Tag: snl

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

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

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

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


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

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


HANDI-OFF
— Rerun


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

 

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


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

 

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


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

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


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Testimony”


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

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


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

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


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


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

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


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

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


GOODNIGHTS

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


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Justine Bateman

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January 23, 1988 – Robin Williams / James Taylor (S13 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Pumping Up With Hans & Franz- the duo criticize Jimmy The Greek’s remarks

— This again so soon? While it’s good that these characters are continuing to gain popularity, do we really need them two episodes in a row? Granted, SNL had a month-long Christmas break between these last two episodes, but I’m watching/reviewing these SNL episodes in chronological order on a day-to-day basis, and thus it feels like Hans and Franz literally just appeared.
— Interesting change of pace at least, with Hans and Franz here to talk about controversial statements Jimmy The Greek recently made about black people having superior thighs to white people.
— I got a big laugh from them mentioning Webster (Emmanuel Lewis) as proof that black people aren’t stronger than white people.
— An overall decent cold opening with some funny comments toward Jimmy The Greek.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about safe sex & the importance of using condoms

— I absolutely LOVE Robin’s entrance in this, busting through the doors and immediately going into a very extended, energetic, fun dance sequence all around the stage as the SNL Band continues playing the theme music (first screencap above). This has always been my personal all-time favorite entrance that a host has ever made for their monologue. Hell, this entrance of Robin’s was so epic that SNL even used a clip of it for an In Memoriam to Robin that was added to a season 39 summer rerun when Robin died in 2014.
— Robin’s whole talk about prophylactics has tons of funny lines.
— Now he’s making me laugh even more with his bit about Shakespearean actors in porn.
— Incredible monologue overall. I loved this just as much as Robin’s season 12 monologue. You can tell the audience found this phenomenal as well, judging from their particularly huge applause at the end.
STARS: ****½


COMPULSION
— Rerun


BIRTH TAPE
to recommend birth filming, (host) shows video of wife (VIJ) having baby

— I’m really liking this premise.
— Very funny reveal that Victoria’s the one holding the camera while she’s in labor.
— Memorable and hilarious part with Robin stretching out his mouth to imitate what Victoria looks like “down there” in her labor-induced state.
— I like the use of an obvious doll that Victoria has birthed.
— A fun overall sketch and was absolutely perfect for Robin.
STARS: ****


LEARNING TO FEEL
Denise Venetti (NOD) tells patients “look at yourself”

— Nora’s intense hand-on-face expressions when giving her guests advice are pretty funny.
— I liked Nora’s rapid, confusing, back-and-forth “Look at Glenn, look at Ann” to Phil and Jan.
— This overall sketch was okay and Nora gave a good performance, but you got the joke of the sketch really quickly and it didn’t expand from there. I’m not looking forward to this sketch eventually becoming recurring.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Never Die Young”


WEEKEND UPDATE
one-man mobile uplink unit ALF reports on the caucuses from Iowa

— Loved Dennis’ opening line, where he vaguely addresses the aforementioned controversial Jimmy The Greek statement by saying “So what if their thighs are bigger than ours? It’s that other thing that eats at me.”
— Lots of rapid-fire random one-line jokes from Dennis so far tonight.
— The debut of Al Franken’s one-man mobile uplink unit, a bit that I’ve always liked.
— A good laugh from Al professionally detailing the pain he’s in from carrying around all the gadgets.
— Good overall commentary from Al.
— Great ad-lib from Dennis after a blown joke resulted in deadly silence from the audience.
— Dennis’ random “What IS normal heterosexual sex?” bit didn’t work at all.
STARS: ***½


THE 8TH ANNUAL ACE AWARDS
reruns, tickers, infomercials get their due

— Dana is very funny in his impression of stand-up comedian Gallagher.
— I have no idea who Robin is playing, nor why the camera keeps cutting to such an extreme close-up of him whenever he speaks.
— Strange sketch so far.
— Jon’s acceptance speech has a few laughs, which is more than I can say for almost anything else in this sketch so far.
— The clips they’re showing are making less and less sense. If that’s the joke, it’s not working.
— I’m enjoying Nora’s impression of Shelley Duvall.
— For some reason, I liked Phil’s grumpy facial reaction when he’s announced as the winner.
— Overall, despite a few bright spots, I was not a fan of this sketch. The randomness in it just didn’t work. SNL usually has a poor track record with award show sketches, and this one is no exception.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Sweet Potato Pie”


I WUV YOU
(host)’s inability to sincerely say “I love you” irks girlfriend (JAH)

— A promising use of Robin’s knack for doing different voices.
— If you know me, you’ll know I loved the quick part with Robin doing Three Stooges voices.
— The ending was… okay, I guess.
— Overall, ehh, I wasn’t too crazy about this sketch as a whole. Not sure what about it didn’t work for me.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “Lonesome Road”


DISCOVER
Peter Graves (PHH) interviews spirits channelled through (host)

— Some particularly funny bad analogies from Phil’s Graves early on in this.
— Some big laughs from Robin’s channeling of Lambda’s spirit.
— Robin channeling a random Jewish guy from Pittsburgh is pretty funny.
— This is strange for a Discover sketch. For once, the humor is more focused on the guest than on Phil’s Graves.
— Overall, this was okay for what it was, but I definitely prefer the previous Discover sketches. It didn’t feel right seeing Graves as basically a straight man for once, when the appeal of these Discover sketches has always been Graves’ idiotic statements and actions.
STARS: ***


60TH BIRTHDAY
on his 60th birthday, host is visited by chip-off-the-old-block son (DAC)

— Love this concept of Robin playing himself as an old man in the future.
— When it’s announced that Ronald Reagan is still alive at age 106, I loved a surprised Robin commenting how he assumed in the past that all that would be left of Reagan in the future is a wig and a colon.
— Another great line from Robin, this time remarking how future Michael Jackson looks like a photo negative of Katharine Hepburn.
— Very fun and dead-on Robin Williams impression from Dana.
— After a very long run of wacky ad-libs from his son, I love Robin’s only response to that being “I should’ve worn a prophylactic.”
— Some funny lines about where Robin’s career has gone in the future.
— Lots of great back-and-forths between Robin and Dana throughout this sketch.
— Absolutely loved the line about Dennis Miller being a U.S. Senator. Even funnier in hindsight, considering that prediction ended up coming true for another SNL performer from this era.
— After the aforementioned Dennis Miller mention, Dana works in his impression of him. Robin’s response has me wondering if that was an ad-lib on Dana’s part.
— Robin, after his son has left: “I don’t have the heart to tell him he’s a foster child.” That hilarious line was not only a killer way to end this sketch, but was also a perfect end to tonight’s episode in general. However, I’m aware that this sketch originally aired earlier in the show during the original airing, and was moved to the end of the show in the rerun version I’m reviewing.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty fun episode, as is usually the case whenever Robin Williams hosts. However, I’m not as big a fan of this episode as I was of Robin’s season 12 hosting stint. That episode was pretty much flawless in my eyes, whereas tonight’s episode had a disappointing post-Update half, aside from the 60th Birthday sketch. That being said, what worked in this episode worked well, and there were some memorable moments.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Paul Simon)
— a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Carl Weathers

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December 19, 1987 – Paul Simon / Linda Ronstadt with The Mariachi Vargas (S13 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
the apostles prepare a surprise party for Jesus’ 30th birthday

— I like the humorously casual discussion the apostles are having about Jesus.
— Very funny bit with Jon wanting Jesus to turn the pitcher of water into wine.
— Jan’s abrupt “Live from New York” had no real segue and seemed awkwardly shoehorned in. That, coupled with the fact that host Paul Simon appeared in this, makes me wonder if this wasn’t the cold opening in dress rehearsal.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Much like in the previous season’s Christmas episode (William Shatner), the SNL Band plays a snippet of “Joy to the World” at the beginning of the opening montage before segueing into the regular theme music.


