Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
O.J. TODAY
Johnnie Cochran (TIM) uses the race card in closing arguments
— Right as this cold opening begins, the very first thing we see is new cast member Will Ferrell. I love that.
— The ridiculous O.J. Today title sequence is pretty funny.
— Tim’s Johnnie Cochran impression has really improved from the non-attempt at an impression he did of him in the preceding season.
— A hilarious visual of Cochran and his lawyer team in African garb.
— I like the brief shot of Mark’s Judge Ito shaking his head in disbelief over Cochran’s rant.
— Fantastic part with Cochran complaining about the prosecution playing “the evidence card”.
— I’m loving the increasing absurdity of Cochran’s speech.
— Tim’s performance is a riot. I’ve always looked at this cold opening as Tim’s attempt at proving his worth, considering he was originally one of the many cast members fired over the summer of 1995, before Lorne soon rehired him because SNL couldn’t find a new black guy and they needed someone to play O.J. Simpson. While I think it’s a very sad statement that the only reason Lorne brought Tim back is because SNL needed an O.J. (hey, Lorne, how about the fact that Tim is FUNNY and was one of the few cast members in season 20 who always put 100% in his performances?), Tim probably knew after his temporary firing that he needed to step it up. In this cold opening, he most certainly is stepping it up, and is knocking it out of the park. A great sign that, after five seasons in the cast, Tim is FINALLY going to have his breakout year this season.
— Overall, a solid way to kick off the new season.
STARS: ****
OPENING MONTAGE
— New montage.
— We get a new SNL logo for the first time since 1988.
— For the first time in 10 seasons, cast members’ names are displayed onscreen in each of their individual shots.
— The many new cast members joining tonight are Jim Breuer, Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, David Koechner, Cheri Oteri, and Nancy Walls.
— Molly Shannon has been promoted from featured player to repertory player.
— Though on the surface, this theme music seems brand new, it’s actually just a slower, jazzier version of season 20’s theme music, minus the beginning and the key change towards the end.
— Speaking of the slightly modified theme music, something about the combo of it and this opening montage has an elegant, classy feel that I really like.
MONOLOGUE
while introducing the new cast, host passionately kisses the females
— We have a new homebase stage, for the first time since way back in 1986. The 1986-1995 homebase isn’t completely gone, though; it was simply moved to the left of the studio, where it will be the musical guest stage for these next three seasons.
— I like how right out of the gate in this monologue, Mariel Hemingway addresses all the big changes made to SNL over the summer.
— Fun idea of Mariel going around backstage to introduce the new cast to us.
— I love the look on Mark’s face when Mariel passionately kisses Cheri Oteri on the lips.
— I feel bad during Jim Breuer’s brief intro, considering he ends up having practically nothing to do tonight in his first show. Even sadder, he’s shown in this monologue rehearsing lines off a script, even though this ends up being his final live appearance tonight, and all of his roles tonight are non-speaking bit parts. Years later, Jim would tell a funny story as a guest on a radio show, I believe (I can’t remember what show it was, but there is/was a YouTube video of Jim telling this story on that show) about how his dad, who traveled all the way to SNL tonight to see Jim’s debut, unhappily confronted Lorne backstage after the show because Jim was practically shut out of the episode.
— A bit of a questionable premise of Mariel passionately kissing each of the female cast members (I guess it’s parodying the famous Roseanne episode she appeared in, as well as other lesbian roles that I hear she’s played over the years), but it’s coming off pretty fun in its execution.
— I love the casual look on Tim’s face in the background during Mariel’s kissing of Molly. I also love how Mariel just casually says “Hi, Tim” when walking away from Molly.
— Mariel’s doing a very solid job navigating this busy monologue.
— Funny background gag of two female NBC pages fearfully running away after Mariel walks past them.
STARS: ***½
A.M. ALE
it lets you feel OK about getting an early-morning buzz
— Pretty funny concept.
— Catchy commercial jingle, especially the chorus.
— I’ve never been quite as crazy about this commercial as some other SNL fans are, but this is a funny, well-done, and nicely-filmed commercial, and a good inaugural one for this era.
