Tag: Jeff Goldblum

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May 17, 1997 – Jeff Goldblum / En Vogue (S22 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NIGHTLINE
Deep Blue’s chess win has made Ted Koppel (DAH) technophobic

— Mark’s Bill Gates voice gets me every time. These are probably the last laughs that Mark will ever get on SNL, considering tonight ends up being his final episode.
— I love Will-as-the-Unabomber’s line about preferring to mail his response to Bill Gates.
— I’m enjoying Darrell-as-Koppel’s paranoid, agitated attitude throughout this sketch, due to his fear of technology taking over mankind. A change of pace from Darrell’s usual portrayal of Koppel.
— A big laugh from the name graphic for Garry Kasparov billing him as “A big ass” as we see a pouting Chris Kattan as Kasparov.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
JMB does dinosaur impressions in hopes that host can get him a job

— Accurate and funny dinosaur sounds from Jim so far.
— Feels rare to see Jim getting the spotlight as himself.
— Heh, Jim is like a little kid in this monologue with his actions. I remember finding him a little annoying in this monologue during past viewings, but I’m more tolerant of it now, even if it’s still nothing particularly great.
STARS: ***


BIG BRAWN
Rerun from 9/28/96


TEACHER’S LAST DAY
Mary Katherine Gallagher finds a soulmate in teacher (host)

— As is inevitable with a lot of recurring characters, we now get Mary Katherine Gallagher doing a “recurring character is paired with a person with similar traits, played by the host” sketch.
— Much like with Steven Tyler in MKG’s last appearance, MKG licks Jeff Goldblum’s body, though it’s only his midsection she licks, whereas she licked Steven Tyler from toe to head. I mentioned in my review of that Steven Tyler sketch that Molly disclosed in, I think, the “Live From New York” book that the NBC censors warned her not to lick Steven Tyler during the sketch, but now I’m thinking that she may have actually been talking about Jeff Goldblum in tonight’s MKG sketch and I probably misremembered it as being Steven Tyler who she talked about. I don’t have my copy of “Live From New York” available, so I can’t check.
— A decent double pratfall from both MKG and Jeff.
— Overall, this MKG installment had its charm, but ehh, I felt a little lukewarm on this sketch (and I’m usually a little more tolerant of Mary Katherine Gallagher than some other SNL fans are). This installment just didn’t interest me all that much.
STARS: **½


SPACE, THE INFINITE FRONTIER WITH HARRY CARAY
Harry Caray (WIF) & astrophysicist (host)

— The debut of a Harry Caray-hosted talk show sketch. Tonight’s installment is by far the most famous installment of this sketch, and I believe is widely considered the definitive appearance of Will’s Harry Caray.
— So far, this is an improvement over the already-funny appearances that Will’s Caray made prior to this. I love how this appearance from Will’s Caray is really doubling-down on the absurd non-sequitur statements and questions.
— A classic part with Caray asking Jeff if he would eat the moon if it was made of barbecue spare ribs.
— Non-stop laughs throughout this. This sketch is an absolute riot and is indeed deserving of its high status among SNL fans.
— Great ending line from Caray, regarding trying to get the dead Albert Einstein to be his next guest.
STARS: *****


TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- talk show trash is taken to the dump

— Interesting format with Sally Jesse Raphael’s show being created from horse defecation and regurgitation.
— A laugh from the overexaggerated size difference between a heavyset female guest and Sally Jesse Raphael.
— This feels weird for a Fun With Real Audio cartoon, but I’m enjoying this biting satire of trashy daytime talk shows from this era.
— I love how SNL’s studio audience can be heard groaning “Ohhh!” when a pile of garbage transforms into Johnnie Cochran. And, boy, did the animators make Cochran’s face look goofy and unflattering in this cartoon.
STARS: ****


GOTH TALK
Circe & Azrael welcome dark musician Count Feedback (host)

— This sketch officially becomes recurring.
— The phone-ringing bit is pretty funny.
— Jeff surprisingly looks right at home in that goth make-up.

