March 7, 1981 – Bill Murray / Delbert McClinton (S6 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
BIM convinces the cast that the bad SNL aura “just doesn’t matter”

    

— After having finished my coverage of the original SNL era a few weeks ago, only to find myself having to deal with this difficult season, it certainly feels refreshing seeing Bill Murray on SNL again.
— Gilbert’s jew-fro looks a lot shorter tonight.
— A reference to the “Saturday Night Dead” criticism that the media famously used throughout this season.
— Ha, loved Bill saying to Charles “People are telling me you imitate me.”
— Bill’s “Watch your mouth” advice to Charles is a hilarious passing reference to a certain notorious incident from the last episode.
— Ha, Bill advises Gilbert to “Cheer up”, referring to Gilbert’s sullen, mopey attitude we’ve been seeing a lot in the second half of the season.
— Some good laughs from Bill telling the cast tales of how he “saved” the original cast.
— Love the excited “It just doesn’t matter” chanting.
— A very energetic LFNY from the whole cast.
STARS: ****½

MONOLOGUE
after a manic entrance, BIM describes his partnership with EDM- “We bad”

     

— Whoa, Bill’s actually making his entrance through the home base stage’s elevator, which has never happened until now (though Elliott Gould jokingly tried to do it back in the season premiere). Cool.
— A fantastic fun, energetic entrance from Bill, practically bouncing off the walls, going into the audience, carrying an “audience member” (who I think I remember hearing is SNL staffer Audrey Peart Dickman; not 100% sure about that) over his shoulder, and even getting the SNL Band to replay the SNL theme music.
— Bill and Eddie’s whole “we bad” bit is great.
— I’m loving seeing Bill and Eddie working together. They’re having great chemistry, which is making me wish they did end up doing some kind of buddy movie together in the 80s.
— Overall, this was awesome. This feels like the first actual funny monologue of the whole season. Didn’t even realize until now how consistently awful this season’s monologues have been before tonight.
STARS: ****½

FORMULA FOR THE GOOD LIFE
Paulie Herman loves the chemical industry

     

— This pre-taped documentary bit is a very interesting use of Jersey Guy (a.k.a. proto-Jay Leno), and a nice change-of-pace for him.
— I love this scene right now with him at the mall.
STARS: ***

SCRIPT IN DEVELOPMENT
actors struggle to play out a writer’s (BIM) script as he makes revisions

   

— I’m loving the format of this, with the cast acting out Bill’s script and trying to keep up with constant revisions he keeps making. Though maybe I’m crazy, but I could swear I remember the Carol Burnett Show had a recurring sketch using this same concept the previous decade. I think it was during the later, weaker years of that show (sometime after Harvey Korman left the cast). Maybe I’m mistaken.
— Ha, C.R. gets shot for the second episode in a row.
— Hilarious part with Ann as an increasingly disgusting maid character.
— Love the bit with the actors having a hard time keeping their freeze-frame pose during Bill’s long pause break.
— This is all being pulled off very well.
— Oh, this part right now is fantastic with the actors doing a fast-motion re-enactment of everything they had just performed as Bill is quickly re-reading everything he just wrote.
— Overall, this whole sketch was excellent and feels so atypical of this season. This proved that this cast was actually capable of pulling off the type of classic sketch that I can easily imagine appearing during some of the best eras of the show.
STARS: *****

ALTERED WALTER
Dan Rather (JOP) lambastes stoned & tanked Cronkite (BIM)

       

— I’m now finally starting to see some accuracy in Joe’s Dan Rather impression.
— I’ve always wanted to to see this sketch. I’m not familiar with the movie “Altered States”, but everything I’ve heard about this parody of it has always sounded to me like an interesting, weird concept and a unique use of Bill’s Walter Cronkite impression.
— Ha, they didn’t even attempt to make Bill’s suit look wet after he came out of the “water”.
— Wow, the audience has been absolutely silent during this so far. I guess this sketch is a little too weird and talk-y for their likes, but I’m personally enjoying it.
— Hmm, a big scene change mid-sketch.
— Is that Matthew Laurance as the Indian?
— Bill’s trippy hallucination sequence is freakin’ hilarious. I’m loving all the different random images and stock footage shots they’re throwing in there.
— This is looking to be possibly one of the longest sketches in SNL history. Feels weird seeing such a long sketch after I’ve gotten so used to this season’s format of cramming in as many short sketches as they could possibly fit into 90 minutes (taking a page out of season 1’s playbook, perhaps?). This long Cronkite sketch makes me feel like I’m watching something from seasons 4 and 5, back when it became a regular thing to do long sketches that feel like epic mini-movies.
— Very funny part with Bill’s Cronkite receiving a phone call from his mind telling him “I’m leaving.”
— I’m really liking where this whole thing is going. It’s getting weirder and weirder.
— Bill’s strange singing when re-entering the water tank is hilarious.
— Overall, the length of this could’ve been trimmed a little, but I found the overall sketch to be really enjoyable, fun, delightfully bizarre, and well-performed.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Givin’ It Up For Your Love”

