Tag: Neil Young

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December 17, 2005 – Jack Black / Neil Young (S31 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

SANTA CHENEY
Dick Cheney (DAH) plays Santa to kids’ politically-convenient requests

— A memorable opening image of Darrell’s Dick Cheney pulling down his fake Santa beard and making that trademark Cheney grin at the camera.
— Some laughs from the kids obviously reading off scripted wordy, un-childlike requests as their Christmas wish.
— Good visual of Will’s President Bush sitting on Santa’s lap. Quite Will Ferrell-esque.
— Some funny political satire from Will-as-Bush’s line comparing the recalling of defective Xbox 360s to his refusing to recall his defective policy in Iraq.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host sings his King Kong song, which didn’t make it into the movie

— I see we’re getting a typical fun Jack Black musical number.
— The lyrics of this King Kong song are fantastic and hilarious, and the melody is epic.
STARS: ****½


STUART LITTLE MOUSE REMOVAL KIT
Stuart Little Mouse Removal Kit tempts rodents to drive out of your house

— An amusing and creative concept for a mouse trap commercial.
— Lots of great and fun little details to the extensive Stuart Little mouse trap.
— A very good ending with the mouse car unexpectedly blowing up after it leaves the house.
STARS: ****½


THE WIND
at Sbarro, shoppers suffer gusts of cold wind due to near-to-door table

— I recall a few online SNL fans back at this time in 2005 unfavorably comparing this sketch to the notorious Hot Plates sketch from the preceding season. I’ve personally never considered this sketch to be as bad as Hot Plates, but we’ll see during this current viewing of mine.
— Fred’s hobo character angrily hissing at Jack cracked me up.
— A good aggressive “SON OF A BITCH!” delivery from Rachel, who’s apparently channeling the spirit of Chris Farley.
— I’m not caring too much for the wind gags, though the execution of this is still coming off more enjoyable and much less cringeworthingly corny than the dreaded Hot Plates. The performances from Jack and the cast are also helping made this sketch a little fun.
— Funny lines from a shaken-up Kenan right before his exit.
— They botched the gag where a dummy of Rachel is supposed to drop from above after the wind blows Rachel high up in the air. Not sure what exactly went wrong with the gag, but after it got botched, Rachel can be seen walking over a dummy of herself lying on the floor (on the right corner of the below screencap), a dummy that was never seen before in the sketch, all the while Amy is genuinely laughing her ass off at this blooper.

SNL would later show the dress rehearsal version of this sketch in reruns, in which the Rachel’s-dummy-falling-from-above gag is executed properly, complete with a comical loud “thud” sound effect when Rachel’s falling dummy lands on the floor.
— The “Happy Holidays From The Weather Channel” twist ending felt unnecessary. SNL sometimes has a bad habit of throwing in that type of dumb twist ending in sketches.
STARS: **½


APPALACHIAN EMERGENCY ROOM
(musical guest) & Johnny Knoxville [real] ail

— Amy’s usual “And now, another episode of Appalachian Emergency Room” opening voice-over in these sketches has been updated in tonight’s installment to include her following up her afore-quoted intro line with a cheery utterance of “Christmastime!”, which strangely amused me, for some reason.
— Great walk-on from Neil Young as Amy and Darrell’s druggie son, who they’ve often mentioned in past installments of this sketch.
— Amy’s character in this recurring sketch always delivers her exit line in a very funny manner while walking away, but we get a particularly hilarious delivery from her during her exit in tonight’s installment.
— Ha, did I just hear Seth say “Tiny Nations” as one of the two names he called out for Jason and Bill’s characters?
— Pretty solid bit with the the huge jart stuck in Jason’s head.
— A hilarious dirty gag with the watermelon still staying attached to Chris’ crotch after he lets go of it (I also love Seth’s reaction to that), which feels like both a callback to a gag Chris did in Heather Graham’s monologue from season 25 and a precursor to a certain famous Digital Short from the Justin Timberlake-hosted Christmas episode an exact year from tonight’s episode.
— Jack: “I’m your medical ball of clay. MOLD ME.” That is such a perfectly Jack Black-ish line that you’d think he wrote it himself.
— Johnny Knoxville’s cameo as himself as one of the patients is both very funny and strangely very fitting for this sketch. I also love how he implies during his exit that he’s all too familiar with this hospital’s rooms. A perfect way to end what was EASILY the best installment of Appalachian Emergency Room.
STARS: ****


TV FUNHOUSE
“Christmastime For The Jews” by RBS- gentile absence brings opportunities

— Right out of the gate, I’m immediately getting such an epic feel from this cartoon.
— Hilarious subject matter for this well-animated black-and-white stop motion cartoon.
— Not only a very funny song, but it’s strangely beautiful-sounding, no doubt helped by being sung by Darlene Love, who’s being utilized to perfection here.
— A particularly funny bit about Jews going to sleep with Daily Show reruns in their heads.
— Even the closing credits of this are great, with the special Darlene Love-sung Christmas-themed TV Funhouse jingle.
— Overall, a true classic.
— The fact that this cartoon is immediately followed by a live shot of Darlene Love singing with the SNL Band further adds to the epic feel of both this cartoon and this episode in general.
STARS: *****


CHANNEL 5 PHOTO SHOOT
TV news team member (host) points out unfairness at publicity photo shoot

— A very simplistic premise, but it’s being executed decently.
— A laugh from Chris’ pointing towards Jack actually being a thumbs-down.
— Even when playing the simple straight role of a director, Jason is coming off so charismatic and fun here.
STARS: ***


