Tag: Paul McCartney

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December 15, 2012 – Martin Short / Paul McCartney (S38 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

SILENT NIGHT
The New York City Children’s Chorus [real] performs “Silent Night”

 

— A classy and touching way to address the previous day’s Sandy Hook school shooting tragedy, without being direct about it. Even now, when I’m 8 years removed from the tragedy, this cold opening is putting a lump in my throat.
— This would end up being this decade’s first of several somber cold openings that occur shortly after a tragic event has happened, usually tragic events involving mass casualties. Unlike this Silent Night cold opening, most of this decade’s other somber cold openings are direct in openly addressing the tragedy that had happened.
— When this cold opening originally aired, I remember that the moment where the camera fades to black after the Silent Night song concludes made me initially think that SNL was going to immediately go from that fade-to-black to the opening montage, without anyone saying “Live from New York…”, which shocked me, as it would’ve been the first time in, I believe, decades that a cold opening didn’t contain a “Live from New York…” or any kind of variation. However, when the fade-to-black in this particular cold opening was then followed by the camera fading back into the children to show them delivering an upbeat “Live from New York…”, I realized that SNL added the fade-to-black for a poignant, respectful touch.
STARS: N/A (not a ratable segment)


MONOLOGUE
MAS sings about holiday lustfulness; PAS, KRW, JIF, TIF, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson cameos

— Martin Short’s usual energy and comedic style is exactly what SNL and its viewers needed to lift up the show’s spirits during these times.
— Paul Shaffer!
— A huge laugh from the sudden part with Martin stepping right on Paul Shaffer’s hands when walking to the top of the piano, resulting in a great “OW!” from Paul.
— Martin’s whole “How does a man sit at the piano, I wonder” bit is great.
— This is now the FOURTH consecutive musical monologue, but for various reasons, I can’t complain about tonight’s particular instance of a musical monologue.
— Very nice to see that Cecily, Aidy, and Kate, “the new girls” as Martin calls them collectively, get their special little moment with Martin.
— And, of course, immediately after the special moment the new girls get, we get a Kristen Wiig cameo. Something about that succession seems strangely on-brand for SNL.
— Not sure, but I think Kristen rubbing Martin’s body with her “Dooneese” hand was an ad-lib, judging by Martin’s amusing reaction to that.
— Wow! Jimmy Fallon? Tom Hanks? Samuel L. Jackson? All randomly appearing in rapid succession backstage? Very fun.
— Funny unscripted bit with the llama.
— Such an enjoyable song from Martin, and as I often mention, I’m a sucker for former cast members doing monologues where they go all around the studio & backstage while singing.
— Now we get Tina Fey randomly seen standing next to Lorne. Yep, SNL’s definitely breaking out all the cameos in tonight’s Christmas episode.
— Martin even has the ability to make a cheap man-on-man kiss funny, as seen during his moment with Lorne.
— Interestingly, there’s no “Stick around, we’ll be right back” or anything else after Martin says “Paul McCartney is here!” at the end of this.
STARS: ****


A TONY BENNETT CHRISTMAS
Tony Bennett (Alec Baldwin) & brother Jerry (MAS) meet Kanye West (JAP)

— Tonight’s plethora of cameos from (mostly) SNL-related people continues, as we randomly get Alec Baldwin showing up and reprising The Tony Bennett Show sketches. With this being years before episodes containing a plethora of cameos would become a frequent habit and would be an annoyance to certain SNL fans (including myself), I can certainly enjoy it in this episode. In fact, the cameos are adding to the feel-good, Christmas-y spirit of this episode.
— This ends up being the final installment of the Tony Bennett Show sketches.
— Alec’s Tony Bennett is as funny as always, and Martin is solid as his similarly-traited brother.
— The story from the Bennett brothers about a girl with hemorrhoids is priceless, as is Jay-as-Kanye-West’s reaction.
— Fun and charming chemistry between Alec and Martin during the closing song.
— I like Martin unusual way of hugging the lower half of Alec’s body throughout this sketch.
— I’m surprised by how fairly short this overall sketch was, but no complaints from me.
STARS: ***½


ROYAL FAMILY DOCTOR
equerry (MAS) briefs Kate Middleton’s ob-gyn (BIH) on vagina protocol

