Month: October 2018

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October 7, 1978 – The Rolling Stones (S4 E1)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
in an NBC broadcasting throwback, GAM & SNL Band perform “I Love You”

    

— Interesting, unique way to open a season.
— Overall, while there was no humor to be found here, this was a well-done performance of a classical NBC song, and I like the various ways they made this look like a broadcast from the 40s/50s.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— A new montage this season!

     

— For some reason, the two shots this montage opens with are reused from the season 1-2 montage. For a second, that worried me that this ENTIRE montage was going to just be the season 1-2 one, but thankfully, all the shots after the first few seconds are brand new.
— We get the debut of what I’ve always personally referred to as “the squiggly, cursive-style SNL logo”. I believe this is the logo that most people associate 70s SNL with.
— Beginning this season, the hosts and musical guests are now represented in the opening montage by pictures instead of a simple onscreen text displaying their names.
— The cast is no longer announced as “The Not Ready For Prime-Time Players”. I’m surprised; I thought they didn’t get rid of that moniker until season 5 when Aykroyd and Belushi were gone and there were only a few original cast members remaining. This season 4 cast still has the old gang intact, so why’d they drop the NRFPTP name?


MONOLOGUE
Mayor Ed Koch [real] presents JOB with a certificate of merit

   

— New home base stage!
— Hmm, imagine that! There actually was a time when SNL would (gasp!) change their home base stage every now and then. Hear that, modern-day SNL?
— I love the new set’s huge, bright ceiling with all the studio lights; it gives off the feeling of this being a big, high-budget show, which is a good representation of SNL’s increasing importance at the time.
— Strange that Mayor Ed Koch is doing the monologue instead of tonight’s actual hosts.
— Good way to acknowledge John’s big summer with “Animal House” being a huge hit.
— John’s unenthused reaction to the certificate Koch gave him is pretty funny.
— Another “But noooooo” rant, which is always good for laughs.
— This whole monologue really illustrates how much John’s movie stardom was beginning to really take off and how Hollywood was a-callin’ for him, which is a strong reminder that the end of his SNL tenure is sadly near.
STARS: ***½


AUTOSCENT
(JAC) shows (GIR) how well Autoscent exhaust freshener works

  

— Gilda happily sniffing the car’s exhaust pipe is a memorable image.
— That’s it? This was too short and simple of a commercial, and should’ve had more humor.
STARS: **½


TOMORROW
Tom Snyder (DAA) interviews Mick Jagger [real]

   

— Odd in hindsight hearing Dan’s Snyder casually mention a crew member named Bobby Brown.
— Does Mick have a sore throat? His voice sounds unusually hoarse in this.
— Dan’s Snyder demonstrating his favorite Jagger moves is a riot.
— Overall, this was a very enjoyable, memorable sketch that contained lots of laughs.  Probably one of the strongest “Tomorrow” sketches.
STARS: ****½


NERDS / NORGE
Todd & Lisa crack up upon seeing refrigerator repairman’s (DAA) low pants

   

— A refrigerator repairman is coming? Oh, it’s THIS famous Nerds sketch…
— The frequently-changing last name of Bill’s Todd character is now DiLaMuca, which would go on to stay as his regular last name.
— LOL there’s the legendary “plumber’s crack” moment.
— I’ve always found Bill’s reactions to the “plumber’s crack” to be absolutely priceless. His goofy spazzy laughter, his tapping the table repeatedly, his kicking his leg out, his putting a napkin over his own head… all hilarious.
— Todd and Lisa’s cheap wisecracks (no pun intended) about the repairman are really funny.
— Good ending with Todd badly singing his campaign song.
— Overall, one of the best Nerds sketches.
STARS: ****½


THE OLYMPIA CAFE
Pete returns to the Olympia Cafe after receiving a paltry inheritance

       

— The cafe & uniforms looks like they’ve gone through some minor changes this season.
— Did I just spot Garrett in drag in the background?
— Ah, now they actually acknowledged the changes in the cafe’s look & uniforms.
— Yep, that indeed IS Garrett in drag… once again. I know it’s become a crutch for the writers at this point in Garrett’s tenure, but it seems REALLY random for this sketch.
— I love John’s dramatic, slow entrance. And I swear, the monologue earlier tonight has me now looking at him a bit differently as the new movie star of this season’s cast.
— When John was chasing out all the customers, I like the particular joy he seemed to take in throwing Ron Wood out.
— Very interesting how the last two minutes of this turned into a semi-dramatic sketch in which John got to display some good subtle acting. This just adds to what I said in my last review about how these Olympia Cafe sketches had a surprising amount of layers and depth for a recurring SNL sketch. These sketches truly do feel kinda sitcom-ish.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
BIM adopts JAC’s view on ERA ratification during Point-Counterpoint
Roseanne Roseannadanna’s report on Studio 54 is centered around blisters

       

