Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
disgruntled Yankee (CHC) hangs manager (DAA) after World Series loss
— Dan as the coach is standing on a stool for some reason during his speech to the losing Yankees. Is he going to hang himself?
— Yep, I saw it coming, though it was Chevy who caused Dan to hang. Still gave me a pretty good laugh, though, and it was a rare deviation from the usual ‘Chevy does a pratfall’ gag these cold openings usually end with.
— I always like when this era does this type of short cold opening with a quick gag.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
Ramblin’ Guy host demonstrates banjo prowess & gets mad at control room
— It feels weird watching this in the mindset of this being a time before he was a regular host.
— He’s already making me laugh a lot with the “great to be here” stuff.
— Funny quick random bit with him spitting water into the audience.
— I love how loose this is. We’re only a minute into this, and he’s already done about 20 different things.
— Ah, here’s the classic “Ramblin’ Guy” routine.
— And there’s his trademark ‘arrow through the head’ prop.
— And now, “Excuuuuuse meeeee!”
— Overall, a very fun monologue.
STARS: ****
SPEAK OUT FOR MILK
CHC says too much during multiple takes for ad
— Pretty funny premise with Chevy inadvertently revealing unpleasant facts about milk.
STARS: ***
JEOPARDY 1999!
contestants’ questions provide a glimpse of the future
DOP describes prizes that Jeopardy! 1999 contestants can win
— I’m surprised to see this in tonight’s episode. I had always thought this was in one of Steve’s 1977 episodes.
— Oh, why didn’t I remember that Chevy is in this? If I had remembered, I would’ve known this sketch couldn’t possibly have been from 1977, because Chevy was gone from the cast by then.
— Watching this sketch in modern times, I get a big kick out of seeing what comedy writers in the 70s jokingly predicted what 1999 would be like.
— The contestants’ last names being a random combo of a letter and various numbers is actually a somewhat accurate prediction, as it kinda mirrors what a lot of online usernames have looked like from the late 1990s and onwards.
— Walter Mondale as first president to accidentally kill himself in office. Well, he did end up almost becoming president in ’84…
— The ‘baby-killing being legalized in 1983’ part was hilariously shocking.
— I wonder why Chevy’s the only contestant not to use his real first name.
— I’m loving this so far.
— Ha, “longest running show on TV”. Is SNL gonna accurately predict the future and say their own show?
— Nope, the answer ended up being “Baa Baa Black Sheep”. I so wanted the answer to be SNL, but understandably, nobody back in 1976 could have foreseen how long this show would last. Besides, in 1999, SNL wouldn’t have been anywhere near the longest running show on TV yet; they celebrated just their 25th anniversary that same year.
— LOL at the meta “comedian who’s career fizzled after leaving NBC’s Saturday Night” part with Chevy. I take it everyone, including viewers, knew back then that he was leaving soon?
— Steve’s ad-lib after he kept stumbling through that one line just now was pretty funny.
— Overall, this was a lot of fun to watch.
STARS: ****½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 1
CHC narrates boring footage of Rubin Carter [real] jury selection
— The Chairman Mao/Chinese take-out grave joke was hilarious.
— I didn’t get the point of the “artist’s rendering” of Rubin Carter’s trial.
FIDO-FLEX
the Fido-Flex digital watch dog is the only canine that can tell the time
— They screwed up all the close-ups that were supposed to show what each screen on the dog’s body does.
— An okay commercial.
STARS: ***
WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 2
CHC purports to accept JAC as co-anchor, makes faces during her report
a snacking (ALF) wanders onto set & reads a news item over CHC’s shoulder
— I can already tell from the set-up of Jane’s commentary that it will end up being another “Chevy makes goofy faces behind correspondent’s back” bit.
— Yep, I was right.
— WTF? Franken wandering onto the set out of nowhere.
— Well, Franken’s bit sure was brief, but it was amusing in how random it was.
— I was worried the baby gorilla story would end up having the same punchline as the baby sandpiper story that Chevy has occasionally used, but this one thankfully went in a different direction.
STARS (FOR BOTH WEEKEND UPDATE HALVES): ***
BEATNIKS
poet (host), stand-up comic (JOB), dancer (LAN) perform in a beatnik bar
— Oh my god, I absolutely love Dan’s crazy raspy beatnik voice. He is KILLING me in this.
— Chevy looked almost unrecognizable at first.
— Chevy’s wailing and terrible guitar playing is hilarious.
— Steve’s angry poem is very funny as well.
— I didn’t know Garrett could play the guitar and harmonica.
— John appearing as the “hip comic” – I can tell I’m already gonna like this.
— Loved John sneaking in his Brando impression.
— Wow, Laraine’s bit is pretty insane.
— I like how they’ve worked every cast member into this.
— The graphic onscreen is saying Jane’s character is named Francesca Richardson, yet Pardo’s voice-over has called her Francesca Robinson just now.
— The epilogue informing us what each character has gone on to do is pretty funny.
STARS: ****
LOOKS AT BOOKS
(host) gives results of research into abstinence & sports
— That one clip seemed to cut off too early.
— I liked the quick bit about how the catcher was “teased” the night before the game.
— The montage of baseball gaffes being played off as if their lousy performances were caused by abstinence is pretty funny.
STARS: ***
AUTUMN IN NEW YORK
by Gary Weis- various people lip sync to covers of “Autumn in New York”
— Surprise, surprise – yet ANOTHER Gary Weis film that’s not doing anything for me so far.
— The audience always seems to laugh at his films a lot more than I do.
— Okay, the random weasel(?)-head ending made me laugh.
STARS: **
MARY
Ted Baxter’s (host) Drano-in-coffee prank kills Mary Richards (LAN)
— I never knew SNL did a Mary Tyler Moore Show parody in this era. I had always associated SNL’s parodies of that show with the early 80s Mary Gross era.
— I’m loving the dark premise.
— Casting Gilda as Rhoda seems so natural.
— Why was the audience not into this anymore towards the end? They seemed to stop laughing in the last two minutes. I thought the whole sketch was hilarious myself.
STARS: ****
MYSTERIES IN MEDICINE
elaborate diet plan involves faux Eskimo (JOB)
— Some technical issues when the “Mysteries In Medicine” graphic showed up on screen.
— I love the fact that John’s eskimo character is named Blog.
— Laraine’s desire to get her weight down to 10 pounds is almost disturbing, considering her apparent real-life eating disorder back then.
— John’s crazy performance is cracking me up so much.
— I like the twist with Blog turning out to be a refined scientist.
— Overall, a delightfully weird little sketch.
STARS: ****
STEVE MARTIN STAND-UP #2
host does stand-up about meeting Jackie Onassis, destruction of Earth
— I like how back in these days, SNL let stand-up comedian hosts do multiple stand-up sets throughout the show instead of just relegating it to their monologue spot.
— LOL at one person in the audience briefly applauding when Steve spoke against one-night stands.
— The random shoelaces joke was pretty funny.
— The “she was a pig” revelation about Jackie Onassis is hilarious.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
— Funny gag with the cast all facing backwards for no apparent reason.
_______________________________
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A great and very enjoyable show, and a nice rebound after the disappointing preceding episode. Just about every single sketch tonight worked; some of them being very well-written and a lot of fun to watch (Jeopardy 1999, Beatniks, Mary Tyler Moore, etc.).
— Right out of the gate, Steve Martin proved himself as someone who was born to host SNL. He hosted this episode with the ease of someone who had already been hosting the show for years.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Karen Black):
— a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Buck Henry. This is the famous episode where Buck gets cut in the forehead during a Samurai sketch. Also, I’m not 100% sure, but isn’t this also Chevy’s final episode?