Tag: Snoop Doggy Dogg

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January 18, 1997 – David Alan Grier / Snoop Doggy Dogg (S22 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

GENITALIA LINE-UP
Paula Jones (CHO) looks for Bill Clinton’s (DAH) genitalia in line-up

— A hilarious gathering of politicians dropping trou in a police line-up.
— Some of the politicians’ comments about each other’s penises are hilarious.
— Ha, Will showing up as Ted Kennedy. I had forgotten until now that Will plays him a few times this season.
— Cheri’s Paula Jones: “It’s not the black guy.” Tim’s Clarence Thomas: “I bet you wish it was.”
— Funny ending with Darrell’s Clinton trying to disguise his voice by speaking in a Spanish accent.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host sings “Let’s Get Butt-Naked In The White House” to mark inauguration

— Great turn with David Alan Grier breaking out into a slow-jam, “Let’s Get Butt-Naked In The White House”, for President Clinton’s inauguration.
— I like the song’s random lyric about the big-headed banjo player from “Deliverance”.
— An overall memorable and very funny song from David.
STARS: ****


DEATH ROW BLOOPERS AND PRACTICAL JOKES
capital punishment wackiness on Death Row Bloopers & Practical Jokes tape

— A hilarious concept.
— I howled at the bit where, immediately after Will and the prison officials share a hearty laugh, the electric chair switch is suddenly turned on and Will starts getting electrocuted before the camera quickly cuts away.
— An overall very amusing and fun commercial.
STARS: ****


20/20
Barbara Walters (CHO) interviews musical guest amid his entourage

— I love the contrast between Cheri-as-Barbara-Walters’ lighthearted, silly demeanor and Snoop’s deadpan, aloof demeanor.
— Funny line with Barbara telling Snoop “Sinatra may have did it his way, but you did it doggystyle.”
— I got a laugh from Snoop sending one of his boys after Hugh Downs.
— Overall, a good sketch, but I wanted this to go a little further.
STARS: ***


WAITING TO EXHALE
(host), (TIM), (TRM) get emotional while watching Waiting To Exhale

— Ha, we get our very first Tracy Morgan SNL utterance of the phrase “Sweet like bear meat”, which would go on to be one of Tracy’s catchphrases. I’m surprised to hear that line this early in Tracy’s SNL tenure.
— A lot of laughs from how into it David, Tim, and Tracy are getting during their viewing of “Waiting To Exhale”, and how sentimental they’re increasingly becoming.
— A very amusing slow-motion montage of the guys during their viewing.
STARS: ****


BOTH SIDES WITH JESSE JACKSON
Kincaid & others discuss Ebonics

— Was this a real CNN show at the time?
— A humorously out-of-place setting to put Ana’s Kincaid character in. I keep thinking I’ve had enough of this character, but she still manages to make me chuckle.
— Tim’s Johnnie Cochran, regarding The Jeffersons: “Weezie was an outrage!”
— Some funny Ebonics demonstrations from David’s Maxine Waters, especially her telling Kincaid “Bitch, you be trippin’!”
STARS: ***½


THE ROCKY ROADS
(ANG), (MOS), other Rocky Roads say no to sexual harassment & shoplifting

— If you recall, the first installment of this sketch from David’s previous hosting stint is a personal favorite of mine. And as I said in my review of that one, I’m not familiar with this second installment. For some reason, I’m kinda expecting to be let down by this one. Hopefully, I’m wrong.
— The female Rocky Roads member previously played by Nancy Walls has been replaced by both Ana AND Molly, interestingly enough.
— I like David’s corny compliment “It looks like you’ve been dipped in pretty sauce.”
— Like last time, I absolutely love Will’s cheesy performance and David’s enthusiastic preacher-esque singing.
— The corny songs that the Rocky Roads are performing in tonight’s installment aren’t as catchy as the songs they did in the first installment.
— Overall, I was sorta right about being let down by tonight’s installment, to an extent, but I still enjoyed it as a whole. It came off very average compared to the first installment, though.
STARS: ***


