Month: August 2019

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November 20, 1993 – Nicole Kidman / Stone Temple Pilots (S19 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Wayne’s World- Wayne & Garth give their thoughts on some 1993 movies

— With an upcoming release of the movie Wayne’s World 2, we get a special return of both a Wayne’s World sketch and Dana Carvey, the latter making his first SNL appearance since leaving the cast halfway through the preceding season.
— Very funny line from Garth about going as Barney the Dinosaur for Halloween and getting his ass kicked.
— Surprised they’re not doing a Top 10 list.
— Okay, the Leprechaun/flashlight bit was funny at first, but is going on WAY too long.
— According to GettyImages, the dress rehearsal version of this sketch had Wayne and Garth holding up a chart that recaps their thoughts on the movies they’ve reviewed (pic here). We never see that chart in the live version. Also, judging from the chart in the pic, some of the movies discussed in the dress version of this sketch weren’t discussed in the live version, such as Demolition Man.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host engages in Risky Business to make up for Tom Cruise not being there

— (*groan*) This season’s increasingly overused questions-from-the-audience monologue trope appears for the second episode in a row.
— Norm doing a very Norm Macdonald-esque long pause in the middle of his question was hilarious. He’s always a bright spot in this season’s questions-from-the-audience monologues.
— Yeah, tonight’s monologue seems to be the point where I’ve officially reached my breaking point with the overreliance on questions from the audience, as I’m not finding myself enjoying this one anywhere near as much I did the Jeff Goldblum and (especially) Rosie O’Donnell ones from earlier this season.
— Chris’ fearful “What’s happening, Lorne?” was funny.
— The turn with Nicole doing the famous Risky Business dance is both fun and nice eye candy.
STARS: **½


THE DENISE SHOW
Denise’s best friend (host) is interested in Brian

— Another display of this season’s bad habit of frequently bringing back sketches that were fine as a one-off but don’t deserve to be recurring.
— Shannen Doherty still being shown as Denise in a picture on Adam’s table seems kinda silly. I can just imagine viewers who didn’t see the Shannen Doherty-hosted episode earlier this season but caught this episode would be confused when seeing the Denise photo. I’m sure they were confusedly asking themselves “What the hell? Is that Shannen Doherty in the picture with Sandler? Why???”
— I like the “Brian’s Fantasy” segment, especially when he yells “Stand over there, Denise!” in the middle of his acted-out argument with Denise’s new boyfriend. I also like how that acted-out argument suddenly gets interrupted by Denise’s new boyfriend (voiced by Mike Myers) confronting Adam via phone.
— A good laugh after the romantic kiss Nicole gives Adam, where Adam’s only response is an announcement that “The Denise Show has been officially canceled.”
— So, with tonight’s not-great-but-still-good Denise Show installment concluding with the aforementioned “The Denise Show has been officially canceled” announcement, that seems like a perfect way to officially put closure to this recurring sketch for good, right? So then why the hell do we end up getting an even more unnecessary THIRD installment of this sketch later this season?!?
STARS: ***


BAND SHOT
Wednesday (Christina Ricci) & Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) Addams & SNL Band


PLAYGROUND
hyperactive Phillip (MIM) talks with another kid (host) at the jungle gym

— The debut of the short-lived-but-memorable character Phillip the Hyper Hypo.
— I’m liking the idea of this character for Mike.
— Funny story from Phillip about his family feeding him a Snickers bar and a can of coke so he can tow the family’s broken-down car home.
— For some reason, I absolutely loved Nicole’s whole “I’m gonna talk like a robot” random bit.
— Solid characterizations from both Mike and Nicole, and I’m enjoying the way they’re playing off of each other.
— Fun pre-taped ending with Mike running through the city with a jungle gym attached to him.
— Too bad this sketch later ends up being yet ANOTHER victim of season 19’s aforementioned bad habit of frequently making recurring sketches out of stuff that was better left as a one-off. The second installment of this sketch even reuses the exact same pre-taped ending from this first installment!
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Creep”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Ike Turner (TIM) continues his love-hate relationship with KEN
Bruce Springsteen (ADS) sings about how much he loves to eat turkey

— At least Kevin sounds a little better than how hoarse he sounded in the preceding episode.
— Not too crazy about a lot of Kevin’s jokes so far tonight.
— As usual, I love the way Tim and Kevin play off of each other in these Ike Turner commentaries. I also love how Tim’s Ike always refers to Kevin by his full name.
— Good fake-out with the Ike Turner commentary abruptly “ending” and Kevin moving on to the next joke, only for Ike to suddenly interrupt him mid-joke by giving him flowers and a fur coat as an apology.
— Hmm, Kevin’s Update jokes are suddenly getting better and better.
— Interesting how Adam’s doing a Springsteen-ized variation of his famous Turkey Song from a year earlier.
— Hmm, this Springsteen song isn’t turning out anywhere near as funny as the original Turkey Song, and feels unusually long, as if we’ve officially reached THAT point in Adam Sandler’s tenure where he gets too much free rein to do whatever the hell he wants. All that being said, I’m still enjoying this Springsteen song of his. It’s pretty fun, and some of Adam’s typical irrelevant lyrics are making me laugh, such as the lowbrow-but-amusing “I hear George Wendt’s underwear has a huge skidmark” one.
— As always, fun participation from Kevin during Adam’s song.
STARS: ***½


SPROCKETS / DAS IST JEOPÄRDY!
(CHF), (host), shemale Susan play Das Ist Jeopardy!

— Big night for Mike Myers so far, who has been starring as lots of his now-famous characters like Wayne, Phillip the Hyper Hypo, and now Dieter.
— Yet another example of a Sprockets sketch changing things up in its format.
— I love the slogan of the sponsor German Eggo Waffles: “You will leggo my eggo. Now.”
— As always for Sprockets, we’re getting some good bizarre, disturbing humor.
— The audio daily double of what’s seemingly a German father berating his child is hilarious, especially the way he says “I excreted yoooouuuu!”
— A good laugh from the reveal that the winner will receive a tongue bath courtesy of The House of Velvet.
STARS: ***½


TAKEN
at a bar, a married woman (MEH) thinks all the guys are hitting on her

— A rare Melanie Hutsell lead role this season. Up until this point, she had been pretty invisible so far this season.
— Some interesting trivia about this sketch: it was originally cut after the preceding season’s Christina Applegate/Midnight Oil dress rehearsal, in which Melanie’s “I’m taken” character was actually played by Applegate, and instead of being set at a bar, the sketch was set at an office, where the “I’m taken” character was a businesswoman.
— Man, is Melanie capable of getting through a single sketch without flubbing a line?
— Only a little over a minute into this sketch, and I’m already tired of it. Melanie saying “I’m taken” in every single situation is too thin and not particularly funny of a premise. I’m also not getting any laughs from that clapping-and-laughing thing her character keeps doing after some of her lines.
— Kinda odd how neither Jay Mohr nor Norm Macdonald received their featured player credit in tonight’s opening montage, despite the fact that they both have a speaking role in this sketch.
— Norm’s screaming reaction to getting pepper-sprayed in the eyes is cracking me up.
— I got a laugh from Melanie assuming that even Ellen is trying to hit on her.
STARS: **


UNITED WE STAND AMERICA
Ross Perot (DAC) claims that (TIM) is the first NAFTA unemployment victim

— I had forgotten until now that Dana is a special guest tonight. I’m glad to see the welcome return of his Ross Perot impression.
— A great “WTF?” facial reaction from Tim when Dana’s Perot says Tim’s the first American to lose his job because of NAFTA.
— Geez, what was with the ending? Dana-as-Perot’s over-the-top endless loop of “Can I finish? Catch my drift? You’re not listening!” was a bit much.
STARS: ***


YELLING IN THE KITCHEN
(host), (PHH), (JUS), (MIM) take turns arguing in the kitchen

— Julia’s usually-long hairstyles during her SNL tenure have suddenly gone through a huge change, as she’s now sporting a very short hairstyle, which she keeps for the remainder of her tenure.
— Mike’s big night continues. He’s been all over tonight’s episode.
— Huge laugh from the first off-camera kitchen argument. Good stunned facial reactions from both Julia and Mike, as well.
— Even after you see where this is going, the repeated gag of the kitchen arguments is still remaining funny. Phil’s intense yells are particularly cracking me up.
— Okay, maybe I spoke too soon, as I’ve now started to kinda tire of the joke towards the end of this sketch, but it’s being executed so well that I’m still kinda liking it.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Naked Sunday”


CRYSTAL GRAVY
Rerun from 10/2/93


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent episode, though not outstanding or anything. Still welcome for this season’s standards. The episode was fairly heavy on recurring or soon-to-be-recurring sketches, but a lot of the show’s quality was pretty good.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Rosie O’Donnell)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Charlton Heston

Posted on

November 13, 1993 – Rosie O’Donnell / James Taylor (S19 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
The Packwood (PHH) Diaries- the senator recalls females he has harassed

— Phil-as-Packwood’s first sudden “I stuck my tongue down her throat” gave me a pretty good laugh.
— Packwood pointing out that a pro-choice women’s group he spoke in front of were “dogs and dykey-looking… but by then, I was drunk” gave me another laugh, though I feel wrong for it.
— Okay, after about a minute-and-a-half, I’m not caring much for where this has been going, and I can do without all the repetitions of “And then I stuck my tongue down her throat”.
STARS: **½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Writer Sarah Silverman has been added to the cast as a featured player.


MONOLOGUE
Madonna calls; fake audience members confuse host with other actresses

— The first half of this monologue with Rosie talking about movies and Hollywood is only okay, though the phone call to Madonna had a laugh or two.
— The soon-to-be-overused-this-season monologue trope of audience members taking turns asking the host the same idiotic question makes its second appearance of the season.
— Sarah Silverman’s “Now that you’ve left Wilson Phillips…” question to Rosie made me laugh out loud for two reasons: one, because it’s funny in itself obviously, and two, because I got reminded of when they later showed an out-of-context clip of it in Sarah Silverman’s monologue from her hosting stint in season 40, where Sarah answers several questions asked by herself in old clips from various season 19 questions-from-the-audience monologues.
— Love Norm’s delivery of “Yeah, uh, Designing Women? Yeah, it, uhh…. got really bad when you left.”
— Despite the repetitive nature of this season’s increasingly-common questions-from-the-audience monologues, they haven’t reached their breaking point with me yet. In fact, I’m actually liking this one from tonight more than the Jeff Goldblum one from earlier this season.
— Good ending with Rosie having a pleased reaction to being mistaken for Julia Roberts.
STARS: ***½


DUETS
Frank Sinatra (PHH) & pop stars hurriedly record duets; Casey Kasem cameo

— Much like the Clinton Inauguration cold opening from the preceding season, Mike’s Barbra Streisand looks uncanny to me.
— I absolutely loved Sinatra telling Liza Minnelli “Your money’s on the dresser, baby. I’m done with you.”
— I’m loving the format of this sketch with singers coming in one at a time to duet with Sinatra, especially when it gets to the point where the singers are hurriedly sent in two at a time. Very fun, and a nice way to use pretty much the entire cast.
— Hilarious slam from Sinatra about Anita Baker not being a stranger to trios.
— I love the staredown Rob’s K.D. Lang gives Sinatra after Sinatra IMMEDIATELY dismisses her and Wynonna Judd as soon as they enter.
— Funny ending with Sinatra beating the crap out of Bono while singing “Come Fly With Me”.
STARS: ****


MEXICAN STEREOTYPE
Mexican stereotype (ROS) sponsored by anti-NAFTA people tries to scare us

— I like Rob’s goofy laugh throughout this.
— Pretty funny bit with the pinata representing the economy.
— An overall good, silly bit pulled off pretty well by Rob.
STARS: ***


DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
Stuart counsels John (MIM) & Lorena (host) Bobbitt

— I love the audience’s big laughter as soon as they realize from Stuart’s intro to his guests that he’s referring to Lorena and John Wayne Bobbitt.
— The posture Mike’s John Wayne Bobbit is uncomfortably sitting in throughout this is really funny.
— A big laugh from Stuart’s innocent whole “patch things up” spiel unintentionally correlating to John Wayne Bobbitt’s penis situation.
— Great facial reaction from Stuart when Lorena responds to his “What did you do with that anger?” question by saying “I cut off his penis.”
— A camera has suddenly become visible on the right side of the screen for an extended amount of time (screencap below).

