Tag: Buck Henry

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May 24, 1980 – Buck Henry / Andrew Gold, Andrae Crouch and The Voices Of Unity (S5 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Frank Reynolds (HAS) presents presidential consolation debate highlights

   

— Lot of great lines from Harry during his intro.
— I’m still not quite sure what to make of Jim Downey’s George Bush impression.
— That being said, Jim’s Bush speech had a whole bunch of funny lines.
— Bill’s speech was okay, but not as amusing as Jim’s.
— Paul smushing actual slices of a pie onto the pie chart is hilarious.
— Harry gets the final LFNY of the original SNL era??? That’s surprising. While it’s hard to complain about Harry Shearer getting ANY airtime on the show, it really feels like one of the original cast members should’ve gotten the final LFNY.
— Very solid cold opening overall.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host introduces (DOP) & other supposed castmembers of SNL’s sixth season

        

— Buck mentions this is SNL’s 106th episode and the 103rd time he’s hosted. I really liked that line.
— He addresses rumors that tonight’s episode might be the last SNL ever, and announces SNL will be back again next season!…but NOT with the same cast. There will be a new replacement cast, who he’s about to introduce.
— The audience laughs at Buck referring to the show’s “former producer”, as if that were a joke. I guess they’re not aware that Lorne really IS leaving.
— Buck says he’s looking forward to working with SNL’s new producer in the years ahead. Unfortunately, that never ended up happening, as tonight’s episode turns out to be Buck’s final time hosting. I recall hearing he declined any future hosting offers out of respect to the original cast. He’s never even made so much as a cameo in any future episodes, not counting specials like SNL’s 15th anniversary show (where he does a segment with Steve Martin).
— Hey, it’s the creator of the Mr. Bill shorts, Walter Williams. (third screencap above)
— I recall hearing that the black woman in this is Yvonne Hudson. Now that I’m watching this monologue for myself, that’s definitely NOT her. It would’ve been hilarious if it were her, though, considering she DOES actually end up joining the cast next season.
— Unless I’m mistaken, this is Don Pardo’s very first onscreen appearance on SNL. I love how his fake name in this is “Ron Waldo”, and how he introduces himself by doing a Don Pardo imitation. Since audiences at the time probably had no idea what Don looked like, I wonder if they even realized he’s the real Don Pardo or if they just assumed he’s someone who can do a really good impression of Pardo’s voice.
— Overall, I loved this monologue and found it very fun being introduced to the fake new cast.
STARS: ****


ROYAL PARTY
eponymous noblemen mingle at a party thrown by Lord Salisbury (HAS)

   

— Ah, here’s a legendary sketch from this era.
— All the nobles’ last names and how they allude to various now-famous inventions is very well-written.
— Funny with Bill as the Earl of Sandwich lamenting that “nothing’s been named after my family”.
— Garrett’s delivery of “Lord and Lady Douchebag” KILLED me.
— Harry’s “Where the devil are those Douchebags?” line was great.
— Very funny hearing “douchebag” constantly being casually delivered in such dignified 18th century voices.
— Ha, Gilda as Lady Douchebag requesting vinegar and water as food dressing.
— Loved Bill delivery of “Douchebaaaaag, how are ya!” From my past viewings of clips from this sketch, I had remembered Bill giving Buck a noogie after saying that line, but now I see that never actually happened. It DOES seem like a very Bill Murray thing to do, though.
— Bill: “Lord Douchebag, just what kind of invention are you sitting on?”
— And already, we’re out. That sketch was the perfect length, and is just one of many reasons why this is such a fantastic classic sketch.
STARS: *****


COW MINDER’S DAUGHTER
rise & fall of Indian singer Govinda Lynn (LAN)

   

— Laraine playing a character who turns down being a model because models starve themselves.  I can’t help but notice a whole bunch of irony there.
— The initial shot of Gilda cracked me up.
— Not really sure what the point of this sketch is so far.
— Yeah, I’m coming to the realization that this sketch ain’t goin’ anywhere that I’m gonna like.
— Did something go wrong? All of a sudden, there’s a lot of awkwardness and stretched-out pauses between Bill and Laraine after Bill called for the cows, and Bill looks like he’s trying not to laugh. (last screencap above) What’s that all about?
— Overall, wow, I did not care for this sketch at all. Maybe it would’ve helped if I had ever seen “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, the movie that this was spoofing.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Andrew Gold performs “Kiss This One Goodbye”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jack Perkins (HAS), (Richard Belzer), others on Walter Keane art exhibit
Chico Escuela gives himself credit for baseball strike resolution
Roseanne Roseannadanna travels from volcanoes to Gloria Vanderbilt’s itch

           

— Here we go, the final Curtin/Murray Weekend Update.
— *sigh* I’m gonna miss hearing Jane saying her “I’m Jane Curtin and here now the news” intro. I’ve gotten so used to hearing that in every Update these last four seasons.
— Loved Bill’s random “Anita Bryant…… is available” bit. I also like how a few people in the audience audibly booed as soon as her picture showed up on the news screen.
— The bit with Bill snapping a Polaroid directly at the camera facing him was just plain strange, and got very little reaction from the audience. I also didn’t get what he meant with his “So I won a bet, big deal” ad-lib afterwards.
— What the–? Now Bill’s aforementioned photo-snapping bit has screwed up the screen. The flash from his Polaroid seems to have left an awful yellow-brownish spot onto the middle of the screen. (you can see it the the fourth and fifth screencaps above) Yikes. I’m guessing Bill forgot to turn off the flash on the camera before snapping the picture.
— And now, we go straight from that Bill/camera bit to a Harry Shearer commentary that strangely begins with NO applause from the audience. Wow. Maybe the audience was just thrown off by whatever the hell that Bill/camera thing was supposed to be.
— Uh-oh, now the aforementioned yellow-brownish spot on the middle of the screen is making poor Harry look like he has a yellow mouth. Geez.
— Richard Belzer!
— Belzer has the distinction of appearing in the first and last episode of the original SNL era. In the first episode, he was one of the jurors in the courtroom sketch that ended with Gilda receiving a note and thinking that John Belushi was making a pass at her, and now here he is in the last episode. A nice unintentional bookend to the era.
— Harry’s Jack Perkins commentary is a bit unusual with the heavy reliance on a pre-taped remote segment, but there’s a lot of good laughs here, especially from the ridiculous visual of presidential paintings with Keane eyes.
— Garrett’s Chico Escuela delivery is much better than the bizarre delivery he used last time Chico appeared.
— Normally I’d groan at the sight of Roseanne Rosannadanna appearing once again, but knowing this is the last time we’ll ever see her, I can’t complain. I’ve never disliked the character herself, just how much they overrelied on her shtick these last two seasons.
— Hmm, Richard Feder has written to Rosannadanna from Washington instead of his usual Fort Lee, New Jersey residence.
— Oh, it turns out Feder moved to get away from the hellhole that is New Jersey.
— Loved Rosannadanna’s complaint about Gloria Vanderbilt putting her good name “on every ass in America”.
— Rosannadanna’s story about Gloria Vanderbilt repeatedly scratching her crotch area in a movie theater is a riot! A lot of big laughs there. This is reminding me why I used to like Rosannadanna so much before they started overusing her.
— Tonight’s overall Update was a pretty solid way to end the Curtin/Murray era. I’m gonna miss this Update era, especially when I know how unstable this portion of the show is going to be the next few seasons during the non-Lorne years.
STARS: ***½


UNCLE ROY
mom (JAC) remains blind to the true nature of pedophilic “Uncle” Roy

       

— I can already tell from the set that we’re getting our obligatory Uncle Roy sketch. Actually, I shouldn’t say “obligatory”, since they surprisingly refrained from doing this character in Buck’s episode from earlier this season.
— For the first time ever, Uncle Roy’s entrance receive audience applause.
— They explain the absence of Dan Aykroyd’s character (Jane’s husband) by saying he’s in Cleveland at a convention.
— Uncle Roy and Jane point out a new glass coffee table in the living room. Ha, I just KNOW Ol’ Roy is gonna get mileage out of that table later in the sketch with the girls.
— I like the line about how Roy had the girls play “bobbing for bananas” last time he visited them.
— I also like the mention of Roy pretending to be a dog during his last visit and how he almost “buried [his] bone in [the girls’] backyard.” Nice double-entendre.
— Hilarious bit where Roy is able to tell which pair of panties belongs to which girl just by the smell.
— Ah, there’s Uncle Roy making use of the glass coffee table, by having the girls pretend to “ride on a glass-bottom boat” as he eagerly snaps pictures underneath the table.
— LOL at Buck’s panicked “I can explain everything!” when Jane returns unexpectedly early and sees what Roy is up to.
— Interesting turn this sketch has taken with Jane talking about a possible divorce between her and her husband, and Roy trying to save their marriage just so she won’t move away with the girls.
— After Jane says she wishes more families would have an uncle like Roy, the camera does a slow zoom-in on Buck telling Jane, while looking at the camera with a subtle grin, “Oh, there’s more of me than you might suspect…” (last screencap above), which is how the sketch ends. Heh, creepy and unsettling as fuck, but at the same time, I found it the perfect way to end the final Uncle Roy sketch.
STARS: ****


TRADER NICK’S
Hawaiian-themed bar of Nick “Lava” has music & waitress Iris de Flaminio

     

— Our final Nick the Lounger Singer sketch during Bill’s years as a cast member. He would later bring this character back a few times in some of his future hosting stints.
— I think I see Jane as Iris De Flaminio in the background. If so, they’ve been getting a lot of mileage out of this character these last handful of episodes, which is good since Jane debuted the character so late in her tenure.
— Akira Yoshimura! He’s been getting quite a lot of face time recently.
— Yep, Jane IS playing Iris. Interesting use of her in this sketch, as a waitress.
— Looks like we DO get an Yvonne Hudson appearance tonight after all! And she’s playing a character with her own name, too! “I’m Yvonne Hudson and this is my lovejones (points to Garrett).”
— Gilda’s sarcastic deadpan remarks to Bill were very funny.
— I absolutely love Bill’s singing of “Stairway to Heaven”.
— Overall, a very fine temporary final outing for this character.
STARS: ***½


WEEK IN REVIEW
tabloid journalists’ notions of newsworthiness vex (host)

    

— I like Bill’s almost-whispery speaking voice as the host, which is a dead-on imitation of some of the political panel shows like this.
— Buck is fairly funny as the only reasonable person at the table.
— Overall, for once tonight, I didn’t have much to say about a sketch. I didn’t find this sketch to be very good, and I got fairly bored with it after a while.
STARS: **


MOMMY BEER
hunters musically express their fondness for baby-bottles of Mommy Beer

   

— I cracked up at Tom Davis’ burly-voiced delivery of “You’ve been holdin’ out on us, ya rascal!”
— The nipple-topped beer bottle is a pretty funny visual.
— Haha, I like the blatantly obvious lip-synced harmonizing between the men, and their hammy gestures throughout the song.
— Very catchy commercial jingle.
— Funny part with a beer-less Bill whining “I want MY Mommy” and then babyish-ly sucking on the bottle when he finally gets one.
— Oddly enough, that sounds like Harry Shearer’s voice during the baritone parts of the lip-synced jingle.
— Great tagline from Buck: “She’s a bitch…. of a brew!”
— Fun sketch overall.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Andrae Crouch & Voices of Unity perform “Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus”


GOODNIGHTS
Studio 8H empties as the “On Air” sign goes out

     

