Tag: Season 14

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January 21, 1989 – John Malkovich / Anita Baker (S14 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Ronald Reagan (PHH) interrupts George Bush’s (DAC) Super Bowl XXIII call

— We’ve officially arrived at a new presidency during SNL’s timeline.
— Pretty funny with Bush’s phone call getting interrupted by the now-former President Reagan.
— I like Reagan repeating the same corny “We could use your players on Capitol Hill” joke that Bush already told earlier.
— Reagan’s confused stammering is making me laugh, due to Phil’s delivery.
— Reagan, on why he should be the president to call the Super Bowl winners: “I guess I thought that since I was president during the SEASON and the playoffs, I was supposed to…”
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Mike Myers is added to the cast as a featured player.


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Malkovich: “I’m John Malkovich, and these are my own clothes.”
— I got a big laugh from him randomly mentioning that his hometown of Benton, Illinois is right by a place where there was a big murder in a trailer park a few years earlier.
— Some really good laughs from the recollections of his grandmother’s criticism of his film work. I especially liked the part about her telling him “You need a wig like Pavarotti.”
— I’m absolutely loving Malkovich’s dry delivery in this monologue.
— Another great dryly-delivered line, this time regarding how Empire Of The Sun was directed by “the Jewish boy” Stephen Spielberg.
STARS: ****


FIRST CITIWIDE CHANGE BANK
— Rerun


BARBARA & NANCY
Barbara Bush (PHH) tries to get Nancy Reagan (JAH) out of the White House

— I like this premise of a meeting between the about-to-be-former first lady and about-to-be-current first lady.
— A good laugh from Barbara’s friendly-but-eager delivery of “When does your plane leave?” to Nancy.
— Some great humor out of Nancy’s desperation in staying and Barbara’s desperation in getting Nancy the hell out.
— Classic visual of Nancy having to be literally dragged out of the room as she grabs on to everything she can.
— The first time I ever saw this sketch, in (I think) Phil’s “Best Of” special back when I wasn’t too familiar with this SNL era, it was the first time I started to take notice of Jan. As the sketch ended, I remember wondering who the woman was who gave that great performance as Nancy Reagan. Though as much as I remember liking Jan’s performance in this, that’s not what turned me into a fan of hers. That wouldn’t happen until sometime later on when I saw a Comedy Central airing of the Alec Baldwin episode from season 15. If you’re familiar with that episode, you’ll understand why it turned me into a Jan Hooks fan. I’ll go into a little more detail when we reach that episode.
STARS: ****½


FIRST CITIWIDE CHANGE BANK
— Another rerun.
— After laughing hysterically at Part 1 of this ad earlier tonight, tonight’s audience is oddly dead silent during this one. What’s up with that?


ATTITUDES
an interview with driftwood sculptor Len Tukwilla (host)

— I’m enjoying how late 80s the look and feel of this whole sketch is.
— Great characterizations from Jan and Nora here. Lots of funny little touches in their performances.
— Love the name Len Tukwilla. It’s funny little details like that that help make this sketch so fantastic.
— Malkovich’s explanation of how he sculpts squirrels nests is really funny, as is Jan and Nora’s attempts to make their mundane questions to him seem so exciting.
— Malkovich: “It’s a very, very painstaking process; it doesn’t just happen overnight… unless you work on it all night long.”
— I’m loving how Malkovich is now giving so many blunt “no” answers to most of Jan and Nora’s questions.
STARS: ****½


GARY BUSEY MOTORCYCLE HELMETS
Gary Busey’s (PHH) motorcycle helmets have their own protection devices

— Pretty funny Busey impression from Phil.
— Decent gag with the increasingly oversized helmet protectors.
— Good ending visual of Phil’s Busey riding the motorcycle while trying not to tip over due to his big helmet.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Giving You The Best That I Got”


YOU MOCK ME
Lord Edmund (host) lets it be known- he will not be mocked

— The close-up of Malkovich silently turning his deadpan face towards Jan and then uttering his first “You mock me” tickled the hell out of me. Maybe it’s because I know what’s coming.
— Love Malkovich running to the door after Jan has exited from it, just to yell at her “AND I WILL NOT BE MOCKED!!!”
— Lovitz and Dana’s foppish mocking gestures behind Malkovich’s back are freakin’ priceless.
— Mike Myers makes his debut! It feels very exciting seeing a new cast member at this point, for the same reason it felt exciting for me to cover Bill Murray and Harry Shearer’s respective debuts when I reviewed the original era: when you watch/review SNL episodes in chronological order on a daily basis and get very used to a steady, unchanging cast, it feels both unusual and refreshing seeing somebody new being added to your familiar cast. That’s one of the many reasons I started this SNL project of mine: I knew it would be exciting to experience SNL’s evolutionary changes while going through their timeline daily.
— Fitting that Mike Myers is doing an English accent in his very first appearance, considering we’re going to be hearing that type of accent (as well as other U.K. accents) a lot from him throughout his SNL tenure.
— On paper, this sketch may come off repetitive, but the performances are selling the hell out of the material, and are elevating it to a hilarious, very memorable piece.
— Lovitz and Dana are particularly hilarious at the end of the sketch with their extended, over-the-top imitations of Malkovich’s character. I also love how that’s accompanied by the camera slowly zooming in on an unamused Malkovich just watching them while having a stone-faced expression.
STARS: *****


WEEKEND UPDATE
Sandra Day O’Connor (JAH) swears in Dan Quayle (DAC) syllable-by-syllable
DEM narrates a retrospective consisting of ho-hum photos of Ronald Reagan
AWB disapproves of the overspending on George Bush’s inauguration

 

— Pretty funny sequence with Dana as Dan Quayle being sworn in, especially when it gets to the point where Jan tries to make it easier on him by having him repeat the oath one word at a time (there’s also some really funny stock footage cutaways accompanying that part).
— While not all that funny, the retrospective of Reagan’s presidency was actually strangely touching in a way.
— I liked the callback to Dennis’ Bucketman joke from the last Update.
— A. Whitney, on Bush’s inauguration: “There were eleven inaugural balls. Now, some people would say that’s a little excessive. But, you know, it TAKES a lot of balls to throw a 30 million dollar celebration before you’ve even done anything.”
— A. Whitney, on the 200th anniversary of the presidency: “We’ve gone from ‘I cannot tell a lie’ to ‘I cannot tell’.”
— Dennis’ jokes have been more hit-and-miss than usual. He’s leaning awfully heavy on corny photo-based jokes tonight.
— If you know me, you’ll know I got a kick out of Dennis’ random Three Stooges Missile joke.
STARS: ***


CALIFORNIA CONDOR
at a cookout, guys try to put a hurt California condor out of its misery

— I like the bizarre visual of a dying mechanical bird puppet.
— Clever ending with the “California Condor Released Today” headline.
— The randomness of this overall sketch and the use of a mechanical animal puppet makes me wonder if this was a Jack Handey piece.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Just Because”


JOHNNY CANAL
Johnny Canal (host) tries to sell James Monroe (PHH) on waterways

— Wow, I love that theme song.
— Now THIS is undoubtedly a Jack Handey sketch, as this features the very first instance of the “fake sponsors” gag that would go on to be a tradition in some of his sketches. There’s an especially funny sponsor tonight with the Atlantic Puppy Grinding Company (“Maybe it’s evil, but think of the jobs!”).
— Malkovich demonstrating on a map his absurd idea of canals running all over the country is very funny.
— A great, amusing touch with the camera slowly zooming in on Malkovich’s dumbfounded face when Phil is listing off all the flaws in Malkovich’s plan.
— Hilarious repeated gag with Malkovich responding to any question he doesn’t know the answer to by leaping onto the table and lunging at the question-asker with a knife. Part of what makes that so funny is the long pause Malkovich always does before leaping.
— I like Malkovich’s asinine explanation of how he got the name Johnny Canal.
— In the rerun version I’m watching, the audience applauds during the ending bit with Malkovich lunging at Phil with a knife. I’m thinking that must be canned applause, because I swear I remember once seeing a copy of the live version of this sketch where, IIRC, that ending bit with Malkovich lunging at Phil with a knife played to DEAD SILENCE from the audience, which, to be honest, actually made it even funnier to me in an odd way.
— I absolutely loved this overall sketch.
STARS: ****½


TALK RADIO
deejay Tony Trailer (KEN) talks annoyingly over radio station’s music

— Pretty basic premise, but it’s being executed well, is a funny parody of radio announcers annoyingly talking over songs, and is one of the types of roles that’s right in Kevin’s wheelhouse.
— I liked Lovitz as the aggressive caller asking Kevin to shut up while his favorite song (Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”) is playing.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

— Malkovich: “I never thought I’d get to work with Jon Lovitz… and I hope I never will again. The man is a pig… and a menace.”

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Fantastic episode. I loved almost everything in it. So many strong, memorable sketches, and nothing fell flat for me. John Malkovich was excellent tonight (even his goodnights speech was funny, as seen in the above quote) and he would go on to become one of my favorite semi-recurring hosts (his 1993 hosting stint in particular has always been one of my personal favorite episodes of all-time).


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Melanie Griffith)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Tony Danza

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December 17, 1988 – Melanie Griffith / Little Feat (S14 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Mephistopheles visits Church Lady in her bedroom on Christmas Eve

— A rare use of Church Lady outside of her TV show setting. I’m surprised the audience didn’t give her any recognition applause at the beginning of this.
— Church Lady’s exercise routine is great.
— Mephistopheles in a Church Lady sketch! I always like the rare times when two separate recurring characters collide.
— Some pretty funny lines between Mephistopheles and Church Lady.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Hmm, where’s the snow? I could swear I remember from my past viewings of this episode that the opening montage had a snowfall effect played for the entire duration. Turns out I was wrong. Am I thinking of the following season’s Christmas episode (Andie MacDowell), or did I just dream the whole thing?


