Tag: Helen Hunt

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December 13, 1997 – Helen Hunt / Hanson (S23 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

CAROLING
carollers Marty & Bobbi work pop songs into their Christmas medley

— An interestingly out-of-the-ordinary use of The Culps. Not only are they out of their usual setting, but they’re being shown from a first-person perspective.
— I like Ana’s quiet laugh.
— And now, to make this Culps installment even more out-of-the-ordinary, we get the Culps being joined by two additional singers, played by Helen Hunt and Tim. This is the debut of Tim’s recurring Spanish teacher character from these sketches.
— Lots of funny lines among the pre-song pleasantries the Culps are trying to have with the off-camera person who’s perspective we’re seeing.
— I absolutely love how the Culps transitioned from the “two turtle doves” part of the “12 Days of Christmas” song into Prince’s “When Doves Cry”.
— Another great song transition, with Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song” turning into “99 Luftballoons”.
— Overall, I feel this is the best Culps sketch I’ve reviewed up to this point.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
Jack Nicholson [real] responds to castmembers’ impressions of him

— Pretty funny bit spoofing Helen’s hairstyle similarities with Hanson, by having her claim she’s the oldest member of Hanson, complete with a doctored photo being shown of her singing with them.
— Very funny Jack Nicholson impression from Jim, especially the facial expressions he’s making.
— Ha, Colin’s about to try a Jack Nicholson? Well, this sure is going to be a case of “so bad, it’s funny”.
— Hmm, Colin’s impression actually wasn’t all that terrible, showing that anyone can do a Nicholson (except Cheri Oteri, apparently, though her impression was still pretty funny).
— Surprisingly, this is the first time Jack Nicholson has ever appeared on SNL.
— Another good facial expression from Jim, this time when silently reacting to Jack confronting him with the obligatory quote from “A Few Good Men”.
STARS: ***


COOKIE DOUGH SPORT
Rerun from 10/4/97


THE DELICIOUS DISH
Margaret Jo & Terry drink eggnog & welcome rock & roll pastry chef (host)

— Ha, judging from the unusual demeanor of Molly’s character at the beginning of this, is she tipsy on eggnog?
— Yep, she is. This is going to be an interesting change of pace for this recurring sketch.
— A pretty good laugh from when, after Molly timidly says “I’m a little tipsy”, Ana bluntly says “I’m totally wasted.”
— Funny part with a tipsy Molly getting called out on saying something “mean” and “out of line” by her tame standards.
— Great twist with Ana and Molly finding out that the eggnog they’re drinking is actually non-alcoholic, meaning they’re not drunk like they had thought.
— Funny opening line from Helen in regards to her name Trudy.
— Some amusing features of Helen’s Graceland gingerbread house.
— I got a good laugh from Ana and Molly’s story about how their failed attempt at building a gingerbread house “got really ugly… we almost killed ourselves”, which is followed by an uncomfortably long silence between all three ladies.
— Overall, one of my favorite Delicious Dish installments.
STARS: ****


TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- Jesus searches for holiday spirit

— Here’s what would go on to be known as a classic TV Funhouse.
— I love Jesus making warning gestures behind various televangelists, and the televangelists attempting to get rid of him.
— A huge laugh from how one televangelist scene just has Jesus coming in, immediately kicking a televangelist who’s trying to “heal” a man in a wheelchair, and immediately leaving.
— Hilarious bit with a black choir breaking out into an energetic rendition of “Hallelujah” as soon as Jesus makes Kathie Lee Gifford disappear.
— Excellent twist with Linus’ Jesus speech from a Peanuts Christmas special being the only thing that Jesus agrees with, moving him to tears.
— A legendary ending visual of Jesus doing the Peanuts dance down the street.
STARS: *****


THE LADIES’ MAN
Leon & skank (host) field callers’ lovelife questions

— Yet another change of pace for a recurring sketch tonight, with this being the very first Ladies’ Man sketch to have a guest.
— A big laugh from Leon Phelps asking a caller “Medically speaking, just how dinky is your wang?” I also like how right afterwards, the caller is heard muttering “Not very medical…” under his breath.
— I’m surprised this sketch is already wrapping up. It felt like it was only about two-and-a-half minutes long.
— Good ending reveal from Leon that his definition of “dinner and a movie” is having sex and videotaping it.
STARS: ***½


