Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
WMUR 9 CNN DEBATE
debating GOP candidates trick themselves into endorsing Bill Clinton
ā A pretty good laugh from one of the candidates (played by Jim) being a random truck tire salesman.
ā I liked this premise better the first timeā¦ when it was done in a 1991 sketch with Kiefer Sutherland (Campaign ā92: The Race to Avoid Being the Guy Who Loses to Bush). Tonightās cold opening is such a blatant knock-off, and pales badly in comparison to the 1991 sketch.
ā I do love Timās Marvin The Martian-esque voice as Alan Keyes. Thatās one of the very few laughs Iām getting from this cold opening.
ā Nancyās rambly speech at the end did nothing for me nor the audience.
ā I think this is the first cold opening all season that Iāve given a negative review of.
STARS: **
OPENING MONTAGE
ā David Spade has been temporarily removed from the montage, even though heās still a cast member. We wonāt be seeing him appearing on the show these next few episodes. I recall hearing he was given time off from the show to film either a TV pilot or movie (I canāt remember which). This was back in the days where, if a cast member took time off from the show to film an outside project, they were temporarily removed from the opening montage, I assume for contractual reasons.
ā Don Pardo starts out this opening montage sounding kinda like his usual self, if a bit lower-key, but suddenly gets hoarse-sounding when he reaches the point of the montage where he announces the musical guest. And thenā¦ OH MY GOD, by the time he announces āLadies and gentlemen, Toooom Arrrnnooooold!ā, he sounds absolutely AWFUL. I recall an SNL fan (I believe itās fellow SNL reviewer and frequent commenter on this site, The Doc) once describing Donās voice in that part as sounding like an alien was about to burst out of his throat. Iāve never seen a more accurate description of that. Iām guessing Don is suffering from a cold, a theory thatās further backed up by what happens in the very next episode (youāll find out in my review of it).
MONOLOGUE
host repeats Golden Globes faux pas by carelessly insulting castmembers
ā A lame parody of Tomās controversial comment to Teri Hatcher at that yearās Golden Globes.
ā In passing, Tom mentions his ābeautiful new thin wifeā. Notice he made sure to put āthinā in there. Throwing shade at his ex Roseanne, I see. Maybe this is Tomās way of getting back at Roseanne for her endless āsmall penisā jokes about him when she hosted SNL in the preceding season.
ā The bit with Tomās inner thoughts is weak, especially the āBecause Iām Tom Arnold!ā punchline.
STARS: *Ā½
THE LIFE WE LEAD
news stories are presented in context of a soap opera
ā In Darrellās opening voice-over as the station manager, he introduces himself as Ian Roberts, which appears to be an inside reference, as thatās the name of an Upright Citizens Brigade performer.
ā A creative and fun premise, and itās being executed very well.
ā SNL would later do what I recall being an inferior knock-off of this sketch in season 38, in a sketch starring Vince Vaughn and Cecily Strong. Funny how tonightās episode had a sketch (the cold opening) that was a knock-off of a superior sketch from a few years earlier, and then a later episode would do a knock-off of a superior sketch from tonightās episode.
STARS: ****
BAKE SALE
Gail Lafferty (NAW) threatens ass kickings for perceived offenses
ā Between the preceding episodeās āMartha Freakinā Stewart!ā sketch and now this, SNL suddenly seems to be trying to establish Nancy Walls as a hardass.
ā Feels weird seeing so many non-cast members having a speaking role in this sketch.
ā As I mentioned in my review of the Church Lady potluck luncheon sketch from season 12, certain minor aspects of both that sketch and tonightās Bake Sale sketch remind me of each other, especially how both sketches feature a walk-on from the host playing a minister.
ā Overall, I was enjoying this sketch for the first few minutes, but it kinda fizzled out towards the end and got too one-note. The ending was also pretty weak. I much prefer the second installment of this sketch from later this season, in which Nancyās character gets into an EPIC catfight with Teri Hatcher.
