Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
HALLOWEEN IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
trick-or-treating in New Hampshire; Bill Bradley & Lamar Alexander cameos
— Always interesting when SNL uses a first-person perspective in a sketch.
— I love the first time the door suddenly gets slammed in Norm-as-Bob Dole’s face when he’s in the middle of speaking.
— A very important moment right now, as we get the debut of Darrell’s soon-to-be-iconic Bill Clinton impression.
— Right off the bat, Darrell is getting pretty good laughs with his spot-on Clinton voice, and is such a breath of fresh air from Michael McKean’s disastrous attempt at a Clinton impression in the preceding season. Darrell’s Clinton voice would eventually grow even more over time, though (I believe Darrell has said in the “SNL in the 90s” documentary that he didn’t fully nail Clinton’s voice until meeting him in the White House, which was sometime around 1997, I think).
— Koechner’s Phil Gramm imitating Norm’s Bob Dole with an obvious face mask is cracking me up.
— Oh my god, Cheri as Ross Perot. I completely forgot that’s a thing in this era. Not too sure about the voice she’s using, but Cheri certainly looks the part of Perot in that makeup.
— Very awkward and uncomfortable moment now with a child actor constantly making VERY long pauses in the middle of his question, and constantly restarting the question. It seems like a real gaffe, but I guess it’s part of the script, considering the kid eventually gets interrupted by Norm’s Dole angrily popping out of the bushes and telling him what to say as part of some scheme (actually, I think Norm’s Dole was just hiding next to the door entrance, but it’s just hilarious to type out the words “Norm’s Dole angrily popping out of the bushes”).
— Speaking of the part with Norm’s Dole angrily popping out of the bushes (hee hee) and telling the kid what to say, I love how what Norm’s Dole says to him is “That’s Bob Dole, goddammit!”, the last word in that line being a typical Norm ad-lib, I assume. It would later be muted out in reruns.
— I like Lamar Alexander clarifying “I’m not some new cast member playing Lamar Alexander.”
— Norm gets his very first “Live from New York”, and this is our first non-Tim Meadows “Live from New York” of the whole season.
— Speaking of Norm’s LFNY, I love that he as Dole delivers it as “Live from New York… Saturday Night”, not even saying the “it’s”. That would go on to be a regular thing for his Dole whenever he opens the show.
— A very fun and fast-paced opening overall.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
host talks about Irish stereotypes while two examples dance behind him
— I like how the SNL Band starts playing soft Irish music in the background during Gabriel’s talk about how well Irish actors have been doing lately.
— Some pretty good laughs from Fred Wolf and Colin Quinn dancing behind an unaware Gabriel in silly Irish stereotype costumes, then slowly trying to sneak away whenever Gabriel hints that he doesn’t take kindly to Irish stereotype jokes.
— The ending felt like it should’ve have a little more to it, but this was pretty fun.
STARS: ***½
MARSHALL POWER TOOLS
power tool makers John Marshall Jr. (DAK) & Sr. (MAM) lack body parts
— Surprisingly, this is the first lead role Koechner has gotten all season. It’s about time, considering how all of his fellow newbies have already had at least one lead role so far.
— Very funny reveal of Koechner’s hook hand.
— A good slightly disturbing bit with Mark trying to make his robot hand hold up one finger.
— Funny ending shot of the entire family having missing limbs. I’m not sure how they made it look like some of those people (including Darrell and Nancy) were genuinely missing a leg.
STARS: ***½
ST. MONICA TALENT AUDITIONS
Mary Katherine Gallagher (MOS) auditions for Catholic school talent show
— I love Will’s endless singing of the ending part of The Police’s Message In A Bottle.
— Speaking of Will, this small role surprisingly ends up being his ONLY appearance all night.
— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut! Boy, I haven’t been able to use that line for a good while. I don’t think I said it at all in season 20. Hell, I don’t even think I said it in season 19.