MAYA ANGELOU FOR BUTTERFINGER
Maya Angelou (host) recites verse in praise of Butterfinger

— The beginning of a runner tonight.
— Such a funny concept, with David’s Maya Angelou spouting inspiring wisdom about Butterfinger, of all things.
— Overall, this was well-written and well-performed.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
though Michael Irvin was falsely accused, COQ isn’t going to apologize

— Good to see Colin doing an Update commentary as himself, even though I was disappointed by the last one he did as himself.
— Just half a minute into Colin’s Michael Irvin commentary so far, and it’s already miles funnier than his last commentary as himself.
— Colin’s overall commentary was very solid. This is the type of funny stand-up that I’ve come to expect from him.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Snoop’s Upside Ya Head”


WONG & OWENS, EX-PORN STARS
ex-porn stars Don Wong (JMB) & Reggie Owens (TRM) try a fast-food career

— Amusing concept.
— Throughout tonight’s episode, Tracy has been receiving the most airtime he’s gotten all season, though it’s obviously only because we have a black host. Similarly, in the following season’s Samuel L. Jackson-hosted episode, Tracy appears in a particularly large amount of sketches.
— When Wong and Owens each do the porn-esque removal of their shirt, Tracy is particularly funny doing that.
— A good laugh from Jim’s nudity being censored by a “TV 14” rating symbol (the last screencap above). I see SNL’s really taking advantage of the then-new TV ratings system.
STARS: ***


MAYA ANGELOU FOR FROOT LOOPS!
Maya Angelou (host) endorses Froot Loops! poetically

— Another funny topic for David’s Maya Angelou to wax poetic about.
— Towards the end of this, I especially love David’s over-the-top delivery of “The KUM…QUAT! The KI…WI!”
STARS: ****


SHOPPING AT HOME NETWORK
mispriced Scottie Pippen bust may ruin Don West (WIF) & Eddy Lewis (CHK)

— Good to see this back, though I’m not too familiar with any of the installments of this sketch besides the original Shaq Plaque one.
— A good laugh from how the sculpture that’s supposedly of Scottie Pippen looks nothing like him.
— I like seeing David acting like Will and Chris’ portrayals of Don West and Eddy Lewis.
— I love Will yelling at the camera “You’re ruining us!” and “You selfish bastards!”
— Will and Chris’ overdramatics over how much money they’re losing is a riot, especially a defeated Will calling his wife, asking her to tell their son to come home from college.
— Now this gets even funnier with the guys deciding to douse the place with gasoline, and Chris dousing himself with gasoline.
— Overall, not quite as strong as the Shaq Plaque installment of this sketch, but this still had me howling.
STARS: ****


TV FUNHOUSE
“Wheaty the Wheaten Terrier” by RBS- dog’s supposed heroism not apparent

— An unusually late spot in an episode for a TV Funhouse to air. I think the Roma Downey-hosted episode from the following season has a TV Funhouse that airs even later, shortly before the goodnights.
— Another oddity about this TV Funhouse is that it’s entirely live-action, with no animation at all. Off the top of my head, I can only think of two other non-animated TV Funhouses that would later air: “Find The Black People At The Knick Game” and the Tom Brady-starring PSA about sexual harassment in the workplace. There are also some later TV Funhouses that are half-animated and half-live-action, such as the Black History Month one with Dennis Haysbert, the “Pothead Theater” cartoon, and the Ambiguously Gay Duo installment that suddenly becomes live-action halfway through.
— Hmm, no SNL performers in this live-action piece. I don’t recognize any of the actors.
— I spoke too soon about not recognizing any of the actors. Just now, the camera has cut to Stephen Colbert as the dad. Colbert has been all over SNL this season.
— A very odd TV Funhouse, but there are some laughs from how the various cutaways to the “heroic” dog were obviously each filmed at a different time. It especially gets funny when the cutaways show the dog doing unpleasant things like drinking from a toilet or humping another dog.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Vapors”


NEW MICROSOFT PRODUCTS
Bill Gates (MAM) introduces Microsoft products that will change the world

