Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
musical guest performs “Soul Man”
— I’m loving Garrett’s very energetic intro.
— Wow, what an entrance from Dan and John, especially John’s great cartwheel. I remember a slow-motion shot of that cartwheel was used to represent John during the “in memoriam” montage of SNL’s recent 40th anniversary special.
— I absolutely love Dan and John’s sudden wild dancing when the background music for “Soul Man” kicks in.
— Hmm, Dan is actually singing along with John during the chorus. I guess I was wrong in my review of their last appearance where I said my memory of Dan singing with John in Blues Brothers’ performances was faulty.
— Dan and John’s act is coming off more polished and perfected than their Blues Brothers debut in the preceding season.
— Overall, a freakin’ amazing musical performance and really got me hyped-up for the show.
STARS: N/A
OPENING MONTAGE
— Very energetic, loud applause from the audience during the cast announcements. Dan, John, and Bill got by far the most applause. Poor Laraine, on the other hand, was the only one who received almost no applause. Even GARRETT got more than her.
MONOLOGUE
Obi-Wan Kenobi (DAA) guides host as she tells a Star Wars-themed joke
— Hmm, walking out in her Princess Leia costume.
— I remember hearing there’s a noticeable technical error in this, where they accidentally cut to a brief shot of a Carrie Fisher stand-in waiting in front of a chroma-key screen for some kind of special effect that’s supposed to happen in the sketch that follows this.
— Who’s that doing Obi-Wan’s voice-over? His increasingly-obnoxious laugh is pretty funny.
— Oh, that’s Dan as the voice-over, it now sounds like.
— Ah, THERE’S the aforementioned technical error with the female stand-in. Wow, that was weird as fuck. (screencap below)
— Wait, the monologue’s over? What in the world happened? Why’d this end in such awkward, eerie silence, with no applause or laughter from the audience? Was the audience THAT thrown off by the aforementioned technical screw-up?
STARS: ***
BEACH BLANKET BIMBO FROM OUTER SPACE
Princess Leia (host) is a Beach Blanket Bimbo From Outer Space
— Another amusing technical error, where a “Coming Up Next” caption gag mistakenly shows up onscreen when they meant to display the “Beach Blanket Bimbo From Outer Space” title.
— The teenagers’ exaggerated 1950s dialogue is pretty funny.
— Gilda as Annette Funicello: “I’m Annette, this is my boyfriend Frankie, and these are my breasts.”
— Al Franken is funny as an immature teen.
— Some good laughs from Dan’s portrayal of Vincent Price.
— I usually despise when SNL sketches suddenly break out into cheesy musical numbers, but I can let this one slide because of the fun, infectious energy and because of how well the sketch had been going.
— Garrett: “There’s nothing I like better than entertaining white middle-class kids on the beach.”
STARS: ****½
LOUD FAMILY
members of the Loud family (BIM), (JAC), (GIR), (host) disturb the peace
— I can already tell from the way Jane’s talking at the beginning that this is going to be the Loud Family sketch I’ve always heard about. I’ve never seen this sketch for myself until right now, but I’ve heard that this has inexplicably been aired in some of SNL’s Thanksgiving compilation specials, despite having NOTHING to do with Thanksgiving.
— Going into this sketch, I’m a little wary of the premise, since it sounds like the kind of bad, one-joke “every member of a family has the same weird trait/big body part” sketch I usually don’t like. The same kind of thing I believe The Simpsons were making fun of in that “Big Ear Family” sketch of theirs. This is the same reason I’m dreading those upcoming “Widettes” sketches I’ve always heard about.
— Pretty funny contrast when Dan enters as a character who talks in a soft-spoken manner.
— The avalanche story was amusing.
— John entering in earphones is a nice touch.
— Hilarious part with Bill and Jane’s loud lovemaking sounds from their bedroom, even if I saw it coming as soon as they said they’re going upstairs to their room.
— Overall, wow, that was a lot better than I thought it would be. This was the RIGHT way to pull off a premise like this.
STARS: ****
MERCY KILLERS
orderlies (DAA) & (BIM) euthanize the wrong patient (GAM)
— John’s “Face it, she’s a vege” line was really funny.