SNL would later fix this camera gaffe in reruns by replacing that portion of this sketch with the dress rehearsal version, a substitution that’s kinda noticeable, as the look of Mike’s wig suddenly changes a bit.
— An absolutely priceless part with Stuart making Lorena recite a wordy apology to John’s penis.
— After the aforementioned penis apology, I love how John’s answer to Stuart’s “How do you feel now?” is just “…….It itches.”
STARS: ****


PHIL HARTMAN’S REAL VIEWS
PHH says “pay no attention to anti-NAFTA ad, let’s stick it to Mexicans”

— There’s something hilarious about hearing lines like “–really stick it to those Mexicans–” and “I can’t wait to see the looks on their smug Mexican faces” being delivered in Phil’s typically professional, straitlaced voice.
— Another funny comment from Phil, this time about Canadians being screwed by NAFTA, a tongue-in-cheek remark considering Phil is actually Canadian himself.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Memphis” & “Slap Leather”


WEEKEND UPDATE
new Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien (MIM) doesn’t like NAFTA
Operaman on NAFTA, Fan Man, John Bobbitt, Eddie Vedder, Princess Di

— Wow, Kevin’s voice is absolutely shot tonight. He sounds terrible. I thought I noticed him sounding kinda bad earlier tonight in the Duets sketch, but since he didn’t speak all that frequently there, his hoarse voice wasn’t as noticeable to me as it is in this Weekend Update.
— Mike’s facial imitation of the Canadian Prime Minister is pretty funny (I have no idea what that Canadian Prime Minister looks like, but I’ve seen it mentioned that Mike’s impression is an accurate-if-comically-exaggerated imitation of his mouth shape), but I’m not caring for his commentary at all, and the constant pop culture references he keeps randomly throwing in aren’t doing a thing for me.
— Tonight’s Operaman commentary had a bit of a slow start, but it’s taken off with the bit about the Bobbitts.
— Funny bit with Operaman singing about Pearl Jam in an out-of-character Eddie Vedder voice to the tune of Evenflow, though Operaman would do a much more famous rendition of this bit later this season when Pearl Jam is the musical guest in the Emilio Estevez episode. Also, as I mentioned in my review of this season’s premiere, Adam had an Update commentary cut after the premiere’s dress rehearsal where he played Eddie Vedder singing about world events to the tune of Evenflow. I wonder if that was done in the same style as the Operaman commentaries, right down to showing superimposed photos next to Adam’s Vedder and having the lyrics displayed on the bottom of the screen.
— Tonight’s entire Operaman commentary would later be completely removed from all (or most) reruns. For years, I wondered why, until it hit me during one viewing. At one point during Operaman’s Eddie Vedder imitation, he sings a lyric that states “Nirvana kiss my assa”. I’m guessing the first re-airing of this episode was not too long after Kurt Cobain’s April 1994 suicide, and SNL must’ve thought it would be in poor taste to re-air the anti-Nirvana lyric of Operaman’s. But why remove the ENTIRE Operaman commentary, especially considering the character’s huge popularity? Couldn’t they have found some way to just edit out the Nirvana lyric, even if it would be a sloppy edit? After all, they do something like that in reruns of a Hollywood Minute commentary that’s coming up in two episodes. I’ll go into a little more detail when I review it, but in that Hollywood Minute, David makes a brief crack about John Candy during a joke about another celebrity. Well, Candy ended up dying just a few months later, so all reruns of that Hollywood Minute sloppily remove David’s crack about him.
STARS: ***


WAITERS WITHOUT A PAD
waiter (KEN) overestimates ability to remember order of (PHH) & (host)

— This sketch was originally cut after dress rehearsal from the preceding season’s Jason Alexander episode. In that version, Phil and Rosie’s roles were played by Jason Alexander and Julia.
— I’m getting good laughs from the part with Kevin badly attempting to slowly sound out Phil and Rosie’s orders until they say it for him.
— A very Kevin Nealon-y premise.
— For some reason, when trying to say “seared tuna steak”, Phil pauses oddly and then actually breaks character and cracks up a bit, which is very rare for him.
— I like the absurdity of Kevin phoning Phil from the restaurant kitchen to ask him his order, plus the absurdity of how Kevin’s character would even know a random restaurant patron’s cellphone number in the first place.
— Overall, I found this sketch pretty enjoyable, more than most people seem to, though it’s not one of Kevin’s better sketches that have a quintessential Kevin Nealon-y premise.
STARS: ***½


THE TOMBOY & THE SISSY
odd couple (host) & (DAS) teaches each other skills

— Always nice to see David play against type. He’s doing a solid job here.
— I love the concept of this sketch, and the opening title sequence is pretty fun.
— An overall cute and charming sketch.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Secret O’ Life”


MALIBU FIRES
Dick Clark’s receptionist controls the access to the California fires

— Surprisingly, David’s Dick Clark Receptionist character makes his first appearance since season 17. The setting of his appearance tonight is a creative and topical change of pace for him.
— Not too sure about the voice, but Jay is nailing Sean Penn’s facial expression.
— Funny impression from Rosie of her friend Penny Marshall.
— I loved Phil-as-Charlton-Heston’s delivery of “Laverne & Shirley still makes me laugh.”
— Interesting Planet of the Apes-esque ending with Phil’s Heston.
— Overall, this was fine, but doesn’t measure up to the more memorable Dick Clark Productions installments back in season 17.
STARS: ***½


WILL WORK FOR FOOD
by TOS- homeless (NOM) forgoes fruit of his labor

 

— Very unusual and interesting seeing early-era Norm Macdonald starring in a quiet, slice-of-life Tom Schiller film.
— Norm is doing a great job in this film, which is presenting a side of him that I don’t think we would ever get to see from him again for the remainder of his tenure.
— Very heartwarming ending with Norm giving his hot dog reward to the fellow hobo from the beginning of the film.
— This sadly ends up being the final Schiller’s Reel to ever make it on the air during a live episode. Reruns of the Martin Lawrence episode from later this season add in a cut-after-dress-rehearsal Schiller’s Reel titled “Laura” (a romantic film pairing together Phil Hartman and Melanie Hutsell, quite an odd pairing), presumably to fill in the extra time left over from the huge edit famously made to Martin Lawrence’s notorious monologue.
STARS: ****


HOMEGIRLS
(JUS) invites homegirls (ELC), (MEH), (host) to her birthday party

— Boy, this is awful. Cringeworthy. Where is the humor here supposed to be coming from?
— The fact that a dud like this is immediately following such a touching Schiller’s Reel makes this sketch feel even worse than it already is.
— This is one of quite a number of bad sketches this season that have that uncomfortable dead atmosphere that I mentioned in my review of the History’s Great Over-Thinkers sketch from this season’s Jeff Goldblum episode.
— A shame that this has to be Sarah Silverman’s first big role; the first sign of the huge struggle she’s going to have during her short-lived SNL tenure.
— The homegirls’ constant utterances of “Whoomp, there it is!” are just embarrassing in retrospect. Actually, it was probably embarrassing even at this time in 1993 when the song was still new and hot.
— Overall, definitely a contender for one of the worst sketches of the whole season.
STARS: *


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A (mostly) consistently good episode, especially for this season’s standards. There were a lot of good pieces throughout the night, and a few really strong pieces in the first half of the show. Even the questions-from-the-audience monologue managed to be pretty solid. Aside from the awful final sketch and the fairly one-note cold opening, I like that tonight didn’t have too much of the feel of a typical season 19 episode.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Christian Slater)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Nicole Kidman

Posted on

October 30, 1993 – Christian Slater / Smashing Pumpkins (S19 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Coffee Talk- in a Barbra costume for Halloween, Linda takes some calls

— You probably already know my reaction to this sketch making yet another appearance…
— Well, at least Linda Richman’s wearing a fairly funny costume this time.
— Geez, tonight’s Coffee Talk installment has been even more catchphrase-driven than usual so far, with all the dialogue in the the entire first minute literally only consisting of an endless string of Richman’s catchphrases that never make me laugh.
— In a desperation to find SOMETHING to like here, I kinda chuckled at the Andre Agassi comments.
STARS: *½


MONOLOGUE
host goes trick-or-treating backstage but fails to gather much candy

— Very fun premise with Christian going around backstage trick-or-treating.
— Some good laughs from the “candy” Christian is being given, such as Tic-Tacs and a prosthetic nose from the makeup department.
— A big laugh from David and Tim trying to get rid of an excessive amount of leftover Coneheads merchandise from the Coneheads movie that had come out earlier that year.
— The baby Conehead doll among the Coneheads merchandise looks like it could be the same one that was held by Nora Dunn in the New Coneheads sketch from Steve Martin’s season 14 episode.
— Very funny part with Lorne hitting on Mike still dressed as Linda Richman, thinking she’s a real woman.
— Nice visual of an excited Chis Farley in a giant pumpkin costume.
STARS: ****


MMMPH?
— Rerun from 5/15/93. We’re only five episodes into this new season, and they’ve already repeated TWO ads from season 18. What’s up with that?


MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER
Matt Foley lectures (MEH), (DAS), (host) about Halloween vandalism

 

— Well, it had to happen sooner or later. Matt Foley officially becomes recurring, despite the fact that his first sketch should’ve remained a one-off, as there’s no way they can come anywhere close to topping it. However, I understand why they brought this sketch back.
— You can tell they’re trying hard to recapture the magic of the first installment, with them even going so far as to reuse the same living room set and having David and Phil reprise their roles as one of the troublemaking teens and the dad, respectively.
— Loved Matt Foley’s “I’m the egg man, goo goo g’joob!” reference.
— Yeah, despite the amusement I’ve been getting here, this sketch is definitely not working anywhere near as strongly as the first installment. I kinda find some of the subsequent Matt Foley sketches a little better than tonight’s, partly because they put him in a completely different setting for a change.
— I do like the idea of Matt Foley telling a scary Halloween story while using a flashlight in the dark.
— Now they’re trying to recreate the legendary unscripted breakaway coffee table crash from the first installment, which doesn’t work as well this time as it’s not as spontaneous. At least the subsequent Matt Foley sketches change the type of breakaway prop he falls through.
— Funny bit with the flaming bag.
STARS: ***


SASSY’S SASSIEST BOYS
host & other stars are unthreateningly rebellious

— And now here comes another sketch that was funny the first time but doesn’t seem necessary as a recurring sketch. An early sign of this season’s bad habit of frequently bringing back sketches that were better left as one-offs, as they pulled out all the stops in their first installment and have no legs as a recurring bit.
— I wonder if Christian playing himself as a guest is a reference to the fact David played him in the first installment of this sketch.
— Mike-as-Joey-Lawrence’s dialog consisting only of “Whoa!”s is pretty funny and oddly memorable.
— Jay Mohr’s bug-eyed, out-of-it Andrew McCarthy impression is cracking me up. Only two episodes into his tenure so far, and I’ve been liking what Jay has to offer with his celebrity impressions.
— Phil: “I just stepped in a big pile of sassy!”
— Surprisingly, Phil’s endless “sassy” one-liners into the camera are still remaining funny tonight, despite the thin nature of the gag. I guess it’s that one-of-a-kind Phil Hartman magic that keeps it from getting old.
— I like how the bit with Phil pulling out a map of Sassyland is heightening the absurdity of this sketch.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Cherub Rock”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Queen Shenequa doesn’t like Whoopi Goldberg defending Ted Danson
this year, ADS gives cheap Halloween costume ideas that focus on the face

— Queen Shenequa had a funny slam just now about Ted Danson’s penis size.
— Queen Shenequa’s overall commentary was okay. Also, IIRC, this ends up being this character’s last appearance ever, despite the fact that Ellen still has a little under two seasons left in her SNL tenure. I didn’t realize until now that, between Queen Shenequa making her final appearance here and us already having seen the last of Zoraida (not counting the latter’s appearance in a recurring character group piece at the end of this season), it’s already the end of the road for Ellen’s only two big characters. At this moment, I can’t recall her debuting any new big characters for the remainder of her tenure, though there’s her upcoming recurring-but-short-lived Jocelyn Elders impression that I remember kinda liking.
— Adam’s annual Halloween costume suggestions makes its final Weekend Update appearance. (It makes a resurgence a year later as a brief part of a Ross Perot trick-or-treating sketch.)
— As always with these Halloween costume commentaries, Adam is able to mine a surprising amount of charming, fun laughs out of such an overly simple, childish premise.
— One of the SNL bumper photos shown of Christian Slater tonight has him holding the handle of a coffee mug in front of his eye like a monocle (screencap below). I’d like to think that’s a clever reference to Adam’s Halloween costume routine.

— Coincidentally, the only two Update guests tonight, Queen Shenequa and Adam Sandler as himself giving Halloween costume suggestions, were also the only two Update guests in Christian Slater’s previous episode.
STARS: ***


TEEN BAND
(host) & fellow teens debate what their band’s name & focus should be

— David’s sotto voce “I like Loverboy” aside made me laugh.
— Some pretty funny idiotic interjections and ramblings from Chris’ stoner character, such as suggesting the band call themselves Pearl Jam 2, and his story about getting crabs from his friend’s couch.
— I loved Christian’s “Did you just make some money in the last five minutes?” question when Melanie again suggests “Let’s go get some pot” shortly after suggesting it a first time.
— I’m conflicted on this sketch. I like the realistic, simple, slice-of-life premise, but the execution is iffy. There’s some laughs, but the sketch as a whole isn’t coming off particularly interesting, and I’m not caring at all for the running bit with Christian’s character and his off-camera mom having a shouting match.
— Adam working in his goofy-voiced guitar song shtick from Weekend Update felt kinda out-of-place and tacked-on in this sketch.
STARS: **


OUT OF AFRICA
(host) & tribal art dealer deny marijuana possession during police bust

— Oh, dear god, no.
— The endlessly-repeated “You put your weed in there!” catchphrase continues to increasingly get on my last nerve with each passing utterance.
— We get a “big change” with the addition of Christian as a similar co-employee of Rob’s character, which only means we now have TWO characters saying the stupid “You put your weed in there!” catchphrase, as if that’s somehow supposed to be funnier.
— Okay, I finally got a chuckle just now, from Christian’s line to Tim about how he and Rob need to keep Tim’s weed-clogged artifact overnight to get the weed out.
— Why does this recurring sketch always have to conclude with cops showing up?
— Poor ending.
— Thankfully, this ends up being the final installment of this sketch. I think I recall once reading someone claim that a third installment of this sketch appears in the Emilio Estevez episode from later this season, but it absolutely does not. My memory of reading that false claim is admittedly very fuzzy, so perhaps the person claiming that was actually saying the sketch got cut after dress rehearsal in the Estevez episode.
STARS: *½


THE VALLENCOURT BOYS
New Englanders (ADS) & (KEN) drink & take calls

— Adam appears to be playing a variation of his Boston-accented Tony Vallencourt character from the What’s The Best Way gameshow sketch from season 18, only this time he’s named Bobby Vallencourt and has a mullet and flannel jacket that he didn’t have last time. To make things even more confusing, the next time this character appears, which is in the cold opening of the following season’s Bob Saget episode, he goes back to having the Tony Vallencourt name from his first appearance while still having the mullet and flannel jacket from tonight’s appearance.
— It is just me, or does Kevin’s Boston accent sound lousy and unnatural?
— I recall once reading a spot-on comment made back at this time in 1993 (within this post here) that basically said this sketch feels like a bad attempt at a Boston-themed version of SCTV’s McKenzie Brothers sketches.
— Oh, talk about lousy Boston accents, here comes Tim. While there’s an affable goofiness in Tim’s presence here that usually works for me in other Tim Meadows performances, it’s not doing a thing for me here.
— Man, this sketch is DEAD so far. No real laughs from me (nor the audience) at all.
— Wait, did Kevin just say “Before we bring out our next guest”? Ugh, I thought this boring sketch was mercifully about to end. Turns out they’re bringing out a guest now? So you mean I still have a few more minutes to put up with this snoozefest?
— Unfortunately, the interview with Christian didn’t make this overall sketch any better. I’ve gone through this entire overlong sketch without finding a single worthwhile aspect.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Today”