MONOLOGUE
host talks about the spirit of Christmas while a disclaimer rolls

— Ha, a disclaimer monologue! I always love when they do a throwback to this frequently recurring gag from the original era.
— Aw, the monologue is over already? I was hoping the disclaimer would go on longer. This one was really short and simplistic.
STARS: ***


FIRST GUARDIAN METROCARD
(host) talks about the paternalistic First Guardian credit card service

— The set-up is reminding me of both the Citiwide Change Bank commercial from earlier this season and the MetroCard commercial with Roseanne a few years later in season 16.
— Amusing contrast between Kevin and Melanie’s testimonials. This really IS reminding me of the later Roseanne MetroCard sketch, which uses the same “customer gives a lighthearted recollection of an interaction with a service employee, while said service employee gives a more frank, harsh recollection of the same interaction” format. The Roseanne one is definitely the funnier of the two, though this one is still making me laugh.
— Some pretty good laughs from Kevin’s details of the “personal service” his company offers.
STARS: ***


MISS SELF-ESTEEM USA PAGEANT
New Yorker (host) beats a Georgian (JAH) to become Miss Self-Esteem USA

— Strange. For their opening number, the contestants sing a Let’s Hear It For The Boy take-off, which is the same song that was sung by the contestants at the beginning of another pageant sketch, the rarely-seen Miss Pregnant Teenage America from season 11.
— The opening statements from each of the three contestants are pretty funny.
— Jan is great in this.
— Victoria’s emotional breakdowns are decent.
— I liked the fake-out with runner-up Jan being handed down the crown from winner Melanie, only to be told that’s not allowed.
— I could’ve done with this overall sketch being shortened by a few minutes. However, I found the sketch okay enough.
STARS: ***


CHAPSTICK
(DAC) reluctantly reclaims his Chapstick after letting people use it

— A big laugh from a thickly-bearded Phil using the chapstick on his chili-covered lips.
— Hilarious part with Jan’s hooker using the chapstick on her herpes sores, ears, and her dog’s mouth.
— I like how the chapstick-users always ask Dana “Why, ’cause I used it?” when Dana shows hesitance in being handed back the chapstick.
— I love how increasingly disgusting this is getting.
— When various characters are trying to get the chapstick out from under a storm drain grate, it’s very funny how Tom Davis randomly has a dead snake handy.
— Good ending with the random appearance of a huge-lipped alien.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Let It Roll”


LOVE IS A DREAM
by TOS- (JAH) & (PHH) share a romantic fantasy

— The return of Schiller’s Reel, which goes back to being a regular feature of the show for the first time since the original era, aside from one standalone film that Tom Schiller did early in the Ebersol era.
— Here’s a film that now has incredible sentimental value.
— This film would later be re-aired as a tribute to both Phil and Jan, at separate times (for Phil, it was in SNL’s 25th anniversary special, a year after his death; for Jan, it was in the season 40 Bill Hader-hosted episode, just a few days after her death), which in retrospect gives this film a lot of importance and makes you look at it in an even more emotional way than it was originally intended.
— The part right now with Phil’s character first showing up reminds me that when this film aired as a tribute to Jan in the aforementioned Hader episode, it wasn’t until Phil’s entrance that it fully hit me that both cast members in this film are now gone. And then my heart sank.
— This is a beautiful film so far, and an excellent display of the wonderful chemistry that Phil and Jan have always had.
— The sweet ending with the reveal of an elderly Phil as the guard has honestly made me tear up just now. Again, it’s because of hindsight, considering we would tragically lose both performers way too soon.
STARS: *****


WEEKEND UPDATE
VIJ recites her poem “The Life Of A Christmas Tree” & imitates one
DEM & Dennis Miller (DAC) recite “The Night Before Christmas”

 

— Loved Dennis’ joke about Yasser Arafat really being Three’s Company’s Norman Fell under his beard.
— Nice visual of an upside-down Victoria as a Christmas tree.
— Heh, Victoria actually falls over accidentally when she’s not finished with her poem yet. Nice recovery afterwards with her endearingly-sheepish ad-lib of how “It’s live TV”.
— Here’s a classic segment with Dennis reciting The Night Before Christmas with himself, played by Dana.
— Very funny flub during the Night Before Christmas recital with Dennis misreading “lovely and quick” as “lonely and quick”, which makes him crack up afterwards.
STARS: ***½


CIA CHRISTMAS PARTY
small talk is difficult for secretive operatives at CIA Christmas party

— A pretty thin, one-joke sketch so far, with all the agents refusing to reveal information about even the simplest little things. This doesn’t seem like a funny enough premise to center an entire sketch on.
— When stepping off the box she was standing on, Nora almost fell down.
— Jan: “Hugh hasn’t told me a thing about you.” Kevin: “That’s very flattering!”
— I like Jon’s entrance as a belligerent drunk.
— Unfortunately, Jon’s appearance wasn’t enough to save the overall sketch.
STARS: **


SWEENEY SISTERS
Sweeney sisters do medley of prison & Christmas songs for jailed hookers

— An interesting use of the Sweeney Sisters. By the way, this is surprisingly their first appearance in an entire year. Last time we saw them, Candy Sweeney was memorably singing to an uncomfortable Paul Simon in the previous season’s Christmas episode.
— I like the Sweeneys transitioning into their act when they’re bailed out of prison.
— A particularly catchy medley tonight.
— The part now with them singing Spanish Christmas songs is especially fun.
— A fairly heartwarming ending.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hate To Lose Your Lovin'”


MISREADING SIGNALS
(KEN) repeatedly misinterprets (host)’s business talk as come-on cues

— The premise has a very Kevin Nealon-y feel. I can tell he wrote this.
— Some decent laughs from Kevin misinterpreting every little thing Melanie says as a come-on.
— Good part with Kevin breaking out a dictionary in an attempt to prove to Melanie that “recapitalize” is a sexual term.
— The ending with Jon and Kevin was okay.
STARS: ***


SEASON’S GREETINGS
Tonto, Tarzan, Frankenstein sing “Deck The Halls”

— Great to see this now becoming a recurring segment.
— As always, this is some really good silly, goofy fun.
— They seemed to be running short on time. The ending came off rushed, judging by how the screen faded to an SNL bumper picture of Melanie Griffith when the song was still concluding.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS
Don Johnson [real] joins wife host on-stage

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not the greatest Christmas episode, but I liked it enough. I was fine with most of the sketches. It’s just that, unlike the previous two Christmas episodes in this era (William Shatner and Paul Simon), tonight’s episode lacked a large number of all-time memorable classic sketches. This episode felt too average for a Christmas show, aside from Love Is A Dream and Chapstick.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Kevin Kline)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 1989, with host John Malkovich. We also get a new addition to the cast!

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December 10, 1988 – Kevin Kline / Bobby McFerrin (S14 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
A Trump Christmas- Magi-like gifts cheer up Donald (PHH) & Ivana (JAH)

— This is the very first time Donald Trump has ever been impersonated on the show.
— Hmm, Phil’s Trump impression doesn’t sound as good as it later would.
— Donald’s gold door gift is pretty funny.
— Good line with Ivana confessing she had to sell the mansion just to buy the gold anchor.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host is honored to be with the great Shakespearean actor Master Thespian

— Very fun beginning with Kline eagerly joining the SNL Band in the theme music by playing the piano. I always love when hosts in this era do something like this.
— Interesting use of Master Thespian outside of his own sketches.
— Master Thespian once again randomly slips into a Tommy Flanagan voice (a character that we’ve been getting a much-needed long break from). Funny bit with his lie about “fading” over to London.
STARS: ***½


GAME BREAKERS
(host) is genuinely concerned about game show contestants

 

— They would later re-use the “Game Breakers” title in a soap opera-themed gameshow sketch from the Susan Lucci episode in season 16.
— I like the camera actually following Nealon as the losing contestant as he makes his way to the exit door.
— Ha, a pre-taped sequence with Kline’s gameshow host actually walking Nealon outdoors. I love it.
— Funny brief cutaway to an impatient Nora back at the studio just looking around while Kline’s still outside with Nealon.
— Liked Bob Odenkirk’s brief walk-on.
— The tear rolling down Kline’s face when Nealon leaves is an excellent touch.
— Hilarious how as soon as Victoria enters as a new contestant, Kline immediately goes “Let’s get to know you a little bit better” and leaves the studio with her and takes her to a restaurant. I absolutely love how extensive this sketch is.
— Nora as the neglected contestant eventually interrupting the reunion at the restaurant is very good.
— Overall, probably one of my favorite gameshow sketches of all-time.
STARS: *****


PLUG AWAY
Harvey Fierstein (JOL) helps Jimmy Stewart (DAC) self-promote

— Jon’s Harvey Fierstein voice is freakin’ hilarious.
— Jon as Fierstein: “I just wanna be loved; is that so wroooong?!?”
— Good use of Dana’s Jimmy Stewart and Phil’s Jack Nicholson.
— Very funny facial reaction from Phil’s Nicholson to being asked by Fierstein “If you were gay, would you find me attractive?”
— Funny visual of Kline with his leg up on the piano while happily playing away on the keys.
— Nice part with Jon’s Fierstein suddenly losing his raspy voice while singing in a great voice.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Drive”


WEEKEND UPDATE
translation of Gorbachev speech explains why it is “Kennedy-esque”
Death Watch- George Burns (DAC) reports from outside Hirohito’s room
AWB dissects Gorbachev’s speech to the United Nations

