Tag: snl

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December 9, 1995 – David Alan Grier / Silverchair (S21 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NIGHTLINE
Ted Koppel (DAH) covers Michael Jackson’s (TIM) back injury

— Kinda surprised to see Darrell’s Ted Koppel two consecutive episodes, but I’m certainly not complaining, as his Koppel is always good for laughs, and this is probably the most quintessential appearance it would ever make.
— Absolutely priceless hearing Darrell say “Jacko on his backo” in that Ted Koppel voice.
— I love all the serious discussion using the ridiculous terms “Jacko” and “backo” in such a professional manner.
— Funny random gag with the accidental cutaway to the opening credits of Renegade when Tommy Mattola’s interview is supposed to begin.
— Koppel’s increasing desperation to hear other human beings say “Jacko on his backo” is fantastic.
— Very funny back-and-forths between Koppel and Michael Jackson. I especially like Koppel’s “Good, you’re halfway there” when finally getting MJ to refer to himself as “Jacko”.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about religion & boxing

— Funny opening line about being “the black guy” on In Living Color.
— Nice to see a stand-up monologue.
— Some good laughs from Grier’s boxing routine so far.
— I’m surprised this monologue is over already. I wanted this to go on longer.
STARS: ***½


THE ROCKY ROADS
(NAW), other Rocky Roads (WIF), (host), (TIM) moralize at school assembly

— God, I’ve always loved this particular sketch ever since I first saw it. I remember so many things about this sketch fondly.
— Will is playing such a hilariously cheesy Will Ferrell-esque character. I love it.
— The “Honky cracker” bit is great.
— A very funny brief falsetto singing voice from Grier.
— The corny Black White song is really catchy.
— Another catchy corny song right now, with the Freaky People number. I also love the use of freaky shadows behind the Rocky Roads members.
— Overall, while I know this sketch isn’t considered a classic or is even remembered by most SNL fans, I personally absolutely love every single thing about this sketch, and consider it to be very underrated.
— SNL would later bring this sketch back during Grier’s second hosting stint a season later. I have pretty much no memory of that second installment of this sketch, other than the fact that the character played by the no-longer-in-the-cast-in-season-22 Nancy Walls is replaced by both Molly Shannon AND season 22 newbie Ana Gasteyer. I’m eager to see if that installment of this sketch is as good as this first installment, though I don’t want to get my hopes up.
STARS: *****


TODAY
Bryant Gumbel’s (host) off-air persona is much more ethnic

— Priceless Bryant Gumbel voice from Grier.
— A hilarious and very memorable premise with Gumbel turning ghetto whenever the cameras are off. Grier is absolutely PERFECT for this sketch.
— I love Ghetto Gumbel’s line about Katie Couric’s Liz Taylor Scent perfume: “It smell more like Lawrence Taylor Scent.”
— Koechner is great as a corny Willard Scott.
— Grier is navigating this sketch FLAWLESSLY.
— Interestingly, Gumbel’s two “bitches” are played by the same extras who played Keith Richards’ two bimbos in the Cooking With Keith sketch in the Gabriel Byrne episode.

— Very funny hearing Koechner’s Willard Scott, in that corny voice, request some “bee-yatches”.
— An overall terrific sketch. Perfect.
STARS: *****


THREE WISE MEN
one of the Three Wise Men (host) gives baby Jesus some last-minute gifts

— A fairly funny and relatable twist on the traditional Three Wise Men story.
— Some laughs from the cheap gifts Grier’s Wise Man brings Baby Jesus, especially the “Chris” license plate, which Grier tells Joseph and Mary they can just draw a “t” on the end of it.
STARS: ***


WEEKEND UPDATE
Bill Clinton (DAH) likes The American President’s “dead First Lady” plot
Lenny The Lion (COQ) is a victim of the animal control system

— Interesting idea to have Darrell’s President Clinton appear on Update to give a movie review.
— A classic turn during Clinton’s The American President movie review, with him following up his mention of the president in the movie having a dead wife by saying “I. Love. This. Movie!”
— Darrell’s Clinton impression is slowly starting to develop into the version that everybody today is familiar with, especially the trademark laugh.
— We get the debut of Norm’s “Or so the Germans would have us believe” recurring gag, though he doesn’t do the camera staredown this time, which is a shame, as that’s part of what makes it funny.
— SNL writer and future cast member Colin Quinn debuts another new Update character, Lenny The Lion.
— This Lenny The Lion commentary is following the same structure and format of Colin’s Joe Blow commentary from earlier this season, though Colin’s using a different voice.
— I’m not liking this Lenny The Lion commentary quite as much as the previous Joe Blow one, but it’s still pretty funny and there are some decent lines here.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Tomorrow”


WAKE UP AND SMILE
TV fluffs (WIF) & (NAW) devolve when teleprompter breaks

 

— Ohho, here we go. The centerpiece of tonight’s episode, an all-time SNL classic, and one of my top 10 all-time favorite SNL sketches.
— When repeating the line “I understand you’ve got some cooking tips for us, Diane” over and over (due to a broken teleprompter), I like the little touch of how Will says that line with a different inflection each time.
— And so it begins, with the initially-subtle panicking of Will and Nancy due to the broken teleprompter.
— Hilarious part with Will’s notion “Someone should get a group together with guns to sweep out those ghettos. Wait, what?!?” and how it immediately gets cut off by a “Please stand by”-type screen.
— The gradually-increasing but still-slightly-controlled panicking from Will and Nancy is getting funnier and funnier, especially the growling sounds they keep making in between lines.
— Yesss! Now Will is starting to go full Crazy Will Ferrell, for one of the very first times in his SNL tenure.
— I LOVE the part where Will starts letting out an insane loud scream and how it immediately gets cut off by another “Please stand by”-type screen.
— The cheesy ads occasionally being shown are an amusing contrast to the craziness of the Wake Up And Smile mental breakdown.
— Haha, oh my god at how the first thing we see after the return from the Kerry And The Gang promo is a now-torn-apart Wake Up And Smile set with burning torches and a shirtless Will with a dark handprint on his chest.
— A wonderfully gruesome and legendary part with Will holding up the now-severed head of the weatherman while screaming “THE WEATHERMAN IS DEAD!”
— Aaaaaand there goes my absolute favorite part of this sketch: Will chomping like crazy on the severed tendons hanging out of the weatherman’s neck. MY GOD. SNL has probably never been more insane than this moment right here. I remember when I first saw this sketch ages ago during a Comedy Central rerun, that part with Will chomping on the neck tendons gave me what still holds up to this day as one of the hardest laughs that I have EVER gotten from SNL. I truly could not stop laughing at that part of this sketch during my first viewing.
— And thus ends an SNL masterpiece. An absolute must-see sketch. Also a great early display of the excellent absurdity that writer Adam McKay is capable of, especially whenever his sketches involve an unleashed and full-out crazed Will Ferrell.
STARS: *****


SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS does a 1995 year-in-review Hollywood Minute

— Spade returning to his roots with a traditional Hollywood Minute.
— Not the funniest Hollywood Minute installment I’ve ever seen, but this is still providing laughs so far.
— Spade’s dig at Heather Locklear’s acting skills is funny in retrospect, because didn’t he later end up dating her for a while at some point?
— Aaaaaaand there goes Spade’s notorious Eddie Murphy joke: “Look, children, it’s a falling star, make a wish”, which gets huge “Ohh!” laughter from the audience. Later in the same night, Eddie, furious over the fact that this joke was coming from his former show and the same show that wouldn’t even be on the air at this time in 1995 if he hadn’t saved it from cancellation back in 1980-81, would call up SNL and give Spade the chewing-out of his life over the phone. This whole incident is said to be one of the reasons for Eddie cutting all ties with SNL for two entire decades.
— Oh, there’s the Powder/Michael Stipe joke that I mentioned a few episode reviews ago. In the Spade In America from the Quentin Tarantino episode, Spade made a humorous little aside about Billy Corgan being the guy from Powder. And then tonight, Spade does a variation of that exact same joke, replacing Corgan with Michael Stipe. Pretty lazy.
— Haha, some really harsh slams from Spade tonight.
— I like Spade’s “They’re not all winners” ad-lib when one joke bombs with the audience.
STARS: ***


BLACK PEOPLE
a look at Stepin Fetchit Honeydew Wilkins’ (host) career

— Something about the lazy title “Black People” kinda makes me laugh, though something about it also has a shoddy season 20 feel to me. They really couldn’t come up with a better title for this fictional show than “Black People”?
— Interesting random casting of Spade, in a rare season 21 sketch appearance, as one of the band members.
— Grier’s knocking it out of the park once again tonight with yet another great character voice.
— Some really funny lyrics from Grier’s Honeydew Wilkins about the ridiculous things he’ll do anything for the amusement of white people.
— I love Grier’s horrible brief trumpet playing at the very end.
— Priceless line from Tim about Honeydew Wilkins being the first black man to be lynched by black people.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Pure Massacre”


PERSPECTIVES
Dr. Emery Coleman’s (host) show fills a similar niche

— Our first Perspectives sketch of this season. Feels odd seeing a season 20 recurring sketch appearing in season 21, but I certainly welcome the return of this particular sketch.
— I love the clip of Grier’s very similar show, Viewpoints.
— Great gradual reveal that Viewpoints won an Emmy on every odd-numbered year since 1973, while Perspectives won on the even-numbered years in that same stretch.
— Hilarious 70s photo of Tim and Grier’s characters smiling big while having afros.
— Good ending line about how the next episode of Grier’s Viewpoints will just be a re-airing of this Perspectives episode.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fantastic episode. Just perfect in my eyes. Not only did everything in it manage to work for me, but most of the material was great and there were THREE sketches I gave a perfect five-star rating to, one of which is a legendary piece (Wake Up And Smile). And as expected, David Alan Grier was a perfect and expert host, and made me wish more SNL hosts were sketch comedy veterans like him.
— I’ve always felt that, between the preceding week’s very solid and fun Anthony Edwards episode and tonight’s perfect episode, this is the point where this season had fully taken off and, I’m guessing, finally put away any remaining fears from viewers that this new era wasn’t going to save SNL from cancellation.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Anthony Edwards)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Madeline Kahn hosts the Christmas episode

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December 2, 1995 – Anthony Edwards / Foo Fighters (S21 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

INSIDE POLITICS
USA Bosnia policy prompts a conservative anti-war rally

— A great cross-eyed look from Nancy as Bobbie Batista.
— Darrell’s Jesse Helms impression is hilarious.
— Funny premise of republicans holding a 1960s-esque protest against the war in Bosnia.
— Good bit with Koechner’s Phil Gramm singing Imagine but questioning every lyric.
— A laugh from Buchanan burning his Blockbuster Video card because he has no draft card.
— Solid ending with the slow-motion war fight, and how it comes to an end when Helms sticks a flower into barrel of one of the soldiers’ guns.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
audience likes gimmicky ER-reject character Swabby (DAK) more than host

— Nice energetic entrance from Anthony Edwards, literally leaping out from the door.
— Koechner is hilarious as Swabby.
— A pretty good laugh from Anthony losing his patience and rudely telling Swabby to get the hell out of here.
— Will and Cheri are reprising their characters from the Dole/Gingrich airplane cold opening from just one episode ago.
— Bad lighting during Will and Cheri’s part, causing a boom mike shadow to cover most of Will’s face (the third above screencap for this monologue). For this reason, this portion of the monologue would later be replaced with the dress rehearsal version in reruns.
— I like the running gag with the increasingly un-ER-like medical shows that audience members mistake Anthony for being on.
STARS: ****


GRIMALDI CLASSIC CREATIONS
Grimaldi’s Nativity scene baby Jesus annoyingly cries throughout holidays

— The absolutely bizarre and indescribable sound the Baby Jesus device is making is priceless. I love the smile Koechner slowly looks up at Nancy with when the Baby Jesus sound begins.
— Some really amusing shots of the now-restless family being irritated and unhinged by the Baby Jesus sounds.
STARS: ****½


THE JOE PESCI SHOW
Joe Pesci (JMB) abuses Sharon Stone (NAW) & other guests

— After struggling badly so far this season, the underused Jim Breuer finally gets his breakout sketch. And what’s more, it’s placed as the lead-off sketch of the night, showing that SNL has a lot of confidence in this.
— Great Joe Pesci voice from Jim.
— Something I’ve never understood about Jim’s Pesci impression is his wig. Why give his Pesci a full head of hair when the real Pesci had a receding hairline at this time?
— Pesci’s whole angry rant to Nancy’s Sharon Stone is fantastic.
— The visual of Anthony as Macaulay Culkin is hilarious. I’m also loving his performance.
— Pesci to Culkin: “Hey, you know what was funny? When you died in that movie My Girl. I laughed my ass off!”
— Spot-on Jim Carrey voice from Mark.
— Pesci, when Carrey calls his show “smokin’”: “Smokin’, how? Smokin’ like my ass after some Mexican food?”
— Man, Jim is performing the hell out of this sketch.
STARS: ****½


NIGHTLINE
Dr. Greene (host) & other doctors argue about health care

— Good concept with all of the ridiculous fictional doctor guests.
— Pretty fun sketch so far.
— When Dr. J and Doc from Snow White are introduced, the chyron of their names that’s displayed on the bottom of the screen mistakenly includes the name “Doc Martens”.