— Geez, I thought it was weird seeing a TV Funhouse air fairly late in the show, but that’s nothing compared to this: a presidential address-to-the-nation sketch airing around the 10-to-1 timeslot?!? That’s unheard of.
— Wait, what the hell? After only a few seconds, this President Clinton address-to-the-nation, which was shown interrupting an airing of “Caroline in the City” (remember that sitcom?), itself gets interrupted by another special message.
— Ah, it turns out to be a special message from Bill Gates.
— Wait, Mark is playing Bill Gates? Not Chris Kattan? Ah, that’s right. I had forgotten until now that Mark originally played Gates before Chris would later take over the impression the following season, after Mark’s departure. Until now, I had only remembered Chris playing Gates.
— Mark is getting some good laughs from me here. It also feels good seeing him get some rare focus this season.
— I like Mark-as-Bill-Gates’ line “Don’t cry for me, Argentina…. BECAUSE I OWN YOU.”
STARS: ***½


MAYA ANGELOU FOR PENNZOIL
Maya Angelou (host) voices muse-inspired admiration for Pennzoil

— Pennzoil isn’t as inherently a funny product for David’s Maya Angelou to pitch as Butterfinger and Froot Loops were.
— Overall, this was still fairly funny, but yeah, they should’ve kept these Maya Angelou bits at just two. This third one wasn’t necessary.
STARS: **½


WORCESTER CENTRUM
see monster trucks & funny car civilization Sunday at Worcester Centrum

— A very funny absurd concept, and I’m getting a lot of entertainment from the increasingly complex things the “funny cars” are shown to do, represented by amusingly crude computer animation.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very solid episode. Not as outstanding as David Alan Grier’s previous episode, but there was a large number of strong pieces tonight, and nothing was particularly bad to me. Much like in his previous hosting stint, David Alan Grier was a fantastic host who’s comedic skills and sketch comedy experience was very welcome. I wish the fact that he hosted in two consecutive seasons would’ve led to him becoming a John Goodman/Alec Baldwin-esque regular host in this era, but unfortunately, tonight’s episode ends up being his final hosting stint. A shame.


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


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Neve Campbell

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March 19, 1994 – Helen Hunt / Snoop Doggy Dogg (S19 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

ROCKERS TO HELP EXPLAIN WHITEWATER
Cindy Crawford [real] introduces Rockers To Help Explain Whitewater video

— We get yet another very fun “We Are the World”-esque sketch in this era.
— Interesting how, unlike this era’s other “We Are the World”-esque sketches, this one has the lyrics captioned on the bottom of the screen, I guess because of the educational factor of the song.
— As always, it’s fun to guess which singer each cast member is playing.
— Boy, Mike’s Garth Brooks impression is almost laughably bad.
— I remember when I first saw this cold opening early in my SNL fandom, during a Comedy Central rerun, I couldn’t tell that was Michael McKean playing Elvis Costello (dead-on impression, by the way), probably because I was under the common misconception that McKean was only a cast member in season 20. I assumed that was either Al Franken or Phil Hartman playing Costello, until noticing that Phil was in this as Elton John.
— David is playing Kurt Cobain in what ends up being the last live episode before Cobain’s suicide a few weeks later.
— Interesting how all of this season’s non-Al Franken featured players (Norm, Jay, and Sarah) are paired together here. And Norm looks hilarious as Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, because he’s so insanely miscast in the role that it becomes funny in itself.
— I like the various singers’ rapid singing of lengthy lyrics, reaching a pinnacle during Adam-as-Axl-Rose’s unintelligibly rapid solo.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
host shows clips of her roles in Swiss Family Robinson & The Bionic Woman

— I know some people find this monologue dull, but I’ve always found this pretty cute and charming, seeing childhood clips of Helen Hunt from her early TV career.
— Some good laughs from the Bionic Woman clip of Helen explaining she’s from outer space.
— A huge laugh from the outrageous After-School Special clip of her jumping through a window after taking angel dust.
STARS: ***


TOTAL BASTARD AIRLINES
Total Bastard Airlines employees say their “buh-byes” to passengers