— Loved the joke about Donald Trump (pictured in the first screencap above) being a “Bolshevik artist”.
— Dana’s George Burns impression is priceless (I especially love his way of saying “coma”), and this is a funny use of him, reporting from outside of a dying Hirohito’s hospital room.
— A. Whitney: “I saw [Gorbachev’s] speech at the United Nations, and I have to say, it was more entertaining than the presidential debates. But, I guess it helps to have a translator.”
— I liked A. Whitney’s “ich bin ein mongold” bit.
— Dennis’ Jim/Tammy Faye Bakker bit was fantastic.
— Love how it’s been a running joke  this season regarding a news story of two Alaskan gray whales popping up in random places.
STARS: ****


THE BIG CHILL
Harold (host) & Meg (VIJ) have marathon sex in alternate Big Chill ending

 

— Jan’s performance is hilarious.
— Priceless sudden turn with Kline wildly throwing Victoria onto the bed and them immediately going at it with each other.
— Very funny exaggerated bed-creaking sounds being heard from upstairs while Jan is in the kitchen doing a slowburn.
— Love how parts of the ceiling have suddenly come crashing down.
— Fantastic part with a sweaty Kline briefly coming downstairs to the kitchen just to gulp a whole bunch of Gatorade before going back upstairs.
— Strong twist ending with this suddenly turning into Fatal Attraction.
STARS: *****


EXECUTIVE ISLAND
despite being marooned, ad execs manage to continue business as usual

— I liked Nora’s line asking her co-workers to “refer to the graph on leaf number 3”.
— The whole idea of this sketch is quite clever and enjoyable.
— Pretty funny anger from Kline over the execs being more concerned over their company than about getting off the island.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Star-Spangled Banner”


RASPBERRY RESPONSE
all of (host)’s questions to wife (VIJ) are answered with a raspberry

— Uh……
— Yeah, not too sure about this.
— WTF at the random “have an affair” non-sequitur?
— Well, the sketch’s ending was somewhat charming, at least.
STARS: *½


ROY ORBISON TRIBUTE
Roy Orbison’s death is marked with rerun of “Crying” performance


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Very enjoyable episode. Aside from the Raspberry Response sketch, I felt pretty highly about everything, and there were two sketches in particular (The Big Chill and Game Breakers) that stood out as masterpieces. This season continues to be amazing.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Danny DeVito)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Melanie Griffith hosts the Christmas episode

Posted on

December 3, 1988 – Danny DeVito / The Bangles (S14 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Pumping Up With Hans & Franz- cousin Arnold Schwarzenegger [real] visits

— Memorable moment with Hans and Franz’s sing-songy “Poor little girly man, alone in his girly house” taunt.
— I like Danny DeVito entering the scene as a Hans and Franz-type character.
— Danny’s over-aggression is hilarious.
— Funny visual of Hans and Franz hurriedly trying to pump themselves up when hearing their cousin Arnold Schwarzenegger might be showing up.
— Good bit with Arnold destroying Hans and Franz’ self-esteem with his rant about how disappointed he is in them.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host loves entering the stage during the opening, so he does it again

— For some reason, when the camera first shows the SNL studio after the opening montage ends, Danny is already onstage when Pardo hasn’t even announced him yet. It looks like Danny realizes his error and tries to hurry back to the entrance door, before just giving up and staying onstage while dancing energetically. SNL would later fix this in reruns by replacing the first half of this monologue with the dress rehearsal version.
— Ha, when Danny starts speaking, you can hear an off-camera male voice from the audience saying “You’re so sexy”, which amuses Danny.
— Danny’s excitement is freakin’ great.
— I absolutely love how this has turned into Danny fulfilling his wish to re-do his entrance, even going as far as making Arnold Schwarzenegger re-cue the opening montage by saying “Live from New York” for his second time tonight.
— This is fantastic. I’m loving how they’re re-playing the entire opening montage, interspersed with cutaways to the SNL Band jamming out on the theme music and Danny doing lots of wild dancing and gestures behind the entrance door.
— By the way, this is a VERY rare instance of us getting to see what it looks like behind the door that the hosts always make their monologue entrance through.
— I also think this is the only instance in SNL history where the show’s ENTIRE opening montage is played twice in a single episode.
— An absolutely excellent second entrance from Danny. He’s going WILD on that stage.
— Ha, he’s now genuinely out-of-breath. I like him finishing the monologue while laying down on the stage to rest himself.
— I find this overall monologue AMAZING and extremely fun. One of my personal all-time favorite monologues.
STARS: *****


BIG RED
kids like to watch the toy viking spew goop throughout the house

 

— Hilarious visual of the toy drenching the parents and the walls with fake blood.
— The audience is strangely quiet during this. This seems like the type of thing they’d normally go nuts for.
— Pretty catchy jingle.
STARS: ****


SEX TONIGHT
Jessica Hahn (JAH) helps anchor the titillating news program
Reclino Love Lounge- Wilford Brimley (PHH) endorses sex chair for seniors

 

— Very funny random concept for an Entertainment Tonight parody.
— Jan’s appearance as Jessica Hahn reminds me that during a segment in SNL’s 15th anniversary special a year later, Jan points out that she set a record in tonight’s episode by playing four whores in a single night. I’ll count the rest of them down as I go along in this episode.
— Funny part regarding a poll on which states find the sexiest between Bush and Dukakis.
— Hilarious idea of Dana’s Casey Kasem presenting a Top Five list on masturbation euphemisms from the 19th century.
— During the Kasem segment, there’s a big technical error regarding the Top Five list text that’s supposed to be superimposed next to him. A distracting gaffe, but the segment is still funny.
— Phil as Wilford Brimley advertising a sex chair is freakin’ hilarious.
— I didn’t care too much for the ending conversation between Jan and Kevin.
STARS: ****


SCROOGE
Scrooge’s (host) philanthropic overcompensation has left him tapped out

— I laughed at Danny’s line about “taking it in the pants”.
— Can’t figure out where this sketch is supposed to be going.
— Victoria’s speech is kinda funny, but I think I’m just desperate for something to like at this point.
— Now that the sketch is over, I can say I didn’t care for it at all. If it was going for a soft, sentimental piece, then 1) it’s too early in the night for something THIS slow-paced and humorless, and 2) this era has done MUCH better soft, sentimental pieces.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “In Your Room”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Yasser Arafat (JOL) is not upset about not being allowed in the country
KEN has trouble stopping the cliches after trying deficit topic

 

— Dennis to Yasser Arafat: “Didn’t you, in fact, try to have [George Schultz] killed when he was in Jerusalem a few months ago?” Yasser Arafat: “Oh, is he still upset about THAT?”
— The random “Are you gay?” bit between Dennis and Arafat is pretty funny.
— Oh, no, not the return of Kevin’s topic-changing commentaries. I had assumed they were retired by this point. I am SO tired of these.
— Okay, I did get one laugh from Kevin’s commentary, with his line about how nose-picking can be both a habit and a hobby.
— Because of tonight’s musical guest, Dennis reprises his impression of The Bangles’ lead singer, an impression that just consists of him shifting his eyes to the side in a tight close-up (second-to-last screencap above). I still don’t quite get it (is it referencing a Bangles music video?), but it always makes me chuckle anyway.
STARS: ***½


YOU SHOT ME!
Mexican bandit (host) is remorseful after shooting (JOL) in the foot

 

— Great Mexican voice on Danny.
— A very Jon Lovitz-y role for Jon Lovitz here, with his hilarious repeated whines of “You shot me!”, or as he makes it sound, “Ya shyyyaaaat me!” This has always been one of my favorite Jon Lovitz sketches.
— Whore role #2 for Jan tonight.
— Danny’s over-apologeticness towards Jon is very funny.
— Ha, Danny’s now cracking up at Jon’s constant “Ya shyyaaaat me!”s (last screencap above). I remember Danny himself pointing out in the “SNL in the 80s: Lost and Found” documentary how hard it was for him to keep a straight face in this sketch.
— On paper, it would be impossible to see why this sketch is so funny. It’s all in Jon’s performance. Like I said, this is a very Jon Lovitz-y role. I can’t picture anybody else in SNL history nailing this sketch.
STARS: ****


THE BASTARD BATTALION
a movie features a group of uncouth WWII soldiers

 

— Feels like its been a while since we last saw a black-and-white sketch utilizing this cast’s ability to accurately portray 1940s-era characters.
— I love this sketch’s concept, and all the quick “bastard” scenes are making me laugh.
— Whore role #3 for Jan tonight.
— What happened just now? At the beginning of the scene with Phil saying goodbye to Jan, the narration voice-over introducing that scene seemed to speak longer than he was supposed to, causing him and Phil to mistakenly speak over each other before the narrator abruptly cut himself short. Either that, or Phil must’ve started saying his line too early before the narrator was finished. Either way, the gaffe resulted in a rare instance of Phil actually smirking out of character (second-to-last screencap above).
— Loved the drinking prank scene with Jon.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hazy Shade of Winter”


CELEBRITY RESTAURANT
Buddy Precisely (DAC) to insufficiently-famous diners- “wait at the bar”

— Ah, the debut of Dana’s Buddy Precisely character.
— Good to see the return of Phil’s Burt Reynolds impression. Again, that high-pitched laugh alone never fails to crack me up.
— Buddy Precisely: “Wait at the baaarrr, wait at the baaarrr” and “Take it outsiiiide, take it outsiiiide”.
— Classic part with Victoria as herself being asked by Buddy if she’s part of the new SNL cast or original SNL cast, then being told to “Take it outsiiiide, take it outsiiiide” when she answers “new cast”.
— Funny to see what Buddy Precisely considers what is and isn’t worthy of entering the restaurant.
— Whore role #4 for Jan tonight, and thus officially breaking a record.
— I like the overabundance of questions Buddy’s asking Danny.
STARS: ***½