STARS: **Ā½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs āCalifornia Loveā
WEEKEND UPDATE
a phone call from O.J. Simpson gets NOM up-to-date on search for killers
Joe Blow talks about some other things that make his life more difficult
ADS plays guitar & sings a song about his grandmother
ā Very random segment with Norm taking a phone call from O.J.
ā What the hell? Is that freakinā Darrell Hammond doing the voice of O.J. on the phone?!? Why?!? Has Tim suddenly become unavailable mid-show, for whatever reason?
ā A laugh or two from the O.J. phone call, but this segment is going on too long and too many parts are dragging.
ā A big laugh how after the O.J. phone call segment ends, Norm does one of his trademark O.J. jokes, which is immediately followed by the phone ringing again.
ā Seems a bit soon to bring back Joe Blow again, but I canāt complain.
ā A great opening spiel from Joe Blow about how his son got busted smoking pot and how that son is now serving time in his room while recovering from a black eye received during the arrest.
ā Why is Joe Blow needling Norm over a beer he wants them to have together? Is SNL forgetting that the last time Joe Blow appeared, he and Norm set a date for that beer: April 11th, a date that hasnāt even passed yet by this point.
ā First we get a Chris Farley cameo in the preceding episode, and now tonight, we get an Adam Sandler cameo. Iām assuming Adam is promoting Happy Gilmore, much like Chris promoting Black Sheep in the last episode. (Weird to think that those two movies came out in two consecutive weeks.) Also, I wonder if the decision to let Adam and Chris each cameo in an episode this season is Lorneās way of telling them āNo hard feelingsā after their recent firing.
ā As usual, a very catchy melody to Adamās Update guitar song.
ā During Adamās song, we get a joke about waxing grandmaās mustache, continuing Adamās weird comedy obsession with grandmas having beards.
ā Adamās song is fairly fun, but pales in comparison to some of his earlier Update songs. Iām not crazy about how a lot of the lyrics in tonightās song are just gibberish words.
STARS: ***Ā½
MIRACLES OF SCIENCE WITH PAUL DUNBAR
Braniacās (host) cranium size belies his smarts
ā Ohhhhh, boy. Here comes a notorious sketch that used to have a reputation as one of the all-time worst sketches in SNL history (I say āused toā because this sketch seems to have fallen into obscurity in more recent years).
ā Tom Arnold lookinā like a deformed Conehead.
ā Boy, Tomās performance in this is awful.
ā You can practically hear a pin drop in the studio during this sketch. The audience is fucking DEAD.
ā My god, the lousiness of this sketch has to be seen to be believed. This is painful to watch.
ā Not even the hand-stuck-in-pickle-jar reveal could get so much as a chuckle from me nor the audience.
ā Mercifully, the sketch is now over. Jesus Christ. This is indeed one of the worst SNL sketches Iāve ever seen. And hereās the thing: the right host couldāve done SOMETHING for this. The writing for this sketch had kind of a āso dumb, itās funnyā undertone that got completely lost due to Tomās terrible performance. A much more adept host couldāve possibly ran away with this sketchās āso dumb, itās funnyā potential. Hell, the next two male hosts coming up this season are John Goodman and Phil Hartman. Couldnāt SNL have saved this sketch for either of those two episodes? Imagine what Phil wouldāve done for this sketch.
STARS: *
MRS. KOGEN
naive (JMB) thinks her criminal son (COQ) is engaged in harmless pursuits
ā Jimās old lady character feels kinda like something that tonightās special guest Adam Sandler wouldāve done when he was a cast member. Maybe because Iām being reminded of that Looking After Grandma sketch that Adam once did with Chris Farley and Michael Keaton.
ā Will somebody please point Jim to the correct direction heās supposed to be looking in? Why is he delivering all of his lines to Tom while facing and staring DIRECTLY AT THE FUCKING CAMERA?
ā Normally, Iād be happy to see the underused Jim Breuer getting a showcase, but his hammy camera-mugging in this sketch is too much for me, and Iām not crazy about that Joe Pesci-esque voice heās using for this old lady character, either. And this sketch itself has been mostly doing nothing for me.
ā I did get a laugh from Jimās character claiming her son uses a bong for his asthma.