THE HEADLINE STORE
joke headline shop owner (host) belittles choices of Canteen Boy & others

— Tonight’s episode continues to die a long, miserable death. This sketch is pure one-joke material; a joke that wasn’t funny to me to begin with.
— A rare flub from Phil, as he accidentally blocks the newspaper headline Christian holds up (the third above screencap for this sketch) and doesn’t realize it until towards the end of the shot.
— A random Canteen Boy walk-on? Not so happy to see him so soon after that awful Garage Sale sketch he starred in just two episodes ago.
— I recall an SNL fan once saying that this sketch would’ve worked had Norm Macdonald played Christian Slater’s role. I can definitely see that. Something about this sketch’s material does seem like something that only Norm could sell with his unique delivery.
— Chris tries to breathe some life into this dead sketch, but I just see it as one of way too many Screaming Chris Farley Roles that we’ll be bombarded with over the course of both this and (especially) next season.
— A lame, dumb ending.
STARS: *


TRENT MARKHAM, LUNG DOCTOR
cigarettes escape blame in the ’50s

— Ah, thank god Phil Hartman has come to save the day after an endless string of horrible sketches.
— Phil always succeeds in these authentic 1950s-era black-and-white pieces, and this sketch feels like a nice throwback to his first season where SNL often did sketches like this. While tonight’s sketch feels slightly empty not seeing Phil being surrounded by the castmates he always used to perform these black-and-white sketches with, like Jon Lovitz, Dana Carvey (who probably would’ve worked an “I oughta pound yooouuu!” into this sketch), and Nora Dunn, Phil’s still receiving nice support from Julia and Christian.
— Pretty funny ad-lib from Christian when Julia unexpectedly has trouble lighting his cigarette.
— I loved the dark humor of Phil handing a cigarette to a newly-pregnant Julia and telling her “Take a big pull; you’re smoking for two now!”
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— The worst episode of the season so far, and the weakest episode I’ve reviewed in quite a while. The first half of this episode, while not terrible, was dominated by lazily rehashed material, one of which was a recurring sketch I typically don’t like and went particularly heavy on the catchphrases tonight (Coffee Talk), and two of which were newly-recurring sketches that were probably better left as funny one-off pieces last season despite still producing some laughs tonight (Matt Foley and Sassy’s Sassiest Boys, though the latter ended up being better tonight than I thought it would). And the second half of this episode? Yikes. It already started off iffy with the somewhat-promising but uninteresting Teen Band sketch, and only got worse and worse with each passing sketch, some of which produced literally no laughs from me AT ALL, and some of which felt like a sneak preview of what we’ll typically see next season. Thankfully, the night ended on a high note with a solid and classy Phil Hartman sketch showing up out of nowhere. Other than that sketch, the only real highlights of the overall night were the monologue and a portion or two of Weekend Update.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS

 


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Malkovich)
a huge step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Rosie O’Donnell

Posted on

October 23, 1993 – John Malkovich / Billy Joel (S19 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Phillies spit while Anne Murray (MEH) sings “O, Canada” at World Series

— Some good laughs from the Phillies each crudely taking turns spitting out a small chunk of their tobacco during Anne Murray’s singing.
— Feels kinda weird seeing Phil being cast in this role at this point of his tenure.
— The ending gag gave me a huge laugh. I feel like I shouldn’t like it, since it kinda signals this and next season’s increasing reliance on bad low-brow humor and fluid-spurting gags, but it worked in the structure of this short-and-sweet cold opening.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host gets worked up while trying to hit a baseball into the audience

— I love the fake-out on the old “host mentions a recent movie they’re in to receive applause” trope, with John saying “There was a little movie you might’ve seen this summer called Jurassic Park”, which receives confused, scattered applause from the audience, considering John’s not in that movie. John then says “Great movie; I’ve seen it twice.”
— A simple premise, but John is really making this work, especially with his increasing frustration.
— When John is angrily banging the baseballs on the floor with a bat, one of the baseballs accidentally flies up and lands by SNL Band drummer Shawn Pelton, nearly hitting him. Pelton just laughs while moving out of the way of the ball.
STARS: ****


MCINTOSH POST-IT NOTES
use the computer message units once & throw away

— I’ve always found this fake ad baffling. It’s not a particularly funny concept, and that coupled with the fact that the ad is played SO straight and dull makes it feel too much like a real ad. Kinda reminds me of how I’ve always felt about that Michael McKean-starring Virtual Reading fake ad from the following season.
— Yeah, watching this ad again now, my opinion has not really changed. Though I admit to getting a chuckle from the long “warming up” part, as well as the close-up of Farley as a coach giving a cheesy grin and head nod to the camera (the third above screencap for this ad).
— For some reason, the part with Kevin holding up a McIntosh Post-It Note in one hand and regular Post-It Notes in his other hand while comparing the two products would later be removed from all reruns. Does anyone have any idea why? Did SNL get in trouble with the real Post-It Notes company for showing their product without permission or something?
STARS: *½


THE MENENDEZ TRIAL
on witness stand, Erik (ROS) & Lyle (host) Menendez blame their twins

— The first of many Court TV sketches within these next two seasons.
— I got a good laugh from John as one of the Menendez brothers explaining that their parents hid the extra set of two brothers because “they were weak and not good tennis players”, a line made even funnier by that trademark Malkovich delivery.
— So many little things throughout this are cracking me up, such as John’s crying faces and the way he places his hand over his eyes during that crying, and Rob always listening to the lawyers while leaning his head forward with an intensely serious facial expression.
— I like how the alleged extra set of two brothers is clearly just Lyle and Erik having switched places with each other.
— Phil’s “Is that really necessary?” line was solid.
— The extremely long, silent wait for Lyle and Erik to return while the camera holds on a shot of two empty chairs is hilarious.
— I love the awkwardness and subtle panicking when only one of the brothers is sent to go get the extra set of brothers from the bathroom.
— This overall sketch was very slow-paced and repetitive, but it actually worked really well, and so many things in it tickled me.
STARS: ****½


THEATRE STORIES
Charlton Heston (PHH) & Brits talk about porno films

— Surprisingly, this is the first time they’ve done this sketch since season 17. This sketch completely skipped season 18.
— Good to see Julia’s character back after not being in the last Theatre Stories sketch.
— It’s also nice to see this sketch without Dana Carvey’s Mickey Rooney for a change, as his endlessly-repeated “I was the number one staaaarrrrr… etc.” catchphrase actually got old fast to me (as much as it pains me to criticize Dana).
— I like Mike’s character calling Charlton Heston “Charl-intestine”.
— Always fun to see Phil’s Charlton Heston. His line just now about “bananas… bananas… bananas” was very funny with his delivery.
— I’m loving John’s character and delivery.
— Funny running gag with Mike narrating how he’s randomly changing his body postures uncontrollably.
— The various porn stories being told are all worth good laughs.
— Overall, this has always been my favorite installment of this recurring sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The River of Dreams”


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN gives a subliminal editorial about Ted Danson’s blackface at roast
John Kruk (CHF) realizes that he was supposed to have been in Toronto

— This is the first in a long time they’ve altered the Update title sequence featuring Kevin’s spinning head, this time showing him in old-timey blackface makeup (screencap below), as an apparent reference to Ted Danson’s infamous blackface stunt at a then-recent Whoopi Goldberg roast.

— I loved Kevin’s two jokes about the cancellation of Chevy Chase’s disastrous talk show, one of the jokes being “By the way, The Chevy Chase Show is still dead”, as a reference to Chevy’s classic Generalissimo Francisco Franco running gag from the original era.
— Uh-oh, here comes yet another subliminal editorial. As I mentioned in my review of the preceding season’s finale, I’ve surprisingly gotten tired of Kevin’s subliminal routine over the course of last season.
— Tonight’s subliminal editorial ended up being okay, but was sadly still a far cry from the days when Kevin’s subliminal routine was in its prime. The best subliminal words in tonight’s commentary were Long Dong Silver and Kevin referring to Montel Williams as “8-ball head”.
— Kevin: “During the World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies have been accused of being unshaven, overweight, long-haired, dumb slobs.” Oh, was THAT the reason behind the cold opening earlier tonight?
— Great facial reaction from Chris as John Kruk when he comes to the realization he’s supposed to be in Toronto for the World Series tonight. This commentary is almost too simple a concept, but Chris is actually selling it well. I wonder if him turning his back to the camera was an ad-lib, since the back of his Phillies jersey is oddly empty (the fifth above screencap for this Weekend Update), as if SNL didn’t bother putting Kruk’s team number on it because they didn’t think the back of his jersey would be shown onscreen.
— The John Kruk commentary ends with him having a disappointed “Should’ve been there” reaction to Kevin’s announcement that Toronto won the World Series tonight (an announcement that initially receives cheers from the studio audience before being drowned out by many boos). According to a dress rehearsal photo on GettyImages (seen here), the dress rehearsal version of this commentary seemingly had a different ending, as the photo shows Chris’ John Kruk standing up with a rowdy look on his face while holding a bottle of champagne (it looks like his head is doused in champagne as well). I’m guessing the dress rehearsal version used an alternate ending where the Phillies were the ones who won the World Series, and Chris’ John Kruk broke out a bottle of champagne to celebrate. SNL must’ve had two different endings written in advance, since they obviously wouldn’t have known which team would win the World Series until the game ended during the live airing of tonight’s episode.
STARS: ***


OF MICE AND MEN
Disney’s version features two Lennies (host) & (CHF)
LOM shoots CHF after the latter breaks JAH’s neck during sketch

— Of Mice and Men is my personal favorite book of all time, and I’ve always loved SNL’s parodies of it from various seasons. I also like how this particular parody is in reference to the Of Mice and Men movie adaptation Malkovich starred in a year earlier.
— A very good and fun premise of George being replaced with a second Lennie.
— I love the sound effect of loud snapping whenever the puppies’ necks are cracked.
— The Lennies’ poor ways of hiding the dead puppies’ bodies are really funny.
— Great how the running neck-snapping gag is now extending to Farley’s Lennie accidentally snapping the neck of Curley’s wife.
— I absolutely love the twist after the sketch ends, with a behind-the-scenes bit where it’s revealed that Chris really did snap Jan’s neck during the sketch.
— Funny implication in Chris’ meta line “I did it again, just like Victoria.”
— Great ending with Lorne pulling a George and shooting Chris in the back of the head while telling him about Hollywood.
STARS: *****


RUINING IT FOR EVERYONE
guests’ actions spurred preventative measures

— An interesting and fairly fun premise.
— I’m enjoying the sketch, but it has an oddly really quiet atmosphere so far, for some reason. Not sure what it is; maybe it’s the audience.
— John is absolutely perfect for this creepy role, and I love his overly calm revelations about killing hitchhikers.
— Funny bit about Rob being the first man to ever bring a woman to orgasm.
— The sketch has been getting funnier as it’s going along.
— Good ending with each guest saying what they plan on ruining next.
— Nice touch at the very end with John asking “Anybody need a lift home?”, though it was almost inaudible.
STARS: ***½


CARVILLE
James Carville (host) urges Hillary Clinton (JAH) to run in 1996

— Feels weird seeing an Oval Office sketch buried this late in the show.
— John continues to knock it out of the park, as he’s perfectly cast as James Carville and is giving a very funny performance in the role.
— I could be looking too much into this, but when talking about daughter Chelsea, Jan-as-Hillary’s emphasized delivery of “She’s a 13-year-old who deserves to be left ALONE!” almost seems to be SNL’s way of saying “See, everyone? We truly ARE sorry for the mean things we said about Chelsea in that Wayne’s World sketch!”
— I loved Carville slyly telling Hillary “I’ll see you in ’96…. minutes!” when Bill’s in the room.
— Very sweet ending with Phil and Jan, and yet another heartwarming display of their wonderful chemistry.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “All About Soul”


IN THE LINE OF FIRE
assassin (host) gets wrong numbers while trying to phone Frank Horrigan

— Another parody of a Malkovich movie, which I’m glad about, as In The Line Of Fire is one of my favorite Malkovich movies.
— The first wrong number reveal is really funny, happening out of nowhere during such a tense scene.
— John’s sudden “I KNOW IT’S ALRIGHT!” angry outburst cracked me up.
— Weird how this is the second out-of-it old lady Julia is playing tonight.
— A good laugh from John accidentally calling Julia’s old lady back immediately after hanging up on her.
— Priceless part with the kid’s “They killed Kennedy?!? The VJ from MTV?!?” reaction.
— John being put on call waiting right after finally reaching Frank Horrigan is very funny.
— The ending would later be altered in reruns. In the live version I’m currently watching, after John shoots himself in the foot (a gag ruined by a technical error where the screen took too long to cut to an exterior shot of the building), he calls 911, asks them for an ambulance, and that’s the end of the sketch. Reruns improve on this ending by adding in audio of Julia’s old lady character yelling “Hello?!? Hello?!?” on the other end of the phone after John asks 911 for an ambulance.
— Speaking of the ending, I wonder if whoever wrote this sketch would later write the recurring Zagat’s sketches from the following season, because much like John’s character at the end of this sketch, the first Zagat’s sketch ends with Adam’s character accidentally shooting himself in the foot off-camera (“MY FOOT!”).
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— And thus ends what’s always been one of my personal favorite episodes of all time. Unlike the last episode I reviewed that I called one of my personal all-time favorites (Christopher Walken/Arrested Development, which coincidentally originally aired on the same Saturday as tonight’s episode an exact year earlier), it’s a little hard to justify why tonight’s episode is one of my favorites. To a lot of SNL fans, I assume this is just a solid-but-not-classic episode (if I’m wrong about that assumption, I apologize). And even having just watched and reviewed the episode right now, I see that there were barely any sketches that I consider a five-star classic. But to me, this episode has always held a VERY special place in my heart. I just love so many things about it as a whole, including the feel and flow of it. Part of my bias towards this episode may be due to both the fact that I first saw it in a Comedy Central rerun during my very early SNL fandom days, where it left a huge impression on me (so much so, that anytime I noticed Comedy Central was airing the episode again, I’d go wild), and the fact that I’m a fan of a lot of John Malkovich’s work and always love when he hosts SNL (why he’s only hosted three times, I’ll never know). And after watching and reviewing the episode just now, I also feel that, unlike the preceding episodes of this season, nothing in this episode was hampered by early signs of the doom that awaits both this and next season (besides maybe the McIntosh Post-It Notes commercial, but that was short and harmless enough).


