Tag: Catherine O’Hara

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October 31, 1992 – Catherine O’Hara / 10,000 Maniacs (S18 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Ross Perot (DAC) talks about dirty tricks played on him by the GOP

— A big laugh from the altered photo of Perot’s daughter making out with Madonna.
— Perot’s far-fetched story about engaging in combat with four men and a talking dog is really funny.
— Another funny absurd story from Perot, this time with him talking about a plot by the republicans to yank out his family’s dental work and replace it with transmitters.
— I’m cracking up at Dana-as-Perot’s various “You are not listening!”-type responses to the reporters.
— Good meta ending with Dana’s Perot and Rob going back and forth on how the show’s going to start if Perot doesn’t say “Live from New York…”
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Nice Halloween costume that Catherine makes her entrance in.
— Funny reveal that she put a real arrow through her head, mistakenly thinking that’s what Steve Martin did back in the day.
— Good punchline to Catherine’s scary Halloween story.
STARS: ***½


ASS DON’T SMELL
an anonymous gift of Ass Don’t Smell gives (KEN) a scent-free butt

— A huge laugh from Kevin finding a can of Ass Don’t Smell on his desk, as a “gift” from an anonymous co-worker. I also liked Kevin’s “Maybe somebody’s trying to tell me something” response to that.
— Funny montage of Kevin’s unsuccessful attempts at getting rid of his scent.
— Tim: “But your ass doesn’t smell!” Kevin (self-satisfied, looking into the camera) “Exactly.”
— Overall, a very low-brow concept, but was executed in a very funny and solid way.
STARS: ****


NANNY GREENWOOD
(PHH) & siblings grow weary of Nanny Greenwood’s (host) cloying songs

— A perfect role for Catherine.
— Some good laughs from Nanny Greenwood breaking out into a sappy kiddie jingle for every situation, much to the others’ increasing frustration.
— I love Nanny Greenwood returning while singing an inappropriately upbeat song with a guitar during Julia’s very emotional reveal that her husband left her two months ago.
— Phil’s suddenly angry outburst to Nanny Greenwood is great.
— Excellent out-of-left-field turn with a gunshot suddenly being heard from the other room, making you think Nanny Greenwood committed suicide (after the others have finally told her they’re sick of her songs), only for her to then slowly reveal through a song that she only pretended to shoot herself.
— I recall hearing this sketch was written by former SNL writer Conan O’Brien along with somebody else (I forget who).
STARS: ****


COPY MACHINE
Richard Laymer does his thing for Halloween costume-wearing co-workers

— Our first Richmeister sketch of the season.
— Kevin entering as a scantily-clad Madonna is hilarious.
— The various Halloween costumes are providing a pretty fun change of pace for this recurring sketch.
— Good turn with the grim reaper showing up to take Richmeister away.
— Funny reveal that Richmeister’s death was caused by radiation from the copy machine, a fate that Richmeister notes is ironic.
STARS: ***½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on dropping your keys in lava
— Not included in my copy of this episode.


MY DINNER WITH SISTER SOULJAH
(TIM) ignores Sister Souljah (ELC)’s black-power tirades

— I have no idea who Sister Souljah is, and Ellen’s performance as her isn’t doing a thing for me.
— Tim’s out-of-place light-hearted responses are a pretty funny contrast to Souljah’s stern, militant, black-power statements, with Tim being his usual likable self.
— Speaking of Tim, man, what a rough season the poor guy has been having so far, even moreso than his preceding two seasons before this. Out of the five episodes so far this season, Tim spent two of them not being in ANY sketches (Nicolas Cage and Christoper Walken), and in the three episodes that he HAS appeared in, he’s only been used in straight roles, all of them being just small parts until his big role here. At least his straight role in this sketch is actually providing laughs, though.
— A lot of Madonna references in tonight’s episode so far. I know her “Sex” book was huge at the time, but it feels kinda weird seeing her mentioned THIS prominently throughout an SNL episode that has nothing to do with her directly.
— David as a waiter got a good laugh with his reaction to a statement Sister Souljah made towards him.
— Wow, that’s it? The sketch is already over?
— Despite the laughs that Tim and David provided as straight men, I didn’t care much for this sketch as a whole. Ellen’s performance brought it down for me and something about the writing felt kinda underdeveloped, though I might’ve appreciated Ellen’s performance more if I was familiar with who she was playing.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “These Are Our Days”


