Tag: saturday night live

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November 5, 1983 – Betty Thomas / Stray Cats (S9 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
spacesuit-wearing Jesse Jackson (JOP) thinks staff is better than “stuff”

 

— Oh my god at Joe as Jesse Jackson.
— I recall hearing that the whole spacesuit theme, as well as some of the references Joe makes here, are very topical political references that have become lost to time over the years since this episode’s original airing.
— I can’t exactly call Joe’s Jesse Jackson impression dead-on, but I am liking his fiery performance here.
— That’s it? It’s over already? What exactly was the point of this? Again, it must’ve been funnier to audiences in 1983 who got all the topical references. Watching it in modern times, this seems like it has no jokes at all.
STARS: *½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

  

— Some laughs from the gun hidden under her skirt and the bit with the nightstick.
— Not much to this overall monologue, but she handled this really well and came off likable.
STARS: ***


SWAN BREAK
(JIB) dances in a Flashdance-style version of Swan Lake

     

— I like the random inclusion of Jim’s out-of-place character.
— Love the sudden turn this has taken, with the song “Maniac” playing and Jim sloppily going through all of Jennifer Beals’ classic Flashdance moves.
— Jim is really funny in this, and this feels like the type of sketch his brother John would’ve made a popular classic if it were done in the original era.
— The obligatory “lay back in a chair as water splashes down from above” part was funny due to the heavy amount of water that splashed Jim, which knocked off his wig. Judging from his amused reaction, I don’t think that was supposed to happen.
STARS: ****


CURLY AUDITION
Elvis look-alike (JOP) auditions for role of Curly in a 3 Stooges tribute

  

— A Three Stooges sketch! If you know me, you’ll know how I feel about seeing this.
— I loved Joe taking off his Elvis wig, revealing a Curly-esque look, and how he’s now going into random Curly sound effects throughout the song he’s singing.
— What the–? This suddenly gets cut off by a “special report”, which I guess leads us into our next segment. I actually wanted to see this sketch go on longer.
STARS: ***½


SPECIAL REPORT
shortchanged USA tourist leads to invasion of Switzerland

     

— Pretty funny premise of the U.S. invading Switzerland. I like how SNL is going out of their way to make this appear real, even going so far as using an outside actor to play the anchorman delivering the breaking news. And I think that’s head writer Andrew Smith playing the White House press secretary holding a conference.
— An appearance from Brad’s Saturday Night News anchorman persona. Why is he reporting from a generic news set instead of the usual Saturday Night News set?
— The whole “shortchanged at a chocolate shop” scene is quite funny.
STARS: ***½


PERFECTLY FRANK
ad exec (JOP) subliminally seduces psychologist (host)

  

— The title almost had me thinking this was going to be another Frank Sinatra-themed TV show sketch.
— Funny concept with Joe subliminally saying seductive things to Betty. But, boy, does Joe’s subliminal delivery pale badly in comparison to future cast member Kevin Nealon’s. Joe’s too broad with the way he’s doing the subliminal lines. The routine is funnier with Nealon, partly because of the way he says it so deadpan and subtle.
— Gary gets some laughs at the end.
STARS: ***


JAMES BROWN’S CELEBRITY HOT TUB PARTY
Godfather of Soul (EDM) gets in

   

— Ahh, here’s an all-time classic! I always enjoy seeing this one.
— Right off the bat after he’s made his entrance, Eddie is already coming off amazing in this.
— Oh, I’m absolutely LOVING this song.
— Hilarious how he’s musically narrating his actions as he’s hesitantly dipping into the hot tub.
— And already, we’re out. This sketch was the perfect length, and the fact that this whole thing just turned out to be his drawn-out entrance into the hot tub is very funny.
— Overall, one of Eddie’s all-time best, as well as one of SNL’s all-time best.
— This was the first airing of what will be several Eddie Murphy sketches this season that were taped during a special “preview show” right before the start of this season so Ebersol could insert them into episodes that Eddie will be missing this season while he’s off in Hollywood filming movies.  Eddie not being in the building tonight explains why Jesse Jackson was played by Joe in the cold opening.
STARS: *****


YOU WIN A DOLLAR
(JIB) endures dangerous stunts in vain hope of a buck

     

— Brad plays another gameshow host. The hokey, corny delivery Brad often uses on SNL actually fits well in the role of a cheesy gameshow host.
— There’s SNL’s very first use of the name Dale Butterworth, which would go on to be one of the trademarks of Andy Breckman-written sketches.
— I’m already liking the concept of contestants eagerly striving to win just one dollar.
— Haha, oh my god at the bowl-filled-with-razor-blades part and Jim’s hand emerging from the bowl while covered in blood.
— This is getting more and more insane, with Jim now being forced to “bob for chicken wings” in a deep fryer.
— All of Jim’s reactions are fantastic.
— I like Brad’s constant “Oh, one more thing” additions to the initially pleasant-sounding Love Tent challenge.
— Brad: “Do we have a consolation prize for him, Don?” Don Pardo: “(exuberantly) No!”
— Overall, this very strong sketch was a riot. Between this and the Larry’s Corner sketch from the season premiere, new writer Andy Breckman has been having a VERY promising start so far. I’m not aware of the subsequent sketches he’s written (at least not off the top of my head), but whatever they are, I’m definitely looking forward to them.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “She’s Sexy + 17”


UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer addresses Unanswered Questions Of The Universe

 

— This is the first time this character has ever appeared outside Saturday Night News.
— His various questions about the human body are pretty funny.
— Seems to be a legit mailing address that he asks viewers to send in unanswered questions to, so he can answer them later on. I wonder if SNL ends up following through on this.
STARS: ***


THE GUMBY STORY
Gumby directs the movie version of his life story

    

— You can REALLY tell just by the visual quality of this sketch that it’s another piece that was taped before the start of this season.
— Eddie as Gumby to his impersonator: “Who told you say dammit, dammit?!”
— Funny part with Gary trying various gestures to get Joe’s attention while he’s on the phone.
— I like Robin’s walk-on as Gumby’s dumpy-looking wife.
— Surprised to see Jim in this, considering this was taped before the season began and Jim didn’t officially join the cast until the third episode of the season.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
outdated & inappropriate file footage is used to document Swiss invasion
people on the street react to the news of the invasion
BRH warns JIB against using catchphrases & bits from the original SNL
Ronald Reagan (JOP) addresses USA regarding the invasion of Switzerland
Slopes of Fear- a CIA film shows Swiss links to the communists

           

— Nice how they’re keeping up the Switzerland invasion premise from earlier tonight.
— Funny segment with the Switzerland invasion “file footage” consisting of old out-of-place stock footage and silent movies.
— The reactions of people on the street learning about the Switzerland situation has a few laughs.
— I like how Brad calls Jim out on copying his “you ignorant slut” rebuttal from Dan Aykroyd.
— Ha, now Jim’s going through various other catchphrases from the original era (“but nooo”, “excuuuse meee”, etc.) all of which get shot down by Brad because they belong to the original cast. Also, nice touch with one of Jim’s borrowed phrases being Bill Murray’s “I love you, now get out of here, I mean it”, which usually isn’t as often-quoted as the other 70s catchphrases Jim’s quoting here. The audience gave instant recognition laughter when Jim quoted it, though.
— Jim is now griping about how unfair it is that people will turn against him for doing anything even remotely reminiscent of famous things his brother John did in the original era.
— As someone who recently reviewed the entire original era, I personally got much more of a kick out of Jim’s overall commentary than most people probably would.
— Brad’s joke about Big Bird dying of anorexia was hilarious.
— Another follow-up to the Switzerland storyline. Now we’re seeing Joe’s Reagan impression giving a press conference on the Switzerland situation.
— Now Joe throws to a “Slopes of Fear” documentary about Switzerland. SNL’s really going all-out on this whole storyline.
— Funny part of “Slopes of Fear” where they “translate” the yodeling in a stock footage clip.
— Overall, one of the better editions of Saturday Night News.
STARS: ***


JANE FONDA’S PREGNANCY, BIRTH, LABOR, RE-ENTERING THE JOB MARKET, TRYING TO CATCH A MAN, TRYING TO KEEP A MAN, MAKING NEW FRIENDS, HOLDING YOUR BREATH, AND GOING OVER YOUR CREDIT LIMIT WORK OUT
(ROD) goes into labor during Jane Fonda’s (host) pregnancy workout

   

— Longest sketch title ever?
— Whoa, a very distracting audio glitch has suddenly started in my copy, where the dialogue is overlapped with audio of the same dialogue being replayed a second later. I was once informed by fellow SNL fan & reviewer Ben Douwsma that audio glitches like this are common in these old Comedy Network reruns whenever they removed something from a sketch. I wonder what was removed from this particular sketch.
— Okay, thankfully, the audio glitch is over.
— Mary giving up in the middle of the workout and breaking out a cigarette is funny.
— I saw Robin going into labor coming from a mile away.
STARS: **½


MEMOREX
Memorex video tape captures FBI’s close framing of Lee Iacocca (JOP)

  

— This seems a little too topical, but unlike the cold opening, I can still follow this well-enough.
— I liked Brad blatantly calling Iacocca “Mr. Ia-COKE-a”.
— Good Memorex twist at the end.
STARS: ***


CRISIS ’83 UPDATE
footage of American evacuees & their horror stories about Switzerland

   

— The American returnees’ various complaints about the “torture” they endured in Switzerland are really funny.
— Yet another viewer-submission mailing address being displayed tonight (this time on the topic of what country do we want U.S. to invade next), though this one is obviously fake.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Won’t Stand in Your Way”


MISFITS
at a support group meeting, transsexuals miss their former male lives

 

— Uh, okay… this is going to be an… uh, interesting premise.
— It IS a change of pace, though, how they’re using female performers in these roles instead of putting male performers in drag for these roles.
— Robin’s unibrow makes her resemble one of Cheri Oteri’s more obscure recurring characters: the unattractive, accordion-playing Italian daughter Maria.
— I feel like I shouldn’t be laughing at this sketch in today’s world, but I am getting some laughs from the transsexuals going on about what they miss about being a man. It’s something about the performances that’s winning me over; Betty and the female cast members are getting really into this.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A solid episode, especially the first half. The quality dropped off after Saturday Night News, but overall, this is my favorite episode of this season so far. Also, the Switzerland Invasion running premise gave the night a unique feel and the show was fully committed to it.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Candy):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Teri Garr

Posted on

October 22, 1983 – John Candy / Men At Work (S9 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
JIB’s friend host hasn’t shown up yet, Mr. Mambo (host) says “told ya so”

  

— Right at the start of his first episode as a cast member, Jim Belushi is already front-and-center.
— Pretty funny part with Eddie and Joe coming up with an emergency plan to host the show as The Honeymooners.
— Great entrance from John Candy, and I’m liking his character here.
— Jim gets to deliver “Live from New York…” on his first night.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Interestingly, to keep up the Mr. Mambo premise of the cold opening, the regular SNL theme music is replaced with mambo music tonight.
— This mambo theme is a fun change of pace, though it’s coming off very out-of-place in this particular opening montage.


