenneth Starr (CHP) as he jigs amid evidence

— Chris Parnell gets his very first lead role!
— I love how in his first big showcase, Parnell gets to show off his dancing skills. His dancing in this is hilarious.
— The fact that each of tonight’s Gap ads have the person in it randomly saying a variation of “This is easy” makes me think that these are a parody of a specific series of Gap commercials from this time. Oh, well, even without being familiar with them, these parodies still work for me.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid season premiere. I may be biased a little due to this being the first SNL episode I ever saw, but I feel that almost the entire episode was enjoyable, we got two all-time classics (Oops I Crapped My Pants and Jingleheimer Junction), and we got plenty of fun Lewinsky scandal-based material. I also like the new feel and look SNL had in this season premiere, compared to the last few seasons that preceded this. I was also surprised by how shorter-than-usual a lot of segments felt, leaving room for a higher number of overall segments (especially pre-taped fake ads and cartoons) than a typical episode from this era has.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1997-98)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Kelsey Grammer