Tag: Chevy Chase

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February 15, 1997 – Chevy Chase / Live (S22 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NIGHTLINE
Madonna (ANG), Debbie Reynolds (CHO), Courtney Love (MOS)

— This is the first time Darrell’s Ted Koppel has appeared all season, which is surprising, considering the frequency of his appearances in the preceding season.
— Interesting seeing Cheri playing Debbie Reynolds outside of a Leg Up sketch.
— Funny little part with Darrell’s Koppel scoffing at the Golden Globes when it’s compared to the Oscars.
— A good throughline with Molly’s now-straitlaced Courtney Love slowly relapsing to her former self over the course of the sketch.
— Maybe it’s just me, but Ana seems kinda miscast as Madonna.
— A big laugh from Debbie Reynolds telling Madonna “Nice try, venereal girl.”
— I love the part with Darrell’s Koppel going on about the pleasure he got from fantasizing about Carrie Fisher in Return Of The Jedi.
— A dark but funny cutaway to Madonna having hanged herself.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
CHC brings his alleged family on-stage after thanking them for their love

— Seems like we’re in for another genuinely sentimental Chevy Chase monologue, like his last one in season 21 where he gave a heartfelt reminiscence of getting ready for the first SNL episode’s cold opening.
— Ah, we end up getting a comedic turn with Chevy’s obviously-fake family joining him onstage. A mildly funny gag, but wasn’t worth such a long, serious set-up.
STARS: **½


HOME SECURITY DECOYS
Rerun from 10/19/96


CLINTON’S ITINERARY
petty money-making ventures dominate Bill Clinton’s (DAH) itinerary

— Funny opening visual of Darrell’s President Clinton chowing down on some pancakes in the Oval Office.
— Very funny part with Mark having paid five dollars to “kick Clinton in the ass”.
— I believe Tim’s small appearance would later be removed in Comedy Central’s 60-minute version of this episode. No idea why, unless they just needed to trim a few extra seconds to get the episode down to 60 minutes.
— Chevy is pretty sloppy with some of his lines here.
— Funny part with a Thailand real estate agent wanting Clinton to wear an S&M outfit.
— Solid turn at the end with Nom’s Bob Dole temporarily taking over as the president.
STARS: ***


O.J. SIMPSON PUNITIVE AND COMPENSATORY DAMAGES TELETHON
O.J. Simpson (TIM) emcees telethon to raise money for civil suit damages

— A funny opening announcement of the line-up of guests (e.g. The Banana Splits, Herb of Peaches & Herb, etc.).
— This is the only time I can think of where Will ever plays Harry Caray outside of Weekend Update and the “Space: The Infinite Frontier” sketches.
— Harry Caray’s trombone-playing is cracking me up.
— I like Tim’s O.J. threatening a phone caller by bluntly asking “How’d you like it if I come over there and cut your head off?”, then turning to the camera and casually saying in a light-hearted manner “But seriously, folks…”
STARS: ***½


BIRTHDAY MEDLEY
Marty & Bobbi sing a coming-of-age medley at niece’s 16th birthday party

— The Culps officially become recurring characters.
— As usual, I’m being tickled by Will and Ana’s opening banter and statements to the off-camera audience.
— Funny hearing Will singing “Lay, Lady, Lay”, considering a sketch he would later do with Robert Duvall the following season, in which Will sings “Lay, Lady, Lay” to Duvall as a hospital patient.
— As always, a fun and amusing medley of Will and Ana singing operatic-sounding versions of hit songs. I especially like them singing the theme from “Rocky”.
STARS: ***½


SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT
20th anniversary re-release of Smokey & the Bandit contains a Yoda scene

— Funny fake-out at the beginning, where the opening narration made you think they were talking about the original Star Wars movie, only for it to turn out to be another 1977 movie: Smokey And The Bandit.
— A laugh from Yoda randomly being shown as one of the truckers.
— Overall, this was decent, but forgettable and too brief. I wanted this to go further.
STARS: ***


CHARLIE ROSE
Goat Boy, Cow Man (CHC), others discuss legal system

— Oh, that’s right, Chevy Chase is tonight’s host. The last sketch he appeared in was so long ago that I almost forgot this episode even had a host.
— Goat Boy’s shtick has now gotten to the point where I’m completely stone-faced during it.
— On a similar note, Chevy as “Cow Man” is doing absolutely nothing for me.
— Boy, the combo of Goat Boy’s braying and Cow Man’s moos is grating on my ears. It doesn’t help that Chevy is putting zero effort into his performance.
STARS: *½


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ thinks that Bill Clinton’s infidelities should be no big deal

 

— One of my all-time favorite offensive Michael Jackson jokes from Norm, with the punchline being that MJ’s three-day-old son is such a chip off the old block that he’s already molesting a one-day-old boy.
— They seem to be making it a regular thing for Colin to do Update commentaries as himself with a graphic of celebrity pictures being displayed next to him.
— An overall pretty good commentary from Colin tonight.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Lakini’s Juice”


7 ACTION NEWS
news anchor (CHC) returns to the desk following a credibility breakdown

— What was with Chevy’s random mumbly, half-assed pronunciation of “Barnum & Bailey Ringling Brothers Circus”? Was that yet another instance of Chevy’s long-standing habit of trying to make a “funny” bit out of a flubbed line? (*groan*)
— This sketch isn’t doing much for me so far. I blame Chevy’s performance. This seems like the type of sketch that 1970s Chevy Chase could’ve gotten some laughs out of, back when he was in his prime, but not 1990s Chevy Chase, who is beyond checked-out.
— An interesting, out-of-the-ordinary casting of Colin as a news station boss.
— Overall, blah. Didn’t care for this sketch.
STARS: *½


PLAYING FIRST DATE
Zimmermans (CHK) & (CHO) spice up their marriage by playing “first date”

— The debut of Chris and Cheri’s sex-crazed couple, the Zimmermans.
— I’m getting some laughs from Chris and Cheri constantly censoring themselves on saying “fuck” during their dirty talk to each other.
— Good characterizations from Chris and Cheri here.
— An oddity about this first Zimmermans sketch is that the Zimmermans are alone. Part of what makes the subsequent installments of this sketch work is that each of them have another married couple for the Zimmermans to play off of.
— Good twist at the end with it being revealed that the Zimmermans have a baby in the other room and were merely playing “first date” with each other. By the way, the aspect of the Zimmermans having a baby would be dropped from all subsequent installments of this sketch.
STARS: ***


FITTING ROOM PEEPHOLE
department store employees (WIF) & (CHC) peep at (MOS) in dressing room

— Interesting casting of Norm in a normal straight man role.
— During his excited exclamations while peeping on Molly, I love Will saying at one point “Heeeey, Macarena!”
— A few laughs here and there, but this sketch isn’t anything great so far. Even Norm’s straight man performance isn’t making me laugh quite as much as I expected it to.
— While a cheap gag, I did kinda laugh at the ending with Will and Chevy agreeing to let Will peep on Chevy trying on a women’s bathing suit.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Heropsychodreamer”


CHOPPER 4
newsstand owner Andrew (MAM) is obsessed with fog-penetrating Chopper 4

— This is remembered by a number of SNL fans as a rare Mark McKinney season 22 showcase, and possibly the last great SNL sketch he ever does where he plays an original lead character.
— Great voice and characterization from Mark.
— (*groan*) I see they’re having Chevy do his old “constantly calling people by the wrong names” routine, which stopped being funny ages ago.
— Mark’s bizarre Chopper 4 obsession is getting big laughs from me.
— Funny stock footage ending of Mark happily riding inside a Chopper 4 that he stole.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty “meh” episode. Some good stuff, but I was not crazy about this episode as a whole. I’m having a hard time even remembering a lot of the sketches I just watched. A big part of the reason for the “meh” feeling of this episode is Chevy Chase, who came off even more disinterested and bland as a host than he had ever been prior to tonight’s episode, and that’s saying something. It also didn’t help that things weren’t too pleasant behind the scenes during the week of this episode. Chevy’s notorious habit of pissing off the SNL cast and staff whenever he comes back to host came to a head this week, in an incident during rehearsals in which he reportedly smacked Cheri Oteri in the head when she flubbed a line. I believe this is widely considered to be the straw that broke the camel’s back in regards to Lorne’s tolerance for Chevy’s asshole-ish behavior, as this would end up being the final episode that Chevy would ever host, though he would still make occasional cameos.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Neve Campbell)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Alec Baldwin

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October 7, 1995 – Chevy Chase / Lisa Loeb (S21 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NFL ON NBC
sideline reporter O.J. Simpson (TIM) hints that he’s guilty

— I wonder if viewers at the time were a little lost during the beginning of this cold opening with Darrell’s Bob Costas and Koechner’s Mike Ditka, considering the fact that those viewers would’ve been unfamiliar with Darrell and Koechner (not helped by the fact that the Ditka makeup renders Koechner fairly unrecognizable). I bet some viewers were like “I can’t tell which new cast member is which in this!”
— The audience gives a big (albeit hesitant at first) applause when Tim shows up as O.J.. I wonder if that applause is because of 1) this being SNL’s first O.J. parody since the big verdict from a few days earlier, or 2) Tim’s seniority in a mostly-new cast, combined with the fact that the two cast members who appeared before him in this cold opening were two fresh, unfamiliar faces. If it’s the latter, then it’s so nice to see Tim finally getting the recognition from the audience that he deserves, after always being overshadowed by the Bad Boys in the previous era’s cast.
— So much great humor here so far, especially O.J.’s murder innuendos when talking to Will’s Marv Levy about football.
— An absolutely classic SNL moment right now with O.J. spelling out “I did it” on the telestrator.
— I love Will’s panicked facial reaction to the aforementioned “I did it” part.
STARS: *****


OPENING MONTAGE
— When Mark McKinney’s picture shows up, Don Pardo is oddly silent at first, then quickly spits out “Mark McKean” instead of “Mark McKinney”. I guess Don hasn’t gotten used to not having to announce Michael McKean’s name anymore.


MONOLOGUE
CHC recalls SNL’s first episode & sings “When You Wish Upon A Star”

— Chevy mentions that tonight is only a few days away from the 20th anniversary of SNL’s very first episode.
— Wow, heartfelt reminiscing from Chevy over getting ready for the very first episode’s cold opening right before airtime. I kept expecting a comedic twist to this reminiscing at first, before realizing that this is a genuinely earnest, emotional, and straightforward moment. I’m actually finding this really nice.
— When singing “When You Wish Upon A Star”, Chevy imitates Jiminy Cricket’s facial expression, which some SNL fans incorrectly assume was just Chevy randomly making a stupid face to get a cheap laugh from the audience (something that he’s certainly not above doing). While it’s not particularly funny in the context of this monologue, he actually did this same Jiminy Cricket bit before, during one of his traditional Weekend Update phone gags back when he was a cast member.

