Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
NIGHTLINE
Ted Koppel (DAH) covers Michael Jackson’s (TIM) back injury
— Kinda surprised to see Darrell’s Ted Koppel two consecutive episodes, but I’m certainly not complaining, as his Koppel is always good for laughs, and this is probably the most quintessential appearance it would ever make.
— Absolutely priceless hearing Darrell say “Jacko on his backo” in that Ted Koppel voice.
— I love all the serious discussion using the ridiculous terms “Jacko” and “backo” in such a professional manner.
— Funny random gag with the accidental cutaway to the opening credits of Renegade when Tommy Mattola’s interview is supposed to begin.
— Koppel’s increasing desperation to hear other human beings say “Jacko on his backo” is fantastic.
— Very funny back-and-forths between Koppel and Michael Jackson. I especially like Koppel’s “Good, you’re halfway there” when finally getting MJ to refer to himself as “Jacko”.
STARS: ****½
MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about religion & boxing
— Funny opening line about being “the black guy” on In Living Color.
— Nice to see a stand-up monologue.
— Some good laughs from Grier’s boxing routine so far.
— I’m surprised this monologue is over already. I wanted this to go on longer.
STARS: ***½
THE ROCKY ROADS
(NAW), other Rocky Roads (WIF), (host), (TIM) moralize at school assembly
— God, I’ve always loved this particular sketch ever since I first saw it. I remember so many things about this sketch fondly.
— Will is playing such a hilariously cheesy Will Ferrell-esque character. I love it.
— The “Honky cracker” bit is great.
— A very funny brief falsetto singing voice from Grier.
— The corny Black White song is really catchy.
— Another catchy corny song right now, with the Freaky People number. I also love the use of freaky shadows behind the Rocky Roads members.
— Overall, while I know this sketch isn’t considered a classic or is even remembered by most SNL fans, I personally absolutely love every single thing about this sketch, and consider it to be very underrated.
— SNL would later bring this sketch back during Grier’s second hosting stint a season later. I have pretty much no memory of that second installment of this sketch, other than the fact that the character played by the no-longer-in-the-cast-in-season-22 Nancy Walls is replaced by both Molly Shannon AND season 22 newbie Ana Gasteyer. I’m eager to see if that installment of this sketch is as good as this first installment, though I don’t want to get my hopes up.
STARS: *****
TODAY
Bryant Gumbel’s (host) off-air persona is much more ethnic
— Priceless Bryant Gumbel voice from Grier.
— A hilarious and very memorable premise with Gumbel turning ghetto whenever the cameras are off. Grier is absolutely PERFECT for this sketch.
— I love Ghetto Gumbel’s line about Katie Couric’s Liz Taylor Scent perfume: “It smell more like Lawrence Taylor Scent.”
— Koechner is great as a corny Willard Scott.
— Grier is navigating this sketch FLAWLESSLY.
— Interestingly, Gumbel’s two “bitches” are played by the same extras who played Keith Richards’ two bimbos in the Cooking With Keith sketch in the Gabriel Byrne episode.
— Very funny hearing Koechner’s Willard Scott, in that corny voice, request some “bee-yatches”.
— An overall terrific sketch. Perfect.
STARS: *****
THREE WISE MEN
one of the Three Wise Men (host) gives baby Jesus some last-minute gifts
— A fairly funny and relatable twist on the traditional Three Wise Men story.
— Some laughs from the cheap gifts Grier’s Wise Man brings Baby Jesus, especially the “Chris” license plate, which Grier tells Joseph and Mary they can just draw a “t” on the end of it.
STARS: ***
WEEKEND UPDATE
Bill Clinton (DAH) likes The American President’s “dead First Lady” plot
Lenny The Lion (COQ) is a victim of the animal control system
— Interesting idea to have Darrell’s President Clinton appear on Update to give a movie review.
— A classic turn during Clinton’s The American President movie review, with him following up his mention of the president in the movie having a dead wife by saying “I. Love. This. Movie!”
— Darrell’s Clinton impression is slowly starting to develop into the version that everybody today is familiar with, especially the trademark laugh.