— “Mercy Killers”? Haha, is this a sister sketch to X-Police?
— Love the sitcom-esque ending credits, with the theme song sung by Bill.
— Overall, pretty funny. Considering how those X-Police sketches got old pretty fast, it’s probably a good thing they’ve shook things up by doing a different, fresh variation rather than another tired retread.
STARS: ***½
WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW
WEEKEND UPDATE
Father Guido Sarducci shows depositor gifts offered by the Vatican Bank
Roseanne Roseannadanna wanders from quitting smoking to sauna sweat
— LOL at the real story of a restaurant being named Sambo’s.
— Bill’s screaming during the Neil Armstrong joke was great.
— I’m ashamed to admit it took me a few seconds to get Bill’s Vietnamese “fried lice” joke. Bill’s reaction to the audience’s reaction was good, too.
— This is the very first time where a guest commentator is doing their desk piece next to Bill instead of next to Jane.
— Great part during Father Guido Sarducci’s commentary with him showcasing a “how-to” book on how to weasel your way around the confessional.
— Overall, Sarducci delivers another pretty funny and relatable commentary.
— Oddly, we jump from one guest commentary (Sarducci) to another (Rosannadanna), with no news stories in between.
— As usual, some pretty big laughs during Rosannadanna’s commentary, especially the story about Dr. Joyce Brothers having a sweat ball hanging off her nose.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
MR. BILL GOES FISHING
by Walter Williams- Mr. Hands helps catch a whale
— Eh, I went through this whole short without laughing too much, overall. I hate to say it, but I’m starting to get tired of the Mr. Bill shorts. SNL’s been relying on them too often this season. Like I said in an earlier review, Mr. Bill’s better in small doses.
STARS: **
TOMORROW
cheerful Linda Blair (host) reflects on her rocky adolescence
— Dan’s Snyder makes another mention of “stage manager Bobby Brown”, which I can’t help but laugh at for the wrong reason.
— Dan was excellent randomly listing off a whole bunch of drugs in rapid succession, with no set-up.
— The whole cocaine part is hilarious.
— Overall, the usual strong Dan-as-Tom-Snyder sketch, featuring some really good laughs and a very good performance from Carrie.
STARS: ****
THE WORLD BAR
Marseilles barfly Brandy (host) sells a sailor (BIM) on mutual funds
— Looks like we’re in for a more dramatic sketch.
— Wait, a barfly discussing mutual funds? I guess this IS supposed to be a comedic sketch after all. Not crazy about this premise, though.
— The hand-under-the-table bit during Bill and Carrie’s conversation is pretty funny.
— Overall, I didn’t care much for this, despite another strong performance from Carrie.
STARS: **
BAD RED CHINESE BALLET
New York Yankee (GAM) represents imperialism
— I can’t tell which female cast members are playing which soldiers. Or are they all played by writers/extras?
— Garrett’s random walk-on (or slide-on) as the Yankee was pretty funny.
— Overall, this was decent, but lately, I feel like these “Bad Showcase” sketches are starting to lose the magic of the first few installments.
STARS: ***
ROMAN HOLIDAY
by TOS- woman has fun despite death of her husband
— The old lady’s voice sounds just like someone who’s been on SNL before, but I’m not sure who I’m thinking of. Ruth Gordon? Miskel Spillman?
— A slow start so far for a Schiller’s Reel. This almost feels more like typical dull Gary Weis fare (I’m so glad he’s gone this season, BTW) rather than Schiller’s usual interesting work. I dunno, maybe because I sometimes don’t care much for SNL shorts that star random unfamiliar actors instead of cast members.
— Okay, this got a little funnier after a while, with the wife’s constant flirting, and the husband keeling over face-first into his meal. Not one of Schiller’s better films overall, though.
STARS: **½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An overall fun and very well-done episode, featuring some really memorable sketches and performances. The quality of the show died down towards the end, but the overall show was still strong. Carrie Fisher worked well with this cast, and should’ve hosted a second time during this era.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Buck Henry):
— a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Walter Matthau