Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
crosstalk in Ronald Reagan’s (host) earpiece disrupts press conference
— For tonight only, Robin Williams takes over the Ronald Reagan impression, which was unoccupied at the time, as our last Reagan impersonator, Randy Quaid, had recently left, and Phil Hartman hadn’t taken over the role yet (the latter’s Reagan impression actually debuts in the very next episode, in a legendary sketch).
— I also wonder if this is the only time a sitting president was played by a non-cast member before Alec Baldwin made that a regular thing in recent years.
— Good Reagan voice from Robin, and it’s nice to see that unlike with Randy Quaid, SNL has actually made an effort to make Robin look like Reagan.
— Love how Robin’s Reagan is heard off-camera quietly singing the “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” song when he’s about to make his press conference entrance.
— LOL at him actually walking out of the conference just to briefly tell the two earpiece technicians that he was only pausing for dramatic effect.
— Very funny turn with Reagan’s earpiece receiving interference, leading to him repeating police reports out loud. It was especially hilarious when he repeats one particular report of a perpetrator being a “burly male negro” as the press members he’s in front of stare on in shock.
— Haha, and now he tries to play off his aforementioned “burly male negro” utterance as him describing our new ambassador to South Africa.
— Good ending with the interference going particularly wild, leading to Reagan repeating a rapid-fire string of different things from different radio stations. Strong use of Robin’s penchant for doing various voices.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about the Reagan administration & televangelists
— For some reason, the regular home base stage is blocked by a huge brick wall with windows (which, by the way, forces the SNL Band into the “alley” to the left of the home base stage). SNL usually only has that wall set up for some of the musical guests’ performances this season; it’s a little unusual how they’re using it for a host’s monologue. I do know it happens again later this season in at least one other monologue, when Dennis Hopper hosts the season finale. I think it might also be in Willie Nelson’s monologue, but I’m not 100% sure.
— I like the fact that Robin’s immediately launching into jokes about the Reagan press conference that SNL just spoofed in the cold opening.
— The part about how Reagan talks like a badly-dubbed kung fu movie had me howling.
— Some really good material from Robin going through the “cast of supporting characters” that is Reagan’s White House administration.
— Boy, this monologue is a riot so far.
— I particularly love the part just now about Jesus coming back as a large black man named Jesse.
— Overall, a hilarious monologue and a big improvement over Robin’s disappointingly average monologue from his season 9 hosting stint. The laughs in tonight’s monologue were very consistent, and that combined with the fast pacing of Robin’s jokes had me laughing pretty much non-stop for the entire duration.
STARS: ****½
TICKET LINE
musical guest has incredible memory but can’t recall Art Garfunkel [real]
— Some good laughs from the increasing absurdity of the small details that Paul remembers about fans he met years ago.
— I like the little touch with Paul and Jon’s absurdly-long handshake as they’re speaking to each other.
— Solid punchline with Paul not recognizing his former partner Art Garfunkel.
STARS: ***½
THE NEW YORK WORD EXCHANGE
(PHH) tells how investors can make money at the New York Word Exchange
— A funny concept of investing in words, and this is so perfect for Phil Hartman’s style. Unsurprisingly, he’s executing this perfectly.
— A particularly funny bit with how “da”, a variant of the word “the”, is gaining more and more popularity in recent years.
— A very solid overall sketch that had such a quintessential Phil Hartman feel.
STARS: ****
HAMLET
Shakespeare (JOL) can’t stand improvisational comedian’s (host) Hamlet
— Robin playing himself as a Shakespearean-era anachronistic improv comedian is a perfect use of his ad-libbing tendencies.
— Love how Robin suddenly enters the play wearing a comically-oversized codpiece.
— Overall, very fun and strong sketch.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Ronald Reagan demonstrates qualifications for the job of Isuzu spokesman
AWB on whether censorship or pay-TV smut is a bigger threat to SNL
— Boy, is Dennis speeding through these jokes.
— Ha, and now he actually acknowledged the same thing I pointed out above, by jokingly acting out of breath and saying “I had to slow down; I was about to pass out.”
— Good bit with President Reagan’s “audition” for Isuzu commercial spokesman, represented by clips of Reagan lying at a press conference while disclaimers on the bottom of the screen call him out. This is probably only funny if you’re aware of the real Joe Isuzu commercials this is spoofing, which I’m familiar with from seeing coverage of in some 80s documentaries.
— An interesting mention of veteran SNL bandmember Cheryl Hardwick recently getting married to former SNL writer Michael O’Donoghue.
— I like the meta-ness of how A. Whitney’s commentary tonight is about censorship that SNL faces.
— A big laugh from A. Whitney summing up SNL’s viewers as being “a jaded, thick-skinned group of thrill-seekers”, which receives enthusiastic cheers from the audience.
— Coincidentally, A. Whitney’s censorship commentary has suddenly started repeatedly cutting to a static-y screen in the copy I’m watching of this episode. I know it’s just some kind of TV or tape error, but it’s unintentionally funny because it makes it seem like NBC is panickedly censoring A. Whitney’s stance against censorship.
STARS: ***
BAYCREST JEWISH RETIREMENT HOME
Sweeneys sing a Fiddler On The Roof medley at a Jewish retirement home
— Good elderly Jewish voice on Robin.
— The Sweeney Sisters now officially become recurring.
— Strangely, musical guest Paul Simon seems to be appearing in more sketches tonight than he did in the episode he actually (co-)hosted the previous season.
— A strong medley from the Sisters tonight, even if I didn’t recognize most of the Jewish-themed songs in this.
— Not sure I needed the additional musical number from Robin and Paul, but it still had a charming vibe that made it enjoyable enough.
STARS: ***½
AND SO ADIEU
Master Thespian’s inability to remember a line frustrates director (host)
— An interesting change of pace for Master Thespian. Assuming all his prior appearances were set in modern times, he must be a time-traveler, because he looks the same age in this sketch, which takes place in 1937.
— I liked Robin’s little ad-lib when Phil corrects a line flub of his.
— Master Thespian’s various ways of screwing up his one line in the scene is increasingly cracking me up.
— Funny how the tables have turned on Robin and Jon. In the Hamlet sketch earlier tonight, Robin was the comedic character and Jon was the stern straight man who was aggravated by Robin throwing off the scene. Now in this Master Thespian sketch, Jon is the comedic character and Robin is the stern straight man who is aggravated by Jon throwing off the scene. Also in both sketches, Phil is the man in the middle of all this craziness.
— I’m really enjoying Robin’s growing frustration, especially him telling Master Thespian “You say it or you die!”
— LOL at the part just now with Phil and Master Thespian getting mixed up and saying each other’s line.
— This sketch is getting funnier and funnier. Much like the monologue, I can’t stop laughing now.
— Overall, it’s amazing how much laughs they managed to get out of such a simple, thin premise.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
host translates while Whoopi Goldberg [real] introduces musical guest
— Fun bit.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Boy in the Bubble”
AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF AMERICA
Automobile Club spokesman KEN rambles while discussing proper map use
— Kevin’s already getting good laughs early on with his various attempts to open the map by licking his fingers.
— You can tell this is most likely a bit from Kevin’s stand-up, but this is really funny so far. Throughout his SNL tenure, Kevin often shows a strong knack for adapting his stand-up material into great SNL bits.
— I especially love the map-tearing bit right now when talking about his Hawaii trip.
— The bit about a heavyset tour guide using her leg as a map was a hilarious ending.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Late Great Johnny Ace”
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A fantastic episode. I’ve always had so much love for this episode, and I’m glad to see from my viewing tonight that it still holds up. In fact, I walked away from this viewing feeling that this episode just may be one of my personal favorites of this entire era. There weren’t ANY segments in this episode that I disliked; every single segment worked for me, and most of them were particularly great. This episode was pretty much flawless. Robin Williams was an even better host than he was in his previous hosting stint in the Ebersol era, and he added such a fun energy to tonight’s episode. His monologue in particular may be one of my favorite stand-up monologues I’ve ever seen on SNL. I’m looking forward to his third hosting stint next season.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Sam Kinison):
— a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
The impressive recent streak of funny comedians hosting the show continues, as our next episode is helmed by the trio of Chevy Chase, Martin Short, and Steve Martin. The latter makes his return as host for the first time since the original era.
