Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
the apostles prepare a surprise party for Jesus’ 30th birthday
— I like the humorously casual discussion the apostles are having about Jesus.
— Very funny bit with Jon wanting Jesus to turn the pitcher of water into wine.
— Jan’s abrupt “Live from New York” had no real segue and seemed awkwardly shoehorned in. That, coupled with the fact that host Paul Simon appeared in this, makes me wonder if this wasn’t the cold opening in dress rehearsal.
STARS: ***½
OPENING MONTAGE
— Much like in the previous season’s Christmas episode (William Shatner), the SNL Band plays a snippet of “Joy to the World” at the beginning of the opening montage before segueing into the regular theme music.
MONOLOGUE
host & senator Paul Simon [real] tell how their engagements are confused
— Great start with Paul making his monologue entrance alongside senator Paul Simon.
— Some good laughs from the mix-up over which Paul Simon was supposed to host, as well as them recalling times where one of them mistakenly showed up at an event meant for the other.
— An overall funny, charming, and memorable monologue.
STARS: ****
PUMPING UP WITH HANS & FRANZ
(no synopsis available)
— These characters are now officially popular, with them immediately getting a good amount of audience applause while they’re introducing themselves at the beginning of this.
— Some laughs from them forcing an injured Paul to do a workout.
— Nice to see the reappearance of Phil’s flabby Helmut character.
— Good continuity, updating us on Helmut’s physical progress since his last appearance, even showing still photos of his last appearance.
STARS: ***½
MASTER THESPIAN
Master Thespian improvises while tackling Santa role at Macy’s
— Funny moment with the camera pulling back and revealing that Master Thespian’s journal writing has been taking place in a men’s bathroom.
— Love seeing another appearance of Phil as a Frank Nelson-esque boss (“Eee-Yeeessssssss?”).
— The “pull my finger” bit was hilarious, especially Phil’s grossed-out vocalization. Only this era could get away with that kind of fart humor without it coming off groanworthy.
— I like this premise of Master Thespian as a mall Santa.
— Very funny overdramatic reaction from Master Thespian when he gets fired.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Los Laureles” & ” La Cigarra”
CASTAWAYS
(host) is amazed by craftsmanship of gifts given by fellow castaway (VIJ)
— Good laughs from Victoria revealing she made Paul’s watch herself, detailing the complicated process of how she made it with limited resources.
— More solid humor from how cheap Paul’s gifts look in comparison to Victoria’s.
— Great ending with the reveal of a hidden motor scooter.
— An overall very strong and charming sketch. One of Victoria’s best.
STARS: ****
WEEKEND UPDATE
the people say Gary Hart’s crazy for re-entering the presidential race
NBC’s shocking find is a clip of Jerry Lewis
DEM & Dennis Miller (DAC) debate whether Gary Hart’s decision was sound
— Decent bit with “The People” giving their opinion on Gary Hart.
— Dennis is coming off a little marble-mouthed at times tonight.
— Hilarious random bit with Dennis presenting a goofy 1950s clip of Jerry Lewis as “shocking and disturbing” footage.
— Dennis’ message towards Donna Rice was great.
— Yes! The debut of Dana’s Dennis Miller impression. As I mentioned earlier this season in my review of the Candice Bergen episode, Dana’s Dennis impression was supposed to debut that night in a similar point/counterpoint debate on Weekend Update, but there was a mix-up with Dana erroneously thinking the segment got cut, leading Dennis to awkwardly abort the segment on-air.
— Dana’s impression of Dennis is freakin’ dead-on and hilarious. I’ll ignore the bad wig, though.
— An overall excellent commentary from Dana’s Dennis.
— A very strong overall Update from Dennis, and a great comeback after the slump his Updates have been in the last handful of episodes.
STARS: ****
SUBWAY
(PHH) solicits money on a subway car by changing his story with each pass
— Love the turn with Phil revealing his hobo bit was just an act for a play he’s performing in.
