Tag: Leon Redbone

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March 12, 1983 – Bruce Dern / Leon Redbone (S8 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
a drunk GAK laments his lack of inclusion in sketches

   

— Nice to see a cold opening centering around the running gag of hapless Gary Kroeger always getting a raw deal on SNL.
— Tim: “Hey, Gary, what’re you doing here? Did ya come to watch the show?”
— Hilarious how increasingly worse Gary’s situation keeps getting.
— Nice passionate angry outburst from Gary (“The only joke on this show is MY CAREER!!”).
— Great fake-out at the end, with Gary seeming like he’s about to commit suicide via gunshot to the head while starting to say “Live from New York…”, only for the gun he fires to pop out a flag with the words “It’s Saturday Night” (in the same font as the then-current SNL logo; nice touch). Fun way to change up LFNY as well.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host blames the moviegoing public for his psycho reputation

 

— WTF at his opening “I almost had to swim here” joke?
— Hmm, after calling himself out on the lameness of his aforementioned joke, he adds an earnest “We almost lost our house a couple of weeks ago.” Did his house recently have a severe flood?
— I like him specifying each of his disturbing movie roles.
— Great dark turn this has taken with his menacing “It’s you!” realization as he points to us viewers.
— His whole psychotic viewer-blaming rant as the camera is slowly zooming closer and closer to him is hilariously creepy. I’m loving his violent threats to us.
STARS: ****


BUCKWHEAT JEANS
they’re “O-Tay”

  

— Good twist with the person in the jeans the camera is slowly panning up to turning out to be Buckwheat. Funny to see him doing a commercial like this (especially when you know what’s going to happen to him later tonight).
STARS: ***


THE CLAMS
— Boy, they’re STILL falling back on this often-reaired commercial from season 7?


DONNY & MARIE ST. PATRICK’S DAY SPECIAL
brotherly love on Donny (GAK) & Marie’s (JLD) St. Patrick’s Day Special

 

— A very pregnant Marie…
— They mention their famous appearance on Gumby’s Christmas special from earlier this season. I always like whenever SNL makes a passing mention of a previous episode or sketch.
— A rehash of the gag where Donny and Marie’s song gradually turns into them incestuously making out with each other. It was hilarious the first time, but is it REALLY necessary to repeat? Though they did kinda up the ante this time by having Julia jumping on Gary during the makeout session, which she didn’t do last time.
— This sketch suddenly gets “interrupted” by a special report, leading us into our next segment.
STARS: not sure if I should rate this, since it’s an incomplete sketch that got “interrupted” as a set-up to the following segment, but I’ll give it a ** rating


SPECIAL REPORT
Ted Koppel (JOP) reports- Buckwheat’s been fatally shot; Texxon sponsors

         

— Ah, this is it, folks…
— There’s the now-legendary “Buckwheat has been shot” announcement & subsequent footage of the incident.
— I criticized Joe’s Ted Koppel impression in some of my earlier reviews (essentially calling his impression just “Joe Piscopo in a wig”), but his Koppel voice seems to have noticeably improved tonight. Or maybe it’s just grown on me.
— Unseen Assassin: “Hey, Mr. Wheat!” (*gunshots fire*)
— Love the wide-eyed, teeth-gritting look on Buckwheat’s face when he gets shot. Good subtle acting choice from Eddie, when most performers would’ve just made a generic anguished face when “getting shot”.
— I like the “America Stunned” graphic.
— Yet another use of SNL’s fake sponsor “Texxon” from earlier episodes.
— Excellent inclusion of Mary as Alfalfa reacting to the tragedy.
— You gotta love how they’re going all out on this whole thing.
— LOL at how Joe’s Koppel is using every excuse in the book to replay the same clip of Buckwheat getting shot. That’s a dead-on spoof of typical news coverage of tragedies like this. I also like how with each repetition, the Buckwheat assassination clip is played in increasingly slower motion.
— Joe’s Koppel has now announced the official death of Buckwheat. Wow.
— A big laugh from Texxon’s addendum to their usual “Life goes on, and Texxon is there” slogan: “Because Buckwheat would have wanted it that way”.
— A funny memoriam montage of Buckwheat.
— Overall, this epic sketch was a masterpiece and flawlessly executed. Truly deserving of its reputation as one of the best pieces in SNL history.
STARS: *****


THE HOME FOR DISGUSTING PRACTICES
host tries to play a “normal” role

     

— Ha, the opening disclaimer (“And now, a scene in which Bruce Dern doesn’t play a psycho”) already has me very interested in this sketch.
— Wow, what an insane concept to this sketch.
— Great individual performance from each cast member playing a mental patient. Everybody’s allowed to shine here.
— Good groaner with Joe’s “They ain’t even been weaned yet” line regarding the puppies in his pants.
— Heh, Bruce is clearly amused by Mary’s performance, as he’s visibly trying not to crack up at her.
— A nice breaking-the-fourth-wall turn, with everyone dropping character and Bruce going back to his menacing viewer-blaming bit from the monologue.
STARS: ***½


