Tag: Jewel

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November 14, 1998 – Joan Allen / Jewel (S24 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OPPOSITES ATTRACT
Bill Clinton (DAH) & Newt Gingrich (CHP) dance & sing “Opposites Attract”

— Will already gets a laugh right from the start, with his Bob Livingston smugly laughing while replacing Newt Gingrich’s desk name plate with his own.
— A hilarious slyly-delivered greeting from Darrell’s President Clinton: “Hey, guys, just came to see if I’m impeached yet!”
— I love Will’s Livingston shoving Parnell’s Newt Gingrich while walking out of the office.
— A great line about “sick, illiterate kids with gunshot wounds”.
— Funny turn with Clinton and Gingrich breaking out into a romantic musical number, especially when they begin traveling around the studio and dancing in front of a green-screen with constantly-changing scenery.
— Parnell gets to show off his nice singing voice here.
— And there goes the obligatory kiss between Clinton and Gingrich. I used to find that funny, before man-on-man kissing in comedy (especially on SNL) became an overused and hacky crutch.
— Only six episodes into his featured player stint, and Parnell already gets his first “Live from New York…”.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— This season’s ever-changing theme music has been changed back to the one used in the Lucy Lawless episode from earlier this season. SNL finally ends up settling on this as the regular theme music, as it will be used for all of the subsequent episodes this season and the following season.


MONOLOGUE
host’s theater experience leads (WIF) to think she’s the band Steppenwolf

— Will’s long gray-haired fan of the band Steppenwolf is pretty funny.
— The premise of this monologue is simplistic and fairly lazy, but Will is making the best out of it with his funny performance.
STARS: ***


THE JENSON MINT
stick it to panhandlers with The Jenson Mint’s Fake Change For Vagrants

— I like that Parnell gets to star in the post-monologue fake ad two episodes in a row (with Mercury Mistress being the first ad).
— The fake coin is hilarious, especially the side with the middle finger.
— A big laugh from the Pat Buchanan dollar bill with the words “Suck it!”
STARS: ****


MARTHA STEWART LIVING
Martha Stewart’s (ANG) mother (host) is a source of Thanksgiving friction

— I love the bitter tension between Ana’s Martha Stewart and her mother.
— Joan is great as Martha Stewart’s testy mother.
— I’m enjoying the whole back-and-forth between Martha and her mother regarding a childhood Thanksgiving memory of Martha’s.
STARS: ****½


VH1 SPIRITUALITY AWARDS
transcendent celebrities receive acknowledgment

— I like Christ being casually included in the middle of the announced list of featured guests.
— Kattan’s Andy Dick impression makes its debut.
— Very funny pairing of Tracy’s Maya Angelou and Jimmy’s Marilyn Manson.
— When a graphic of Alanis Morissette’s name is supposed to show up onscreen as Cheri’s Alanis Morissette accepts her award, SNL accidentally puts up a graphic that states “Linda Ham, NASA Flight Director” (the third above screencap for this sketch). Haha, that graphic is intended for a Harry Caray sketch later tonight.
— Cheri’s Alanis impression is weak. Even male cast members Jim Breuer and Jimmy Fallon have previously done better Alanis impressions than that.
— I love Will’s Jesus looking laid-back in a casual pair of glasses.
— Very funny bit with Will’s Jesus about to open an envelope containing the name of the winner, only to go “Why am I even opening it? I’m all-knowing.”
— Speaking of weak celebrity impressions, Tim as Will Smith.
— Kattan’s mean-spirited one-liners as Andy Dick are cracking me up (and would later start a public feud between Kattan and Dick).
— Joan could not look any less like Madonna, but her performance as Madonna is solid and she has a lot of funny lines.
— Joan’s Madonna to Molly’s Courtney Love: “The goal of Buddhism is to attain nirvana, not break it up.”
— Overall, one of the rare SNL award show sketches that I actually really liked.
STARS: ****


TRIAL
defense attorney Suel Forrester cross-examines witness (John Goodman)

— I love Parnell’s look when the camera first cuts to him (the first above screencap for this sketch).
— Surprisingly, this is the first time Kattan has played Suel Forrester since season 22. This character completely skipped season 23. This weird pattern for Forrester continues, as he skips the following season 25, then comes back in season 26. Probably a good thing this character only appears every other season, as it keeps him fresh.
— Our second of many John Goodman cameos this season.
— I like Tim’s ‘“Did you just call me a chicken?” response to Forrester’s unintelligible yell of “Objection, your honor!”
— A particularly funny unintelligible line from Forrester, with him saying what sounds like “Can you tie a titty?”
— I like Goodman’s confused facial reactions to Forrester.
STARS: ***½


