Tag: saturday night live

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December 2, 1978 – Walter Matthau / (no musical guest) (S4 E7)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Fred Silverman (JOB) adds terrible shows to NBC’s programming grid

 

— Funny premise with Fred Silverman intentionally trying to one-up himself in increasingly bad TV show concepts to keep up with successful bad shows on other networks.
— Overall, a clever, sharp jab at both NBC’s struggles at the time and Fred Silverman’s infamy for making terrible programming decisions.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host ponders the comedic differences between himself & SNL

 

— Good bit at the beginning with him having a napkin hanging out of his nose as a bet.
— I’m liking his story about the cast.
— Amusing hearing the audience disappointingly go “aww” when he announced he’s not going to drop his pants.
— Overall, a good old-fashioned story monologue.
STARS: ***½


EPOXY-DENT
a helicopter test proves it prevents denture slippage

     

— Is… is that our old friend, short-lived original cast member George Coe as the spokesperson??? If so, wow, I’m surprised. I thought he stopped making appearances after season 1. Wonder why they randomly called him back for this commercial, after a three season absence.
— The part with the “Epoxy-Dent Chopper Test” is hilarious, and really makes this commercial.
STARS: ****


BAD NEWS BEES
(host) counsels young ballplayers about buzzing off

     

— Good idea to do a crossover between the Bees and Bad News Bears.
— I got a big laugh from Dan proudly mentioning how he and a whole swarm of his bee friends “gang-stang” a female bee behind a bowling alley.
— The bee euphemisms for masturbation are pretty funny (e.g. “pulling his stinger”, “buzzing off”, etc.), as was Bill asking John “Why is there honey all over your sheets?” post-masturbation.
— The Reggie Jackson story was great.
— Overall, a very fun and charming Bees sketch. I heard that this actually ended up being the final Bees sketch the show ever did. If that’s true, they went out on a good note.
STARS: ****


THE OLYMPIA CAFE
Nico negotiates a new soft drink allegiance for the Olympia Cafe

    

— The part with the roach spray was pretty funny.
— Overall, this was good, but not one of the more memorable Olympia Cafe sketches. There wasn’t really anything worth noting here.
STARS: ***


BEDROOM
in her old room, (GIR) acts more like (host)’s daughter than (BIM)’s wife

   

— A lot of good little lines so far, such as Walter telling Gilda how she looked like Edward G. Robinson back when she was a newborn.
— I’m liking Walter’s increasingly hostile reactions to Bill.
— LOL at Bill’s random “I am the walrus” reference.
— What the heck was with the ending (Bill: “Why don’t you go sleep with YOUR wife and I’ll sleep with MINE?”, followed by a long, awkward silence)? Didn’t like it. It’s my only gripe with this otherwise strong slice-of-life sketch.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
LAN’s item on gays mourning in Chinatown comprises Maoist footage
JOB works himself into a frenzy while discussing holiday depression

    

— Pretty funny segment with stock footage of Chinese communist groups being passed off as a Gay Rights gathering.
— Love the part of John’s story about suddenly pulling out a shotgun and going berserk over a bad Christmas.
— Overall, another good rant from John.
— Fairly short Update.
STARS: ***


THE NEW DICK
master conspirator (host) plots return of Richard Nixon (DAA) presidency

   

— Some laughs from the “The New Dick” bumper sticker.
— Walter’s kinda marble-mouthed during parts of this.
— I like Jane as a cranky Pat Nixon.
— Great crack from Jane about Nixon’s “New Dick” slogan.
— Overall, this was fine, though there have been funnier sketches with Dan’s Nixon.
STARS: ***½


WOMAN TO WOMAN
Connie Carson interviews a model women love to hate (LAN)

— Odd technical error during the opening title sequence.
— Gilda’s snarky insults to Laraine are pretty funny.
— Overall, nothing great, but a nice step up from the forgettable first installment of this sketch from earlier this season.
STARS: ***


GARRETT MORRIS: “DALLA SUA PACE”
GAM performs “Dalla Sua Pace” from Don Giovanni

  

— We’re getting another operatic performance from Garrett. Walter’s set-up makes it seem like this performance will be a serious segment.
— So far, there’s no comedic screen crawl disclaimer that usually interrupts Garrett’s operatic musical numbers. Looks like this WILL be a serious segment. I guess this is the closest we’re getting to an actual musical performance tonight, considering this is a rare episode that has no musical guest. To my knowledge, the only other two episodes in SNL history that have no official musical guest are Rob Reiner’s episode from season 1 and Sigourney Weaver’s episode from season 12 (and no, Buster Poindexter was NOT the musical guest in the latter episode, despite what many SNL episode guides state; he was just a special guest that night).
— Loved Walter’s dismissive delivery of “We’ll be right back with the regular crap” after exuberantly applauding Garrett’s performance.
STARS: N/A


SURPLUS STORE
owner of government surplus store (host) consoles & advises (LAN)

     

— I got a laugh from Laraine’s concept of using canteens as disco purses.
— Jane’s whole broken English spiel about “nine snowboots” is very funny and I love the thick accent she’s using.
— Funny comment from Walter telling Garrett to “get rid of this communist here”, referring to Jane.
— Amusing touch with Walter constantly wiping his face off during Dan’s heavy effeminate lisping.
— Good ending with Walter deciding who to sell the “fruity canteens” to.
STARS: ***½


NETWORK BATTLE OF THE T’S AND A’S
— Rerun


MR. BILL IS LATE
by Walter Williams- Spot & animal trainer Mr. Sluggo

 

— Oh, man, ANOTHER one of these? Didn’t I just say in my last review that I’m getting tired of these Mr. Bill shorts after how frequently they’ve been appearing this season? It’s getting to the point where I now almost groan when the “The Mr. Bill Show” title pops up, which I hate to admit because I’ve always liked this character in the past.
— That’s it? That’s the whole thing? Practically nothing even happened here, and it was only about 50 seconds long! What was the point of this???
— Overall, yeah, they need to cut back on this character BIG TIME. Tonight was his worst appearance yet.
STARS: *


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An overall good episode and had some really strong segments in the first half. As expected, Walter Matthau was a funny host and added a nice old-fashioned curmudgeon vibe that I liked.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Carrie Fisher):
— a moderate step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Eric Idle

Posted on

November 18, 1978 – Carrie Fisher / The Blues Brothers (S4 E6)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
musical guest performs “Soul Man”

     

— I’m loving Garrett’s very energetic intro.
— Wow, what an entrance from Dan and John, especially John’s great cartwheel. I remember a slow-motion shot of that cartwheel was used to represent John during the “in memoriam” montage of SNL’s recent 40th anniversary special.
— I absolutely love Dan and John’s sudden wild dancing when the background music for “Soul Man” kicks in.
— Hmm, Dan is actually singing along with John during the chorus. I guess I was wrong in my review of their last appearance where I said my memory of Dan singing with John in Blues Brothers’ performances was faulty.
— Dan and John’s act is coming off more polished and perfected than their Blues Brothers debut in the preceding season.
— Overall, a freakin’ amazing musical performance and really got me hyped-up for the show.
STARS: N/A


OPENING MONTAGE
— Very energetic, loud applause from the audience during the cast announcements. Dan, John, and Bill got by far the most applause. Poor Laraine, on the other hand, was the only one who received almost no applause. Even GARRETT got more than her.


MONOLOGUE
Obi-Wan Kenobi (DAA) guides host as she tells a Star Wars-themed joke

 

— Hmm, walking out in her Princess Leia costume.
— I remember hearing there’s a noticeable technical error in this, where they accidentally cut to a brief shot of a Carrie Fisher stand-in waiting in front of a chroma-key screen for some kind of special effect that’s supposed to happen in the sketch that follows this.
— Who’s that doing Obi-Wan’s voice-over? His increasingly-obnoxious laugh is pretty funny.
— Oh, that’s Dan as the voice-over, it now sounds like.
— Ah, THERE’S the aforementioned technical error with the female stand-in. Wow, that was weird as fuck. (screencap below)

— Wait, the monologue’s over? What in the world happened? Why’d this end in such awkward, eerie silence, with no applause or laughter from the audience? Was the audience THAT thrown off by the aforementioned technical screw-up?
STARS: ***


BEACH BLANKET BIMBO FROM OUTER SPACE
Princess Leia (host) is a Beach Blanket Bimbo From Outer Space

       

— Another amusing technical error, where a “Coming Up Next” caption gag mistakenly shows up onscreen when they meant to display the “Beach Blanket Bimbo From Outer Space” title.
— The teenagers’ exaggerated 1950s dialogue is pretty funny.
— Gilda as Annette Funicello: “I’m Annette, this is my boyfriend Frankie, and these are my breasts.”
— Al Franken is funny as an immature teen.
— Some good laughs from Dan’s portrayal of Vincent Price.
— I usually despise when SNL sketches suddenly break out into cheesy musical numbers, but I can let this one slide because of the fun, infectious energy and because of how well the sketch had been going.
— Garrett: “There’s nothing I like better than entertaining white middle-class kids on the beach.”
STARS: ****½


LOUD FAMILY
members of the Loud family (BIM), (JAC), (GIR), (host) disturb the peace

     

— I can already tell from the way Jane’s talking at the beginning that this is going to be the Loud Family sketch I’ve always heard about. I’ve never seen this sketch for myself until right now, but I’ve heard that this has inexplicably been aired in some of SNL’s Thanksgiving compilation specials, despite having NOTHING to do with Thanksgiving.
— Going into this sketch, I’m a little wary of the premise, since it sounds like the kind of bad, one-joke “every member of a family has the same weird trait/big body part” sketch I usually don’t like. The same kind of thing I believe The Simpsons were making fun of in that “Big Ear Family” sketch of theirs. This is the same reason I’m dreading those upcoming “Widettes” sketches I’ve always heard about.
— Pretty funny contrast when Dan enters as a character who talks in a soft-spoken manner.
— The avalanche story was amusing.
— John entering in earphones is a nice touch.
— Hilarious part with Bill and Jane’s loud lovemaking sounds from their bedroom, even if I saw it coming as soon as they said they’re going upstairs to their room.
— Overall, wow, that was a lot better than I thought it would be. This was the RIGHT way to pull off a premise like this.
STARS: ****