THE BUCKWHEAT STORY
a TV movie starring Byron Allen

— A decent quick promo, keeping up tonight’s Buckwheat running premise by showing NBC cashing in on his death by doing a biopic about him.
STARS: ***


SATURDAY NIGHT NEWS
prominent figures express their sorrow over Buckwheat’s death
a new report includes spy photos of Soviet military secrets
Dr. Jack Badofsky lists varieties of venereal disease
Siobhan Cahill gives tips on how to have a great St. Patrick’s Day

         

— I love that tonight’s Buckwheat running premise is even carrying over into THIS.
— Ha, in Joe-as-Ted-Koppel fashion, Brad uses a cheap excuse to replay the Buckwheat gunshot clip once again.
— At first, I thought the pre-taped segment of celebrities addressing Buckwheat’s death was genuine footage filmed specifically for SNL, when the segment started with Charlton Heston and Henry Kissinger. I was about to say “Wow, SNL is REALLY fully committed to this Buckwheat premise”, but then the next two tribute clips were from President Reagan and the Pope, making it obvious that these are all just unrelated clips taken out of context to make it seem like they’re talking about Buckwheat.
— Hilarious how the Pope’s translated message eventually led to him throwing to yet ANOTHER replay of the Buckwheat assassination clip.
— Brad’s long-winded photo montage joke wasn’t that funny and, again, kinda reeked of something Brian Doyle-Murray would’ve done the previous season.
— I got a good laugh from Brad’s joke about cigarette companies now including a malignant tumor in each cigarette pack.
— Maybe it’s because my negative review of Dr. Jack Badofsky’s last commentary from a few episodes ago received several replies on Twitter (including from “That Week in SNL”) defending the character, or maybe because tonight’s episode has put me in a really good mood, but I’m enjoying tonight’s Badofsky commentary a lot more than usual. I’m actually laughing at these corny puns.
— Haha, I got a good laugh from the audience’s groaning reaction to Badofsky’s “Dacron-orrhea” pun. Tim’s doing a great job playing off of their negative reaction.
— A fun Badofsky commentary overall. I’m glad that I’m starting to come around on this character. Again, special thanks to those on Twitter who replied to my review of his last appearance and helped me understand the appeal of this character.
— Heh, immediately after Badofsky’s commentary, Brad has a groaner of his own, with his joke about the Statue of Liberty being “statutory raped”, which, much like some of Jack Badofsky’s puns tonight, receives audible hisses from the audience.
— Mary was okay in her overall performance here, but the commentary itself featured nothing noteworthy.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sweet Sue”


JERRY LEWIS SCHOOL OF MANNERS
Mr. Flang (EDM) & Mr. Caca (JOP) in charge

    

— Good use of Eddie’s great Jerry Lewis impression. This is the third episode in a row that has done a sketch centered around a dead-on impression that Eddie does of a white celebrity, after his Elvis and Humphrey Bogart sketches from the last two episodes.
— Here’s the return of Joe as bitter older Jerry Lewis. Last time he did this impression (that “Two Faces of Jerry” horror movie trailer from last season’s Donald Pleasence episode), he nailed older Lewis’ demeanor, but (much like my former complaint about his Ted Koppel impression) the problem was the voice sounded too much like Joe’s real voice.
— Joe’s impression is coming off okay enough in this sketch. Maybe it’s because I’m in good spirits during this episode that I’m less critical towards his impression.
— Ha, Eddie seems to be trying to crack Joe up.
— It worked. Joe’s visibly smirking out of character now. Gotta love the chemistry that Eddie and Joe always have.
— A decently goofy sketch overall.
STARS: ***


GUMBYS
Gumby interrupts Gumby impersonator’s (host) St. Patrick’s Day story

 

— Hmm, Bruce as Gumby.
— He’s not even doing Eddie’s Gumby voice, instead doing a different type of character voice.
— Ah, here’s the “real” Gumby. Eddie has been absolutely DOMINATING tonight’s episode, even moreso than usual.
— Eddie’s noticeably wearing a lot less face paint than he usually wears as Gumby. I’m guessing they didn’t have enough time to apply the usual full amount of Gumby make-up due to all the various sketches that Eddie’s in tonight.
— At the end of the sketch right before Eddie and Bruce walk off, Eddie randomly breaks into his Jerry Lewis voice that we just heard in the preceding sketch.
STARS: ***


OLD NEGRO BEER
(JOP) & (EDM) are beer-loving stereotypes

 

— Wow, Eddie continues to be ALL OVER tonight’s show. Feels like he’s had a lead role in practically every single sketch tonight.
— I like Eddie’s sudden realization about his “negro” friend Joe: “Hey, you a white cracker!”
— Joe’s facial expression when he and Eddie simultaneously went “Aaahhhh” into the camera slayed me.
— An overall fun silly bit.
STARS: ***


