Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
blues organist Ronald Reagan (CHC) blows hip image by calling (GAM) “boy”
— I never knew Chevy had ever played Ronald Reagan, though he’s doing it in the same manner as his Ford “impression”.
— And now we get a comedic disclaimer similar to the ones used in the first two Ford sketches.
— Garrett’s non-verbal offended reactions to being called “boy” is making me laugh.
— Loved the punch & fall at the end.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
host musically expresses gratitude for gifts she’s received from her mom
— This is the type of reliable humor I’ve come to expect from her.
— I’m loving how her badly-written Mother’s Day song/poem is going through each letter in the word “mother”.
STARS: ***½
WILDERNESS COMEDIAN
a movie about Shecky Adams (JOB), fauna entertainer
— John fighting the obviously fake bear is pretty funny.
— Overall, not a bad parody of generic stand-up comedy, but the initial set-up had me expecting this to be a lot funnier.
STARS: ***
NOT FOR LADIES ONLY
Baba Wawa (GIR) & Marlene Deutschland (host) talk
— The return of Baba Wawa!
— Madeline is a natural at doing the ‘w’ talk that Gilda’s Baba does.
— Loved the confusion over what Madeline meant when saying “weaw”.
— Great Elmer Fudd reference with the “siwwy wabbit” line.
— A lot of fun watching Gilda and Madeline play off of each other so well.
STARS: ****
SLUMBER PARTY
(host) tells fellow slumber partygoers (GIR), (JAC), (LAN) all about sex
— I’ve heard lots of good things about this sketch.
— Interesting how Madeline and the female cast are using their own first names, even though it seems kinda out of place in this scenario.
— Very enjoyable so far, with it’s cuteness and realism.
— Jane’s “child voice” in this sounds so drastically different from her normal voice.
— Gilda’s comment about adopted children was hilarious.
— This is getting funnier and funnier as it’s going along.
STARS: ****
FONDUE SETS FOR NAMIBIA
Namibian (GAM) solicits donations of fondue sets for his country
— For some reason, it always cracks me up whenever Garrett does African or Jamaican accents.
— The initial reveal of “We need your fondue sets” after the serious set-up is pretty funny.
— The humor didn’t really escalate after the reveal, but the overall sketch was okay.
STARS: ***
MUPPETS BEATLE OFFER
Mighty Favog says he can deliver the Beatles if the Muppets return to SNL
— Ah, I see they’re still keeping the Muppets in the storage room. I had been wondering how they continued doing these sketches after they seemingly “retired” the Muppets into the trunk in the preceding episode.
— Overall, nothing too special, but I’ve been finding these last few Muppets appearances more tolerable than their sketches from around the middle of the season.
STARS: **½
BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
Bride Of Frankenstein (host) & SNL Band perform “I Feel Pretty”
— I had always been curious what this whole sketch was like, after SNL showed a clip from it at the end of a December 1999 episode in tribute to Madeline after her passing.
— I like the different fun gimmicks they’ve been doing throughout this season with Howard Shore and his band. First they were an all-nurse band, then they were a band of angels, now they’re an all-monster band.
— Madeline is absolutely fantastic in this.
— I love how the cast is now getting involved.
— Wow. Overall, this was perfect.
STARS: *****
WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 1
CHC’s report on an Italian earthquake consists of an amiable phone chat
CHC solicits samples for a study of marijuana’s effects on memory
— Tonight’s Update has been doing okay so far, though no particular jokes have stood out yet.
— The “still to come” bit about Jimmy Carter secretly touching negroes was hilarious.
SUPER ABSORBENT DRY HOSE
Rosie (JAC) recommends Super-Absorbent Dry Hose as leg moisture remedy
— Madeline seemed a bit thrown off when Jane unintentionally splashed some coffee onto her.
— Very funny visual of Madeline sitting on the table to absorb the spilled coffee with the pantyhose she’s wearing.
— I’m assuming this was a parody of a specific series of commercials from that time. I think I also remember a similarly-set parody SNL would do years later in 1983 with Teri Garr and Robin Duke.
STARS: ***½
WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 2
Emily Litella sees nothing wrong with there being “violins” on television
for viewers that are cows, CHC repeats the top news story via moos
— For some reason, Chevy started cracking up in the middle of the Generalissimo Francisco Franco story.
— Emily Litella – no comment. Though I just want to say, this “violins/violence” commentary she’s doing is the one I had remembered the most from her before doing reviews of these 70s episodes.
— After a long hiatus, they bring back the running “News for (insert group here)” gag, with cows being the subject this time.
