Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Ronald Reagan (CHR) discusses whether Frank Sinatra (JOP) is a hoodlum
— Oh, man, yet another cold opening starring Charles’ terrible Ronald Reagan impression. Stop trying to make Charles Rocket as Ronald Reagan happen, season 6.
— Geez, Charles’ impression sounds even worse tonight. What’s with the raspy/scraggly voice?
— That’s it? This overall cold opening was a pointless waste, and also a waste of Joe’s Sinatra impression.
STARS: *
OPENING MONTAGE
— SNL episode guides usually always list Funky 4 + 1 More (the very first rappers to ever appear on SNL, I believe) as the musical guest of this episode. However, I’ve noticed that they’re not credited at all in tonight’s montage. I guess their appearance tonight just counts as a cameo and not as the official musical guest, which is why I’m not going to list them as the musical guest in my title for this episode review.
MONOLOGUE
host reveals her roots & Cupid (EDM) shoots an audience member
— The cutaway to Deborah’s blonde-wigged “parents” in the audience wasn’t all that funny.
— Ha, Eddie’s entrance in that cupid outfit…
— I ask once again, that’s it? This was short as hell, contained almost nothing of note, and was a total write-off, which seems to have become status quo for the monologues these last two episodes. This season’s writers seem to have completely given up with the monologues.
STARS: *½
DON’T LOOK IN THE REFRIGERATOR
a horror movie about scary leftovers
— Another very quick bit that just came and went. I usually enjoy the “presenting a mundane, everyday annoyance as the subject of a horror movie” comedy trope, but this one just washed right over me.
— Good horror movie-esque scream from Deborah, though.
STARS: *½
LIVELYS
Phil Lively considers putting his father (DOP) in a nursing home
— This looks to be the return of the Livelys.
— Yep, it is. As I said in my review of this sketch’s first installment, I’m not sure if this’ll work as a recurring sketch.
— I do like the involvement of an unseen Don Pardo as Gail’s dad.
— Pardo’s voice-over delivering an angry “Somebody get my fork, I dropped my fork!!” cracked me up.
— Okay, I’m starting to notice that Pardo’s interjections are my ONLY laughs in this so far. Yeah, this whole “gameshow family at home” routine ain’t working a second time.
— The rehash of the gag with Gail vocalizing the Jeopardy theme wasn’t necessary.
STARS: **
NEWSBREAK
EDM reports on Jean Harris, Las Vegas fires, Poland
— What the hell? What’s this? Eddie Murphy for “Newsbreak”? Almost feels like a Weekend Update substitute. Does this mean the Rocket/Matthius Update has been dropped tonight, due to how horribly it’s been doing lately? If so, good riddance.
— Yeah, this segment is definitely coming off as an Update substitute so far.
— Eddie: “Stay tuned later tonight for a full report on Weekend Update.” Aw, dammit, so much for my hope that Update was dropped from tonight’s show.
— Overall, this segment was okay, I guess, and Eddie did fairly well, but I’m still baffled over why this is in the show and what this possibly means for Update.
STARS: **½
WHERE’S COOTER?
Tennessee Williams Authority deems Cooter (GIG) & kin a one-act play
— Ohh, boy, here comes an infamous sketch that I’ve always heard terrible things about. I’m curious to see just how bad this really is.
— As was pointed out a few days ago by a commenter in reply to my Gary Busey episode review from season 4, this sketch has the same set from the Muck-Jumper sketch from the Busey episode.
— I’m a minute into this sketch, and I’ve been hating pretty much everything I’ve seen so far. What IS this???
— Man, is this dialogue annoyingly repetitive.
— WTF at Gail’s bizarre entrance?
— Oh my god at Gail’s delivery of her lines. I usually like Gail, but GOOD GOD is she annoying the hell out of me here. And the fake baby crying she’s doing into her arms – WTF??? I now feel like I’m seeing her play a rejected Laraine Newman character.
— Seriously, what the hell am I WATCHING in this sketch?
— The twist with this turning into a Tennessee Williams play is doing absolutely nothing to save this sketch for me. I hated the first half SO much that there needed to be a much funnier twist than THIS to excuse it.
— Overall, all I can say is: My god. That sketch definitely lived up to its negative reputation. If it weren’t for Commie Hunting Season, I’d probably consider this sketch to be the absolute bottom of the barrel for the season 6 episodes I’ve covered so far. Man, did I hate this.
STARS: *
ROCKET REPORT
CHR finds the answer to “How scary is Central Park?”
— I’m already liking this Central Park premise. Looks like this will be a return to form, after the last two mediocre Rocket Reports.
— Charles’ overdramatizing of everything in the park isn’t coming off as funny as I would’ve expected.
— Charles falling backwards onto the ground when running away in a panic was pretty funny.
