Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN
Robert DeNiro (host) isn’t amused
— I’m sure this won’t quite live up to the outstanding first Letterman sketch from earlier this season, but it’s still nice to see this become recurring.
— Once again, Norm’s Letterman impression is killer.
— Tonight’s new Letterman catchphrase, “Ehhhh, you enjoying your shrimp?”, doesn’t hold a candle to the previous Letterman sketch’s classic catchphrase, “Uhhhhh, y-ya got any gum?”.
— Good to see the return of Alec’s spot-on and funny Robert DeNiro impression from the last time he hosted.
— Pretty weak Top 10 list from Alec’s DeNiro so far.
— Why did the Top 10 list end at #5? Shouldn’t Alec’s DeNiro have waited until the #1 entry of the list to say “Live from New York”, instead of saying it as the fifth entry?
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
host goes backstage to demonstrate how SNL is a wholesome, family show
— I love the banjo music randomly playing when Alec is going on about how what makes SNL important is the people who put the show together.
— Fun monologue with Alec going all around the studio to show the crew.
— A rare Don Pardo appearance! We also get a mention that it’s Don’s birthday.
— I like Alec’s “Don is very old” aside to the camera after the only thing Don Pardo responds to Alec’s questions with is “It’s Saturday Night Live!”
— Funny scene with Molly teaching Darrell how to read. The kiddie voice that Darrell is using sounds very similar to the voice he would later use for Jerry Mathers in the Pulp Fiction Screen Tests sketch in the following season.
— Another backstage sketch with Tim hugging Lorne, a charming running gag this season.
— A good laugh from the “Irish Need Not Apply” sign.
— Interesting seeing Alec getting dressed into a wig and costume while still speaking to the camera.
— After the brief bit with Tracy randomly acting like an army general, I love Alec telling the camera in a deadpan manner “I have no idea who that man is.”
— Alec is stumbly with some of his line deliveries here (and he literally stumbled off the home base stage by accident when walking off of it), but I’ll cut him some slack, as it must not be easy to navigate through such a busy monologue where he has to go all around the studio while talking to the camera the whole time.
— The sketch that Alec was shown getting dressed for turns out to be yet another Roxbury Guys sketch, a recurring sketch that I’m afraid my fair tolerance for may have slowly begun waning in the last one with Marin Short. Though it’s at least pretty fun how this monologue transitioned into the sketch. I guess I’ll review the Roxbury Guys sketch as a separate segment below.
STARS: ****½
THE ROXBURY GUYS
(host) is more successful with women than are his fellow Roxbury Guys
— We at least get a change of pace for these Roxbury Guys sketches, with Alec’s Roxbury Guy easily getting chicks. It’s still not doing much to stop my gradual slowburn towards this recurring sketch as a whole, though.
STARS: **½
DRESSING ROOM
musical guest’s advice brings Mary Katherine Gallagher out of her shell
— Cheri is dead-on as an overemotional, hysterical, adolescent fangirl.
— A nice premise with Mary Katherine Gallagher meeting Tina Turner.
— Tina: “I want you to feel deep inside yourself.” Mary Katherine Gallagher: “My grandmother says I’m not supposed to do that.”
— I love MKG getting really into her singing of “Private Dancer”, imitating Tina’s voice.
STARS: ***½
THE QUIET STORM
while on-air, Chris Garnett has turf war with station newscaster (host)
— I love the running gag with the increasingly urban-sounding black names Tim reads off during a report (e.g. Shaquanda, Tonjaniqua, etc.).
— Some laughs from Tim constantly interrupting Alec’s report with raunchy, smooth-voiced announcements.
— I love Tim’s character telling Alec, in his typical smooth R&B radio announcer voice, “If you don’t like it, you can kiss my black ass.”
— There’s something I find humorous about the fact that SNL made a recurring role out of Tracy’s silent, minor character in these Quiet Storm sketches, who’s only shown happily slow-dancing with his woman.
STARS: ***½
TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- Tom Snyder stalks Dolly Parton
— I love how Tom Snyder and Dolly Parton’s conversation is heard casually continuing even as Snyder is shown gradually becoming a creepy stalker towards Dolly through a passage of time.
— Funny cutaway to an underwear-clad Snyder sitting in a Dolly Parton shrine. Why is his foot in what appears to be a tissue box? (as seen in the second-to-last above screencap for this cartoon) Or do I not wanna know?
— I’ve been loving these fast-moving, gag-filled Fun With Real Audio cartoons of Smigel’s.
STARS: ****
THE GOSSIP SHOW
Julie Brown (CHO) publicizes co-workers’ dirty laundry
— Not sure this will work as a recurring sketch.