— Jane begins this semi-new era of Update by announcing there’s been a personnel change. Co-anchor Dan Aykroyd has been “kicked upstairs” to station manager, and is being replaced at the desk by the “capable, highly-respected” Bill Murray. At one point during that whole announcement, Jane gets in a nice little dig at how bad Dan was as an anchorperson.
— Haha, Bill’s doing his intro speech in the same smarmy delivery he used for his Update movie reviews in the preceding season. I’m already liking him as an anchorperson. Miles better than Aykroyd, that’s for sure.
— Bill: “When I get into an argument with somebody, if it gets to where we’re gonna throw punches, I turn around and walk away.” Oh, you mean like you did last season during your backstage confrontation with Chevy Chase– oh wait…..
— Bill’s whole long opening spiel was absolutely awesome. What an intro! As an anchorperson, he’s kinda coming off as a proto-Dennis Miller. That being said, I don’t think this smarmy Update persona of Bill’s lasts long. I saw some of the season 4-5 Updates years ago and I recall Bill just doing the news in a normal straight-laced manner. A damn shame, because I actually love him delivering the news in a smarmy style.
— The new Update set looks great, by the way.
— What, a Point/Counterpoint segment between Jane and BILL? How are they going to make this work without Dan?
— Hmm, Bill actually agreeing with Jane during his rebuttal is different, at least, but left a little something to be desired.
— The bit with Bill tossing Jane a contraceptive was hilarious.
— Roseanne Rosannadanna’s Studio 54 rant was her usual funny stuff.
— Overall, a promising debut for the Bill Murray era of Update.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


SUSHI BY THE POOL
by TOS- quake hits showbiz party; Carrie Fisher cameo

     

— Wow, from the list of guest stars in this film’s intro, we’re getting several random celebrity cameos, including the soon-to-be-hosting-this-season Carrie Fisher.
— Uh, wow. Overall, this Schiller’s Reel was pretty out-there. I’m not sure I “got” what this was going for.
STARS: **½


A FRAMEWORK FOR THE REUNION OF THE BEATLES
Jimmy Carter (DAA) reunites John Lennon (JOB) & Paul McCartney (BIM)

— LOL, I love the way Belushi looks as Lennon.
— Funny concept with the president holding a peace talks between Lennon and McCartney as if they’re world leaders.
— Overall, a decent sketch.
STARS: ***


NETWORK BATTLE OF THE T’S AND A’S
female TV stars’ talents are on display

     

— Ah, I remember this quite well.
— A pretty funny commercial that doubles as great eye candy.
— This was a lot shorter than I remember. I guess it was my horny memory that made this commercial seem a lot longer in my mind in the past.
STARS: ***½


DANGER PROBE
Hare Krishna (JOB) & mime (GIR) encounter torturists

     

— Laraine’s angry thick accent is cracking me up right from the start.
— Funny part with Gilda walking on as a random mime.
— I’m dying at Bill’s brief yells whenever he cracks his whip. He sounds hilarious.
— Wow, what a weird, weird sketch overall. Despite the funny little moments listed above, this sketch was hard to figure; there was too much going on and may have been a little TOO random for its own good.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

  

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Pretty fun season opener, with several solid, memorable installments of popular recurring sketches (Tomorrow, Nerds, Olympia Cafe) and some decent original material in the mix as well. The episode’s quality died down a little after Update, but it never reached any truly bad low points; even the weakest segments of the night had their moments.
— The “hosts” of the night, The Rolling Stones, might as well have just been billed only as the musical guest, because they were almost non-existent in the show outside of their musical performance. SNL should’ve just presented this episode as having no host, much like the later premieres of seasons 7 and 10. At least that would’ve justified why they had an unannounced guest star (Mayor Koch) deliver the monologue and goodnights speech tonight.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1977-78):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Fred Willard

Posted on

May 20, 1978 – Buck Henry / Sun Ra (S3 E20)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
The Boy In The Plastic Pants Suit will not be seen tonight


COLD OPENING
since you don’t have Nixon (DAA) to kick around anymore, kick his book

   

— Funny that Dan’s Nixon brings out the “Don’t Buy Books by Crooks” anti-Nixon t-shirt, considering Dan himself wore that same shirt (and proudly pointed to it) during the preceding episode’s goodnights. (screencap below of both moments)

 

— Dan’s Nixon’s desperation for people to buy the book is pretty funny.
— I liked the “Pat’s already on her fourth copy” line.
— Good ending with the book being placekicked.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
scrolling text says host’s career is over, contrary to what he claims

   

— Another scrolling disclaimer during a Buck monologue.
— As usual, this provided good laughs. I especially liked the magazines/telescope part.
STARS: ***½


NERD PROM
before the prom, parents Marshall (host) & Enid (JAC) advise Todd & Lisa

    

— I liked Jane’s comment about Bill’s hormones.
— Buck regarding Bill’s look: “John Ravolta, watch out!”
— Classic part with Bill giving Gilda a can that has rubber snakes pop out of it when she opens it. I’ve often seen that portion of this sketch in the form of a clip in SNL highlight reels.
— Jane’s details about the late Mr. Loopner were really funny.
— Kind of an odd ending.
STARS: ***½


SAMURAI T.V. REPAIRMAN
Mr. Dantley brings his broken set to Futaba

   

— Can already tell from the set that this will be a Samurai sketch.
— Yep, I was right.
— Futaba referring to his mother as “My mama-san” brought me back to the funny “Yo mama-san” bit from the Samurai sketch with Richard Pryor.
— Hate to say it, but you can tell this recurring sketch is running out of steam. A lot of the usual gags here feel tired, predictable, and by-the-numbers.
— The “68/89” mix-up was fairly funny.
— I liked Futaba sticking two swords into the top of the TV screen to fix the picture.
— This sketch as a whole was disappointing for Samurai standards. John also kinda seemed to be going through the motions; I bet he’s grown tired of doing this character. I think the only reason they’re continuing to use Futaba at this point in the show’s run is because it was a tradition to do so whenever Buck hosted. I heard that SNL did only two more Samurai sketches after this, and I’m guessing they’re in the two episodes that Buck hosts next season (which is John’s final season).
STARS: **


SODOM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
(BIM) offers image-improving ideas to the Sodom chamber of commerce