MONOLOGUE
host & senator Paul Simon [real] tell how their engagements are confused

— Great start with Paul making his monologue entrance alongside senator Paul Simon.
— Some good laughs from the mix-up over which Paul Simon was supposed to host, as well as them recalling times where one of them mistakenly showed up at an event meant for the other.
— An overall funny, charming, and memorable monologue.
STARS: ****


PUMPING UP WITH HANS & FRANZ
(no synopsis available)

— These characters are now officially popular, with them immediately getting a good amount of audience applause while they’re introducing themselves at the beginning of this.
— Some laughs from them forcing an injured Paul to do a workout.
— Nice to see the reappearance of Phil’s flabby Helmut character.
— Good continuity, updating us on Helmut’s physical progress since his last appearance, even showing still photos of his last appearance.
STARS: ***½


MASTER THESPIAN
Master Thespian improvises while tackling Santa role at Macy’s

 

— Funny moment with the camera pulling back and revealing that Master Thespian’s journal writing has been taking place in a men’s bathroom.
— Love seeing another appearance of Phil as a Frank Nelson-esque boss (“Eee-Yeeessssssss?”).
— The “pull my finger” bit was hilarious, especially Phil’s grossed-out vocalization. Only this era could get away with that kind of fart humor without it coming off groanworthy.
— I like this premise of Master Thespian as a mall Santa.
— Very funny overdramatic reaction from Master Thespian when he gets fired.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Los Laureles” & ” La Cigarra”


CASTAWAYS
(host) is amazed by craftsmanship of gifts given by fellow castaway (VIJ)

— Good laughs from Victoria revealing she made Paul’s watch herself, detailing the complicated process of how she made it with limited resources.
— More solid humor from how cheap Paul’s gifts look in comparison to Victoria’s.
— Great ending with the reveal of a hidden motor scooter.
— An overall very strong and charming sketch. One of Victoria’s best.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
the people say Gary Hart’s crazy for re-entering the presidential race
NBC’s shocking find is a clip of Jerry Lewis
DEM & Dennis Miller (DAC) debate whether Gary Hart’s decision was sound

 

— Decent bit with “The People” giving their opinion on Gary Hart.
— Dennis is coming off a little marble-mouthed at times tonight.
— Hilarious random bit with Dennis presenting a goofy 1950s clip of Jerry Lewis as “shocking and disturbing” footage.
— Dennis’ message towards Donna Rice was great.
— Yes! The debut of Dana’s Dennis Miller impression. As I mentioned earlier this season in my review of the Candice Bergen episode, Dana’s Dennis impression was supposed to debut that night in a similar point/counterpoint debate on Weekend Update, but there was a mix-up with Dana erroneously thinking the segment got cut, leading Dennis to awkwardly abort the segment on-air.
— Dana’s impression of Dennis is freakin’ dead-on and hilarious. I’ll ignore the bad wig, though.
— An overall excellent commentary from Dana’s Dennis.
— A very strong overall Update from Dennis, and a great comeback after the slump his Updates have been in the last handful of episodes.
STARS: ****


SUBWAY
(PHH) solicits money on a subway car by changing his story with each pass

 

— Love the turn with Phil revealing his hobo bit was just an act for a play he’s performing in.
— I really like where this is going, with Phil constantly switching his story and personality. This is a great showcase of Phil’s talents.
— Excellent ending with Phil changing his act to a stick-up robbery.
STARS: ****


SKI LODGE
in a ski lodge, Sweeney sisters “treat” host to a medley of his songs

— Okay, here’s the sketch that commenter Rssk informed me that the now-notorious Brynn Hartman appears as an extra in (and supposedly is even shown during a close-up at one point). Even though it will probably feel kinda chilling seeing her, I’ll keep my eye open on which female extra may possibly be her. I’m not very familiar with what she looked like, though. All I have to go on is the fact that she had blonde hair.
— I like the Sweeney Sisters launching into a Paul Simon medley, accompanied by a shot of Paul looking uncomfortable.
— Funny part with the Sisters forcing a reluctant Paul to join in during the name parts of the 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover chorus.
— A very solid Sweeney Sisters sketch overall.
— Okay, so… which blonde female extra was Brynn? The ski accident victim in the leg cast (seen in the first screencap above, as well as in the background of the last two screencaps above) or the woman in the winter sweater (seen in the background of the fourth screencap above)? I’m guessing it’s the former. Can anyone confirm?
STARS: ****


SUCCINCTLY SPEAKING
Tonto (JOL), Tarzan (KEN), Frankenstein (PHH) opine

— The debut of Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein.
— I like Nora casually introducing Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein as her talk show guests, as if it’s perfectly normal to have them on.
— This is sometimes inaccurately remembered by SNL fans as being a Pat Stevens sketch. Nora is actually just playing a generic, non-recurring talk show host here.
— I like Nora suddenly going from asking Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein simple questions to asking them about the INF treaty.
— There goes the most well-remembered part of the sketch, and a legendary SNL moment in general: Phil suddenly busting out laughing uncontrollably one of the times he’s supposed to say “Fire bad!” Absolutely classic, made even more noteworthy by the fact that it’s a usually-unflappable pro who’s breaking character so badly. While Phil would go on to have a (very) few minor instances of laughing out of character in later seasons (most notably a Matt Foley sketch from the Martin Lawrence episode, where an absurd line flub from Chris Farley causes every cast member in the scene, including Phil, to lose it and crack up), they were nowhere near as major as his character break in this sketch.
— The hilarity continues as the sketch concludes with Phil’s Frankenstein walking around destroying the set while Phil is still laughing out of character. It almost feels like getting up and destroying the set was an ad-lib from Phil in an attempt to divert attention away from his character breaking, though it’s obviously not, because the wall he tears through is clearly a breakaway prop.
STARS: *****


SEASON’S GREETINGS
Tonto, Tarzan, Frankenstein sing “Away in a Manger”

— And with the debut of debut of Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein in the preceding sketch, we now get the debut of a recurring segment with them performing a holiday song.
— This is great. It’s kinda hard to explain why this is so funny, especially as it eventually becomes a recurring bit, but it just works and has a silliness that I love about this era of SNL.
— For some reason, a stagehand is seen mopping in the background throughout this.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & musical guest perform “Under African Skies”


TEXAS DINER
at the truck stop, Anita & friends reflect on the events of the past year

— Hmm, here’s a sketch that I have no memory of from my past viewings of this episode.
— I think this is the same diner waitress (Anita) that Jan played in a well-done slice-of-life sketch from the Willie Nelson episode the previous season. Never knew this was a recurring character. I wonder if it’s also the same character Jan plays in the memorable Sexual Tensions Diner sketch with Alec Baldwin.
— Interesting argument these people are making of why 1987 was such a bad year (Black Monday, televangelist scandals, Oliver North, etc.).
— I like Jan’s character occasionally speaking in uncharacteristic intelligent, complicated terms.
— Overall, this was a nice, low-key, realistic piece, which is something this cast is always great at pulling off. Jan, in particular, shined here, as she usually does as this character.
STARS: ***½


A MESSAGE TO FUTURE VIEWERS
JOL uses sci-fi cliches to address those watching the show in syndication

— Here’s another sketch I have no memory of ever seeing in the past. I thought I remembered tonight’s overall episode really well.
— I love this premise of Jon delivering a message to future generations watching this episode in syndication. I always get a kick out of this type of thing, as well as seeing what people in the past thought the future would be like.
— Some funny wild assumptions Jon is making about the future, and I liked his line threatening to invent a time machine so he can come and kill us future viewers.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A great episode. Easily my favorite of the season so far, and was very welcome after a string of episodes ranging from average to forgettable (the Bergen, DeVito, and Dickinson episodes). Everything in tonight’s episode worked for me, and there were lots of memorable sketches and moments, as well as a fun, feel-good vibe, all of which are things I always love to see in an SNL Christmas episode.
— I’d like to add that Phil Hartman had a particularly fantastic night. I think he appeared in literally every single sketch except for Castaways and Message To Future Viewers. This episode was one of the finest displays of Phil’s strengths, versatility, and “glue”-like skills. And to put it over the top, he had an all-time legendary moment with his Succinctly Speaking character break.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Angie Dickinson)
— a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter 1988, with host Robin Williams

Posted on

December 12, 1987 – Angie Dickinson / David Gilmour, Buster Poindexter (S13 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
incompetent translator (KEN) covers his mistakes during Gorbachev speech