GUARDIAN ANGELS
fellow guardian angels console (host) after he needlessly visits (KEN)

— Seemed to be a lot of stalling at the beginning of this sketch. Did something go wrong?
— Another “somebody gets visited by a Christmas ghost” sketch tonight? Then again, this seems to be a thinly-veiled It’s A Wonderful Life take-off.
— I’m getting a chuckle from how the increasing amount of ghosts showing up seems to be getting out of hand.
— Hmm, I don’t think I care for where this has been going. This is another sketch tonight that seems to be going for a light-on-laughs, sentimental holiday feel. And at the risk of sounding like a Scrooge myself, neither of those two sketches have worked for me at all tonight.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A mostly very solid episode. A lot of strong segments tonight, and Danny DeVito brought his usual brand of fun to the show as always. However, the episode’s attempts at sentimental, feel-good, low-on-humor, Christmas-y stuff didn’t work as well as they usual do and were hard to figure out where they were going.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Lithgow)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Kevin Kline

Posted on

November 19, 1988 – John Lithgow / Tracy Chapman (S14 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
dieting Oprah Winfrey (JAH) has delusions of food during her show

— Hoo, boy.  Jan as a blackface Oprah…
— I gotta say, though, Jan’s impression sure is making me laugh. It’s a testament to her talents that she can make a role like this come off so funny.
— Very funny bit with Oprah hallucinating her two staff members’ heads as food.
— Jan as Oprah: “Look at the butt! Look at the butt!”
— Now they’re humorously taking the food hallucinations further with the food props the performers playing Oprah’s guests are wearing on their heads.
— I love how this has now escalated to the guests’ conversation randomly having out-of-place food words inserted in place of normal words.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host offers sarcastic-sounding Thanksgiving words & plays guitar

— Interesting jacket.
— I like his sarcastic reading of a Thanksgiving letter.
— Not sure why this has suddenly turned into a guitar instrumental. I was enjoying where this was going before then.
STARS: **½


LONG WHITE BEARD
Long White Beard silently makes your point- tardiness is unacceptable

— I absolutely love this silly concept. It’s hilarious to me.
— Very funny visual of an entire boardroom simultaneously turning their chairs to show a tardy Phil their long white beards. I also love the subsequent shot of them impatiently tapping their fingers on the table and an embarrassed Phil quietly going “Ooouuuch” to himself.
STARS: ****


ANIMAL CONFESSION
a priest (host) hears confessions from dogs at St. Bernard’s Church

— Nice ad-libbing from both Lithgow and the first dog’s voice-over when the dog faces away from the camera.
— Another clever ad-lib with Lithgow’s “I believe W.C. Fields was right.”
— Boy, the ending with the assistant dog got botched really badly. Lithgow once again ad-libs his way out of it by telling the dog “You were so good at the dress rehearsal”, which was a good way to end this sketch.
— Speaking of dress rehearsal, this sketch would later be replaced with the dress version in reruns. I can see why, as the bloopers with the dogs are funnier there, and at one point features a great ad-lib with Lithgow telling one constantly barking dog “You’re not to bark; you’re in a sketch.”
STARS: *** for the live version, ***½ for the rerun version


MASTER THESPIAN
Baudelaire fakes death to get Master Thespian’s role as Hamlet

— Yes! These sketches are always perfect with Lithgow.
— I love Master Thespian being fooled by Baudelaire’s flimsy doctor disguise.
— The “Do you mind keeping your voice down?!?” part during the phony phone call was hilarious.
— Great part with Master Thespian fooling himself with a phone call.
— An overall fantastic John Lithgow-involved Master Thespian sketch as always.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mountains O’ Things”


THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
Margaret Thatcher (host) denies royal family ties

— I got a good laugh from Pat smelling a page of her Vogue magazine and then gleefully going “That was Cher.”
— The perfume picture of Pat is really funny.
— Very extended audience laughter when Lithgow enters as Margaret Thatcher.
— Great voice on Lithgow here.
— I liked Pat asking Thatcher “Are you oily or dry?”
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jimmy Stewart’s (DAC) poem about his dog reduces DEM to tears
letters from Mother Teresa & Japan support JOL’s order- “Get to know me!”

 

— Dana-as-Jimmy-Stewart’s dog poem has some good laughs.
— Dennis’ ridiculous-sounding high-pitched crying during the Jimmy Stewart dog poem is cracking me the hell up.
— Jimmy Stewart, in response to Dennis’ crying: “What are you, a woman? Maybe you should name yourself Denise Miller; you certainly have the hair for it!” Dennis: “………Cool it with the hair, Jimmy.”
— I like how after the Jimmy Stewart commentary ended, Dennis poked fun at his own crying attempt by saying “Probably why you don’t see me acting more on the show.”
— Loved the audience’s offended reaction to the Baby Jessica joke.
— The return of Lovitz’s “Get to know me!” routine.
— Funny part with a letter-writer who started to get to know Lovitz but stopped.
— Loved the letter Lovitz reads from Japan.
STARS: ***½


THE ALAMO
at the Alamo, (host)’s call for volunteers creates much waffling

— Funny opening bit regarding the exact number of Mexicans out there.
— Great part with the soldiers going back-and-forth on their decision to follow Jan who’s offering sex but has “the burning disease” in her loins.
— Loved Davy Crockett suddenly keeling over.
— Very funny appearance from Phil as “Strange Bob”.
— Kevin’s Tarzan making an appearance outside of the Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein pieces!
— I like how increasingly absurd this sketch is getting, with Franken and Davis now randomly appearing as aliens Zacdu and Mondo.
— A good laugh from Zacdu and Mondo’s lame demonstration with the chicken.
— Solid ending with the fake-out regarding choosing black/white beans.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Freedom Now” & “Baby, Can I Hold You”


THANKSGIVING
Marge Keister tends to overstuffed male family members on Thanksgiving

 

— We haven’t seen Marge Keister in what feels like a long time. I don’t think she appeared at all in season 13, unless I’m forgetting something.
— Funny initial visual of each husband entering the scene with a bloated gut.
— Amusing slice-of-life aspect with the guys opening their belts in unison to let the air out.
— Jan’s getting some really good laughs from her great delivery of her lines.
— Victoria’s very brief, throwaway walk-on ends up being her ONLY appearance of this entire episode.
— Did a fart sound effect fail to play when a straining Phil lifted his behind off the chair? Something definitely seemed to go wrong there, because it results in a rare instance of Phil breaking character and kinda laughing to himself.
— I can appreciate this overall sketch as a low-key, relatable piece. Nothing great, but I found it okay and it had a certain charm.
STARS: ***


SKELETON
osteology professor’s (host) fear of skeletons makes his job difficult

— Lithgow’s first screaming reaction to looking at the skeleton made me laugh out loud.
— Funny visual of a ridiculously tiny skeleton being used to help Lithgow get over his fear.
— Loved his whispery “Ohh!” exclamation when seeing the tiny skeleton.
— This role is so perfect for Lithgow.
— Good hysterical laughter from him when seeing the skeleton dressed as a pirate.
— I really liked the ending with Phil and Lithgow going back-and-forth with their alternating reactions to the skeleton with and without the pirate costume.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly solid episode, and I liked almost everything in it. Lithgow did his usual great job as a host and the show used him well in roles that perfectly suit both his comedic style (e.g. Skeleton) and ad-libbing skills (Animal Confession). It’s a shame this ends up being his final hosting stint.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Demi Moore)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Danny DeVito

Posted on

November 12, 1988 – Demi Moore / Johnny Clegg & Savuka (S14 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
president-elect George Bush (DAC) has money for a gratuitous negative ad

 

— Some good laughs from the overdramatic opening voice-over presenting a Dukakis nomination as being a disastrous choice and causing irreversible despair.
— Good premise with Bush having spent the remaining money on one last negative ad, despite the fact that the election is over.
— One of the children on the couch with Bush is a young Kirsten Dunst (the curly-haired blonde girl seated right next to Dana in the last screencap above), an appearance that she would later point out in her monologue when hosting in 2002. Ten years after tonight’s episode, she would also appear with Phil Hartman in the movie Small Soldiers.
— The negative Dukakis ad was very funny, especially the ending statement saying “Bush: He beat a bad man”.
— Now that the election is over, I’m really going to miss the solid election-related material from this season.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— A straightforward, short monologue that I don’t have anything to really say about, other than that the constant “12 weeks ago” reminders were okay.
STARS: **½


NEUBURG’S BLEU CHEESE COOLER
everyone agrees the beverage smells bad

— I love the visual of the disgusting-looking bleu cheese cooler. The groans heard from the audience also add to the humor.
STARS: ****


BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
(host) & Vincent’s cousin (JOL) on a date

— Amusing how the serious, dramatic opening sequence is immediately followed by a suddenly-lighthearted announcement of “Tonight’s Episode: The Double Date!”
— Excellent make-up on Phil and Jon. If it weren’t for their voices, I’d never be able to tell that’s them under those grotesque prosthetics.
— I love Jon playing his beast character as a schlubby average joe, and it’s serving as a funny contrast to Phil’s romantic, deep beast character.
— Funny little touch with Phil making a sensual, tongue-trilling purring sound at Jan.
— Jon’s repeated “Shut up” outbursts at the end cracked me up.
STARS: ****


CAMPING TRIP
during a camping trip, Hans & Franz ponder the universe & get some rest

— Glad to see Hans and Franz in a different setting for once. I always like the rare times SNL does this with recurring characters who normally host a TV show.
— Some pretty funny hesitant threats Hans and Franz are making to scary animal noises being heard from off-camera.
— For some reason, it feels weird seeing Al Franken in a normal role like this.
— I really liked Hans line about putting a bear trap in Franken’s bed.
STARS: ***½