ā Nice to see Colin with a fairly big non-Weekend Update role for once. A sign that he will soon finally start receiving a featured player credit in the opening montage.
STARS: *Ā½
HOSPITAL
hospital orderly Gerald Tibbins prepares (host) for an appendectomy
ā (*sigh of relief*) Thank god we have the return of T-Bones to add some much-needed life to tonightās episode. After the last two sketches, I was almost starting to forget what itās like to actually LAUGH.
ā Kinda funny how not only is this the second sketch tonight to use that same hospital room set, but Tom and Tim are in opposite roles in both sketches, as a doctor and a patient.
ā Koechner slipping some Swabby mannerisms into his T-Bones character, with that ākerr kerr kerrā laugh heās doing.
ā Not too crazy about Tomās straight man performance here, though itās one of his more tolerable performances tonight by default (which still isnāt saying much).
ā What was with the awkward long pause when Tim came back in the room, as if somebody forgot a line? I so want to blame Tom, but I canāt say for sure.
ā As always, so many funny goofy lines from T-Bones throughout this sketch.
STARS: ****
FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
a woodpecker driving dad to suicide
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs āI Aināt Mad At Chaā
TREE SLICE DISPLAY
a tree slice both explains & embodies outlaw park rangerās (host) crusade
ā Am I supposed to be laughing at this sketch? Iām a minute-and-a-half into this, and I cannot find ANY discernible comedy. The audience apparently agrees with me, judging by the return of their deafening silence from the Miracles Of Science sketch.
ā I get the feeling thereās some well-written subtle absurdist humor in Tomās lines, but itās not coming through in his awful delivery, especially the way he keeps stumbling over his lines. Perhaps this is yet another sketch tonight that wouldāve worked better with a more adept host.
ā A cliched twist with Tom being exposed as an impostor and then jumping through the window as an escape. I liked that twist better in that Sam Kinison teacher sketch from season 12.
ā And now to make this sketchās twist even more cliched, we get a typical text crawl ending. (*sigh*) Next, please.
STARS: *
PETCHOW
the packaging of Hank Petchowās (WIF) rat poison is quite misleading
ā Odd that a new fake ad is debuting at the end of an episode. They must be airing this as emergency filler due to the show running either too long or too short.
ā I remember when I first saw this commercial back in the very early days of my SNL fandom, it was the first time I took notice of how great SNLās fake ads are at recreating the look of real commercials. I recall being very impressed by how visually accurate and authentic-looking this Petchow fake ad was, to the degree that, if I hadnāt paid attention to the comedic concept, Iād almost have mistaken this for a real ad.
ā This ad is great. So many funny little things all throughout this: Willās surname randomly being Petchow, the words ārat poisonā being written in VERY small letters on the bag, the fact that the rat poison bag inexplicably has a dogās face on the front of it just because Will loves his dog, the happy commercial jingle at the end suddenly saying the words ārat poisonā in a monotone voice, etc.
ā I also love the little part with Will trying to keep his dog from eating from the bowl of rat poison, saying āDown, boy, thatās not for youā while laughing into the camera. Another example of how Will always makes a great fake commercial pitchman.
STARS: ****Ā½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
ā Oof. Yep, this episode was just as bad as I had remembered. Things ALREADY got off to a rough start right out of the gate with a derivative cold opening and a very lame monologue, and, despite a few highlights here and there in the remainder of the show, the episode never fully took off, and it REALLY bottomed-out at a few points in the post-Update half with two absolutely laughless sketches that had me cringing over their unfunniness and dead feeling (Miracles Of Science and Tree Slice Display). By far the weakest episode of this season so far, in my eyes. The less said about Tom Arnoldās hosting performance, the better, except that I am so glad this is the last time heās ever hosted. How he got three hosting stints while far more deserving people only got one is beyond me.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF āBEST OFā MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Danny Aiello)
a big step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Elle MacPherson
The soap opera sketch was the only one I remembered (particularly the bit where Will and Nancy have to ad lib about their āson,ā the rebel) so Iām glad it holds up as well as it does.