— A lot of laughs from Kevin’s bad translations, especially him pulling out a language translation book at one point.
— Ha, now he’s making up stuff in his translations to cover the fact that he messed up.
— Phil’s response to Kevin’s long-winded, absurd, convoluted explanation was very funny, with him simply uttering a taken-aback order to “…….Get out.” He also had another fantastic line right afterwards, with his offended “Not ONLY have you disgraced the Fox Network…”
— Great “Live from New York” variation, with Kevin’s translation of one Gorbachev statement being “Live out of New York, it’s night, this Saturday!”
STARS: ****


OPENING MONTAGE
— What’s with A. Whitney Brown’s picture constantly changing this season? He’s had a different one in almost every episode this season. (comparisons below)


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— An extremely short monologue, where nothing noteworthy was said. Still, Angie at least came off likable and showed good enthusiasm for doing the show.
STARS: **½


DOCU-FRESH
Docu-Fresh rids your historical documents of constitution odor

— The “constitution odor” voice-over cracked me up.
— Pretty solid commercial overall. I really liked the randomness of this concept.
STARS: ***½


WEDGIE FEVER!
masochist contestant (JOL) gives wrong answers on purpose

— There’s the name Dale Butterworth, making it obvious who wrote this.
— The concept of this is hilarious.
— Funny walk-on from Kevin as last week’s winner, especially the line about there no longer being a chance of him having children.
— Jon’s repeated, increasingly-higher-pitched yells of “Ooooklahoooma!” are priceless.
— I like it gradually being revealed that Jon is losing on purpose.
— Overall, I really liked this sketch. Makes sense that Andy Breckman wrote it, as it’s reminiscent of the type of conceptual gameshow/talk show sketches he often wrote for the show in seasons 9 and 10. I can especially picture this sketch appearing in season 9.
STARS: ****


DONAHUE
Raisa Gorbachev’s (NOD) popularity bugs Nancy Reagan (JAH)

— Donahue listing off unpleasant things about Nancy Reagan has some laughs.
— Funny part with the Donahue audience’s disappointed “Aww”s when Raisa announces “We have no intention to take over your country.”
STARS: ***


CHRISTMAS PARTY
guests at a party accidentally bring up each other’s traumatic memories

— This sketch opens with a shot of the same blonde female extra who I erroneously thought may have possibly been Brynn Hartman in the Wall Street Week sketch from this season’s Sean Penn episode. However, I’m told that Brynn DOES appear as an extra in a close-up during a Sweeney Sisters sketch in the very next episode. I’ll try to see if I can spot her when reviewing that episode.
— I had almost forgotten about tonight’s host until now. Why is this the first sketch Angie Dickinson is appearing in all night?
— Pretty funny premise of every innocent comment somebody makes turning out to remind somebody else of a traumatic incident in their life. However, I can’t help but notice the similarities to a certain classic Carpool sketch the show would later do with Alec Baldwin and Kristen Wiig (the “Bobby McFerrin raped my grandmother” sketch).
— The ending was kinda weak.
— Overall, this was a decent sketch. However, while it’s probably unfair for me to compare the quality of this to a sketch that hadn’t even aired yet at the time, this pales in comparison to the aforementioned Baldwin/Wiig sketch.
STARS: ***


WEEKEND UPDATE
VIJ’s star-rating system complicates her review of Three Men & A Baby
Stephen King (JOL) types rapid-fire while DEM interviews him
AWB draws parallels between deals with the Soviets & Native Americans

 

— Victoria’s confusing rating system is pretty funny.
— Wait, that’s it??? Victoria’s whole commentary is over already? That was short as hell and, while I got laughs from the rating system, it felt like this commentary was supposed to go further.
— I liked the audience’s negative reaction to Dennis’ lame “Three Wise Men and a Baby” joke, followed by Dennis ad-libbing “settttlllleeee” to the crowd.
— Like last week, some of Dennis’ jokes have been surprisingly weak and are getting tepid audience reactions. Some jokes have been working tonight, though.
— I like the visual of Jon as Stephen King.
— The very brief writer’s block part of Jon’s commentary was funny.
— A. Whitney’s overall Big Picture commentary from tonight was decent, though no particular comment really stood out to me, besides maybe the “history repeats itself” bit towards the end.
— Tonight’s overall Update was marginally better than the disappointing outing in the last episode, but that’s not saying much. Dennis still appears to be in a slump.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Buster Poindexter performs “Hot Hot Hot”


POLICE WOMEN
Mary Beth Lacey (NOD) goes undercover a la Pepper (host)

— Interesting idea of a Cagney and Lacey/Police Woman crossover.
— Jon’s “Oh my god, get outta here!” as soon as he sees Nora’s unattractive Lacey enter his office was hilarious.
— Jon has so many funny lines in general towards Nora’s Lacey. There’s also some good laughs from his general sleaziness.
— Nora’s getting some pretty good laughs herself.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
David Gilmour performs “Song For My Sara”


AIRPLANE
stewardess (host) discreetly checks if anyone on board can land the plane

— I like the subtle hint that the plane needs an emergency pilot.
— Okay, after a promising beginning, this sketch is starting to drag badly.
— Okay, they’re slowly starting to win me back. The part with Angie smothering Jan with a pillow was hilarious.
— The ending with Phil’s helpful character turning out to be a lunatic was very funny.
— Overall, a slow, dull build-up, but ended up having a funny payoff.
STARS: ***


THE ASSIMILATED JEW’S HANUKKAH
Henry Kissinger (ALF) touts record album

— Another good use of Al Franken’s Kissinger impression.
— The “Assimilated Jews Hanukkah” record title was worth a laugh.
— I’m enjoying this premise of Hanukkah-ized classic Christmas songs.
— Okay, this is starting to kinda run out of steam after the joke was established. Still fairly funny, though.
STARS: ***


DRUNK MAN
alcohol-fuelled hero (DAC) has superhuman confidence

— Funny entrance from Phil as a shady-looking tough guy.
— Interesting “Drunk Man” turn this sketch has suddenly taken.
— Drunk Man’s theme song is the same instrumental that would later be used as Norm Macdonald’s Weekend Update theme music from 1995-1997 (his Updates had a different theme during his first season as anchorperson in 1994-95). SNL would also re-use this instrumental as the theme song to another superhero sketch: Young Superboy, starring Macaulay Culkin.
— Good drunk performance from Dana.
— Loved Phil’s panicky reaction to Drunk Man pointing the gun at him.
— An overall okay sketch, if nothing particularly great.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Eh, an okay episode, I guess. But I dunno… I can’t help but feel it had a forgettable quality to it. I came out of this episode not having too exciting a feeling for what I just watched. Still, I guess I can’t complain TOO much, as there wasn’t anything that I strongly disliked, and there were two segments I felt were great (Wedgie Fever and the Gorbachev Translator cold opening).


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Danny DeVito)
— a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Paul Simon hosts the Christmas episode

Posted on

December 5, 1987 – Danny DeVito / Bryan Ferry (S13 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Ronald Reagan (PHH) takes Mikhail Gorbachev (host) on movie-related tour

— Interesting casting of Danny DeVito as Gorbachev.
— Very funny bit with Reagan confusing the Jefferson Memorial for The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
— The war room bit was pretty funny.
— Decent cold opening overall.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
Bruce Springsteen went to high school with host- his yearbook proves it

— Immediately, Danny is coming off as funny as usual.
— Some good laughs from the alleged yearbook photos of himself and Bruce Springsteen.
STARS: ***½


HANDI-OFF
get rid of those unwanted extra digits with Handi-Off & Toe-Rific

— Hilarious initial reveal of Victoria’s extra digits.
— Love the time lapse of the extra digits rotting and falling off.
— Overall, an excellent and very memorable commercial, and one of the best Victoria Jackson showcases.
STARS: *****


AT THE MOVIES
Siskel (KEN) & Ebert (PHH) review all-male adult movies

— I recall it being said that this is the only time on SNL where Kevin Nealon’s real-life baldness was on full display (he’s notorious for allegedly wearing a toupee for most of his career).
— Great concept of Siskel and Ebert reviewing all-male adult movies.
— Funny touch with the boom mic blatantly entering the shot during the Pizza Boy porn clip.
— Amusing how every film clip ends in a massage.
STARS: ***½