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jeff Goldblum)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Christian Slater

Posted on

October 9, 1993 – Jeff Goldblum / Aerosmith (S19 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
musical guest & other artists sing to protest Michael Jordan’s retirement

— These We Are the World-esque sketches this era does are always a winner.
— There’s something I like about the fact that this era’s We Are the World-esque sketches never display a name graphic revealing which singer each cast member is playing. It’s fun to instead try to guess which singer they’re playing.
— I like how each singer is singing a modified version of a hit song of theirs.
— Mike and new SNL writer Norm Macdonald are really fun as The Proclaimers.
— Ellen as Dr. Dre?!? That is giving me a weird laugh, though.
— Adam’s Eddie Vedder is spot-on and very funny.
— New SNL writers Jay Mohr and Sarah Silverman (both making their very first onscreen SNL appearance) appear in this as Billy Idol and Natalie Merchant, respectively, but have no actual lines and are presumably just there to make the group of singers look more complete.
STARS: ****½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Writers Norm Macdonald and Jay Mohr have officially been added to the cast as featured players.


MONOLOGUE
Laura Dern [real] & other audience members think Jurassic Park was real

— Uh-oh, here comes the first of WAY too many questions-from-the-audience monologues this season, where audience members all ask the same question as each other.
— Jim Downey’s question is making me laugh, mostly because of his delivery.
— After Downey’s bit, Norm also made me laugh with his delivery.
— I like Jeff initially responding to Laura Dern’s idiotic question with a dumbfounded long silent pause, then deciding to play along by giving her a false answer.
— Overall, considering this is only the first “audience members take turns asking the same dumb question” monologue this season, this came off kinda charming and fairly fun. Unfortunately, I’m aware of how quickly tired and frustrating this type of monologue will increasingly become over the course of this season.
STARS: ***


NERF CROTCH BAT
— Rerun from 5/8/93


SUBWAY MUSICIAN
subway musician’s (ROS) lyrics contradict what he says while not playing

— A pretty good laugh from Rob denying claims that he’s accepting money from passersby, by explaining he just so happens to keep his change in his open guitar case.
— I love Rob’s ridiculous deep singing voice. Sounds very different from his normal speaking voice.
— Very funny escalation to this, with Rob constantly following up his claims that he’s not a beggar by singing increasingly specific lyrics that make it seem like he wants Jeff to give him money. I’m also getting good laughs from Rob’s various justifications for why he’s singing those kinds of lyrics.
— I really like the ending with Rob’s violent lyrics towards fellow subway musician Adam.
STARS: ****


WAVE STARTER
at a baseball game, wave-starter (host) feels fans don’t appreciate him

— A simple premise, but Jeff is selling this role well and is making the sketch work.
— Funny reactions from Phil to the inane things Jeff is telling him.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Cryin'”


WEEKEND UPDATE
ELC suggests she could find Aidid- foreign men are attracted to her
NOM figures that the worst thing about going to prison is anal rape

— Kevin’s Where’s Waldo-esque Where’s Aidid bit was pretty funny.
— Ellen’s overall commentary did not work for me, though her pizza delivery man comment kinda made me laugh.
— When introducing Norm Macdonald’s commentary, Kevin’s bad penchant for flubbing lines on Weekend Update is on full display, as he bungles his Norm intro so badly that he actually has to stop in the middle of it, apologize to us, and then repeat the whole intro all over again. When he finally gets through it, he tells Norm “Sorry, Norm”, which made me (and Norm) kinda laugh. There’s something kinda symbolic about Kevin badly flubbing his intro to Norm’s debut, considering Kevin’s constant flubs is just one of several frustrating things about this season of Update that make Norm replacing him as anchorperson next season a breath of fresh air.
— As always during this SNL project of mine, it feels exciting to see a showcase for a new cast member, especially when I’ve gotten so used to the already-existing cast I’m reviewing.
— A huge laugh from Norm revealing that the worst thing about prison is “the, uh… you know, the, uh… anal rape.” I also love the audience laughter after that reveal.
— You can tell Norm’s commentary is from his stand-up, and it feels a bit odd as an Update commentary, but it’s an absolutely hilarious piece. I especially love him acting out an entire conversation between two prison mates.
— Overall, Norm’s piece was a riot and I cannot think of a more perfect way for SNL to introduce him and his brand of humor to us.
— We get our first of many Menendez Brothers references this season, and Kevin’s joke about them just now was hilarious.
— Some really strong jokes from Kevin in general towards the end of this Update.
— Tim had an Update commentary cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal, in which he talks about Michael Jordan and compares him to all the great white players in the NBA. The commentary ends in a meta fashion with Tim telling Kevin he’s just happy to get some airtime.
STARS: ***½


BAD DANCER
other club patrons make (host) feel self-conscious about his bad dancing

— I like the turn with the club band actually stopping their music during Jeff’s bad dancing, and the guitarist of the band (Mike Myers) actually approaching Jeff to ask if the band is playing wrong.
— Weird how this is the second sketch tonight with somebody accusing a Jeff Goldblum character of being paranoid by thinking everybody’s actions are directed toward him, after Rob made those claims about him in the Subway Musician sketch.
— I’m enjoying the growing absurdity of this sketch, with several club members now wearing masks of Jeff’s face.
— This sketch died really badly towards the end. The Aerosmith bit fell completely flat, and then afterwards, the sketch ended on a sour note.
STARS: **½


KARL’S VIDEO
host rents a porno from name-dropping video store owner Karl (DAS)

— I’m loving David’s performance as this character. He’s very solid here.
— David’s constant defensive “I’m not gonna do anything with it” whenever he reveals he has certain celebrities’ phone numbers/credit card numbers/etc. are cracking me up.
— A big laugh from David talking about how Bob Saget is a frequent customer and a “big porn freak”. That’s also funny in hindsight, considering they later end up bringing this sketch back (with much less successful results) when Bob Saget himself hosts next season, and he appears as himself in it (yet he and David’s character act like they’ve never met before… so much for continuity).
— Ellen’s real-life daughter Akeyla steals the sketch with her “Mom, is he a pervert?” line.
— I loved the line from David about Gabe Kaplan: “Good guy… rents Faces Of Death… kinda weird.”
— Very funny brief walk-on from Chris.
STARS: ****


GARAGE SALE
at a garage sale, (host) & other neighborhood adults mock Canteen Boy

— Boy, I’m not caring for this sketch at all so far, and the guys’ constant teasing of Canteen Boy not only isn’t getting any laughs, but has a particularly unpleasant, mean-spirited vibe that signifies the crass, nasty tone that will often plague SNL both this and (especially) next season. And it hurts seeing Phil being wasted in a weak role like this; an early example of how poorly utilized he’ll often be this season.
— No idea what to think about the very random brief close-up of Canteen Boy letting out a bizarre yelp into the camera (the fourth above screencap for this sketch) when Jeff tells him he wants to buy his canteen.
— We surprisingly meet Canteen Boy’s mom (played by Rob in drag), AND we find out what Canteen Boy’s first name is: Alan.
— Adam seems genuinely amused by Rob’s walk-on, as he’s visibly stifling his laughter.
— I guess the nasty, mean-spirited tone of earlier portions of this sketch is supposed to be vindicated by the fact that Canteen Boy gets revenge on his tormentors in the end, but that still didn’t work for me. And WTF was with that “He who laughs last” ending?
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sweet Emotion”


CHRISTOPHER WALKEN’S CELEBRITY PSYCHIC FRIENDS NETWORK
Christopher Walken (JAM) & Celebrity Psychic Friends want to visit you

— New cast member Jay Mohr’s Christopher Walken impression debuts.
— This sketch was actually cut from the preceding episode, and Jay talks about it in one part of his SNL book (titled Gasping For Airtime). According to him, the cut version of this sketch had Shannen Doherty playing Sean Young as one of the guests, dressed in a sexy Catwoman costume. The sketch was cut after dress rehearsal because Doherty started having second thoughts about potentially getting on Sean Young’s bad side, given Young’s notorious reputation at the time. Needless to say, Jay was not pleased at Doherty when he found out, especially since the sketch was supposed to be his big SNL debut. In tonight’s version of the sketch (which replaces Doherty’s Sean Young with David’s Crispin Glover), Sean Young is actually mentioned (and pictured) among several celebrity psychic friends who Jay’s Walken lists off.
— Wow, right out of the gate in this sketch, Jay’s Walken impression is coming off spot-on and is killing me.
— Walken and the guests’ constant silence while waiting for the phone to ring are really funny.
— David’s Crispin Glover impressions is absolutely priceless.
— I can’t help but think the picture they showed of “The guy who attacked Monica Seles” (screencap below) resembles then-recent SNL host Harvey Keitel.

— An overall very strong and memorable sketch, and a very promising start for Jay Mohr.
STARS: ****½


HISTORY’S GREAT OVER-THINKERS
(host) can’t decide which mind should talk

— Very good makeup on Rob, which renders him almost unrecognizable.
— Adam seems really miscast as Orville Wright. That’s one of the problems with SNL increasingly giving the Farley/Sandler/Spade group more and more airtime and focus this season. That group doesn’t have the strong versatility and range the Carvey/Hooks/Lovitz/etc. group before them had.
— I can see what this sketch is going for, but the execution of it is not working AT ALL. Oof.
— Not helping this sketch’s struggles is the fact that you can practically hear a pin drop in the studio during this. The audience is DEAD. That’s something we’re going to have to get used to, as I recall quite a number of really bad sketches this season that have that uncomfortable, notorious, dead atmosphere.
— It’s almost laughable that Rob went through so much extensive makeup for such a short, lousy sketch that had no payoff.
STARS: *


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An episode with a solid first half, but a wildly inconsistent second half. The second half seriously had a pattern where a really bad or iffy sketch was immediately followed by a great sketch, which was immediately followed by a really bad/iffy sketch, which was immediately followed by a great sketch, and so on. (I recall an online SNL fan once making an interesting point that the wildly inconsistent nature of the second half of this episode is a good microcosm of this season as a whole) And most of the bad/iffy sketches in that half of the show were particularly brutal (Canteen Boy, History’s Great Over-Thinkers). However, the good in this overall episode outweighs the bad, we got a very promising start from the two new cast members, and Jeff Goldblum was a likable host, even if there was a sameness to all his roles, where he basically just played Jeff Goldblum in every single sketch.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Shannen Doherty)
about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
John Malkovich hosts one of my personal favorite episodes of all time

Posted on

October 2, 1993 – Shannen Doherty / Cypress Hill (S19 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Operaman comes within one number of hitting the lottery jackpot

— HUGE extended applause (albeit delayed) after Phil mentions the name Operaman. I love how after the applause died down, Phil just says “Indeed!”
— A great change of pace to see Operaman outside of Update. This is a very creative use of him.
— This is a fun bit that’s giving me really good laughs, especially Operaman’s “no more masterbato” promise to God if he wins the lottery.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
videotape of host’s recent wedding shows there was plenty of fighting

 

— Odd how both monologues so far this season have relied heavily on a pre-taped video package.
— New SNL writer and soon-to-be-added-to-the-cast Norm Macdonald makes his onscreen SNL debut here, playing a caterer arguing with Shannen. It’s just a straight role, but he even manages to make his repeated line “The deal… was cash!” funny with his delivery.
— A lot of big laughs throughout this wedding video. I especially like Shannen and the reverend’s shoving match and the random exploding car stock footage (the latter of which was previously used in Linda Hamilton’s season 17 monologue and will later be used at the end of a notoriously bad season 20 sketch called Sparklebright Toothpaste).
STARS: ****


CRYSTAL GRAVY
the latest in the clear food craze is a transparent sauce

— I love the reveal of Crystal Gravy after such a serious beginning. This is an absolutely priceless subject matter for a fake ad.
— Every single aspect of this is an eerily spot-on, detailed, and well-done parody of the real Crystal Pepsi commercial from this time.
— The shot of Kevin splashing his face with the Crystal Gravy is especially giving me a good laugh.
— Overall, one of the most memorable fake ads from this era.
STARS: *****


THE REAL WORLD
diverse young adults are sensitive to perceived prejudice

— I get what the opening Jim Downey-read disclaimer (the first two above screencaps for this sketch) is going for, comically overemphasizing the show’s genuine reality, but it’s going on way too long.
— I love the opening intros, where after each roommate mentions what type of people they hate, the next roommate shown is the exact type of person who was just mentioned. The bit with Rob as an Eskimo is especially funny.
— Pretty lousy English accent from Tim.
— Boy, Adam’s constant, repetitive, exaggerated yells of “Shaddap, you (insert words here)!” are kinda annoying me. In all of my previous viewings of this sketch, I had always found those lines from Adam hilarious, but watching it now, not only do I find it unfunny and repetitive, but I see it as an early sign of a lot of bad and obnoxious things to come from the Farley/Sandler/Spade group both this and next season.
— The sketch as a whole was okay and was an accurate Real World parody, but I’m not quite as big on this anymore as I used to be.
STARS: ***


THE DENISE SHOW
jilted Brian (ADS) is obsessed with ex-girlfriend (host)