— A very famous sketch, and a quintessential use of David Spade’s persona.
— A great opening start with Jim Downey’s dry, blunt voice-over.
— While a one-note sketch in theory, it’s being executed perfectly.
— I love the exchange between Adam and David.
— Another part I particularly love is David’s whole run-on rant to Tim.
— Solid ending with David requesting an escort through the terminal.
STARS: *****


COFFEE TALK WITH LINDA RICHMAN
Linda & host discuss which Oscar nominees they like

— This overused recurring sketch makes yet ANOTHER appearance this season. At this point, I honestly lost count.
— An audio glitch when the first caller is speaking, causing her to barely be audible.
— No idea what to say about this overall installment, except I wasn’t laughing, as usual. I could’ve used Richard Simmons again to add some much-needed energy, or Charlton Heston again to add an awkward charm.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Gin & Juice”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Dick Vitale (JAM) gives his March Madness-flavored Oscar predictions
Bennett Brauer lists reasons why he doesn’t belong on TV, then flies

— My god, Kevin has been having an AWFUL start in tonight’s Update. He’s been stumbling over his words left and right, even moreso than usual, and some of his jokes are being met with painful silence from the audience. (*sigh*) Only four episodes left until Norm takes over……..
— I love the clip they just showed of President Clinton saying “No!” over and over while simultaneously banging his fist on a podium repeatedly.
— Ha, the use of the aforementioned Clinton fist-banging clip has become a running gag throughout this Update.
— Jay debuts yet another strong celebrity impression. His Dick Vitale is spot-on, and this is a fun segment, with him giving his Oscar picks in a March Madness style.
— Man, Kevin’s stumbliness tonight is so bad, he ironically flubbed a joke about the Flubby Awards. You can tell he was particularly embarrassed about messing up that joke. That portion of this Update would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version.
— This is the first time we’ve seen Chris’ Bennett Brauer character all season. And what an appearance this turns out to be, as we’ll soon see…
— And there goes the absolutely classic turn in this Bennett Brauer commentary, with a blooper involving cables that are supposed to lift Chris in the air getting caught on the Update set’s lights, leaving Chris hanging only a few inches off the ground. As a giggling Kevin and a crew member enter the shot to fix the problem, Chris starts making fantastic ad-libs, such as “I have a weight problem; can’t they lift me?” in a mock-depressed manner. This is all truly hilarious, and is deservedly known as one of the most legendary SNL bloopers of all time. Stuff like this makes you really appreciate the live aspect of SNL.
— Also, thank god that blooper happened, because the gag itself of Bennett Brauer’s frequent airquote gestures causing him to fly is lame as hell.
— As if the blooper wasn’t great enough, it’s immediately followed by the very memorable image of an excited Chris successfully flying over the cheering studio audience.
— After the Bennett Brauer commentary is over, Kevin has a great line of his own about the blooper: “Maybe the cables ‘didn’t clear the lights’, ladies and gentlemen!”, using Brauer’s famous airquote gesture. That brilliant ad-lib alone redeems Kevin from his rough first half of tonight’s Update.
— Great touch at the very end of this Update, with a dummy of Bennett Brauer falling from above and crashing through the breakaway Update desk. On the right corner of the screen immediately after the dummy falls, you can see a glimpse of Chris himself sneaking under the desk before “popping up” behind the desk as if it was him who had just fallen from above. That accidental glimpse of him sneaking under the desk isn’t seen in reruns, though I’m not sure if they replace that shot with the dress rehearsal version or just enlarge the shot so we can’t see Chris sneaking under the desk.
STARS: ***