SATURDAY NIGHT NEWSLINE
Dr. Jonathan Lear (Mark King) displays photos of DNA molecules

   

— Uh… what in the WORLD is this??? And who the heck IS this guy on my screen right now?
— This guy looks kinda like a panicked Andy Samberg in a wig.
— Is tonight ANOTHER episode where we get mini Weekend Update knock-offs scattered throughout the show, much like the Eddie Murphy-hosted “Newsbreak” segments from the Deborah Harry episode? If so, it’s becoming more and more painfully obvious that the show seems to be trying to phase out the traditional Weekend Update. It’s been a sad experience seeing the once-dependable, beloved Weekend Update segment gradually die a miserable, depressing death over the course of this season.
— This bit with the different types of DNA examples being displayed on individual cards is fairly funny. It feels like the type of thing that upcoming SNL hire Tim Kazurinsky would soon do regularly on the show.
STARS: ***

CHAP STICK
Sammy Davis, Jr. (EDM) & other notables adopt “Chapstick” as a last name

   

— I almost thought that was a white guy in blackface playing Sammy Davis Jr. (which is something we’ll be regularly seeing on the show a few seasons later), before I recognized that as Eddie.
— What the hell?  Strange sketch so far. I’m not getting all this “celebrities changing their name to chapstick” stuff.
— Whoa at the ending with Gilbert as Roman Polanski sleazily walking off with the teen girls.
— Overall, I didn’t get this at all, nor did I get any real laughs. I assume it’s a topical parody of a commercial from back in those days.
STARS: *½

SATURDAY NIGHT NEWSLINE
BIM picks the Oscars & gives awards to original SNL castmembers

    

— Another Newsline segment tonight.
— Oh, hell yeah! We’re getting the return of Bill’s annual Oscar predictions that he always did as a cast member!
— Heh, as always, he continues his tradition of giving short-shrift to the supporting actors/actresses category.
— Wow, he’s speeding through this whole thing.
— Oh, turns out the reason he sped through it is because he wants to focus on doing a “new awards” segment.
— Ah, it’s a meta bit, with him nominating his original SNL castmates under various Oscars categories. Very classy, and it warms my heart seeing this after the attachment and affection I’ve recently developed for the original cast from reviewing the first five seasons on a daily basis. Ah, my sweet, beloved original cast…
— I almost thought he was going to skip poor Garrett, before he jokingly nominated Garrett for his work with the “guardian angels”. I guess that’s their way of working around the fact that at this point in early 1981, Garrett had yet to do ANYTHING in his post-SNL career (which Eddie Murphy got in a harsh-but-funny dig at earlier this season).
STARS: ***½

CUT FLOWERS
by Mary Pat Kelly- finicky (BDM) visits florist (BIM)

   

— Whoa, a short film starring Bill and his brother, the soon-to-be-rejoining-the-SNL-cast-next-season Brian Doyle-Murray.
— Always interesting to see Bill and Brian acting onscreen together, which is one of the things I liked about season 5 when they were both in the cast.
— Very nice visual quality to this film.
— For some reason, the “Brian sniffing different kinds of flowers one-by-one” sequence is making me laugh, even though I’m not even sure if it’s being played for laughs.
— Fairly funny surprise ending with Brian eating the flower.
STARS: ***

NICK RIVERS
Nick “Rivers” & PAS entertain while floating down the Mississippi

     

— The return of Nick the Lounger Singer.
— After getting so used to reviewing these Nick sketches back when I covered the original SNL era, it’s quite a different experience for me seeing this sketch appearing in THIS season. It’s actually pretty fun seeing the new cast appearing in a Nick sketch.
— I got a big laugh from Bill’s story about ladies of the south being forced to eat rat flash.
— Haha, I absolutely LOVE Bill’s performance of Kool & The Gang’s “Celebration”, complete with some great funky dancing.
— Very funny reaction from Bill when finding out that Yvonne as a former Iran hostage is actually one of the black hostages who was freed early on.
— My god, Bill’s high-pitched singing of The Rolling Stones’ “Emotional Rescue” is truly hilarious!
— Overall, a very welcome return and a very solid installment of this recurring sketch.
STARS: ****

SATURDAY NIGHT NEWSLINE
JOP proposes softer sticks as the solution to hockey violence

    

— Now this Update knock-off segment is being hosted by Mr. Update Anchor himself, Charles Rocket. I’m more confused than EVER now. So has the actual Weekend Update been dropped from the show this week? If so, this is DEFINITELY their way of acknowledging how truly unwatchable Update had gradually become over the course of this season.
— So will Gail be getting her own “Saturday Night Newsline” segment later tonight, or are they trying to erase her embarrassing tenure as an Update anchor from our memories?
— Hmm, Charles’ delivery of the jokes doesn’t seem as bad as usual.
— The jokes themselves are still pretty damn weak, though.
— Here’s our weekly Joe Piscopo SNL Sports commentary.
— Hey, it’s stand-up comic Dom Irrera, in a big role as one of the hockey players! He’s actually appeared as an extra at least twice earlier this season (as one of the jurors in the Televised Trial sketch from the Sally Kellerman episode, and as one of the mobsters in the “Is Frank Sinatra a Hoodlum?” cold opening from the Deborah Harry episode), but I didn’t notice those appearances until they were pointed out to me after I had posted those respective episode reviews. This hockey player bit is the first time I’ve caught an Irrera sighting on my own.
— Never mind what I said about this being a big role for Irrera; the scene with him ended almost as soon as it began, and he had no lines. It’s still the most noteworthy thing he’s done so far, though, during his stint as a recurring SNL extra.
— Eh, Joe’s overall commentary was below par and felt kinda pointless.
— Charles to Joe: “Did you say ‘puck’???” Ha, another funny Rocket f-bomb reference, and this one got a great reaction from the audience.
STARS: **