WEEKEND UPDATE
while reviewing Madonna’s book Sex, CSR decries lack of good black porno
ADS offers some more low-cost Halloween costume ideas

— Lots of pretty good presidential election-related jokes tonight, with this being the final episode before Election Day.
— Yikes, Kevin’s delivery of the Norman Schwarzkopf joke was awkward as hell. It looked like he wasn’t even sure of half the words he was reading there. Yet another example of how his flubbiness as an Update anchor can drive me nuts.
— More Madonna references tonight, with Rock’s commentary focusing on her.
— Rock is getting lots of laughs ranting about how bad black porno magazines are, especially his line about seeing a big bullet wound in one magazine model’s ass.
— Adam returns for his second annual Halloween costume Update commentary.
— Hmm, Adam suggests that it’s not too late right now for trick-or-treaters to try to get some more candy. Heh, it must’ve been around 12:15 by this time. Who the hell goes trick-or-treating that late? I know I’d be pissed if some idiot rang my doorbell that late at night on Halloween while yelling “Trick or treat!”
— Adam’s always-funny cheap costume suggestions are particularly funny tonight, and have the usual goofy charm. Amazing how Adam has the ability to get so many laughs out of such a simplistic premise.
— I’m surprised Adam’s commentary didn’t end with Kevin displaying a cheap costume of his own and Adam humbly responding “You have topped me again, Kevin Nealon!” I thought it was a tradition for all of his Halloween costume Update commentaries to end that way except for the first one.
— Ah, it turns out that at the very end of this Update (a good while after Adam has left), we DO end up seeing Kevin displaying his own cheap costume, right before the camera fades to black (screencap below).

STARS: ***½


PUMPING UP HALLOWEEN WITH HANS & FRANZ
Hans & Franz belittle trick-or-treaters’ costumes

— Wow, we haven’t these characters in an entire year. Feels odd seeing them again after such a long hiatus. This ends up being their final appearance during Dana’s tenure as a cast member.
— The “candy” that Hans and Franz hand out to trick-or-treating kids, like metabolic bulk enhancer, is pretty funny.
— An overall mildly funny installment, but nothing special, and a noticeable step down from Hans and Franz’s usual work. Not even the Halloween aspect could breathe much life into a recurring sketch that had already run its course by this point. Tonight’s sketch was at least not as depressing as Hans and Franz’s last appearance before tonight, where I witnessed their popularity dying right before my eyes.
STARS: **½


PROUD CANADIANS
via song, Canadians PHH & host gloat about Toronto’s World Series victory

— Interesting piece, and a nice pairing of real-life canucks Phil and Catherine. I love seeing these two sketch comedy greats being paired together.
— Pretty funny lyrics from Phil and Catherine, especially their various criticisms of America.
— Overall, not a particularly hilarious piece, but certainly an entertaining and charming musical number with funny lyrics.
STARS: ***½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on really knowing what sensuality is
— Not included in my copy of this episode.


DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
Stuart tells a scary story with a happy ending

— Ha, yet ANOTHER sketch tonight that references Madonna. It would probably be faster to list off the sketches tonight that DIDN’T mention her.
— I liked the bit with Stuart saying he originally wanted to dress as a feeling for Halloween.
— Funny mention of him handing out rice cakes to trick-or-treaters.
— His idea of a “scary” story has provided a good laugh.
STARS: ***½


CERAMIC MUGS
after years of drinking from Mexican mugs, (host) exhibits brain decay

— When Catherine asks why the occupation of bond analyst sounds familiar, I liked Phil’s mildly-annoyed-but-patient delivery of “Well, honey… that’s what you do.”
— Meh, the constant forgetfulness of Catherine’s character isn’t that funny. Not even a true comedy pro like Catherine can do much for this material.
— Rob is stealing the sketch with his funny direct-to-camera bit.
— The whole ceramic mug poisoning twist was okay, but wasn’t funny enough to redeem this sketch as a whole.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Candy Everybody Wants”


AFTER THE HALLOWEEN PARTY
Marilyn Monroe-costumed (host) wakes up next to JFK doppelganger (KEN)