— I know Mary Katherine Gallagher would go on to be an overused, tired character, but I’ll be fair on this first installment and judge it like a new sketch while pretending I’m not aware that this would go on to be a recurring character. In fact, I’m going to use that approach when reviewing the debuts of a lot of this era’s big recurring characters who would quickly go on to be annoying through overexposure: The Cheerleaders (who debut in the very next episode), Mango (the only installment I’ll probably give a high rating to is the famous one with Garth Brooks, and that’s mainly just because Garth was so damn good), Pretty Living (a.k.a. the Molly Shannon joyologist sketch), etc. The Roxbury Guys are an exception for two reasons: 1) Their first appearance… well, their first TRADITIONAL appearance, with Jim Carrey, is a freakin’ classic (I say “first TRADITIONAL appearance” because, contrary to popular belief, that Carrey installment isn’t the first Roxbury Guys sketch; a lot of people forget that the Roxbury Guys actually debuted in a very short, experimental sketch from this season’s Phil Hartman episode), and 2) even though the classic Carrey installment should’ve been the final Roxbury Guys sketch, I never really hated their subsequent appearances like a lot of people seem to. I usually find their sketches pretty fun and harmless enough. We’ll see if that opinion of mine still holds up when I eventually review their sketches.
— Solid characterization from Molly here. Though there’s A LOT of playing to the camera from her in this, which is a habit that I think this cast would go on to be negatively associated with (Cheri especially), I can forgive it in this first Mary Katherine Gallagher installment.
— Even MKG’s sniffing-hands-after-putting-them-under-armpits thing is coming off pretty funny and fresh to me in this first installment.
— Until tonight’s episode, Molly had been having a surprisingly pretty quiet season and was overshadowed by new breakout star Cheri Oteri, so it’s nice to see Molly such doing a good job in her time to shine here.
— I recall Adam McKay pointing out in the “SNL in the 90s” documentary that Mary Katherine Gallagher actually had kind of a dark, disturbing undertone in her first appearance, before she became a mainstream recurring character.
— I like MKG’s quivering and slow buildup when quoting a monologue from a Meredith Baxter-Birney TV movie.
— Gabriel is a great and funny straight man in this, and I love him covering MKG’s crotch shot with his clipboard when she has her leg propped up on the piano.
— A very good and daring pratfall from Molly into a pile of folding chairs.
— Overall, this was actually a good debut for this character. Watching it the mindset of a viewer in 1995 who wouldn’t have been familiar with this character helped my enjoyment. I await SNL destroying my goodwill with the diminishing returns this character will inevitably suffer when she becomes an overexposed recurring character.
STARS: ***½
COOKING WITH KEITH
Keith Richards (host) & two bimbos prepare a dish
— Funny concept, and a hilarious Keith Richards impression from Gabriel.
— Great tip from Richards about adding ice made out of booze to your drink so you’ll get even more booze.
— Good gag with Richards cutting up flour in lines as if it’s cocaine.
— Gabriel’s doing a fantastic job navigating this sketch without any help from any cast members.
— IIRC, we’ll be seeing Richards’ two bimbos in a certain other sketch later this season.
STARS: ***½
FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
seeing through a father-son fishing trip
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Hand In My Pocket”
WEEKEND UPDATE
to Phil Donahue (DAH), Sally Jessy Raphael’s success signals bad things
CHO, MOS, NOM, DAS act immature during a “respect authority” editorial
— We get horror music played as the Update intro theme music tonight. Guess I spoke too soon in my last review about SNL finally settling on an Update intro theme after experimenting with different ones earlier this season. Then again, the use of a horror music intro tonight is obviously only because this episode is near Halloween.
— The debut of Darrell’s Phil Donahue, making this the second time tonight where Darrell has taken over an impression that Phil Hartman used to do.
— Darrell is absolutely knocking it out the park with his Donahue impression. His rambly, nonsensical ranting is HILARIOUS.
— During Darrell-as-Donahue’s ranting, Norm seems as equally amused as the audience, as you can hear him repeatedly chuckling off-camera.
— I love how Darrell’s Donahue is now randomly taking phone calls in the middle of his Update commentary.
— Feels unusual seeing Norm participating in this cutesy schoolkids bit with Cheri and Molly.
