Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
TRIAL REENACTMENT
TV re-enactment shows O.J. Simpson (TIM) obstructing justice on the stand
— Feels weird seeing an O.J. Trial sketch in 1996. Am I unknowingly watching a season 20 episode?
— Bailiff: “Do you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” O.J.: “I do.” Bailiff: “Seriously, do you?”
— Only one minute into this sketch, and this is ALREADY miles funnier than most of season 20’s O.J. Trial sketches. This sketch is tickling the hell out of me. This really puts into perspective how much SNL’s writing has improved since season 20.
— I like O.J. getting busted on making a fake bomb threat phone call.
— Interesting turn with this being revealed to just be a fantasy sequence from O.J. Network.
— I love Will’s particularly excited delivery of “Live from New York…” at the end of this.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
PHH tells how his career has allowed him to buy his family’s affection
— Phil’s opening line: “I just flew in from Hollywood, and boy, is my full-of-crap tired.”
— For obvious reasons, it’s bittersweet in retrospect seeing Phil talking so much about his children.
— Oh, no, and now he talks a bit about his wife, Brynn. Hoo, boy.
— A fairly funny turn with the sudden Michelob ad. I love Phil’s delivery of “That should cover the necklace!” Nice to see Phil still getting some good laughs out of material that’s not the funniest. This monologue is kind of a letdown compared to Phil’s epic monologue from his previous hosting stint.
STARS: ***
LUX 420SL
Cliff Robertson [real] introduces the Lux 420SL, the car for crazy people
— I love this era’s penchant for getting distinguished actors to play spokesmen for ridiculous fake ads. First Sam Waterston in Old Glory Insurance, and now Cliff Robertson in this ad.
— The car for crazy people is freakin’ priceless, and Will is perfect for this.
— I love the absurd trio of scientists who made the car, including Dr. Zaius.
— Lots of hilarious features of the car, especially the trunk space for 200 jars of urine.
— A very funny ending nonsensical jingle: “There’s a radio in my fingernail… CAR!”
STARS: *****
HOUSE OF CONGRESS
Kincaid welcomes Jesse Helms (DAH) & Ted Kennedy (PHH)
— I liked Ana’s Weekend Update commentary as Kincaid in the season premiere, but I’m not sure we needed to see her get spun-off into her own sketch.
— I like Darrell’s Jesse Helms asking Kincaid what kind of acid is she smoking.
— Kincaid’s endless pop culture references are still making me chuckle, but it’s very one-note and not good enough to carry an entire sketch.
— Weird seeing Phil’s Ted Kennedy being played so straight in this sketch. He’s usually given raunchy dialogue, but in this sketch, his dialogue is serious and Phil is playing him in a very dour manner.
— I spoke too soon about Phil’s Kennedy, as he now suddenly has a wild, pervy reaction to Kincaid showing the tattoo on her butt.
STARS: **
TV FUNHOUSE
by RBS- a Hanna-Barbera-like Michael Jackson goes gaga for a young boy
— I love this hilarious concept of a boy-crazy Michael Jackson starring in a 1960s Hanna Barbera-esque cartoon.
— The animation is a perfect imitation of Hanna Barbera’s style.
— A particularly funny part with MJ going through Hanna Barbera’s famous “excited dog” reactions when seeing a little boy at the press conference.
STARS: ****
TEXACO
Uncle Tom Texaco employee (TIM) enjoys being mistreated at work
— Some pretty good laughs from Tim proudly downplaying his poor treatment from Texaco.
— I love the goofy gleeful look on Tim’s face during his soft-shoe routine.
STARS: ***½
THANKSGIVING SONG AUDITIONS
Cinder Calhoun (ANG) & others seek NEA funding for Thanksgiving songs
— Darrell does a dead-on imitation of the singing style of typical country singers.
— Tracy’s reggae song is hilarious. I also love the cutaway to Phil’s frozen shocked face during it.
— This is a fun sketch, showing pretty much the entire cast each coming on one-by-one to audition with a different singing style.
— Hmm, we get the debut of Ana’s Cinder Calhoun character, which I’m surprised to see here, as I had always thought she was a Weekend Update-only character who didn’t debut until the following season.
— Funny number from Cinder Calhoun here.
— Tim’s raunchy R&B song is priceless, as is him humping the floor during his song.
STARS: ****
THE JOE PESCI SHOW
Frank Sinatra (PHH) & Michael Jackson (TIM)
— I’m kinda surprised they waited this long to have this recurring sketch make its first appearance of the season. I’m glad they’ve been cutting back on the frequency of this sketch’s appearances.
— A funny visual of Phil’s Sinatra making his entrance in his pajamas and an I.V.
