Tag: John Lithgow

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November 19, 1988 – John Lithgow / Tracy Chapman (S14 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
dieting Oprah Winfrey (JAH) has delusions of food during her show

— Hoo, boy.  Jan as a blackface Oprah…
— I gotta say, though, Jan’s impression sure is making me laugh. It’s a testament to her talents that she can make a role like this come off so funny.
— Very funny bit with Oprah hallucinating her two staff members’ heads as food.
— Jan as Oprah: “Look at the butt! Look at the butt!”
— Now they’re humorously taking the food hallucinations further with the food props the performers playing Oprah’s guests are wearing on their heads.
— I love how this has now escalated to the guests’ conversation randomly having out-of-place food words inserted in place of normal words.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host offers sarcastic-sounding Thanksgiving words & plays guitar

— Interesting jacket.
— I like his sarcastic reading of a Thanksgiving letter.
— Not sure why this has suddenly turned into a guitar instrumental. I was enjoying where this was going before then.
STARS: **½


LONG WHITE BEARD
Long White Beard silently makes your point- tardiness is unacceptable

— I absolutely love this silly concept. It’s hilarious to me.
— Very funny visual of an entire boardroom simultaneously turning their chairs to show a tardy Phil their long white beards. I also love the subsequent shot of them impatiently tapping their fingers on the table and an embarrassed Phil quietly going “Ooouuuch” to himself.
STARS: ****


ANIMAL CONFESSION
a priest (host) hears confessions from dogs at St. Bernard’s Church

— Nice ad-libbing from both Lithgow and the first dog’s voice-over when the dog faces away from the camera.
— Another clever ad-lib with Lithgow’s “I believe W.C. Fields was right.”
— Boy, the ending with the assistant dog got botched really badly. Lithgow once again ad-libs his way out of it by telling the dog “You were so good at the dress rehearsal”, which was a good way to end this sketch.
— Speaking of dress rehearsal, this sketch would later be replaced with the dress version in reruns. I can see why, as the bloopers with the dogs are funnier there, and at one point features a great ad-lib with Lithgow telling one constantly barking dog “You’re not to bark; you’re in a sketch.”
STARS: *** for the live version, ***½ for the rerun version


MASTER THESPIAN
Baudelaire fakes death to get Master Thespian’s role as Hamlet

— Yes! These sketches are always perfect with Lithgow.
— I love Master Thespian being fooled by Baudelaire’s flimsy doctor disguise.
— The “Do you mind keeping your voice down?!?” part during the phony phone call was hilarious.
— Great part with Master Thespian fooling himself with a phone call.
— An overall fantastic John Lithgow-involved Master Thespian sketch as always.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mountains O’ Things”


THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
Margaret Thatcher (host) denies royal family ties

— I got a good laugh from Pat smelling a page of her Vogue magazine and then gleefully going “That was Cher.”
— The perfume picture of Pat is really funny.
— Very extended audience laughter when Lithgow enters as Margaret Thatcher.
— Great voice on Lithgow here.
— I liked Pat asking Thatcher “Are you oily or dry?”
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jimmy Stewart’s (DAC) poem about his dog reduces DEM to tears
letters from Mother Teresa & Japan support JOL’s order- “Get to know me!”

 

— Dana-as-Jimmy-Stewart’s dog poem has some good laughs.
— Dennis’ ridiculous-sounding high-pitched crying during the Jimmy Stewart dog poem is cracking me the hell up.
— Jimmy Stewart, in response to Dennis’ crying: “What are you, a woman? Maybe you should name yourself Denise Miller; you certainly have the hair for it!” Dennis: “………Cool it with the hair, Jimmy.”
— I like how after the Jimmy Stewart commentary ended, Dennis poked fun at his own crying attempt by saying “Probably why you don’t see me acting more on the show.”
— Loved the audience’s offended reaction to the Baby Jessica joke.
— The return of Lovitz’s “Get to know me!” routine.
— Funny part with a letter-writer who started to get to know Lovitz but stopped.
— Loved the letter Lovitz reads from Japan.
STARS: ***½


