Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
SNL executive producer Tommy Flanagan gives host a tour of the studio
— I’m already laughing from the start at Leno’s very 80s-looking outfit.
— Our first Mike the Dog sighting of the night. Only in season 11 would you have weirdness like a freakin’ dog being credited as a special guest.
— Second cold opening in a row to feature Tommy Flanagan.
— Fun way to show a tour of SNL’s backstage.
— The background Abe Lincoln that always appears in SNL’s backstage sketches actually gets acknowledged here, with Tommy Flanagan telling Leno that the Lincoln is a liar.
— I’m really enjoying the visual of Flanagan and Leno walking through the sets of various sketches that we’ll be seeing later tonight.
— Bad lighting at the end, where Jon’s face is completely obscured by the shadow of an Orbiter camera seat. (last screencap above)
— A decent cold opening, overall.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about TV shows, celebrity endorsements, Charles Manson
— Really good bit about the intelligence level of dating game show contestants.
— I liked the comment about a cup of coffee being a sedative to David Bowie.
— This stand-up routine is getting pretty long.
— At the end, the camera pans up to the SNL Band on the home base stage’s rooftop as they play the show to commercial. I believe this is the very first time in SNL history where a commercial break was preceded with a shot of the SNL Band playing, which would soon go on to be a regular thing starting next season. Pre-commercial shots of G.E. Smith rocking out on a guitar is one of many things that would define the late 80s/early 90s years of SNL.
— Overall, as someone who’s had a strong hate for Tonight Show-era Jay Leno, I was surprised to find myself actually laughing during this stand-up monologue. Looks like Leno actually used to be pretty funny in his pre-talk show-hosting days.
STARS: ***
TARGET EARTH
aliens from a less-advanced civilization act tough
— Robert’s probably overdoing it a bit with the smug facial expressions, but I’m liking his and Jay’s snide, entitled delivery as the aliens.
— I’m getting an unintentional laugh from the Ronald Reagan picture hanging on the office wall in the background, as it’s the same Reagan picture that Howard Hesseman famously mooned (and encouraged viewers to moon) in his February 1983 monologue.
— I love Randy getting angry about the two aliens’ smug attitudes when Nora and Dennis bring him to the realization of just how uncivilized the aliens’ planet really is.
— Jay and Robert’s mentions of their “advanced” civilization has some really funny lines, especially their “sophisticated network of dirt roads” and the “awesome power of our muskets!”
— The ending came off a little too drawn-out.
— An overall pretty solid sketch, and I liked all the funny details in the writing.
STARS: ***½
DINNER WITH MIKE
Mike The Dog [real] has dinner with an old friend (RAQ) in a restaurant
— Here’s our obligatory Mike the Dog-starring sketch.
— Strange but kinda interesting having a sketch featuring a dog in a co-starring role. He’s doing a pretty good job hitting all his cues.
— The bit with Randy receiving a doggy bag was kinda funny, but I’m really hard-pressed to find stuff to laugh at in this sketch so far.
— Overall, this just didn’t work for me. At best, it was more cute than funny. At worst, it was kind of a waste.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Big Chief”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Weekend Update Dancers try “Living In America” during a flu outbreak
AWB says that there are no good guys in the Iran-Iraq war
— Loved Dennis’ bit about the total number of electoral votes Walter Mondale received in the 1984 elections.
— Here’s our obligatory pointless Weekend Update Dancers segment of the week.
— I’m starting to realize that while I love Dennis’ style, sometimes his jokes and one-liners are so fast-paced and random that before they can register with me, he’s already moved onto the next joke. It’s been happening quite a number of times tonight.
— A still-not-credited-as-a-featured-player A. Whitney Brown’s Big Picture segment officially becomes recurring in this episode.
— Loved A. Whitney’s one-liner about Iran wanting Iraq to change its name to “Boot-Licking Lackey of the Degenerate She-Devil”.
— I believe A. Whitney’s talk about Saddam Hussein is the very first time Hussein has ever been mentioned on SNL. You can tell by the way A. Whitney described him here that he wasn’t too well-known in the U.S. at the time.
— An overall good Big Picture commentary, though I didn’t find this one to be quite as strong as A. Whitney’s first one from a few episodes ago.
STARS: ***
STAR SEARCH
uppity spokesmodel (NOD); (DEM) & (JOC) do Olympia Cafe skit
— Looks like the same set they used in the Miss Pregnant Teenage America Pageant sketch from the Dudley Moore episode.