 

— This is an awfully cheap premise, especially for something this early in the show.
— Didn’t care for the ending with the female cast members singing.
— Overall, aside from a few okay lines, I was bored during this whole sketch.
STARS: *½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
LAN narrates amateurish TOS drawings of Son Of Sam trial
BIM tries to call Jackie Onassis to get her reaction to The Greek Tycoon
DAA’s commentary about Betty Ford lists some other alcoholic first ladies
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about jogging

       

— Dan’s wearing dark-tinted sunglasses for some reason. I wonder if he’s aware that this is going to end up being his final Update.
— Haha, holy hell at Dan demonstrating the new fanfare and then quickly firing a sudden gunshot into the air. His delivery and timing of that was awesome. He may suck at reading Update jokes, but he was usually always great at doing random side bits like these.
— The return of the childlike “Artist’s Rendering” gag. Meh. This bit stopped being funny long ago back when Chevy was overusing it in season 1.
— Bill “Now get out of here, you knuckleheads” Murray stops by for what would end up being his final review commentary before taking over as new Update co-anchor next season. I wonder if they found a way to have him still continue doing these smarmy review commentaries even when being an anchorman.
— Bill calling out the movie clip for stealing Steve Martin’s “excuse me” catchphrase is amusing to me, because Bill himself used that catchphrase of Steve’s in a Nerds sketch from a few episodes ago.
— Bill: “(over the phone) Does the name Bill Murray mean anything to you? (a beat) John Belushi?” Haha, don’t worry, Bill, your time as a household name is soon coming.
— Dan’s segment detailing the drinking habits of first ladies throughout history was questionable, but I did like his comments about Mary Todd Lincoln.
— Another Point/Counterpoint.
— Dan’s harsh rebuttal to Jane was hilarious as usual, especially his menopause comment.
— And so ends the final Update of the short-lived Dan Aykroyd era. At least he went out with a few good moments tonight. Now bring on the Bill Murray era!
STARS: ***


THE OLYMPIA CAFE
Pete is forced to choose between employee Nico (BIM) & a guard dog

     

— The “lamb in the basement” bit was a fairly funny subtle part.
— I always like how each Olympia Cafe sketch involves multiple storylines going on at the same time. It adds a lot of layers and depth to the sketch, and makes it feel like a sitcom, which is also helped by the realism in everyone’s performances. It’s rare to see a recurring SNL sketch show this kind of detail and commitment to realism.
— Bill’s character abruptly getting fired and shoved out the door actually made me feel genuinely sorry for him.
— The back-and-forth with Bill repeatedly getting fired and then rehired is pretty good.
STARS: ***½


MR. MIKE’S LEAST-LOVED MUSIC
MOD performs “Baby Ghouls”

   

— Ah, a variation of Least Loved Bedtime Tales.
— Interesting visual of a superimposed, bloody Laraine doing sign language during O’Donoghue’s song.
— These lyrics are disturbing and fucked-up as hell, even for Mr. Mike standards.
— Overall, I have absolutely no idea what to make of this. I want to love it, because I’m usually a fan of dark Mr. Mike humor, but I’m not all that sure how I felt about this one.  I think maybe I appreciated the concept of it more than the actual execution.
— Was this O’Donoghue’s swan song? I thought I heard somewhere that tonight is his last episode. However, I had always been under the impression that he left after season 4, not season 3. Can anyone clarify? It does feel like they’ve been phasing him out in the second half of this season, as his presence has not been felt anywhere near as much as it was felt in the first two seasons. If tonight is indeed his last show, he sure will be missed. I feel kinda bad for being so iffy on this final sketch of his.
STARS: ??? (undecided)


MORE INSECTS TO WORRY ABOUT
(host) warns about brain-burrowing mites

— I didn’t know they made this into a recurring sketch.
— WTF was with Buck’s “f**got/maggot” slip-up? Was that intentional or a real flub? If someone made that same slip-up on SNL nowadays, they’d probably get chased out the building by an angry mob with torches and pitchforks.
— Some of the gross details by Buck are kinda funny, but this sketch isn’t working as well as the first installment did.
STARS: **½


STUNT PUPPY
director Brian Whitney has actor Howard abuse a stunt puppy in a scene

   

— Ah, it’s the Stunt Baby sequel.
— For some reason, I loved Jane exclaiming “I can’t, I’d vomit!” as her excuse for not cleaning up the mess the dog made on the floor.
— Wait, the stunt puppy is REAL? How are they going to pull this off?
— Oh, I see what they did; you can tell when they secretly switched the real stunt puppy with a fake one.
— Man, this was disappointing overall. This had an awfully long setup for a short payoff that felt derivative and just didn’t work as well as Buck’s original abuse of Stunt Baby did. Maybe instead of just throwing Stunt Puppy out the window like he did with Stunt Baby, they should’ve had Buck up the ante by pulling out a rifle and SHOOTING the puppy. That was what I had actually been expecting when I first heard there’s a Stunt Puppy sketch.
STARS: **


BAD CONCEPTUAL ART
(GIR) performs excerpt from Pavlov Video Chicken I

  

— Judging from what Dan’s saying in his intro, I’m predicting the role of a woman dancing like a chicken will be played by Laraine, who previously did a chicken impression in that “Little-Known Talents of the Not Ready For Prime-Time Players” sketch from season 2.
— Oh, it’s actually Gilda playing the chicken-dancing lady.
— Boy, that eye in the TV monitor looks just plain creepy. Is that Garrett?
— Wow, this play is insane, but not all that funny.
— Why did this end with Dan miming throwing something invisible into the garbage bin? He usually throws a script into the garbage at the end of these sketches.
— Overall, this was one of the lesser “Bad (insert type of play here)” installments, which makes this yet another disappointing sketch tonight. Man, what’s going on?
STARS: **


THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
tragedy befalls the Franken family after TOD outs himself & ALF

     

— Funny twist with Davis revealing he and Franken are “homosexual lovers”.
— The audience & Franken’s “son” acting like Franken’s the worst person ever just for coming out as gay is making me laugh, but REALLY shows this sketch’s age. This premise couldn’t be used on the show nowadays.
— Wow, holy hell at the suicide ending. I love how dark and unexpected that was. I also love how the audience had no idea how to respond to it.
— Interesting “sponsored by” bit at the end.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
— Wonder why they buried the first musical performance so unusually late into the show.
— (*sees how utterly bizarre this performance is*) Oh, THAT’S why they buried this so late into the show…
— The show cut to commercial when this performance was still in progress. I’m sure it’s only because the episode ran long, but it’s funny to imagine that the real reason is because everybody at the show was so weirded-out by the performance that director Dave Wilson just threw his hands in the air and said “Alright, that’s it, I’m cutting this off!”


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— An odd season finale. Considering Buck Henry was hosting and considering the impressive streak of great episodes that preceded this, expectations were high for a top-notch season-ender. Instead, the season went out on kind of an underwhelming note. There was a string of disappointing sketches in the second half of the show, post-Olympia Cafe and pre-Franken & Davis. The first half of the show wasn’t consistently strong, either, as it contained a rather lethargic Samurai installment and whatever that Sodom sketch was trying to be. Tonight’s episode still certainly had several highlights here and there, but nothing that I felt was worth giving more than a three-and-a-half star rating to.
— Despite the less-than-satisfying way it ended, season 3 was an overall fantastic year. There was impressively only ONE episode that I flat-out disliked (Madeline Kahn), and that was all the way back at the beginning of the season. There were two episodes that I felt were iffy but contained enough highlights that I wouldn’t classify them as outright bad shows (Hugh Hefner and tonight’s Buck Henry). The remaining episodes of the season all ranged from good to excellent. So many of those episodes were strong, especially the long stretch of episodes from Christopher Lee to Richard Dreyfuss, one of which included an episode that’s universally praised as an all-time legendary classic (Steve Martin/The Blues Brothers). There was also a surprising number of episodes that contained no weak sketches, which is a rarity for SNL. And we got lots of memorable unique gimmicks throughout the season, such as Charles Grodin “missing” dress rehearsal, Atomic Lobsters attacking the studio, and the whole “Anyone Can Host” contest. Overall, I’d say this is easily one of the greatest seasons in SNL history, and it was a blast for me to review.
— We’re officially three seasons down in the ‘One SNL a Day’ project!


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Richard Dreyfuss):
— a step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Season 4 begins, with hosts The Rolling Stones

Posted on

May 13, 1978 – Richard Dreyfuss / Jimmy Buffett, Gary Tigerman (S3 E19)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
paraquat-tainted Mexican dope is traced from farmers (JOB) & (GIR) to BIM

   

— Gilda’s accent is pretty funny.
— Boy, they sure love doing sketches where John physically abuses Gilda by slapping her around. I lost count of the number of sketches that’s happened in the episodes I’ve covered so far.
— Love Dan’s fast-paced narration.
— Bill’s reaction to smoking the joint wasn’t all that funny. The build-up to it had me expecting his reaction to be much more hilariously over-the-top.
— Overall, a strange opening, and it didn’t really work for me.
STARS: **


OPENING MONTAGE
— Father Guido Sarducci is mentioned as a special guest. This will be his very first appearance on the show. I’m surprised, because I thought he didn’t make his debut until season 4.
— In tonight’s montage, some of the cast members (John, Jane, and especially Gilda) noticeably receive much louder audience applause than others, which is always a good indicator of which cast members are the most popular at the time (best example of this is in seasons 8 and 9: as soon as Eddie Murphy’s picture would appear onscreen, the audience would absolutely ROAR with cheers, after giving zero applause for the cast members announced before him). I’m not surprised about John and Gilda, but I certainly am about Jane; I never knew she was an audience favorite.


MONOLOGUE
to prove to JOB he’s worthy of an Oscar, host does Hamlet’s soliloquy

  

— Haha at him coming out in a Shakespearean outfit.
— Funny story about how Belushi convinced him to do Hamlet.
— We get another great increasingly angry rant from John.
— Good ending with Richard’s dejected, whiny demeanor after John finishes telling him off.
STARS: ***½


CONE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
(host) helps Coneheads snow Kuldroth

     

— Is that Bill as Walter Cronkite doing the off-camera radio announcing that Richard’s listening to?
— Oh, Bill’s voice is actually coming from a TV in the room.
— “Cone Encounters Of The Third Kind.” Great idea to do a Close Encounters/Coneheads hybrid.
— Funny to see Beldar appearing in a local driving school commercial.
— Beldar to Connie: “Young one, your cone is also on the block.”
— I liked the model set of a toy spaceship landing by the Coneheads’ house.
— Good to see the return of John as the high master of the Coneheads’ home planet.
— Richard sounds like a natural doing the Coneheads voice.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (JIMMY BUFFETT)
— Interesting intro, with Richard hearing the Land Shark music cue. Took me a few seconds to realize they’re doing this because Richard was in “Jaws”.


