Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
CLINTON HELPS DOLE
Bill Clinton (DAH) offers multiple cabinet posts to Bob Dole (NOM)
— Interesting seeing Darrell’s Clinton in 1996 briefly bragging about avoiding impeachment. Remember that this is a little over a year before the Lewinsky scandal broke out.
— Ha, the debut of Will’s Janet Reno impression! I’m very surprised to see that here, as I had always thought that Will’s Reno impression didn’t debut until a certain famous sketch in the very next episode (you’ll probably figure out what the famous sketch in question is when I name the next episode’s host at the end of this review).
— Ah, that’s right, this was the Christmas season where Tickle Me Elmo was all the rage.
— The chaotic Michael Jackson scene at the end is pretty funny.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
host, musical guest, Penny Marshall [real] sing “I Got You Babe”
— Ha, did Norm write Rosie’s harsh O.J. joke?
— I was hoping Rosie would continue with the stand-up jokes, but the monologue instead turns into a musical. Normally, I’d be very iffy about a musical monologue, but I can let it slide tonight considering this is the Christmas show.
— A pretty funny backhanded comment from Rosie to Penny Marshall regarding the age difference between them.
STARS: ***
DARNETTE DISPOSABLE TOILETS
Darnette Disposable Toilets ensure a germ-free bathroom experience
— A very funny concept of a disposable toilet.
— Some laughs from all the complicated steps it takes to install the disposable toilet.
STARS: ***½
HICKORY FARMS
too-heavy real Spartan (host) joins Hickory Farms temps Craig & Arianna
— Unlike their last appearance, the Cheerleaders receive their usual recognition applause from the audience tonight.
— I like the unflattering dolls Rosie displays of Craig and Arianna.
— Earlier in this project, I thought I’d kinda hate most of the Cheerleaders sketches, but instead, I’ve been occasionally finding myself actually somewhat enjoying some of them. When their sketches involve actual storylines and don’t just consist of Craig and Arianna doing various cheers for five minutes with the host shoehorned into a brief 15-second walk-on, these sketches can actually be tolerable.
— Another very catchy famous song played at the end of a Cheerleaders sketch while they’re doing their “perfect cheer”, with tonight’s song being “Super Freak”.
STARS: ***
ST. MONICA CHRISTMAS CHOIR
Mary Katherine Gallagher steals choir soloist’s (musical guest) spotlight
— I see SNL’s breaking out all of their big characters for tonight’s Christmas show. In fact, IIRC, literally EVERY SINGLE SKETCH tonight is recurring. I kid you not, folks. Let’s see if that recollection of mine is correct as this episode goes along.
— I believe this is widely considered one of the more memorable Mary Katherine Gallagher installments, though I personally have never been too crazy about it. Hopefully, I’ll come around on it during tonight’s viewing.
— Rosie starts cracking up after MKG does her usual sniffing-hands-after-putting-them-under-armpits routine.
— Overall, this MKG installment was a little more enjoyable and fun than I found it in the past, but I still think it’s a little overrated.
STARS: ***
THE DELICIOUS DISH
Margaret Jo & Terry discuss gingerbread & talk about citrus with (host)
— Yep, the recurring character streak tonight continues.
— Like last time, some solid laughs from Ana and Molly’s mild-mannered excitement over so many mundane topics. These Delicious Dish sketches are not only amusing, but have a charm to them as well.
— For the first time ever, a Delicious Dish sketch has a guest.
— In the two Delicious Dish sketches that have aired so far, the two callers in both sketches have been played by Mark and Cheri. It’s funny to imagine that the characters Mark and Cheri are playing are the ONLY two listeners that the dull Delicious Dish show has, though I doubt that’s an intentional gag on SNL’s part.
STARS: ***½
TV FUNHOUSE
“Don We Now… Or Never” by RBS- The Ambiguously Gay Duo saves Santa
— If this counts as a recurring sketch, then yep, the recurring character streak tonight continues.
— Funny subversion with the title “Don We Now… Or Never”.
— I love the cop telling the mayor “Pay up , I win” after Ace and Gary reveal that neither of them have a wife.
— Funny visual of Ace and Gary’s penis-shaped car spurting out shots of flame.