— We get the debut of Norm’s “Or so the Germans would have us believe” recurring gag, though he doesn’t do the camera staredown this time, which is a shame, as that’s part of what makes it funny.
— SNL writer and future cast member Colin Quinn debuts another new Update character, Lenny The Lion.
— This Lenny The Lion commentary is following the same structure and format of Colin’s Joe Blow commentary from earlier this season, though Colin’s using a different voice.
— I’m not liking this Lenny The Lion commentary quite as much as the previous Joe Blow one, but it’s still pretty funny and there are some decent lines here.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Tomorrow”
WAKE UP AND SMILE
TV fluffs (WIF) & (NAW) devolve when teleprompter breaks
— Ohho, here we go. The centerpiece of tonight’s episode, an all-time SNL classic, and one of my top 10 all-time favorite SNL sketches.
— When repeating the line “I understand you’ve got some cooking tips for us, Diane” over and over (due to a broken teleprompter), I like the little touch of how Will says that line with a different inflection each time.
— And so it begins, with the initially-subtle panicking of Will and Nancy due to the broken teleprompter.
— Hilarious part with Will’s notion “Someone should get a group together with guns to sweep out those ghettos. Wait, what?!?” and how it immediately gets cut off by a “Please stand by”-type screen.
— The gradually-increasing but still-slightly-controlled panicking from Will and Nancy is getting funnier and funnier, especially the growling sounds they keep making in between lines.
— Yesss! Now Will is starting to go full Crazy Will Ferrell, for one of the very first times in his SNL tenure.
— I LOVE the part where Will starts letting out an insane loud scream and how it immediately gets cut off by another “Please stand by”-type screen.
— The cheesy ads occasionally being shown are an amusing contrast to the craziness of the Wake Up And Smile mental breakdown.
— Haha, oh my god at how the first thing we see after the return from the Kerry And The Gang promo is a now-torn-apart Wake Up And Smile set with burning torches and a shirtless Will with a dark handprint on his chest.
— A wonderfully gruesome and legendary part with Will holding up the now-severed head of the weatherman while screaming “THE WEATHERMAN IS DEAD!”
— Aaaaaand there goes my absolute favorite part of this sketch: Will chomping like crazy on the severed tendons hanging out of the weatherman’s neck. MY GOD. SNL has probably never been more insane than this moment right here. I remember when I first saw this sketch ages ago during a Comedy Central rerun, that part with Will chomping on the neck tendons gave me what still holds up to this day as one of the hardest laughs that I have EVER gotten from SNL. I truly could not stop laughing at that part of this sketch during my first viewing.
— And thus ends an SNL masterpiece. An absolute must-see sketch. Also a great early display of the excellent absurdity that writer Adam McKay is capable of, especially whenever his sketches involve an unleashed and full-out crazed Will Ferrell.
STARS: *****
SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS does a 1995 year-in-review Hollywood Minute
— Spade returning to his roots with a traditional Hollywood Minute.
— Not the funniest Hollywood Minute installment I’ve ever seen, but this is still providing laughs so far.
— Spade’s dig at Heather Locklear’s acting skills is funny in retrospect, because didn’t he later end up dating her for a while at some point?
— Aaaaaaand there goes Spade’s notorious Eddie Murphy joke: “Look, children, it’s a falling star, make a wish”, which gets huge “Ohh!” laughter from the audience. Later in the same night, Eddie, furious over the fact that this joke was coming from his former show and the same show that wouldn’t even be on the air at this time in 1995 if he hadn’t saved it from cancellation back in 1980-81, would call up SNL and give Spade the chewing-out of his life over the phone. This whole incident is said to be one of the reasons for Eddie cutting all ties with SNL for two entire decades.
— Oh, there’s the Powder/Michael Stipe joke that I mentioned a few episode reviews ago. In the Spade In America from the Quentin Tarantino episode, Spade made a humorous little aside about Billy Corgan being the guy from Powder. And then tonight, Spade does a variation of that exact same joke, replacing Corgan with Michael Stipe. Pretty lazy.