SEX TEST
host poses multiple choice questions to assess carnal knowledge

     

— Heh, Laraine’s testimonial sure was odd.
— I’m liking the increasingly silly multiple choice options.
— Bill’s sleazy testimonial was really good.
— Gilda’s last name randomly being “Shoes” is strangely very funny to me.
— Another funny little detail is Garrett being listed as a “black sex therapist”.
— The whole “Who discovered genitalia?” part killed me.
— Haha, this sketch is continuing to get funnier and funnier as it goes along.
STARS: ****½


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
JAC vows to stop blowing up at exasperating Weekend Update correspondents
BIM thinks that Richard Burton should’ve won the Oscar instead of host
alleged clip of The Goodbye Girl features JOB & GIR in the primary roles
Roseanne Roseannadanna’s straying from UFO topic causes JAC to explode

         

— Interesting intro from Jane, somberly apologizing for her angriness towards her fellow correspondents. This seems to be a set-up for something they’ll come back to later in this Update.
— Oddly, Jane mentioned John Belushi as one of the recurring Update guests who she usually acts angry towards, but that isn’t really accurate. If anything, it’s the other way around: usually, Jane fearfully and sheepishly tries to interject during John’s rants, only to get yelled at by John (“BACK OFF, CURTIN!!!”).
— Oh my god, ANOTHER instance of Dan pausing a long time before a news story so he can find the paper on his desk that contains the story. (screencaps below) Man, Dan seems to have at least one bad screw-up in each Update. Mercifully, there’s only one episode left of seeing him struggle through Update.

 

— The “Goodbye Girl” clip with Belushi as Richard Dreyfuss is hilarious! His Dreyfuss impression is having me in stitches.
— It’s kinda funny seeing Bill criticizing Richard Dreyfuss as an actor, considering they would later co-star together in “What About Bob”, one of my favorite Bill Murray movies.
— Another visit from Roseanne Roseannadanna. I guess this will be the payoff of Jane’s apology set-up at the beginning.
— Roseannadanna’s story about seeing a “rectal eclipse” is giving me really good laughs.
— Funny seeing Jane trying with all her might to keep from losing her temper in response to Roseannadanna’s inane ranting.
— Jane angrily ripping open her shirt when Roseannadanna asks “Are both of your things the same size?” came out of nowhere. She was even wearing the same bra from the legendary time she ripped her shirt open on Update before.
— Roseannadanna making Jane have an emotional breakdown was a very interesting way to end Update.
STARS: ***½


NICK SPRINGS
Nick “Springs” & Unavox SL-120 entertain newlyweds at The Honeymoon Room

     

— Loved Bill speeding “Love to Love You Baby” up to an insane tempo, then scream-singing the ending.
— Just now, Bill accidentally called himself Nick Winters (his name in one of the previous installments of this sketch) before correcting himself.
— Bill seems to be cracking Richard up.
— Overall, another very strong Nick the Lounger Singer, though this pales slightly in comparison to the last one, in which he does the famous “Star Wars” number.
STARS: ****½


PET PEEVES
lovers (host) & (LAN) argue by pointing out each other’s annoying traits

 

— I smell a Marilyn Suzanne Miller-written slice-of-life piece.
— Richard: “(sarcastically) No, my favorite sentence is ‘Hello, hurt me’.”
— Richard is great in this.
— Laraine’s starting to catch up with Richard with a solid performance of her own.
— Very nice ending.
— Overall, this was very well-done and probably one of the strongest Marilyn Suzanne Miller (assuming she did write this) slice-of-lifes I’ve covered so far.
STARS: ****


THE DAVID SUSSKIND SHOW
momma’s-boy celebrities & their mothers

   

— LOL at Gilda as Leon Spinks’ mom.
— First time we’ve seen John’s Kissinger impression in a long time.
— I like the concept of these celebrities having mothers who are similar to them.
— I remember seeing a clip in an SNL compilation special (probably “The Women of SNL”) of Jane as Tom Snyder’s mom. When I saw the clip, I had assumed it was from a “Tomorrow” sketch. Then again, maybe Jane later reprises this role in a “Tomorrow” sketch, and perhaps that’s where the clip I saw came from.
— Jane is doing an absolutely dead-on impression of Dan’s Snyder impression, right down to the laugh.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (GARY TIGERMAN)
— There’s the Land Shark music again during Richard’s intro.
— Nice fake-out with Richard opening a door, but no Land Shark being there.


FATHER GUIDO SARDUCCI
Father Guido Sarducci (DON) tells how people literally pay for their sins

 

— I had been expecting his debut tonight to be on Update. Interesting how his debut is actually in a standalone stand-up performance-type segment.
— His use of crutches is apparently real, as I heard Novello broke his leg during the dress rehearsal of the hockey sketch from the then-recent Michael Sarrazin episode. Poor guy must’ve slipped while wearing ice skates. There seems to be an unintentional theme of injured performers tonight in general, as musical guest Jimmy Buffett performed his earlier number while having his leg in a cast.
— Hilarious comment about being hit by a nun on a Vespa.
— I really like the bit about the price of sins when you arrive at heaven.
— Overall, pretty solid debut for this character.
STARS: ***½


RICHARD DREYFUSS: “I WANT TO BE SEDUCED”
host & PAS perform “I Want To Be Seduced”

 

— Another instance of a host in this era doing a non-comedic musical performance.
— Hey, this actually has some fairly funny moments.
STARS: N/A


GOODNIGHTS
at closing, host is attacked by Land Shark

   

— The bit with Richard getting eaten by Land Shark was a funny payoff to tonight’s running theme.  I always like when this era does interesting, fun things during the goodnights.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Season 3 churns out yet another great episode in what’s been a long string of them. Aside from the cold opening, everything in this episode was solid, with none of the segments getting a rating below three-and-a-half stars, and several segments getting four or four-and-a-half stars.
— Richard Dreyfuss was a very good host and added a charm to his performances, even getting me to like his musical number at the end of the show (and I usually don’t care for when hosts in this era do musical performances).