— Buck gives a simple but very poignant “Goodnight……and goodbye.”
— *sigh* The final gathering of this cast. I have to admit, I’m starting to feel emotional. After watching and reviewing these first five seasons on a daily basis in chronological order the last few months, I’ve grown REALLY attached to this cast. It’s not easy for me to see them go.
— Ah, there goes the famous part of these goodnights, where Buck leads the cast and guests offstage and then we cut to their arrival backstage where they’re all shown walking past the camera. After a while, the camera slowly zooms in on the flashing “ON AIR” sign, then the flashing sign eventually turns off, which is the very last thing we see before the goodnights end. Beautiful. I’m honestly getting a little misty-eyed right now.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— The original SNL era ends with a surprisingly strong episode for this season. There were a lot of great sketches, a minimal amount of flops, and we got an all-time classic as the perfect centerpiece of the night (Lord and Lady Douchebag).
— Not only am I going to miss the hell out of this cast, but I’m also going to miss reviewing Buck Henry-hosted episodes. It’s amazing to think that over just the past few months, I’ve reviewed TEN Buck Henry episodes. Nobody else has ever hosted SNL with the frequency that he has in such a short amount of time. He was such a perfect host for this era of SNL, and always had such a likable and warm presence, no matter what role he was playing.
— Season 5 as a whole was a fairly bumpy road like I was prepared to see, but not quite in the way I was expecting. Despite a shaky first three episodes, which instantly had me worried, the remainder of the first half of the season was pretty smooth-sailing for the most part. When I reached the second half of the season, THAT’S when the trouble fully kicked in. The long string of episodes from Teri Garr to Rodney Dangerfield all ranged from forgettable to pretty awful, and the burnout from the writing staff was on full display. We started to finally get some good episodes after that, including one that pleasantly surprised me with how inspired it was (Strother Martin), but a somewhat frequent amount of underwhelming or iffy episodes still kept popping up. At least the season ended on a high note with a strong season finale.
— Well, I can now proudly say I’ve seen and reviewed every single episode from the original SNL era! It feels so great to accomplish that, considering I came into this SNL project of mine being nowhere near as familiar with the original era as a diehard SNL fan like me should be. I mean, I had seen a handful of episodes from each of the first five seasons, as well as lots of clips in highlight reels and “Best Of” compilations, but considering how well-versed I am in every SNL era from 1985-present, I had always been kinda ashamed that I hadn’t seen all that much from the legendary original years. Well, now I can officially say that I know this era VERY well after doing these daily reviews.
— And man, did I enjoy covering these first five seasons, familiarizing myself more with this wonderful cast, discovering this cast is even more talented and well-rounded than I had ever thought, witnessing the evolution of the era, tackling the more infamous episodes (Louise Lasser, Milton Berle, etc.), revisiting classic sketches, and discovering lesser-known gems. I came away from this era having much more love and respect for it than I’ve ever had. Before doing these reviews, I used to always argue that the original SNL was overrated whenever anyone would call it the best era ever, because I was of the opinion that despite how groundbreaking the original SNL was, that era was so inconsistent and VERY hit-and-miss due to how wildly experimental the show’s format was back then. I had felt that, in order to call an SNL era the best ever, it needs to be one that’s a little more consistent in how strong it was, which for me has always been the late 80s era. Well, after now reviewing the whole original era, I’ve seen that it was nowhere near as inconsistent or hit-and-miss as I had thought. Once the show found it’s footing sometime in 1976, the era was pretty smooth-sailing for a few years, particularly in seasons 3 and 4, which are two of the strongest SNL seasons of all-time and contain a surprisingly good number of flawless episodes that have no bad sketches. The era unfortunately ended on a fairly rough note with the disappointing season 5, but looking at this era as a whole, I would now say that it’s a close second to the late 80s as the best SNL era.


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:
Well, folks, for the very first time in my SNL project, after going through five seasons of having the comfort of the original cast, I enter brand new territory…. and dangerous territory at that, because it’s the notorious season 6. Elliott Gould hosts the first episode.

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November 10, 1979 – Buck Henry / Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (S5 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
saving Fred Silverman’s life in the Korean War wrote host’s ticket to SNL

   

— Funny beginning with anti-Buck picketers outside the studio. While it may have just been a joke here, it’s something SNL would later experience in reality when a certain now-president hosted in 2015.
— Wow, SNL’s really going all in tonight on this era’s traditional gag of Buck never getting any respect at the show.
— The war story about Buck had a great Fred Silverman twist.
— Jane finally gets her coveted first solo LFNY.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
security guards protect unfazed host from a mob that’s sick of seeing him

   

— Haha, security guards are on stage upon Buck’s entrance.
— Good bit with the audience constantly heckling Buck. Again, that’s something that would later become a real-life concern for SNL regarding the monologue when Trump hosted.
— I almost thought the guy who was stopped from angrily rushing the stage was Belushi, just based on his voice, before I remembered Belushi’s not on the show anymore.
— I love how Buck is oblivious to all the hate.
— The shot of the outside picketers tearing apart a dummy of Buck was fairly funny.
STARS: ***½


HARLEY’S BRISTOL CREME
rebuffed (GIR) settles on sharing Harley’s Bristol Cream with Honker

   

— Gilda’s rejected phone calls are fairly funny.
— I like how Gilda’s increasing desperation has now gotten to the point where she’s resorting to yelling out the window for a random guy.
— HA, great ending with the random guy who Gilda called up to her apartment turning out to be Bill’s Honker character!
STARS: ****


THE MYSTERY OF TOAD ISLAND
inbred residents have amphibian traits

   

— Oh my god at Laraine’s neck suddenly bulging like a frog’s. That caught me completely off-guard, and looks almost TOO realistic.
— After the initial shock has worn off, I don’t think I like where this sketch is going.
— Okay, yeah, I DEFINITELY don’t like where this is going. One of those thin-premised sketches where the humor fizzles out early right after the initial joke is revealed.
— Overall, boy, did I dislike this sketch. Why was this chosen as the lead-off sketch of the night?
STARS: *½


MATCHMAKER NERDS
Lisa & Todd try to get Marshall & Enid to go on a date

     

— It took the audience a few seconds to really get the “Todd works out with his right arm a lot” joke.
— The return of Buck as Todd’s dad, a character that was really funny last time he appeared.
— The Expo 67 story of how Buck lost his wife was pretty funny.
— Loved Todd’s frustrated reactions to his dad sending Lisa and Enid to the chess tournament.
— Overall, the usual solid Nerds sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Refugee”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jack Van Arks (ALF) defends the chemical industry with mundane facts
footage depicts enormous response to Find The Popes In The Pizza Contest
Father Guido Sarducci picks Find The Popes In The Pizza Contest winner

       

— What’s with Bill slowly moving the desk phone & phone wire during Jane’s first joke?
— Refreshing to see the debut of a new Update character. I can’t say enough how much Update is in desperate need of new characters at this point in the show’s run, considering the small range of recurring guests they keep cycling through every damn week.
— I almost thought at first that this was going to be Franken’s infamous roach-killing bit I’ve always heard about, but I think that’s actually in the following week’s Bea Arthur episode.
— Franken’s reaction to drinking H2SO4 cracked me up.
— A follow-up to the “Find the Popes in the Pizza” contest.
— Funny line from Sarducci about the SNL mailman not knowing what to do with a letter he found for Belushi.
— Overall, a good conclusion to the Popes/Pizza contest.
STARS: ***


BAD CLAMS
(GAM) & (YVH) feed Lucille Ball (GIR) rancid seafood

   

— Yes! Here’s a sketch I’ve always been dying to see, after hearing how great and weird it is.
— It feels strange seeing Yvonne Hudson with so many lines. This is probably bigger than any role she would ever get during her future Featured Player days the following season, where (from what I heard about that season) she was literally a glorified extra.
— I love the sudden shift from typical morning show banter to “Now who’s gonna eat these bad clams?”
— What an inexplicably insane concept.
— I always love the raspy voice Gilda uses as modern-day Lucille Ball.
— Gilda making her Catatonic Colleen face when eating the bad clams.
— Great little moment with Gilda doing the famous “Lucy cry” while having her face endlessly stuffed with the clams.
— This is pure craziness.
— Overall, that definitely lived up to all the hype I’ve heard over the years. Perfect length, too.
STARS: *****


HOW TO TALK TO YOUR GRANDPARENTS
record album helps youngsters get gifts

   

— Not too sure about this concept.
— Okay, I kinda like the part with the scrolling list of topics covered in the album, done in the same way commercials list off songs in a music album they’re advertising.
— Overall, eh, the humor was relatable, but this pretty much did nothing for me.
STARS: **


LIFE AFTER DEATH
by TOS- “take a number, be seated” experience recalled

  

— Is this film a rerun?
— Yep, they showed this one before. And I remember not caring for it the first time. Not one of Schiller’s better films.
— Is it just me, or were the graphics on the bottom of the screen that displays each testimonial-giver’s name and cause of death not there last time they aired this film?


SPECI-PAK
Speci-Pak carrying case keeps severed body parts fresh on way to hospital

     

— Buck coughing up a chunk of a mysterious internal organ was a great laugh.
— Ha, the above-mentioned coughing-up bit being followed by Bill’s “How often does this happen to you?” is great.
— Gilda cutting off her finger is another big laugh.
— This is humorously disgusting so far.
— Interesting device. I like this creative premise.
— Bill is fine as the pitchman, but man, just think of how fucking great Aykroyd would’ve done pitching this product.
STARS: ****


LOVE CONTRACT
during prenuptial talks, lawyers (host) & (HAS) break up (BIM) & (LAN)

   

— So once again, Harry Shearer DOES end up making an appearance after all, despite not being credited in the opening montage tonight. This is the second episode in a row that has happened. Why did they begin crediting him in the Eric Idle episode’s opening montage, only to take him out of the next two episodes’ montage, despite the fact that he’s appeared in noteworthy roles in both episodes?
— This has a clever, interesting premise.
— Bill’s ridiculous pet names for Laraine are pretty funny.
— I like the twist with Jane suddenly appearing as Bill’s other fiancee.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Don’t Do Me Like That”


DRIVING
(host) scares (JAC) & (GIR) during a desperate drive home for the toilet

   

— I’m already liking this sketch a lot, right from the frantic beginning with Buck angrily driving fast.
— Haha, good reveal that the reason for Buck’s panicked driving is because he simply has to go to the bathroom.
— Gilda’s reaction to Buck running over a rabbit was very funny.
— LOL, hilarious ending.
— Overall, wow, what a great little 10-to-1 sketch. Something about this sketch had a feeling that is atypical of this SNL era; I dunno why, but I think it has more of an early 80s Ebersol era feel.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS
cast chases host from studio after he wears out his welcome

     

— Why is Garrett dressed in that afro wig and outfit? Was a sketch cut at the last minute?
— Fantastic continuation of tonight’s cold opening and monologue by having the cast angrily chasing Buck off the stage and beating him down backstage. Probably one of my new all-time favorite goodnights gags the show has ever done.
— We get a very extended goodnights afterwards, with the last minute of this just showing the SNL Band jamming out on the goodnights music. Probably one of the longest the goodnights music has ever been heard in an SNL episode.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A fun episode, and easily the best one of this underwhelming season so far. I got a lot of enjoyment from this episode, especially the “protesting audience” storyline early in the show and all the creative, inspired premises that appeared after Update (particularly Bad Clams).


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Bea Arthur

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May 26, 1979 – Buck Henry / Bette Midler (S4 E20)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Mr. Bill visits SNL; JAC complains that she’s never said the opening line

           

— I normally would groan at the appearance of yet ANOTHER Mr. Bill film, but at least I was prepared for this one, since I had already known this season’s finale cold opening stars him.
— I admit, I am liking this meta premise with him having a ticket to see SNL.
— Liked the scene with him meeting John Belushi and receiving an autograph.
— Good ending with Mr. Bill suddenly getting sat on while in the middle of saying LFNY.
STARS: ***…….. Whoa, wait, it turns out we’re not done yet after all. The opening montage suddenly gets cut off by a screaming Jane Curtin, who’s complaining about never having said LFNY.
— Come to think of it, I never noticed that Jane has yet to say LFNY. Well, a solo LFNY, that is; she has said LFNY in unison with the rest of the cast at least three times before (in the Fran Tarkenton, Sissy Spacek, and Mary Kay Place episodes).
— LOL at Jane’s casual mention that Chevy was “fired” from the show.
— Another laugh during Jane’s rant, this time from her dismissively referring to Mr. Bill as “Gumby”.
— John gets a LFNY for his final episode, after saying LFNY in almost every single episode from the second half of this season. I do hope Jane gets at least one solo LFNY next season (her final season), but I’m doubtful; I recall looking at the “Live from New York…” section of SNL Archives’ Season 5 page a few years ago, and I don’t recall seeing any solo Jane LFNYs in there.  Oh, well, she wouldn’t be the only SNL veteran who never got a solo LFNY; off the top of my head, there’s also Nora Dunn, Vanessa Bayer, David Spade (not counting his hosting stints), and Victoria Jackson.  Probably some others, too.
STARS: *** for the Mr. Bill half, **** for the Jane/John half


OPENING MONTAGE
— Michael O’Donoghue has returned as a guest tonight, after leaving the show a year ago.


