Tag: Bonnie Raitt

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October 1, 1994 – Marisa Tomei / Bonnie Raitt (S20 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE
Bill Clinton (MMK) unveils his scaled-back universal health care plan

— As this opens, you can hear the very end of someone in the studio exaggeratedly yelling “FIVE SECONDS!!!”, which is a traditional thing SNL does right before the start of every live episode to get the audience laughing as the cold opening starts. In recent years, audio of it is played during the opening sequence shown before every “SNL Vintage” airing on NBC.
— After the preceding week’s Clinton Auditions cold opening, we get SNL’s official new Bill Clinton: Michael McKean.
— Early on in this, Michael already flubs a line, but then seems to try to save himself a few seconds later with an apparent ad-lib: “That’s why I’m nervous.”
— A minute into this sketch, and I have to ask, is too late to bring back Chris Elliott’s W.C. Fields take on Clinton? Michael’s impression is not good AT ALL.
— A few laughs here and there from the medical props.
— The health phone bit is falling pretty flat.
STARS: **


OPENING MONTAGE
— Don Pardo still seems to be having some trouble with the name “Kightlinger”, as he pronounces it a bit funny tonight. That would later be fixed in reruns.


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Lots of applause-pandering in this monologue so far, and not in the intentionally comedic way like Karen Black’s season 6 monologue or Chevy Chase’s season 3 monologue.
— Marisa’s coming off likable here (which is a big contrast to negative stories I’ve sometimes heard about her), but this monologue is kinda dull to me.
— I’m not sure, but I think they use the dress rehearsal version of this monologue in reruns. I recall her delivery being a little more exciting at parts than it is in this live version I’m watching.
STARS: **


LEXON PARADOX
teams of engineers worked to make the Lexon Paradox a contradictory car

— Very accurate parody of the style of a certain series of car commercials from this era (I forget which car brand).
— A clever commercial, and the conflicting car features are increasingly funny, especially the one with no brakes, and the one that makes the car shatter on impact.
STARS: ****


THE SIMPSON TRIAL
Mona Lisa Vito (host) testifies on behalf of O.J. Simpson (TIM)

 

— A very inspired and solid idea to have Marisa reprise her Mona Lisa Vito character from My Cousin Vinny in an O.J. Trial sketch.
— Judge Ito’s fawning over Mona Lisa Vito is entertaining.
— This sketch feels surprisingly high-energy for this season’s standards.
— Ito’s angry “SHUT UP, MS. CLARK!” outburst gave me a big laugh.
— Odd how they haven’t shown Tim’s O.J. until the very end, and even then, he doesn’t have any lines. At least they put a wig on his O.J. this time, unlike in the season premiere.
STARS: ****


PIERCING TODAY
various punctured people compare notes on body adornment

 

— An interesting time capsule of the piercing craze from this time around the mid-90s.
— Quite a visual of Farley with all those piercings.
— Funny story from Kevin about his rod-through-the-head “piercing” being a freak accident when walking past a construction site.
— Towards the end of this sketch, Marisa’s delivery is starting to become oddly exaggerated.
— I’m now starting to realize that Kevin’s been providing most of my few laughs during this sketch. I liked his answer when the guests are all asked what the downside is to their piercings: “The crippling pain and the blurred vision.”
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Sneaking Up On You”


WEEKEND UPDATE
MIM thinks that the hockey strike is stupid
TIM says that the hockey strike is bad for African-Americans
Cool Guy’s (DAS) week-in-review is accomplished via facial expressions

— A change has been made to the Weekend Update logo on the front of the Update desk.
— I liked Norm’s “The crowd is torn” ad-lib after the mixed reaction to the O.J. “Dorf on Stalking” joke.
— Mike making a rare visit to the Update desk.
— Mike’s “detailed” hockey analysis turning out to be a ridiculously brief bit was funny. Norm is helping sell it with his confused facial reaction when the camera pans back to him after Mike leaves.
— Norm does a lottery joke about a man named Dale Sturtevant. Isn’t that the same name SNL would later use for Will Ferrell’s character in the memorable Dissing Your Dog commercial from Season 27?
— A solid overall commentary from Tim, being overly passionate about his and other black people’s love for hockey.
— Norm’s jokes tonight have thankfully been a lot more Norm-esque than in his debut the preceding week. Even though he’s still using a bit of the professional, straitlaced anchorman delivery he used the preceding week, his natural Update style is gradually starting to form. Very nice to see.
— David Spade trying out a new character, I see.
— Norm to Cool Guy, a few minutes into his commentary: “Is this the whole joke, you don’t talk and just make funny faces?” Took the words right out of my mouth, Norm.
— Norm’s David Hasselhoff theory now officially becomes a recurring Update gag. I love that the audience never knows quite how to react to it.
STARS: ***½


MAKING BETTER LOVE WORKSHOP
voyeurs (ADS) & (CHF) ruin adult education sex demo done by (CSE) & (JAG)