STARS: ***½


LOBOTOL
(NAW) dumbs down prolific co-worker (CHO) with a dose of Lobotol

— A nice Nancy Walls showcase.
— Funny line from Nancy about her husband giving her a dose of Lobotol when he felt she was asking too many questions.
— Pretty good ending with the cutaway to a Lobotol-ized Cheri moving around helplessly while lost in a dress fabric.
STARS: ***


COCKPIT
boisterous girl Althea (CHO) visits with pilot (CHC) in the cockpit

— Hoo, boy. The debut of a short-lived Cheri Oteri recurring character that I remember never caring for. I’ll go into this with an open mind, especially since Cheri is new at this point.
— I will say Cheri is VERY convincing as a hyperactive little girl, both in looks and in acting.
— Chevy’s straight man reactions are making me laugh, such as him asking Cheri’s Althea character “Maybe you’d like to see the outside of the jet.”
— Another funny one-liner from Chevy, with him announcing into the intercom an annoyed-but-restrained “Will any freakin’ flight attendant come into the cockpit?”, which receives wild cheers from the audience.
— Good exchange with Althea telling Nancy’s stewardess character that the captain has two testicles and Nancy responding “Yes, I know.”
— Overall, definitely not as a bad as I remembered it. A lot of what made the sketch work was everybody’s reactions and responses to Althea.
STARS: ***


THE BLAME GAME
black (TIM) & white (CHC) contestants fan racial tensions

— Chevy does his usual shtick of trying to save a flubbed line of his by ad-libbing comical gibberish, something that was funny when he used to regularly do it on Weekend Update back in the original era whenever he flubbed a joke, but kinda detracted from this particular sketch.
— Tim to Chevy: “Why don’t you go put on a pair of Dockers and watch another episode of Mad About You?!” Great line.
— I’m loving this premise. Lots of funny dialogue of racial tension between Tim and Chevy.
— Mark is very solid as the gameshow host, which makes me wonder why SNL doesn’t use him in this role more often.
— The speed round with Tim is very funny.
— This is yet another sketch this season where Tim is giving a really strong performance. He’s been having a great season so far.
— Is Chevy’s constant premature ringing of the buzzer throughout this sketch an ad-libbed gag? If so, much like his aforementioned ad-libbed gibberish after flubbing a line earlier in this sketch, it’s not funny and is kinda detracting from this sketch. 1990s Chevy Chase just doesn’t have that great knack at pulling off ad-libs that 1970s Chevy Chase had.
— I like Nancy’s delivery of “(in a sweet manner) Don’t patronize me. My name isn’t honey. (in a suddenly bitter manner) YOU’VE WON A CLOCK.”
STARS: ****


FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
an encounter with an escaped convict


BRAVEHEART
CHC advises JMB not to rely on physical comedy; Mariel Hemingway cameo

— I like the idea of this meta sketch.
— A very random cameo from the preceding episode’s host, Mariel Hemingway.
— When Jim tells Chevy he’s one of the new cast members, Chevy responds “Hope you can save the show.” Just a little comment that I found interesting, as it shows that people still weren’t sure yet if this new cast was going to work out and save SNL from cancellation.
— Nice to see Jim getting a lot of facetime as himself here, after having practically nothing to do in his first episode the preceding week.
— (*groan*) Chevy’s old routine of constantly calling someone by the wrong name is coming off particularly tired here.
— Not caring much for Chevy’s long speech to Jim.
— Good Chevy-esque pratfall from Jim down the stairs. I like the little touch of him slamming his head into the side of the stairs at one point during that fall.
— Pretty cool how the ending of this sketch segued into Chevy introducing the following musical performance. That adds to the exciting, fun feel of this new season.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Do You Sleep?”


WEEKEND UPDATE
from Central Park, Father Guido Sarducci reports on Pope’s lost wallet
Father Guido Sarducci tells the papal wallet finder that he’ll get a mass

— After using the Friends theme song for Norm’s new Update intro music in the preceding episode, tonight’s Update intro music is the theme of another then-current NBC show, E.R.. Are these NBC theme songs supposed to be Norm’s version of how Dennis Miller’s Updates used to open with a different rock song each week? Either way, it doesn’t last for Norm, as they would soon settle on an intro tune to use regularly for his Updates.
— Tonight’s Update starts with one of Norm’s most legendary Update jokes of all time, in which he says “It is finally official: murder is legal in the state of California” as a picture of O.J. is on the news screen. Classic.
— Some really big reactions from the audience towards some of Norm’s jokes tonight.
— A surprise return of Father Guido Sarducci.
— Interesting and I guess fitting how this and Sarducci’s last guest appearance were in episodes hosted by an SNL alum from the 70s cast (Bill Murray, Chevy Chase).
— As usual, Sarducci is getting some good laughs from a lot of little things, such as his bit with the Pope mask.
— I like how Norm is continuing his running gag from last season of punchlines that deal with a dog sniffing another dog’s ass.
— The continuation of the Father Guido Sarducci/pope bit feels a little unnecessary, but I liked Sarducci’s line about low masses.
STARS: ****½


ALWAYS & FOREVER
at their prom, ’70s teens (WIF) & (CHO) freak out with little provocation

— Ah, our very first Ferrell/Oteri character piece, I see.
— Will’s angry punching of the air during his outbursts is cracking me up.
— Speaking of Will’s outbursts in this sketch, they probably did nothing to stop some viewers’ fears at the time that Will would be another season 20-era Chris Farley who yells in every sketch. To me, Cheri’s coming off more shouty in this sketch than Will.
— Interesting how this is the second consecutive season where the second episode had a prom sketch set in the 70s.
— Fun running gag with Will and Cheri’s robotic dancing.
— So far, this sketch is more fascinating to me than funny. It’s pretty fun to watch the very first SNL display of Will and Cheri’s great chemistry from their Groundlings days together, even if I’m not laughing at every single thing in this. I still prefer this to the Cheerleaders sketches we’ll start seeing soon enough (though if the Cheerleaders had only lasted one installment and never became recurring, I’d probably have a bit more of a favorable reaction towards them like I’m having with this prom sketch).
— Will’s reaction to being told he’ll be getting a “BJ” is great.
STARS: ***


GANGSTA BITCH BARBIE
Gangsta Bitch Barbie & Tupac Ken are dolls appropriate to the urban scene

— Very funny concept, and I love how mid-90s this feels. It also feels kinda refreshing seeing such urban humor on SNL back in these days.
— A lot of good little details with the dolls’ various accessories.
STARS: ****


THE MARK FUHRMAN SHOW
Mark Fuhrman (CHC) says he likes (TIM)’s anti-white rap

— I love the name of Tim’s rapper character, MC Bodybag.
— Some funny lines here and there so far, but this is a slow sketch, and not in a good way.
— I’m getting some laughs from the snippet they’re playing of MC Bodybag’s song “Good Cop, Dead Cop”. I also like Fuhrman’s head-bopping during that.
— Very weak gag involving Fuhrman leaving a bloody glove where MC Bodybag had been sitting. Is that what this whole sketch was leading up to? Yikes. You can tell they were expecting that gag to get bigger laughs than it did.
STARS: **


O.J. TODAY
anchor Bill McDonald (WIF) & legal analysts do the final show

— Interesting how they’re bringing back this sketch from the season premiere.
— I like Will’s line about how O.J. Today’s timeslot will now be filled by Fantasy Island.
— Surprisingly, this is Molly’s first and only appearance all night.
— Norm’s whole awkward story about how he got hired as a lawyer is funny.
— Not crazy about the blooper reel that’s now playing, which isn’t providing many laughs.
— Sadly, this sketch is probably the biggest comedic role Koechner has gotten on SNL so far, which still isn’t saying much. He’s had a fairly quiet start in his two episodes so far, and has yet to be given any big showcase pieces, unlike his fellow newbies (even the very underused Jim Breuer had that Braveheart piece with Chevy).
— Overall, not much to this sketch, despite a few laughs in the pre-blooper reel half. I was expecting this to be so much better.
STARS: **


SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS gives examples of how rock & roll is out of control

— Geez, once again, I almost forgot that this segment is a thing this season. Tonight’s installment is airing even later than the one from the season premiere.
— Spade’s imitation of The Cranberries’ Zombie song is funny.
— Yeesh, some of Spade’s jokes about rock music are coming off kinda cringeworthy and hacky.
— I do like the complete randomness of Spade just saying “When I was a kid, I had an ant farm” as a very brief non-sequitur segue into talking about FarmAid. That non-sequitur segue went by so fast, it almost doesn’t have time to register with you.
— Interesting hearing Spade do a Casey Kasem impression.
— Overall, much like the last Spade In America, I got a few laughs from this and I see some promise in this segment, but some parts were weak and there’s room for improvement. These Spade In America segments have not hit their stride yet.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Stay”


LAMPREYS
a boy (CHO) doesn’t want to part with his sucking creatures

— I really like this very random concept.
— Nice visual of Cheri entering with lampreys all over her.
— This makes two kid characters for Cheri tonight, each of opposite genders. Once again, Cheri’s very convincing in the role of a child.
— The amusing oddness of this sketch shows the huge change in SNL’s writing style this season. I cannot for the life of me imagine a sketch this delightfully random and weird appearing in the preceding season. Well, okay, now that I’m thinking about it, I guess season 20’s resident oddball Chris Elliott could’ve done this sketch. In fact, the more I think about it, I would’ve LOVED to have seen Chris Elliott do this sketch. The bizarre mental image of a bearded Chris Elliott in overalls and a little boy wig playing Cheri’s character in this odd Lampreys sketch is nothing short of fantastic. Dammit, WHY COULDN’T IT HAVE HAPPENED?!? I would’ve liked that version of this sketch even more than the Cheri Oteri version.
— The fact that this sketch is using the same living room set used in Chris Elliott’s (notorious) babysitter sketch with Mark makes it even easier for me to picture Elliott performing this Lampreys sketch.
— Funny pre-taped segment with Cheri’s character emotionally parting ways with each of his lampreys.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— After the preceding week’s solid season premiere, I was hoping tonight’s episode would keep the momentum going, but unfortunately, it instead ended up being a bit of a letdown. This episode had a somewhat forgettable feel, especially the post-Update half. I feel like the cold opening and The Blame Game were the only two sketches all night that I felt strongly about. There were some other pretty good sketches, but too much of the show hovered around the okay-to-meh range. There’s not much I’ll remember about this episode by the time I reach the end of this season. It’s understandable, though; after all, the new cast and writing staff are still growing at this point.
— Chevy Chase barely felt like the host. Towards the end of the episode, I kinda started forgetting who was even hosting. I think Chevy only appeared in ONE post-Update sketch. Maybe the idea was for him to mostly relax and let the new kids in the cast do their stuff, but it kinda feels like SNL should’ve spread his appearances throughout the episode instead of frontloading them in the first half. He also gave his usual questionable hosting performance, where he seemed a little off compared to how he was in his prime.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Mariel Hemingway)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
David Schwimmer

Posted on

January 18, 1992 – Chevy Chase / Robbie Robertson (S17 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Wayne’s World- the top ten bad things about the fall of communism