MERCY KILLERS
orderlies (DAA) & (BIM) euthanize the wrong patient (GAM)

    

— John’s “Face it, she’s a vege” line was really funny.
— “Mercy Killers”? Haha, is this a sister sketch to X-Police?
— Love the sitcom-esque ending credits, with the theme song sung by Bill.
— Overall, pretty funny. Considering how those X-Police sketches got old pretty fast, it’s probably a good thing they’ve shook things up by doing a different, fresh variation rather than another tired retread.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
Father Guido Sarducci shows depositor gifts offered by the Vatican Bank
Roseanne Roseannadanna wanders from quitting smoking to sauna sweat

   

— LOL at the real story of a restaurant being named Sambo’s.
— Bill’s screaming during the Neil Armstrong joke was great.
— I’m ashamed to admit it took me a few seconds to get Bill’s Vietnamese “fried lice” joke. Bill’s reaction to the audience’s reaction was good, too.
— This is the very first time where a guest commentator is doing their desk piece next to Bill instead of next to Jane.
— Great part during Father Guido Sarducci’s commentary with him showcasing a “how-to” book on how to weasel your way around the confessional.
— Overall, Sarducci delivers another pretty funny and relatable commentary.
— Oddly, we jump from one guest commentary (Sarducci) to another (Rosannadanna), with no news stories in between.
— As usual, some pretty big laughs during Rosannadanna’s commentary, especially the story about Dr. Joyce Brothers having a sweat ball hanging off her nose.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


MR. BILL GOES FISHING
by Walter Williams- Mr. Hands helps catch a whale

   

— Eh, I went through this whole short without laughing too much, overall. I hate to say it, but I’m starting to get tired of the Mr. Bill shorts. SNL’s been relying on them too often this season. Like I said in an earlier review, Mr. Bill’s better in small doses.
STARS: **


TOMORROW
cheerful Linda Blair (host) reflects on her rocky adolescence

— Dan’s Snyder makes another mention of “stage manager Bobby Brown”, which I can’t help but laugh at for the wrong reason.
— Dan was excellent randomly listing off a whole bunch of drugs in rapid succession, with no set-up.
— The whole cocaine part is hilarious.
— Overall, the usual strong Dan-as-Tom-Snyder sketch, featuring some really good laughs and a very good performance from Carrie.
STARS: ****


THE WORLD BAR
Marseilles barfly Brandy (host) sells a sailor (BIM) on mutual funds

  

— Looks like we’re in for a more dramatic sketch.
— Wait, a barfly discussing mutual funds? I guess this IS supposed to be a comedic sketch after all. Not crazy about this premise, though.
— The hand-under-the-table bit during Bill and Carrie’s conversation is pretty funny.
— Overall, I didn’t care much for this, despite another strong performance from Carrie.
STARS: **


BAD RED CHINESE BALLET
New York Yankee (GAM) represents imperialism

   

— I can’t tell which female cast members are playing which soldiers. Or are they all played by writers/extras?
— Garrett’s random walk-on (or slide-on) as the Yankee was pretty funny.
— Overall, this was decent, but lately, I feel like these “Bad Showcase” sketches are starting to lose the magic of the first few installments.
STARS: ***


ROMAN HOLIDAY
by TOS- woman has fun despite death of her husband

   

— The old lady’s voice sounds just like someone who’s been on SNL before, but I’m not sure who I’m thinking of. Ruth Gordon? Miskel Spillman?
— A slow start so far for a Schiller’s Reel. This almost feels more like typical dull Gary Weis fare (I’m so glad he’s gone this season, BTW) rather than Schiller’s usual interesting work. I dunno, maybe because I sometimes don’t care much for SNL shorts that star random unfamiliar actors instead of cast members.
— Okay, this got a little funnier after a while, with the wife’s constant flirting, and the husband keeling over face-first into his meal. Not one of Schiller’s better films overall, though.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An overall fun and very well-done episode, featuring some really memorable sketches and performances. The quality of the show died down towards the end, but the overall show was still strong. Carrie Fisher worked well with this cast, and should’ve hosted a second time during this era.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Walter Matthau

Posted on

November 11, 1978 – Buck Henry / The Grateful Dead (S4 E5)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
during concession speech, candidate (BIM) lists his campaign missteps

 

— I like the off-camera supporters always yelling “No!”
— Good line from Bill about a big mistake in his campaign being his decision to make “Let’s raise property taxes sky-high” the theme.
— Overall, a decent opening.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
on-screen crawl & scenes from Star Wars divert from host’s boringness

       

— Yet another “screen crawl monologue” with Buck Henry.
— I particularly like the line about how the people at SNL consider a show with Buck to be “midway between a show and a week off.”
— Seemed to be some words missing from the part of the crawl that strangely said “Of course, next week the pressure starts all Carrie Fisher hosts.”
— Funny part with them showing Star Wars clips while Buck continues droning on.
— Yet another big laugh from the show’s idea to do “Star Whores” for the following week’s Carrie Fisher episode.
— Overall, the funniest of the three(?) Buck Henry “screen crawl monologues” I’ve covered so far.
STARS: ****


ROVCO CHINCH RANCH
(DAA) plugs a do-it-yourself fur coat kit

   

— I like this usual absurd Aykroyd-starring commercial concept.
— The fur-remover part of the machine is really funny.
STARS: ***½


SAMURAI OPTOMETRIST
Futaba makes a new pair of glasses for Mr. Dantley

   

— As usual, I can already tell from the set when Buck makes his entrance that this will be a Samurai sketch.
— Kinda wary about how this will turn out, considering how underwhelmed I was with the last Samurai sketch they did with Buck.
— Futaba’s mini-sword (or was it a big knife?) having an eye flashlight on the bottom that he looks into Buck’s eyes with was a funny touch.
— Eh, overall, despite some chuckleworthy parts, this was unfortunately another fairly tepid installment, much like the last one. It’s sadly obvious these Samurai sketches are past their prime at this point. They clearly should’ve let these sketches retire with grace after the epic “Samurai Night Fever” installment.
— Knowing that this is John’s final season, I have to wonder if this might have ended up being the very last Samurai sketch, unless they do one in the Buck-hosted season finale (John’s last show).
STARS: **½


UNCLE ROY
“Uncle” Roy (host) is naughty while babysitting Terri (LAN) & Tracy (GIR)

     

— When talking about going to see the movie Foul Play, I like Jane’s line “I’m dying to see that new young comedian that falls down”, a tongue-in-cheek reference to a certain former Not Ready For Prime-Time Player who co-stars in that movie.
— I can tell by the way they’re setting up the appearance of Jane’s friend Roy that this will be the debut of a certain infamous Buck Henry character: Uncle Roy! I’m a bit surprised to learn here that he’s just a friend of Jane’s and is not actually an uncle to the girls.
— Classic part with Uncle Roy eagerly snapping plenty of pictures of the girls’ exposed underwear when they have their nightgowns pulled over their heads.
— Haha at the part with him having the girls throw him all their dirty laundry.
— Overall, funny and incredibly daring, and Buck was the perfect host to pull off such an undesirable role. Hard to believe there was once a time long ago when SNL could get away with this type of humor.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE
fat Elizabeth Taylor (JOB) chokes on chicken during an interview with BIM
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about Iran’s Shah Pahlevi

      

— Ha, it’s the classic Belushi-as-Elizabeth-Taylor “Celebrity Corner” interview that’s often been shown in various SNL/John Belushi highlight reels.
— John slobbishly eating chicken during the whole interview is a great touch.
— LOL at the extended choking part.
— Overall, that whole interview segment definitely lived up to its reputation as a classic John Belushi performance.
— Bill’s Jimmy Hoffa thumb-in-a-box thing was just weird. At least he seemed to be aware of dumb the bit was, judging from him trying to hide his smirk from the camera afterwards.
— Not too crazy about some of the Update jokes so far.
— A great “one in the hand is worth two in the bush” punchline to the news story about a contraceptive that’s implanted in the hand.
— Another sudden appearance from “Weekend Update Station Manager” Dan Aykroyd, again sitting in Bill’s place at the desk. I guess another Point/Counterpoint is coming.
— Dan: “Jane, you poor misguided scrag.”
— Tonight’s Point/Counterpoint wasn’t as funny as usual. Disappointing. I feel like they’ve been relying a bit too much on this segment lately.
— Overall, a hit-and-miss Update.
STARS: **½


GREAT PERFORMANCES
The Death Of Rasputin (JOB) is hard to bring about

     

— Oh my god at John’s look. Hilarious!
— Hmm, John falling through a breakaway table. Somewhere on the night this originally aired, I bet a young Chris Farley was watching and taking notes.
— Speaking of Farley, the premise of this sketch with Belushi repeatedly getting back up every time the others “kill” him reminds me of a Farley sketch that I’ve always hated: a mystery dinner theater sketch from the infamous season 20 where Farley was a hammy actor who refused to die during a death scene in a play.
— Funny fake-out where the other actors finally stop beating John with tools repeatedly, take a brief breather, then suddenly continue beating John with tools repeatedly.
— LOL at the dynamite part. This is getting funnier and funnier.
— Overall, I got some good enjoyment out of this sketch. It’s kinda hard to say why this one worked for me while the later Farley sketch didn’t. Better writing & acting, I suppose.
STARS: ***½


NICK SANDS
Nick “Sands” entertains patrons in a bar outside of Las Vegas

    

— Bill’s Nick the Lounger Singer character finally receives recognition applause from the audience.
— Haha, I absolutely love the part with Bill singing the Shaft theme song.
— Is that one of the Grateful Dead members at the table with John?
— Wait, how is a blonde wig-wearing Laraine at the table with Buck and Gilda when I thought I saw her earlier in the sketch in a dark wig sitting at the bar. (first screencap above) I guess that woman at the bar is someone else. Maybe SNL writer Anne Beatts? After all, there have been sketches in the past where I initially mistook Beatts for Laraine.
— Overall, a pretty solid Nick the Lounger Singer, but not one of the best. Still enjoyable.
STARS: ***½


MORE FLU TO WORRY ABOUT
(host) warns of the inconsiderate Australian flu

— A variation of the “More Insects to Worry About” sketches. Not too excited about seeing this back, after the weak installment they did in Buck’s last episode.
— The cheesy Johnny Carson/“ideal host” bit was pretty funny.
— Overall, another underwhelming edition of this sketch. I hope this sketch hasn’t become a new staple in Buck’s episodes.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