— They’re even having Alec play the same columnist (Rex Reed) that Phil Hartman played in the last installment of this sketch, and Alec is being given the same type of harsh dialogue towards celebrities.
— Good gag with Cheri’s audio getting cut off while she’s detailing a particularly dirty secret about the audio guy in her crew.
— This overall sketch isn’t working quite as well as the “Julie Brown gives out secretive nuclear arms info” premise from the first installment of this sketch earlier this season (which I now feel I underrated a bit in my review).
STARS: ***
WEEKEND UPDATE
Howard Stern [real] gives his opinion of SNL & shows Private Parts clip
— Another Update where Norm’s voice sounds unusually hoarse. I’ve noticed that it seems to happen every time he has played David Letterman earlier in the night. Is doing the Letterman voice a strain on Norm’s voice or something?
— A big guest appearance from Howard Stern.
— Interesting that Stern’s allowed to bluntly criticize SNL during this commentary, and declare Norm the only good thing about the show (a comment that receives applause from the audience).
— I’m getting a big laugh from Stern detailing his dark and tasteless rejected sketch about Elizabeth Taylor’s tumor.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “In Your Wildest Dreams”
LONG ISLAND GIRLS
Long Island phone sex operators are aroused by callers, not vice versa
— The third and final edition of this era’s series of accent-based phone sex line sketches.
— A good laugh from Cheri’s cramps bit.
— I feel the New York accents premise kinda pales in comparison to the funnier Australian and Michigan accents premises of the previous iterations of this sketch, but it’s still providing laughs.
— Ha, it figures that real-life New Yorker Colin Quinn would be cast in this particular sketch.
STARS: ***
SENTIMENTAL YARD SALE
at yard sale, couple (host) & (MOS) unloads sentimental items for pennies
— Hmm, I have no memory of this sketch from my previous viewings of this episode.
— A laugh from Alec still offering the wedding ring to Jim and Ana for a cheap price, after going on about the huge sentimental value it holds to him.
— This premise kinda feels like the reverse of the Sentimental Value Pawn Shop sketch that Phil Hartman did in the late 80s.
— Okay, this sketch is getting too repetitive and one-note, though it’s being very well-acted by Alec.
STARS: **½
WONG & OWENS, EX-PORN STARS
Don & Reggie discover that their new boss (host) was also a porn star
— Predictably, this sketch is taking the same turns that the first installment of this sketch from earlier this season did. It’s not working as well for me in a second sketch.
— We at least get a new turn with Alec also turning out be a former 1970s porn star. That’s still not making this sketch all that great, though.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Proud Mary”
BILL BRASKY’S FUNERAL
the drunk businessmen eulogize Bill Brasky at his funeral
— This sketch opens on a shot of the “McKay Funeral Home”, a self-reference from a certain SNL writer who pens these Bill Brasky sketches.
— Tonight’s heavy usage of recurring sketches continues. However, this is one sketch that I am always ecstatic to see.
— Feels a bit empty seeing this sketch without David Koechner, after I’ve gotten used to seeing him in these Bill Brasky sketches when recently reviewing the previous installments.
— A funeral is a very interesting out-of-the-ordinary setting for a Bill Brasky sketch.
— One line about Brasky that I particularly like: “He had dandruff the size of mice!”
— A big laugh from Alec’s random aside “I’m a convicted sex offender!”
— Another particularly great line about Brasky, as told by all three of the guys: “He hated Mexicans…” “…and he was half-Mexican…” “…and he hated irony.”
— Great ending with Brasky’s drink-holding hand bursting through his coffin, demanding a refill of his drink.
STARS: *****
RAIN
the miniseries features an as yet undramatized natural disaster
— At first, I thought this was a real NBC commercial that was left in the copy I’m reviewing of the live version of this episode, until I recognized Will. The NBC promo logo on the corner of the screen is part of what fooled me.
— A funny rain reveal, after such an overdramatic set-up to what the panic is about.
— A well-done and very funny parody of then-contemporary disaster movies.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
— Surprisingly, these goodnights air literally right after the Rain fake ad ends, with no commercial break in between. A huge rarity for SNL to go from the final sketch to the goodnights without cutting to commercial.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— I’m not too crazy about this episode as a whole. Actually, there were some strong and solid things, but I dunno, something about the overall show had a bit of a below-par feel for an Alec Baldwin-hosted episode. It was also awfully heavy on recurring sketches (Sentimental Yard Sale was literally the ONLY non-recurring sketch all night), which itself isn’t too big of a problem with me, as I’ve gotten used to season 22’s heavy reliance on recurring sketches, but the problem I have is that a lot of tonight’s installments of said recurring sketches were a step down from preceding installments (including the Letterman cold opening, even though it still worked).
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Chevy Chase)
a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Sting