— Always a fun way to start off the show.
— This is the last Wayne’s World sketch that aired before the release of the first Wayne’s World movie.
— Very funny line about 1991 being the year Garth finally got pubes.
— The Top 10 List has a lot of great lines as usual, especially the one about bogus soviet rock bands.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
CHC lip-syncs “The Greatest Love Of All”

— A minor thing: For some reason, after the opening montage ends, the camera pans down to the home base stage from the left side instead of the usual right side. This is the only time from 1989-1995 that they would do so.
— What’s with Chevy’s obvious toupee? He was openly going bald long before this episode, and now we’re supposed to believe he suddenly has a head full of hair?
— As expected, HUGE extended applause for Chevy at the beginning of this monologue.
— I laughed at the mention of “that bitch Jane” when Chevy lists off his original SNL castmates.
— Chevy’s trademark forgetfulness routine can be tiring sometimes, but it’s coming off merely okay here.
— Good turn with Chevy blatantly lip syncing to “The Greatest Love of All”, especially with the use of a split-screen effect showing a close-up of his comically dramatic facial expressions.
STARS: ***


THE LOVE TOILET
— Rerun from the Macaulay Culkin episode


ADOPT A PET
(CHC) & (VIJ) try to unload some unappealing animals

 

— Some really funny lines during Chevy and Victoria’s unflattering descriptions of the pets.
— Interesting detail with Chevy’s gloves.
— Very funny part with reveal that the monkey is suffering from syphilis, blindness, and insanity.
STARS: ***½


DANIEL’S DINER
aide (PHH) helps George Bush (DAC) through uncomfortable campaign stop

— Interesting use of Dana’s Bush. This feels like a precursor to the famous Clinton at McDonalds sketch from the following season.
— I like Dana’s Bush just saying “Persian Gulf” at every chance he gets during his greetings to the diner patrons.
— Funny dark part with Phil’s details of the Daniel’s Diner owner committing suicide.
— Siobhan’s stone-faced expression as the speechless diner owner provided a good laugh.
— I really like Julia in this, as an old lady going on to Bush about her disgusting health issues, like a polyp on her colon.
— Good recurring bit throughout this with a ready-to-get-the-hell-out-of-here Bush constantly asking his aide Phil how much time he has left, and having Phil participate in a “Good cop, bad cop” routine to get Bush out of uncomfortable conversations.
— Bush to Julia’s character, while leaving: “Polyp Lady, I think I’ll miss you most of all.”
STARS: ***½


DAHMER’S DEFENSE
Jeffrey Dahmer’s (CHC) lawyers (PHH) & (KEN) know insanity plea will work

— I like the audience’s “Ohh” laughter immediately after hearing the name Jeffrey Dahmer early on in the sketch.
— Pretty funny ad-lib from Chevy after his “money/Monday” line flub, reminding me of how quick he was at saving himself whenever he would flub a joke during his Update anchor days in the original era.
— A hilarious and outrageous part with Chevy’s Dahmer casually chewing his fingers off. Phil and Kevin’s disgusted reactions are cracking me up as well.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Go Back to Your Woods”


WEEKEND UPDATE
co-anchor CHC reads outdated Weekend Update items from the ’70s
CSR gives his thoughts on Arizona’s non-observance of the MLK holiday
CHC offers some historical perspective on breast implant problems
CHC repeatedly prompts KEN with nonsense as the latter fumbles for words

— Chevy gets added to the Update opening title sequence, letting us know that he will be returning to his old spot at the Update desk. At least this pairing of him and Kevin makes far more sense than the painfully awkward pairing of him and Dennis Miller when Chevy last hosted in season 12.
— Right off the bat, we get the return of Chevy’s trademark “phone conversation” opening Update gag, this time with a great twist that it’s Kevin on the other line who Chevy’s talking dirty to.
— More callbacks to Chevy’s Update trademarks, such as “I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not”, “Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead”, and the prostitution stamp joke.
— Rock’s rant about Arizona’s refusal to celebrate Martin Luther King Day has so many funny lines, especially him detailing how Arizona would celebrate an Elvis Day, and the whole bit about Columbus discovering a West Indian backyard.
— Chevy’s breast implant commentary had a few funny lines here and there, but I wasn’t crazy about the segment as whole.
— I love the bit with Chevy filling in the blanks of Kevin’s speech with inappropriate words.
— Overall, tonight’s pairing of Kevin and Chevy worked pretty well for the most part.
— According to GettyImages, David Spade had an Update commentary that was cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal (pic here). In the pic, he’s noticeably displaying a judicial scale.
STARS: ***½


BOB SWERSKI’S QUIZ MASTERS
Super Fans on Bears & Bulls trivia game show
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Polish Sausage- for post-heart attack snacking

 

— Very nice change of pace for the Super Fans sketches.
— I liked the ridiculously brief “meet the contestants” segment.
— Funny “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Polish Sausage” commercial, especially the stilted delivery from the guys.
— The lightning round with Mike was fun, though I wanted it to go on longer.
— I love each contestant’s written answer on their card, especially Farley’s long-winded intelligent answer being written on both sides of the card.
STARS: ****


VAN MORRISON CONCERT
at a Van Morrison concert, (MEH)’s dancing obstructs (JUS)’s view

— What started out as a relatable piece is getting old fast.
— I do like the part with Chevy speaking to Melanie in staccato speech so she can hear him whenever she bops her head in his direction.
— Didn’t care for the ending at all.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Weight”


BACKSTAGE
CHC tries to comfort a crying TIM in the latter’s dressing room

— For some reason, at the beginning of this sketch when Chevy and Victoria are having a conversation, the SNL Band can be heard LOUDLY continuing to play the music they had been playing during the commercial break. It’s distracting, making it hard to pay attention to what Chevy and Victoria are saying. I’m guessing there was some kind of mistiming or something, where the SNL Band wasn’t informed that the show had returned from commercial break. Reruns of this sketch mute out the SNL Band’s music.
— Good to see Tim getting a rare showcase.
— Chevy’s various outlandish guesses on what’s bothering Tim are quite funny.
— Chevy’s actually coming off likable and affable in this, which is rare for him post-70s.
— Tim, when Chevy tells him to get ready for the next sketch: “I’m not in anything, except for this.” Yet another funny dig at Tim’s lack of airtime, after his solo number in the “Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight” cold opening from two episodes ago. Just to show you how right he is regarding his underusage, he didn’t appear in ANY sketches in the episode between Steve Martin’s and tonight’s (Rob Morrow).
STARS: ***


KAUFMAN’S BIG AND TALL, AND SHORT AND SMALL SEPHARDIC JEW MEN’S CLOTHING STORE
Sephardic Jews (CHC) & (ROS) sell big & tall & short & small clothing

— An initial chuckle from the store’s name.
— Aaaaaaaand that initial chuckle mentioned above ended up being the ONLY laugh of this whole thing. What in the world was the point of this overall sketch? Where were the jokes? Why did Chevy’s last line get cut off?
STARS: *


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode. The quality was mostly consistently good, until we got a few very weak sketches towards the end (Van Morrison Concert and Sephardic Jew Men’s Clothing Store). Chevy was only okay as the host tonight. He’s still a far cry from his reliably funny self from the 70s, but he wasn’t as bad as he’s been in some of his other hosting stints and he didn’t bring down this episode too much for me.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Rob Morrow)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Susan Dey

Posted on

December 6, 1986 – Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Martin Short / Randy Newman (S12 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
stumblebums KEN, CHC, Steve, MAS attend meeting at the Gerald Ford Clinic

— Funny premise here, between a Gerald Ford Clinic and a Stumblebums Anonymous meeting.
— Hilarious entrance from Martin Short.
— I like how each host enters in a clumsier fashion than the last, culminating in an impressive long stretch of physical stumbles from Chevy. When it comes to doing the stumblebum routine, I see Chevy’s still got it at this point.
— Overall, a short but sweet opening, and a fun way to introduce tonight’s three hosts.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
a confident Steve proclaims “I’m Me!” as he marches through the studio

   

— For the first time this season, after the opening montage ends, we’re shown two NBC pages opening the backstage doors that have the SNL logo on them (screencap below), which leads into the camera zooming towards the home base stage as the host(s) makes their entrance. This would go on to become a regular thing for pretty much the remainder of this season, I believe.

— Boy, it’s an amazing sight, seeing these three guys onstage hosting together.
— Chevy mentions his recent rehab stint, which Dennis Miller previously hinted at during his sign-off in the season premiere’s Weekend Update (“Good luck, Chevy; you are in our thoughts”).
— Great bit with Martin trying to forcefeed painkillers to a reluctant Chevy.
— Steve wistfully mentions he hasn’t stood on this stage in a long time. Indeed, aside from a cameo at the end of an Eddie Murphy-hosted episode from 1982, this is Steve’s first hosting stint since way back in the original era. I can only imagine how excited SNL fans in 1986 must’ve been when hearing the news that Steve was finally making his hosting return. Until this point, it was probably assumed that Steve was taking the Buck Henry stance of retiring as a host to remain loyal to the original cast.
— LOL at Martin humorously shoehorning his great Katherine Hepburn impression into his pep talk to Steve.
— Some aspects of Steve “It’s Me” song, especially the solo from stage manager Joe Dicso and the visual of the cast marching behind Steve as he goes around the studio, remind me so much of a certain famous “Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight” musical number he would later do in his 1991 hosting stint.
— Funny part with Steve encountering a lookalike in the audience doing Steve’s 70s shtick, complete with an arrow-through-the-head prop.
— Love how in Lorne’s brief appearance, he just deadpan-ly asks “Are you about through, Steve?”
— Overall, wow, what an incredible monologue. While I found it kinda strange how it eventually just turned into a big-ol’ Steve Martin showcase halfway through, leaving the other two hosts in the dust, I’m not complaining because the Steve Martin showcase was very fun, Chevy and Martin each got their individual moment in the spotlight early on, and the overall monologue was fantastic. I loved the extensive staging of this whole thing.
STARS: ****½


MASTERMIND
away from the cameras, Ronald Reagan (PHH) is a dynamic, effective leader

— The debut of Phil’s Ronald Reagan impression. Out of the many people who’ve portrayed Reagan on SNL, I’ve always considered Phil’s take to be the quintessential version.
— Great Reagan make-up on Phil, giving him the face wrinkles, turkey neck, and everything. We’ve come a long way from Randy Quaid’s Reagan impression just the year before, where the only thing the make-up people did was just slick his hair back, which did NOTHING to help his non-resemblance to Reagan.
— There’s the famous turn after Nora leaves, where Phil’s “doddering” Reagan is immediately revealed to actually be a brilliant, complex, stern man in charge.
— Amusing seeing Dennis with his trademark 80s hair greased down into a normal, neat style. (third-to-last screencap above)
— I absolutely love how when being told he has to take a photo with a girl scout, Phil’s Reagan angrily responds “DAMN!” and “This is the part of the job I hate!”
— Haha, now he’s speaking in fluent Arabic over a phone speaker.
— We also get the debut of Dana’s hilarious Jimmy Stewart impression. For some reason, I hadn’t remembered that part of this sketch.
— Overall, a masterpiece. This is among some of SNL’s greatest political satire, and Phil was amazing to watch here. Definitely one of his all-time best performances, which is really saying something.
STARS: *****