MONOLOGUE
JOP & EDM kill time doing Ralph Kramden & Ed Norton; host finally arrives

   

— Good Honeymooners impressions from Joe and Eddie.
— John being at a loss for what to do in his monologue was kinda funny at first, but hasn’t been going anywhere interesting.
— I love the way they transitioned out of this monologue by having John just walk over into the next sketch as it begins, which continues the fun vibe of tonight’s episode.
STARS: **½


OLD COUNTRY SKI LODGE
Doc Edmund (EDM) tries country remedies for broken leg & baby delivery

  

— This has had a slow start, but I’m liking Eddie and Robin’s entrance as old doctor and nurse.
— Very funny part with Eddie advising Julia to “push her egg down” during sex.
— Some good character work from Eddie here, especially the laugh he keeps doing.
— This overall sketch wasn’t good enough to justify its long length, but there were some highlights here and there.
STARS: **½


VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED LITTLE RASCALS
Miss Crabtree’s (ROD) class is evil

     

— Interesting premise.
— Great effect with the Rascals’ glowing eyes, though I’m not sure how they’re pulling off that effect.
— So we’re just supposed to forget that Buckwheat got killed off last season? What’s he doing here? Or is this different because this is supposed to be the Rascals when they were still just kids and not grown-up yet?
— Tim giving intentionally dangerous advice to the Rascals is pretty funny.
— Unexpected twist at the end where it turns out the Rascals’ “evilness” was just them playing a gag on the teacher.
STARS: ***½


PHONE BOOTH CONFESSION
a priest (host) uses adjacent phone booths to hear (JIB)’s confession

   

— Ha, I like the concept of holding a confessional in adjoining phone booths.
— Some funny realistic humor here from all the difficulties that would naturally arise from delivering a confessional through a pay phone.
STARS: ***½


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Joanna Carson (JLD) justifies the amount of alimony she wants from Johnny
Dr. Jack Badofsky lists the many types of acne

     

— Boy, Brad’s opening NBC “Be There” joke was fucking terrible.
— Brad’s second joke wasn’t any better. Geez, he’s off to a very rough start tonight.
— Okay, his jokes are starting to get A LITTLE better, but still nothing to write home about.
— When mentioning having to sleep with Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show guest hosts once a week, Julia mentions Bill Cosby as one of them and makes a pudding sex joke regarding him, which comes off cringeworthy in hindsight for obvious reasons.
— I liked Julia’s “He’s not funny upside-down either” line regarding watching Carson’s Tonight Show while having sex.
— I like the fake-out with Tim’s “Balzac-ne” pun, where it ends up being for something much more innocent than the name would have you expect.
— Tonight’s overall Dr. Jack Badofsky commentary was kind of a letdown. Nothing stood out in this one aside from the aforementioned “Balzac-ne” one, nor did we get any of Tim’s usual funny ad-libs in response to the audience’s reactions.
— I’ve been noticing that this season’s editions of Saturday Night News have been quite short so far. I’m glad, because I wasn’t crazy about the overly-lengthy format they often used in the second half of last season. Though the fact that they’ve been shortening Saturday Night News this season could be a sign of the writing being on the wall for Brad, who’s tenure as an anchorperson is soon coming to an abrupt end.
STARS: **


MOVIE CONTRACT
EDM agrees to be in Dr. Tongue’s (host) 3D Chicks in Their Underwear

 

— John’s cheap 3D “effect” with the pen was pretty funny.
— Oh, this just turns out to be a musical guest intro. Clever way to shake up the segment.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Doctor Heckyll & Mr. Jive”


EDDIE IN NEW JERSEY
a look at EDM’s suburban New Jersey lifestyle

   

— Very interesting-seeming segment, showing Eddie’s new life in Jersey.
— Eh, the humor here is turning out to be pretty predictable and basic. Nothing special or clever at all.
STARS: **


BACKSTAGE WITH RONALD MCDONALD
Ronald McDonald (JOP) shows his nasty side in his dressing room

   

— Poor underused Gary Kroeger is just now making his first appearance of the night, and it’s just in a straight role.
— The return of Joe’s portrayal of Ronald McDonald, though at least his clown make-up is a lot less disgusting-looking than it was in that “McMillan and Wife” parody he did with Susan Saint James.
— Is this premise going to be Joe playing McDonald as an egotistical diva backstage, similar to that Pope sketch that Joe did two seasons ago? Considering how I pretty much hated that one, I’m not looking forward to seeing a knockoff of it.
— Pretty funny joke with Ronald McDonald’s “secret sauce” being liquor.
— Ugh at that groanworthy part with Ronald McDonald showing a perverted interest when hearing there are 7-year-olds waiting to see him, only to be disappointed to find out they’re boys and not girls.
— This overall sketch was a small improvement over the aforementioned Pope sketch.
— Something about this had a quintessential Ebersol era feel; one of those sketches that I can’t picture appearing in any other era.
STARS: **½


CANDACE’S FANTASY SHACK
(JIB) becomes the millionth customer at Candace’s (host) Fantasy Shack

   

— John is really funny as Candace.
— LOL at the huge size difference between “Candace” and Tim.
— Interesting character choice from Julia, using a random lisp for her Princess Leia-dressed character.
— Something about Mary-as-Dorothy’s delivery of “I like to be who I am… a whore!” made me laugh.
— Funny “millionth customer” twist.
STARS: ***


POLY-ROCK
Poly-Rock denture cream lets old musicians play guitar with their teeth

  

— For some reason, I almost thought Brad was playing Ozzy Osbourne at first, and I was about to ask “Didn’t Tim play him last time?” (in that “geek’s mouthwash” commercial), before I realized Brad just seems to be playing a fictional rocker.
— Nothing really to say about this overall commercial. It was really generic and just came and went.
STARS: **


BACKSTAGE
William B. Williams (host) & Ed McMahon (JOP) introduce musical guest

— I always crack up at Joe’s McMahon laugh.
— Another fake-out with a sketch turning out to be a musical guest intro. I’m liking this theme tonight.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “It’s a Mistake”


MEN BEHIND BARS
(host) & (JIB) are glad to be back in prison for the winter

   

— Who’s the big guy playing the prison guard? Strangely, it kinda looks like the show’s director Dave Wilson, though I don’t see how it could be him.
— Lots of Jim Belushi for his first episode.
— Not too sure about this premise.
— Okay, I’m slowly starting to like this sketch more and more.
— I admit to getting a very cheap laugh from the off-camera effeminate voices from another prison cell.
— The “Why do you always have to be the last one to say ‘goodnight’?” bit was quite funny.
— An overall pretty good sketch that worked as a more quiet, relatable, realistically-humored piece, much like the Confessional sketch earlier tonight. And much like that sketch, John and Jim worked very well together.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

  

— John thanks “True West for letting Jim Belushi out tonight”. I’m assuming True West was some kind of play or show that Jim was in the middle of co-starring in when making his SNL debut.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty decent though average episode; not as strong as you would expect a John Candy-hosted episode to be (which I recall also saying about the episode that Candy’s SCTV castmates Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas co-hosted together last season). That being said, there was a fun, good vibe to the episode (Candy’s presence certainly helped in that regard) and the pacing of the show felt fairly quick.
— Jim Belushi had a huge first night, gave strong performances, and is already fitting in well on the show. This is making me look forward to the rest of his tenure.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Betty Thomas

Posted on

October 15, 1983 – Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman / Eddy Grant (S9 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Calvin Klein Cream Pies- Andie (JLD) tries on a pair

  

— Yet ANOTHER Calvin Klein Jeans parody on SNL.
— I recall hearing that the “Andie” that Julia’s playing here is actually a young Andie MacDowell, which would explain the curly hair and southern accent.
— This uses the exact same twist from last week’s Calvin Klein Jeans parody, with Julia suddenly getting a pie smashed into her face during her rambling. Doesn’t come off as funny this time, since we already just saw it being done. Was the gag really necessary to repeat?
— I do like how she got hit an additional time while in the middle of saying “Live from New York…”.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
hosts’ dialogue is like the corny banter of award show presenters

— This is an accurate parody of bad, unfunny awards show banter. However, the problem is, this parody is just as unfunny as the real thing.
— Overall, a waste of DeVito and Perlman.  I’m not too crazy about the way tonight’s episode has been starting so far.
STARS: *½


MISTER ROBINSON’S NEIGHBORHOOD
the products of sleeping around show up

   

— Loved Eddie hinting at what’s in the basket by asking viewers, as a riddle, “What’s black and Puerto Rican and has my eyes?”
— The part with “bastard” being the Word of the Day is funny, and has an interesting backstory from writer Kevin Kelton about how they weren’t allowed to say the word “bastard” on air, so they worked around it by having Eddie just point to the word on the board and ask viewers “Can you use this word in a sentence? Cab drivers can!”
— Overall, one of the stronger installments of this sketch in a while, with a good change-of-pace premise and lots of funny lines from Eddie.
STARS: ****


CRAZY EDELMAN
discount psychiatrist Crazy Edelman (JOP)- his prices are insane

  

— Yet another “Crazy Eddie” parody from this era.
— This is a hilarious and clever twist on the usual type of “Crazy Eddie” commercial, by having the pitchman of the “insane” ad be an actual psychiatrist. Great performance from Joe as well.
STARS: ****


WHAT WOULD FRANK DO?
Dion Dion wins on Sinatra’s (JOP) game show

     

— This sketch was inspired by a phrase that Joe was infamous backstage for always telling the writers (“Frank wouldn’t do that”) whenever a script they handed him for a Frank Sinatra sketch contained something that he felt was inaccurate to the real Frank.
— Ha, Eddie’s Dion Dion character is one of the contestants.
— Eddie’s hysterical excitement over both hearing what his prize is (Sinatra singing to him) and seeing Sinatra show up is very funny.
— This was pretty good overall, and a unique approach for a gameshow sketch.
STARS: ***


SMALL WORLD
It’s A Small World riders panic when their boat breaks down in the tunnel

   

— Mary Gross plays yet ANOTHER nun.
— Eddie’s Vietnam comment was pretty funny.
— I love how increasingly insane and dark this sketch is getting.
— Nice touch with the dolls in the background being heard chanting “One down, four to go” after Tim gets killed off.
— Good use of frequent SNL extra Andy Murphy as a robot Grover Cleveland.
— I’m really enjoying the part with the spooky-sounding voice of an un-thawed Walt Disney on the loudspeaker forcing the main characters to sing “Mickey Mouse”.
— I like how as the sketch ended, they revealed how this sketch was green-sceened.
STARS: ****


ODYSSEY OF A PAPERCLIP
why mom warns “you don’t know where it’s been”

     

— The educational film-esque presentation of the paperclip’s ridiculous journey started out a little slow, but I like how increasingly disgusting it’s now getting.
— The ending fell kinda flat, though I did like the little touch of them playing a deadly gunshot sound effect when Gary decides to use the paperclip as a toothpick after being warned not to.
STARS: **½


SPANISH CLASS
a teacher (Rhea) insists that all in-class conversation be “en Espanol”

   

— Was Joe’s late entrance at the beginning a real mistake? He adds a “sorry” to Rhea as the teacher, which came off like an ad-lib.
— The “yo/joe” bit with Gary was funny.
— Eddie’s great in his walk-on.
— This sketch is kinda reminding me of a more well-known French Class sketch that Alec Baldwin would do 10 years later.
— Decent ending.
STARS: ***½


BOOK BEAT
a stalker’s (Danny) works appear to have a common theme

   

— I like the unflattering picture of Mary (I think) on the cover of the “Candidly Debra” book.
— An okay surprise ending with Danny getting shot by Debra from the audience, though something about that part felt like it could’ve been a little better.
— Quick sketch.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
fired newscaster (JLD) cries sexism, is unaware of her facial expressions
GAK’s review of Never Say Never Again focusses mostly on the Bond Girls
Dr. Ruth Westheimer (MAG) blames teen pregnancies on media influences

         

— Brad’s random “Still to come” bit threw me off at first, making me mistakenly think he was throwing to a mid-news fake ad like Weekend Update often used to do after a “Still to come” bit back in the first two seasons.
— Heh, WTF at Julia’s brief random crazy face just now?
— Oh, I see what Julia’s going for.
— Julia’s overall commentary was actually pretty funny. While the humor was really broad and basically a mug-fest, Julia pulled it off really well, especially the good comic timing she displayed when she kept seamlessly going back-and-forth from a deadpan, serious delivery to a goofy voice & face. Considering how often she’s gotten stuck in dull straight roles during her SNL tenure so far, it was refreshing to see her doing something like this.
— Interesting seeing Gary doing a commentary as himself.
— Gary increasingly demonstrating how much skin the Bond Girls showed in the latest Bond movie is funny, and I love how overly into it hes getting.
— Brad’s corny “Bingo was his name-o” joke about Reagan made me groan like crazy.
— Mary’s Dr. Ruth commentary about too much sexual messages on TV has taken a confusing turn just now. She’s started griping about Ronald Reagan’s Big Macs, McNuggets, and McMuffins. What in the world does Reagan have to do with those things?
— Interesting big blooper, where Mary actually stops in the middle of her commentary to point out (while still speaking in character) that she’s being informed by off-camera crew members that something’s wrong with the way her clip-on mic is applied. I had been wondering why I kept hearing fuzzy sounds from her mic throughout her commentary. Great ad-libs from Mary in response to all of this.
— I’m glad Mary’s Dr. Ruth commentary didn’t end with the usual finger-in-hole gesture gag they ended all of her previous commentaries with.
— Hmm, no commentary from Tim Kazurinsky tonight, ending his 10-episode streak of appearing in every edition of Saturday Night News.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Don’t Wanna Dance” & “Electric Avenue”