LAZY SUNDAY
CHP & ANS rap about a trip to see The Chronicles Of Narnia

— Ohho, yes. HERE WE GO, FOLKS.
— A hilarious reveal of The Chronicles of Narnia being the movie that Andy and Chris are rapping to each other over the phone about going to see together.
— This is SO wall-to-wall with individual hilarious moments and perfect little details that I cannot even begin to single out my favorite moment. Andy and Chris’ furious hardcore and masterful rapping about such silly, non-hardcore things, the onscreen graphics of objects related to the lyrics, the brief cutaways to Andy and Chris individually staring into the camera while doing cupcake-related things in such a dead-serious style (such as chomping hard into a cupcake, or holding up an open box of cupcakes in a gansta manner), the words “SNACK-ATTACK!” showing up in big onscreen letters as it’s being yelled by Andy and Chris, the stop motion effect of Andy and Chris traveling from one end of the street to the other, the gunshot sound effect at the very end as the camera is pulling back on Andy and Chris…man, this Digital Short is top-to-bottom PERFECTION.
— When this short originally aired, not only was I absolutely amazed at what I was witnessing from this very unexpected piece, but both my face and throat actually hurt from how hard and for how long I was laughing all throughout it. There would be a special moment in another sketch later in this episode that would make my face and throat further hurt from extremely heavy laughter, a special moment that I’ll point out when we arrive there.
— Needless to say, this short would end up being a truly groundbreaking moment for SNL, and a huge turning point in the history of the show. What can be said about how much this absolutely blew up online, back in the days before the idea of an SNL piece going “viral” was even a thing? (Lazy Sunday went SO viral that even people who hadn’t watched SNL in years became aware of the short. I remember this finally made me proud to admit to non-SNL viewers that I was a diehard fan of the show, after the preceding season made me embarrassed to admit that.) What can be said about how this famously put the already-existing-but-not-yet-huge YouTube on the map, which would thus also lead to a trend of average joes on YouTube filming their own recreations of Lazy Sunday? What can be said about the huge press SNL received from this, easily the most press they had gotten in years? What can be said about how this would be such a major turning point for the then-struggling newbie Andy and would lead to him having a hugely popular 7-year tenure on the show. And finally, of course, what can be said about how much this would forever change so many things for SNL, finally bringing them into the virtual age and also leading to them embracing more pre-taped shorts and music video content, which continues to this day?
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “It’s A Dream”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Skull Island tourism board members (KET) & (TRM) downplay giant fauna

AMP & TIF list icky properties of 15 year-old boys they find irresistible

— Well, here to piss all over the natural high this episode has put me in so far…
— Ha, Tracy Morgan out of nowhere, randomly paired with Kenan in an Update commentary as African tourism board members. There’s actually a backstory to this random casting. Tracy’s role was written for Finesse, and Finesse played it in dress rehearsal, but because Tracy made a backstage visit to SNL sometime that evening before the live show, they wanted to give him a part in the show, so they yanked Finesse from his role in this Update commentary and placed Tracy in it, leaving Finesse with practically NOTHING tonight (more on that later in my review of a certain sketch towards the end of this episode).
— Tracy’s exclamation of “LIES!” in an African accent has me laughing out loud.
— Not only is Kenan noticeably stifling his laughter throughout this commentary whenever Tracy speaks (particularly during one moment where Tracy pauses for an awkwardly long time before delivering a line), but Kenan can also be seen mouthing some of Tracy’s lines. All of this is obviously because Kenan must not have rehearsed this piece with Tracy beforehand, given how Tracy was thrown into the role at the last minute.
— As bad as I feel for the struggling Finesse getting a rare big role yanked away from him at the last minute, I’m trying to imagine what this Update commentary would’ve been like with him and Kenan, and it would’ve been NOTHING. Tracy’s performance and delivery are adding the only real comedy to be found in this whole piece.
— For once, Tina and Amy do an Update piece together that’s actually making me laugh, with the segment in which they lovingly go on and on about the “irresistible” things about 15-year-old boys.
— Boy, I’d love to see how viewers today would react to Amy’s joke about the symbol for transsexual bathrooms.
— An actual fairly short Fey/Poehler Update, thankfully.
STARS: **


A VERY DOWNER CHRISTMAS
young Debbie Downer saps Santa’s (host) jollity when he visits her house

— After the refreshing Steve Carell installment of this sketch earlier this season, we get another much-needed change of pace for Debbie Downer, this time with us seeing her as a little girl on Christmas Eve.
— Oh, I absolutely LOVE the new Grinch-esque Debbie Downer opening title sequence.
— At one point during the aforementioned Grinch-esque opening title sequence, the singing narrator mentions he’d rather have his face shredded by an eel than listen to Debbie Downer. When this episode originally aired, I left on my TV’s closed-captioning, and I noticed that the singing narrator’s aforementioned line in this sketch about “having my face shredded by an eel” was written in the closed-captioning as “having my nards shredded by an eel”. The people who do on-the-fly closed-captioning for live SNL episodes reportedly rely on a script they’re provided of the dress rehearsal versions of sketches, in an attempt to try to keep the live closed-captioning from lagging behind the dialogue too badly. So judging from this odd “nards shredded by an eel” inconsistency in the closed-captioning, I take it SNL changed the line in this sketch from “nards shredded by an eel” to a much more innocent “face shredded by an eel” right before airtime. Why, though? The original line, while naughty, doesn’t seem like something NBC’s censors would come down hard on SNL for in the year 2005. This also reminds me that there was another odd inconsistency in the closed-captioning for this episode: at the beginning of Weekend Update when Tina was delivering the first joke, the captioning for that joke instead captioned a COMPLETELY different joke that was nowhere to be heard from Tina nor Amy at any point in tonight’s Update. Must’ve been a joke that got cut after dress rehearsal. (From what my very faint memory of the captioned joke recalls, the punchline of it involved a mention of someone farting and saying “Smell my democracy”. I kid you not, folks.)
— This sketch is such an improvement over typical Debbie Downer fare. Even Debbie’s typical depressing one-liners are actually making me laugh in tonight’s installment. The fun atmosphere and change of pace are helping this a lot.
— I loved Jack-as-Santa asking a very puzzled “Is that even a thing???” after Debbie says she has juvenile sciatica.
— Funny bit with Jack acting like he’s going to use the cup of scotch to dip his cookie into, only for him to immediately throw the cookie away without eating it and then he downs the cup of scotch.
— They’ve even shaken things up with the usual tired feline AIDS routine, by having Debbie instead mention her cat’s mange.
— Great bit with Santa giving Debbie a calendar of medical oddities as her Christmas gift, which she, of course, is delighted by.
STARS: ****


DESERTED MOON
stranded in space, (host) rebuffs advances of hermaphrodite alien (ANS)

 