I had to remind myself just how bad Pardo sounded via a recent episode of āThat Week in SNLā where they played the clip of itā¦to this day, the āAlienā comparison stands. Also, I think it was probably this episode where fans legitimately started to question just how much longer Pardo could hold out before retiring/keeling over; because after a āperformanceā like that, there had to have been some yellow flags being waved
Have no idea but I wonder if āBrainiacā was a Fred Wolf piece.
Next episode, Elle McPherson. Well we all know there is behind the scenes story with this one. Norm makes a new friend
āTree Slice Displayā really feels like a decent sketch that requires a certain delivery and the performer not messing up any lines. The fact that Tom immediately starts blowing it kills the entire thing dead ā I feel like Hartman would have nailed it as usual when he hosted.
Was this episode ever repeated in the 90-minute format? I was wondering if Brainiac got replaced, although they might have decided not to bother.
It ran in 2004 (or 05?) in the āAll Nightā time slot. My recorder failed to record. I think it was the only one I missed.
Bass guitarist Corney Mims claims Tupac Shakurās duet with Snoop Dogg for āGangsta Partyā fell through due to Snoop Doggās murder trial (āI Aināt Mad at Chaā replaces that song in the live show), while the pairing of āCalifornia Loveā and āSo Many Tearsā is a bridge covering a Dr. Dre-sized hole. In addition, Tupac missed the LA rehearsals and SNLās Thursday blocking session, which is why Tupac shouts a lot ā he doesnāt know what SNLās mic levels are, so he overcompensates on his delivery:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O2qo2nOVNE
At least Tupac has excuses for his musical performances. I think Arnoldās third hosting stint is a no-confidence show bordering on outright host rejection. I donāt interpret Arnoldās asking Tupac to hang out in the goodnights as a call-back to the monologue. If it is, he doesnāt sell that at ALL. Heās a talk show host in minute fourteen of his inexplicable A-list Hollywood acting run.
This has the air of a left-over season 20 episode.
Oh yeah. āBrainiacā is definitely a Season 20 sketch.
Thatās why I was wondering if it was a Fred Wolf piece
I remember being shocked at how bad this episode was when it first aired, because starting with the David Alan Grier episode, they were on a hot streak of shows that were all better than anything in season 20 or the end of season 19, and as a fan who had been disappointed by those recent seasons, I was glad to see SNL finally turning things around. The very next week had what I thought was one of the best episodes of the season with Elle McPherson and Sting, followed by the John Goodman episode, another strong show, so itās kind of odd that for one episode in the middle of all this they had not just a weak show, but a total disaster.
I feel like Iām being contrary, but I didnāt find this episode all that awful. There was a very strange, negative energy floating all over the 3 episodes before this, especially Baldwinās, and I think it sort of crystallizes here. Tom Arnold is generally an unpleasant figure in a central role ā as with Roseanne, they bring all their baggage with them when they host, and itās not fun to watch. Fortunately he is used properly for most of the night.
The two moments that register as big losers to me are the Brainiac sketch and the monologue. The monologue is just wretched ā Iād probably put it on an all time worst list. There was no need for the Golden Globes controversy to take up the entire monologue, and essentially just pop up as a reason for him to be horrible to cast members. If they wanted to punish him for bad behavior, this was certainly a way to do it, although it may have been his idea for all I know. As for Brainiac ā honestly I think this was a terrible idea for a sketch that ran over about 2 minutes (at most). The joke is obvious ā he should be a genius, but he isnāt. Thatās it. Thereās nothing beyond this one joke. Thereās absolutely nothing funny about blinding headaches and nose bleeds. I donāt think John Goodman could have made this work and even Phil Hartman would have hit a wall. Iād say only someone like Jerry Seinfeld could have pulled this material off ā if you took out the nose bleeds and migraines, anyway. Itās a very very Jerry Seinfeld premise. As Jerry was not host that week, it should have been junked or severely cut down.
The cold open is also poor, and strangely uninspired for this period, although I was happy Nancy got a solo LFNY, and Koechnerās Pat Buchanan is absolutely spot on.