COUCH CUSHIONS
(CHC)’s sofa search for the channel changer turns up missing valuables

— I’m liking the increasingly absurd and excessive number of things found in the couch cushion, especially the black bananas.
— And now this has gotten even funnier with the skeleton of the family dog.
— Funny random Paul Williams cameo as the latest thing found in the couch. [ADDENDUM: According to commenter Jurb, that was actually Marc Shaiman playing Paul Williams.]
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Longest Night”


THE EGGSHELL FAMILY
a cautious clan deals with an incoming phone call

 

— Funny how the family appears to be playing Scrabble, considering Scrabble letters are one of the things found in the couch during the Couch Cushions sketch.
— Not sure how to feel about this sketch so far.
— Yeah, I’m not liking where this has been going.
— Some awkwardness from Steve during the sketch-ending audience applause. It looked like he mouthed an out-of-character “What was that?” to Martin. I’d like to think that was Steve second-guessing the material he had just performed, because boy did I not care for this sketch. This just didn’t work, despite the performers’ best efforts.
STARS: *½


A HOLIDAY WISH
Steve delineates increasingly-selfish Christmas desires

— A very famous piece that’s often included in SNL’s annual Christmas compilation special.
— Loved the line “First would be the crap about the kids…”
— Hilarious line about an extended 31-day orgasm.
— Very funny how overly complicated the wishes are getting, and how he’s debating with himself which wish he should put first.
— Overall, a true classic, and a very quintessential Steve Martin piece.
STARS: *****


WEEKEND UPDATE
co-anchor CHC tracks Ronald Reagan’s rapidly-declining approval rating
DEM’s Iran-Contra See n’ Say refuses to incriminate itself
press secretary Tommy Flanagan bluffs about Iran-Contra

— Oh, we get the return of Chevy at the Update desk, this time being Dennis’ co-anchor.
— Hilarious punchline from Dennis about comedian Gallagher still being a jerk.
— Chevy’s Reagan approval rating poll bit fell completely flat.
— Ha, and just now, Dennis acknowledged the same thing I pointed out above, by sarcastically saying “Thank you, Chevy; exciting story there.”
— God, Chevy and Dennis’ “chemistry” is painfully awkward. Dennis’ hip 80s, self-aware, meta style clashes terribly against Chevy’s old-school, professional, mock-straitlaced style. Doesn’t help that Chevy’s not exactly on his game in tonight’s Update.
— The “Congressional Subpoena See-and-Say” bit initially seemed like a promising idea, but didn’t work in its execution.
— Yet another Tommy Flanagan appearance.
— Flanagan’s line about his mistress being Jeane Kirkpatrick was the only real laugh I’ve gotten in his commentary so far.
— Flanagan’s overall commentary was pretty lackluster. It’s beyond obvious that this character is past his prime, and even the studio audience didn’t seem as into his bit tonight as they usually are.
— Chevy’s coming off a little marble-mouthed at times, which I’ve noticed often seems to be the case in a lot of his guest appearances on SNL (the biggest example being his disastrous season 5 hosting stint, particularly his legendarily horrific performance in the “You Can’t Win” gameshow sketch). It’s strange, because his delivery was usually so clear and calm back when he was a cast member.
— Funny ad-lib with Dennis saying (regarding him and Chevy) a tongue-in-cheek “How’s that for witty banter between us?” At least he seems to be fully aware of the awful chemistry between him and Chevy.
— Ugh, stop with the cutaways to the approval rating poll.
— While I want to appreciate the fact that Dennis is having fun with his and Chevy’s clashing styles, it’s cringeworthy seeing Dennis doing his trademark high-pitched laugh and head-bobbing during Chevy’s straitlaced jokes.
— Overall, this Update was a freakin’ mess. While there were a few funny news jokes from Dennis, all of his side gags fell flat, the Tommy Flanagan commentary was the same old tired stuff we’ve been seeing ad nauseam from this character, none of Chevy’s bits worked at all, and the “chemistry” between both anchorpersons was an experiment gone terribly, terribly wrong. Overall, easily the weakest Dennis Miller Weekend Update I’ve covered so far.
STARS: **


THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
Corazon Aquino (JAH) isn’t interested in girl talk

— Wow, I’m surprised they waited this long to have Pat Stevens make her first appearance of the season, considering how oft-used she was last season. Unlike with Tommy Flanagan, SNL seems to be aware that they need to severely dial back the frequency of Pat Stevens’ appearances.
— The pre-interview portion of tonight’s installment didn’t work for me at all. Just felt like Pat Stevens was treading the same old ground she’s already covered before.
— Pat asking Jan’s Aquino about the 3,000 pairs of shoes is pretty funny.
— I loved Jan-as-Aquino’s facial reaction to being asked how her husband (who was assassinated years ago) is currently doing.
— Overall, some laughs, but by this point, this recurring sketch feels like it’s run its course. That probably doesn’t end up being true in the long run, because I recall there being some funny installments in later episodes to come (e.g. the Barbara Bush/Kitty Dukakis interview with Phil and Jan).
STARS: **


HALSEY & ROARKE, BRITISH CUSTOMS
British customs agents (Eric Idle) & (DAC) inspect suspicious items

— ERIC IDLE! Very random but awesome.
— While this sketch is in a not-too-late time slot in the rerun version I’m watching, this originally aired as the final sketch of the night, which is INSANE. Why in the world would you bury a freakin’ Eric Idle cameo at the end of an episode?!? SNL probably would’ve been better off saving his cameo for a more conventional episode, because I feel like the novelty of having Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase all hosting together caused Eric Idle’s big cameo to get lost in the shuffle and become an afterthought on SNL’s part.
— This sketch is pretty funny so far, and I like seeing Eric and Dana teamed together.
— Funny how they believed Martin’s very obvious lie.
— Overall, a decent sketch, though it started feeling a little one-note after a while and wasn’t as great as an Eric Idle-starring sketch should’ve been.
STARS: ***


THE DEVIL & ED GRIMLEY
Mephistopheles comes to Ed Grimley’s apartment to steal his soul

— Ed Grimley!
— I like how his mere mention that it’s time to play the triangle receives audience applause in anticipation.
— Haha, and there goes Grimley’s hilarious triangle dance.
— Great sudden inclusion of Jon’s Mephistopheles. I always like when recurring characters from different eras meet.
— Nice touch with one of the relatives Grimley mentions being his Uncle Basil, which is the character Howard Cosell memorably played in the final Ed Grimley sketch from Martin’s tenure as a cast member.
— Fantastic turn with Grimley using his framed Pat Sajak photo to ward off Mephistopheles.
— An okay ending with Grimley and Mephistopheles doing the triangle dance together.
STARS: ****


CHURCH POTLUCK LUNCHEON
Church Lady & Minister Bob (CHC) act superior at a potluck luncheon

— Good change of pace seeing Church Lady outside of the Church Chat setting.
— Church Lady has some really funny comments to Victoria.
— Yes!  We get the debut of Church Lady’s priceless superior dance, which is a riot.
— Good turn with Jan showing up drunk and bitter towards Church Lady.
— Certain aspects of this sketch strangely remind me of future cast member Nancy Walls’ first Gail Lafferty sketch (the bake sale character who constantly threatened other ladies with an ass-kicking) from 10 years later. Both sketches even look like they have the same set, and both sketches even have a walk-on from the host playing a minister (Chevy in this sketch, Tom Arnold in the Gail Lafferty sketch).
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Roll With The Punches”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A fairly solid episode, though not quite as strong as I was expecting with this spectacular trio of hosts. The biggest highlights of this episode were phenomenal (monologue, Mastermind, A Holiday Wish), but there were a few things that REALLY didn’t work for me (The Eggshell Family, Weekend Update, portions of The Pat Stevens Show), and the overall show didn’t feel like the classic it should’ve been. Still, I can’t complain much because I certainly enjoyed most of the show.
— The three hosts came off very fun and it was nice seeing them blend in with this cast during the sketches. It was particularly good to see Steve Martin on the show again after such a long hiatus, as his return reminded me of how much fun I had reviewing his frequent episodes from the original era. Sure his style by this point in the mid-80s has noticeably become more toned-down and mellow than this manic style from the 70s, but he’s still as funny and reliable as ever. I’m glad he goes back to being a frequent host after this episode. I’d also like to add that Chevy Chase came off a little more likable tonight than he usually does in his hosting stints. I’ve never heard any backstage stories about him acting nasty towards this season’s cast like he’s acted towards other casts, so I’d like to think that recently coming out of rehab humbled his ego and kept him in check for a while. Maybe the fact that he had two people co-hosting with him also had something to do with that.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Steve Guttenberg

Posted on

November 16, 1985 – Chevy Chase / Sheila E. (S11 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
fireman (CHC) leads his men on a door-checking mission in a smoky hallway

— Chevy’s constant “check that doors”s are kinda making me laugh, mostly due to his delivery.
— The second hallway the firemen are shown in looks like the same hallway set used in the second Willie and Frankie sketch last season where they were night watchmen.
— Okay, all the “check that door”s are losing their humor and seem to be the only joke, though I did like the variation with him asking one of the firemen “What do you want, your check?”
— Chevy “passing out” from the smoke felt like a weak, tacked-on variation of his trademark pratfalls.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
JOL asks CHC if he has any words of advice for the new cast

— Chevy jokingly ordering the removal of one particularly enthusiastic-sounding audience member is pretty funny.
— Not too crazy about most of the jokes here so far. They’re pretty weak and Chevy’s delivery is coming off fairly sloppy.
— The barbecue advice to Jon Lovitz was okay.
— I did like the ending of the monologue, with Chevy calling tonight’s musical guest S. Eisenberg.
STARS: **


THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
feminist stripper Harriet De Lafayette (DAV)

— Nora Dunn gets her very first comedic showcase, after not having any in the season premiere. (She was the only cast member I never got a chance to mention in my review of that episode)
— The Pat Stevens character is already coming off pretty funny with her clueless statements so far.
— A good initial laugh from Danitra’s occupation as a feminist stripper, as well as her explanation of what she does.
— Just now, the light on the city backdrop briefly turned off before immediately turning back on. Strange.
— Danitra has quite a lot of funny lines here.
— I like the pointless “exercise” routine that Nora has Danitra and viewers do.
— Overall, a pretty solid debut for these Pat Stevens sketches.
STARS: ***½


FORD & REAGAN
Gerald Ford (CHC) gives Ronald Reagan (RAQ) advice about Soviet meeting

— Nice way to work in the return of Chevy’s Gerald Ford impression, pairing him with Randy’s Reagan.
— As usual, Terry’s Nancy Reagan is coming off hilarious so far
— Strange how the painting of Randy as Reagan has Reagan’s real hairstyle, but Randy himself never does whenever he plays him.
— I like the repeated background gag of Terry’s Nancy struggling with the dog.
— The whole role-playing part with Ford and Reagan isn’t working much for me.
— Much like the monologue, Chevy seems a little off here.
— I do like Chevy’s trademark pratfall over the paintings.
— Overall, a few highlights, but the sketch was kind of a letdown.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “A Love Bizarre”