— Very interesting structure to this.
— Some really good silent acting from Catherine, and she’s helping give this sketch a slice-of-life feel.
— Very busy night for Kevin in this episode. He’s appeared in almost every single sketch.
— I liked Kevin’s “Thank god I still have my spleen.”
— The Madonna theme throughout tonight’s episode concludes with Kevin humorously mistaking Catherine’s Marilyn Monroe costume for a Madonna costume.
— The ending with Catherine laying against the door, then very slowly sliding down to the floor, and then sobbing was VERY odd and way too drawn-out. It also took the audience an unusually long time to applaud at the end. Turns out, there’s an interesting backstory to this sketch’s ending, which explains why it was so painfully awkward. According to Catherine in this article, the original ending of this sketch was apparently shortened after dress rehearsal and the director was now supposed to fade the sketch to black after Kevin exited. However, the director apparently didn’t read the alterations made to the script for this sketch and just kept the sketch going after Kevin’s exit, leaving a panicked Catherine on the air with no further material to work with and a silent studio audience. Not knowing what to do, Catherine leaned against the door on the set to signal the director to fade the screen to black and cue the “applause” sign, but nope, didn’t work. Then Catherine very slowly slid down to the floor as another way of hinting to the director that the sketch is over, but that STILL didn’t work. All of this is the reason why after Catherine finishes sliding to the ground and then begins sobbing (in character) in a slumped-over posture, there’s such a long pause before the audience finally applauds and the sketch finally fades to black.
— I recall hearing that some local NBC affiliates prematurely cut this sketch off long before the aforementioned painfully awkward ending, because the show had run long.
— In reruns of this episode, this sketch ends like it was supposed to, with Kevin exiting.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

— Wow, this must be the shortest goodnights in SNL history. It lasted literally all of ONE SECOND and got cut off before Catherine even said anything. What you see in the above screencap is pretty much all that aired of these goodnights. Obviously, the mishap at the end of the last sketch caused the show to run long and left no time for the goodnights.
— I recall that in the full version of these goodnights shown in reruns, Catherine spits out her goodnights speech in rapid-fire speed in an attempt to beat the clock, and then says in kind of a mock-panicked manner “I wish I had time to explaaiiiinnn!”, which must be referring to how she wanted to explain to us what went wrong during the last sketch, but couldn’t because the show didn’t have enough time.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode, though felt a little average for this season’s standards. Only a few things tonight stood out to me as particularly great, and there were also a few weak spots here and there. Still an enjoyable show as a whole. And the reliable Catherine O’Hara helped give a fun vibe to this episode, much like her first hosting stint. Another fun aspect to this episode was the heavy Halloween theme throughout the night. (Really makes you wonder why after this episode, SNL would stop doing live episodes on the Halloweens that happen to fall on a Saturday) There’s also that weird Madonna theme that I kept pointing out throughout the review……..


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Christopher Walken)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Michael Keaton

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April 13, 1991 – Catherine O’Hara / R.E.M. (S16 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Frank Sinatra (PHH) & Nancy (JAH) Reagan cuckold Ronald (PHH)

 

— Great reveal of the delivery boy being Sinatra in disguise.
— Very funny part with Sinatra flimsily disguising himself as a coat rack.
— Sinatra to Nancy Reagan, regarding the First Ladies he’s slept with: “You got the best rack, but a guy could eat off of Bess Truman’s ass.”
— Funny decision with Nancy choosing to have Ronald’s address to the nation playing on the TV during her and Sinatra’s lovemaking.
— Good gag with parts of the ceiling caving in on Ronald from the raunchy lovemaking going on in the room above him.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
improv troupe translates host’s song based on Presumed Innocent

— Unsurprisingly, Catherine is coming off as a total pro here and is getting good laughs from lots of little things.
— Her interaction with the SNL Band has some really funny moments.
— I love her bizarre-yet-strangely-catchy foreign language singing, as well as the translations from the improv group.
STARS: ****


THE DANCER
— Rerun


SPROCKETS
actress’ (host) films involve rusty metal box & caribou

— I like the titles shown of Catherine’s various movies, such as “Pasta & Screams” and “This Squid Has One Too Many Arms”.
— Dieter: “I feel spent, like a man who is forced to wear his genitals like a pendant.”
— The bizarre movie clips starring Catherine are all very funny, especially “He Loves Me, He Loves My Caribou”.
STARS: ****