NO SEX WITH MARY
co-workers clear the air- “we’re not sleeping with Mary Cunningham (GLM)”

   

— Much like the earlier “chapstick” thing, this is another bit that seems too topical for me to understand.
— This does seem KINDA funny, at least.
— Yet another ethnic role for Gilbert.
STARS: **

CAT’S NAME
house guests (BIM) & (ANR) try to remember (MAL)’s beloved cat’s name

   

— With all the noteworthy roles Matthew Laurance has been getting tonight, why didn’t he receive his usual featured player credit in tonight’s opening montage? In fact, none of the featured players were credited tonight.
— That looks like the same white cat that Gilda Radner held throughout the Canadian Wizard of Oz sketch from the previous season’s Elliott Gould episode. (a side-by-side comparison is below)

 

— I liked the small part with Bill and Ann rapidly going through random movie character names, trying to remember which character the cat was named after.
— While I find the premise to be kinda flimsy (honestly, why would it be so horrible for Bill and Ann to just admit to Matthew that they can’t remember his cat’s name?), this is being pulled off well by both Bill and (surprisingly) Ann.
— Loved Bill’s sudden intense “WHAT IS THE DAMN CAT’S NAME?!?” outburst over the phone.
— Herman’s the cat’s name? I thought they established earlier in the sketch that this cat’s a female.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guests perform “Shotgun Rider”

BUBBA’S WASH FAYETTA’S DRY
divorce settlement forces Bubba (BIM) & Fayetta (DED) to share laundromat

  

— Some really good character work from Denny and Bill in this.
— Interesting concept with a divorced couple owning two separate parts of the same laundromat, as part of their divorce settlement.
— The random part about the metal plate in Bill’s head is really funny.
— Funny bit at the end.
— Overall, a very well-written and well-performed slice-of-life piece.
STARS: ****

GOODNIGHTS
BIM apologizes to the original SNL castmembers for doing the show

  

— Speaking to the camera, Bill calls out his original SNL castmates’ names one-by-one and says “I’m sorry for what I’ve done”, as a mock apology for betraying them by hosting “the new SNL”. Funny bit. He would later say something in a similar vein during the goodnights of the season 12 episode he hosted, where he urges his original castmates to come back and host the show because “they kiss your butt all week here”.

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— What a complete 180 from the long string of dreary episodes that preceded this. Tonight’s episode was consistently strong, had a fun vibe, contained lots of sketches with good, creative premises, had lots of great performances from the cast, and featured the return of some old favorites from Bill. It also felt really good being able to praise plenty of things throughout this review after being so consistently negative in my reviews of the last few episodes.
— Bill’s hosting performance was excellent as expected, and showed a lot of why he was such a great cast member back in the day. Also, he surprisingly had chemistry with this new cast. His presence added a lot of spirit to the episode, which seemed to boost the cast’s energy and confidence levels.
— This would end up being the last episode before NBC steps in and puts SNL on an impromptu month-long hiatus (canceling the following week’s scheduled Robert Guillaume-hosted episode in the process) while they fire producer Jean Doumanian and bring a certain new producer in to begin making massive changes to the show, which includes firing several of the cast members and writers. Of the cast, tonight’s episode ended up being the final one for Charles Rocket, Ann Risley, and Gilbert Gottfried. No big loss at all with those first two names, though I admit Charles sometimes had his moments and Ann at least went out on a decent note with surprisingly good performances in her final episode. Still, I can’t say I’m gonna miss either one of them. As for Gilbert, his tenure on the show was strange, gradually going from a confident-looking new kid to a sullen-looking sourpuss who was clearly miserable working on the show. Even stranger, some of his sketches during his “sullen sourpuss” phase (Italian Comedian, Big Brother, Pillow Pets) were actually some of the better sketches from the string of tepid episodes that preceded tonight’s show. While Gilbert may not have had a very noticeable presence on the show this season, I’m think I’m kinda gonna miss him in a weird way.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Charlene Tilton):
— a huge step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Dick Ebersol’s tenure as SNL producer begins, several new faces in the cast make their debut, and a hastily-retooled version of SNL hits the airwaves, in what ends up being the final episode of the season thanks to a writers strike. I’ve always been curious to see this episode; from all the things I’ve read about it, it sounds like a strange mish-mash of the original SNL era, season 6, and what was soon to come in season 7. Seems like a pretty fascinating one-off episode.