MONOLOGUE
the picture size decreases as host’s monologue becomes less interesting

     

— Good premise with us being able to view a test group’s level of interest in the show.
— Amusing how the screen is getting increasingly smaller as Buck’s droning on with a boring speech.
— Now it’s gotten even funnier with the screen suddenly going back to normal size during Buck’s negative rant about “cleavage, jiggling buttocks, etc.”
STARS: ***½


RAY’S DISCO ROLLER FISHING PARK
Ray’s (BIM) Disco Roller Fishing Park combines three popular pastimes

   

— A kinda-funny idea, but it doesn’t seem like can hold up for a whole commercial.
— Overall, I was kinda right, as the premise lost steam fairly fast, but I did love Bill’s performance as the spokesperson; he carried this really well. Kinda wish they had Dan in that role, though, considering tonight’s his last night and this would’ve been our last chance to see him as a pitchman. Between the Roach Brothel commercial in the preceding episode and now this Disco Roller Fishing commercial, it’s almost as if SNL’s already preparing to make Bill the go-to guy of the post-Aykroyd/Belushi era. Hope he’s prepared, because he’s gonna get quite a workout next season, getting a huge majority of the lead male roles.
STARS: **½


SAMURAI BAKERY
Mr. Dantley orders a wedding cake from Futaba

     

— As usual, I can immediately tell from the way the set looks when Buck makes his entrance that we’re getting our obligatory Samurai sketch. This will be the last time I’m able to say that.
— The number-calling bit was pretty funny.
— Boy, that fruitcake/gay voice part……
— A pretty good laugh from the “master-baker”/masturbater mix-up.
— John waves goodbye to the camera while Pardo’s doing the closing announcement. Is that John’s way of saying “farewell” for good?
— Overall, despite the fact that Futaba has undeniably been past his prime in his last few appearances, tonight’s wasn’t too bad. I’m probably more tolerant of the character’s routine tonight because I know it’s his final sketch. He had a fantastic run back in his prime (which I would say officially ended after the “Samurai Night Fever” installment).
STARS: ***


BLIND AMBITION
Richard Nixon (DAA) claims that the Watergate tapes were done as a joke

       

— Our night of “lasts” continues, as we now get the last hurrah for Dan’s always-hilarious Nixon. I’m definitely gonna miss this impression.
— Always love Jane’s cranky take on Pat Nixon. She always has some funny snarky one-liners.
— I like the idea of doing a live “flashback” scene.
— LOL, I remember first seeing this “Nixon and his assistant say Watergate-related things in their knowingly-bugged office while laughing like hyenas” scene as a clip in SNL’s Presidential Bash special from 2000. I remember finding this scene absolutely hilarious back then.
— The above-mentioned scene is just as funny as I remember, especially Dan falling out of his chair laughing at one point.
— Hey, Dan’s Nixon is watching the Three Stooges on TV! As I said in an earlier review, as a huge Three Stooges fan, you’ll be seeing me geek out at any reference SNL makes to them.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Married Men”

— Weird how this is the second consecutive episode where a musical guest has performed a song with the same title (“Married Men”).


WEEKEND UPDATE
a Rolling Stones lyric leads GAM to ask where the horny black women are
Roseanne Roseannadanna rambles from gas crisis to sand in JAC’s swimsuit

     

— Ah, I remember seeing this Garrett Morris commentary, where he talks professionally about a racist Mick Jagger lyric regarding sex-crazed black women, before suddenly dropping his professional tone to desperately ask “Where ARE all of these black girls, man?” His delivery of that is great; probably one of my favorite Garrett Morris moments from his entire SNL tenure.
— As I predicted two episode reviews ago, here’s Roseanne Rosannadanna’s obligatory season finale appearance.
— Most of Rosannadanna’s commentary tonight was the standard stuff that I’ve slowly been getting tired of lately, but I did kinda like her story about Jane at the beach, especially the line “She just wouldn’t take her hands out of her pants!”
STARS: ***


UNCLE ROY
pedophilic “Uncle” Roy tells Terri & Tracy a story before bedtime

     

— Only in the 70s could SNL not only get away with doing a one-time sketch starring a character like this, but actually end up making a RECURRING SKETCH out of it.
— Ha, there’s ol’ Roy breaking out the Polaroid.
— I liked Buck’s panicked delivery of “Simon says ‘Higher, higher!!’” while eagerly waiting for the girls to lift up their nightgowns.
— Did the lights turn off too early?
— As usual, the risque humor here is helped by the usual great performance from Buck, one of the very few people who could pull off a character like this without making him come off hateable. Though I’m wondering where else they can take this sketch in subsequent installments without it running out of steam already. I feel like they’ve already done everything they could with the concept.
STARS: ***½


THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
TOD tries to do comedy routine despite ALF’s having become a Hare Krishna

   

— Ha, Franken as a Hare Krishna. This makes me wonder, did Franken and Davis write that bizarre “Danger Probe” sketch from this season’s premiere where Belushi played a Hare Krishna? That sketch did feel like their handiwork.
— Al saying his new name is Ajhnat Dippivad (sp?) is really funny.
— A good laugh from Tom unexpectedly snipping off Al’s ponytail and Al worrying that everyone will now think he’s a Buddhist.
— Overall, could’ve been a little better, but it gave me enough laughs.
STARS: ***


THE OLYMPIA CAFE
an insurance adjuster (JAC) visits after a fire destroys the Olympia Cafe

      

— Our final Olympia Cafe sketch.
— Good premise with the cafe recovering from a recent fire.
— John falsely claiming to the insurance adjuster that he and all his employees lost golf clubs in the fire is pretty funny.
— I love John’s speechless, dramatic reaction to the insurance adjuster turning them down.
— John’s only resort after the insurance deal fell through being to declare “We dance!” and lead a Greek circle dance is hilarious. Nice way to end the final installment of this great recurring sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Martha”


CLONES EXIST NOW
by TOS- a report on the status of duplication science

     

— Hmm, the words “Schiller’s Reel” are displayed in a red font this time instead of the usual plain white font.  The red font gives it almost an eerie, horror movie vibe, though I doubt that’s the intention.
— Loved the black-and-white stock footage of a scientist “going insane”.
— Overall, eh, aside from a few funny parts early on, I didn’t find this all that funny or interesting, though it had a decent idea.
STARS: **


NOT FOR TRANSSEXUALS ONLY
sex-changed (host) & (LAN) swapped genitalia

 

— The title is a variation of the “Not For Ladies Only” sketch(es).
— This is the second time we’ve ever seen Buck in drag, after that short film from season 2 where he gets a womanly makeover for Halloween.
— This premise feels weird watching in 2018, considering what a sensitive subject transsexualism is nowadays.
— Buck’s “Thank you” when Laraine inadvertently complimented him on his penis size made me laugh.
— Very funny line from Laraine saying she wants to “pork as many broads as possible”.
— A short and sweet sketch. Your mileage may vary on this, but I felt this sketch thankfully didn’t have quite the uncomfortable feeling I was worried this would have through modern eyes.
— Oh, wow, this ends up being the last sketch of the season?
STARS: ***


IMPRESSIONIST MICHAEL O’DONOGHUE / GOODNIGHTS
MOD does impression of Elvis Presley having needles plunged into eyes

     

— Oh, looks like that Transsexuals sketch ISN’T our last sketch of the season after all, as we get our Mr. Mike segment squeezed in during the spot where the goodnights usually occurs.
— Overall, this is the same old needles-in-the-eyes routine as always, but I’m getting a kick out of seeing O’Donoghue wildly climbing all over the studio audience as the credits roll, which is a fairly fun way to end a season.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty enjoyable season finale, and an improvement over the underwhelming Buck-hosted season finale from a year earlier. Most of the sketches were good, and we got some interesting cases of format-breaking, such as Jane interrupting the opening montage to complain about not getting to say LFNY or Michael O’Donoghue’s needles-in-the-eyes routine overlapping with the ending credits.
— I wish John and Dan were used more for what ended up being their last show. Dan especially seemed really underutilized tonight – Nixon was the only noteworthy role he got.
— After reviewing these first four seasons, I’ve come away with a higher opinion on John and Dan than I used to have. Before familiarizing myself with these original-era episodes, I used to just remember John for his loud, wild, outrageous roles. Going through his SNL tenure while doing these reviews has taught me that he displayed far more range than just being a wild fat guy. I’ve gained a big appreciation for his underrated versatility and reliability; the writers could cast him in literally any type of role and he’d play it very convincingly. He was even good at doing various celebrity impressions, too, and not just impressions of heavyset celebrities. Hell, he was even good at doing serious, dramatic acting when a scene called for it, such as various instances in the Olympia Cafe sketches. As for Dan, while I’ve always had lots of admiration and respect for his importance as SNL’s original utility player, doing these 70s reviews has made me SUCH a big fan of his SNL work that I came to realize he’s my absolute favorite of the original cast. I would often be in awe watching his adept performances & delivery, and some of the hardest laughs I’ve gotten in the first four seasons have been from him. And he had a lot of the qualities that I love in an SNL cast member: skills as an “everyman” player, consummate professional, strong impressionist, and a knack for doing really weird, creative sketches (though unfortunately, it feels like we saw less and less of those weird, creative sketches of his as his tenure progressed). It goes without saying that John and Dan will both be sorely missed from the cast, especially when when you’re aware of how the show would end up struggling without them next season.
— Season 4 overall was a very good year. It’s often considered by many to be the peak of 70s SNL, though to be honest, I personally feel season 3 was a little better. Still, this season boasts an impressive large number of classic sketches and strong episodes, even despite containing two of the absolute worst episodes I’ve had to cover this whole era (Frank Zappa, Milton Berle). We also got the start of a fascinating trend towards the end of the season, where we got long, extensive, epic, mini-movie-type sketches, such as the classic Pepsi Syndrome. I actually felt a little bittersweet watching this season, knowing that not only is it the last year where the core 70s cast is fully intact and fully energized, and not only is it the last great year of the original SNL era, but it also ends up being SNL’s last really great year in general for quite a long time. I won’t be getting another season this strong until I reach, oh, season 10, I’d say.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Maureen Stapleton):
— a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
We enter season 5, the final year of the original SNL era. Steve Martin hosts.

Posted on

November 11, 1978 – Buck Henry / The Grateful Dead (S4 E5)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
during concession speech, candidate (BIM) lists his campaign missteps

 

— I like the off-camera supporters always yelling “No!”
— Good line from Bill about a big mistake in his campaign being his decision to make “Let’s raise property taxes sky-high” the theme.
— Overall, a decent opening.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
on-screen crawl & scenes from Star Wars divert from host’s boringness

       

— Yet another “screen crawl monologue” with Buck Henry.
— I particularly like the line about how the people at SNL consider a show with Buck to be “midway between a show and a week off.”
— Seemed to be some words missing from the part of the crawl that strangely said “Of course, next week the pressure starts all Carrie Fisher hosts.”
— Funny part with them showing Star Wars clips while Buck continues droning on.
— Yet another big laugh from the show’s idea to do “Star Whores” for the following week’s Carrie Fisher episode.
— Overall, the funniest of the three(?) Buck Henry “screen crawl monologues” I’ve covered so far.
STARS: ****


ROVCO CHINCH RANCH
(DAA) plugs a do-it-yourself fur coat kit

   

— I like this usual absurd Aykroyd-starring commercial concept.
— The fur-remover part of the machine is really funny.
STARS: ***½


SAMURAI OPTOMETRIST
Futaba makes a new pair of glasses for Mr. Dantley

   

— As usual, I can already tell from the set when Buck makes his entrance that this will be a Samurai sketch.
— Kinda wary about how this will turn out, considering how underwhelmed I was with the last Samurai sketch they did with Buck.
— Futaba’s mini-sword (or was it a big knife?) having an eye flashlight on the bottom that he looks into Buck’s eyes with was a funny touch.
— Eh, overall, despite some chuckleworthy parts, this was unfortunately another fairly tepid installment, much like the last one. It’s sadly obvious these Samurai sketches are past their prime at this point. They clearly should’ve let these sketches retire with grace after the epic “Samurai Night Fever” installment.
— Knowing that this is John’s final season, I have to wonder if this might have ended up being the very last Samurai sketch, unless they do one in the Buck-hosted season finale (John’s last show).
STARS: **½


UNCLE ROY
“Uncle” Roy (host) is naughty while babysitting Terri (LAN) & Tracy (GIR)

     

— When talking about going to see the movie Foul Play, I like Jane’s line “I’m dying to see that new young comedian that falls down”, a tongue-in-cheek reference to a certain former Not Ready For Prime-Time Player who co-stars in that movie.
— I can tell by the way they’re setting up the appearance of Jane’s friend Roy that this will be the debut of a certain infamous Buck Henry character: Uncle Roy! I’m a bit surprised to learn here that he’s just a friend of Jane’s and is not actually an uncle to the girls.
— Classic part with Uncle Roy eagerly snapping plenty of pictures of the girls’ exposed underwear when they have their nightgowns pulled over their heads.
— Haha at the part with him having the girls throw him all their dirty laundry.
— Overall, funny and incredibly daring, and Buck was the perfect host to pull off such an undesirable role. Hard to believe there was once a time long ago when SNL could get away with this type of humor.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE
fat Elizabeth Taylor (JOB) chokes on chicken during an interview with BIM
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about Iran’s Shah Pahlevi

