Tag: Robbie Robertson

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January 18, 1992 – Chevy Chase / Robbie Robertson (S17 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Wayne’s World- the top ten bad things about the fall of communism

— Always a fun way to start off the show.
— This is the last Wayne’s World sketch that aired before the release of the first Wayne’s World movie.
— Very funny line about 1991 being the year Garth finally got pubes.
— The Top 10 List has a lot of great lines as usual, especially the one about bogus soviet rock bands.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
CHC lip-syncs “The Greatest Love Of All”

— A minor thing: For some reason, after the opening montage ends, the camera pans down to the home base stage from the left side instead of the usual right side. This is the only time from 1989-1995 that they would do so.
— What’s with Chevy’s obvious toupee? He was openly going bald long before this episode, and now we’re supposed to believe he suddenly has a head full of hair?
— As expected, HUGE extended applause for Chevy at the beginning of this monologue.
— I laughed at the mention of “that bitch Jane” when Chevy lists off his original SNL castmates.
— Chevy’s trademark forgetfulness routine can be tiring sometimes, but it’s coming off merely okay here.
— Good turn with Chevy blatantly lip syncing to “The Greatest Love of All”, especially with the use of a split-screen effect showing a close-up of his comically dramatic facial expressions.
STARS: ***


THE LOVE TOILET
— Rerun from the Macaulay Culkin episode


ADOPT A PET
(CHC) & (VIJ) try to unload some unappealing animals

 

— Some really funny lines during Chevy and Victoria’s unflattering descriptions of the pets.
— Interesting detail with Chevy’s gloves.
— Very funny part with reveal that the monkey is suffering from syphilis, blindness, and insanity.
STARS: ***½


DANIEL’S DINER
aide (PHH) helps George Bush (DAC) through uncomfortable campaign stop

— Interesting use of Dana’s Bush. This feels like a precursor to the famous Clinton at McDonalds sketch from the following season.
— I like Dana’s Bush just saying “Persian Gulf” at every chance he gets during his greetings to the diner patrons.
— Funny dark part with Phil’s details of the Daniel’s Diner owner committing suicide.
— Siobhan’s stone-faced expression as the speechless diner owner provided a good laugh.
— I really like Julia in this, as an old lady going on to Bush about her disgusting health issues, like a polyp on her colon.
— Good recurring bit throughout this with a ready-to-get-the-hell-out-of-here Bush constantly asking his aide Phil how much time he has left, and having Phil participate in a “Good cop, bad cop” routine to get Bush out of uncomfortable conversations.
— Bush to Julia’s character, while leaving: “Polyp Lady, I think I’ll miss you most of all.”
STARS: ***½


DAHMER’S DEFENSE
Jeffrey Dahmer’s (CHC) lawyers (PHH) & (KEN) know insanity plea will work

— I like the audience’s “Ohh” laughter immediately after hearing the name Jeffrey Dahmer early on in the sketch.
— Pretty funny ad-lib from Chevy after his “money/Monday” line flub, reminding me of how quick he was at saving himself whenever he would flub a joke during his Update anchor days in the original era.
— A hilarious and outrageous part with Chevy’s Dahmer casually chewing his fingers off. Phil and Kevin’s disgusted reactions are cracking me up as well.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Go Back to Your Woods”


WEEKEND UPDATE
co-anchor CHC reads outdated Weekend Update items from the ’70s
CSR gives his thoughts on Arizona’s non-observance of the MLK holiday
CHC offers some historical perspective on breast implant problems
CHC repeatedly prompts KEN with nonsense as the latter fumbles for words

— Chevy gets added to the Update opening title sequence, letting us know that he will be returning to his old spot at the Update desk. At least this pairing of him and Kevin makes far more sense than the painfully awkward pairing of him and Dennis Miller when Chevy last hosted in season 12.
— Right off the bat, we get the return of Chevy’s trademark “phone conversation” opening Update gag, this time with a great twist that it’s Kevin on the other line who Chevy’s talking dirty to.
— More callbacks to Chevy’s Update trademarks, such as “I’m Chevy Chase and you’re not”, “Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead”, and the prostitution stamp joke.
— Rock’s rant about Arizona’s refusal to celebrate Martin Luther King Day has so many funny lines, especially him detailing how Arizona would celebrate an Elvis Day, and the whole bit about Columbus discovering a West Indian backyard.
— Chevy’s breast implant commentary had a few funny lines here and there, but I wasn’t crazy about the segment as whole.
— I love the bit with Chevy filling in the blanks of Kevin’s speech with inappropriate words.
— Overall, tonight’s pairing of Kevin and Chevy worked pretty well for the most part.
— According to GettyImages, David Spade had an Update commentary that was cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal (pic here). In the pic, he’s noticeably displaying a judicial scale.
STARS: ***½


