Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Panama election impropriety monitor Jimmy Carter (DAC) is bullied
β Funny reveal of Mike under the table using the ballots to cook a roasting chicken.
β I always like Danaβs Jimmy Carter impression.
β An amusing childish turn with the soldiers bullying Carter, leading to them eventually tossing around around an obvious dummy of him.
β I like Dana-as-Carterβs voice-over saying βLive from New Yorkβ as his dummy is being spun around.
STARS: ***Β½
MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)
β Never realized before how very Canadian his accent is.
β Some laughs from him talking about his reaction to finding out the writers think he has no talent as a comic actor.
STARS: ***
SLEEPYTIME RAT CONTROL
β Rerun
FISHING WITH THE ANAL RETENTIVE SPORTSMAN
host hooks a big one while fishing with anal-retentive Gene
β Nice that theyβve changed this characterβs occupation to keep things fresh in these sketches (though Iβm aware he goes back to being a chef in some future installments).
β As usual, some very funny details from Philβs anal-retentive tendencies, especially the moist towelette attached to the bait bag.
β A good laugh from the giant fish that Wayne has snagged, eventually pulling him into the water (which Philβs character is completely unaware of as he continues addressing the camera).
STARS: ***Β½
WAYNEβS WORLD
a hockey fantasy with host & wife Janet Jones [real]
β For the first time, Wayneβs World finally makes it out of the 10-to-1 slot and is placed in a nice early spot in the show. Iβm watching an old Comedy Central rerun, however, which is notorious for wildly reshuffling the original sketch order within episodes. So Iβm not sure if this sketch originally aired this early in tonightβs episode or not. [ADDENDUM: Looking at a rundown of the original running order of this episode, this sketch indeed aired in this early in the live show.]
β The Switcher Solo segment with the cameras was pretty fun.
β Iβm enjoying Wayne and Garthβs various extended βbabeβ puns regarding Gretzkyβs wife.
β The character of Wayne Campbell is continuing to grow, as tonightβs sketch has some of his now-famous traits that werenβt around in the first two Wayneβs World sketches.
β Our very first instance of Wayne and Garth doing the βdldldldldlβ sound and wiggly hand gestures when transitioning into a dream sequence.
β Fun pre-taped hockey sequence.
β I like how after the dream sequence ends, Gretzky is now the host of Wayneβs World, and we get our very first instance of Wayne Campbell going βI guess it was all a dreamβ¦ (*sees something from his dream appearing in reality*) or was it?!?!β, a gag that would be repeated in other Wayneβs World installments that involve a dream sequence.
β Overall, easily the best and most fun Wayneβs World installment so far.
STARS: ****
LOCKER ROOM
after Kings lose Stanley Cup, celebrities join host in the locker room
β Danaβs Travolta impression is coming off particularly funny here.
β Now we get Philβs great Nicholson. We seem to be getting some of the castβs funniest impressions in this sketch.
β Not sure what Tom Davis is going for with the voice heβs doing as Ed Begley Jr.
β Iβm getting good laughs from all the ridiculous suggestions the celebrities are making regarding how hockey should be played.
β Janβs Bette Davis is absolutely hilarious.
β I like the brief cutaway to Mike as a constantly βWhat!β-saying Howie Mandel (which I previously brought up when reviewing Lovitzβs Howie Mandel impression in the Rosanna Arquette episode from two seasons earlier).
β Funny ending with the celebrities and Wayne all moving into the shower, much to Wayneβs grief.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs βShe Drives Me Crazyβ
WEEKEND UPDATE
a mysterious voice (PHH) summons DEM to build his Field Of Dreams
ALF suggests saving money by combining euthanasia & the space program
the Field Of Dreams summons original SNLer βMoonlightβ Graham (DAC)
β I like the random βIf you build it, he will comeβ voice-over, a reference to the recently-released Field Of Dreams.
β Humorously, the βIf you build it, he will comeβ voice-over intermittently keeps repeating throughout Update, eventually leading Dennis to rethink his goals in life and declare βI gotta build that damn field.β
β Great sequence with Dennis building a tiny baseball field on the Update desk.
β I like how the tiny field still remains on the desk when Al Franken shows up to do a commentary. When Dennis points out the field to Al, Al looks in the direction of the field in front of him and responds βWhat field?β
β We get the return of the classic βme β Al Frankenβ gag where every utterance of that line results in a graphic of Alβs name being displayed on the bottom of the screen.
β Alβs insane ideas for space exploration are really funny, especially his suggestions to hurl volunteers into space and having man propel himself into space with a fire extinguisher.
β Dennisβ jokes are pretty average tonight, but thatβs still a step-up from his subpar Update in the preceding episode.
β Theyβre now fully going all-out on the Field Of Dreams runner by having Dana show up as Moonlight Graham. The laugh he keeps doing is very funny.
β The ending with Moonlight taking Dennis out into the cornfield was a nice change of pace for Update.