— I was wondering where Chris Elliott was tonight.
— Surprisingly, this is also Adam’s first appearance of the night.
— All I can say about Adam and Farley’s obnoxious, juvenile, loud performances here is, it perfectly sums up what their dominant output will be this season. And I really could do without that in this particular sketch. Can’t I just enjoy a sketch with Chris Elliott being his usual funny oddball self without Farley and Sandler hijacking it with their tired shtick?
— Elliott’s seduction dance is hilarious.
— I’m enjoying the way Elliott and Janeane are playing off of each other. Speaking of Janeane, it feels weird seeing her so upbeat in some of her performances so far this season, knowing how miserable she would soon start coming off in many of her performances. I think the turning point where that onscreen misery of hers officially starts showing is the infamous Sarah Jessica Parker episode. There’s an interesting backstage anecdote that sheds a little light on her misery in that episode, but I’ll save it for that review.
— This is a tale of two sketches. We get an unusual, sloppy mix of Chris Elliott doing his fresh, quirky, weird brand of humor and Sandler and Farley doing their trademark fratboy routine. This sketch alone sums up what an awkward, bad mishmash this season’s cast is.
— Elliott: “We are simply two people trying to make love in an elementary school cafeteria!”
— Mike and Marisa’s mix-up with a beer bottle is pretty funny.
STARS: ***


DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
Michael Jackson (TIM) & Lisa Marie Presley (host)

 

— For some reason, it feels weird to see a Stuart Smalley sketch in this season. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, though.
— This sketch was actually cut from the preceding week’s season premiere. In that version, Janeane was the one who played Lisa Marie Presley (pic here).
— I liked the reveal that the letter Stuart has just read is from O.J. Simpson.
— Even though I’m not sure if it was intended to be funny, Tim’s Michael Jackson saying “Girl, you wake up the devil in me” cracked me the hell up.
— What’s with Marisa’s coughing after she kisses Tim? Is that an intentional bit?
— A good laugh from Stuart quoting a radio announcement of “Elvis Presley died today, straining at his stool.”
— Lisa Marie’s various random one-liners about Michael’s lifestyle (“He has a monkey”, “I’m not Macaulay Culkin”, etc.) started out funny, but are now doing nothing for me.
— Another gripe of mine regarding Marisa’s Lisa Marie Presley is that I could do without the constant repetition of “Yum, yum, gimme some.”
— Okay, I did get a laugh just now from Lisa Marie interrupting Stuart’s sign-off to say another one of her random one-liners about Michael’s lifestyle. I love how Stuart responds to that by just speechlessly looking around in confusion, never finishing his sign-off.
STARS: ***


MONSTERS OF MONOLOGUE ’94
a face-off between monologists Eric Bogosian (ADS) & Spaulding Gray (MMK)

— Not having much familiarity with Eric Bogosian, I can’t rate the accuracy of Adam’s impression of him. Adam’s “impression” just seems to be a variation of a certain voice that Adam has a tendency to fall back on too much (you know the one).
— Michael’s Spaulding Gray, on the other hand, is absolutely spot-on. And he’s delivering his fast-paced lines perfectly and brilliantly.
— This is another sketch tonight that shows what an awkward mishmash this season’s cast is. Sandler doing his loud, hammy, broad shtick and McKean doing some smart, low-key humor. I feel it’s all actually coming together fairly well in this sketch, though.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Storm Warning”


BOBBY CAMILARRI’S BRIDAL FAIR 2000
discount nuptial vendors will be at Bobby Camilarri’s Bridal Fair 2000

— Not a bad premise, advertising a bridal fair in a monster truck ad-type of way.
— Eh, turns out this commercial is starting to bring back unwanted memories of that terrible Super Sports Tours commercial from the season premiere, even if this one isn’t quite as one-joke.
— Didn’t we already get an “All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt” gag earlier tonight?
— The brief shot of Marisa at the end came off pointless. It’s almost laughable in itself that they went through the trouble of getting the host into costume for a useless two-second shot that provided no payoff to the sketch.
STARS: *½


FALL MIXER
’70s high schoolers (ADS) & (host) engage in small talk while dancing

— I like the interesting and unconventional structure to this sketch, with Adam and Marisa each taking turns speaking whenever they face the camera while slow-dancing with each other in circles. A creative, slower, softer sketch like this feels refreshing in this particular season. A refreshing use of Adam too.
— I like the random choice to give this sketch a 70s aesthetic without actually calling attention to it.
— The whole bit regarding a guy off-camera who Marisa complains is staring at her is really funny.
— When Marisa asks if there’s any way Adam can make his erection go away, I love Adam responding “Yeah, start talkin’ about your shampoos again”.
— A good laugh from Adam suddenly donning a fake mustache to hide his identity.
— Do we really need TWO sketches tonight ending with a homoerotic turn?
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not too bad for this season’s standards. In fact, I was surprised to find this episode to be better than I ever found it in past viewings. There was barely anything I hated tonight, a lot of stuff was okay, and there were about three strong pieces (Lexon Paradox, The Simpson Trial, Fall Mixer) that had a style completely different from the typical output this season. If I wasn’t already aware of how this season turns out, tonight’s episode might’ve given me false hope that maybe the bad season premiere was just a fluke.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Steve Martin)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
John Travolta

