Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Jimmy Carter (DAA) generates electricity to broadcast energy message
— Funny premise with Dan’s Carter powering his television address via his exercise bike.
— I love Gilda as the elderly Lillian Carter.
— Overall, a simple but funny cold opening.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
host aims to perform a live on-stage sex act with an audience member
— Hmm, what’s all that stuff set up on the stage upon’s Buck’s entrance?
— Heh, a pornography challenge? Very intriguing. I remember hearing about this monologue before, where Buck supposedly showcases a live sex act.
— I like the random inclusion of a big barrel of cottage cheese being part of the sex act.
— LOL at the random nun in the audience when the camera was panning through the crowd.
— Funny fake-out with which audience member Buck would end up picking.
— Good ending.
STARS: ****
SAMURAI B.M.O.C.
Futaba’s bad grades jeopardize his graduation
— Gilda: “Dean Bynum will be with you in a moment; it’s just he’s performing a live sex act on stage.” Haha! That’s brilliant how the ending of the monologue carried over into this sketch.
— Buck, upon entering: “Sorry to keep you waiting. Just finishing my cottage cheese.”
— Man, Garrett’s even more stumbly with his lines than usual. He can’t get through a sentence in this sketch without tripping all over it.
— I have a weird feeling from Buck’s set-up that the mysterious “big man on campus” he keeps talking about is going to turn out to be Futaba.
— I was right!!!
— This is the first Samurai sketch that Buck is appearing in since the “stockbroker” installment where Buck infamously got cut in the forehead by John’s sword. The fact that even after that incident, Buck had no problem continuing the tradition of doing a Samurai sketch every time he hosts shows what a great sport he was.
— Clever how Futaba “carved” his fraternity’s symbol into the drapes.
— Overall, the usual great Buck Henry-involved Samurai sketch.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (JENNIFER WARNES)
SHOWER MIKE
showering Richard Herkiman (BIM) interviews wife (GIR) & her lover (host)
— Right out of the gate, Bill’s doing fantastic in this so far. This sketch’s concept is perfect for him, and his performance is so much fun to watch.
— Bringing Buck on as a man who Gilda’s been cheating on Bill with, and him still having his suit on during the shower is making this sketch even funnier. Everybody’s cheerful attitudes about the affair is very funny, too.
— Overall, wow, this was great. I’d say this is one of Bill’s all-time best sketches from his entire SNL tenure. With how shaky his first few months have been on the show, I’m glad he was able to end this season with an assuring performance that hopefully gave a lot of iffy viewers more confidence in him.
STARS: ****½
RETURN OF THE CONEHEADS
Coneheads fly Chrysler Building to Remulak to meet with Kuldroth (JOB)
— Coneheads! I’m looking forward to seeing Buck interact with them.
— Laraine’s conehead prosthetic is pretty sloppily applied. You can very clearly see where her real skin ends and the prosthetic begins.
— Buck to the Coneheads: “I think I know exactly what you people are: you’re Ku Klux Klan!”
— I was just about to ask why Buck looks so sweaty in his close-up, before I just now realized he must still be damp from the shower sketch.
— Whoa, a cutaway to a filmed sequence with the Coneheads taking a drive. I’m really liking this.
— This whole filmed sequence is great. SNL’s pulling out all the stops for tonight’s Coneheads installment.
— Funny to watch the crowd of bystanders in the background when the Coneheads exit from their car.
— Wow, now we’re seeing the Coneheads on their home planet. I love seeing John as the leader.
— Nice continuity having Garrett reprise his role from the preceding Coneheads sketch.
— John’s voice is great.
— LOL at the fight sequence between Dan and John.
— Overall, an absolutely great Coneheads sketch, and I love how extensive the whole thing was.
STARS: ****½
WEEKEND UPDATE
on-horse microphone records Preakness ride of Seattle Slew & jockey (CHC)
Emily Litella says Bella Abzug [real] will throw her “cat” in the ring
in hopes of getting laid, host presents JAC with a phony journalism award
— This is Jane’s final Update as a solo anchorperson. A certain cast member becomes her new co-anchor the following season.
— Pretty funny with the horse in the horse race footage having a Mr. Ed voice, though this is the second time they used that joke. Last time they did that joke (in the Catherine the Great sketch from the Karen Black episode), Chevy was the one who did the Mr. Ed voice. Does this mean he’s there tonight (in yet ANOTHER cameo) doing the voice again?
— (sigh) Another Emily Litella appearance, though they’re using her as a reporter this time.