PATHOLOGICAL LIARS ANONYMOUS
Tommy Flanagan (JOL) of Pathological Liars Anonymous tells his life story

— Lots of Mark McKinney voice-overs introducing sketches tonight.
— The debut of what would go on to be one of Jon’s signature characters.
— There’s the very first utterance of “That’s the ticket!”
— The “I did kill myself” line was great.
— There’s a distracting huge boom mic shadow that has just shown up in the background.
— Overall, a funny sketch and Jon came off great as this character right out of the gate. This also feels like the very first role where Jon was really allowed to show his comedic chops, considering he mostly just played it straight in the season premiere.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
DAW suggests selling MX missiles to Iran & Iraq to generate mo’ money

— For the second episode in a row, Dennis starts Update with another funny random opening comment, this time telling Don Pardo he finds him so “fresh… exciting”.
— While none of the news jokes have stood out as particularly memorable so far tonight, I’m enjoying them and Dennis is still coming off really well with his delivery.
— Damon Wayans gets the honors of being the first guest commentator during the Dennis Miller era of Update.
— I absolutely love Damon’s demeanor and how he’s coming off in this.
— There’s the immortal words “mo money”, which Damon would later make famous the next decade.
— Wow, Damon’s overall commentary was very strong and gave me a lot of big laughs.
— I liked Dennis’ comments about Damon after Damon’s segment ended.
— Dennis ends tonight’s Update with “That’s the news, I’m gone”. Still experimenting with the ending tagline, I see.
STARS: ***½


JOSE CUERVO’S PARTY SCHOOL BOWL
students answer very easy questions
The Jose Cuervo Institute rehabilitates those with party-related injuries

— I liked Joan pronouncing “synonyms” as “cinnamons”.
— Some aspects of this are kinda reminding me of a Community College Bowl sketch SNL would later do in a Jeff Daniels-hosted episode from 1991. Both sketches even have a contestant with the last name Hygaard or Hoigaard (played by Robert Downey in this sketch, and Mike Myers in the 1991 sketch). I’m guessing both sketches were written by the same person.
— Jon’s delivery of his answer “Ron Berger, Oldsmobile” was really funny.
— Hmm, now this sketch is showing a video showcasing one of the colleges, which is exactly something the aforementioned 1991 Jeff Daniels sketch did as well. Yeah, both sketches DEFINITELY must be from the same writer.
— An early Robert Smigel and A. Whitney Brown sighting among the students drinking and partying with the University of Colorado team.
— Interesting format break, now going to “commercial” to show a related ad for The Jose Cuervo Institute, starring Randy.
— The overall sketch was okay. A little better than the aforementioned Jeff Daniels version, which I remember being pretty one-note.
STARS: ***


THOSE UNLUCKY ANDERSONS
(CHC) prescribes butter for his ill-fated family

— I love the reveal of the lottery ticket-eating cat now being frozen. Good line from Chevy: “We’ll never get the tickets out of him this way.”
— I like the repeated advice of “Put some butter on it” being given for every situation.
— Chevy randomly works his Gerald Ford klutz shtick into this sketch when opening the door for Jon. Felt very unnecessary.
— Minor nitpick: Nora’s eyepatch is on the wrong eye. It was her other eye that “fell out” earlier in the sketch.
— An overall pretty solid sketch with several good random gags. It was also amusing how the various misfortunes were treated so casually by the family.
STARS: ***½


CRAIG SUNDBERG, IDIOT SAVANT
Craig Sundberg, Idiot Savant (AMH) judges a violin recital in Moscow

— Anthony’s far-fetched excuse for not having his homework is pretty funny.
— Okay, I don’t care for where this sketch is going now. This violin competition judging scene hasn’t been working for me.
— There have been a lot of parts throughout tonight’s episode where this season’s infamous habit of sweetening audience reactions in reruns have been very noticeable, but it’s PARTICULARLY obvious in this sketch, because there’s absolutely no way the real audience is laughing so hysterically over THIS.
— Second sketch in a row ending with Dan Vitale in a walk-on role as one of two cops dragging a character away.
— Right before the camera freeze-frames at the end, Anthony accidentally bumps Jon in the face with his hand, resulting in Jon giving Anthony a very stern glare (though that last part was probably just Jon acting in character).
— Overall, I didn’t like this sketch, though at least it was short. If this is an example of the type of character work Anthony’s going to be bringing to the table this season, we’re screwed. This felt like a typical bad character that Pete Davidson would play nowadays.
STARS: *½


DRUMS DRUMS DRUMS
CHC plays selections from his three album collection

— The joke of the advertised tunes all having the exact same sound when played on drums was fairly funny initially, but this sketch doesn’t seem to be offering anything else.
— Okay, the “techno classics” bit right now was pretty funny, where Chevy just pressed a button on a drum machine.
— Overall, not too great. Impressive drumming from Chevy, though (which is a talent I don’t recall him ever displaying on SNL during his cast member years).
STARS: **


THE BLUE, THE GRAY, AND THE YELLOW
cowardly brothers are Civil War enemies

— The introductory screen bubbles of Anthony and Robert fearfully running away are kinda funny, but boy is Robert hamming it up with his overly-goofy facial expressions.
— Here’s the very first of what would unfortunately be many maid roles for Danitra this season.
— Oh, god, does Danitra have to play the role with such a cringeworthingly over-the-top, old-timey stereotypical voice?
— This sketch’s set looks like the same one from the Reagan/Ford sketch earlier tonight, only redecorated to have a more Civil War-era look.
— Boy, is Robert continuing to mug the camera like crazy.
— Okay, I finally got one legitimate laugh, from Randy’s overly-wordy, long-winded way of calling Anthony and Robert cowards.
— Anthony seems to keep having trouble putting his sword away in his sword case.
— Joan is yet another performer who’s overacting really badly in this sketch. Man, what was Lorne THINKING when hiring so many young kids for this season’s cast?
— Overall, this sketch was rough as hell, and exposed the weaknesses of this season’s younger performers (especially Anthony). It felt like Randy was the only thing holding this sketch together.
STARS: *½


THE LIFE OF VLAD THE IMPALER
Transylvanian prince has doubts

— Nice detail with that random huge boil on Randy’s face.
— This sketch is really tickling me so far, particularly Randy’s casual, overly-relaxed delivery, and the general conversation between him and Chevy.
— Randy’s look into the camera at the end was great.
— Overall, a very funny and clever writer-ly piece. This obviously wasn’t the type of sketch that was going to get a lot of laughs from SNL’s studio audience, but was something that comedy nerds like me can appreciate.
— I think I recall hearing this sketch was written by then-new writer Jack Handey. If this is the very first SNL sketch he got on the air, it’s a definite sign of many great things to come from him.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Much like the season premiere, this wasn’t a particularly terrible episode, but it wasn’t good either. This may have actually been a little worse than the premiere, considering the string of consecutive bad sketches towards the end of the show. We did at least get some promising debuts of future big recurring characters (Pat Stevens, Tommy Flanagan), and a few good absurd pieces in the post-Update half (Those Unlucky Andersons, Vlad The Impaler). But between the underwhelming season premiere and tonight’s episode, we haven’t exactly been seeing an encouraging sign of things to come this season.
— I can’t imagine the cast was in the best spirits by the end of that week anyway, considering Chevy’s notorious horrible treatment of them behind the scenes. I also noticed that Chevy seemed kinda off his game tonight, which is starting to feel par for the course whenever he hosts. Even his intentional gibberish-speak during his goodnights speech tonight fell flat.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Pee-Wee Herman

Posted on

September 25, 1982 – Chevy Chase / Queen (S8 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
CHC explains why he’ll do the show via satellite from Burbank

   

— I like how this opened on Chevy doing his trademark “raunchy phone conversation” opening gag, though I swear the “beads” conversation he’s doing in this sketch was already used in a Weekend Update of his from the first two seasons.
— I’m surprised we just got a simple “I”m Chevy Chase” introduction, with no “and you’re not” added after it.
— Interesting slow reveal that Chevy is actually being displayed on a TV monitor on SNL’s (new) home base stage.
— Chevy eventually explains that, due to a missed flight, he’s not in New York but in Burbank, as SNL’s first bi-coastal video host.
— Has it ever been confirmed whether this whole “missed flight” thing was genuine or just a gimmick? My theory is it’s a gimmick. I doubt they would’ve been able to get this whole “via satellite” thing prepared on time if it were done on such short notice like we’re led to believe. And besides, SNL was known for doing unconventional gimmicks throughout the Ebersol era.
— Nice ending with the crew members inducing a trademark Chevy pratfall by tipping his TV monitor over.
— We get the return of “Live from New York…” for the first time since season 6! Very nice to hear it again. And who better to deliver the re-introduction of LFNY than the guy who delivered it in SNL’s first episode ever?
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— It’s the same opening montage from the previous season, but right off the bat, there’s a noticeable difference, as the opening shot of a woman lighting her cigarette with a conventional lighter has been replaced with an awesome-looking shot of a construction worker lighting his cigarette with a torch.

— After being replaced in season 7, beloved original announcer Don Pardo is back! It feels so refreshing hearing his voice again after I’ve gotten so used to Mel Brandt’s season 7 announcing.
— The SNL logo looks to be in a more orange-red color compared to season 7’s plain-red logo. Something about the sizing or the letter spacing of the logo looks a bit different tonight too.
— The cast shots have all been changed. I really like the idea of that, as I’ve always said that whenever a new SNL season uses the same opening montage from the preceding season, they should at least update the cast shots, just to keep things somewhat fresh. Aside from this season, the only other time SNL would go on to do that would be in season 22.
— The new cast members joining the show tonight are Brad Hall, Gary Kroeger, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

  

 

MISCELLANEOUS
(no synopsis available)

— Just a very brief post-opening montage continuation of the cold opening, with Chevy still “on the floor” and announcing that he’ll be back. Much like in season 7, I see SNL is still toying with the idea of whether to do a monologue or not. However, I believe monologues officially go back to being a regular weekly thing after tonight’s episode.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


ART OPENING
Tyrone Green is the darling of the New York art scene

     

— The return of Eddie’s famous “Cill my landlord” character Tyrone Green.
— As if the wild cheers Eddie received in tonight’s opening montage wasn’t enough of a sign that he had become a huge star by this point, the energetic audience applause that his entrance receives in this sketch certainly shows you. This really sets the tone for this season, as IIRC, this is the season where Eddie reaches his absolute peak as a cast member.
— LOL at Eddie’s casual “Okay, bitch” line to Robin.
— Gary Kroeger and Brad Hall make their debut playing an effeminate gay art couple.
— I like the one collage that Eddie titled “Smart-Ass White Boy Blues”.
— For some reason, Eddie randomly starts breaking in response to Mary asking him a question. (second-to-last screencap above)
— I like Eddie angrily turning down a request to recite the “Cill My Landlord” poem. Probably a good thing, as we’ve already seen him repeat that poem in a sketch with Mary last season.
— Eddie’s “I Hate White People” poem is pretty funny. I know him spelling out “white” as “W-I-T-E” is just a knock-off of his funnier “C-I-L-L” from the original Prose and Cons short, but this still managed to crack me up a lot. It was something about the intense squinty-eyed look he gave the camera during his extreme close-up while spelling out “W-I-T-E” that slayed me.
STARS: ***