— Jim and his obnoxious friends suddenly crashing Jeff’s dark music video is pretty funny, but this doesn’t hold a candle to the memorable video that Rob Lowe did as “The Beholder” in the preceding installment of this sketch.
— Man, the audience has been pretty dead during this sketch.
— Overall, a step down from the first installment of this sketch, but still okay.
STARS: ***


WEEKEND UPDATE
breaking the chain of violence has aided Lenny The Lion’s personal growth
In Their Own Words- kids’ letters to Bill Clinton have anti-GOP spin

— Surprised to see a third Lenny The Lion commentary on Weekend Update. I thought he only did two Update commentaries, both of which I already covered. This isn’t my favorite Colin Quinn recurring character, but this character has its merits.
— Tonight’s overall Lenny The Lion commentary actually had a solid first half, being better than the usual commentaries from him, but trailed off towards the end and whimpered to a finish.
— Didn’t care for Norm’s “In Their Own Words” segment.
— Boy, this is surprisingly the first in quite a long time that we’ve gotten a “Marion Barry loves crack” joke from Norm.
— Wow, and speaking of Norm bringing back an old running joke, we now get a “Germans love David Hasselhoff” joke for the first time since way back in season 20. Norm’s breakin’ out all the classics for tonight’s season finale. I wonder if this made SNL fans at the time speculate that this is possibly Norm’s final episode.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Don’t Let Go”


KENNEDY KAPERS
Ted Kennedy (WIF) & relatives disgrace family name on game show

— I like the sudden gameshow reveal after such a serious beginning about the Kennedy family.
— Jim as William Kennedy Smith is good casting, as I do feel there’s somewhat of a resemblance between the two.
— Will’s Ted Kennedy impression is always worth some laughs.
— Some good tasteless humor with the running gag regarding Michael Kennedy’s preference for underage girls.
— Pretty funny speed round with the Kennedys trying to make JFK spin in his grave.
— An overall pretty fun gameshow sketch, but this didn’t feel as memorable as it should’ve been.
STARS: ***


LARRY KING’S NEWS & VIEWS
Larry King (NOM) gives even more News & Views

— Hell yeah! Glad to see this back.
— As always, I’m laughing non-stop at Norm-as-Larry-King’s random opinionated one-liners into the different cameras.
STARS: ****


RANT
Janet Blaum’s ineffective invective dooms her attempt at unionization

— That looks like the same workshop set that was previously used in that awful Pacemaker sketch that David Spade did in the Bob Saget episode from season 20.
— The return of Ana’s Janet Blaum character. I liked the first installment of this sketch, but I can tell that this will not work as a recurring sketch.
— Yeah, Ana’s comically bad insults aren’t as funny this time, though as always, Ana’s pulling it off really well, like a true pro.
— I do like Ana’s clumsy attempt to stand on a chair that has wheels under the legs.
— I also like the bit right now with Ana making a sloppily-written “Unon” sign. Aside from that and the aforementioned chair bit, everything in this sketch is just a copy-and-paste of the script from the first installment of this sketch.
— Like the last time they did the sketch, Ana’s rant is going on too long.
STARS: **


VIC OCASEK’S ROCK & ROLL FANTASY CAMP
Rock & Roll Fantasy Camp of Ric Ocasek’s cousin Vic (host) has has-beens

— I like the photos of campers with has-been rock stars. And in one of the photos, we get a Frank Sebastiano sighting (the heavyset, bearded, long-haired, biker-looking SNL writer), which is always a plus in my book. Speaking of Sebastiano, is tonight his final night in the SNL writing staff, or does he return next season?
— The campers’ excited testimonials are fairly funny.
STARS: ***


INTERVIEW
(host) interviews unduly-confident job applicant Jerry Steve Dave (TIM)

— Wow, where has Tim been tonight? He’s JUST NOW making his first appearance all night, in the final sketch of the season finale. You can hear one lone person in the audience applaud when Tim makes his entrance.
— Early on in this sketch, I can already tell this is going to be really good. Tim always excels at making silly characters like this work. Fantastic name for this particular character too: Jerry Steve Dave, the Magic Man.
— I love Jerry Steve Dave being under the impression that Napoleon conquered Japan.
— Jerry Steve Dave’s confident attitude when spouting his various clueless statements is great.
— When getting the hint that Jeff doesn’t want to hire him, I like Jerry Steve Dave saying “Did I happen to mention I have 101 Dalmatians on laserdisc?”, as if that would persuade Jeff.
STARS: ****