I’m guessing that at dress rehearsal, a pair of Doc Martens boots was “interviewed” alongside Dr. J and Doc from Snow White, and then at the last minute during the live show, SNL decided to cut the Doc Martens portion of the sketch, but forgot to remove its name from the chryon. (In the above screencap, you can see the arm of an unoccupied chair to the left of Doc from Snow White.)
— I like Tim’s angry “Damn, Ted!” at the end of his speech.
STARS: ***½


WEDDING RECEPTION
Mary Katherine Gallagher acts inappropriately at a wedding reception

— Mary Katherine Gallagher officially becomes a recurring character. Of all of this character’s installments from over the years, this is one of the very few that I’m not all that familiar with. I know I’ve seen this installment before, but I have no memory of it.
— With this being only the second Mary Katherine Gallagher installment, the trademark putting-hands-under-armpits-and-then-sniffing-them routine, which was introduced in the first MKG installment, has been temporarily changed to her putting her fingers in her ears, looking at the earwax, then flicking and licking it.
— Molly’s really hammering home this character’s awkwardness, even moreso than in the first installment of this sketch. However, I’m not finding this installment as funny so far.
— Overall, I wasn’t crazy about this installment. There were a few laughs, but with this being only the second MKG appearance, you can tell they’re still experimenting with this character, and this installment felt unmemorable compared to most MKG installments. That’s probably the reason why I had no memory of this sketch before tonight’s viewing.
STARS: **


WEEKEND UPDATE
NOM’s very nervous brother Gary (DAK) tries to tell some newsy jokes

— This is the second consecutive Weekend Update using the opening theme music that would go on to be Norm’s regular Update theme, so I think it’s safe to say they’ve finally settled on it after experimenting with many different opening themes earlier this season.
— Yes! We get the debut of Norm’s brother, Gary Macdonald, played by Koechner. This has always been one of my favorite Koechner SNL bits from his short-lived tenure.
— Koechner is very good at getting laughs out of his character’s very awkward uncomfortableness.
— I love how Norm reveals Gary Macdonald’s paper just says “God, don’t let the fear swallow me whole.”
— Koechner has been knocking it out of the park these last few episodes with some great original characters.
— Particularly huge cheers this time for Norm’s weekly “O.J. is a murderer” joke.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I’ll Stick Around”


THE NASTY
singer G-Dog’s (TIM) psychosomatism causes him to rethink his raunchy hit

— The opening exchanges between Will and Anthony are really funny.
— I love the voice Anthony is using in this. He’s hilarious here.
— The debut of Tim’s short-lived and underrated recurring character G-Dog.
— Funny opening line from G-Dog: “Yo, Phil, somebody ate my Skittles, man.”
— The family-friendly variation of the “Let’s Do The Nasty” song is pretty funny, especially the “Do The Handshake” dance.
— Hmm, a meta turn with Tim as himself waking up in bed and revealing the sketch was a bad dream. I don’t think this sketch was anywhere near bad enough for SNL to get all self-deprecating about. In fact, I had actually been enjoying the sketch.
— Good ending with Lorne’s shifty-eyed look.
STARS: ***½


SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS relives a barroom father-son Thanksgiving reunion

— Spade’s childhood anecdote about receiving a Nerf football from his dad and sarcastically responding “Wow, it’s two colors. You spoil me, ya prick” was told by him on the show before, in a Mother’s Day Weekend Update commentary he did back in season 17, as I mentioned in my review of it.
— Spade In America has had a lot of interesting changes of pace these last few installments, and tonight we get another one, with him re-enacting an entire conversation he recently had with his father. Great touch with the dimmed lighting during this re-enactment.
— I’m enjoying Spade’s storytelling skills here, as well as the way he’s constantly going back-and-forth between the voices of himself and his father. Speaking of which, I like the voice Spade’s using for his father.
STARS: ***½


TURNING POINT
(MAM) interviews a slightly loony Princess Di (host)

— The debut of Cheri’s Barbara Walters impression.
— Wow, Cheri’s Barbara Walters sounds nowhere near as good as it would eventually go on to sound later in Cheri’s tenure. I guess it took her some time before she was able to nail the voice.
— Oh. My. God. Anthony’s look as Princess Diana is EERILY dead-on. Uncanny.
— I’ve been saying this all throughout this episode review, but Anthony is really funny in this sketch.
— A lot of funny actions from Anthony’s Diana, especially her using her foot to flirt with Mark’s Martin Bashir, and her revealing she’s had a chip planted in her head.
— Now Anthony’s Diana is humorously singing a bizarre little ukulele song .
— Great sketch overall.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “For All The Cows”


THE HULK HOGAN TALK SHOW!!!
Hulk Hogan’s sub (WIF) attempts a serious show

— The ridiculously endless Hulk Hogan Talk Show theme song cracked me up, made even funnier by how its immediately followed by Will as an average joe just straightforwardly saying “Hulk Hogan is on vacation. I’m your guest host, Phil Tobin.”
— The awkward back-and-forth transitions from Anthony’s traumatic story to the Hulk Hogan show’s usual segments are okay, but I’m disappointed to see that they’re nowhere near as funny as I had remembered. In fact, they’re starting to get a little tired after a while. I think in past viewings, I only loved this sketch for the ridiculously long opening theme and the subsequent reveal of Will as the guest host.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Even though this episode is not a classic, I’ve personally always considered it to be a really fun episode and a prime example of what a refreshing turnaround this season is from the infamous preceding season. After reviewing the episode just now, that opinion still holds up. This was a solid episode that was indeed fun, and had a lot of good sketches that I’ve always remembered well, even if some of them aren’t particularly great. Adding to the fun feel of this episode was Anthony Edwards, who was a very game host and gave some really funny performances, especially in the Turning Point sketch.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Laura Leighton)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
David Alan Grier

Posted on

November 18, 1995 – Laura Leighton / Rancid (S21 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

AIR FORCE ONE
Bob Dole (NOM) & Newt Gingrich (DAH) grumble about having to fly coach

— Unlike Chris Farley in the preceding season, Darrell seems to be attempting an actual impression of Newt Gingrich’s voice.
— Some good laughs from the cheapness of the coach section of the plane, especially the random chickens wandering around.
— Because Darrell’s in this playing Gingrich, the brief walk-on from Bill Clinton is played by a double, hilariously trying to hide his face from the camera. I can’t tell if the Clinton voice we hear coming from him is pre-taped audio of Darrell’s Clinton, or if it’s the double himself doing the Clinton voice. I’m leaning towards the former.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— When announcing “And your host, Laura Leighton”, Don Pardo seems to temporarily forget how to pronounce Laura Leighton’s last name, as he awkwardly stretches out his utterance of her first name and then pauses for a second before finally saying her last name. This would later be fixed in reruns.


MONOLOGUE
Lucien & Fagin tell host how much they love her work on Melrose Place

— The Fops already becoming recurring after debuting just one episode ago. Luckily, I enjoy these characters, so I don’t have any complaints about the frequency of their appearances… yet.
— Mark’s smile and delivery as his Fops character always cracks me up, especially the way he said “Oh, delicious” just now.
— Very funny photo of the Fops watching TV “bare-assed naked”.
STARS: ***½


OLD GLORY INSURANCE
Sam Waterston [real] pitches Old Glory Insurance against robot attacks

— Here’s an all-time classic SNL commercial.
— I love the opening conversation between the old ladies.
— This completely random concept of robots attacking old people is freakin’ hilarious, especially with the way it’s being played so straight.
— Some great dramatization visuals of robots fighting with old people.
— The fact that this is such a silly idea being played so straight is made even better by Sam Waterston’s involvement.
STARS: *****


FORTUNE TELLER
Stan Hooper dwells on otherwise-accurate fortune teller’s (host) lone mistake

— Much like The Fops, Stan Hooper becomes a recurring character after debuting just one episode ago.
— I like Hooper harping so much on the psychic’s Dayton mistake. Even just the way Norm says “Dayton” is inherently funny.
— Oh my god, this one female audience member has a VERY distinctive, loud, kinda creepy-sounding laugh that’s heard all throughout this sketch. That laugh is going to haunt my nightmares.
— Good ending with Hooper returning to the room after being stabbed with a “hatchet”, as the psychic predicted.
— Overall, of the four Stan Hooper sketches, this one is probably the weakest by default, but that’s not to say I’m putting this sketch down, because I still found it funny. It’s just the least memorable of this character’s four sketches.
STARS: ***½


HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
a Time-Life video collection of family fights

— A lot of laughs from the text crawl of family argument topics.
— I absolutely love Will’s various “That’s it, f*** this , I’m leavin’!”, especially the third time, where he does it for no reason during an actual friendly family conversation.
STARS: ****


WHAT A WOMAN WANTS
coeds (host) & Kitty McGinnis (MOS) take calls

— Molly’s constant nervously-delivered “Just kidding”s remind me so much of Kristen Wiig’s Judy Grimes character (the fast-talking Weekend Update correspondent) from years later.
— I’m still hearing Creepy Laugh Audience Lady from the Stan Hooper sketch.
— Some laughs from Mark as a caller insulting Molly while praising Laura’s looks.
— We’re towards the end of this sketch, and I’m not quite sure where a lot of this sketch is trying to go. It feels kinda aimless.
STARS: **


CYDNEY
Cydney (host) films a perfume commercial with little people; Grant Show cameo

— Funny initial visual of the male cast on their knees playing little people.
— Spade’s (in a rare season 21 sketch appearance) sarcastic mocking of Laura’s remark towards him reminds me of when he did something similar to Tim in the first Total Bastard Airlines sketch.
— A big laugh from Norm putting out a cigarette under the shoe of his fake tiny legs. I think they use the dress rehearsal version of this sketch in reruns, because I swear I remember the reruns having the audience applaud after Norm puts out the cigarette, whereas the live version I’m currently watching has a different reaction from the audience, where they just laugh at Norm putting out the cigarette.
— Feels weird seeing Fred Wolf playing a character like this. He seems out of place in this role.
— I liked this sketch at first, but it’s kinda fallen apart after about 2-3 minutes. Nothing is working for me anymore.
— Not too crazy about the ending, either.
STARS: **


WEEKEND UPDATE
Weekend Update is twice embarrassed by a Howard Stern supporter’s (Frank Sebastiano) hoaxes
Queens resident Joe Blow (COQ) gives news about his personal life

 

— Tonight’s Update opens with the theme music that would go on to be Norm’s regular Update theme, first used in the Update from the David Schwimmer episode earlier this season.
— I feel bad for being amused by Norm’s joke about cabbies with long Arab names.
— And I guess to make me feel less bad for laughing at the above-mentioned Arab joke, Norm follows it up with a “retards” joke (which, yes, I also shamefully laughed at).
— A funny fake-out commentary by SNL writer Frank Sebastiano, just showing up to shout “Stern rules!” Like I mentioned in my last episode review, Sebastiano’s unconventional (for an SNL writer) looks crack me up. SNL should put this guy in more sketches.
— After Norm’s Magic Johnson AIDS joke gets a very torn audience reaction, a sole audience member flat-out screams “Boooooo!” Haha, is SNL trying to offend all groups with some of the jokes and slurs uttered throughout tonight’s episode?
— Another instance of Frank Sebastiano doing a “Stern rules!” fake-out. What helps make these “commentaries” from him work is Norm’s long, overly serious set-ups to them.
— Now we get another SNL writer doing a (real this time) commentary, only this time, it’s Colin Quinn, in his very first speaking role on SNL.
— Colin-as-Joe-Blow’s ranting about his co-workers and neighbors is really funny.
— An overall solid debut for Joe Blow, with a lot of funny lines.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Roots Radical”


PARTY
socially-awkward Roberta’s (CHO) boring anecdotes ruin (host)’s party

— Cheri’s character killing the mood of the partygoers’ conversation with her awkward bus story is pretty funny.
— Okay, this sketch is starting to get pretty tepid and one-note to me. I want to appreciate Cheri’s quirky, low-key, realistic Roberta character, but it stopped being funny to me after about a minute, and this sketch is just repeating the same “Roberta kills the mood of a fun conversation by relating it to a boring story of her own” joke over and over. This sketch also feels like an unfortunate precursor to the “socially awkward character says or does awkward things at a social gathering while people react with uncomfortable facial expressions” sketches that SNL would be overrun with many years later in the late 2000s-early 2010s (Kristen Wiig in particular had the market cornered on that type of sketch during those years). In fact, Nasim Pedrad would even end up doing a sketch in the season 38 Christoph Waltz episode that was suspiciously very similar to this Roberta sketch of Cheri’s.
— Oddly enough, this Roberta character doesn’t becoming recurring until FOUR YEARS LATER, during Cheri’s final season. That has got to be one of the longest gaps ever between a recurring character’s first and second appearance.
STARS: **


SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS gets a tattoo from Sean Penn [real]

— Another change of pace for Spade In America. This is particularly interesting, as it involves Sean Penn, of all people, giving Spade a tattoo, of all things.
— Some really funny remarks from Spade on some of the tattoo designs on the wall. There are a few clunkers from Spade in there, but I can overlook them, as they’re outnumbered by the amount of funny comments he’s making.
— I love Spade working in his always-great Michael J. Fox impression.
— Funny little bit with Spade humbly admitting “Okay, I’m out of jokes…”
— When we see Spade live back in the studio at the end of this and he mentions he still has the tattoo, why didn’t he show it?
— Overall, my favorite of all the Spade In America installments that have aired by this point of the season.
STARS: ****


SELF-DISCIPLINE
officeworker Tommy (JMB) punishes himself for making mistakes

— A rare lead role for Jim. He has really been struggling for airtime this season. Supposedly, the reason for his struggles is because NBC, during their heavy involvement with the house-cleaning Lorne was doing to SNL over the summer of 1995, basically forced Lorne to hire Jim Breuer, someone who Lorne wasn’t too keen on hiring. This may explain why Lorne was so hesitant to give Jim much to do during his first few months on the show.
— Is this a leftover Chris Farley sketch from season 20? Jim seems like he’s doing a more violent version of Farley’s famous self-punishing routine from the “The Chris Farley Show” sketches, mixed with Jim’s own bar fight re-enactment routine from an Update commentary earlier this season.
— I do like Jim yelling “Stuuuuuuppiiiiiiiid” repeatedly as his voice fades while he’s falling out the window.
— Overall, ehh, not much to this and it felt a little pointless. A sad statement of how much Jim has been failing to leave a mark so far in his SNL tenure. Thankfully, in the very next episode, he will get that big hit sketch that he desperately needs.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Ruby Soho”


I WANNA GIT WITCHU
(host) rebuffs (TIM)’s unsubtle attempts to try to “git with” her

— The wig that Tim’s wearing bears a strong resemblance to the long dreads that he would grow for real during his final two seasons as a cast member.
— Tim is very funny as this character, and I love his various utterances of “I just wanna GIT witchu!” I’ve always considered this one of Tim’s more underrated performances.
— Pretty funny how Tim keeps giving these deep, romantic scenarios of what he and Laura can do, and then always following it with “And then I wanna GIT witchu!”
— I really like the atmosphere of this sketch. It has a soft, quiet feel that I find very fitting for the final sketch of the night.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An average episode. A few great things, a few weak things, and several okay things, so overall, just an okay and not particularly memorable episode.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Quentin Tarantino)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Anthony Edwards