CHURCH CHAT
host sings “Here Comes Santa Claus,” Church Lady is on drums

 

— Some really funny comments from Church Lady detailing Jessica Hahn’s Playboy picture.
— Nice use of G.E. Smith and Cheryl Hardwick.
— Here’s a classic moment I’ve always remembered with Danny and Church Lady performing a Christmas number together.
— Fantastic display of Dana’s real-life drumming talent.
— Memorable Church Chat installment overall.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Right Stuff”


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN cycles through cliches instead of talking about airplane accidents

— Boy, a lot of Dennis’ jokes are getting a tepid audience reaction so far tonight.
— *groan* Yet ANOTHER topic-changing commentary from Kevin.
— A few funny comments from Kevin, particularly how the next best thing to being with your girlfriend is being with someone who looks like her. But, man, at this point, I am BEYOND tired of the topic-changing portions of his commentaries. Please stop with these.
— Interestingly, we get a joke about Joe Piscopo, with him being represented by a picture of the Michelin Man.
— Wasn’t crazy about tonight’s overall Update. Hate to say it, because I usually really like Dennis’ Updates, but I’m starting to wonder if he’s in a slump lately. The last few Updates before tonight’s episode were overly average, and now we get this disappointing Update tonight.
STARS: **


ANN LANDERS’ PLAYHOUSE
how to ward off a fresh date (host)

— I liked Nora sternly telling a horny Danny, regarding herself “This cow’s milk isn’t free.”
— The ending with Danny forcibly being on top of Nora was kinda funny, but ehh, this overall sketch didn’t work for me. Felt empty, like a lot of things were missing or like this was only half-written.
STARS: **


MONA LISA
(PHH) appraises worthless items for a white trash couple (host) & (JAH)

— The bit with the obviously-fake tiny stradivarius was funny.
— This is getting increasingly funnier with the reveals of what Danny and Jan’s other “valuables” really are.
— Didn’t care too much for the ending twist with the Orlov Diamond.
STARS: ***½


JUNGLE ROOM
Nancy Maloney returns to Eddie Spimozo’s Jungle Room to sing again

— Some laughs from Jon’s questioning to his mother over the phone.
— Nice continuity by mentioning Joey Spimozo, the character that Sean Penn played in the last installment of this sketch.
— Man, I’m getting REALLY tired of the repeated joke in these Spimozo sketches with Jon telling Kevin “Shut up!” every time he says something. Is that gag really worth repeating 50 damn times in every installment of this sketch?
— Victoria’s character badly singing a song while constantly changing her pitch is a gag that was already used in an earlier Eddie Spimozo sketch, and wasn’t necessary to repeat.
— Overall, I didn’t like this Spimozo installment too much. I’m surprised by how down I was on this, considering how much I usually love these authentic black-and-white sketches from this era. I’m starting to notice that these Spimozo sketches have gradually been getting weaker and weaker lately.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Kiss & Tell”


DOORMAN
just before (PHH) moves out of doorman’s (host) building, they reminisce

— Not sure where this sketch is going so far.
— Amusing visual of Phil entering the scene in that wig with a big gray patch in it.
— I like the descriptions of odd occupants who live in the building.
— I’m gradually enjoying this sketch more and more.
— Overall, this sketch was hard for me to figure at first, but it turned out to be a likable, softer, slice-of-life piece with good understated humor. The ending was especially nice.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS
host says “hi” to wife Rhea Perlman [real] in audience

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Kind of a mixed episode. There was some really strong material, mainly in the fast half, but there was also some really subpar material, mainly in the second half. Even Update had an off night. This all balances out to an average episode.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Candice Bergen)
— a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Angie Dickinson

Posted on

November 21, 1987 – Candice Bergen / Cher (S13 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
George Bush (DAC) announces to nation “I’m no wimp, I’ve staged a coup”

— First instance of Dana’s George Bush impression being front-and-center in his own sketch. This is often mistaken as the debut of his Bush impression; it actually debuted in a small role during the first cold opening of this season.
— This is odd to watch in hindsight. Dana’s Bush is almost NOTHING like how it would go on to be. There are mildly exaggerated hand movements here, but that’s it.
— A decent opening overall, with some humor from Bush’s ways of proving he’s not a wimp.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
while holding a turkey, host talks about her childhood walking bird

— A unique monologue entrance, coming out holding a live turkey.
— Very good story from Candice about her childhood pet turkey, especially the funny ending regarding the turkey’s inability to fly off a roof.
STARS: ***½


PUMPING UP WITH HANS & FRANZ
a look at flabby man Helmut’s (PHH) faults

— This sketch officially becomes recurring. Strange how these characters went from being the final sketch of the night in their first appearance to being the lead-off sketch in their second appearance, especially considering their first appearance didn’t kill with the audience.
— The audience is now starting to slowly latch on to the “We want to pump… (*clap*)… you up” catchphrase, giving recognition laughter as soon as the line starts to come up, and doing the “(*clap*)” in unison with Hans and Franz.
— Love Phil’s walk-on as Helmut.
— Some good laughs from Hans and Franz doing a breakdown of Phil’s flabbiness.
— Funny line from Kevin threatening to wring his sweaty sweatshirt into a glass so he can make us drink it.
— Overall, an improvement over these characters’ debut.
STARS: ***½


ANNE BOLEYN
after considering execution options, Anne Boleyn (host) is decapitated

— A lot of laughs from Candice’s overly specific questions about what happens to her head after she’s beheaded.
— Great part with Phil’s details on the process of being drawn and quartered.
— Very funny absurd question with Candice asking if her severed head will be shot through a cannon at her body.
— This sketch’s dialogue in general is absolutely hilarious.
— The beheading sequence is priceless, with the blood squirting onto the spectators while Candice is heard giving exaggerated screams and groans off-camera.
— Even the screen crawl epilogue at the end has some really funny lines.
— Overall, I absolutely loved this entire sketch.
— I’m aware that this sketch’s inclusion on Phil’s “Best Of” has baffled some people, who feel this sketch comes off out of place in a Phil Hartman highlights compilation because this is centered more on Candice Bergen than on Phil. I disagree. I understand EXACTLY why this sketch was put in Phil’s “Best Of”: it’s a perfect display of his very funny knack for delivering absurd dialogue in such a straight manner.
STARS: ****½


MANUFACTURERS OF MACHINE PART COMPONENTS UNITED TO SAVE OUR COURTS
Judge Anthony Kennedy’s stance on machine part tax has dire implications

— The overly complicated wordiness in this ad is providing some good laughs, as is the seriousness that such a minor subject is being treated with.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “We All Sleep Alone”


MAYFLOWER MADAM
prostitution at the first Thanksgiving; Sydney Biddle Barrows cameo

— A fairly interesting intro.
— Funny touch with Candice’s dramatic hand-biting gesture at end of one scene.
— Good part with Phil’s Miles Standish unconvincingly posing as an Indian.
— Jon being found dead with a big smile on his face (because he died while having sex) was pretty funny.
STARS: ***


CHING CHANGE
Ching Change dislikes Loose’s positive-stereotype boyfriend (PHH)

— Please, no.
— Hmm, interesting how tonight’s installment of this sketch is actually openly addressing how Ching Change is, as this installment calls, an insulting caricature and a damaging stereotype.
— And now we get Phil as “Matthew Chen, Positive Ethnic Role Model”. Yep, it’s official: tonight’s Ching Change installment is definitely intended to address criticisms that I’m assuming the show had been receiving back then for Dana’s offensive portrayal.
— I really like Phil’s portrayal of his comically-PC character.
— Some laughs from Ching Change awkwardly trying to speak normal like Phil’s character.
— Candice to Ching Change: “You ARE a fairly broad caricature, but nothing beyond the realm of possibility.” A lot of meta commentary in this sketch.
— Overall, one of the better Ching Change sketches by default, for being fully self-aware and, in a way, apologetic. I doubt it’ll last, though.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE
lack of counterpoint hampers DEM’s attempt to debate Gorbachev address