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October 26, 1991 – Christian Slater / Bonnie Raitt (S17 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
John McLaughlin [real] takes over a Halloween parody of his Group

— Nice change of pace from other McLaughlin Group sketches, with this one having a Halloween theme.
— Good sudden turn with Dana’s McLaughlin being mysteriously dead and the real McLaughlin showing up and taking his place.
— McLaughlin doing Dana’s routine is entertaining, especially him singing Jack Germond’s name.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host discovers mesmerized control room & audience doing the Tomahawk Chop

— Funny cutaway to the crew in the control room doing the Atlanta Braves Tomahawk Chop while watching the World Series.
— John McLaughlin makes another funny appearance tonight.
— Fun turn with everybody in the studio, including the audience and the SNL Band, doing the Tomahawk Chop when Christian returns from backstage.
— There’s a technical error at the end, where instead of fading to black as this monologue concludes, the screen crossfades to a strange orange title card that just has the word “Coldcock” (the title of a fake ad that follows this), before the screen suddenly cuts to black. Heh, maybe the crew in the control room really WERE too busy watching the World Series. This technical error would later be removed from reruns.
STARS: ***½


COLDCOCK
you’ll never expect it when Coldcock Malt Liquor hits you

— Great use of Tim. This features some of his best work from his early seasons.
— Funny visuals of an animated fist punching people who drink from the liquor can.
— After getting punched by the animated fist, Tim delivers the line “Faaaannn-tastic” in the same way he would later regularly do as his Lionel Osborne character from the future recurring sketch Perspectives.
— Solid ending with a swollen-eyed Tim concluding the commercial while laying on the floor.
STARS: ****


RON’S WINGS ‘N’ THINGS
despite repeated warnings, (host) orders the Super Fire Hot chicken wings

 

— I like Phil entering as the manager to try to persuade Christian to re-think his order of super fire hot wings.
— As no surprise, I’m really liking the way Phil is selling this, especially his repeated revelations that he keeps giving Christian medium hot wings instead of super fire hot wings.
— I’m enjoying this sketch, but it feels a little odd as the lead-off sketch of the night. The pacing of this is slower than a typical lead-off sketch.
— Ha, I love how the restaurant is now having Christian sign release forms before finally serving him the super fire hot wings.
— Good epilogue ending with a narrator (Phil) describing the many cartoonish reactions Christian had when eating the super fire hot wings. I especially laughed at Phil’s monotone way of saying “he ran around shouting ‘woo woo’”.
STARS: ***


DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY FEUD
troubled clan wins against well-adjusted group

 

— Good premise for a Family Feud parody.
— I’m loving the tension between Phil’s family.
— A good laugh during the “Name something families say to recent college graduates” question, where Siobhan’s upbeat answer “Get out there and do your best” turns out to be correct, as it comes close to matching the negative “Get out!” answer on the board.
— David Spade finally makes an appearance in a sketch, after getting completely shut out of the last two episodes. Also, believe it or not, this is his first speaking role all season. Geez, the fact that it took him FOUR EPISODES into this season to get a speaking role shows how bad his airtime has been lately.
— Farley is filled with tons of energy here.
— Very funny annoyed delivery from Phil telling Farley “How about clothes you’ve gotten too fat for?”
— Good dark humor with the whole loaded-gun-in-the-closet/“You don’t have the guts!” exchange.
— Hilarious part with Victoria’s disturbing answer to the question “Something you find in your bedroom closet” (“My father?”).
STARS: *****


CLUB BANANA
every male at Club Banana unilaterally engages (JUS) in dance

— I like the first-person perspective format of this.
— Dana’s sleazy facial expressions while dancing are priceless.
— Funny twist with the lady in the bathroom turning out to be Adam in disguise, who whips off his wig and dances in front of the woman who we’re seeing the perspective of.
— Creative approach to this whole sketch. Also, I love how this is utilizing just about every male cast member, and it’s fun seeing how each of them are being incorporated into this.
— When the woman who’s perspective we’re seeing blacks out as she faints, the screen stays black and silent for an abnormally long time. I almost thought something went wrong, technical-wise.
— The look on Phil’s face when he and Tim as the paramedics begin dancing is cracking me up.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Something To Talk About”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Queen Shenequa (ELC) is upset about the lack of available black men
ADS shows how to use everyday items to make crazy Halloween costumes