ST. MICKEY’S KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
St. Mickey’s Knights of Columbus welcomes speaker Chico Escuela (GAM)

   

— During John’s introductions of each club member at the table with him, he calls Garrett’s character Chico Escuela. I had been wondering when that character was gonna make his debut. Interesting how he’s debuting as a small part of a group sketch before later being “spun-off” into his own Weekend Update desk pieces, which is the same way Roseanne Rosannadanna made her debut.
— Funny part with Garrett’s speech consisting only of the now-famous “Baseball been berry, berry good to me” line, much to the other club members’ confusion.
— Eh, I wasn’t too crazy about this sketch overall. I found myself a little bored during parts of it. I know they do at least one more installment of this sketch a little later this season with Elliott Gould, as I remember seeing that one in an old SNL Christmas compilation special years ago. Unfortunately, I recall finding that installment somewhat dull as well, and I remember wondering why they would put it in a compilation special.   Maybe it’s just me who doesn’t care much for these sketches.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A decent Buck Henry episode, and a step up from the underwhelming season finale he hosted months earlier. That being said, tonight was still not quite up to the high standards of a typical Buck Henry episode, and the last two sketches ended the show on a disappointing note. As a whole, though, tonight’s episode was still okay.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Steve Martin):
— a moderate step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Carrie Fisher / The Blues Brothers

Posted on

November 4, 1978 – Steve Martin / Van Morrison (S4 E4)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Jimmy Carter (DAA) tries to convince us that “inflation is our friend”

— Dan: “Our economic system is screwed, blewed, and tattooed.”
— I liked Dan’s casual order over the phone to “roll off some of them 20s”.
— Yet another good line from Dan: “I believe the watchwords for the 80s should be: ‘let’s party’.”
— Overall, a pretty solid presidential address opening.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host gives trained animal BIM crackers for performing various stunts

     

— Haha at Steve making his entrance with his head in a vice.
— Heh, he’s not even aware of his head being in a vice, and wonders why he has a headache.
— Loved his bit about how he doesn’t smoke marijuana at dusk because that’s when “the little fat man would come”.
— Pretty funny with Steve treating Bill like a trained dog.
— Wow at the part with Bill successfully jumping through the fiery hoop. How’d he learn how to do that?
— After this and Steve’s last monologue with the magician routine, Steve and Bill have developed into nice little comedy team. And it’s a testament to Bill’s talents that he’s able to hold his own in a Steve Martin monologue back when Steve was in his prime.
STARS: ****


ELVIS PRESLEY’S COAT
live in concert, Elvis Presley’s Coat sings his greatest hits

   

— Ah, I’ve always heard about this fake ad.
— A pretty funny concept and good execution.
STARS: ***½


WHAT IF?
impact on WWII of flying Eleanor Roosevelt (JAC) is considered

   

— Hmm, Jane’s not the host this time like she was in the previous “What If” sketch.
— Some technical issues at the beginning: Steve’s microphone sounded muffled for a while, then there was a weird abrupt jump cut to Laraine when she wasn’t even saying or doing anything. It kinda looked like something was edited out there. (I’m watching the DVD version of this episode)
— The dramatization scene is okay so far; an improvement over the weak Napoleon/B-52 one from the first “What If” sketch.
— Eleanor Roosevelt flying while being bombed was a funny visual.
— Another technical error, with the camera randomly cutting to a shot of mail letters while Garrett was in the middle of speaking. I’m guessing that mail shot was supposed to be used later in the sketch for a mailbag segment, like the first “What If” sketch had.
— Yep, there’s the mailbag segment.
STARS: ***


THEODORIC OF YORK, MEDIEVAL JUDGE
medieval judge Theodoric of York tries (LAN) on devil-consortion charges

     

— Ah, I can already tell from the set and costumes that this will be our Theodoric of York sequel.
— Love Gilda’s performance as “Brungilda”.
— Boy, is Bill’s pig loud.
— Bill’s sudden scream when walking on hot coals made me laugh out loud.
— The audience applauds Belushi’s entrance.
— Very funny part regarding which body part of John’s will be cut off for committing adultery.
— This is the second time Theodoric of York has killed Jane’s daughter Laraine.
— Overall, not as classic as the original installment of this sketch, but this was still very enjoyable.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
Diana Ross (GAM) sings “Over The Rainbow” during an interview with BIM
BIM dons a “Stop The Shah!” mask & goes on about fascist knuckleheads
on-screen “Kill The Illiterates” text scroll contradicts JAC’s commentary
JOB’s comments about voter apathy grow into a rant about drug use

         

— A memorable “sponsored by” bit at the beginning with “Colonel Lingus; the southern fried chicken that takes a lickin’”.
— Not even a full minute into Update, and we’re ALREADY launching into another edition of Bill Murray’s Celebrity Corner.
— Oh my god at Garrett as Diana Ross.
— The Diana Ross segment was pretty funny, helped by Bill’s amusing interviewing skills.
— Bill’s “Stop the Shah!” mask bit was funny in how random and ridiculous it was.
— Loved the scrolling anti-illiteracy disclaimer during Jane’s rant defending illiterates.
— Strangely, a “coming up next” caption gag accidentally shows up onscreen when John begins his commentary. (screencap below) There seems to be quite a lot of technical errors in tonight’s episode.

— John makes another reference to his friend Steve Beshakis.
— And there’s the “but nooooo!”
— John’s rant has especially gotten funny when it turned to the topic of Mongolian hash.
— Overall, a solid Update; much better than the subpar one from the last episode.
STARS: ***½


FESTRUNK BROTHERS
while cruising in a bar, the Festrunks hit on (GIR), (LAN), (JAC)

    

— Oh, the Festrunk Brothers! Haha, they showed up out of nowhere, after the first minute of this sketch made me think it was going to be centered around Jane, Laraine, and Gilda as single ladies. Nice fake-out there.
— LOL at the Festrunks’ vibrating sex toy machine (a drill with a feather duster attached to the bit).
— Loved Steve’s comment about his and Dan’s “crispy” chest hair.
— Overall, another great Festrunk Brothers sketch.
STARS: ****


NERDS / HOSPITAL
Charles Knerlman & Todd fight over Lisa while visiting her in hospital

      

— The sketch begins with Garrett looking like he’s playing his character from the Nerds Science Fair sketch.
— Yep, it’s a Nerds sketch. Interesting setting for them tonight, in a hospital room.
— Mrs. Loopner: “Introduce me to your nice young negro friend.”
— Good to see the return of Steve as “Chaz the Spazz”.
— Funny fight between Todd and Chaz.
— Garrett in drag TWICE tonight??? Good lord, SNL writers…
— Hey, wait a minute! We saw Garrett earlier in this same sketch playing a male character! How’d he get changed so fast into a woman?
— Sweet ending with Gilda’s Lisa bringing out her teddy bear for comfort.
STARS: ***½


LOOKS AT BOOKS
author of Mauled (DAA) gives common-sense bear advice

   

— Hmm, I wonder if Jane playing the host in this sketch is the reason Steve took over her place as the host of tonight’s earlier “What If” sketch. They probably realized it would’ve been too redundant to have Jane play two talk show hosts in the same night… yet somehow, we’re NOT supposed to think it’s too redundant to see Garrett in drag twice in the same night???
— Haha, oh my god at Dan’s mauled face.
— That’s the whole sketch? Wow, that was literally only one minute long. Reminds me of very early season 1, back when the show regularly did quick little sketches (e.g. “Victims of Shark Bite” from SNL’s very first episode ever).
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


RESTAURANT
waiter (DAA) annoys host & GIR with his impressions of them

 

— I like Dan quoting & referencing Steve and Gilda’s various catchphrases and characters.
— Whoa, the sketch abruptly gets cut off right when Steve’s in the middle of angrily telling off Dan’s character. The show must’ve run out of time. The preceding musical performance from Van Morrison also awkwardly ended while his song was still in progress.
STARS: N/A (incomplete sketch)


GOODNIGHTS

  

— Steve, while still on the set of the last sketch, announces that “we’ll finish this sketch on the next show I’m on in February; we had a technical problem tonight.” What was the technical problem? I did mention earlier that there seemed to be an unusual amount of technical errors popping up throughout the show.
— Also, IIRC, Steve never did end up hosting in February of this season. In fact, I believe the next time he hosted was the premiere of season 5, when Dan was no longer in the cast, which means they never got a chance to finish the cut-off sketch. Also, it’s kinda sad to come to the realization that tonight’s episode was the last time Steve would host during the Aykroyd/Belushi era. I had no idea earlier tonight that I was watching what would end up being the final Festrunk Brothers sketch (not counting their later cameos in recent decades).

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A consistently good episode, despite what happened to the last sketch. While it goes without saying that tonight couldn’t hold a candle to Steve’s legendary preceding episode with The Blues Brothers, this was still an enjoyable show in its own right. I wouldn’t call anything in this episode a classic, but every sketch worked and nothing got a rating below three stars. I also like how the recurring sketches that were used tonight placed the characters in brand-new settings (Theodoric of York as a judge, Festrunks at a bar, Nerds in a hospital room).