THE WORLD OF DR. KNOW-IT-ALL
animal abuse aids air pressure lesson

— The vacuum experiment with the gerbil was really funny.
— Great random part with Phil claiming Demi is wrong because she’s a girl.
— Phil, regarding the fish: “Why does he look dead? Because we talked toooooo…..” Demi: “We talked to God???”
— Love the underlying theme of Phil casually killing animals during his long talks to Dana and Demi.
— Overall, so many funny things in this. One of the more forgotten Phil Hartman gems.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Call Your Name”


WEEKEND UPDATE
DEM on whether Weekend Update contributed to campaign’s lack of substance
proposed order of succession to the presidency puts Quayle last in line
Imelda Marcos (NOD) confesses to DEM- she stole the money & she’s proud
VIJ sings “Dance Your Depression Away” & taps to follow her own advice

— I’ve been noticing throughout tonight’s episode that whenever the audience cheers, you can hear an unusual amount of screaming teen girls among them. It’s especially noticeable at the beginning of this Update.
— Funny bit from Dennis about how many SNL viewers get their news from Weekend Update.
— I like the extended bit with an altered version of the order of succession to the presidency, made to keep Dan Quayle from being anywhere near the first who takes over for Bush.
— Good part with Nora’s Imelda Marcos denying how big her buildings in Manhattan are.
— I’m enjoying Nora’s antsiness in her performance.
— Victoria’s anti-depression musical number is great. Also a very funny touch with Dennis handing her money during her dance on the desk.
— I like how it’s become something of a running gag for Dennis to question humanity whenever he announces that a new Ernest movie has come out.
STARS: ***½


ONE MAN’S DEMONS
voices in (PHH)’s head give him rather sensible advice

— Dana and Jon are hilarious as superimposed spinning demonic heads.
— I like the absurdity of this, as well as the increasingly less-threatening answers the demon heads give Phil.
STARS: ****


DON’T MOVE
(KEN) tries to keep wife (host) calm as he fights rattlesnake biting her

— Looks like this might be the same woods set that was used earlier tonight in the Hans and Franz sketch.
— Kevin’s various failed attempts to hit the snake right in front of him are pretty funny.
— Liked the part just now with Kevin firing a long string of 10 consecutive gunshots at the snake, only to follow it up by asking “Where’d he go???”
— This overall sketch had a simplistic-but-silly Kevin Nealon feel that I always like (I’m guessing he wrote it himself).
STARS: ***


POKER GAME
(PHH), (JOL), (DAC) teach deliverywoman Lou (NOD) how to play poker

— Interesting characterization from Nora.
— Boy, this is a strange sketch.
— Overall, this was hard to figure. I’m not even sure if I liked it or not, but I don’t think I did, despite a few chuckles from two or three of Nora’s lines.
STARS: **


TRAVEL AGENTS
annoying travel agents (KEN) & (host) give (DAC) & (JAH) honeymoon ideas

— Solid performances from Kevin and Demi here.
— I like Dana’s sudden angry outbursts at Jan, especially his delivery of “You want to go to Vermont? GO!!!”
— IIRC, this sketch would later be removed from reruns, but I’m not sure what it’s replaced with.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Take My Heart Away”


BUSINESSMAN’S CHATTER LINE
Businessman’s Chatter Line lets you gab with other white-collar workers

— Some good laughs from the guys excitedly engaging in mundane businessman-type conversation.
— I like that this sketch has a feel and a charm that’s representative of this cast and era.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode. Not particularly great like most of this season’s episodes so far, and I had kind of a hard time coming up with stuff to say about the post-Update sketches, but the show was still enjoyable. There were a few strong stand-out pieces like Beauty And The Beast and The World Of Dr. Know-It-All.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
John Lithgow

Posted on

November 5, 1988 – Matthew Modine / Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (S14 E4)

COLD OPENING
a drill sergeant (PHH) assigns unwieldy nicknames to the new recruits

 

— Phil’s bad insults and terrible nicknames are absolutely hilarious.
— I love Kevin as the snickering soldier.
— Phil: “You think the army is one big…. joke…. building!”
— Some of my favorite bad nicknames so far are Mr. Eyes-In-Face Man and Mr. Feet-Attached-To-Legs.
— The army song is priceless, especially Phil dividing the word “army” into two different lyrics (“aaaaaaaa” and “rmyyyyyy”).
— One of Phil’s overall absolute funniest performances of all-time.
STARS: *****


OPENING MONTAGE
— Halfway through the montage, something seems to go seriously wrong with Don Pardo’s mic. His voice keeps cutting in and out for the rest of the montage, and some of the featured players and guests’ photos go by entirely without their name being announced at all.


MONOLOGUE
movie stills supposedly show host acting in various Oscar-winning roles

— Some laughs from the pictures he’s showing of “himself” in movie roles that he obviously wasn’t actually in.
STARS: ***


THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
there’s now room for minorities & blue collar workers in the GOP

— Funny contrast between the GOP’s small number of minorities and insanely large number of interchangeable white men with glasses.
STARS: ***½


THE LIBERAL
he’s (host) a fugitive on the run in a conservative world

 

— I’m getting some pretty good laughs from how the theme song is mostly just saying “run” over and over again.
— I like Jon coming out in crutches as the son who Phil accidentally shot in an earlier incident.
— Very funny line from Phil saying he was only eavesdropping on Matthew and Victoria’s conversation to pick up some stock tips.
— An overall well-done sketch, even if not every second of it was intended to be laugh-out-loud funny.
STARS: ****


CHURCH CHAT
Church Lady beats Morton Downey, Jr. [real] at his own game

— Church Lady mentions this is the first time we’ve seen her her in a while. It’s true; I’m surprised they waited this long to have her make her first appearance of the season, considering her popularity.
— A monkey replacing Geraldo Rivera as Church Lady’s first guest is really funny.
— Morton Downey Jr. is doing a good job getting the audience hyped up.
— I like Downey’s sudden outburst at Church Lady.
— A freakin’ epic moment with Church Lady standing up to Downey and going off on a bleep-filled rant at him.
— I love the shocked look on Downey’s face after Church Lady’s rant.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “What I Am”


WEEKEND UPDATE
based on celebrity reports, ALF says Dukakis will win electoral college
AWB blames election indifference on the lack of good candidates

 

— Odd moment where a white board-carrying stagehand suddenly walks in front of the news screen, only to immediately leave. (screencap below) A confused audience laughs out loud, and an amused Dennis ad-libs to the camera “TV vérité”.

— Okay, now that Al Franken’s segment has begun, we now see what the earlier stagehand blooper was all about. The stagehand mistakenly started setting up Al’s white board in front of the news screen too early.
— Impressive map-drawing from Al.
— Some good laughs from how seriously Al’s taking the political opinions of celebrities of the likes of Justine Bateman, Ally Sheedy, and Lisa Bonet.
— Strong overall segment from Al. The particularly enthusiastic audience applause at the end of his commentary shows they agree with me.
— A. Whitney: “The time will come when Jimmy Carter will look like a great president.”
— A. Whitney: “Maybe it’s perfectly safe to hand out the destiny of our nation to a pack of maple syrup-swilling squirrel worshipers.”
— Dennis ends tonight’s Update with an “Hey, Audrey, get well.” I wonder if that’s referring to long-time SNL staffer Audrey Peart Dickman.
STARS: ***½


DUKAKIS AFTER DARK
the doomed candidate (JOL) throws a cocktail party

 

— Oh, here’s a classic.
— Some really good laughs from Jon’s Dukakis admitting he’s aware how badly he’s going to be beat in the election.
— Fantastic premise with Dukakis giving up in regards to the election and throwing a party for everybody involved in his campaign.
— Very funny part with Dukakis admitting to Lloyd Bentsen that he was going to raise taxes “through the roof” if he got elected.
— Always love seeing Phil’s Ted Kennedy.
— Feels like we’ve barely been seeing Jan these last two episodes.
— Love Dana’s Jimmy Carter voice, and and I’m enjoying the part with him giving Dukakis advice on how to deal with losing an election, especially his line “I was oooonnnne pissed-off cracker.”
— Nora’s Joan Baez song has some hilarious lyrics.
STARS: *****


WIN, LOSE OR TIE
collegians’ & celebs’ reading & writing skills tested

— I like the caricature drawings shown at the beginning.
— The debut of Phil’s Burt Reynolds impression. His laugh alone is priceless.
— Classic little moment with Phil’s Reynolds cutting off Dana’s long-winded line to say “Just gimme the damn pen.”
— Ha, I love how the “clue” Burt Reynolds draws for the secret word is literally spelling out the word itself, and yet his fellow team members STILL have a hard time guessing what it is until its fully spelled-out.
— Hmm, now they’re repeating the exact same joke with the other team.  Ehh, not necessary.
— Okay, I admit, the bit with Victoria giving up on spelling “Louisiana” was pretty funny.
— The overall sketch as a whole wasn’t as strong as I though it would be, but it had such a fun atmosphere that I enjoyed it anyway.
STARS: ***


DUKAKIS
vote Dukakis to stop America from aging as horribly as Barbara Bush has

— Hilarious bit with pointing out how badly George Bush’s wife has aged, and then telling us if that’s what happened to his wife, imagine what he’d do the the country.
— Nice counter to the previous episode’s pro-Bush ads. Too bad this hasn’t been a runner throughout tonight’s episode like the Bush ones were in the last episode.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Little Miss S”