— Kevin gets his very first “Dan Quayle is dumb” joke, carrying on a tradition from Dennis Miller’s Updates.
— The debut of Ellen’s Queen Shenequa character. She’s wearing a different outfit than the one she would regularly wear in subsequent appearances.
— I’m enjoying Ellen’s delivery here, and she’s getting some good laughs. I especially like her declaring “Julia Roberts was a ho!”
— Didn’t care for the ending of the Queen Shenequa commentary with her saying everything should be titled “Man in My House”.
— The words “Subliminal editorial” have shown up on the news screen. Hmm, I thought Kevin didn’t start incorporating his Mr. Subliminal routine into his anchorman persona until later in the season.
— Oh, never mind. Tonight’s subliminal editorial turned out to have nothing to do with Mr. Subliminal; the joke here was Kevin not saying anything at all for his “editorial”.
— Kevin’s joke portions of this Update are fast-paced, though not every joke is working. Pretty hit-and-miss, but the hits are very strong.
— Kevin is quite stumbly throughout this Update, as I also observed in an earlier Update of his.
— Funny bit with Kevin avoiding offending blind viewers by silently displaying a graphic on the bottom of the screen that states “I thought it was funny” when talking about a recently-canceled and much-complained-about TV series that made light of blindness. This reminds me of an Update joke Norm Macdonald would later do, where he criticizes the looks of a deaf Miss America contest winner while holding a sheet of paper over his mouth so she can’t read his lips.
— The debut of Adam Sandler’s annual Halloween costume suggestions.
— This commentary of Adam’s would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version. In that version, he wears a blue/green-ish shirt instead of the Halloween-themed orange shirt he wears in this live version (side-by-side comparison below).

— Adam’s commentary is a good early display of his simplistic childlike silliness as himself. Hard to explain why this commentary is working so well; it just is.
— I especially got a laugh from Adam’s Crazy No-Armed Woman costume.
— Just now, when Adam delivered a goofy-voiced “Fork it over!”, it honestly came out unintentionally sounding like “Fuck it over!” I wonder if THIS is the reason they replace this commentary with the dress rehearsal version in reruns.
— Adam’s commentary ends differently in the live and dress rehearsal versions. The live version has him responding to Kevin’s Cup Head costume by saying a disappointed “That was… better than all of mine” and sadly walking away in defeat (this would later get turned into a running gag in his future Halloween costume Update commentaries, where he would always end it by saying a humbled “You have topped me again, Kevin Nealon”). The dress rehearsal version, on the other hand, ends awkwardly with him kinda just laughing at Kevin’s Cup Head costume and not saying anything in response.
STARS: ***½


THE CURSE OF THE WOLF MAN
(host)’s metamorphoses described step-by-step

— A silly sketch, but the intentional dumbness and cheesiness of Christian constantly ducking below the camera view as he “transforms” into a wolf man bit-by-bit is coming off funny. His intentionally stilted delivery is also helping.
— Funny detail of exaggeratedly loud zipper sounds being heard off-camera before Christian returns to the camera view wearing an obviously fake wolf suit over his body.
— Some more laughs from the two cops detailing Christian’s reverse transformation back into a human. I especially like the camera catching Christian removing the fake wolf teeth from his mouth.
STARS: ***


YOUNG ACTORS FORUM
host & others have slept with most actresses

— Ha, what is with the random casting of Victoria as Rob Lowe?
— Really bad Charlie Sheen voice from Mike.
— Dana is hilarious as Keanu Reeves.
— I like each actor saying variations of “Did her” in succession whenever an actress’ name is mentioned.
— Good to see David Spade getting decent airtime and dialogue tonight. Great Matthew Broderick voice from him as well. He’s also a dead ringer for him in that wig.
— Great turn with Rob’s Emilio Estevez immediately blurting out “Did him” when the name Clint Eastwood gets brought up, only to immediately regret saying that.
— Strong ending with all the guys running off in unison when hearing about an up-and-coming new actress, and then returning seconds later while saying their usual variations of “Did her”.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Can’t Make You Love Me”


PUMPING UP WITH HANS & FRANZ
Arnold Schwarzenegger [real] trains kids

— The phasing-out of these characters continues, as evidenced by how late they’re appearing in tonight’s episode. Not too long ago, these two characters were routinely headlining cold openings, and now they’re being buried in the 12:45 timeslot. This ends up being their second-to-last sketch ever (not counting the times they were brought back after Dana’s departure), and their final sketch doesn’t even occur until a whole year later in October ’92.
— Ha, just now, Hans and Franz have even openly addressed how scarce their appearances are getting, by saying “Many of you have been wondering, where have we been?”
— Interesting cutaway to a pre-tape with Hans and Franz giving lessons to a group of children. We also get another cameo from Hans and Franz’s cousin Arnold Schwarzenegger.
— Hmm… this pre-taped setting may be a change of pace for Hans and Franz, but it’s not turning out all that funny. I haven’t been getting many laughs at all during this. It’s a little sad witnessing the gradual death of these once-popular characters. It’s painfully obvious by this point that their time is officially up. I guess not every recurring character from this era can go out gracefully like, say, Church Lady.
— Even the ending of the pre-tape was just a rehash of previous times Hans and Franz made their chest muscles move in unison.
— Okay, I did like the live bit right after the aforementioned chest muscles bit, where Hans and Franz do a P.S.A.-esque “These are your muscles on steroids” demonstration with eggs.
STARS: **