SONGWRITERS
Schleimer & Laub create tunes for (host)’s Depression musical

 

— The return of Joe and Tim’s Vaudeville-esque songwriting team.
— Interestingly, the previous time they did this sketch also happened to be in a Bruce Dern-hosted episode, though Bruce himself didn’t appear in that installment of this sketch. Maybe he liked what he saw that night and asked Joe and Tim if he could appear in the sketch this week.
— I like Joe and Tim’s song “The Window Ledge Polka”.
— Not much to say about the overall sketch, but this was another enjoyable appearance from these characters.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “When You Wish Upon A Star” & “I Ain’t Got Nobody”


RUBIK’S GRENADE
— Rerun


OLD JEW BEER
(JOP) & (EDM) are another pair of beer-loving stereotypes

 

— I oddly love how they’re making this a runner, with Eddie and Joe playing different ethnicities/cultures in each one.
— More fun voices and chemistry between Eddie and Joe.
STARS: ***


OLD CHINAMAN BEER
(JOP) & (EDM) are another beer-loving stereotype duo

 

— Wow, this one is going FULL-OUT goofy and over-the-top with the stereotypes.
— I can see why these racial stereotype beer sketches, ESPECIALLY this Old Chinamen Beer one, wouldn’t sit well with a lot of people, but to me, they’re just silly fun, and are helped a lot by Eddie and Joe’s always-great way of playing off of each other (which we’ve been seeing tons of tonight).
— During the “Old Chinaman Beer” title screen at the end of this, it sounded like Eddie broke out into his Jerry Lewis voice ONCE AGAIN tonight.
STARS: A very guilty ***


VEGGIE BURGERS
nerdy (GAK) finds his equally geeky parents but doesn’t realize it

 

— Strange sketch so far. I get what they’re hinting at with Gary’s character, but I’m not sure where the humor in the sketch is supposed to be coming from.
— Okay, this is starting to get charming.
— I like these characters’ interesting way of speaking, where they precede some of the things they say by declaring what kind of sentence it is ( e.g. “joke”, “question”).
— Overall, a cute, charming, low-key 10-to-1 sketch. The studio audience wasn’t into this AT ALL, though. I feel that this sketch was better than the crowd gave it credit for.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

 

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A consistently very fun show. I came into this episode expecting the epic “Buckwheat gets shot” storyline to overshadow everything else as the reason to tune in, and while it was by far the best part of the night, the rest of the show was no slouch, either. The overall episode was pretty solid and flowed very nicely, with a lot of fun to be had throughout the whole night. Even some of the lesser segments had an infectiously silly, enjoyable vibe.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Beau and Jeff Bridges):
— a huge step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Robert Guillaume

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November 19, 1977 – Buck Henry / Leon Redbone (S3 E6)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


DISCLAIMER
The Waltons Eat Their Young will not be seen tonight


— Our very first of what would go on to be a recurring gag in this era, of episodes beginning with a funny quick “(insert fake show title here) will not be seen tonight” disclaimer.


COLD OPENING
the Anyone Can Host Contest finalists meet GAM, GIR, host

  
— Liked Garrett’s reaction to finding out the Anyone Can Host finalist who didn’t make it to the final 5 is mulatto.
— “I’m Miskell Spillman, I’m old.” Haha, right off the bat, I can ALREADY see how she ended up winning.
— Buck mentions this is his fifth time hosting. Interesting how in the mere two-and-a-half seasons that SNL has been in existence, they already have their very first five-timer.
— Overall, a decent introduction to the finalists.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
the Anyone Can Host Contest finalists give their qualifications

     
— The finalists accompany Buck as he’s making his monologue entrance.
— I was about to say the unemployed finalist seems like someone who would’ve been the favorite to win, since he looks like what I’ve always pictured a typical SNL fan in the 70s looked like. But OH MY GOD, that awful gobbling punchline of his turkey farm story was CRINGEWORTHY. I think he lost the contest right there at that very moment.
— Buck’s doing a great job leading this.
STARS: ***


LITTLE CHOCOLATE DONUTS
Little Chocolate Donuts made JOB’s decathlon world record possible

  
— Ah, yes, THIS classic.
— This perfectly captures and spoofs the feel of old Wheaties ads.
— A funny touch with John having a lit cigarette in his hand while talking to the camera.
— When I was a lot younger, I originally saw this fake ad in some kind of SNL compilation special (probably “SNL Goes Commercial” or one of the annual “Sports Extra” specials), and it was one of the very first things I ever saw John Belushi in, after hearing so much about him. Right off the bat with this commercial, I was able to see flashes of what the big deal about him was and why he’s considered an SNL legend.
— Overall, one of my favorite SNL commercials of all-time. This also joins the list of great fake ads from this season so far.
STARS: *****