— I really like where this is going, with Phil constantly switching his story and personality. This is a great showcase of Phil’s talents.
— Excellent ending with Phil changing his act to a stick-up robbery.
STARS: ****
SKI LODGE
in a ski lodge, Sweeney sisters “treat” host to a medley of his songs
— Okay, here’s the sketch that commenter Rssk informed me that the now-notorious Brynn Hartman appears as an extra in (and supposedly is even shown during a close-up at one point). Even though it will probably feel kinda chilling seeing her, I’ll keep my eye open on which female extra may possibly be her. I’m not very familiar with what she looked like, though. All I have to go on is the fact that she had blonde hair.
— I like the Sweeney Sisters launching into a Paul Simon medley, accompanied by a shot of Paul looking uncomfortable.
— Funny part with the Sisters forcing a reluctant Paul to join in during the name parts of the 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover chorus.
— A very solid Sweeney Sisters sketch overall.
— Okay, so… which blonde female extra was Brynn? The ski accident victim in the leg cast (seen in the first screencap above, as well as in the background of the last two screencaps above) or the woman in the winter sweater (seen in the background of the fourth screencap above)? I’m guessing it’s the former. Can anyone confirm?
STARS: ****
SUCCINCTLY SPEAKING
Tonto (JOL), Tarzan (KEN), Frankenstein (PHH) opine
— The debut of Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein.
— I like Nora casually introducing Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein as her talk show guests, as if it’s perfectly normal to have them on.
— This is sometimes inaccurately remembered by SNL fans as being a Pat Stevens sketch. Nora is actually just playing a generic, non-recurring talk show host here.
— I like Nora suddenly going from asking Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein simple questions to asking them about the INF treaty.
— There goes the most well-remembered part of the sketch, and a legendary SNL moment in general: Phil suddenly busting out laughing uncontrollably one of the times he’s supposed to say “Fire bad!” Absolutely classic, made even more noteworthy by the fact that it’s a usually-unflappable pro who’s breaking character so badly. While Phil would go on to have a (very) few minor instances of laughing out of character in later seasons (most notably a Matt Foley sketch from the Martin Lawrence episode, where an absurd line flub from Chris Farley causes every cast member in the scene, including Phil, to lose it and crack up), they were nowhere near as major as his character break in this sketch.
— The hilarity continues as the sketch concludes with Phil’s Frankenstein walking around destroying the set while Phil is still laughing out of character. It almost feels like getting up and destroying the set was an ad-lib from Phil in an attempt to divert attention away from his character breaking, though it’s obviously not, because the wall he tears through is clearly a breakaway prop.
STARS: *****
SEASON’S GREETINGS
Tonto, Tarzan, Frankenstein sing “Away in a Manger”
— And with the debut of debut of Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein in the preceding sketch, we now get the debut of a recurring segment with them performing a holiday song.
— This is great. It’s kinda hard to explain why this is so funny, especially as it eventually becomes a recurring bit, but it just works and has a silliness that I love about this era of SNL.
— For some reason, a stagehand is seen mopping in the background throughout this.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & musical guest perform “Under African Skies”
TEXAS DINER
at the truck stop, Anita & friends reflect on the events of the past year
— Hmm, here’s a sketch that I have no memory of from my past viewings of this episode.
— I think this is the same diner waitress (Anita) that Jan played in a well-done slice-of-life sketch from the Willie Nelson episode the previous season. Never knew this was a recurring character. I wonder if it’s also the same character Jan plays in the memorable Sexual Tensions Diner sketch with Alec Baldwin.
— Interesting argument these people are making of why 1987 was such a bad year (Black Monday, televangelist scandals, Oliver North, etc.).
— I like Jan’s character occasionally speaking in uncharacteristic intelligent, complicated terms.
— Overall, this was a nice, low-key, realistic piece, which is something this cast is always great at pulling off. Jan, in particular, shined here, as she usually does as this character.