— This is a re-done version of a sketch that Lonely Island originally did in an un-aired FOX pilot around 2004/early 2005, a pilot for a Lonely Island-starring sketch comedy show called (I think) Awesometown, which FOX ended up passing on. The pilot would later be put online. In the Awesometown version of this Deserted Moon sketch, Jorma Taccone played the role that Jack Black is playing in tonight’s version.
— Andy’s stock continues to quickly rise tonight, as he FINALLY gets his very first lead role in a live sketch (unless I’m forgetting something…oh, and Update commentaries and pre-taped commercials don’t count in this case; I’m only talking about live sketches).
— Andy’s voice and delivery throughout this sketch is kinda reminding me of Ashton Kutcher.
— I like the structure of this sketch, with this sketch being divided up into little scenes, each separated by an exterior shot of the planet while a fun outer space-type music sting plays.
— Despite the homoerotic and hermaphrodite aspect of this premise, this sketch thankfully isn’t coming off as the typical hacky and unflattering gay material that dominated the preceding season. I could do without Andy’s decision to play his character with a stereotypical gay lisp, though.
— Funny interplay between Andy and Jack throughout this.
— I particularly like the part with Andy opening the front of his space suit with his back to the camera and Jack reacting in horror to the unseen-to-us monstrosity he’s witnessing.
— Andy’s character, while drunk on Space Wine, ending one scene by drunkenly saying “Space Wine!” to himself is strangely both a very Andy Samberg-esque moment AND a very Ashton Kutcher-esque moment.
— A genuine gaffe from Andy in which, as he tells Jack “I’m all you’ve got!” while pounding his hand on the glass top of the spaceship to emphasize his point, which is supposed to unwittingly fix the broken spaceship, he accidentally dislodges the glass top. Jack makes a fantastic ad-lib in response to this blooper: “You broke it…but you also fixed it!”
— The ending text crawl epilogue is slightly different from the one in the aforementioned original version of this sketch in the Awesometown pilot.
STARS: ***


TWO A-HOLES BUYING A CHRISTMAS TREE
Christmas tree seller (host) fields A-holes’ (JAS) & (KRW) dumb requests

— Our very first Two A-Holes sketch.
— I am loving this characterization from both Jason and Kristen, and we’re getting a great display of both performers’ chemistry with each other.
— So many laughs from so many of the asinine statements from the Two A-Holes. Jack is also portraying his character’s growing frustration towards them very well.
— There’s Finesse’s awkward performance as a hot dog vendor that I mentioned in my review of Weekend Update from this season’s premiere. It turns out he’s not coming off QUITE as awkward and halting in this sketch as I had remembered, but you can still sadly sense a little bit of genuine frustration, disappointment, and dispirited-ness in the poor guy’s performance (and no, it’s not just him acting in character in response to the Two A-Holes’ oddness), presumably not only because his ONLY appearance of the night happens to be in such a small, non-comedic role at the very end of a sketch airing near the very end of an episode that has so many big and soon-to-be-legendary moments that he didn’t get to be a part of, but also because he must’ve been especially bummed that this is all he was left with tonight after his ONE big piece with Kenan on Weekend Update ended up getting re-cast at the last minute, with his role being given to an impromptu special guest.
STARS: ****


SPELLING BEE
spelling bee loser (WLF) inspires song by Tenacious D

— Here comes a well-loved Will Forte masterpiece.
— The VERY soft-spoken voice Will is speaking into the microphone with is freakin’ slaying me.
— After asking Chris’ moderator character for various things like the origin of the word he has to spell, I love Will flat-out asking “Could you spell the word please.” Chris also responds to that with a perfectly deadpan and subtly irritated “No.”
— And there it goes: Will’s absolutely classic and priceless one-minute-long (I’m guesstimating) misspelling of the word “business”, including a portion in which he repeats the letter “q” non-stop for a good while (complete with a perfectly-timed brief break in which he looks upwards in a pensive manner before continuing with the non-stop “q”s). This whole “business” misspelling is not only fucking hilarious, but it’s very impressive and daring on Will’s part, which are just some of the reasons why he’s such an epic performer in general.
— Will’s misspelling of “business” is the moment I was talking about in my Lazy Sunday review when I said this episode had another moment that made both my face and throat hurt so much from laughing so hard for so long when this episode originally aired. In fact, both Lazy Sunday and Will’s misspelling in this Spelling Bee sketch are easily two of the hardest I’ve EVER laughed while watching SNL, and for that reason, I will cherish those two moments forever.
— A perfect follow-up to Will’s epic misspelling, with Chris leaning into the microphone and saying a very dry and deadpan “Wrong.” Though that was just a simple little moment, it was such a good display of Chris’ always-excellent straight man skills.
— I know some people don’t like the turn this sketch takes with this randomly becoming a Tenacious D musical number, but I consider it to be an extra treat from this already-fantastic sketch, even though this sketch would’ve still stood as a classic had it abruptly ended after Chris’ aforementioned deadpan delivery of the line “Wrong.”
— Excellent touch at the end with the camera zooming in on Will’s face as he stares into the camera with a stone-faced, melancholy look (the last above screencap for this sketch).
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “He Was The King”


GOODNIGHTS
host, TRM, cast members end the show from Rockefeller Center skating rink

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An all-time classic and important episode in SNL history. So many memorable and legendary pieces in this episode, including one particularly groundbreaking piece (Lazy Sunday). And even a lot of the stuff that’s not considered a classic were strong, including much-better-than-usual installments of Appalachian Emergency Room and Debbie Downer. The whole night also had a magic feel in the air, even during some of the lesser segments of this episode. This fantastic episode, especially the aforementioned way both Lazy Sunday and Will Forte’s one-minute-long misspelling of “business” in the Spelling Bee sketch gave me some of the hardest laughs I’ve EVER gotten from SNL, coupled with the fact that this was the third consecutive episode that I liked this season, made it 100% official to me on the night this episode originally aired that SNL was BACK after the dire three-year slump they were in before this season.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Alec Baldwin)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 2006, with future five-timer Scarlett Johansson making her hosting debut

Posted on

May 6, 2000 – John Goodman / Neil Young (S25 E18)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
Time Warner interrupts celebrity contest

— Darrell’s Regis Philbin introducing Lance Bass as being from “Flash In The Pan, Florida” gave me a good laugh.
— Kattan’s David Duchovny impression is cracking me up with his facial expression alone.
— The constant “Disney has taken ABC away from you” disclaimer interruptions, parodying an actual ABC interruption that had recently happened, are making me laugh, even if they’ve gotten a bit tedious after a while.
— I love Darrell’s Regis introducing Cheri’s Kathie Lee Gifford by saying “The next voice you hear will be that of SATAN!!!”
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Maya Rudolph has been added to the cast tonight.

I wonder what the reason is for adding her so late in the season. Perhaps Lorne was worried that he might lose both Cheri Oteri AND Molly Shannon over the then-upcoming summer?