SPACE, THE INFINITE FRONTIER
in death, Harry Caray (WIF) remains goofy

— The final installment of this sketch, and the first time Will is playing Harry Caray after Caray’s death earlier that year.
— Given the “Linda Ham” technical error from the Spirituality Awards sketch earlier tonight, it would’ve been funny if this Harry Caray sketch accidentally put an Alanis Morissette name graphic onscreen when Joan’s Linda Ham was introduced.
— Linda Ham: “Please forgive me for asking this, but… didn’t you die?” Harry Caray: “Yes, I did. What’s your point?” I love how after that exchange, the sketch immediately goes on like normal, as if nothing is strange about a dead Harry Caray hosting a talk show.
— A big laugh from Caray randomly exclaiming “LINDA HAM!” several times in  a row, then asking her “Does your name ever make you hungry?”
— I love Caray offering Linda Ham to make “sloppy martian love” with him in the back of his dune buggy on Mars.
— I can’t tell if Joan is laughing for real right now or if it’s in character (the last above screencap for this sketch).
— Overall, a riot. To me, none of the Space The Infinite Frontier follow-ups equal the classic first one with Jeff Goldblum, but tonight’s came very close.
STARS: ****½


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ discusses Iraq inspection tensions & the possibility of war
ultramedicated Colette Reardon previews upcoming prescription drugs

— Colin’s “catering mistake” joke about the movie Babe has always been one of my all-time favorite Update jokes of his.
— Nice to see Cheri’s Collette Reardon in a new setting.
— Colin’s a stiff straight man to Collette Reardon.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hands”


LEARNING WITH JENNIFER TILLY
host & French Stewart (JIF) drop in

— While this is yet another case of SNL’s lazy trope of putting a celebrity impression into their own talk show sketch, I am interested in the bizarre, unconventional atmosphere of this particular sketch. Plus, I have the benefit of knowing in hindsight that this sketch never becomes recurring.
— I’m getting laughs from the wacky “wiggle” music that Cheri’s Jennifer Tilly is dancing to.
— I hate to criticize a second celebrity impression of Cheri’s tonight, but her Jennifer Tilly voice isn’t high-pitched enough. I’ve seen much better impressions of her. Between Tilly, Alanis Morissette, and Cheri’s weak recurring Fran Drescher impression, I didn’t realize until now how bad Cheri is at doing celebrity impressions (Barbara Walters notwithstanding).
— Funny bit with Tilly saying she learned to use a fancy computer, which just turns out to be an Etch-A-Sketch.
— This portrayal of Jennifer Tilly as a learning-obsessed simpleton seems kinda random to me, but perhaps this portrayal is based on how she comes off in interviews.
— I like Joan finding a way out of the interview by faking an emergency phone call.
— Ha, Jimmy as French Stewart, the role he was born to play. His look as him is uncanny, and he’s doing a spot-on imitation of his voice.
— Speaking of Jimmy’s look as French Stewart, something about the facial expressions Jimmy’s making kinda remind me of Mike Myers for some reason.
STARS: ***


SOUTHERN GALS
(host) & other hick tourists think their NYC adventure is just great

— The return of the Southern Gals characters from the preceding season’s Claire Danes episode.
— I like the New York location for these characters, after they toured in Paris in their previous sketch.
— Like last time, a lot of funny little comments from the ladies all throughout this.
— Funny ending with a New York rat suddenly appearing on Molly’s shoulder.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Down So Long”


TARMAC TALK
(TIM), (host), Jerry Seinfeld (JIF) are blown around runway

— Yet another talk show sketch tonight, but I love the very random setting of this one.
— I like the various effects SNL is using to give off the illusion that this sketch is really taking place in a tarmac.
— Jimmy displays yet ANOTHER dead-on celebrity impression, this time doing a funny Jerry Seinfeld. So far in his SNL tenure, Jimmy has been carving out a great niche for himself as a reliable impressionist.
— I love Jimmy’s Seinfeld constantly questioning the logic of this show.
— Great visual of Tim hanging on to a pole when a particularly strong wind from a nearby airplane blows everything away.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Yet another in a long line of solid season 24 episodes. This season has been on a roll. Tonight’s episode had a nice consistency to it, and there weren’t any segments that I disliked. There was also a good number of standout strong segments.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (David Spade)
about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Jennifer Love Hewitt

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May 10, 1997 – John Goodman / Jewel (S22 E19)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OPRAH
Anne Heche (CHK) loves attention, not Ellen DeGeneres (MAM)

— Again, Tim’s inaccurate Oprah impression makes me laugh, and I like his variations of “Go, girl” throughout this sketch.
— I like Mark’s take on Ellen DeGeneres, especially when telling stand-up-type jokes.
— Having two famous lesbians being played by male cast members probably couldn’t be done nowadays, but I feel that Mark and Chris are doing fine in these roles.
— I believe this is Chris’ first time ever saying “Live from New York…”.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
rapid weight loss program has SNL veteran host confused about show format