— Overall, I think I need to stop saying “Hopefully tonight’s Rocket Report is an improvement over the subpar last one”, because I always end up being disappointed once again. Tonight’s Rocket Report had a few more decent moments than the last two Reports, but the overall film was still below par. What’s going on? Why have these usually-reliable Rocket Reports been so consistently forgettable lately? Are these segments only good when Charles just goes around interviewing random people face-to-face, like he used to do in the earlier films?
— I know I’m almost at the end of Charles’ short-lived SNL tenure, so I’m hoping to see at least ONE more good Rocket Report before his firing. I know there’s one Rocket Report he does with upcoming host Charlene Tilton in a subway train that has always looked kinda interesting to me, but I shouldn’t get my hopes up.
— I just realized that I have yet to like any segments so far tonight. None of the sketches have gotten higher than a mere two-and-a-half-star rating from me yet.
STARS: **½
CARD CORNER
Paulie Herman meets a girl from Jersey (host) in a card shop
— The return of Jersey Guy, or as I call, proto-Jay Leno.
— Here comes the obligatory “recurring character meets its similar counterpart played by the host” sketch that a lot of quirky recurring characters eventually do. Deborah’s doing a good job with the Jersey Guy-esque voice.
— Overall, a fairly good sketch, and I like how this was kept short enough. First decent sketch of the whole night.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Love TKO”
WEEKEND UPDATE
arch-conservative (GIG) claims there are no poor people in America
Polish ambassador (Andy Murphy) is ecstatic about the invasion of Russia
JOP interviews boxing & rapping hand puppet Weindulah (Marc Weiner)
— Just when I thought tonight’s episode was finally starting to pick up a bit, here comes along Weekend Update to kill the momentum.
— Oh my god at Charles slapping his desk while hammily fake-laughing after his first joke. Jesus Christ. Lately, I’ve been starting to see that the reports I’ve always heard about Charles desperately resorting to hammy over-the-top antics in his later Updates were 100% true. It’s sad to watch.
— Man, they need to stop these unfunny “audio clip” gags that Charles keeps doing this season. They ALWAYS fall flat and get no audience reaction.
— As usual lately, the studio audience is NOT into these awful jokes so far (neither am I, for that matter).
— First in a long time we’ve seen Gilbert at the Update desk. This Reagan philosopher character of his looks seems like it has potential, and hey, Gilbert’s actually showing energy in his delivery for once.
— Unfortunately, Gilbert’s bit just came and went with no laughs and no real point. A letdown.
— Yikes, Gail’s Reagan/“I forgot about it!” joke was particularly awful.
— Here’s something different. Mock breaking news from Charles that “Poland has invaded Russia”. Hmm.
— Hey, an Update commentary from frequent SNL extra Andy Murphy! Feels odd to see him in such a big speaking role.
— The Andy Murphy commentary ended up being another bit that initially looked interesting but turned out to be a forgettable letdown.
— Here’s our weekly Joe Piscopo SNL Sports commentary.
— A follow-up to the preceding episode’s Rocko Weineretto bit.
— Ha, I’m liking this early 80s-sounding rap song from “Weindullah”. I might be biased because I always get a kick out of hearing any kind of early 80s hip-hop. Same reason I’m looking forward to seeing tonight’s NOT!musical guest Funky 4 + 1 More.
— Big extended audience applause break after Weindullah’s rap.
— Joe announces a boxing match that we’ll be seeing in the next episode, between Weineretto and Weindullah.
— Overall, an even worse Update than usual this season, which is really saying something. The guest commentaries are usually the only saving grace this season, but even most of those managed to underwhelm tonight. And the Rocket & Matthius portions of Update continue to go further and further down the tubes, especially with Charles’ newfound desperation of hamming it up during certain jokes. Man, it’s almost becoming DEPRESSING to watch Update gradually die like this over the course of the season. I have to ask, is this the absolute worst state Weekend Update has EVER been in SNL’s 40+ year history? Then again, I haven’t gotten to the upcoming Brian Doyle-Murray “SNL Newsbreak” era yet, which supposedly is also terrible…
STARS: *½
BIG BROTHER
shy Big Brother (GIG) uses telescreen to ask prole (host) out on a date
— I’m getting an unintentional laugh from the giant lego-looking background behind Gilbert.
— Some awkward dead air before some of Deborah’s line deliveries.
— Gilbert’s line about feeling like a “schlep” made me laugh.
— Good twist with Gilbert suddenly turning Deborah down for being “too easy”.
— Overall, there were some issues that made this feel a little sluggish, but this was an overall decent sketch. Better than I thought it would be. Nice showcase for Gilbert as well.
STARS: ***
SWEET HEARTS
by Leon Ichaso- laundry robbers turn on one another
— Interesting-looking film.