      

— Ha, it’s the classic Belushi-as-Elizabeth-Taylor “Celebrity Corner” interview that’s often been shown in various SNL/John Belushi highlight reels.
— John slobbishly eating chicken during the whole interview is a great touch.
— LOL at the extended choking part.
— Overall, that whole interview segment definitely lived up to its reputation as a classic John Belushi performance.
— Bill’s Jimmy Hoffa thumb-in-a-box thing was just weird. At least he seemed to be aware of dumb the bit was, judging from him trying to hide his smirk from the camera afterwards.
— Not too crazy about some of the Update jokes so far.
— A great “one in the hand is worth two in the bush” punchline to the news story about a contraceptive that’s implanted in the hand.
— Another sudden appearance from “Weekend Update Station Manager” Dan Aykroyd, again sitting in Bill’s place at the desk. I guess another Point/Counterpoint is coming.
— Dan: “Jane, you poor misguided scrag.”
— Tonight’s Point/Counterpoint wasn’t as funny as usual. Disappointing. I feel like they’ve been relying a bit too much on this segment lately.
— Overall, a hit-and-miss Update.
STARS: **½


GREAT PERFORMANCES
The Death Of Rasputin (JOB) is hard to bring about

     

— Oh my god at John’s look. Hilarious!
— Hmm, John falling through a breakaway table. Somewhere on the night this originally aired, I bet a young Chris Farley was watching and taking notes.
— Speaking of Farley, the premise of this sketch with Belushi repeatedly getting back up every time the others “kill” him reminds me of a Farley sketch that I’ve always hated: a mystery dinner theater sketch from the infamous season 20 where Farley was a hammy actor who refused to die during a death scene in a play.
— Funny fake-out where the other actors finally stop beating John with tools repeatedly, take a brief breather, then suddenly continue beating John with tools repeatedly.
— LOL at the dynamite part. This is getting funnier and funnier.
— Overall, I got some good enjoyment out of this sketch. It’s kinda hard to say why this one worked for me while the later Farley sketch didn’t. Better writing & acting, I suppose.
STARS: ***½


NICK SANDS
Nick “Sands” entertains patrons in a bar outside of Las Vegas

    

— Bill’s Nick the Lounger Singer character finally receives recognition applause from the audience.
— Haha, I absolutely love the part with Bill singing the Shaft theme song.
— Is that one of the Grateful Dead members at the table with John?
— Wait, how is a blonde wig-wearing Laraine at the table with Buck and Gilda when I thought I saw her earlier in the sketch in a dark wig sitting at the bar. (first screencap above) I guess that woman at the bar is someone else. Maybe SNL writer Anne Beatts? After all, there have been sketches in the past where I initially mistook Beatts for Laraine.
— Overall, a pretty solid Nick the Lounger Singer, but not one of the best. Still enjoyable.
STARS: ***½


MORE FLU TO WORRY ABOUT
(host) warns of the inconsiderate Australian flu

— A variation of the “More Insects to Worry About” sketches. Not too excited about seeing this back, after the weak installment they did in Buck’s last episode.
— The cheesy Johnny Carson/“ideal host” bit was pretty funny.
— Overall, another underwhelming edition of this sketch. I hope this sketch hasn’t become a new staple in Buck’s episodes.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


ST. MICKEY’S KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
St. Mickey’s Knights of Columbus welcomes speaker Chico Escuela (GAM)

   

— During John’s introductions of each club member at the table with him, he calls Garrett’s character Chico Escuela. I had been wondering when that character was gonna make his debut. Interesting how he’s debuting as a small part of a group sketch before later being “spun-off” into his own Weekend Update desk pieces, which is the same way Roseanne Rosannadanna made her debut.
— Funny part with Garrett’s speech consisting only of the now-famous “Baseball been berry, berry good to me” line, much to the other club members’ confusion.
— Eh, I wasn’t too crazy about this sketch overall. I found myself a little bored during parts of it. I know they do at least one more installment of this sketch a little later this season with Elliott Gould, as I remember seeing that one in an old SNL Christmas compilation special years ago. Unfortunately, I recall finding that installment somewhat dull as well, and I remember wondering why they would put it in a compilation special.   Maybe it’s just me who doesn’t care much for these sketches.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A decent Buck Henry episode, and a step up from the underwhelming season finale he hosted months earlier. That being said, tonight was still not quite up to the high standards of a typical Buck Henry episode, and the last two sketches ended the show on a disappointing note. As a whole, though, tonight’s episode was still okay.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Carrie Fisher / The Blues Brothers

Posted on

May 20, 1978 – Buck Henry / Sun Ra (S3 E20)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
The Boy In The Plastic Pants Suit will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
since you don’t have Nixon (DAA) to kick around anymore, kick his book

   

— Funny that Dan’s Nixon brings out the “Don’t Buy Books by Crooks” anti-Nixon t-shirt, considering Dan himself wore that same shirt (and proudly pointed to it) during the preceding episode’s goodnights. (screencap below of both moments)

 

— Dan’s Nixon’s desperation for people to buy the book is pretty funny.
— I liked the “Pat’s already on her fourth copy” line.
— Good ending with the book being placekicked.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
scrolling text says host’s career is over, contrary to what he claims

   

— Another scrolling disclaimer during a Buck monologue.
— As usual, this provided good laughs. I especially liked the magazines/telescope part.
STARS: ***½


NERD PROM
before the prom, parents Marshall (host) & Enid (JAC) advise Todd & Lisa

    

— I liked Jane’s comment about Bill’s hormones.
— Buck regarding Bill’s look: “John Ravolta, watch out!”
— Classic part with Bill giving Gilda a can that has rubber snakes pop out of it when she opens it. I’ve often seen that portion of this sketch in the form of a clip in SNL highlight reels.
— Jane’s details about the late Mr. Loopner were really funny.
— Kind of an odd ending.
STARS: ***½


SAMURAI T.V. REPAIRMAN
Mr. Dantley brings his broken set to Futaba

   

— Can already tell from the set that this will be a Samurai sketch.
— Yep, I was right.
— Futaba referring to his mother as “My mama-san” brought me back to the funny “Yo mama-san” bit from the Samurai sketch with Richard Pryor.
— Hate to say it, but you can tell this recurring sketch is running out of steam. A lot of the usual gags here feel tired, predictable, and by-the-numbers.
— The “68/89” mix-up was fairly funny.
— I liked Futaba sticking two swords into the top of the TV screen to fix the picture.
— This sketch as a whole was disappointing for Samurai standards. John also kinda seemed to be going through the motions; I bet he’s grown tired of doing this character. I think the only reason they’re continuing to use Futaba at this point in the show’s run is because it was a tradition to do so whenever Buck hosted. I heard that SNL did only two more Samurai sketches after this, and I’m guessing they’re in the two episodes that Buck hosts next season (which is John’s final season).
STARS: **


SODOM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
(BIM) offers image-improving ideas to the Sodom chamber of commerce

 

— This is an awfully cheap premise, especially for something this early in the show.
— Didn’t care for the ending with the female cast members singing.
— Overall, aside from a few okay lines, I was bored during this whole sketch.
STARS: *½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
LAN narrates amateurish TOS drawings of Son Of Sam trial
BIM tries to call Jackie Onassis to get her reaction to The Greek Tycoon
DAA’s commentary about Betty Ford lists some other alcoholic first ladies
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about jogging

       

— Dan’s wearing dark-tinted sunglasses for some reason. I wonder if he’s aware that this is going to end up being his final Update.
— Haha, holy hell at Dan demonstrating the new fanfare and then quickly firing a sudden gunshot into the air. His delivery and timing of that was awesome. He may suck at reading Update jokes, but he was usually always great at doing random side bits like these.
— The return of the childlike “Artist’s Rendering” gag. Meh. This bit stopped being funny long ago back when Chevy was overusing it in season 1.
— Bill “Now get out of here, you knuckleheads” Murray stops by for what would end up being his final review commentary before taking over as new Update co-anchor next season. I wonder if they found a way to have him still continue doing these smarmy review commentaries even when being an anchorman.
— Bill calling out the movie clip for stealing Steve Martin’s “excuse me” catchphrase is amusing to me, because Bill himself used that catchphrase of Steve’s in a Nerds sketch from a few episodes ago.
— Bill: “(over the phone) Does the name Bill Murray mean anything to you? (a beat) John Belushi?” Haha, don’t worry, Bill, your time as a household name is soon coming.
— Dan’s segment detailing the drinking habits of first ladies throughout history was questionable, but I did like his comments about Mary Todd Lincoln.
— Another Point/Counterpoint.
— Dan’s harsh rebuttal to Jane was hilarious as usual, especially his menopause comment.
— And so ends the final Update of the short-lived Dan Aykroyd era. At least he went out with a few good moments tonight. Now bring on the Bill Murray era!
STARS: ***


THE OLYMPIA CAFE
Pete is forced to choose between employee Nico (BIM) & a guard dog

     

— The “lamb in the basement” bit was a fairly funny subtle part.
— I always like how each Olympia Cafe sketch involves multiple storylines going on at the same time. It adds a lot of layers and depth to the sketch, and makes it feel like a sitcom, which is also helped by the realism in everyone’s performances. It’s rare to see a recurring SNL sketch show this kind of detail and commitment to realism.
— Bill’s character abruptly getting fired and shoved out the door actually made me feel genuinely sorry for him.
— The back-and-forth with Bill repeatedly getting fired and then rehired is pretty good.
STARS: ***½


MR. MIKE’S LEAST-LOVED MUSIC
MOD performs “Baby Ghouls”

   

— Ah, a variation of Least Loved Bedtime Tales.
— Interesting visual of a superimposed, bloody Laraine doing sign language during O’Donoghue’s song.
— These lyrics are disturbing and fucked-up as hell, even for Mr. Mike standards.
— Overall, I have absolutely no idea what to make of this. I want to love it, because I’m usually a fan of dark Mr. Mike humor, but I’m not all that sure how I felt about this one.  I think maybe I appreciated the concept of it more than the actual execution.
— Was this O’Donoghue’s swan song? I thought I heard somewhere that tonight is his last episode. However, I had always been under the impression that he left after season 4, not season 3. Can anyone clarify? It does feel like they’ve been phasing him out in the second half of this season, as his presence has not been felt anywhere near as much as it was felt in the first two seasons. If tonight is indeed his last show, he sure will be missed. I feel kinda bad for being so iffy on this final sketch of his.
STARS: ??? (undecided)


MORE INSECTS TO WORRY ABOUT
(host) warns about brain-burrowing mites

— I didn’t know they made this into a recurring sketch.
— WTF was with Buck’s “f**got/maggot” slip-up? Was that intentional or a real flub? If someone made that same slip-up on SNL nowadays, they’d probably get chased out the building by an angry mob with torches and pitchforks.
— Some of the gross details by Buck are kinda funny, but this sketch isn’t working as well as the first installment did.
STARS: **½


STUNT PUPPY
director Brian Whitney has actor Howard abuse a stunt puppy in a scene

   

— Ah, it’s the Stunt Baby sequel.
— For some reason, I loved Jane exclaiming “I can’t, I’d vomit!” as her excuse for not cleaning up the mess the dog made on the floor.
— Wait, the stunt puppy is REAL? How are they going to pull this off?
— Oh, I see what they did; you can tell when they secretly switched the real stunt puppy with a fake one.
— Man, this was disappointing overall. This had an awfully long setup for a short payoff that felt derivative and just didn’t work as well as Buck’s original abuse of Stunt Baby did. Maybe instead of just throwing Stunt Puppy out the window like he did with Stunt Baby, they should’ve had Buck up the ante by pulling out a rifle and SHOOTING the puppy. That was what I had actually been expecting when I first heard there’s a Stunt Puppy sketch.
STARS: **


BAD CONCEPTUAL ART
(GIR) performs excerpt from Pavlov Video Chicken I

  

— Judging from what Dan’s saying in his intro, I’m predicting the role of a woman dancing like a chicken will be played by Laraine, who previously did a chicken impression in that “Little-Known Talents of the Not Ready For Prime-Time Players” sketch from season 2.
— Oh, it’s actually Gilda playing the chicken-dancing lady.
— Boy, that eye in the TV monitor looks just plain creepy. Is that Garrett?
— Wow, this play is insane, but not all that funny.
— Why did this end with Dan miming throwing something invisible into the garbage bin? He usually throws a script into the garbage at the end of these sketches.
— Overall, this was one of the lesser “Bad (insert type of play here)” installments, which makes this yet another disappointing sketch tonight. Man, what’s going on?
STARS: **


THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
tragedy befalls the Franken family after TOD outs himself & ALF

     

— Funny twist with Davis revealing he and Franken are “homosexual lovers”.
— The audience & Franken’s “son” acting like Franken’s the worst person ever just for coming out as gay is making me laugh, but REALLY shows this sketch’s age. This premise couldn’t be used on the show nowadays.
— Wow, holy hell at the suicide ending. I love how dark and unexpected that was. I also love how the audience had no idea how to respond to it.
— Interesting “sponsored by” bit at the end.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
— Wonder why they buried the first musical performance so unusually late into the show.
— (*sees how utterly bizarre this performance is*) Oh, THAT’S why they buried this so late into the show…
— The show cut to commercial when this performance was still in progress. I’m sure it’s only because the episode ran long, but it’s funny to imagine that the real reason is because everybody at the show was so weirded-out by the performance that director Dave Wilson just threw his hands in the air and said “Alright, that’s it, I’m cutting this off!”