AUTOGRAPH HOUNDS
autograph seekers (TIK), (Rhea), (Danny) compare notes; Dick Cavett cameo

    

— I like the character work that Tim’s doing here.
— Random Dick Cavett cameo.
— I admit, Cavett’s sarcastic response to being asked “Anyone in there?” was funny, as was Danny’s dismissive attitude towards him.
— Strange moment at the end of Cavett’s scene. First, the audience began applauding as if his scene had ended, even though he was still onstage, then he asked Danny “Why do you guys always have those ear-flap hats?”, which was apparently an ad-lib judging from Danny’s genuinely taken-aback reaction. Then Cavett takes off Danny’s hat and wears it on his own head as he exits the scene, resulting in a funny outraged “He took my hat!” response from Danny.
— A pretty good sketch overall, with funny characterizations from each of the main performers.
STARS: ***


THE AMOS ‘N ANDY SHOW
this new version features (EDM) & Andy Rooney (JOP)

 

— Another sketch crossing over Andy Rooney with an old TV show. It wasn’t that funny last time they did it (“The Honeyrooneys” sketch from two seasons ago), and this one is making me laugh even less. It doesn’t help that I’ve never watched “Amos ‘n Andy”, though I’m aware of the basics of that show.
— This overall sketch was pretty much a dud.
STARS: *½


MASTERPIECE HUMOR
the final episode of “A Kangaroo Walks Into A Bar”

    

— Pretty funny concept for a “Masterpiece Theater” parody.
— The big gag with the miniseries conclusion turning out to just be a four-second silly punchline after Tim gave such a dignified, lengthy intro to it didn’t work for me.
— Something about the fancy ending credits that’s being scrolled by onscreen is really tickling me.
STARS: **


BODY GUARD
mourners attack a negligent bodyguard (ROD) at a politician’s funeral

   

— Not sure what to think of this sketch so far. It’s awfully redundant.
— The cast is really committed in their performances, though, which is the only high point I’ve been able to find in this.
— I didn’t get the ending with Brad.
— A terrible one-joke sketch overall.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Living on the Front Line”


GOODNIGHTS

 

— Eddie, seen with his girlfriend around his arm, interrupts Danny’s goodnights speech to tell him he’s getting married.
— Another big announcement, with Danny informing us that “Jimmy” Belushi will be joining the cast in next week’s episode.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Kind of a strange episode, in that it started very rough with a cold opening that was just a lazy rewrite and a dull monologue, before suddenly getting really strong for a while with a string of very solid sketches and inspired premises, then the quality slightly lowered down to a decent level and stayed there until it died off badly with the weak final three sketches of the night. A varying episode as a whole, but the funny and inspired highlights of the night still make it an overall pretty enjoyable show.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Brandon Tartikoff):
— a very slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
John Candy

Posted on

October 8, 1983 – Brandon Tartikoff / John Cougar (S9 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
TIK, MAG, EDM break into host’s office to see how he got himself on show

  

— LOL at Tim screwing up his “He has more phonelines than viewers” line.
— The audience applauds as soon as Eddie first speaks in this.
— Eddie’s hair looks very different this season.
— Hilarious prank call from Eddie to Mr. T.
— Interesting segue to “Live from New York…”
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Same montage as the last two seasons.
— While the theme music is also the same, it sounds GREAT this season. It has a much funkier, catchier sound than it did in seasons 7 and 8.
— No new cast members tonight; the cast is the exact same as it was the preceding season. However, a certain new cast member IS joining the show a few episodes from now.
— For the first time ever, we see the SNL Band playing on the home base stage’s rooftop when the opening montage ends, which would go on to be a tradition until 1986.


MONOLOGUE
host stresses quality while his bonehead programming decisions scroll by

        

— Ha, they’re doing the “humorous disclaimers show up under a person during their speech/song” bit that the original era often did. A welcome return.
— “Gilligan Meets the Harlem Globetrotters”? That was a real thing once???
— Decent monologue overall. Felt like a nice throwback to the classic Buck Henry monologues from back in the day, even if this one wasn’t as strong.
STARS: ***


CALVIN KLEIN CREAM PIES
for girls you hate, like Martha (JLD)

  

— Yet another Calvin Klein Jeans parody in this SNL era.
— LOL, holy hell at somebody suddenly smashing a pie into Julia’s face during her conceited rambling. Good twist.
— Don’t they end up reusing this same joke in a cold opening later this season? In fact, I think it’s the very next episode.
STARS: ***½


JAMES WATT
James Watt (JOP) is depressed because minority groups don’t like him

     

— Another return of Joe’s impression of Secretary of the Interior James Watt, who’s White House tenure is apparently on its last legs by this point.
— Great joke with Watt getting his drink of water from a mini oil well dispenser.
— Loved Joe’s ending line: “Isn’t it ironic? My last true friends: two Jews, a woman, a black, and a cripple.”
— Good sketch overall.
STARS: ***½


JAZZ RIFFS
sax player (EDM) admits he does weddings & parties for money

 

— A pretty good laugh at the initial sight of Eddie in that ridiculous mask.
— Funny “Excuse me” ad-lib from Eddie in response to a faint booming sound from off-camera.
— A lot of laughs from the part where Eddie’s complaining about the songs he’s most often asked to perform.
STARS: ***


FELN’S DISCOUNT FOOD AND CLOTHING WAREHOUSE
things to wear & eat

  

— Looks like another cast member has a new hairstyle this season. Joe trimmed his fro!
— Funny premise with Joe selling mixtures of clothes and fruit. And as usual, great manic pitchman delivery from him.
— Joe seems like he’s trying not to laugh now, which is making the silly, fast-paced nature of the sketch even more fun.
STARS: ***½


SHOW IDEAS
EDM turns down host’s program ideas; the Whiners want their own show

   

— Eddie once again oddly wears an open leather jacket without a shirt underneath.
— LOL at Brandon in that trendy early 80s leather outfit. I also like how the back of his jacket has NBC’s then-current “Be there” slogan in shiny lettering.
— Eddie’s “Oh, you’re talking negro” realization about Brandon was very funny.
— Strange in retrospect seeing Eddie talking about how he’s perfectly happy staying at SNL, as if he had no plans on leaving any time soon. As we know now, he already had one foot out the door by this point, and would be completely gone before this season is even over.
— Brandon: “I can make you bigger than Gary Coleman.” Eddie: “I got parts in my body bigger than Gary Coleman.”
— The Whiners appearing out of nowhere. Oh, god.
— Considering that the Whiners were in the previous season’s finale I just reviewed yesterday (in what was probably the Whiners’ worst sketch yet), you can imagine how it feels to have to review them two days in a row.
— Brandon’s put-downs to the Whiners are kinda funny, if a bit corny (it’s probably his delivery).
— Overall, not TOO insufferable for a Whiners piece, though I still could’ve done without it.
STARS: **


GUMBY & POKEY
Gumby & Pokey (JOP) rehearse a scene for their reunion show

 

— Pokey being portrayed with an old Jew voice like Gumby is fitting and funny. Is that Joe in the Pokey costume?
— Yep, I guess it IS Joe.
— Joe-as-Pokey’s complaints about his health problems are making me laugh.
— Hmm, not too sure about the parts with Pokey constantly “breaking wind”, though at least they refrained from using a fart sound effect, unlike later eras of SNL.
— Joe’s “They can’t see me laughing behind this thing” ad-lib was hilarious, though it didn’t land with the audience.
— I see they’re putting Brad’s overacting tendencies to good use by having him play an over-the-top, flamboyant, gay dance choreographer.
— Fun moment with Eddie and Joe dropping character and goofing around with each other as the sketch ended.
STARS: **½


MAN ON THE STREET
host hits the pavement to promote NBC’s fine programming, like Manimal

     

— What’s the audience laughing at during Brandon’s non-comedic intro? They seemed to be amused by something going on off-camera that we viewers can’t see.
— Brandon’s ridiculous, desperate ways of getting average joes on the street to tune into NBC’s (doomed) fall schedule are very funny, and he’s a good sport for agreeing to do this piece.
— I especially like the part with him sticking flyers for the show “Manimal” onto car windshields.
— Another really funny part with him using a bullhorn to stop a CBS guy from promoting his network’s shows.
STARS: ****


LARRY’S CORNER
duck noise, nasal milk, thirsty guy synchronicity

   

— Oh, is this going to be the “milk shooting out of nose” sketch that I’ve always heard great things about?
— Yep, from Brad’s intro, I can tell this IS going to be that sketch! I’ve always wanted to see this.
— I think that’s writer Andy Breckman playing the bearded friend. If so, was he one of the new writers hired for this season, or was he already part of the writing staff prior to this season?
— Haha, this is freakin’ HILARIOUS.
— Overall, this sketch definitely lived up to its reputation. The big gag with all three of the guys simultaneously doing their respective thing slayed me.
— I think they eventually go on to make “Larry’s Corner” a recurring sketch, though I doubt any of the subsequent installments will live up to tonight’s.
STARS: *****


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
JOP gives a recap of the baseball playoffs so far
TIK catches up on the NY Post headlines he missed over the summer

       

— Brad’s not wearing his usual suit jacket, instead just being seen in a shirt, vest, and tie, which I think goes on to be his regular anchorman attire this season.
— Joe’s fast-paced recapping of all this season’s World Series games is pretty fun, though kinda light on laughs.
— Was that a mustached Tartikoff briefly seen handing Brad a “breaking news” paper? (fourth screencap above)
— Brad’s “Mr. T and Mr. Coffee” joke was such a groaner that it’s almost funny in itself.
— A mention from Brad of Chevy Chase’s 40th birthday. The punchline to that joke (“He’s 40… and I’m not”) was a nice callback to Chevy’s famous Weekend Update catchphrase.
— Tim keeps alive his impressive streak from last season, where he did a news commentary in every single one of the last nine episodes of the season.
— The AIDS headlines that Tim’s showing are SNL’s very first mention of the infamous AIDS epidemic from this decade.
— Tim’s overall “Salute to Journalism” commentary tonight was decent and an improvement over his last subpar edition of the segment.
— A surprisingly short Saturday Night News overall tonight, compared to some of the overlong ones from last season.
— Brad seems to have a new ending tagline this season: “Thanks for comin’ out in the rain.”
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Pink Houses”


RENT-A-GUN
suspicious-looking (TIK) rents a gun from a sporting goods store

 

— Tim’s shadiness is pretty funny.
— I liked Tim’s reaction to Joe’s banks question.
— Funny bit with Tim explaining he only needs one stocking because it’s for his “half-sister”.
— Overall, despite the aforementioned highlights, the sketch as a whole still felt it could’ve been a little better.
STARS: **½


REVIEW
Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert [real] review the night’s sketches

— Second season premiere in a row with Siskel and Ebert giving instantaneous reviews of the night’s sketches while the show’s still in progress. I had no idea this became a semi-recurring bit. Fun to see this back. They should’ve continued to make this a tradition for every season premiere.
— Siskel and Ebert acknowledge that Piscopo and Murphy are the stars of this cast. While that’s something we all knew, it’s interesting to hear it actually being said on the air.
— Funny part with Siskel overpraising Tartikoff’s performances in hopes that NBC will pick up their syndicated show.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO

— I like how the earlier joke from the Man on the Street sketch carried over into this, with Brandon handing a confused John Cougar and his band “Manimal” flyers.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Crumblin’ Down”


BE THERE
watching networks other than NBC leads to damnation & heart disease

 

— I almost thought the reverend was Brad Hall with his hair slicked back, before I realized its just an uncredited outside actor (along with the guy playing the doctor).
— Fairly funny premise with NBC using a reverend and doctor to sternly force people to refrain from tuning into other networks.
— The ending “NBC: Watch us or die and go to hell” tagline was pretty funny.
STARS: ***


ETHEL’S DINER
resilient diner owner Ethel (MAG) takes a series of tragedies in stride

   

— I see where this sketch is going, where Mary’s going to keep receiving increasingly bad news, only for her to keep a stiff upper lip in reaction to it.
— The audience is absolutely dead during this sketch. Then again, I can’t blame them; there ain’t much to laugh at here.
— Weak punchline at the end.
STARS: *½


GOODNIGHTS

  

— In addition to the theme music in tonight’s opening montage, even the goodnights music has a bit of a funkier sound this season.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty average start to the season. The episode as a whole wasn’t particularly strong, but wasn’t weak either. Certainly a satisfying-enough season premiere. There was also a nice recurring theme with all the jabs at NBC’s struggles and desperation, and Brandon Tartikoff proved to be a good sport, despite only playing himself all night.
— You can already sense the beginning of the end for Eddie Murphy’s SNL tenure. As I said in my last review, the preceding season 8 seemed to be him hitting his absolute peak, and judging from from tonight’s episode and the fact that his movie career was really taking off, I think season 9 will feature a still-very-funny-but-more-complacent Eddie.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1982-83):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman

Posted on

May 14, 1983 – Mayor Ed Koch / Kevin Rowland & Dexy’s Midnight Runners (S8 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OPENING MONTAGE
— For the first time in SNL history, an episode doesn’t have a cold opening, and just goes straight into the opening montage. I’m not 100% sure, but I think the only other instance of this would later happen in the Pamela Sue Martin episode from season 10.