— The bit with a sperm-blocking procedure being represented by a clip from a football game fell flat.
— Very odd moment just now. During his Gorbachev rant, Dennis throws to a guest correspondent to do a counterpoint, but looks to his left and sees that nobody has shown up (last screencap above). Dennis is then told something by someone who’s off-camera. Dennis then amusedly ad-libs to the camera “I’ve always waited for this to happen. Three years and a sketch blew up on live TV”, and then he moves on with the remaining news jokes. I recall once reading an explanation of what happened: there was supposed to be a point/counterpoint segment with Dennis debating himself, played by Dana (which would’ve been the debut of Dana’s impression of Dennis), but Dana didn’t show up because he erroneously thought the segment got cut. I honestly don’t understand how that kind of mistake can happen. Aren’t there stage managers at SNL who inform performers when they need to get ready for a segment? How’d they let THIS one slip through?
STARS: ***


THOUGHT BUBBLE
visible thought balloons reveal what (PHH) & (host) are really thinking

   

— I like how Phil and Candice’s respective thought bubbles are becoming more and more random, especially Candice visualizing Hitler and footage of a baboon.
— I’ve always considered this a companion piece to the Slide Whistles sketch from this season’s Steve Martin episode. In fact, before doing these reviews, I used to sometimes get both sketches confused for each other, thinking the Steve Martin sketch had the thought bubbles and the Candice Bergen sketch had the slide whistles. I wonder if both sketches were written by the same person.
— Very funny thought bubble from Kevin as the waiter.
— Good ending with Candice’s earlier visual of a man crashing through a window turning out to happen for real as she pushes Phil out the window.
STARS: ***½


PEEPING TOM
peeping tom (KEN) interrupts Mace’s attempts to do it with hooker (JAH)

— I loved the first Mace sketch from the previous season, so I’m looking forward to this follow-up.
— I like Jan as the uninterested hooker (her second prostitute role of the night, by the way).
— Phil’s various intense outbursts at Kevin are hilarious.
— Some good laughs from Phil’s forced ways of segueing back into his foreplay with Jan.
— Funny visual of an upside-down Kevin peeking in through the window. I wonder how they pulled that off.
— Not sure if I liked the ending or not.
— Overall, while I didn’t like this sketch as much as Mace’s first sketch, I still enjoyed this, despite a somewhat dead audience.
STARS: ***


COUNTRY THROUGH AND THROUGH
singer Lonnie Braddox (DAC) is ashamed to be “Country Through & Through”

— Funny disturbing details about Dana’s father, especially the surprising line about a molestation attempt.
— I like how this has eventually turned into a blatant anti-country song.
STARS: ***


EINSTEIN EXPRESS
— Rerun from last season.
— I forgot to point this out the first time I reviewed this, but the nameplate on Phil’s desk says Harry Butterworth (screencap below, though the nameplate is hard to read in it), which is a giveaway that Andy Breckman wrote this commercial. But why “Harry Butterworth” instead of the usual “Dale Butterworth”?


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Found Someone”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A consistently good episode, even if nothing stood out as particularly strong besides the Anne Boleyn sketch. Couldn’t help but feel, though, that Candice Bergen was a little underutilized as the host, especially in the last quarter of the show where I don’t think she was in ANY sketches. Still, it was nice to see her on the show again after such a long hiatus, and to see how she worked with a completely different cast than the one she’s worked with before.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Robert Mitchum)
— a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Danny DeVito

Posted on

November 14, 1987 – Robert Mitchum / Simply Red (S13 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
The Rolling Paper Chase- what Douglas Ginsburg (JOL) was like in the ’70s

— Good reveal of Jon playing Douglas Ginsburg, or as he calls himself, “Captain Toke”.
— Funny premise for a Paper Chase parody, which makes this SNL’s second parody of that show during this calendar year.
— I like the fake freeze-frame while we see an epilogue on what each character went on to do.
— The look on Dana’s face during his fake freeze-frame close-up is hilarious. (last screencap above)
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— I like how his only understanding of doing SNL is “In 90 minutes, I go to a party”.
— A very short, to-the-point monologue, which seems to be becoming the norm lately.
STARS: ***


COMPULSION
cleanliness-obsessed (JAH) uses the Calvin Kleen disinfectant

 

— This is a fantastic, dead-on, and memorable parody of a famous Calvin Klein “Obsession” commercial(s) from this time period. The real Calvin Klein “Obsession” commercial(s) is actually one of my earliest memories ever (I was 3 years old at this time in 1987), so seeing this SNL parody of it is very nostalgic for me.
— Dana’s especially funny in this, particularly him getting slapped by Phil right before the camera cut away.
STARS: *****


DEATH BE NOT DEADLY
private eye Philip Marlowe (host) narrates film noir

— Some really good laughs from Robert unknowingly speaking his inner narration out loud, while a confused Kevin can hear.
— The constant “and?” stuff from Robert is funny.
— This is getting even funnier with Robert’s increasingly poor attempts to hide his spoken narration.
— Great part with Kevin and Robert’s speak overlapping for a while.
— I like the subtle joke of there being an Eleanor Roosevelt Clinic.
— Good ending with Robert’s inner narration spouting off a string of poor analogies.
— An overall very spot-on and memorable film noir spoof.
STARS: ****½


THE MOUNTAIN MAN
Mountain Man’s (DAC) odd outdoor wisdom alienates (JOL) & (VIJ)

— A good laugh from Dana’s “You’ve got some set of ovaries, woman” comment to Victoria.
— Loved Dana’s very random “I bet you have a teeny weenie peenie” line to Jon.
— I really like Dana’s increasingly absurd “Have you ever…” questions throughout this sketch.
— Yet another very funny line from Dana, this time telling Jon “It’s mini men like you who make women turn lesbo.”
— Overall, a hilarious, forgotten, underrated Dana Carvey gem.
STARS: ****


TEAM XYNEX
— Rerun from last season


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Right Thing”


WEEKEND UPDATE
VIJ shows a clip of her daughter Scarlett keeping in shape
AWB explores the link between marijuana & the nation’s ills

— Victoria’s advice to women had some okay lines, but was nothing special. Also, I didn’t care for the overlong video of her baby daughter exercising.
— A. Whitney Brown makes his first appearance of the whole season. Strangely, he was credited in the opening montage of this season’s first two episodes, but was nowhere to be seen in either of them.
— A. Whitney’s first Big Picture commentary of the season has turned out to be a strong one as usual. I particularly liked the comments about pot being a cure for PMS, blaming pot on America’s financial problems, and selling pot to the Japanese to make the quality of their products go down to match ours.
STARS: ***


SWEENEY’S COMEBACK
Liz averts Sweeney breakup by getting Candy’s mind off (host) with medley

— Very surprised to realize a minute into this sketch that Jan is playing her Candy Sweeney character. This sketch is a huge change of pace for the Sweeney Sisters.
— Interesting premise with Jan’s Candy not wanting to be a Sweeney Sister anymore.
— I like the way the Sisters’ tension is being worked into their medley.
— Nice moment with the Sisters breaking out into their usual Trolley Song when Candy decides to become a Sweeney Sister again.
— Very charming installment overall.
STARS: ***½


OUT OF GAS
by Trina Mitchum- host & Jane Greer [real] relive film noir

— Interesting-seeming film.
— Nice twist with the gas cap necklace.
— Overall, while there wasn’t much to say about this, this was a well-done film and yet another spot-on film noir spoof.
STARS: ***½


ANDRE & REX: MACHO HAIRSTYLISTS
Andre (PHH) & Rex (host), Macho Hairstylists are visited by the gay mafia

— Ehh, not to sure about this concept, though I liked the opening voice-over announcing the title.
— Pretty funny outburst from Phil over the missing cap on his sculpting gel.
— The bad haircuts reveal at the end was weak.
— Overall, despite a few okay moments early on, this wasn’t too great a sketch.
STARS: **


BEAUTYBATH
Corazon Aquino (JAH) escapes from her worries by taking a BeautyBath

— This is a funny topical concept for a beauty bath commercial, and it’s also a good use of Jan’s Corazon Aquino impression.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Suffer”


MYSTERIOUS OLD MAN
a beggar (host) tells his rich son (DAC) about how he obtained a jewel