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An odd season finale. Considering Buck Henry was hosting and considering the impressive streak of great episodes that preceded this, expectations were high for a top-notch season-ender. Instead, the season went out on kind of an underwhelming note. There was a string of disappointing sketches in the second half of the show, post-Olympia Cafe and pre-Franken & Davis. The first half of the show wasn’t consistently strong, either, as it contained a rather lethargic Samurai installment and whatever that Sodom sketch was trying to be. Tonight’s episode still certainly had several highlights here and there, but nothing that I felt was worth giving more than a three-and-a-half star rating to.
— Despite the less-than-satisfying way it ended, season 3 was an overall fantastic year. There was impressively only ONE episode that I flat-out disliked (Madeline Kahn), and that was all the way back at the beginning of the season. There were two episodes that I felt were iffy but contained enough highlights that I wouldn’t classify them as outright bad shows (Hugh Hefner and tonight’s Buck Henry). The remaining episodes of the season all ranged from good to excellent. So many of those episodes were strong, especially the long stretch of episodes from Christopher Lee to Richard Dreyfuss, one of which included an episode that’s universally praised as an all-time legendary classic (Steve Martin/The Blues Brothers). There was also a surprising number of episodes that contained no weak sketches, which is a rarity for SNL. And we got lots of memorable unique gimmicks throughout the season, such as Charles Grodin “missing” dress rehearsal, Atomic Lobsters attacking the studio, and the whole “Anyone Can Host” contest. Overall, I’d say this is easily one of the greatest seasons in SNL history, and it was a blast for me to review.
— We’re officially three seasons down in the ‘One SNL a Day’ project!


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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Season 4 begins, with hosts The Rolling Stones

Posted on

November 19, 1977 – Buck Henry / Leon Redbone (S3 E6)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
The Waltons Eat Their Young will not be seen tonight


— Our very first of what would go on to be a recurring gag in this era, of episodes beginning with a funny quick “(insert fake show title here) will not be seen tonight” disclaimer.


COLD OPENING
the Anyone Can Host Contest finalists meet GAM, GIR, host

  
— Liked Garrett’s reaction to finding out the Anyone Can Host finalist who didn’t make it to the final 5 is mulatto.
— “I’m Miskell Spillman, I’m old.” Haha, right off the bat, I can ALREADY see how she ended up winning.
— Buck mentions this is his fifth time hosting. Interesting how in the mere two-and-a-half seasons that SNL has been in existence, they already have their very first five-timer.
— Overall, a decent introduction to the finalists.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
the Anyone Can Host Contest finalists give their qualifications

     
— The finalists accompany Buck as he’s making his monologue entrance.
— I was about to say the unemployed finalist seems like someone who would’ve been the favorite to win, since he looks like what I’ve always pictured a typical SNL fan in the 70s looked like. But OH MY GOD, that awful gobbling punchline of his turkey farm story was CRINGEWORTHY. I think he lost the contest right there at that very moment.
— Buck’s doing a great job leading this.
STARS: ***


LITTLE CHOCOLATE DONUTS
Little Chocolate Donuts made JOB’s decathlon world record possible

  
— Ah, yes, THIS classic.
— This perfectly captures and spoofs the feel of old Wheaties ads.
— A funny touch with John having a lit cigarette in his hand while talking to the camera.
— When I was a lot younger, I originally saw this fake ad in some kind of SNL compilation special (probably “SNL Goes Commercial” or one of the annual “Sports Extra” specials), and it was one of the very first things I ever saw John Belushi in, after hearing so much about him. Right off the bat with this commercial, I was able to see flashes of what the big deal about him was and why he’s considered an SNL legend.
— Overall, one of my favorite SNL commercials of all-time. This also joins the list of great fake ads from this season so far.
STARS: *****


SAMURAI PSYCHIATRIST
Futaba helps Mr. Dantley with parental issues

   
— Even though it’s supposed to be a surprise reveal who Buck’s speaking to at the beginning, I can already tell from the little portion of him that we can see that it’s Futaba.
— I was about to ask “Didn’t we just see a Samurai sketch two episodes ago when Grodin hosted?”, but I had forgotten that it’s a tradition to do this sketch whenever Buck hosts. Plus, the Grodin version was a truncated sketch that got “ruined” by Grodin breaking the fourth wall, so I guess it’s okay that they’re doing a full, normal version this early.
— Very funny part with Futaba’s demonstration of “the castration complex”.
— Futaba not being stopped from committing hara-kari for once is an interesting change of pace.
— Whoa, whoa, whoa…. Futaba actually DIED! I’m shocked. So they’re retiring the character for good?
— Don Pardo: “This has been the last episode of Samurai Psychiatrist.” Well, that proves it. I have to wonder, did they go on to keep their word and refrain from bringing this character back? Knowing how somewhat-heavily this era tended to lean on certain popular recurring characters, I’m gonna guess “no”.
— In fact, come to think of it, I know for sure they continued doing this character, because I recall hearing about a famous “Samurai Night Fever” sketch that appears later this season in, I think, O.J. Simpson’s episode. I wonder if there’s an explanation in the next Samurai sketch of how Futaba “came back to life”. Or did they just throw continuity out the window and act like his death never happened?
— Considering Buck would later end up hosting John’s final SNL episode, I wish they saved this sketch for then, as Futaba’s death would’ve been more appropriate for that night. Then again, I haven’t seen that episode yet, so maybe it already HAS a Samurai sketch with some kind of noteworthy conclusion.
STARS: ****


STUNT BABY
director Brian Whitney (BIM) has actor Howard (host) abuse a stunt baby

     
— Oh, this is a well-known sketch that I’ve always been eager to see.
— Love the morally-wrong concept of a baby being used as a stunt double for a brutal physical scene.
— Bill is great as the director, which is no surprise considering that Execution Rehearsal sketch from his first episode.
— Buck repeatedly punching the baby, slamming it against various parts of the room, and throwing through the window is hilariously dark. I love it.
— This sketch was the perfect length and didn’t belabor the point. I heard that in one of Buck’s later episodes, they would do some kind of follow-up, I think with a puppy instead of a baby.
STARS: ****½


A.M.O.A. SANITIZED MOTEL
the AMOA ensures that motel bathrooms are “sanitized for your protection”

   
— Sounds like there were audio issues at the beginning. You can very faintly hear a voice-over (Pardo, maybe) opening this sketch, but their mic isn’t working.
— The picture slideshow of the cleaning process isn’t all that funny.
— Garrett in drag again……
— I liked the ending with Dan, but overall, this was a forgettable commercial.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE
artist’s renderings illustrate how the genetic messenger determines sex
LAN cursorily interviews the Anyone Can Host Contest finalists
DAA & JAC ask Baba Wawa questions about Anwar Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem

     
— For the first time in a while, there was no opening gag with Pardo mispronouncing one of the anchor’s names.
— The return of the Tom Schiller childlike “artist’s rendering” drawings that used to be a frequent gag in Chevy’s Updates.
— Laraine’s remote segment with the finalists wasn’t too great.
— We haven’t seen Baba Wawa in a while.
— The Baba Wawa segment ended up being pretty forgettable.
— Another short Update, and also another Update I didn’t care for. This segment has not been doing too well lately, and Dan’s not even the main one to blame (I honestly haven’t been finding him quite as bad as people always say he was, aside from his disastrous second Update of the season).
STARS: **

REUNION IN KIEV
(GIR)’s train ride to Kiev involves yesterday-today-tomorrow confusion

   
— Funny how this flashback is showing Gilda in the exact same place we had just seen her in.
— I like how whenever the “screen ripple effect” happens when a flashback begins, you can see the performers rushing around the set to take their place for the flashback.
— The increasingly confusing flashbacks from days that hadn’t even happened yet is pretty funny.
— Overall, a good silly little sketch.
STARS: ***½


MR. MIKE’S RICKEY RAT CLUB
host & Ratketeers have Anything Bad Can Happen Day

     
— At first, I thought we were in for another Least Loved Bedtime Tale.
— I’m liking Mr. Mike deadpan-ly recalling all of his earlier needles-plunged-through-eyes celebrity impressions.
— “Rickey Rat Club”. I remember hearing about this sketch before; sounds like classic Mr. Mike fucked-up-ness.
— So far, I’m really enjoying this dark, bizarro version of the Mickey Mouse Club.
— Great ending with them trampolining a fake rat into the studio audience… at least I assume it was fake. Then again, considering this was a Mr. Mike-written sketch, I wouldn’t put it past him…
STARS: ****


THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
ALF & TOD narrate a montage of images documenting their history
Jackie Onassis (GIR) realizes TOD is choking, not playing charades

     
— The opening Franken and Davis caricature drawing that was introduced last time has now been modified into moving animation.
— I liked the fake magazine cover of a whole bunch of Franken lookalike kids.
— Interesting involvement of Gilda as Jackie Onassis.
— Much like the last Franken and Davis sketch from the season premiere, this has turned into a full-fledged sketch involving various performers.
— Davis using a gravy boat to write on the table during the extended choking scene was pretty funny.
STARS: ***


THE FIVE FINALISTS
by Gary Weis- the Anyone Can Host Contest finalists try to influence host

   
— Judging from what Buck’s saying in his intro, we’re in for a Gary Weis film. *groan* At least the show has been going really light on his films this season; we’ve only had two so far, whereas in season 2 and the second half of season 1, there was a Weis film almost every week.
— The unemployed finalist’s creepy anecdote was really funny, made even funnier by Buck’s deadpan facial reaction into the camera. (second screencap above)
— Miskell Spillman gets another big laugh tonight with her sole reason for hosting being “I’m going to kick soon”.
— Overall, surprisingly good for a Gary Weis film.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


LIFE AFTER DEATH
by TOS- “take a number, be seated” experience recalled

   
— A Schiller’s Reel!
— The repeated “take a number” reveals aren’t that funny.
— And that’s it? Damn, that was weak.
— What kind of bizarro world does tonight’s episode take place in, where Gary Weis had a much better film than Tom Schiller?
STARS: *½


GOODNIGHTS
Anyone Can Host Contest finalists make their final pitches

     

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty good show. It feels like the sketches kinda took a backseat to the Anyone Can Host extravaganza, but most of the sketches we did get were fine, and some of them really strong (Stunt Baby, Rickey Rat Club).
— The segments with the finalists added a fairly fun energy and gave the show a different feel, which makes this the third consecutive unconventional-feeling episode (after Charles Grodin and Ray Charles). SNL was wise to have Buck as the host this particular night, since it was a given that he’d be perfect at leading the finalists segments with total ease. And of course, he was great as usual in the regular sketches as well.