MONOLOGUE
host lists things about Ronald Reagan that bug him

— He immediately starts this off with his “How’m I doin’?” catchphrase, which he also started off his monologue with in the season 4 episode hosted by the Rolling Stones.
— Good premise with him freely saying what he REALLY thinks about the president.
— He’s coming off funny and likable in this.
— Who was he referring to when talking about how someone who once insulted him on the street ended up becoming governor?
— Pretty funny ending with him lamenting having to host this “cockamamie comedy show”.
STARS: ***


WHAT’S THE MOST DISGUSTING THING YOU’VE SEEN IN NEW YORK?
responses to, “What’s the most disgusting thing you’ve seen in New York?”

  

— Some really funny anecdotes here so far. I especially like one person’s answer being seeing Bella Abzug naked.
— Uh, wow at that anecdote about a guy who committed suicide by jumping off a building and had to have his body carried away in multiple bags. The sicko in me kinda likes how that dark story contrasted against all the other stories told here so far.
— What was with the sappy, non-comedic ending with one guy going against the grain by saying there’s nothing wrong with the city and he’s proud to live in it? I guess Koch being in the building tonight had some influence on SNL’s decision to end this film like that.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


MISTER ROBINSON’S NEIGHBORHOOD
an inventory of stolen goods

  

— At first, I got excited and mistakenly thought this was going to be the installment where Ed Koch fills in for Mister Robinson. I guess that’s from next season.
— They’ve noticeably been relying on this sketch less and less lately. It’s surprisingly only appeared twice all season. Maybe Eddie’s getting tired of doing these.
— A good laugh from “entrepreneur” being spelled “ontapanure” on Robinson’s famous “Word of the Day” board.
— I love the part with him displaying a stolen earring with a chunk of ear still attached to it.
— The fire escape ending felt weak.
— Overall, not one of the better installments of this sketch, though it was still watchable. I wonder if these are running out of steam, though.
STARS: ***


LEDGE
host & Frank Sinatra (JOP) try to talk (EDM) down from a ledge

     

— WTF? Another sketch with Eddie about to jump off a ledge? I liked the first one they did earlier this season, but is this REALLY necessary to turn into a recurring sketch?
— Koch: “How’m I doin?” Eddie: “I’m about to jump off this ledge and you ask me ‘How’m I doin”?!?”
— I like Eddie’s rapid-fire listing-off of all the things he finds wrong with New York.
— Satisfying part with Eddie shoving the Little Orphan Annie girl off the ledge.
— Haha, the quick part with Brad appearing out of nowhere as a ruined stockbroker and immediately jumping off the ledge slayed me.
— Pretty funny random inclusion of Joe’s Sinatra.
— Not sure how to feel about the whole “Start Spreading the News” performance from Koch, Eddie, and Joe. It’s a fun performance, but it’s not comedic, and I was kinda enjoying where this sketch was going before then.
— Since Eddie’s character fell off the ledge at the end (which was a weak and lazy gag), hopefully that’s the end of this recurring sketch.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Come On, Eileen”


THE ENQUIRER
— Rerun


BALD NO MORE
Bald No More hair stimulant gives host a mane like Don King’s [real]

   

— Koch is getting more laughs here.
— Another Don King cameo, after his appearance in that heavily-hyped Marc Weiner hand puppet boxing match from season 6.
— A good laugh from the sloppy goop being put all over Koch’s head and it dripping onto his face.
— How does Eddie get his tongue to look so freakishly big when he sticks it out like that? He did the same thing in that Casablanca ski lodge sketch earlier this season.
— Fairly funny visual of Koch in the Don King wig.
STARS: ***


LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN
Gumby visits; Marv Albert cameo

     

— Good to see another sketch with Joe’s dead-on Letterman impression.
— I like the part with him taking us through a tour of the NBC men’s room.
— Him describing SaniWrap as being a “protective shield against god knows what” made me laugh.
— I like how Tom Snyder’s voice was heard from inside the bathroom stall yelling “Get the hell out of here” to Joe’s Letterman and then doing his trademark laugh.
— Gumby returns as Letterman’s guest, after the great sketch they did together in the season premiere.
— Interesting-seeming odd part with a claymation blooper reel from Gumby movies.
— Hmm, the first blooper clip with Marvin Hamlisch wasn’t too funny.
— Okay, the second blooper clip is funnier, especially Gumby’s yell of “Oy!” when seeing boulders falling towards him.
— Overall, a pretty good sketch, but I felt this was a step down from the Gumby/Letterman sketch from the season premiere.
STARS: ***½


HARRY ANDERSON
Harry & Leslie Anderson [real] escape strait jacket & ropes, respectively

   

— Loved Harry’s “I appreciate the estimation” ad-lib to the female volunteer when she gave him too much crotch room when tying the crotch strap part of Harry’s straitjacket.
— Great part with Harry shoving his female assistant’s chair away to prevent her from untying herself before him.
— Overall, as usual, a fun Harry Anderson performance.
STARS: ***½


WHINERS
Wendy Whiner recalls Doug’s experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam

   

— Ugh, another Whiners sketch ALREADY? Didn’t we just see them a mere three episodes ago when Joan Rivers hosted?
— Because we apparently haven’t gotten ENOUGH offensive Asian stereotypes on the show lately, here’s yet another season 8 sketch with cast members playing cartoonish, over-the-top Asian caricatures. Ugh, you’re killing me with this, Ebersol-era SNL.
— Boy, this overall sketch was fucking TERRIBLE, even worse than the usual Whiners dreck. Not even Eddie could save this.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Celtic Soul Brothers”


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Patti Lynn Hunnsacker complains about her nightmare prom date
Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer lists ways to tell if you’re stupid
MAG gets her dander up about network programming
Don King [real] promotes upcoming fights while JOP cuts his hair

       

— Oh my god, Brad’s cringeworthy Mexican voice during his Fernando Valenzuela joke made me groan like crazy.
— Julia’s story about her terrible prom date has some okay lines, but as usual with her commentaries as this character, the whole thing is just stereotypical teenage 80s humor (maybe it was funnier to people in 1983 than it is to me in 2019). This character feels like a real waste of Julia’s talents, knowing the comedic greatness she would later go on to achieve in her post-SNL career.
— Here’s Saturday Night News’s obligatory Tim Kazurinsky appearance of the week. For anyone keeping count, this is the NINTH consecutive episode where he does a news commentary. Wow. Let’s see if this impressive streak carries over into the beginning of next season.
— What in the world did I just hear an unseen audience member loudly yelling out at the beginning of the Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer commentary?
— Oh, I see, the audience member yelled the correct pronunciation of Havnagootiim’s name, as a correction to Brad’s (intentional) butchering of the name when introducing the segment. Brad and Tim are doing a good job playing off of that audience member’s interjection.
— Tim’s “how to tell if you are stupid” topic seemed like it would be an interesting change of pace for this character, but this one didn’t end up going as well as the usual Havnagootiim commentaries do. Several parts of his listed-off signs of stupidity fell flat.  Nice ending, though, where they did a clever crossover with Tim’s recurring “Salute to Journalism” commentaries, by having Havnagootiim slam the New York Post.
— All throughout tonight’s Saturday Night News, Brad keeps randomly uttering some weak ad-libs in a silly high-pitched voice. This made me come to a realization that something I REALLY don’t like about Brad as an anchorperson is that he’s too hokey in his delivery and tries too hard when doing some of his goofier bits and ad-libs. Even when intentionally mispronouncing Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer a few minutes ago, Brad delivered it too over-the-top and cartoonish.
— WTF was with Brad’s “The correct time” bit?
— As usual, some good complaints from Mary during her Spittin’ Mad rant. I especially liked her gripe about The New Odd Couple: “Why not do a white Diff’rent Strokes or a Japanese Jeffersons?”
— What was Mary referring to when she explained Laverne and Shirley recently got canceled because “Laverne bit somebody!” Is that referring to something Penny Marshall got in trouble for doing in real life?
— Tonight’s Saturday Night News feels like it’s going on forever.
— Fun payoff to Joe’s SNL Sports commentary with him cutting Don King’s trademark tall hair while King promotes an upcoming boxing match.
STARS: **


BIRTHDAY A GO-GO
a women’s club watches an exhibitionist (TIK) deliver a strip-o-gram

   

— LOL at the part of Tim’s strip act where he did an Egyptian dance while wearing a t-shirt over his head like an Egyptian headdress. That’s been the only part of his strip act that’s made me laugh so far.
— Good twist with Tim turning out to be an escaped mental patient posing as a stripper.
— So this ends up being our final sketch of the season? Not the best note for season 8 to end on, but at least it didn’t end with a repeated fake ad like season 7 frustratingly did.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

  

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— I pointed out in my last review that SNL has been following a never-ending “fun episode, lesser episode” cycle during the last few months of this season. And since yesterday’s episode was a fun one, I was worried it meant that if the aforementioned cycle continued, tonight’s episode would be a lesser one. Unfortunately, I turned out to be right. This episode was pretty forgettable for a season finale, and despite a few pretty solid segments, I can’t think of anything that stood out as really great. We also had a particularly dreadful Whiners sketch and an even weaker Saturday Night News than usual.
— Season 8 as a whole was surprisingly a blast for me to review. It was FAR from one of the best seasons ever, but there was a more comfortable and assuring feel to the overall show than the preceding season 7 had.   There was also a surprisingly good amount of episodes that had a very fun atmosphere, particularly the Joan Rivers one. This season also had a much more impressive roster of hosts than the preceding season did, especially during the stretch of episodes from December to February where we got a long consecutive string of comedy greats helming the show (The Smothers Brothers, Eddie Murphy, Lily Tomlin, Rick Moranis & Dave Thomas, Sid Caesar, and Howard Hesseman). Another thing that made this season a joy to review is the show’s star Eddie Murphy reaching his absolute peak in both performance quality and airtime. After getting so used to his consistently strong showing this season, I’m sure it’s going to feel a little odd seeing Eddie’s extremely reduced airtime next season while he’s busy filming movies in Hollywood.
— This season was also apparently good enough for Dick Ebersol to make no firings from the cast afterwards, which makes this the first season in years where everybody in the cast came back the next season. Though I do recall reading a Gary Kroeger article a few years ago where at one point, I think, he explains that Ebersol actually originally fired him after this season due to his lack of airtime and not having any breakout roles, before an irate Brad Hall talked Ebersol into rehiring Gary. However, my memories of that story are fuzzy, so I’m not sure how accurate my re-telling is.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Stevie Wonder):
— a fairly big step down


HOW THIS SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1981-82):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Season 9 begins, with host Brandon Tartikoff

Posted on

May 7, 1983 – Stevie Wonder (S8 E19)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OPENING MONTAGE
— There’s no cold opening in my version of the episode; this just abruptly starts with the opening montage. I’m not sure if that’s how this episode originally aired, or if the cold opening is just missing from my copy. [ADDENDUM: Turns out there IS a cold opening missing from my copy: a promo for a fake miniseries titled “V.D.”] I do know that the following week’s episode also starts with no cold opening, though in that particular case, that’s how the episode originally aired (if I’m not mistaken).
— Tonight’s theme music sounds canned. In fact, I think it’s the same canned theme they used in the two late-October episodes earlier this season that were performed in Studio 3A (Howard Hesseman and Michael Keaton). Considering tonight’s episode is in the usual Studio 8H, I wonder why the theme music isn’t being performed live.


