Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Dirty Square Dancing- at a hoe-down, (host) & (JAH) do all but go down
— Great sudden reveal of the “Dirty Square Dancing” title.
— Hilarious dirty lyrics from Phil and dirty moves from the dancers, especially the “lift your dress up over your head” and “stick your face in your partner’s crotch” ones.
— I like how they kept this overall cold opening short and sweet.
STARS: ****
OPENING MONTAGE
— After appearing in lots of uncredited bit roles since the homestretch of the preceding season, writer Rob Schneider joins the cast as a featured player tonight.
MONOLOGUE
host sings “All I Need Is A Girl” & dances with wife Lisa Niemi [real]
— Nothing much at all to say about this overall monologue. It was very light on humor and mostly focused on the dancing between Patrick and his wife, but it was at least charming.
STARS: **½
PUMPING UP WITH HANS & FRANZ
Franz has unexplained feelings for host
— We haven’t seen these characters in a while.
— Excellent turn with Franz developing feelings he doesn’t understand for Patrick Swayze.
— Hans’ high-pitched deliveries of his various “What do you mean you didn’t notice–” questions are making me laugh.
— Classic part with Franz’s fantasy sequence of Patrick horseback riding and eventually being joined by Franz.
— Hans sneaks in a “Ja, that’s the ticket” while wrapping up the sketch.
STARS: *****
GHOST
Ghost romance sours when Sam (host) sees Molly’s (VIJ) disgusting habits
— Victoria doing increasingly disgusting things is very funny.
— Patrick is also helping sell the material with his funny grossed-out reactions.
— I love the casting of Rock as Whoopi Goldberg’s character from Ghost, especially how Rock barely has to change his voice to sound like Whoopi, as his natural voice is already close enough. In fact, I’d say Whoopi actually has the deeper voice of the two.
— One of Victoria’s overall best performances during her SNL tenure.
STARS: ****½
TAX AD
Sam Walton (PHH) offers $100,000 to anyone who opposes a tax hike
— Meh, a forgettable and bland message that not even Phil could make all that interesting.
STARS: **
SUPER FEUD
Latino crooners (host) & (DAC) one-up each other on album
— I love the melody the songs are being sung in.
— Dana’s accent is hilarious.
— Dana and Patrick’s increasingly blasphemous accusations of each other through song are hilarious, especially Dana claiming Patrick stuffs his trousers “with a plastic peeeeniiiiss” and how it “fell out in Liiiiiimaaaa”.
— Very fun sketch.
STARS: ****½
TAX AD
rescinding previous deal, Sam Walton (PHH) now offers chance to win a hat
— Unlike the first one, this one has an actual funny message with Phil’s Walton realizing he couldn’t possibly pay out the insane amount of money he offered in the first ad.
— His new offer being a raffle where the winner receives Walton’s hat is pretty funny.
— Classic unscripted moment right now: when Phil’s Walton is concluding his message and telling us to let him worry about things, a VERY loud off-camera crash is suddenly heard from somewhere in the studio. Phil looks towards the direction of the crash with a hilarious frozen open-mouthed smile (second screencap above) and says “Thank you”, and then tells us “Well, you just let me worry about THAT too!” An excellent save from Phil that receives huge applause.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Vision of Love”
WEEKEND UPDATE
AWB warns that not voting in elections can only make things worse
— Loved the soundbyte of a knocked-out-by-Evander-Holyfield Buster Douglas saying “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”, made even funnier by the fact that it’s then-writer David Spade doing the voice in that soundbyte.
— A. Whitney, on what the future generation will inherit: “If voter turnout is no better than it usually is, there’s a good chance they’ll also inherit our congress… or should I say, inherit the wind.”
— I love Dennis doing multiple jokes about a suggestive-looking photo of Dan Quayle taking the snap from a football player.
— Speaking of David Spade earlier, according to GettyImages, he had an Update commentary cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal in which he apparently played some kind of Russian (pic here).
STARS: ***½
CHIPPENDALES
sexy (host) & flabby (CHF) compete for a job as a Chippendale dancer
— Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to witness a star being born. Not only is this a very popular and legendary sketch, it’s also a very important sketch, as it’s Chris Farley’s official breakout moment as an unproven featured player who’s only in his fourth episode.
— I’ve always liked the little detail with Patrick and Farley’s characters being named Adrien and Barney, respectively.
— Farley is incredible to watch during his hilarious dancing here, especially when you’re aware of this being a groundbreaking moment for the then-newbie. His comical physicality, his fearlessness, etc. are all on FULL display for the very first time. I can only imagine what it was like in 1990 to watch this sketch live and witness this new kid completely and unexpectedly steal the entire show in this manner.