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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Mary Kay Place

Posted on

May 21, 1977 – Buck Henry / Jennifer Warnes, Kenny Vance (S2 E22)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Jimmy Carter (DAA) generates electricity to broadcast energy message
 
— Funny premise with Dan’s Carter powering his television address via his exercise bike.
— I love Gilda as the elderly Lillian Carter.
— Overall, a simple but funny cold opening.
STARS: ***½

MONOLOGUE
host aims to perform a live on-stage sex act with an audience member
   
— Hmm, what’s all that stuff set up on the stage upon’s Buck’s entrance?
— Heh, a pornography challenge? Very intriguing. I remember hearing about this monologue before, where Buck supposedly showcases a live sex act.
— I like the random inclusion of a big barrel of cottage cheese being part of the sex act.
— LOL at the random nun in the audience when the camera was panning through the crowd.
— Funny fake-out with which audience member Buck would end up picking.
— Good ending.
STARS: ****

SAMURAI B.M.O.C.
Futaba’s bad grades jeopardize his graduation
   
— Gilda: “Dean Bynum will be with you in a moment; it’s just he’s performing a live sex act on stage.” Haha! That’s brilliant how the ending of the monologue carried over into this sketch.
— Buck, upon entering: “Sorry to keep you waiting. Just finishing my cottage cheese.”
— Man, Garrett’s even more stumbly with his lines than usual. He can’t get through a sentence in this sketch without tripping all over it.
— I have a weird feeling from Buck’s set-up that the mysterious “big man on campus” he keeps talking about is going to turn out to be Futaba.
— I was right!!!
— This is the first Samurai sketch that Buck is appearing in since the “stockbroker” installment where Buck infamously got cut in the forehead by John’s sword. The fact that even after that incident, Buck had no problem continuing the tradition of doing a Samurai sketch every time he hosts shows what a great sport he was.
— Clever how Futaba “carved” his fraternity’s symbol into the drapes.
— Overall, the usual great Buck Henry-involved Samurai sketch.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (JENNIFER WARNES)

SHOWER MIKE
showering Richard Herkiman (BIM) interviews wife (GIR) & her lover (host)
  
— Right out of the gate, Bill’s doing fantastic in this so far. This sketch’s concept is perfect for him, and his performance is so much fun to watch.
— Bringing Buck on as a man who Gilda’s been cheating on Bill with, and him still having his suit on during the shower is making this sketch even funnier. Everybody’s cheerful attitudes about the affair is very funny, too.
— Overall, wow, this was great. I’d say this is one of Bill’s all-time best sketches from his entire SNL tenure. With how shaky his first few months have been on the show, I’m glad he was able to end this season with an assuring performance that hopefully gave a lot of iffy viewers more confidence in him.
STARS: ****½

RETURN OF THE CONEHEADS
Coneheads fly Chrysler Building to Remulak to meet with Kuldroth (JOB)
 
   
— Coneheads! I’m looking forward to seeing Buck interact with them.
— Laraine’s conehead prosthetic is pretty sloppily applied. You can very clearly see where her real skin ends and the prosthetic begins.

— Buck to the Coneheads: “I think I know exactly what you people are: you’re Ku Klux Klan!”
— I was just about to ask why Buck looks so sweaty in his close-up, before I just now realized he must still be damp from the shower sketch.

— Whoa, a cutaway to a filmed sequence with the Coneheads taking a drive. I’m really liking this.
— This whole filmed sequence is great. SNL’s pulling out all the stops for tonight’s Coneheads installment.
— Funny to watch the crowd of bystanders in the background when the Coneheads exit from their car.
— Wow, now we’re seeing the Coneheads on their home planet. I love seeing John as the leader.
— Nice continuity having Garrett reprise his role from the preceding Coneheads sketch.
— John’s voice is great.
— LOL at the fight sequence between Dan and John.
— Overall, an absolutely great Coneheads sketch, and I love how extensive the whole thing was.
STARS: ****½

WEEKEND UPDATE
on-horse microphone records Preakness ride of Seattle Slew & jockey (CHC)
Emily Litella says Bella Abzug [real] will throw her “cat” in the ring
in hopes of getting laid, host presents JAC with a phony journalism award
     
— This is Jane’s final Update as a solo anchorperson. A certain cast member becomes her new co-anchor the following season.
— Pretty funny with the horse in the horse race footage having a Mr. Ed voice, though this is the second time they used that joke. Last time they did that joke (in the Catherine the Great sketch from the Karen Black episode), Chevy was the one who did the Mr. Ed voice. Does this mean he’s there tonight (in yet ANOTHER cameo) doing the voice again?
— (sigh) Another Emily Litella appearance, though they’re using her as a reporter this time.
— Part of me appreciates that they’ve been trying a lot of different things with Litella these last few months, but this particular commentary still didn’t work for me. The jokes were tired and weak, Bella Abzug’s delivery was stiff, and hearing Abzug attempt to do Litella’s “Never mind” catchphrase was almost cringeworthy.
— Buck giving Jane an award for journalism? Wonder what the catch is going to be.
— Haha, Buck’s creepy stalker-ish pining for Jane is very funny.
— And now, it’s gotten even funnier with Buck’s comment about his personal “rather large trophy” that he want to give to Jane in private.
— Jane’s sign-off at the end was a little strange. I think she sold her post-Buck commentary weirded-out-ness a little TOO well here.
— No mid-WU break tonight. Hopefully in the semi-new era of Update that begins the following season, the mid-WU breaks will officially be gone.
STARS: ***½

RHONDA’S BRIDAL SHOWER
at her bridal shower, Rhonda Weiss loves the gifts she receives
 
— Jane’s voice sounds so different in this. I’ve never heard her talk like that any other time.
— What the heck is a “melonballer”?
— Never mind; I guess the joke there was melonballers don’t actually exist, judging by how the next gift Gilda received was an “egg-tweezer”.
— Not really sure I like this sketch so far. I’m finding myself bored and haven’t laughed a single time yet.
— Overall, yeah, not crazy at all about what I just watched. I think this was something that was aimed more towards female viewers who can relate to this type of humor.
STARS: *½

HOW YOUR CHILDREN GROW
(host) & punctuator patient (GIR) condition (JAC)
   
— LOL, what the heck is going on, with Gilda monotone-ly punctuating Buck’s sentences, Laraine ringing a bell, and Gilda handing Jane a cookie?
— I’m starting to really like the weirdness of this.
— Great twist revelation regarding Jane’s salivation.
— Overall, this was perfect execution of a unique sketch.
STARS: ****

DOG IN BED
by William Wegman- an alarm clock awakens weimaraner Man Ray
 
— The second episode in a row without a Gary Weis film. I can only hope this means they’re phasing him out.
— What in the world??? That’s the whole film??? A dog gets woken up by an alarm clock, sleepily looks around, and… The End?
STARS: ???

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (KENNY VANCE)

LUCKY LINDY
Charles Lindbergh (host) flies across the Atlantic & meets Land Shark
   
— I’m liking the format of this and Dan is fun as the narrator, though nothing really funny has happened yet.
— LOL at Buck placing the thermos below himself to relieve himself into.
— Buck pretending his hand is a stewardess puppet? Ha, he seems to slowly be going crazy.
— Him using the puppet hand to pleasure himself while looking at a “spicy” magazine is a riot.
— The masturbation sequence is made even funnier by the line from Dan as the narrator: “Turbulence suddenly jerked the plane off……. course.”
— Haha, Landshark! So I guess that answers my earlier question about if Chevy’s there tonight.
STARS: ***½

THE SATURDAY NIGHT BAND: “DEPARTURE LOUNGE”
Howard Shore [real] & SNL Band perform “Departure Lounge”

— We get a random musical performance from the SNL Band.

IMPRESSIONIST MICHAEL O’DONOGHUE
MOD, castmembers, others impersonate eye-gouged Mormon Tabernacle Choir
   
— Hmm, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is the subject of tonight’s O’Donoghue impression. Is he going to have a choir accompany him like how he had two ladies accompany his Tony Orlando and Dawn impression last time?
— Even though I always know what’s coming with these O’Donoghue impression segments, it never fails to crack me up whenever he suddenly starts saying “A funny thought occurred to me…” after heaping tons of praise on who he’s about to impersonate.
— Ah, the choir is being played by the entire cast and (what appears to be) entire writing staff!
— Overall, hilarious as always. And this being the final sketch of the season, having the entire cast and writing staff appearing in it is a nice way to end the year.
— So far, all of O’Donoghue’s impression sketches have only appeared in Buck Henry-hosted episodes.   I didn’t realize until now that these sketches were exclusive to Buck’s episodes.  I had always thought that O’Donoghue just did them whenever.
STARS: ****

GOODNIGHTS
  

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very good season finale, and yet another solid Buck Henry episode. I had a great time watching this. A majority of the sketches were both strong and fun, and a few of those sketches had a special extensive feeling that made it seem like SNL was intentionally going all out for their season finale, which is what I always like to see when an SNL season ends.
— This episode would begin a tradition of Buck hosting the season finales for the remainder of this era. It doesn’t need to be explained why, if you’re familiar with what a great host he always makes.
— We’re officially two seasons down in my ‘One SNL a Day’ project!

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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Season 3 begins, with host Steve Martin. I’m very eager to go into this season because, IIRC, that and season 4 are both widely considered the zenith of 70s SNL.

Posted on

October 30, 1976 – Buck Henry / The Band (S2 E6)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
trick-or-treating Land Shark gets (GIR) on Halloween
  
— Landshark! Interesting choice to open Chevy’s final show.
— Well, that was short and straightforward, but still funny. This is also the Landshark installment that I was first exposed to when I was younger, as SNL often used to open their older Halloween compilation specials with this one.
— This is the second cold opening in a row that didn’t end with a Chevy fall. Was it doctor’s orders for Chevy to ease up on the falls after his injury earlier this season? Or is this SNL’s way of getting viewers used to cold openings that don’t end with falls, since Chevy was on his way out?
— After getting so used to seeing Chevy say LFNY in every episode (except two) I’ve reviewed so far, it’s going to temporarily feel weird and interesting seeing other people saying LFNY after this episode.
STARS: ***½

MONOLOGUE
host unconvincingly argues that the SNL cast is made up of normal folks

— I’m loving these stories about the cast’s personalities.
— Buck talking about how weird Aykroyd is probably has some truth to it.
— Some of the audience knowingly applauded when Buck mentioned how sweet Gilda is.
— Love the bit about Garrett’s talent being cannibalism.
— An on-air mention of this being Chevy’s last show.
STARS: ****

SAMURAI STOCKBROKER
Mr. Dantley is worried about his investments
     
— Buck actually said Futaba’s last name just now, though I couldn’t make out what exactly it was.
— I got a good laugh from Futaba’s method of “splitting” the stock.
— I liked the card coming out of the slot in the databank.
— Here we are – the notorious part with Buck getting unintentionally cut in the forehead by John’s sword while John was wildly using it to make a “window” into the wall.
— Immediately after getting hit, Buck actually turned around and looked like he was about to walk off the set in a panic (fourth screencap above), before immediately turning back and continuing with the sketch. Very interesting to see that brief flash of genuine panic during a live sketch.
— As if Buck getting cut in the forehead wasn’t unfortunate enough, as he was crawling out the “window”, the wood he was leaning on broke unintentionally and caused him to clumsily fall “out the window” sooner than he was supposed to. The audience got a big kick out of that.
— I don’t understand the ending with John adding a tiny stick-on body figure to a drawing of a plane that has other stick-on body figures in it.
— Heh, the sketch ends on a shot of John happily drumming onto a table, not even being aware of what he had unintentionally just done to Buck a minute earlier.
STARS: **** (the rating was boosted a bit by the notoriety of the sword/forehead incident)

NOT FOR FIRST LADIES ONLY
Betty Ford (JAC) & Rosalynn Carter (LAN)

— Loved the “I’m the kind of person that you can’t picture going to the bathroom” line from Jane as Betty Ford.
— The whole conversation between Jane and Laraine is pretty funny.
STARS: ***

ROOTS
GAM’s family history research uncovers some famous Morris relatives
   
— Yet another solo Garrett Morris sketch. He seems to do sketches by himself more often than anyone else in this cast does.
— Despite Garrett’s good storytelling skills, I’m wondering when exactly the big joke of this is coming.
— WTF at the sudden Hollywood Squares twist. That came out of nowhere.
STARS: **½

SIDE NOTE: A fake “Coming Up Next” teaser caption (which the show often does in this era before going to commercial) mentions something titled “Buck Henry Gets Even”. Is that a last-minute reference to the sword/forehead incident, or just a coincidence?

