Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
spacesuit-wearing Jesse Jackson (JOP) thinks staff is better than “stuff”
— Oh my god at Joe as Jesse Jackson.
— I recall hearing that the whole spacesuit theme, as well as some of the references Joe makes here, are very topical political references that have become lost to time over the years since this episode’s original airing.
— I can’t exactly call Joe’s Jesse Jackson impression dead-on, but I am liking his fiery performance here.
— That’s it? It’s over already? What exactly was the point of this? Again, it must’ve been funnier to audiences in 1983 who got all the topical references. Watching it in modern times, this seems like it has no jokes at all.
STARS: *½
MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)
— Some laughs from the gun hidden under her skirt and the bit with the nightstick.
— Not much to this overall monologue, but she handled this really well and came off likable.
STARS: ***
SWAN BREAK
(JIB) dances in a Flashdance-style version of Swan Lake
— I like the random inclusion of Jim’s out-of-place character.
— Love the sudden turn this has taken, with the song “Maniac” playing and Jim sloppily going through all of Jennifer Beals’ classic Flashdance moves.
— Jim is really funny in this, and this feels like the type of sketch his brother John would’ve made a popular classic if it were done in the original era.
— The obligatory “lay back in a chair as water splashes down from above” part was funny due to the heavy amount of water that splashed Jim, which knocked off his wig. Judging from his amused reaction, I don’t think that was supposed to happen.
STARS: ****
CURLY AUDITION
Elvis look-alike (JOP) auditions for role of Curly in a 3 Stooges tribute
— A Three Stooges sketch! If you know me, you’ll know how I feel about seeing this.
— I loved Joe taking off his Elvis wig, revealing a Curly-esque look, and how he’s now going into random Curly sound effects throughout the song he’s singing.
— What the–? This suddenly gets cut off by a “special report”, which I guess leads us into our next segment. I actually wanted to see this sketch go on longer.
STARS: ***½
SPECIAL REPORT
shortchanged USA tourist leads to invasion of Switzerland
— Pretty funny premise of the U.S. invading Switzerland. I like how SNL is going out of their way to make this appear real, even going so far as using an outside actor to play the anchorman delivering the breaking news. And I think that’s head writer Andrew Smith playing the White House press secretary holding a conference.
— An appearance from Brad’s Saturday Night News anchorman persona. Why is he reporting from a generic news set instead of the usual Saturday Night News set?
— The whole “shortchanged at a chocolate shop” scene is quite funny.
STARS: ***½
PERFECTLY FRANK
ad exec (JOP) subliminally seduces psychologist (host)
— The title almost had me thinking this was going to be another Frank Sinatra-themed TV show sketch.
— Funny concept with Joe subliminally saying seductive things to Betty. But, boy, does Joe’s subliminal delivery pale badly in comparison to future cast member Kevin Nealon’s. Joe’s too broad with the way he’s doing the subliminal lines. The routine is funnier with Nealon, partly because of the way he says it so deadpan and subtle.
— Gary gets some laughs at the end.
STARS: ***
JAMES BROWN’S CELEBRITY HOT TUB PARTY
Godfather of Soul (EDM) gets in
— Ahh, here’s an all-time classic! I always enjoy seeing this one.
— Right off the bat after he’s made his entrance, Eddie is already coming off amazing in this.
— Oh, I’m absolutely LOVING this song.
— Hilarious how he’s musically narrating his actions as he’s hesitantly dipping into the hot tub.
— And already, we’re out. This sketch was the perfect length, and the fact that this whole thing just turned out to be his drawn-out entrance into the hot tub is very funny.
— Overall, one of Eddie’s all-time best, as well as one of SNL’s all-time best.
— This was the first airing of what will be several Eddie Murphy sketches this season that were taped during a special “preview show” right before the start of this season so Ebersol could insert them into episodes that Eddie will be missing this season while he’s off in Hollywood filming movies. Eddie not being in the building tonight explains why Jesse Jackson was played by Joe in the cold opening.
STARS: *****
YOU WIN A DOLLAR
(JIB) endures dangerous stunts in vain hope of a buck
— Brad plays another gameshow host. The hokey, corny delivery Brad often uses on SNL actually fits well in the role of a cheesy gameshow host.
— There’s SNL’s very first use of the name Dale Butterworth, which would go on to be one of the trademarks of Andy Breckman-written sketches.
— I’m already liking the concept of contestants eagerly striving to win just one dollar.
— Haha, oh my god at the bowl-filled-with-razor-blades part and Jim’s hand emerging from the bowl while covered in blood.
— This is getting more and more insane, with Jim now being forced to “bob for chicken wings” in a deep fryer.
— All of Jim’s reactions are fantastic.
— I like Brad’s constant “Oh, one more thing” additions to the initially pleasant-sounding Love Tent challenge.
— Brad: “Do we have a consolation prize for him, Don?” Don Pardo: “(exuberantly) No!”
— Overall, this very strong sketch was a riot. Between this and the Larry’s Corner sketch from the season premiere, new writer Andy Breckman has been having a VERY promising start so far. I’m not aware of the subsequent sketches he’s written (at least not off the top of my head), but whatever they are, I’m definitely looking forward to them.