SAMURAI PSYCHIATRIST
Futaba helps Mr. Dantley with parental issues

   
— Even though it’s supposed to be a surprise reveal who Buck’s speaking to at the beginning, I can already tell from the little portion of him that we can see that it’s Futaba.
— I was about to ask “Didn’t we just see a Samurai sketch two episodes ago when Grodin hosted?”, but I had forgotten that it’s a tradition to do this sketch whenever Buck hosts. Plus, the Grodin version was a truncated sketch that got “ruined” by Grodin breaking the fourth wall, so I guess it’s okay that they’re doing a full, normal version this early.
— Very funny part with Futaba’s demonstration of “the castration complex”.
— Futaba not being stopped from committing hara-kari for once is an interesting change of pace.
— Whoa, whoa, whoa…. Futaba actually DIED! I’m shocked. So they’re retiring the character for good?
— Don Pardo: “This has been the last episode of Samurai Psychiatrist.” Well, that proves it. I have to wonder, did they go on to keep their word and refrain from bringing this character back? Knowing how somewhat-heavily this era tended to lean on certain popular recurring characters, I’m gonna guess “no”.
— In fact, come to think of it, I know for sure they continued doing this character, because I recall hearing about a famous “Samurai Night Fever” sketch that appears later this season in, I think, O.J. Simpson’s episode. I wonder if there’s an explanation in the next Samurai sketch of how Futaba “came back to life”. Or did they just throw continuity out the window and act like his death never happened?
— Considering Buck would later end up hosting John’s final SNL episode, I wish they saved this sketch for then, as Futaba’s death would’ve been more appropriate for that night. Then again, I haven’t seen that episode yet, so maybe it already HAS a Samurai sketch with some kind of noteworthy conclusion.
STARS: ****


STUNT BABY
director Brian Whitney (BIM) has actor Howard (host) abuse a stunt baby

     
— Oh, this is a well-known sketch that I’ve always been eager to see.
— Love the morally-wrong concept of a baby being used as a stunt double for a brutal physical scene.
— Bill is great as the director, which is no surprise considering that Execution Rehearsal sketch from his first episode.
— Buck repeatedly punching the baby, slamming it against various parts of the room, and throwing through the window is hilariously dark. I love it.
— This sketch was the perfect length and didn’t belabor the point. I heard that in one of Buck’s later episodes, they would do some kind of follow-up, I think with a puppy instead of a baby.
STARS: ****½


A.M.O.A. SANITIZED MOTEL
the AMOA ensures that motel bathrooms are “sanitized for your protection”

   
— Sounds like there were audio issues at the beginning. You can very faintly hear a voice-over (Pardo, maybe) opening this sketch, but their mic isn’t working.
— The picture slideshow of the cleaning process isn’t all that funny.
— Garrett in drag again……
— I liked the ending with Dan, but overall, this was a forgettable commercial.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


WEEKEND UPDATE
artist’s renderings illustrate how the genetic messenger determines sex
LAN cursorily interviews the Anyone Can Host Contest finalists
DAA & JAC ask Baba Wawa questions about Anwar Sadat’s visit to Jerusalem

     
— For the first time in a while, there was no opening gag with Pardo mispronouncing one of the anchor’s names.
— The return of the Tom Schiller childlike “artist’s rendering” drawings that used to be a frequent gag in Chevy’s Updates.
— Laraine’s remote segment with the finalists wasn’t too great.
— We haven’t seen Baba Wawa in a while.
— The Baba Wawa segment ended up being pretty forgettable.
— Another short Update, and also another Update I didn’t care for. This segment has not been doing too well lately, and Dan’s not even the main one to blame (I honestly haven’t been finding him quite as bad as people always say he was, aside from his disastrous second Update of the season).
STARS: **

REUNION IN KIEV
(GIR)’s train ride to Kiev involves yesterday-today-tomorrow confusion

   
— Funny how this flashback is showing Gilda in the exact same place we had just seen her in.
— I like how whenever the “screen ripple effect” happens when a flashback begins, you can see the performers rushing around the set to take their place for the flashback.
— The increasingly confusing flashbacks from days that hadn’t even happened yet is pretty funny.
— Overall, a good silly little sketch.
STARS: ***½


MR. MIKE’S RICKEY RAT CLUB
host & Ratketeers have Anything Bad Can Happen Day

     
— At first, I thought we were in for another Least Loved Bedtime Tale.
— I’m liking Mr. Mike deadpan-ly recalling all of his earlier needles-plunged-through-eyes celebrity impressions.
— “Rickey Rat Club”. I remember hearing about this sketch before; sounds like classic Mr. Mike fucked-up-ness.
— So far, I’m really enjoying this dark, bizarro version of the Mickey Mouse Club.
— Great ending with them trampolining a fake rat into the studio audience… at least I assume it was fake. Then again, considering this was a Mr. Mike-written sketch, I wouldn’t put it past him…
STARS: ****


THE FRANKEN AND DAVIS SHOW
ALF & TOD narrate a montage of images documenting their history
Jackie Onassis (GIR) realizes TOD is choking, not playing charades