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Frank Zappa):
— a huge step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Our second consecutive episode hosted by an SNL favorite; this time, it’s Buck Henry

 

Posted on

October 21, 1978 – Frank Zappa (S4 E3)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Fred Silverman (JOB) announces that host is part of NBC’s new image

 

— The debut of John’s Fred Silverman impression.
— I wonder what John was referring to when making a passing mention of “that burrito thing” that Frank Zappa did.
— Funny line from John: “You’ll be NBSeeing a lot of Frank, and I’m not CBS-ing you, either.”
— Feels weird watching the show open with such a pro-Zappa piece, knowing the animosity the cast had towards him after working with him that week.
— Overall, this opening wasn’t bad in itself, I guess, but I found this to be too pandering towards Zappa and/or Zappa fans. I wasn’t too crazy about that. Tonight’s already getting off to an iffy start for me.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
host performs “Dancing Fool”

   

— For some reason, Zappa’s already onstage when the camera first cuts to homebase after the opening montage ends.
— Geez, just now, he made this blatant aside to the audience: “Remember I’m reading this off these cards underneath this camera here”. I… I don’t even know how to respond to that.
— Boy, is he going to be a weird host tonight.
— He’s launched into a musical performance that’s based on what he calls “an important social problem”: disco. It’s probably a good thing SNL didn’t let him speak too long; after all, we might have gotten a 70-minute anti-censorship rant from him. (give yourself a hand if you get which sketch that’s a reference to)
STARS: N/A


THE CONEHEADS AT HOME
Connie Conehead (LAN) receives parental advice before her date with host

     

— Lots of good recognition applause from the audience each time one of the three Coneheads makes an entrance in this.
— I said this before, but it always makes me laugh when the Coneheads mutter “mmmebs” whenever they’re angry.
— Prymaat’s story about how she saved her virginity for Beldar was funny.
— Zappa playing himself as Connie’s new boyfriend.
— Man, Zappa’s delivery is terrible. And he’s very blatantly looking off-camera while reading his lines off of the aforementioned “cards underneath this camera here”.
— And now, he’s broken character and spit out a large chunk of the food that he has just “consumed in mass quantities” while Dan is desperately trying to keep the sketch moving.
— Now Zappa can’t stop laughing.
— The ending with Beldar and Prymaat eating the Zappa record was too predictable.
— Overall, easily the weakest Coneheads sketch I’ve covered so far. It started fine, but boy, did everything go south once Zappa entered the scene.
STARS: **


BAXTER PRISON
a middle class family helps with prison overcrowding by housing inmates

   

— What the hell? A prison cell under the stairs in a living room?
— And now, we see that Garrett’s being held prisoner in the living room closet.
— Boy, this is a weird, weird sketch so far.
— Loved John’s line about his plan to break off the edges of lasagna and let them harden so he can use them as a saw.
— I’m liking the wild prison riot.
— Overall, such a strange sketch, but it worked well and I enjoyed it.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
Celebrity Corner- BIM interviews Sid Vicious (BDM) & his mother (LAN)
Father Guido Sarducci comments on the papal election campaign
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about test-tube babies

       

— Well, I knew it was eventually going to happen, but Bill has now adopted a straight news delivery. I’m gonna miss the smarmy, proto-Dennis Miller delivery he used in his first two Updates.
— When Bill was introducing the “Celebrity Corner” interview, I expected Sid Vicious to be played by John or Dan, but it randomly ends up being writer Brian Doyle-Murray, who’s one of the last people I’d expect to play this type of role.
— The Sid Vicious interview wasn’t anything special. Doyle-Murray’s look made me laugh more than Laraine’s actual dialogue did.
— Father Guido Sarducci makes his Update debut.
— Sarducci’s overall commentary was fine, though there wasn’t anything I found worth noting in it.
— Where the hell did Dan come from? The camera just cuts from the end of Sarducci’s commentary to Dan sitting in Bill’s place at the desk, as if Dan was the anchorperson all along tonight.
— Ah, we’re getting a Point/Counterpoint, which explains Dan’s presence.
— The test tube baby debate between Jane and Dan was the usual good Point/Counterpoint stuff.
— Overall, I was not crazy about this Update. A lot of jokes either didn’t quite work for me or went over my head, and any laughs were mild at best until Point/Counterpoint saved the day.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


NIGHT ON FREAK MOUNTAIN
Jason & Sunset tempt stranded host with drugs

     

— Nice to see Paul Shaffer’s Don Kirshner.
— Oh my god at Zappa’s awful sarcastic mugging during Paul’s long spiel. Is this Zappa’s attempt to derail ANOTHER sketch tonight?
— The sequence with the model car in the storm was pretty funny.
— “Night on Freak Mountain”. Interesting turn this has taken. Considering this episode is from late October, I guess this will be our Halloween-themed sketch of the night.
— Hmm, the return of Dan and Laraine’s hippie characters. Eh, they’re okay, I guess, but I’m never overjoyed when they show up.
— Ugh, I am NOT liking the way this sketch has been going now.
— Not even John’s walk-on is saving this for me.
— Now Zappa has gone back to his annoying sarcastic mugging during another long spiel from Paul’s Kirshner, only this time, Zappa’s accompanying his mugging with sarcastic hand gestures for good measure.  Good lord.
— Ugh, the “Don Kirshner always talks like he does on his show” joke has gone from being quite funny to very annoying.
— Finally, the sketch ends.
— Overall, boy, was that rough. After suffering through this sketch, I never want to see these Dan/Laraine hippie characters ever again. They were never all that interesting to me in the past, anyway.
STARS: *


WOMAN TO WOMAN
happy wife (JAC) vexes career-minded Connie Carson (GIR)

— Gilda’s failed attempts to get Jane to dislike her marriage life are fairly funny.
— Overall, this wasn’t awful, but I wanted more from this. I kept waiting for the premise to go somewhere more interesting.
STARS: **


THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
ALF & TOM show democracy’s inherent flaws with some negative campaign ads

   

— Thank god. Oh, Franken & Davis, please save this episode!
— What’s with Tom’s gray-looking hair?
— Haha, I like this format with Al and Tom each doing live political ads.
— The back-and-forth ads between Al and Tom started slow, but are now getting funnier. Not as funny as I was expecting it to be, though.
— Al suddenly interrupting Tom’s drunken ad to shoot him with a gun was pretty good.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
— Futaba!

  

— Not as funny as the last time Futaba showed up in a Zappa musical performance, but this was still very cool.


MR. BILL MOVES IN
by Walter Williams- Mr. Hands helps with a new flat

    

— Another Mr. Bill film already, after he just appeared in the last episode? I kinda don’t like when they use this character in consecutive episodes.
— Overall, despite my worries, this still gave me some pretty damn good laughs, though not as much as the last one, where he went to New York.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

 

— Very noteworthy that almost nobody in the cast interacts with Zappa at all; he stays at the front of the stage the whole time while most of the cast stays behind him. Man, even Louise Lasser and Ruth Gordon (two earlier hosts who were difficult for the original cast to work with) got warmer receptions from the cast in their respective episode’s goodnights than Zappa did.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Boy, let’s just say, this episode DEFINITELY lived up to its negative reputation. So much of this episode either frustrated or bored me, and it started feeling like a chore to sit through after a while. I’m surprised at the number of sketches I sat stone-faced through. I especially hated that awful hippie mountain thing. Even Weekend Update was below par. I don’t think I’ve had such a negative reception to an episode since probably season 2, which at least goes to show you how well the show had been doing since season 3.
— And Frank Zappa… man, no wonder the cast resented working with him. He mugged and half-assed his way through EVERY non-musical performance segment he appeared in, showing zero commitment or any visible interest in the material he was given; in fact, he came off as having DISDAIN for the sketches. He even managed to ruin a Coneheads sketch. I guess not every musical genius can be a good SNL host.
— As poor as this episode was, the really worrisome thing is, it might not even be the worst this season has to offer. After all, we still have the infamous Milton Berle episode coming later on in the year.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Fred Willard):
— a huge step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Steve Martin

Posted on

October 14, 1978 – Fred Willard / Devo (S4 E2)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
SNL audience member Honker (BIM) thinks he’s at a Yankee game

 

— Is this Bill’s Honker character making his debut?
— It indeed seems to be.
— Boy, the audience member to Bill’s right looks uncomfortable as HELL.
— A very random way to start the show, but I’m liking this. Boy, do I miss these days when you never could guess what kind of random cold opening SNL would start with.
— Loved Bill’s sudden deadpan realization that “this isn’t a Yankee game.”
— Overall, a strange but funny opening. Bill was freakin’ hilarious as this weird character.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— I love the fast-paced, energetic way the theme music is being played tonight.
— Tonight’s montage has added a new shot that wasn’t in the season premiere’s montage, showing a group of construction workers.

— Oh, wait, I think the shot of “construction workers” was actually musical guest Devo.


MONOLOGUE
after impersonating Elvis, host recalls a favorite childhood gag

   

— Fred Willard making his entrance in an Elvis outfit as the band suddenly starts playing an Elvis beat… this is gonna be an interesting monologue.
— I’m not sure if this Elvis musical performance of Fred’s is even intended to be funny. I hope this song isn’t going to be the whole monologue.
— Ha, I liked the “It’s only me!” reveal.
— Thankfully, his monologue has gone into a different direction from the Elvis beginning. Fred is now doing well here and is getting good laughs out of me.
STARS: ***½


TWO GUYS WHO ARE LAWYERS
get low-cost legal aid from Two Guys Who Are Lawyers (DAA) & (host)

   

— Dan’s pitchman delivery is different than usual. Instead of doing the usual manic fast-paced talk, he’s going more for a comically stiff delivery that’s an accurate mockery of the type of delivery in cheap local ads.
— LOL, I’m enjoying this sketch’s concept.
— Dan and Fred are a funny team in this.
— Haha at one of the testimonials being Gilda as Patricia Hearst.
STARS: ***½


STUNT MAN
years of dangerous feats catch up with aging stuntman Cliff Preston (JOB)

     

— Man, Garrett’s delivery is even sloppier than usual in all his sketches so far tonight.
— The audience applauds Belushi’s entrance for some reason. Then again, he IS a breakout movie star at this point of his career.
— Haha, I like the detail of John’s character’s stunt mattress having his name on it.
— Kind of a one-note premise that I’m not crazy about. John is pulling it off fairly well, though.
— LOL at John’s character missing the stunt mattress and dying.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW

— Oh, I see they’re still continuing these mini Update previews this season. I had hoped they ditched that after season 3. I don’t like having to include these segments in my reviews, because they’re so short and pointless.