LARRY KING’S NEWS & VIEWS
Larry King (NOM) voices still more News & Views

— And here we have our final segment of the season.
— This is tickling the hell out of me as always. Even when some of the one-liners aren’t inherently funny, they’re sold by Norm-as-Larry-King’s delivery and the tight close-ups of his face during them.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

— Former SNL writer Marilyn Suzanne Miller is credited as a guest writer in this episode, billed as “Marilyn Miller” (as seen in the last screencap above). Whatever she wrote must’ve been cut after dress rehearsal, because none of the sketches that aired in this episode match her recognizable style. Or is Marilyn Miller a different person from Marilyn Suzanne Miller?

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An average season finale. Kinda disappointing that the season ended on an unexciting note, but I can’t complain too much, as I still liked a good number of things in this episode and there were a few great high points, mainly Space The Infinite Frontier and Jerry Steve Dave. I feel like I’m not going to remember much from this episode as time passes, though.

— Season 22 as a whole was a little better than what I was expecting. I came into this season with a little bit of dread, as I had remembered this season for being practically “all recurring characters, all the time” and for heavily toning down the number of absurdist, oddball sketches that season 21 wonderfully leaned into. While I still turned out to be right about those two things to an extent, I ended up finding this season more palatable than I was expecting. This was just an average season, but it was a pleasantly average one, where most of the episodes had a comfortable consistency to them. While I didn’t find too many stand-out classic sketches within a lot of the individual episodes, there was a refreshingly low number of truly bad sketches. One thing about this season that was an upgrade from season 21 was the addition of TV Funhouse, which has brought a fresh new aspect to SNL and has been very reliable for the most part, usually being one of the biggest highlights of the individual episodes they’ve appeared in. Another positive asset to this season was the Distinguished Alumni series, which was five consecutive episodes hosted by former cast members, an experiment that was very fun and made me wish that SNL would do more variations of that idea.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Goodman)
a mild step down


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS (Note: These picks were hastily made off the top of my head and will naturally be missing some deserving sketches. I don’t have enough time to do full, thought-out “Best Of” picks for this whole season)


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1995-96)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 23 begins, with host Sylvester Stallone

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October 9, 1993 – Jeff Goldblum / Aerosmith (S19 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
musical guest & other artists sing to protest Michael Jordan’s retirement

— These We Are the World-esque sketches this era does are always a winner.
— There’s something I like about the fact that this era’s We Are the World-esque sketches never display a name graphic revealing which singer each cast member is playing. It’s fun to instead try to guess which singer they’re playing.
— I like how each singer is singing a modified version of a hit song of theirs.
— Mike and new SNL writer Norm Macdonald are really fun as The Proclaimers.
— Ellen as Dr. Dre?!? That is giving me a weird laugh, though.
— Adam’s Eddie Vedder is spot-on and very funny.
— New SNL writers Jay Mohr and Sarah Silverman (both making their very first onscreen SNL appearance) appear in this as Billy Idol and Natalie Merchant, respectively, but have no actual lines and are presumably just there to make the group of singers look more complete.
STARS: ****½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Writers Norm Macdonald and Jay Mohr have officially been added to the cast as featured players.


MONOLOGUE
Laura Dern [real] & other audience members think Jurassic Park was real

— Uh-oh, here comes the first of WAY too many questions-from-the-audience monologues this season, where audience members all ask the same question as each other.
— Jim Downey’s question is making me laugh, mostly because of his delivery.
— After Downey’s bit, Norm also made me laugh with his delivery.
— I like Jeff initially responding to Laura Dern’s idiotic question with a dumbfounded long silent pause, then deciding to play along by giving her a false answer.
— Overall, considering this is only the first “audience members take turns asking the same dumb question” monologue this season, this came off kinda charming and fairly fun. Unfortunately, I’m aware of how quickly tired and frustrating this type of monologue will increasingly become over the course of this season.
STARS: ***


NERF CROTCH BAT
— Rerun from 5/8/93


SUBWAY MUSICIAN
subway musician’s (ROS) lyrics contradict what he says while not playing