MONOLOGUE
plastered host mistakenly thinks he acted in the Flintstones prequel

— In the cutaway to a confused Tim and Will during John’s goofy Flintstones dancing, I love Tim saying “He’s not in the Flintstones movie” and Will saying “He is plastered.”
— Funny turn with Jimmy, Horatio, and Neil Young being the only ones who are into John’s Flintstones dancing, and agreeing with each other that “he’s kickin’ ass!”
— Not too sure this “John’s an alcoholic and needs an intervention” premise is working.
— Overall, ehh, a fairly tepid monologue, but with a few highlights.
STARS: **½


PLATINUM MACH 14
Gillette’s Platinum Mach 14 razor is more advanced than the Triple-Trac

— I’m reminded of SNL’s Triple-Trac commercial from the very first episode, which treated the now-marketable idea of three-bladed razors as silly.
— After about a minute-and-a-half into this commercial, I finally got my first laugh, from the bit about a phantom blade that’s only there to provide stabilization.
— The ending shot of Will with his face all cut up is kinda funny, but overall, I wasn’t crazy about this commercial as a whole.
STARS: **


WANNA BE A VJ 3
Raymond (CHK) & Shannon (ANG) compete for a job at MTV

— The debut of Jimmy’s Carson Daly impression and his accompanying catchphrase, “I’m Carson Daly, and I’m a massive tool.”
— John Goodman playing MTV’s Dave Holmes? Oooookay, bizarre casting there. Is this just an excuse to work John into this sketch?
— I got a laugh from “Play some damn videos” getting the most votes on the MTV poll.
— The video package of Kattan’s character is pure “WTF?”, but I laughed out loud at the very random shot of him holding his crotch in pain while yelling “Ohh, you got me in the—”.
— It feels so odd seeing Maya Rudolph at this point of my SNL project. This is making me realize that I’m slowly beginning to get closer and closer to SNL’s modern era. When I eventually reach the respective debuts of cast members like Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, and Bill Hader, I’m sure it’ll also feel very odd. To say nothing of what it’ll feel like when I reach Kenan Thompson’s debut just a few seasons from now.
— Ana’s video package is funny.
— I love Ana trying to hide the fact that she obviously doesn’t know who Method Man is. I especially like her delivery of the line “I love the Wuuuuuuu!” when claiming she’s familiar with the Wu Tang Clan.
— Overall, this sketch picked up in the second half when it focused on Ana, but too much of this sketch felt less like an MTV parody and more like the exact type of stuff that you’d see on MTV in this era.
STARS: **½


OFFICE FLIRT
co-workers endure office vamp Adele’s (CHO) unsubtle sexual innuendo

— Nice to see Cheri attempting a new character, especially considering that this late stage of season 25 we’re in ends up being the homestretch of Cheri’s SNL tenure.
— Cheri-as-Adele’s over-explaining of her sexual innuendos is really funny.
— Good bit with Adele using an unwilling Rachel to demonstrate how she can “go both ways”, leading poor Rachel to explain “I’m just a temp!”
— Very funny ending line from Adele about her office having a waterbed and KY.
— Overall, a great sketch, and ends up being probably Cheri’s final great original SNL moment (not counting any recurring sketches). I’m glad that Cheri’s upcoming departure prevented SNL from eventually turning this into an unnecessary recurring sketch.
STARS: ****


TV FUNHOUSE
“The Life of a Catchphrase” by RBS- “Yeah, That’s The Ticket” is tracked

 

— It’s obvious that a lot of the animation in the opening Lorne segment is reused from the TV Funhouse cartoon that aired in SNL’s 25th Anniversary Special. You can even see a Dennis Miller doll next to Lorne at one point, which the 25th Anniversary cartoon did a bit with, by having the talking doll spout off an angry Dennis Miller rant when you pull its string.
— I love Lorne reading off a profanity-filled fan letter complaning about SNL’s habit of running things into the ground.
— Great part with Lorne using certain cast members to demonstrate catchphrases that work and don’t work, such as Rob Schneider receiving audience cheers from saying “Makin’ copiiieeees!” but getting his head torn off by the audience when saying “You like-a da juice?”
— SNL gets in YET ANOTHER dig about Joe Piscopo being a has-been, for the second consecutive episode.
— I’d like to think that the part with Molly Shannon is Robert Smigel’s way of acknowledging how badly downhill Molly’s been going lately.
— I’m absolutely loving the meta-ness of this whole cartoon.
— Great turn with Jon Lovitz’s popularity from the phrase “Yeah, that’s the ticket” coming to a halt as soon as Lorne brings in newbie Dana Carvey and his catchphrase “Well, isn’t that special?”
— Why in the world is Jenny Jones animated as a black woman?!? (the woman on the right in the third-to-last above screencap for this TV Funhouse, if that’s indeed supposed to be Jenny Jones. It may just be a Jenny Jones guest, though. If so, disregard what I said.)
— A very good sequence showing Jon’s “Yeah, that’s the ticket” popularity gradually diminish, eventually leading to an older Jon watching himself saying that catchphrase on a Comedy Central rerun (complete with the now-old-school Comedy Central station bug on the bottom corner of the TV screen). Interestingly, this cartoon is predicting that SNL reruns would still be seen on Comedy Central in the year 2019, which sadly didn’t turn out to be true.
— During the scene with aliens worshiping Jon after witnessing him in a Comedy Central SNL rerun, I love Jon quickly destroying the aliens’ TV screen as soon as a Church Lady sketch pops up on it.
— An overall brilliant cartoon.
STARS: ****½


THE CHRISTOPHER LOWELL SHOW
fey panelists laud decorating ideas

— A typical Chris Kattan role, but I’d be lying if I said he didn’t make me laugh early on in this sketch, before I realized the one-note route this sketch was going to take.
— Oddly, John in that Christopher Lowell-esque get-up makes him look like Dom DeLuise.
— John’s various “MMM-mmm!”s and “AHH-ahh”s are making me laugh. Not sure why his “MMM-mmm!”s and “AHH-ahh”s are making me laugh more than Kattan and Jimmy’s, but they are.
— Overall, I got some laughs from the silliness here, but as a whole: ehhh.
— SNL would later replace this sketch in reruns with the dress rehearsal version, which contains a blooper at one point in which Kattan’s fake beard peels off a bit, resulting in a funny ad-lib from Kattan (something like “I haven’t shaved all week, so…”, I can’t remember the exact line).
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Razor Love”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Kevin Brennan [real] downplays the value of familial relations
lame duck Bill Clinton (DAH) tells Cuban-Americans to shut up