— Wow, John lost a ton of weight. (Unfortunately, it doesn’t end up lasting too long, as he’s back to his usual large self in the next episode he hosts a year later.) This is also the shortest I’ve seen his hair on SNL.
— And now he openly acknowledges his weight loss.
— I like the alleged past SNL cast members John lists off, such as Alan Alda, Phylicia Rashad, and the “Where’s the Beef?” lady.
— More funny out-of-it statements from John.
— I love the visual of Tim entering the scene while still in his Oprah costume, sans the wig.
— Another instance of this season’s running gag of Tim giving Lorne a hug. I especially like Tim doing that after telling Lorne “You saved the show again!”
STARS: ***½


CARIBBEAN ESSENCE BATH OIL
Rerun from 10/5/96


CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Marlon Brando (host), Phil Donahue (DAH), Burt Reynolds (NOM)

 

— This officially becomes a recurring sketch.
— Feels odd in retrospect to see Darrell playing anyone other than Sean Connery in a Celebrity Jeopardy sketch. It wouldn’t become a regular thing for him to play Connery in these sketches until after Norm leaves the cast.
— John’s Marlon Brando is absolutely hilarious.
— Like last time, a lot of very funny idiotic answers from the contestants, and funny straight man reactions from Will’s Alex Trebek.
— I love how Trebek’s frustration gets to the point where he gives the contestants an overly simplistic “Name this color” question, which the contestants, of course, still manage to get wrong.
— Brando randomly removing his pants and underwear while giving his answer is a riot.
— Yet another funny action from Brando, with him playing with a puppet while his Final Jeopardy answer is read by Trebek.
STARS: ****½


TALKIN’ WITH SUEL
Ron Wood (MIM) & Bjork (MOS) babble about drugs, maybe

— Then-recent host Mike Myers appears as a special guest tonight, and was even credited as such earlier tonight in the opening montage. Is he appearing tonight because Austin Powers opened around this time?
— I usually always enjoy Suel Forrester sketches, but I’m not sure how I’ll feel about this one. The last time SNL did a talk show sketch with an unintelligible person interviewing other unintelligible people, Mike’s own Ron Wood played the host and the sketch was simply not funny. Besides, I think Suel Forrester works better when he plays off of normal people, not people who are just as unintelligible as him.
— Yeah, this sketch isn’t working too much for me. I am liking Molly’s Bjork impression, though.
— I like the gibberish phone number displayed on the bottom of the screen (the fourth above screencap for this sketch).
STARS: **


EDDIE MURPHY, GOOD SAMARITAN
Good Samaritan Eddie Murphy (TIM) selflessly helps transvestites

— Wow, a mean-spirited jab at a legendary SNL alum, referencing a controversy he was recently in the news for. I’d be lying, though, if I said I’m not cracking up at this sketch. I see SNL’s not letting Eddie’s very negative reaction to a joke David Spade told about him the preceding season stop them from taking another harsh shot at him.
— Tim’s imitation of Eddie’s trademark laugh is odd, but makes me laugh.
— I never thought I’d see Colin Quinn in drag (the second-to-last screencap above).
STARS: ***½


THE DELICIOUS DISH
Margaret Jo & Terry discuss summer cookouts with chili expert (host)

— As always, Ana and Molly are able to get solid laughs out of their comically mundane discussions, especially the discussion about ice.
— I love John very slowly repeating the barbecue ingredients he listed off.
— Heh, just now, you can hear an SNL audience member sneeze while he was in the middle of laughing. Maybe the quiet, soft-spoken nature of this sketch made the audience member’s sneeze more audible to us home viewers.
— John is really good as a guest; probably my favorite performance that a host has given in the Delicious Dish sketches that have aired up to this point.
— Mark continues his streak of always playing a caller in Delicious Dish sketches (and I just realized that this is the very last time we’ll ever be hearing him in this recurring sketch, considering his SNL tenure is about to end). There has yet to be a Delicious Dish sketch where the callers weren’t played by Mark and/or Cheri, further proving my theory that in the universe of Delicious Dish, the show has almost no listeners.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
Dominican Lou hopes to enlist Deep Blue against his dominoes rival Felix
learning that Ellen DeGeneres is actually gay causes WIF to vomit