— Love how Phil’s butler character is randomly named Sprinkles.
— Some laughs from Robert’s dramatic story about the bee in his car.
— Funny unexpected turn with Robert casually pulling out a human hand from his bag.
— Overall, a kinda strange sketch, but a decent one for this late in the show.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A mostly solid episode, and had a few very memorable gems (Compulsion, Death Be Not Deadly) as well as one forgotten gem (The Mountain Man). I also liked the classy, old-timey atmosphere Robert Mitchum’s presence gave this episode.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Dabney Coleman)
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Candice Bergen makes her hosting return after an 11-year absence from the show

Posted on

October 31, 1987 – Dabney Coleman / The Cars (S13 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Lifestyles Of The Rich, Famous, & Scary- Elvira (Cassandra Peterson)

— I like this concept, and the opening credits sequence is pretty fun with the photos of terrifying celebrities.
— Nice inclusion of Elvira.
— The joke of Ric Ocasek being mistaken for Keith Richards was already used in a Church Chat sketch from last season.
— An overall decent if somewhat short cold opening, and an appropriate way to kick off tonight’s Halloween episode.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Another short segment tonight, but Dabney had some good lines and he came off funny as expected.
STARS: ***


NATURE’S BROOM
Peggy Lee (NOD) sings “Fiber” to encourage use of bran, “Nature’s Broom”

— Random but funny subject matter for this Fever spoof.
— Very catchy song, and a lot of the altered lyrics are funny.
STARS: ***½


CAMPFIRE STORIES
a scoutmaster (host) tells a scary campfire story about his ex-wife

— Ha, now I see where Dabney’s “beautiful woman in white” story is going.
— I’m noticing that Jon is still coughing frequently tonight, just like how I pointed out he did throughout the previous episode. He must still have a cold.
— Yep, I was right about the direction of Dabney’s story turning out to be about how sour his marriage to his wife has gotten, a story that Dabney is pulling off  well.
— Loved Dabney’s line about instead of retaining water, his wife retains Twinkies and Old Milwaukee.
— Funny ending with the moral of the story being “women are no damn good”.
STARS: ***½


THE WINNING SPIRIT
a blind man (host) is bitter about his disability

— I like Dabney hinting that the cause of his blindness was “porcupine-oriented”.
— Love Dabney’s constant bitterness and sarcasm over his blindness.
— Funny little part where, after Jan forcefully makes Dabney feel her face with his hand, Dabney worriedly tends to his hand and asks “Did I get it in your nose?”
— Jan’s emotional breakdown after Dabney’s mocking blind dance is very good.
— Very funny line from Dabney explaining that one positive aspect of blindness is “You can look right at an eclipse”.
— Strong sketch overall.
STARS: ****


COUNT DRACULA, SELF-TAUGHT AUTO MECHANIC
Dracula (JOL) fixes a couple’s car

— Jon’s menacing fang-baring facial expression during an instance of thunder cracked me up.
— Heh, “Count Dracula, Self-Taught Auto Mechanic”. The title alone has a feel that’s representative of this SNL era’s style.
— I like how when Dana asks Dracula what the price for his service is, Dracula responds that he will drink some of Dana’s blood, and Jan explains to Dana “Well, honey, he DID fix the car.”
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Strap Me In”


WEEKEND UPDATE
DEM reads from “Howl,” thinking that it was written by Douglas Ginsburg

 

— Second episode in a row where Dennis sports an uncharacteristic neatly-combed hairstyle.
— Loved Dennis’ line about vice president George Bush being “the Barney Fife of world politics”.
— Very random but amusing bit with Dennis bringing out a ventriloquist dummy as if he’s about to do some kind of routine, only for Dennis to immediately go “No, no, what the hell am I doing?” and then put the dummy away. By the way, that looks like the same ventriloquist dummy that Christopher Guest’s Senor Cosa always used in the Joe Franklin Show sketches from season 10. (side-by-side comparison below)

— Strangely, Dennis has now been delivering a very long string of jokes straight ahead to the camera without using the news screen.
— Just now, something appeared to be edited out when the shot abruptly cut from Dennis speaking towards the straight-ahead camera to him now speaking towards the side camera.
— What? Update’s over already?!? Yeah, something was DEFINITELY removed from my copy, because I noticed before the aforementioned abrupt cut, as the camera was on a shot of Dennis speaking towards the straight-ahead camera, you can see the shadow of an off-camera Elvira seated next to him (the tall hair on the shadow gave her away). A commentary of hers must’ve been removed from reruns. Anyone know why?
STARS: ***


DON’T GO DOWN TO THE BASEMENT
rational actions help catch an axe killer

   

— Jon has the same overall look he had in the Pinklisting sketch from the season 11 premiere.
— Wow, this feels like the first time we’ve seen Phil Hartman all night, though now that I think of it, I just remembered he had a minor role as one of the backup singers/dancers in the earlier Nature’s Broom piece. Still, it’s very odd to see him appearing so little in an episode.
— The constant questioning of why Dana and Victoria are in their underwear is pretty funny.
— Strange sketch overall. I feel like I should find it kinda weak, but I dunno, I found it had an enjoyable charm that’s typical of this era, even if I don’t fully understand what this sketch was going for.
STARS: ***


MARRIAGE COUNSELOR
marriage counselor (host) ignores (NOD), gets chummy with (KEN)

— I like Dabney slowly siding with Kevin while slowly acting nasty towards Nora.
— I got a big laugh from Dabney sternly ordering Nora to “sit your big fat butt down” when she tries to get up to leave.
— Loved Nora’s “I will leave you now to measure your penises!” before exiting.
STARS: ****


MASCOT IDEAS
the student council of a new high school tries to come up with a mascot

— Dana’s idiotic “tiger fight” line was funny, especially his delivery.
— Jan’s character is reminding me of her Nancy Simmons character from the future Wayne’s World sketches.
— Dana’s ridiculous mascot suggestion of “The Communists” was hilarious.
— Haha, I absolutely loved Jon’s idea of “The Frozen Caveman”. Not just because of the inherent silliness of the idea, but because in hindsight, it unintentionally alludes to a certain future recurring character of Phil Hartman’s.
— I like how a lot of Jon’s mascot titles inexplicably begin with “the flaming”.
— Strong ending.
— Great silly sketch overall, and I really enjoyed the way this progressed.
STARS: ****


THE PAT STEVENS SHOW
out-of-body shopping experience; a furrier (host)

— For some reason, I kinda liked Pat Stevens’ “out-of-body experience” demonstration, even if I didn’t really laugh.
— Funny entrance from Dabney in all those furs.
— Overall, ehh. Pretty much the same reaction I have to most Pat Stevens sketches after getting burned out on her during her season 11 overexposure. Not even Dabney could do much for this sketch.
STARS: **


ED’S SECRET LIFE
(no synopsis available)

 

— Well… this is weird. I guess I can’t help but always initially find it kinda off-putting seeing these outside-source SNL films that have no involvement from anyone on the show. However, I’ll try to be open-minded towards this.
— This film must’ve been added to reruns, because I’m noticing there’s no sounds at all from SNL’s studio audience. Maybe SNL added this to replace the cut Elvira commentary from Update. This era so far has a weird habit of doing things like this, where they cut a sketch in reruns to replace it with a film made by an outside source. And 9 times out of 10, I find myself not caring at all for those outside-source films. If you ask me, there’s a REASON these films weren’t deemed good enough to air during live episodes.
— What the hell? A random Heather Locklear appearance? I never knew she appeared on the show prior to her 1994 hosting stint.
— Overall, this film didn’t do much for me. It didn’t help that in the recording I’m watching of this episode, there were terrible screen glitches during portions of this film, which made them almost impossible to follow. Didn’t look like I missed much anyway, though.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Double Trouble”


INVESTMENT FIRM
after losing $78,000 on Black Monday, (JOL) confronts his broker (host)