The tree sketch is one that I do blame Arnold for ā his delivery was a mess, obscuring some fun lines. I was mostly curious as to why no cast were in that sketch beyond Fred Wolf. Considering we got four non-cast members in the Gail Lafferty sketch (I know Paula but who were the other three?) when a few men could have easily filled those spots, and we also got Colin in a sketch along with a rare Jim Breuer showcase, I wonder if much of the cast just wanted away from Arnold.
That phone call Norm did on Update almost felt like blatant audience trolling. It amused me, I will admit. Speaking of the audience, the weird hooting and laughing from one guy in the crowd was very distracting. I think even Sandler commented on it. The song did nothing for me, but itās nice he got to have something of a goodbye. I wonder if Norm was doing something offcamera as Sandler stopped to laugh at him at one point.
I seemed to like the Jim Breuer old lady sketch more than you did. I thought he was mostly just energetic rather than irritating in the role, and I thought the writing was sharp ā a very well-paced sketch with a solid ending, and nice understated work from Colin Quinn.
(indeed, I find myself considering Colin more of a cast member this season than Jim or Mark McKinneyā¦)
T-Bone felt very thrown together, but Koechner was a lot of fun here, and Iāll enjoy it while I can. Gail Lafferty is a guilty pleasure of mine ā Nancy was a little too shaky for this type of role, but the shakiness adds a certain unintended edge. The ending of her going to beat the hell out of the priest also amused me, even if it wasnāt executed well. The soap opera sketch is a clever idea executed just fine ā I may even include it as one of my favorite sketches of the season. I also liked that they actually did ape a real opening credits sequence of this era ā Young and the Restless.
Gonna agree with John, I never thought this episode was as bad as itās reputation, itās nothing special but I still thought most of it was okay. Only real duds for me were Brainiac and the tree slice sketch. Brainiac is so hard to watch, I could swear I remember Arnold sweating like crazy during it because of how much he knew it was flopped am I wrong on that or is that just how I chose to remember it ha! I recall kinda liking that Jim Breuer sketch, I remember Conan would always point out anytime Jim was on his show and would imitate his wife in one of his routines āWhy does your wife voice sound just like your Joe Pesci?ā haha I think thats just his go-to voice whenever he imitates any women in his act. I wish Colin did sketches more, he always played a pretty convincing street guy. āYeah ma, weāre all goinā campin.. for about 20-30 yearsā
Pretty sure Iāve heard McKay wrote that soap opera news sketch, which would make sense with naming some of the characters after his buddies from Chicago. Donāt Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh start making some uncredited appearances later in the year? I think that was McKay helping his buddies out when they first moved to New York and were still unknowns.
The soap opera sketch pretty much saved this episode (Tomās character: āAnd hereā¦areā¦tonightāsā¦scores!ā).
In an alternate reality, Tupac Shakur returns to SNL as a host and knocks it out of the park.
Agree, Pac would have been a way better host than Arnold. He was a legitimately strong actor, and had a ton of charisma/stage presence.
For whatever reason, I had to search out this episode ā not to watch but to confirm something. I saw it live when I was in college. I remembered the terrible Brainiac sketch. It was so bad, that I actually thought his nose was really bleeding from the pressure of that thing on his head. Like I didnāt think it was part of the skit, because there was nothing funny about it. I thought it just went from bad to worse and my roommate and I were in disbelief lol
āThere was a very strange, negative energy floating all over the 3 episodes before this, especially Baldwinās, and I think it sort of crystallizes here.ā -Comment by John, from above.
Iād be interested in knowing more about this, if by some chance John sees this. Itās an interesting insight and it caught my attention.
Random fact: Jim Breuerās character, the truck tire guy, actually was a candidate in the 1996 Republican primary. Morry Taylor is still the CEO of Titan International.
Hot take: obviously this episode is terrible and probably the worst of the season, but I really love the tree slice sketch. Obviously the material would be better served if a host like Hartman or even one of the male cast members was playing the park ranger, but I always loved the absurdity of it all. Gives me a similar vibe to āTales of Fraud and Malfeasance in Railroad Hiring Practicesā which was a true highlight of season 20.