Tag: Elton John

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April 2, 2011 – Elton John (S36 E18)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
pianist (host) wants no part of Dooneese

— (*groan*) Another Lawrence Welk sketch.
— This cold opening begins rather awkwardly with a smiling Fred just silently staring at the camera for an extended amount of time before finally speaking. I’m not sure if the reason for this weird long pause of Fred’s is because perhaps 1) Fred hadn’t yet realized he was on the air, 2) there was a “The Lawrence Welk Show” title screen that was supposed to precede the opening shot of Fred but failed to show up, or 3) the audience was supposed to applaud before Fred spoke (you know, that dumb, pointless “Have the audience applaud at the beginning of every cold opening for no good reason” thing that SNL’s been doing in recent decades). Either way, clearly someone missed a cue.
— Ugh at that joke with Fred’s Lawrence Welk saying his favorite fingerlake is the middle one.
— When this originally aired, I remember thinking Elton John looked very Stuart Smalley-esque in this.
— As usual, nothing to say about the actual content of the Dooneese portions of this sketch. Same-old same-old.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
new father host describes aspects of his paternal role

— I like Elton mentioning his last time on the show was as a musical guest way back in 1982, then saying that, of all the things he tried back in the early 80s, SNL is the safest to try again.
— Elton is coming off as a total natural here, and is very likable, even doing a self-deprecating and actual funny gay joke about himself at one point (when mentioning that his new baby rejected the breast).
— An overall charming and fairly solid monologue.
STARS: ***½


KY JELLY LADIES SHOT PUT CHAMPIONSHIP 1985
Pete Twinkle, Greg Stink & brother Steve Stink (Tom Hanks) cover lady shot putters (KRW) & (Carmelo Anthony)

— The first appearance this recurring sketch has made in a year. And with that, we, of course, get the return of Will Forte! Feels so nice to see him for the first time since his departure from the cast.
— Hmm, no audience applause for Will’s cameo.
— Now we get a cameo from Carmelo Anthony, not too long after he started playing for the New York Knicks.
— Jason and Will’s characters are coming off as funny as ever.
— And now this sketch’s bevy of cameos continues, as we get TOM FREAKIN’ HANKS out of nowhere. Hard for anyone to complain about all the cameos in this sketch when two of them include Will Forte and Tom Hanks.
— Tom is great as Greg Stink’s similarly-traited brother.
— Pete Twinkle: “Make a little room for Paco, put some SAUCE on that taco………..(*extremely long pause, leading at one point to a brief cutaway to Tom Hanks staring at the camera with a frozen smile*)………..KY lubricant yelly!”
— Greg Stink, on his trip to Vegas: “They got the loosest slots.” Pete Twinkle: “Hey, speakin’ of loose slots, KY Jelly!”
STARS: ****


FANCY A JAR, DO YOU? / KNIGHTS OF THE REALM
Britcom has (BOM), (KRW), glass containers

host, Michael Caine (Tom Hanks), Bono (ANS), other knights weigh response to dragon attacking London

— Hmm, a British-accented Seth Meyers voice-over at the beginning of the BBC News special report.
— I like the bit with Paul’s fancy-named news anchor saying he’s filling in for an anchor simply named Fat Danny.
— I love Tom Hanks as Michael Caine, and I also love how it’s starting to feel like Tom’s the co-host of tonight’s episode.
— Elton accidentally messed up his “Sting taking forever to come” joke, but he had a charming reaction.
— Elton’s deadpan remarks to others throughout this sketch are great.
— Funny bit with a clone of Bill’s Richard Branson showing up immediately after Bill’s Branson got killed in a rocket accident.
— A particularly great snarky remark from Elton right now, with his Spider-Man slam to Andy’s Bono.
— I love Paul, as the news anchor, professionally delivering the breaking news that Sting “jizzed all over [the dragon] until it died.”
STARS: ****


LASER CATS THE MUSICAL!
coerced Tom Hanks [real] supports feline sci-fi

   