WEEKEND UPDATE
Celebrity Corner- BIM interviews Lucille Ball (GIR) & husband Gary (ALZ)
DAA is offended by football cheerleaders’ revealing uniforms

       

— I liked the opening “sponsored by Bleu Balls” bit.
— Bill’s still using his smarmy “now get outta here, ya knuckleheads”-type delivery from his Update debut in the previous week’s season premiere. Thank god, because I find that delivery so refreshing for Update. I’m kinda dreading seeing him eventually ditch that and go for a plain, straight, professional delivery.
— We get the debut of “Bill Murray’s Celebrity Corner”, which I know goes on to become a recurring segment.
— Gilda’s raspy voice as an aging Lucille Ball is great. I especially liked her raspy attempt at doing the trademark “Lucy cry”.
— Funny comment from Gilda’s Lucille Ball about her and Rose Marie having a conversation about time ravaging their faces.
— Dan makes his first appearance on Update since being removed as an anchorperson to become a “station manager”.
— I’m loving Dan’s overly-stern, fast-paced delivery while chiding football cheerleaders’ “lewd” attire.
— LOL, great line from Dan concerning the “visible bumps surrounding the areolas” under the cheerleaders’ uniforms.
— Dan’s commentary was great overall.
STARS: ***½


FIVE A.M.
phone talk of (LAN) & ex-boyfriend spurs one-night stand (host) to leave

   

— Laraine on her ex-boyfriend: “We had conflicting careers: I worked and he didn’t.”
— This seems to be a performance piece for Laraine.
— Loved the twist with Fred turning out to be a pizza deliveryman.
— Overall, a strong, more subtle sketch with good realistic acting, which seems to have become Laraine’s new niche since the last quarter of season 3.
STARS: ****


ON THE SPOT
school lunch provider Irwin Mainway rebuts nutrition worries

 

— Ah, a different use of Irvin Mainway.
— Dan’s hair looks the most 70s I’ve ever seen it, in both this and the earlier Two Guys Who Are Lawyers commercial.
— A lot of huge laughs from the description of Mainway providing kids with a lunch consisting of pureed insects, ravioli stuffed with chalk, and dog milk.
— Overall, another very funny Irvin Mainway sketch, even if I prefer his past “Consumer Probe” sketches a little more.
STARS: ****


MR. BILL GOES TO NEW YORK
by Walter Williams- tourism & torture

     

— Nice change of pace having Mr. Bill in the city.
— I liked the “clean up after your dog” bit regarding Spot’s severed body parts.
— Overall, this was quite short but still hilarious.
STARS: ****


BOBBI FARBER
via phone, Bobbi Farber tells mother she wants to change her kids’ names

 

— Hey, it’s the Farbers… well, just Gilda’s character so far, anyway.
— The Farbers have kids? I don’t remember them being mentioned in any of the previous Farber sketches.
— Some very good realism in Gilda’s performance as she’s carrying on a phone conversation while making a meal.
— Gilda’s excessive “alright”s when about to hang up the phone is making me laugh.
— Wait, that’s the whole sketch??? Why no Belushi as Larry Farber this time?
— Despite my surprise when this sketch ended, this was another well-done performance piece tonight, this time showcasing Gilda.
STARS: ***½


CROSSROADS
God (DOP) tells (JOB) to sacrifice son (BIM) in test of faith

     

— Is “Crossroads” the same church show they did in that weird sketch with Chevy from Chevy’s season 3 episode?
— I like the bluntness of Fred as the preacher saying “I find myself depressed as hell”.
— Bill, while eating: “Great sparrow, mom.”
— Haha, Don Pardo as the voice of God. Perfect casting.
— Fred’s constant asides about his personal life problems, and his attempts to tie that back into the story he’s presenting is pretty funny.
— Just now, John said the name “Shlomo” very strangely and drawn-out, which made Bill break character and laugh. (screencap below)

— Funny ending with God Pardo saying “Wait, don’t do it!” too late right after John has killed Bill.
STARS: ***½


SCOTCH BOUTIQUE
traffic is low at the Scotch Boutique adhesive tape specialty store

   

— Oh, it’s the Scotch Boutique sketch I always heard good things about. I’m glad to finally get to see this.
— Bill and Garrett’s brief visit was very funny.
— Overall, not as comedic as I was expecting, but this was such a great, well-written, and well-performed piece that, like several other sketches tonight, relied on subtle performances. Everybody did a great job with this.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A consistently solid episode that actually got even better after Update. The post-Update half of this episode was a haven of low-key, realistic pieces that showed how well-rounded the original cast was; the type of sketches that would seem foreign to viewers nowadays if modern-day SNL attempted it.
— Fred Willard was as good a host as expected, and he did very well as the lead in certain sketches like Crossroads and Scotch Boutique.
— I liked this episode so much, I’ll even praise the musical performances. I rarely mention musical guests in my reviews, but boy, were Devo’s two performances fascinating to watch.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (The Rolling Stones):
— a moderate step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Frank Zappa. I’m morbidly looking forward to seeing why he’s considered one of the more infamous hosts of this era.

Posted on

October 7, 1978 – The Rolling Stones (S4 E1)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
in an NBC broadcasting throwback, GAM & SNL Band perform “I Love You”

    

— Interesting, unique way to open a season.
— Overall, while there was no humor to be found here, this was a well-done performance of a classical NBC song, and I like the various ways they made this look like a broadcast from the 40s/50s.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— A new montage this season!

     

— For some reason, the two shots this montage opens with are reused from the season 1-2 montage. For a second, that worried me that this ENTIRE montage was going to just be the season 1-2 one, but thankfully, all the shots after the first few seconds are brand new.
— We get the debut of what I’ve always personally referred to as “the squiggly, cursive-style SNL logo”. I believe this is the logo that most people associate 70s SNL with.
— Beginning this season, the hosts and musical guests are now represented in the opening montage by pictures instead of a simple onscreen text displaying their names.
— The cast is no longer announced as “The Not Ready For Prime-Time Players”. I’m surprised; I thought they didn’t get rid of that moniker until season 5 when Aykroyd and Belushi were gone and there were only a few original cast members remaining. This season 4 cast still has the old gang intact, so why’d they drop the NRFPTP name?


MONOLOGUE
Mayor Ed Koch [real] presents JOB with a certificate of merit

   

— New home base stage!
— Hmm, imagine that! There actually was a time when SNL would (gasp!) change their home base stage every now and then. Hear that, modern-day SNL?
— I love the new set’s huge, bright ceiling with all the studio lights; it gives off the feeling of this being a big, high-budget show, which is a good representation of SNL’s increasing importance at the time.
— Strange that Mayor Ed Koch is doing the monologue instead of tonight’s actual hosts.
— Good way to acknowledge John’s big summer with “Animal House” being a huge hit.
— John’s unenthused reaction to the certificate Koch gave him is pretty funny.
— Another “But noooooo” rant, which is always good for laughs.
— This whole monologue really illustrates how much John’s movie stardom was beginning to really take off and how Hollywood was a-callin’ for him, which is a strong reminder that the end of his SNL tenure is sadly near.
STARS: ***½


AUTOSCENT
(JAC) shows (GIR) how well Autoscent exhaust freshener works

  

— Gilda happily sniffing the car’s exhaust pipe is a memorable image.
— That’s it? This was too short and simple of a commercial, and should’ve had more humor.
STARS: **½


TOMORROW
Tom Snyder (DAA) interviews Mick Jagger [real]

   

— Odd in hindsight hearing Dan’s Snyder casually mention a crew member named Bobby Brown.
— Does Mick have a sore throat? His voice sounds unusually hoarse in this.
— Dan’s Snyder demonstrating his favorite Jagger moves is a riot.
— Overall, this was a very enjoyable, memorable sketch that contained lots of laughs.  Probably one of the strongest “Tomorrow” sketches.
STARS: ****½


NERDS / NORGE
Todd & Lisa crack up upon seeing refrigerator repairman’s (DAA) low pants

   

— A refrigerator repairman is coming? Oh, it’s THIS famous Nerds sketch…
— The frequently-changing last name of Bill’s Todd character is now DiLaMuca, which would go on to stay as his regular last name.
— LOL there’s the legendary “plumber’s crack” moment.
— I’ve always found Bill’s reactions to the “plumber’s crack” to be absolutely priceless. His goofy spazzy laughter, his tapping the table repeatedly, his kicking his leg out, his putting a napkin over his own head… all hilarious.
— Todd and Lisa’s cheap wisecracks (no pun intended) about the repairman are really funny.
— Good ending with Todd badly singing his campaign song.
— Overall, one of the best Nerds sketches.
STARS: ****½


THE OLYMPIA CAFE
Pete returns to the Olympia Cafe after receiving a paltry inheritance

       

— The cafe & uniforms looks like they’ve gone through some minor changes this season.
— Did I just spot Garrett in drag in the background?
— Ah, now they actually acknowledged the changes in the cafe’s look & uniforms.
— Yep, that indeed IS Garrett in drag… once again. I know it’s become a crutch for the writers at this point in Garrett’s tenure, but it seems REALLY random for this sketch.
— I love John’s dramatic, slow entrance. And I swear, the monologue earlier tonight has me now looking at him a bit differently as the new movie star of this season’s cast.
— When John was chasing out all the customers, I like the particular joy he seemed to take in throwing Ron Wood out.
— Very interesting how the last two minutes of this turned into a semi-dramatic sketch in which John got to display some good subtle acting. This just adds to what I said in my last review about how these Olympia Cafe sketches had a surprising amount of layers and depth for a recurring SNL sketch. These sketches truly do feel kinda sitcom-ish.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
BIM adopts JAC’s view on ERA ratification during Point-Counterpoint
Roseanne Roseannadanna’s report on Studio 54 is centered around blisters

       

— Jane begins this semi-new era of Update by announcing there’s been a personnel change. Co-anchor Dan Aykroyd has been “kicked upstairs” to station manager, and is being replaced at the desk by the “capable, highly-respected” Bill Murray. At one point during that whole announcement, Jane gets in a nice little dig at how bad Dan was as an anchorperson.
— Haha, Bill’s doing his intro speech in the same smarmy delivery he used for his Update movie reviews in the preceding season. I’m already liking him as an anchorperson. Miles better than Aykroyd, that’s for sure.
— Bill: “When I get into an argument with somebody, if it gets to where we’re gonna throw punches, I turn around and walk away.” Oh, you mean like you did last season during your backstage confrontation with Chevy Chase– oh wait…..
— Bill’s whole long opening spiel was absolutely awesome. What an intro! As an anchorperson, he’s kinda coming off as a proto-Dennis Miller. That being said, I don’t think this smarmy Update persona of Bill’s lasts long. I saw some of the season 4-5 Updates years ago and I recall Bill just doing the news in a normal straight-laced manner. A damn shame, because I actually love him delivering the news in a smarmy style.
— The new Update set looks great, by the way.
— What, a Point/Counterpoint segment between Jane and BILL? How are they going to make this work without Dan?
— Hmm, Bill actually agreeing with Jane during his rebuttal is different, at least, but left a little something to be desired.
— The bit with Bill tossing Jane a contraceptive was hilarious.
— Roseanne Rosannadanna’s Studio 54 rant was her usual funny stuff.
— Overall, a promising debut for the Bill Murray era of Update.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