THE ALAMO
at the Alamo, (host)’s call for volunteers creates much waffling

— Funny opening bit regarding the exact number of Mexicans out there.
— Great part with the soldiers going back-and-forth on their decision to follow Jan who’s offering sex but has “the burning disease” in her loins.
— Loved Davy Crockett suddenly keeling over.
— Very funny appearance from Phil as “Strange Bob”.
— Kevin’s Tarzan making an appearance outside of the Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein pieces!
— I like how increasingly absurd this sketch is getting, with Franken and Davis now randomly appearing as aliens Zacdu and Mondo.
— A good laugh from Zacdu and Mondo’s lame demonstration with the chicken.
— Solid ending with the fake-out regarding choosing black/white beans.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Freedom Now” & “Baby, Can I Hold You”


THANKSGIVING
Marge Keister tends to overstuffed male family members on Thanksgiving

 

— We haven’t seen Marge Keister in what feels like a long time. I don’t think she appeared at all in season 13, unless I’m forgetting something.
— Funny initial visual of each husband entering the scene with a bloated gut.
— Amusing slice-of-life aspect with the guys opening their belts in unison to let the air out.
— Jan’s getting some really good laughs from her great delivery of her lines.
— Victoria’s very brief, throwaway walk-on ends up being her ONLY appearance of this entire episode.
— Did a fart sound effect fail to play when a straining Phil lifted his behind off the chair? Something definitely seemed to go wrong there, because it results in a rare instance of Phil breaking character and kinda laughing to himself.
— I can appreciate this overall sketch as a low-key, relatable piece. Nothing great, but I found it okay and it had a certain charm.
STARS: ***


SKELETON
osteology professor’s (host) fear of skeletons makes his job difficult

— Lithgow’s first screaming reaction to looking at the skeleton made me laugh out loud.
— Funny visual of a ridiculously tiny skeleton being used to help Lithgow get over his fear.
— Loved his whispery “Ohh!” exclamation when seeing the tiny skeleton.
— This role is so perfect for Lithgow.
— Good hysterical laughter from him when seeing the skeleton dressed as a pirate.
— I really liked the ending with Phil and Lithgow going back-and-forth with their alternating reactions to the skeleton with and without the pirate costume.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly solid episode, and I liked almost everything in it. Lithgow did his usual great job as a host and the show used him well in roles that perfectly suit both his comedic style (e.g. Skeleton) and ad-libbing skills (Animal Confession). It’s a shame this ends up being his final hosting stint.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Demi Moore)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Danny DeVito

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April 11, 1987 – John Lithgow / Anita Baker (S12 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
stupid Marines (DAC) & (KEN) let spies into the USA embassy in Moscow

— Dana and Kevin’s excitement over getting some “fine soviet fur tonight” is hilarious.
— For some reason, this doesn’t feel like a cold opening I’m watching.
— I like Dana and Kevin’s obliviousness to the fact that they’re among spies.
— Nice to see a rare instance of a host appearing in the cold opening, though it makes this feel even more like I’m not watching a cold opening.
— I like how Lithgow has gotten to say “Live from New York…” in both episodes he’s hosted so far.
— An overall pretty good sketch, but felt kinda strange as a cold opening. Perhaps this was based on a news story at the time, which I guess would explain its placement as the cold opening (though I’m well aware that not every cold opening back in these days had to be political or topical, which is more than I can say for SNL nowadays).
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
a too-low boom mike blows the show’s chances of winning a Benchley award

— Some good laughs from Lithgow’s giddiness about this episode being up for a Benchley Award.
— Love his slowburn after the boom mic ruined the shot (“There goes the award-winning John Lithgow show!”), eventually getting so upset he works himself into an anxiety attack.
— An overall solid monologue that was perfect for John Lithgow. He’s great at pulling off a gradual reaction to something, like his last monologue when he had a slow descent into horror when realizing he’s on the air live and is not at dress rehearsal.
STARS: ****


ADOBE
— Rerun
[ADDENDUM: According to episode guides, this wasn’t even in the original airing of this episode. Was this added into reruns to replace something that got removed? All the originally-aired segments in this episode seem to be intact in the rerun version, judging from the episode guides.]