— Lots of Adam Sandler tonight.
— I really like the format of this sketch, and Adam is solid as this obsessed, heartbroken character.
— All the various little segments within this show (e.g. “The part of the show where I call Denise and hang up on her”) are really funny, as is Adam always ending them with an “Okay, that was great.”
— I love Phil as the voice of Adam’s dad screaming at him over the phone.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Insane In The Brain”


WEEKEND UPDATE
ROS narrates some wacky sports bloopers that are actually quite mundane
Ike Turner (TIM) hits KEN with a cake, then tries to make up with him

— After his “I’m Kevin Nealon” sign-on, Kevin just bizarrely pauses while staring at the camera for a long time, to complete silence from the audience, then he finally moves on. Ugh. This unfortunately ends up becoming a thing he often does at the beginning of his Updates this season, and I’ve always hated it.
— Boy, that “Jury retires in Denny beating case” bit from Kevin was just plain stupid, not helped by his bad delivery of it.
— Rob’s sports “bloopers” bit is a fairly cheap premise, but Rob is making it fun with his amusing and dead-on imitation of a cheesy announcer’s voice.
— At the end of Rob’s commentary, I love Kevin’s exaggerated amusement at the sports “bloopers”.
— After a rough start early on this Update, Kevin’s jokes have thankfully gotten better.
— The debut of Tim’s Ike Turner, which we’ll be seeing A LOT this season. It is nice, though, to see the underused Tim Meadows being given a showcase.
— Tim-as-Ike-Turner’s love/hate behavior towards Kevin is giving me some laughs, and I’m really enjoying the way Tim and Kevin are playing off of each other here.
— I like how after the Ike Turner commentary ends, Kevin delivers the remainder of his Update jokes with cake still around his mouth and shoulder, from when Tim’s Ike hit him with the cake earlier.
STARS: ***


IS IT DATE RAPE?
(host) & (CHF) use Antioch College guidelines to decide

— I’m getting an unintentional big laugh from the opening theme music used for this sketch, because it’s the same music that would later memorably be used for Will Forte’s classic Dancing Coach sketch with Peyton Manning.
— Uh, wow.  What a premise for a sketch.
— Spot-on casting of Chris as a rowdy fratboy, a role he was born to play.
— I’m very impressed by the part with Phil rapidly explaining the very lengthy gameshow rules in almost one breath without missing a single beat. Absolutely perfect, fast-paced, flawless delivery.
— A pretty good laugh from Shannen’s stern “Take your hands off me” to Phil during the “meet the contestants” segment.
— Despite the dodgy premise, I feel this sketch is being executed okay enough. However, sketches like this and the preceding episode’s What’s That show how downhill SNL’s gameshow sketches are going this season compared to earlier this era when gameshow sketches almost always ended up being a very memorable hit.
STARS: ***


THE RELAPSE GUY
Relapse Guy (CHF) says he’s changed, but he’s still unreliable

— Hoo, boy, speaking of sketches with dodgy premises…
— This sketch, based on Chris’ real-life addiction battles and constant rehab stints, is considered by a lot of SNL fans to be too uncomfortable to enjoy after Chris’ death from a drug overdose. Heading into tonight’s episode, I was conflicted on how I should handle reviewing this sketch, and ultimately, I decided to take the same approach I used when reviewing the Gun Safety sketch from a Fred Savage-hosted season 15 episode (a sketch that a lot of SNL fans find uncomfortable to watch after Phil Hartman’s tragic death, considering most of the sketch features him having a gun pointed at him), and that approach is to just watch this in the same innocent mindset that SNL viewers at the time would’ve when this sketch originally aired. I feel that’s the most fair thing I can do.
— Is the name of the rehabilitation center, Verdant Meadows, an inside reference to Tim Meadows? He does play the center’s counselor.
— I’m enjoying the running gag involving Mike’s healing arm.
— Seems kinda late in the sketch to be showing its opening title sequence, but I suppose it was necessary to have such long pre-credits scenes to set up the premise. I like how this opening title sequence is in the traditional style of some other sketches from the late 80s/early 90s era.
— Phil is very funny as the dad, especially his line about how he hasn’t liked his son for about “15, 20 years now”.
— The increasingly exaggerated “I love you!” reconciliation hugs between Phil and Chris are cracking me up.
— As I’ve mentioned a few times recently, I enjoy sketches that involve constant scene changes and set changes, and this sketch has PLENTY of that.
— The operation room scene is hilarious, with Chris trying to pass off a calves’ liver from the supermarket as the human liver he’s supposed to deliver to the surgeons, and then him suddenly falling and crashing over the breakaway operating table (which was funny because of the way it was executed).
— Okay, the running punchline of Chris falling through a breakaway prop at the end of every scene is now starting to get kinda old to me, and serves as an unfortunate reminder that the days of SNL’s bad overreliance on Chris screaming and falling down in a majority of sketches is approaching. (As I mentioned recently, I blame the first Matt Foley sketch on that. While an undisputed classic, that Matt Foley debut eventually created a monster when it comes to SNL having Chris constantly play screaming characters who fall through breakaway props.)
STARS: ***


DRESSING ROOM
hairdresser Noah (MIM) & wardrober Frans (TIM) give host advice backstage

— This feels like it’s attempting to be this era’s version of Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo’s hairstylist characters, Dion and Blaire, from 10 years earlier. Problem is, this sketch is lacking the strength and great chemistry those Dion/Blaire sketches had. If SNL is setting this sketch up to become recurring, it doesn’t work, as we end up never seeing these characters from Tim and Mike ever again.
— I am liking the fact that the underused Tim Meadows has been getting more and more chances lately, though.
— I got some good laughs just now from Mike’s odd detailing of the chocolates he eats when he’s feeling blue.
— Why is stage manager Joe Dicso telling Shannen to get ready for introducing Cypress Hill’s second musical performance? After this sketch, there’s another sketch Shannen appears in before Cypress Hill’s performance. And this is the live version I’m watching of this episode. Reruns of this episode wildly scramble the running order of the second half of the show, where this sketch airs AFTER Cypress Hill’s second number, which causes Joe Dicso’s line to make even less sense.
— I recall once seeing an old online newsgroup post from this time in October 1993 saying that this sketch just seemed to be made as an excuse for Shannen to bitch and moan about the media and paparazzi. I’m not sure I entirely agree with that claim about this sketch, though Shannen has been harping pretty hard here on how cruel the media and paparazzi are.
STARS: **


SALEM BITCH TRIALS
early-American lynch mob wants to find (host) guilty at Salem Bitch Trial

— The bitchcraft reveal was worth a good laugh.
— Wait, Mike’s supposed to be playing a woman? Why???
— Kevin looks kinda cool and bad-ass in that wig and facial hair.
— I’ve never been able to look at this sketch quite the same way after reading a criticism from someone on the SNL newsgroup (alt.tv.snl) years ago about how he tried to enjoy this sketch, mostly because it features the great Phil Hartman in his final season, but couldn’t get past the fact that Chris and Adam’s performances in this are “so awful”. The newsgroup member who wrote that was someone who admittedly generally HATED the Farley/Sandler/Spade group, and he was kinda using this sketch as an example of how the unprofessionalism, hamminess, crassness, and lack of range of the Farley/Sandler/Spade group was such a downgrade from what the Hartman/Nealon/Carvey/Hooks/Dunn/Lovitz/etc. group was doing just a few years before. He certainly has a point there (I’ve been mostly positive towards the Farley/Sandler/Spade group so far in this SNL project, but that’s because I hadn’t gotten to the truly troubled part of their tenure yet; I’m of the popular opinion that THIS is the season where that group slowly started hurting the show, and then by season 20, they had gotten so bad that I find their shtick mostly UNWATCHABLE), and he’s definitely not wrong about Chris and Adam hamming it up in this sketch (David’s more low-key here, though), but I’d be lying if I said Adam’s bizarre-voiced “I guess everybody likes ye!” rant in this sketch doesn’t crack me up every time I watch this, even if his characterization feels very out-of-place for the tone of this sketch. (Besides, I personally feel that Adam’s performance in tonight’s Real World sketch is a better example of how the Farley/Sandler/Spade group could tend to be detrimental to the show.)
— I like how after Shannen’s speech defending her own bitchiness, Phil’s lengthy, calm, professional response ended with an unexpectedly stern “…if they hadn’t been delivered in such a bitchy manner!”
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Ain’t Goin’ Out Like That”


A MESSAGE FROM MICHAEL EISNER
Michael Eisner (PHH) assures tourists they’ll be safe in northern Florida

— This sketch was cut from the preceding week’s season premiere.
— The voice Phil uses as Michael Eisner is always pretty funny.
— Phil’s Eisner now translating his speech into German is making me laugh.
— I’ve never been all that crazy about these “message from Michael Eisner” pieces (which we’ll be seeing quite a bit this season), but I actually found this particular one okay overall.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent episode. It started very strongly with the cold opening, monologue, and Crystal Gravy ad, but then the quality cooled down, where most of the rest of the show was just in the “decent/pretty good” range. I can’t complain much, though some of the first few post-Update sketches had dodgy premises, and I’m still seeing early little signs of trouble for this and next season.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Charles Barkley)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Jeff Goldblum hosts, and we get two new additions to the cast

Posted on

September 25, 1993 – Charles Barkley / Nirvana (S19 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Bill Clinton (PHH) tells what the health care plan will & won’t cover

— Funny reference to the infamous then-recent Lorena Bobbitt incident (the first of many references this season).
— Some really good laughs from Phil’s Clinton delivering such a serious rundown of which circus sideshow freaks are covered by his health care plan. (“Japu, the Indian rubber man, you are covered. Lobster Boy, I feel your pain!”)
— Funny part with Clinton’s sly smile before saying breast augmentation is covered by his health care plan.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Same montage from the last three seasons, making this the first time in SNL history where an opening montage was used for more than three seasons. I wonder if SNL fans at the time were disappointed to have to see this montage being used for YET ANOTHER season. I find it funny that right before tonight’s montage was cued up, Phil Hartman’s Clinton set up his “Live from New York…” by saying there are certain things they’re too afraid to change. That exact same statement could be made about this opening montage.
— Ellen Cleghorne, Melanie Hutsell, Tim Meadows, Adam Sandler, and David Spade have all been promoted from featured player to repertory player.
— After the 1990-1993 experiment of having two separate categories of featured players, we now go back to the traditional format of only one category of featured players.
— The shot of Julia Sweeney from the last three seasons (first screencap below) has been updated to a new shot (second screencap below).

— There are no new cast members yet. We will eventually get three of them added within the following two months.


MONOLOGUE
host goes one-on-one with Godzilla stand-in Barney

— Considering Charles Barkley’s evident greenness here, it’s probably a good thing he threw to a pre-taped video fairly early.
— Hilarious idea of Charles going one-on-one with Barney the Dinosaur. New writer (and soon-to-be new cast member) Jay Mohr came up with the idea of this monologue.
— This film is priceless, especially when it gets to the point where Barney has an eye hanging loose and stuffing popping out of his head.
— Too bad 9-year-old me at this time in 1993 hadn’t discovered SNL yet, because I would’ve gotten a huge kick out of seeing Barney getting pummeled, considering my seething hatred for him at the time (which was probably typical for boys around my age during Barney’s overexposure in the early 90s).
STARS: ****½


NCI
NCI Long Distance Company will do whatever you want to get your business

— The visual style of this commercial is a dead-on recreation of these types of phone commercials from this era.
— The customers’ increasingly bizarre requests are funny, as are the key words being flashed onscreen in response to every request being accepted (e.g. “Pretty girls”, “Extra long phone numbers”, “Ponies”).
— David’s doing a solid job in this spokesperson role, though the fact that he’s being cast in this role while Phil has a small supporting role as a customer is our very first sign that this season is a changing of the guard, with the new guard (Spade, Farley, Sandler) receiving more and more focus while the old guard (Hartman, Nealon) gets phased out. If this commercial had aired even as then-recently as the preceding season 18, I bet David and Phil would’ve been cast in each other’s roles.
— Speaking of Phil, I’ve always noticed that something about his face looks a lot different in this final season of his. Maybe it’s just sudden aging. His hair looks different this season too.
STARS: ***½


LARRY KING LIVE
divorcee Burt Reynolds (PHH) takes truth serum

— Kevin’s Larry King impression always makes me laugh, as does Phil’s Burt Reynolds.
— I liked Phil-as-Burt-Reynolds line, “She’ll be back; she’s like the clap.”
— Feels odd unexpectedly hearing Sarah Silverman’s now-instantly-recognizable voice as one of the callers. Sarah is one of the new writers this season and, like Jay Mohr, will soon be added to this season’s cast.
— I love King and Reynolds’ simultaneous goofy laughter, which seems to be inspired by the then-newly-popular Beavis and Butthead.
— Some of the truths King blurts out after drinking truth serum are pretty funny.
— Overall, the sketch was fine, but feels unfitting and kinda odd as the lead-off sketch of a season premiere (which is also a gripe I had with the preceding season premiere’s lead-off sketch: Tiny Elvis).
STARS: ***


DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
Muggsy Bogues [real] lends support to host

— Unless I’m forgetting something, this is the first time a Daily Affirmation sketch has ever appeared in the pre-Weekend Update half of an episode.
— The idea of tonight’s Daily Affirmation sketch was obviously inspired by the success of the one with Michael Jordan from two seasons earlier.
— Charles already has some funny lines early on in this interview.
— Great part where, after Charles brags about being the best basketball player, Stuart innocently says “If you’re the best basketball player in the world, I guess you’ve won a lot of championships”, which Charles then embarrassedly admits he hasn’t.
— A Muggsy Bogues cameo!
— When Charles is supposed to start getting choked up, you can tell he’s stifling his laughter, which comes off looking hilarious.
— Muggsy’s heartfelt “I love you” to Charles is very funny.
— I love Stuart eagerly getting up to hug Muggsy because he finds him adorable.
— Overall, though I feel this doesn’t hold a candle to the Michael Jordan one, this was a strong Daily Affirmation sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Heart-Shaped Box”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Hollywood Minute- DAS gives his thoughts on summer showbiz happenings