— A pretty good laugh from Rob denying claims that he’s accepting money from passersby, by explaining he just so happens to keep his change in his open guitar case.
— I love Rob’s ridiculous deep singing voice. Sounds very different from his normal speaking voice.
— Very funny escalation to this, with Rob constantly following up his claims that he’s not a beggar by singing increasingly specific lyrics that make it seem like he wants Jeff to give him money. I’m also getting good laughs from Rob’s various justifications for why he’s singing those kinds of lyrics.
— I really like the ending with Rob’s violent lyrics towards fellow subway musician Adam.
STARS: ****


WAVE STARTER
at a baseball game, wave-starter (host) feels fans don’t appreciate him

— A simple premise, but Jeff is selling this role well and is making the sketch work.
— Funny reactions from Phil to the inane things Jeff is telling him.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Cryin'”


WEEKEND UPDATE
ELC suggests she could find Aidid- foreign men are attracted to her
NOM figures that the worst thing about going to prison is anal rape

— Kevin’s Where’s Waldo-esque Where’s Aidid bit was pretty funny.
— Ellen’s overall commentary did not work for me, though her pizza delivery man comment kinda made me laugh.
— When introducing Norm Macdonald’s commentary, Kevin’s bad penchant for flubbing lines on Weekend Update is on full display, as he bungles his Norm intro so badly that he actually has to stop in the middle of it, apologize to us, and then repeat the whole intro all over again. When he finally gets through it, he tells Norm “Sorry, Norm”, which made me (and Norm) kinda laugh. There’s something kinda symbolic about Kevin badly flubbing his intro to Norm’s debut, considering Kevin’s constant flubs is just one of several frustrating things about this season of Update that make Norm replacing him as anchorperson next season a breath of fresh air.
— As always during this SNL project of mine, it feels exciting to see a showcase for a new cast member, especially when I’ve gotten so used to the already-existing cast I’m reviewing.
— A huge laugh from Norm revealing that the worst thing about prison is “the, uh… you know, the, uh… anal rape.” I also love the audience laughter after that reveal.
— You can tell Norm’s commentary is from his stand-up, and it feels a bit odd as an Update commentary, but it’s an absolutely hilarious piece. I especially love him acting out an entire conversation between two prison mates.
— Overall, Norm’s piece was a riot and I cannot think of a more perfect way for SNL to introduce him and his brand of humor to us.
— We get our first of many Menendez Brothers references this season, and Kevin’s joke about them just now was hilarious.
— Some really strong jokes from Kevin in general towards the end of this Update.
— Tim had an Update commentary cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal, in which he talks about Michael Jordan and compares him to all the great white players in the NBA. The commentary ends in a meta fashion with Tim telling Kevin he’s just happy to get some airtime.
STARS: ***½


BAD DANCER
other club patrons make (host) feel self-conscious about his bad dancing

— I like the turn with the club band actually stopping their music during Jeff’s bad dancing, and the guitarist of the band (Mike Myers) actually approaching Jeff to ask if the band is playing wrong.
— Weird how this is the second sketch tonight with somebody accusing a Jeff Goldblum character of being paranoid by thinking everybody’s actions are directed toward him, after Rob made those claims about him in the Subway Musician sketch.
— I’m enjoying the growing absurdity of this sketch, with several club members now wearing masks of Jeff’s face.
— This sketch died really badly towards the end. The Aerosmith bit fell completely flat, and then afterwards, the sketch ended on a sour note.
STARS: **½


KARL’S VIDEO
host rents a porno from name-dropping video store owner Karl (DAS)

— I’m loving David’s performance as this character. He’s very solid here.
— David’s constant defensive “I’m not gonna do anything with it” whenever he reveals he has certain celebrities’ phone numbers/credit card numbers/etc. are cracking me up.
— A big laugh from David talking about how Bob Saget is a frequent customer and a “big porn freak”. That’s also funny in hindsight, considering they later end up bringing this sketch back (with much less successful results) when Bob Saget himself hosts next season, and he appears as himself in it (yet he and David’s character act like they’ve never met before… so much for continuity).
— Ellen’s real-life daughter Akeyla steals the sketch with her “Mom, is he a pervert?” line.
— I loved the line from David about Gabe Kaplan: “Good guy… rents Faces Of Death… kinda weird.”
— Very funny brief walk-on from Chris.
STARS: ****


GARAGE SALE
at a garage sale, (host) & other neighborhood adults mock Canteen Boy