— Good delivery from Jon during his angry rant.
— I’m not sure where this sketch is going.
— Nice little touch with Dabney brushing the plant dirt off his table while speaking to Jon after Jon angrily broke a plant on Dabney’s desk.
— This sketch ended a bit abruptly in the copy I’m watching of this episode. It appears whoever recorded this copy cut off the very end of this sketch right when the audience was about to begin applauding.
— Overall, a hard sketch to figure. I have no idea what this was going for. I think I liked this overall sketch more for the acting (particularly from Dabney) than anything else. Maybe that was the intention? However, if this was supposed to be a subtle, slice-of-life acting piece with some scattered humor thrown in, it didn’t hit its mark. SNL has done much better attempts at that kind of sketch.
STARS: *½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Kind of a wildly varying episode. Some pieces were just average. Some pieces were this season’s first misfires. And some pieces were great (namely The Winning Spirit, Marriage Counselor, and Mascot Ideas). I will say Dabney Coleman gave the show a boost, as he was a fantastic host. And I liked the way the show used him, putting him front-and-center in lots of original writer-ly sketches, which played to his strengths. I also loved the heavy Halloween theme in this episode, though the theme seemed to subside in the second half of the show. Still, it was enough to make me wish SNL did live episodes on Halloween much more often than they’ve done in their 44-year history.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Sean Penn)
— a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Robert Mitchum

Posted on

October 24, 1987 – Sean Penn / LL Cool J, The Pull (S13 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Fatal Attraction II- former prison lover Alex (L.L. Cool J) stalks host

— A good Fatal Attraction turn this has taken.
— Very funny use of LL Cool J.
— An overall pretty solid cold opening and a good way to spoof Sean Penn’s time in jail. For some reason, though, this didn’t feel like I was watching SNL. After a while, I had kinda forgotten what show I was watching until they cut to the opening montage.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Love how Don Pardo immediately goes “During this program, the taking of photographs is strictly forbidden.”
— Funny mock-dramatic turn when Sean’s about to explain why he hates photographers.
— Good monologue overall.
STARS: ***


WALL STREET WEEK
Future Man (KEN) had no trouble with Black Monday

— Our first of what I’m assuming will be several mentions tonight of the infamous disastrous stock market crash (a.k.a. Black Monday) that happened earlier that week.
— During the opening sequence, I like the casual announcement of someone named Future Man being a special guest.
— An online SNL fan once had a theory that the blonde female extra shown talking to Jon at the beginning might be the now-notorious Brynn Hartman. (screencap below) I can’t confirm whether this is true or not, as I have no familiarity with what Brynn looked like, besides having blonde hair.

— I love Phil’s panicky characterization. He’s reminding me a little of Martin Short’s Nathan Thurm. He even threw in a “I know that!” at one point.
— Jan’s speech had a really funny payoff.
— Some noticeable audio issues right now as Sean has begun speaking. I guess this is another result of the technicians strike.
— Sean’s utterly bizarre performance…. oh my god. I once read this performance of his be described as “so bad, it’s good”, and after watching it now, I’d say it’s definitely living up to that description.
— Funny visual of Kevin as Future Man.
— Sean’s character asking for the nearest “porcelain convenience” was a good line, again made funnier by Sean’s horrible acting in this.
— I got a really good laugh from Future Man explaining that his reason for not stopping Sean’s character from committing suicide is simply because “I didn’t like him.”
— Overall, this had some strong moments and was well-written, though I felt the execution of it came off a little slow and awkward, at least in the live version I’m reviewing of this episode. Maybe this sketch comes off a little tighter in reruns.
STARS: ***½


CHURCH CHAT
host punches Church Lady after she takes his picture

— This season’s first appearance of last season’s biggest breakout sketch.
— The interview with Jon was very good.
— I like Church Lady’s various ways of egging Sean on to lose his temper.
— I’ve been noticing throughout tonight’s episode that whenever its mentioned that Sean is married to Madonna, you can hear a guy in the audience exclaiming “Yeah!” in response.
— Great moment with Jon’s Iranian diplomat character offering Sean foreign money for “the dancing woman” after a racy Madonna music video clip is shown.
— And there goes the legendary moment with Sean suddenly punching Church Lady in the mouth, knocking her out of her chair.
— Wow, this has built into an epic and hilarious fight between Church Lady and Sean.
— Perfect way to end this sketch.
— Overall, this Church Lady installment was freakin’ classic.
STARS: *****


PITMAN AND BULLOCK
Pitman & Bullock investment firm has the tenacity of a ferocious dog

— A bit unusual how they’re showing a pre-taped fake ad right after a commercial break in the first half of the show.
— Decent overall ad, and the pitbull footage served as a nice analogy.
STARS: ***


TEENY CAFÉ
in the Teeny Cafe, Babette & (JOL) perform skewed “The Way We Were”

— Not excited at all to see this sketch again.
— Some more audio issues tonight, this time during Kevin’s long-winded detailing of how the veal is prepared.
— Sean’s DeNiro impression is funny, and I’m enjoying his dialogue.
— Loved Sean-as-DeNiro’s line about how he had two vertebrae removed to make him shorter for a movie.
— I like how Nora and Jon’s song is introduced as being translated from English to French and back to English.
— I’m enjoying this song a little more than the song Nora and Jon performed in the first Teeny Café sketch, as this one has some really amusing re-re-translated lyrics.
— Overall, an improvement over the first Teeny Café sketch.
STARS: ***


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN uses cliches to illustrate the lesson of Black Monday

— After sporting an even more 80s hairstyle than usual in the season premiere, Dennis surprisingly has his hair neatly combed tonight.
— Great bit with Dennis displaying a stock market chart to explain Black Monday.
— Not sure I’m too excited to see Kevin’s topic-changing commentaries return this season. I started getting a little tired of these towards the end of the previous season. However, these usually always have some funny lines.
— Kevin’s overall commentary tonight indeed turned out to have some funny lines, especially about it being a coincidence that Lou Gehrig contracted Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and the story about Kevin’s farmer relative owning a whole bunch of cattle and just half an acre. I’ve realized that I would like these Nealon commentaries more if he would just stick to the funny lines and ditch the topic-changing portions, which lost its novelty for me after a few iterations.
STARS: ***½


AFTER THE DATE
Don (PHH) & Marge Keister frustrate (host) with their poor memories

— The second appearance of Marge Keister’s family.
— Some pretty good laughs from the story about accidentally backing over the family dog with a car.
— The “manly” part between Phil and Jan actually had heart to it and was a sweet moment.
— Overall, this followed the same structure as the Keister family’s previous appearance with Steve Guttenberg, but this was still decent.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
L.L. Cool J performs “Go Cut Creator Go”


DISCOVER
Peter Graves (PHH) is clueless when it comes to snakes

 

— I like the visual of Sean sitting very stiffly in the snake pit while repeatedly warning Phil’s Graves in a quiet monotone manner so as not to disturb the snakes.
— Good part with Phil’s Graves ignorantly banging on the outside of the snake pit.
— Overall, this was shorter than most Discover installments, though still quite funny. However, I don’t think any of these Discover follow-ups will ever top the first one.
STARS: ***½


JOEY COMES HOME
Eddie Spimozo’s WWII vet brother (host) wants to work at The Jungle Room

— Interesting change of setting for Jon’s Eddie Spimozo character.
— Does Jon have a cold tonight? He keeps coughing all throughout tonight’s episode (it was especially noticeable during the Wall Street Week sketch whenever the camera was on somebody else).
— Some really funny lines from Jon.
— Overall, some pretty solid work here, even if I didn’t find this one quite as memorable as past Eddie Spimozo sketches.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
The Pull performs “This & That”


CAT DENTIST
Peggy has a cavity filled by Dr. Daniel Rudolph, Cat Dentist (TOD)

— I like the unique concept of this.
— Funny use of an obviously stuffed cat while we see the cat having its cavity filled.
— I see from the film’s ending credits that Andy Aaron was involved. He made a few SNL shorts in the past, usually involving the demolition of a building (e.g. the Push Button to Explode Building short).
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A consistently good episode. While I didn’t find this to be quite as strong as the season premiere, and I had an unusually hard time coming up with things to say about the post-Update sketches, this didn’t have any subpar segments at all and there was at least one very memorable sketch in Church Chat.