MONOLOGUE / MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Fingertips”

— Loved Pardo doing a unique intro to Stevie instead of just saying the usual “Ladies and gentlemen, (insert host name here)”.
— Already starting off with a musical performance, right at the beginning of this monologue. Maybe this explains why they used canned theme music in the opening montage.
— Funny how they’re randomly using a high-pitched vocal modifier on Stevie (I guess because Pardo introduced him as “the 12-year-old genius”).


KANNON AE-1
a camera so simple, even host can use it

    

— I remember the first time I ever saw this was in an “SNL Goes Commercial” special (a “best of” compilation of memorable SNL fake ads), way back when I was just starting to get into SNL. Not knowing at the time that this commercial came from a Stevie Wonder-hosted episode, I remember being shocked when I saw Stevie participating in this. I asked myself “How in the WORLD did they get the real Stevie Wonder to make a cameo appearance for a silly little fake commercial like this??? And how’d he agree to participate in something poking fun at his blindness???” I actually started wondering if it was just a really convincing lookalike playing Stevie. It wasn’t until years later that I found out Stevie had hosted the show once in the early 80s and then I realized “Oh, that must be where that camera commercial came from”.
— Love the hilarious concept of a camera that’s “so simple, even Stevie Wonder can use it”.
— Stevie’s bad photography and bad tennis-playing are very funny. He’s one hell of a good sport for doing this commercial.
— His gleeful delivery of the tagline “So simple, ANYONE can use it!” never fails to crack me up.
— A classic commercial overall.
STARS: *****


STEVIE EXPERIENCE
Stevie Wonder impersonator (host) applies for a job, (EDM) gives him tips

   

— Stevie’s nerdy voice is funny as hell.
— I’m enjoying the premise of Stevie badly singing his own songs.
— Ha, Eddie’s having another one of his famous corpsing moments in response to Stevie saying something to him.
— Here’s Eddie busting out his famous Stevie imitation, to show Stevie’s character how to do the impression.
— Great audience eruption in response to Stevie singing “My Cherie Amour” the right way.
— Tonight’s episode in general has really been starting hot so far.
STARS: ****½


COTTON LAND
an opportunity to work off your white guilt

  

— Yet another sketch where I’m liking Stevie’s voice and delivery.
— Pretty funny concept.
— Mary’s testimonial is solid.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Overjoyed”

— At the end of this performance, while still sitting at the piano, Stevie sets up the following sketch as a segue. This is very reminiscent of the way they segued from musical performances to sketches in the episode that Ray Charles hosted back in season 3.


THE STORY OF STEVIE
scenes from host’s life reveal he was influenced by white musicians

   

— As I mentioned in a recent review, this sketch has yet another instance of Mary Gross in light blackface playing a black role.
— LOL at the little boy in a braided wig and sunglasses playing young Stevie.
— Pretty funny Ed Sullivan impression from Joe.
— Nice to see Michael Davis actually appearing in a sketch as a character while still displaying his juggling skills.
— Another good use of Eddie’s Stevie impression tonight.
— Funny part with Stevie singing a Spike Jones-inspired version of “Superstitious”.
— Ha, Stevie’s now doing a comical English accent, which he reveals as his “real” voice. Man, tonight’s episode is fun.
STARS: ***½


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
Dr. Jack Badofsky lists varieties of impotence
nude, snake-laden Nastassia Kinski (JLD) explains why she’s a star
music critic Roderick Rhythm (host) dislikes songs with a social message

       

— Right off the bat, when flubbing his opening joke, Brad once again relies on his go-to “spouting a stream of exaggerated gibberish” ad-lib to save himself. Like I said recently, that go-to ad-lib was something Chevy did much better and smoother back in the original era. Brad is too over-the-top with it and it never lands with the audience.
— Brad’s random Lee Iaccocca bit was… interesting, I guess.
— Here’s Saturday Night News’s obligatory Tim Kazurinsky appearance of the week. Keeping his record-breaking streak alive, I see.
— Good to see another Dr. Jack Badofsky commentary, since I’ve recently begun appreciating this character.
— Great ad-lib from Tim, after his addendum to the “Chimp-otence” pun received a negative audience reaction.
— Not sure if I should be ashamed to admit I got a good laugh from Tim’s “Skim-potence” pun being for when you make love to a Chinese girl named Lo Fat.
— Another Badofsky commentary with a meta ending where he asks women to contact Tim Kazurinsky for sex.
— Whoa at Julia’s sexy look…
— Julia’s overall commentary was okay, I guess. The audience kinda didn’t seem to know what to make of it, and honestly, I’m not quite sure I do, either.
— Interesting seeing Stevie doing a Saturday Night News commentary.
— Stevie’s still doing the English accent from the end of the preceding sketch.
— Stevie’s overall commentary was pretty solid.
STARS: **½


DION’S
Dion Dion & Blaire (JOP) get very excited when host visits their salon

   

— Ah, we finally get the debut of Joe’s Blair character, the co-worker of Eddie’s recurring Dion Dion character.
— As expected, this is a great display of the fun chemistry that Eddie and Joe always have whenever they’re teamed together.
— Eddie’s over-the-top reaction to seeing Stevie in the store is hilarious.
— I liked Eddie telling Stevie that the peaceful lecture that Stevie’s giving him is “just like one of your Grammy speeches”.
— Funny ending
STARS: ***


BUSBOY
a Quasimodo-like busboy (JOP) gives poor service to (JLD) & (TIK)

   

— Oh… my… god at Joe’s entrance in that insane ogre-ish make-up.
— Joe’s character and actions are pretty funny.
— Is Julia trying to hide her laughing right now? She’s noticeably bowing her head for no apparent reason.
— Funny ending with Tim frantically trying to prevent Joe from retrieving his and Julia’s car.
STARS: ***


HITLER: THE SECRET DIARIES
Hitler (TIK) enters his first meeting with Eva Braun (ROD) into his diary

   

— A fairly funny concept with Tim-as-Hitler’s teenager-esque diary entries.
— Oh, we’re getting a flashback?
— I laughed out loud at the casual, friendly “Hi, Hitler!” greetings and salutes from everyone in the diner when Hitler enters.
— Robin’s accent is funny.
— The overall sketch wasn’t too great as a whole, but it had its moments.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Go Home”


MICHAEL DAVIS
Michael Davis & Greg Dean [real] do some slapstick with a broom & a chair

     

— Very interesting, unique intro from Stevie and Brad.
— Good to finally see Michael Davis again, after a year-long absence.
— Funny reveal that the blindfold Michael’s wearing had a secret eye hole in it the whole time.
— Good visual of him stuffing his mouth entirely full of grapes.
— Ha, he’s now trying to chew all the grapes as grape juice pours out of his mouth.
— Hmm, strange turn this has taken with a partner randomly joining Michael.
— I’m really liking the old-timey Vaudeville-esque comedy act between Michael and the aforementioned partner, and it appeals to me as a fan of classic slapstick comedy teams of this nature (The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, etc.). It’s a big deviation from Michael’s usual stuff on the show, but it’s working well.
— Overall, this was another great Michael Davis piece and it was nice to see him change his normal routine up a bit. Does this end up being his final SNL appearance?
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— As I was expecting with Stevie Wonder as a host, this ended up being a fun episode, much like the enjoyable one that Ray Charles hosted. And much like Ray Charles in that episode, Stevie Wonder displayed a great sense of humor tonight and helped give the episode a consistently likable atmosphere with his sketch work and musical performances. He also seemed to appear in almost EVERYTHING tonight (even the pre-taped fake ad and Saturday Night News), which is noteworthy because most hosts in this era don’t appear all that much compared to later eras where it’s pretty much an unwritten rule to put the host in everything except the cold opening, Weekend Update, and some of the pre-taped segments.
— Lately, I’ve been noticing a pattern where a fun, above-average episode is immediately followed by a lesser episode, and then the cycle repeats all over again. The fun Howard Hesseman episode (the one from February) was followed by the fairly mediocre Beau & Jeff Bridges episode, which was followed by the fun Bruce Dern episode, followed by the average Robert Guillaume episode, followed by the VERY fun Joan Rivers episode, followed by the forgettable Susan Saint James episode, followed by tonight’s fun episode. Hope that doesn’t bode badly for the next episode, especially considering it’s the season finale.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Susan Saint James):
— a fairly big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Season 8 comes to an end, with host Mayor Ed Koch

Posted on

April 16, 1983 – Susan Saint James / Michael McDonald (S8 E18)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Velvet Jones plugs his titillating new videotape- “The Exercises of Love”

  

— The opening shot of Velvet Jones laying in that position was pretty funny. Also, his positioning made me think this was going to be YET ANOTHER Calvin Klein Jeans spoof, but this has just turned out to be yet another commercial with him advertising a new book of his. Not excited to see this, considering I feel that the only strong book commercial he did was his classic first one (“I Wanna Be a Ho”).
–At least this is somewhat different from his last few book commercials, with him demonstrating various love-making positions, which is fairly funny, though nothing great.
STARS: **


OPENING MONTAGE
— For some reason, Don Pardo precedes his usual announcement of “It’s Saturday Night Live” by saying “from New York”. Not sure why. I know the cold opening didn’t end with a “Live from New York”, but neither did several cold openings from earlier this season, and those episodes didn’t have Pardo changing up the “It’s Saturday Night Live” announcement.


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Nice energy from her to start this off.
— She mentions getting married to SNL producer Dick Ebersol and having a child with him in between her previous episode and tonight’s.
— Quick monologue overall. The breastfeeding joke at the end was okay enough.
STARS: **½


SIT ON IT!
panelists JOP, EDM, host identify statuettes with their butts

     

— Interesting to see Brad playing a gameshow host.
— Hmm, the three panelists (Joe, Eddie, Susan) are playing themselves.
— Sitting on a bust to identify it? THAT’S the premise??? What a concept.
— Figures Robin would choose the one black panelist (Eddie) to identify the Louis Armstrong bust.
— Good brief Louis Armstrong vocal imitation from Eddie when he correctly guesses the bust he’s sitting on.
— Susan’s eagerness to return to the show after seeing the flag statue was pretty funny.
— Overall, this was a little better than the initial reveal of the concept had me expecting, though I still didn’t find this all that great as a whole.
STARS: **½


TOOTSIE COSMETICS
Dorothy Michaels’ (GAK) Tootsie cosmetics bring out the woman in EDM

 

— Good to see the return of Gary’s Tootsie impression.
— Second sketch in a row with Eddie playing himself.
— Eddie’s silent, deadpan, uncooperative demeanor during all this is funny.
— This sketch made me come to a second realization that I don’t think Eddie ever dressed in drag in his entire SNL tenure. The first realization I had of that was in this season’s first Howard Hesseman episode where, during the monologue, Howard unfavorably compared this season’s cast to the original cast and asked at one point “When is Eddie Murphy going to start doing scenes in drag??? Garrett did!”.
— Funny in hindsight seeing the ending with Eddie having a big change of heart and starting to embrace doing drag after hearing how much money “Tootsie” grossed. Oh, so THAT’S why Eddie went on to do so many drag movies later in his career…
STARS: ***½


TEXXON
— Rerun


THE LADIES ROOM
(JOP) & (TIK) discover hidden paradise on undercover trip to ladies’ room

     

— WTF? Two sketches in a row centered around men in drag?
— The reveal of what the ladies room really looks like is fairly funny, though the premise of males finding out the ladies room is a heavenly paradise seems pretty cliché. I’ve seen it done in various shows and cartoons.
— I like the part with the guy walking around repeatedly asking “Anyone here for sex?”
— Despite the clichéd premise, I AM liking the commitment to how ambitious this sketch is, with all the various things happening from various people on just one set. Fairly impressive for a live sketch.
— Eddie playing an effeminate hair stylist named Dion? I was about to ask if this is supposed to be his recurring Dion Dion character, but he’s not wearing the wig.
— What was with the screaming running guy in the background in the middle of Susan’s big speech?
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “If That’s What It Takes”


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
TIK reads police reports from Ocean Springs, Mississippi
Dr. Ruth Westheimer (MAG) answers sex questions from SNL technical crew
EDM thanks Chicagoans for electing Harold Washington mayor

      