— Yes! Yet another appearance tonight from our unofficial co-host Tom Hanks.
— Our annual Laser Cats short. Hard to believe there’s only one left after this, as the following season is Andy’s final season, and it’s been a tradition to do one Laser Cats short per year ever since Andy’s first season.
— Great reveal of Tom being forced to push Laser Cats on Lorne because Bill and Andy are holding Wilson The Volleyball hostage.
— A good change of pace with tonight’s Laser Cats being a musical.
— I like Bill and Andy yelling at a passerby for entering the sideways-shot scene and ruining the illusion that Bill and Andy are climbing a wall.
— Funny running gag of a guy in a Spider-Man costume crashing into things in the background during a failed flying stunt, which I assume is making fun of the infamously troubled state of the then-current Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark play.
— Very fun involvement of Elton as the villain.
— I love the visual of a shrunken Andy jumping through the gap between Elton’s two front teeth.
— A hilarious voice for Wilson The Volleyball at the end. I think that’s Bill doing the voice, but I’m not 100% sure.
— Nice to see this end differently from most of the other Laser Cats shorts.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & Leon Russell [real] perform “Hey Ahab”


WEEKEND UPDATE
SEM matches GOP presidential hopefuls & Celebrity Apprentice counterparts

Moammar Khadafy (FRA) lobbies for the end of USA military action in Libya

recently-recaptured cobra has again escaped from Bronx zookeeper (KET)

Nicolas Cage (ANS) covets Jake Gyllenhaal’s [real] role in Source Code

— Uh-oh. Another innocent Weekend Update mention of Donald Trump considering a presidential bid, this time with Seth being a skeptic by calling it a “fake presidential run” and asking “Why are we talking about this guy [Trump] like he really might be president?” Ohho, Seth, if you only knew…
— Seth’s Apprentice-style breakdown of the GOP candidates is fairly clever and has some laughs.
— Ohhhhhhh, god. I am so fucking sick of 1) Fred playing Moammar Khadafy for so many consecutive episodes (this being the third consecutive episode), and 2) Fred playing so many Middle Eastern leaders in general this season, especially on Update lately.
— Ugh at all the lame, intentionally-dated pop culture references that Fred’s Khadafy is making, a gag that I recall SNL previously doing to death with Horatio Sanz, back in the days when he was SNL’s go-to performer for Middle Eastern leaders. And just like Fred, Horatio would play every Middle Eastern leader the exact fucking same, and it eventually got so tired.
— More and more groan-worthy parts of Fred’s commentary the longer it goes on. This commentary is TERRIBLE, and gives me yet another excuse to call Fred out on being the absolute bane of this season. And I still have TWO MORE SEASONS to put up with his tired nonsense.
— Why in the world is Fred’s Khadafy making a contemporary CSI reference right now, when earlier portions of this same damn commentary established the fact that Libya is so behind the times on pop culture that they’ve only recently received shows and music from the early 90s? This inconsistency just adds to what a mess this awful commentary is.
— Pretty funny reactions from Kenan when realizing the snake in his basket has gotten loose.
— Meh, I’m not caring for Kenan’s hammy overacting when beating the snake to death. Instances of Kenan hammily chewing the scenery can be really funny at certain times (especially in more recent years, when he only uses that hamminess at the right times), but this particular instance is coming off as some low-level Nickelodeon-esque stuff (which was my complaint about Kenan’s performance in the very polarizing St. Kat’s Middle sketch from earlier this season).
— The debut of “Get In The Cage”, which would go on to be the definitive use of Andy’s Nicolas Cage impression.
— Mm, I can’t tell if that “Block-duster” joke from Andy’s Cage is “so bad, it’s good” or just plain bad.
— The rest of this “Get In The Cage” commentary is working just fine.
STARS: ***


ROYAL ENGAGEMENT
Queen Elizabeth (FRA) & Prince Philip (BIH) want punk music at royal reception