STARS: ***½
A MESSAGE TO FUTURE VIEWERS
JOL uses sci-fi cliches to address those watching the show in syndication
— Here’s another sketch I have no memory of ever seeing in the past. I thought I remembered tonight’s overall episode really well.
— I love this premise of Jon delivering a message to future generations watching this episode in syndication. I always get a kick out of this type of thing, as well as seeing what people in the past thought the future would be like.
— Some funny wild assumptions Jon is making about the future, and I liked his line threatening to invent a time machine so he can come and kill us future viewers.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A great episode. Easily my favorite of the season so far, and was very welcome after a string of episodes ranging from average to forgettable (the Bergen, DeVito, and Dickinson episodes). Everything in tonight’s episode worked for me, and there were lots of memorable sketches and moments, as well as a fun, feel-good vibe, all of which are things I always love to see in an SNL Christmas episode.
— I’d like to add that Phil Hartman had a particularly fantastic night. I think he appeared in literally every single sketch except for Castaways and Message To Future Viewers. This episode was one of the finest displays of Phil’s strengths, versatility, and “glue”-like skills. And to put it over the top, he had an all-time legendary moment with his Succinctly Speaking character break.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Angie Dickinson)
— a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
We enter 1988, with host Robin Williams
Fire BAD!!!!! ?
Something I’ve noticed going through your reviews…did Phil ever appear on Weekend Update? I can’t recall any time that he did. That’s crazy to me. Jan didn’t ever really seem to be on Update either.
In addition to the George Steinbrenner Health Watch and Frankenstein commentaries that other commenters mentioned, there’s also a very brief Frank Sinatra commentary Phil does in the Nancy Kerrigan episode from his final season. I believe the famous All-Drug Olympics bit (where Phil’s arms get ripped off trying to lift a barbell) was also a Weekend Update piece. However, neither of them were a commentary with him sitting at the desk. The Sinatra commentary had him standing the whole time (he was giving a brief Grammys acceptance speech), and All-Drug Olympics was a remote segment. During all his 8 years as a cast member, Phil surprisingly never did an Update commentary that involved him sitting at the desk.
That’s pretty fascinating–I wonder if there are any other longtime cast members who were on Update so infrequently (as someone noted above, Jan Hooks, I guess). All of the original cast members were on Update a lot (Laraine is probably the least frequent, but she appeared a lot as a field reporter).
Yes. Thank you. That All-Drug Olympics bit was a Weekend Update piece.
“…Chovvy….” in Larraine’s Reporter-ese…
This episode has the best Sweeney Sisters sketch. The moment where Jan is pushing her voice in Paul Simon’s face is about as good as SNL gets. Five stars for me.
Like a BRIDGE OVER TR-UH-UB-LED WATERS, you have laid me down!
Phil was on at least once, when he hosted and played Frankenstein.
Oh yeah. I remember that now. Anybody know why Phil was hardly ever on Update? I feel like it would have been a great fit for him. Maybe he was in so many other skits, that Update was his chance to take a break. 🙂
He’s not on the update desk, but at some point Phil does a “remote” about George Steinbrenner’s health.
https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-segment—george-steinbrenner-health-watch/n9811
Never seen much of this season oddly (Seen the Bateman and Reinhold shows though on late night, I’ll get to them when this gets there,) but it’s nice to see they managed a classic show at least once. A lot of the host choices this season weren’t great and don’t look to be good hosts but when they managed to pick someone good it worked out quite well. Paul was always good at hosting.
Had no idea the Frankenstein skit was here! Nice. Same for the singing bits too..
The thing I always thought was sweet about the Anita sketch is that after the bit about 1987’s problems, they’re telling the nativity story.
Well if you thought 1987 was bad…
This episode was def a huge spark after seemingly a slump in the ’87 end of season 13! Great monologue and Sweeneys and Master Thespian! Victoria with a strong sketch performance! Hans and franz going strong! Frankenstein Tonto and Tarzan wonderfully absurd one two punch with Hartman breaking no naturally….