BASEBALL DREAMS
major leaguers sour youngster’s (CHK) dream of becoming a baseball player

— Here comes another classic piece tonight.
— Chris always makes a convincing child.
— I love how comically out-of-hand the number of entering athletes is getting.
— Chris’ increasingly disillusioned attitude towards the athletes is great.
— Very funny line about how Ken Griffey Jr. stopped at a strip joint down the street.
— A particularly strong part with Will entering as a random guy, Ted Brogan, who played a little minor league in the 80s.
— Ted Brogan, to Chris’ mom: “I got rolling papers if you got weed!”
— When police sirens are heard, I love Brogan handing his gun to Chris and asking him to hide it.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “MMMBop”


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ’s inebriation derails his International Monetary Fund commentary

— (*sigh*) Well, this is it. The final Norm Macdonald Weekend Update, which Norm himself was not aware of at the time.
— For obvious reasons, it’s very interesting in retrospect that Colin does a commentary as himself in Norm’s last Update. The even more interesting thing about this is that Norm himself did a commentary in the final Update anchored by the man who he would succeed as an Update anchor: Kevin Nealon. Two unintentional passings of the torch.

— Colin does a variation of the drunk commentary he did in the preceding season.
— I like Colin’s line about not getting his own movie deal “like The Roxbury Twins or whatever”.
— Funny ending visual of Colin’s commentary, with him standing up with half of his face covered in eggnog, after having his face shoved against the eggnog-covered Update desk a little earlier.
— An all-time classic Norm Update joke right now, about the percentage of two pie charts not adding up to 100% because the math was done by a woman. The audience’s reaction is priceless, which Norm follows up by telling them “For those of you hissing at that joke, it should be noted that that joke was written by a woman…. Now you don’t know what the hell to do, do ya?”, and then, after letting the audience react to that, casually adds in “Nah, I’m just kidding, we don’t hire women” before immediately attempting to move on with the next joke.
— A strong final joke from Norm, regarding Don Johnson dating a 71-year-old.
— Sad seeing Norm sign off at the end of this Update when you know that he’s unaware this is his last sign-off.
— And thus ends Norm’s last-ever Weekend Update. Before SNL comes back from Christmas break, Norm, along with Update producer Jim Downey, would infamously be abruptly fired from Update by NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer. Everything that can be said about that notorious situation has already been said many times over the years, and will probably continue to be said in the comments section of this review. I have nothing new to add; I just want to question why, if Ohlmeyer was going to fire Norm from Update underservedly, couldn’t Ohlmeyer have at least had the decency to wait until after the season ended? Did he really feel that ratings for Update were so dire that Norm needed to be yanked from Update pronto right in the middle of the season, right after the holidays to boot, and not even letting him know in advance before he went on the air for what ended up being his final Update?
— Seeing Norm go is particularly difficult for me, as he’s tied with Dennis Miller as my personal favorite Weekend Update anchor of all time. It’s been a joy to cover his three-and-a-half-year stint as an Update anchor. Although the quality of his Updates slowed down a bit during this final season of his, they were still enjoyable and he got to go out with a solid final Update, which contained an all-time classic joke (pie chart percentage).
STARS: ****


THE ROXBURY GUYS
therapist (host) counsels Roxbury Guys about how to interact with others

— Meh, these guys again.
— Interesting turn with the club music stopping as Cheri goes on an angry rant at the Roxbury Guys and calls them out on needing professional help.
— Now we get an actual scene of the Roxbury Guys in therapy. Another good shake-up to the format of this recurring sketch.
— A rare occurrence of the Roxbury Guys actually speaking full dialogue, which only happened in one earlier sketch they were in.
— My god, Jack Nicholson’s attempt at doing the Roxbury Guys head bop is LAUGHABLY bad. Epic. Clearly, Will and Chris agree on how laughably bad it is, as after Jack exits, they nod to each other in character before sharing an uncontrollable chuckle.
— The ending was too predictable.
STARS: ***


JOAN RIVERS’ 1997 FASHION WRAP-UP
skeletal Joan Rivers’ fashion critiques dismay Jodie Foster (host)

— A huge laugh right from the start, with the opening visual of Joan Rivers being portrayed by a talking skeleton. Great concept.
— Solid Joan Rivers vocal impression from an off-screen Ana.
— Spot-on casting of Helen as Jodie Foster.
— Due to her SNL ties (as bitter as they are), it feels odd seeing Janeane Garofalo as one of the celebrities in this sketch who’s photo is being harshly critiqued (last screencap above).
— Pretty funny ending gag with the Joan Rivers skeleton head popping off her body.
— Despite some laughs, something felt kinda underwhelming about this overall sketch.
STARS: **½