— Hilarious characterization from Martin.
— The various vocalizations and phrases Martin uses in regards to how to refer to “the royal “*ahem*” are such a perfect use of Martin’s comedic style.
— I’ve always had a theory that John Mulaney possibly wrote this sketch and, between dress rehearsal and the live show, changed the scripted vocalizations and phrases that Martin was to use for “the royal “*ahem*”, in an attempt to catch Bill off-guard during the live show, ala the Stefon commentaries on Weekend Update. What makes me think that is the fact that Bill seems GENUINELY taken aback and amused by Martin’s various vocalizations and phrases for “the royal “*ahem*”, as if he wasn’t expecting them. Then again, Bill is easily breakable at this stage of his SNL tenure, so those vocalizations and phrases from Martin could possibly be stuff Bill was already familiar with, plus I can’t blame anyone for having a hard time keeping a straight face at Martin Short.
— Ha, Bobby could unintentionally be seen sneaking into the scene before he “magically popped up” to Bill’s side.
— Martin continues to be comedy gold in his delivery and performance here.
— Fred’s mere entrance gets a huge applause from the audience.
— Could’ve done without the ending gag involving Fred’s Queen Elizabeth hiking up her skirt and spreading her legs, as if we haven’t already seen Fred do that enough times in these later years of his SNL tenure. However, I did get a laugh from how him hiking up his skirt resulted in long, uncomfortable, awkward silence between Bill and Martin.
STARS: ****


YOU’RE A RAT BASTARD, CHARLIE BROWN
Al Pacino (BIH) heads all-star cast

— A very memorable and well-liked piece among SNL fans.
— Hilarious choices of out-of-place celebrities to play Peanuts characters.
— Martin is particularly spot-on as Larry David, both physically and verbally.
— Much like Martin as Larry David, Taran truly does have a strong facial resemblance to Michael Keaton here.
— The bleep-filled football scene between Bill’s Al Pacino and Kate’s Edie Falco is particularly funny.
— During the ending split-screen shot of the various actors playing Peanuts characters, Bobby can be seen among them (the last above screencap for this commercial), despite the fact that he wasn’t shown at any point earlier in this commercial. He’s playing Joe Pesci as the Peanuts character Woodstock, IIRC, but his main portions were cut from this commercial after dress rehearsal. Same goes for Fred, who could be seen very briefly in a Snoopy costume at one point in the middle of this commercial (the fourth-to-last above screencap for this commercial). I can’t remember which celebrity I heard he played in this.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Joe Walsh [real] perform “My Valentine”


WEEKEND UPDATE
newly bar mitzvahed Jacob tells story of Hanukkah & roasts family

The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party is supercilious sot

— Vanessa’s Jacob character makes his first SNL appearance since his debut two seasons prior. That debut from two seasons prior was in a sketch, but all of his subsequent appearances are on Weekend Update.
— Vanessa’s doing a spot-on, enjoyable, and endearing spoof of typical bar mitzvah speeches, even down to the little detail of her Jacob character moving his finger along the words he’s reading from his speech.
— Some laughs from how Jacob never answers Seth’s questions, and instead just goes back to reading from his speech.
— This Jacob commentary is starting to get really repetitive (even if that’s the point), but the endearing quality that Vanessa’s bringing to this is maintaining my goodwill. I get the feeling I’m not going to be so lenient in this character’s subsequent Update commentaries, given how almost all of them are basically the EXACT SAME THING. We’ll see, though.
— Ha, even Seth has a hard time saying The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party’s name.
— Girl You Wish etc.: “You need to grow up, Seth. ‘Cause there are some people in Africa right now where it’s like, nooo.”
— Girl You Wish etc.: “I’m sorry…why can’t Secret Santa just be openly gay?!?”
— Girl You Wish etc.: “It’s origami. That’s Spanish for ‘goose’.”
STARS: ***


WHAT UP WITH THAT?
Samuel L. Jackson & Carrie Brownstein [real] observe

— This ends up being the final installment of this recurring sketch, until it gets a surprise revival during an “SNL At Home” episode 8 years later.
— Curiously, Cecily has replaced Nasim in Nasim’s regular role as one of the two backup singers, despite Nasim still being in SNL’s cast, which must mean they have something different planned for her in tonight’s installment.
— Another rare instance of Jason’s red tracksuit dancing character (Vance) actually speaking.
— I love Samuel L. Jackson’s angry warning to Kenan’s Deondre Cole to not cut him off.
— Jackie Rogers Jr.!!!! Not only is it a blast to see Martin bring him back, but he’s actually very fitting in a What Up With That sketch.
— Tim’s dancing past the screen as a casually-dressed Santa is hilarious.
— Ah, there’s Nasim. Fun appearance from her as “Grinchina”. I wonder if the reason for her playing a different role than usual in tonight’s What Up With That installment is because she possibly spoke up to the writers or Lorne, telling them she was tired of being stuck playing one of the backup singers in this recurring sketch and wanted to finally get a comedic showcase in it.
— Other than the Jackie Rogers Jr. appearance, here comes the most noteworthy moment of tonight’s What Up With That installment: Samuel L. Jackson exclaiming in frustration an unscripted “Man, fu–”, cutting himself off before saying the full F-bomb. Then, while Kenan is responding to that by ad-libbing “Hey!” and “Come on, Sam!”, an off-camera Samuel adds in, “This some bullshit!” This results in an absolutely classic ad-lib from Kenan: “Come on, now! That costs money!”
— I love how, while Kenan is thanking her for being on the show, Carrie Brownstein does a mouth-zipping motion, referring to Samuel’s half-F-bomb and full-S-bomb. I also love the meta-ness of Kenan calling Brownstein “the funny one in Portlandia”.
— Overall, the Jackie Rogers Jr. appearance and the ad-libs between Samuel L. Jackson & Kenan make this one of the more standout installments of What Up With That. Not a bad way at all for this recurring sketch to go out (until 2020).
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic & Pat Smear [real] perform “Cut Me Some Slack”