— All that stuff about Farley’s dancing being said, they would later show the dress rehearsal version of this sketch in reruns (which is the version of this sketch that everyone today is familiar with), where Farley’s dancing is even funnier. As awesome as the live version of this sketch is, Farley’s not QUITE as unleashed in his dance moves as he is in the dress rehearsal version (I wonder if he was suffering from live TV jitters, considering how new he is at this point).
— Besides the main joke, one aspect that helps make this sketch work so well is how the judges are treating this competition so ridiculously seriously, as if it’s truly a difficult decision to choose between Swayze and Farley.
— I love the camaraderie between Farley and Patrick throughout this sketch, especially during the backstage scene.
— Funny touch with Farley unsuccessfully trying to change the judges’ minds by starting to open up his robe while slowly beginning to break out into another dance.
— Sweet, charming ending with Patrick’s voice-over epilogue.
STARS: *****
THE TONIGHT SHOW
guests are Susan Dey (JAH) & Arsenio Hall (CSR)
— Good to see the return of Jan’s Susan Dey. So many dead-on and funny details in her vocal imitation.
— Rock’s Arsenio is a riot right from his entrance.
— So strange to think there was a time when Arsenio’s show was predicted to eventually overtake the Tonight Show in popularity. All I can say in hindsight is: Ha!
— I really like Dana-as-Johnny-Carson’s reactions to hearing how out-of-touch and unhip The Tonight Show has become lately.
— A good laugh from Phil’s Ed McMahon having no problem admitting he would stay on if Jay Leno took over.
STARS: ***½
WHITE TRASH BED AND BREAKFAST
reviewer (DAC) visits the trailer park clan
— Catchy opening theme song. This late 80s/early 90s era is so damn good at creating jingles, even for one-off sketches like this.
— Jan, on her bedroom: “I shared it with four husbands.” Patrick: “Mama, give it a rest.” Jan: “Oh, you’re just mad cuz none of ’em was your daddy!”
— Great redneck performances from the cast and Patrick.
— I like Kevin and Rob Schneider’s entrance as strange twins.
— Very funny part with Mike coming in with a dead dog and putting it on the table (where Dana’s character is trying to eat), only for Patrick to sternly order Mike to “put him in the sink!”
— Wild ending with the Phil/Patrick fight on the table.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Vanishing”
MOUSE TRAP SEMINAR
seminar helps people who don’t quite grasp the concept of a mouse trap
— Unfortunately, the copy I’m reviewing of this episode is missing the entire first half of this fantastic sketch that I’ve always loved.
— Very funny little bit with Farley sheepishly and slowly lowering his raised hand in reaction to Kevin indirectly answering his dumb question before he’s even asked it (a gag that Farley would later reprise the following season in a famous sketch with Jerry Seinfeld as a history teacher).
— I’ve always found Dana’s look in this sketch to be odd and random. Why the dark skin and wig combo? Why give him such an oddly specific, detailed, almost-ethnic look for a generic, supporting, Caucasian role like this?
— Writer Bob Odenkirk’s brief walk-on gets ruined when the crab hanging on his nose IMMEDIATELY falls off by accident (third and fourth screencaps above). If you watch Odenkirk as he exits the scene, he can be seen shaking his head in disappointment. Reruns would replace his portion of this sketch with the dress rehearsal version where the crab stays on his nose during his entire walk-on.
— I love Dana trying to grab at the image of cheese shown on the screen projector, and Kevin having to inform him “This is only MOVIE cheese”.
STARS: ***** (And that’s only based on my memory of this sketch as a whole. The incomplete version I watched just now is too short to rate accurately. With its first half missing, this sketch sadly loses some of the context that makes it a masterpiece.)
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An incredible episode. The legendary Chippendales sketch was, of course, this episode’s centerpiece, but it was surrounded by plenty of sketches that were very memorable and strong in their own right. An overall almost flawless, very impressive, and incredibly fun episode.
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (George Steinbrenner)
— a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Jimmy Smits hosts. We also finally get the addition of a third female cast member.
Wasn’t this the Tonight Show sketch that Carson himself disliked? I think Smigel mentioned it on a podcast (ESPN’s The BS Report?).
I didn’t hear that podcast, but I think I remember someone (Bill Carter) saying this one angered him, but Carsenio is what actually made him sad to realize it was time to go (along with the other behind the scenes BS).
Actually, I think Smigel said on the podcast that Carson liked the “Carsenio” sketch because it made fun of both him AND Arsenio in equal measure, while this one was a bit more one-sided.
Correct, Jurb. The podcast is on YouTube here. The Carson discussion comes in at 16:20.