PROFILES IN COWARDICE
fraidy-cats describe their unheroic acts

— Pretty promising format. Kinds brings back memories of the Ruining It For Everyone sketch from the John Malkovich episode earlier this season.
— I’m enjoying Rob’s story of cowardice, especially him proudly recalling how Barbara Bush “spat at me” and President Bush referred to him as “garbage wrapped in skin”.
— Chris’ face is noticeably sweaty. I wonder if the famous Update blooper that had occurred minutes ago has something to do with that. Also, I’ve been noticing throughout tonight’s episode that his sideburns are longer than usual.
— I cracked up at Chris’ line “I was so G.D. terrified of that thing.”
— I loved Helen’s “I can have other daughters” line when defending her refusal to save her kidnapped daughter in Iran.
— Good part with a blurred-face witness-protected Norm, especially his very Norm-esque delivery of “Aw, geez!” after accidentally giving away where he lives.
— Speaking of Norm’s blurred face, it’s not blurred during the camera angles that show the whole group. Haha, I guess we’re supposed to ignore that? At the end, Michael McKean humorously points out this gaffe by waving his hand in front of Norm’s face. I love that.
STARS: ***½


SEXIST DIRECTOR
a director (MMK) elicits an emotional performance from (host) via sexism

— Michael McKean gets his very first showcase sketch since joining the cast a week earlier.
— A fart gag in a Michael McKean-written (I’m assuming) sketch? Really?
— Michael’s performance is committed, and he’s good at making his character an unlikeable bastard, but I’m iffy on whether this sketch is working for me or not. I’m also not sure how to feel about the intentional sexism in the premise, considering the well-documented real-life misogyny behind the scenes at SNL during both this and the following season.
— Interesting twist with it being revealed that Michael’s character making his actresses genuinely angry is how he gets great performances out of them.
— Didn’t care for the ending revealing Michael’s character being asleep. It also didn’t help that the camera accidentally gave away that reveal much earlier than it was supposed to. I can’t remember if that gaffe would later be fixed in reruns or not.
STARS: **½


THE WASHING MACHINE
a movie from the director of The Piano stars (ELC)

— I love this premise for a The Piano parody. This is also a much-needed solid showcase for Ellen.
— Tim is cracking me up as the daughter, and I’m loving the slow-motion pre-taped shots of him dancing around the beach and doing cartwheels.
— Some good laughs from the critic reviews.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Lodi Dodi”


ASTOUNDING INFORMATION
(KEN) shows (host) how to use Miracle Egg Fryer

— This feels like a very Kevin Nealon-y premise.
— I’m getting some good laughs from how they’re overcomplicating the simple process of frying an egg on a frying pan. This sketch is a spot-on imitation of this type of infomercial, especially all of Kevin and Helen’s unnecessary frantic running around the set throughout the sketch.
STARS: ***½


OFFICE SPACE
by Mike Judge- storage of old boxes cramps Milton

— Nice to see this continue.
— As always, Milton’s monotone ranting to the camera is cracking me the hell up.
— Milton’s boss says “Buh-bye” before exiting, a funny coincidence in tonight’s episode.
— Overall, this was pretty solid, though I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as the first Milton cartoon from earlier this season.
STARS: ***½


ROB SCHNEIDER’S GIRLFRIEND THEATER
(KEN) & (host) prove she’s still evil

— Here’s our latest victim of season 19’s bad habit of making recurring sketches out of stuff that have no legs as a recurring sketch and clearly should’ve remained a one-off.
— Bringing this particular sketch back is especially a stretch, considering the last time this sketch appeared, Rob followed it up later that same night with a comical address towards his girlfriend, in which he apologized to her and took the sketch back. I guess we’re supposed to forget that?
— In the brief close-up of Helen saying to a side camera “He’s fallen for my trap”, she looks into the wrong camera by mistake.
— So far, tonight’s installment is working even less for me than the first one did, which is saying something.
— Hmm, a musical all of a sudden?
— The musical’s actually not too bad. I love the involvement of Jeffrey Dahmer (played very humorously by Michael McKean), as well as the dancing Nazis/Darth Vaders/devils in the background.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A refreshingly pretty solid episode, making this the first enjoyable episode in what feels like forever. The sketches tonight were mostly good, two were strong and very memorable (Total Bastard Airlines, Rockers To Help Explain Whitewater), and we got a legendary Chris Farley blooper on Weekend Update. A lot of things to like tonight overall. An episode like this is a breath of fresh air in the declining quality of this season.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Nancy Kerrigan)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Kelsey Grammer