OLD FRIENDS
old friends (FRA) & (MAS) meet while shopping & catch up on inadequacies

 

— Hmm, interesting and unusual how this sketch has an intro from Kenan, standing in front of the sketch’s set.
— Funny mention of Fred being a professional James Cameron impersonator at parties.
— We get a lot more hilarious bizarre reveals that Fred and Martin are casually making about themselves. I am loving the absurd humor in this, as well as the smooth way it’s flowing and the way it’s being played completely straight, all of which makes this sketch feel like a typical sketch from British sketch comedy shows. A very underrated little sketch, and this is easily one of the better things Fred has done in these past-his-prime later years of his SNL tenure.
STARS: ****


PAGEANT AUDITION
(MAS) won’t let his musical partner (musical guest) sing during Christmas pageant audition

— Amusing opening bit with Kenan.
— Very fun pairing of tonight’s host and musical guest.
— Although the “ironic” concept of Paul playing the member of a musical duo who can’t sing has potential to be too corny, there’s more than enough goodwill and charm from this sketch to prevent that corniness.
— Martin’s sudden angry “THAT’S YOUR CUE, MONTY!!!” outburst has me laughing out loud.
— Very funny bit with Paul now dinging his triangle too early, inducing another hilarious angry outburst from Martin.
— Wow, an awesome and clever way to segue from this sketch to Paul’s next musical performance. Love it.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & The New York City Children’s Chorus [real] perform “Wonderful Christmas Time”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Wow. This was an even better episode than I had remembered, which is certainly saying something, as I had always been very fond of this episode. I’m pleasantly surprised to see how even MORE fond of this episode I was during my viewing just now. I mean, man, look at all of those high ratings I gave out throughout the review. In fact, the only two things all night that got a rating below four stars was A Tony Bennett Christmas and Weekend Update, and those were still good. This episode probably has one of the highest rating averages out of this entire SNL project. And in addition to how consistently strong this episode was, it had such a feel-good, Christmas-y energy, helped by Martin Short’s always-fun presence. That combo of strong sketches and a feel-good, Christmas-y energy is how I like my Christmas episodes of SNL to be.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
You’re A Rat Bastard, Charlie Brown
What Up With That?
Monologue
Royal Family Doctor
Old Friends
Pageant Audition
A Tony Bennett Christmas
Weekend Update


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jamie Foxx)
a very slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 2013, with host Jennifer Lawrence

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December 11, 2010 – Paul Rudd / Paul McCartney (S36 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

TAX PACKAGE
Stockholm Syndrome has left Barack Obama (FRA) voicing GOP talking points

— OH, FUCK. After the preceding episode’s Fredbama-addresses-the-nation cold opening thankfully turned out to be a fake-out, with it quickly getting interrupted by a far-more-welcome WikiLeaks TMZ piece, we end up getting a full-on, uninterrupted Fredbama-addresses-the-nation cold opening in tonight’s episode. Is SNL trolling me?
— An actual fairly funny premise with Fred’s Obama agreeing with the GOP due to Stockholm Syndrome, as he explains.
— Blah, a very lame turn with Fred’s Obama complaining about Bristol Palin getting eliminated from Dancing With The Stars.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
host belatedly realizes musical guest is the show’s most popular Paul

— Though the bit with Paul Rudd assuming that the people lined up outside 30 Rock chanting “Paul!” are fans of his is cliched and has been done on SNL before (Harvey Keitel’s season 18 monologue, for example), it’s coming off decent enough here, and Rudd has some funny lines.
— Our obligatory meeting of the Pauls.
— Great little bit with the new and underused Paul Brittain joining in on the meeting of the Pauls, only to sulk away when realizing which Paul the Paul fans outside 30 Rock are really fans of.
STARS: ***


FELINE CULINARY CREATIONS
gloppy presentation overshadows gourmet ingredients

— Some laughs from the fancy atmosphere and visuals of this cat food commercial being interspersed with incongruous shots of nasty-looking cat food being carelessly plopped onto plates.
— Great brief shot of Brittain doing a chef’s kiss gesture during his cooking of the fancy cat food.
— Another great brief shot, this time of Nasim as a chef tasting a bit of the cat food herself.
— Funny ending shot of the cat’s paw clinking wine glasses with Abby.
STARS: ****