BOB SWERSKI’S QUIZ MASTERS
Super Fans on Bears & Bulls trivia game show
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Polish Sausage- for post-heart attack snacking

 

— Very nice change of pace for the Super Fans sketches.
— I liked the ridiculously brief “meet the contestants” segment.
— Funny “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Polish Sausage” commercial, especially the stilted delivery from the guys.
— The lightning round with Mike was fun, though I wanted it to go on longer.
— I love each contestant’s written answer on their card, especially Farley’s long-winded intelligent answer being written on both sides of the card.
STARS: ****


VAN MORRISON CONCERT
at a Van Morrison concert, (MEH)’s dancing obstructs (JUS)’s view

— What started out as a relatable piece is getting old fast.
— I do like the part with Chevy speaking to Melanie in staccato speech so she can hear him whenever she bops her head in his direction.
— Didn’t care for the ending at all.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Weight”


BACKSTAGE
CHC tries to comfort a crying TIM in the latter’s dressing room

— For some reason, at the beginning of this sketch when Chevy and Victoria are having a conversation, the SNL Band can be heard LOUDLY continuing to play the music they had been playing during the commercial break. It’s distracting, making it hard to pay attention to what Chevy and Victoria are saying. I’m guessing there was some kind of mistiming or something, where the SNL Band wasn’t informed that the show had returned from commercial break. Reruns of this sketch mute out the SNL Band’s music.
— Good to see Tim getting a rare showcase.
— Chevy’s various outlandish guesses on what’s bothering Tim are quite funny.
— Chevy’s actually coming off likable and affable in this, which is rare for him post-70s.
— Tim, when Chevy tells him to get ready for the next sketch: “I’m not in anything, except for this.” Yet another funny dig at Tim’s lack of airtime, after his solo number in the “Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight” cold opening from two episodes ago. Just to show you how right he is regarding his underusage, he didn’t appear in ANY sketches in the episode between Steve Martin’s and tonight’s (Rob Morrow).
STARS: ***


KAUFMAN’S BIG AND TALL, AND SHORT AND SMALL SEPHARDIC JEW MEN’S CLOTHING STORE
Sephardic Jews (CHC) & (ROS) sell big & tall & short & small clothing

— An initial chuckle from the store’s name.
— Aaaaaaaand that initial chuckle mentioned above ended up being the ONLY laugh of this whole thing. What in the world was the point of this overall sketch? Where were the jokes? Why did Chevy’s last line get cut off?
STARS: *


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode. The quality was mostly consistently good, until we got a few very weak sketches towards the end (Van Morrison Concert and Sephardic Jew Men’s Clothing Store). Chevy was only okay as the host tonight. He’s still a far cry from his reliably funny self from the 70s, but he wasn’t as bad as he’s been in some of his other hosting stints and he didn’t bring down this episode too much for me.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Rob Morrow)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Susan Dey

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January 30, 1988 – Carl Weathers / Robbie Robertson (S13 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
BushWhacked!- George (DAC) uses Morton Downey-like approach to seem tough

— Unlike in his first two appearances, Dana’s Bush is now starting to physically look like how we remember him today. The voice is slowly getting there, but still sounds very different from what we’re now used to.
— I love how this is Bush doing a Morton Downey Jr.-esque talk show in a desperate attempt to prove he’s not a wimp.
— I got a huge laugh from a crowd member being heard exclaiming “Moron!” during Phil’s trade policy explanation.
— Good part with Bush’s crowd being confused by his unsure explanation of a report, and Bush following that silence by awkwardly saying “……I’m talkin’ tough!”
— Funny touch with Dana-as-Bush’s “Live from New York” being followed by Phil dropping him onto the ground.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host sings a high-pitched rendition of “What About A Rainbow”

— Another rare instance of G.E. Smith speaking on-camera.
— I love the juxtaposition of Carl Weathers of all people breaking out into a sappy rainbow song.
— An overall solid monologue. Carl’s high-pitched singing was really funny, and I loved his commitment to the bit.
STARS: ****


HANDI-OFF
— Rerun


THE NFL TODAY
Jimmy The Greek (PHH) overcompensates for his prior racism
King Cobra’s You Make The Call- yes, Kenny Stabler threw like a racist

 

— Amusing how the football montage that’s usually shown during the NFL Today opening credits has been replaced with out-of-place clips of important black figures in history, due to controversy over comments Jimmy The Greek made about blacks.
— Nice touch with a now-overly-PC Jimmy The Greek wearing a Jesse Jackson ’88 button on his suit.
— The racially-based You Make the Call segment is funny.
— Great part with Phil’s Jimmy The Greek starting to go off on a uncomfortable tangent about black athletes mating with physically strong black women, which gets cut off by a “Please stand by” screen.
STARS: ***½