SUSHI BY THE POOL
by TOS- quake hits showbiz party; Carrie Fisher cameo

     

— Wow, from the list of guest stars in this film’s intro, we’re getting several random celebrity cameos, including the soon-to-be-hosting-this-season Carrie Fisher.
— Uh, wow. Overall, this Schiller’s Reel was pretty out-there. I’m not sure I “got” what this was going for.
STARS: **½


A FRAMEWORK FOR THE REUNION OF THE BEATLES
Jimmy Carter (DAA) reunites John Lennon (JOB) & Paul McCartney (BIM)

— LOL, I love the way Belushi looks as Lennon.
— Funny concept with the president holding a peace talks between Lennon and McCartney as if they’re world leaders.
— Overall, a decent sketch.
STARS: ***


NETWORK BATTLE OF THE T’S AND A’S
female TV stars’ talents are on display

     

— Ah, I remember this quite well.
— A pretty funny commercial that doubles as great eye candy.
— This was a lot shorter than I remember. I guess it was my horny memory that made this commercial seem a lot longer in my mind in the past.
STARS: ***½


DANGER PROBE
Hare Krishna (JOB) & mime (GIR) encounter torturists

     

— Laraine’s angry thick accent is cracking me up right from the start.
— Funny part with Gilda walking on as a random mime.
— I’m dying at Bill’s brief yells whenever he cracks his whip. He sounds hilarious.
— Wow, what a weird, weird sketch overall. Despite the funny little moments listed above, this sketch was hard to figure; there was too much going on and may have been a little TOO random for its own good.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

  

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Pretty fun season opener, with several solid, memorable installments of popular recurring sketches (Tomorrow, Nerds, Olympia Cafe) and some decent original material in the mix as well. The episode’s quality died down a little after Update, but it never reached any truly bad low points; even the weakest segments of the night had their moments.
— The “hosts” of the night, The Rolling Stones, might as well have just been billed only as the musical guest, because they were almost non-existent in the show outside of their musical performance. SNL should’ve just presented this episode as having no host, much like the later premieres of seasons 7 and 10. At least that would’ve justified why they had an unannounced guest star (Mayor Koch) deliver the monologue and goodnights speech tonight.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1977-78):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Fred Willard

Posted on

May 20, 1978 – Buck Henry / Sun Ra (S3 E20)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
The Boy In The Plastic Pants Suit will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
since you don’t have Nixon (DAA) to kick around anymore, kick his book

   

— Funny that Dan’s Nixon brings out the “Don’t Buy Books by Crooks” anti-Nixon t-shirt, considering Dan himself wore that same shirt (and proudly pointed to it) during the preceding episode’s goodnights. (screencap below of both moments)

 

— Dan’s Nixon’s desperation for people to buy the book is pretty funny.
— I liked the “Pat’s already on her fourth copy” line.
— Good ending with the book being placekicked.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
scrolling text says host’s career is over, contrary to what he claims

   

— Another scrolling disclaimer during a Buck monologue.
— As usual, this provided good laughs. I especially liked the magazines/telescope part.
STARS: ***½


NERD PROM
before the prom, parents Marshall (host) & Enid (JAC) advise Todd & Lisa

    

— I liked Jane’s comment about Bill’s hormones.
— Buck regarding Bill’s look: “John Ravolta, watch out!”
— Classic part with Bill giving Gilda a can that has rubber snakes pop out of it when she opens it. I’ve often seen that portion of this sketch in the form of a clip in SNL highlight reels.
— Jane’s details about the late Mr. Loopner were really funny.
— Kind of an odd ending.
STARS: ***½


SAMURAI T.V. REPAIRMAN
Mr. Dantley brings his broken set to Futaba

   

— Can already tell from the set that this will be a Samurai sketch.
— Yep, I was right.
— Futaba referring to his mother as “My mama-san” brought me back to the funny “Yo mama-san” bit from the Samurai sketch with Richard Pryor.
— Hate to say it, but you can tell this recurring sketch is running out of steam. A lot of the usual gags here feel tired, predictable, and by-the-numbers.
— The “68/89” mix-up was fairly funny.
— I liked Futaba sticking two swords into the top of the TV screen to fix the picture.
— This sketch as a whole was disappointing for Samurai standards. John also kinda seemed to be going through the motions; I bet he’s grown tired of doing this character. I think the only reason they’re continuing to use Futaba at this point in the show’s run is because it was a tradition to do so whenever Buck hosted. I heard that SNL did only two more Samurai sketches after this, and I’m guessing they’re in the two episodes that Buck hosts next season (which is John’s final season).
STARS: **


SODOM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
(BIM) offers image-improving ideas to the Sodom chamber of commerce

 

— This is an awfully cheap premise, especially for something this early in the show.
— Didn’t care for the ending with the female cast members singing.
— Overall, aside from a few okay lines, I was bored during this whole sketch.
STARS: *½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
LAN narrates amateurish TOS drawings of Son Of Sam trial
BIM tries to call Jackie Onassis to get her reaction to The Greek Tycoon
DAA’s commentary about Betty Ford lists some other alcoholic first ladies
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about jogging

       

— Dan’s wearing dark-tinted sunglasses for some reason. I wonder if he’s aware that this is going to end up being his final Update.
— Haha, holy hell at Dan demonstrating the new fanfare and then quickly firing a sudden gunshot into the air. His delivery and timing of that was awesome. He may suck at reading Update jokes, but he was usually always great at doing random side bits like these.
— The return of the childlike “Artist’s Rendering” gag. Meh. This bit stopped being funny long ago back when Chevy was overusing it in season 1.
— Bill “Now get out of here, you knuckleheads” Murray stops by for what would end up being his final review commentary before taking over as new Update co-anchor next season. I wonder if they found a way to have him still continue doing these smarmy review commentaries even when being an anchorman.
— Bill calling out the movie clip for stealing Steve Martin’s “excuse me” catchphrase is amusing to me, because Bill himself used that catchphrase of Steve’s in a Nerds sketch from a few episodes ago.
— Bill: “(over the phone) Does the name Bill Murray mean anything to you? (a beat) John Belushi?” Haha, don’t worry, Bill, your time as a household name is soon coming.
— Dan’s segment detailing the drinking habits of first ladies throughout history was questionable, but I did like his comments about Mary Todd Lincoln.
— Another Point/Counterpoint.
— Dan’s harsh rebuttal to Jane was hilarious as usual, especially his menopause comment.
— And so ends the final Update of the short-lived Dan Aykroyd era. At least he went out with a few good moments tonight. Now bring on the Bill Murray era!
STARS: ***


THE OLYMPIA CAFE
Pete is forced to choose between employee Nico (BIM) & a guard dog

     

— The “lamb in the basement” bit was a fairly funny subtle part.
— I always like how each Olympia Cafe sketch involves multiple storylines going on at the same time. It adds a lot of layers and depth to the sketch, and makes it feel like a sitcom, which is also helped by the realism in everyone’s performances. It’s rare to see a recurring SNL sketch show this kind of detail and commitment to realism.
— Bill’s character abruptly getting fired and shoved out the door actually made me feel genuinely sorry for him.
— The back-and-forth with Bill repeatedly getting fired and then rehired is pretty good.
STARS: ***½


MR. MIKE’S LEAST-LOVED MUSIC
MOD performs “Baby Ghouls”

   

— Ah, a variation of Least Loved Bedtime Tales.
— Interesting visual of a superimposed, bloody Laraine doing sign language during O’Donoghue’s song.
— These lyrics are disturbing and fucked-up as hell, even for Mr. Mike standards.
— Overall, I have absolutely no idea what to make of this. I want to love it, because I’m usually a fan of dark Mr. Mike humor, but I’m not all that sure how I felt about this one.  I think maybe I appreciated the concept of it more than the actual execution.
— Was this O’Donoghue’s swan song? I thought I heard somewhere that tonight is his last episode. However, I had always been under the impression that he left after season 4, not season 3. Can anyone clarify? It does feel like they’ve been phasing him out in the second half of this season, as his presence has not been felt anywhere near as much as it was felt in the first two seasons. If tonight is indeed his last show, he sure will be missed. I feel kinda bad for being so iffy on this final sketch of his.
STARS: ??? (undecided)


MORE INSECTS TO WORRY ABOUT
(host) warns about brain-burrowing mites

— I didn’t know they made this into a recurring sketch.
— WTF was with Buck’s “f**got/maggot” slip-up? Was that intentional or a real flub? If someone made that same slip-up on SNL nowadays, they’d probably get chased out the building by an angry mob with torches and pitchforks.
— Some of the gross details by Buck are kinda funny, but this sketch isn’t working as well as the first installment did.
STARS: **½


STUNT PUPPY
director Brian Whitney has actor Howard abuse a stunt puppy in a scene

   

— Ah, it’s the Stunt Baby sequel.
— For some reason, I loved Jane exclaiming “I can’t, I’d vomit!” as her excuse for not cleaning up the mess the dog made on the floor.
— Wait, the stunt puppy is REAL? How are they going to pull this off?
— Oh, I see what they did; you can tell when they secretly switched the real stunt puppy with a fake one.
— Man, this was disappointing overall. This had an awfully long setup for a short payoff that felt derivative and just didn’t work as well as Buck’s original abuse of Stunt Baby did. Maybe instead of just throwing Stunt Puppy out the window like he did with Stunt Baby, they should’ve had Buck up the ante by pulling out a rifle and SHOOTING the puppy. That was what I had actually been expecting when I first heard there’s a Stunt Puppy sketch.
STARS: **


BAD CONCEPTUAL ART
(GIR) performs excerpt from Pavlov Video Chicken I

  

— Judging from what Dan’s saying in his intro, I’m predicting the role of a woman dancing like a chicken will be played by Laraine, who previously did a chicken impression in that “Little-Known Talents of the Not Ready For Prime-Time Players” sketch from season 2.
— Oh, it’s actually Gilda playing the chicken-dancing lady.
— Boy, that eye in the TV monitor looks just plain creepy. Is that Garrett?
— Wow, this play is insane, but not all that funny.
— Why did this end with Dan miming throwing something invisible into the garbage bin? He usually throws a script into the garbage at the end of these sketches.
— Overall, this was one of the lesser “Bad (insert type of play here)” installments, which makes this yet another disappointing sketch tonight. Man, what’s going on?
STARS: **


THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
tragedy befalls the Franken family after TOD outs himself & ALF

     

— Funny twist with Davis revealing he and Franken are “homosexual lovers”.
— The audience & Franken’s “son” acting like Franken’s the worst person ever just for coming out as gay is making me laugh, but REALLY shows this sketch’s age. This premise couldn’t be used on the show nowadays.
— Wow, holy hell at the suicide ending. I love how dark and unexpected that was. I also love how the audience had no idea how to respond to it.
— Interesting “sponsored by” bit at the end.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
— Wonder why they buried the first musical performance so unusually late into the show.
— (*sees how utterly bizarre this performance is*) Oh, THAT’S why they buried this so late into the show…
— The show cut to commercial when this performance was still in progress. I’m sure it’s only because the episode ran long, but it’s funny to imagine that the real reason is because everybody at the show was so weirded-out by the performance that director Dave Wilson just threw his hands in the air and said “Alright, that’s it, I’m cutting this off!”