REVEREND DWIGHT HENDERSON, WORLD’S MEANEST METHODIST MINISTER
(host) is World’s Meanest Methodist Minister

— This is already a funny concept, and seems perfect for Lithgow.
— Only John Lithgow could make the sarcastically-delivered line “Enjoy your turkey and Cheez Whiz” sound so damn funny.
— I like him having the married couple dismissed from his office simply because their marital problems isn’t a subject that interests him.
— Nice touch with Lithgow and his visitors being separated by a pole barrier.
— LOL at Lithgow doing the imaginary violin miming during Jan’s sad story.
— I liked Nora’s line that ends with her calling Lithgow a “butthole”.
— The ending came off pretty weak.
STARS: ***


MASTER THESPIAN
Baudelaire teaches his protege how to replace Olivier

— Glad to see this in tonight’s show, as the best Master Thespians are always the ones with Lithgow’s Baudelaire character.
— I got a laugh from Lithgow’s throwaway line about a “question du jour”.
— I really liked Master Thespian trying to outdo Baudelaire by doing the “there’s a spot on your shirt” trick on himself.
— Overall, a strong sketch as expected. Lithgow is so perfect for these sketches, and it’s so much fun to watch him and Lovitz play off of each other in these.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sweet Love”


THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
Halston’s (PHH) name doesn’t mean what it used to

— Well, I guess I can’t complain much about seeing this again, considering they’ve really cut back on the number of these Pat Stevens sketches this season. We’re pretty much in the homestretch of season 12, and this is only the third time Pat Stevens has appeared all season. Compare this to season 11, where Pat Stevens was in about 60% of the episodes.
— What’s with the faint tinkly music I keep hearing in the background while Pat’s addressing the viewers?
— Good characterization from Phil.
— Some laughs from the cheap products that Halston’s name is now on.
— Overall, this had its moments, but ehh, I’m still feeling a little burned out on the humor of these sketches.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN’s editorial on surrogate motherhood is sprinkled with cliches
AWB questions the values underlying the Baby M case

— Looks like this is going to be yet another Kevin Nealon commentary where he constantly changes subjects.
— Kevin’s overall commentary had some funny lines, but these subject-changing commentaries of his have slowly been losing their luster for me lately.
— Okay, what the HELL just happened? As Dennis pulled out a pair of Jim Bakker brand shorts, audio suddenly played of somebody announcing “The winner is Paul Newman”, which is followed by the sound of a crowd applauding, then the audio suddenly gets cut off. Dennis looks a bit perplexed for a second, and then amusedly responds in a head-shaking kind of way “That Betty”. What in the world?!? Was that whole thing some kind of reference to that year’s then-recent Oscars? A non-sequitur? Was the “Betty” that Dennis referred to Bette Davis? Why was that audio played during a completely unrelated bit about Jim Bakker’s clothing line of shorts? Was that some kind of bizarre technical error? So many questions…
— A. Whitney’s commentary is already stating off with strong with his “masturbating into a cup” comments, even if I had no idea what that was referring to until he soon made it clear it’s a reference to a topical news story.
— A. Whitney’s overall commentary was particularly good. Probably one of his best so far.
STARS: ***½