— Haha, some really harsh slams from Spade tonight.
— I like Spade’s “They’re not all winners” ad-lib when one joke bombs with the audience.
STARS: ***
BLACK PEOPLE
a look at Stepin Fetchit Honeydew Wilkins’ (host) career
— Something about the lazy title “Black People” kinda makes me laugh, though something about it also has a shoddy season 20 feel to me. They really couldn’t come up with a better title for this fictional show than “Black People”?
— Interesting random casting of Spade, in a rare season 21 sketch appearance, as one of the band members.
— Grier’s knocking it out of the park once again tonight with yet another great character voice.
— Some really funny lyrics from Grier’s Honeydew Wilkins about the ridiculous things he’ll do anything for the amusement of white people.
— I love Grier’s horrible brief trumpet playing at the very end.
— Priceless line from Tim about Honeydew Wilkins being the first black man to be lynched by black people.
STARS: ****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Pure Massacre”
PERSPECTIVES
Dr. Emery Coleman’s (host) show fills a similar niche
— Our first Perspectives sketch of this season. Feels odd seeing a season 20 recurring sketch appearing in season 21, but I certainly welcome the return of this particular sketch.
— I love the clip of Grier’s very similar show, Viewpoints.
— Great gradual reveal that Viewpoints won an Emmy on every odd-numbered year since 1973, while Perspectives won on the even-numbered years in that same stretch.
— Hilarious 70s photo of Tim and Grier’s characters smiling big while having afros.
— Good ending line about how the next episode of Grier’s Viewpoints will just be a re-airing of this Perspectives episode.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fantastic episode. Just perfect in my eyes. Not only did everything in it manage to work for me, but most of the material was great and there were THREE sketches I gave a perfect five-star rating to, one of which is a legendary piece (Wake Up And Smile). And as expected, David Alan Grier was a perfect and expert host, and made me wish more SNL hosts were sketch comedy veterans like him.
— I’ve always felt that, between the preceding week’s very solid and fun Anthony Edwards episode and tonight’s perfect episode, this is the point where this season had fully taken off and, I’m guessing, finally put away any remaining fears from viewers that this new era wasn’t going to save SNL from cancellation.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Anthony Edwards)
a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Madeline Kahn hosts the Christmas episode
David Alan Grier was one of my favorite cast members on ILC, and I’d say he was the backbone of the show, so I was pleased at how easily his talents transferred to SNL. He has a real ease with the cast and the format of the show, and the writers clearly trusted him, as they only use one recurring sketch (one that easily suits him).
You sort of get the two versions of Will Ferrell in this episode. The one in the “funky” kids’ group (which was my favorite sketch in this episode – really great work from everyone, especially Grier) has the Culps vibe, and is generally the Ferrell I enjoy more. The one in Wake Up and Smile – shirtless, acting “surprised”, and screaming – is the Ferrell we have seen many, many, many, many times over the years, which unfortunately retroactively weakens this sketch a little compared to how good I remember it being the first time I saw it. One of the upsides, I suppose, of Nancy Walls being a one-season cast member is that her reactions in this still feel fresh all these years later – the horror and shame falling onto her as “the box” returns help make this as good as it is.
The Louis Armstrong takedown and the Three Wise Men sketches both rely on Grier but are also tightly written, so you get the best of both worlds. The Today Show sketch is probably the weakest of the bunch for me, mostly because I think it needed about a minute or so trimmed. Still, it’s fine.
The Lion commentary is the main one I remember from Colin Quinn. I preferred this to the first one – his delivery is stumbly, but the animal elements are cleverly woven into his gripes and there’s something funny about him complaining while wearing the silly, worn out costume. Hammond’s Clinton commentary was too long and one-note (which will go on to be an issue with this impression for…about 20 years), but had its moments. A fairly below average night for Norm in terms of jokes and delivery.
The Perspectives return is a classic, truly brilliant and understated, and it’s a relief to see Tim not having to do the “tough” roles that never suited him.
