Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
mad that host is doing SNL, Church Lady confronts him & Seka [real]
β Another Church Chat sketch already, for the second episode in a row?
β I believe this is the first time Church Ladyβs βIsnβt that special?β catchphrase has received recognition applause from the audience.
β Interesting meta premise with Church Lady announcing she wonβt be appearing on SNL this week because sheβs protesting guest host Sam Kinison for his most recent SNL stand-up segment where he, as Church Lady puts it, βsaid naughty things about crack and Christ.β
β I really like the fourth-wall break with her walking off the Church Chat set and heading to SNLβs backstage to confront Sam Kinison.
β Funny turn with Sam giving Church Lady βwhat she needsβ, which is a big raunchy kiss.
β Great βLive from New Yorkβ¦β delivery from Sam, whoβs trademark scream is absolutely perfect for SNLβs LFNY sign-on.
STARS: ***Β½
MONOLOGUE
after host plays guitar with SNL Band, cops on horseback monitor language
β Wow, fantastic entrance from Sam, joining the SNL Bandβs theme music-playing by jamming out on an electric guitar. This is the first of what would end up being a few instances over the years where upon entering for their monologue, the host joins G.E. Smith and the SNL Band in an extended version of SNLβs theme music. Other instances would be Kevin Kline in 1988 and Rick Moranis in 1989. Not sure if there are any others Iβm forgetting.
β I like the callback Samβs making to some of his topical jokes from his appearance in the Jimmy Breslin episode last season.
β LOL at the entrance from two policemen on horses, to keep Sam on watch.
β Iβm surprised by how short this overall monologue was, and how it ended without him even doing any actual stand-up, but I enjoyed what this contained.
STARS: ***
ADOBE
the little $179 Mexican import car is made out of clay
β Very funny concept of a car made of clay.
β I like Phil demonstrating the features of the car.
β Great montage of various people using the clay cars, especially the part with Nora molding a dent in her car back into shape, and the tennis couple exiting from their car with the backs of their outfits being clay-stained.
β A solid and memorable commercial overall.
STARS: ****
PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE
at parent-teacher meeting, (host) tells (JAH) & (KEN) their kid is stupid
β Already a laugh just from Sam walking on as a school teacher.
β Hilarious part with Samβs theory of why he canβt get through to Jan and Kevinβs daughter, which is him bluntly saying βsheβs so stupidβ. Great reaction from Jan and Kevin as well.
β Love the part with Sam showing Jan and Kevin the sun outside and asking them if they see a smiley face on it.
β Iβm enjoying how worked up Samβs getting when talking about a disturbing Vietnam story he wrote for his students.
β An okay reveal at the end that Danaβs the real teacher, leading Sam to jump out the window. I probably wouldβve enjoyed that ending more if it didnβt end up becoming a go-to ending that SNL would sometimes have a tendency to use as a lazy cop-out (e.g. the Park Ranger Tree Slice sketch with Tom Arnold).
STARS: ***Β½
JUNGLE ROOM
Chick Hazard (PHH) keeps an eye on β40s club owner Eddie Spimozo (JOL)
β Hereβs this eraβs very first instance of a black-and-white sketch set in an earlier decade, which is a type of sketch this cast would go on to really excel in.
β Thereβs especially a strong part right now with all the back-and-forths between Jon and Phil, reminding me of their great chemistry in the memorable Johnny OβConnor sketch from earlier this season.
β Another sketch that showcases Jonβs fantastic singing voice. I especially loved the long operatic note he held at the end of this number. Speaking of which, I think this is the musical number they show during the ending credits of Jonβs Best Of special.
STARS: ****
FRESH BREAD
those plastic things keep bread fresher than those twisty deals
β Wait, what the heck did I just watch?Β This segment was so random and brief, I almost missed it. This seemed intended as a quick, throwaway, going-to-commercial bit, being only 5 seconds long, which makes this one of the shortest segments in SNL history.
β This also ended with awkward silence from the audience, as if they were like me and didnβt know what to make of this segment.
STARS: N/A (too short to rate)
PET CHICKEN SHOP
Ching Change (DAC) doesnβt want to part with the chickens in his pet shop
β OH NO. The debut ofβ¦ THIS character. Oh, how I had long been dreading having to eventually cover these sketches.
β As if I ALREADY hadnβt been enjoying where this sketch was going, now Dana breaks out into a song. (*groan*)
β Overall, yikes. Really donβt know what else to say here, other than the fact that I shudder at how many more of these Ching Change sketches I have to put up with these next few seasons.
STARS: *
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs βI Love You, Suzanneβ
LOVE CONNECTION
host relives his hellish date with a pair of lesbians
β I always forget that Samβs a former minister. I canβt picture him in that position at all.