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An odd season finale. Considering Buck Henry was hosting and considering the impressive streak of great episodes that preceded this, expectations were high for a top-notch season-ender. Instead, the season went out on kind of an underwhelming note. There was a string of disappointing sketches in the second half of the show, post-Olympia Cafe and pre-Franken & Davis. The first half of the show wasn’t consistently strong, either, as it contained a rather lethargic Samurai installment and whatever that Sodom sketch was trying to be. Tonight’s episode still certainly had several highlights here and there, but nothing that I felt was worth giving more than a three-and-a-half star rating to.
— Despite the less-than-satisfying way it ended, season 3 was an overall fantastic year. There was impressively only ONE episode that I flat-out disliked (Madeline Kahn), and that was all the way back at the beginning of the season. There were two episodes that I felt were iffy but contained enough highlights that I wouldn’t classify them as outright bad shows (Hugh Hefner and tonight’s Buck Henry). The remaining episodes of the season all ranged from good to excellent. So many of those episodes were strong, especially the long stretch of episodes from Christopher Lee to Richard Dreyfuss, one of which included an episode that’s universally praised as an all-time legendary classic (Steve Martin/The Blues Brothers). There was also a surprising number of episodes that contained no weak sketches, which is a rarity for SNL. And we got lots of memorable unique gimmicks throughout the season, such as Charles Grodin “missing” dress rehearsal, Atomic Lobsters attacking the studio, and the whole “Anyone Can Host” contest. Overall, I’d say this is easily one of the greatest seasons in SNL history, and it was a blast for me to review.
— We’re officially three seasons down in the ‘One SNL a Day’ project!


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

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Season 4 begins, with hosts The Rolling Stones

Posted on

May 13, 1978 – Richard Dreyfuss / Jimmy Buffett, Gary Tigerman (S3 E19)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
paraquat-tainted Mexican dope is traced from farmers (JOB) & (GIR) to BIM

   

— Gilda’s accent is pretty funny.
— Boy, they sure love doing sketches where John physically abuses Gilda by slapping her around. I lost count of the number of sketches that’s happened in the episodes I’ve covered so far.
— Love Dan’s fast-paced narration.
— Bill’s reaction to smoking the joint wasn’t all that funny. The build-up to it had me expecting his reaction to be much more hilariously over-the-top.
— Overall, a strange opening, and it didn’t really work for me.
STARS: **


OPENING MONTAGE
— Father Guido Sarducci is mentioned as a special guest. This will be his very first appearance on the show. I’m surprised, because I thought he didn’t make his debut until season 4.
— In tonight’s montage, some of the cast members (John, Jane, and especially Gilda) noticeably receive much louder audience applause than others, which is always a good indicator of which cast members are the most popular at the time (best example of this is in seasons 8 and 9: as soon as Eddie Murphy’s picture would appear onscreen, the audience would absolutely ROAR with cheers, after giving zero applause for the cast members announced before him). I’m not surprised about John and Gilda, but I certainly am about Jane; I never knew she was an audience favorite.


MONOLOGUE
to prove to JOB he’s worthy of an Oscar, host does Hamlet’s soliloquy

  

— Haha at him coming out in a Shakespearean outfit.
— Funny story about how Belushi convinced him to do Hamlet.
— We get another great increasingly angry rant from John.
— Good ending with Richard’s dejected, whiny demeanor after John finishes telling him off.
STARS: ***½


CONE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
(host) helps Coneheads snow Kuldroth

     

— Is that Bill as Walter Cronkite doing the off-camera radio announcing that Richard’s listening to?
— Oh, Bill’s voice is actually coming from a TV in the room.
— “Cone Encounters Of The Third Kind.” Great idea to do a Close Encounters/Coneheads hybrid.
— Funny to see Beldar appearing in a local driving school commercial.
— Beldar to Connie: “Young one, your cone is also on the block.”
— I liked the model set of a toy spaceship landing by the Coneheads’ house.
— Good to see the return of John as the high master of the Coneheads’ home planet.
— Richard sounds like a natural doing the Coneheads voice.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (JIMMY BUFFETT)
— Interesting intro, with Richard hearing the Land Shark music cue. Took me a few seconds to realize they’re doing this because Richard was in “Jaws”.


SEX TEST
host poses multiple choice questions to assess carnal knowledge

     

— Heh, Laraine’s testimonial sure was odd.
— I’m liking the increasingly silly multiple choice options.
— Bill’s sleazy testimonial was really good.
— Gilda’s last name randomly being “Shoes” is strangely very funny to me.
— Another funny little detail is Garrett being listed as a “black sex therapist”.
— The whole “Who discovered genitalia?” part killed me.
— Haha, this sketch is continuing to get funnier and funnier as it goes along.
STARS: ****½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
JAC vows to stop blowing up at exasperating Weekend Update correspondents
BIM thinks that Richard Burton should’ve won the Oscar instead of host
alleged clip of The Goodbye Girl features JOB & GIR in the primary roles
Roseanne Roseannadanna’s straying from UFO topic causes JAC to explode

         

— Interesting intro from Jane, somberly apologizing for her angriness towards her fellow correspondents. This seems to be a set-up for something they’ll come back to later in this Update.
— Oddly, Jane mentioned John Belushi as one of the recurring Update guests who she usually acts angry towards, but that isn’t really accurate. If anything, it’s the other way around: usually, Jane fearfully and sheepishly tries to interject during John’s rants, only to get yelled at by John (“BACK OFF, CURTIN!!!”).
— Oh my god, ANOTHER instance of Dan pausing a long time before a news story so he can find the paper on his desk that contains the story. (screencaps below) Man, Dan seems to have at least one bad screw-up in each Update. Mercifully, there’s only one episode left of seeing him struggle through Update.

 

— The “Goodbye Girl” clip with Belushi as Richard Dreyfuss is hilarious! His Dreyfuss impression is having me in stitches.
— It’s kinda funny seeing Bill criticizing Richard Dreyfuss as an actor, considering they would later co-star together in “What About Bob”, one of my favorite Bill Murray movies.
— Another visit from Roseanne Roseannadanna. I guess this will be the payoff of Jane’s apology set-up at the beginning.
— Roseannadanna’s story about seeing a “rectal eclipse” is giving me really good laughs.
— Funny seeing Jane trying with all her might to keep from losing her temper in response to Roseannadanna’s inane ranting.
— Jane angrily ripping open her shirt when Roseannadanna asks “Are both of your things the same size?” came out of nowhere. She was even wearing the same bra from the legendary time she ripped her shirt open on Update before.
— Roseannadanna making Jane have an emotional breakdown was a very interesting way to end Update.
STARS: ***½


NICK SPRINGS
Nick “Springs” & Unavox SL-120 entertain newlyweds at The Honeymoon Room

     

— Loved Bill speeding “Love to Love You Baby” up to an insane tempo, then scream-singing the ending.
— Just now, Bill accidentally called himself Nick Winters (his name in one of the previous installments of this sketch) before correcting himself.
— Bill seems to be cracking Richard up.
— Overall, another very strong Nick the Lounger Singer, though this pales slightly in comparison to the last one, in which he does the famous “Star Wars” number.
STARS: ****½


PET PEEVES
lovers (host) & (LAN) argue by pointing out each other’s annoying traits

 

— I smell a Marilyn Suzanne Miller-written slice-of-life piece.
— Richard: “(sarcastically) No, my favorite sentence is ‘Hello, hurt me’.”
— Richard is great in this.
— Laraine’s starting to catch up with Richard with a solid performance of her own.
— Very nice ending.
— Overall, this was very well-done and probably one of the strongest Marilyn Suzanne Miller (assuming she did write this) slice-of-lifes I’ve covered so far.
STARS: ****


THE DAVID SUSSKIND SHOW
momma’s-boy celebrities & their mothers

   

— LOL at Gilda as Leon Spinks’ mom.
— First time we’ve seen John’s Kissinger impression in a long time.
— I like the concept of these celebrities having mothers who are similar to them.
— I remember seeing a clip in an SNL compilation special (probably “The Women of SNL”) of Jane as Tom Snyder’s mom. When I saw the clip, I had assumed it was from a “Tomorrow” sketch. Then again, maybe Jane later reprises this role in a “Tomorrow” sketch, and perhaps that’s where the clip I saw came from.
— Jane is doing an absolutely dead-on impression of Dan’s Snyder impression, right down to the laugh.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (GARY TIGERMAN)
— There’s the Land Shark music again during Richard’s intro.
— Nice fake-out with Richard opening a door, but no Land Shark being there.