This was the first episode in a while where Spade’s piece felt unneeded, and, frankly, felt like he had a lot of bile to get out of his system. Moments like this and his weak 94-95 work are some of the main reasons many have a low opinion of his time on SNL.
I wonder if we’ve reached the point where they hit a budget limit for things like ads and the Fuzzy Memories. I didn’t really miss either of them this week.
This episode is fantastic. It was truly that final jolt to show you that the show was going to be okay…sure, they might have eventually went crazy with repeat recurring characters but if I had the choice between that and season 20, I think I know what I would want.
Wake Up and Smile is the key sketch for making this episode take off to another level but everything else is so solid or almost just as strong as that sketch.
I don’t remember the next episode as well but I do recall getting a kick out of the bizarre Wedding Vows sketch with Ferrell and Kahn.
My favorite part of Madeline’s episode is her monologue, but I was mostly just thrilled to see her hosting.
The Jacko on his Backo cold open makes me laugh hysterically every time I watch. It’s the dumbest, silliest brand of humor imaginable but it’s executed so well by Darrell here. Same with Celebrity Jeopardy — the category names alone are enough to get me rolling on the floor (“Current US Presidents,” “Words that end with AMBURGER”).
Always thought it was funny how upset Murphy got over this joke when he made similar jokes about Garrett Morris (and iirc, Chevy, although I can’t swear to that) back in his tenure.
What exactly was the slam on Eddie referring to? He would bounce back just fine with The Nutty Professor in 1996 and while his career had been largely listless of late, that had really been true since like 1989.
Probably Vampire in Brooklyn, which had come out to poor reviews and box office a month and a half earlier.
Can you imagine people seeing this just *months* after, like, the Paul Reiser episode? Damn.
Or Sanders?
Some Season 20 shows were rerun during this season. The John Travolta was shown the week after Elle Macpherson.
That’s VERY strange. You would think Lorne would’ve washed his hands of the previous season entirely, since the new show was totally different.
I mean, that would be like Ebersol rerunning a Doumanian episode, it was that big of a leap.
Also, I should mention Will absolutely needing the teleprompter was a major plot point in the original, scrapped version of “Anchorman” – Ron Burgundy misreading “I’m Ron Burgundy?” was part of a long, mostly cut joke that he couldn’t function without it.
“And I’m Ron Burgundy. Go fuck yourself, San Diego.”
How far in advance did viewers know the show was going to be radically different? There is a video on youtube where Jim is watching his audition while on a radio show. He says the “Shut up!” guy was used for promos for the new cast. Were these aired during the summer? Can anybody find a promo for the season premiere?
I remember watching this season and wondering who all these new people were, but I was also 9 so my memory is fuzzy.
I remember there was an newspaper article around July/August 1995 that said that Norm and Mark McKinney were confirmed to be returning for Season 21, but also that Farley/Sandler/Spade would be returning as well (I assume the decision to let Farley/Sandler go was made at the very last minute.) It also said that among that “Groundlings Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri” were likely to be new cast members.
This is a great episode – the only relative misfire was the “Three Wise Men”, but I supposed they needed something holiday-related in the show that week
From what I remember, they led up to the new season by airing The Best of 86-93 each week, along with commercials that featured individual members of the new cast promoting themselves in anticipation of the new season. That would be an interesting find if it happens to be on Youtube somewhere. Hell, I’d rather see those posted officially to the SNL Youtube page over anything they’ve posted from the current season.
That’s really interesting, about the glimpses of the new cast. I hope some of that video pops up someday.
I believe Sandler didn’t find out that he wasn’t coming back until August 95 which is pretty insane and shows you things were still a mess backstage. It’s amazing how they were able to set the ship straight rather quickly
Killer episode. Grier is absolutely at home on SNL.
I actually really love Lenny the Lion, probably my favourite of Colin’s commentaries. He was such a wobbly wheel as a performer with his mush mouth, but there was always a lot of intelligence to his writing and observations..
I wonder if Colin might have fared better as like a regular guest commentator on Update or as like a Spade in America type dude who had his own segment. I agree his biggest problem as Update anchor was just screwing up jokes with bad delivery, but delivery is arguably the most important aspect of an Update anchor.