STARS (FOR BOTH WEEKEND UPDATE HALVES): ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
— Ha, what’s Chevy randomly doing there playing a cowbell?
FINAL DAYS
the final days of Richard Nixon’s (DAA) administration were stormy
— Dan’s Nixon is truly hilarious.
— Madeline is excellent in her scenes too.
— Loved the part with Dan’s Nixon telling the JFK painting that sex with women “never happened when Dick Nixon was in the White House”.
— Another very funny part is Nixon’s chink/gook differentiation.
— I really like the format of the sketch, showing multiple scenes by going back-and-forth between Nixon’s wife writing in the diary to Nixon in the Oval Office.
— Oh my god at Garrett’s Sammy Davis Jr. His impression is so bad, it’s hilarious.
— The Lincoln painting calling Nixon a “dip” is a famous part that I had always heard about.
— All-in-all, an excellent sketch and among some of the best political satire the show has ever done.
STARS: *****
NO REASON TO LEAVE NEW YORK
by Gary Weis- sports fan footage with Ray Charles’ “New York’s My Home”
— Ha, one of the stock footage New York shots was the same pizza chef footage used in the “Angola/Angelo’s Pizza” running gag on Weekend Update from earlier this season.
— The constant cutaways to a rowdy sports crowd are getting redundant, especially since we’re just seeing the same two or three people.
— I am enjoying all the scenic shots, though.
STARS: **½
I WILL FOLLOW HIM
(JOB) promises Ms. Mulwray (host)- “I Will Follow Him” through Chinatown
— I’ve kinda had my fill of all the singing in tonight’s episode, but the performances are making this one enjoyable.
— I liked the way they segued into “it’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to” at the end.
STARS: ***
GILDA AND MADELINE
host & GIR imitate ice cream-eating baby & parakeet, respectively
— Oh, I know I’m gonna like this.
— A very charming and fun bit with Gilda and Madeline each showcasing a unique impression.
STARS: ***½
MADELINE KAHN: “LOST IN THE STARS”
host performs “Lost In The Stars”
— So far, this appears to be a serious, non-joke performance, much like Raquel Welch’s musical performance towards the end of the last episode.
GOODNIGHTS
— A strange moment just now where a camera angle of Madeline and the cast had some kind of disclaimer on the bottom of the screen, but the camera immediately cut to another shot before the disclaimer could be read.
— Rewinding that shot and pausing it, (it’s the second screencap above) I see that the disclaimer says “We thought this might happen so we made this slide”. Huh???
_______________________________
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Best episode in a while. Just about everything in the show worked tonight, and there was a good number of very strong sketches.
— Tonight felt a little heavy on the singing, but much like the Lily Tomlin episode earlier this season, I can excuse all the singing because most of it had such a fun vibe.
— Madeline Kahn was an excellent host; she was funny in every sketch, and fit in on the show perfectly. I also like how the writers seemed to cater to her comedic style, as it’s hard for me to picture a number of these sketches being done with any host except her.
— I thought I heard this episode had a Don Pardo-read apology for the Claudine Longet Invitational sketch. I didn’t see the apology. Was it removed from the DVD version of this episode I’m reviewing?
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Raquel Welch):
— a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Dyan Cannon
The “Rosie” commercial was a takeoff of the famous Nancy Walker “Bounty” paper towel commercials which dominated tv in the 1970s and 1980s – Bounty the “quicker-picker upper!”
Here’s a typical one from 1977:
Re: Chevy’s performance with the musical guest
Carly Simon is well known for having serious stage fright – she very rarely appears live in concert (I believe this SNL appearance may have been the first major live performance she ever did as a solo artist), so Chevy filled on cowbell (!) during “You’re so Vain” to help her feel comfortable enough to get through the performance.
Simon was on tape.
If I had to guess that slide at the end was made if something went wrong due to that technician strike they had around that time. They must not have had everyone back yet or were still short handed hence that bumper in case something messed up.
Shame they cut the apology out as it is historical as it’s the only pure time they ever had to apologize after a skit. Manson’s people wrote them a threatening letter in July that year after the Lasser show but Lorne just laughed it off with no sorries, this time he had to.
SNL Vintage actually airing vintage episodes alert! Unless something changes, this will be airing on Saturday night.
I have been watching one form of this episode or another for 30 years now and it always holds up.
I just loved Madeline – I wish she was still with us, as I do so many others.
Chevy filled in for Mick Jagger.
I read that the Lincoln portrait was originally written for him to say to Danny’s Nixon, “Because you’re such a schmuck!”