STARS: ***½
GET OFF THE SHED!
Frank (WIF) dampens cookout mood by threatening his shed-climbing kids
— I think this sketch is replaced with the dress rehearsal version in reruns. I swear I remember seeing Will wear an apron in that version, which he doesn’t in this live version. (I don’t have enough time right now to dig up a rerun version of this sketch to do a side-by-side screencap comparision.)
— I love that the only cast members featured in this lead-off sketch are newbies.
— I’m getting big laughs from Will’s various sudden “GET OFF THE SHED!” outbursts and him always following that by seamlessly going right back to friendly conversations with the neighbors.
— Mariel’s “You smell good!” to Nancy Walls was certainly… random. Some SNL fans wonder if that was intended as a callback to the monologue, but I think it was just intended as a brief display of random humor. The silliness of it kinda works for me in the context of this sketch.
— Will’s threats to the kids are getting more and more funny and psychotic, such as “THERE’S GONNA BE A MEETING BETWEEN YOUR ASS AND THE PALM OF MY HAND!” and “I WILL PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE!”
— I like David Koechner and Nancy begging the kids to get off the shed when Will removes his belt and goes off-camera to confront the kids.
— A disappointingly weak ending with Mariel asking the kids to get off the fountain.
— Overall, what a way to introduce Will Ferrell’s style to us. I love that his first major role is as Will Ferrell-esque as a Will Ferrell role can get. A great sign of things to come from him.
STARS: ****
NIGHTLINE
Bob Dole (NOM) is bitter about Colin Powell’s (TIM) popularity
— A great choice of a celebrity impression to let newbie impressionist Darrell Hammond debut with. I love the Ted Koppel voice he’s using, as does the audience.
— Feels kinda odd seeing Darrell in his debut, knowing how very long we’re going to be seeing him in the cast. (Even just saying the words “newbie Darrell Hammond” feels weird.) For that same reason, I’m sure I will have that same odd feel when I reach Kenan Thompson’s first season.
— Interestingly enough, I think this is the first time we’re seeing Tim’s Colin Powell impression since Tim’s very first episode (in which he played Powell in one of Chris Rock’s Nat X sketches). At least they got rid of the unnecessary pudgy facial prosthetics he wore as Powell in that first appearance.
— Great to see the debut of Norm’s Bob Dole impression, which I’ve always been a huge fan of.
— Funny cutaways to Norm-as-Dole’s bitter facial expressions when Tim-as-Powell is going on and on.
— Great crack from Dole to Powell about how we “really kicked ass” in Vietnam.
— There’s a little greenness in Darrell’s delivery at times here, but otherwise, he’s nailing his first big sketch.
— Dole: “Prayer in school, Bob Dole’s for it. Balanced budget, Bob Dole’s for it. Vaginal sex, Bob Dole’s for it.”
— Koppel’s various interpretations of Dole’s offensive statements are made hilarious by the Koppel voice Darrell’s speaking in.
STARS: ****
LEG UP
Ann Miller (MOS), Debbie Reynolds (CHO), Elizabeth Berkley (host)
— A big audio gaffe with Don Pardo’s voice-over during the opening title sequence.
— Right out of the gate, I’m liking the way Cheri Oteri is carrying herself in her very first sketch appearance.
— Cheri’s Debbie Reynolds, regarding Mariel’s Elizabeth Berkley: “She’s so stunning, I’d like to shoot her in back of the head.”
— Fantastic chemistry between Molly and Cheri.
— I’m noticing some approval-seeking in Cheri’s performance, where she always delivers a funny line while looking directly at the studio audience in a way that she knows the audience will react. I do recall that being a habit of Cheri’s throughout her SNL tenure, and I can definitely see why that would annoy some people, but considering this is her first episode and first sketch, I find her looking-at-the-audience-for-approval thing forgivable and actually kind of charming in a weird way. We’ll see how long that goodwill of mine is going to last.
— Debbie Reynolds: “You’re looking at the lunch meat in a Gene Kelly/Donald O’Connor sandwich.”
— I love the “That’s a sore subject” part with Molly and Cheri.
