Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
COLD OPENING
Wayne’s World- Wayne & Garth laud Bill Clinton with a top 10 list
— Mike Myers makes his return, after being on hiatus all season filming So I Married an Axe Murderer. And what better way to reinstate him into the show than with a Wayne’s World sketch?
— This actually ends up being the final Wayne’s World sketch while Dana and Mike were both in the cast together.
— Wayne breaks the news that Garth recently got pubes. Uh, wasn’t there ALREADY a Wayne’s World sketch where they made that announcement about Garth? (read here) I guess Mike’s been gone so long, he forgot he already used that pubes bit.
— When laughing in character, Dana’s glasses accidentally fly off and he then calls attention to it.
— As usual, lots of great comments during the Top 10 list, especially the remarks about Bill Clinton’s huge head, and the whole hope/intercourse bit.
— There’s the infamous Chelsea Clinton bit that would get SNL in trouble, forcing them to remove that portion of this cold opening in reruns with a VERY glaring edit. In that portion, Wayne and Garth basically talk about how “adolescence has thus far been unkind” to then-13-year-old Chelsea, then they predict that “under the right clinical condition”, she can possibly be a babe in waiting. Reportedly, Hillary Clinton got up in arms about those lines, publicly complaining that it was in poor taste for SNL to make those jokes about a minor.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
host sings “Johnny B. Goode” while NBC programming notes scroll by
— Tom proudly brings up the fact that his new show, The Jackie Thomas Show, premiered on ABC this week with incredible ratings. Feels weird to hear this in retrospect, because I have absolutely no memory of The Jackie Thomas Show, and I watched ABC fairly regularly in this era. (I was just a little kid back then, though, so maybe that’s why I have no recollection of The Jackie Thomas Show.) Those “incredible ratings” must not have lasted long.
— He mentions Gary Oldman was originally supposed to host this episode, but canceled for personal reasons (“He personally hates the show”, jokes Tom). I recall hearing that Oldman pulled out because a co-star of his convinced him not to host. I’m not 100% sure, but I think I heard the co-star in question was Malcolm McDowell, who was apparently still bitter over how bad his own SNL hosting experience was back in season 6. I guess nobody told him how much better SNL’s state now was in 1992.
— Boy, judging from the jokes here, it seems that even back in these days when he and Roseanne were still together, Tom knew their relationship wouldn’t last.
— The screen crawl promoting NBC’s Tuesday night line-up is kinda funny, but nothing great.
— I’m conflicted over the Johnny B. Goode performance, as I’m always a sucker for hearing that song, but I can’t say the same for hearing Tom Arnold sing. Plus, I can’t help but be reminded of SNL making fun of Tom singing that song in a less-than-stellar season 20 sketch pairing Tom Arnold and Madonna in a TV movie biopic.
— Awkward ending with the close-up of Tom not saying, singing, or doing anything, except just grinning into the camera.
STARS: **
SEX AND PEER PRESSURE AT VALLEY HIGH
gay teens in PBS afterschool special
— Third episode in a row with a gay-themed sketch. (The Michael Keaton episode had the Outweek sketch and the Sinbad episode had the Gloria Brigade sketch. We also have a lesbian Christmas party sketch coming up in the episode after this Tom Arnold one.) To me, this particular sketch is funny not because it’s a gay couple, but because of how this gay couple’s relationship is being presented in the same way as heterosexual relationships in typical dramatic after-school specials. This sketch is nailing all of the after-school special cliches.
— Nice to see David playing against type here. His crying outburst when returning home is particularly funny.
— Good mock-dramatic delivery from Julia of the line “I think I’d better leave you two… alone.”
— The fake programs that Phil lists off are providing pretty good laughs, especially “Nude Black Man Today” and “History of Police Brutality, hosted by Ice-T”.
STARS: ***
MCDONALD’S
Bill Clinton (PHH) explains Somalia by eating food at McDonald’s
— Fantastic use of Phil’s Clinton, and this would go on to be a very memorable sketch.
— Classic line with Clinton telling his secret service men “There’s gonna be a whole bunch of things we don’t tell Mrs. Clinton. Fast food is the least of our worries.”
— Very funny how Clinton is pigging out on patrons’ meals while he’s mid-conversation with them about serious issues. Every single time I watch this sketch, it never fails to make me very hungry. Another Clinton sketch that has the same effect on me is one of Darrell Hammond’s earliest Clinton appearances, in which he pigs out on various types of food in the middle of the night while calling up several people on the phone (even if that sketch is nowhere near as memorable as this Clinton At McDonalds sketch).
