December 20, 1986 – William Shatner / Lone Justice (S12 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
“Ballad Of The Green Berets” variant lauds mute Marine Ollie North (host)

— Funny idea, and I love the melody of the song.
— I like how the lyrics are explaining all the important details of the Oliver North story, which in hindsight provides full context for any future viewers (like me) who wouldn’t have much familiarity with the story. That ages this cold opening better than some other overly-topical things SNL has done over the years, though as much as I’m enjoying this cold opening, I’m sure it hit even harder with viewers in 1986.
— I got a good laugh from the “What a great plan!” lyric.
— Good bit with Shatner holding his hand up as if to speak, only to remain mute.
STARS: ***½

OPENING MONTAGE
— Nice touch with the theme music briefly being interrupted early on with a snippet of “Joy to the World” before the regular theme music continues.
— There used to be some SNL fans that claimed comedian Kevin Meaney is credited as a one-episode-only featured player in this episode, but nope. In the live version I’m reviewing of this episode, and in all the rerun versions I’ve seen, he’s credited as a special guest.

MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— This was very short before he segued into the related next sketch. The jokes in this monologue weren’t really working for me, so it’s probably a good thing that they transitioned out of this early.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)

16TH ANNUAL STAR TREK CONVENTION
at a Star Trek convention, host tells loser attendees to “get a life”

— Some laughs from Dana and Jon making fun of Kevin for getting a trivia question wrong.
— All the little details throughout this are a funny and probably accurate recreation of a Star Trek convention.
— And there goes Shatner dropping the legendary “Get a life, will you people?” bomb.
— Great cutaway to Jon looking down in disappointment when Shatner asks “Have you ever kissed a girl?”
— Shatner’s harsh reality check to the Star Trek fans is a riot.
— I like the fight between Phil and Shatner in the background, leading to Shatner playing off his whole “Get a life” speech as a recreation of evil Captain Kirk from a Star Trek episode.
— Overall, a true classic.
STARS: *****

CHRISTMAS PARTY
at a party, Liz & Candy Sweeney sing a Christmas medley about bells

— First time a Sweeney Sisters sketch has begun with either of the sisters already present in the scene, instead of both of them being introduced into the sketch by someone.
— Nothing much to say about the overall piece, but the medley was fun as usual, had a great Christmas spirit feel, and featured the usual solid interplay between Jan and Nora.
STARS: ***½

T.J. HOOKER
“Little Blue Riding Hood” features the cop on a car

— Fun visual of Shatner on the hood of the driving car.
— Shatner’s dialogue sounds strangely muffled so far in this sketch.
— Okay, Shatner’s dialogue is now sounding clearer.
— Funny bit with him reading the license number with his foot.
— I like the way this is escalating, with it now being dusk outside as a still-on-the-hood Shatner is writing a sentimental letter.
— Boy, that is one fake-looking snow backdrop.
— An overall decent sketch, though I was expecting it to be a little stronger.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Shelter”

WEEKEND UPDATE
describing Ronald Reagan’s prostate surgery makes ALF uncomfortable

 

— LOL at the audience reaction to the brain tumor joke about CIA director William Casey.
— Al Franken makes what I believe is his first appearance of the whole season, despite receiving no credit in the opening montage tonight (nor does he receive one for any other episodes this season).
— A lot of laughs from Al wincing, squirming, and making a variety of other uncomfortable sounds and gestures while going into explicit detail about the surgical prostate procedure.
STARS: ***½

STAR TREK V: THE RESTAURANT ENTERPRISE
Khan (DAC) tries to shut it down

— Very funny concept for a Star Trek parody.
— I liked Dr. McCoy’s “For god sake, Jim, be careful!” when Captain Kirk is simply heading to a table.
— First time I’ve spotted Kevin Meaney tonight, this time in a non-speaking role as a choking victim.
— Kirk: “Dr. McCoy, this man needs medical attention.” McCoy: “Dammit, Jim, I’m a doctor, not a– Oh, oh, sure.”
— First time Akira Yoshimura has reprised his role as Sulu since SNL’s original Star Trek parody in season 1, starting a decades-long running gag.
— Hilarious how so many mundane restaurant issues are being treated so dramatically by the Star Trek crew.
— Very memorable part with Captain Kirk pointing out how Sulu has put on weight.
— Dana is freakin’ hilarious as Khan.
— I like Dana’s Khan stopping in the middle of his rant to also question Sulu’s weight. Also, something about Yoshimura’s monotone delivery of his explanation “We all get older, Khan” always amuses me.
— Kevin as Spock: “Would you do me the very great honor of eating my shorts?”
STARS: ****½

LOOK AT THAT!
narcissistic (host) admires his physique in front of the mirror

— Shatner’s really funny in this with his self-admiring in the mirror.
— Overall, a simple but fairly charming sketch.
STARS: ***

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES
KEN relates the dark side to his classic Christmas experiences

— Kevin: “Over the river and through the woods… that’s the way my grandmother used to drive.”
— I’m loving the increasingly ridiculous things he misses about Christmas.
— Not sure the “Save your receipts” joke at the end worked for me
— Overall, a solid and a very quintessential Kevin Nealon piece. For some reason, I’ve always kinda considered this a sister sketch to Steve Martin’s Holiday Wish sketch from two episodes earlier, to the degree that I sometimes misremember this Nealon sketch as being performed in front of a dark background while he sits in a chair, like the Steve Martin sketch.
STARS: ****

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
lynch mob attacks Potter (JOL) in lost ending of It’s A Wonderful Life

   

— Good to see Dana’s hilarious Jimmy Stewart back.
— Kevin Meaney in another small role, only this time, he gets an actual line. Strange that they would bring him in as a special guest to just play bit roles all night. Why not give him a stand-up segment?
— Phil’s voice as Uncle Billy is cracking me up.
— Love the dark turn this has taken with the whole town angrily coming after Old Man Potter.
— If you listen, Dana can be heard muttering “Why, I oughta pound you” when tipping Old Man Potter out of his wheelchair, which is starting to become a go-to phrase of his in these black-and-white sketches.
— LOL at the reveal that Potter’s been faking his crippled state.
— This is getting even funnier now with Potter being replaced with an obvious dummy as the beatdown starts to get particularly brutal.
— I like the citizens randomly breaking out into “Auld Land Syne” while Potter’s beatdown is still occurring.
— Overall, this sketch was freakin’ priceless. A true SNL classic.
STARS: *****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Found Love”

THE TRUE LIFE STORY OF FRANKIE TOUSSAINT
Frankie Toussaint (Griffin Dunne) pays for others’ job dissatisfaction

 

— Random Griffin Dunne-starring film.
— I like Tom Davis as the doctor casually explaining there were things he should’ve done to save Dunne’s friend’s life, but didn’t because he was simply distracted by other ambitions.
— I like the way this is quickly escalating, with all the cuts to subsequent scenes.
— Overall, a good film and featured a strong performance from Griffin Dunne. I used to joke to myself that SNL cast Dunne in this film as an apology to him for the crappy episode they gave him when he hosted the previous season. Who knows, maybe there’s some truth to that.
STARS: ***½

BUSTER POINDEXTER
Buster Poindexter [real] performs “Zat You, Santa?”

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very strong and memorable episode, and one of my personal favorite Christmas episodes the show has ever done. The quality was very consistent with solid sketches throughout the whole night, two sketches were all-time classics (Star Trek Convention and It’s A Wonderful Life), and William Shatner was a fun and very game host.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Steve Guttenberg):
— a big step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
We enter 1987, with hosts Joe Montana and Walter Payton