DEBATE ’76
Jimmy Carter (DAA) & Gerald Ford (CHC) vie in beauty pageant
     
— In his first appearance since the Samurai incident, Buck is now seen wearing a bandage on his forehead.
— I’m pretty sure they said in the preceding debate sketch from the Karen Black episode that THAT was the third and last debate. Yet they’re claiming that same thing about tonight’s debate sketch. Strange.
— Good creative premise having the presidential debate being done as a beauty pageant.
— Chevy has now shown up wearing a band-aid on his forehead, too, in what will end up being a running gag for the rest of the night with various cast members randomly having a band-aid on their head, in an attempt to make Buck feel less self-conscious about his own bandage.
— I cracked up at Garrett’s pained moan and facial expression after Dan poked around inside his mouth with dental tools.
— Chevy’s “There’s no paper in here” when inside the voting booth was hilarious.
— Was that padding I saw on the floor when Chevy did his pratfall out of the voting booth? Now I’m definitely sure that Chevy must’ve received doctor’s orders to go easy on the falls, because SNL never used any visible padding in any of Chevy’s earlier pratfalls.
— Loved Buck’s quick “We’ll be right back… we’re back” when he acted like the show was going to cut to commercial.
— Clearly an ad-lib when Chevy said to Buck “I cut myself shaving here this evening too”.
— Buck’s long-winded scenario about Ford having a string of disastrous accidents at a Moscow state dinner is great.
— And just now, Chevy’s unrelated answer to Buck’s scenario is equally as funny.
— They again repeated the same gag ending credits from the first debate sketch.
STARS: ****

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 1
unreleased Gerald Ford ad features Jimmy Carter’s admission of heart lust
unreleased Jimmy Carter ad features Gerald Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon
     
— Chevy has kept on the band-aid from the preceding sketch.
— Haha, the top story Chevy reads tonight is of Buck Henry getting cut in the forehead by a “drugged-out John Belushi” during the Samurai sketch. As I recall hearing, when NBC aired this episode on “SNL Vintage” a few years ago (back in the days when they aired actual VINTAGE episodes instead of episodes from just 1-3 years ago), they accompanied Chevy’s joke with an actual slow-mo clip of the Samurai incident.
— The jokes are very funny so far tonight.
— Hmm, I like this idea of airing fake Ford/Carter attack ads during Update.
— The unexpected twist at the end of the Carter ad was very good.
— I almost thought the footage of President Ford announcing a pardon of Richard Nixon was a comedic bit he (somehow) filmed for SNL, before I just now came to the horrible realization that this is real footage from an actual presidential address. Geez, no wonder Ford didn’t get re-elected.

BAT-O-MATIC
the Super Bat-O-Matic ’77 is the witch’s aid for blending magic potions
   
— The premise is a funny twist on Bass-O-Matic, though I know this won’t be able to hold a candle to the original.
— Dan’s insane rapid-fire delivery is still top-notch and continues to crack me the hell up.
— I don’t know why, but the little detail of one of the ingredients he added into the blender being “the eye of a rat” has me dying with laughter right now.
— Is that a real dead bat or just a fake prop?
— Overall, while I was right that this didn’t quite measure up to the original Bass-O-Matic, it was better than I thought it would be and still provided some of my biggest laughs of the episode so far.
STARS: ****½

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 2
JAC reads faux story about CHC replacing Johnny Carson on Tonight Show
CHC receives a phone call from the late Generalissimo Francisco Franco
picture of Gerald Ford with “evil” mustache belies CHC’s impartiality
     
— BAND-AID WATCH: Jane Curtin is now the latest cast member to show up with one.
— Jane’s Sammy Davis Jr. story was really funny.
— Chevy replacing Johnny Carson? Wait, what?
— Never mind, the Chevy/Carson thing is clearly just a “bit”.
— Jane’s commentary was an interesting subtle passing-of-the-torch from Chevy to his Update successor.
— I liked the random “Game of the Week” segment with Chevy flawlessly doing the ‘rapidly jabbing a pen in the empty spaces between the fingers’ trick.
— The Update phone is now ringing. Oh, god, let me guess: it’ll be Emily Litella calling to say her goodbyes to “Cheddar Cheese”.
— Oh, the phone call is actually from Chevy’s favorite punchline:  Generalissimo Francisco Franco! This is a nice surprise.
— Overall, a very good Update to end Chevy’s tenure with.
STARS (FOR BOTH WEEKEND UPDATE HALVES): ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

THE OintMENt
a search for the real parents of devil child Damian (JOB)
     
— BAND-AID WATCH: the teddy-bear that John’s holding.
— Buck: “I hate it when nanny hangs herself.”
— The “OintMENt” title always makes me laugh, even though I never understood why they titled it that. I know the letters for “omen” are within that word (as this sketch is a spoof of the movie The Omen), but what does the sketch itself have to do with ointments?
— LOL at “dildo sharpener” being one of the ‘d’ words that Buck guessed Dan was trying to say.
— Love the close-ups of John’s creepy facial expressions into the camera.
— The cemetery scene is very funny.
— Yet another great line: Chevy’s “It’s a bit dark in here, let’s turn on the priest”, which Chevy himself seems amused by, as he’s trying not to laugh right now.
— Hilarious bit when Buck read the ‘666’ on John’s forehead upside-down and assumed they were three 9s.
— Oh, so THERE’S the connection this sketch has to ointments.
STARS: ****

IT’S HALLOWEEN TONIGHT
by Gary Weis- host is made up to look female
   
— There’s a surreal tone to this film that I’ve always found interesting.
— A nice original song (written and sung by Howard Shore) to accompany the montage of Buck getting made up as a woman.
— The end result of Buck’s makeover is fascinating; almost creepy in a way.
STARS: ***½

HOUDINI’S GRAVE, PART 1
GAM reports from Houdini’s grave on the 50th anniversary of his death
 
— Garrett’s nervous demeanor during his report is pretty funny.
STARS: ***

MR. MIKE’S LEAST-LOVED BEDTIME TALES
MOD tells a Least-Loved Bedtime Tale- “The Enchanted Thermos”

— The birth of a recurring segment.
— Mr. Mike is stumbling over some words a bit throughout his story.
— Funny story overall, though I expected it to be more hilariously disturbing; it felt a little tame for Mr. Mike standards. Maybe the stories get darker in later installments of this sketch.
— I liked the random little addendum about fingernails continuing to grow after death.
STARS: ***

HOUDINI’S GRAVE, PART 2
GAM is rendered speechless after having seen Houdini’s ghost
 
— Haha, the combination of the sight gag of Garrett’s standing-on-end hair, his hilarious terrified facial expression, and his speechless mumbling is making me laugh a lot.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

GOODNIGHTS
   
— BAND-AID WATCH: the entire cast. John in particular has the entire top half of his head wrapped up.
— I love how John is acting as a reporter asking Buck questions, presumably about the Samurai incident. (we can’t hear their conversation, since the goodnights music is playing)
— Right now, everyone onstage has all randomly begun laying down on the floor, one-by-one.

_______________________________

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Yet another absolutely solid Season 2 episode, and yet another solid Buck Henry episode. Aside from the Roots sketch, I got enjoyment out of every single segment (even a Gary Weis film), and charming little spontaneous things like the impromptu additions of band-aids to cast members’ (and teddy bears’) foreheads throughout the night just added to the fun feeling of the episode.
— Farewell, Chevy. While doing reviews for these Season 1-2 episodes, I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see that I’ve been enjoying Chevy as a cast member. Not that I had been expecting him to be bad, but I guess when I first went into this era when starting my ‘One SNL a Day’ project, I wasn’t looking all that forward to seeing him doing pratfalls week-after-week and hogging up the airtime at the expense of the rest of the cast. Not to mention, I was worried that all the famous negative behind-the-scenes stories about him would cloud my judgment. But as it turned out, I ended up finding him funny for the most part, I liked him a lot as Update anchor, and even the weekly pratfalls usually always amused me. All that being said, I am looking forward to seeing the remaining cast now finally get their chance in the spotlight, am looking forward to them finally becoming a strong ensemble, and am looking forward to the upcoming addition of a certain new cast member who joins the show several episodes from now.

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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Dick Cavett

Posted on

May 22, 1976 – Buck Henry / Gordon Lightfoot (S1 E21)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
injured CHC boasts of Emmy win & insults LAN as she preps to do the fall
 
— Interesting way to reference Chevy’s pratfall at the Emmys when accepting his award (which I remember seeing a clip of sometime before).
— I saw the ending coming with Laraine pushing Chevy, but it was still funny.
STARS: ***

MONOLOGUE
JOB fills in while LOM helps insufficiently-famous host get past security
   
 
— Ah, yes. As I mentioned in my review of Buck’s preceding episode, I love this particular monologue.
— The awkward panicking when Buck doesn’t show up is very funny. I also really like John’s dismissive “What do you want ME to do?” when Joe Dicso tells him Buck’s not here.
— John bitterly ranting on stage is great, and I liked the shot he took at a certain castmate’s reliance on pratfalls.
— George Coe sighting!
— I love Lorne and Buck’s whole argument with the security guard.
— Buck being forced to cut his actual monologue short just when he was getting into it was the perfect ending.
— What I’ve always loved about this monologue, besides the humor, is how complex, extensive, and unique it is, having Lorne go all the way backstage as the camera follows him, having him actually go down through the elevator, having a whole scene down at the lobby, then having Lorne and Buck go up the elevator back to the studio where the camera follows them to the homebase stage, all done LIVE. You never see something like that on the show anymore these days, and even if they would try something like that nowadays, the more complex parts of it would probably be pretaped instead of live. The show was much more willing at taking chances back in the 70s. The closest thing to this complex monologue I can recall SNL doing in any recent decade without relying on pretape is Conan O’Brien’s monologue from 2001, where he and a group of people went down the stairs from SNL’s studio to Conan’s “Late Night” studio a few floors below.
STARS: ****½

PETER LEMON MOODRING
Peter Lemon Moodring (CHC) changes colors to reflect the songs he sings
 
— Pretty cool just for the visual effects of Chevy changing appropriate colors for each song. How are they pulling that off, anyway?
STARS: ***

SAMURAI TAILOR
Mr. Dantley needs a tuxedo for his wedding
 
— I like how even in Buck’s second hosting stint, it’s already become a tradition to do a Samurai sketch whenever he hosts.
— Loved the ending with Buck requesting a zipper for his pants.
— The usual great Buck Henry-involved Samurai sketch.
STARS: ****

TALK BACK
lack of calls leads (host) to increase topic controversy level
 
— Buck’s slowly growing frustration and desperation is very funny to watch.
— I’m loving how he’s resorting to combining together the increasingly controversial topics he’s made up.
STARS: ****

DELL STATOR’S 99¢ TOAD RANCH
(DAA) pitches frog meat
 
— A funny gross idea and Dan’s doing his usual perfect job as a pitchman. This sketch can be considered almost a distant relative of the similarly-gross Bass-O-Matic sketch.
— Love the visual of Buck having a toad limb hanging out of mouth during his testimonial.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

POLAROID
(no synopsis available)
 
— Yet another non-joke sponsored Polaroid ad.
— Like the last one, this again ended with no applause.
STARS: N/A

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 1
 
— Not anything noteworthy so far, but this Update is going along decently.
— I liked Chevy doing the underwater voice during the shark joke.

GERMASOL
— rerun

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 2
old film of fruits documents psychiatric tests done on Patty Hearst
 
— “Correspondent Duncan Ebersol”. Was that name inspired by who I think it was?
— It’s always funny seeing what random silly stock footage they use to represent Patty Hearst.
— The audience seemed to kinda take offense to the joke about Ed Asner, Ted Knight, et al. being hasbeens.
— And that’s it. No Update guests tonight. I’m impressed they’ve now gone more than one episode without Emily Litella.
STARS (FOR BOTH WEEKEND UPDATE HALVES): ***

CROWD
(host) & (CHC) audition a crowd for scenes in a movie
 
— I’m really liking the premise.
— It’s fun to watch Belushi during the crowd demonstrations here; his acting is standing out and making me laugh.
— The photo and “phone number” the crowd left for the producers was hilarious.
— Oh my god at the “lynching” part with Garrett……..
STARS: ***½

BEATLE OFFER
LOM sweetens his offer to the Beatles- $200 more & hotel accommodations
 
— I remember hearing before that they did a follow-up sketch to Lorne’s classic offer to the Beatles. My expectations are not high for this. I’m usually never a fan of whenever SNL tries to do a follow-up to a perfect, hard-to-top sketch that should’ve remained a one-off.
— So far, this follow-up is basically just repeating the humor of the first one.
— Okay, the hotel accommodations part is taking this into a different direction.
— Pardo’s excited “yeah yeah yeah!” gave me a big laugh.
STARS: ***

NOT FOR LADIES ONLY
Baba Wawa interviews director Lina Wertmuller (LAN)

— Laraine’s movie description is pretty funny.
— Yet another joke about Barbara Walters’ inability to pronounce “Harry Reasoner”.
STARS: ***

TOILET SEATS
by Gary Weis- host talks to shoppers in a store’s toilet seat department
 
— I can already tell I’m gonna like this, just from the funny beginning with Buck saying to the camera in a dry, deadpan voice “Let’s… talk… toilet seats”.
— LOL at the old lady’s comment about keeping her money warm in her behind.
— This is surprisingly funny for a Gary Weis film.
STARS: ***½

LOOKS AT BOOKS
sexologist (host) is evasive about subject of his book
 
— Not caring too much where this is going.
— Okay, sketch redeemed. The punchline with Buck doing the hand gesture for sex made this.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
— Whoa, an unexpected turn with Buck suddenly interrupting Lightfoot when he started doing a third number.
— Haha, great part just now with Futaba coming in and clipping Lightfoot’s guitar strings.
   

