Tag: Aretha Franklin

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March 12, 1994 – Nancy Kerrigan / Aretha Franklin (S19 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

PRESS CONFERENCE
Bill Clinton (PHH) announces that Hillary’s to blame for Whitewater mess

— A fairly obvious but pretty funny premise of Bill Clinton blaming his wife Hillary for the Whitewater scandal. There’s also some laughs from him constantly trying to act casual about downplaying Hillary being a killer.
— This is the second consecutive episode in which Julia’s only appearance all night is in a very brief cutaway in which she just plays a straight role. Going through this season, I can really understand her well-documented frustration and misery working on the show this season. Her airtime seems to be getting worse and worse as this season heads towards the finish line.
— Towards the end of this cold opening, there’s an awkward gaffe during the interaction between Phil and Ellen, where Phil appears to mistakenly jump ahead of the script before stopping and letting Ellen say her line. This rare flub from Phil would later be fixed in reruns by replacing it and the remainder of the cold opening (including Phil’s “Live from New York…”) with the dress rehearsal version.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Michael McKean has been added to the cast.

Several unconventional things about the addition of him to the cast: he’s much older than new cast members typically are, he’s already famous and very experienced by this point of his career (signaling the type of cast members Lorne would hire the following season), he’s the first cast member since 1986 to immediately join as a repertory player without doing a featured player stint first, and he’s a very rare instance of someone joining the cast AFTER having already hosted the show, not to mention also having already been a musical guest (in character as Spinal Tap).


MONOLOGUE
host answers some softball questions posed by fake audience members

— Nancy’s opening “This is the horniest thing I’ve ever done” joke (referencing her notorious “corniest thing I’ve ever done” comment about a Disneyland gig of hers) was terrible, groanworthy, and sets the tone for tonight’s episode, which isn’t a good thing…
— As expected, Nancy is coming off very wooden and bland.
— After a nice long break, we get an unfortunate return of the overused questions-from-the-audience monologue trope from the first half of this season. It also feels kinda redundant tonight, coming right after a cold opening that also had a questions-from-the-audience format.
— Not caring for most of the audience’s questions so far, though I like Jim Downey’s constant Tonya Harding/Bonnie Blair mix-ups.
— The exchange between Jay and Sarah was pretty funny.
— We get a very meta bit with one audience member (former SNL writer Christine Zander, returning as a guest writer tonight) asking if it’s true that due to the Martin Lawrence monologue, hosts are now only allowed to take questions from the audience. I appreciate how that’s SNL both referencing the Martin Lawrence controversy from the preceding episode and making a self-deprecating jab at their own overreliance on questions-from-the-audience monologues.
STARS: **½


CRYSTAL GRAVY
Rerun from 10/2/93


SPORTS BEAT
host, luger (NOM), biathlete (ROS) discuss post-Olympic life

— Michael McKean gets his first meaty role, and right out of the gate, he’s oddly making corny, exaggerated facial expressions during his opening intro. I’m not too crazy about that.
— Very funny bit with Rob revealing he had been shot in the face. Good facial make-up on him to accompany that.
— Yet another sketch this season that’s perfectly utilizing Norm’s great deadpan style. He’s having so many hilarious lines throughout this sketch.
— Rob’s been having lots of hilarious lines himself here.
— Great ending with Norm’s “At least I’ve got my gold medal” line immediately being followed by Nancy easily convincing him to sell it to her for $500.
STARS: ****


ST. PATRICK’S DAY PARADE
host is grand marshal of a St. Patrick’s Day parade in a depressed town

— A big laugh from Phil using a cane to beat the hell out of Chris’ screaming drunk character.
— Okay, it wasn’t necessary to repeat the Farley beatdown.
— This sketch has been pretty dead after the first Farley beatdown. Nothing is working much for me here.
— The mayor’s expressed contempt for his town, while probably not a bad premise in itself, didn’t provide any laughs, and the ending fell flat.
STARS: *½