LARAMIE VICE
Crockett (host) & Tubbs (KEN) smell drugs in the Wild West

— Dennis’ attempt at an Old West accent is hilariously bad. A. Whitney’s attempt, on the other hand, is surprisingly strong.
— Another Miami Vice parody. Ehh, I’m not too eager to see one after the awful Cleveland Vice sketch from the previous season.
— At least the opening credits sequence didn’t go on forever like Cleveland Vice’s opening did. I also liked the detail of Kevin Nealon being credited as “Kevin Michael Nealon”, ala Phillip Michael Thomas.
— Love Phil’s gravelly voice.
— Dana’s Scarface-esque performance is hilarious.
— Clever detail with the “Mary Todd Lincoln Rehab Center”, as an old-timey version of the Betty Ford Clinic.
— My biggest laugh of the whole sketch didn’t come until the very end, during the “preview of next week’s episode” scene where Lithgow badly lip-syncs to Don Johnson’s “Heartbeat” with a hilarious intense look on his face (second-to-last screencap above). I also got a huge laugh from the ensuing shot, where Dana getting impaled by a bull is pulled off VERY poorly with an extremely cheap-looking effect.
— Overall, while I enjoyed this more than the Cleveland Vice sketch, this still was nothing great as a whole. I’m thinking SNL needs to stay away from doing extensive, long-winded Miami Vice parodies. They’re 0-for-2 so far.
— IIRC, this sketch was originally placed as the post-monologue lead-off sketch during the original live airing. I can see why they pushed this into a much later timeslot in the rerun version I’m reviewing.
STARS: **½


DISCOVER
Peter Graves (PHH) doesn’t really comprehend bacteria

— Phil-as-Graves’ bad similes are cracking me up, especially the comparison between invisible bacteria and Heather Thomas’ breasts.
— Funny part with Phil’s Graves randomly getting caught inhaling from a gas tube.
— Overall, this was solid, but doesn’t quite compare to the classic first installment from earlier this season.
STARS: ****


THE FIGHTER
wealthy (PHH) hires washed-up boxer (host) to hit son (DAC)

— Good to see yet another black-and-white sketch this season.
— They seem to be going for even more authenticity than usual in this one, using a grainy visual effect that makes this look exactly like something from the early days of TV.
— Particularly good delivery from Nora in this.
— I remember a review I once read of this episode pointed out how Dana seemed to be doing a Jon Lovitz impression in this sketch. It’s true. The voice Dana is using as Phil’s son is eerily Lovitz-esque. So much so, that there’s no way that WASN’T intentional. Must’ve been some kind of inside joke between Dana and Jon.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Same Ole Love”


CROSS COUNTRY
cab driver (host) gets (JOL) from New York to San Francisco in 9 minutes

— Of the last three episodes, this is the second to end with a taxi sketch.
— I like how a mere $20 bill convinces Lithgow to do the ridiculous task of driving all the way to San Francisco.
— Very funny greensceen effect of the taxi driving insanely fast. I like how the greenscreen is randomly using black-and-white stock scenery.
— Also a very funny use of a model toy car to represent weather changes the taxi is driving through.
— Good ending with Lithgow beginning to head all the way back to Lovitz’s home just because Lovitz forgot his wedding ring.
— Very fun overall sketch that I’ve always loved.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Fun episode. While not perfect, I got a lot of enjoyment from the show as a whole, and the presence of John Lithgow certainly helped. He is now 2-for-2 in solid episodes.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Charlton Heston):
— a moderate step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
John Larroquette, our second consecutive host named John L.

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December 7, 1985 – John Lithgow / Mr. Mister (S11 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Ronald Reagan (RAQ) won’t heed Dr. Lizardo’s (host) Halley’s Comet alert

— John Lithgow’s energy and accent in this is great.
— Geez, Randy looks as un-Reagan-like as ever in this sketch. I believe next season is the first season where SNL finally made it an unwritten rule to always make the performers look like the celebrities they’re playing.
— The science lab set in this sketch looks like the one that I once pointed out was used in a few sketches from late in the Ebersol era (Robin Duke’s Turkey Lady sketch being one of them).
— Randy’s getting some laughs with his performance.
— I’ve always loved Lithgow’s wild “Live from New York…” delivery in this.
— Overall, while this cold opening wasn’t too bad and featured mostly solid performances, a few parts here and there kinda disinterested me.
STARS: **½