— In the NYC skyline background, I’m seeing what looks like a tiny King Kong hanging off of the Empire State Building. (you can see it in the upper left side of the first screencap above) Interesting new addition to the set. Is this a random choice, or is it an homage/tie-in to some kind of significance King Kong had this week? I know the original King Kong movie came out in 1933, so considering this is 1983, maybe this week was the 50th anniversary of the movie’s release date.
— Funny seeing a reference to Joan Rivers’ famous reliance on Liz Taylor jokes, after it was on full display in the episode Rivers hosted the previous week.
— Here’s Saturday Night News’s obligatory Tim Kazurinsky appearance of the week. I wonder how many consecutive episodes he’s done a news commentary in by this point; my guess is six or seven. That’s GOTTA be an all-time record.
— The bizarre police reports Tim read off were an interesting change of pace from the New York Post headlines he usually shows in these Salute to Journalism commentaries, but this one felt like it wasn’t as funny as it could’ve been.
— Good part with Mary’s Dr. Ruth responding to the long size of the boom mic guy’s mic by saying “No problem there”.
— They repeated the Dr. Ruth finger-in-hole gesture gag ONCE AGAIN. Why do they always have to do that at the end of every commentary she does? That only worked the first time.
— I’ve been noticing tonight that whenever a guest commentary has ended, Brad does just one news joke, then he ALREADY throws to another guest commentator.
— Eddie’s overall commentary was only okay. There were some pretty funny lines, but this pales in comparison to some of his earlier news commentaries, and his delivery seemed kinda off during this.
STARS: **½


OUR GENERATION
lazy (GAK) ignores motivation from parents, friends, potential fortune

   

— Is Gary’s repeated “Nah!”s going to be his only dialogue in the whole sketch?
— I got a good laugh from Joe’s angry “You go straight to hell” to Gary after failing to get him to do something productive.
— Okay, Gary’s “Nah!”s are starting to increasingly make me laugh more and more, especially the pondering pause he always does right before saying it.
— I love how Gary’s being offered increasingly golden opportunities, only for him to turn them each down with his usual “Nah!”s. Predictable but it’s tickling me.
— The ending with Gary heading up the stairs while letting everyone know “Thought I’d go upstairs… diddle with my fiddle” (which kinda reminds me of a classic moment from a certain famous Joe Montana-involved sketch the show would do four years later) was kinda funny in itself, but didn’t work too well as a punchline for this sketch. However, the reason for that may be because, from what I remember once hearing, the wording of that punchline was originally supposed to be dirtier before the censors made Gary tone it down to “diddle with my fiddle”. I can’t remember what the original wording was supposed to be, but whatever it was, I’m sure it would’ve made the punchline hit harder.
STARS: ***½


STEVEN WRIGHT
Steven Wright [real] does stand-up about his cross-country trip

— Surprised to see a Steven Wright appearance THIS early in SNL’s timeline. I had always been under the impression that he didn’t begin appearing as a stand-up guest on SNL until seasons 10 and 11. I’m very happy to see him, though. He’s always been one of my all-time favorite stand-up comedians.
— If you’re familiar with my reviews, you’ll know that I’m loving the format of this piece with him doing a long string of random one-liners.
— Overall, this was absolutely hilarious as expected. Every single thing that came out of the man’s mouth was funny here. My favorite one-liners were the whole Flintstones bit, the friend who has sideburns behind his ears, the “Breakfast any time” bit, and the punchline to the ski lift ride story.
STARS: ****½


TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS
James Watt (JOP) endorses pro-industry hits

  

— After only one episode, we already have the return of Joe’s James Watt impression.
— Looks like this is going to be yet another variation of the “celebrity spokesperson advertises an album of hit songs modified to fit a theme relating to said spokesperson” type of sketch. SNL’s been going to that well an awful lot lately.
— I got some laughs from the audio sample played of the modified version of “MacArthur Park”.
— This sketch definitely isn’t working as well as the previous sketches in this vein did. This one is getting too one-note.
— Just when I thought the sketch was mercifully about to end, Joe has thrown to YET ANOTHER screen crawl of even more songs from an extra “Beach Boys” album. Ugh, just END this sketch already.
STARS: *½


DUNG IN THE OVAL OFFICE
Ronald Reagan (JOP) communicates with Deng Xiaoping (TIK) via stereotypes

  

— The opening shot of the White House while the “Hail to the Chief” theme played made me initially think this would be another installment of the sketches showing President Reagan’s perspective, before the camera cut to Joe playing Reagan.
— Tim and Brad’s cartoonish Chinese gibberish and accents are just plain cringeworthy here.
— I did kinda like the throwaway line implying that Richard Nixon is now serving as a White House bathroom attendant.
— Wow at the endless amount of Asian stereotype jokes here.
— Overall, good lord, this sketch was atrocious and brought to light some of the worst tendencies of the Ebersol era. I know I was very lenient on those “Old (insert ethnicity here) Beer” commercials in my recent review of the Bruce Dern episode, but at least I found those to have an infectiously silly atmosphere and fun performances from Eddie and Joe that helped me look past the racism. This sketch, on the other hand, had NOTHING to help me look past the racism.
STARS: *


KILLING TIME
EDM wastes some time by plugging 48 Hours & Trading Places

 

— WTF happened? Why has this begun with the audience already in the middle of laughing hysterically?  What did we miss?
— Ha, Eddie now just acknowledged the same question I asked above, by jokingly saying “People at home are going ‘what did he do?’”
— Oh, it’s a “killing time” segment. Eddie’s usually always really good at these.
— He plugs an upcoming movie he’s doing with Dan Aykroyd, the now-well-known “Trading Places”.
— What’s with all the weird jump cuts? Am I watching an edited version of this?
— He also plugs the upcoming Stevie Wonder-hosted episode by doing his famous impression of him.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Can’t Let Go Now”


MAGIC FISH
a peasant (EDM) uses lawyers to negotiate wishes from a magic fish (MAG)

   

— Mary briefly breaks character after trying to spit water into Eddie’s face.
— Decent premise with Eddie bringing an attorney to negotiate wishes from the fish.
— I like how Mary as the fish is now smoking a cigarette after the camera cuts back to the negotiations still occurring after a long time.
— I’ve noticed what looks like another sudden jump cut tonight. Is this sketch edited too?
— Mary’s bitter “Damn!” into the camera gave me a pretty good laugh.
STARS: ***


THE WEB
— Rerun


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty unremarkable episode. There were some good segments, but a lot of the episode left me with a “meh” feeling. Not particularly bad, just forgettable.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Joan Rivers):
— a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Stevie Wonder

Posted on

April 9, 1983 – Joan Rivers / Musical Youth (S8 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
the Whiners are in the studio to watch SNL, but they have some complaints

 

— Ugh, another Whiners sketch. I guess Sid Caesar wasn’t successful in his attempts to strangle them to death at the end of their most recent sketch.
— I DO like the meta premise of the Whiners being at SNL, though.
— I got a big laugh from the Whiners saying “I hope Gilda’s on the show tonight”.
— I liked the irony of them complaining that Joan Rivers is so loud and annoying.
— Overall, surprisingly not too terrible for a Whiners sketch. One of their better appearances by default.
STARS: **½


MONOLOGUE
host does self-deprecating stand-up about her childhood

— Immediately starting off with VERY rapid-fire jokes.
— I’m liking a lot of her self-deprecating jokes about herself as a baby.
— Wow, she’s going a mile a minute with these jokes; so much so, that it’s taken me a few seconds to get some of the punchlines, and by the time I do, she’s already done the next punchline. I am getting a lot of laughs here, though, and I love the energy of this.
STARS: ****


THE DAVID SUSSKIND SHOW, PART 1
Buckwheat bodyguard (EDM) tells David Susskind [real]- he was sleazeball

      

— Yet another continuation of the “Buckwheat’s death” saga. I had no idea it ever went as far as three episodes. I was only aware of the first two.  Gotta love SNL’s continued commitment to this story arc.
— Very good blunt delivery from Eddie of the reveal that “Buckwheat was a sleazeball”.
— Eddie works in another funny n-word drop.
— I’m really enjoying the behind-the-scenes video of a candid Buckwheat acting like a sleazy diva.
— Susskind throws to a mid-show “commercial”, which I guess counts as a separate segment, and then I assume they’re going to come back to Part 2 the Susskind sketch. Interesting format break for SNL.
STARS: ****


THE ENQUIRER
the paper for people with enquiring minds

    

— A lot of funny, silly humor & animated graphics here.
— Love the random inclusion of Mary’s Alfalfa at the end of this.
STARS: ***½


THE DAVID SUSSKIND SHOW, PART 2
back on Susskind show, Buckwheat impersonators (TIK), (GAK), (EDM) argue

 

— Fast costume change for Eddie.
— LOL at Eddie’s dignified, accented voice as a Buckwheat impersonator. I feel like I’ve heard Eddie do this voice before, but I’m not sure which sketch it was in.
— An overall okay sketch, though a step down from Part 1 of this sketch.
— Poor Gary Kroeger was wasted in yet another sketch. They didn’t let him really do anything in this. That’s especially a shame considering we’ve seen before (in the Lily Tomlin cold opening this season) that he can actually do a decent Buckwheat impression.
STARS: ***


OSCARS
Oscar statuettes await their category backstage

   

— Mixed feelings about this concept. It’s a somewhat unique idea, but it also has too much of the type of cutesy, corny feel that I used to always negatively associate the Ebersol era with years ago. (As it turns out, I haven’t been finding this era to be QUITE as corny as I used to feel)
— That gold face paint oddly makes Julia look kinda like a black woman.
— Some highlights here, but the overall sketch wasn’t too great as a whole.
STARS: **½


JOAN VS. JOAN
host & crossdressed JOP have joke-telling contest to identify real Joan

   

— Nice to see the return of Joe’s Joan Rivers impression. It’s not the best Joan Rivers impression I’ve seen (it’s basically just Joe’s normal deep-ish voice talking in Joan Rivers’ vocal pattern), but he plays the role so over-the-top that I can’t help but always crack up.
— I like this premise of a Joan Rivers contest between Joan and Joe.
— Heh, boy, Joan can’t even keep a straight face ALREADY.
— The joke about a guy being “so dumb, he couldn’t count to 21 unless he was naked” took a few seconds to for me to get, but when I did, I laughed out loud for several seconds.
— Joe already used the “Why can’t you be more like Sheila? / Sheila had died at birth” joke in the Speaking As a Woman sketch from earlier this season where he did his Joan Rivers impression opposite Gary as Dustin Hoffman’s Tootsie.
— This sketch is very fun to watch so far. I’m having a blast, and clearly, so are Joan and Joe themselves.
— The ending with Joan’s husband (wearing a bag over his head) having to decide by feel which one of the two Joans is the real one was okay, but I felt it took away from where this sketch was going when it was just Joan and Joe playing off of each other.
STARS: ****


CALVIN KLEIN JEANS
Industrial Strength Calvin Klein Jeans- Liz Taylor (host) reminisces

  

— Oh my god at Joan in that getup…
— More fat jokes about Liz Taylor. Feels redundant to place this sketch right after the Joan Vs. Joan sketch which also had a string of fat Liz Taylor jokes.
— This turns out to be yet another Calvin Klein Jeans parody. SNL seemed to do a lot of these in the 80s.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Pass the Dutchie”


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
a list of cooperative events China will be boycotting
a raging MAG gives an alternate Academy Awards list
Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer talks about things that make him angry
James Watt (JOP) sings “Barbara Ann” with BRH & GAK

       

— Chilling in hindsight to hear a joke about Space Shuttle Challenger, knowing what would infamously happen to it three years later.
— Oh, COME ON, a return of the dreaded “long screen crawl gag” from the previous season’s SNL Newsbreaks?!?!? It’s official: this season DEFINITELY must be occasionally using leftover Brian Doyle-Murray scripts from season 7. Ugh.
— Wow, the audience is really starting to get worked up during tonight’s Spittin’ Mad Mary Gross rant.
— This is the first Spittin’ Mad Mary Gross rant that ended with her concluding it on her own instead of getting cut off by Brad.
— Here’s Saturday Night News’s obligatory Tim Kazurinsky appearance of the week.
— Tim’s Jodie Foster/John Hinckley joke actually received boos from the audience.
— Tim’s overall commentary was okay, but not as strong as his usual Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer appearances.  There weren’t any particular lines that stood out this time.
— Ha, Joe as the infamous Secretary of the Interior James Watt.
— Love how Joe and Brad randomly broke out into an out-of-place performance of the song “Barbara Ann”, especially when Gary literally popped up from under the desk as himself to join in on the singing. Very fun bit.
STARS: **


OLD AGE HOME
in the year 2040, old folks host & EDM remember their glory days

 