Also worth noting, Dana Carvey’s last appearance on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show happened three months before this sketch aired. Dana had appeared on the Tonight Show 7 times from 1987 to 1990. There were still a year and 7 months of Carson to go after this Swayze episode aired. And it would be 7 more months after this episode before the Carsenio sketch aired. So this lack of Carvey appearing on the Tonight Show during this time supports the idea that Carson was angry about the parody based on this sketch and not the Carsenio one.
I just checked online and the two halves of the Sam Walton runner are labeled in reverse; anyone watching for the first time will be totally confused! >:(
After “EmilyPrager”’s epic comment yesterday on the (for now) lost dress footage that was on Yahoo Screen, I have to say… the video legacy of SNL has been treated like garbage.
Aside from the excellent season 1-5 DVDs, what do we have? A bunch of cheaply packaged, truck-stop-grade DVDs of chopped up sketches that purport to be the best of certain cast members…. some of whom were barely integral to the show when they were on it, let alone now, decades later.
We have edited-to-death online versions of certain episodes that are buried in other services.
We have a yawning, 25 year gap on Hulu (last I checked) for full episodes — and that’s a service that’s tanking. I can see every millisecond of Peter Saarsgard on Hulu, but screen legend Robert Mitchum is MIA.
Then there’s a totally random selection of sketches on the atrocious NBC website for anyone who loves mislabeled files that are constantly buffering … and they don’t even pick the best ones! I can forgive the omission of sketches for music rights (Buckwheat sings, for example), but from this very episode I’m commenting on, they paid to get Chippendale’s online. No love for Eddie?
And so to find everything else, we’re left with crappy smartphone video shot off a TV screen, horrible sounding Dailymotion uploads that get removed, weird foreign websites sourced from 20 year old Comedy Central broadcasts on VHS, and the occasional sketch that sneaks onto YouTube… till Broadway Video takes it down.
But WHY?
If their goal is to prevent others from profiting, well, what’s stopping you guys from posting the content yourselves? What are you waiting for? Some new format where video is injected directly into the bloodstream with the accompanying pharmaceutical-grade markup?
Does Broadway think reruns on E! and VH1 will suddenly become super profitable and popular again?
Is there some forthcoming SNL paid app with every sketch ever (which would be amazing)?
Are they trying to quash anything embarrassing from the past? Well I have news for you: the stuff that IS being posted up isn’t always the best.
SOMEone is looking at every episode and saying “post this sketch, but not that one.”
And whoever this hipster is has ZERO regard for the audience. They have ZERO sense of history or quality. They have ZERO social media savvy. They have ZERO sense of humor. Maybe send this person back to the NBC legal clerk intern program and choose someone who, oh, I don’t know, watched the show before 2017.
Because right now, SNL from before ‘17 has been treated like crap.
Consider this: I can get every episode of Welcome Back, Kotter (which debuted the same season as SNL) delivered to my door step in 24 hours.
But if I want to see James Brown rocking 8H, or Howard Cosell as Ed Grimley, or Francis Ford Coppola directing George Wendt, or Donald Trump selling chicken, or the “Ghost” sketch from this very episode… it’s close to impossible.
For what it’s worth, SNL YouTube channel is uploading sketches every weekend until the season premiere. Right now it’s mostly sketches from the 70s that are already available on those season 1-5 DVDs box sets, but it’s lesser known ones — https://m.youtube.com/user/SaturdayNightLive/videos
Is this it?
I really enjoy reading the daily reviews of episodes.
One thing these readings have left me attuned to was writing styles, and because of that, I picked up that in the Chippendale sketch, Mike Myers says “This is the part of the job I hate.”
Which is a funny line I remember from “Ronald Reagan, Masterbrain” – doing photo ops with Girl Scouts was “the part of the job I hate!”
Sure enough, I looked, and Jim Downey wrote the Chippendales piece, and, with Al Franken, wrote Masterbrain!
Thanks for helping me focus on the great writers.
I enjoy Kevin Nealon’s straight man work here a lot.
Like as opposed to Phil’s simmering anger as a straight man, he’s so good in the Chippendales and mouse trap sketches as the polite, patient straight man in the face of insanity.
Fantastic episode. The episode that officially cements that Farley will be a big (pun intended) part of the show as it entered the 90s.
Chippendales’ is amazing, one of the greatest sketches of all time. Farley’s movements and physical comedy were so surprisingly lithe, nimble, and agile it’s awesome to watch. A paradox, one moment he seems to be “light as a feather” and at the same time a raging bull in a china shop. Love watching him.
As great as Farley is in the sketch, the unsung heroes are the judges (particularly Kevin Nealon). Kevin’s understated, subtle, oh-so-serious delivery really elevates this sketch to a to the comedic triumph it is.