— We’re seeing the wrong camera angle during Kevin’s joke about the Olympics. Either that, or Kevin’s just delivering the joke into the wrong camera.
— Oof, some of Kevin’s jokes are getting a really tepid audience reaction. This is setting the tone for what a rough season this is going to be for Kevin’s Updates.
— Though he stumbled through the set-up (as usual), Kevin finally had a great joke that got a big reaction tonight, with his joke about how Michael Jackson celebrated his 35th birthday with “a 13 year old…………….bottle of champagne.”
— During David’s Hollywood Minute, I loved his “It gets worse” aside to the audience when some of them are going “Ohhhh” after the Andrew McCarthy slam.
— The usual solid stuff from David’s overall Hollywood Minute tonight, with my favorite parts being his Homer Simpson/Skipper “d’oh/dip” back-and-forths, him riffing on Chevy Chase’s disastrous new talk show, and his comments about Billy Idol.
— Another wrong camera angle during one of Kevin’s Update jokes.
— Two Update commentaries were cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal: one in which Ellen’s Queen Shenequa character talks about taxes and President Clinton (pic here), and one in which Adam as Eddie Vedder (an impression that will make its on-air debut a few episodes later) sings about world events to the melody of the Pearl Jam song “Evenflow” (pic here). The latter sounds like a variation of Adam’s Operaman commentaries.
STARS: **½


THE GAP
Gap girls Kristy & Lucy recall unpleasant experience with Skid Row [real]

— Interesting how they completely changed David’s character’s hairstyle, which has been acknowledged within the sketch.
— The Heidi Fleiss scandal must’ve recently broken out, as we’re getting a lot of mentions of her in tonight’s season premiere.
— And now, much like David’s character, Farley’s character’s hair also looks different from the preceding installments of this sketch.
— Farley’s whispery “You two are terrible!” cracked me up.
— Random pre-taped Skid Row cameo out of nowhere.
— Oh my god at the sight of Charles Barkley dressed like… that.
— Charles is wearing flesh-colored makeup over his mustache to hide it. Also, he keeps holding his head down in this weird way. Is he doing that to make the flesh-colored makeup less noticeable onscreen?
— That’s the end of the sketch? Why was Charles’ appearance so brief? Seemed like a waste of our host.
— Not the best Gap Girls sketch overall. I didn’t care for the Skid Row scene and the sketch as a whole felt too disjointed, like I was watching three Gap Girls sketches in one.
STARS: **½


COFFEE TALK WITH LINDA RICHMAN
Linda takes some calls on Yom Kippur

— The first of what will unfortunately (for me) be an EXCESSIVE amount of Coffee Talk sketches this season.
— As usual, the material is boring me and I’m getting pretty much no laughs, but I did like Linda Richman’s long run of Yiddish during a rant just now, which was impressively delivered.
— Boy, while watching these early 90s episodes during this SNL project, I’ve gotten VERY sick of hearing that “I’m feeling verklempt… tawk amongst yuhselves” catchphrase. It never makes me laugh, and what makes it worse is that it’s always delivered two or three times in each Coffee Talk sketch.
— I’m starting to notice that my absolute least favorite Coffee Talk sketches (which is certainly saying something) are the ones with no guests, like tonight’s installment.
STARS: *½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


CHARLES BARKLEY’S BIG, TALL & BLACK MEN’S STORES
host’s store offers clothes for big tall black males; Muggsy Bogues cameo

— HUGE technical issues as this sketch starts. The soft background music for this sketch instantly cues up, but the screen just stays black for a VERY long time. Then, while the sketch’s background music is still heard playing, an SNL bumper photo of Barkley is shown onscreen for a while, as if this is SNL’s way of telling us “Technical difficulties; please stand by”. Then the sketch FINALLY starts. Wow, what the hell was going on?
— Decent concept for this sketch.
— A few minutes into this, and I haven’t been finding this hilarious, but there IS a charm to it.
— Funny visual of Muggsy Bogues entering in oversized clothes.
STARS: **½


OUT OF AFRICA
tribal art dealer (ROS) touts the weed-holding abilities of artifacts

— OH, NO. Here’s the debut of a soon-to-be recurring sketch that I’ve always despised.
— Only 40 seconds into this sketch, and “You put your weed in there!” has already been said about three times and is clearly going to be the only joke of this whole sketch.
— It’s now a few minutes later, and yep, nothing has changed. “You put your weed in there!” remains the ONLY joke.
— Okay, one part of the scene right now with Barkley’s cop questioning Rob gave me a “so stupid, it’s funny” chuckle.
— Overall, a rare miss at the time for the usually-solid Rob Schneider. Unfortunately, this season ends up having a number of Rob Schneider sketches that don’t land with me. This is only the beginning.
STARS: *½


WHAT’S THAT?
contestants guess the sex of crossdressed men; RuPaul cameo

— What’s with the crossdressing theme in tonight’s episode, between the Gap Girls sketch, Coffee Talk, and now this?
— This is the first time in tonight’s episode where I’ve noticed Chris Rock’s departure. Adam being cast as one of the contestants in this urban gameshow makes it obvious that SNL now only has two black cast members. Adam is cracking me up in this role, though.
— What the…? Charles’ voice has suddenly become very hoarse mid-sketch, making it very hard for him to get through the line he’s currently trying to deliver.
— Not the funniest concept to this sketch, but it has a very goofy, silly atmosphere that’s working for me.
— Bea Arthur being shown as one of the “man or woman?” clips gave me a laugh.
— Another technical error tonight, this time with the opening “It’s time for What’s That” announcement accidentally being played during the ending when they were supposed to play the What’s That ending theme music.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Rape Me”


DONKEY BASKETBALL CAMP
host stresses importance of human-ass cooperation in donkey basketball

— Uh… what a concept.
— Big night for David Spade, who’s been very prominent in this episode. Probably the most airtime he’s gotten in a single episode thus far.
— Ha, this sketch has started going off the rails, first with Charles’ donkey starting to move around when it’s not supposed to, and then one of the other guys’ donkey just walking right off the set.
— The “Slipping on donkey urine” bit gave me a good laugh.
— Ha, now Farley’s basketball bouncing has scared the rest of the donkeys, causing them to leave the set with the guys still on top of them.
— Farley looked like he had no idea when to exit the scene. Maybe Charles was supposed to tell him to go, but forgot.
— Overall, there was a weird kind of fun charm to this random sketch, though it pales in comparison to a far-superior and more memorable later sketch that also involves people sitting on donkeys in an unlikely situation: the Ridin’ My Donkey Political Talk Show sketch from the Will Ferrell era.
STARS: ***


OFFICE SPACE
by Mike Judge- disgruntled worker Milton stews

— A lot of Beavis and Butthead connections tonight.  First, the SNL Band played the Beavis and Butthead theme music during one of the band shots earlier tonight (and IIRC, they do that again right after this Office Space cartoon), then the Larry King Live sketch had Kevin and Phil’s Larry King and Burt Reynolds constantly laughing simultaneously in a goofy manner, then David did a Beavis and Butthead imitation at one point during Hollywood Minute, and now we get this Mike Judge cartoon. This really takes me back to how Beavis and Butthead took pop culture by storm around this time. I remember my mom didn’t allow me to watch Beavis and Butthead’s show back then because she felt I was too young for it (I was 9 years old, as mentioned earlier in this review), but I would still sneak in viewings of it when she wasn’t around, and I eventually got in a bit of trouble when she caught me watching it.
— Needless to say, this Office Space cartoon is an interesting change of pace for SNL.
— This is already cracking me up early on. This Milton character is hilarious.
— For some reason, it feels weird hearing audience laughter during an indie-type cartoon like this.
— I love the part with Milton’s boss.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— While not a terrible season premiere, this season’s drop in quality from season 18 is already evident. The first half of the episode was fine, but the second half was pretty rough, though there was a bit of an upswing towards the very end. As for Charles Barkley, while I feel his comedic sensibilities are better in more modern times where there’s more of a self-aware quality to his humorous personality, he had his moments tonight and wasn’t too bad for an athlete host.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1992-93)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Shannen Doherty

Posted on

May 15, 1993 – Kevin Kline / Willie Nelson and Paul Simon (S18 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Bill (PHH) & Hillary (JAH) Clinton deal with Bob Dole (DAA) differently

— Nice to see Dan Aykroyd returning as Bob Dole. Between him and Jan Hooks, I love that we’re getting a cameo from two SNL greats (and two of my personal favorite cast members of all time) from two completely different eras.
— Hillary claiming that she’s the co-president of the United States is hilarious.
— Dan’s delivery of his lengthy dialogue throughout this is freakin’ fantastic. Since it’s been quite a while since I last reviewed his SNL era, I had kinda forgotten how brilliant he is at delivering fast-paced dialogue.
— I’m enjoying the way Jan and Dan are playing off of each other.
— The negative tension between Hillary and Dole is really funny, eventually building up into a big fight between them. During that fight, I love Dole telling Bill “I’m doing something you should’ve done a long time ago.”
STARS: ****


OPENING MONTAGE
— When announcing special guest Jan Hooks, Don Pardo mistakenly says “Special musical guest……….(long pause as he realizes his screw-up)……….Jan Hooks!”


MONOLOGUE
Audience McGee figures out that KEN is impersonating host on-stage

— An interesting approach here, with Nealon entering as Kevin Kline, which is a nice change of pace for a monologue.
— Good reveal that Kline got the idea of having Nealon impersonate him from his new movie Dave.
— I love a confused Audience McGee standing up and going “I don’t know what the hell’s going on here!”
— The back-and-forth bickering between Nealon and Audience McGee is giving me good laughs.
— Great ending with Rob and Rock entering as musical guests Paul Simon and Willie Nelson. I especially love the double-take Kline does when seeing Rock.
STARS: ****


MMMPH?
board game lets players give semi-verbal hot & cold signals

— I’m kinda conflicted, as there’s a charm to this, but at the same time, I’ve always felt this is a fairly bland and unmemorable commercial, especially when compared to SNL’s many memorable fake ads from this era.
STARS: **


ROME
otherwise-suave Italian’s (host) flatulence ruins encounter with (JUS)

— This sketch has always held a special place in my heart for reasons mentioned at the end of my review of the Sabra Price is Right sketch here.
— The look Farley gives Kline and Julia after the first fart sound is heard is great.
— A priceless casual look on Nealon’s face as he stands behind Kline while Kline lets out a very long fart outside the car.
— I love the subtly displeased look on Phil’s face after greeting Kline.
— The flambé bit was hilarious.
— Interesting how some of the veteran writers who’s last episode is tonight (Christine Zander, Bonnie & Terry Turner) are all appearing in this sketch, most of them in speaking roles. Speaking of which, I recall once hearing years ago that the reason Christine Zander and the Turners left SNL is because they were fed up with how Adam Sandler was getting more and more airtime with his brand of goofy comedy. I can’t remember where I heard that and I have no idea if it’s true, so please take it with a grain of salt.
— I love Kline’s line about how he’s already done his time in hell, and that statement immediately being followed by a particularly loud fart from him.
— Excellent touch at the end of the sketch with Kline wiping a tear off his face.
— Overall, it’s amazing how what was essentially a fart-joke sketch turned out to be so strong. The fart humor was pulled off surprisingly well, featured an excellent performance from Kline, and contained many genuinely funny moments and gags. And as I hinted in my recent positive comments about the much-hated Rookie Cop sketch, I usually have an affinity for sketches that involve multiple scenes and sets. It gives sketches that epic, movie-like feel that I personally love.
— I recall hearing that the reason for the epic, movie-like feel of this particular sketch is because it was originally written for an SNL sketch movie that never ended up getting made. I don’t know most of the details about it, though.
STARS: ****½


HOW TO FIND FINANCIAL FREEDOM WITH DON LAPRE
Don Lapre (DAS) tells How To Find Financial Freedom with a 900 number

— Very funny Don Lapre impression from David, and he’s giving a solid performance.
— A lot of funny lines from David’s Lapre, made even more amusing by his delivery.
— A good laugh from the random reveal of a broken-off lawn dart stuck in the back of Tim’s head.
— A funny overall sketch, though I feel it pales a little in comparison to a later Don Lapre sketch the show does in next season’s Jason Patric episode.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guests perform “Graceland”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Bennett Brauer delineates the reasons why he’s ill-suited for TV
KEN gives a subliminal editorial about the royal family scandal
Hollywood Minute- DAS dishes celebrity dirt during end-of-season wrap-up

— Bennett Brauer becomes recurring, which I’m sure most SNL fans at the time never would’ve predicted would happen.
— Some of Bennett Brauer’s air-quoted unpleasant revelations of himself are even funnier than last time. The one about how he “pops his whiteheads with a compass used in high school” especially had me howling.
— Kevin’s subliminal editorial tonight was pretty forgettable. I really hate to say it, but I think I’ve officially gotten tired of Nealon’s subliminal routine. He’s relied on it awfully heavily this season, and there were times it suffered from diminishing returns.
— Boy, a lot of tonight’s Update jokes are falling flat. You can tell Nealon’s aware of that, because he keeps ad-libbing little addendum one-liners (e.g. “Something to think about”) whenever a joke receives a tepid audience reaction.
— This Hollywood Minute commentary that David is currently doing was cut after dress rehearsal from some of the last few episodes.
— David does a joke about former SNL writer Conan O’Brien, jokingly quoting him as saying “When I sent in the sweepstakes envelope, I had no idea I could win!”, referring to how unknown Conan was to the general public at this time when he was announced as David Letterman’s replacement as host of Late Night. After mentioning having worked with Conan in the past, David says a tongue-in-cheek “It’s good to see someone from Saturday Night Live finally make it!”
— David’s overall Hollywood Minute commentary tonight was solid as usual. My favorite comments were about Latoya Jackson and the particularly mean-spirited but funny crack about Whoopi Goldberg.
— A weak Update for Nealon overall tonight, and an underwhelming way for him to end the season. The two guest commentaries at least salvaged this somewhat. I can’t help but see Nealon’s rough night as an unfortunate precursor to how burned out he will often be on Update next season, IIRC.
— Believe it or not, there was an Update commentary cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal in which Rob played his Orgasm Guy character giving a sports commentary.
STARS: **½