STARS: ****½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “She’s Sexy + 17”
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Havnagootiim Vishnuuerheer addresses Unanswered Questions Of The Universe
— This is the first time this character has ever appeared outside Saturday Night News.
— His various questions about the human body are pretty funny.
— Seems to be a legit mailing address that he asks viewers to send in unanswered questions to, so he can answer them later on. I wonder if SNL ends up following through on this.
STARS: ***
THE GUMBY STORY
Gumby directs the movie version of his life story
— You can REALLY tell just by the visual quality of this sketch that it’s another piece that was taped before the start of this season.
— Eddie as Gumby to his impersonator: “Who told you say dammit, dammit?!”
— Funny part with Gary trying various gestures to get Joe’s attention while he’s on the phone.
— I like Robin’s walk-on as Gumby’s dumpy-looking wife.
— Surprised to see Jim in this, considering this was taped before the season began and Jim didn’t officially join the cast until the third episode of the season.
STARS: ***
SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
outdated & inappropriate file footage is used to document Swiss invasion
people on the street react to the news of the invasion
BRH warns JIB against using catchphrases & bits from the original SNL
Ronald Reagan (JOP) addresses USA regarding the invasion of Switzerland
Slopes of Fear- a CIA film shows Swiss links to the communists
— Nice how they’re keeping up the Switzerland invasion premise from earlier tonight.
— Funny segment with the Switzerland invasion “file footage” consisting of old out-of-place stock footage and silent movies.
— The reactions of people on the street learning about the Switzerland situation has a few laughs.
— I like how Brad calls Jim out on copying his “you ignorant slut” rebuttal from Dan Aykroyd.
— Ha, now Jim’s going through various other catchphrases from the original era (“but nooo”, “excuuuse meee”, etc.) all of which get shot down by Brad because they belong to the original cast. Also, nice touch with one of Jim’s borrowed phrases being Bill Murray’s “I love you, now get out of here, I mean it”, which usually isn’t as often-quoted as the other 70s catchphrases Jim’s quoting here. The audience gave instant recognition laughter when Jim quoted it, though.
— Jim is now griping about how unfair it is that people will turn against him for doing anything even remotely reminiscent of famous things his brother John did in the original era.
— As someone who recently reviewed the entire original era, I personally got much more of a kick out of Jim’s overall commentary than most people probably would.
— Brad’s joke about Big Bird dying of anorexia was hilarious.
— Another follow-up to the Switzerland storyline. Now we’re seeing Joe’s Reagan impression giving a press conference on the Switzerland situation.
— Now Joe throws to a “Slopes of Fear” documentary about Switzerland. SNL’s really going all-out on this whole storyline.
— Funny part of “Slopes of Fear” where they “translate” the yodeling in a stock footage clip.
— Overall, one of the better editions of Saturday Night News.
STARS: ***
JANE FONDA’S PREGNANCY, BIRTH, LABOR, RE-ENTERING THE JOB MARKET, TRYING TO CATCH A MAN, TRYING TO KEEP A MAN, MAKING NEW FRIENDS, HOLDING YOUR BREATH, AND GOING OVER YOUR CREDIT LIMIT WORK OUT
(ROD) goes into labor during Jane Fonda’s (host) pregnancy workout
— Longest sketch title ever?
— Whoa, a very distracting audio glitch has suddenly started in my copy, where the dialogue is overlapped with audio of the same dialogue being replayed a second later. I was once informed by fellow SNL fan & reviewer Ben Douwsma that audio glitches like this are common in these old Comedy Network reruns whenever they removed something from a sketch. I wonder what was removed from this particular sketch.
— Okay, thankfully, the audio glitch is over.
— Mary giving up in the middle of the workout and breaking out a cigarette is funny.
— I saw Robin going into labor coming from a mile away.
STARS: **½
MEMOREX
Memorex video tape captures FBI’s close framing of Lee Iacocca (JOP)
— This seems a little too topical, but unlike the cold opening, I can still follow this well-enough.
— I liked Brad blatantly calling Iacocca “Mr. Ia-COKE-a”.
— Good Memorex twist at the end.
STARS: ***
CRISIS ’83 UPDATE
footage of American evacuees & their horror stories about Switzerland
— The American returnees’ various complaints about the “torture” they endured in Switzerland are really funny.
— Yet another viewer-submission mailing address being displayed tonight (this time on the topic of what country do we want U.S. to invade next), though this one is obviously fake.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Won’t Stand in Your Way”
MISFITS
at a support group meeting, transsexuals miss their former male lives
— Uh, okay… this is going to be an… uh, interesting premise.
— It IS a change of pace, though, how they’re using female performers in these roles instead of putting male performers in drag for these roles.
— Robin’s unibrow makes her resemble one of Cheri Oteri’s more obscure recurring characters: the unattractive, accordion-playing Italian daughter Maria.
— I feel like I shouldn’t be laughing at this sketch in today’s world, but I am getting some laughs from the transsexuals going on about what they miss about being a man. It’s something about the performances that’s winning me over; Betty and the female cast members are getting really into this.
STARS: **½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A solid episode, especially the first half. The quality dropped off after Saturday Night News, but overall, this is my favorite episode of this season so far. Also, the Switzerland Invasion running premise gave the night a unique feel and the show was fully committed to it.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Candy):
— a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Teri Garr