TWO SAMMIES
while watching hockey, (host) & Sammies exhibit more self-inertia

— These characters randomly make their return TWO YEARS after debuting in one of Dana and Kevin’s earliest episodes as new cast members. I’m sure all SNL viewers at the time had completely forgotten these characters by this point.
— Dana’s character voice sounds a little different in this one.
— Kevin’s idea of a Swiss army hockey stick is pretty funny.
— This overall installment wasn’t too bad, but not much happened in this one. It felt shorter than the first installment, and I enjoyed that one more than tonight’s.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode. The quality died down a little towards the end, but even that didn’t hurt the overall show much. There were some really fantastic and memorable pieces in this episode, particularly the drill sergeant cold opening, Church Chat, and Dukakis After Dark. This season continues to really impress.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Larroquette)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Demi Moore

Posted on

October 22, 1988 – John Larroquette / Randy Newman with Mark Knopfler (S14 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
space alien Michael Dukakis (JOL) tells superiors his plan isn’t working

— Good gag with Jan breaking out a thesaurus while she’s in the middle of listing off many different ways of calling Dukakis robotic.
— Great reveal of Dukakis being a leader of an alien planet.
— I love how the three aliens speaking to Dukakis look and talk exactly like him. Phil is especially funny here in his impression of Dukakis’ voice and mannerisms.
— A brief technical error where the camera mistakenly cut to a quick shot of Phil, Nora, and Dana leaving the set they were on.
— Funny turn with Dukakis deciding that his running mate Lloyd Bentsen is “gonna have to die” just because he discovered Dukakis’ alien secret.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE

— Not counting the season 11 finale, this is Al Franken’s first time being credited as a semi-regular featured player since season 5. Tonight’s episode begins his second consecutive run as a featured player, which lasts until 1995.


MONOLOGUE
host challenges anyone to topple him from his place as King Of The Studio

 

— I’m liking Larroquette’s enthusiasm for doing the show again.
— Strong turn with him boldly challenging anyone to steal his limelight.
— Wow, his sudden brief scuffle with the college boy “audience member” came out of nowhere and was really funny.
— Great part with Larroquette physically forcing Dana to call him “King of the Studio”.
STARS: ****


CARBON PAPER
come back to carbon paper- rediscover the now-obsolete duplication method

— I almost expected this to turn into a variation of the Einstein Express commercial.
— Clever twist with carbon paper being Victoria’s solution.
— Nice ending with Victoria’s ink-smudged hand.
STARS: ***½


DAN QUAYLE: PRESIDENT
Quayle (DAC) doesn’t want to hold the top job

— Funny opening screen crawl story, especially the part with a delirious Bush mistaking his wife for George Washington.
— Dana Carvey is the latest in the revolving door of actors playing Dan Quayle this season.
— Hmm, we seem to have another instance of Kevin’s real-life baldness being on display. The previous season’s Siskel & Ebert sketch has often been said by some SNL fans to be the only time Kevin went on-air with his baldness unhidden, but now it looks like its happened at least twice.
— I like Dana’s very extended, non-verbal reaction to finding out he’s now the president.
— Ha, the above-mentioned non-verbal reaction turns out to be the entire sketch.
— Didn’t care for the ending “preview of next week’s episode” scene with Quayle walking up in bed.
STARS: ***


PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST
everything Picasso (JOL) touches is valuable art

— Oh, here’s something that’s always been one of my personal favorites, even though I don’t think it’s a particularly famous sketch among SNL fans.
— Lovitz, braggingly: “I’m Picasso!”
— Lovitz is hilarious as an obnoxious, egotistical Picasso. This sketch is a perfect example of how much an over-the-top Jon Lovitz performance can often really enhance a sketch.
— Great part with Picasso blowing his nose into a napkin and then having waiters fight over it as if it’s a work of art.
— Yes! Another appearance from Phil as a Frank Nelson-esque boss.
— Lovitz hammily saying into the camera “WHAT A REVOLTIN’ DEVELOPMENT!” while washing dishes freakin’ KILLS me every time I’ve seen this sketch. His delivery of that is absolutely priceless. The sad “wah-wah-wah-waaaahhhh” trombone sound effect that follows that line also adds to the hilarity.
STARS: *****


THE CRESTS AND TROUGHS OF VERNON HAWLEY JR.
country singer Vernon Hawley, Jr.’s (host) album traces emotional swings

— I’m already getting laughs just from the visual of Larroquette badly lip-syncing to his own voice.
— Larroquette’s performance is a dead-on and funny imitation of typical country singers.
— I love the constant back-and-forth mood changes with the songs he sings snippets of.
— The “I’m Drunk” song was hilarious.
— Along with the jokingly bad lip-syncing, I also like the detail of how Larroquette’s not even trying to look like he’s convincingly playing the guitar.
STARS: ****


BUSH
unlike great presidents, Dukakis is short- vote for Bush, he’s taller

— Very funny use of Dukakis’ lack of height as a reason to vote for Bush.
STARS: ****


PETE’S FOUNTAIN
diner patrons trade double entendres with a big-butt waitress (NOD)

— Good reveal of Nora’s huge behind, which is made especially funny by all the loud moving sounds it makes as she walks around.
— I’m enjoying Phil’s amusement from Nora’s various suggestive comments.
— Strangely, this sketch ended without any audience applause, which is rare.
— Wow, I’m surprised this sketch ended so soon without taking the initial premise far. However, I found this sketch fine as a silly, quick, minute-and-a-half-long piece.
STARS: ***


BUSH
Dukakis is a foreigner- vote for Bush, his parents were born in America

— Another good ad using a comically flimsy reason to not vote for Dukakis.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “It’s Money That Matters”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Lyndon LaRouche (ALF) delineates his far-reaching conspiracy theories
many disclaimers precede KEN’s controversial message of “go out & vote”
DEM debates Dennis Miller (DAC) on divorce of Robin Givens & Mike Tyson

— Some really good election-related material from Dennis tonight.
— Al Franken’s Lyndon LaRouche telling blatant lies about political figures reminds me of the Lyndon LaRouche Theater sketch from season 11, where Randy Quaid was the one who played LaRouche telling blatant lies about political figures. In fact, I think some of Franken’s lines tonight are directly lifted from that sketch. I’m guessing Franken himself wrote that sketch, especially since he appeared in it as Henry Kissinger.
— Funny part with Franken-as-LaRouche’s random water-drinking break.
— And now, Franken-as-LaRouche’s line about “the greatest lie of them all: that I… am… insane” is something that’s DEFINTELY lifted from the Lyndon LaRouche Theater sketch, where Quaid delivered the exact same line in the exact same manner. Since barely anybody was watching SNL back in season 11, maybe Franken feels he can get away with reusing parts of the Lyndon LaRouche Theater script without anyone noticing, except decades-later SNL nerds like me.
— I’m liking Kevin’s long-winded, never-ending “take my opinion with a grain of salt” warnings before stating his political opinion regarding the election.
— An okay payoff to Kevin’s commentary.
— Dennis’ rant about the messy Robin Givens/Mike Tyson divorce has some good lines, especially his “Head Of The Class” dig.
— Another point/counterpoint with Dana as Dennis. Good to see this back.
— Dana has a much better Dennis Miller wig this time. In my review of his previous appearance last season, my only gripe was that his wig looked nothing like Dennis’ hair.
— A lot of really solid lines from Dana’s Dennis during his rant, and it’s always a great touch when he works in Dennis’ trademark “Ha-HAAAA!” laugh and hair-flip.
STARS: ***½


SEX LIFE
while in a restaurant, (host) & (VIJ) can’t keep their sex life private

— Interestingly, they’re using the musical guest stage as the set for this sketch. As a side note, I love this season’s musical guest stage. It has such an elegant, fancy look.
— Some good laughs from Larroquette and Victoria’s obnoxious stories about their wild sex life.
— Funny “Somebody DID get it backward” double entendre from Larroquette regarding him and Victoria once having sex in a car.
— Victoria: “Hell, I broke a bed once masturbating!”
— I like Phil’s panicked delivery when hurriedly calling a waiter over when Larroquette and Victoria are heard off-camera having loud sex.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Dixie Flyer”


THIS OLD HOUSE
Bob Vila (host) gives fix-up tips for a haunted house

— Dead-on casting of Larroquette as Bob Vila.
— The maternal dress Victoria is wearing has been used quite a lot over the years for pregnant characters in sketches. The only example that comes to mind right now is Christine Ebersole as Princess Diana in a gameshow sketch from season 7.
— I like Kevin and Victoria’s casual, non-worried reveals of various evil forces that are living in their house.
— Love Larroquette’s concept of using a sound baffle in the ceiling to make the demonic screaming rant in one room sound more conversational.
— Excellent reveal of Kevin’s back having a whole bunch of screwdrivers stabbed into it. I also liked how after Kevin keels over from that, Larroquette jovially says to the camera “Well… Tom’s dead.”
STARS: ****½


BUSH
Dukakis’ heritage isn’t northern European- vote for Bush, he’s whiter

— Biggest laugh out of all the Vote Bush ads so far. The “Bush: He’s Whiter” ending was priceless.
STARS: ****½


GAY COMMUNIST GUN CLUB
(host) & (PHH) take calls from potential members

— I love Phil explaining the show’s bizarre premise in that professional Phil Hartman delivery.
— This sketch’s concept is hilarious and very memorable, and it’s being executed perfectly.
— I like how the callers asking if they can join the club only fit in one or two of the show’s three categories.
— Phil: “The National Gay Alliance has yet to sponsor one bare-butt safari.”
— Larroquette, while signing off: “And remember…. there is no God, but if there was, we think he’d be a gun-loving homosexual.”
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very strong episode. I enjoyed the entire show a lot, no segments were weak in my eyes, there were plenty of particularly great highlights all throughout the night, and one sketch is one of my all-time personal favorites (Picasso).