NICH-AID
host touts Nich-Aid hair dryers for hands-free Jack Nicholson mimicry

— A pretty good laugh from Phil’s awesome Nicholson impression being undermined by his holding his hair back with his hand, which takes his friends right out of his impression (“What’s he doing? Jack Nicholson never holds his hand on his head!”).
— Good concept of a device with tiny hair dryers automatically blowing your hair back so you can do a hands-free Nicholson impression.
— A fitting use of Christian as the spokesman for this particular product.
— I like the ending visual of Phil in that silly Nich-Aid device as he wows his friends with his now-hands-free Nicholson impression.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A consistently good episode, minus a supbar late-era Hans and Franz installment. The overall show, while not outstanding, had a very nice flow to it and there were a lot of things to like, especially the classic Dysfunctional Family Feud and the creative & fun Club Banana.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Kirstie Alley)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Kiefer Sutherland

Posted on

January 20, 1990 – Christopher Walken / Bonnie Raitt (S15 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Tonight Show- guests are Andrew Dice Clay (JOL) & Mikhail Gorbachev (PHH)

— Funny gag of an absent Ed McMahon being filled-in by a machine recording of his voice, only saying his catchphrases.
— Jon’s Andrew Dice Clay impression is solid, and there IS a pretty strong facial resemblance.
— Hmm, Phil has shown up as Mikhail Gorbachev. I wonder if that’s why they had to resort to replacing McMahon with a machine.
— Dana-as-Carson’s Azerbaijan bit was really funny.
— Immediately after Phil says “Live From New York…”, there’s suddenly a mysterious loud, high-pitched whirring sound that overlaps with the beginning of the theme music. I have no idea what that whirring sound was, but it would later be muted out in reruns.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host shows excitement by singing “Throwin’ A Ball Tonight” & tap-dancing

— When mentioning how audiences say he comes off cold and sinister in movies, Christopher says he always hears a criticism that he often sounds like he’s reading his lines off cue cards. That’s even funnier in hindsight, considering the cue card-staring penchant his SNL appearances would go on to become famous for.
— He launches into a song early on in this monologue, which would go on to be a tradition in his subsequent SNL monologues.
— Very upbeat number.
— Great tapdance break in the middle of the song.
— Excellent touch with the two fancy sets of stairs that the cast members enter from.
— An unintentional laugh from Christopher’s hat almost falling off backwards during a close-up of him at the end of the number, resulting in him making an alarmed “OH!” face as he quickly catches the hat.
STARS: ****½


COLON BLOW
— Rerun


ETERNITY
mysterious drama permeates perfume-inspired game show

 

— Very funny premise of a Calvin Klein commercial-esque gameshow. I know this sketch is based on one specific Klein commercial, which I (and I’m sure a lot of viewers today) have no memory of, but as long as you’re familiar with what Calvin Klein ads from this era were typically like, you still get exactly what this sketch is going for.
— Love the sky background behind the contestants as they’re saying their dramatic lines.
— This sketch is perfect for Christopher Walken’s style.  His dramatic reading of his “deep” answers is hilarious.
— Christopher’s “Liar!” outburst to Kevin cracked me up.
— Funny touch with Jan’s frantic hand movements when she and Christopher were shown writing their Final Eternity answer.
— Priceless reveal of Christopher’s written answer being a drawing of the famous painting “The Scream” (last screencap above).
— Even without saying a word, Jan is very good in this.
STARS: ****½


THE DUMPER
surrogate dumper (host) employed by (VIJ)’s boyfriend ends relationship

— The idea of someone sending a delivery man to tell his girlfriend he’s dumping her is really funny.
— A good laugh from Christopher responding to Victoria’s crying with an insincere, monotone “There, there” and pat on the back.
— Funny aspect of Christopher even having Victoria sign various pages of a document “to show that you’ve been dumped”.
— Great ending reveal that there’s another woman in the same building who the boyfriend sent Christopher to deliver break-up news to.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Have a Heart”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Annoying Man (JOL) expresses his love for DEM in strange ways

— Lots of great jokes so far about Marion Barry’s infamous then-recent crack bust.
— Dennis’ reactions to Annoying Man always make me laugh.
— Great turn with Annoying Man’s deep-voiced sudden “I love you” reveal to Dennis.
— Some great bits of business right after the Annoying Man commentary ends. First, Dennis tells us that Jon Lovitz has to get a lot less annoying than usual to get into that character. Jon as Annoying Man then rushes back to the Update set and gives Dennis’ cheek an unscripted lick with the tongue before immediately leaving again. Dennis then hilariously says to the camera “Licked by Lovitz. What concentric circle of hell is THAT?”
— Pretty funny how Dennis’ joke poking fun at the recent death of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh received some hisses from the audience, which Dennis of course played off of with some great ad-libs.
STARS: ***½


THE CONTINENTAL
viewers experience what it’s like to be charmed by The Continental (host)