     
— The opening Franken and Davis caricature drawing that was introduced last time has now been modified into moving animation.
— I liked the fake magazine cover of a whole bunch of Franken lookalike kids.
— Interesting involvement of Gilda as Jackie Onassis.
— Much like the last Franken and Davis sketch from the season premiere, this has turned into a full-fledged sketch involving various performers.
— Davis using a gravy boat to write on the table during the extended choking scene was pretty funny.
STARS: ***


THE FIVE FINALISTS
by Gary Weis- the Anyone Can Host Contest finalists try to influence host

   
— Judging from what Buck’s saying in his intro, we’re in for a Gary Weis film. *groan* At least the show has been going really light on his films this season; we’ve only had two so far, whereas in season 2 and the second half of season 1, there was a Weis film almost every week.
— The unemployed finalist’s creepy anecdote was really funny, made even funnier by Buck’s deadpan facial reaction into the camera. (second screencap above)
— Miskell Spillman gets another big laugh tonight with her sole reason for hosting being “I’m going to kick soon”.
— Overall, surprisingly good for a Gary Weis film.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE


LIFE AFTER DEATH
by TOS- “take a number, be seated” experience recalled

   
— A Schiller’s Reel!
— The repeated “take a number” reveals aren’t that funny.
— And that’s it? Damn, that was weak.
— What kind of bizarro world does tonight’s episode take place in, where Gary Weis had a much better film than Tom Schiller?
STARS: *½


GOODNIGHTS
Anyone Can Host Contest finalists make their final pitches

     

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty good show. It feels like the sketches kinda took a backseat to the Anyone Can Host extravaganza, but most of the sketches we did get were fine, and some of them really strong (Stunt Baby, Rickey Rat Club).
— The segments with the finalists added a fairly fun energy and gave the show a different feel, which makes this the third consecutive unconventional-feeling episode (after Charles Grodin and Ray Charles). SNL was wise to have Buck as the host this particular night, since it was a given that he’d be perfect at leading the finalists segments with total ease. And of course, he was great as usual in the regular sketches as well.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ray Charles):
— a slight step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Mary Kay Place

Posted on

May 29, 1976 – Elliott Gould / Leon Redbone, Harlan Collins and Joyce Everson (S1 E22)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
at a wax museum, boorish (CHC) is slapped by supposed wax figure (GIR)
   
— Are Jane and Neil Levy(?) dressed in the Lord and Lady Douchebag costumes from four years later? (first screencap above)
— No idea why Chevy blew a whistle while flashing the statues, but it made me laugh.
— I’m gonna guess this will end with Chevy getting slapped after groping one of the statues, which will lead into his traditional fall.
— Yep, I was right, though there were actually a few back-and-forth slaps before the slap that led to the pratfall.
STARS: ***

MONOLOGUE
host sings “Anything Goes”
 
— A funny little touch with Elliott handing a banana to an audience member while making his entrance.
— Another Gould monologue that immediately goes into a song with no set-up. Are ALL his monologues like this?
— Why is his first name spelled with only one ‘t’ on his shirt? In the opening credits of both this and Gould’s preceding episode (not to mention everywhere else I’ve seen his name written), his first name is spelled with two ‘t’s.
— Despite my strong dislike for musical monologues, especially ones that are just straight songs with no comedic lyrics, there’s something about both of Elliott’s monologues this season that are likable; most likely due to his fun performance in them.
STARS: ***

ACADEMY OF BETTER CAREERS
— rerun

CARD GAME
fake European poker player (CHC) & translator (host) dupe gambler (DAA)
 
— Are Chevy and Elliott playing an old-timey version of their Interior Demolitionist characters?
— Wait, never mind.
— Pretty fun sketch so far.
— I like the contrast between Dan’s obliviousness and Garrett’s bewildered reactions, especially Garrett’s line to Dan just now: “He is busting your chops!”
— Funny ending with Chevy casually speaking English before leaving.
STARS: ***½

NATIONAL UVULA ASSOCIATION
doctor (CHC) tells Babs (GIR) that her uvula is on the fritz

— This is clearly in the same vein as the National Pancreas Association sketch, but I’m actually liking this one a lot more. I think it’s because “uvula” is an inherently funnier word than “pancreas”. Plus, there’s something about the combination of “uvula” and Gilda’s character being named Babs.
— This is also helped by a fun silly vibe in everyone’s performance, especially Chevy’s non-commitment in making a convincing doctor.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (LEON REDBONE)

THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE STARSHIP ENTERPRISE
NBC executive (host) boards the Enterprise to cancel the show
     
— I’ve always heard about this sketch. It’s widely considered a classic, so I’m eager to finally see it for myself.
— And so begins the long-running tradition of Akira Yoshimura playing Sulu in SNL’s Star Trek parodies.
— Interesting how John’s not really going for the usual stereotypical Captain Kirk impression (you know the one), but is doing his own take.
— Chevy’s facial reaction to his Spock ears being yanked off was great.
— Love how they’re taking the set apart while the Star Trek actors are desperately trying to stay in character and keep the show going.
— Hilarious sudden emotional outburst from Chevy.
— Overall, such a perfect, well-done sketch. Definitely deserving of it’s highly-regarded status.
STARS: *****