SNL Vintage edited the Weekend Update segment in the Madeline Kahn airing, I’m guessing for the “Still to come: Jimmy Carter secretly touches…” line. It did compromise the segment run, losing the “Dry Hose” commercial parody and the time Chevy broke during the Franco story.
I believe one of the backup singers in the “You’re So Vain” performance was future MG Libby Titus.
One of the lines in “The Final Days” sketch had Chevy’s David Eisenhower saying to Dan’s Richard Nixon-“People tell me you’re half crazy, but I tell them you’re half sane.” after Nixon recounts how someome told him a soldier with less blood was half empty but he said he was half full. That Chevy line is just as much suitable for today’s Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress who are extremely loyal to him as it was to Nixon and his fellow loyalists!
– It was the May 29th episode with Elliot Gould where a brief statement of explanation/apology for the Longet sketch aired live (according to this newspaper column from The Memphis Press-Scimitar on June 1 1976): https://imgur.com/Xt1Hb5Q
-missing from the dvd/streaming version off this episode (taken from the OOP Warner Brothers VHS 1989) are:
— this “coming up next” scrawl following “Slumber Party” https://imgur.com/avUnrwz
–this audience closeup with botched caption gag attempt (NABT strike still going on) following “Final Days” https://imgur.com/uIdumpZ
– I think you can see Aykroyd break a little in “Final Days” waiting for Garrett to stop coughing after his “Sammy-giddy-dance”
I just read online an article about whom Carly Simon sang about in “You’re So Vain” and it brought up someone I’ve never heard about plus also Warren Beatty, Cat Stevens, Mick Jagger, etc. Wonder if Dick Ebersol will reveal it when she dies? Also, condolences to Ms. Simon on losing her two sisters so close in timeline recently.
This has been a solid episode overall, I didn’t like wildness comedian, seemed like something randy Randy Quaid would do in season 11, or something in the earlier 80s sketches. It was boring.
Didn’t care for bride of Frankenstein either, that seemed way too long. And I thought it was Gilda Radner as I wasn’t fully watching it until I realized I had to rewind as I was missing the first few moments of weekend update. It just didn’t do it for me.
Liked slumber party and didn’t mind not for ladies only. But a lot of the sketches this evening seemed especially longer than I’m used to, hence it was harder to hold my attention, I think this is why it’s harder for me to watch these older seasons for the most part.
Loved the Carly Simon performances, don’t mind that it was pre taped, I thought it was wonderful, definitely the highlight of the show for me.
This Gary Weis film is a step up from some of his other duds seen, but still think his later one in season 3 with Loraine Newman is pure 5 star gold. Kind of baffling that all the others I’ve seen are so blah.
Really liked chevy chases nerdy role in the Nixon final days sketch. Kind of fun to see him play a role outside his typical charming and I know it roles.
Always appreciate when Gilda talks to one of the guests as herself, I think I recall her doing this with Candice Bergen early on or maybe it’s later, but enjoy this as a good way to close the show.
Also liked the pantyhose sketch, thought that was very cute, but also wondering why they took these “breaks” for weekend update. I could understand if it was for a commercial they did, but don’t understand why they need to do segments with a sketch in between, i know this would change later on but I guess the show was still figuring out what was working, ahem, MUPPETS DIE!
Could do without Madeline’s last piece, would have preferred something with the cast, seems like she got a huge amount of screen time and I don’t dislike her, have no idea who the hell she is, but she isn’t merryl Streep, so amazed that she got so maybe there’s something I’m missing, or she was sleeping with Lorne…(joke).
It is so crazy to watch the goodnights in this first season. I know the cast was small but it goes to show you that less is more, when there’s more than 8 or so cast members, (the golden era with Carvey, Hartman, Hooks, Miller, Lovitz, Jackson, Dunn, and Nealon), and featured Al Franken, ah that was a great number. When they kept adding later on, it was just so overwhelming , it was so sad watching the sinking ship of season 19 of Hartman to part, and this huge cast to what I still have yet to finish watching the dreaded season 20, thank goodness for good musical acts and hosts.
Newer seasons have even more, and the worse is they hire people that look nearly identical so it’s hard to keep track of who is who in some of the members the past last recent 5+ seasons of SNL imo (have not watched the 22-23 season since the partings of all the people I enjoyed on the show for the most part left.
In this episodes case. I would have liked Less Madeline, more sketches with the cast, and another song from Carly Simon! Liked the subtle background of CC doing cowbell, i wouldn’t had noticed it if it hadn’t been mentioned.