β We get the return of Janβs Marge Keister character from the Quiz Masters sketch in the season premiere. Iβve always felt this was one of Janβs more underrated recurring characters from her overall SNL tenure, and I like how they always work her into a different random setting in each of her appearances.
β We also get the return of an even lesser-known character: Noraβs butch Dr. Norma Hoeffering character from the Donahue sketch earlier this season.
β I got a huge laugh from Samβs eyes-rolled-up possessed facial expression when its mentioned that his two dates took him to a horse farm.
β Whatβs with the audio all of a sudden? During the interview with Nora and her female partner, Sam and (especially) Kevinβs dialogue keeps occasionally sounding strangely echo-ish?
β Sam keeps stepping on Noraβs lines with his screaming ad-libs, which completely drowned out one of her lines at one point.
β Overall, this sketch got some good laughs out of me. But if youβre not a fan of Sam Kinisonβs screaming outburst routine, I can definitely understand why you wouldnβt like this sketch, as thatβs basically all this sketch turned into after a while.
STARS: ***
WEEKEND UPDATE
footage of VIJβs undercover Central Park mission to look for terrorism
β Dennis begins this Update by randomly ad-libbing βNever let βem see ya sweatβ, which receives a great amount of applause from the audience. Thereβs actually a backstory to this. According to an old SNL newsgroup post from someone who claims they were at the show the night of this episode (read the post here, though you may have to scroll down to see it; also, itβs a bit confusing, as the poster remembers the incident as happening in the Justine Bateman-hosted episode from next seasonβ¦ who knows, maybe it happened in both the Kinison and Bateman episodes), SNLβs stagehands took longer than usual assembling the Weekend Update set and barely made it in time before the show returned from commercial. This is supposedly what prompted Dennisβ βNever let βem see ya sweatβ ad-lib. I think this story is legit, because I noticed that when the camera first showed Dennis at the beginning of this Update, you can see the clock in the background winding around VERY fast, as if the stagehands werenβt finished setting the correct time on it.
β Another Victoria Jackson video clip that just turns out to be her playing with her baby.
β Fairly funny how Victoria is heard cracking up in the middle of her voice-over during the video.
β After the video ends, Dennis mocks Victoriaβs aforementioned laughing, which was a cute moment.
β Kinda sad that these baby home video Update commentaries have been the ONLY big things Victoria has done so far in her SNL tenure. Sheβs definitely been struggling to leave a mark this season, unlike her fellow newbies who have all gotten a significant number of things to do so far and have all made a strong impression on audiences.
β Strong joke from Dennis about Ted Turner wanting to colorize the first 20 minutes of The Wizard of Oz.
β Dennisβ random suggestion for everybody to cough tomorrow at 10 a.m. to mess with peopleβs heads initially receives silence from the audience, then a few boos for some reason. Weird.
STARS: ***
DANCING LORD
(JOL) uses reverse psychology to sketch portrait of a dancing king (DAC)
β Funny seeing Dennis dressed as an 18th century character at the beginning of the sketch.
β This hyperactive foppish character seems like a role that Dana Carvey was born to play.
β Clever turn with Dana dancing himself to the point of collapse, which was a ruse by Jon to keep Dana still so he can sketch him.
STARS: ***
KRYPTON SURVIVES
after Jor-El (host) sends Superman to Earth, Krypton doesnβt blow up
β First time weβve really seen Sam in character and in a wig all night.
β I got a laugh from Sam telling Nora βYou know, thereβs still time to squirt one off if you want.β
β When the phone ringing sound effect continues to play even after Sam has picked up the phone, he ad-libs into the receiver βYeah, I answered the phone, will ya stop ringing it?β, which gets a great audience reaction.
β Okay, hereβs where the decision to turn practically EVERY SINGLE SKETCH tonight into a Sam Kinison scream-fest is starting to take its toll on me. His screaming isnβt working for this sketch at all.
β An unintentional laugh from seeing A. Whitney Brown of all people (in his ONLY appearance all night, by the way) in a non-speaking bit role as a tough criminal.
β Overall, a sketch that started out okay but slowly died a terrible death over the course of four minutes. Bad sketch as a whole.
STARS: *Β½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs βOriginal Wrapperβ
SAM KINISON STAND-UP
host does stand-up about how heβs misunderstood- he actually loves women
β Oh, looks like we DO get some Kinison stand-up tonight after all.
β Some laughs from him talking about his bad knack for choosing women who he knows will βbust him up goodβ.
β Good risque humor from the bit about guys trying to crack womenβs βcombinationsβ.
β Decent stand-up set overall.