MUPPETS POSTCARD
GIR reads a postcard from the Muppets sent from England

— Eh……
STARS: N/A

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 1
   
— Chevy’s opening joke about Fidel Castro “pulling out of Angola” got a huge reaction from the audience just now.
— Whoa, wait, wait, wait… Was that woman’s nipple actually visible before Chevy quickly jumped out of his seat and censored it with his hand??? Heh, how in the world did NBC let SNL get away with showing that?
— Who were those two people in the picture that Chevy just said “Nobody really cares anymore” about? (third screencap above)
— A short first half of tonight’s Update.

VIBRAMATIC
the Vibramatic personal massager can also be used as a kitchen tool
 
— Very funny idea, and I love the fast-paced energy of this.
— There’s the Bass-o-Matic background behind Dan once again.
— I liked the little joke of Dan not being able to cut through the potato while he was touting how the knife is supposedly easy to cut with.
STARS: ****

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 2
old film footage documents athletes’ preparation for Montreal Olympics
(JAC) defends Bicentennial commercialism while CHC makes faces at her
Emily Litella prepares to help CHC repeat the “flop” story
   
— Chevy just named the fake reporter he’s doing the voice for as “correspondent Jacqueline Carlin”. Yeah, nice way to work your girlfriend’s name into the show, Chev.
— Heh, and now, the guest commentator Jane Curtin is playing is named Audrey Peart Dickman, which is the name of one of the staff members on the show. Lots of inside jokes with fictional names used for Update correspondents lately, between “Duncan Ebersol” in the preceding episode and the two aforementioned examples tonight.
— The return of the ‘Chevy makes goofy faces behind a correspondent’s back’ routine. Meh.
— I will say, though, that I kinda like how Chevy’s always able to quickly go back to a straight face briefly whenever the correspondent is about to look at him.
— Our newest variation of the running “News for (insert group here)” gag is “News for Fans of Emily Litella”.
— As sick as I’ve become of Emily Litella, this is actually pretty funny and is making good use of her routine.  It also helps that we haven’t seen her in a few episodes.
— I also like how Litella called Chevy “Cheddar”, as a callback to an earlier commentary she did where she thought Chevy’s full name was “Cheddar Cheese”.
STARS (FOR BOTH WEEKEND UPDATE HALVES): ***

SHIRLEY TEMPLE
ambassador Shirley Temple Black (LAN) asks Ghanians to say “hi, neighbor”
 
— Is this supposed to be Shirley Temple or just a random old-timey little girl?
— Okay, she started singing just now. Yeah, this is Shirley Temple, alright.
— While this is a pretty dead-on take-off of Shirley Temple films, I’m not really enjoying this much.
— The part with them tap-dancing a code to the radio is pretty fun, at least.
STARS: **

UNCLE CHARLIE’S SCHOOL
by Gary Weis- host & kids are taught old acts
 
— Ugh, do we REALLY need another segment with singing, immediately after the preceding Shirley Temple sketch?
— Ugh, Broadway-style showtunes – always one of my least favorite things to sit through.
— Overall, a typical Gary Weis film that left me bored out of my mind.
— I was hoping at first that Elliott’s presence would save this, but he ended up virtually doing nothing here.
STARS: *

THE HONEYMOONERS
Bee Ralph (JOB) discovers Bee Alice (GIR) is pregnant
   
— Our second sketch of the night parodying a classic TV show. I can tell this one is going to be fun.
— The opening credits sequence is nice.
— John’s doing another great impression.
— John’s extended reaction to the knitting needles being stuck in his behind is pretty hilarious.
— Referring to bee babies as “drones”, “workers”, “queens” – that’s the same joke from the Bee Hospital sketch from the premiere. Not sure how I feel about them repeating that joke, considering I didn’t care for Bee Hospital.
— Funny twist with Alice revealing Norton’s the father of her baby.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (LEON REDBONE)

MIDDLE AMERICAN VAN LINES
— rerun

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE (HARLAN COLLINS AND JOYCE EVERSON)

GOODNIGHTS
host & cast sing “Happy Trails” for the summer
 
— Elliott informs us that the show is going on a little hiatus before returning in July(!) with host… uh… um… well, she deserves a special mention at the end of my review.
— A nice little western-themed farewell song with the whole cast dressed as cowgirls.
— I thought the song would eventually lead into the regular goodnights music, but interestingly, it seems to have replaced the goodnights music tonight.