Posted on

November 11, 1995 – Quentin Tarantino / The Smashing Pumpkins (S21 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

LATE NIGHT SNACK
approval-seeking Bill Clinton (DAH) makes late-night calls & pigs out

— Our very first instance of Darrell’s President Clinton impression leading his own sketch.
— Some pretty good laughs from Darrell-as-Clinton’s piggish eating during his various desperate late night phone calls. As I said in my review of an earlier and much more famous “Bill Clinton pigging out on food” sketch (Phil Hartman’s classic Clinton At McDonalds sketch), both that sketch and tonight’s cold opening always make me hungry whenever I watch them.
— Good drawn-out build-up to Clinton secretly spraying whipped cream in his mouth.
— I like how Clinton’s desperation has now gotten to the point where he’s calling up some random person he doesn’t even know.
— This is Tim’s fourth “Live from New York” in five episodes this season.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
to honor TV, host dances & sings “I’m Gonna Blow You A Kiss In The Wind”

— Funny turn with Quentin’s “See, there was this one episode of Bewitched…” after his very serious set-up about what the single greatest moment in TV history is.
— Oh my god, Tarantino singing?!?
— Jesus, this song performance from Quentin is INSANE, especially his, uh, dancing. No idea how to feel about this, though he’s certainly is giving it his all.
STARS: **


BUGOFF
the BugOff roach trap lets you watch as the caught insect is tortured

— Will plays his very first commercial spokesperson, a role that I’ve always felt he was underrated in.
— A lot of hilarious CGI details of the torture the roach suffers through BugOff, such as his reproductive organs being burned off and him being beat senseless with own severed limbs.
— Will: “True, none of this will actually kill the roach, but it will give him plenty to think about.”
STARS: ****½


FOOTBALL GAME
unofficial cheerleaders Craig (WIF) & Arianna (CHO) show their spirit

— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut!
— Feels odd in retrospect seeing a Spartans sketch start without the usual applause that I’m used to hearing from the audience at the beginning of every Spartans appearance.
— Another oddity of this inaugural Spartans installment is that it’s set outdoors instead of inside a gymnasium like most of their subsequent appearances.
— As I said in my review of Mary Katherine Gallagher’s debut in the preceding episode, I’m going to approach the debuts of this era’s biggest and soon-to-be most annoying recurring characters by treating their respective first installment as a standalone sketch and pretending that I’m unaware it’s the first of a series of sketches.
— Tons of energy from Will and Cheri so far, which is coming off pretty fun. And like the prom sketch that Will and Cheri did in the Chevy Chase episode earlier this season, it’s interesting to watch an early display of their great chemistry.
— I like Will and Cheri’s dancing to “Everybody Dance Now”.
— Oh my god at Quentin’s batshit crazy energy during his brief appearance. I… I have no words.
— Overall, not too bad for the Spartans’ debut. If they kept these characters one-and-done, that would’ve been just fine. But Jesus Christ, not only do these characters end up becoming recurring, we end up seeing them about 20 times (I don’t even think that number is an exaggeration, BTW), most of those appearances being within both this and next season alone. The thought of having to review all of those Spartans sketches in such a short amount of time is just…. once again, I have no words.
STARS: ***


CLARA TURLEY’S BIBLE CHALLENGE
Stan Hooper (NOM) exploits trusting Christians on a bible quiz show

— The very first appearance of Norm’s Stan Hooper character. Now THIS is a recurring character debut that I’m excited about.
— Great intro shot of a cigarette-smoking, McDonalds-eating Norm.
— I love Stan Hooper always casually claiming he knew the answer.
— Writer Paula Pell playing a character with her own first name.
— Good line from Hooper about how he’s quit his job and is doing this show full-time now.
— Stan Hooper: “Praise the God!”
— A great blunt and deadpan “NO.” from Hooper when asked if he’s lying.
— The premise is starting to get a little one-note, but Norm has the great ability to maintain my goodwill towards this material.
— Great fast-paced bit with Hooper being handed money each time he claims in rapid succession that he knows the answer to the orders of angels that Nancy is listing off one-by-one.
— Overall, a classic and a quintessential Norm Macdonald sketch.
STARS: *****


DIRECTORS ON DIRECTING
to host, the best job perq is sex with actresses

— The opening applause for each director’s intro is coming off awkwardly timed.
— Quentin: “Directors, by and large, are the most butt-ugly motley group of geeks found this side of a Star Trek contention.”
— When grilling Tim’s Spike Lee, I love Quentin telling all of the directors “Everybody who didn’t shoot an extreme close-up of their lips sucking on Rosie Perez’s breast, raise your hand.”
— Quentin’s lines to Koechner’s Oliver Stone are cracking me up.
— Yikes at Quentin’s awful, exaggerated delivery during his rant “Back when I was working at a video store for FIVE YEARS!!! making MINIMUM WAGE!!! riding the BUS IN L.A.!!! living with MY MOM!!!… etc.” I know he’s emphasizing those words to make a point, but Jesus Christ, he is overdoing the fucking hell out of it and it is cringeworthy.
— Yeah, things have taken a turn for the worse in this sketch. Quentin’s delivery is starting to become too much for me, and now that he’s stopped making me laugh, I’m starting to see a very uncomfortable nature to this sketch’s subject matter, due to the unfortunate similarities to all the Harvey Weinstein/#metoo stuff from recent years. I still find some of Quentin’s earlier lines (before he stared going overboard with his delivery) funny in spite of this sketch’s bad taste.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Don King (TIM) sweet-talks NOM & laughs off allegations of wrongdoing
creepy obsequious fops Lucien (MAM) & Fagin (DAK) fawn over NOM

— I see they’re still experimenting with the opening theme music for Update. Tonight, we get a cool-sounding, laid-back theme that I don’t recognize. Is it from a Tarantino movie or is it just random stock music?
— When Norm is introducing the Don King commentary, you can hear the audience laughing out loud at the off-camera visual of Tim as Don King. We’ll see in a second why exactly they’re laughing at that visual.
— Great visual of Tim in an insanely tall Don King wig. No idea how that wig is managing to stay in place and not tip over whenever Tim moves his head.
— Very fun performance from Tim. The material itself isn’t anything special, but Tim is managing to make it work.
— Yet another noteworthy recurring character debut in tonight’s episode: The Fops.
— I love the random idea to have Koechner and Mark inexplicably play old-timey fops in a modern-day setting.
— Funny occasional cutaways to a close-up of a deadpan and quietly disturbed Norm while the Fops are praising him in a creepy way.
— So many funny little details in the Fops’ mannerisms and lines. Koechner and Mark are a riot in this commentary.
STARS: ****


LEG UP
host tries to explain that he’s not a choreographer

— I actually liked the first installment of this sketch back in the season premiere (I feel like I’m in the minority there), but yeah, not sure I need to see this as a recurring sketch.
— The chemistry between Molly and Cheri is still fun.
— I like Molly and Cheri’s confusion over what Reservoir Dogs is, acting like it’s an old 50s-type Broadway song.
— Yet another dose tonight of Quentin’s bizarro dancing?
— Overall, I found this installment merely okay, but it was a step down from the first installment, and I don’t see a shelf life for this recurring sketch. I get the bad feeling that I’m going to find each passing installment of this sketch to be less funny than the last one, until it gets to the degree where I can’t stand the sight of this sketch. I do recall the one with Phil Hartman as Frank Sinatra being okay, though.
STARS: ***


WHITE TRASH AROUND A CAMPFIRE DEALING WITH AN OVERABUNDANCE OF FLUIDS
what the title above says

— First time we’ve seen Jim Breuer in quite a while. He has been absolutely invisible these last two episodes. I keep forgetting he’s even in the cast.
— Will’s performance as a redneck is cracking me up.
— Uh, where exactly are the laughs in this sketch supposed to be coming from? From the excessive amount of fluids whenever something gets opened or squashed? Are you kidding me with this, SNL?
— I admit that I am finding everybody’s goofy performances kinda fun, but this material is fucking DREADFUL.
— Dumb ending with the title card saying the long name of the sketch.
— Overall, all I have left to say is, I see SNL is still occasionally using leftover season 20 scripts. Thanks a lot, Fred Wolf. I bet we also have him to thank for that “Prison guard likes being raped” sketch from the preceding episode, another season 20-esque premise (even if I did find that particular sketch kinda funny).
STARS: *


SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS reunites host with Robert Hegyes [real]

— An amusing crack from Spade about Billy Corgan being the guy from Powder. Though I swear there’s a later SNL episode that makes that exact same Powder joke, only it’s about Michael Stipe instead of Billy Corgan. In fact, isn’t it Spade himself who makes that Stipe joke during a Hollywood Minute-themed Spade In America installment later this season? Does he seriously rip off his own joke?!?
— A very odd but interesting change of pace for Spade In America.
— Our first onscreen appearance from new SNL writer Frank Sebastiano (the chubby, long-haired, bearded, biker-looking dude), who always cracks me up whenever he shows up in a sketch (we’ll be seeing him in his own brief Weekend Update commentary in the very next episode). He just has such an amusing, unconventional look for an SNL writer.
— They’re making it seem like we’re about to get a Jay Leno cameo. Between Leno and Tarantino, I don’t think the SNL cameras can handle that much chin.
— Ah, the Leno thing turns out to be an amusing fake-out, where they instead awkwardly bring out SNL’s own Leno impersonator Darrell Hammond.
— An overall decent Spade In America installment. The big change of pace paid off fairly well, and was a welcome improvement over the dreadful Spade In America installment from the preceding episode.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Zero”


ALL ABOARD! WITH CHESTER MILLBRUSH
old train worker (host) tells how he beats up “hobos”

— Here’s a weird little 10-to-1 sketch that I’ve always loved.
— Quentin’s casual detailing of disturbing violent things he and his buddies did to one particular hobo is hilariously unsettling.
— Funny bit regarding the blood stains on Quentin’s overalls.
— I love how Quentin keep randomly transitioning back-and-forth between friendly model train tips and stories of gruesome hobo beatdowns.
— Haha, as no surprise, the studio audience is pretty silent during this dark, twisted sketch so far.
— Very funny how the pictures that Quentin’s showing of alleged hobos are gradually less hobo-ish, eventually getting to the point where he just showing pictures of professionals like a priest, a doctor, etc..
— Great ending with Quentin going wild while using a monkeywrench to destroy the head of a hobo dummy.
— Overall, I find this sketch to be a great, bizarre little deep cut. Considering the fact that one of my all-time favorite SNL writers, Andy Breckman, is credited as a guest writer in this episode (as he has been in the last few episodes), I’d like to think he was the writer behind this sketch, though I’m not sure, as I can’t quite say this sketch fully matches his usual style.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An average episode, leaning slightly to the “meh” side. This episode seems to have a reputation as a terrible episode that’s one of this season’s worst (hell, even NBC seemed to think so, as they never gave it a season rerun, IIRC), which I never quite understood. It’s certainly not a great episode, but aside from that god-awful campfire sketch, it wasn’t particularly terrible. Again, just an average episode, with a hint of “meh”-ness. There were a few certain things I found particularly great, though, especially Clara Turley’s Bible Challenge. Quentin Tarantino certainly displayed lots of energy tonight, a little TOO MUCH so at times, but I wasn’t blown away by him as a host, and he had a few cringe-y moments in the first half of the show. He seemed to get a little better as the night went on, and I did love the way he carried the delightfully disturbing All Aboard sketch.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Gabriel Byrne)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Laura Leighton

Posted on

October 28, 1995 – Gabriel Byrne / Alanis Morissette (S21 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

HALLOWEEN IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
trick-or-treating in New Hampshire; Bill Bradley & Lamar Alexander cameos

— Always interesting when SNL uses a first-person perspective in a sketch.
— I love the first time the door suddenly gets slammed in Norm-as-Bob Dole’s face when he’s in the middle of speaking.
— A very important moment right now, as we get the debut of Darrell’s soon-to-be-iconic Bill Clinton impression.
— Right off the bat, Darrell is getting pretty good laughs with his spot-on Clinton voice, and is such a breath of fresh air from Michael McKean’s disastrous attempt at a Clinton impression in the preceding season. Darrell’s Clinton voice would eventually grow even more over time, though (I believe Darrell has said in the “SNL in the 90s” documentary that he didn’t fully nail Clinton’s voice until meeting him in the White House, which was sometime around 1997, I think).
— Koechner’s Phil Gramm imitating Norm’s Bob Dole with an obvious face mask is cracking me up.
— Oh my god, Cheri as Ross Perot. I completely forgot that’s a thing in this era. Not too sure about the voice she’s using, but Cheri certainly looks the part of Perot in that makeup.
— Very awkward and uncomfortable moment now with a child actor constantly making VERY long pauses in the middle of his question, and constantly restarting the question. It seems like a real gaffe, but I guess it’s part of the script, considering the kid eventually gets interrupted by Norm’s Dole angrily popping out of the bushes and telling him what to say as part of some scheme (actually, I think Norm’s Dole was just hiding next to the door entrance, but it’s just hilarious to type out the words “Norm’s Dole angrily popping out of the bushes”).
— Speaking of the part with Norm’s Dole angrily popping out of the bushes (hee hee) and telling the kid what to say, I love how what Norm’s Dole says to him is “That’s Bob Dole, goddammit!”, the last word in that line being a typical Norm ad-lib, I assume. It would later be muted out in reruns.
— I like Lamar Alexander clarifying “I’m not some new cast member playing Lamar Alexander.”
— Norm gets his very first “Live from New York”, and this is our first non-Tim Meadows “Live from New York” of the whole season.
— Speaking of Norm’s LFNY, I love that he as Dole delivers it as “Live from New York… Saturday Night”, not even saying the “it’s”. That would go on to be a regular thing for his Dole whenever he opens the show.
— A very fun and fast-paced opening overall.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host talks about Irish stereotypes while two examples dance behind him

— I like how the SNL Band starts playing soft Irish music in the background during Gabriel’s talk about how well Irish actors have been doing lately.
— Some pretty good laughs from Fred Wolf and Colin Quinn dancing behind an unaware Gabriel in silly Irish stereotype costumes, then slowly trying to sneak away whenever Gabriel hints that he doesn’t take kindly to Irish stereotype jokes.
— The ending felt like it should’ve have a little more to it, but this was pretty fun.
STARS: ***½