— After having just gone through SNL’s early 90s era, in which female cast members were at their most underused, disrespected, and neglected, there’s a sight throughout this sketch that’s nothing short of incredible: SNL actually allowing female cast members to be funny, wild, and brash, something that was practically unheard of in season 20. An exciting sign that the Boys Club of the previous era is officially over and this new era is going to be a big change for female cast members.
STARS: ***½
WEEKEND UPDATE
NAW’s stories about the poor state of society make you shake your head
— Another noticeable format change in tonight’s season premiere: the tradition of the musical guest’s first performance airing before Weekend Update has been changed. For these next five seasons, the first musical performance will often be airing AFTER Update.
— Norm gets a new Update title sequence, which is randomly accompanied by the Friends theme song for tonight only.
— The new visual quality of this season is particularly noticeable during this Weekend Update. Even though this Update has the same anchorperson and same set as the preceding season, the overall look of Update is so different this season (side-by-side comparisons between last season’s Updates and this season’s Updates below).
— Interesting-seeming idea of a Head-Shaking News segment from Nancy Walls.
— Nancy’s segment started off a little slow, but it’s gotten funnier starting with the story about the abuse a swan suffered.
— Interesting meta ending to Nancy’s commentary, with her and Norm shaking their heads over this commentary being Nancy’s big spot on her first show.
— There’s Norm’s famous “Better Than Ezra” joke, one of my favorite Norm Update jokes of all time.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Run-Around”
GETTING OFF THE PHONE
(WIF) has trouble coming up with ways to help wife (host) end phone calls
— Will’s sudden “You on the phone again, bitch?!?” killed me.
— Now Will has an even funnier bad getting-off-the-phone excuse, with his hilarious Skeletor bit.
— Will’s performance is reminding me that when giving their thoughts on this season premiere, Entertainment Weekly voted Will “Most Annoying New Cast Member” for his work in both this sketch and Get Off The Shed. I also recall someone on an SNL messageboard telling a story a few years ago of how, when he watched this season premiere with his dad when it originally aired, his dad’s first comment after the episode ended was “I hate that new guy who yells all the time”, referring to Will. Haha, I love Will and I love his performances in both this sketch and Get Off The Shed, but I can see why his loud delivery in both of those sketches would be off-putting to some viewers at the time who weren’t used to him, considering this is coming right after a season in which Chris Farley screamed his way through practically every damn sketch. Those viewers were probably worried that we were getting more of the same with Will. To me, the difference between Will Ferrell Yelling Sketches (not just the ones from tonight’s episode, but ones throughout his SNL tenure) and season 20 Chris Farley Yelling Sketches is that the Ferrell ones usually have solid writing backing them up, usually giving Will very funny dialogue to yell, whereas the season 20 Farley Yelling Sketches usually suffered from very poor, one-note writing, and seemed to be just using his yelling as a lazy crutch. It also doesn’t help that Chris had become very one-note by that late stage of his SNL tenure, giving loud and over-the-top performances even in roles that didn’t call for it, whereas Will is a much more versatile performer who would play calm and restrained just as often as, if not more than, he would play loud roles.
— Reruns of this sketch would use the dress rehearsal version of at least some portions, if not the entire sketch. One of the most noticeable differences is that in the live version I’m watching, Will delivers the line “Hide this balloon of heroin up your rectum”, whereas in the rerun version, he delivers the line as “Hide this balloon of heroin up your ass”. I can’t decide which line is funnier, as they both slay me.
— I love the random “Oh, and I killed the dog” ending, accompanied by Will holding up a stuffed dog. The dress rehearsal version of this ending shown in reruns is slightly different, as it ends on a close-up of Mariel screaming in horror after the dead dog reveal, whereas the live version stays on a wide shot of her and Will as she does a slightly different scream of horror. I prefer the version with the close-up of her scream, because it cuts to that close-up immediately after Will holds up the dead dog, which I feel is funnier because it gives the brief visual of the dead dog a more humorously disturbing tone.
STARS: ****
SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS gives the Unabomber some advice about his image
— Oh, that’s right, David Spade is still in the cast. I actually started forgetting that by this point of tonight’s episode.
