Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
while performing a skit he wrote, CHC balks when a fall is requested
— Boy, these jokes are getting a tepid audience reaction so far.
— Hmm, this has turned into another meta opening with Chevy again taking a stand against being SNL’s resident fall & news anchor guy.
— The fall at the end was too telegraphed.
— Overall, a weaker opening from this season.
STARS: **
MONOLOGUE
host & Joe Cocker (JOB) sing “Superstar”
— A very nice, energetic entrance from Raquel at the beginning.
— This has immediately gone into what seems to be a non-joke song.
— Whoa, John as Joe Cocker out of nowhere.
— Haha, John is definitely helping this monologue with his always-reliable Cocker impression.
STARS: ***½
PURINO RAT CHOW
pied piper (CHC) pitches Purina Rat Chow for apartment pests
— Gilda and Garrett are playing the same couple from the “Jill Carson, Guidance Counselor!” sketch from a few episodes ago; they’re even wearing the same clothes they wore in that one. SNL seems to occasionally do things like this in these early episodes, like how the couple John and Gilda played in the Home Security sketch in the premiere later re-appeared in the National Pancreas Association sketch.
— A great laugh from the demonstration with the model rats fighting to eat from bowls of the chow.
STARS: ***½
THE DECABET
Joseph Franklin (DAA) introduces 10-letter metric alphabet- the Decabet
— I love the premise already.
— The increasing absurdity of this new alphabet is great.
— This is a perfect example of a quintessential Dan Aykroyd premise. It feels like only he could’ve written something this bizarre, creative, and brilliant.
— Very funny ending with him “singing” the new alphabet song.
STARS: ****½
MUPPETS SPOT
Scred & Ploobis learn they’re no longer booked on the show
CHC attempts in vain to get host to remove her shirt
— The “until you’ve made it with a Muppet…” line was pretty funny.
— This ended in an abrupt way. Maybe it’ll be continued later in the night.
STARS: **½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (PHOEBE SNOW)
THE CLAUDINE LONGET INVITATIONAL
ski competitors are “accidentally” shot
— Oh, this is a notorious and well-known Michael O’Donoghue-written sketch that I’ve heard about but have never seen for myself until now.
— “Jessica Antlerdance”? Wasn’t the Antler Dance something they would later do on SNL this era (with Lily Tomlin, maybe)?
— Unlike some of the other topical references SNL made around this time, I actually get this one, due to having heard so much about this sketch over the years.
— This is great; I especially like how the second skiier got shot multiple times.
— Is it true that in the next episode, SNL would actually air an apology for doing this sketch?
STARS: ****
POLAROID
(no synopsis available)
— Oh, man, I was hoping they had stopped doing these sponsored Polaroid ads.
— John and Jane randomly pretending to be each other is pretty funny, at least.
— This ended strangely with no audience applause.
STARS: N/A
GREAT MOMENTS IN HERSTORY
Howard Hughes (DAA) tests propellor bra
— The bizarre role that Dan was born to play.
— Funny ending with the propeller bra causing Dan to flail around. Raquel’s panicked yelling also added to the humor.
— A lot of technical issues at the end from the control room.
STARS: ***
NEXT SHOW
JAC announces Madeline Kahn & Carly Simon will be on the next SNL
— “Madeline Kahn was on before, but because of the strike, she couldn’t do a complete show.” Huh??? When did this happen? None of the SNL episode guides have a Madeline Kahn-hosted episode listed before this point in the show’s run.
STARS: N/A
WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 1
election analyst LAN reviews survey of people who answered “don’t know”
Baba Wawa (GIR) tells GAM that Tom Snyder’s hair bothers her
— Chevy and the cameramen both seemed to be mixed up regarding which camera Chevy’s supposed to look at during the escaped prisoners story.
— Slow start to tonight’s Update. Not crazy about most of the jokes so far.
— Okay, they’re now getting better.
— Much like Garrett’s Olympics commentary from earlier this season, Laraine’s commentary tonight had a weird delayed start.
— Wasn’t all that crazy about Laraine’s commentary overall.
— The debut of Baba Wawa! They introduced her as the actual Barbara Walters, though, instead of as “Baba Wawa”.
— Oh, wait, now they have a graphic on the bottom of the screen naming Gilda as “Babwa Wawa”, which is close enough, but slightly different with the ‘w’ in her first name that would later get taken out.
