Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Charlie sends Fred Silverman (JOB), host, other Angels to sabotage NBC
— Boy, John’s voice sounds TERRIBLE, which is no surprise. I went into details in an earlier review (in my review of the cold opening) about how John’s health was in a horrible state the day of this Kate Jackson episode. Though I didn’t mention how John’s health that day was SO bad that at one point, Laraine supposedly found him backstage with green skin…..
— I really like the concept of this cold opening.
— Dan is dead-on as Bosley/David Doyle.
— John’s looking pretty uncomfortable.
— Kate Jackson, regarding SNL: “I used to watch it, but it went downhill after Chevy Chase left.”
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
former NBC tour guide host answers questions from tour group
— This is the second time Tom Schiller as a tour guide has interrupted an episode.
— Some of the absurd questions the people in the tour are asking Kate are pretty funny.
— A short, average monologue.
STARS: ***
NERDS & THE NURSE
Lisa is upset that Todd is infatuated with nurse (host)
— Pretty funny that Lisa’s sad over Todd not giving her a noogie for two weeks.
— Bill’s singing of “Michelle” was amusing.
— Charming ending with Todd and Lisa’s rapport being back to normal.
STARS: ***½
FRED SILVERMAN’S OFFICE
host stops by as Fred Silverman (JOB) makes ruinous schedule changes
— Looks like this premise is going to be a runner tonight. Are John’s only appearances all night going to be as Fred Silverman?
— Some pretty good laughs from the terrible changes made to NBC’s schedule.
— I like the line about proposing the idea of “Mrs. Kojak” to Jane Curtin.
— Funny hearing a reference to NBC’s infamous flop “Supertrain”.
— Hey, it’s Dan’s Tom Snyder!
STARS: ***½
CHILD PSYCHIATRIST
child psychiatrist Dr. Schiffman (LAN) tries to help catatonic Colleen
— Great segue from the last sketch to this one.
— Oh, Bill’s tan from the Nerds sketch is REAL?
— Always good to see Gilda’s Colleen character.
— Laraine’s giving a great performance as the “child psychiatrist”. At this point, it feels kinda rare to see a sketch showcasing Laraine this much.
— Didn’t realize until just now that Gilda’s wearing the same shirt as Bill and the same skirt as Kate.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “B Movie Boxcar Blues”
WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW
WEEKEND UPDATE
Father Guido Sarducci talks about the weather & UFO sightings
Roseanne Roseannadanna slides from the King Tut exhibit to tongues
— Interesting seeing Father Guido Sarducci doing a weather segment.
— Sarducci’s story about UFOs has some good laughs.
— The Roseanne Rosannadanna commentary was decent though standard Roseannadanna stuff. Nothing was really too noteworthy this time. I wish they’d cut back a little on the frequency of her appearances.
STARS: ***
ANDY KAUFMAN
Andy Kaufman [real] yodels, dances, plays the congas
— I was wondering when we would see Andy Kaufman this season. Kinda hard to believe this is his first appearance all season.
— Andy’s dancing to the tribal music is great.
— Overall, even though there was no real joke here, this was a pretty fun performance. Not one of Andy’s more memorable SNL bits, though.
STARS: ***
FRED SILVERMAN RUNNER
host tells Fred Silverman (JOB) she feels wrong about betraying the cast
— Another good segue tonight from one sketch to the next.
— Is Garrett just NOW making his first appearance all night?
— I liked John’s Silverman asking if John Belushi lives in a fancy place.
— We get a Steve Martin-esque “Nah!” ending.
STARS: ***
BAD CABARET FOR CHILDREN
kids’ reception of a musical number turns sour
— First non-Fred Silverman role for John all night. His voice still sounds like hell, though.
— This is pretty elaborate for a Bad Showcase sketch.
— The “Tomorrow you go on ze bus” singing/taunting is hilariously bad.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Talkin’ About You”
MR. BILL SHAPES UP
by Walter Williams- Sluggo LaLanne leads a workout
— Overall, standard Mr. Bill stuff, but still pretty funny, and a good premise with him trying to lose weight.
STARS: ***
THE CONEHEADS AT THE MOVIES
at the movies, Beldar becomes obnoxious after smoking (JOB)’s joint
— Why is a Coneheads sketch on so late in the show?
— We haven’t seen these characters since the beginning of the season. I was starting to wonder if they had been retired. They seem to be being phased out in favor of more one-dimensional characters like The Widettes.
— The “take your hats off” part was funny.
— LOL at Dan, after getting high, returning with an insane amount of snacks.
— The ending was kinda awkward but funny with the usher making Garrett leave with the Coneheads.
— I wonder if this ends up being the final Coneheads sketch before Dan leaves at the end of this season.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Pretty good show. Nothing stood out as particularly great aside from maybe the last sketch, but this was a consistently pretty enjoyable episode with every non-Coneheads sketch getting a rating in the 3 to 3½-star range. The Fred Silverman runner was also a decent through-line for the episode.
— Quite a lot of recurring characters tonight, I noticed.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Rick Nelson):
— a moderate step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Gary Busey
Trivia: The red-headed bearded man in the reddish-tan sweatshirt in your last two screenshots from the monologue is Walter “Mr. Bill” Williams.
Walter looks a little like Mitchell from Modern Family.
Walter was on the writing staff in season 4, that’s why Mr Bill is showing up so often.
Note that Bill Murray was the voice of “Charlie” in the open; he would play Bosley in the first “Angels” movie in 2000.
I died when Lisa called Todd “Toast Face”. Gilda committed to that character soooo hard & this episode was one of my fave Nerds sketches.
Laraine’s “little girl” character is a little too creepy to find amusing. She’s so thin it’s scary. Poor thing. Again, when Colleen (Gilda) brought that Scotch tape over to represent herself I died.