MONOLOGUE
host sings “Getting To Know You” to cope with stress caused by live show

— Lithgow thinking this is dress rehearsal is a really good concept.
— Funny reveal that the reason for Lithgow’s mix-up is because he forgot to change his watch from L.A. time.
— Lithgow is doing an excellent silent gradual descent into horror when realizing he is indeed live.
— I have to wonder how they did this monologue in the actual dress rehearsal earlier that night, since the premise obviously wouldn’t have worked as well there.
STARS: ***½


WHERE YOU’RE GOING
— Rerun


POSTERIOR ARTHROPOD
(host)’s outlook improves after getting the bug removed from his butt

 

— Already, this is coming off as a perfect role for Lithgow.
— Funny little gag with Damon leaving from his doctor’s appointment with an uncomfortable stiff walk.
— LOL at the audience already laughing as soon as Lovitz puts on gloves for what appears to be a rectal exam.
— Some good laughs from the bug-removal from Lithgow’s “posterior”.
— I like Lovitz’s list of bug-up-the-butt symptoms, especially “Are you an attorney?”
— Overall, this was a pretty well-written sketch, and had a well-structured format that feels rare for this season.
STARS: ***½


MASTER THESPIAN
Master Thespian (JOL) has an acting duel with mentor Baudelaire (host)

 

— The debut of one of Lovitz’s signature characters. Debuting this in a John Lithgow-hosted episode is great, considering Lithgow’s soon-to-be recurring Baudelaire character is the perfect scene partner for these sketches.
— I love Lithgow’s constant “I was merely… acting!” reveals after playing various tricks on Lovitz.
— Funny fencing match between the two of them.
— Great line with Lovitz revealing “I am dead and merely ACTING alive!”
— Overall, this was a fantastic debut.
STARS: ****


DOUBLE R ROLLS
Double R (RAQ) & son (RDJ) sell the Rajneesh’s Rolls-Royces

— Pretty funny premise, and good characterization from Randy.
— Robert’s walk-on is pretty funny, though I recall his character being a little funnier in the subsequent installments of this soon-to-be recurring sketch.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Broken Wings”


AD COUNCIL
Wasting Your Time In Various Ways For No Good Reason

— Nice cinematography in this, especially the opening shot of the energy plant.
— The constant scenery shifts are a good parody of the type of ad cliches from that era.
— The close-up of the spokesman delivering a random “Mmm! That’s cracklin’ good!” is the part that I’ve always remembered the most from this ad.
— Good “wasting your time” tagline at the end.
STARS: ***½


CLICHES
(host) can only offer his daughter (JOC) cliches in her time of need

— Another perfect role for Lithgow tonight. He’s pulling this off well with his cheesy dad-type delivery of cliches in response to everything Joan says to him.
— I got a laugh from Lithgow’s absurd “windshield sneaking up on a bug” analogy.
— Pretty good ending with Lithgow’s character mixing Joan’s name with the name of one of his other daughters.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
DAW discusses Reagan-Gorbachev summit & where the arms race will lead

— Instead of opening with typical news-sounding theme music that all of Dennis’ prior Updates have opened with, this Update opens with the famous music sting from Jaws. Seems to be an early glimpse of what will later go on to be a weekly thing where Dennis’ Updates each begin with a different famous song. I think it’s next season where that becomes a regular thing.
— Great “Punch Mary Lou Retton in the Teeth” lottery bit, which got a big audience reaction.
— I really like the whole bit about the body of Cap’n Crunch being found.
— Dennis is on fire tonight.
— Dennis even managed to save the “president stuffing the turkey” joke from being a typical bad photo-based gag, with his comments to the audience afterwards.
— Good to see return of Damon as Update’s political correspondent.
— Funny line from Damon about “terrorists hijackin’ the planet in the name of Allah”.
— Another amusing line from Damon, this time regarding rapping to women about what’s left of their hair.
— Loved the quick Mod Squad bit Dennis did with Damon after Damon’s commentary.
STARS: ***½