— The debut of a Walken SNL staple. Feels a little odd in hindsight seeing this buried in the second half of the show, as I believe all the subsequent installments of this sketch would be recognized as an important part of the night and be placed in the first half of the show.
— It’s quite something in hindsight hearing Phil Hartman’s Continental voice-over intro being used for the first time, knowing that voice-over would famously go on to be used in all subsequent Continental installments, not only even after Phil’s SNL departure, but even after his passing.
— Love this format of a first-person camera perspective.
— Some odd little bloopers so far. Firstly, after the female guest (the cameraman) rings the doorbell, a strange, loud “FWOOMP” sound is suddenly heard. It sounded like it possibly came from the clip-on mic of an off-camera Christopher Walken. Secondly, when Christopher puts the keys down on the table after letting his female guest in his apartment, the keys IMMEDIATELY fall off the table by accident and make a loud crash sound, which Christopher tries to save with a brief ad-libbed statement: “Broken glass.”
— There’s the very first utterance of the Continental’s immortal pronunciation of champagne: “cham-PAN-yuh”.
— Great part with Continental lighting both cigarettes in his mouth simultaneously.
— Nice effect of the camera (the female guest) smoking a cigarette.
— Needless to say, Christopher is absolutely perfect in this.
— The female guest’s constant racing for the front door after an offensive statement by Continental is always funny, especially when she does it immediately after Continental asks her “Would you like to see… the bedroom?”
— Absolutely hilarious part with Continental showing his masseuse diploma from the University of Beijing.
— Interesting camera angle while the female guest is getting massaged.
STARS: *****


ATTITUDES
a talk with sports event proselytizer Rainbow Head (host)

— Surprisingly, this is the first (and probably only) time we’re seeing Nora all night.
— Absolutely LOVE the idea of Christopher being cast as the famous Rainbow Head guy from sports games.
— Christopher’s usual deadpan, oddball delivery is coming off PARTICULARLY priceless in this role.
— A big laugh from Christopher’s Rainbow Head calling the San Diego Chicken a whore.
— Very funny bit where after Rainbow Head describes his wig as an afro, Jan and Nora clarify to viewers in a sincere voice “Afro-Americans.”
— Another great aside from Jan and Nora, this time regarding the bible being the “best-selling book ever”.
— Nora: “Is there a pot of gold at the end of Rainbow Head’s rainbow?” That already-hilarious line was topped even further by Christopher’s silent, stone-faced reaction, which got a great response from the audience (and resulted in Christopher smirking).
STARS: *****


LEASE WITH AN OPTION TO KILL
Max Zorin’s (host) headquarters isn’t ready

 

— When being told by his henchman that they’ve captured James Bond, I loved Christopher-as-Max-Zorin’s panicked reaction: “No, you idiot! I’m not ready; LOOK at this place.”
— Every time I’ve seen this sketch over the years, I always crack up to no end at Zorin’s bizarre threat to Bond that he’s going to use a laser to “cut your ass in half”. It’s not just the line itself; it’s Walken’s delivery of it that kills me.
— Loved the “Here’s the shark excreting you” drawing that Zorin shows Bond.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Thing Called Love”


HARDBOUND
interviewer (KEN) is eager to learn more about writer (host)

— Here comes a sketch that would later be removed from reruns and be replaced with a Schiller’s Reel.
— Funny how Kevin constantly keeps making little statements of admiration while his favorite author (Christopher) is speaking. This is such a Kevin Nealon-feeling premise that I can tell he mostly likely wrote this sketch himself (which I know is something I’ve said a lot about Kevin throughout this SNL era, but he does have a very distinctive writing style and humor).
— Kevin’s increasing anger whenever Christopher mentions anyone other than himself is giving me some good laughs.
— Christopher’s exaggerated tongue-sticking-out face when forced to talk only about himself is priceless (last screencap above).
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

— Christopher Walken’s only words during his goodnights speech: “Thank you for coming and I….. thank you for coming.”

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An exceptionally strong episode where the show was firing on all cylinders, made even more significant with this being Christopher Walken’s SNL debut . As a performer, Christopher immediately displayed all the odd soon-to-be trademarks that would make all of his SNL hosting appearances so great and lovable. The show also used him well tonight, playing to his strengths by casting him in roles that perfectly utilized his unique personality and dry delivery (particularly the Eternity, Dumper, and Attitudes sketches).


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ed O’Neill)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Quincy Jones and a ton of musical guests

Posted on

January 28, 1978 – Robert Klein / Bonnie Raitt (S3 E10)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Charlie’s Angels Catch The Syph will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
MOD & Tina Turner (GAM) join to perform “Proud Mary”

     
— We start off with the debut of Paul Shaffer’s Don Kirschner impression. Funnily enough, his name is displayed on the bottom of the screen in the same memorable font as the one used in SNL’s opening montage from the first two seasons.
— Is this gonna be a Blues Brothers number?
— Oh, it’s actually “The Mr. Mike and Tina Turner Revue”.
— Yet another instance of Garrett in drag.
— The juxtaposition of Mr. Mike doing a Least Loved Bedtime Tale during the song is great.
— Oh my god at Garrett’s sudden wild dancing. Hilarious!
— Wow, Garrett’s giving a great performance in this.
— A very energetic and inspired way to start the show.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about the time he played Shylock when back in college