— I absolutely love how Clinton’s now using the patrons’ meals to demonstrate the dire situation in Somalia.
— Classic blooper right now where Phil has so much food in his mouth that he has to stop in the middle of his line because he can no longer speak, and after breaking a bit, he’s handed a drink by Rob in a fantastic ad-lib.
— Solid “Race you to the Pizza Hut!” ending.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “From Hank to Hendrix”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Roseanne Arnold [real] rails against assertiveness double standards
KEN would like to give harasser Bob Packwood a taste of his own medicine
Queen Shenequa’s review of The Bodyguard concerns deleted sex scenes
— That real-life clip of a Belgium emissary picking his nose at a conference and then eating the boogers… wow. If that Clinton At McDonald’s sketch gave me a huge appetite, this clip absolutely killed that appetite.
— A surprise Roseanne appearance.
— Roseanne’s double standards commentary wasn’t as strong as I was expecting, though there were some laughs. Kevin’s “Boy, what a bitch!” comment after she left was very funny, even if you could see it coming from a mile away. It was his delivery that sold it.
— Queen Shenequa’s last few appearances didn’t quite work for me, but I kinda like the idea of her doing a movie review in tonight’s commentary.
— Hmm, tonight’s overall Queen Shenequa commentary didn’t quite work for me either, though I did like the audience participation bit at the end regarding what women like to do after sex.
STARS: ***
BILL SWERSKI’S SUPER FANS
Super Fans visit Bob Swerski in the hospital; Dick Butkus cameo
— We get our first Super Fans sketch of the season.
— Nice change of scenery for this sketch.
— Very funny bit with Farley’s barbecue sauce IV and him using it on his food.
— Interesting use of a Dick Butkus cameo.
— Entertaining pre-taped sequence with Farley’s out-of-body experience.
STARS: ***½
DOGS
grunge band Dogs (ADS), (MIM), (ROS), (DAC), (RBS) performs a canine song
— A very unique change of pace to SNL’s format. They’re even using the musical guest stage for this performance.
— Great visual of Adam’s many nipples.
— This sketch is amazing so far. A fantastic, creative, and fun take-off of the grunge craze. SNL is going all out on this.
— So many great touches throughout this, and a lot of funny lyrics.
— I loved Rob’s “squeeze toy” music solo.
— I’ve always noticed that SNL Archives claims David has a part in this sketch as a spectator, but I never notice him any of the times I’ve seen this sketch. Where is he?
— Great ending with all of the band members humping a giant leg that’s brought onstage.
STARS: ****½
TALES FROM THE AMBULANCE
paperclip distributor (host) faces downsizing
— A variation of the Tales From the Barbecue sketches from the preceding season.
— The use of funny fake sponsors at the beginning makes me wonder if this is a Jack Handey sketch, and if so, does this mean he also wrote the Tales From the Barbecue sketches? Those sketches didn’t feel like Handey’s typical work to me.
— I like the absurdity of Rock actually stopping his ambulance vehicle in the middle of the road just to tell a story to David.
— Funny bit with Tom “accidentally” breaking the paperclip tray, thinking that solves his problem.
— The paperclip tale has a silliness that I like, but at the same time, parts of it are coming off kinda uninteresting.
— Funny ending with Rock and David.
STARS: **½
PORNO BUYERS’ SERVICE
Porno Buyers’ Service representative (ROS) is efficient but not discreet
— Funny line from Rob as the spokesman, regarding Tom: “This man has been here two hours. Two hours he could’ve spent at home… masturbating.”
— Rob as the spokesman is very funny throughout this whole sketch, especially his constantly embarrassing Tom.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Harvest Moon”
— Not included in my copy of this episode.
G.E.D. CLASS REUNION
high-school equivalency degree recipients attend 10-year class reunion
— Phil’s bitter lines during his intro speech are great.
— During his mention of his short-lived job working at an all-girls school, I liked Tom slipping in “Then I did some time” before quickly moving on.
— During Rob’s entrance, his skeevy grin alone has me cracking me up.
— The absurd brevity of Rob’s scene was funny.
— I love the dark turn this sketch has taken with Tim’s fast-paced rundown of which classmates are dead or missing. Excellent delivery from Tim.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode. For some reason, I always remember this episode as being a little on the “meh” side (Tom Arnold being the host may have something to do with that, though he turned out to not be too bad tonight), but then whenever I actually watch it, I usually find myself pretty satisfied with its quality. A lot of this episode stayed in just the “pretty good” range, but there were a few really strong pieces, including a forgotten gem (Dogs).
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Sinbad)
a mild step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Glenn Close hosts the Christmas episode