Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
ADS plays guitar & sings a song about why he won’t get toys for Christmas
— Hmm, here’s a change of pace: starting the show with a Sandler guitar song on the home base stage. I wonder why we’re not seeing this song on Weekend Update like we’d usually see in this era.
— As usual for Adam’s guitar songs, this song has a catchy melody.
— Ha, Adam seems to have a weird comedy obsession with bearded grandmothers. He mentions one in a lyric here and there’s a whole bit about shaving a grandmother’s beard in a Herlihy Boy sketch from the Emilio Estevez episode later this season. I can’t remember if there’s a bearded grandma joke in Adam’s song about his grandmother when cameoing on Weekend Update in the Tom Arnold episode from season 21.
— Some fun confessions of naughty things Adam did this year.
— According to GettyImages, the dress rehearsal version of this cold opening had Rob, Tim, and Chris participating in Adam’s song (pic here and here). I wonder why they got cut from the live show.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
disappointed audience members leave when host says she won’t rehash roles
— The shot of the audience applauding after Sally steps out onstage would later be removed from reruns, presumably because the shot gives away the group of Gidget fans in the front seats, who are going to be shown later in the monologue.
— Oh, no. Yet ANOTHER audience-involved monologue, for the FOURTH episode in a row?
— Okay, so it turns out this monologue isn’t using the tired questions-from-the-audience trope used in the last three consecutive monologues, but it’s still inane to me that SNL keeps relying on audience-involved monologues week after week this season.
— Funny seeing a Burt Reynolds imitation right after the hilariously random shouting of his name from an off-camera audience member during one of Paul Westerberg’s musical performances in the preceding episode.
— I like the bit with Phil’s Burt Reynolds initially getting up to leave when hearing there will be no “Smokey and the Bandit” parody, then changing his mind and staying, only to storm off when Sally mentions she’s always happy to make fun of crazy people.
— A good “You like me, you really, really like me” reference during Chris’ bit.
STARS: ***
NCI
Rerun from 9/25/93
I WANT MY BABY BACK!: THE HARRIET CRALBONI STORY
host in TV movie about mother trying to reclaim kid
— I like Kevin’s sleazy performance.
— A good laugh from Tim as the welfare department guy randomly showing up and sternly telling Sally “Give me the baby.”
— During Melanie’s baby-switching confession, there an accidental view of cue cards in the background (seen in the top right corner of the screencap below)
— I’m usually a sucker for this type of epic movie-like sketch that involves many scene and set changes, and the frequent turns and escalations this sketch keep taking are funny in themselves, but I dunno, something about this sketch’s execution is coming off a little underwhelming to me. I’m also not crazy about hearing “I want my baby back!” shouted over and over throughout the sketch, even if that’s part of the point. I am really appreciating Sally’s commitment in her performance, though.
— Didn’t care for the ending.
STARS: **½
WHITE DIAMONDS
soft focus hides Elizabeth Taylor’s (host) age
— An initial laugh from the age-hiding soft focus filter used for Sally’s Elizabeth Taylor. I’m aware this is parodying the use of soft focus in a real Elizabeth Taylor perfume ad from this time.
— Wait, that’s it? The filter joke got old after about 10 seconds and this didn’t go anywhere else.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “If I Had No Loot”
WEEKEND UPDATE
lame duck NYC mayor David Dinkins (TIM) vows revenge on the city
— A good string of Clinton-related jokes early on in this Update.
— A great sudden dark (figuratively and literally) turn during Tim-as-David-Dinkins’ kind message, where he threatens New Yorkers for not voting for him. One of Tim’s funniest showcases during his neglected years in the first half of his SNL tenure.
— Funny little bit after the David Dinkins commentary ends, with Kevin innocently telling us “Hey, I voted for the guy.”
STARS: ***
HEADGAMES
quizmaster (PHH) messes with his relatives’ minds on game show
— Great concept, and a perfect cruel characterization from Phil.
— I’m loving Phil’s seamless transitions from professional gameshow host to sadistic husband/father.
— A lot of really funny back-and-forths between Phil and his family.
— I really liked Phil’s “final round” fake-out to Sally, and her angry response of “You bastard!”