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Steve Martin):
— a moderate step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
The amazing season 3 comes to an end, with good-ol’ Buck Henry hosting

Posted on

April 22, 1978 – Steve Martin / The Blues Brothers (S3 E18)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Don Kirshner’s (PAS) Rock Concert- musical guest performs “Hey Bartender”

   

— The true official debut of the Blues Brothers. A version of them appeared earlier in a season 1 episode while dressed as Bees, but I’ve come to realize that was more of a Blues Brothers prototype rather than the real thing.
— I mentioned in my review of the aforementioned season 1 sketch that it’s unusual how Dan isn’t singing with John, because I had remembered the later Blues Brothers appearances having Dan and John both singing. However, Dan’s silent in tonight’s number too. I guess my memory of it being a regular feature for him to join John in singing was wrong.
— Overall, a very fun and classic opening number.
— The fact that the musical guests tonight are two of the cast members’ side act shows how much variety the early seasons had and how unpredictable the show could be back then.
STARS: N/A


MONOLOGUE
host removes watches, wallets, clothing from audience member (BIM)

     

— “Oh, did I assassinate your penguin?”
— Loved him mistakenly reading the “apply to infested area” note.
— Bill playing an “audience member”. Odd that they’re not using a writer or extra.
— Steve’s “magic tricks” on Bill are very funny.
— I was surprised at the reveal that Bill’s wearing a fake mustache.
— Love how increasingly maniacal Steve’s removal of Bill’s personal items are getting. Hilarious!
STARS: ****½


HEY YOU!
— Rerun


FESTRUNK BROTHERS
the Festrunks wait for a pair of foxes to arrive at their bachelor pad

     

— The Festrunk Brothers! The audience went wild at their entrance.
— LOL at the gigantic vacuum.
— I love the way Dan’s voice sounded when he and Steve exclaimed “Foxes!!!!” in unison.
— I like Garrett as their “black soul man” friend.
— The Festrunk’s foreign language conversation with each other is very funny.
— Garrett seemed genuinely amused by the foreign conversation too, judging by how he seems to be trying to hide his laughing from the camera. (screencap below)

— The Festrunk’s depressed version of their usual strut when going to answer the door is great.
— I got a kick out of seeing all the performers quickly dash off the set after the sketch ended.
— Overall, despite the fact that this was a pretty straightforward Festrunk Brothers installment, it’s still generally well-remembered and is one of my personal favorites of their appearances.
STARS: ****½


THEODORIC OF YORK, MEDIEVAL BARBER
medieval barber Theodoric of York’s (host) patients endure his remedies

     

— One of the most well-remembered SNL sketches Steve Martin would ever do.
— Funny seeing Dan and Steve speaking to each other in normal voices at the start of this, immediately after I had just watched them talk to each other in crazy accents throughout the preceding Festrunk Brothers sketch.
— The detail of “boiled sheep’s urine” being part of the remedy is absolutely priceless to me.
— Funny line from Steve about Laraine’s illness being caused by a small dwarf living in her stomach.
— John looks hilarious as the hunchback.
— I believe this is the first time on SNL where Bill is doing the “talking out the corner of the mouth” mannerism that he would go on to famously use for some of his characters.
— Bill’s pained screaming when being taken out of his wheelchair and getting hanged upside down by his legs kills me every time I see this sketch. It’s the portion of this sketch that I’ve always remembered the most.
— I liked how they reprised Steve’s “Maybe she’s right… (*goes into a deep , thoughtful speech*) Nah!” thing from the ending of his Mike McMack Defense Lawyer sketch earlier this season.
STARS: *****


DANCING IN THE DARK
time stands still while (host) & (GIR) go “Dancing In The Dark”

     

— Ah, here comes another all-time legendary SNL classic. This episode is on fucking FIRE.
— Man, Steve and Gilda’s chemistry is so fun, and it’s enthralling to watch these two comedy greats dancing around the SNL studio.
— I always appreciate any extensive sketch that doesn’t use any dialogue.
— Beautiful how this sketch ended the exact same way it began.
— When Steve later hosted in 1989, this sketch was re-aired during his monologue as a tribute to Gilda, who passed away just hours earlier that same day. Ever since that special encore presentation, this sketch has taken on a new, poignant meaning.
STARS: *****


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
DAA complains that GAM didn’t get enough marijuana to “test for paraquat”
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about federal aid for abortions

    

— Good laugh from Garrett showing up and discreetly giving Dan “the stuff” (marijuana). This feels like something Tracy Morgan would’ve done on Update in later seasons.
— Dan: “It’s just that a survey shows that 97% of our viewers smoke [marijuana] daily.”
— Another instance of an awkward pause while we have to wait for Dan to find the next news story among his desk papers. I lost count of the number of times this has happened with him this season.
— Yet another point/counterpoint.
— Dan: “Jane, you ignorant misguided slut”
— Dan’s pro-abortion rebuttal was very funny, especially the harsh comment about how if he could, he would’ve performed an abortion on Jane’s mother to prevent Jane from being born.
— The “This just in, Garrett Morris is dead” bulletin was a funny follow-up to the earlier marijuana commentary.
— That’s it? Shortest Update in a long time.
STARS: ***½