β Some versions of this episode (including, I think, NBCβs airing of this episode on βSNL Vintageβ about three years ago) cut out the entire Moonlight Graham segment. And since Dennis says his sign-off when he and Moonlight are in the cornfield, the edited versions cover for that by splicing in Dennisβ sign-off from the following weekβs episode, where he signs off at the desk by saying βGuess what, folks? Thatβs the season, and Iβ¦ amβ¦ outta here.β Now, Dennis saying βThatβs the seasonβ instead of βThatβs the newsβ makes sense in the following weekβs episode because itβs the season finale. However, it makes absolutely NO sense for us to see him saying it in tonightβs episode, which is the penultimate episode, not the season finale.
STARS: ***Β½
WAIKIKI HOCKEY
a Hawaiian busboy (host) has Elvis-like experiences
β I really like Janβs Ann-Margret.
β Danaβs snobbish, preppy characterization is hilarious.
β Very funny sequence with Wayne blatantly lip-syncing to the Waikiki Hockey song.
β An overall great, memorable, and very charming sketch.
β I think this originally aired as the final sketch of the night during the live show. I wish they kept it like that in the rerun version Iβm watching, because this sketch wouldβve been a fun, upbeat way to end the show.
STARS: ****Β½
POINT BLANK
neither host nor (VIJ) has much advice for callers-in
β Wayneβs simple βHockey is different from marketing; itβs more of a sportβ statement made me laugh.
β I was ready to dismiss this as a subpar, one-joke display of Victoriaβs ditz shtick, but itβs being executed decently and thereβs a strange charm to it.
β I like how the callers keep asking Wayne increasingly complicated questions unrelated to hockey.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs βGood Thingβ
THIS WEEK WITH DAVID BRINKLEY
pundits take discussion outdoors
β I got a big laugh from Danaβs uptight George Will stiffly saying βIβm on record as being pro-sunshine, bluebirds, and cherry blossoms.β
β Interesting deviation with them all going outdoors for their discussion, complete with a short pre-taped sequence of them strolling through a real park.
β I liked Kevinβs Sam Donaldson telling Danaβs uptight Will βWhy donβt you take the pine cone out of your butt?β
β Funny cutaway to Kevinβs Donaldson feeding an obvious squirrel puppet.
β Good part with Danaβs Will getting hit out of nowhere with a frisbee, prompting him to lose his cool and yell βDAMMIT!β
STARS: ***Β½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
β Solid episode, keeping season 14βs perfect streak alive as weβre now in the homestretch of the season. Probably one of the better athlete-hosted episodes SNL has ever done, and despite pretty much playing himself in every single sketch and not stretching himself all that much, Wayne Gretzky did fine as a host, came off likable, and didnβt have any noticeable stumbles that athlete hosts are usually prone to.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Geena Davis)
a mild step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
The amazing season 14 comes to an end, with host Steve Martin. We also get a sad goodbye to a beloved former cast member who passes away earlier the same day.
Iβve always loved the Waikiki Hockey sketch. A lot of fun
A few days ago Forbes put out an oral history on this episode, which features Gretzky, Dana Carvey, and Kevin Nealon. Lots of stories of how lovely Phil Hartman was, and some details of Gretzky being a longtime fan of the show as well as his feelings about hosting (he initially wanted to turn them down but his wife said heβd regret it if he did). Iβm linking the Twitter version as the author adds a few extra details, one of them being that Gretzky turned down a Liar sketch with Lovitz as he felt it would just be a showcase for Lovitz.
https://twitter.com/ScottKingMedia/status/1167085495450505217
Sorry β I misread the tweet. Gretzky doesnβt actually give that as a reason for not doing the sketch, it was just Kevin Nealon speculating.
I came here because someone on LFNY Reddit (I think) posted a link to SNL YouTube of Point Blank, which Iβd never seen before. But Iβm very familiar with the 60 min cut of this episode from Comedy Central, most of which I recorded on VHS as an adolescent and watched endlessly. I for some reason never connected with the Waikiki Hockey sketch β itβs probably time for a rewatch there β but loved that Wayneβs World, the celebrity locker room sketch and the Anal Retentive Fisherman. So I had to come here and see where Point Black ran in the show and what else was cut from the 60 min edit. Looks like Weekend Update and the βweβre doing the news outsideβ sketch are the only other ones Iβm not familiar with.
Anyway, John, thanks for the link to the Twitter feed of the oral history article and its cutting room floor bits. Iβd love a Live From New York-length interview book that was entirely about β86-β90.
Itβs so weird in these late season 14 episodes to see sketches where Mike Myers is the guy in the sketch who has only one line. While meanwhile he started getting his solo showcases on really quick. I forget which Season 15 episode it is (Ed OβNeill maybe?) where aside from CO/monologue/musical guest, the 60 min edit was almost entirely Mike Myers recurring sketches.
Mike looked like Gilbert Gottfried when he was doing his Howie Mandel.