THE JUICE
Hub’s Gyros workers travel to Mount Olympus to get more juice

— Speaking of things that SNL fans at the time never could’ve predicted would become recurring…
— As utterly ridiculous as the idea of bringing back this meta, intentionally repetitive one-off sketch seems, there’s something so silly about the idea of this becoming recurring that it’s hilarious to me.
— Something I always notice in this sketch: at the beginning as Melanie plays a customer receiving a tray of food, she almost slips on the floor as she exits the shot. If she had slipped and fell down, that would’ve been so embarrassing, not to mention a huge mess, considering she was carrying a full tray of food and a drink. By the way, why was she cast in such a tiny, useless role anyway? That’s the type of role that, in this era, would normally go to an extra or writer. I have to wonder if this particular role originally was given to an extra or writer, but then SNL re-cast Melanie in the role after dress rehearsal when realizing all her non-pre-taped appearances were cut after dress (including another “Tori” sketch, in which Melanie’s Tori Spelling talks about graduation), and they didn’t want her to get shut out of this season finale.
— Rob’s reaction after tasting the bad juice is really funny with him saying, among several things, “Juice is rancid” and “I throw up”.
— I like how this is now going in a completely different direction, with the employees traveling to Greece for better juice.
— Phil sounds like he’s doing a Greek version of his Ed McMahon impression. He even enters saying “Ha ha ha ha! YES!”, which is one of his catchphrases as Ed McMahon.
— Great meta turn with Mike complaining about being in a really idiotic sketch, Adam asking him “You can’t believe characters were brought back, eh?” (the latter of which probably echoes how the audience felt), and Rob promising never to do this sketch again.
— Now this has gotten even better with Lorne entering, doing the “You like-a da (insert thing here)” routine, and pointing to a sleeping Tim and saying “Shh, don’t wake Timmy.”
STARS: ****


SHMEE
youngster’s (CSR) magical bee (CHF) thwarts a burglary attempt

— This was cut after dress rehearsal in the Kirstie Alley episode from earlier this season.
— Funny theme song and title sequence.
— I love Rock’s little kid voice in this.
— I’ve always considered this to be a sister sketch to Phil’s Egg Man sketch from the Kathleen Turner-hosted episode in season 15, but apparently that sketch wasn’t written by the same person who wrote this one. Egg Man is admittedly better-written than this Shmee one, but I’m enjoying the intentionally low-budget silliness of this Shmee sketch anyway. There’s kind of a “So bad, it’s good” quality to this.
— Ellen’s line about how “I’m-a cook that bee; we gonna have us some bee puddin’!” cracked me up.
— Adam’s delivery of “Dat bee is bad news!” before bolting always cracks me up whenever I watch this sketch, and is my favorite part of this. It sounds like he was using the same voice he’d later use in the Captain Jim & Pedro sketches from next season.
— This overall sketch ends up being Rock’s final sketch as a cast member. At least it had him in a lead role, which he should be happy about, considering how often SNL has wasted him in forgettable small roles.
STARS: ***


DR. FRANKENSTEIN
(host) doesn’t get gist of Dr. Frankenstein’s (PHH) reanimation theory

— Boy, this is going NOWHERE once you realize the only joke of the sketch is Kline constantly saying he doesn’t follow what Phil is saying. That wasn’t even funny to me the first time Kline said it, yet they’re repeating it ad nauseam.
— Phil is giving it his all as always, but this sketch is D.O.A.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guests perform “Still Is Still Moving To Me”


CRIMINAL ENCOUNTER
by TOS- con (CHF) & victim (ROS) undergo mediation

— I love the tone and atmosphere of this.
— Farley’s listed-off bad excuses for committing his crime are making me laugh (e.g. “I had a lot of laundry to do that night”, “The cable was out”). I also like Tom Schiller’s host character calling out Farley on an inconsistency in his bad excuses (Schiller: “You told me you were an orphan!” Farley: “Well, there’s another reason.”)
— Rob is cracking me up with his detailing of how he’d love to stick an iron bar into Farley’s head and then twist it until his head pops off “like a champagne cork”.
— Strong performances from both Rob and Farley. I like how we’re seeing a much more serious, low-key side of Farley in this.
— The turn with Farley unexpectedly asking Rob for a dance is both hilarious and touching.
— Funny epilogue screen crawl at the end.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS
colleague (RBS) convinces Audience McGee that reruns are OK

— Oh, I love this. A unique deviation from the usual goodnights, with Audience McGee interrupting to ask what are SNL fans to do during SNL’s summer break.
— Great turn with Robert Smigel interjecting as another Audience McGee-like audience member. Considering this is Smigel’s final episode (and I believe he’s the writer of all of Audience McGee’s appearances), this is a great subtle sendoff to him.
— An overall inspired and very fun way to end the season. Anytime SNL does something special and meta for the final sketch of a season (or final goodnights of a season, in tonight’s case), I’m happy.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly solid season finale, though not quite as strong as I’d expect the finale of a big season like this to be. Still, we got some very good pieces tonight, including an epic lead-off sketch and a fun deviation during the goodnights. Kevin Kline was oddly invisible for a host, only appearing in three sketches all night (not including the monologue), one of them just being a small supporting role, and even in his own monologue, he barely did anything (which was the premise, I know, but still…). Makes me wonder if perhaps he had to do so much press for his movie Dave throughout this week that it left him little time for rehearsals, so SNL had to work around that by writing a lot of sketches that didn’t include him.

— As mentioned earlier, this ended up being the final episode for Chris Rock and occasional featured player (and regular writer) Robert Smigel, the latter obviously jumping ship to join his former SNL writing mate Conan O’Brien’s soon-to-start Late Night show. It’s a shame Chris Rock’s tenure wasn’t very successful, especially knowing the big fame he’d achieve post-SNL. His SNL tenure actually started off fairly hot early in his first season, and the urban humor he immediately brought to the show was a nice breath of fresh air from the complete absence of black representation during SNL’s late 80s era. Unfortunately, a few months into his first season, it started becoming obvious that the show was beginning to struggle to find ways to use him, a struggle that would sadly continue for the rest of his tenure. Despite that, he did have occasional hits, especially his Weekend Update commentaries as himself, in which we got to see early glimpses of the type of brilliant stand-up comedy that would go on to define his post-SNL career. There’s not much to say about Robert Smigel as a featured player, as he was only an occasional performer who didn’t make too big an impact onscreen. Despite that, he did display solid voice skills in his character work, and his short-lived recurring Hank Fielding “The Moron’s Perspective” commentaries on Weekend Update this season were always good. Smigel’s departure leaves far more of an impact in the writers’ room, where he was a very important part of the show for years. As a writer, he contributed greatly to the show and deserves credit for being partly responsible for the high quality of SNL’s writing in the late 80s and early 90s. His departure (as well as a few other solid veteran writers like Christine Zander and Bonnie & Terry Turner) hurts when you’re aware of how downhill SNL’s quality will go in the upcoming season 19.

— Season 18 as a whole was fantastic. In fact, in my early years as an SNL fan, this used to be my absolute favorite season. Some years later, that went away as I took on a more neutral standpoint by considering all of the 1986-1993 years to be equally my favorite. Then in more recent years, season 14 became my definitive favorite season (especially after covering it fairly recently in this SNL project). However, having now just reviewed the entire season 18, I’m reminded of why I used to be so big on it. While it still doesn’t dethrone season 14 as my definitive favorite, I have so much love for it. The many highs of this season were spectacular and very memorable, and there’s a good number of standout phenomenal episodes. It says something that in the first half of this season, the occasional absences of THREE of the most popular members of the repertory cast (Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, and Chris Farley) still didn’t hurt the season’s quality, nor did the mid-season full-out departure of Dana Carvey. And despite the fact that you can definitely see early glimpses of the type of juvenile humor that would unfortunately plague the next two seasons, the difference is that the writing of them was usually solid here. All-in-all, to me, this season is the peak of the early 90s era.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS (Note: These picks were hastily made off the top of my head and will naturally be missing some deserving sketches. I don’t have enough time to do full, thought-out “Best Of” picks for this whole season)

   


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Christina Applegate)
a mild step down


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1991-92)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 19 begins, with host Charles Barkley. After being spoiled by the long stretch of great seasons from 1986-1993 (probably the longest consecutive run SNL has ever had without a subpar season, though I would also make an argument for 1995-2002, which also happens to be the same amount of years as 86-93), I’m sure it will feel a little weird for me to enter the downhill slide that is season 19.

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May 8, 1993 – Christina Applegate / Midnight Oil (S18 E19)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Coffee Talk- alone & farklempt Linda takes calls on Mother’s Day

— A few minutes into this and I haven’t really been getting any real laughs, which is business as usual for me when watching these Coffee Talk sketches.
— Okay, I did like Linda Richman’s line just now about calling a half-Episcopalian half-Jewish person a “pissy-jew”.
— This is the first Linda Richman-hosted Coffee Talk sketch to feature no guests.
STARS: *½


MONOLOGUE
during her week in NYC, host visited malls instead of unique attractions

— A fairly lazy and one-joke premise. Christina is at least coming off likable, though.
— I do like the ending with her pointing out how the studio has the shape of a mall.
STARS: **


NERF CROTCH BAT
Nerf bats & missiles are OK for use with crotch, the pure stuff is not

— A priceless concept that’s being pulled off hilariously.
— As a 90s kid, this brings back a lot of childhood memories of the real Nerf commercials from this era. This spoof is perfectly capturing the look and feel of those commercials.
STARS: ****½


FOCUS ON BEAUTY II
Cher (host) loves Lori Davis’ (CHF) no-alcohol spray

— For some reason, the VERY early 90s-sounding music used as the Focus On Beauty II theme cracks me up.
— I have no familiarity with Lori Davis, but Farley’s performance as her is fantastic. This is just the first of two well-known Chris Farley performances in tonight’s episode. I’m sure you can guess what the other one is.
— When the ladies are asked if they use hairspray, I liked Melanie’s “I use it… but I hate it.”
— The ladies’ constant failure to understand simple things they’re learning from Farley’s Lori Davis is really funny.
— There’s the memorable part with Farley’s Lori Davis running her hands through her hair in fake slow-motion.
— Hartman’s now stealing the sketch with his very funny stilted, uncomfortable delivery as the scientist.
— I love the disappointed “No” from Phil Hymes (SNL’s lighting designer) when asked if there’s any alcohol in the sample that was sprayed in his mouth.
STARS: ****


SAN LUIS OBISPO EXPERIMENTAL THEATER
The Backwards Romance- the events in (PHH)’s play are anti-chronological

— A big audio glitch at the beginning, which causes us to not hear anything until shortly after Phil has started speaking.
— The bizarre premise of a backwards play, with all the action and dialogue being done in backwards order, is right up my alley.
— Phil’s interjections with him eagerly explaining various aspects of the play are cracking me up. I love his gleeful over-enthusiasm.
— Hmm, the sudden non-backwards ending of the play didn’t really work for me, nor did Phil’s explanation for it. I wanted the backwards stuff to go on further and continue getting more and more bizarre.
— Pretty good bit at the end with the preview of an upside-down murder mystery play.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Truganini”


WEEKEND UPDATE
ADS plays guitar & sings “I Love You Momma,” KEN also tries a few verses

— The graphics for Kevin’s Christian Right joke got screwed up really badly, causing the joke to make no sense and die with the audience.
— Adam gives us yet another charmingly goofy Update guitar song with silly lyrics. This song isn’t as well-remembered nowadays as his preceding two Update songs (The Turkey Song and Red-Hooded Sweatshirt), but I’ve still always liked this a lot. And the “I love you, maaaaaamaaaa” chorus is very catchy.
— A blooper happens during one part of Adam’s song, where he stops mid-lyric because he’s having a hard time reading that lyric off the cue-cards. This blooper is coming off more charming than unprofessional, though I find it odd that Adam wouldn’t already know the lyrics of this song by heart considering he (presumably) composed it himself.
— As always, I love Kevin’s participation during Adam’s song, especially him imitating Adam’s high-pitched singing whenever he says words that end with “ama”.
STARS: ***½


THE GAP
Kristy & Lucy help orient a new employee (host) at The Gap

 

— It’s fitting that this recurring sketch is appearing in a Christina Applegate-hosted episode, especially given the theme of her monologue earlier tonight.
— Feels a little weird seeing Farley playing his second drag role tonight.
— I liked David’s “Don’t play God, alright?” line to Christina.
— Rob’s Donut Hut character always cracks me up.
— Loved the part with David’s recalling of a phone conversation delivered entirely in Spanish.
STARS: ***½


MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER
motivational speaker Matt Foley (CHF) warns two teens about using drugs

— Oh, here we go, folks…
— When it’s mentioned that the cleaning lady found a bag of pot, I loved Christina’s only response being “She didn’t smoke it, did she?”
— Immediately, mere seconds after his entrance as Matt Foley, Farley is already killing me.
— So many memorable lines from Matt Foley throughout this. I’m especially partial to “Well, la-di-FRICKIN-da!”
— Now comes the classic turn where David and Christina begin visibly cracking up helplessly, David in particular. This is definitely one of the best and most famous examples of breaking on SNL. Supposedly, there’s an interview Christina did shortly after Farley’s death where she talks about this sketch at one point when being asked about working with Farley, and she mentions that at rehearsals, Farley was more toned-down in his Matt Foley performance and didn’t perform the character quite as over-the-top and high-energy until the live show, which would explain why David and Christina keep losing their composure.
— Farley is amazing to watch throughout this sketch. He’s also throwing in so many priceless touches into his characterization. His arm movements when miming running while saying “How can we get back on the right track?!?” is something that particularly always kills me in this.
— I love Phil’s slowburn facial reactions to the things Matt Foley yells in his face throughout this.
— The part with Matt Foley crashing through a breakaway table actually wasn’t in the script, nor did Farley’s scene partners expect it. It was added to the sketch before the live show in an attempt to make Farley’s scene partners crack up. The reactions you see from them when Farley crashes through the table are 100% genuine. David’s reaction is interesting: he initially leans forward in concern while covering his mouth in shock, apparently thinking Farley truly did crash through a real table and hurt himself, and then David cracks up when realizing it was just a gag. Even the usually-professional Julia Sweeney breaks a bit. Of all the non-Farley performers, Phil is the ONLY one who doesn’t break during that part, proving once again how amazing that man is.
— Great ending with the family fearfully gathered together in a circle, concluding an absolutely legendary Chris Farley sketch that is probably tied with Chippendales as his most defining SNL moment.
— Part of the reason this sketch worked so well is that it wasn’t all that common at the time for Farley to scream his way through sketches (yet), and thus, him doing it in this sketch came off fresh and somewhat unexpected. I’ve always believed that the strong reception this sketch received is what would unfortunately lead to SNL’s upcoming gradual over-reliance on Screaming Chris Farley Sketches the following two seasons.
STARS: *****