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Matthew Broderick)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Matthew Modine

Posted on

October 15, 1988 – Matthew Broderick / The Sugarcubes (S14 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Dan Quayle (host) plays Graduate to Nancy Reagan’s (JAH) Mrs. Robinson

— Good entrance from Jan as Nancy Reagan.
— Great turn with this turning into a The Graduate parody.
— And there goes a recreation of The Graduate’s classic leg shot.
— Jan is always fantastic at playing seductive.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host outlines monologue rules- vulnerability, craziness, plug, wash hands

— I really like this Ferris Bueller-esque “Tips For The Monologue” format, with Matthew’s asides to the camera after going through each typical monologue cliche.
— Pretty solid monologue overall.
STARS: ***½


MCDONNELL-RAND
medical waste isn’t all bad- it can also improve your life in small ways

— Pretty funny concept.
— The casual everyday use of medical waste has some really good laughs, especially the part with Dana happily using syringe needles as corn cob holders.
STARS: ***½


THE FIVE BEATLES
flashback reveals why former 5th Beatle Albert Goldman (PHH) is bitter

 

— Funny gag with a screen ripple effect appearing when Phil throws to a flashback, only for the screen to immediately cut back to Phil still in present time, which he responds to by saying “Oh, concentrate harder, for goodness sake!”
— The Beatles performance with Phil as an out-of-place Beatle is pretty funny, especially him breaking out into a trombone solo, which kills the teen crowd’s enthusiasm.
— Dana’s Liverpool accent is very funny.
— Good casting of Jon as young Ringo, as I can see a resemblance.
— Kevin’s pretty funny as Elvis.
— I like the irony of Elvis telling Phil’s character to never let his weight get out of hand.
STARS: ***½


COOKING WITH MONKEY
(DAC) gives helpful hints for primate preparation

— Love the audience groaning when Dana reveals he’ll be cooking a monkey dish.
— Dana’s casual delivery of “Guests can be intimidated by the sight of a flaming monkey” was very funny.
— Another great bit with Dana showing a picture of baby monkey he’ll be preparing, and talking about how good a sample of that baby monkey tasted.
— This sketch is priceless so far.
— A lot of laughs from the restaurant guests’ various requests for which live monkey they’d like that’s on display in a glass cage.
— Dana, in a voice-over: “As we bid adieu to the French Monkey House, we……. say……. goodbye to the French Monkey House.”
— A big laugh from Dana’s line about one of his “patented monkey de-boners”.
— Clever detail with “Cooking with Monkey”’s mailing address being “Top of the Empire State Building”.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Birthday”


WEEKEND UPDATE
AWB is worried about the high animal extinction rate

 

— Wow, this Update opens with a particularly HUGE extended applause break for Dennis, even moreso than he usually gets. Even he himself looked kinda surprised.
— Liked the random baseball bit with Dennis, and it resulted in his trademark “Ha-HAAAA!” laugh that always kills me.
— Fantastic joke from Dennis regarding Dan Quayle holding a pumpkin.
— Hmm, a Trump joke.
— A. Whitney’s hair has really grown out over the summer.
— A decent overall commentary from A. Whitney tonight, with my favorite line being his comment regarding us needing animals for medical research.
STARS: ****


NUDE BEACH
at a nude beach, (host) & some other guys talk about their penises

— Funny use of a strategically-placed beam to hide the guys’ nudity.
— We’re surprisingly seeing Dennis making a lot of non-Update appearances tonight.
— Kevin, upon greeting Dana: “Hey, penis looks great today.”
— Love Kevin casually telling Matthew he has a pretty small penis.
— The frequent casual use of the word “penis” in general is freakin’ priceless.
— Holy hell, this Penis Song they’re singing is hilarious.
— Kevin’s mock-serious message to the camera has some really funny lines, especially him saying he’s disheartened by the snickering he heard from the audience throughout the sketch, and telling those of us who missed the point of the sketch to “grow up”.
— An overall absolutely fantastic, classic sketch. You can tell by the energetic audience applause at the end that they loved it too.
— This sketch was originally cut after dress from the previous week’s Tom Hanks season premiere. I’m aware that version of this sketch is available in the extras section of Hanks’ SNL “Best Of” DVD, but I’ve yet to see it. While the sketch was classic enough with Matthew Broderick in the role, I can only imagine how EVEN BETTER it must’ve been with Hanks, who would’ve been PERFECT for this sketch.
STARS: *****


THE THUMPER FAMILY
fundamentalist clan threatens damnation for hassles

— Interesting intro from Don Pardo’s voice-over.
— Not sure if I’m going to like this sketch. This is a point I’ve brought up before (when talking about The Loud Family and The Widettes sketches from the original era), but I’m usually not big on sketches where the premise is everybody in a family having the same distinctive trait. More often than not, I find that type of sketch pretty groanworthy, though there are some exceptions, of course.
— I will say Jan is giving a great performance.
— Excellent outburst from Phil upon his entrance.
— Hmm, this sketch isn’t too bad. It’s so ridiculously over-the-top that it’s hard for me not to laugh.
— Decent ending.
STARS: ***


LEARNING TO FEEL
Denise Venetti gives frightened patients simple answers

— OH, NO. Not this again. I was hoping they left this in season 13.
— Hmm, no “look at yourself” advice from Nora to tonight’s first guest? Maybe tonight’s installment of this sketch is going in a different direction after all.
— Jon’s pretty funny as a paranoid guy who’s convinced he’s always being followed by someone.
— Hmm, Nora didn’t give a “look at yourself” advice to tonight’s second guest either. However, the advice she’s substituting it with isn’t any funnier.
— Okay, with this third interview taking place right now, I’m noticing the pattern where Nora’s advice to tonight’s various guests is making them realize “You’re frightened”, which automatically solves their problems. Yeah, not funny.
STARS: *½


LAURIE HAS A STORY
(LAM)’s yarn is sidelined; Catherine O’Hara cameo

— Hmm, a random Laurie Metcalf/Catherine O’Hara film.
— IIRC, this must’ve been around the same time the sitcom Roseanne debuted.
— Is SNL doing this film to make up for the fact that Laurie Metcalf has the dishonor of being an SNL cast member for only ONE episode, in Dick Ebersol’s hastily-retooled SNL a mere month after Jean Doumanian’s firing?
— Seeing Catherine O’Hara alongside Laurie Metcalf reminds me that they were almost SNL castmates. In the aforementioned hastily-retooled SNL at the end of season 6, Catherine O’Hara was originally one of the new cast members hired. However, she immediately quit after being scared off by Michael O’Donoghue’s berserk antics behind the scenes. Upon telling Ebersol she quits, O’Hara recommended fellow SCTV cast member Robin Duke as her replacement, which is how Robin got hired for the show.
— The brief Andy Warhol story was pretty funny.
— I liked the whole choking part at the end.
— Pretty good film overall.
STARS: ***


HOLLYWOOD SALUTE
gangster film actor (JOL) extended persona to western

— Wow, this is now Dennis’ FOURTH non-Update appearance of the night. This has got to be an all-time record for him.
— Jon and Phil playing their General Custer and Indian roles as 1920s gangsters seems fairly funny.
— This sketch hasn’t been all that great so far, though I’m liking it more for the performances than for the writing. Phil and Jon are playing off of each other very well here.
— The joke with Jon’s unconvincing Indian war-whooping as he made his exit was pretty funny.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Motorcrash”


BABY
baby (host) & fairy (PHH) nonchalantly answer others’ taunting questions

— Boy, this is kind of a strange sketch.
— Some good humor from Matthew’s deadpan delivery while casually explaining his baby traits to his obnoxious teasing peers.
— Fun random walk-on from Phil as a fairy.
— Like Matthew, Phil’s lines explaining his fairy traits to the teasing peers are made funnier by his casual, proud delivery.
— Overall, this was one hell of a goofy, silly sketch. I’m kinda not sure what to think of it, but it had a weird charm that I liked. I feel like only this SNL era could make a sketch like this work.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A comedown from the phenomenal season premiere, but that was to be expected after how ridiculously high the bar was raised by that episode. I still enjoyed tonight’s episode, even though it was just average as a whole. The first half of the episode was fine, but there was a noticeable drop-off in quality during the last half-hour or so. However, we at least got the classic Nude Beach sketch tonight, as well as an underrated, forgotten gem in Cooking With Monkey.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tom Hanks)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
John Larroquette

Posted on

October 8, 1988 – Tom Hanks / Keith Richards (S14 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Pumping Up With Hans & Franz- clips show the guys “up close & personal”

— Not too excited to see the season start off with a recurring sketch that I was starting to get sick of by the end of last season.
— Hans’ confusing talk about picking up laundry without a claim check was pretty funny.
— Hmm, maybe it’s because it’s the start of a new season, but it turns out I’m surprisingly finding myself in a more tolerant mood towards these two characters than usual tonight.
— The slow-motion Olympic profile utilizing clips of last season’s Hans and Franz sketches is interesting. Also, the fact that SNL already had enough Hans and Franz footage to make a full montage out of, despite these characters having debuted only a year earlier, shows how heavily-used these characters have been in such a short amount of time.
— Another thing I noticed about that Hans and Franz montage is that it really shows how different SNL looks in this new season compared to how it looked the previous season. (just compare the visual look of the first screencap above with the last three screencaps above)
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— New montage!

   

— Very interesting blue screen filter used for this.
— The SNL logo has been changed. This new circular one is probably my favorite SNL logo of all-time, though I may be biased because it’s used during my favorite SNL years (late 80s and early 90s).
— Some really good shots of the cast, especially Dennis Miller’s cool shot in the convertible.
— A lot of VERY memorable visuals throughout this, particularly the static-y TV screen laying in front of a river, Nora Dunn and Jan Hooks laughing hysterically in the backseat of a car, an old man looking at the camera with a deadpan facial expression while sitting in front of a moving ferris wheel, the person who’s shown right after the SNL logo (fourth screencap above), the “Sin Will Find You” neon cross, the pants-less(?) guy bopping along to music (third-to-last screencap above), the close-up of a dog looking at the camera while getting its belly rubbed, and the shot of the entire cast gathered together at a restaurant table.