MTV SPRING BREAK 1991
drunken Kennedys & partygoers mix at compound

— Very funny how this is being held live from the Kennedy Compound.
— I like how Phil as a drunk and rowdy Ted Kennedy is the guest VJ.
— Rock is cracking me up as Flavor Flav, and he fits the role more than Tim did earlier this season.
— Some good laughs from Jan’s performance as a very old Rose Kennedy.
— Kinda surprised this sketch has ended already. I had remembered this being longer and involving more of the cast. Maybe I’m getting parts of this mixed up with the U.K. Spring Break sketch from Miranda Richardson’s episode two seasons later.
STARS: ***½


IT’S PAT
druggist (host) fails to discern androgynous Pat’s sex from purchases

— This is only Pat’s third appearance, and the character is already getting recognition applause. That’s more than I can say for Richmeister in HIS third appearance from the previous week’s episode.
— We get the debut of the “It’s Pat” opening title sequence and theme song.
— I like how in the opening title sequence, the headshot circles shown of various people reacting to Pat remind me of Mr. Short Term Memory’s opening credits, where we see headshot circles of various people reacting to him. (comparison below)

— This one guy in the audience has a very distinctive laugh that stands out far above the rest of the audience’s laughter.
— I got a good laugh from Catherine suggesting Secret deodorant to Pat because, as the deodorant’s slogan goes, “Strong enough for a woman but made for a man.”
— Overall, not my favorite Pat sketch so far, but still decent and featured a good straightman performance from Catherine.
STARS: ***


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on what to do upon falling from Sears Tower


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Losing My Religion”


WEEKEND UPDATE
DAS gives more thoughts on what’s in & what’s out

   

— Dennis’ lethargic delivery from the last two Updates has pretty much become a regular weekly thing now. It’s sad seeing this legendary Update anchor limp towards the finish line of his SNL tenure. I will say that his delivery is slightly less lethargic tonight, and the jokes themselves aren’t bad.
— Good to see David’s “What’s in and out” segment return.
— Hmm, this edition of “What’s in and out” isn’t as good as David’s previous one.
— Okay, I got a big laugh from David just now, with his bit about not enunciating the phrase “gettin’ some pussy” so the censors can’t bust him.
— Another big laugh from David, with his bit about “kissing ass to the host so you can get into the Home Alone sequel”. That’s even funnier in hindsight, considering a certain castmate of David’s would end up getting a part in that very same Home Alone sequel.
— I always love the camaraderie between Dennis and David whenever David’s Update commentaries end. Something about it feels like there was an intended passing-of-the-torch between them (you can particularly see it in the screencap below).

After all, both Dennis and David have a similar laid-back, wiseass, meta, self-aware sensibility. Makes one wonder what it would’ve been like had young David succeeded Dennis as an Update anchor instead of Kevin Nealon. And before anyone says that a Spade-anchored Weekend Update might’ve been too much like the dreaded “Spade in America” segments from season 21, I’m talking about 1991 David Spade, back when he was new, fresh, and actually gave a damn and put effort into his snarky performances. “Spade in America”-era David Spade, on the other hand, was at a time when David’s snarky shtick had gotten beyond played-out and he was giving lethargic, tired, and half-assed performances all the time… hmm, kinda like Dennis Miller himself at the point we’re currently in, at the homestretch of HIS tenure.
— David’s overall commentary tonight began slow, but took off after a while.
— I loved the mean-but-funny punchline to Dennis’ “Tales From the Crypt” joke about Jon Lovitz playing a desperate down-and-out actor in an upcoming episode: “Hmm, since when did HBO start doing documentaries?”
— Hmm, a child actor from “Eight is Enough” was recently arrested for trying to rob a pharmacy? I’m betting SNL’s writers were kicking themselves for not including him as one of the criminals in the recent America’s Most Wanted Child Stars sketch. By the way, what the hell is with so many former child stars robbing stores around this time anyway? First Dana Plato, now the “Eight is Enough” guy.
— Very odd, random mock-serious bit with Dennis having varying reactions to learning Merv Griffin may possibly be gay. Not quite sure what to make of that bit.
STARS: ***


JUSTICE LEAGUE
Fantastic Woman’s (host) flight scrutinized by Justice League of America