— Did I just hear some audience members cheering “Looooouuuu!” when Dominican Lou’s commentary gets introduced? Why? Dominican Lou wasn’t an established character yet. I guess this just shows how lively tonight’s studio audience is, who I’ve been noticing are more responsive than usual tonight.
— Tonight’s overall Dominican Lou commentary was solid, and improvement over the fairly forgettable first commentary he did earlier this season.
— I like how one of Norm’s “Note to self”s tonight (which have become a weekly thing lately) makes a mention of “Timmy Meadows”. Right after Norm says that, you can hear an audience member repeat the name “Timmy Meadows” to himself in amusement.
— Ah, here comes a Will Ferrell commentary that I’ve always loved, but will most likely not sit well with a lot of people nowadays.
— As always whenever I watch this, I am howling at Will’s slowburn and vomiting when finding out Ellen DeGeneres isn’t just pretending to be a lesbian.
— This is one of the times SNL has managed to get the vomiting gag done well. And the fake vomit used tonight looks even more disgusting than usual.
— Ha, and now, after Will’s commentary has ended, Norm has to continue doing Update jokes while fake vomit is laid out all over the desk in front of him.
— A legendary unscripted Norm Macdonald moment right now: After the first Update joke that Norm does after Will leaves gets a tepid audience reaction, Norm ad-libs a “Note to self”: “Never ever follow a vomit-spewing guy with a joke”, then looks down at the fake vomit in front of him, grabs some of it, and freakin’ EATS IT. The audience goes crazy. Norm tops this off by saying, among the uproarious audience reaction, “Normally I don’t like Will Ferrell vomit, but this is quite good.” Absolutely classic.
— After the aforementioned vomit-eating bit, a picture for the next Update joke shows up on the news screen, but Norm says “Let’s just end it” to someone off-camera, and then signs off while the audience is still howling over the vomit-eating bit. Interesting how Norm prematurely ended tonight’s Update when realizing that it’s peaked. The Update joke that Norm refrained from doing had something to do with a lobster, judging from the picture that was on the news screen.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Who Will Save Your Soul”


PROM MEDLEY
last-minute replacements Marty & Bobbi do a medley at a high school prom

— Odd how this starts with the Culps already onstage and beginning their usual spiel towards their audience. Their sketches usually begin with somebody introducing them before they come out onstage.
— Ha, I absolutely love the Culps’ operatic-sounding version of Chaka Khan’s “I Feel for You”.
— While in the middle of singing, I love Will saying “Okay, somebody in the back just gave me the finger.”
STARS: ***½


PHARMACY
druggist (host) fills overmedicated Colette Reardon’s (CHO) prescription

— The debut of Cheri’s Colette Reardon character.
— Something I’ve always wondered about this character: what is that flesh-colored thing that’s always taped to the left side of her neck (screencap below)?

— Cheri is doing a pretty solid job as this character.
— At least Cheri’s long-standing habit of staring directly at the studio audience while delivering punchlines fits with the loopy, out-of-it nature of this particular character.
— I love the reveal of Colette Reardon’s occupation being schoolbus driver.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “You Were Meant For Me”


LITTLE LEAGUE
at a little league game, the drunk businessmen honor Bill Brasky

— The glorious tradition of doing a Bill Brasky sketch in this era’s Alec Baldwin and John Goodman-hosted episodes continues.
— The final appearance of Mark in a Bill Brasky sketch. Between David Koechner and Mark, it’s sad to see the original line-up of Brasky buddies gradually die off like this.
— Man, they are absolutely speeding through tonight’s Brasky sketch. It feels like I’m playing this sketch in 1.2x speed in a video player. The reason behind the speedy performances is because the show is running late and doesn’t have enough time to perform the full version of this Brasky sketch, so the performers were told to rush through a hastily-shortened version of the sketch. It was probably the ending of Weekend Update that threw off this episode’s timing, between Norm’s many ad-libs with the fake vomit, the audience’s extended uproarious laughter at said ad-libs, and Norm cutting Update short before he even got to tell the mysterious lobster joke. (I wonder if this is also the reason why the Culps sketch abruptly began with the Culps already onstage instead of being introduced by someone.) This Brasky sketch would later be replaced with the dress rehearsal version in reruns.
— Will’s “I don’t have a penis!” outburst was hilarious.
— A particularly great line about Bill Brasky: “He date-raped David Bowie!”
— Some awkward ad-libbed vamping from Will, John, and Mark while waiting for the camera to finally cut to Bill Brasky standing by the bleachers.
— Overall, this was still very funny, but the speedy performances and timing issues prevented this from measuring up to the usual classic Bill Brasky installments. They also cut one of my favorite parts that’s seen in the dress rehearsal version of this sketch in reruns, where John somberly says “Yesterday… I tried to kill myself again”, which is followed by awkward silence between the Brasky buddies before Will says “Anyway…” and continues with the Brasky stories.
STARS: **** for the live version, ***** for the dress rehearsal version shown in reruns


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Yet another solid John Goodman episode. Not much to say other than I felt the whole show was consistently enjoyable, minus Talkin’ With Suel, and we got two of my absolute favorite recurring sketches from this era: Celebrity Jeopardy and Bill Brasky.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Pamela Lee)
a fairly big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 22 comes to an end, as does Mark McKinney’s SNL tenure. Jeff Goldblum hosts.