Kubelsky’s comment is well taken, we don’t need every season on DVD but I would LOVE to have NBC release 86-93 (or so, at least 92) seasons in complete form on DVD. As great and influential as the original cast, most fans and critics agree that these seasons were golden era/best of the show. It’s a shame that they are so hard to find. This era should be recognized for the renaissance of SNL that it was and get some of these complete seasons on DVD. The fans deserve it. 🙂
What in the world was happening production-wise in this episode? I’m up to Mariah’s first performance, and so far, G.E. has been late cueing the band into songs twice (I’ve always been impressed by how tight they were coming off of sketches), that crash happened, and Patrick was a deer in headlights and had to be told he was on air when announcing Mariah.
Is the Chippendale’s sketch on the NBC web site the real one or the dress rehearsal? I saw this episode long ago, probably in the original run or maybe on Comedy Central. I was surprised to learn later that the Chippendale’s sketch was considered a classic. I don’t see it. I don’t lean heavily towards the physical comedy sketches as favorites in general though. I definitely like Farley as Matt Foley and the guy who interviews people about movies and other things. This sketch relies heavily on laughing at Farley solely because he’s fat. His better sketches let him do things that are funny for reasons other than him being fat.
Another thing that bothers me about the sketch is that Farley doesn’t win the contest. What’s funny about the guy you expect to win winning? Swayze would have to win in the dramatic version of this scene. So why not let Farley win in the comedy version? Nealon already has an explanation for it here. And the fun of writing a sketch like this is trying to come up with a plausible explanation for the absurd, so they could’ve fleshed that explanation out more. Say they already have a dozen guys like Swayze and are looking to attract a new clientele with someone different.
Chris Rock and Bob Odenkirk hate the sketch, with Rock expressing many of your points:
https://www.theringer.com/tv/2020/3/31/21200801/chris-farley-chippendales-patrick-swayze-skating-snl-sketch
I do think it’s a brilliantly performed sketch and was an absolute starmaker for Farley, but I have to separate it from the way the show treated him in his last years (especially the grotesque “fatty fall down” line when he hosted) as otherwise I’d never be able to watch it.
That’s interesting. I definitely don’t hate the sketch. Like you said, the performances are good. The premise isn’t bad. But “laughing at fat guy” isn’t the makings of classic comedy in my book. And it’s missing a “comic twist” at the end as Chris Rock puts it.
Here’s Rock talking more about why he hates the Chippendale sketch here: https://youtu.be/1ESgsH-zOP8?t=254
I never thought about it honestly, but hearing Rock I think he makes a lot of good points actually. Having Farley win is a straight up better comedic turn, plus you don’t have the blood on your hands of how shitty the famously insecure Farley must have felt having his first big sketch (which already features him gyrating half naked next to a shirtless hunk) end with everyone going on about how fat and disgusting he is. I can absolutely see why Odenkirk especially, as someone who knew him pre-fame, still speaks about the sketch with SEETHING anger years later.
My guess is Rock and Odenkirk both felt that Farley was able to do more than just be “the fat guy” and felt the Chippendale’s sketch painted him at simply that. It seems that Farley would resent that sketch as well.
What if it never made it to air? If so, what would have been Farley’s breakout then and would he have another season afterwards? I do think he was extremely funny and talented. His first three seasons to me were the best. His last two, it seemed, were over-relied on his tired routines that seemed forced by the show just to keep audiences watching.
I like Rock’s perspective, that the dancing portions are a little iffy but funny enough to pass, and it’s only when Kevin and co get into straight up fat shaming him that it becomes unnecessarily cruel.
Later in the interview Artie Lange brought up that Downey’s defense is the audience is expecting the subversion where Farley wins, and its funny when the realistic thing happens, and then they dryly and cruelly explain why, to which Rock had what I thought was a pretty perfect response: “that’s all well and good when it’s a guy in a fat suit and not, you know, a fucking human being.”
The melody in the Super Feud sketch is “Guantanamera,” a Cuban folk song, often paired with the words of Cuban poet Jose Marti. A funny sketch, even if it did kind ruin the song.
Smigel on Stern today gave his thoughts on peoples criticism of the Chippendales sketch.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/chris-farley-chippendales-snl-sketch-defended-by-writer-robert-smigel
Here’s Smigel discussing the Cluckin’ Chicken sketch… Would love to hear the entire interview with Stern if anyone has a link.
I think David Spade is playing Yakov Smirnoff in that photo from dress rehearsal. I recall an interview with Spade where he talked about his early struggles to get airtime, and he mentioned having a Yakov Smirnoff bit on Weekend Update cut after dress. He recounted the disappointing moment when he was told, “You can take the beard off. It’s been cut.” I guess we now know which episode it was from.
I can’t give Chippendales 5 stars, it should have been written so that Chris messes something up during his dance, thinks he’s blown it, and then they hire him over Swayze. My opinion on it is pretty much identical to Chris Rock’s.