Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
host trashes the locker room after losing in the finals at Wimbledon
— Some funny modified voice-overs during post-game footage shown of an Evert/Navratilova match.
— Announcer, regarding the Duke and Duchess: “Keep in mind, they are the product, like so many of our royal family members, of generations of inbreeding.”
— Great sequence with Chris suddenly blowing up in the locker room, tearing everything in sight apart.
— I love the escalation of this, with Chris now using a forklift truck to throw the lockers over.
— Hilarious walk-on from Jon as Queen Elizabeth frantically asking for the “loo”.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
host trashes her dressing room after being dissatisfied with her comedy
— Pretty funny line comparing tennis and SNL, saying that both peaked in popularity in the 70s.
— At first, I wondered why Chris’ line about how “doing comedy is easier than tennis, because when a joke fails, at least you don’t have a bunch of people laughing at you” sounded so familiar, until I remembered that Malcolm Jamal-Warner said basically the same line (minus the part about tennis) in his monologue a few seasons earlier.
— She’s carrying this monologue well.
— Very interesting continuation after the “ending”, showing Chris going backstage and then beginning to destroy her dressing room in the same manner as in the cold opening.
STARS: ***½
COLON BLOW
Colon Blow & Super Colon Blow- (PHH) learns about the high-fiber cereals
— Here’s yet another all-time classic commercial from this era.
— The reveal of the cereal name Colon Blow is priceless.
— I love the part with Phil’s bad guesses of the correct number of cereal bowls the announcer asks him, with Phil always going just one number higher than the number he had just incorrectly guessed. The casual smile on his face during that part also adds to the humor.
— Excellent visual of the huge pyramid of cereal bowls rising under a frightened Phil.
STARS: *****
BERLIN WALL
George Bush (DAC) takes credit for the destruction of the Berlin Wall
— I like this format of Dana’s Bush being in front of an obvious greenscreen of the Berlin Wall.
— I think this is the very first occurrence of Dana’s soon-to-be-trademark Bush laugh.
— Some really good lines, especially with how Bush keeps exaggerating his importance in the fall of the Berlin Wall and how his place in history is now “secured”.
STARS: ***½
EVERT VS. NAVRATILOVA
after retiring from tennis, host can’t shake Martina Navratilova (NOD)
— Good performance from Nora.
— Very funny concept of Martina Navratilova following Chris Evert in every new job and always one-upping her at it.
— Nora wildly playing the piano cracked me up, as did Chris’ frozen, incredulous reaction during that.
— Clever ending with the “Evert Committed To Looney Bin” newspaper being paid for with a dollar bill that has Navratilova’s face on it.
STARS: ****
VIDEO WILL
Bette Davis’ (JAH) kids (PHH) & (NOD) watch a videotape of her will
— Jan is an absolute riot as Bette Davis.
— I love how the sound of the tape fast-forwarding is being done by Jan live.
— Ha, and just now, there’s a great brief blooper where the camera catches Jan making the “eeebweebweebwee” fast-forwarding sounds.
— Great reveal that the will is on multiple videotapes.
— Hilarious evil laughter from Jan’s Davis after announcing that her daughter gets none of her money.
— Overall, easily one of Jan’s all-time best performances.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Angel”
WEEKEND UPDATE
after paying him for airtime, Annoying Man (JOL) pesters DEM
KEN’s interest in porno films matched masturbation-induced arousal
— Starting off very hot with a string of great jokes that are getting big audience reactions.
— The debut of Annoying Man, a big character from this late point in Jon’s SNL tenure.
— Some good laughs from Annoying Man’s various obnoxious ways of demonstrating how annoying he is. Dennis’ reactions to him are great as well.
— Strong ending to Annoying Man’s commentary, with him delivering an uncharacteristically dignified, deep-voiced “You don’t have to yell” after being told “Shut up!”
— Kevin’s porno reviews are really funny so far, especially him detailing his varying reactions to the all-male porno.
— I liked Dennis’ random “Gimme an ‘S’!” bit.
STARS: ***½
LOTHAR OF THE HILL PEOPLE
chieftain responsibilities are discussed
— I didn’t mention it when reviewing the debut of this sketch last season, but I really like this sketch’s opening theme song.
— Lothar: “I swear by Xena’s teats…”
— During the discussion about “walking” with women, Jon has a great line about how he has taken many short “walks”… by himself.
— Lothar to Chris Evert’s character: “You want to have your flagon of mead and drink it too.”
STARS: ***½
DRAW THE LINE
VIJ plays ukelele & sings about thin line between love & adultery
— A rare instance of Victoria doing a song on the home base stage, for the first time since the Willie Nelson episode three seasons ago.
— I’m really liking her bizarre, overly-specific examples of love.
— An overall very solid and funny song.
STARS: ****
LYLE, THE EFFEMINATE HETEROSEXUAL
effeminate heterosexual Lyle Billup (DAC) fits the gay stereotype
— Solid concept, and I like how the opening theme song sequence is in the same vein as other memorable sketches from this era that have their own opening theme song sequence.
— Very funny characterization from Dana here.
— I remember reading somewhere that Dana gave this character a low-pitched effeminate voice because he felt that if he used a typical high-pitched effeminate voice, it would sound too much like his Church Lady (a character that has surprisingly been M.I.A. for a long time at this point, by the way).
— An unintentional laugh from Dana beginning to open the door right before the doorbell even rang.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Baby’s Gonna Cry”
PASSAGES
cast doesn’t share LOM’s amusement at host’s embarrassing sketch
— Hilarious how Lorne is enjoying the schadenfreude of Chris Evert attempting a complex role that features many emotional shifts.
— Really funny when the dramatic song that Chris is singing suddenly turns into corny upbeat dancing.
— I like the audience disapprovingly going “Mmm-nnnh” in unison when Phil asks “Wasn’t that great?”
— Loved Lorne’s incredulous “What is WITH everybody?!?” at the end of the sketch.
STARS: ****
THE NUDE HOUSE OF WACKY PEOPLE
Sony-produced show stereotypes Americans
— I’m absolutely loving all the nonsensical, silly aspects of the show and the bad American syntax used in Mike’s narration.
— Great random bear attack, especially when the bear just casually walks out of the house mid-attack when Mike’s voice-over says “Then the bear leaves.”
— Decent ending with Phil’s Ronald Reagan giving his approval.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An exceptionally strong episode with a very consistent high quality throughout the entire night. And Chris Evert is easily one of the best athlete hosts the show has ever had. She proved to be a very good sport, came off a lot more flexible than most athlete hosts in regards to the type of roles she played, and surprisingly didn’t come off stiff at all during her performances.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (James Woods)
a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Woody Harrelson