I think Colin would have been better served if he’d gotten to just keep doing the features he did before Norm was fired – like the one where he was on the stage, reading news items and giving his opinion. I’ve always had a soft spot for Colin’s Update, because I prefer the bumbling and grouchiness to the smugbot persona or the cutie-pie we’d get with Fallon (and to a lesser degree Seth and Amy), but I’ve sometimes wondered if they should have tried, I don’t know, maybe Ana and Tim.
Ana Gasteyer and Chris Parnell auditioned for Update in Summer 2000. They did have chemistry from Groundlings and were often paired together in sketches as husband and wife or boyfriend and girlfriend.
Thanks. That’s interesting. I get why they went with Tina and Jimmy but I would have enjoyed those two on Update. Parnell never really found his niche on the show – not to the level he deserved. Still bothers me all these years later.
Man I wish DAG became a more regular host. At the time it kinda seemed like it when he hosted 2 seasons in a row. I guess today he’s probably not a big enough name anymore, but I always wanted to see him return again one day. Love the Maya Angelou sketches he did the following season. As much as I loved the Wayans and Jim Carrey on ILC, I think DAG was probably my favorite ILC cast member.
While DAG’s sitcom was canceled pretty early in the season by Fox, he was actually plugging “Jumanji”, which would come out the following week
I believe the Eddie dig was about Holy Man.
Holy Man came out in 1998.
Shows you how smart Spade is, that he knew three years in advance it would suck!
He was probably thinking of Holy Man because of the joke Spade made when he he hosted and did Hollywood Minute in 1998 during a Colin Quinn anchored Weekend Update. Spade was like “I’m a celebrity now so I can’t get away with saying mean things anymore… BUT HE CAN!” as a David Spade puppet pops up from behind the desk. At one point during the segment a picture of Eddie came on screen and Spade was like “Hey cmon, I’m not gonna go after Eddie, we’re good now! I will say he was good in Dr. Doolittle, there!” right before the David Spade puppet cuts in with “But did you see Holy Man? HOLY CRAP!”
You’re thinking of when Spade hosted in ’98. There’s a line “have you seen Holy Man!? Holy crap!”
A fantastic episode. Grier was a natural at hosting, and does a good job of meshing with the cast, and also integrating his style of comedy as well (a lot of the sketches here have a “In Living Color” vibe)…
“Wake up and Smile” is incredible. I consider it the point where Will Ferrell officially “arrives”…I love his increasing panicked delivery especially about the red car “make sure the poor people stay away from it…they’ve got swords” Just great and hilarious delivery. And then he goes full on crazy, it’s just excellent. And easily one of the most gruesome spectacles the show has ever done. Combine this with his cheesy, goofy character in “Rocky Roads”…and this is a fantastic episode for him. I think he cements himself here as a huge fixture of this cast going forward.
Rocky Roads is a great sketch, Jacko on his Backo is also really funny. Perspectives really works here too…everything in this episode is solid.
Now, for David Spade and that Eddie Murphy comment…yeah, it’s mean-spirited…but it surprises me how much Eddie took offense to it. I hate to say it…but Spade’s assessment was…accurate. Beverly Hills Cop 3 was weak, and Vampire in Brooklyn was a big flop…and he didn’t really make a good movie after that until like what?…Dream Girls? And he followed that with Norbit…ugh…I guess Nutty Professor was OK, and I don’t even know if we should count his success in voice acting roles (Mulan, Shrek, etc.) Anyway, Eddie Murphy is a fantastic and iconic comedian and everybody knows it and I don’t why he let stupid little David Spade get under his skin so much for this Hollywood Minute bit (which Spade did to just about everybody in the business). Oh well, I least we will FINALLY have Eddie return to the show. I’m super excited for that!
Anyway, sorry for the tangent there, but yes, a great episode that really reassured a lot of viewers that this cast was going to make it and the show was going to stick around for good.
You’re forgetting Bowfinger which came out way before Dreamgirls, and is an amazing Eddie Murphy performance, maybe the best of his career.