 

— He points out that the first time he hosted was one of SNL’s very first episodes back when “nobody knew what they were doing yet”.
— Uh, didn’t he already do this “college brochure” bit in his monologue last time he hosted? I’m almost certain he did.
— The “subtle” antisemitism bit was hilarious, especially the sudden loud “HEY, JEW BOY!!!” remark.
— I’m liking a lot of his frequent little side comments & ad-libs during his routines.
— Overall, some really entertaining stand-up comedy here.
STARS: ****


THE OLYMPIA CAFE
Pete Dionasopolis’ (JOB) Olympia Cafe features a tripartite menu

   
— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut!
— I spotted Don Novello in the background. This must be his very first on-camera appearance.  I didn’t even know he was a writer yet at this point; he  must’ve been a recent mid-season hire.
— I’m loving the authentic feel of this whole thing, making this seem like we’re at a real cafe. Lots of subtle dead-on details in the performances.
— Bill’s ineptness when dealing with Robert’s order is hilarious.
— Ah, there’s the classic part with John rapidly pointing out to Robert all the “chee’burger chee’burger chee’burger”s that the patrons are having for breakfast when Robert complains that it’s too early for a cheeseburger.
— Overall, a strong debut.
STARS: ****


X-POLICE
X-Police terrorize a cohabitating couple (host) & (LAN)

   
— The return of X-Police! I think I’m in the minority in loving the first time they did the sketch, judging from lots of negative reviews I’ve read of that sketch from other SNL fans.
— Bill’s “slut” remark to Laraine got a good audience reaction.
— I loved Robert’s exaggerated growl when running towards the window to jump out of it.
— Overall, this was WAY too similar to the first X-Police sketch, basically doing all the exact same stuff with no variation. And while I liked the first time they did the sketch, I was looking forward to the sketch’s subsequent installments exploring different ground, not just repeating everything from the first one. Are the rest of the X-Police sketches (assuming there ARE any) like this?
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
Roseanne Roseannadanna’s topic wanders from an aneurysm to toenails

     
— This Update opens with a “sponsored by” gag, which, IIRC, would become a regular part of Update for a while.
— Finally, our first mention of “radioactive lobsters”, which kicks off the now-famous running premise of tonight’s episode. It’s about time. All the comments I had read about this episode over the years had me thinking the lobster premise was established right from the start of the show, which is why I’m surprised to see it didn’t happen until halfway through the episode.
— WTF at the accidental cutaway to Jane smiling hammily at the camera when Dan was doing the math formula joke.
— Why do I get the feeling that’s Tom Schiller’s hand that’s shown writing on the chalkboard?
— Ha, Jane made a funny ad-libbed “Was it worth it?” meta-comment after her brief Casey Stengel joke got badly screwed up by the camera.
— What the hell? Now Jane’s awkwardly stalling for time while Gilda is off-camera getting ready for an upcoming Roseanne Roseannadanna commentary. Jane acknowledges the fact that there’s still several news stories remaining but says there’s no point in doing them anymore (presumably because of how badly the last few jokes got screwed up). Holy hell, this Update has gone completely off the rails. What the fuck went wrong? It’s not every day you see an Update anchor actually aborting a joke on the air because of how sloppily things were going.
— Roseannadanna doing an aneurysm commentary. Haha, I can’t wait to see how gross this is going to get.
— Roseannadanna didn’t let me down. Her whole rant was very funny, especially the part about warts.
— Hmm, no letter from “Richard Feder” in tonight’s Roseannadanna commentary.  I thought that was a staple of all her appearances.
STARS: **½


NICK WINTERS
at a ski lodge, Nick “Winters” sings & Jimmy Joe Red Sky (DAA) reports

     
— Nick the Lounge Singer!
— I can tell from Bill’s outfit that this is going to be the installment with the famous moment where he sings lyrics to the Star Wars theme. I’ve often seen that as a clip in various SNL highlight reels, but I’ve never seen the full sketch itself.
— Bill’s opening “da da da” number hilarious.
— A good laugh from Robert calling Bill a pimp.
— I love Bill’s singing of “That’s The Way (Uh-Huh Uh-Huh) I Like It”.
— There’s the classic Star Wars number! It’s just as fantastic as I remember.
— Overall, an excellent second installment of this sketch; even better than his debut from late in the preceding season. This just may be the character at his absolute peak.
STARS: *****


FROGS LOOK AT FILM
Jerry Lewis (host) & The Nutty Air Traffic Controller

  
— Well, judging from the show’s title and Laraine’s intro, THIS is going to be a weird sketch.
— Who’s gonna play Jerry Lewis? I can’t picture anyone in this cast playing him, so I guess it’s gonna be Robert.
— Yep, it IS Robert.
— What’s with the studio audience? They’re completely silent.
— The concept reminds me of Lucy A-Bomb sketch. Dan’s even playing his uptight straight man character the same way he did in that sketch.
— Overall, a very accurate Jerry Lewis parody and a decently-performed sketch, though not anything I’d call great (then again, I’m in the minority in not finding Lucy A-Bomb to be a classic, either).
STARS: ***