KING TUT
host & SNL Band perform “King Tut” to honor the ancient Egyptian ruler

   

— The hits just keep on comin’ tonight.
— Funny concept with Steve following his complaint about the commercialization of King Tut with a big commercialized, contemporary musical number.
— Such a catchy song, and Steve’s famous dance always kills me in this.
— “He’s my favorite honky” has always been the lyric I liked the most.
— A part that helps propel this into epic territory is the saxophonist popping out of a sarcophagus to do a solo.
— Overall, oh my god, that was perfect and was the right length without going on too long.
STARS: *****


LOVE STORY
admitting extramarital affairs is foreplay for a couple (JAC) & (JOB)

 

— For the first time all night, here’s a sketch I don’t recognize.
— I like the character voice Jane’s using.
— Loved Jane’s innuendo about the pharmacist “filling her prescription”.
— Great unexpected twist with Jane’s sudden “I’m ready, how about you?” line when she and John were detailing their affairs.
— Overall, a very strong lesser-known sketch.
STARS: ****½


SWAN LAKE BALLET
by Gary Weis- ballerinas & hip-hop dancers perform Swan Lake together

     

— Is this the return of The Lockers, who previously appeared in SNL’s third episode ever?
— I guess so.
— Overall, this was surprisingly a fairly entertaining Gary Weis short, but maybe I’m biased because I really enjoyed The Lockers’ previous appearance on the show.
— Speaking of Weis, I heard he didn’t do any more SNL shorts after this season, which means we’re now in the homestretch of his SNL tenure. I wonder if this ended up being the last SNL short he did.
STARS: ***


TROFF ‘N’ BREW
on their lunch break, businessmen eat like pigs at Troff ‘n’ Brew

   

— Haha, WTF at the opening shot in the restaurant showing patrons eating in an odd manner.
— Man, that chili looks nasty. Then again, I never was a big fan of chili.
— A fairly funny premise, though this is coming off a little disappointing by the high standard set for this episode. Then again, the original cast had a knack for adding a goofy charm to sketches with this type of premise.
STARS: ***


NERDS SCIENCE FAIR
at the science fair, Todd & Lisa compete with Charles Knerlman (host)

   

— Steve is funny as a cocky nerd.
— I always like the Nerds’ unwarranted pride in saying tired cliches as if they’re witty comebacks (e.g. “So funny, I forgot to laugh”).
— The “human sandwich” ending was pretty good.
— Overall, a decent Nerds sketch, but again, not quite up to the standards of most of this episode. I was expecting more from this.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


NEXT WEEK IN REVIEW
psychics (JAC), (host), (DAA) predict the news

  

— I like this premise of a panel show with psychics predicting what will happen in the next week.
— Jane and Steve’s facial expression during their respective intro shot was great.
— Heh at “Send More Chuck Berry”.
— I like the psychics predicting that Laraine won’t be there next week.
— Overall, this starting losing me around the middle, but kinda won me back at the end. I still feel that the overall result didn’t quite live up to the premise’s potential.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— So, did this live up to its status as the all-time best SNL episode ever? Well, that pre-Update half was certainly hard to beat, with an amazing string of legendary segments, and even after that, the night’s winning streak continued with the first two post-Update sketches, one of which is a forgotten gem (Love Story). However, the episode’s quality unfortunately died down after that, as the remainder of the show was just a string of average pieces (not counting the Blues Brothers’ second musical performance). So, would I agree that this is the greatest SNL episode ever: probably not. I mean, if you’re judging the episode just by the number of classics it produced, I can certainly see why it’s widely considered the best SNL ever, but as we continue to chronologically go along SNL’s timeline, there will probably be a few episodes I find to be more consistently strong from beginning to end, especially once we reach the late 80s/early 90s era. That being said, tonight’s episode may just be the original era at its absolute best. I can’t say for certain yet, as I still have two more years of the era left to cover.
— All of my talk in the above paragraph has put an interesting question into my mind: what is generally considered the most defining, representative episode of each SNL era?  It doesn’t necessarily have to be the era’s best episode, just the most representative.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Michael Sarrazin):
— a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Richard Dreyfuss

Posted on

April 15, 1978 – Michael Sarrazin / Keith Jarrett, Gravity (S3 E17)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
Jimmy Carter (DAA) urges Americans to burn cash to fight inflation

   

— This is the first in a long time where the cold opening wasn’t preceded with a comedic “(insert fake show title here) will not be seen tonight” disclaimer.
— Funny beginning with Dan’s Carter saying that instead of doing a fireside chat, he’s doing a “plantside” chat because it’s spring.
— I got a big laugh from the “The Buck Burns Here” ashtray.
— Overall, pretty funny opening.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
on Abraham Lincoln’s death anniversary, host vows nothing bad will happen

— The monologue is ending already? No, there’s gotta be more.
— Damn, I guess that really IS the ending. Well, this monologue sure was a whole lot of nothing; almost as pointless a monologue as Jill Clayburgh’s from a few episodes ago. I’d like to think Sarrazin’s worry about being assassinated during the show is a set-up to a premise that will run throughout the night, but I highly doubt it.
STARS: *½


ANGORA BOUQUET
— Rerun


JOSH RAMSEY, V.D. CASEWORKER
Josh Ramsey, V.D. Caseworker (host) deals with teen couple (BIM) & (LAN)

         