MARSHALL POWER TOOLS
power tool makers John Marshall Jr. (DAK) & Sr. (MAM) lack body parts

— Surprisingly, this is the first lead role Koechner has gotten all season. It’s about time, considering how all of his fellow newbies have already had at least one lead role so far.
— Very funny reveal of Koechner’s hook hand.
— A good slightly disturbing bit with Mark trying to make his robot hand hold up one finger.
— Funny ending shot of the entire family having missing limbs. I’m not sure how they made it look like some of those people (including Darrell and Nancy) were genuinely missing a leg.
STARS: ***½


ST. MONICA TALENT AUDITIONS
Mary Katherine Gallagher (MOS) auditions for Catholic school talent show

— I love Will’s endless singing of the ending part of The Police’s Message In A Bottle.
— Speaking of Will, this small role surprisingly ends up being his ONLY appearance all night.
— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut! Boy, I haven’t been able to use that line for a good while. I don’t think I said it at all in season 20. Hell, I don’t even think I said it in season 19.
— I know Mary Katherine Gallagher would go on to be an overused, tired character, but I’ll be fair on this first installment and judge it like a new sketch while pretending I’m not aware that this would go on to be a recurring character. In fact, I’m going to use that approach when reviewing the debuts of a lot of this era’s big recurring characters who would quickly go on to be annoying through overexposure: The Cheerleaders (who debut in the very next episode), Mango (the only installment I’ll probably give a high rating to is the famous one with Garth Brooks, and that’s mainly just because Garth was so damn good), Pretty Living (a.k.a. the Molly Shannon joyologist sketch), etc. The Roxbury Guys are an exception for two reasons: 1) Their first appearance… well, their first TRADITIONAL appearance, with Jim Carrey, is a freakin’ classic (I say “first TRADITIONAL appearance” because, contrary to popular belief, that Carrey installment isn’t the first Roxbury Guys sketch; a lot of people forget that the Roxbury Guys actually debuted in a very short, experimental sketch from this season’s Phil Hartman episode), and 2) even though the classic Carrey installment should’ve been the final Roxbury Guys sketch, I never really hated their subsequent appearances like a lot of people seem to. I usually find their sketches pretty fun and harmless enough. We’ll see if that opinion of mine still holds up when I eventually review their sketches.
— Solid characterization from Molly here. Though there’s A LOT of playing to the camera from her in this, which is a habit that I think this cast would go on to be negatively associated with (Cheri especially), I can forgive it in this first Mary Katherine Gallagher installment.
— Even MKG’s sniffing-hands-after-putting-them-under-armpits thing is coming off pretty funny and fresh to me in this first installment.
— Until tonight’s episode, Molly had been having a surprisingly pretty quiet season and was overshadowed by new breakout star Cheri Oteri, so it’s nice to see Molly such doing a good job in her time to shine here.
— I recall Adam McKay pointing out in the “SNL in the 90s” documentary that Mary Katherine Gallagher actually had kind of a dark, disturbing undertone in her first appearance, before she became a mainstream recurring character.
— I like MKG’s quivering and slow buildup when quoting a monologue from a Meredith Baxter-Birney TV movie.
— Gabriel is a great and funny straight man in this, and I love him covering MKG’s crotch shot with his clipboard when she has her leg propped up on the piano.
— A very good and daring pratfall from Molly into a pile of folding chairs.
— Overall, this was actually a good debut for this character. Watching it the mindset of a viewer in 1995 who wouldn’t have been familiar with this character helped my enjoyment. I await SNL destroying my goodwill with the diminishing returns this character will inevitably suffer when she becomes an overexposed recurring character.
STARS: ***½


COOKING WITH KEITH
Keith Richards (host) & two bimbos prepare a dish

— Funny concept, and a hilarious Keith Richards impression from Gabriel.
— Great tip from Richards about adding ice made out of booze to your drink so you’ll get even more booze.
— Good gag with Richards cutting up flour in lines as if it’s cocaine.
— Gabriel’s doing a fantastic job navigating this sketch without any help from any cast members.
— IIRC, we’ll be seeing Richards’ two bimbos in a certain other sketch later this season.
STARS: ***½


FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
seeing through a father-son fishing trip


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Hand In My Pocket”


WEEKEND UPDATE
to Phil Donahue (DAH), Sally Jessy Raphael’s success signals bad things
CHO, MOS, NOM, DAS act immature during a “respect authority” editorial

— We get horror music played as the Update intro theme music tonight. Guess I spoke too soon in my last review about SNL finally settling on an Update intro theme after experimenting with different ones earlier this season. Then again, the use of a horror music intro tonight is obviously only because this episode is near Halloween.
— The debut of Darrell’s Phil Donahue, making this the second time tonight where Darrell has taken over an impression that Phil Hartman used to do.
— Darrell is absolutely knocking it out the park with his Donahue impression. His rambly, nonsensical ranting is HILARIOUS.
— During Darrell-as-Donahue’s ranting, Norm seems as equally amused as the audience, as you can hear him repeatedly chuckling off-camera.
— I love how Darrell’s Donahue is now randomly taking phone calls in the middle of his Update commentary.
— Feels unusual seeing Norm participating in this cutesy schoolkids bit with Cheri and Molly.
— Now it feels even more unusual seeing Spade, of all people, participating in this schoolkids bit, as this is his first of only a few non-Spade In America appearances all season. It also feels unusual seeing him interact with a new cast member like Cheri.
— This whole schoolkids bit, while very random, is charming and pretty fun.
— Now the schoolkids bit has gotten even funnier, with Lorne’s teacher-esque stern confrontation of his “students”.
STARS: ****


BABY GENETICS
miracles of genetics let expectant parents (NAW) & (MAM) learn about kid

— An interesting and refreshing premise for SNL around this time, and I love how Gabriel’s revealing so many advanced things about Nancy and Mark’s upcoming baby.
— They’re harping too much on the bisexual thing.
— The reveal of how the baby will grow up to be either a Jeffrey Dahmer-esque cannibalistic serial killer or a high school guidance counselor was very funny, as was Mark’s response of “There’s no reason he can’t be both.”
— I love how this is now getting to the point where Gabriel allows the parents to actually meet an adult version of their upcoming baby.
— Interesting casting of early-era Darrell Hammond in a role that, much like the Surprise Party Discoveries sketch in the preceding episode, he would never be cast in once the show figured out that the only significant roles they would give him would mostly be celebrity impressions.
STARS: ****


SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS reports from the World Series; Chrissie Hynde cameo

— Fun premise for a Spade In America installment, and I like how this is a pre-taped remote.
— Man, it turns out that a lot of Spade’s jokes in this are BOMBING with me.
— WTF at the “two tires as bases” bit? What the hell am I watching?
— Oof, so far, this is PAINFULLY unfunny.
— I do like the classic Bugs Bunny baseball clip, but it’s a sad statement that THAT’S the only funny thing in this whole Spade In America. And since it’s an old clip, it doesn’t even count.
— Overall, no. No. This installment of Spade In America did not work for me AT ALL. What a letdown, considering how fun this installment seemed like it was going to be. Just when I thought Spade In America finally hit its stride with the one from the preceding episode…
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “All I Really Want”


BOOK READING
romance novel author (host) expresses love for older & much older women

— Gabriel’s badly-rhymed Special Lady poem is pretty funny.
— Now there’s even more laughs from Gabriel’s poem about how much he prefers older women.
— I like Gabriel’s disturbing detailing of his fantasy of making love to an 85-year-old woman. Some funny disgusted reactions from the women attending the book reading.
STARS: ***½


RIKERS ISLAND
Rikers Island guard (TIM) is fired for liking being beaten & raped

— Wow, this is Tim’s first and only appearance all night, in the final sketch of the episode. Quite a lot of cast members seem to be having a very light night. We don’t even see Jim Breuer AT ALL tonight, just when I thought they were finally starting to give him more to do.
— The nametag on Tim’s uniform says J. Mohr, obviously named after then-recent two-year featured player Jay Mohr. Considering Tim is playing a guy who loves being beaten and raped, I’ve seen some SNL fans theorize that this sketch is SNL’s subtle F-U to Jay. I have no comment about that.
— Not quite sure what to say about this sketch itself so far, though I’m finding it funny enough, I guess. While the premise is kinda juvenile and has an almost season 20 feel, it’s being executed well enough by both Tim and Gabriel. I also love Gabriel’s voice and delivery in this.
— When Tim points out how there were no escapes during his years as a guard, I liked Gabriel’s response “Cuz nobody WANTED to escape!”
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Another solid season 21 episode. Aside from a particularly awful installment of Spade In America, I liked every single thing tonight. Even Mary Katherine Gallagher’s debut was pretty fun if you look at it as a standalone piece and not as the beginning of a tiresome series of sketches. I also like how some of tonight’s sketches had a mature, classy atmosphere, which I’m guessing is due to the presence of Gabriel Byrne, who was a professional, solid, and surprisingly funny host that nailed all of his roles. The mature, classy atmosphere tonight is yet another thing that shows how refreshing this season is compared to the typically juvenile, unpleasant atmosphere of the preceding season.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (David Schwimmer)
a very slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Quentin Tarantino

Posted on

October 21, 1995 – David Schwimmer / Natalie Merchant (S21 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

HOOTIE’S MILLION MAN MARCH
Darius Rucker (TIM) sings “Hold My Hand” variant at D.C. frat boy march

— I love Darrell-as-Peter-Jennings’ pronunciation of the name “Hootie”.
— Pretty funny premise of Hootie holding a Million Man March.
— Our very first instance of Will’s knack for nailing the role of an idiotic fratboy.
— A good little laugh from Nancy’s “Get your hand off my ass” aside.
— I’m liking Tim as Darius Rucker.
— Did the recently-fired Adam Sandler write this song that Tim’s Darius Rucker is singing? The non-sequitur rhyming lyrics feel like something straight out of a Sandler Weekend Update guitar song.
— Wow, in every episode this season so far, Tim got to say “Live from New York…”. The perks of being one of the few seniors in a mostly-new cast. I love the screentime and attention that Tim’s been getting this season. He certainly deserves it, after spending his first five seasons being underappreciated, overshadowed, and underused.
— I like the way the off-camera SNL Band seamlessly segued from playing music for the Darius Rucker song to playing the SNL theme music after Tim’s “Live from New York…”.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host & Lisa Kudrow, Gary Coleman, Barry Williams, Jimmie Walker [real]

— Nice infectious energy from Lisa Kudrow and Jennifer Aniston joining David Schwimmer in his singing of the Friends theme song. Reminds me of Kirstie Alley’s season 17 monologue.
— I love how comically out-of-hand this is getting with stars from unrelated older sitcoms singing their theme songs.
— Ha, Jimmie Walker is butchering the lyrics to his own show’s theme song.
— Very fun monologue overall.
STARS: ****


GRAYSON MOORHEAD SECURITIES
Grayson Moorhead Securities founder (JID) tells his investing philosophy

— This two-part Grayson Moorhead commercial tonight has always been among my favorite SNL commercials of all time.
— Jim Downey’s lines are absolutely priceless, made all the more funny by his trademark dry, soft-spoken delivery.
— Even the black-and-white soft focus used for this commercial is somehow adding to the comedy.
STARS: *****


KIDS VS. GROWNUPS
game show questions are biased toward the adults

— There’s the character name Dale Butterworth, an obvious sign that this is an Andy Breckman-written sketch.
— The clitoris question is hilarious.
— I like Mark proudly answering “Yes” when asked if he’s an expert on premature ejaculation.
— Pretty funny premise and good execution of it, even if it’s far from my favorite gameshow sketch that Andy Breckman has written.
— I love how the prize the adults win is a bunny and a pot to cook it in.
STARS: ***½


GRAYSON MOORHEAD SECURITIES
more common-sense Grayson Moorhead Securities company guidelines

— Downey’s always great at starring in two-part commercials, much like the First Citiwide Change Bank series of commercials from the late 80s.
— Love the bit about what to do if Downey’s wife calls while he’s shagging his secretary.
STARS: *****


FRONT PORCH
Rita Delvecchio (CHO) confiscates kids’ items that land on her porch

— The debut of a Cheri Oteri staple.
— The show continues to push Cheri as the breakout star of the new cast.
— Pretty solid character work from Cheri, and I like the conversations she’s having with off-camera friends. This is a character monologue-type piece that Cheri most likely brought with her from the Groundlings.
— A famous unscripted moment where, when noticing her dress is accidentally caught on the hockey net, Cheri ad-libs “Look at this shit.” I’m guessing she temporarily forgot she’s on live TV and not onstage at the Groundlings, considering how new she is on SNL at this point. The audience has a pretty amusing delayed reaction to this s-bomb incident.
— Right after the s-bomb, you can kinda tell that Cheri realized her gaffe, but she’s doing a great job staying completely in character and not letting it affect her performance at all.
— Ending was a little weak.
STARS: ***


FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
a seemingly turkeyless Thanksgiving


ELEVATOR
actions of fellow elevator passengers make (host) feel uncomfortable

— I’m enjoying the gradual buildup to this.
— For some reason, I like Schwimmer’s wordy, fast-paced “You’re standing on top of me, why?” rant to Jim and Tim.
— I’m absolutely loving the increasing absurdity of each passenger’s elevator-standing technique.
— New SNL writer and future cast member Colin Quinn makes his very first SNL appearance, playing a non-speaking bit part.