— After a joke just now, I love how Colin ad-libbed “MMM-mmm!”, as a callback to the Christopher Lowell Show sketch from earlier tonight.
— Good to see SNL writer Kevin Brennan in his second (and final) Update commentary. His previous commentary gave me an A. Whitney Brown vibe that I liked.
— Brennan’s overall commentary was decent, though nothing memorable. However, if SNL was prepping this guy to potentially take over Colin’s anchorperson spot the following season, NO. In my opinion, Kevin Brennan as an anchorperson would NOT have worked. His delivery is too monotone and lethargic to anchor Update. Audiences would probably have gotten bored of him fast, and I doubt he would’ve been the upswing that Update needed after the Colin Quinn era. Brennan is more suited to A. Whitney Brown-type guest political commentaries. We end up not getting him in any capacity the following season, as he doesn’t return to SNL that season.
— For the second episode in a row, Colin himself does a Weekend Update Editorial, this time an amusingly brief, wordless one where he bitterly tears up a paper regarding a Kentucky Derby horse race that he lost a bet on.
— Is Colin EVER capable of making an ad-libbed statement towards the audience without trailing off towards the end of his sentences? I can rarely fully decipher his muttered ad-libbed statements.
— Great to see Darrell’s President Clinton back at the Update desk.
— I love Darrell’s Clinton saying “Shut the eff up” towards the upset Cuban community in regards to the Elian Gonzalez saga, then smugly informing us that he can speak freely at this point because “What are ya gonna do, impeach me again?”
— What the hell? A brief snippet of the Weekend Update theme music has LOUDLY played right in the middle of Darrell’s commentary just now. I’m surprised that very noticeable technical gaffe didn’t throw Darrell off.
— Darrell’s overall Clinton commentary was awesome as usual and killed with both me and the audience.
STARS: **½


ROCK & ROLL RESTAURANT
Jim Morrison impersonator (HOS) waits on diners at rock & roll restaurant

— I love Tracy’s impression of the lead singer from Cameo.
— When Jimmy asks if they can get another waiter because they don’t remember the lead singer from Cameo, I got a good laugh from Tracy bitterly responding “Yeah, and I guess my kids can eat dirt!” and then pushing Jimmy’s head when making his exit.
— I’m liking Horatio’s as a latter-years Jim Morrison.
— The rock-and-roll-themed menu items that the customers are reading off are pretty funny.
— You can tell that this sketch is fairly early in Horatio and Jimmy’s SNL tenures, as Horatio is going fully over-the-top right next to Jimmy, yet Jimmy is staying perfectly in character, not cracking a smile. If this sketch were from 2002-2004, you know that both Jimmy and Horatio would be absolutely losing their shit at Horatio’s own antics.
— Okay, the whole Jim Morrison bit is getting old, though Horatio is giving it his all. This sketch feels kinda like a poor man’s version of Horatio’s Just Enjoy The Ozzy And Keep Your Mouth Shut sketch from the preceding season.
— I did get a laugh from Horatio suddenly grabbing at the customers’ inappropriate areas.
— I liked John’s line to the customers about how they need to accept the fact that when you see the latter-years Jim Morrison, he’s gonna show you his wiener.
— Hmm, after I’ve pointed out how perfectly in character Jimmy is staying while watching Horatio’s antics, Jimmy now looks like he’s trying to hide his laughter after Horatio began exaggeratedly singing into Jimmy’s face.
— Horatio smashing a bottle on Jimmy’s head before diving onto the table was pretty funny.
— After the table of customers leave in an upset manner, I love Horatio yelling towards them “Buncha JACKHOLES!”
STARS: **½


TRAFFIC STOP
troopers (host) & (TIM) administer sobriety test to the Bloater brothers

— The Bloater Brothers officially become recurring characters. As I explained in my review of their first appearance, these characters are big guilty pleasures of mine, and I’m well-aware that I’m in the minority.
— The Bloater Brothers’ singing of their refrigerator commercial jingle is amusing me.
— Tim gets a great laugh from his blunt delivery of “I’m gonna take this nightstick and hit ya in the head.” That’s the type of line that only Tim Meadows could get such a big laugh out of with his delivery.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Silver & Gold”


TEK-CO
Tek-co Mechanical Currency Masticator automates coin valuation via biting

— Will has surprisingly been having a very light night. This is his first appearance since all the way back in the Platinum Mach 14 commercial right after the monologue.
— I love Will revealing his missing teeth when saying he bit the coins in the last treasure chest.
— A very random premise for a Chris Parnell pitchman ad, but I’m liking this randomness.
— Parnell surprisingly flubbed a word just now (reminds me of how surprised I would always be when seeing the rare times that Phil Hartman messed up), but he immediately recovered well.
— I like the part with Parnell listing off various ridiculous terms for coins.
— A funny visual of John with his finger coyly in his mouth when Parnell catches him trying to pass off a fake coin as a real one.
— Hmm, all of this lengthy, complicated, speedy dialogue may be a bit too much for Parnell, as even a consummate pro like him seems to be having a little trouble getting through some of these lines.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not quite as terrible as I had remembered it, but it was still a subpar episode and had a forgettable feel. John Goodman also gave YET ANOTHER forgettable hosting performance in which he disappeared into the background, aside from some laughs here and there. You know, I really hate to say what I’m about to say about John Goodman, and this may result in me getting stones thrown at me, but after reviewing 11 straight seasons in which John Goodman hosted, I’m honestly starting to wonder why he was such a frequent host who was brought back season after season. I love John Goodman as much as the next guy, but he rarely, if ever, stands out as a host, and he just plays forgettable, thankless roles most of the time. He doesn’t have that Buck Henry quality, either, that would justify frequently bringing back such a host that rarely stands out in sketches. I’d understand John hosting every few seasons or so, but on an annual basis??? It’s probably a good thing that he ends up taking a one-year break from hosting SNL the following season.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tobey Maguire)
a big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Britney Spears

Posted on

December 5, 1992 – Tom Arnold / Neil Young (S18 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Wayne’s World- Wayne & Garth laud Bill Clinton with a top 10 list

— Mike Myers makes his return, after being on hiatus all season filming So I Married an Axe Murderer. And what better way to reinstate him into the show than with a Wayne’s World sketch?
— This actually ends up being the final Wayne’s World sketch while Dana and Mike were both in the cast together.
— Wayne breaks the news that Garth recently got pubes. Uh, wasn’t there ALREADY a Wayne’s World sketch where they made that announcement about Garth? (read here) I guess Mike’s been gone so long, he forgot he already used that pubes bit.
— When laughing in character, Dana’s glasses accidentally fly off and he then calls attention to it.