BISEXUAL MINUTE
Gore Vidal (host) traces his family’s history
— Well, I’m ALREADY loving this just for the, uh, sight that Raquel’s giving us, if you catch my drift…
— Why is she looking to the side instead of at the camera?
— Uh, what??? This whole segment just came and went with absolutely none of the material making any sense to me. I didn’t get this at all.
STARS: *½
WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 2
JOB takes issue with songs written about the weather, sticks up for Toto
— John’s commentary seems to be going in the same direction as his last one, with him getting increasingly worked up.
— John going on about Toto from The Wizard of Oz was pretty funny.
— Overall, not as funny as John’s last commentary, but I like how when he flailed himself out of the chair, he made the whole Update wall shake.
— Yay, no Emily Litella tonight! Though I should’ve already known that, considering Gilda’s Baba Wawa appearance earlier this Update.
STARS (FOR BOTH WEEKEND UPDATE HALVES): **½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (JOHN SEBASTIAN)
— What in the world went wrong at the beginning? After beginning to sing, he asked someone off-camera if he can start over again, then continued singing for a short while before busting out laughing, then the song stopped and then re-started properly.
— Hey, it’s Belushi as Joe Cocker again!
— Well, that was quick. Belushi just held a harmonica for John Sebastian to play for a bit, then left.
BEATLE OFFER
LOM offers the Beatles $3000 to appear on SNL
— Oh, is this gonna be the classic Beatles thing?
— Yep, it is! I always enjoy watching this.
— Lorne’s line deliveries were actually really good back in these days. I guess it’s a surprise to me, because I’m more familiar with modern-day Lorne’s dry, deadpan delivery.
— Hilarious line about giving Ringo less money.
— Legend has it that two of the Beatles (I forget which ones) were in a New York hotel watching the show this night, and after seeing this sketch, decided it would be funny to take the show up on its offer by going over to Rockefeller Center and making an unannounced appearance at SNL while tonight’s episode was still airing, which would’ve been epic. But unfortunately, the two ended up changing their minds and didn’t go through with the idea.
STARS: *****
ONE FLEW OVER THE HORNET’S NEST
institutionalized Bees talk Oscars
— Haha, Belushi as Nicholson. I can already tell I’m gonna like this.
— Gilda’s making the same facial expression she would later make as her recurring character Colleen.
— Not the best Nicholson I’ve ever seen, but John is performing this sketch so well.
— Raquel’s reaction to not being heard behind the glass window is cracking me up.
— Overall, this Cuckoo’s Nest parody had a very odd structure, but there were enough aspects of it that were well-done.
STARS: ***½
GILDA’S EQUAL TIME
GIR says she has the same body parts as host
— Uh, okay. I can’t think of anything to say about this, other than it was decent.
STARS: ***
RAQUEL
by Gary Weis- scantily clad host dances seductively
— There’s no joke in this, but it’s a sexy video to watch and is well-edited-together visually.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (PHOEBE SNOW)
RAQUEL WELCH: “AIN’T NECESSARILY SO”
host performs “Ain’t Necessarily So”
— Oh, I guess THIS would be the serious non-joke song that I was worried the monologue would be…
MUPPET TRUNK
The Mighty Favog advises Ploobis & Scred to pack it in
— Man, this has kind of a sad, depressing vibe. You’d think this was the Muppets’ swan song.
— Scred: “Hiya, Wisss, haven’t seen you since November.” Uh, wasn’t Wisss in the Muppets sketch from the Christmas episode in December?
— For once, Mighty Favog had a closing line that actually made me laugh.
— I’m confused. They sure made this seem like it’s the official end of these Muppets, but I remember hearing that their final SNL appearance is the first episode of season 2. Which is correct?
STARS: **½
GOODNIGHTS
CHC’s fake telegram convinces host to take off her shirt
— Raquel’s chroma-key top was a random but fairly funny gag.
— As the ending credits are rolling, only Raquel and Chevy are onstage, with nobody else in the cast joining them.
— Pardo makes a joke on the subject of turning the clocks ahead one hour tonight. Daylight Savings Time was in late April back in those days?
_______________________________
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A decent episode. Not outstanding as a whole, but almost nothing was terrible and there were two well-remembered sketches in Claudine Longet Invitational and Beatle Offer, and there was also a forgotten gem in The Decabet. Raquel Welch performed fine in most of the pieces and got at least two or so laughs out of me.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ron Nessen):
— about the same
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Madeline Kahn