NERD ROCK
KLOG deejay plugs album of nerds Todd (BIM), Lisa (GIR), Spaz (host)

   
— At first, I almost thought this was going to be a sequel to Dan’s AM/FM sketch.
— Is this the debut of Bill and Gilda’s Nerds characters?
— Hmm, never mind. Bill and Gilda’s characters in this aren’t named Todd and Lisa, so I guess this is just an early prototype of the Nerds sketches.
— Then again, just now, Bill did the noogie routine his Todd character would become well-known for.
— And now, Jane entering as a character called Mrs. Loopner proves that this IS the official debut of the Nerds.  Interesting seeing how different the sketch was in its first appearance.
— Overall, a pretty funny sketch; Bill was especially strong in it. Weird, though, seeing him play Todd with a mustache; all the Nerds sketches I saw in the past had a clean-shaven Bill.
STARS: ***½


LOBSTER UPDATE
JAC breaks in with a news flash- giant lobsters are headed for NYC


— I had been wondering when the heck they were going to continue the lobster premise that was established on Weekend Update. I have to say, I’m kinda disappointed to see that the premise hasn’t been dominating this episode as much as I was expecting it to.
— Robert’s comment about lobsters not eating Orthodox Jews was pretty funny.
STARS: N/A


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
— Ha, in the middle of the performance, we get a news update scrolling across the screen regarding the whereabouts of the giant lobsters. Great commitment to the premise, having it actually “interrupt” a musical performance. They’re starting to go all out with this concept, which is exactly what I wanted to see when I came into this episode.

 


RHONDA & BARBARA
Rhonda Weiss & Barbara talk & smoke some dope

   
— The audience is getting a huge kick out of the stoner humor in this, which shows what a novelty that type of comedy was back in the 70s.
— This has been way too slow so far, but I just now finally got my first big laugh, with the “I hear a black man stealing your jewelry” bit.
— The fourth wall has broken with Jane and Gilda dropping character to question what the hell that sudden odd noise is. Must be a continuation of the lobster premise.
— The audience went nuts at the sight of John walking on in a Bee costume.
— There’s the “Attack of the Atomic Lobsters” title. I guess I should separate the remainder of this into its own segment.
STARS: ???


ATTACK OF THE ATOMIC LOBSTERS
large seafood invades Rockefeller Center
host describes the scene as the lobsters wreak chaos in the studio

       
— Haha, a pre-taped special effect sequence of the lobsters in the city. Hell yeah! I’ve been waiting the whole episode for the lobster premise to fully take off.
— The cheesy stop-motion effects is adding to the great surreal-ness of this whole thing.
— They truly are going all out with this, now even getting the audience involved.
— Klein on Belushi’s death: “He had his whole life ahead of him… or at least two or three more years, anyway.” Yet another prediction of John dying in a few years… and we haven’t even reached whichever episode has “Don’t Look Back in Anger” where John says at one point “They all thought I’d be the first to go”.
— Wow, this whole thing is getting INSANE. I love it.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS
(MOD) & (TOD) develop a plan to cook the crustacean menace

   
— A continuation of the lobster attacks. Hell, even the Robert Klein bumper pic that preceded these goodnights had screaming and lobster noises in the background instead of the usual piano music and audience applause that always precedes the goodnights. It can’t be said enough how much I’m enjoying the way they’re going all out with this whole thing. Earlier in the episode, I expressed disappointment over how light the first 2/3rds of this episode was on the lobster premise, but they’re making up for it IN SPADES with these last 15 minutes.
— Now Pardo’s getting involved in the action.
— I’m loving the strange conversation between the two off-camera voices (who appear to be Tom Davis and……. Bill Murray, maybe? No, wait, I think it’s Michael O’Donoghue) while the scrolling end credits is displayed over a snowy static screen. Such a unique, unconventional, deadpan way to end an SNL episode.
— Among the scrolling end credits: “Lobster roars by Chevy Chase”. Wait, WHAT?!?!??!

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Oh my god, I can’t believe the greatness I just witnessed! Uh, sorry, folks, I’m still on a natural high from that epic ending. As someone who’s a fan of anytime SNL breaks their own format and anytime they do a rare “conceptual episode”, I got such great pleasure out of how the Atomic Lobster premise progressed. This definitely lived up to all the hype from over the years.
— The rest of the episode was no slouch, either. Between that wild Mr. Mike/Tina Turner opening number, a solid stand-up monologue, the debuts of some of the most defining recurring characters of this whole era (Olympia Cafe, Nerds), and what’s probably the most well-remembered Nick the Lounge Singer installment of all-time, there was plenty to love in this overall great episode.
— Robert Klein did another solid job hosting, and he also held his own during the whole lobster attack, doing excellent narration of all the carnage.


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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Chevy’s back… and boy, does something infamous happen backstage right before airtime