— As usual, lots of great comments during the Top 10 list, especially the remarks about Bill Clinton’s huge head, and the whole hope/intercourse bit.
— There’s the infamous Chelsea Clinton bit that would get SNL in trouble, forcing them to remove that portion of this cold opening in reruns with a VERY glaring edit. In that portion, Wayne and Garth basically talk about how “adolescence has thus far been unkind” to then-13-year-old Chelsea, then they predict that “under the right clinical condition”, she can possibly be a babe in waiting. Reportedly, Hillary Clinton got up in arms about those lines, publicly complaining that it was in poor taste for SNL to make those jokes about a minor.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host sings “Johnny B. Goode” while NBC programming notes scroll by

— Tom proudly brings up the fact that his new show, The Jackie Thomas Show, premiered on ABC this week with incredible ratings. Feels weird to hear this in retrospect, because I have absolutely no memory of The Jackie Thomas Show, and I watched ABC fairly regularly in this era. (I was just a little kid back then, though, so maybe that’s why I have no recollection of The Jackie Thomas Show.) Those “incredible ratings” must not have lasted long.
— He mentions Gary Oldman was originally supposed to host this episode, but canceled for personal reasons (“He personally hates the show”, jokes Tom). I recall hearing that Oldman pulled out because a co-star of his convinced him not to host. I’m not 100% sure, but I think I heard the co-star in question was Malcolm McDowell, who was apparently still bitter over how bad his own SNL hosting experience was back in season 6. I guess nobody told him how much better SNL’s state now was in 1992.
— Boy, judging from the jokes here, it seems that even back in these days when he and Roseanne were still together, Tom knew their relationship wouldn’t last.
— The screen crawl promoting NBC’s Tuesday night line-up is kinda funny, but nothing great.
— I’m conflicted over the Johnny B. Goode performance, as I’m always a sucker for hearing that song, but I can’t say the same for hearing Tom Arnold sing. Plus, I can’t help but be reminded of SNL making fun of Tom singing that song in a less-than-stellar season 20 sketch pairing Tom Arnold and Madonna in a TV movie biopic.
— Awkward ending with the close-up of Tom not saying, singing, or doing anything, except just grinning into the camera.
STARS: **


SEX AND PEER PRESSURE AT VALLEY HIGH
gay teens in PBS afterschool special

 

— Third episode in a row with a gay-themed sketch. (The Michael Keaton episode had the Outweek sketch and the Sinbad episode had the Gloria Brigade sketch. We also have a lesbian Christmas party sketch coming up in the episode after this Tom Arnold one.) To me, this particular sketch is funny not because it’s a gay couple, but because of how this gay couple’s relationship is being presented in the same way as heterosexual relationships in typical dramatic after-school specials. This sketch is nailing all of the after-school special cliches.
— Nice to see David playing against type here. His crying outburst when returning home is particularly funny.
— Good mock-dramatic delivery from Julia of the line “I think I’d better leave you two… alone.”
— The fake programs that Phil lists off are providing pretty good laughs, especially “Nude Black Man Today” and “History of Police Brutality, hosted by Ice-T”.
STARS: ***


MCDONALD’S
Bill Clinton (PHH) explains Somalia by eating food at McDonald’s

— Fantastic use of Phil’s Clinton, and this would go on to be a very memorable sketch.
— Classic line with Clinton telling his secret service men “There’s gonna be a whole bunch of things we don’t tell Mrs. Clinton. Fast food is the least of our worries.”
— Very funny how Clinton is pigging out on patrons’ meals while he’s mid-conversation with them about serious issues. Every single time I watch this sketch, it never fails to make me very hungry. Another Clinton sketch that has the same effect on me is one of Darrell Hammond’s earliest Clinton appearances, in which he pigs out on various types of food in the middle of the night while calling up several people on the phone (even if that sketch is nowhere near as memorable as this Clinton At McDonalds sketch).
— I absolutely love how Clinton’s now using the patrons’ meals to demonstrate the dire situation in Somalia.
— Classic blooper right now where Phil has so much food in his mouth that he has to stop in the middle of his line because he can no longer speak, and after breaking a bit, he’s handed a drink by Rob in a fantastic ad-lib.
— Solid “Race you to the Pizza Hut!” ending.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “From Hank to Hendrix”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Roseanne Arnold [real] rails against assertiveness double standards
KEN would like to give harasser Bob Packwood a taste of his own medicine
Queen Shenequa’s review of The Bodyguard concerns deleted sex scenes

— That real-life clip of a Belgium emissary picking his nose at a conference and then eating the boogers… wow. If that Clinton At McDonald’s sketch gave me a huge appetite, this clip absolutely killed that appetite.
— A surprise Roseanne appearance.
— Roseanne’s double standards commentary wasn’t as strong as I was expecting, though there were some laughs. Kevin’s “Boy, what a bitch!” comment after she left was very funny, even if you could see it coming from a mile away. It was his delivery that sold it.
— Queen Shenequa’s last few appearances didn’t quite work for me, but I kinda like the idea of her doing a movie review in tonight’s commentary.
— Hmm, tonight’s overall Queen Shenequa commentary didn’t quite work for me either, though I did like the audience participation bit at the end regarding what women like to do after sex.
STARS: ***


BILL SWERSKI’S SUPER FANS
Super Fans visit Bob Swerski in the hospital; Dick Butkus cameo

— We get our first Super Fans sketch of the season.
— Nice change of scenery for this sketch.
— Very funny bit with Farley’s barbecue sauce IV and him using it on his food.
— Interesting use of a Dick Butkus cameo.
— Entertaining pre-taped sequence with Farley’s out-of-body experience.
STARS: ***½


DOGS
grunge band Dogs (ADS), (MIM), (ROS), (DAC), (RBS) performs a canine song

  