— After trying to get used to SO MANY new faces in the cast tonight, it feels odd seeing a familiar face in this solo piece. Strangely, I didn’t feel that way much during Norm’s Update earlier tonight. Maybe because Norm hasn’t been a cast veteran as long as Spade.
— After reviewing the last few preceding seasons, it feels kinda lonely seeing Spade in a show that has neither Chris Farley nor Adam Sandler in it anymore.
— Considering how stale Spade got in sketches in the preceding season, the idea to now exclude him from sketches and instead give him his own isolated segment as himself actually seems somewhat refreshing. This is creative and unique for SNL, because, excluding Weekend Update, I can’t think of any prior time in the show’s history where a cast member was given a regular weekly isolated segment as themselves, unless I’m forgetting something.
— Spade’s “You’re comin’ off gay” message to the Unabomber has not aged well.
— Spade gets in a dig at the fact that Prince was the originally-booked musical guest for this episode but flaked out on the show.
— Spade’s little impression of Prince was pretty dumb, but made me laugh a lot.
— Another pretty funny dig from Spade, this time regarding the WB Network.
— Spade, on how he tries to pick up chicks by telling them he’s the Unabomber: “Lately, it works better than saying I’m on Saturday Night Live, that’s for sure.”
— Overall, the homophobia towards the Unabomber’s look does not hold up, and this overall segment had David doing his usual shtick and he still seems to have some of that aloof “I don’t wanna be here” attitude that plagued his performances a year earlier in season 20, but I gotta say, his style actually came off kinda refreshing in this new Spade In America format and I saw some hints of that acerbic wit that I remember loving from him in his first few seasons. I got some laughs in this inaugural Spade In America installment, but there’s room for improvement, which I think we’ll get going forward.
STARS: **½
BIOGRAPHY
host tells how she almost didn’t get Central Park West part
— The idea of Central Park West having four guys play the main female character is priceless, as is the clip of that happening. I especially love the four guys’ sloppy attempts at speaking in unison.
— Several funny bizarre lines from the narrator, such as Darren Starr holding a conference in a cave outside of Mexico City.
— Another funny line from the narrator, this time regarding Central Park West’s secret decision to film the four guys in a dress without any film in the camera.
STARS: either ***½ or ****, I can’t decide yet
FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
dad’s reaction to a bully
— Looks like Jack Handey has replaced Deep Thoughts with a new recurring segment. Probably a necessary change, because, as much as I hate to say it, his Deep Thoughts seemed to be running a little out of steam in the preceding season.
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hook”
THE CHICKEN LADY SHOW
non-judgemental program features fetishists
— Kinda surreal seeing Mark’s Chicken Lady character from Kids In The Hall being brought to SNL. However, it’s very disappointing that they’re relegating this character to one of SNL’s biggest crutches: the public access TV show format. This idea is a waste of this character.
— I believe this is intended as a parody of The Robyn Byrd Show. Please don’t tell me that the last name Byrd is how SNL got the idea to have Chicken Lady host this show. If so, that is groanworthy.
— Will as a bearded infantilist is very funny.
— I like the occasional cutaways to a random silent man (played by new SNL writer Adam McKay) tied up in S&M gear.
— Overall, good performances from everyone, but this use of Chicken Lady was a misfire and paled badly in comparison to this character’s sketches on Kids In The Hall.
STARS: **
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid start to the new SNL era. Right from this first episode, you can see loads of potential for this era, and there was a much more refreshing, exciting feel than the troubled preceding season had. There were several strong sketches tonight, and only one real lowlight for me (The Chicken Lady Show). (I wasn’t too crazy about tonight’s Spade In America, but I see some potential there.) I also liked the little hints of absurd random humor thrown in during some portions the show (especially in the Biography sketch), which feels different from the humor of the preceding era.
— Aside from Jim Breuer, the new cast members were represented well, with each of them getting at least one moment in the spotlight (well, maybe not David Koechner, but he appeared throughout the show, at least). Will Ferrell, by far, was the newbie who ran away with tonight’s show. You can immediately sense his strong leadership skills, and most of my biggest laughs of the night were from him.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1994-95)
a big step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Chevy Chase