— Part of me appreciates that they’ve been trying a lot of different things with Litella these last few months, but this particular commentary still didn’t work for me. The jokes were tired and weak, Bella Abzug’s delivery was stiff, and hearing Abzug attempt to do Litella’s “Never mind” catchphrase was almost cringeworthy.
— Buck giving Jane an award for journalism? Wonder what the catch is going to be.
— Haha, Buck’s creepy stalker-ish pining for Jane is very funny.
— And now, it’s gotten even funnier with Buck’s comment about his personal “rather large trophy” that he want to give to Jane in private.
— Jane’s sign-off at the end was a little strange. I think she sold her post-Buck commentary weirded-out-ness a little TOO well here.
— No mid-WU break tonight. Hopefully in the semi-new era of Update that begins the following season, the mid-WU breaks will officially be gone.
STARS: ***½
RHONDA’S BRIDAL SHOWER
at her bridal shower, Rhonda Weiss loves the gifts she receives
— Jane’s voice sounds so different in this. I’ve never heard her talk like that any other time.
— What the heck is a “melonballer”?
— Never mind; I guess the joke there was melonballers don’t actually exist, judging by how the next gift Gilda received was an “egg-tweezer”.
— Not really sure I like this sketch so far. I’m finding myself bored and haven’t laughed a single time yet.
— Overall, yeah, not crazy at all about what I just watched. I think this was something that was aimed more towards female viewers who can relate to this type of humor.
STARS: *½
HOW YOUR CHILDREN GROW
(host) & punctuator patient (GIR) condition (JAC)
— LOL, what the heck is going on, with Gilda monotone-ly punctuating Buck’s sentences, Laraine ringing a bell, and Gilda handing Jane a cookie?
— I’m starting to really like the weirdness of this.
— Great twist revelation regarding Jane’s salivation.
— Overall, this was perfect execution of a unique sketch.
STARS: ****
DOG IN BED
by William Wegman- an alarm clock awakens weimaraner Man Ray
— The second episode in a row without a Gary Weis film. I can only hope this means they’re phasing him out.
— What in the world??? That’s the whole film??? A dog gets woken up by an alarm clock, sleepily looks around, and… The End?
STARS: ???
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (KENNY VANCE)
LUCKY LINDY
Charles Lindbergh (host) flies across the Atlantic & meets Land Shark
— I’m liking the format of this and Dan is fun as the narrator, though nothing really funny has happened yet.
— LOL at Buck placing the thermos below himself to relieve himself into.
— Buck pretending his hand is a stewardess puppet? Ha, he seems to slowly be going crazy.
— Him using the puppet hand to pleasure himself while looking at a “spicy” magazine is a riot.
— The masturbation sequence is made even funnier by the line from Dan as the narrator: “Turbulence suddenly jerked the plane off……. course.”
— Haha, Landshark! So I guess that answers my earlier question about if Chevy’s there tonight.
STARS: ***½
THE SATURDAY NIGHT BAND: “DEPARTURE LOUNGE”
Howard Shore [real] & SNL Band perform “Departure Lounge”
— We get a random musical performance from the SNL Band.
IMPRESSIONIST MICHAEL O’DONOGHUE
MOD, castmembers, others impersonate eye-gouged Mormon Tabernacle Choir
— Hmm, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is the subject of tonight’s O’Donoghue impression. Is he going to have a choir accompany him like how he had two ladies accompany his Tony Orlando and Dawn impression last time?
— Even though I always know what’s coming with these O’Donoghue impression segments, it never fails to crack me up whenever he suddenly starts saying “A funny thought occurred to me…” after heaping tons of praise on who he’s about to impersonate.
— Ah, the choir is being played by the entire cast and (what appears to be) entire writing staff!
— Overall, hilarious as always. And this being the final sketch of the season, having the entire cast and writing staff appearing in it is a nice way to end the year.
— So far, all of O’Donoghue’s impression sketches have only appeared in Buck Henry-hosted episodes. I didn’t realize until now that these sketches were exclusive to Buck’s episodes. I had always thought that O’Donoghue just did them whenever.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very good season finale, and yet another solid Buck Henry episode. I had a great time watching this. A majority of the sketches were both strong and fun, and a few of those sketches had a special extensive feeling that made it seem like SNL was intentionally going all out for their season finale, which is what I always like to see when an SNL season ends.
— This episode would begin a tradition of Buck hosting the season finales for the remainder of this era. It doesn’t need to be explained why, if you’re familiar with what a great host he always makes.
— We’re officially two seasons down in my ‘One SNL a Day’ project!
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Shelley Duvall):
— a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Season 3 begins, with host Steve Martin. I’m very eager to go into this season because, IIRC, that and season 4 are both widely considered the zenith of 70s SNL.