JOE TAKES A BRIDE
JOP announces that he’s fallen in love with Rose Kennedy & wants nuptials

   

— As proof that he’s become the #2 most popular member of this cast, Joe’s “I’m Joe Piscopo” intro at the beginning of this sketch gets a very big reaction from the audience.
— An amusing premise with Joe announcing that over the summer, he’s fallen in love with Rose Kennedy.
— Decent pre-taped video of Joe going for a romantic walk on the beach with Kennedy.
— The football-throwing bit was pretty funny.
STARS: ***


JOHN HINCKLEY FOR PRESIDENT
John Hinckley (BRH) announces he’s a candidate for president

 

— Funny reveal that Brad is playing John Hinckley.
— A good sketch so far, and Brad’s doing fine playing an unabashedly crazy Hinckley.
— Good subtle bit at the very end, where he slowly puts the pillow into his mouth right before the camera fades to black.
STARS: ***½


MYSTERY THEATRE
Zacherley (John Zacherle) & a video Land Shark

   

— I’m afraid I have no familiarity with this horror show host making a cameo.
— He is coming off pretty funny in this, though.
— Ha, the familiar Jaws/Landshark music sting is heard as Julia Louis-Dreyfus is heading to the door.
— Okay, tonight’s whole “Chevy missed his flight to New York” thing DEFINITELY has to be a gimmick, because how else would Chevy have his Landshark costume available in Burbank? Am I supposed to believe he always randomly carries that costume in his luggage?
— There’s the famous and always-funny “Candygram” routine.
— Landshark being displayed on a TV screen was kinda fun, I guess, but it’s disappointing not to see him attacking a woman who answers the door like he usually does. Made this feel anticlimactic.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
Danny DeVito [real] introduces musical guest

 

— Danny DeVito on SNL again!
— Nice to see Danny shutting off Chevy’s typical self-indulgent bragging.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
JOP’s football strike resolution proposal appeals to players’ drug habits
during a phone call to James Watt, BRH gives him a piece of his mind
Father Andrew B. Titus (TIK) dislikes Reader’s Digest’s condensed Bible
Tonight Show set in Burbank doubles for Tel Aviv during CHC’s report

           

— The debut of a revamped version of SNL’s news segment, featuring a new title, a new anchorperson, and a new set.
— Speaking of the new set, I like it a lot, especially the NYC nighttime skyline background.
— Hmm, Brad is wearing glasses in this. IIRC, that doesn’t go on to be a regular thing during his tenure as anchorperson.
— His very first joke is already self-referential, naming himself as one of America’s most trusted newsmen. Not sure how to react to that.
— He’s taken off the glasses already.
— His delivery isn’t too bad so far. However, I wonder if he eventually gets worse over time, because my past memories of watching reruns of this era seem to recall Brad having an annoyingly cheesy, exaggerated, unnatural delivery. I wonder if maybe he actually IS using that same cheesy delivery tonight and I’m not noticing it because suffering through a whole season of Brian Doyle-Murray makes Brad’s delivery sound less awful to me by comparison.
— Good to see a Joe Piscopo SNL Sports appearance as the very first guest commentary of the revamped Saturday Night News.
— Joe’s cocaine bit was very funny.
— Interesting-seeming bit with Brad calling up Secretary of the Interior James Watt.
— Brad’s sudden screaming outburst to Watt over the phone actually gave me a big laugh, even if it was a bit too heavy-handed in its politics (which would make it fit perfectly on modern-day SNL).
— A new character from Tim.
— A lot of funny complaints from Tim about the ridiculous changes made to the condensed bible.
— Weak punchline at the end of Tim’s commentary.
— Brad has randomly put his glasses back on after Tim’s commentary. Why doesn’t he make up his mind?
— Chevy’s remote segment is serving as a nice view of Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show set. Unfortunately, that’s just about the only worthwhile thing about this whole segment.
— Overall, tonight’s Saturday Night News debut was a small step up from the dreary SNL Newsbreaks of season 7, but they still have a LONG way to go.
STARS: **½


VIDEO VICTIMS
by Claude Kerven- children addicted to video games

       

— Good premise for a mockumentary.
— I love the way this really captures the arcade craze from this time period in the early 80s. It’s also fun to see so many of the (now) old-school video games from the time.
— The drug addiction-esque downfall of the kids is very funny.
— Hilariously shocking part with the little girl prostitute who has to earn her money “the hard way”.
— The old foreign-accented guy as “11 year old Timmy” was funny as hell.
— Overall, wow, this film was excellent and incredibly well-done.
STARS: *****


REVIEW
Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert [real] review the show & criticize CHC

   

— Adding to the exciting feel of tonight’s episode is a Siskel and Ebert cameo where they give “history’s first live review of a TV show still in progress”. Fun idea.
— Hmm, they’re reviewing a “PTC” sketch that hasn’t even aired yet in the copy of the episode I’m watching. The sketch order must’ve been shuffled around in my version.
— Them naming Chevy as the “dog of the week” is pretty funny.
— Heh, the “picture” of Chevy in the background turns out to be live, as he suddenly starts doing his famous “making faces behind someone’s back” bit, which is a pretty nice blast-from-the-past, but it’s never been my favorite recurring Chevy routine.
— Funny line about “one of the great acting hand jobs of all time”.
— Assuming Siskel and Ebert’s sketch reviews are their genuine opinions and aren’t scripted lines, I’m finding their comments about the sketches to be quite interesting.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


POPIEL GALACTIC PROPHYLACTIC
Popiel Galactic Prophylactic & Dura-phram- EDM touts the tough devices

   

— Wow, Eddie’s doing a great pitchman voice.
— Hilarious concept.
— After Eddie fires the gun at the prophylactic, somebody (I think one of the two extras playing the wrestlers) mistakenly runs past the camera, temporarily blocking Eddie.
— Haha, lots of funny fast-paced craziness in this sketch.
STARS: ****


LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN
Gumby & a Bob the Dog film

    

— Joe is absolutely dead-on as Letterman; even the look is scarily accurate.
— Hmm, Gary Kroeger appearing as Paul Shaffer (a dead-ringer, by the way). Is this the first time in SNL history where a former cast member was impersonated by someone?
— Joe’s even nailing Letterman’s trademark laugh.
— Haha, Tim as Larry “Bud” Melman.
— Joe throwing two pencils behind him and breaking the window made me howl.
— A welcome return of Eddie’s Gumby.
— Ah, Eddie’s Gumby now has the angry delivery I’ve always been familiar with, unlike the low-key delivery he used in his debut last season.
— Great stories from Eddie’s Gumby, especially the “someone eat my buns” story about Poppin’ Fresh (the Pillsbury Doughboy).
— Overall, this was a riot. I got lots of laughs throughout this whole sketch, and it was also a solid parody of Letterman’s “Late Night”.
STARS: ****


PTC CLUB
April May June (JLD) preaches, (GAK) heals audience members

     

— Ah, here’s the aforementioned PTC sketch.
— Nice to see a showcase for Julia on her first episode.
— Very good character work from Julia here.
— Brad’s “soft rock” bit was pretty funny.
— Oh my god, Julia’s increasingly psychotic detailing of fighting Satan was insane and hilarious.
— Gary’s whole audience interaction bit is FANTASTIC so far. He’s giving an excellent performance here, and is handling his interactions with various audience members with so much ease that you can’t even tell this is his first night as a cast member.
— LOL at the unscripted part with a male audience member volunteering to be the person who puts his hand on the female audience member’s breast.
— Overall, this was a pretty strong showcase for the three new cast members. I’m aware that this is reportedly a sketch that they had done together in their improv days at the Practical Theatre Company (which I guess is where they got the “PTC” abbreviation for this sketch), which explains why this had such a polished feel.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Under Pressure”


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A good way to kick off the new season. The feel of this episode was quite different from the previous season, and there was a nice quality to tonight’s show, especially in the second half where there was a consistent run of very solid material. Some of the season’s big changes and the various guest appearances throughout the night also added to the exciting feel of the episode. The fact that the “Chevy hosting via satellite” gimmick is a complete afterthought in my mind right now shows how good the rest of the show was.
— The three new cast members got some good showcases tonight, especially with the PTC Club sketch. Due to my past viewings of a handful of episodes from this era, I’m already somewhat familiar with how the three newbies’ respective SNL tenures end up turning out, but based on just tonight’s episode, I would say Gary is the newbie I’m looking most forward to seeing more of, especially after his great work in PTC Club.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1981-82):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Louis Gossett Jr.

Posted on

February 9, 1980 – Chevy Chase / Marianne Faithfull, Tom Scott (S5 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
while visiting Gerald Ford (CHC), Henry Kissinger (ALF) plays it safe

   

— It’s the same huge living room set from the Bel Airabs sketches.
— The return of Franken’s funny Henry Kissinger impression.
— Huge, and I mean HUGE audience applause for Chevy’s walk-on. The applause goes on for almost half a minute. At one point while waiting for the long applause to die down, Chevy jokingly pretends to walk off the set.
— Loved Franken’s monotone “Oh, yes” after the applause finally stopped.
— Man, the traditional cold opening-ending Chevy pratfall came off disappointing tonight. This pratfall looked tame compared to the great ones he did as a cast member.
— Overall, despite the disappointing ending, this was a decent opening with the usual standby Chevy-as-Ford humor that we haven’t seen in a long while.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— New opening montage!

       

— Wonder why they decided to randomly change the montage halfway through the season.
— Ah, there’s the famous “Lorne in a crowd” shot. (fourth screencap above)
— Man, I LOVE these opening credits. The cast shots look great, the stop-motion style is unique, the colors look cool, the spraypainted Saturday Night Live logo on the subway train door is very memorable, and the overall visual quality of the montage is simply fantastic. Easily one of the all-time best opening montages in SNL history.
— Harry Shearer has been promoted to the main cast! This is the first of only a few times in SNL history where someone goes from a featured player to a repertory player right in the middle of a season.