— Overall, though I don’t think this is a particularly well-remembered sketch among SNL fans, I’ve personally always loved this. Just an original, silly, well-done, timeless piece that hits the right spot for me. This is another sketch that shows how vastly different and refreshing the writing style of this season is compared to the preceding season, as I cannot picture this sketch ever appearing in season 20.
STARS: ****½


WEEKEND UPDATE
to re-enact the time he got beat up in a bar, JMB hits himself
Cleveland Indians fan (WIF) pretends to be an upset Native American

— After opening Norm’s previous two Updates this season with the theme songs of then-current NBC shows, tonight’s Update opens with generic music that would go on to be the regular theme music for Norm’s Updates. It’s the same theme music that was previously used for two superhero sketches from the late 80s/early 90s years: Drunk Man with Dana Carvey, and Young Superboy with Macaulay Culkin.
— Nice to see Jim finally getting his very first comedic showcase. (The Braveheart thing from the preceding episode mostly just had Jim playing straight man to Chevy.)
— Some pretty solid physical comedy from Jim beating himself up while re-enacting a bar fight.
— Will’s commentary is pretty funny, especially him saying the Cleveland Indians’ logo is the great Chief Wahoo.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Wonder”


SURPRISE PARTY DISCOVERIES
(DAH)’s friends discover his secrets while setting up his surprise party

— I’m getting some really good laughs from all the embarrassing things Darrell’s friends are finding in his apartment, especially the Urkel letter.
— Feels weird in retrospect to see Darrell in such a big role where he’s NOT doing a celebrity impression, a sight that would become more and more of a huge rarity as his tenure progresses. With this being one of Darrell’s earliest episodes, I guess SNL hadn’t decided yet that they were going to relegate him to just doing impressions.
— I love Tim’s delivery of “We read the letter to Urkel, man. WE READ THE LETTER TO URKEL.”
— Funny ending with Darrell dancing to the song Gloria with his blow-up doll of Nancy.
STARS: ****


SPADE IN AMERICA
Jennifer Aniston [real] objects to anti-Friends remarks

— Hey, Spade In America has a new set. It looks great, especially the spade symbols on the background wall.
— Nice change of pace having Jennifer Aniston join Spade this time.
— Our first time seeing Spade do a Hollywood Minute in a year-and-a-half.
— Great dig from Jennifer, insinuating that Spade can’t relate to being on a show that’s really funny, gets great ratings, and is loved by the critics.
— Another great dig from Jennifer to Spade, telling him “You should’ve left with Farley and Sandler.”
— Overall, an enjoyable, fun piece, and the first good Spade In America. I wonder if it’s a coincidence that Spade In America has finally taken off after they gave the segment a new set.
STARS: ***½


SUCH A PRETTY FACE
slim Shannon (NAW) is insensitively rude to plus size clothing customers

— IIRC, this is one of the first sketches (if not THE first) penned by new SNL writer Paula Pell.
— I want to like this sketch, especially since it’s one of SNL’s earliest Nancy Walls showcases, but it feels really dead so far.
— Nancy’s conversation with Mark’s character kinda has a chuckle or two, but maybe I’m just desperate for laughs by this point of the sketch.
— That’s it? The sketch is over? This felt like it was missing a punchline or some kind of satisfying comeuppance for Nancy’s rude character.
— Overall, this sketch just didn’t work. Nancy herself was fine, but almost nothing in the sketch landed and the script felt incomplete. This is the first thing all season that I’m giving a rating lower than two stars to, which at least shows how well this season has been going so far. (Season 20, on the other hand, couldn’t even make it past the season premiere without getting multiple one or one-and-a-half-star ratings from me.)
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Carnival”


TRIUMPH PERFORMERS
performers remain in showbiz despite severe disabilities

— Wow, two consecutive sketches starring Nancy Walls. I certainly hope she gets better material this time.
— I love Will revealing his paralyzation was caused by getting drunk and breaking into the zoo, looking for rough sex.
— Some nice little laughs from Will’s facial mime act.
— Koechner’s voice-boxed voice is slaying me.
— I love how Koechner’s ventriloquist dummy has a voice box as well.
— Good makeup on a face-burned Darrell.
— Interesting way to work in Darrell being an impressionist. However, since the joke of both Will and Koechner’s bits was how their life-changing injury limits their respective comedy act, I don’t get how Darrell’s burned face is supposed to hinder his impression skills. Is it because people would be too distracted by his burn scars to pay attention to his impression voices? If so, that joke doesn’t quite work.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS
CHO puts money in the swear jar for saying “shit” earlier in the show

— Great off-the-cuff moment with Cheri having to put money in a swear jar for her s-bomb earlier tonight. This goodnights moment feels kinda like a throwback to how spontaneous the original SNL era was whenever something went wrong, such as when the cast decided to wear a band-aid on their foreheads after Buck Henry accidentally got cut in the forehead during a Samurai sketch, or when SNL used the goodnights to re-do a botched bit earlier in the episode where Chevy Chase was supposed to get hit in the face with a pie.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode with a very fun atmosphere. I enjoyed almost every single thing tonight (Such A Pretty Face was the only lowlight for me), and there were a few pieces I found particularly strong (Grayson Moorhead Securities, Elevator). Even Spade In America finally took off after a forgettable first two installments. This episode gives me continued confidence in this new SNL era.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Chevy Chase)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Gabriel Byrne

Posted on

October 7, 1995 – Chevy Chase / Lisa Loeb (S21 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NFL ON NBC
sideline reporter O.J. Simpson (TIM) hints that he’s guilty

— I wonder if viewers at the time were a little lost during the beginning of this cold opening with Darrell’s Bob Costas and Koechner’s Mike Ditka, considering the fact that those viewers would’ve been unfamiliar with Darrell and Koechner (not helped by the fact that the Ditka makeup renders Koechner fairly unrecognizable). I bet some viewers were like “I can’t tell which new cast member is which in this!”
— The audience gives a big (albeit hesitant at first) applause when Tim shows up as O.J.. I wonder if that applause is because of 1) this being SNL’s first O.J. parody since the big verdict from a few days earlier, or 2) Tim’s seniority in a mostly-new cast, combined with the fact that the two cast members who appeared before him in this cold opening were two fresh, unfamiliar faces. If it’s the latter, then it’s so nice to see Tim finally getting the recognition from the audience that he deserves, after always being overshadowed by the Bad Boys in the previous era’s cast.
— So much great humor here so far, especially O.J.’s murder innuendos when talking to Will’s Marv Levy about football.
— An absolutely classic SNL moment right now with O.J. spelling out “I did it” on the telestrator.
— I love Will’s panicked facial reaction to the aforementioned “I did it” part.
STARS: *****


OPENING MONTAGE
— When Mark McKinney’s picture shows up, Don Pardo is oddly silent at first, then quickly spits out “Mark McKean” instead of “Mark McKinney”. I guess Don hasn’t gotten used to not having to announce Michael McKean’s name anymore.


MONOLOGUE
CHC recalls SNL’s first episode & sings “When You Wish Upon A Star”

— Chevy mentions that tonight is only a few days away from the 20th anniversary of SNL’s very first episode.
— Wow, heartfelt reminiscing from Chevy over getting ready for the very first episode’s cold opening right before airtime. I kept expecting a comedic twist to this reminiscing at first, before realizing that this is a genuinely earnest, emotional, and straightforward moment. I’m actually finding this really nice.
— When singing “When You Wish Upon A Star”, Chevy imitates Jiminy Cricket’s facial expression, which some SNL fans incorrectly assume was just Chevy randomly making a stupid face to get a cheap laugh from the audience (something that he’s certainly not above doing). While it’s not particularly funny in the context of this monologue, he actually did this same Jiminy Cricket bit before, during one of his traditional Weekend Update phone gags back when he was a cast member.

STARS: ***½


LOBOTOL
(NAW) dumbs down prolific co-worker (CHO) with a dose of Lobotol

— A nice Nancy Walls showcase.
— Funny line from Nancy about her husband giving her a dose of Lobotol when he felt she was asking too many questions.
— Pretty good ending with the cutaway to a Lobotol-ized Cheri moving around helplessly while lost in a dress fabric.
STARS: ***


COCKPIT
boisterous girl Althea (CHO) visits with pilot (CHC) in the cockpit

— Hoo, boy. The debut of a short-lived Cheri Oteri recurring character that I remember never caring for. I’ll go into this with an open mind, especially since Cheri is new at this point.
— I will say Cheri is VERY convincing as a hyperactive little girl, both in looks and in acting.
— Chevy’s straight man reactions are making me laugh, such as him asking Cheri’s Althea character “Maybe you’d like to see the outside of the jet.”
— Another funny one-liner from Chevy, with him announcing into the intercom an annoyed-but-restrained “Will any freakin’ flight attendant come into the cockpit?”, which receives wild cheers from the audience.
— Good exchange with Althea telling Nancy’s stewardess character that the captain has two testicles and Nancy responding “Yes, I know.”
— Overall, definitely not as a bad as I remembered it. A lot of what made the sketch work was everybody’s reactions and responses to Althea.
STARS: ***


THE BLAME GAME
black (TIM) & white (CHC) contestants fan racial tensions

— Chevy does his usual shtick of trying to save a flubbed line of his by ad-libbing comical gibberish, something that was funny when he used to regularly do it on Weekend Update back in the original era whenever he flubbed a joke, but kinda detracted from this particular sketch.
— Tim to Chevy: “Why don’t you go put on a pair of Dockers and watch another episode of Mad About You?!” Great line.
— I’m loving this premise. Lots of funny dialogue of racial tension between Tim and Chevy.
— Mark is very solid as the gameshow host, which makes me wonder why SNL doesn’t use him in this role more often.
— The speed round with Tim is very funny.
— This is yet another sketch this season where Tim is giving a really strong performance. He’s been having a great season so far.
— Is Chevy’s constant premature ringing of the buzzer throughout this sketch an ad-libbed gag? If so, much like his aforementioned ad-libbed gibberish after flubbing a line earlier in this sketch, it’s not funny and is kinda detracting from this sketch. 1990s Chevy Chase just doesn’t have that great knack at pulling off ad-libs that 1970s Chevy Chase had.
— I like Nancy’s delivery of “(in a sweet manner) Don’t patronize me. My name isn’t honey. (in a suddenly bitter manner) YOU’VE WON A CLOCK.”
STARS: ****


FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
an encounter with an escaped convict


BRAVEHEART
CHC advises JMB not to rely on physical comedy; Mariel Hemingway cameo

— I like the idea of this meta sketch.
— A very random cameo from the preceding episode’s host, Mariel Hemingway.
— When Jim tells Chevy he’s one of the new cast members, Chevy responds “Hope you can save the show.” Just a little comment that I found interesting, as it shows that people still weren’t sure yet if this new cast was going to work out and save SNL from cancellation.
— Nice to see Jim getting a lot of facetime as himself here, after having practically nothing to do in his first episode the preceding week.
— (*groan*) Chevy’s old routine of constantly calling someone by the wrong name is coming off particularly tired here.
— Not caring much for Chevy’s long speech to Jim.
— Good Chevy-esque pratfall from Jim down the stairs. I like the little touch of him slamming his head into the side of the stairs at one point during that fall.
— Pretty cool how the ending of this sketch segued into Chevy introducing the following musical performance. That adds to the exciting, fun feel of this new season.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Do You Sleep?”


WEEKEND UPDATE
from Central Park, Father Guido Sarducci reports on Pope’s lost wallet
Father Guido Sarducci tells the papal wallet finder that he’ll get a mass

— After using the Friends theme song for Norm’s new Update intro music in the preceding episode, tonight’s Update intro music is the theme of another then-current NBC show, E.R.. Are these NBC theme songs supposed to be Norm’s version of how Dennis Miller’s Updates used to open with a different rock song each week? Either way, it doesn’t last for Norm, as they would soon settle on an intro tune to use regularly for his Updates.
— Tonight’s Update starts with one of Norm’s most legendary Update jokes of all time, in which he says “It is finally official: murder is legal in the state of California” as a picture of O.J. is on the news screen. Classic.
— Some really big reactions from the audience towards some of Norm’s jokes tonight.
— A surprise return of Father Guido Sarducci.
— Interesting and I guess fitting how this and Sarducci’s last guest appearance were in episodes hosted by an SNL alum from the 70s cast (Bill Murray, Chevy Chase).
— As usual, Sarducci is getting some good laughs from a lot of little things, such as his bit with the Pope mask.
— I like how Norm is continuing his running gag from last season of punchlines that deal with a dog sniffing another dog’s ass.
— The continuation of the Father Guido Sarducci/pope bit feels a little unnecessary, but I liked Sarducci’s line about low masses.
STARS: ****½


ALWAYS & FOREVER
at their prom, ’70s teens (WIF) & (CHO) freak out with little provocation

— Ah, our very first Ferrell/Oteri character piece, I see.
— Will’s angry punching of the air during his outbursts is cracking me up.
— Speaking of Will’s outbursts in this sketch, they probably did nothing to stop some viewers’ fears at the time that Will would be another season 20-era Chris Farley who yells in every sketch. To me, Cheri’s coming off more shouty in this sketch than Will.
— Interesting how this is the second consecutive season where the second episode had a prom sketch set in the 70s.
— Fun running gag with Will and Cheri’s robotic dancing.
— So far, this sketch is more fascinating to me than funny. It’s pretty fun to watch the very first SNL display of Will and Cheri’s great chemistry from their Groundlings days together, even if I’m not laughing at every single thing in this. I still prefer this to the Cheerleaders sketches we’ll start seeing soon enough (though if the Cheerleaders had only lasted one installment and never became recurring, I’d probably have a bit more of a favorable reaction towards them like I’m having with this prom sketch).
— Will’s reaction to being told he’ll be getting a “BJ” is great.
STARS: ***


GANGSTA BITCH BARBIE
Gangsta Bitch Barbie & Tupac Ken are dolls appropriate to the urban scene

— Very funny concept, and I love how mid-90s this feels. It also feels kinda refreshing seeing such urban humor on SNL back in these days.
— A lot of good little details with the dolls’ various accessories.
STARS: ****


THE MARK FUHRMAN SHOW
Mark Fuhrman (CHC) says he likes (TIM)’s anti-white rap

— I love the name of Tim’s rapper character, MC Bodybag.
— Some funny lines here and there so far, but this is a slow sketch, and not in a good way.
— I’m getting some laughs from the snippet they’re playing of MC Bodybag’s song “Good Cop, Dead Cop”. I also like Fuhrman’s head-bopping during that.
— Very weak gag involving Fuhrman leaving a bloody glove where MC Bodybag had been sitting. Is that what this whole sketch was leading up to? Yikes. You can tell they were expecting that gag to get bigger laughs than it did.
STARS: **