_______________________________

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A pretty good episode as a whole, though there was a big drop-off after Weekend Update, and I’m not crazy about how the last 10-15 minutes strangely consisted of just a musical guest performance, a repeat fake ad, and ANOTHER musical guest performance. Tonight’s sketches were also a little too heavy on the singing. However, this episode featured a good amount of fun material and two enjoyable parodies of classic TV shows (both of which were led by a strong John Belushi performance).
— I’m probably looking too much into it, but I wonder if the reason they padded out the homestretch of this episode with so much non-sketch content was because the cast and writers were possibly overworked from doing four straight weeks of live episodes. Isn’t this the episode that led to Lorne vowing never again to do four consecutive live shows (until eventually breaking that vow decades later in 2008), due to how exhausted it left everyone on the show?

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Buck Henry):
— a step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
(gulp!) LOUISE. LASSER.

Posted on

February 28, 1976 – Jill Clayburgh / Leon Redbone (S1 E15)

Sketches are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
tired of being a clown, CHC holds up the show & tells LOM “no more falls”
   
— I’m really liking this. This is also reminding me of a sketch from Chevy’s 1995 hosting stint where he was reluctant to do a fall for a Bravehart parody.
— A good laugh from the “fan mail”.
— Love the part with Chevy going through the audience. Again, it reminds me of something Chevy would do later, in the cold opening of the 15th anniversary special.
— I’m enjoying how extensive the staging of this whole thing is, showing Chevy going back-and-forth all the way from Lorne’s office to the sketch set.
STARS: ****

MONOLOGUE
DOP’s game show-style cut-ins punctuate host’s description of their date
 
— Pretty funny, although it’s pretty much just the same joke over and over.
STARS: ***

GREAT MOMENTS IN HERSTORY, PART 1
Anna (LAN) & Sigmund (DAA) Freud analyze dream

— Dan’s having some great reactions to Laraine’s increasingly-suggestive dream descriptions.
— Overall, this was very funny.
STARS: ****

JILL CARSON, GUIDANCE COUNSELOR!
delinquent (JOB) receives advice
   
— Interesting intro to this. Kinda feels ahead of its time, as something about the sketch title’s crudely-written font (first screencap above) looks more like something from the mid-90s.
— Once again, John Belushi has the ability to get a big laugh from the audience merely from the way he walks into a scene.
— Gilda’s pretty funny as the mom.
— Jill is giving a very good performance as the counselor.
— Similar to a comment I made about the cold opening, I’m really liking how extensive this sketch is; it feels like an actual episode of a TV show, with all the scenery changes, the characterizations, etc.
— Dan’s cracking me up with his preppy demeanor when threatening John.
— Overall, a well-done sketch.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

WHITE GUILT RELIEF FUND
GAM offers to accept Caucasians’ penance via the White Guilt Relief Fund

— The reveal of the main joke was really funny, after such a dead-serious set-up.
— The ‘honorary negro’ certification & I.D. is a great capper.
STARS: ****

GREAT MOMENTS IN HERSTORY, PART 2
Isadora Duncan (host) chooses the long scarf
 
— A hilarious ending that made this whole sketch. I couldn’t help but notice, though, that the studio audience seemed to know where this was going long before I did, but then again, I’m not familiar with Isadora Duncan.
— I’m very impressed by how consistently strong tonight’s episode has been so far.
STARS: ****

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 1
a week after the primary, LAN reports from a vacant New Hampshire
amateurish artist’s renderings accompany Patty Hearst trial report
   
— Right at the start of Update, Chevy already throws to a remote segment with Laraine.
— It seems to have become a crutch lately to have an Update correspondent report from an event long before or after the event has taken place. I’m not really finding it funny anymore.
— A good unintended laugh from Chevy getting very tongue-tied when trying to say “former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter”.
— Wow, Update is on fire so far tonight, with lots of very funny jokes that are getting great reactions from the audience.

H&L BROCK
another reason to use H&L Brock- their fake church or synagogue tax dodge

— Hey, our mid-WU commercial is an actual new, live one this time!
— Eh, this was a little too dry for my likes, and as I said before, I’m usually not a fan of sketches where it’s one person delivering a speech to the camera.
STARS: **

WEEKEND UPDATE, PART 2
Emily Litella is aghast at the notion of a “deaf” penalty

— Ohhhhh, geez. After taking last week off after appearing in 3-4 consecutive episodes, Emily Litella is unfortunately back, continuing to run her predictable shtick into the ground. Watching these SNL episodes chronologically on a day-to-day basis, I’ve gotten to the point where I can’t even laugh at this character anymore. Like I said a few reviews ago, she’s too one-note to be used on a weekly basis; she’s appeared in almost EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND UPDATE since way back in the Richard Pryor episode!
— Chevy’s annoyed facial expression when Litella started her commentary mirrored my look exactly.
STARS (FOR BOTH WEEKEND UPDATE HALVES): *** (Would’ve been higher if not for the two correspondents. Chevy’s jokes were red-hot tonight.)