A BURT REYNOLDS CHRISTMAS
dirty jokes & pranks preclude festivity

— I actually thought this was a real NBC commercial at first, until Norm showed up as Burt Reynolds.
— Norm’s Burt Reynolds is slaying me as always.
— I like Will-as-Jerry-Reed’s disgust at one dirty joke that Burt wants him to read off of a card.
STARS: ***½


CHRISTMASOFT
Bill Gates (CHK) announces that Microsoft has merged with Christmas

— The return of Chris’ childlike, mildly-effeminate take on Bill Gates.
— Amusing concept of Gates merging Microsoft with Christmas.
— Wow, this sketch is ending ALREADY, after only 30 seconds?
— Never mind, I was mistaken.  This sketch isn’t over yet.
— The creepy mechanical message from a computerized Santa cracked me up.
— I love the security camera footage of Jim’s Fidel Castro and his men partying to Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping”. Just hearing that song in this sketch makes this feel like such a time capsule for 1997.
— Hmm, maybe this sketch should’ve ended early after all, like I mistakenly thought it would 30 seconds into this. After about two minutes, this sketch is now starting to feel oddly stretched out and is going on too long. Feels like Chris is just vamping for time by this point, which he is not doing well. This sketch is slowly dying.
— Weak ending.
STARS: **


TORTURING HANSON
vengeful (WIF) & (host) repeatedly subject musical guest to “MMMBop”

— Our obligatory Hanson sketch appearance of the night.
— I love Helen sternly pointing out to Hanson how overplayed “MMMBop” was during the spring and summer of 1997. Brings back memories of how much 13-year-old me hated that song with a fiery passion back in ’97. Both that AND the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” song were the musical bane of 13-year-old me’s existence.
— Great concept of Helen and Will brutally torturing Hanson by forcing them to listen to an endless loop of “MMMBop”.
— I’ll give credit to Hanson for being good sports to participate in this.
— I can excuse the overacting from the two Hanson brothers who are acting out a mental breakdown.
— I love the dark ending with Will being shot off-camera, complete with blood being seen on the wall behind him when the elevator doors open back up.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Merry Christmas Baby”


GOODNIGHTS
host & castmembers end the show from Rockefeller Center skating rink

— Skating rink goodnights! Always a treat to see.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly solid Christmas episode; better than I had remembered, in fact. The first half was very impressive, with two five-star classics (TV Funhouse and Baseball Dreams) and a few other strong sketches. Things slowed down in the second half, but there were still some good things there, especially the Torturing Hanson sketch. I also like how tonight’s episode shook things up with the recurring characters, by refreshingly having them do something different for a change.


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


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 1998, with host Samuel L. Jackson, and the beginning of a new era of Weekend Update

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March 19, 1994 – Helen Hunt / Snoop Doggy Dogg (S19 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

ROCKERS TO HELP EXPLAIN WHITEWATER
Cindy Crawford [real] introduces Rockers To Help Explain Whitewater video

— We get yet another very fun “We Are the World”-esque sketch in this era.
— Interesting how, unlike this era’s other “We Are the World”-esque sketches, this one has the lyrics captioned on the bottom of the screen, I guess because of the educational factor of the song.
— As always, it’s fun to guess which singer each cast member is playing.
— Boy, Mike’s Garth Brooks impression is almost laughably bad.
— I remember when I first saw this cold opening early in my SNL fandom, during a Comedy Central rerun, I couldn’t tell that was Michael McKean playing Elvis Costello (dead-on impression, by the way), probably because I was under the common misconception that McKean was only a cast member in season 20. I assumed that was either Al Franken or Phil Hartman playing Costello, until noticing that Phil was in this as Elton John.
— David is playing Kurt Cobain in what ends up being the last live episode before Cobain’s suicide a few weeks later.
— Interesting how all of this season’s non-Al Franken featured players (Norm, Jay, and Sarah) are paired together here. And Norm looks hilarious as Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, because he’s so insanely miscast in the role that it becomes funny in itself.
— I like the various singers’ rapid singing of lengthy lyrics, reaching a pinnacle during Adam-as-Axl-Rose’s unintelligibly rapid solo.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
host shows clips of her roles in Swiss Family Robinson & The Bionic Woman