But the highlight for me was Dana’s Dennis; waited so long since reading that Fall ’86 Rolling Stone article on the new cast which stated Carvey had a Dennis impression. It sooo lived up to expectation, just a beaut seeing Dana and Dennis doing “babe-babe-babe” face in unison. (** the WU debacle on the Candice Bergen ep was pure confusion. Didn’t realize it was a Dana-as-Dennis bit until Dennis mentioned it on Tom Snyder back in 1996-97.)
Here’s something that sadly got axed after dress (Getty Image): Simon and Ronstadt singing with the whole cast (yes, even Dennis…) and I’m guessing it was a classic Christmas Carol:
https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/episode-8-pictured-dennis-miller-kevin-nealon-jan-hooks-phil-hartman-picture-id457801404
Laraine appeared at the Update desk on the Milton Berle episode playing rock critic Z Jones
I was in the audience of this show. It was my birthday. I used to work with the SNL censor and handled ticket allotments given to us. It was a great show. Fun night.
No one ever answered your question about Brynn Hartman. It looks to me like she’s the one sitting right behind Paul Simon. Looks just like her.
Sorry I overlooked your call for confirmation of Brynn in the Sweeney Sisters sketch; Yeah the one with the cast was my call as her.
(..and thanks for the shout-out!)
Here’s my review of the musical performances.
Los Laureles/La Cigarra
— Oh wow, I knew that Ronstadt was part Latina but I never realized she did that style of music.
— Great decor on the set; love the Christmas trees, big red bells, the hanging lights, and Feliz Navidad on the back wall!
— Linda’s outfit is excellent, love the red flower in her hair, huge earrings, and bow on her neck. Ultra classy.
— This is a really unique style of music to feature on SNL, especially with lyrics in a foreign language. What a special treat! Great arrangement and performance by the violins, trumpets, and guitars.
— Wow, a double shot of tunes, and Linda’s vocals are getting better and better with the second song.
— Oh my goodness, I’m getting SHIVERS from the high notes that Ronstadt is sustaining here…what an amazing performance vocally.
— Apparently this second song is about a cicada who is announcing his impeding death. No matter what it’s about, the performance is incredibly poignant.
— Damn, that was AWESOME. Really makes me want to check out Linda Ronstadt’s catalog. Or at least her album “Canciones de mi padre” which she is promoting.
STARS: *****
Under African Skies
— YES! Here’s one of my favorites from the Graceland album. And with Linda on duetting vocals just like the studio version, which is a very special treat.
— Awesome albeit brief bass solo to get the song started.
— The instrumentalists are totally in the pocket.
— Great chemistry between Simon and Ronstadt. Linda looks absolutely THRILLED to be doing this duet.
— Nifty little guitar solo between the first and second verse (no chorus yet).
— Here comes my favorite part of this tune — the vocalized section in the chorus. And Linda’s angelic voice is bringing tears to my eyes. Tremendous vibrato.
— Oh my, that was amazing. Only downside is I wish it lasted a bit longer.
— These two musical performances have to be among the more underrated in SNL’s history. I haven’t seen them talked about a lot but they were both incredible.
STARS: *****
Fabulous episode. Unfortunately I’m watching it on Peacock, where they cut the Castaways skit! Luckily I’ve seen it many other times, presumably on Christmas compilation shows. Loved Dana’s impression of Dennis, particularly what we’d now call the ‘bobblehead’ aspect.
I think what tripped up Phil was that Nora messed up her explanation of the INF treaty, then corrected herself and that made the situation even more absurd. Like in a way it normalized what she was doing, as if she was actually talking to an expert, not Frankenstein. And that, combined with the general hilarity of someone messing up their line, broke him.
It was amazing, I usually don’t enjoy seeing people break, in fact that’s why I enjoy this era of SNL so much. These days there’s way too much breaking. But when it’s so rare, it’s like a gem.
Big episode for rookie writer Bob Odenkirk this week as he wrote the Master Thespian sketch and co-wrote the Subway piece with Al Franken.