— I liked the first installment of this sketch, but I’m iffy on the idea of making it recurring.
— Another funny instance tonight of Elton putting someone down with a deadpan snarky comeback.
— Even though the turn with Fred and Bill’s Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip brashly speaking to their guest in crude accents is no longer a surprise the second time around, there’s still some laughs from it here.
— This is starting to go a little heavy on the gay jokes about Elton.
— Ooh, a change of pace, with the turn involving the punk rock musical performance. Another instance of Fred working his real-life love of punk rock into the show, this time complete with him showcasing his drumming skills. No complaints from me here.
— Another fun display of silly dancing from Taran.
STARS: ***


THE SILVER SCREEN
gay partner cinefiles (host) & (TAK) quarrel & make up

— A sketch centering on a TV show starring two gay men reviewing movies? Hmm, never saw that in a sketch comedy show before. (*coughcoughInLivingColorcoughcough*).
— This sketch is at least taking a different-enough direction from the Men On Film sketches from In Living Color, but unfortunately, it’s a far less-interesting direction. I’m not finding myself laughing much here.
— The actions and dynamic between Taran and Elton’s characters are way too repetitive for my likes, despite Taran’s fun performance.
STARS: *½


THE OLD WEST
gruff gay cowboy’s (host) overtures go unrequited in an Old West saloon

— Wow, TWO consecutive sketches starring Elton as a gay character? And both of which came right after a sketch that made some gay jokes about Elton himself (Royal Engagement)? Really, SNL? I know Elton is openly gay, but having all these gay-themed sketches starring him is just plain lazy of the writers. On top of that, this particular sketch isn’t even the first time that this season did a sketch with a male host playing a gay cowboy in the Old West (the gift-wrappers sketch with Jeff Bridges).
— The cutaways to Jason’s puzzled reactions to Elton’s homosexual implications are getting old.
— My first and only laugh of this sketch came from something that’s not even in the script: Elton’s solid little ad-lib when his hat accidentally falls off.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & Leon Russell [real] perform “Monkey Suit”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— From what I gather, this episode seems to have somewhat of a reputation for being among this season’s worst, but I disagree. After watching and reviewing this episode just now, I didn’t find it any worse than a typical episode from this season. In fact, I actually found this episode to have far more good than bad, and I especially really liked the solid string of segments that aired between the monologue and the first musical performance. Elton John also added to this episode by being a pretty fun, likable, and game host. Too bad this episode fizzled out really badly with the final two sketches of the night, though. But aside from those two and the cold opening, I’m not sure why this episode is seemingly disliked by a number of SNL fans.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Laser Cats The Musical!
KY Jelly Ladies Shot Put Championship 1985
Knights Of The Realm
Monologue
Royal Engagement
Weekend Update
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Silver Screen / The Old West (tie)


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Helen Mirren

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April 17, 1982 – Johnny Cash / Elton John (S7 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
host sings while his younger self (TIK) has character-forming experiences

   

— Looks like we’re getting a straight musical performance as the cold opening.
— Oh, turns out they’re doing a sketch during the performance after all, with Tim playing Johnny’s younger self acting out the song Johnny’s singing.
— The extra who’s playing Tim’s cellmate looks like the same guy who played Sinatra’s mean-looking bodyguard in an earlier SNL Newsbreak where Mary interviewed Joe as Sinatra. I think I heard he’s writer Nelson Lyon.
— LOL at Johnny receiving a rough back massage while singing in his trademark vibrato.
— Funny story from Johnny about how he gained the last name Cash.
— Why did the screen randomly turn black-and-white for a few seconds? (screencap below) Technical error?

— This is a very charming opening so far.
STARS: ***½


TALENT ENTRANCE

— Where’s Joe? I guess he’s going to be at the beginning of the sketch that follows this.