VEGAS NANCY
Nancy Reagan (TES) sings & dances “That Old Black Magic” Vegas-style

— Another President Reagan sketch tonight? And much like the cold opening, I see SNL still can’t be bothered to make Randy look a thing like Reagan.
— At least we get to see Terry’s Nancy this time.
— Interesting concept, with us now going into Nancy’s fantasy sequence.
— Terry’s interactions with the backup dancers during the number is pretty funny.
— Fun turn with Terry-as-Nancy’s skirt-lifting “Fire!” part.
— Amusing touch with Terry clearly being out-of-breath when the Vegas fantasy sequence has ended and we’re shown him as Nancy still sitting next to Randy’s Ron in the White House.
STARS: ***


SAM KINISON
Sam Kinison [real] does stand-up about bitterness caused by his breakup

— The debut of Sam Kinison as SNL’s newest stand-up comedian guest performer.
— I love his intro, explaining how he’s different from SNL’s other stand-up acts by suddenly going into the audience and screaming into one audience member’s face.
— Good interaction with the couple in the front row.
— The “Bloopers, Bleeps and Blunders” bit fell flat.
— I’m getting some good laughs from the whole bit about how Jesus was the only guy who didn’t scare people when coming back from the dead.
— Overall, some laughs here, though this was a lot more hit-and-miss than Kinison’s stand-up material usually is. Reportedly, the dress rehearsal version of this went much better, which would later replace the live version of this in reruns. (I’m reviewing the live version of this episode)
STARS: ***


U.S.S. CAMERON
captain (host) has valid reasons not to give in to mutineers’ demands

— I love the concept of this. Seems like this will be the type of solid writer-ly sketch that I always enjoy.
— I like how writer John Swartzwelder is playing a character with his same last name. I guess the name “Swartzwelder” DOES have a pirate shipmate-type sound to it.
— Love Randy’s off-camera angry yelling outburst to the other sailors.
— Amusing blooper where the rug in front of the door has become bunched up, making it hard for the performers to re-enter the room.
— Funny characterization from Lithgow, who I’m assuming is doing a Charles Laughton imitation. I’m liking the comments Lithgow keeps making about how cold his food is getting.
— Haha, there’s some good unintentional laughs from Randy’s real-life difficulty in closing the door, thanks to the aforementioned bunched-up rug in front of it.
— The ending didn’t work for me, but this overall sketch was pretty solid.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Kyrie”


THE LIMITS OF THE IMAGINATION
fish fry is literally “all-you-can-eat”

— Randy as the Floating Head demonstrating some of the “amazing” things they can do in his universe always makes me laugh in these sketches. There was especially a funny one tonight with him showing how he “can make you change the channel” by disgustingly digging in his nose.
— Good dark turn with Danitra explaining that the advertised “all you can eat” dinner is very literal.
— Funny visual of various tortured customers simultaneously being force-fed fish by waiters.
— Overall, a huge improvement over the Limits Of The Imagination installment from the season premiere.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

— I just realized while watching these goodnights that Anthony Michael Hall was nowhere to be seen all night. Probably explains why Robert Downey seemed to get more airtime than usual. This is the first of what will be quite a lot of episodes that Anthony will be missing this season, due to a movie he was filming at the time.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— While this didn’t have quite the fun vibe the preceding episode with Pee-Wee Herman had, this was still our second consecutive solid episode of the season. Aside from the cold opening, every single segment in this episode worked, though the only one that stood out as particularly great was Master Thespian.
— John Lithgow was a great host, and the show utilized him perfectly, giving him the type of roles that played to his strengths as a performer. I’m looking forward to his next two hosting stints from later this decade.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Pee-Wee Herman):
— a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
The solid hosting choices continue, as Tom Hanks makes his hosting debut