— A particularly hilarious part with Ace and Gary getting into the “69” position to go into roll mode. You can hear some audience members going absolutely wild during that part.
STARS: ****
A CHRISTMAS GREETING FROM GOAT BOY
Goat Boy extends Christmas greetings by singing “Silent Night”
— Yep, the recurring character streak tonight continues.
— I’m glad they’re putting Goat Boy back into his original setting of singing songs, after how quickly tired I got of his Hey, Remember The 80s sketches.
— Ehh, this overall sketch didn’t turn out too funny. I think the Hey, Remember The 80s sketches burned me out permanently on Goat Boy’s one-note shtick.
STARS: **
WEEKEND UPDATE
Beavis & Butt-Head [real] report on the true meaning of Christmas
— We get a callback to Norm’s classic “Happy birthday, Jesus, hope ya like crap!” joke about Kenny G, only this time, it’s about Michael Bolton.
— Very interesting having a Beavis & Butthead interview on SNL. It’s going to be weird seeing animated characters in a live segment on SNL.
— The overall Beavis & Butthead segment was okay, but for some reason, their humor didn’t come off quite as funny as usual in SNL’s format. Not sure why.
— Another Update that ends with Norm genuinely being surprised that it’s time to wrap up Update.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “I Believe In You & Me”
NATIVITY SCENE
Rita Delvecchio faces off against Nativity scene rival (Penny Marshall)
— Yep, the recurring character streak tonight continues.
— As I said in the last installment of this sketch, I always enjoy the realism and slice-of-life aspect of these Rita Delvecchio sketches. I can picture this being a recurring sketch in the original SNL era in the 70s.
— Funny bit with Cheri’s Rita saying she had to dress up a G.I. Joe doll as a Black Jesus after the Black Jesus from her nativity scene display got stolen.
— I like the rivalry between Rita and her neighbor, played by Penny Marshall.
— Overall, one of the better installments of this recurring sketch.
STARS: ***½
RUSSELL & TATE
Russell & Tate kick butt for you at the Supreme Court with no money down
— Yep, the recurring character streak tonight continues.
— Considering Tracy’s extreme underutilization lately, it’s good to see him get a recurring character. That being said, this ends up being the final appearance of this sketch, IIRC.
— Tracy is particularly hilarious in tonight’s Russell & Tate installment. He’s cracking me the hell up throughout this.
— I like Mark’s sinister laugh at the end of his testimonial as Ted Turner.
STARS: ***½
THE LOCAL NEWS
Joe Blow welcomes recent widow (host) to his basement
— Yep, the recurring character streak tonight continues.
— I laughed at Joe Blow’s line “Killed in his own home… by a Pop Tart.”
— Like in the first installment of this sketch, the audience is very quiet, but I enjoy the realism of this sketch. I still prefer Joe Blow as a Weekend Update character, though.
— A funny ending with Rosie’s “Christmas gift” to Darrell’s Uncle Frank character.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest sings “I Go To The Rock”
GOODNIGHTS
host & castmembers say “good night” from Rockefeller Center skating rink
— Ice skating goodnights, for the first time since way back in season 2! These are always fun to watch.
— Stephen Colbert can be seen among the people skating (the last screencap above).
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent Christmas episode, but not particularly great. There weren’t any segments that I gave a rating over three-and-a-half stars to, aside from TV Funhouse. Most of the show just ranged from okay to pretty good. I did like the feel-good, fun, Christmas-y vibe to this episode, though, especially with the occasional sketch participation from Penny Marshall and Whitney Houston. Also, as I pointed out throughout the review, this episode was comprised ENTIRELY of recurring sketches (not counting the cold opening, although even that involved recurring impressions). I wonder if this has the distinction of being the only episode in SNL history that is 100% comprised of recurring sketches. The Danny DeVito-hosted Christmas episode from a few years later in season 25 comes very close, but there’s one then-original sketch at the end of that episode: the debut of Molly Shannon’s Sally “I’m 50!” O’Malley character, which eventually went on to become recurring anyway, so some might even argue that that episode also counts as being 100% comprised of recurring sketches.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Martin Short)
a step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
We enter the year 1997, with host Kevin Spacey
Yes, the entire show is recurring characters, but I think the Christmas vibe helps things along, and not all the characters were at the same level of recurring-ness.