MONOLOGUE
host’s backstage conversations reveal that he truly is a really nice guy

 

— Feels kinda weird but fun reviewing a Tom Hanks episode again so soon after I reviewed his previous episode just two days ago.
— Some good humor from Tom’s humbleness over the press labeling him the nicest guy in Hollywood.
— Interesting fake-out with the monologue “ending”, only to continue when Tom arrives backstage afterwards. This false ending is something they’d later repeat in Tom’s season 17 monologue (the one where he goes off on a Joe Pesci-esque “How am I funny?” rant to Phil Hartman backstage).
— The backstage scenes have a lot of very funny exaggerations of Tom’s niceness, helped by the use of sentimental background music and dramatic close-ups of Tom’s face.
— Phil’s angry tirade in the control room is cracking me up.
— The very first on-screen appearance of then-SNL-writer Conan O’Brien (“Careful, Mr. Hanks, this horse bites everyone!”).
— We also get a noteworthy appearance from fellow SNL writer Bob Odenkirk as an NBC page getting manhandled by two thugs. This is the first time in this SNL project of mine that I’ve caught an Odenkirk sighting, but I just found out his first SNL appearance was actually as a background audience member in the BushWhacked cold opening that I covered in the previous season. A shame I didn’t notice him there.
— I love Tom’s overreaction to realizing he forgot to thank the audience for coming.
— Overall, one of my all-time favorite backstage monologues. So many memorable parts here.
STARS: ****½


FIRST CITIWIDE CHANGE BANK
Paul McElroy (JID) explains their mission

— The concept of a bank specializing in change is hilarious.
— I love the mock-seriousness of the testimonials and disclaimer screens.
— Jim Downey is fantastic in this. One of the best displays of how his dead-serious delivery can make absurd dialogue come off hysterical.
STARS: *****


ABC CAMPAIGN 88
Diane Sawyer (JAH) moderates Michael Dukakis (JOL) vs. George Bush (DAC)

— Good beginning with Tom’s Peter Jennings announcing what’s currently airing on other channels, as part of the Bush camp’s demands.
— Love Jan’s performance as Diane Sawyer.
— The gag with Bush being on a higher platform than Dukakis as they shake each other’s hand after making their entrance would later be copied in a George W. Bush/John Kerry debate sketch in 2004. The gag didn’t even make sense in that context! It made sense here because Dukakis is much shorter than Bush Sr., whereas neither Kerry nor Bush Jr. are short. Ugh, don’t get me started on what a failure those Bush/Kerry debate sketches were. I’m eventually going to have to cover the awfulness that is SNL in 2004 anyway.
— Kevin’s Sam Donaldson impression now has the comically-thick eyebrows that his impression is remembered for today.
— Hilarious bit with Dukakis using a mechanical lift to reach over the podium.
— A good laugh from a deadpan Dukakis “proving” how enraged and off-the-handle he is right now.
— Dana’s Bush impression has further developed over the summer, though it’s STILL not at the cartoonish, exaggerated level it would later be.
— Love the whole absurd argument between Bush and Dukakis regarding a time machine.
— Priceless part with Jan’s Diane Sawyer getting a bowl of popcorn thrown at her out of nowhere after kindly telling the audience to hold their applause.
— There’s Dana-as-Bush’s memorable, inane “Stay the course, a thousand points of light” speech.
— Dukakis’ rebuttal to the aforementioned inane Bush speech: “I can’t believe I’m losin’ to this guy!” A legendary moment that defines this debate sketch.
— Great part with Bush demonstrating a bulletproof bubble.
— Dukakis: “My parents were little people… little, swarthy people.”
— Bush, when explaining he didn’t know the Iran arms sale would go to the Contras: “I was told the money was going to the bombing of abortion clinics.”
— I love the commitment to this debate parody, with them even going so far as to do a post-debate analysis with Tom’s Peter Jennings and Phil’s David Brinkley.
— I’ve said it before, but I love Phil’s David Brinkley voice.
— Hilarious “food for maggots” line from Phil’s Brinkley.
— The debut of SNL child extra Jeff Renaudo’s Dan Quayle impression, which would go on to be a running gag. Very inspired joke to have Quayle played by a child, as a comical exaggeration of Quayle’s young age.
— Overall, this classic is among SNL’s greatest debate sketches of all-time, as well as among SNL’s best political satire in general.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Take It So Hard”


MR. SHORT-TERM MEMORY
Mr. Short-Term Memory (host) is forgetful during a dinner date with (VIJ)

— The debut of a very memorable Tom Hanks recurring sketch.
— I love the opening credits sequence of this.
— Tom’s increasing forgetfulness is very funny, with him even forgetting who his date is a minute into the sketch.
— Phil’s reactions are great.
— Tom is so fun as this character.
— I love how Phil is now making up stuff to go along with Tom’s forgetfulness.
— Hilarious part with Tom spitting out food that “mysteriously” got into his mouth, and then complaining in an outrage “This restaurant serves already-been-chewed food!”
— Good ending with the “mysterious” wallet Tom finds in his pocket.
STARS: ****


FIRST CITIWIDE CHANGE BANK
more customer testimonials in praise of First Citiwide Change Bank

— Very funny line from Phil detailing the type of foreign change he received for a five-pound note.
— An overall equally-classic follow-up to the classic Part 1 of this ad.
STARS: *****


WEEKEND UPDATE
at the All-Drug Olympics, KEN reports on (PHH)’s weightlifting attempt

 

— I loved Dennis’ suggestion of a presidential system called the “volleyball-tocracy”, where 6 men are elected president and one of them serves until he screws up and then one of the other men is rotated into the role for a while.
— Dennis is on fire so far tonight.
— Very funny concept of an “All-Drug Olympics”.
— Phil making a very rare Weekend Update appearance.
— A freakin’ PRICELESS and classic gag with Phil’s arms coming off during his attempt to lift a huge barbell. Great touch with the fake blood and those stringy organs hanging out of his arm sockets.
— Funny line from Kevin about how Phil’s character doesn’t have much pain right now, but tomorrow “he’s really gonna feel that.”
— An overall fantastic Update. My favorite Dennis Miller Update so far.
STARS: ****½


GIRL WATCHERS
the desensitized losers experience deja vu at their high school reunion

— Jon’s unibrow from the first installment of this sketch is missing tonight. Guess the unibrow was just a one-time thing.
— I said this last time these characters appeared, but I always love Jon and Tom’s smug, slow delivery in these sketches.
— Jon: “She caught the shine on my forehead and just kept on truckin’.”
— Jon, to an approaching woman: “It’s been a while…” (approaching woman passes them by) “…aaaand it’ll BE a while.”
— Kevin’s appearance here is much funnier than his appearance in the first Girl Watchers sketch. Love his bragging about his unappealing wife, especially him hinting that she’s “not the clean one”.
STARS: ****


JEW, NOT A JEW
contestants try to identify celebrities’ lineages
Feldman’s Kosher Pickles’ You Make The Call- yes, Sandy Koufax was a Jew

— There goes Jan in Ana Gasteyer’s future Bobbi Mohan-Culp dress one again.
— Speaking of Jan, I’m watching the live version of this episode, and Jan’s hair in this sketch looks very different from how I remember it looking in reruns. The rerun version of this sketch must be from dress rehearsal. (side-by-side comparison of Jan’s hair below)

— Great part with Tom explaining the rules of what qualifies as a Jew.
— Fun sketch so far.
— Nice “You Make The Call” segment.
— Al Franken voice-over: “Sandy Koufax: Baseball great. Jew.”
— A strong and memorable sketch overall.
STARS: ****


BIG
outtakes from Big show Josh (host) using his size to bully the other kids

— I like Tom’s threatening repetitions of “Look how big I am!” to a kid he’s bullying.
— Very funny part with Tom casually shoving a kid to the ground at the end of a scene.
— The baseball scene is a freakin’ riot, especially the child umpire eventually running away from Tom’s pending tackle.
— Nice segue at the end to introducing Keith Richards’ musical performance.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Struggle”


THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
Barbara Bush (PHH) & Kitty Dukakis (JAH) bicker

— Strange that a well-established recurring sketch like this is appearing at the end of the night.
— Some laughs from Pat Stevens’ explanation of a First Lady “runner-up”.
— Pat’s constant ignorance and mistakes towards her guests are coming off funnier than usual tonight.
— Funny line about Kitty Dukakis being addicted to amphetamines for 26 years.
— The way Jan’s Kitty Dukakis keeps pushing her husband Michael’s political issues is making me laugh.
— Love the cattiness between Kitty Dukakis and Barbara Bush.
— Overall, easily my favorite Pat Stevens installment so far. Also, contrary to my worries, this thankfully wasn’t a carbon copy of the previous Pat Stevens sketch that Phil’s Barbara Bush appeared in. In fact, I feel this was the better of the two.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An absolutely fantastic way to start the season. By far, one of the best season premieres I’ve reviewed so far. And what a stellar return the show made after such a long writers’ strike & summer break. This episode was firing on all cylinders, giving us lots of strong sketches all night and producing some all-time memorable and classic moments. Very rarely, if ever, have I done a review where I consistently gave out so many four and five-star ratings. And of course, it doesn’t hurt that Tom Hanks did his usual masterful job as host. With this season premiere, I feel that I’ve officially arrived at the late 80s era fully hitting its stride.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1987-88)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Matthew Broderick