GARRETT MORRIS: “AN DIE MUSIK”
GAM sings Schubert’s “An Die Musik” as an explanation scrolls by
   
— I’m loving the disclaimer. A lot of funny lines there.
STARS: ****

IMPRESSIONIST MICHAEL O’DONOGHUE
MOD does impression of Tony Orlando having long needles plunged into eyes
 
— O’Donoghue walking on in that cheesy colorful outfit is already giving me a chuckle.
— I like the addition of two female assistants, though they’re nowhere near as good at doing the “writhing around while screaming” routine as O’Donoghue.
— It’s kinda funny seeing the reactions of the visible audience members in the floor seats.
STARS: ***½

GOODNIGHTS
   
— Pretty cool how the ending of the preceding O’Donoghue sketch is carrying over into these goodnights.

_______________________________

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A consistently solid episode, which is no surprise considering who was hosting. Impressively, there were no sketches at all that I disliked; literally every segment got a good rating from me, even the Gary Weis film.

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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Elliott Gould

Posted on

January 17, 1976 – Buck Henry / Bill Withers, Toni Basil (S1 E10)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
suicide hotline worker (CHC) takes a fall while trying to field a call
 
— Wow, we’re getting our trademark Chevy fall right out of the gate at the beginning of this cold opening.
— Haha, the gunshot heard from the other end of the call is dark, but funny.
— Wow, that’s it? That’s gotta be one of the shortest cold openings in the show’s history. The brevity definitely worked here, as a very quick ‘set-up & punchline’ funny gag.
STARS: ***½

MONOLOGUE
on-screen super lists people the producers called before settling on host
 
— For some reason, I thought this episode had that great monologue where Buck fails to show up on stage because he’s stuck downstairs arguing with NBC pages who won’t let him into the show, and Lorne has to come downstairs to rescue him. I guess that’s from the episode Buck hosted later this season.
— SNL’s very first of what would be quite a number of “screen captions” monologues over the years, where the host’s speech is overshadowed by disclaimers on the bottom of the screen.
— The long list of potential hosts SNL called before Buck is very funny, even if I’m not familiar with 70% of these names.
— I wonder why they listed “The Two Stooges”. Who would that have been? All of the main Three Stooges (Moe, Larry, Curly, and Shemp) were dead by this point. I guess SNL’s referring to lesser-known Stooges Joe Besser and “Curly Joe” DeRita.
— Haha, Generalissimo Francisco Franco was on the list just now.
— It looks like an extra name got cut off right when the screen crawl went away.
— The “We? Buck’s a little out of line here” caption gave me a big laugh.
— The “Buck’s favorite charities/favorite activities” lists were also very funny, especially how the latter just repeated the same list as the former.
— Wow, this list of “people we are calling now” has even MORE celebrities I’ve never heard of. It’s still giving me a laugh, though.
STARS: ***½

SAMURAI DELICATESSEN
Futaba makes a sandwich for Mr. Dantley (host)
 
— Probably the most famous installment of John’s Samurai sketches.
— Interesting how he’s already getting a good amount of recognition applause from the audience, despite this only being his second sketch.
— Loved him using his forehead to split open the hero bread in half.
— Great part with him about to use his sword to commit seppuku after he messed up Buck’s order.
— Interesting to see that right from the start, Buck was always excellent at playing off of Futaba.
— Nice fake-out with Futaba violently taking out his sword only to end up just gently cutting the sandwich in half.
— Overall, I’d say of all the Samurai sketches I’ve ever viewed, this one is definitely the quintessential installment.
STARS: ****½

PRESIDENTIAL FOREPLAY
affair claimant (GIR) mixes up Richard Nixon & JFK

— A very different role for Gilda. I’m not used to seeing her play sultry characters.
— The twist at the end where it turns out she was actually talking about Nixon instead of JFK was decent, but overall, I wasn’t all that crazy about this sketch.
STARS: **½

AN OVAL OFFICE
Ron Nessen (host) & Gerald Ford (CHC) launch Operation Stumblebum
   
— I don’t know why, but I’m already laughing just from the quiet beginning where the “An Oval Office” title graphic showed up on screen.
— Hilarious how after Chevy says to the already-sitting Buck “Come on in and sit down”, Buck actually gets up, leaves the room, re-enters, and sits down.
— The little things Chevy keeps doing during the briefing are pretty funny.
— The stuffed dog tipping over when Chevy says “Lie down, Liberty” is a memorable gag.
— Some of the odd-looking NBC logos on the press conference microphones Buck’s speaking into seem to be a reference to an Update joke in the preceding episode, where they displayed a series of (fake) unused NBC logos.
— This is great with Buck, Garrett, and John imitating Chevy’s constant blunders.
— Ah, I recognize Lorne’s voice as one of the off-camera press people asking the president a question.
— Haha, the imitations of Chevy’s blunders is now getting insane and is killing me.
— All-in-all, a hilarious sketch.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (BILL WITHERS)

THE EVELYN WOODSKI SCHOOL OF SPEED READING
poor reader Evelyn Woodski (LAN) advertises her speed reading school
 
— Wow. Much like the cold opening, here’s another sketch that surprised me with how extremely brief it was. I thought what I was watching here was just the set-up to the main premise, but it ended up being the entire sketch.
— Again, the brevity definitely worked here, and was much funnier than if they had tried to stretch this joke out into a normal-length sketch, where it could’ve risked getting old.
STARS: ***½

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 1
CHC’s midnight call to Angola reaches janitor (GAM) at 6am
 
— Hmm, instead of the usual “I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not”, we instead get “I’m Chevy Chase and I love you all very deeply”.
— Considering the sketch that preceded this, it’s funny seeing Chevy have a hard time reading off the word “Presbyterian”.
— I’m glad the Angola phone call bit didn’t just end up being yet another “Angelo’s Pizza” mix-up. Garrett as the janitor was pretty funny with his confused reactions.
— Got a good laugh from the “killer dope / squirrel playing with his nuts” joke.
— Chevy’s coming off pretty stumbly with his delivery tonight. Toyboat.

GERMASOL
roll-on Germasol air freshener removes foul odors without aerosol
 
— Why does Gilda look so much taller than usual in this?
— While the initial sight gag with the giant deodorant stick was funny at first, it wasn’t enough to carry this whole commercial. The joke fell kinda flat after a while.
STARS: **½

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 2
CHC mocks Henry Zuckerman (host) during his anti-masturbation editorial
dead ALZ helps CHC repeat the top story for deceased viewers
 
— Ohh, here comes the ‘Chevy makes goofy faces behind a correspondent’ routine again.
— Geez, the ‘goofy faces’ routine felt half-assed this time. Chevy didn’t get anywhere near as into it as he usually does. Hell, I got more laughs from Buck’s actual speech than from the faces Chevy was making during it.
— Like how the preceding episode’s Update substituted the overused “News for the Hard of Hearing” bit with a new segment called “News for the Foreigners”, tonight’s Update has a very funny new variation called “News for the Dead” featuring Alan Zweibel as an unresponsive dead body.
STARS (FOR BOTH WEEKEND UPDATE HALVES): ***

CITIZEN KANE II
a search for meaning of his post-“Rosebud” words
   
— Wow, this is the first time we’ve seen Dan all night, which is odd since the episode’s halfway over.
— Quite a fast mid-sketch costume change for Chevy.
— Dan is fantastic in this.
— LOL at Chevy’s crooked mustache after he had to quickly re-change back into the elderly version of his character.
— Haha, and now Chevy has started cracking up. It looked like Laraine began smirking a bit before him, too. I wonder what happened to make them lose it like that. Was it Chevy’s sloppily-applied fake mustache? BTW, I guess this counts as SNL’s very first major instance of performers breaking during a sketch.
— The “roast beef on rye with mustard” ending was pretty funny.
— Overall, this was an interesting and pretty entertaining Citizen Kane parody.
— Oh, wait, we’re not done yet. Now there’s an “Introducing the Cast” bit that I thought at first glance was the beginning of a separate sketch, but appears to be part of this Citizen Kane sketch.
— Ha, Chevy’s still laughing a bit.
— This “Introducing the Cast” bit is kinda funny with all the awkward pauses, though I’m not sure if that’s intended to get a laugh or not.
— At times, Tom Schiller reminds me so much of future cast member Fred Armisen. There’s something similar about their facial features & expressions.
STARS: ***½

JIM HENSON’S MUPPETS
Scred & Peuta try to figure out how their new Japanese sex device works

— (groan)
— Hmm, they’re back to doing the usual intro sequence, after not using it in the last two Muppets sketches.
— Scred thumping Peuta on the head twice and asking “Feel anything now?” was kinda funny, at least.
— Oh, man. Seeing/hearing these Muppets acting out sex is just plain disturbing.
— One positive thing to this installment is that it was surprisingly much shorter than the usual Muppets sketches. Doesn’t make it any better, though. That unnecessary ‘puppet sex’ sequence killed any redeeming factors this may have potentially had.
— Oddly, Ploobis was nowhere to be seen in this one, despite the fact that he’s, you know, THE MAIN CHARACTER.
STARS: *½

TRIPLE-TRAC
— rerun

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (TONI BASIL)

MECHANICS BEDTIME STORY
auto mechanic (DAA) tells his daughter (GIR) bedtime car repair stories

— Gilda’s always very convincing playing little girls.
— The ‘Bambi getting run over’ part of the story was pretty funny.
— Overall, this was decent.
STARS: ***

WHY CALL IT DOPE?
drug user (CHC) misuses a joint- “Why do you think they call it ‘dope’?”
 
— I almost thought at first that this was going to turn into the recurring(?) “A President’s View on Marijuana” bit they did in this era, where the camera shows “the president”’s hands unsuccessfully attempting to roll a joint.
— It’s very funny when you come to the realization of what Chevy’s going to try to do with the joint.
— Hilarious punchline with the “Why do you think they call it ‘dope’” ending title card.
STARS: ****

WHO’S FUNNY?
by Gary Weis- host looks for the funniest person in Irvington, New York
 
— Why was the studio audience already laughing at the beginning of Buck’s intro?
— Uh, and that’s the end? Huh? I thought the lady calling herself the funniest person would, you know, actually SHOW us how she’s the funniest person, but then this film ended before anything even happened there. Maybe I didn’t “get” what this was going for.
STARS: ehh, I don’t know…

THE BLUES BROTHERS
Blues Brothers Jake (JOB) & Elwood (DAA) perform “King Bee” with SNL Band
 
— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut!
— Interesting how these two wore Bee costumes in their debut, which is something that eventually got dropped in their later appearances.
— Another unusual thing about this is that Dan’s not singing along with John; he’s only playing harmonica in the background the whole time.
— John’s cartwheels and flips are fun and impressive.
— Overall, this was absolutely great.
STARS: ****½

IMPRESSIONIST MICHAEL O’DONOGHUE
MOD does impression of Mike Douglas having long needles plunged into eyes
 
— Ha, I can tell just from Buck’s intro that this is gonna be the famous “celebrities’ eyes plunged with needles” bit making its first appearance. Of Michael O’Donoghue’s many disturbing, weird ideas that would appear on the show over the years, this bit has always been one of my favorites.
— After the kind-hearted set-up where O’Donoghue gives all this praise to Mike Douglas, it’s funny to hear the audience reaction when O’Donoghue slowly reveals what his “impression” is going to be.
— O’Donoghue writhing all around the stage while screaming is as hilarious as I’ve always found it.
STARS: ****

AMERICAN CONSTIPATION SOCIETY
neighbors’ euphemisms about (host)’s constipation make him uncomfortable
 
— I’m liking how all the constipation euphemisms & cliches are getting more and more out of hand.
— Buck’s facial reaction is great, too.
— Ha, and now this is getting even funnier with more and more people randomly coming in to join in on the euphemisms.
STARS: ***½

GOODNIGHTS
at closing, host announces that the entire SNL cast & crew is gay

_______________________________

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Yet another solid episode, keeping alive the long streak of good shows since episode 4. I’m so impressed with how consistently well SNL has surprisingly been doing this early into its run.
— You’d have never guessed that this was Buck’s first hosting stint. Right out of the gate, he came off as a total pro who’s already been doing this for years, navigating his way through the sketches with total ease & perfection. His interplay with the cast was also fun and seemed so natural. There’s a reason it became a tradition for him to host multiple times per season during this era (IIRC, he becomes a 10-time host over the course of just five seasons).

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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore