Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE
Bill Clinton (MMK) unveils his scaled-back universal health care plan
— As this opens, you can hear the very end of someone in the studio exaggeratedly yelling “FIVE SECONDS!!!”, which is a traditional thing SNL does right before the start of every live episode to get the audience laughing as the cold opening starts. In recent years, audio of it is played during the opening sequence shown before every “SNL Vintage” airing on NBC.
— After the preceding week’s Clinton Auditions cold opening, we get SNL’s official new Bill Clinton: Michael McKean.
— Early on in this, Michael already flubs a line, but then seems to try to save himself a few seconds later with an apparent ad-lib: “That’s why I’m nervous.”
— A minute into this sketch, and I have to ask, is too late to bring back Chris Elliott’s W.C. Fields take on Clinton? Michael’s impression is not good AT ALL.
— A few laughs here and there from the medical props.
— The health phone bit is falling pretty flat.
STARS: **
OPENING MONTAGE
— Don Pardo still seems to be having some trouble with the name “Kightlinger”, as he pronounces it a bit funny tonight. That would later be fixed in reruns.
MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)
— Lots of applause-pandering in this monologue so far, and not in the intentionally comedic way like Karen Black’s season 6 monologue or Chevy Chase’s season 3 monologue.
— Marisa’s coming off likable here (which is a big contrast to negative stories I’ve sometimes heard about her), but this monologue is kinda dull to me.
— I’m not sure, but I think they use the dress rehearsal version of this monologue in reruns. I recall her delivery being a little more exciting at parts than it is in this live version I’m watching.
STARS: **
LEXON PARADOX
teams of engineers worked to make the Lexon Paradox a contradictory car
— Very accurate parody of the style of a certain series of car commercials from this era (I forget which car brand).
— A clever commercial, and the conflicting car features are increasingly funny, especially the one with no brakes, and the one that makes the car shatter on impact.
STARS: ****
THE SIMPSON TRIAL
Mona Lisa Vito (host) testifies on behalf of O.J. Simpson (TIM)
— A very inspired and solid idea to have Marisa reprise her Mona Lisa Vito character from My Cousin Vinny in an O.J. Trial sketch.
— Judge Ito’s fawning over Mona Lisa Vito is entertaining.
— This sketch feels surprisingly high-energy for this season’s standards.
— Ito’s angry “SHUT UP, MS. CLARK!” outburst gave me a big laugh.
— Odd how they haven’t shown Tim’s O.J. until the very end, and even then, he doesn’t have any lines. At least they put a wig on his O.J. this time, unlike in the season premiere.
STARS: ****
PIERCING TODAY
various punctured people compare notes on body adornment
— An interesting time capsule of the piercing craze from this time around the mid-90s.
— Quite a visual of Farley with all those piercings.
— Funny story from Kevin about his rod-through-the-head “piercing” being a freak accident when walking past a construction site.
— Towards the end of this sketch, Marisa’s delivery is starting to become oddly exaggerated.
— I’m now starting to realize that Kevin’s been providing most of my few laughs during this sketch. I liked his answer when the guests are all asked what the downside is to their piercings: “The crippling pain and the blurred vision.”
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Sneaking Up On You”
WEEKEND UPDATE
MIM thinks that the hockey strike is stupid
TIM says that the hockey strike is bad for African-Americans
Cool Guy’s (DAS) week-in-review is accomplished via facial expressions
— A change has been made to the Weekend Update logo on the front of the Update desk.
— I liked Norm’s “The crowd is torn” ad-lib after the mixed reaction to the O.J. “Dorf on Stalking” joke.
— Mike making a rare visit to the Update desk.
— Mike’s “detailed” hockey analysis turning out to be a ridiculously brief bit was funny. Norm is helping sell it with his confused facial reaction when the camera pans back to him after Mike leaves.
— Norm does a lottery joke about a man named Dale Sturtevant. Isn’t that the same name SNL would later use for Will Ferrell’s character in the memorable Dissing Your Dog commercial from Season 27?
— A solid overall commentary from Tim, being overly passionate about his and other black people’s love for hockey.
— Norm’s jokes tonight have thankfully been a lot more Norm-esque than in his debut the preceding week. Even though he’s still using a bit of the professional, straitlaced anchorman delivery he used the preceding week, his natural Update style is gradually starting to form. Very nice to see.
— David Spade trying out a new character, I see.
— Norm to Cool Guy, a few minutes into his commentary: “Is this the whole joke, you don’t talk and just make funny faces?” Took the words right out of my mouth, Norm.
— Norm’s David Hasselhoff theory now officially becomes a recurring Update gag. I love that the audience never knows quite how to react to it.
STARS: ***½
MAKING BETTER LOVE WORKSHOP
voyeurs (ADS) & (CHF) ruin adult education sex demo done by (CSE) & (JAG)
— I was wondering where Chris Elliott was tonight.
— Surprisingly, this is also Adam’s first appearance of the night.
— All I can say about Adam and Farley’s obnoxious, juvenile, loud performances here is, it perfectly sums up what their dominant output will be this season. And I really could do without that in this particular sketch. Can’t I just enjoy a sketch with Chris Elliott being his usual funny oddball self without Farley and Sandler hijacking it with their tired shtick?
— Elliott’s seduction dance is hilarious.
— I’m enjoying the way Elliott and Janeane are playing off of each other. Speaking of Janeane, it feels weird seeing her so upbeat in some of her performances so far this season, knowing how miserable she would soon start coming off in many of her performances. I think the turning point where that onscreen misery of hers officially starts showing is the infamous Sarah Jessica Parker episode. There’s an interesting backstage anecdote that sheds a little light on her misery in that episode, but I’ll save it for that review.
— This is a tale of two sketches. We get an unusual, sloppy mix of Chris Elliott doing his fresh, quirky, weird brand of humor and Sandler and Farley doing their trademark fratboy routine. This sketch alone sums up what an awkward, bad mishmash this season’s cast is.
— Elliott: “We are simply two people trying to make love in an elementary school cafeteria!”
— Mike and Marisa’s mix-up with a beer bottle is pretty funny.
STARS: ***
DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
Michael Jackson (TIM) & Lisa Marie Presley (host)
— For some reason, it feels weird to see a Stuart Smalley sketch in this season. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, though.
— This sketch was actually cut from the preceding week’s season premiere. In that version, Janeane was the one who played Lisa Marie Presley (pic here).
— I liked the reveal that the letter Stuart has just read is from O.J. Simpson.
— Even though I’m not sure if it was intended to be funny, Tim’s Michael Jackson saying “Girl, you wake up the devil in me” cracked me the hell up.
— What’s with Marisa’s coughing after she kisses Tim? Is that an intentional bit?
— A good laugh from Stuart quoting a radio announcement of “Elvis Presley died today, straining at his stool.”
— Lisa Marie’s various random one-liners about Michael’s lifestyle (“He has a monkey”, “I’m not Macaulay Culkin”, etc.) started out funny, but are now doing nothing for me.
— Another gripe of mine regarding Marisa’s Lisa Marie Presley is that I could do without the constant repetition of “Yum, yum, gimme some.”
— Okay, I did get a laugh just now from Lisa Marie interrupting Stuart’s sign-off to say another one of her random one-liners about Michael’s lifestyle. I love how Stuart responds to that by just speechlessly looking around in confusion, never finishing his sign-off.
STARS: ***
MONSTERS OF MONOLOGUE ’94
a face-off between monologists Eric Bogosian (ADS) & Spaulding Gray (MMK)
— Not having much familiarity with Eric Bogosian, I can’t rate the accuracy of Adam’s impression of him. Adam’s “impression” just seems to be a variation of a certain voice that Adam has a tendency to fall back on too much (you know the one).
— Michael’s Spaulding Gray, on the other hand, is absolutely spot-on. And he’s delivering his fast-paced lines perfectly and brilliantly.
— This is another sketch tonight that shows what an awkward mishmash this season’s cast is. Sandler doing his loud, hammy, broad shtick and McKean doing some smart, low-key humor. I feel it’s all actually coming together fairly well in this sketch, though.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Storm Warning”
BOBBY CAMILARRI’S BRIDAL FAIR 2000
discount nuptial vendors will be at Bobby Camilarri’s Bridal Fair 2000
— Not a bad premise, advertising a bridal fair in a monster truck ad-type of way.
— Eh, turns out this commercial is starting to bring back unwanted memories of that terrible Super Sports Tours commercial from the season premiere, even if this one isn’t quite as one-joke.
— Didn’t we already get an “All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt” gag earlier tonight?
— The brief shot of Marisa at the end came off pointless. It’s almost laughable in itself that they went through the trouble of getting the host into costume for a useless two-second shot that provided no payoff to the sketch.
STARS: *½
FALL MIXER
’70s high schoolers (ADS) & (host) engage in small talk while dancing
— I like the interesting and unconventional structure to this sketch, with Adam and Marisa each taking turns speaking whenever they face the camera while slow-dancing with each other in circles. A creative, slower, softer sketch like this feels refreshing in this particular season. A refreshing use of Adam too.
— I like the random choice to give this sketch a 70s aesthetic without actually calling attention to it.
— The whole bit regarding a guy off-camera who Marisa complains is staring at her is really funny.
— When Marisa asks if there’s any way Adam can make his erection go away, I love Adam responding “Yeah, start talkin’ about your shampoos again”.
— A good laugh from Adam suddenly donning a fake mustache to hide his identity.
— Do we really need TWO sketches tonight ending with a homoerotic turn?
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not too bad for this season’s standards. In fact, I was surprised to find this episode to be better than I ever found it in past viewings. There was barely anything I hated tonight, a lot of stuff was okay, and there were about three strong pieces (Lexon Paradox, The Simpson Trial, Fall Mixer) that had a style completely different from the typical output this season. If I wasn’t already aware of how this season turns out, tonight’s episode might’ve given me false hope that maybe the bad season premiere was just a fluke.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Steve Martin)
a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
John Travolta