THE DENISE SHOW
Brian’s old flame Linda (host) returns to see him

— SNL was already stretching things by doing a second installment of this initially-solid sketch that made little sense as a recurring piece. Now we get a freakin’ THIRD installment?!?
— Adam’s character at least gives an explanation for why he’s still doing this show after hooking up with Nicole Kidman’s character from the preceding installment, but this just feels like the writers hand-waving their decision to unnecessarily bring this sketch back again.
— They’re still using Shannen Doherty’s picture as Denise, on Adam’s table. I still can’t help but laugh imagining viewers who weren’t aware that Doherty hosted earlier this season being confused when watching these Denise Show follow-ups and wondering why the hell SNL is using a famous actress’ photo for an unseen character.
— Some of the segments within this sketch feel like an inferior copy of the segments from the first two Denise Show sketches.
— The 70s clip from The Linda Show made me laugh.
— Oh, now they’re making Nancy Kerrigan sing. God, make it stop.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “A Deeper Love”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Frank Sinatra (PHH) finishes his truncated Grammy Awards speech
Bono (ADS) sings a song to encourage alcohol-free St. Patrick’s Day fun

— This is the only time during Phil’s entire SNL tenure that he appears on the Weekend Update set (his previous Update appearances were all via-satellite bits), and even here, he’s not actually doing a typical sitting-behind-the-desk commentary; he’s standing up.
— I got a pretty good laugh from Phil-as-Sinatra’s “Thanks, Chevy” towards Kevin, but the premise of his acceptance speech being pointlessly brief didn’t do much for me.
— Hearing Kevin quote the words “Shut up, ho” in his typical deadpan news anchor manner gave me a big laugh.
— Eerie how two famous figures joked about in tonight’s Update, Richard Nixon and Kurt Cobain, would both die just a month later.
— Weird how Adam’s only Update guitar songs so far this season have been as famous singers (Bruce Springsteen, Bono) instead of as himself.
— Not too crazy about Adam’s Bono song. The lyrics are okay, but this pales in comparison to most of Adam’s Update songs as himself and even his Bruce Springsteen song.
— Why none of the usual participation from Kevin during Adam’s song?
— For the second episode in a row, Rob’s Sports Bloopers commentary got cut after dress rehearsal (pic here).
STARS: ***


DON MATEO
for some reason, Don Mateo (PHH) thinks a waitress (host) is hot-blooded

— Interesting how all three of the cast members seated at the table (Phil, Mike, and Norm) are Canadians in real life.
— Phil’s delivery is very good in this, especially when saying the line “Seared in the ANGER of your fiery ANGER!” The sketch’s premise isn’t working for me, though, even despite Phil’s best efforts.
— They seem to have given Nancy the simplest of dialogue here, yet she’s still struggling with it.
— An okay ending.
STARS: **


LILLEHAMMER 94
skater (host) tries to cope with partner’s (CHF) recent weight gain

— An initial laugh from Tim’s doughy Greg Gumbel facial prosthetics.
— And here comes the skating footage, which would go on to become a well-known Chris Farley piece, as well as the most memorable part of tonight’s troubled episode. I’ve never found this sketch to be quite a five-star classic like some other well-known Farley sketches, but I always find this to be a very funny and enjoyable piece.
— Pretty impressive skating from Chris.
— A lot of good laughs from the skating footage, especially Chris throwing an obvious dummy of Nancy in the air. Phil and David’s color commentary throughout the skating footage is also adding to the humor.
— According to GettyImages, a live post-skating segment with Chris and Nancy’s characters being interviewed by a reporter (played by Melanie) was cut after dress rehearsal (pic here and here).
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Willing to Forgive”