— I love the brief moments of negative tension between Pesci and Sinatra, with Sinatra’s ruthless digs at Pesci. This is actually being played very realistically.
— For some reason, Tim seems to be speaking in a lower pitch than he usually speaks in when playing Michael Jackson.
— I like the ending with Pesci finally snapping at Sinatra and lunging towards him, only to get roughed up by Sinatra’s bodyguards.
STARS: ***½
WEEKEND UPDATE
Rodney Dangerfield [real] tells what it’s like to be 75 years old
— Not too great of an Update from Norm tonight so far. Kinda sad seeing him resort to prop comedy too, bringing out a giant wine glass for the punchline of a Boris Yeltsin joke (the second above screencap for this Weekend Update). Blah. However, he does lampshade the hackiness of that prop joke by ad-libbing “Like a joke from the old Dean Martin show.”
— Okay, Norm’s jokes are slowly getting better, though this Update still feels a bit below par for his standards.
— Rodney Dangerfield cameo!
— As expected, Rodney is slaying me with his trademark style of self-deprecating stand-up jokes.
— A particularly great joke from Rodney about how his lawyer is so good, Rodney was able to get a rape charge reduced to tailgating.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Swallowed”
THE GOSSIP SHOW
Julie Brown (CHO) dishes & compromises national security
— This sketch feels like it’s going over my head. Maybe I need to be familiar with the real show it’s spoofing to “get” it.
— I do like Phil’s harsh wishes for certain celebrities to get illnesses.
— Okay, this is slowly getting funnier with the random turn with Cheri’s Julie Brown giving out secretive nuclear arms info.
— Overall, a weird sketch and had an iffy start, but I did like the direction it eventually went in.
STARS: ***
BAND SHOT
going to commercial, TIM plays saxophone with SNL Band
ACTING WORKSHOP
Bobby Colsman manipulates fledgling actors attending his workshop
— The return of Phil’s great acting teacher character from the last episode Phil hosted.
— I love Phil’s brief interruptions throughout Molly and Will’s acting demonstration, giving them very random suggestions, such as telling Molly to act like her feet are on fire and telling both Molly and Will to change their characters to a southern whore and a bottle of Windex, respectively.
— Hmm, Mark playing a guy forced to face away from the camera while staring at a wall. There’s something strangely symbolic about that, considering Mark’s extreme underutilization this season.
— Phil’s Conrad Bain story is great.
— They’re really upping Phil’s character’s homoerotic predatory behavior towards Chris that was implied in the last installment of this sketch.
— Interesting turn with Molly telling off Phil’s character and putting him in his place, only for it to turn out to be an acting choice from Molly that Phil praises.
STARS: ****½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Insect Kin”
PACIFIC BRIGADE
WWII commander (PHH) tells his men they’re “not coming back” from mission
— Some good laughs from Phil already having knowledge of which soldiers won’t be coming back from the mission they’re being sent on.
— Some nice variations in how Phil is saying a succession of “no”s to each soldier asking if they’re coming back. I especially like the sing-songy “Nooooo” Phil delivers at one point.
— Phil telling Chris that Tracy is going to be the one to shoot him is very funny, as is Tracy humorously responding to that by telling Chris “I’m sorry, man.”
— A particularly great part with Phil detailing the torture that Will is going to suffer when captured by the enemy, especially him being given a foreign nickname that will translate to “He Who Begs For The Death That Will Not Come”.
— For a thin premise, this sketch is well-written and well-performed, and Phil is absolutely perfect for this material.
STARS: ****½
FROONGA
Froonga tumbling glassware game is one of many dangerous Grelco products
— I like the ridiculous concept of playing a Jenga-type game that replaces the wooden blocks with glassware.
— The dangerous toys mentioned in the many listed-off fake sponsors are providing some pretty good laughs. I want to say this is Jack Handey’s handiwork (no pun intended), as he’s the SNL master of fake sponsors, but the style of these particular sponsors feels different from Handey’s usual stuff.
— The dangerous toys being sponsored also feel like toys that Irwin Mainway would’ve displayed on Consumer Probe back in the day.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode. For some reason, I didn’t feel too crazy about the episode’s quality as I was watching it, probably due to the high expectations I had for a Phil Hartman-hosted episode, but when the episode ended, I found myself pretty satisfied with its overall quality. This episode had a few really strong highlights, and Phil did his usual masterful job, even though he wasn’t utilized as well as he was in his previous hosting stint. While watching him during the goodnights of tonight’s episode, I got a bit of a lump in my throat when realizing that this is the last time we’ll EVER be seeing him on SNL during his lifetime.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Robert Downey Jr.)
about the same
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
The last of five consecutive episodes hosted by a former cast member. This time, it’s Martin Short.