— Interesting seeing a sketch taking place in the year 2040, and I like the futuristic look of the set.
— Wait, Joan’s playing herself? Did anyone in 1983 REALLY think she’d still be alive in 2040? Wouldn’t she have been well into her 100s even before that decade?
— I always like seeing futuristic sketches taking place decades later where hosts play themselves as elderly. Robin Williams does a great one in season 13, and Lady Gaga does one in season 39. I think I also remember seeing one with Paul Simon in season 11. There might be others I’m forgetting too.
— Julia: “Your husband Edgar’s not coming.” Joan: “Tell me something new.”
— LOL, Eddie playing himself as an old man. I also love his random choice of portraying his elderly self as having an old white Jew voice for no apparent reason.
— Heh, Joan has once again started cracking up in the middle of a sketch.
— Yet ANOTHER slam at Liz Taylor in tonight’s episode. She must’ve been Joan’s favorite punching bag back in the 80s.
— Overall, another fun sketch tonight.
STARS: ***½


CLUB DOOLITTLE
E. Eppy Doolittle (EDM) does ad for his club while avoiding (JOP)’s food

     

— Oh, I’ve been looking forward to this sketch all night. You’ll see why soon.
— Clint Smith makes his second appearance of the night.
— I’m really liking Eddie’s intentionally-bad stilted delivery.
— Joe’s ALREADY trying to make Eddie laugh during their scene together. But that’s just a small hint of what Joe ends up doing to Eddie later in the sketch.
— Yes! Here it starts, with Eddie randomly getting whipped cream and cake thrown at him from an off-camera Joe while Eddie’s in the middle of addressing the viewers.
— Haha, this is starting to turn into a full-out food fight between Eddie and Joe.
— And here’s the legendary part that propels this unscripted whipped cream/cake incident into an all-time classic, where after struggling to keep the sketch going while dodging Joe’s thrown food, Eddie finally drops character and yells to an off-camera Joe “THIS IS LIVE TELEVISION!!!! This show’s live!” I can barely even type out this stuff right now because I’m laughing so hard.
— Now I’ve begun laughing even harder just now with Eddie opening his mouth wide to try catching a piece of cake thrown at him. He misses, as the cake piece hilariously ends up bouncing off his mouth. All of this priceless stuff is absolutely SLAYING me.
— Overall, oh my god, that was simply epic. This is a rare, Debbie Downer-type example of unprofessionalism actually making a sketch much funnier. I highly doubt this particular sketch would stand out at all if it hadn’t gone completely off the rails and was instead performed straight.
STARS: *****


JOAN RIVERS STAND-UP #2
host does stand-up about the birth of her daughter, ugly rock stars

— This feels like a throwback to the first two seasons, back when stand-up comedian hosts (George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Robert Klein, etc.) were given multiple spots throughout the show to perform their stand-up instead of just relegating it to the monologue spot.
— Joan mentions her then-14-year-old daughter Melissa, who would later become well-known.
— More rapid-fire funny jokes from Joan.
STARS: ***½


CARIBBEAN GYNO
on the island of St. Chuck, (host) visits a Caribbean gyno (EDM)

  

— Right out of the gate, I already love Mary’s voice and accent in this.
— Interesting lower-key character for Eddie.
— Great part with Mary singing the theme song for Eddie’s character.
— Eddie’s pronunciation of “umbrellla” as “oombrella” was a little detail that gave me a pretty good laugh.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Never Gonna Give You Up”


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— I was really looking forward to reviewing this episode, because from my viewing of it years ago (when NBC showed it on “Classic SNL” sometime around 2004 or 2005), I recalled it being a very fun episode. Watching the episode again tonight, I see my recollection was absolutely correct. In fact, the episode ended up being even MORE fun than I had remembered. The overall episode was consistently solid (even the Whiners were half-decent) and had such an enjoyable, loose, ad-libby atmosphere, helped by Joan Rivers’ presence (who I was not expecting to find as likable as I ended up finding). The loose vibe of the night reached its absolute peak with all the legendary antics in the Club Doolittle sketch.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Robert Guillaume):
— a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Susan Saint James

Posted on

March 19, 1983 – Robert Guillaume / Duran Duran (S8 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Buckwheat killer John David Stutts (EDM) is profiled, shot Oswald-style

         

— I love how they’re keeping the previous episode’s epic “Buckwheat gets shot” saga going.
— Ha, continuing a repeated gag from last week, Joe’s Koppel still keeps overplaying the Buckwheat assassination clip at every opportunity.
— I like how even the moment of silence is “sponsored” by Mutual Life.
— Love the fictional assassin name John David Stutts.
— Great characterization from Eddie as Stutts, and I like the little detail of him having no eyebrows.
— Who’s that playing the doctor being interviewed right now? (sixth screencap above)
— Wow, this is quite long for a cold opening in this era.
— Great biography video on Stutts, especially the various yearbook pictures of him.
— I saw the Lee Harvey Oswald-esque shooting of Stutts coming, but it was still perfect, especially Eddie’s monotone “Oh, I’m shot”.
— Heh, now it’s the Stutts assassination clip that Joe’s Koppel is constantly overplaying.
— An overall excellent cold opening & companion piece to the previous week’s Buckwheat sketch.
STARS: *****


MONOLOGUE
host & audience recite the creed of moderation

   

— Nice energetic entrance from Robert.
— He’s displaying a very Howard Hesseman-esque way of getting the audience going.
— Come to think of it, this whole premise with Robert getting the audience to pledge about moderation is reminiscent of Hesseman’s “restraint” chant from his season 5 monologue.
— Loved his “Burn this mutha down” line.
— Solid monologue overall, despite the kinda-derivative feeling of the premise. Robert carried this well.
STARS: ***½


CLYSLER-PRYMOUTH
— Rerun


THE MRS. T BIRTHDAY SPECIAL
hubby’s not there & that means trouble

     

— Ha, I wasn’t aware that Robin’s Mrs. T ended up becoming recurring. This sketch seems like it will be a decent-enough showcase for her, even though I’ve always felt that the idea of SNL giving a celebrity impression their own variety show special is kinda lazy. Though at least it’s not as lazy as SNL’s crutch of giving celebrity impressions their own talk show. (ugh)
— I like how to match the glittery set & outfits, even Robin’s mohawk has glitter.
— Oh, here’s Mary’s light-blackface Lena Horne appearance I mentioned in a recent review.
— Mary’s impression is pretty funny.
— Great part with Robin wildly jumping on Joe and kissing him.
— Nice sudden appearance of Eddie’s Mr. T.
— Eddie-as-Mr.-T’s stiff, stern, joyless singing of “Happy Birthday” is really cracking me up.
— Good sketch overall, though nowhere near as strong as the Mrs. T sketch from earlier this season.
STARS: ***


HEIL HITS
Klaus Barbie (TIK) pitches Heil Hits, an album with examples of Nazi Gold

   

— Another sketch in the same vein as the two sketches from last season advertising a record of Christian-ized and hippie-ized hit songs, respectively. Those two sketches were fine, but I feel there’s more potential in this Hitler premise.
— An overall okay sketch, though unlike the Christian and hippie record sketches, no particular song stood out in this one.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
TIK points out that current best-selling books have little literary merit
Patti Lynn Hunnsacker trashes Gone With the Wind & The Wizard of Oz
BRH promotes the Brad Hall Anchorman Doll & Accessory Kit

       

— Nice callback to the John David Stutts storyline.
— Here’s Saturday Night News’s obligatory Tim Kazurisnky appearance of the week.
— I like Tim’s slam on the homophobia of the book title “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche”.
— Good ending to Tim’s commentary with the appropriately soft-bound “Impotence” book.
— Not too excited to see the return of Julia’s teen character.
— Julia’s overall commentary ended up being marginally better than the character’s previous appearance. Her complaints about old movies had a few okay lines.
— Wow, Brad’s Liza Minelli/Sammy Davis Jr. joke completely bombed.
— I’ve been noticing this season that whenever Brad flubs a line on Saturday Night News, he ad-libs his way out of it by exaggeratedly saying a whole bunch of gibberish. He’s done it twice tonight alone. Seems like a poor man’s version of something Chevy Chase used to do funnier during his Weekend Update tenure, where he would save himself after a line flub by ad-libbing a casual stream of funny-sounding Spanish gibberish.
— Interesting-seeming bit with Brad showcasing a “Brad Hall Anchorman Doll”. This feels like the first time that Brad has done a side segment since the first few episodes of the season, back when Ebersol seemed to give Brad more freedom in doing stuff on Saturday Night News besides news jokes.
— A good laugh from Brad’s accidental crotch flash with the doll.
— I like the how the doll set comes with an Update desk and an NBC camera.
— Funny casual mention that Brad wears no pants behind the desk.
STARS: **½


MOTOWN UPON THE SWANEE RIVER
in Old South, Chicken Mel (EDM) thinks Cotton Joe (host) is an Uncle Tom

  

— Strangely, this is this the first actual sketch Robert Guillaume has been seen in all night.
— I haven’t been caring for this sketch so far, and both Robert and Eddie’s delivery is pretty sloppy.
— They repeated the gag from the Louis Gossett Jr. episode where Eddie opens a closet door and yells “Shut up!” to the band inside that’s been playing background music throughout the sketch.
— Eddie has another one of his corpsing moments, with him cracking up in response Robert’s “Tubway” line for some reason.
— I like Eddie breaking out into “My Boyfriend’s Back” as example of “colored music of the future”.
— Pretty weak sketch overall.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hungry Like The Wolf”


I MARRIED A MONKEY
hospitalized Madge is suffering from amnesia

   

— Even right from the start with a solemn, bouquet of flowers-holding Tim outside a hospital room, I can already tell this going to be an I Married a Monkey sketch.
— I was right.
— This is the first time we’ve seen this sketch all season. I had felt that this sketch began growing stale during the last two installments, but since it’s been quite a long time since this sketch’s last appearance, I’m a little more optimistic.
— Some laughs from Tim’s anguish over the possibility of male orderlies lifting up Madge’s hospital gown and seeing what’s underneath.
— Pretty funny kiss between Tim and Madge, especially when something dropped out of one of their mouths.
— Fairly interesting twist ending with Brad as Madge’s “other” husband.
— Overall, this sketch wasn’t quite the return to form that I hoped it would be. Madge seemed unusually subdued in this version, which is a shame because the real selling point of these sketches has always been seeing Tim play off of the monkey’s unscripted actions. I’m guessing this is the installment where the (male) monkey playing Madge had to be sedated before the live show because of an infamous incident during that night’s dress rehearsal where the monkey went absolutely berserk mid-sketch, grabbed Tim into a painful tight headlock, then stood on the bed, removed its clothes and diaper, and… well, proceeded to do something to himself that I don’t feel like repeating here. Tim talks about the whole crazy incident in the “Live from New York” book. I believe during that same portion of the book, Tim also talks about how, IIRC, he eventually quit doing these I Married a Monkey sketches for good when he found out Dick Ebersol had secretly taken out life insurance on him in case he was ever seriously harmed by the monkey.
STARS: **


OIL IS US
Saudi Arabian, Iranian, Nigerian deny that OPEC is a cartel

   

— I like concept of Joe’s Arab character going through all the cliches of a “Crazy Eddie”-style pitchman.
— Funny voices from from Robert and especially Eddie.
— Poor Gary Kroeger, just NOW making his first (and maybe only) appearance of the night, and it’s just a small (albeit pretty funny) walk-on role. It wasn’t until the backstage cold opening he did in the last episode that I started realizing  how underused he really is.
— I like the casual reveal that the three guys’ names together are Manny, Moe, and Jack, the same names of the Pep Boys.
STARS: ***


PUDGE & SOLOMON
Solomon doesn’t want to go live with his gynecologist nephew (host)

 

— I liked Eddie’s “He lookin’ at crotches for a livin’” line regarding Robert’s gynecologist character.
— Eddie’s fake mustache is starting to look weird, like it’s almost about to fall off.
— Another solid Pudge and Solomon sketch overall.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Girls on Film”


WRONG NUMBER
(BRH) dials a wrong number & tells (JLD) he’s breaking up with her

— Julia’s increasingly disgusting descriptions of herself are really funny.
— Decent twist with Brad turning out to have called the wrong girl.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty average episode. Most of the sketches were decent, the cold opening was terrific, and there wasn’t too much that fell flat, but I dunno, the overall show still kinda felt like it was lacking something, like maybe an exciting feel. While the episode as a whole was okay, I’ll probably barely remember anything from it after I’m finished with this season.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bruce Dern):
— a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Joan Rivers