— Boy, I’m not caring for this sketch at all so far, and the guys’ constant teasing of Canteen Boy not only isn’t getting any laughs, but has a particularly unpleasant, mean-spirited vibe that signifies the crass, nasty tone that will often plague SNL both this and (especially) next season. And it hurts seeing Phil being wasted in a weak role like this; an early example of how poorly utilized he’ll often be this season.
— No idea what to think about the very random brief close-up of Canteen Boy letting out a bizarre yelp into the camera (the fourth above screencap for this sketch) when Jeff tells him he wants to buy his canteen.
— We surprisingly meet Canteen Boy’s mom (played by Rob in drag), AND we find out what Canteen Boy’s first name is: Alan.
— Adam seems genuinely amused by Rob’s walk-on, as he’s visibly stifling his laughter.
— I guess the nasty, mean-spirited tone of earlier portions of this sketch is supposed to be vindicated by the fact that Canteen Boy gets revenge on his tormentors in the end, but that still didn’t work for me. And WTF was with that “He who laughs last” ending?
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sweet Emotion”


CHRISTOPHER WALKEN’S CELEBRITY PSYCHIC FRIENDS NETWORK
Christopher Walken (JAM) & Celebrity Psychic Friends want to visit you

— New cast member Jay Mohr’s Christopher Walken impression debuts.
— This sketch was actually cut from the preceding episode, and Jay talks about it in one part of his SNL book (titled Gasping For Airtime). According to him, the cut version of this sketch had Shannen Doherty playing Sean Young as one of the guests, dressed in a sexy Catwoman costume. The sketch was cut after dress rehearsal because Doherty started having second thoughts about potentially getting on Sean Young’s bad side, given Young’s notorious reputation at the time. Needless to say, Jay was not pleased at Doherty when he found out, especially since the sketch was supposed to be his big SNL debut. In tonight’s version of the sketch (which replaces Doherty’s Sean Young with David’s Crispin Glover), Sean Young is actually mentioned (and pictured) among several celebrity psychic friends who Jay’s Walken lists off.
— Wow, right out of the gate in this sketch, Jay’s Walken impression is coming off spot-on and is killing me.
— Walken and the guests’ constant silence while waiting for the phone to ring are really funny.
— David’s Crispin Glover impressions is absolutely priceless.
— I can’t help but think the picture they showed of “The guy who attacked Monica Seles” (screencap below) resembles then-recent SNL host Harvey Keitel.

— An overall very strong and memorable sketch, and a very promising start for Jay Mohr.
STARS: ****½


HISTORY’S GREAT OVER-THINKERS
(host) can’t decide which mind should talk

— Very good makeup on Rob, which renders him almost unrecognizable.
— Adam seems really miscast as Orville Wright. That’s one of the problems with SNL increasingly giving the Farley/Sandler/Spade group more and more airtime and focus this season. That group doesn’t have the strong versatility and range the Carvey/Hooks/Lovitz/etc. group before them had.
— I can see what this sketch is going for, but the execution of it is not working AT ALL. Oof.
— Not helping this sketch’s struggles is the fact that you can practically hear a pin drop in the studio during this. The audience is DEAD. That’s something we’re going to have to get used to, as I recall quite a number of really bad sketches this season that have that uncomfortable, notorious, dead atmosphere.
— It’s almost laughable that Rob went through so much extensive makeup for such a short, lousy sketch that had no payoff.
STARS: *


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An episode with a solid first half, but a wildly inconsistent second half. The second half seriously had a pattern where a really bad or iffy sketch was immediately followed by a great sketch, which was immediately followed by a really bad/iffy sketch, which was immediately followed by a great sketch, and so on. (I recall an online SNL fan once making an interesting point that the wildly inconsistent nature of the second half of this episode is a good microcosm of this season as a whole) And most of the bad/iffy sketches in that half of the show were particularly brutal (Canteen Boy, History’s Great Over-Thinkers). However, the good in this overall episode outweighs the bad, we got a very promising start from the two new cast members, and Jeff Goldblum was a likable host, even if there was a sameness to all his roles, where he basically just played Jeff Goldblum in every single sketch.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Shannen Doherty)
about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
John Malkovich hosts one of my personal favorite episodes of all time