— Oh, that’s Deborah as the female gangster. Took me a whole minute into this film to realize that. I didn’t even recognize her at first.
— Wait, IS that Deborah? In some angles, it looks like her, while in some other angles, it DOESN’T look like her. Hard to tell.
— I’m liking how this looks and feels like a genuine 1930s gangster flick.
— The bank-esque robbery of a laundromat is pretty funny.
— Okay, they’ve completely lost me. I don’t understand what’s been going on ever since the laundromat robbery scene ended. The random blow-up doll at the party, the three main characters holding a Mexican standoff over a pair of heart boxers… none of this makes sense to me.
STARS: **
SOHO LESBIANS
Pinky & Leo Waxman discover that niece (host) has a lesbian lover (GLM)
— Curious to see how this goes. For years, I’ve always assumed just from the title “Soho Lesbians” and the fact that it’s from way back in the 1980s that this was a crazy, wild, raunchy sketch.
— The audience laughs at Deborah and Gail simply telling each other “I love you” (which I doubt was intended to get laughs). The audience’s amusement at that shows how rare it was to see gay couples on TV back in these days.
— Hey, it’s Denny and Gilbert’s “What’s It All About” characters. Very interesting to see them in a different setting for once.
— They seem to be relying on the usual premise of Denny and Gilbert’s characters constantly cutting off others during a conversation, like they always do with their guests on “What’s It All About”.
— Wow, that’s it? This was actually a nice, realistic, low-key scene, and didn’t go the crazy, wild, “homosexuals are weird sex freaks” route I had always assumed this would go. I’m pleasantly surprised.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Come Back Jonee”
NEWSBREAK
people on the streets of NYC weigh in on Poland’s invasion of Russia
EDM reveals the premeditated nature of Poland’s invasion plan
— I’m still baffled why we need these Newsbreak segments when there’s already a full Weekend Update in this episode.
— Eddie throws to a remote segment with random people on the street being interviewed about the Poland/Russia invasion.
— That one guy’s “I thought they were going to go into France” comment gave me a pretty good laugh.
— Eddie’s delivery is coming off pretty sloppy, with constant line flubs. And honestly, he looks out of his element in this setting. If these Newsbreak segments are the show’s way of kinda “auditioning” Eddie as a potential Weekend Update anchor, I can see why he doesn’t end up getting hired for that spot.
— Speaking of Eddie, it feels like these Newsbreak segments are the only thing he’s been doing on the show tonight. This is a waste of him.
— The picture of Poland soldiers heading towards Arctic Circle is pretty funny.
STARS: **½
KING KONG SYNDROME
Fay’s (host) date with a “big ape” (JOP) ends in the style of King Kong
— Heh, with Joe’s anger at playfully being called a “big ape” and his freaking out over seeing the Empire State Building statuette, I can see where this is going.
— And now I just realized Deborah’s wearing the white Fay Wray dress.
— Joe’s “transformation” into an ape is fairly funny.
— I do like Deborah unintentionally taunting Joe with a toy plane.
STARS: **½
DROPOUT
Vickie shuns Debbie while catching up with high school dropout (host)
— A Vickie valley girl sketch. Where’s Denny’s character?
— Oh, there’s Denny.
— Overall, this was unfortunately another sketch tonight that just washed right over me, with nothing in it standing out. Very forgettable. Knowing that the end of Gail’s SNL tenure is approaching, I wonder if this ends up being the last appearance of this character. If so, it’s sad that this usually-good recurring sketch ended in a whimper with both this and the weak Tommy Torture one with Ray Sharkey.
STARS: **
FUNKY 4 + 1 MORE: “THAT’S THE JOINT”
Funky 4 + 1 More performs “That’s The Joint”
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Yet another tepid episode, in what’s been a fairly lengthy string of them, starting with the Robert Hays episode. A very unremarkable show tonight where absolutely nothing stood out as particularly great, and most of the ratings I gave tonight’s sketches were in the unimpressive two-to-three star range. Most of the pre-Update half of the show was particularly weak, and it also doesn’t help that this episode contained one of my absolute least favorite sketches I’ve covered so far in my SNL project (Where’s Cooter). Update was also pretty much a disaster tonight. Even the highest-rated sketches were just things I found merely decent.
— Up until these last three episodes, I’ve been feeling that this season is a LITTLE better than its negative reputation, but man, I now seem to have reached a point where this season kinda bottomed out and pretty much just gave up. And from what I remember seeing of the infamous next episode (I saw the butchered Netflix version of it years ago, where about 50% of the sketches were edited out), things don’t get any better.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Sally Kellerman):
— a very slight step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Charlene Tilton, a.k.a. the notorious “I’d like to know who the fuck did it” episode