— Now it feels even more unusual seeing Spade, of all people, participating in this schoolkids bit, as this is his first of only a few non-Spade In America appearances all season. It also feels unusual seeing him interact with a new cast member like Cheri.
— This whole schoolkids bit, while very random, is charming and pretty fun.
— Now the schoolkids bit has gotten even funnier, with Lorne’s teacher-esque stern confrontation of his “students”.
STARS: ****
BABY GENETICS
miracles of genetics let expectant parents (NAW) & (MAM) learn about kid
— An interesting and refreshing premise for SNL around this time, and I love how Gabriel’s revealing so many advanced things about Nancy and Mark’s upcoming baby.
— They’re harping too much on the bisexual thing.
— The reveal of how the baby will grow up to be either a Jeffrey Dahmer-esque cannibalistic serial killer or a high school guidance counselor was very funny, as was Mark’s response of “There’s no reason he can’t be both.”
— I love how this is now getting to the point where Gabriel allows the parents to actually meet an adult version of their upcoming baby.
— Interesting casting of early-era Darrell Hammond in a role that, much like the Surprise Party Discoveries sketch in the preceding episode, he would never be cast in once the show figured out that the only significant roles they would give him would mostly be celebrity impressions.
STARS: ****
SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS reports from the World Series; Chrissie Hynde cameo
— Fun premise for a Spade In America installment, and I like how this is a pre-taped remote.
— Man, it turns out that a lot of Spade’s jokes in this are BOMBING with me.
— WTF at the “two tires as bases” bit? What the hell am I watching?
— Oof, so far, this is PAINFULLY unfunny.
— I do like the classic Bugs Bunny baseball clip, but it’s a sad statement that THAT’S the only funny thing in this whole Spade In America. And since it’s an old clip, it doesn’t even count.
— Overall, no. No. This installment of Spade In America did not work for me AT ALL. What a letdown, considering how fun this installment seemed like it was going to be. Just when I thought Spade In America finally hit its stride with the one from the preceding episode…
STARS: *
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “All I Really Want”
BOOK READING
romance novel author (host) expresses love for older & much older women
— Gabriel’s badly-rhymed Special Lady poem is pretty funny.
— Now there’s even more laughs from Gabriel’s poem about how much he prefers older women.
— I like Gabriel’s disturbing detailing of his fantasy of making love to an 85-year-old woman. Some funny disgusted reactions from the women attending the book reading.
STARS: ***½
RIKERS ISLAND
Rikers Island guard (TIM) is fired for liking being beaten & raped
— Wow, this is Tim’s first and only appearance all night, in the final sketch of the episode. Quite a lot of cast members seem to be having a very light night. We don’t even see Jim Breuer AT ALL tonight, just when I thought they were finally starting to give him more to do.
— The nametag on Tim’s uniform says J. Mohr, obviously named after then-recent two-year featured player Jay Mohr. Considering Tim is playing a guy who loves being beaten and raped, I’ve seen some SNL fans theorize that this sketch is SNL’s subtle F-U to Jay. I have no comment about that.
— Not quite sure what to say about this sketch itself so far, though I’m finding it funny enough, I guess. While the premise is kinda juvenile and has an almost season 20 feel, it’s being executed well enough by both Tim and Gabriel. I also love Gabriel’s voice and delivery in this.
— When Tim points out how there were no escapes during his years as a guard, I liked Gabriel’s response “Cuz nobody WANTED to escape!”
STARS: ***
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Another solid season 21 episode. Aside from a particularly awful installment of Spade In America, I liked every single thing tonight. Even Mary Katherine Gallagher’s debut was pretty fun if you look at it as a standalone piece and not as the beginning of a tiresome series of sketches. I also like how some of tonight’s sketches had a mature, classy atmosphere, which I’m guessing is due to the presence of Gabriel Byrne, who was a professional, solid, and surprisingly funny host that nailed all of his roles. The mature, classy atmosphere tonight is yet another thing that shows how refreshing this season is compared to the typically juvenile, unpleasant atmosphere of the preceding season.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (David Schwimmer)
a very slight step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Quentin Tarantino