— I know some people find this monologue dull, but I’ve always found this pretty cute and charming, seeing childhood clips of Helen Hunt from her early TV career.
— Some good laughs from the Bionic Woman clip of Helen explaining she’s from outer space.
— A huge laugh from the outrageous After-School Special clip of her jumping through a window after taking angel dust.
STARS: ***


TOTAL BASTARD AIRLINES
Total Bastard Airlines employees say their “buh-byes” to passengers

— A very famous sketch, and a quintessential use of David Spade’s persona.
— A great opening start with Jim Downey’s dry, blunt voice-over.
— While a one-note sketch in theory, it’s being executed perfectly.
— I love the exchange between Adam and David.
— Another part I particularly love is David’s whole run-on rant to Tim.
— Solid ending with David requesting an escort through the terminal.
STARS: *****


COFFEE TALK WITH LINDA RICHMAN
Linda & host discuss which Oscar nominees they like

— This overused recurring sketch makes yet ANOTHER appearance this season. At this point, I honestly lost count.
— An audio glitch when the first caller is speaking, causing her to barely be audible.
— No idea what to say about this overall installment, except I wasn’t laughing, as usual. I could’ve used Richard Simmons again to add some much-needed energy, or Charlton Heston again to add an awkward charm.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Gin & Juice”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Dick Vitale (JAM) gives his March Madness-flavored Oscar predictions
Bennett Brauer lists reasons why he doesn’t belong on TV, then flies

— My god, Kevin has been having an AWFUL start in tonight’s Update. He’s been stumbling over his words left and right, even moreso than usual, and some of his jokes are being met with painful silence from the audience. (*sigh*) Only four episodes left until Norm takes over……..
— I love the clip they just showed of President Clinton saying “No!” over and over while simultaneously banging his fist on a podium repeatedly.
— Ha, the use of the aforementioned Clinton fist-banging clip has become a running gag throughout this Update.
— Jay debuts yet another strong celebrity impression. His Dick Vitale is spot-on, and this is a fun segment, with him giving his Oscar picks in a March Madness style.
— Man, Kevin’s stumbliness tonight is so bad, he ironically flubbed a joke about the Flubby Awards. You can tell he was particularly embarrassed about messing up that joke. That portion of this Update would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version.
— This is the first time we’ve seen Chris’ Bennett Brauer character all season. And what an appearance this turns out to be, as we’ll soon see…
— And there goes the absolutely classic turn in this Bennett Brauer commentary, with a blooper involving cables that are supposed to lift Chris in the air getting caught on the Update set’s lights, leaving Chris hanging only a few inches off the ground. As a giggling Kevin and a crew member enter the shot to fix the problem, Chris starts making fantastic ad-libs, such as “I have a weight problem; can’t they lift me?” in a mock-depressed manner. This is all truly hilarious, and is deservedly known as one of the most legendary SNL bloopers of all time. Stuff like this makes you really appreciate the live aspect of SNL.
— Also, thank god that blooper happened, because the gag itself of Bennett Brauer’s frequent airquote gestures causing him to fly is lame as hell.
— As if the blooper wasn’t great enough, it’s immediately followed by the very memorable image of an excited Chris successfully flying over the cheering studio audience.
— After the Bennett Brauer commentary is over, Kevin has a great line of his own about the blooper: “Maybe the cables ‘didn’t clear the lights’, ladies and gentlemen!”, using Brauer’s famous airquote gesture. That brilliant ad-lib alone redeems Kevin from his rough first half of tonight’s Update.
— Great touch at the very end of this Update, with a dummy of Bennett Brauer falling from above and crashing through the breakaway Update desk. On the right corner of the screen immediately after the dummy falls, you can see a glimpse of Chris himself sneaking under the desk before “popping up” behind the desk as if it was him who had just fallen from above. That accidental glimpse of him sneaking under the desk isn’t seen in reruns, though I’m not sure if they replace that shot with the dress rehearsal version or just enlarge the shot so we can’t see Chris sneaking under the desk.
STARS: ***