DISNEY
while wearing a Snow White costume, host greets guests at Disneyland

— Wow, that’s it? This overall bit was awful and pretty much pointless.
— According to GettyImages, the dress rehearsal version of this sketch had Ellen playing Tim’s role as a parent with a child (pic here and here), which makes sense, considering the child is played by Ellen’s real-life daughter Akeyla. I guess they had to recast Ellen’s role in the live show since she’s front-and-center in the sketch that immediately follows this.
STARS: *


BLACK RHYTHM & BLUES SINGERS TODAY
excitable (ELC) interviews musical guest

— Lately, it’s been feeling increasingly rare to see Ellen in a lead role. This has been a rough season for her (then again, the same can be said for ALL of the female cast members this season), and I recall hearing that she desperately wanted to leave after this season, but Lorne begged her to stay another season (maybe because he knew he was losing all the other female cast members – Julia, Melanie, and Sarah – and didn’t want the following season to start with an entirely new female cast), where she ended up having an even more miserable time.
— This sketch seems under-rehearsed, as Aretha and Ellen sometimes keep accidentally stepping on each other’s lines. (I’m not referring to Ellen’s sassy one-liners while Aretha’s speaking, as that’s clearly an intentional part of the sketch.)
— Nice ad-lib with Aretha reaching over and fixing Ellen’s frazzled hair after Ellen’s excitable head-bobbing.
— Well… Ellen certainly has lots of energy in this. That’s about the only positive thing I can say, as I haven’t gotten a single laugh so far, aside from Aretha’s aforementioned ad-lib. I’m not finding it too exciting seeing Ellen just going through a whole bunch of stereotypical black women cliches.
STARS: *½


DISNEY
while wearing a Tinkerbell costume, host throws toys from Tea Cups ride

— Oh, no, this is a runner…
— Mickey Mouse dumping a whole bunch of toys out of a garbage bin into the Tea Cup ride is the only time I’ve come remotely close to cracking a smile in these Disney sketches so far.
— I hate how these Disney sketches keep ending with a close-up of Nancy saying an unfunny straight-to-camera variation of “This is really corny”. Cringeworthy.
STARS: *


DISNEY
Abraham Lincoln animatron (MMK) joins host for her final corny Disney gig

— I say for the second time in this review: God, make it stop.
— While I would normally say it’s nice to see Phil starring in so many sketches tonight after how much he’s been phased out this season, it’s so sad that THIS is the episode that had to happen in. Tonight, he’s been performing some of the weakest material he’s ever been given in his entire SNL tenure.
— This overall third Disney sketch was completely dead. Even less laugh-worthy than the first two, if that’s possible.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Chain of Fools”


GOODNIGHTS

— Even the goodnights of this episode are awkward. Nancy misses her cue at the beginning, then starts saying her goodnights speech very hesitantly with occasional pauses.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Things continue to be rough for the second half of this season. Tonight’s episode was mostly a complete bore, especially the string of really bad, laughless sketches in the last 20 minutes. While I don’t think I agree with claims made in the past about this being one of the worst episodes ever, this episode is a clear sign of the continued decline of this season’s quality. Having an awkward, wooden athlete host didn’t make matters any better, as Nancy Kerrigan was the last type of host SNL needed during a struggling period like this. We at least got two strong sketches tonight (Sports Beat, Lillehammer 94), but they were far outnumbered by the show’s lowlights. Like I said in the last review, it’s getting almost depressing to witness this formerly strong era gradually sink like this, especially seeing an all-time great like Phil Hartman get dragged down with it.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Martin Lawrence)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Helen Hunt

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

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Those Incredible TV Shows will not be seen tonight

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


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

   

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

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


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

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


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

 

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


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

 

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


ROCKET REPORT
CHR exposes ferry passengers’ secret sexual behavior

   

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


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

 

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


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Aretha Franklin performs “United Together”


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

       

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


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

   

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


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

     

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


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

 

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


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


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

  

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


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

 

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


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

       

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


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

  

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


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


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

  

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


GOODNIGHTS

 

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


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Jamie Lee Curtis