Tag: Jamie Lee Curtis

Posted on

February 18, 1984 – Jamie Lee Curtis / The Fixx (S9 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
JIB raps & breakdances to celebrate the fact that it’s Saturday Night

   

— Funny “Thriller”-esque opening disclaimer about not endorsing a belief in the occult.
— The debut of Jim’s Rappin’ Jimmy B persona.
— This doesn’t seem to be going much for laughs, but I’m finding this to be a very fun and exciting way to hype up the show.
— A pretty good laugh from his intentionally bad breakdancing attempt, which also serves as a reminder of the huge breakdancing craze around this time.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Don Pardo is noticeably absent, as Joe takes over with the Pardo impression that we’ve heard him practice on the show in a season 6 cold opening. This is the first of what would be several times over the years where someone had to temporarily fill in for a sick Pardo. Darrell Hammond would usually be given those honors (too many instances to count, but the most memorable one has to be the James Van Der Beek episode from season 24, considering the monologue that night), but there’s one instance where Seth Meyers fills in for Pardo (the Jonny Mosely episode from season 27) and one where Bill Hader does it (Christoph Waltz episode from season 38).


MONOLOGUE
EDM believes host when she jokes that she’s pregnant with his child

— Between Jim’s “Eddie Murphy’s here and Jamie Lee Curtis” lyric in the cold opening and Jamie’s talk at the beginning of this monologue, they’re making a big deal tonight about proving that Eddie’s in the building and isn’t on tape like he’s been in so many recent episodes.
— Funny line from Eddie about “a little beige baby” that he and Jamie are going to have.
— An overall decent monologue, with Eddie getting his usual laughs.
STARS: ***


RUBIK’S GRENADE
— Rerun


TAG, YOU’RE IT
(JIB)’s life goes down the tubes when he’s tagged “it”

       

— A big laugh from Tim’s shifty-looking burglar character just turning out to childishly tag Jim “it”.
— I like where this is going, with Jim’s wife seriously backing away from him afterwards.
— They’re going all out with this, now cutting to a pre-taped scene with Jim slowly walking out in the street as everybody is fearfully jumping out of his way. This whole thing is great.
— Funny quick part with the old lady.
— The pre-taped sequence continues to be strong, with a cut to several weeks later showing Jim slowly descending into homelessness while failing to tag anyone “it”.
— Loved the bear trap part.
— Overall, my new favorite writer Andy Breckman does it once again. Also, much like the Shoplifting short from a few episodes ago, this feels like another precursor to the heavy reliance on great pre-taped segments that the show will soon be doing the following season.
STARS: ****


JAKE’S VIDEO HUT
a video store employee (EDM) acts out scenes from movies not in stock

  

— Fairly fun bit with Eddie acting out an Elvis movie live for Robin, which is reminding me of that Gas Station sketch from last season where Eddie played a guy possessed by Elvis’ spirit.
— Now Eddie’s acting out another movie. This sketch seems like a pretty good concept for him.
— Good part with Tim requesting that Eddie do Deep Throat, which Eddie responds to by nervously telling Joe “You’re gonna have to help me out with that one”.
— The ending came off awkward and botched.
STARS: **½


TEXXON
— Another rerun. I didn’t realize until now that it doesn’t feel like there’s been many new pre-taped commercials this season AT ALL. In fact, the Buddweiser Light commercial from the previous week’s episode is the only one that’s coming to mind right now. Are there any others I’m forgetting, or is this the record for lowest number of new pre-taped fake ads in a single season?