O.J. TODAY
anchor Bill McDonald (WIF) & legal analysts do the final show

— Interesting how they’re bringing back this sketch from the season premiere.
— I like Will’s line about how O.J. Today’s timeslot will now be filled by Fantasy Island.
— Surprisingly, this is Molly’s first and only appearance all night.
— Norm’s whole awkward story about how he got hired as a lawyer is funny.
— Not crazy about the blooper reel that’s now playing, which isn’t providing many laughs.
— Sadly, this sketch is probably the biggest comedic role Koechner has gotten on SNL so far, which still isn’t saying much. He’s had a fairly quiet start in his two episodes so far, and has yet to be given any big showcase pieces, unlike his fellow newbies (even the very underused Jim Breuer had that Braveheart piece with Chevy).
— Overall, not much to this sketch, despite a few laughs in the pre-blooper reel half. I was expecting this to be so much better.
STARS: **


SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS gives examples of how rock & roll is out of control

— Geez, once again, I almost forgot that this segment is a thing this season. Tonight’s installment is airing even later than the one from the season premiere.
— Spade’s imitation of The Cranberries’ Zombie song is funny.
— Yeesh, some of Spade’s jokes about rock music are coming off kinda cringeworthy and hacky.
— I do like the complete randomness of Spade just saying “When I was a kid, I had an ant farm” as a very brief non-sequitur segue into talking about FarmAid. That non-sequitur segue went by so fast, it almost doesn’t have time to register with you.
— Interesting hearing Spade do a Casey Kasem impression.
— Overall, much like the last Spade In America, I got a few laughs from this and I see some promise in this segment, but some parts were weak and there’s room for improvement. These Spade In America segments have not hit their stride yet.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Stay”


LAMPREYS
a boy (CHO) doesn’t want to part with his sucking creatures

— I really like this very random concept.
— Nice visual of Cheri entering with lampreys all over her.
— This makes two kid characters for Cheri tonight, each of opposite genders. Once again, Cheri’s very convincing in the role of a child.
— The amusing oddness of this sketch shows the huge change in SNL’s writing style this season. I cannot for the life of me imagine a sketch this delightfully random and weird appearing in the preceding season. Well, okay, now that I’m thinking about it, I guess season 20’s resident oddball Chris Elliott could’ve done this sketch. In fact, the more I think about it, I would’ve LOVED to have seen Chris Elliott do this sketch. The bizarre mental image of a bearded Chris Elliott in overalls and a little boy wig playing Cheri’s character in this odd Lampreys sketch is nothing short of fantastic. Dammit, WHY COULDN’T IT HAVE HAPPENED?!? I would’ve liked that version of this sketch even more than the Cheri Oteri version.
— The fact that this sketch is using the same living room set used in Chris Elliott’s (notorious) babysitter sketch with Mark makes it even easier for me to picture Elliott performing this Lampreys sketch.
— Funny pre-taped segment with Cheri’s character emotionally parting ways with each of his lampreys.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— After the preceding week’s solid season premiere, I was hoping tonight’s episode would keep the momentum going, but unfortunately, it instead ended up being a bit of a letdown. This episode had a somewhat forgettable feel, especially the post-Update half. I feel like the cold opening and The Blame Game were the only two sketches all night that I felt strongly about. There were some other pretty good sketches, but too much of the show hovered around the okay-to-meh range. There’s not much I’ll remember about this episode by the time I reach the end of this season. It’s understandable, though; after all, the new cast and writing staff are still growing at this point.
— Chevy Chase barely felt like the host. Towards the end of the episode, I kinda started forgetting who was even hosting. I think Chevy only appeared in ONE post-Update sketch. Maybe the idea was for him to mostly relax and let the new kids in the cast do their stuff, but it kinda feels like SNL should’ve spread his appearances throughout the episode instead of frontloading them in the first half. He also gave his usual questionable hosting performance, where he seemed a little off compared to how he was in his prime.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Mariel Hemingway)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
David Schwimmer

Posted on

September 30, 1995 – Mariel Hemingway / Blues Traveler (S21 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

O.J. TODAY
Johnnie Cochran (TIM) uses the race card in closing arguments

— Right as this cold opening begins, the very first thing we see is new cast member Will Ferrell. I love that.
— The ridiculous O.J. Today title sequence is pretty funny.
— Tim’s Johnnie Cochran impression has really improved from the non-attempt at an impression he did of him in the preceding season.
— A hilarious visual of Cochran and his lawyer team in African garb.
— I like the brief shot of Mark’s Judge Ito shaking his head in disbelief over Cochran’s rant.
— Fantastic part with Cochran complaining about the prosecution playing “the evidence card”.
— I’m loving the increasing absurdity of Cochran’s speech.
— Tim’s performance is a riot. I’ve always looked at this cold opening as Tim’s attempt at proving his worth, considering he was originally one of the many cast members fired over the summer of 1995, before Lorne soon rehired him because SNL couldn’t find a new black guy and they needed someone to play O.J. Simpson. While I think it’s a very sad statement that the only reason Lorne brought Tim back is because SNL needed an O.J. (hey, Lorne, how about the fact that Tim is FUNNY and was one of the few cast members in season 20 who always put 100% in his performances?), Tim probably knew after his temporary firing that he needed to step it up. In this cold opening, he most certainly is stepping it up, and is knocking it out of the park. A great sign that, after five seasons in the cast, Tim is FINALLY going to have his breakout year this season.
— Overall, a solid way to kick off the new season.
STARS: ****


OPENING MONTAGE
— New montage.

— We get a new SNL logo for the first time since 1988.
— For the first time in 10 seasons, cast members’ names are displayed onscreen in each of their individual shots.
— The many new cast members joining tonight are Jim Breuer, Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, David Koechner, Cheri Oteri, and Nancy Walls.
— Molly Shannon has been promoted from featured player to repertory player.
— Though on the surface, this theme music seems brand new, it’s actually just a slower, jazzier version of season 20’s theme music, minus the beginning and the key change towards the end.
— Speaking of the slightly modified theme music, something about the combo of it and this opening montage has an elegant, classy feel that I really like.


MONOLOGUE
while introducing the new cast, host passionately kisses the females

— We have a new homebase stage, for the first time since way back in 1986. The 1986-1995 homebase isn’t completely gone, though; it was simply moved to the left of the studio, where it will be the musical guest stage for these next three seasons.
— I like how right out of the gate in this monologue, Mariel Hemingway addresses all the big changes made to SNL over the summer.
— Fun idea of Mariel going around backstage to introduce the new cast to us.
— I love the look on Mark’s face when Mariel passionately kisses Cheri Oteri on the lips.
— I feel bad during Jim Breuer’s brief intro, considering he ends up having practically nothing to do tonight in his first show. Even sadder, he’s shown in this monologue rehearsing lines off a script, even though this ends up being his final live appearance tonight, and all of his roles tonight are non-speaking bit parts. Years later, Jim would tell a funny story as a guest on a radio show, I believe (I can’t remember what show it was, but there is/was a YouTube video of Jim telling this story on that show) about how his dad, who traveled all the way to SNL tonight to see Jim’s debut, unhappily confronted Lorne backstage after the show because Jim was practically shut out of the episode.
— A bit of a questionable premise of Mariel passionately kissing each of the female cast members (I guess it’s parodying the famous Roseanne episode she appeared in, as well as other lesbian roles that I hear she’s played over the years), but it’s coming off pretty fun in its execution.
— I love the casual look on Tim’s face in the background during Mariel’s kissing of Molly. I also love how Mariel just casually says “Hi, Tim” when walking away from Molly.
— Mariel’s doing a very solid job navigating this busy monologue.
— Funny background gag of two female NBC pages fearfully running away after Mariel walks past them.
STARS: ***½


A.M. ALE
it lets you feel OK about getting an early-morning buzz

— Pretty funny concept.
— Catchy commercial jingle, especially the chorus.
— I’ve never been quite as crazy about this commercial as some other SNL fans are, but this is a funny, well-done, and nicely-filmed commercial, and a good inaugural one for this era.
STARS: ***½


GET OFF THE SHED!
Frank (WIF) dampens cookout mood by threatening his shed-climbing kids

— I think this sketch is replaced with the dress rehearsal version in reruns. I swear I remember seeing Will wear an apron in that version, which he doesn’t in this live version. (I don’t have enough time right now to dig up a rerun version of this sketch to do a side-by-side screencap comparision.)
— I love that the only cast members featured in this lead-off sketch are newbies.
— I’m getting big laughs from Will’s various sudden “GET OFF THE SHED!” outbursts and him always following that by seamlessly going right back to friendly conversations with the neighbors.
— Mariel’s “You smell good!” to Nancy Walls was certainly… random. Some SNL fans wonder if that was intended as a callback to the monologue, but I think it was just intended as a brief display of random humor. The silliness of it kinda works for me in the context of this sketch.
— Will’s threats to the kids are getting more and more funny and psychotic, such as “THERE’S GONNA BE A MEETING BETWEEN YOUR ASS AND THE PALM OF MY HAND!” and “I WILL PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE!”
— I like David Koechner and Nancy begging the kids to get off the shed when Will removes his belt and goes off-camera to confront the kids.
— A disappointingly weak ending with Mariel asking the kids to get off the fountain.
— Overall, what a way to introduce Will Ferrell’s style to us. I love that his first major role is as Will Ferrell-esque as a Will Ferrell role can get. A great sign of things to come from him.
STARS: ****


NIGHTLINE
Bob Dole (NOM) is bitter about Colin Powell’s (TIM) popularity

— A great choice of a celebrity impression to let newbie impressionist Darrell Hammond debut with. I love the Ted Koppel voice he’s using, as does the audience.
— Feels kinda odd seeing Darrell in his debut, knowing how very long we’re going to be seeing him in the cast. (Even just saying the words “newbie Darrell Hammond” feels weird.) For that same reason, I’m sure I will have that same odd feel when I reach Kenan Thompson’s first season.
— Interestingly enough, I think this is the first time we’re seeing Tim’s Colin Powell impression since Tim’s very first episode (in which he played Powell in one of Chris Rock’s Nat X sketches). At least they got rid of the unnecessary pudgy facial prosthetics he wore as Powell in that first appearance.
— Great to see the debut of Norm’s Bob Dole impression, which I’ve always been a huge fan of.
— Funny cutaways to Norm-as-Dole’s bitter facial expressions when Tim-as-Powell is going on and on.
— Great crack from Dole to Powell about how we “really kicked ass” in Vietnam.
— There’s a little greenness in Darrell’s delivery at times here, but otherwise, he’s nailing his first big sketch.
— Dole: “Prayer in school, Bob Dole’s for it. Balanced budget, Bob Dole’s for it. Vaginal sex, Bob Dole’s for it.”
— Koppel’s various interpretations of Dole’s offensive statements are made hilarious by the Koppel voice Darrell’s speaking in.
STARS: ****


LEG UP
Ann Miller (MOS), Debbie Reynolds (CHO), Elizabeth Berkley (host)

— A big audio gaffe with Don Pardo’s voice-over during the opening title sequence.
— Right out of the gate, I’m liking the way Cheri Oteri is carrying herself in her very first sketch appearance.
— Cheri’s Debbie Reynolds, regarding Mariel’s Elizabeth Berkley: “She’s so stunning, I’d like to shoot her in back of the head.”
— Fantastic chemistry between Molly and Cheri.
— I’m noticing some approval-seeking in Cheri’s performance, where she always delivers a funny line while looking directly at the studio audience in a way that she knows the audience will react. I do recall that being a habit of Cheri’s throughout her SNL tenure, and I can definitely see why that would annoy some people, but considering this is her first episode and first sketch, I find her looking-at-the-audience-for-approval thing forgivable and actually kind of charming in a weird way. We’ll see how long that goodwill of mine is going to last.
— Debbie Reynolds: “You’re looking at the lunch meat in a Gene Kelly/Donald O’Connor sandwich.”
— I love the “That’s a sore subject” part with Molly and Cheri.
— After having just gone through SNL’s early 90s era, in which female cast members were at their most underused, disrespected, and neglected, there’s a sight throughout this sketch that’s nothing short of incredible: SNL actually allowing female cast members to be funny, wild, and brash, something that was practically unheard of in season 20. An exciting sign that the Boys Club of the previous era is officially over and this new era is going to be a big change for female cast members.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
NAW’s stories about the poor state of society make you shake your head

   

— Another noticeable format change in tonight’s season premiere: the tradition of the musical guest’s first performance airing before Weekend Update has been changed. For these next five seasons, the first musical performance will often be airing AFTER Update.
— Norm gets a new Update title sequence, which is randomly accompanied by the Friends theme song for tonight only.
— The new visual quality of this season is particularly noticeable during this Weekend Update. Even though this Update has the same anchorperson and same set as the preceding season, the overall look of Update is so different this season (side-by-side comparisons between last season’s Updates and this season’s Updates below).