One thing I enjoyed about this era’s recurring characters is that they were (sort of) likeable and the entire sketch wasn’t just built around them annoying people. Like I feel as if in the modern era, each Cheerleaders sketch would be them just showing up, introducing themselves, and being annoying.
At the time I thought that actually was what characters like the cheerleaders and MKG were based on. Now I see they were more varied, sometimes, but at the time it was difficult for me to tell. With that said, more effort was put into these sketches than much of the ’00s hellscape of recurring characters.
I remember being kinda surprised at the time Tracy didn’t end up a one-and-done cast member, during this season on average I don’t think ever appeared more than 1 or 2 times an episode, and most of the time in bits roles. I think it took a good 3-4 seasons for that to change for him. I guess it was after his “GET ME A SODA, BITCH!” sketch in whatever season that was, was what finally felt like his breakout moment.
Yeah, Tracy didn’t really get a chance to shine until Tim Meadows left.
Tracy had a gradual build, with key moments adding up by season. If the show couldn’t quite place his voice in 96-97 (despite strong performances in Perspectives and the Tiger Woods Biography later in the season), Tina Fey found a strong avenue for him the next season with The View sketches. By 98-99 he had Big Bernard (a classic) and the first Brian Fellow. 99-00 he scored with “Get Me A Soda, Bitch” and Woodrow. Then by 00-01 it was Lamont Bond and he was off and running as a major star in his own right. The trajectory of Tracy Morgan is truly fascinating because you get to see a raw, unpolished diamond find his voice in real time.
How sad that Whitney and Penny are gone ? They were both on to promote The Preacher’s Wife.
When Scott Wolf was on The Rosie O’Donnell Show the week he was to host SNL, he chided Rosie for breaking during the Mary Katherine sketch. She said it was because she could hear Penny laughing but she was hid behind the piano. It was a mainstay of the SNL Christmas
specials, which might be why it’s so popular.
I was always surprised Rosie never appeared again as TROS was also done in 30 Rock, but she said once she had a baby she couldn’t stay up that late anymore. Will and Cheri showed up as The Cheerleaders on her show during the Scope mouthwash fiasco.
Is the next episode the one with the Star Wars audition tapes? That’s one of my all-time favorite sketches!
And I am rather curious as to how you’re going to handle…ahem…the person who’s hosting…
This is a watchable enough episode, mostly just shaky at the beginning and the end. I really like the idea of cutting away to the actual TV show that was preempted, but the cold open was kind of a mess, and screamed having no confidence in either piece – for all the effort of the elaborate puppet put on the stage, the audience sure didn’t seem to have much reaction and the staging felt lackluster. And while I enjoy Colin Quinn’s sketches and thought the first Joe Blow Show was fine, this one was a weak mix of too many loud characters in a low-key setting.
Rosie was probably at her career peak around this time – she started to be tough to watch as her talk show went along, unfortunately. She comes across well here ( even if the best sketches weren’t up to her best in her first episode [that Sissy and the Tomboy sketch]), aided by the always wonderful Penny Marshall. I’m glad that they had a bumper with Penny and Rosie at the end – a sweet, generous touch.
Norm being baffled over the audience not laughing at his jokes can be amusing. The Frank Stallone joke at the end was a keeper.
My favorite of the recurring pieces for the night was Delicious Dish and Rita. Sometimes I am not fond of sketches that are so specific they end up alienating the audience, but the Rita sketches rarely if ever do – we may be looking at a very tiny window of a woman’s street, but we can still feel like we’re a part of what’s going on.
Loved the ice skating for the goodnights. I was kind of hoping Norm would be there, although I knew that was probably just another lost Christmas wish.
Yeah I was going to add this was the peak of Rosie’s popularity. Her talk show was a huge success and the media had named her the “queen of nice”. But yeah this was the period I found her the most annoying
During this period, Rosie’s show shot in Studio 8G (right next door). Late Night with Seth Meyers shoots there presently
A particularly random bit of trivia, but a few sources mention that Robert Iler, later to play AJ Soprano, is an extra in the Rita sketch.