— The strange picture of a man with syphilis was pretty funny.
— Liked Michael’s line about V.D. being “a loaded pistol pointed right at your crotch.”
— Bill’s over-the-top screaming when urinating off-camera was something I saw coming, but still made me laugh out loud nonetheless.
— Hilarious with the announcement of Laraine having V.D. over a loudspeaker during old stock footage of a basketball game.
— Some big laughs from Gilda and Dan as the parents freaking out when hearing Bill had sex.
— Dan is great as the angry father.
— Good ending with Bill’s “Yes, I still hate you.”
— Overall, a very strong sketch and I always like when this era does extensive, fully fleshed-out sketches like this that involves multiple scenes, various sets, etc.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (KEITH JARRETT)


JUDY MILLER
Judy Miller entertains herself while expressing dislike for her sister

   

— The return of Judy Miller. Only being familiar with the often-shown classic first installment, I’m curious to see what the follow-up is like.
— Another endearingly-realistic child performance from Gilda. Her way of imaginatively playing around the room reminds me so much of my own childhood.
— Liked the ending with Gilda reconciling with her off-camera sister.
— Overall, while not a classic like the first installment, this was still very good and I like how they gave this a different premise to distinguish it from the first installment.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE PREVIEW


WEEKEND UPDATE
BIM interviews “American Hot Wax” co-star LAN from her Los Angeles home
JAC & DAA do a Point-Counterpoint about the neutron bomb
Roseanne Roseannadanna strays from spring depression to her period

       

— Bill’s usual review segment is very different tonight, with him doing a pre-taped meta interview with Laraine Newman as herself.
— Also a rarity to see Laraine in an Update segment where she’s not a reporter doing a remote piece.
— Another point/counterpoint.
— Jane’s snarky “prediction” about Dan gaining a whole bunch of weight was awfully prescient, given Dan’s girth in recent decades.
— What? No “Jane, you ignorant slut” from Dan??? Dan’s whole rebuttal to Jane was great nonetheless. It’s a shame, though, that these point/counterpoint segments are the only times he’s been consistently reliable as Update anchor.
— The Roseanne Rosannadanna segment had a great ending with her reciting a long, catchy bedtime poem.
— Another Update that strangely ends with the camera being on just Jane, as if they’re trying to hide the fact that Dan’s (seemingly) not at the set anymore.
STARS: ***


PENALTY BOX
in the penalty box, hockey players (DAA) & (host) find common ground

 

— Bill’s last name in this is “Novello”, presumably as a reference to a certain then-current writer on the show.
— Speaking of then-current writers, Brian Doyle-Murray has what I think is his very first speaking role.
— I liked the brief physical fight between Bill and Sarrazin.
— Judging from the fact that Aykroyd and Sarrazin are both Canadian in real-life and the way the conversation between them is going, this looks like it will be a Canadian-centric sketch.
— That’s it? That’s the entire sketch? Eh, I didn’t care for the whole “Canadian insider” dialogue. A rarity for me not to like a Dan Aykroyd sketch.
STARS: **


E. BUZZ MILLER’S EXERCISE WORLD
Christy Christina (LAN) works out

   

— Speaking of a Dan Aykroyd sketch, hopefully he’ll rebound nicely with this.
— Laraine’s providing nice eye candy.
— Laraine seemed genuinely mixed-up on what exercise she was supposed to do first.
— A good change of pace from the earlier E. Buzz Miller installments.
— I kinda wish there was a little more to this sketch, but it was fine.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (KEITH JARRETT)


LA DOLCE GILDA
by TOS- a sample of GIR’s Fellini-esque life

          

— I don’t think I’ve ever seen this famous Schiller’s Reel. I’ve always been curious to.
— Hilarious part with Dan “riding” the girl.
— I’m loving all the random “foreign” things happening in rapid-fire pace.
— Very charming ending with Gilda on the bridge speaking to the camera.
— Overall, such a fantastic, well-done short, a dead-on parody of this type of artsy foreign film, and a beautiful showcase for Gilda.
STARS: *****


AUDIENCE CAPTION
— It’s worth noting that sitting beside the captioned audience member is Bill as Abraham Lincoln. It took me a few seconds to realize that was referencing the monologue.


ARCHAEOLOGICUS
(LAN) narrates “The Treasures Of Morton Kamen”

   

— Big night for Laraine; she’s getting a ton of airtime.
— What in the world is that around Laraine’s neck? A dead snake?
— Eh, this whole sketch left me kinda bored. This reminded me too much of a similar sketch I didn’t care for that Laraine did in the first episode Eric Idle hosted in season 2 (a sketch called “Cufflinks of the Gods”).
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (GRAVITY)


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— Season 3 continues to be on fire, as we got another pretty strong episode tonight. There were a few things post-Update that I didn’t care for, but for the most part, there was a great number of solid sketches, some of them very memorable (e.g. La Dolce Gilda, V.D. Caseworker).
— Michael Sarrazin was the epitome of a completely average host: he did the job he was required to do, but was entirely unmemorable and had no effect on the episode’s outcome.
— Belushi had an unusually light night, making very few appearances, all of which were just small supporting roles. Was he busy filming scenes for “Animal House” or another movie that week?


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Michael Palin):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Steve Martin / The Blues Brothers. Awwww, yeeeaaahh! This episode is very special for many reasons, two of them being:
1) It’s the first and only time in SNL history where someone hosted THREE times in a single season, which goes to show you what an SNL god Steve was considered to be at the time
2) For the longest time, it was widely considered THE all-time best episode in SNL history, and is also widely looked at as the quintessential microcosm of 70s SNL