MONOLOGUE
once-feuding CHC & BIM musically dispel any bad vibes between them

  

— When the opening montage ends, Chevy (who is visibly VERY out-of-breath, by the way) is strangely already seen onstage before Pardo even announces him. Did Chevy make his entrance too early when the montage was still running?
— Chevy does the “jokingly pretend to walk off-stage during a long applause break” thing once again.
— Wow, he seems OUT OF IT, and his delivery is coming off very mumbly.
— He addresses rumors of him not getting along with the cast last time he hosted, and brings out Bill Murray onstage to prove a point. Hmm, I guess even back then, the public was aware of the backstage fistfight Chevy and Bill got into right before airtime when Chevy previously hosted.
— Bill’s entrance gets a very good audience response in its own right.
— I admit, it IS nice to see Chevy and Bill getting along so well in this.
— The song medley is pretty funny and is coming off Nick the Lounge Singer-esque.
— I really liked the “We Shot the Sheriff” part.
— Overall, thank god for Bill’s entrance and the song medley, because Chevy had been doing a very rough job out there by himself.
STARS: **½


PRE-CHEW CHARLIE’S
all the food at Pre-Chew Charlie’s (BIM) restaurant is easy to digest

     

— Wow, quick transition for Bill, with very little time in between his exit in the monologue and this sketch starting up. I’m always amazed at how quickly SNL cast members are able to go from sketch-to-sketch.
— Handlebar mustaches are always worth a laugh.
— Hilarious disgusting concept. A spiritual predecessor to that famous sketch from 2000 where Julianna Margulies played a dinner guest at a house where a family feeds each other pre-chewed food mouth-to-mouth.
— Great uproarious audience reaction.
— This feels like the kind of crazy restaurant commercial Dan Aykroyd would’ve played the spokesman of sometime during the first four seasons.
— LOL, during the sketch-ending applause, Brian Doyle-Murray keeps trying to hand his fork over to Chevy, but Chevy’s so out-of-it, he doesn’t even notice Brian’s fork (last screencap above) and it takes him FOREVER to finally realize. Boy, he has not been doing well tonight so far.
STARS: ****


THE BEL AIRABS
middle-eastern family entraps congressman (TOD) in Abscam

   

— This is the installment of this sketch I remember seeing years ago.
— Weird seeing that same huge living room set twice tonight.
— Chevy’s pistol-whipping line was pretty funny. But, man, he’s still coming off as a mess and is looking kinda lost.
— Someone in the audience can be heard going “ooooh” for some reason when Bill walks on.
— I can’t say enough how much Gilda cracks me up in these Bel Airabs sketches.
— The scene with Laraine and the goat came off awkward.
— Instead of using Kareem Abdul Jabbar as a gag name during the fake ending credits like they did last time, the gag name in tonight’s fake ending credits is Spiro T. Agnew.
— Overall, an interesting premise and a well-done sketch, though I didn’t laugh at this one as much as I did during the first Bel Airabs installment.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Marianne Faithfull performs “Broken English”

— Jesus Christ, is this a joke? Why does her voice keep cracking so horribly?


WEEKEND UPDATE
BIM says we should draft women- if we lose, the Russians look like jerks
BIM sings “Happy Birthday” to George Washington & Abraham Lincoln busts

     

— I liked Jane’s mid-joke “god bless you” ad-lib when Bill coughed off-camera.
— The Alan Zweibel picture gag continues. (second screencap above) Haha, I’m loving this running joke, and I hope it keeps going.
— Bill’s commentary on President Carter drafting women was hilarious. Classic Bill Murray.
— Great dirty comment from Jane about Walter Cronkite, as a reference to that “First Love” short she did earlier this season.
— Bill’s ridiculously-wordy birthday song to Washington and Lincoln busts was really funny.
— Hmm, no Chevy appearance on tonight’s Update. Surprising. Probably for the best, though, considering how badly his performances have been going so far tonight.
— Come to think of it, there were no guest commentaries at all tonight. Guess we didn’t need it, though, as this Update was a strong night for Bill and Jane.
STARS: ****


YOU CAN’T WIN!
contestants face impossible odds; Bert Convy cameo

         

— Chevy’s rough night continues, as right out of the gate in this sketch, we get lots of line flubs from him as he’s reading off the index cards in his hand.
— I really like this part with the cast members in the studio audience excitedly “coming on down” when their name is called.
— Holy hell, Chevy’s delivery is fucking TERRIBLE in this sketch so far. He cannot get a word out without stumbling over it, and he sounds very drugged-up and mush-mouthed. Drugs would certainly explain what the fuck is going on with him tonight, because he is definitely not himself. When I remember the smooth, calm-and-collected delivery he had during his years as a cast member, it’s sad to watch him in the state he’s in tonight.
— Geez, Garrett’s not making things any better by badly flubbing a joke himself, though in his case, that’s typical. He consistently stumbles over his lines on a weekly basis.
— I like the idea of the ridiculous “Pot Of Gold” challenge with Laraine.
— Chevy is noticeably starting to wipe sweat off his forehead. Come to think of it, he HAS been visibly sweating all throughout this episode.
— Man, do I hate Chevy’s delivery in this. What is going ON with him? He’s getting worse and worse, to the degree that he’s now started to develop a strange habit of occasionally mumbling unintelligible little things while nervously laughing. He also keeps jumping ahead of the script while stepping on others’ lines, and keeps making long awkward pauses while he tries to find his next line on the index cards he’s reading off of. I even hate the little bizarre ad-libbed things he keeps doing, like awkwardly tossing away some of the index cards for no apparent reason.
— Chevy to Bill: “I know you’re a wreck. Now, I want you to pick a number–” Bill to Chevy: “You’re a little jumpy yourself.” Haha, excellent ad-lib from Bill, who’s clearly seeing what a mess Chevy is in this.
— A Bert Convy cameo.
— Jesus Christ, Chevy did a particularly INTENSE forehead sweat wipe just now while greeting Convy.
— Oh my god, just when I thought Chevy’s disastrous performance in this sketch couldn’t get any worse, now he said “Sho does se” when he meant to say “So does she”. Normally, I would facepalm in reaction to such a bad line flub, but honestly, this particular flub was so bad that it has me absolutely DYING with laughter right now as I type. Haha, Chevy doesn’t even seem to be aware of his mistake. Bert Convy is certainly aware, though, and his facial reaction is PRICELESS. (screencap below)

— Yet another sketch tonight with fake ending credits, and in the same font and color as the one from Bel Airabs, too. Only this time, there’s no apparent jokes within the credits.
— Overall, geez louise, what a failure. This sketch actually had a promising idea and had potential to be pretty great, but boy should they have saved it for another host. If you’ve noticed above, I had A LOT to say about this sketch, and almost all of it was about how unbelievably bad Chevy was. He hurt this sketch so much and butchered practically every single line he had here, which is especially unfortunate, considering this was a VERY LONG gameshow sketch in which he played the host, and thus, he was required to do A LOT of talking during this. I bet whoever wrote this sketch regretted the decision to give Chevy so much dialogue while he/she was watching this sketch backstage.
STARS: *


SPEAKING OF FASHION …AND OTHER THINGS
Mr. Blackwell (HAS) discusses CHC’s line of clothes

     

— The debut of Harry’s Mr. Blackwell impression, which is one of the very few things from Harry’s stint this season that would carry over into his second SNL stint years later in the 84-85 season.
— Interesting format, with the low-budgeted public access black-and-white look and shaky camera.
— Ugh, Chevy AGAIN keeps stepping on others’ lines and jumping ahead of the script.
— WTF? Is Chevy’s clip-on mic mishap real?
— Okay, the mic mishap is probably part of the sketch, considering the “low-budget talk show” premise, but given the disastrous way Chevy’s performances have been going all night, it easily could pass for a real blooper.
— Heh, I admit Chevy briefly speaking loudly right into his clip-on mic gave me a good cheap laugh. Probably the first natural, intentional laugh I got from him all night.
— Oh, god, now Chevy’s mush-mouthed delivery from the You Can’t Win sketch has come back. Are we in for another hilarious “sho does se”-type line flub?
— Overall, this had a pretty intriguing format and featured the usual great dry Harry Shearer performance. But ultimately, this sadly ended up being yet another promising sketch that was overshadowed by a bizarre, terrible Chevy performance that dragged it down.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Marianne Faithfull performs “Guilt”


LINDEN PALMER, HOLLYWOOD’S FORGOTTEN DIRECTOR
by TOS- career recalled

     

— Another display of Schiller’s love for doing black-and-white shorts. Come to think of it, almost every single one of his films so far been in black-and-white.
— Overall, not much to say here. This wasn’t one of Schiller’s better films, but this at least had a nice charm to it and was well-made.
STARS: **½


THE TALKING LETTER
Honduran’s poison darts cut short (JAC)’s audio tape to mother (LAN)

     

— Jane’s snobbish voice is pretty funny.
— Interesting transition to making Jane’s ongoing message now sound like it’s being played on tape by Laraine, despite the fact that Jane is actually still delivering the message live.
— It feels strange seeing a live sketch with so much absolute silence from the audience (which is something I’ll probably have to get used to for next season). Though I’m not even sure if this sketch is even attempting laughs, the way it’s been going so far. I get a feeling SOMETHING’S gonna happen, though.
— Interesting camera angles from the ceiling. That kind of camerawork is another thing that’s strange to see in a live sketch.
— Bill suddenly getting shot in the neck with a dart was hilarious. It came completely out of nowhere.
— Great Akira Yoshimura appearance at the end.
— Overall, wow, what a bizarre, very unconventional sketch. I didn’t know what the heck I was watching at first, but in the end, after the random surprise ending, I actually really like this overall sketch. An interesting little experiment. And, hey, there was no Chevy to ruin this, either!
STARS: ****


CHEVY CHASE AND TOM SCOTT: “16 TONS”
CHC, Tom Scott, SNL Band perform “16 Tons”

 

— Now we’re getting a Chevy Chase musical performance? Uh-oh.
— At first, in those sunglasses and the fact that he’s sitting behind a piano, I almost thought Chevy was reprising “Very White”, the Caucasian Barry White character he did in a sketch from season 1.
— Is this going to be a comedy bit, or is he actually going to attempt a legitimate song?
— Looks like it’s a legitimate song.
— This performance makes me wonder, is Chevy hosting tonight to promote that now-infamous 1980 album of his?


GOODNIGHTS

 

— Feels like there’s barely anybody onstage anymore.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty rough show. Though thinking back on it, there were actually some good things in the first half. The second half, while a lot worse, at least had a weird experimental sketch that I was oddly fascinated by (The Talking Letter). However, there was a very unpleasant feeling to this overall episode that kills a lot of the goodwill. That unpleasant feeling is no doubt due to the host’s performance. Speaking of which…
— I don’t know WHAT was going on with Chevy tonight, whether it was too much cocaine or too much painkillers. The man was definitely on SOMETHING, because my god, what a disastrous overall performance from him tonight. He was an absolute MESS throughout this episode, coming off very out-of-it, mush-mouthing and stumbling his way through his lines, looking fidgety and jumpy (as Bill pointed out in a great ad-lib at one point), visibly flop-sweating his way through every sketch, and not even nailing his traditional cold opening-ending pratfall. He was particularly awful in You Can’t Win, where he couldn’t get one clear sentence out for the entire sketch, seemed to be sweating worse and worse as the sketch went on, and kept making bizarre, unfunny little ad-libs that were met with confused silence from the audience. That embarrassing “sho does se” line flub of his continues to crack me up every time I think about it. When people often mention Louise Lasser, Milton Berle, and Frank Zappa as the most infamous hosting performances from the original SNL era, they DEFINITELY should be including tonight’s Chevy stint in there as well.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Elliott Gould

Posted on

February 18, 1978 – Chevy Chase / Billy Joel (S3 E11)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
Little House On The Prairie Burns To The Ground will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
Gerald Ford (CHC) talks geography after confusing Suez & Panama Canals

   
— The obligatory return of Chevy’s Gerald Ford. Watching SNL episodes in chronological order, it feels a little weird seeing Chevy on the show again after getting so used to the show without him since his departure.
— Right out of the gate, Chevy looks a little distracted in his performance. Understandable, considering that mere minutes earlier, he and Bill Murray famously got into a big fistfight backstage. I’m curious to see if there will be any visible tension in the cast’s performances throughout this episode.
— A reprisal of the memorable gag with Chevy’s Ford answering a glass of water as a phone.
— Chevy’s Ford to his wife Betty: “Thank you, Ron.”
— The map demonstration was really funny.
— And there’s the return of the traditional ending fall.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Strangely, they reverted back to the opening montage from the first two seasons.