THE HONEYROONEYS
Andy Rooney (JOP) plays Kramden & makes observations

   

— Yep, there’s Joe. Still don’t see why he couldn’t have been with the cast in the Talent Entrance and then ran over to the Honeymooners set; he had enough time considering how long the opening credits of this sketch were.
— I guess the black-and-white filter used for this sketch explains the aforementioned technical error in the cold opening.
— A fairly funny concept, combining The Honeymooners and Andy Rooney, though they’ve really been going heavy on Joe’s Rooney impression this season.
— Christine does a good Alice, which is no surprise as she seems like a natural for that role.
— Good laugh from Joe’s Rooney pointing out the fake backdrop outside the window.
— Great Norton impression from Eddie. I always like seeing Eddie do dead-on impressions of white celebrities/characters.  The man is so talented.
— Overall, despite the somewhat promising concept, this sketch didn’t come off all that funny in execution and kinda ran out of steam halfway through. The studio audience wasn’t very into this either, only really responding to Eddie’s impression.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Empty Garden”


LAST REQUEST
a death row inmate’s (EDM) last wish- host sings “99,999 Bottles of Beer”

   

— Second time we’re seeing that prison set tonight. I think the cellmate is also the same one from the cold opening. Funny to imagine that he just stayed in that same jail cell set during all the time between the cold opening and this sketch.
— Eddie’s funny requesting that the priest read entire Old Testament, just so his execution will be stalled.
— Great use of Johnny in this.
— This is getting even funnier with Eddie requesting that Johnny sing the “original uncut version” of 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall.
— Eddie’s gleeful dancing during Johnny’s perfectly deadpan singing is hilarious.
— Loved Tim’s angry delivery of “You had your last request; now move it!”
— Very fun sketch overall.
STARS: ****½


SNL NEWSBREAK
MAG asks a Japanese tourist (Leo Yoshimura) if he’s seen Leonid Brezhnev
BDM examines world leaders’ predilection for salutes
Dr. Jack Badofsky lists varieties of amputations
EDM gives a Larry the Lobster update- a viewer letter prompted boiling

           

— I must have Elton John on the brain after having just seen his musical performance, because when they first showed the picture of John Hinkley in this Newsbreak (screencap below), I honestly thought it was Elton at first. Hinkley’s a dead ringer for a young Elton John in that picture.

— Ha, I like how it’s become a running joke for Mary to interview Akira Yoshimura as the wrong person. Yoshimura’s monotone delivery never fails to amuse me.
— Aw, geez, here comes another “long series of pictures” gag, this time showing various dictators doing a hand salute. Again, NOT FUNNY.
— As a Three Stooges buff, I did like how during the Mussolini salute picture, Brian made a reference to “Curly of the Three Stooges”.
— Also a reference to the original SNL era’s classic “Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead” running joke.
— Are they freakin’ kidding me with this?!? This “dictator salute” photo montage is going on even longer than the “waving Reagans” photo montage from the last episode, and that’s saying something! There were about four times where I thought this dictator montage would finally end, only for it to continue. Why do they consistently waste so much time on SNL Newsbreak with unfunny stretched-out segments like this?
— Finally, 100 years later, the montage has ended.
— Another appearance of Dr. Jack Badofsky. At least they waited a few episodes after his last appearance.
— I liked Badofsky’s opening trick with his “cut-off” finger.
— What in the world was the point of Badofsky’s “stamp in the mouth” bit?
— Bah, none of the corny puns on Tim’s cards have been making me laugh so far tonight.
— Okay, after a very slow start, Tim’s puns are getting funnier. “Diaphragmputation” got a pretty good laugh from me just now.
— Ha, Tim has started cracking up after the “Diaphragmputation” one.
— I got another good laugh from Tim’s “Wham-Bam-Thank-You-Ma’amputation” card.
— Brian’s George Foster/black superiority joke was actually really funny.
— Ah, a callback to the famous Larry the Lobster gimmick in the last episode.
— I like how Eddie’s reading what we’re told is a real letter that SNL received from a viewer objecting to Eddie’s manhandling of the lobster throughout the previous week’s episode. The random racist part of the letter is hilarious (“I thought those people didn’t like seafood”, referring to black people).
— Ha, great ending with Eddie sticking it to the letter-writer by eating the now-cooked Larry the Lobster (though I assume, or at least hope, that that’s just some random lobster they cooked, and not Larry).
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “I Walk The Line” & “Folsom Prison Blues” & “Ring of Fire”


