Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
deejay Dick Lanky (BIM) relies on listeners to do his research for him
— Dan’s entrance gets some good random applause.
— Unsurprisingly, Dan’s great at doing an authentic-sounding radio weatherman voice.
— As someone who once lived in Chicago for 10 years, it’s fun to hear so many Chicago-centric things (e.g. WGN, Oak Park) in this sketch; it’s really taking me back.
— And now, John’s entrance gets an even bigger applause than Dan’s.
— A pretty good opening sketch overall.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
host performs “Hello Mary Lou”
host performs “Travelin’ Man”
host performs “Fools Rush In”
— We get a musical performance in place of the monologue.
— Geez, this has practically turned into a concert, with an endless amount of musical numbers, one after another.
STARS: N/A
THE TWILIGHT ZONE
host is trapped in households of similar sitcom families
— Always good to see Dan’s Rod Serling.
— The Rick/Beaver Cleaver mix-up is funny.
— LMAO at John as The Beav. He’s doing a hilarious impression.
— Bill’s really funny as Eddie Haskell, too.
— Heh, now this has turned into a Father Knows Best mix-up.
— I’m loving where this sketch is going so far, and I’m also loving all the fast costume changes from Jane, Bill, and John.
— I’m having a hard time figuring out what this third sitcom is they’re parodying. I don’t recognize it. And what’s with Garrett as the low-talking maid?
— Haha, I love how Dan is now suddenly playing who I can tell is George Burns.
— Just judging from how Gilda’s voice sounds during her off-camera delivery of “Is that you, Ricky?”, I can already predict what the joke in this new scene is going to be: Rick is now in “I Love Lucy” and Gilda’s playing Lucy.
— I was right.
— Nice to see the return of Tom Schiller’s Ricky Ricardo impression, for the first time since season 1, I believe.
— LOL at Dan now playing Alfred Hitchcock. This sketch is making great use of Dan’s knack for impressions.
— Overall, man, I loved this. A very fun, elaborate, perfectly-executed sketch.
STARS: *****
ROCK AGAINST YEAST ’79
Candy Slice meets host at Rock Against Yeast ’79 backstage party
Candy Slice performs “Gimme Mick”
— Heh, I spotted Jane in the background crowd and judging from the big blonde hair and huge rack, I can already tell she’s playing Dolly Parton.
— A pretty good laugh from the concert being named “Rock Against Yeast”.
— John as Elvis impersonator: “I’m playing the latter part of The King’s life, after he discovered carbohydrates.”
— I love “Elvii” being the name of Dan and John’s duo Elvis impersonation act.
— The return of Candy Slice.
— I’m getting a kick out of the part with Bill’s manager character dragging Candy Slice through SNL’s backstage area and taking her over to the performance stage.
— During the aforementioned drag-through-backstage part, I heard someone’s voice repeatedly saying “Spanish gameshow” for some odd reason. I think that was a crew member’s voice, and I’m gonna guess “Spanish gameshow” means we’re getting the famous “Quien Es Mas Macho” sketch later tonight.
— I’m loving Gilda’s performance of “Gimme Mick”.
STARS: ****½
WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW
WEEKEND UPDATE
Chico Escuela says goodbye before leaving for his Mets comeback
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about cocaine & utility of prohibition
— I like how it’s now become a regular thing for Bill to casually announce a (made-up) news story about something tragic that’s soon going to happen to the planet, first with his “the earth is heading towards the sun” story in the last episode, and now his “life will cease to exist on March 1st of this year” story tonight.
— Jane’s intro to Chico Escuela’s commentary makes it seem like they’re retiring that character ALREADY. Hmm, surprising. I doubt his “retirement” will last, though. After all, I remember once seeing a later Update where Chico shows a pre-taped video of himself interacting with baseball players at a stadium.
— Chico’s “sarcastic bish” remark about Jane was very funny.
— Overall, a decent “final” appearance from Chico. I just KNOW we’ll be seeing him again, though.
— Loved Bill’s joke about a fictional rock group named Honest Abes being shot to death.
— Another good Point/Counterpoint with Jane and Dan. I’m still waiting until we reach that famous Point/Counterpoint that’s always shown in SNL highlight reels: you know, the one where Dan starts his rebuttal to Jane with (after “You ignorant slut”, of course) “Dried-up pieces of slunk meat like you should know–”. I wonder what episode that’s from. Considering we’re nearing the end of Dan’s SNL tenure, that episode has to be coming up very soon.
STARS: ***½
¡¿QUIEN ES MAS MACHO?!
game show invaded by illegals-seeking Untouchables
— Ah, I was right; the earlier overheard utterance of “Spanish gameshow” WAS alluding to this now-well-known sketch.
— I’ve never seen this sketch for myself before, aside from a clip in an SNL documentary. For some reason, I had always thought this sketch was from season 5, when Bill was the go-to guy for practically EVERY male lead role (due to Dan and John not being on the show anymore).
— This is great so far, and I’m really liking the format.
— Heh, why has this suddenly turned into an Untouchabales crossover? I do always like seeing Dan’s dead-on Robert Stack/Eliot Ness impression, though.
— All-in-all, while I still don’t get what connection the gameshow portion of this sketch was supposed to have to The Untouchables, I enjoyed this overall sketch a lot. I wouldn’t call it a classic like many SNL fans seem to, though. I feel that this sketch would’ve been stronger if the gameshow portion just kept going, without the Untouchables interruption.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hard Times for Lovers”
HELIUM
host softens the blow of bad news by inhaling helium prior to delivery
— Weird but funny concept.
— I wonder why they’re so obviously using a voice modifier to give Rick that helium-sounding voice instead of having him actually inhale real helium.
— Overall, short but decent.
STARS: ***
BARBER SHOP
barbers (BIM) & (host) share other merchants’ worries regarding new mall
— I heard about this. Apparently, this is a sister sketch to Scotch Boutique, as it takes place at the same mall.
— Bill’s story about a hospital patient dying during a haircut Bill was giving him was really funny.
— Nice continuity having Gilda appear as her Scotch Boutique character.
— John’s appearance had a pretty funny pay-off.
— Overall, a nice, enjoyable, laid-back slice-of-life sketch, much like the original Scotch Boutique, though not quite as strong.
STARS: ***½
PICASSO: THE NEW YORK YEARS
by TOS- only mundane details are recalled
— I believe this is the first time Schiller has made an appearance in his own film.
— Overall, while this wasn’t anything great nor laugh-out-loud funny, it was fairly interesting in that usual Tom Schiller way.
STARS: ***
RICK NELSON: “DREAM LOVER”
host performs “Dream Lover”
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Overall, a solid episode. There weren’t really any segments I disliked, and the first two sketches of the night (The Twilight Zone and Rock Against Yeast) were both epic, fun, and elaborate. The second half of the show had some pretty strong work as well (Quien Es Mas Macho and Barber Shop).
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Cicely Tyson):
— a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Kate Jackson