DEMOCRATIC DEBATE 88
Pat Schroeder (NOD) moderates Democratic presidential candidates’ debate

 

— The debut of Jon’s Michael Dukakis impression, which will go on to play a huge part in election-related sketches next season where he’s the democratic nominee.
— I love the look on Phil’s face as Bruce Babbitt.
— Nora’s maniacal crying-hiding laughter is great.
— When asked what he was listening to when smoking pot, I knew Kevin’s Al Gore was going to answer Pink Floyd.
— Funny “oil and vinegar” speech from Jon’s Dukakis.
— Not sure what Kevin’s going for with that mouth thing he’s doing as part of his Gore impression, though it IS funny.
— Carl-as-Jesse-Jackson’s speech is really funny, and Carl is nailing Jesse’s speaking style, if not the voice itself.
— Nora as Pat Schroeder: “Senator Simon… why the bow-tie?”
— Excellent part with us hearing the inner thoughts of each candidate. I especially liked Jesse Jackson’s inner thought being (regarding Dick Gephardt) “Boy, he is not funky AT ALL”, and Gary Hart’s inner thought being him checking out a woman in the audience.
— Overall, a strong democratic debate sketch with lots of funny moments and impressions. I’m looking forward to the republican counterpart of this debate sketch that appears in the next episode.
STARS: ****


MOTHER-IN-LAW
tension between boyfriend (host) & bad-ass mother-in-law causes shootout

— The second and final appearance of Phil’s now-forgotten mother-in-law character. She has a bit of a different look in this sketch, especially with the new addition of glasses.
— Phil’s coughing laughter cracked me up.
— I liked Phil’s shocked facial reaction to seeing Jan’s boyfriend is black.
— Wow, this has quickly escalated into an insane shootout fight.
— At the end, right before the camera faded to black, a photo can be seen falling off the wall in the background, I’m guessing due to all the “gunshots” the set sustained earlier in the sketch.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Testimony”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Phantom Of The Update DEM removes his mask to reveal a nasty scar
VIJ recites her poem “The Life Of A Table” while imitating one
AWB gives his thoughts about battles between the Israelis & Palestinians

— Nice random change of pace with this Update beginning with Dennis doing a Phantom of the Opera bit.
— I got a big laugh from Dennis’ incredulous reaction to the pain he unexpectedly experienced when peeling off his fake scar, only to reveal that he was just “Acting!” ala Master Thespian.
— Good overall Life Of A Table commentary from Victoria, and featured her doing some impressive table-walking on the desk at one point.
— A. Whitney’s overall Big Picture commentary had some funny comments as usual, especially his crucifixion suggestion and his comment about Israel being smaller than Long Island while having a lower percentage of Jews.
— Boy, Dennis’ “Rocky” joke about Sylvester Stallone’s marriage was TERRIBLE.
STARS: ***½


SITCOM ACTRESS
actress’ (JAH) pimp-like agent (host) thwarts her attempt at a new life

— Strong acting from Jan when detailing what she has to deal with at auditions.
— I’m really liking the intensity between Carl and Jan.
— Funny turn with Phil’s interest in Jan immediately diminishing as soon as he learns she’s an actress in videotaped sitcoms.
— Overall, an interesting sketch that featured great performances.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Somewhere Down The Crazy River”


MASTER THESPIAN
Master Thespian envies Ching Change’s ability to play Othello (host)

— Carl explaining how he pulls off a Chinese look is pretty funny.
— Surprisingly, Carl is coming off as a natural for a Master Thespian sketch.
— Funny part with Master Thespian’s absurd beans advice to Carl.
— For some reason, SNL episode guides (including the one that I borrow sketch synopses from in my reviews) consider Dana’s Chinaman character in this sketch to be Ching Change. I don’t understand why. This is clearly NOT Ching Change. He has a different name and everything. The only similarity is the voice, but that’s only because it’s probably Dana’s go-to voice for every stereotypical Asian role.
STARS: ***


THE GARDEN
by Tom Radtke- hairdresser (NOD) makes art with dead clients

— Hmm, “A film by Nora Dunn”.
— I like Nora’s voice in this.
— Overall, not sure what to think of this strange film. If it was supposed to be funny, it didn’t succeed in making me laugh much nor did it really appeal to me, but it did come off as a well-done character piece.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode. The quality died down a little towards the end, but otherwise, this was a consistently good episode, and the first half in particular had some really strong material. I also liked Carl Weathers as the host and felt he had a lot of good energy.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Robin Williams)
— a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Justine Bateman