— Something about the visual of Chris Rock in a lizard costume constantly moving his tongue in and out in a lizard-esque manner is priceless to me.
— Tom Davis’ superhero character being revealed as “The Incredible Kiss Ass” was worth a laugh.
— This sketch in general isn’t too funny so far.
— I kinda got a laugh from the line about Catherine using her x-ray superpower to ruin people’s film.
— Kevin looks completely unrecognizable in that zombie make-up (last screencap above). I can only tell it’s him by the voice.
— A very weak ending to an overall dud of a sketch. Seriously, what was the POINT of this sketch? Not even Catherine’s usually reliable sketch comedy skills could do anything for this.
STARS: *½


FRANK GANNON, P.I. P.I.
politically incorrect P.I. (KEN) investigates murder of a black professor

— The debut of a short-lived but memorable Kevin Nealon recurring character. I love the “Politically Incorrect Private Investigator” concept. As I often say about Kevin Nealon sketches, this is a very Kevin Nealon-y premise that could only have come from him (though I stand corrected if this sketch was written by somebody else).
— Kevin’s great at playing this jackass character, with his various idiotic assumptions and incredulous reactions due to his sexist and racist viewpoints.
— This sketch is ending ALREADY?
— The “preview of next week’s episode” scene with Kevin trying to wrap his mind around the concept of same-sex parents (played by Jan and Julia) was decent.
— Overall, this was definitely fine, but I prefer the second installment they’d later do in a Woody Harrelson-hosted episode from next season. It was much more fleshed-out and had even funnier lines.
STARS: ***½


IN CONCLUSION THEATRE
last act of play doesn’t make sense; RAQ cameo

— I feel like I’m saying this a lot tonight, but I love this sketch’s concept.
— We get another occurrence of Jack Handey’s great fake sponsors trademark. My favorite of the sponsors tonight was Post-Coital Chewing Gum.
— Ha, a random Randy Quaid appearance! Feels kinda weird reviewing him again for the first time since I regularly reviewed him when covering season 11.
— It also feels weird seeing Randy Quaid and Phil Hartman in the same scene, standing beside each other, considering their similarities as SNL utility men who’s tenures were back-to-back.
— I love the gag with Randy’s tiny legs.
— A gruesome but very funny visual of Dana with his eye hanging out of his socket. Great make-up there.
— I’m enjoying all the bizarre, unanswered visual details in general.
— Great part with a crutches-confined Farley getting shot out of nowhere.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Kate Pierson [real] perform “Shiny Happy People”


DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
the Kurds should forgive George Bush & Saddam Hussein

— Random observation: Stuart Smalley has the same hair that Catherine O’Hara has had tonight. Same style, color, and everything. (side-by-side comparison below)

— Stuart’s message to the Kurds has some pretty good laughs.
— This overall sketch felt a little too short and a bit empty, though still decent.
STARS: ***


WEDDING AND A FUNERAL
(host) causes ritual dilemma by wearing wedding dress to fiance’s funeral

— I like the opening conversations between various funeral guests, especially the exchange between Farley and Rock.
— An odd but clever turn with Catherine suddenly entering in a wedding dress, forcing Mike to do a clumsy hybrid of a wedding speech and a funeral speech.
— Very interesting structure to this sketch. Doesn’t feel typical for this era. In my previous viewings, I found this sketch a little too hard to understand what it was going for, but I’m appreciating it more now.
— Catherine’s frozen, oblivious smile throughout this is good.
— I got a laugh from Mike’s emphasis to Catherine when saying, as part of his wedding/funeral speech, “…stand here ALONE!”
— Hilarious part with the guests simultaneously screaming in horror when Catherine throws the bouquet behind her.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

— Dennis holds up a sign saying “LOVITZ- I WAS JUST KIDDING”, as damage control for the earlier harsh-but-good-natured joke about Jon Lovitz on Weekend Update.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A mostly good episode. As one might expect, Catherine O’Hara was an ideal host and the show utilized her talents pretty well, catering to her comedic styles in creative and oddball stuff like the monologue, Sprockets, In Conclusion Theatre, and Wedding And A Funeral.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jeremy Irons)
a very slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Oh, no. STEVEN FREAKIN’ SEAGAL.