— Interesting-seeming idea of a Head-Shaking News segment from Nancy Walls.
— Nancy’s segment started off a little slow, but it’s gotten funnier starting with the story about the abuse a swan suffered.
— Interesting meta ending to Nancy’s commentary, with her and Norm shaking their heads over this commentary being Nancy’s big spot on her first show.
— There’s Norm’s famous “Better Than Ezra” joke, one of my favorite Norm Update jokes of all time.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Run-Around”


GETTING OFF THE PHONE
(WIF) has trouble coming up with ways to help wife (host) end phone calls

— Will’s sudden “You on the phone again, bitch?!?” killed me.
— Now Will has an even funnier bad getting-off-the-phone excuse, with his hilarious Skeletor bit.
— Will’s performance is reminding me that when giving their thoughts on this season premiere, Entertainment Weekly voted Will “Most Annoying New Cast Member” for his work in both this sketch and Get Off The Shed. I also recall someone on an SNL messageboard telling a story a few years ago of how, when he watched this season premiere with his dad when it originally aired, his dad’s first comment after the episode ended was “I hate that new guy who yells all the time”, referring to Will. Haha, I love Will and I love his performances in both this sketch and Get Off The Shed, but I can see why his loud delivery in both of those sketches would be off-putting to some viewers at the time who weren’t used to him, considering this is coming right after a season in which Chris Farley screamed his way through practically every damn sketch. Those viewers were probably worried that we were getting more of the same with Will. To me, the difference between Will Ferrell Yelling Sketches (not just the ones from tonight’s episode, but ones throughout his SNL tenure) and season 20 Chris Farley Yelling Sketches is that the Ferrell ones usually have solid writing backing them up, usually giving Will very funny dialogue to yell, whereas the season 20 Farley Yelling Sketches usually suffered from very poor, one-note writing, and seemed to be just using his yelling as a lazy crutch. It also doesn’t help that Chris had become very one-note by that late stage of his SNL tenure, giving loud and over-the-top performances even in roles that didn’t call for it, whereas Will is a much more versatile performer who would play calm and restrained just as often as, if not more than, he would play loud roles.
— Reruns of this sketch would use the dress rehearsal version of at least some portions, if not the entire sketch. One of the most noticeable differences is that in the live version I’m watching, Will delivers the line “Hide this balloon of heroin up your rectum”, whereas in the rerun version, he delivers the line as “Hide this balloon of heroin up your ass”. I can’t decide which line is funnier, as they both slay me.
— I love the random “Oh, and I killed the dog” ending, accompanied by Will holding up a stuffed dog. The dress rehearsal version of this ending shown in reruns is slightly different, as it ends on a close-up of Mariel screaming in horror after the dead dog reveal, whereas the live version stays on a wide shot of her and Will as she does a slightly different scream of horror. I prefer the version with the close-up of her scream, because it cuts to that close-up immediately after Will holds up the dead dog, which I feel is funnier because it gives the brief visual of the dead dog a more humorously disturbing tone.
STARS: ****


SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS gives the Unabomber some advice about his image

— Oh, that’s right, David Spade is still in the cast. I actually started forgetting that by this point of tonight’s episode.
— After trying to get used to SO MANY new faces in the cast tonight, it feels odd seeing a familiar face in this solo piece. Strangely, I didn’t feel that way much during Norm’s Update earlier tonight. Maybe because Norm hasn’t been a cast veteran as long as Spade.
— After reviewing the last few preceding seasons, it feels kinda lonely seeing Spade in a show that has neither Chris Farley nor Adam Sandler in it anymore.
— Considering how stale Spade got in sketches in the preceding season, the idea to now exclude him from sketches and instead give him his own isolated segment as himself actually seems somewhat refreshing. This is creative and unique for SNL, because, excluding Weekend Update, I can’t think of any prior time in the show’s history where a cast member was given a regular weekly isolated segment as themselves, unless I’m forgetting something.
— Spade’s “You’re comin’ off gay” message to the Unabomber has not aged well.
— Spade gets in a dig at the fact that Prince was the originally-booked musical guest for this episode but flaked out on the show.
— Spade’s little impression of Prince was pretty dumb, but made me laugh a lot.
— Another pretty funny dig from Spade, this time regarding the WB Network.
— Spade, on how he tries to pick up chicks by telling them he’s the Unabomber: “Lately, it works better than saying I’m on Saturday Night Live, that’s for sure.”
— Overall, the homophobia towards the Unabomber’s look does not hold up, and this overall segment had David doing his usual shtick and he still seems to have some of that aloof “I don’t wanna be here” attitude that plagued his performances a year earlier in season 20, but I gotta say, his style actually came off kinda refreshing in this new Spade In America format and I saw some hints of that acerbic wit that I remember loving from him in his first few seasons. I got some laughs in this inaugural Spade In America installment, but there’s room for improvement, which I think we’ll get going forward.
STARS: **½


BIOGRAPHY
host tells how she almost didn’t get Central Park West part

— The idea of Central Park West having four guys play the main female character is priceless, as is the clip of that happening. I especially love the four guys’ sloppy attempts at speaking in unison.
— Several funny bizarre lines from the narrator, such as Darren Starr holding a conference in a cave outside of Mexico City.
— Another funny line from the narrator, this time regarding Central Park West’s secret decision to film the four guys in a dress without any film in the camera.
STARS: either ***½ or ****, I can’t decide yet


FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
dad’s reaction to a bully

— Looks like Jack Handey has replaced Deep Thoughts with a new recurring segment. Probably a necessary change, because, as much as I hate to say it, his Deep Thoughts seemed to be running a little out of steam in the preceding season.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hook”


THE CHICKEN LADY SHOW
non-judgemental program features fetishists

— Kinda surreal seeing Mark’s Chicken Lady character from Kids In The Hall being brought to SNL. However, it’s very disappointing that they’re relegating this character to one of SNL’s biggest crutches: the public access TV show format. This idea is a waste of this character.
— I believe this is intended as a parody of The Robyn Byrd Show. Please don’t tell me that the last name Byrd is how SNL got the idea to have Chicken Lady host this show. If so, that is groanworthy.
— Will as a bearded infantilist is very funny.
— I like the occasional cutaways to a random silent man (played by new SNL writer Adam McKay) tied up in S&M gear.
— Overall, good performances from everyone, but this use of Chicken Lady was a misfire and paled badly in comparison to this character’s sketches on Kids In The Hall.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid start to the new SNL era. Right from this first episode, you can see loads of potential for this era, and there was a much more refreshing, exciting feel than the troubled preceding season had. There were several strong sketches tonight, and only one real lowlight for me (The Chicken Lady Show). (I wasn’t too crazy about tonight’s Spade In America, but I see some potential there.) I also liked the little hints of absurd random humor thrown in during some portions the show (especially in the Biography sketch), which feels different from the humor of the preceding era.
— Aside from Jim Breuer, the new cast members were represented well, with each of them getting at least one moment in the spotlight (well, maybe not David Koechner, but he appeared throughout the show, at least). Will Ferrell, by far, was the newbie who ran away with tonight’s show. You can immediately sense his strong leadership skills, and most of my biggest laughs of the night were from him.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1994-95)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Chevy Chase

Posted on

May 13, 1995 – David Duchovny / Rod Stewart (S20 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BEASTMAN
amidst a LOM conspiracy, host tries to find the Beastman of Studio 8-H

— I love “Deion Sanders hosting” being one of the strange Studio 8H happenings that Ellen lists off.
— G.E. Smith makes a somewhat rare sketch appearance in what ends up being his final episode in the SNL Band.
— Speaking of final episodes, Kevin mentions that tonight’s his last show after 9 seasons in the cast (a record at the time). Him assuming the show will be holding a surprise party for him is funny.
— Another amusing SNL dig at poor Joe Piscopo.
— I love the mock dramatic, tense scene in Lorne’s office.
— Mark’s very brief, non-speaking appearance, in which he’s told something by Duchovny and then fearfully ducks out of the scene when a loud scream is heard off-camera, ends up being his ONLY appearance all night. And this is the season finale, so you especially gotta feel bad for the guy. Thankfully, tonight doesn’t end up being his final episode.
— Elliott’s scream while saying “There he is!” when pointing out a walking-by Farley is freakin’ hysterical.
— Ah, Farley doing his “The Chris Farley Show” routine one last time…
— Overall, one of the better cold openings of this season. This was very fun, well-done, a good X-Files spoof, and a unique approach to a backstage sketch.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
even people from host’s old neighborhood haven’t heard of him

— A fairly tepid opening bit with Duchovny acting like unknown independent films he did early in his career are what people know him for.
— The pre-taped interviews with people from Duchovny’s old neighborhood are okay and have some laughs.
STARS: ***


YOU THINK YOU’RE BETTER THAN ME?
defensive people; Naomi Campbell cameo

 

— (*sigh*) Kevin in his final big role.
— A slow, weak start to this sketch so far, aside from the “You cannot read” bit with Adam.
— Even the set for this gameshow sketch looks dull, half-assed, and unfinished.
— Geez, they’re not even showing the questions that get chosen on the board like we usually see in gameshow sketches from this era. Yep, it’s official: this sketch’s set was definitely half-assed. What happened? Did they not have enough time to complete the set before airtime?
— Duchovny’s rants always ending with “burn the place down” is making me laugh, even though it’s repetitive. Duchovny’s delivery of it is what makes it work for me, which is more than I can say for the rest of this sketch so far.
— Good long-winded answer written by Duchovny on his card.
— The bit with Duchovny and Naomi Campbell is falling flat.
STARS: **


ZAGAT’S
Hank Gelfand is in agony when Beverly’s sister (host) shows up

— Like the last time they did this sketch, Farley has some funny one-liners and big smiles into the camera after each time he reads en entry from the Zagat’s guide. I especially like his one-liner “Ravioli? Holy cannoli!”
— There goes Farley trying to make Adam crack up by romantically rubbing his leg.
— Adam’s cranky one-liners are funnier than the ones in the first installment of this sketch. I especially like his memorable line “GIVE ME CANCER NOW, GOD!”
— Yeah, not sure I need the addition of Duchovny in drag.
— Good ending bit with Adam downing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Leave Virginia Alone”


WEEKEND UPDATE
LAK is depressed because her friends are getting married & having babies
Adam West (MMK) refuses to accept the new incarnations of Batman
ADS woos single moms with a suggestive Mother’s Day song

 

— A very weird and kinda awkward segue into Laura’s commentary.
— Interestingly, Laura’s SNL tenure has been bookended by an Update commentary as herself in both her first and last episode.
— Who’s idea was it to dress Laura like a Chinese restaurant waitress for this commentary?

— Laura’s commentary is a little better than the one from her first episode. In her first commentary, I said that there were nice hints of dark humor that I wish she went further with. Thankfully, she has gone a little further with it in tonight’s commentary, but still not far enough. Oh, well. For what ends up being the last impression that the underused Laura will ever get to leave on us on SNL, this overall commentary isn’t bad.
— Michael as Adam West is dead-on casting. He looks just like him here.
— Michael warns Norm that he’ll be forced to use his Bat Ray on him, but when reaching to pull it out, he awkwardly says “It’s here in my belt” and then moves on with his commentary without pulling the Bat Ray out. Was that an intentional joke, or is this YET ANOTHER example this season of SNL being too lazy to hand Michael a prop gun, much like what happened in the notorious Alternating Guitarists sketch from the Sarah Jessica Parker episode?
— Kinda odd how they’re having Duchovny play Robin in a small walk-on role during the Adam West/Batman commentary, as it seems like a role that would usually go to a cast member (can Mark McKinney get some love, SNL?).
— I almost thought we were getting a “Marion Barry loves crack” punchline for the THIRD consecutive Update, but the punchline of tonight’s Marion Barry joke turned out to humorously subvert the expected crack punchline.
— Hmm, a change of pace for Adam’s usual Update songs. There’s no guitar this time, and he’s singing his song in the style of an R&B slow jam. This has potential, and something about this change in song style feels fitting for what ends up being Adam’s final SNL episode (which he wasn’t aware of at the time).
— Fun song from Adam here, especially when the music really ramps up when he starts doing a raunchy variation of his famous Turkey Song.
STARS: ***½


PRICHARD’S
New Englanders turn violent when out-of-towners don’t go for folksy ways

— Unusual teaming of Elliott, Farley, and Morwenna, once again proving what an awkward mishmash this season’s cast is.
— I love the very dark turn this takes when Elliott removes his glasses and starts going on an accent-less intimidating rant to Michael.
— The repetition of the gag seems unnecessary, but I do love Elliott’s delivery whenever he goes on a dark rant to customers.
— Considering my negative attitude towards a lot of Adam and Spade’s performances this season, something feels oddly satisfying seeing their snarky characters in this sketch get pummeled to death.
— Even in a co-starring role, Morwenna is barely given any lines.
— Since this ends up being Elliott’s final SNL sketch, I wish it was something more along the lines of his typical oddball sketches, which have been a (mostly) consistent bright spot of this season. I wonder if his Penis Measuring Device sketch would’ve been more fitting for tonight’s season finale, since he actually is leaving SNL after this episode.
STARS: ***


RICKI LAKE
a hermaphrodite (ADS) & some celebrity impersonators

— I always love Spade’s Joan Rivers impression.
— Much like Michael as Adam West earlier tonight, Duchovny as Richard Gere is another example of spot-on casting.
— Norm’s non-attempt at a Sulu impression is very funny in that typical Norm-esque way. I really can’t understand why they’ve used Norm so rarely in sketches this season. He’s usually always a bright spot, which this season really could’ve used more of. Thankfully, they would go back to regularly using him in sketches next season.
— They’re repeating the same joke from the last Ricki Lake sketch of Ellen playing various audience members (she’s even wearing the same various costumes that she wore last time). It’s not working for me as much this time.
— Boy, the whole bit with Adam as a hermaphrodite and everybody’s disgusted reactions has not aged well at all. Judging it by 1995 standards, it’s still not funny.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Maggie May”


HORIZON REALTY
the former lead singer of a rock band (JAM) is now a real estate agent

— A rare occurrence of Jay having a lead role in two consecutive sketches, something that has a bit of a bittersweet air in retrospect, as this ends up being his final SNL episode.
— In his SNL book, Jay discusses how he had a hard time getting this sketch on the air. It kept getting cut after dress rehearsal from the last few episodes. In the version that was cut from the Courteney Cox and (I think) Damon Wayans episodes, Norm played the husband role that Duchovny plays here, while in the cut version from the Bob Saget episode, Saget played the husband role. Jay says in his book that he wishes the Saget version made it on the air, as he felt that of all the guys who played the husband, Saget gave the funniest performance. By the time this sketch FINALLY made it to a live show, Jay was so burned out on performing the sketch that he had an angry and tired attitude during it, which he felt hampered his performance.
— I’m actually liking Jay’s energy and delivery here (perhaps his real-life angry attitude during this sketch is actually helping him nail the screechy rocker performance), but I’m not caring for the sketch itself. The gag of Jay seamlessly transitioning back-and-forth between screaming rock star and calm-voiced real estate agent isn’t providing many laughs and is just going on and on.
STARS: **