   
— Weird seeing this montage again. Is SNL only doing this to add to the night’s nostalgic “old school” feel with Chevy’s return?


MONOLOGUE
CHC shamelessly garners applause from the audience using various ploys

   
— It’ll be interesting to see how this monologue goes, considering this is SNL’s very first alumni-hosted episode.
— Chevy’s coming off really fidgety in this; obviously he’s still shaken up over the fight.
— Is all the frequent cheap applause part of the joke?
— Yep, I guess it is. This ain’t too funny so far.
— I feel like SNL ended up using the same “host keeps saying things to get frequent cheap applause” premise in another host’s monologue years later, but I can’t figure out which host it was.
— Oh, great, now he’s launched into a song. Ugh.
— Well, at least the song was brief.
— Overall, this monologue was kind of a disjointed mess, not helped by Chevy’s slightly off performance. I didn’t laugh much here.
STARS: **


MOTH MASHER
the Moth Masher compresses & plasticizes to ready insects for your wallet

   
— Nice to see another commercial with Dan doing his usual manic fast-talking pitchman.
— The bizarre nonsensical premise and the way it’s being played like it’s totally normal is great. I especially like the part about putting the plasticized moth into your wallet.
STARS: ****


AFTER LOVE
(CHC) & (GIR) evaluate their performance during a post-coital discussion


— I’m really liking Gilda’s various strange lines about her orgasms.
— This sketch is starting to have the feel of a Marilyn Suzanne Miller piece.
— Very funny part with Chevy explaining he said his own name during the sex because of all of his nights spent alone.
— Great “It’s your apartment” reveal at the end.
— Overall, a very well-written sketch and featured strong performances from Gilda and Chevy.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


KING
Jack (DAA) & Bobby (BIM) Kennedy bug Martin Luther King Jr. (GAM)

   
— Bill Murray’s first appearance of the night. I’m eager to see what his performances will be like tonight, considering how heated I know he is after the scuffle with Chevy.
— Bill and Dan’s Kennedy accents are really funny.
— Dan: “It seems the good ones, they die young.” Clever reference to the Billy Joel performance that preceded this. Speaking of which, some SNL fans are under the misconception that the Chevy/Bill backstage fight actually happened during the aforementioned Billy Joel performance, instead of happening before the show started. It IS funny, though, to imagine Billy Joel singing about good people dying young while Chevy and Bill are beating the crap out of each other.
— Dan: “Have you ever slept with a white girl?” Garrett: “Does your sister count?”
— A pretty forgettable sketch overall, despite decent performances.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
a phony phone call from CHC displaces DAA from the anchor desk
LAN’s attempt to interview striking miner (ALF) is foiled by his coughing
JAC doesn’t fall for CHC’s attempt to displace her via a phony phone call
straying from topic of Spinks-Ali fight causes JOB to become animated
Emily Litella welcomes CHC back to Weekend Update; JAC tells them off
with GAM’s help, CHC repeats the top story for the hard-of-hearing

             
— The sponsored “Pussywhip” bit at the beginning was very funny.
— Haha, that’s clearly Chevy’s disguised voice talking to Dan over the phone.
— Dan announces he “has to split” after receiving family emergency news.
— Chevy has suddenly returned to the desk in Dan’s spot, and he’s even wearing his old anchorperson suit from the first two seasons. You can hear a guy in the audience very audibly exclaim “Alright!!”
— Over the years, I’ve heard some behind-the-scenes stories that Chevy taking over as Update anchor tonight was one of his demands that week, arrogantly explaining that “my fans expect it”. Reportedly, Jane was FURIOUS over this. This was just one of MANY ways that Chevy is said to have pissed off everybody at SNL that week (and as we know now, Chevy pissing off everybody at the show would go on to be a regular thing every time he hosted in the future).
— Ha, Chevy doing a Mr. Ed voice once again.
— What the heck was the point of Franken’s coal miner commentary? It was weak and one-joke.
— Another phone call from a disguised Chevy, this time trying to lure Jane away from the desk.
— Jane’s “Nice try, Sparky” response to Chevy’s failed phone call ruse was great.
— LOL at Jane’s casual mention of Leon Spinks being “one of the ugliest heavyweight champs of all-time”.
— This is John’s first appearance of the whole night, surprisingly.
— During his story, John makes a passing mention of “Brian Doyle-Murray, Bill’s brother”.
— And now, John mentions a roommate named Steve Bushaikis, which is also the name of one of John’s more obscure recurring characters on the show.
— There’s the “But nooooooo” line, which pretty much officially becomes John’s catchphrase at this point.
— John’s whole roughhousing/boxing gloves bit with Jane was hilarious, especially Jane’s panicking and her passing out.
— Emily Litella shows up out of nowhere, happily greeting her favorite Update anchor “Cheddar Cheese”. As tired as I’ve gotten of this character, she’s actually coming off endearing here.
— Jane to Litella: “(angrily) First I get slugged by Belushi, now I gotta deal with YOU!”
— Chevy brings back his famous “making faces behind someone’s back” routine while Jane’s continuing to rant on at him and Litella.
— Jane’s aggression when calling out Chevy for greedily taking over Update is clearly part of the script, but you just know there’s definitely a lot of real-life anger she’s venting there.
— To conclude tonight’s Chevy Chase-Era Weekend Update Nostalgia Tour, we get the return of “News for the Hard of Hearing”. They’re really going all out in bringing back all of Chevy’s beloved Update staples.
— Overall, what an epic Update. Easily the best of the season so far. Kinda sad, though, that it took Chevy’s return for SNL to have its first above-average Update of the whole season. Really shows how fairly rough the quality of Update has been this season.
STARS: ****


BAGGAGE INSPECTION
customs trainee (CHC) inspects luggage of drug smugglers (JOB) & (LAN)

   
— I got a good laugh from Garrett hiding a joint in his mouth when trying to sneak away.
— Hilarious part with the cocaine leaking out of Laraine’s “chest”.
— During Bill’s funny walk-on at the end, he actually interacts with Chevy very briefly. Surprisingly, there was no visible tension at all, which at least shows they’re both very professional performers when they’re in character during a sketch.
— Overall, a very good sketch.
STARS: ****


THE VOICE
by Gary Weis- (Valri Bromfield) provides the soundtrack to LAN’s bad day

   
— A rare Laraine Newman showcase. I mentioned in an earlier review that she’s been really invisible this season.
— A very bizarre short so far, but the strange off-camera operatic singing and Laraine’s growing frustration are both making me laugh.
— What the–? Is that Valri Bromfield? The stand-up who did that awful “teacher” routine in SNL’s very first episode? How random that she pops up as a punchline at the end of this short. It looks like she’s even wearing the same outfit she wore in the first episode.
— The weirdness of this whole short was certainly more entertaining than the snooze-worthy humor Gary Weis usually offers.
STARS: ***


SERMONETTE
Church of Confusion holy man (CHC) tells a rambling story


— Chevy’s voice is kinda funny, but where in the WORLD is this going???
— Okay, now Chevy’s trying too hard with the “funny” voices here.
— And the sketch is over. I’m still left wondering what in the WORLD I just watched.
STARS: *½


GREAT MOMENTS OF WAR
at a checkpoint during WWII, GIs use USA culture quiz to root out Nazis

  
— Funny little detail with Bill quietly counting to himself in German.
— Predictable ending with John not knowing the answer to the Cleveland Indians manager question himself.
— I’m a little torn on this sketch as a whole. I felt the writing was tepid, but the performances were fun and made it worth watching.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


ENDINGS
CHC interrupts LAN, GIR, JAC during a badly-written old lady sketch
Twilite Zone- cast tries several methods to get out of a skit with no end
Jaws V- the Land Shark fools the women with promises of a sketch ending
GAM sees cast dead on the floor, ends show with “That’s All Folks”

       
— Gilda’s basically just doing an old-timey version of her Emily Litella voice.
— The fourth wall has broken with Chevy entering the scene as himself and calling for the sketch to end because “the piece is going nowhere”.
— Haha, sudden “Twilight Zone” twist. I always love Dan’s dead-on Rod Serling impression.
— Ha, and now we get a sudden John-as-Truman-Capote twist.
— Love the reveal of John randomly not wearing any pants.
— I’m loving all the false endings and weird meta-turns this sketch keeps taking in their attempt to “get out of the sketch”.
— Haha, now we get the return of Landshark!
— Overall, this was fantastic. Easily one of my favorite meta sketches of this whole era so far, which is saying something, as this era has had lots of memorable meta sketches.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS
CHC plays organ with SNL band

 
— Chevy is seated at a piano as the cast crowds around him like he’s some sort of music legend. Ugh, his penchant for self-indulgence is on full display here.
— The DVD version I’m reviewing of this episode cut the goodnights very short. I had always heard that during these goodnights, a seething Bill Murray can be seen pacing back-and-forth in the background the whole time while giving Chevy a death stare. That description doesn’t quite match what I saw here, but it’s close enough: Bill makes a late entrance while looking miserable and he briefly shoots a particularly unhappy look towards Chevy hamming it up at the piano. Dan and John then stand by Bill, seemingly for two reasons: 1) to lighten him up and calm him down, and 2) to show solidarity with him, as if to say “We’re not on Chevy’s side”.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An okay episode, which exceeded my expectations. I came into this expecting a rough show, due to the backstage drama right before airtime and the fact that Chevy-hosted episodes usually have a reputation for being pretty tepid (probably due to his aforementioned habit of making everyone at the show miserable whenever he hosts). While tonight had a few subpar sketches here and there, the episode was decent for the most part and there were a few very strong segments, particularly the last sketch and the After Love sketch.
— The cast did a good job of hiding any tension during the sketches. Chevy himself, on the other hand, was visibly a little shaken early on in the show, but after the monologue, he got his concentration down and became his old self again, for better or worse.
— BTW, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the details of the Chevy/Bill fight, here’s an old article (from 1999) I dug up.


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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
The controversial hosts keep on comin’, as our next episode is helmed by The Juice himself, O.J. Simpson