EL DORKO
on a date with contest winner El Dorko, host discovers he’s a good kisser

   

— They seem to mention Gary’s real-life hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa quite a bit these last two seasons.
— The return of Gary’s El Dorko character.
— A pretty good laugh from Gary talking about a prank that some of the guys played on him where they spread deep heating rub in his jock.
— Another ending with an unlikely girl falling for El Dorko.
STARS: ***


THE JULIA SHOW
self-absorbed JLD dominates interview with host & EDM

   

— Good way of giving the underused Julia Louis-Dreyfus a showcase as herself.
— Very funny part with Julia’s quick “Do you think my hips are getting too wide? I don’t. Nobody does!”
— The redubbed “Trading Places” clip was fairly funny.
— Interesting segue at the end, with Julia throwing to Joel Hodgson’s following segment.
— Great performance from Julia overall.
STARS: ***½


JOEL HODGSON
Joel Hodgson [real] uses props & plays Rock-’em Sock-’em robots

     

— Some of these gags aren’t working for me tonight.
— Okay, I did like the trick he did just now with his “face” going through the rollers device.
— The part with the audience requests has a pretty good laugh with Joel insultingly telling one particular audience member “This is you, okay?” while holding up a Mr. Potato Head doll.
— I’m really enjoying this Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots competition between him and an audience member.
— Overall, this was very hit-and-miss and a step down from Joel’s last appearance (which itself was a step down from his first appearance), but what worked for me here gave me a pretty good laugh.
STARS: **½


REAGAN WORKOUT
during a workout, Ronald Reagan (JOP) can’t find anything to watch on TV

— This is already starting off rough, with that bad “steering aid” joke that was met with complete silence from the audience.
— This is tepid so far, and no funny lines have been standing out for me.
— What’s with the painfully awkward, long silent pause after Reagan wishes the Three Stooges(!) were on TV?
— Overall, boy, was this weak.
STARS: *½


REHEARSAL
(host) & (JIB) verbally rehearse a love scene they’re doing together

 

— The stiff lovemaking sounds are pretty funny.
— I’m liking Jim’s reaction to Jamie suddenly doing a high-pitched lovemaking scream in the middle of the script reading.
— Jim’s loud, out-of-place “AAH!” during the lovemaking sounds was funny and seems to have made both him and Jamie almost crack up.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “One Thing Leads To Another”


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Wayne Huevos (TIK) offers his thoughts on improving NYC’s garbage problem

   

— As “Pardo” is doing the opening voice-over, the camera pans over to Joe in the anchorman chair to reveal that it’s him doing the Pardo voice. During Joe’s explanation about Pardo being out sick with laryngitis (which Joe says is tonight’s top story), we get the “immortal” line about how no one can fill Don’s throat.
— Also, Joe mentions that Don has been the SNL announcer for the last 9 years, which would mean he’s been there for SNL’s entire run so far. I guess they already forgot about season 7 and Mel Brandt.
— Without even doing any news jokes at all, Joe immediately throws to a commentary.
— A new Saturday Night News character for Tim.
— This commentary from Tim hasn’t been working at all, though the part with him suggesting we dress hobos as clowns was so dumb that it kinda made me chuckle just for that reason.
— And already, this Saturday Night News ends, without Joe doing a single news joke. Not even an SNL Sports commentary from him. This, along with some of the other recent editions of Saturday Night News, really shows how Ebersol would often give SNN short shrift in the post-Brad Hall era.
STARS: *½


PERSONS EXPRESS
passengers of Persons Express economy airline are treated as cargo

   

— I already like this concept with passengers being in place of shipment in a crowded cargo room.
— Funny sequence with Jim and Robin very roughly trying to switch seats when Robin wants the “window seat”.
— Good little touch with Jim pointing to one part of Robin’s grandchildren picture and saying “That one’s ugly”.
— Jim’s been having a really strong night in this episode.
— The Yentl ending didn’t really work.
STARS: ***


HEART TARTARE
host & (GAK) rehearse their parts in a horror-based Broadway musical

   

— Ah, the familiar “Halloween” music sting has begun.
— Heh, if this is supposed to be “Halloween”, why is Jamie’s attacker wearing Jason Voorhees’ iconic hockey mask?
— Gary’s menacing killer character suddenly breaking out into a joyful musical number is fairly funny.
— This hasn’t been going anywhere too interesting after the above-mentioned part, though I did like the sudden addition of chainsaw-wielding dancers circling around Jamie and Gary.
STARS: **½


WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Pete Best (BRH) is still upset over Beatle ouster

   

— I remember when I last saw this sketch years ago (when NBC showed it on “Classic SNL” in 2004), I couldn’t for the life of me recognize Brad in that wig and mustache, and I spent the whole sketch racking my brain trying to figure out which cast member that was. I eventually settled on it being either Piscopo or some unannounced special guest who I’m not familiar with. It wasn’t until the following day when reading a discussion of this episode on an SNL message board that I realized it was Brad playing the role.
— Seeing this sketch again now, it’s instantly obvious to me that it’s Brad under that wig and mustache, though that may be because thanks to doing daily reviews of this era lately, I’m much more familiar with Brad than I was in 2004.
— Usually, Brad’s tendency to play certain roles too hokey and over-the-top kinda annoys me, but it’s working perfectly for this sketch with his back-and-forth violent crying outbursts.
— Funny part with him repeatedly stabbing a Ringo Starr picture on the inside of a cabinet door.
— Good fake out with Gary’s Rolling Stones drummer-seeking roadie wanting to hire Tim’s narrator character instead of Brad.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Red Skies at Night”


PROSE AND CONS
— As if all the repeated fake ads tonight wasn’t enough, now we get a rerun of a short film from two-and-a-half years earlier.  I wonder why.  It’s not like they had to cut off Fear’s musical performance again.


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A fairly underwhelming episode. Barely anything stood out as truly strong, and quite a bit of the show came off as pretty forgettable. There was also a strange amount of padding with all the reruns of fake ads and shorts from earlier seasons.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Edwin Newman

Posted on

December 13, 1980 – Jamie Lee Curtis / James Brown, Ellen Shipley

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Mean Majority members intend to impose their morality on the rest of us

 

— The “Let’s Spit on the Flag” title is the closest I’ve come to even cracking a smile at this so far.
— What a terrible LFNY. The segue to it was weird and didn’t work, and the studio audience didn’t know what to make of it, judging from their VERY delayed applause.
— This season has had a lot of bad LFNYs in general so far, come to think of it.
— Overall, a very weak start to the show. What the heck WAS this?
STARS: *


OPENING MONTAGE
— We finally get the addition of this season’s featured players. Matthew Laurance, Eddie Murphy, and Patrick Weathers each receive their very first credit tonight.

  


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

 

— I got a laugh from Jamie doing what she feels she’s expected to do tonight: a loud, horror movie-ish scream.
— Quick monologue, which seems to have become par for the course this season. This one was fine for what it was.
STARS: ***


CLOVIN HIND JEANS
only brains come between Brooke Shields (GLM) & her Clovin Hind Jeans

 

— This accurately captures the look of the famous Brooke Shields Calvin Klein commercials from that time.
— Funny punchline, and this overall commercial was short and to the point.
STARS: ***½


THE ATTACK OF THE TERRIBLE SNAPPING CREATURES
(host) battles clothespins

     

— I see we’re getting our obligatory horror movie parody out of the way early tonight.
— “Laurie”? Is Jamie playing her character from “Halloween”?
— I’m iffy about the premise, though Jamie and Gail are giving it their all.
— Funny visual at the end with Jamie staggering back to the apartment while covered entirely with clothespins.
STARS: **½


CARD GAME
Paulie Herman plays three-card monty with (EDM) in a bus station

  