— When Randy’s Ed McMahon mentions some of the former Star Search winners, Sinbad was the only name I recognized. I never knew that Star Search was where Sinbad got his first big break.
— Interesting use of Terry.
— Too bad Terry’s scene ended up being weak.
— Funny visual of Randy’s Ed McMahon eating from a can of Alpo dog food. Other than that gag, however, I’m not caring for his McMahon impression at all.
— I got a good laugh from the meta bit with the “coffee shop” play turning out to be a blatant knock-off of SNL’s famous Olympia Cafe sketches from the original era. This was made especially funny by Dennis using his typical Dennis Miller delivery when cheesily spouting off the Olympia Cafe catchphrases (“No Coke, Pepsi” etc.).
— Jon’s overly-Jewish stand-up routine feels like something Billy Crystal would’ve done the previous season.
— Here’s the part of the sketch I remember the most from my past viewings: Damon Wayans as “The Angry Comic”. Also, it’s good to actually see Damon in a sketch for what feels like the first time in a while. I’d better enjoy Damon while he lasts, as tonight’s the last episode before a certain infamous incident in the next episode that gets him fired.
— Damon: “(sternly) A funny thing happened on my way down here tonight… I killed three white people!”
— Great blooper with the off-camera rimshot delay causing Damon to start cracking up, which he amusingly tries to hide by turning away from the camera (last screencap above).
— Love how Damon’s intimidating stare at the graphic of the judges’ scores instantly changed them into perfect scores.
— LOL at Damon telling Randy’s McMahon what exactly he plans to do with the prize money.
— Overall, a mostly weak and overlong sketch that Damon completely ran away with during his portion (which offers yet more proof that Lorne was foolish to eventually fire him). Other than him, this sketch didn’t have anywhere near enough laughs to justify its long length.
STARS: **
EVIL TWIN
mustache lets host become his evil twin “Wayne” when (JOC) won’t put out
— Some laughs from Jay displaying so much sensitivity to Joan.
— Decent reveal of Jay’s mustached “evil twin” just turning out to be an act.
— A surprisingly very short sketch overall. Not even sure what to think about it as a whole. I liked what it contained, but it felt like it was too short for its own good. I think it would’ve benefited from being more developed.
STARS: **½
STAND-UPS
a veteran comic (host) visits the observational stand-ups backstage
— Good to see the return of these characters.
— Interesting addition of Dennis to the group this time. By the way, Dennis has been getting tons of airtime tonight, which is surprising as it’s usually pretty rare to see him outside of Update.
— One of the comedy club’s promotional posters seen in the background showcases stand-up comedian Carol Leifer, which is an inside reference as she’s actually an SNL writer this season.
— Funny reaction from Damon after he flubbed his “unanswered mysteries” line.
— Great lines about Fred Flintstone’s feet.
— I like Jay as an old-school comedian talking about the differences between comedy in the old days and comedy today.
— Overall, another good installment of this sketch, though this felt like it was missing something without Tom Hanks, who was so damn good in the first installment.
STARS: ***
MAN BEAT
Lyle Alzado (RAQ) supervises (RDJ) during ad for Man Beat magazine
— What the heck IS this?
— No idea what to think of Terry’s flamboyant desk secretary character, though it’s getting a good audience reaction.
— Overall, yeah, I’m not sure what this sketch was going for, other than a whole bunch of implied homoeroticism.
STARS: *½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Midnight Key”
THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF BIFF AND SALENA
shy Biff (JOL) & Salena (JOC) talk to each other in her diner
— Boy, here we see Joan doubling down on the slow, mentally challenged-sounding voice that she’s had a bad tendency to rely on at times this season.
— So far, I have no idea what I’m watching, nor what to make of Joan and Jon’s characters.
— Okay, the ending “Ow!” “Sorry” exchange between Joan and Jon made me laugh.
— Overall, I have very mixed feelings about this sketch. On one hand, I can now see that this was attempting a sentimental, charming, softer piece, which I appreciate, but on the other hand, I couldn’t help but see unfortunate implications with these two characters, who came off “special”.
STARS: **
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Not too great. There was at least a higher number of good sketches than the last episode had, but there were still too many weak pieces and, like the last episode, no sketches stood out as particularly great. I’m also not crazy about how the show ended with two baffling, hard-to-figure sketches (Man Beat and Biff & Salena).
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jerry Hall):
— a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Griffin Dunne