PROFILES IN COWARDICE
fraidy-cats describe their unheroic acts

— Pretty promising format. Kinds brings back memories of the Ruining It For Everyone sketch from the John Malkovich episode earlier this season.
— I’m enjoying Rob’s story of cowardice, especially him proudly recalling how Barbara Bush “spat at me” and President Bush referred to him as “garbage wrapped in skin”.
— Chris’ face is noticeably sweaty. I wonder if the famous Update blooper that had occurred minutes ago has something to do with that. Also, I’ve been noticing throughout tonight’s episode that his sideburns are longer than usual.
— I cracked up at Chris’ line “I was so G.D. terrified of that thing.”
— I loved Helen’s “I can have other daughters” line when defending her refusal to save her kidnapped daughter in Iran.
— Good part with a blurred-face witness-protected Norm, especially his very Norm-esque delivery of “Aw, geez!” after accidentally giving away where he lives.
— Speaking of Norm’s blurred face, it’s not blurred during the camera angles that show the whole group. Haha, I guess we’re supposed to ignore that? At the end, Michael McKean humorously points out this gaffe by waving his hand in front of Norm’s face. I love that.
STARS: ***½


SEXIST DIRECTOR
a director (MMK) elicits an emotional performance from (host) via sexism

— Michael McKean gets his very first showcase sketch since joining the cast a week earlier.
— A fart gag in a Michael McKean-written (I’m assuming) sketch? Really?
— Michael’s performance is committed, and he’s good at making his character an unlikeable bastard, but I’m iffy on whether this sketch is working for me or not. I’m also not sure how to feel about the intentional sexism in the premise, considering the well-documented real-life misogyny behind the scenes at SNL during both this and the following season.
— Interesting twist with it being revealed that Michael’s character making his actresses genuinely angry is how he gets great performances out of them.
— Didn’t care for the ending revealing Michael’s character being asleep. It also didn’t help that the camera accidentally gave away that reveal much earlier than it was supposed to. I can’t remember if that gaffe would later be fixed in reruns or not.
STARS: **½


THE WASHING MACHINE
a movie from the director of The Piano stars (ELC)

— I love this premise for a The Piano parody. This is also a much-needed solid showcase for Ellen.
— Tim is cracking me up as the daughter, and I’m loving the slow-motion pre-taped shots of him dancing around the beach and doing cartwheels.
— Some good laughs from the critic reviews.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Lodi Dodi”


ASTOUNDING INFORMATION
(KEN) shows (host) how to use Miracle Egg Fryer

— This feels like a very Kevin Nealon-y premise.
— I’m getting some good laughs from how they’re overcomplicating the simple process of frying an egg on a frying pan. This sketch is a spot-on imitation of this type of infomercial, especially all of Kevin and Helen’s unnecessary frantic running around the set throughout the sketch.
STARS: ***½


OFFICE SPACE
by Mike Judge- storage of old boxes cramps Milton

— Nice to see this continue.
— As always, Milton’s monotone ranting to the camera is cracking me the hell up.
— Milton’s boss says “Buh-bye” before exiting, a funny coincidence in tonight’s episode.
— Overall, this was pretty solid, though I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as the first Milton cartoon from earlier this season.
STARS: ***½


ROB SCHNEIDER’S GIRLFRIEND THEATER
(KEN) & (host) prove she’s still evil

— Here’s our latest victim of season 19’s bad habit of making recurring sketches out of stuff that have no legs as a recurring sketch and clearly should’ve remained a one-off.
— Bringing this particular sketch back is especially a stretch, considering the last time this sketch appeared, Rob followed it up later that same night with a comical address towards his girlfriend, in which he apologized to her and took the sketch back. I guess we’re supposed to forget that?
— In the brief close-up of Helen saying to a side camera “He’s fallen for my trap”, she looks into the wrong camera by mistake.
— So far, tonight’s installment is working even less for me than the first one did, which is saying something.
— Hmm, a musical all of a sudden?
— The musical’s actually not too bad. I love the involvement of Jeffrey Dahmer (played very humorously by Michael McKean), as well as the dancing Nazis/Darth Vaders/devils in the background.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A refreshingly pretty solid episode, making this the first enjoyable episode in what feels like forever. The sketches tonight were mostly good, two were strong and very memorable (Total Bastard Airlines, Rockers To Help Explain Whitewater), and we got a legendary Chris Farley blooper on Weekend Update. A lot of things to like tonight overall. An episode like this is a breath of fresh air in the declining quality of this season.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Nancy Kerrigan)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Kelsey Grammer