— Looks like we get an Eddie Murphy-starring sketch, and early in the episode too. I’m excited to see this.
— Jersey Guy is back ALREADY?
— The audience gives recognition applause at Joe’s “I’m from Jersey, are you from Jersey”, even though this is only the second time he’s appeared.
— We’re already seeing early evidence of Joe Piscopo’s Sinatra obsession, with him briefly singing “Start Spreading the News” after hearing that Eddie’s from New York.
— The reference to tonight’s musical guest James Brown felt kinda shoehorned in.
— Overall, I still don’t mind Joe’s character (I just KNOW I’m eventually gonna get tired of it, though), but this sketch wasn’t anything great. If anything, it was at least nice seeing the early stages of Eddie and Joe’s onscreen chemistry.
STARS: **


WHO IS GILBERT GOTTFRIED?
by Linda Lee- a recap of GIG’s path to SNL

       

— A segment with Gilbert as himself on the home base stage?
— Oh, he’s only there to throw to a short film starring himself.
— Strange joke with his parents living in a revolving door.
— Good gag with him selling “fresh-squeezed water” from a sponge.
— This film isn’t turning out too funny so far.
— Okay, this has gotten a little better with the part where he holds up a bank just so he can film an SNL audition tape on the bank camera.
STARS: **½


DYING TO BE HEARD
poetesses commit suicide, have their works read on TV

   

— Interesting concept and format.
— The whole scene with Jamie is really funny, especially her ridiculous method of killing herself.
— Hilarious part with Gail(?) having killed herself ahead of schedule.
— Still not caring for Ann Risley’s performances. She’s a little too monotone in this.
— Overall, a pretty strong sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
James Brown performs “Rapp Payback”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Woodswoman (DED) says “not in my backyard” to Appalachian nuclear waste
JOP poetically summarizes some recent Major League Baseball transactions
consumer reporter EDM recommends that the poor start eating dog food

       

— The Weekend Update logo on the front of the desk is now gone.
— Ugh at Charles’ cocky laughing after the Breznev rocket joke.
— Charles’ delivery sounds different from the previous Updates, and he keeps doing this head-bobbing thing after some of the jokes.
— I had heard about this Woodswoman commentary years ago, but I thought I remember hearing Ann played this character. Instead, it’s actually Denny.
— Not caring for all the cheap clapter with Denny’s Reagan-bashing statements.
— “I been it, I seen it, I am Woodswoman!”
— Wow, Charles’ joke about only aborting female fetuses was met with boos from the audience. Another example of season 6 trying WAY too hard at shock humor, only for it to backfire on them.
— I kinda laughed at the Howdy Doody/“Heavy Doody” joke, even though it was a corny one.
— Joe’s SNL Sports commentaries seem to have become a weekly thing on Update, as this is the third episode in a row with one.
— I’m loving Joe’s fast-paced rhythmic recap of baseball trades.
— Surprised Joe’s commentary is over already, but I enjoyed it.
— Eddie in his very own Update commentary.
— Interesting voice Eddie’s using.
— Eddie eating from a can of dog food is getting a big reaction from the audience, though I find it only okay; not hilarious. An obvious step down from his fantastic Update commentary in the preceding episode.
— Tonight’s overall Update is hard for me to figure. Aside from the one joke that got booed, Charles’ jokes didn’t bomb nearly as badly as they have lately, and it felt weird hearing him consistently get laughs from the audience for once. However, just because THEY liked it doesn’t mean I automatically have to, as I was still “meh” on a majority of his jokes tonight. I’m also not too sure his new delivery is the right direction for Update.
STARS: **


POKER AND DRUGS DON’T MIX
examples of stoners’ misplayed hands prove that poker & drugs don’t mix

   

— The overhead camera angle is making Ann kinda resemble Jane Curtin.
— Strange but kinda funny part with a voice-over depicting the queen card having an affair with the jack card.
— Weird sketch so far.
— What? That’s the end? I thought this sketch was going somewhere interesting, but the result just came off kinda dumb.
STARS: **


CLOVIN HIND JEANS
if Brooke Shields’ (GLM) Clovin Hind Jeans could talk, she could act

 

— Gail as Brooke Shields: “If [the Clovin Jeans in her closet] could talk, I could act”. Funny.
STARS: ***