STARS: ***
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
β This appears to be a fairly polarizing episode, and I suppose which side you fall on depends on your view of Sam Kinison. As someone whoβs always enjoyed Samβs comedy, I used to absolutely love this episode in my past viewings. Hell, I used to consider this and the following weekβs Robin Williams-hosted episode the point where this SNL era officially took off. Looking at this episode through a more critical eye now, especially after recently discovering that Samβs stand-up performances in his earlier SNL appearances were surprisingly hit-and-miss, I still enjoyed this episode, but can see that there were some things that really didnβt work, and I can also see that 90 minutes of Samβs screaming shtick DID start wearing thin towards the end of the night. So overall, Iβm no longer as big on this episode as I used to be, but Iβd still call it a good show as a whole.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Rosanna Arquette):
β a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW:
Robin Williams
Additional background on βNever let βem see you sweat:β there was a deodorant ad campaign in the β80s using this as the slogan. One ad had standup Elayne Boosler alleging that the slogan was one of three cardinal rules in comedy; Dennis was undoubtedly also mocking this conceit in addition to whatever else was going on.
I disagree on the show not being βas good,β I had a ball watching it a few weeks back. Sam made for a game host and you could tell he as enjoying it. You were a little hard on the Superman skit itβs not that bad, the chicken skit? Yeah itβs worse than I remember, I always found it funny when I was a teenager. Now itβs easy to see how one note it was. Besides that itβs a solid show.
Only thing I really wished they did different was replaced Lou Reed with Iggy Pop. Iggy was in the middle of his comeback and had his most successful album, Lou had an album but it wasnβt great and he wasnβt that compelling. I see people saying Lou was a solid musical guest and I disagree there.
I LOVE that Adobe car commercial. So hilarious. This era really rejuvenated fake ads, which were a staple of the original run (I canβt recall too many great ads from the Ebersol era).
Anyway, as for Ching Changβ¦Danaβs certainly game, but they clearly have not aged well (I recall that SNL got a lot of flack for it even when it aired), itβs mystifying to me that he became a recurring character (appearing 8 times, the latest being when Dana hosted in 2000)β¦wow!
The thing I remember from the black & white SNL sketches of this era was that Dana Carvey would always say βWhy I oughtta pound you!β
Yeah, thatβs usually what I remember from Danaβs doing those b-and-w sketches!
On Kevin Nealonβs hiking vlog, Al Franken said George Meyer wrote the Adobe commercial.
For the record, the Adobe car is in reality a Renault LeCar.
To me, the Dancing Lord sketch seems to be the point where Dana was cemented as the new βface of the showβ. This type of simplistic sketch was something you would see on the show in the earlier seasons, as they seem to fade off in the late 80s.
Lou Reed got one of the loudest boos in SNL history.
They were saying βLouuuuuβ
Sounds like a badge Reed would wear with honor.
I donβt really see why he was booed. Thought it was a fun song and decent enough performance
For Me the best moments in this episode are βadobeβ, βparent teacher conferenceβ, βjungle roomβ and βdancing lordβ. The rest is watchable and mostly fun though Kinison does wear thin after a while. Enjoyed his guitar playing monologue.
I love the dancing lord sketch because it puts me in the mind of βyou mock meβ as well as the fops from season 21.
I also like Lou Reed and Iβve always wondered why he was booed.
Just watched this episode on archive.org The audience is not booing Lou Reed. They are calling out his name βLooooouuuuuβ
When I watched the live broadcast of this episode (I was 16, living in Salisbury MD, watched presumably on the DC NBC affiliate WRCβ¦) the several second delay was evident as I witnessed Kinisonβs dialogue muted (as I recall) once during the Love Connection sketch and more than once during his 10-to-1 stand-up.
Always assumed it was from George Carlinβs seven words that were censored. Annoyed revisiting the episode in the 2000βs on NBC All Night the material being tamer words muted for its sexual context (or suchβ¦)
Seka. Nice. π
Didnβt care for this episode, not a big Sam Kinison fan, also aside from the adobe car commercial which Iβd see on repeat episodes from this season, nothing stood out. Was surprised that was Lou Reed but Iβm not very familiar with his solo stuff, but obviously know of him from the velvet underground, walk on the wild side, heroin, etc. This seemed like someone totally different, I couldnβt recognize the sound, it was like a devo esque style.
I loved love connection, I have fond memories of watching reruns when I was a tyke with my mom in the mid -late 90s. It was really weird to watch Nealon take the place as Chuck Woolery, this def seemed like Hartman material. Was curious who the pretty blonde that appeared with ND as a lesbian was?
If I found Sam to be someone I enjoyed watching maybe this episode wouldnβt have been such a flop for me but I think heβs just not for me.
Was confused at the audience dead silence in Millers last part of weekend update. Also canβt stand Victoria Jacksonβs overuse of how cute my kid is, Jesus. I get it, your a mom, your proud and think your kid is the best thing ever. No one else does, please save these stupid videos for yourself. (Thatβs my rant for the night cause I think sheβs over rated and canβt stand it when she goes on weekend update, I donβt like Dunn either but rather hear her Babette than VJ doing fluff and stealing the spotlight).