— A very unique change of pace to SNL’s format. They’re even using the musical guest stage for this performance.
— Great visual of Adam’s many nipples.
— This sketch is amazing so far. A fantastic, creative, and fun take-off of the grunge craze. SNL is going all out on this.
— So many great touches throughout this, and a lot of funny lyrics.
— I loved Rob’s “squeeze toy” music solo.
— I’ve always noticed that SNL Archives claims David has a part in this sketch as a spectator, but I never notice him any of the times I’ve seen this sketch. Where is he?
— Great ending with all of the band members humping a giant leg that’s brought onstage.
STARS: ****½


TALES FROM THE AMBULANCE
paperclip distributor (host) faces downsizing

— A variation of the Tales From the Barbecue sketches from the preceding season.
— The use of funny fake sponsors at the beginning makes me wonder if this is a Jack Handey sketch, and if so, does this mean he also wrote the Tales From the Barbecue sketches? Those sketches didn’t feel like Handey’s typical work to me.
— I like the absurdity of Rock actually stopping his ambulance vehicle in the middle of the road just to tell a story to David.
— Funny bit with Tom “accidentally” breaking the paperclip tray, thinking that solves his problem.
— The paperclip tale has a silliness that I like, but at the same time, parts of it are coming off kinda uninteresting.
— Funny ending with Rock and David.
STARS: **½


PORNO BUYERS’ SERVICE
Porno Buyers’ Service representative (ROS) is efficient but not discreet

— Funny line from Rob as the spokesman, regarding Tom: “This man has been here two hours. Two hours he could’ve spent at home… masturbating.”
— Rob as the spokesman is very funny throughout this whole sketch, especially his constantly embarrassing Tom.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Harvest Moon”
— Not included in my copy of this episode.


G.E.D. CLASS REUNION
high-school equivalency degree recipients attend 10-year class reunion

— Phil’s bitter lines during his intro speech are great.
— During his mention of his short-lived job working at an all-girls school, I liked Tom slipping in “Then I did some time” before quickly moving on.
— During Rob’s entrance, his skeevy grin alone has me cracking me up.
— The absurd brevity of Rob’s scene was funny.
— I love the dark turn this sketch has taken with Tim’s fast-paced rundown of which classmates are dead or missing. Excellent delivery from Tim.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode. For some reason, I always remember this episode as being a little on the “meh” side (Tom Arnold being the host may have something to do with that, though he turned out to not be too bad tonight), but then whenever I actually watch it, I usually find myself pretty satisfied with its quality. A lot of this episode stayed in just the “pretty good” range, but there were a few really strong pieces, including a forgotten gem (Dogs).


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Sinbad)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Glenn Close hosts the Christmas episode

Posted on

September 30, 1989 – Bruce Willis / Neil Young (S15 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
crack-holding George Bush (DAC) dares Medellin cartel to attack his clan

— Hmm, they’re starting the season with another Bush address, which is exactly how the previous season’s finale started.
— I liked the part about how Hurricane Hugo is a natural disaster, and thus, “not my fault.”
— Very memorable visual of him holding up a bag of crack that we’re told was purchased right there in the White House.
— A lot of great laughs from him detailing how tough his family is, especially the part with him talking about how his son Jeb is “packin’ heat” and can pull out a man’s heart and show it to the victim.
— Not too crazy about how the special segue to “Live from New York…” was just a carbon-copy of the one they used in the season 14 finale, with Bush saying “People up there are trying to drag me into that ‘Live from New York’ thing, but that’s something I’m not gonna do…. etc.” However, I would like to point out that when saying “not gonna do it” during that spiel tonight, he used the now-famous “nah gah dah” pronunciation for the first time ever.
STARS: ****


OPENING MONTAGE
— Same as the one from last season. No noteworthy changes here.


MONOLOGUE
host plays the harmonica with SNL Band & sings “Pep Talk”

— This is the first regular episode where the upper part of the home base stage has a triangular rooftop with a big neon version of SNL’s 15th anniversary logo (screencap below).

They actually first used this rooftop in the 15th Anniversary Special the previous week. Despite this, tonight’s opening montage still used the regular SNL logo from the previous season. The montage doesn’t begin using the 15th anniversary logo until some point in the 1990 half of this season (which I guess makes sense, as 1990 is technically the year SNL turns 15), though I think it would later be added into some of the reruns from the 1989 half.
— Great energetic entrance from Bruce, dancing to the theme music.
— Pretty funny story from Bruce regarding being an SNL caterer.
— We get a full-out blues musical number. There’s no comedy at all here, but it’s high-energy and fairly fun.
— They would later replace the first half of this monologue (as well as the theme music during the opening montage) with the dress rehearsal version in reruns. The most noticeable difference to me is Bruce’s entrance. Instead of entering with a lot of energetic bopping to the theme music as mentioned earlier, the rerun version has Bruce making a straightforward, dull, just-walk-out-onto-the-front-of-the-stage-and-stand-there-stiffly entrance.
STARS: ***


THIRTYSOMETHING
avoid nutritional angst by starting your day with thirtysomething cereal

— Pretty funny reveal of a breakfast cereal based on the show Thirtysomething.
— Even though I was only 5 years old at this time in 1989, I do remember Thirtysomething being a popular show back then, and I even have memories of watching it. Hell, I can even remember what the show’s logo looked like in the opening credits. I know it probably seems baffling that a 5 year old would be watching that show, but the more I think about it, I vaguely recall 5-year-old me just playing with my toys and stuff in the living room while my mom and/or dad was watching the show in the same room. That’s most likely where my childhood memories of the show come from.
— This commercial is an accurate parody of Thirtysomething’s acting style. Jan is especially giving a good mock-dramatic performance.
— Amusing how the cereal comes in the shape of Thirtysomething characters. I liked Jan’s delighted “I got an oat bran Elliott.”
— Kinda funny how at the end, they spelled Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (now THERE’S something that 5-year-old me was interested in) as “Teenage Mutant Ninja Tertles” (screencap below), though I assume that’s for copyright reasons.