THE SINGING IDLERS
The Singing Idlers perform “Semper Paratus” to dumber-than-dolphin scroll
host, SNL Band, The Singing Idlers perform “Sea Cruise”
   
— Wait, what’s this “people who dolphins are more intelligent than” disclaimer that suddenly showed up just now during the performance?
— Ha, the list of celebrities who are dumber than dolphins is pretty funny. Some of these same names were used in the screen crawl in Buck Henry’s monologue earlier this season. And like in that monologue, I’m not familiar with 70% of the names on this list, though I’m still laughing. If SNL did something like this nowadays, the celebrities on that dumber-than-dolphins list would probably be people like the Kardashians and Trump.
— Okay, now that that the list is done, the rest of this seems to be a non-joke legit musical performance.

CAR YUMMIES
Car Yummies cheese snacks are the fuel supplements your auto will love

— Okaaaay… well, THAT kinda just came and went without anything worth noting.
— I guess the idea of this ad was cute, though.
STARS: **

MUPPETS SUBSTITUTE
CHC’s hand puppets perform “Paying The Milkman” to fill in for Muppets
 
— Why did they feel the need to announce the Muppets won’t be appearing tonight, when we’ve already gone through the last few episodes without them?
— Why would the SNL Muppets be at that year’s Grammys? I thought people hated those characters.
— Is that Chevy doing these hand puppets?
— This has some pretty funny little gags like the milkman hand puppet holding an actual glass of milk, and him checking the time on the watch around his “neck”.
— Ah, that IS Chevy, I see.
— Overall, pretty funny, and amused me more than the actual Muppets have.
STARS: ***

WEGMAN
by Gary Weis- William Wegman [real] shows his weimaraner Man Ray’s skills
 
— Oh, so is Gary Weis now only doing shorts involving someone talking about their pet? This is the second episode in a row.
— Wow, what a frisky dog.
— The staring contest part was pretty funny, I admit.
— The World Trade Center ending made no sense.
STARS: **½

ANDY KAUFMAN
Andy Kaufman [real] & audience members lip-sync “Old MacDonald”

— We haven’t seen Andy in a while.
— This isn’t exactly funny so far, but is pretty charming & fun with the reactions of the participants.
— Overall, that was pretty cool. However, I definitely prefer Andy’s weirder pieces from other episodes. He surprisingly came off a lot more “normal” in this one than he usually does on SNL.
STARS: ***

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT?
persistent (host) wants to know what boyfriend (CHC) is thinking about
 
— Haha, after such a long set-up, the warthog ending was a very funny unexpected punchline.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE

GREAT MOMENTS IN HERSTORY, PART 3
Indira Gandhi (LAN) prefers gun to nonviolence

— John is pretty funny as the father.
— Uh, I think I missed whatever the joke of this was supposed to be.
STARS: ???

THE MR. BILL SHOW
by Walter Williams- malice disintegrates a clay man
  
— Dan’s intro in the stiff suit was pretty random.
— “A home movie sent in by Walter Williams”? Oh, is this gonna be the debut of Mr. Bill?
— Ah, it is!
— Mr. Bill’s voice sounds a bit different from how it would soon go on to usually sound.
— This is getting funnier and funnier as it goes along.
— Overall, this was great. I didn’t know until now that these Mr. Bill shorts started out as just a fan-made home movie.
STARS: ****

AUDIENCE CAPTION

— I don’t usually acknowledge these in my reviews, but I just wanted to point out that this particular one had the same “Adjust your set if it will make you happy” caption that randomly showed up during the festive goodnights of the preceding Desi Arnaz episode. I have to wonder now if that caption showing up in those goodnights was a technical error, and maybe they meant to use it earlier that night for an audience caption before the show ran out of time.

GOODNIGHTS
Grable (JAC) & Lombard (host)- movie features their marriage to one other
   
— Wait, is this even the goodnights? Is this a skit? Is this another ‘goodnights wedding’, ala Elliott Gould and Gilda Radner? What am I watching???
— “Grable and Lombard”. Okay, I know who those two actresses are, but I didn’t get the point of this. If the sole joke was simply how “hilarious” the idea of two women getting married to each other is – ohhh, boy. I don’t need to explain why the humor in that has not aged well at all.
— Now the regular goodnights credits scroll and music has begun playing, though there’s nobody on stage besides the three performers from the “Grable and Lombard” sketch.
— Just now, the scrolling credits got blocked by something for a few seconds. (third and fourth screencaps above) Did someone walk in front of the projector or something?

_______________________________

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very strong first half, but the quality dropped off in the second half, and the weird “Grable and Lombard” goodnights left me a bit cold for various reasons. This was still an overall good episode, though.
— Jill Clayburgh fit in well on the show and came off very natural as a host.
— Whoa, I just realized: did Jane Curtin appear in ANYTHING besides the goodnights sketch? I can’t recall seeing her in anything earlier than that. Wow. Just when it seemed like she was recently starting to branch out and get better roles, she’s been really invisible these last two episodes.

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Desi Arnaz):
— a step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW:
Anthony Perkins