Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
NBC’S CHRISTMAS SALUTE TO OUR BOSNIAN TROOPS
Jay Leno (DAH) & other celebrities perform for USA’s Bosnian troops
— After getting some brief samples of Darrell’s Leno voice earlier this season, we finally see him actually playing Leno.
— I liked Darrell-as-Leno’s “Some of these are apparently just for me” line after some of his jokes have gotten a tepid audience reaction.
— Jesus, Tim’s face looks hideous in drag. And where are his eyebrows?
— The debut of what would go on to be one of Molly’s most famous impressions: Courtney Love.
— Very funny Courtney Love impression from Molly, and after having recently sat through Hole’s unintelligible singing when covering the preceding season’s George Foreman episode, I’m enjoying Molly’s dead-on imitation of Love’s singing style.
— I’m loving Norm’s George Burns impression.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
host sings “Ain’t Got No Home” in soprano & frog voices
— Another variation of The [George] Carlin Line (“I did such a good job hosting (insert large number here) years ago that they couldn’t wait to have me back”), with Madeline mentioning that her last time hosting 18 years ago “seemed to go really well”.
— Some good laughs from Madeline detailing how she waited and waited for the phone call to host SNL again after her 1977 hosting stint.
— Uh, not sure at all what to say about Madeline’s “Ain’t Got No Home” number, except it feels like a waste of her talents. It’s also a stiff musical performance that not even the two front-and-center SNL Band members are adding much life to.
— Okay, Madeline changing her pitch to a froggy, gravelly voice made me laugh at first, but got old after a while.
STARS: **
GANGSTA BITCH BARBIE
Rerun from 10/7/95
BASKETBALL GAME
at a basketball game, Craig & Arianna do more unsanctioned cheering
— These characters officially become recurring.
— As sick as I know I’m eventually going to get of this soon-to-be-overused-and-grating sketch, I’m still finding these characters fairly fun and endearing in this second installment. And after the troubled preceding season, I understand the need for SNL to push big and energetic recurring characters like this.
— I loved the brief Shaft bit that the Cheerleaders did just now.
— The Ice, Ice Baby performance is really fun.
— Overall, I think I actually liked this even more than the first installment. Enjoy my goodwill towards these Cheerleaders characters while it lasts, folks, because this is probably as high as my praise is going to get (minus the installment with Jim Carrey).
STARS: ***½
JOHN-JOHN MACKEY’S STORM TRACKER ACCU-CAST
macho weatherman John-John Mackey (TIM) lets storms know who’s boss
— Tim continues to have a fantastic season. Here’s yet another great showcase for him that I’ve always loved.
— Great part about how John-John Mackey tells a storm “That’s right, bitch, now go make me a sandwich!”
STARS: ****
BIRD CLAWS
while in a giant bird’s talons, (DAK) & (host) lay blame for predicament
— Oh, I absolutely love this. Such a creative premise and a unique format, especially with all the dialogue consisting entirely of Madeline and Koechner sarcastically quoting something the other said before they ended up in this predicament.
— The constantly-changing sky scenery in the greenscreen background is distracting. Could SNL really not find one continuous shot of a sky?
— While lowbrow, I liked the “They can’t poop when they’re flying!” ending.
STARS: ****
LEG UP
Russian ballerina’s (host) culture gap is eventually bridged
— Yeah, I’m officially tired of seeing this recurring sketch.
— Still some funny zingers from Molly and Cheri, but tonight’s installment of this recurring sketch has such a meh feel compared to the first two installments.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Comedown”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Bronx-born St. Nicky (COQ) tells how he became Santa Claus
— I liked Norm’s “Probably gonna end up in Jersey with a meathook up my ass” ad-lib after his joke about Frank Sinatra.
— SNL writer Colin Quinn debuts his THIRD Update character in the last four episodes. Can somebody remind me again why SNL has yet to begin crediting Colin as a featured player at this point? Hell, he’s certainly been getting more consistent airtime than credited repertory player Jim Breuer, who, by the way, is completely absent in tonight’s episode. We’re only halfway through this season, and Jim has already been absent in TWO or THREE episodes so far. Jesus Christ.
— Some funny wiseguy lines from Colin’s St. Nicky, but this commentary has too much of a same-y feel to Colin’s earlier Update characters, and this particular character isn’t working for me as well as Joe Blow and Lenny The Lion.
— Unlike in the preceding episode, tonight’s “Or so the Germans would have us believe” joke is followed by Norm doing a camera staredown, which would go on to be a tradition for that running joke.
— Funny hearing Norm casually mention Dayton as part of a news story, since this is just a few episodes after the Stan Hooper sketch from the Laura Leighton episode, where Norm’s Hooper kept incredulously repeating the word “Dayton” throughout the sketch.
STARS: ****
ANTIQUE SHOP
Lucien & Fagin are bound by their antique shop’s 90-day return policy
— When Koechner’s Fop character pops in, you can hear only one sole audience member give him recognition applause.
— An interesting and very different use of these Fops characters compared to what we’re used to seeing from them.
— This Fops installment isn’t well-liked among SNL fans compared to the more traditional Fops appearances, but I’m enjoying this sketch and am still getting the usual laughs from Koechner and Mark’s performances.
— I like Madeline’s rant regarding the bad luck she wishes upon the Fops.
STARS: ***
FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
putting his head out of the car window
— Surprisingly, this is the first time Fuzzy Memories has appeared in quite a while. I had been under the impression that these Fuzzy Memories segments were a weekly thing this season.
SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS gives his wish list for 1996
— Good bit from Spade about women going into modeling just to get proof of their attractiveness.
— I got a pretty good laugh from Spade’s brief-but-relatable bit complaining about co-workers eagerly asking if he saw the previous night’s episode of Friends.
— The segment about overused expressions Spade hopes will go away in the upcoming year 1996 has some laughs, especially the meta Buh-bye bit.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Glycerine”
WEDDING VOWS
(WIF) & (host) express their love with clumsy, self-composed wedding vows
— So many hilarious lines in Will and Madeline’s wedding vows, especially the “good like wood” bit, Will’s diamond balls analogies, Madeline calling Will a “thing filled with goo”, and Madeline’s detailed spiel about “weird humpin’”.
— A great use of both Madeline and Will’s talents.
STARS: ****½
FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
responding to a family crisis
— Two Fuzzy Memories in one night?
OLD GLORY INSURANCE
— Another rerun tonight, this time from 11/18/95
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An average episode, with a hint of a meh vibe, especially for a Christmas episode from such a good season like this. The second half of this episode also had an off feel, with an unusual amount of filler segments and repeated fake ads. I also don’t like how Madeline Kahn’s talents felt kinda wasted in some sketches, though the Wedding Vows sketch made up for that.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (David Alan Grier)
a step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
We enter the year 1996, with host Christopher Walken