STARS: ***


WAYNE’S WORLD
coolest senior (host) makes “sphincter” the new hip word

— Wow, in just half a year, this sketch has gone from always being stuck in the 10-to-1 slot at the end of the show to now being the lead-off sketch in a season premiere. Let me remind you readers, Mike Myers is still just a featured player at this point and has only been on the show for half a season so far, and they’re letting him star in the lead-off sketch of the big season 15 premiere. That is INCREDIBLE.
— Loved the random Extreme Close-Up segment.
— Bruce’s too-cool-for-school character is okay, though it’s a somewhat dull role involving no effort.
— More and more, these early Wayne’s World sketches have been gradually growing into what everyone now remembers them as.
— Pretty funny reveal of “sphincter” being the cool word for the new school year.
— Another great random segment, this time with the Unnecessary Zoom.
— For the first time ever, we get an utterance of the soon-to-be catchphrase “Schwing!”, though it’s not used in the sexual context that we would typically hear it in during future Wayne’s World sketches. Tonight, Wayne says it as he mimes pulling out a proverbial knife that Garth stabbed him in the back with.
— Very funny part with the “sphincter” prank the guys pull on Wayne’s mom.
STARS: ***½


DONAHUE
topic-starved Phil Donahue (PHH) previews show about breast-naming women

— Short and sweet with the sudden hilarious reveal of “Women who name their breasts” being the next topic on Donahue’s show.
STARS: ****


HOME IMPROVEMENT
anal-retentive Gene shows how to saw a board & dispose of the refuse

— Nice to see them continuing to give this character new occupations.
— Good part with him detailing his method of using initials to help him remember the tools in his toolbelt.
— Very funny how he has a handy mini-vacuum for instantly cleaning up sawdust while he’s sawing wood.
— More funny details with how he prepares a scrapbag for throwing unused wood away in.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Rockin’ In The Free World”


WEEKEND UPDATE
recent widow Imelda Marcos (NOD) wants to get rid of Ferdinand’s body
VIJ reports from Times Square about lack of activity during Rosh Hashanah
a retrospective of SNL’s second 15 years uses clips from tonight’s show
to AWB, legislation to outlaw flag-burning is simple idolatry

   

— Dennis’ delivery seems slightly lower-energy tonight.
— Hmm, we’re starting off Update with an awful lot of corny picture-based gags.
— Nora’s Imelda Marcos impression makes me laugh, and her overall commentary was decent.
— Dennis’ abortion joke receiving groans from the audience was pretty funny.
— Dennis’ whole “Depp! Grieco!” bit was priceless. Probably one of my favorite random bits that Dennis has ever done on Update.
— I mentioned this in two earlier Weekend Update reviews from the original era (read this one), but Victoria’s Times Square/Rosh Hashanah commentary tonight is a complete rip-off of something that Laraine Newman once did in a season 2 Weekend Update. Victoria’s version would later be completely removed from reruns. In the old review linked above, I had a theory that the reason Victoria’s commentary is removed from reruns is because the writer of the original Laraine commentary probably called in and complained to the show about stealing his or her bit. However, I now have another theory: they may have removed Victoria’s commentary from reruns to make extra room for a cut-after-dress-rehearsal sketch that’s added in reruns to replace a Johnny O’Connor sketch from later tonight.
— In response to SNL’s recent 15th Anniversary Special, Dennis makes a tongue-in-cheek announcement that later tonight, NBC will present a retrospective celebration of SNL’s second 15 years. We’re then shown highlights from that celebration, which is just clips of sketches from earlier in tonight’s episode. Funny bit. SNL would later do a gag in a similar vein during the season 24 premiere, where they show a fake ad for “The Best of the First 20 Minutes of Saturday Night Live”, a compilation special consisting only of clips from the first 20 minutes of that night’s episode.
— A. Whitney: “To me [as a teenager], a Playboy centerfold picture was a symbol of sex in the same way a photo opportunity in a flag factory is a symbol of freedom. In other words, they’re both just jerking off.”
STARS: ***


NEW LEADING MAN
Johnny O’Connor takes a backseat to new leading man (host)

— Here’s the aforementioned sketch that’s removed from reruns. The cut-after-dress-rehearsal sketch that replaces it is about terrorists hijacking a plane and killing innocent passengers whenever one passenger (Bruce Willis) keeps making wisecracks in response to everything the terrorists say.
— The return of Phil and Jon’s characters from the famous Johnny O’Connor sketch from way back in Phil’s second episode as a cast member. Weird how it took the show THREE YEARS to make this sketch recurring.
— Great interplay between Phil and Jon as usual.
— I love Phil’s manic “RAT-A-TAT-A-TAT!” delivery.
— A good laugh from the casual mention of a movie titled “Water Baby Virgins of Krakatoa”.
— What’s with Bruce’s exaggerated double-takes throughout this?
— I found this overall sketch fine in its own right, though it pales badly in comparison to the classic first Johnny O’Connor sketch.
STARS: ***


SPROCKETS
Jimmy Stewart’s (DAC) cute poems have nihilistic undercurrents

— Proving even further that Mike is continuing to move up in importance on the show, we now get our second big Mike Myers recurring sketch tonight alone. Really makes you wonder why they haven’t promoted Mike from a featured player to a regular cast member yet. (He does eventually get promoted later this season)
— I like Dieter’s dark intro to Jimmy Stewart, and then adding as almost an afterthought, “He has also appeared in films.”
— Dieter mentions a fictional critic named Graus Grek, which is a name that would later be used for Woody Harrelson’s character in a future Sprockets sketch (not the one from Harrelson’s episode this season, but from Harrelson’s season 17 episode; he plays a different character in both Sprockets sketches).
— I like how they’re having Dana’s Jimmy Stewart as a Sprockets guest.
— Dieter: “That poem pulls down my pants and taunts me.”
— Jimmy Stewart: “I wrote that poem on a piece of toilet paper after waking up in a puddle of my own sick.”
— Jimmy Stewart’s fight with Dieter’s monkey is hilarious.
— An overall big improvement over the underwhelming Sprockets sketch from the previous season’s finale.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Needle & The Damage Done” & “No More”


BRUCE WILLIS: THE MAN AND HIS MUSIC
album of host’s bluesy commercial jingles pays for all his possessions

— Bruce missed his cue to start singing the Depends jingle, which threw him off when he finally did start singing it. Because of this, SNL would later use the dress rehearsal version of this sketch in reruns.
— Catchy jingle, but pretty much a one-joke sketch, and not a particularly hilarious one.
STARS: **½


DONAHUE
another topic for desperate Phil Donahue (PHH)- shoelaces caught in shoes

— Ehh, nowhere near as funny as the one from earlier tonight, though I do like the idea of it being a runner tonight that Donahue is increasingly desperate for show topics.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent season premiere, though felt a little too average for this era’s standards. Compared to the phenomenal season premiere from the year before (Tom Hanks/Keith Richards), this one doesn’t measure up. However, judging this episode on its own merits, I was fine with a lot of the show and there were some really solid pieces in the first half.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1988-89)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Rick Moranis