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Dabney Coleman hosts SNL’s second of only three episodes that fell on Halloween

Posted on

October 17, 1987 – Steve Martin / Sting (S13 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Ronald Reagan (PHH) clubs Robert Bork (JOL) a la The Untouchables

— Interesting build-up.
— From what I remember hearing, this is a parody of a scene from the movie The Untouchables, which came out that same year. I’ve never seen the movie myself, though I’m familiar with the original TV series from the 60s.
— The little-known debut of Dana’s George Bush impression. He kinda does a nasal voice here as well as a bit of a hand mannerism, but it’s nothing like how his Bush would later famously go on to be.
— Good sequence with Phil’s Reagan brutally beating Jon’s Bork with a bat.
— I liked Jon’s “It’ll take more than that to make me quit” after the bloody beatdown.
— Decent way to start the season, if not the most exciting way.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— It’s the same montage from last season.
— Kevin Nealon has been promoted from a featured player to a main cast member, and has gone from having just a still photo in the montage to now having a moving shot like the main cast members. (screencap below)

— The featured players, guests, and SNL Band’s still photos are now shown in black-and-white instead of in color.


MONOLOGUE
host’s big dance number “I Bite Down Hard” is shot from the waist-up

 

— While the home base stage is still the same from last season, there are some minor changes, mainly the removal of those pipe ladder-looking things (not sure what they were) on the left and right ends of the stage.
— Some really funny typical Steve Martin humor here.
— Interestingly, when talking about SNL, he nicely mentions the fact that “all the regulars are back; none of them were fired”, which must’ve been a big deal at the time considering the frequent cast turnover the show experienced from seasons 10-12.
— I liked the gag with a cue card error leading Steve to pronounce tonight’s musical guest as “Stingy”.
— We get a mention that there’s a technicians strike going on. What is it with so many strikes affecting season 13 anyway? Unlucky number 13?
— Hilarious how his song is randomly titled “I Bite Down Hard”.
— Great sequence with him dancing around the stage while the camera stays in one place the whole time due to the aforementioned technicians strike. I mentioned in earlier reviews that Steve’s style had mellowed down by the mid-80s, but in this I Bite Down Hard number, he’s coming off as his wild 70s self.
— And now the musical number has gotten even funnier with the use of obviously fake legs on the bottom of the screen.
— Overall, one of my favorite Steve Martin monologues.
STARS: ****½


GARY HART
Gary Hart’s effect on women- “You can’t get him out of your mind”

— At first, the dramatic camera angles and the use of Jan had me thinking this was going to be the famous Calvin Klein Compulsion commercial, but this instead turned out to be about Gary Hart. Good reveal. I guess the Compulsion ad doesn’t debut until later this season.
— I love the cinematography and music in this.
— Pretty good ad overall.
STARS: ***½


COMMON KNOWLEDGE
correct answers are those given by high school seniors

— Funny reveal that the answers were determined by high school seniors.
— I like Nora finally catching on to how the game is played.
— Dana’s hair has really grown out over the summer.
— The lightning round part is really good.
— A good laugh from the consolation prize being a yearly subscription to TV Guide.
— An overall strong and memorable gameshow sketch.
STARS: ****


SLIDE WHISTLES
slide whistle sound effects reflect thoughts of daters (VIJ) & (host)

— I’m liking this premise.
— LOL at Frank Stallone being one of the celebrities Steve’s company represents, which of course results in a down slide whistle sound effect from Victoria.
— Very good aversion with a neutral slide whistle sound effect being played when Victoria is confused over two of the celebrities Steve has mentioned.
— The orthodox bit with Jan and Jon was hilarious.
— Great ending reveal of Steve’s height.
STARS: ***½


THE NFL TODAY
during players’ strike, George Plimpton (DAC) has success
Sip-N-Save Beer’s You Make The Call- very many men on the field penalty

— What are those velcro sounds I keep hearing throughout this? Is that coming from Kevin’s mic?
— Dana’s George Plimpton impression is hilarious.
— Funny part about female football players, especially the picture of the old lady shown as one of the players.
— This sketch was good overall, though I didn’t like it quite as much as the NFL Today sketch from the previous season.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “We’ll Be Together”


PERMISSION TO SPEAK FREELY
officers of a ship regret giving underlings permission to speak freely

— Steve immediately going off on a heated, insult-filled rant towards Jon when given permission to speak freely is really funny.
— Haha, Steve is getting so into his rant that at one point, he visibly spits on Jon’s face by accident, which gets a very funny reaction from Jon.
— Wow, that’s it? I’m very surprised by how short this was. Probably a good thing, though, because this might’ve gotten old if it kept going on any longer.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
ALF exposes Bruce Babbitt’s [real] abuse of supermarket express lanes
VIJ sings “I Am Not A Bimbo” & dances on the newsdesk

 

— Dennis’ 80s mullet is looking more 80s than EVER this season.
— I see Dennis is continuing his running gag from last season where he uses a random unrelated punchline about George Steinbrenner firing Lou Pinella.
— Hmm, Al Franken eager to start a political scandal by exposing skeletons that politicians have in their closet. Can’t help but notice the unfortunate irony there.
— Interesting and pretty funny video with Al interviewing Bruce Babbit and then showing a videotape of Babbit causing trouble at a supermarket.
— Our very first instance of a Victoria Jackson Weekend Update song.
— Ah, it’s the classic “I Am Not a Bimbo”, probably Victoria’s most famous SNL song.
— Nice effortless catch from Dennis when Victoria kicks her skirt off into the air while standing on the desk.
— A fantastic overall song from Victoria.
STARS: ****


ADVENTURES IN THE LOST REALM
a dinosaur takes its time eating (JOL)

— The use of obvious dolls and puppets to represent Jon being eaten by a dinosaur is fairly funny.
— I like some of the cutaways to Phil and Steve doing and talking about trivial things during Jon’s slaughtering.
— Didn’t care for the ending.
STARS: **½


BULLETS AREN’T CHEAP
thrifty James Bond (host) battles musical guest

— I love this concept of Steve playing James Bond.
— Great use of Sting as a Bond villain.
— Why do the lights keep briefly dimming intermittently?
— Is Victoria playing herself? She was addressed by her own first name for some reason. Speaking of Victoria, she’s surprisingly been getting tons of airtime tonight. I’m not used to seeing her so prominent in an episode.
— Loved the Scorpion conversation between Steve and Sting.
— The close-up of Steve’s hand pouring the champagne back into the bottle during the lovemaking scene was a strong ending.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Little Wing”


PUMPING UP WITH HANS & FRANZ
the musclemen (DAC) & (KEN) insult viewers

— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut!
— Interesting how this debuted as a 10-to-1 sketch, which shows they definitely had no idea how big these characters would become.
— The opening “Pumping Up With Hans & Franz” title graphic (first screencap above) is different from the one that would later be used in these sketches.
— Weird not hearing the usual big audience response when they first utter the phrase “We want to pump… (*clap*)… you up.”
— Strange seeing them in red outfits during the videotape clip.
— Overall, this was very generic compared to future installments of this sketch. Just from watching this inaugural installment, you’d never guess that these characters would go on to be so huge. Judging this inaugural installment on its own merits without comparing it to future installments, it was just okay but nothing special at all really. Kinda felt like a typical 10-to-1 sketch. These characters would definitely improve over time.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A solid season premiere. Very smooth-feeling too, where you can tell the show and cast had really found their stride after last season. Nothing was particularly terrible tonight, and we got at least four memorable segments with the monologue, Common Knowledge, Bullets Aren’t Cheap, and Victoria Jackson’s I Am Not a Bimbo song.
— There’s a story about how this is the only episode in SNL history to not have a dress rehearsal.  Supposedly, right when this episode’s scheduled dress rehearsal was to begin, a fire broke out in a nearby studio, forcing Studio 8H to be evacuated. SNL had to cancel the dress rehearsal, and that combined with the evacuation left the SNL cast and crew distraught.  (Sorta adds on to what I said earlier about this season being unlucky number 13) The live show later that night reportedly went on at Steve Martin’s insistence.  However, I once read an online post from an SNL fan who claimed that story is mostly false.  Said fan was supposedly an audience member for this episode’s dress rehearsal and explained that, while it’s true that a fire indeed broke out in a nearby studio right before dress rehearsal and forced an evacuation, the dress rehearsal still went on after everyone was allowed back into 8H.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1986-87):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Sean Penn