FATHER GUIDO SARDUCCI
Father Guido Sarducci (DON) tells how people literally pay for their sins

 

— I had been expecting his debut tonight to be on Update. Interesting how his debut is actually in a standalone stand-up performance-type segment.
— His use of crutches is apparently real, as I heard Novello broke his leg during the dress rehearsal of the hockey sketch from the then-recent Michael Sarrazin episode. Poor guy must’ve slipped while wearing ice skates. There seems to be an unintentional theme of injured performers tonight in general, as musical guest Jimmy Buffett performed his earlier number while having his leg in a cast.
— Hilarious comment about being hit by a nun on a Vespa.
— I really like the bit about the price of sins when you arrive at heaven.
— Overall, pretty solid debut for this character.
STARS: ***½


RICHARD DREYFUSS: “I WANT TO BE SEDUCED”
host & PAS perform “I Want To Be Seduced”

 

— Another instance of a host in this era doing a non-comedic musical performance.
— Hey, this actually has some fairly funny moments.
STARS: N/A


GOODNIGHTS
at closing, host is attacked by Land Shark

   

— The bit with Richard getting eaten by Land Shark was a funny payoff to tonight’s running theme.  I always like when this era does interesting, fun things during the goodnights.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Season 3 churns out yet another great episode in what’s been a long string of them. Aside from the cold opening, everything in this episode was solid, with none of the segments getting a rating below three-and-a-half stars, and several segments getting four or four-and-a-half stars.
— Richard Dreyfuss was a very good host and added a charm to his performances, even getting me to like his musical number at the end of the show (and I usually don’t care for when hosts in this era do musical performances).


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Steve Martin):
— a moderate step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
The amazing season 3 comes to an end, with good-ol’ Buck Henry hosting

Posted on

April 22, 1978 – Steve Martin / The Blues Brothers (S3 E18)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Don Kirshner’s (PAS) Rock Concert- musical guest performs “Hey Bartender”

   

— The true official debut of the Blues Brothers. A version of them appeared earlier in a season 1 episode while dressed as Bees, but I’ve come to realize that was more of a Blues Brothers prototype rather than the real thing.
— I mentioned in my review of the aforementioned season 1 sketch that it’s unusual how Dan isn’t singing with John, because I had remembered the later Blues Brothers appearances having Dan and John both singing. However, Dan’s silent in tonight’s number too. I guess my memory of it being a regular feature for him to join John in singing was wrong.
— Overall, a very fun and classic opening number.
— The fact that the musical guests tonight are two of the cast members’ side act shows how much variety the early seasons had and how unpredictable the show could be back then.
STARS: N/A


MONOLOGUE
host removes watches, wallets, clothing from audience member (BIM)

     

— “Oh, did I assassinate your penguin?”
— Loved him mistakenly reading the “apply to infested area” note.
— Bill playing an “audience member”. Odd that they’re not using a writer or extra.
— Steve’s “magic tricks” on Bill are very funny.
— I was surprised at the reveal that Bill’s wearing a fake mustache.
— Love how increasingly maniacal Steve’s removal of Bill’s personal items are getting. Hilarious!
STARS: ****½


HEY YOU!
— Rerun


FESTRUNK BROTHERS
the Festrunks wait for a pair of foxes to arrive at their bachelor pad

     

— The Festrunk Brothers! The audience went wild at their entrance.
— LOL at the gigantic vacuum.
— I love the way Dan’s voice sounded when he and Steve exclaimed “Foxes!!!!” in unison.
— I like Garrett as their “black soul man” friend.
— The Festrunk’s foreign language conversation with each other is very funny.
— Garrett seemed genuinely amused by the foreign conversation too, judging by how he seems to be trying to hide his laughing from the camera. (screencap below)

— The Festrunk’s depressed version of their usual strut when going to answer the door is great.
— I got a kick out of seeing all the performers quickly dash off the set after the sketch ended.
— Overall, despite the fact that this was a pretty straightforward Festrunk Brothers installment, it’s still generally well-remembered and is one of my personal favorites of their appearances.
STARS: ****½


THEODORIC OF YORK, MEDIEVAL BARBER
medieval barber Theodoric of York’s (host) patients endure his remedies

     

— One of the most well-remembered SNL sketches Steve Martin would ever do.
— Funny seeing Dan and Steve speaking to each other in normal voices at the start of this, immediately after I had just watched them talk to each other in crazy accents throughout the preceding Festrunk Brothers sketch.
— The detail of “boiled sheep’s urine” being part of the remedy is absolutely priceless to me.
— Funny line from Steve about Laraine’s illness being caused by a small dwarf living in her stomach.
— John looks hilarious as the hunchback.
— I believe this is the first time on SNL where Bill is doing the “talking out the corner of the mouth” mannerism that he would go on to famously use for some of his characters.
— Bill’s pained screaming when being taken out of his wheelchair and getting hanged upside down by his legs kills me every time I see this sketch. It’s the portion of this sketch that I’ve always remembered the most.
— I liked how they reprised Steve’s “Maybe she’s right… (*goes into a deep , thoughtful speech*) Nah!” thing from the ending of his Mike McMack Defense Lawyer sketch earlier this season.
STARS: *****


DANCING IN THE DARK
time stands still while (host) & (GIR) go “Dancing In The Dark”

     

— Ah, here comes another all-time legendary SNL classic. This episode is on fucking FIRE.
— Man, Steve and Gilda’s chemistry is so fun, and it’s enthralling to watch these two comedy greats dancing around the SNL studio.
— I always appreciate any extensive sketch that doesn’t use any dialogue.
— Beautiful how this sketch ended the exact same way it began.
— When Steve later hosted in 1989, this sketch was re-aired during his monologue as a tribute to Gilda, who passed away just hours earlier that same day. Ever since that special encore presentation, this sketch has taken on a new, poignant meaning.
STARS: *****


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
DAA complains that GAM didn’t get enough marijuana to “test for paraquat”
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about federal aid for abortions

    

— Good laugh from Garrett showing up and discreetly giving Dan “the stuff” (marijuana). This feels like something Tracy Morgan would’ve done on Update in later seasons.
— Dan: “It’s just that a survey shows that 97% of our viewers smoke [marijuana] daily.”
— Another instance of an awkward pause while we have to wait for Dan to find the next news story among his desk papers. I lost count of the number of times this has happened with him this season.
— Yet another point/counterpoint.
— Dan: “Jane, you ignorant misguided slut”
— Dan’s pro-abortion rebuttal was very funny, especially the harsh comment about how if he could, he would’ve performed an abortion on Jane’s mother to prevent Jane from being born.
— The “This just in, Garrett Morris is dead” bulletin was a funny follow-up to the earlier marijuana commentary.
— That’s it? Shortest Update in a long time.
STARS: ***½


KING TUT
host & SNL Band perform “King Tut” to honor the ancient Egyptian ruler

   

— The hits just keep on comin’ tonight.
— Funny concept with Steve following his complaint about the commercialization of King Tut with a big commercialized, contemporary musical number.
— Such a catchy song, and Steve’s famous dance always kills me in this.
— “He’s my favorite honky” has always been the lyric I liked the most.
— A part that helps propel this into epic territory is the saxophonist popping out of a sarcophagus to do a solo.
— Overall, oh my god, that was perfect and was the right length without going on too long.
STARS: *****


LOVE STORY
admitting extramarital affairs is foreplay for a couple (JAC) & (JOB)

 

— For the first time all night, here’s a sketch I don’t recognize.
— I like the character voice Jane’s using.
— Loved Jane’s innuendo about the pharmacist “filling her prescription”.
— Great unexpected twist with Jane’s sudden “I’m ready, how about you?” line when she and John were detailing their affairs.
— Overall, a very strong lesser-known sketch.
STARS: ****½


SWAN LAKE BALLET
by Gary Weis- ballerinas & hip-hop dancers perform Swan Lake together

     

— Is this the return of The Lockers, who previously appeared in SNL’s third episode ever?
— I guess so.
— Overall, this was surprisingly a fairly entertaining Gary Weis short, but maybe I’m biased because I really enjoyed The Lockers’ previous appearance on the show.
— Speaking of Weis, I heard he didn’t do any more SNL shorts after this season, which means we’re now in the homestretch of his SNL tenure. I wonder if this ended up being the last SNL short he did.
STARS: ***


TROFF ‘N’ BREW
on their lunch break, businessmen eat like pigs at Troff ‘n’ Brew

   

— Haha, WTF at the opening shot in the restaurant showing patrons eating in an odd manner.
— Man, that chili looks nasty. Then again, I never was a big fan of chili.
— A fairly funny premise, though this is coming off a little disappointing by the high standard set for this episode. Then again, the original cast had a knack for adding a goofy charm to sketches with this type of premise.
STARS: ***


NERDS SCIENCE FAIR
at the science fair, Todd & Lisa compete with Charles Knerlman (host)

   

— Steve is funny as a cocky nerd.
— I always like the Nerds’ unwarranted pride in saying tired cliches as if they’re witty comebacks (e.g. “So funny, I forgot to laugh”).
— The “human sandwich” ending was pretty good.
— Overall, a decent Nerds sketch, but again, not quite up to the standards of most of this episode. I was expecting more from this.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


NEXT WEEK IN REVIEW
psychics (JAC), (host), (DAA) predict the news

  

— I like this premise of a panel show with psychics predicting what will happen in the next week.
— Jane and Steve’s facial expression during their respective intro shot was great.
— Heh at “Send More Chuck Berry”.
— I like the psychics predicting that Laraine won’t be there next week.
— Overall, this starting losing me around the middle, but kinda won me back at the end. I still feel that the overall result didn’t quite live up to the premise’s potential.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— So, did this live up to its status as the all-time best SNL episode ever? Well, that pre-Update half was certainly hard to beat, with an amazing string of legendary segments, and even after that, the night’s winning streak continued with the first two post-Update sketches, one of which is a forgotten gem (Love Story). However, the episode’s quality unfortunately died down after that, as the remainder of the show was just a string of average pieces (not counting the Blues Brothers’ second musical performance). So, would I agree that this is the greatest SNL episode ever: probably not. I mean, if you’re judging the episode just by the number of classics it produced, I can certainly see why it’s widely considered the best SNL ever, but as we continue to chronologically go along SNL’s timeline, there will probably be a few episodes I find to be more consistently strong from beginning to end, especially once we reach the late 80s/early 90s era. That being said, tonight’s episode may just be the original era at its absolute best. I can’t say for certain yet, as I still have two more years of the era left to cover.
— All of my talk in the above paragraph has put an interesting question into my mind: what is generally considered the most defining, representative episode of each SNL era?  It doesn’t necessarily have to be the era’s best episode, just the most representative.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Richard Dreyfuss