STARS: ****½
BAND SHOT
ROS sings “Blue Christmas” Elvis-style with SNL Band
MOTIVATIONAL SANTA
shopping mall Santa Matt Foley teaches kids about harsh realities of life
— Though I’m still not all that crazy about them keeping Matt Foley a recurring character, I’m glad to see them putting him in a new setting for once, which is a nice change and provides a new outlet for laughs.
— The cue cards make a second onscreen cameo tonight (seen in the top right corner of the screencap below).
— Some good laughs from the Christmas story Foley reads to the kids.
— Farley’s pratfall through the chimney reminds me of Chevy Chase’s famous pratfall off a Christmas tree in a Gerald Ford sketch.
— Overall, though it still comes NOWHERE close to touching the classic first Matt Foley sketch, tonight’s sketch is probably my favorite of all the Matt Foley follow-ups.
STARS: ***½
CRAB LICE SINGLES CLUB
first-timer (host) feels uneasy at a crab lice singles’ club mixer
— Uh, what a premise.
— Rob has some funny bits here, such as him trying to tempt Sally with a “romantic” promise to take her to a pharmacy and show her all the disinfectant shampoos, and him combing his hair with a tiny crab lice comb.
— Adam getting busted on not really having crab lice is funny, especially when he answers Phil’s “What color are crabs?” question with “…….Blue???”
— The ending with Chris’ direct-to-camera message fell flat.
— The overall sketch didn’t quite work for me as a whole, but there were some individual funny moments.
STARS: **½
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
— Surprisingly, this is the first time we’ve gotten a Deep Thoughts since the season premiere.
— According to episode guides, this Deep Thoughts is a rerun, but it wasn’t in my copy of whatever episode it originally aired in.
THE SUICIDE ATTEMPT MACHINE
Dr. Jack Kevorkian (NOM) shows attention-getting suicide attempt machine
— I love seeing Norm cast in this role.
— This is the first of three solo Norm sketches this season that feature him as a famous figure. The other two sketches are funnier and more memorable (Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt and 60 Minutes), but this is a pretty solid one that I’ve always liked too.
— Good concept.
— I love how, during the Suicide Attempt Machine tape message that’s playing, the camera pans over to Norm’s Kevorkian just grinning at the camera in a smug, somewhat creepy manner.
— Good ending line from Norm’s Kevorkian, with “Maybe this year, what they’ll find under the Christmas tree… is you!”
STARS: ***½
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Tell Me Mama”
PRAYING
Jesus (PHH) asks a pious housewife (host) to pray more selectively
— I’m enjoying Sally’s religious southern housewife characterization here, as well as her habit of praying for trivial things.
— Always very welcome to see Phil’s Jesus appearing in a sketch.
— Considering he’s been getting phased out this season, it’s great to see so much Phil throughout tonight’s episode. Tonight’s episode is one of the final gasps of Phil’s dominance from seasons 12-18.
— I loved Phil’s delivery of “…I know…” when Sally tells him “I pray to you all the time”.
— Excellent reveal that Jesus is here to ask Sally to try not praying so much.
— Phil’s down-to-earth delivery as Jesus is so great.
— Overall, a fantastic sketch and our second strong and memorable Phil Hartman-starring piece of the night.
— Years ago, on an old blog Julia Sweeney used to have, I recall seeing a publicity photo of this Praying sketch in an “SNL photos” section of the blog, except Julia was in the praying housewife role, and get this: Christian Slater was in the Jesus role. I kid you not. This sketch must’ve gotten cut after dress rehearsal from the Christian Slater-hosted episode earlier this season. I cannot for the life of me imagine Christian Slater pulling off this role.
STARS: ****½
DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
BAND SHOT
ROS sings “It’s Now Or Never” Elvis-style with SNL Band
— This is missing from my copy.
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— The quality of tonight’s episode was a little more shaky than the last few episodes, but this was an overall decent episode, keeping alive the streak of satisfying episodes since Rosie O’Donnell. The placement of sketches tonight sure needed some tweaking, though, as it wasn’t the best idea to have the two lead-off sketches be iffy pieces like I Want My Baby Back and White Diamonds while burying the solid stuff after Weekend Update. Sally Field was a very game host who gave fully committed performances in every sketch, even the weaker ones.
— This is the final episode before there’s a change of tone in several aspects of this season, especially the quality.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Charlton Heston)
a step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
We enter the year 1994, with host Jason Patric