HIS STRENGTH BE IN ME!
Colin Quinn was on the Comedy Bang Bang podcast this week and mentioned that SNL tried to get David Alan Grier as a cast member after ILC ended- similar to how they got Mark after KITH finished. Though I guess he probably felt he already did his time as a sketch show guy so they got him as a host a few times instead. Too bad, probably would’ve been a great addition as he seemed to fit in seamlessly in the two times he hosted. Probably worked out better for Timmy though, and maybe explains why they brought him back last minute that summer after initially letting him go with the rest of the Farley/Sandler cast, maybe the original plan as the black guy in this “new cast” era.
Just rewatched the Spade In America segment from this episode and good goddam, there are some absolutely mean jokes. I don’t want to get all “things were better in the old days” but man oh man is it fun to see someone be absolutely ruthless. The infamous Eddie Murphy joke is maybe only seventh or eighth meanest joke here. Spade could dish out some howitzers.
Yea, Lorne got too worried about offending potential hosts at some point. Maybe the call from Eddie the day after this segment partly inspired that.
Tina Fey told some absolutely vicious jokes for a number of years (and this did not change even when a joke about very well-received host Garth Brooks supposedly caused him to never go back to the show). I’m not sure it was a mandate as much as this type of “fuck you, look how edgy I am ragging on celebrities” mindset faded in the mid/late ’00s.
Here’s my review of the musical performances
Tomorrow
— Gosh these guys are so young, yet they’re conducting themselves well on such a big stage. No jitters here and they’re coming off very crisp and confident.
— Strong vocal performance, and good balance in the sonic mix between vocals and instruments
— Especially impressed with the drummer, he’s really locked in here and delivering some monster riffs.
STARS: ***1/2
Pure Massacre
— Vocals are a bit lower in the mix this time, and a bit weaker
— Excellent job once again by the drummer
— Ooh, I liked that brief a capella bit, good execution by the lead singer there
— Solid job, albeit not quite as striking as the first song
STARS: ***
Vintage SNL this week.
This episode was good last night. I enjoyed the Rocky Roads, Wake Up and Smile and Black People. One of the all-time great SNL episodes.
It was also a great showcase for Nancy when she was in the cast. She appeared to have gotten more airtime than Cheri.
I forgot how awesome this episode was since I had it on VHS. I think it was in good taste that they skipped Spade In America since that included the “falling star” line that caused Eddie to boycott SNL until the 40th anniversary. Silverchair seems better now than when I was 16. My music tastes were different from most teenagers.
Not to turn this into an Eddie Murphy thread when there’s so much praise for DAG (and rightly so), but I have to agree that Spade wasn’t wrong.
Eddie shot out of the gate with 48 Hrs., Delirious, Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, The Golden Child, Beverly Hills Cop II, Raw, and Coming to America. He owned the decade. All of them were commercially and/or critically successful.
Entertainment Weekly later argued that 1989’s “Harlem Nights” was the beginning of his slump: a string of films which would under-perform and get poor reviews… Another 48 Hrs., Boomerang, Beverly Hills Cop III, Vampire in Brooklyn (the last two not yet released when the EW article came out, I think).
So as pointed out above, Spade was on-the-mark, and Eddie had done some mean bits about Garrett in the past. I think Eddie was particularly stung here since his career wasn’t doing well AND it must have felt like the new, cool kids were making fun of him (since it was Lorne and not Ebersol). Just my guess.
Honestly, his career has had long peaks and valleys ever since. Maybe Spade’s comment lit a fire, since the comeback started with 1996’s Nutty Professor and lasted for another 6 years (films like Mulan, Life, Bowfinger). The only total dud in that stretch seems to be the aforementioned “Holy Man.”
Then it was another few years of junk like “Daddy Day Care” until he got the Oscar nod for Dreamgirls, and he’s done pretty well ever since (Tower Heist, Dolemite) even if he’s lower profile to the point that I’ve never even heard of some of his films (like 2016’s “Mr. Church,” which didn’t even break $1 million at the box office).