Posted on

March 12, 1983 – Bruce Dern / Leon Redbone (S8 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
a drunk GAK laments his lack of inclusion in sketches

   

— Nice to see a cold opening centering around the running gag of hapless Gary Kroeger always getting a raw deal on SNL.
— Tim: “Hey, Gary, what’re you doing here? Did ya come to watch the show?”
— Hilarious how increasingly worse Gary’s situation keeps getting.
— Nice passionate angry outburst from Gary (“The only joke on this show is MY CAREER!!”).
— Great fake-out at the end, with Gary seeming like he’s about to commit suicide via gunshot to the head while starting to say “Live from New York…”, only for the gun he fires to pop out a flag with the words “It’s Saturday Night” (in the same font as the then-current SNL logo; nice touch). Fun way to change up LFNY as well.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host blames the moviegoing public for his psycho reputation

 

— WTF at his opening “I almost had to swim here” joke?
— Hmm, after calling himself out on the lameness of his aforementioned joke, he adds an earnest “We almost lost our house a couple of weeks ago.” Did his house recently have a severe flood?
— I like him specifying each of his disturbing movie roles.
— Great dark turn this has taken with his menacing “It’s you!” realization as he points to us viewers.
— His whole psychotic viewer-blaming rant as the camera is slowly zooming closer and closer to him is hilariously creepy. I’m loving his violent threats to us.
STARS: ****


BUCKWHEAT JEANS
they’re “O-Tay”

  

— Good twist with the person in the jeans the camera is slowly panning up to turning out to be Buckwheat. Funny to see him doing a commercial like this (especially when you know what’s going to happen to him later tonight).
STARS: ***


THE CLAMS
— Boy, they’re STILL falling back on this often-reaired commercial from season 7?


DONNY & MARIE ST. PATRICK’S DAY SPECIAL
brotherly love on Donny (GAK) & Marie’s (JLD) St. Patrick’s Day Special

 

— A very pregnant Marie…
— They mention their famous appearance on Gumby’s Christmas special from earlier this season. I always like whenever SNL makes a passing mention of a previous episode or sketch.
— A rehash of the gag where Donny and Marie’s song gradually turns into them incestuously making out with each other. It was hilarious the first time, but is it REALLY necessary to repeat? Though they did kinda up the ante this time by having Julia jumping on Gary during the makeout session, which she didn’t do last time.
— This sketch suddenly gets “interrupted” by a special report, leading us into our next segment.
STARS: not sure if I should rate this, since it’s an incomplete sketch that got “interrupted” as a set-up to the following segment, but I’ll give it a ** rating


SPECIAL REPORT
Ted Koppel (JOP) reports- Buckwheat’s been fatally shot; Texxon sponsors

         

— Ah, this is it, folks…
— There’s the now-legendary “Buckwheat has been shot” announcement & subsequent footage of the incident.
— I criticized Joe’s Ted Koppel impression in some of my earlier reviews (essentially calling his impression just “Joe Piscopo in a wig”), but his Koppel voice seems to have noticeably improved tonight. Or maybe it’s just grown on me.
— Unseen Assassin: “Hey, Mr. Wheat!” (*gunshots fire*)
— Love the wide-eyed, teeth-gritting look on Buckwheat’s face when he gets shot. Good subtle acting choice from Eddie, when most performers would’ve just made a generic anguished face when “getting shot”.
— I like the “America Stunned” graphic.
— Yet another use of SNL’s fake sponsor “Texxon” from earlier episodes.
— Excellent inclusion of Mary as Alfalfa reacting to the tragedy.
— You gotta love how they’re going all out on this whole thing.
— LOL at how Joe’s Koppel is using every excuse in the book to replay the same clip of Buckwheat getting shot. That’s a dead-on spoof of typical news coverage of tragedies like this. I also like how with each repetition, the Buckwheat assassination clip is played in increasingly slower motion.
— Joe’s Koppel has now announced the official death of Buckwheat. Wow.
— A big laugh from Texxon’s addendum to their usual “Life goes on, and Texxon is there” slogan: “Because Buckwheat would have wanted it that way”.
— A funny memoriam montage of Buckwheat.
— Overall, this epic sketch was a masterpiece and flawlessly executed. Truly deserving of its reputation as one of the best pieces in SNL history.
STARS: *****


THE HOME FOR DISGUSTING PRACTICES
host tries to play a “normal” role

     

— Ha, the opening disclaimer (“And now, a scene in which Bruce Dern doesn’t play a psycho”) already has me very interested in this sketch.
— Wow, what an insane concept to this sketch.
— Great individual performance from each cast member playing a mental patient. Everybody’s allowed to shine here.
— Good groaner with Joe’s “They ain’t even been weaned yet” line regarding the puppies in his pants.
— Heh, Bruce is clearly amused by Mary’s performance, as he’s visibly trying not to crack up at her.
— A nice breaking-the-fourth-wall turn, with everyone dropping character and Bruce going back to his menacing viewer-blaming bit from the monologue.
STARS: ***½


THE BUCKWHEAT STORY
a TV movie starring Byron Allen

— A decent quick promo, keeping up tonight’s Buckwheat running premise by showing NBC cashing in on his death by doing a biopic about him.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
prominent figures express their sorrow over Buckwheat’s death
a new report includes spy photos of Soviet military secrets
Dr. Jack Badofsky lists varieties of venereal disease
Siobhan Cahill gives tips on how to have a great St. Patrick’s Day

         

— I love that tonight’s Buckwheat running premise is even carrying over into THIS.
— Ha, in Joe-as-Ted-Koppel fashion, Brad uses a cheap excuse to replay the Buckwheat gunshot clip once again.
— At first, I thought the pre-taped segment of celebrities addressing Buckwheat’s death was genuine footage filmed specifically for SNL, when the segment started with Charlton Heston and Henry Kissinger. I was about to say “Wow, SNL is REALLY fully committed to this Buckwheat premise”, but then the next two tribute clips were from President Reagan and the Pope, making it obvious that these are all just unrelated clips taken out of context to make it seem like they’re talking about Buckwheat.
— Hilarious how the Pope’s translated message eventually led to him throwing to yet ANOTHER replay of the Buckwheat assassination clip.
— Brad’s long-winded photo montage joke wasn’t that funny and, again, kinda reeked of something Brian Doyle-Murray would’ve done the previous season.
— I got a good laugh from Brad’s joke about cigarette companies now including a malignant tumor in each cigarette pack.
— Maybe it’s because my negative review of Dr. Jack Badofsky’s last commentary from a few episodes ago received several replies on Twitter (including from “That Week in SNL”) defending the character, or maybe because tonight’s episode has put me in a really good mood, but I’m enjoying tonight’s Badofsky commentary a lot more than usual. I’m actually laughing at these corny puns.
— Haha, I got a good laugh from the audience’s groaning reaction to Badofsky’s “Dacron-orrhea” pun. Tim’s doing a great job playing off of their negative reaction.
— A fun Badofsky commentary overall. I’m glad that I’m starting to come around on this character. Again, special thanks to those on Twitter who replied to my review of his last appearance and helped me understand the appeal of this character.
— Heh, immediately after Badofsky’s commentary, Brad has a groaner of his own, with his joke about the Statue of Liberty being “statutory raped”, which, much like some of Jack Badofsky’s puns tonight, receives audible hisses from the audience.
— Mary was okay in her overall performance here, but the commentary itself featured nothing noteworthy.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sweet Sue”


JERRY LEWIS SCHOOL OF MANNERS
Mr. Flang (EDM) & Mr. Caca (JOP) in charge

    

— Good use of Eddie’s great Jerry Lewis impression. This is the third episode in a row that has done a sketch centered around a dead-on impression that Eddie does of a white celebrity, after his Elvis and Humphrey Bogart sketches from the last two episodes.
— Here’s the return of Joe as bitter older Jerry Lewis. Last time he did this impression (that “Two Faces of Jerry” horror movie trailer from last season’s Donald Pleasence episode), he nailed older Lewis’ demeanor, but (much like my former complaint about his Ted Koppel impression) the problem was the voice sounded too much like Joe’s real voice.
— Joe’s impression is coming off okay enough in this sketch. Maybe it’s because I’m in good spirits during this episode that I’m less critical towards his impression.
— Ha, Eddie seems to be trying to crack Joe up.
— It worked. Joe’s visibly smirking out of character now. Gotta love the chemistry that Eddie and Joe always have.
— A decently goofy sketch overall.
STARS: ***


GUMBYS
Gumby interrupts Gumby impersonator’s (host) St. Patrick’s Day story

 

— Hmm, Bruce as Gumby.
— He’s not even doing Eddie’s Gumby voice, instead doing a different type of character voice.
— Ah, here’s the “real” Gumby. Eddie has been absolutely DOMINATING tonight’s episode, even moreso than usual.
— Eddie’s noticeably wearing a lot less face paint than he usually wears as Gumby. I’m guessing they didn’t have enough time to apply the usual full amount of Gumby make-up due to all the various sketches that Eddie’s in tonight.
— At the end of the sketch right before Eddie and Bruce walk off, Eddie randomly breaks into his Jerry Lewis voice that we just heard in the preceding sketch.
STARS: ***


OLD NEGRO BEER
(JOP) & (EDM) are beer-loving stereotypes

 

— Wow, Eddie continues to be ALL OVER tonight’s show. Feels like he’s had a lead role in practically every single sketch tonight.
— I like Eddie’s sudden realization about his “negro” friend Joe: “Hey, you a white cracker!”
— Joe’s facial expression when he and Eddie simultaneously went “Aaahhhh” into the camera slayed me.
— An overall fun silly bit.
STARS: ***


SONGWRITERS
Schleimer & Laub create tunes for (host)’s Depression musical

 

— The return of Joe and Tim’s Vaudeville-esque songwriting team.
— Interestingly, the previous time they did this sketch also happened to be in a Bruce Dern-hosted episode, though Bruce himself didn’t appear in that installment of this sketch. Maybe he liked what he saw that night and asked Joe and Tim if he could appear in the sketch this week.
— I like Joe and Tim’s song “The Window Ledge Polka”.
— Not much to say about the overall sketch, but this was another enjoyable appearance from these characters.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “When You Wish Upon A Star” & “I Ain’t Got Nobody”


RUBIK’S GRENADE
— Rerun


OLD JEW BEER
(JOP) & (EDM) are another pair of beer-loving stereotypes

 

— I oddly love how they’re making this a runner, with Eddie and Joe playing different ethnicities/cultures in each one.
— More fun voices and chemistry between Eddie and Joe.
STARS: ***


OLD CHINAMAN BEER
(JOP) & (EDM) are another beer-loving stereotype duo

 

— Wow, this one is going FULL-OUT goofy and over-the-top with the stereotypes.
— I can see why these racial stereotype beer sketches, ESPECIALLY this Old Chinamen Beer one, wouldn’t sit well with a lot of people, but to me, they’re just silly fun, and are helped a lot by Eddie and Joe’s always-great way of playing off of each other (which we’ve been seeing tons of tonight).
— During the “Old Chinaman Beer” title screen at the end of this, it sounded like Eddie broke out into his Jerry Lewis voice ONCE AGAIN tonight.
STARS: A very guilty ***


VEGGIE BURGERS
nerdy (GAK) finds his equally geeky parents but doesn’t realize it

 

— Strange sketch so far. I get what they’re hinting at with Gary’s character, but I’m not sure where the humor in the sketch is supposed to be coming from.
— Okay, this is starting to get charming.
— I like these characters’ interesting way of speaking, where they precede some of the things they say by declaring what kind of sentence it is ( e.g. “joke”, “question”).
— Overall, a cute, charming, low-key 10-to-1 sketch. The studio audience wasn’t into this AT ALL, though. I feel that this sketch was better than the crowd gave it credit for.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A consistently very fun show. I came into this episode expecting the epic “Buckwheat gets shot” storyline to overshadow everything else as the reason to tune in, and while it was by far the best part of the night, the rest of the show was no slouch, either. The overall episode was pretty solid and flowed very nicely, with a lot of fun to be had throughout the whole night. Even some of the lesser segments had an infectiously silly, enjoyable vibe.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Beau and Jeff Bridges):
— a huge step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Robert Guillaume