BADGER CONVENTION
at their convention, Badger Club members hassle a waitress (host)

   

— Corny concept and humor so far.
— Eddie’s voice is kinda making me laugh, though it’s reminiscent of the voice he just used earlier tonight on Update.
— Jamie’s performance seems unusually stiff. Who is she, Ann Risley all of a sudden?
— Gilbert’s voice is borderline sounding like his now-famous screech.
— Holy hell, the part with the Badger club members “badgering” the waitress – ugh, you’re killin’ me with your trademark corny humor, season 6.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
James Brown performs a medley of his hits

 


TORTU-MATIC
toughen yourself up with the Tortu-Matic physical pain endurance unit

 

— Seems like another typical season 6 concept, but this might have some promise.
— The visual of Charles using the torture device is not as funny as they probably thought it’d come off.
— Overall, this fell completely flat for me.
— The more I think of it, the concept itself wasn’t bad, as this seems like the type of insane fake product that Dan Aykroyd would’ve sold really well during the original era. Not sure why it didn’t work at all here… well, besides the obvious fact that Rocket ain’t no Aykroyd. Maybe they should’ve gotten Piscopo to perform this.
STARS: *½


HOT DOGS FOR GAUGUIN
by Martin Brest- (Danny DeVito) stages a disaster

       

— Danny DeVito!!!
— DeVito looks so young in this.
— I like the other guy’s off-camera “Oh my god” when hearing DeVito’s Statue of Liberty plan.
— Fascinating film so far.
— Great ending with DeVito missing the Statue of Liberty’s head blowing up.
— Overall, this felt like the first thing I’ve liked in the post-Update half of the show so far (aside from James Brown’s epic medley). This season has been having a lot of interesting short films.
STARS: ****


CUT ‘N’ CURL
Roweena (GLM) styles hair of Nadine (DED) & weirded-out daughter (host)

 

— Ha, Jamie coming in with that crazy early 80s trendy look…
— As a kid of the 90s, I recognize the voice Gail’s using as being the same voice she would later use as the mom on the early 90s animated series “Bobby’s World”. As a side note, whenever I saw the name Gail Matthius during that show’s ending credits as a kid, I remember assuming “Matthius” was pronounced “Matthews”.
— Heh, now Gail has just said “Don’cha know?”, which would become her “Bobby’s World” character’s catchphrase.
— Funny comment from Denny about Jamie looking like “a mermaid on drugs”.
— Overall, this was a decent realism scene with good character work from Gail and Denny.
STARS: ***


CLOVIN HIND JEANS
Brooke Shields (GLM) recites a limerick about her Clovin Hind Jeans poses

— Not as funny as the first two.
— At the end, the audience sounded unsure of when to applause.
STARS: **


OSSELOTS
Camille Black (ANR) & her cycle gang are committed to burying road kill

 

— Oh my god, is Ann coming off miscast AS HELL in this role.
— What the heck am I watching?
— Ann to Jamie: “Keep your hands off, bitch.” Sad that that line is the closest I’ve come to chuckling so far.
— Overall, this was AWFUL. Terrible writing, and, man, Ann Risley has yet to impress me so far with her performances this season.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Ellen Shipley performs “Fotogenic”


GOODNIGHTS
host reminds audience of the upcoming vigil for John Lennon

  

— During the scrolling credits, I noticed a credit for “Gillie’s film”. What was that? The Gilbert Gottfried film? Is “Gillie” his backstage nickname?

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— After the promising upswing in quality with the last episode, season 6’s struggles unfortunately return, as we got a weak episode tonight. The writing was bad and a lot of segments fell flat for me, especially in the post-Update half of the show. There weren’t many sketches I was crazy about, but the big highlights of the night for me were Dying To Be Heard and Hot Dogs For Gauguin.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ellen Burstyn):
— a pretty big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Our Christmas episode of the season, hosted by David Carradine