YOU BET YOUR LIFE
Bill Cosby (ADS) babbles his way through the game show

— Oh my god at Adam’s Bill Cosby… uh… impression.
— This has always been one of my favorite Stupid Adam Sandler Sketches. So many things about his Bill Cosby impression make absolutely no sense, including the coherency of his dialogue, but it’s hilarious to me. Adam is fun here at puling off gibberish sentences and making them seem perfectly normal.
— You can tell Tim is genuinely amused by Adam throughout this, as he keeps visibly stifling his laughter, which is starting to become a theme tonight.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “My Country”


HANGIN’ WITH MTV
G-Spot members (TIM) & (CSR) sing “All I Wanna Do Is Suck Your Big Toe”

 

— I’m loving the melody to this Big Toe song.
— The comedic lyrics are hilarious and well-written. Rock especially has some funny ones, like the “suck on my Tic Tac” one, him mentioning how he doesn’t mind a corn on a toe because he loves the “extra meat”, and his whole “this little piggy” bit.
— Rock taking his shirt off when getting REALLY into the song is hilarious. My god, is he skinny.
— The pre-taped foot clips shown during the song are adding to the humor.
STARS: ****½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


CASTING AGENCY
an actress (host) gets some worrying warnings just before an audition

— I’m loving Kevin’s increasingly disturbing descriptions of the people who Christina will be auditioning for. This is the type of sketch that I always refer to as a quintessential Kevin Nealon sketch. He always excels at this kind of humor and dialogue.
— Great ending, and I loved the frozen stare on Christina’s face as Kevin is walking her into the audition room.
STARS: ****½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Despite a slow, unpromising start with the cold opening and monologue, this ended up being a very strong and memorable episode, with a legendary centerpiece (Matt Foley) and a high number of really solid sketches surrounding it. I’ve always felt this is an episode that well-defines SNL’s early 90s era, and I think there are other people who share that same viewpoint.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Kirstie Alley)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 18 comes to an end, with host Kevin Kline. It’s also the end of the road for Chris Rock and occasional featured player Robert Smigel.

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April 17, 1993 – Kirstie Alley / Lenny Kravitz (S18 E18)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
SNL’s recurring characters sing “Fire Bad” for post-Rodney King unity

— Very fun concept of some of this era’s biggest recurring characters coming together in a We Are the World-esque unity song.
— I absolutely love the way the many different recurring characters are being incorporated into this, how their individual lyrics about unity pertain to their known traits, and how we’re seeing the characters paired off in twos.
— You can really see just from this cold opening what a fun and memorable era this is for recurring characters.
— For some odd reason, Rock’s Nat X is blatantly lip-syncing to a completely different voice. I have no idea why they’re doing that, but it always cracks me up whenever I watch this. In the live version I’m currently watching, you can kinda hear Rock’s real voice singing under the lip-synced voice. I believe that would later be muted out in reruns.
— Very interesting and fitting how Wayne and Franz are paired together, considering they’re two characters that can’t be performed regularly anymore after Dana Carvey’s departure. (That being said, Mike does later attempt a Garth-less Wayne sketch the following season, in a Melrose Place parody)
— I love Rob’s big solo as Richmeister.
— Very catchy song, especially the chorus.
— Great ending with Tim as himself lampshading the fact that he couldn’t participate in the musical number because he doesn’t have any recurring characters, then receiving compensation for that by getting to deliver his very first solo “Live from New York…” (which you can tell he was thrilled to do).
STARS: *****


MONOLOGUE
castmembers pretend to be host’s Cheers co-stars to make her feel better

— When mentioning how emotional it was recently taping the final episode of Cheers, Kirstie mentions losing her voice, which seems to be her explaining why her voice sounds so hoarse tonight. To be honest, her voice has always sounded kinda raspy to me, though.
— A fantastic callback/parody of Kirstie’s previous monologue, with the SNL cast now impersonating Kirstie’s Cheers co-stars, resulting in a gradually disillusioned Kirstie.
— Funny detail with Farley nailing George Wendt’s distinctive walk.
— Another funny detail is Phil’s dead-on imitation of Kelsey Grammer’s smile.
— Hilarious visual of Adam as Rhea Perlman.
STARS: *****


CHAMELEON XLE
Rerun from 11/14/92


LA CANTORIA
the overamorous Italians attend to vacationing Kirpatricks in hotel room

 

— Much like the monologue, this is another follow-up to a classic piece from Kirstie’s first episode. I like how this follow-up to the Italian Restaurant sketch is now taking place in a hotel.
— Last time they did this sketch, Dana Carvey played the leader of the Italian employees. Tonight, due to Dana’s departure, Rob’s character seems to have taken over as the leader. Rob’s doing a strong job in this role.
— Mike’s character looks completely different from how he looked in the first installment of this sketch. In the first installment, he didn’t wear a gray wig or glasses, instead just having his real hair greased back and wearing a fake tipped mustache.
— Rob seemed to mistakenly say “I come back” way too early, as he ends up staying for a good while after saying it, and then he later repeats the line right before he actually does leave.
— Like last time, the Italian employees’ perverted amorous actions towards Kirstie are a freakin’ riot, as are Kevin’s outraged reactions.
— Kevin happily singing to himself in Italian while eagerly disrobing when getting ready for his and Kirstie’s lovemaking is cracking me up.
— Hilarious entrance from Adam in a meat bikini.
— Great continuity with Kevin now recognizing the employees from the Italian restaurant.
STARS: *****


THE MONTEL WILLIAMS SHOW
audience member’s (host) comments fall flat

— Things seem to be looking up for the criminally-underused Tim Meadows lately, between his big role here, his getting to say “Live from New York…” earlier tonight, and his many co-starring roles in the preceding week’s Jason Alexander episode. IIRC, his sudden upswing in airtime doesn’t last, though.
— Ha, I like how Farley’s entrance receives a wolf-whistle from someone in the talk show audience.
— I cracked up at Rock’s delivery of “That’s like saying ‘I just ate my next door neighbor, but I don’t consider myself a cannibal’!”
— The main joke with Kirstie’s failed attempts at witty one-liners is only okay, but nothing special. The other aspects of this sketch are actually funnier to me.
— The subject matter of the Phil/Melanie/Farley portions of this talk show reminds me of a Ricki Lake sketch the show would later do in the Bob Newhart episode from season 20. I swear Farley even wears the exact same shirt in both sketches, except that in tonight’s sketch, he’s wearing a blazer over it.
— “The Jane Pratt Show”? They keep mentioning that throughout this sketch. It must’ve been a daytime talk show that, unlike The Montel Williams Show, went on to completely fall by the wayside, as I have absolutely no memory of it.
— This overall sketch started fizzling out for me towards the end.
STARS: **½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


BACKSTAGE
Zoraida annoys host by confusing Cheers with real life

— Something odd and funny I’ve always noticed about this sketch: at the beginning, as stage manager Joe Dicso is walking Kirstie backstage, you can see Farley initially following them, then making a startled face at the camera when he realizes he’s walked too far and isn’t supposed to be on camera, then he embarrassedly exits the shot in a hurry.

That has always looked like a genuine blooper to me, but I once read a theory that it may have been part of the script as a background joke, as perhaps the reason for Farley’s startled face and his exiting the shot in a hurry is because he spotted Zoraida and didn’t feel like dealing with her usual nonsense, so he quickly bolted. That is an amusing and plausible theory, but I feel like if that were part of the script, they would’ve made it more obvious and noticeable.
— (*groan*) This character again. At least they waited a pretty long time since Zoraida’s last appearance, which was in the Joe Pesci episode all the way back in October. Tonight ends up being the final full-fledged Zoraida sketch (not counting her appearance in next season’s So Long Farewell, a musical piece pairing together various recurring characters much like tonight’s cold opening). Ellen wanted to do a Zoraida sketch in next season’s Sally Field episode, but if you read Jay Mohr’s SNL book, you’ll know that Sally Field had a less-than-pleasant response to Ellen pitching that sketch to her.
— Oh, gee, what a surprise: Zoraida is confusing the host’s TV character for reality once again.
— Okay, I’m actually laughing at Zoraida going on about how her so-called stupid boyfriend makes love like “a big dumb, stupid animal”.
— Ha, when talking about how the Cheers actors are now going to be out of a job, I loved Zoraida’s line “That fat guy Norm, he’s around here all the time”, obviously referring to George Wendt’s many SNL cameos in this era.
— I like Kirstie getting sassy and actually standing up to Zoraida, unlike how most hosts blandly put up with her nonsense until eventually walking off in frustration.
— Overall, this was surprisingly one of the more tolerable Zoraida sketches. A decent way for the character to go out.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Are You Gonna Go My Way”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Nipsey Russell (CSR) recites a poem about the Rodney King verdict
Operaman sings about Marla Maples, Grateful Dead, Demi Moore, Rodney King

— This may be the earliest an Update commentary occurred during a Kevin Nealon-anchored Weekend Update. Kevin was only about a minute into tonight’s Update when he introduced the first guest.
— Rock’s overall Nipsey Russell commentary was merely okay. It did have a pretty fun atmosphere, though.
— Operaman’s overall commentary was solid as always, even if there weren’t as many noteworthy bits tonight as these Operaman commentaries usually have.
STARS: ***½


ORIGINALS
new employee at make-up counter (host) tends to customers (JUS) & (MEH)

— David’s little “You should model; I am serious” aside to Julia’s old lady character made me laugh.
— I liked David inhaling a bottle of tranquilizer makeup to calm himself down after getting worked up.
— A few minutes into this sketch and I’m now realizing that David has been providing my ONLY laughs so far.
— Okay, I got some laughs just now from Kirstie’s many backhanded comments to poor Melanie.
— Another chuckle during the Kirstie/Melanie scene, with Kirstie telling a walking-away Melanie that she can be a runway model, then saying “…at LaGuardia” under her breath.
STARS: **


BAD TASTE SKETCHES
disclaimers fail to warn viewers about sketches involving vomit

— A good laugh from how immediately after Phil’s warning that the scene we’re about to see doesn’t contain sex with animals or vomiting, the scene ends up being a trashy hillbilly scene that features exactly what Phil claimed we wouldn’t see.
— The sudden vomiting from increasingly unlikely people is cracking me up, especially when it happens with Phil. Sophomoric, yes, but I feel this material is being executed well, even if it can be seen as an unfortunate harbinger of the following two seasons being dominated by bad, tasteless, juvenile humor. At least this sketch is self-aware, though. Speaking of harbingers and the following two seasons, this sketch has always felt to me like a precursor to another sketch featuring a chain reaction of vomiting: the notorious Rookie Cop from season 20, a sketch that you might be surprised to learn that I actually… like. Yes, I fully admit it, at the risk of getting stones thrown at me. That sketch is very hard to defend, as it epitomizes some of season 20’s many problems, but I’ve just always found that particular sketch stupidly funny, and I like the ridiculous escalation in how complex and extensive the structure was, both in how it featured many different scenes involving various sets and how it utilized the entire cast one-by-one. Obviously, I’ll go into more detail when I eventually cover that episode.
— Getting back to this sketch, I enjoyed the ending with Adam and his pig wife.
STARS: ***½


CARRIAGE RIDE
Toonces chauffeurs disaster-bound 19th-century women (host) & (JUS)

— I like the format of this sketch, with the succession of happy news Kirstie and Julia reveal to each other being a future historical tragedy, with each reveal being accompanied by eerie foreshadowing music.
— Great sudden reveal of Toonces, in yet another inspired and random “cameo” from him at the end of a sketch. This ends up being Toonces’ final SNL appearance ever. It’s been fun covering all of his appearances over the last few seasons. I’ve always appreciated his sketches.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Always on the Run”


STOP THIS CRAZINESS!
Susan Powter’s (host) videos center around revenge against her ex-husband

— This was originally supposed to air in the Miranda Richardson episode from earlier this season, but got cut after dress rehearsal. In it, Richardson played the Susan Powter role.
— I kinda like the idea of the gradual tape-within-a-tape-within-a-tape reveals, but the sketch itself isn’t doing anything for me.
— Kirstie is fine in her performance, but I can’t help but wonder if Miranda Richardson pulled off this role better in her unseen dress rehearsal version of this.
— Farley and Melanie’s testimonials fell flat for me.
STARS: *½


WHILE THE CITY SWEEPS
by TOS- a variety show by & for janitors

— Very fun sudden turn after the last of the business personnel leaves, with the building’s night staff putting on a variety show for each other.
— Rob is absolutely fantastic in the lead role here. This film is always one of the first things that come to mind whenever I think of how underrated Rob’s SNL tenure is.
— Farley’s lip-syncing of a baritone Roll Out The Barrel is killing me.
— I love the emotional, melancholy ending after the variety show has concluded.
— Overall, Tom Schiller does it once again with yet another excellent film that was entertaining, charming, and had heart. This is one of my personal favorites of his Schiller Reels.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Another very solid Kirstie Alley-hosted episode, even if this one wasn’t as consistently strong as her first episode. Still, the highs of tonight’s episode were VERY high and memorable, especially within the first 15 minutes, which helped give the overall show a fun vibe, despite some things falling flat.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jason Alexander)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Christina Applegate