JAY CLAY GETS DEPRESSED
by Timothy Hittle- suicidal claymation

   

— A follow up to Timothy Hittle’s previous claymation short from earlier this season, featuring the same clay character.
— This is really weird so far, and hard to figure where it’s going.
— I got a laugh from the clay character using a Marlboro cigarette box to boost himself up to the noose.
— WTF at the random “I lost mah head!” part.
— This overall short was just plain strange. I didn’t like this one anywhere near as much as the last short with this character.
STARS: **


TEGRIM
see if you have dandruff by shaking your head over host

  

— I think this is Robin’s first appearance of the whole night.
— Robin’s face (especially her eyes) looks kinda different in this sketch, for some reason.

— Hilarious concept, with the dandruff test being to shake ones head over “The Man in Black” Johnny Cash. This is helped even more by how Johnny is just sitting there deadpanly, and then apathetically brushes Robin’s dandruff off of his shoulders.
STARS: ****


HAIL TO THE CHIEF
Ronald Reagan (JOP) suggests Margaret Thatcher (MAG) kiss an Argentinian

    

— Now it’s Tony who’s making his first appearance of the night, very late in the show. I guess between all the musical performances from Johnny and Elton, not to mention the super-long SNL Newsbreak, there’s not much airtime left for some of the cast.
— Amusing hearing Joe’s unseen Reagan voice-over happily singing “Day-o”.
— Interesting how we can now actually see Joe’s Reagan as a “reflection” in the (fake) mirror. He kinda looks creepy in this, for some reason.
— Pretty good laughs from Reagan making Mary’s Margaret Thatcher and Brian’s character romance each other as part of a “movie”. Some funny facial expressions from Mary during the hesitant kiss too.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
(I just HAD to make a separate section for this just to show the priceless screencap of Johnny’s intro below)


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Ball & Chain”

— It’s probably just me, but I can’t help but notice that without glasses, early 80s-era Elton John kinda resembles future cast member Taran Killam. Elton would actually later end up working with Taran when hosting SNL decades later in 2011.


TRAIN POET
train commuter (host) waxes poetic about his preferred mode of transport

— Johnny doing a bizarre poetic spiel in a typical Johnny Cash-esque way about riding trains is strangely tickling me a lot.
— Overall, wow, it’s hard to explain why this sketch was so funny to me, but it just was. Johnny did a really good job in this.
STARS: ***½


BLACK TALK
(EDM) & (Clint Smith) engage in some of the show’s title

— Clint!
— Eddie’s still wearing the outfit he had on in SNL Newsbreak.
— Haha, this was a funny quick fake-out sketch, with “Black Talk” just turning out to be Eddie and Clint in the middle of a jive-talk conversation with each other while not even acknowledging the camera.
STARS: ***½


REACH OUT
parents “reach out & touch” elderly couple

— Aw, man, yet ANOTHER rerun of this. Boy, am I beyond sick of seeing this commercial so much while reviewing this season over the last few weeks, especially since this commercial isn’t as funny when you already know what the big twist ending is going to be.
— If I see this or that Khaddaffi Look commercial one more time before I reach the end of this season, I think I’m gonna snap.
— Strangely, there were no audible audience sounds at all during this particular airing; no laughter during the reveal of the big twist, and no applause at the end. Is the audience as sick of seeing this commercial as I am, or were they just not mic’ed during this?


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE / GOODNIGHTS
host performs “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”

  

— Nice to see the cast sitting around Johnny during this.
— Really cool how the show is now segueing into the goodnights right in the middle of the performance.
— This is one of the rare episodes in SNL history that doesn’t end with traditional goodnights music.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A solid episode. Despite the decreased number of sketches and cast appearances, this episode was fun, enjoyable, and had a certain feel that made it stand out from other episodes in the second half of this season. Part of what gave this episode such a good atmosphere was Johnny Cash, who was a surprisingly fun host, despite (or maybe because of) basically playing himself all night. Something about his style and personality just worked really well in SNL’s format. He’s the first host I was impressed by in a LONG time this season.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Daniel J. Travanti):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Robert Culp