POLAR BEAR CAGE
JAM, TIM, ADS, CHF, NOM are eaten by a polar bear at the zoo

— Well, folks, we’ve officially arrived at the final sketch of this era. And a pretty famous sketch from this season at that.
— Geez, is this Tim’s first appearance all night?!?
— An oddly fascinating and entertaining sketch. Also, a lot of really bizarre but memorable lines throughout this, such as Tim’s inexplicable Mr. Dictionary insult to Norm, “That bear ripped off their heads like so much volleyball”, “Who are you, The Mighty Thor?”, the “arse” callback with Norm, etc.
— I love Norm’s musing when he’s the only person left.
— Hmm, interesting ending with Duchovny revealing that this sketch was shown for future hosts as a warning of the type of people you have to deal with all week long, pretty much confirming my suspicions that this sketch was Farley, Sandler, et al. just enacting typical backstage conversations and antics of theirs (well, minus the “getting brutally mauled by a polar bear” thing, of course).
— Overall, I love this sketch, though I feel like I shouldn’t, as the humor was stupid, random, and nonsensical, we got a typical season 20 display of self-indulgent hamminess from both Farley and Sandler, and we got one of season 20’s favorite recurring gags: fluid-spurting. But dammit, it all works for me in this sketch. Maybe because I take this sketch as some kind of meta commentary on this notorious season as a whole. Or maybe because the cast is playing themselves. Either way, this sketch feels like fitting closure to the Bad Boys era.
— Speaking of this sketch possibly being a meta commentary on this notorious season as a whole, I wonder if the idea of the cast getting gruesomely killed off in this sketch one-by-one was intended to be this season’s version of how the last notorious season, season 11, ended with the cast burning in a fire. If that’s the case, then part of me kinda wishes they used the entire cast in this Polar Bear Cage sketch, though considering the large size of this cast, maybe seeing each of them being killed off one-by-one would’ve been too long and redundant.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS
SNL director Dave Wilson [real] says so-long with “tape roll”

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A somewhat meh season finale. This episode was far from terrible, but aside from two big highlights with the cold opening and Polar Bear Cage sketch, as well as the funny Zagat’s sketch, things were kinda forgettable tonight. Even Norm Macdonald’s Weekend Update was a little more on the average side than usual. At least there weren’t any true bombs tonight, though. Even the worst sketches tonight were merely weak instead of painfully terrible like the worst sketches of most episodes this season.
— This would end up being the final episode for many cast members, as SNL would go through a big overhaul over the summer. The only cast members who return next season are Norm Macdonald, Mark McKinney, Tim Meadows, David Spade, and Molly Shannon.
— The experience of reviewing the notorious Season 20 was not what I was expecting. Before doing these reviews, I had always hated season 20 with a fiery passion, like most SNL fans do. And thus, in this SNL project of mine, I came into this season expecting to give the most consistently negative reviews I’ve EVER given so far. Instead, I surprisingly ended up finding myself discovering lots of silver linings, hidden gems, and just okay moments. In fact, believe it or not, I actually feel this season had more good or okay episodes than bad. I certainly can’t say that about the other two notorious SNL seasons (seasons 6 and 11). I also feel that the number of general highs this season far outnumber that of the other two notorious seasons. That being said, when this season had lows, which it most certainly did, it was fucking BRUTAL. This season contains some of the worst episodes, sketches, moments, and decisions in SNL history. Some new lows were reached this year, and there was a COUNTLESS number of individual problems both on and off-screen that make this such a troubled season. Overall, I came out of this season realizing that, while it’s undoubtedly still a bad season, it’s markedly better than I ever gave it credit for in the past.
— I’ve now officially covered all of SNL’s three most notorious seasons. While I’m not sure how I would rank them from best to worst, I can officially say that all three of them can be filed under “undoubtedly bad, but not quite as bad as its reputation”.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bob Saget)
a mild step up


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS (Note: These picks were hastily made off the top of my head and will naturally be missing some deserving sketches. I don’t have enough time to do full, thought-out “Best Of” picks for this whole season)


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1993-94)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
The dawn of a new era. A revamped SNL debuts with a mostly-new cast and mostly-new writing staff. Mariel Hemingway is our season premiere host.

Posted on

May 6, 1995 – Bob Saget / TLC (S20 E19)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MESSAGE FROM TONY VALLENCOURT
Celtics fan Tony Vallencourt (ADS) relates his memories of Boston Garden

— It makes no sense why this particular average joe character is delivering an address to the nation in a cold opening, nor does it make sense why this particular average joe character is delivering said address from behind a desk in a professional-looking office. He does mention in passing early in this cold opening that this is his sister’s office, but that just seemed like the writers hand-waving their sloppy decision to place this character in an office set.
— There are some funny lines here and there, but the format of this cold opening has gotten boring pretty fast. This cold opening also kinda feels like a sister sketch to Adam’s Gil Graham commentaries from Weekend Update, which makes me now realize that this cold opening would’ve fit more as a Weekend Update commentary. I’m not sure if that would’ve made it funnier, but at least it wouldn’t have been as out of place as it is in the cold opening slot.
— Adam’s delivery is kinda sloppy throughout this.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
host enjoys the opportunity to say naughty words & signs an autograph

— Very constant, fast-paced snappy comments from Bob, to a tiresome degree. He can’t go through more than 5 seconds here without making a “witty” aside for every situation. I wouldn’t complain about it if his “witty” asides were actually funny. I’ve never been that big of a fan of his stand-up comedy.
— (*groan*) The “Nipples ass wiener” bit…
— I recall once seeing that monkey-scratching-his-butt-and-sniffing-his-finger video that Bob explains was deemed un-airable for America’s Funniest Home Videos.
STARS: *½


AMAZIN’ LASER
Rerun from 1/21/95


TRACK TEAM
coach of a high school track team (host) reminds his runners to go fast

— Okay, the concept of a coach’s only “insightful” advice to his track team simply being “run fast” is actually fairly funny on paper, but it’s not working AT ALL in its execution.
— This sketch feels like a poor man’s version of the Plucky Ninjas sketch from John Goodman’s season 19 episode.
— Season 20-era Kevin Nealon as a high school track student???
— Ah, now we get a twist that Kevin and the rest of the track team are in their 40s. That’s the first sorta-laugh I’ve gotten during this entire sketch.
— Very lame fourth wall-breaking ending with Bob saying to the camera “Go to commercial FAST!”
STARS: *½


AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HATE VIDEOS
accidental violence from militia & KKK

— I’ve always hated this sketch in the past and considered it emblematic of some of season 20’s problems, but I get the feeling I’m gonna appreciate the sketch more now, especially since I’ve been more lenient on season 20 in my reviews than I used to be in the past.
— The corny laughter from the fake audience is cracking me up.
— Just now, the exploding head footage during the Farley/Spade militia scene absolutely SLAYED me, even though we just got an exploding head gag earlier in the sketch.
— I like the shot of Farley in the audience with a now-headless David.
— There’s yet another sighting of Jay’s real-life arm tattoo of a giraffe(?).
— Interesting twist ending with the show turning out to be a trap to arrest the hate group who wins the contest.
— Overall, my prediction was right: I enjoyed this sketch MUCH more than I did in past viewings. Some pretty good stupidly funny humor here, and a solid ending.
STARS: ***½


DANTÉ
fashion designer (CHF) flamboyantly tells people to leave his office

— It’s just plain surreal and kinda sad to hear Phil Hartman’s voice-over in a new sketch this season (not counting his old voice-overs in old recurring stuff that still appears this season, like Deep Thoughts or Daily Affirmation). The reason for Phil’s voice-over in this sketch is because this sketch originally got cut after dress rehearsal from the preceding season’s Nancy Kerrigan episode. Here’s a GettyImages picture from that cut version of the sketch.
— I’ve been noticing throughout tonight’s sketches that Farley has been sporting A LOT of facial hair. Supposedly, he grew it out for the filming of Almost Heroes, though there would end up being long delays before filming would start.
— A very tepid sketch so far, with the unfunny endlessly repeated gag of Farley ordering people to leave his office while a dramatic music sting plays. How the hell is this supposed to be funny?
— Feels kinda odd seeing Bob Saget in a role like this. In the cut Nancy Kerrigan version of this sketch, McKean (in what was his very first SNL episode) played Bob’s role.
— Overall, not a single laugh from me during this entire sketch.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Creep”


WEEKEND UPDATE
British Little Girl (MWB) tells how television news happens in America
ELC is devastated because Full House has been cancelled
a clip from recently-deceased Howard Cosell’s appearance on SNL

— I love the audience’s very torn reaction to Norm’s hilariously brutal opening O.J. joke.
— A “Marion Barry loves crack” joke in two consecutive Updates.
— Morwenna Banks getting what would end up being her only character showcase on SNL. I recall hearing that this Little Girl character of hers is one that she was previously known for playing on a show in the U.K.
— For some reason, Morwenna is kinda reminding me a tiny bit of Mike Myers during this commentary. Something about her mannerisms and the British accent.
— Some parts of Morwenna’s commentary are more cute than funny, but I’m getting some good laughs here, and the humor in this commentary is a big change of pace from the usual tone of season 20. This is making me wish Morwenna would’ve been given the chance to showcase more of her style of humor before her insanely short-lived tenure ended.
— Funny concept of Ellen’s commentary, though her exaggerated crying voice is a bit much at times.
— I like Ellen’s line “I don’t remember the day I gave birth to quintuplets” when talking about how she remembers “important” moments in Full House more than she remembers significant events that happened in her own life.
— Bob Saget to Ellen: “Full House will always be in reruns.” Little did Bob know at the time how right he was. Two decades later, Full House still remains insanely popular in syndication, where it has enjoyed a renewed life.
— We get a tribute to the recently-deceased Howard Cosell, with an SNL clip of him in an Ed Grimley sketch from 10 years earlier. I love seeing this again, though a great clip from the fantastic season 10 being shown in the middle of a bad episode from the infamous season 20 is… well, kinda depressing. The classic season 10 clip just emphasizes the sad reality of the then-current state of season 20. Reminds me of how I felt watching a season 3 Mr. Mike sketch being replayed during the particularly awful Sarah Jessica Parker episode from earlier this season.
STARS: ****


KARL’S VIDEO
video store owner Karl bothers host & other customers

— A fairly interesting choice for a sketch to bring back, though I recall this second installment being a huge step down from the solid first one.
— Bob plays himself in this and David’s Karl character gushes over meeting him for the first time, which doesn’t make sense in the universe of this sketch, because in the first installment, Karl brags to Jeff Goldblum about how Bob Saget is a frequent customer and a “big porn freak”.
— Bob to David: “A little WD40 will straighten that creak you got in your throat.” No idea what that even means, but I laughed.
— The constant porn movie jokes throughout this sketch are getting tired.
— Overall, a few laughs, but this was indeed a huge step down from the first installment.
STARS: **


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


BOYZ II MEN
Boyz II Men (JAM), (host), (TIM), (ADS) do “I’ll Make Love To You” video

— Two minutes into this sketch, and I’m sitting here staring at my screen wondering what the bloody hell I’m watching. What in the world is the point of this sketch? Where’s the joke? Why are they singing the whole “I’ll Make Love To You” song with no comedic twist? Why are three white guys playing three of the four Boyz II Men members? Is THAT the joke? If so, why isn’t it funny? So many questions, so little laughs.
— The camera mistakenly stayed on Laura WAY too long after her bit was done. Sadly, that technical gaffe is probably the most screentime Laura has gotten in months.
— Yet another technical gaffe at the end, after the sketch fades to black.
— Well…. THAT overall sketch certainly was a colossal waste of my time.
STARS: *


WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA?
too-easy show ends early

— As a 90s kid, this sketch brings back childhood memories of watching Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego on PBS.
— Tim, Laura, and Michael are pretty funny as Rockapella.
— There’s Molly clearly playing a proto Mary Katherine Gallagher. Feels kinda surreal seeing any hint of Mary Katherine Gallagher in a season 20 episode. That’s such a Ferrell/Oteri-era type of character.
— I like Bob’s frozen facial reaction to Molly’s unexpectedly detailed correct answer of where San Diego is.
— Not a bad premise so far.
— What the hell? What was with the camera cutting back to Ellen not saying anything while looking at the camera with her mouth open, then starting to say something before awkwardly cutting herself off after the camera cuts away from her? Seems to be a lot of gaffes throughout tonight’s episode.
— Overall, the first half of this sketch was fine, but the humor died off towards the end.
STARS: **½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Red Light Special”


DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
bitter Stuart chides public for not seeing his movie

— Here comes the final Daily Affirmation sketch during Al Franken’s SNL tenure (not counting the surprise return the sketch would later make in the Al Gore-hosted episode from season 28). And, boy, what a famous installment this is.
— Great meta premise, with Stuart Smalley lamenting the fact that his movie is, as he calls it, “a box office disaster”. This premise is a nice change of pace for these Daily Affirmation sketches.
— Stuart to people who didn’t see his movie: “You were too busy getting drunk and beating your kids and cheating on your wife to see my movie!”
— I love the running gag with the various brands of cookies that Stuart’s overeating in his depressed state.
— Stuart, regarding Chessmen cookies: “I eat them, but you can stick them up your ass.” Legendary line.
— Stuart’s out-of-character bitterness here is freakin’ awesome. He is slaying me in this. This is also a nice thinly-veiled way for Al Franken to vent his real-life frustration with the movie’s lack of success.
— Overall, an excellent sketch and a strangely fitting way to end the series of Daily Affirmation sketches. This also felt like a fitting capper to a notorious SNL season, even though we’re still one episode away from the season finale. Now that I say that, I’m finding myself wishing that they saved this sketch for the season finale. This and the famous Polar Bear Cage sketch airing back-to-back would’ve been a great way to end this season. But nah, I’m glad this sketch aired in tonight’s episode instead, because this episode desperately needed a strong sketch.
STARS: *****


PACEMAKER
offputting (DAS) unwisely alienates those who could fix his odd pacemaker

— (*groan*) Yet another season 20 occurrence of David dragging out his shtick of playing snarky pricks, which is so tired and played out by this point of his SNL tenure. In this sketch, he’s coming off particularly tired and unlikable, even if the latter is the point of the character. Either way, it ain’t funny.
— Ugh, this sketch is PURE DEATH so far. What is with this season and horrible sketches taking place in a workshop? First the Mike Myers Fortune Cookie Factory tripe, and now this. It’s reminiscent of how this season keeps relying on terrible sketches dealing with ad execs pitching a commercial at a boardroom meeting.
— Very lame ending involving David’s character doing his snarky shtick on St. Peter. What a waste of Mark McKinney (note to self: get used to it).
STARS: *


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very rough episode, though not the disaster I remember it being in past viewings (hell, in the very early years of my SNL fandom, I even used to consider this to be the official “Worst. Episode. Ever.”). There were more highlights and okay moments than I had remembered, but they still were far outnumbered by the lowlights, some of which were painfully unfunny. But hey, at least we got an epic farewell installment of Daily Affirmation for the ages.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Courteney Cox)
a fairly big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
It’s the end of an era. David Duchovny hosts the final episode of the season, before SNL goes through a major overhaul.