AFFECTIONATE FAMILY
Austin Vogelcheck’s girlfriend (VAB) is wary of his clan’s yule canoodles

— (*groooooaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnn*)
— So far, the only thing I can find to say about tonight’s installment of this typically horrible sketch is that Brittain’s getting quite a bit of airtime so far tonight.
STARS: *


WHAT’S THAT NAME?
contestants (host) & (VAB) fail to identify vassals

— This soon-to-be-very-occasionally-recurring sketch makes its debut.
— After a simple beginning with the contestants easily guessing celebrity names, we get a very funny turn with Kenan entering as Rudd’s doorman.
— Such a great and realistic concept to this sketch.
— I love Kristen’s bitter, foreign-accented delivery of “But Steve Zahn you know.”
— Bill doing his usual excellent job as a game show host. His incredulous delivery of “Those people???” was particularly great.
— Solid escalation to the type of guests who show up.
STARS: ****½


STUMBLIN’
(ANS) & (host) trip to “9 to 5” theme; Mario Batali cameo

— Such a fun concept and very catchy music.
— Funny random inclusion of Paul McCartney, especially the “Tiny Harmonica Solo” part.
— Wait, has that been Kristen singing the “Stumblin’” song the whole time? If so, it’s odd how I didn’t even notice until the final verse of the song, where I heard a distinct Wiig-ism in the singer’s vocal inflection.
STARS: ****


A MESSAGE FROM MASTERCARD / A MESSAGE FROM JULIAN ASSANGE
jailed Julian Assange (BIH) threatens online attacks if he’s not released

— It’s great how it’s become a weekly running gag for a sketch to suddenly get interrupted by a message from Bill’s Julian Assange. How often in recent SNL decades like this do you get a running gag that lasts for a string of consecutive episodes?
— That joke from Bill’s Assange about America still not having caught Osama Bin Laden would no longer be relevant just a few months later.
— I love how Bill now portrays Assange like a diabolical villain, complete with him smugly taking a sip of tea each time he laughs evilly.
— A funny list of cruel website attacks Bill’s Assange threatens to make, especially the Netflix/Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper threat.
STARS: ***½


SEXUALLY SPEAKING
Rodger Brush’s facile sexist coital advice doesn’t help

— I was about to groan at the appearance of this bad recurring sketch, but the preceding installment of it from this season’s premiere was slightly better than usual, as Fred’s Rodger Brush actually had a few funny lines. Then again, that sketch as a whole still sucked.
— I will groan at the obligatory and insufferable portions of this recurring sketch where Rodger Brush repeatedly asks the guests to speak louder.
— Funny cutaway to an ashamed, head-shaking Bobby.
— We get at least one funny Rodger Brush line in this installment, with him asking “You want Dr. Linda up here peein’ out of her ass?”
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Jet”


WEEKEND UPDATE
SEM & musical guest create an audio caption for a British royal photo

all of Stefon’s club ideas for NYC holiday visitors are non-traditional

— The Weekend Update Audio Caption segment with Seth and Paul McCartney doing the voices of Prince Charles and Camilla is silly fun. Seth also seems to be having fun reprising the stuffy high-pitched British voice he used to regularly do in sketches earlier in his SNL tenure, when playing Prince Charles and other Brits.
— Stefon’s explanation of what a Human Parking Cone is receives what may be one of Bill’s biggest and more memorable breaks in these Stefon pieces.
— Funniest parts of tonight’s Stefon commentary are his Miss Piggy vocal imitation and his twisted version of the Twelve Days Of Christmas song.
STARS: ***½


HOLIDAY JAM
Principal Frye (JAP) gives crisis updates during high school assembly

— The debut of Jay’s Principal Frye character, who’s reportedly based on Jay’s real-life high school principal.
— Jay’s Principal Frye voice is fairly amusing, as are his various reports, but I hate that sharp inhale sound he keeps making between sentences. I believe Jay would thankfully drop that aspect of this character in subsequent installments of this sketch.
— Kenan’s angry speech gets my biggest laughs of this sketch so far.
STARS: ***


MERYL STREEP ON ICE
audiences love Meryl Streep’s (ABE) effortless rink artistry

— An okay-seeming concept for a showcase of the Meryl Streep impression that Abby previously did in a Weekend Update commentary.
— This is Jason’s first appearance ALL NIGHT. And it’s not even a live appearance! Wow. I know his airtime has been diminished in a number of episodes this season in general (I’m still wondering if he was possibly filming Horrible Bosses at this time. Does anyone know?), but THIS is insane. At least he’s his usual likable and charming self in this commercial, though.
— Taran’s testimonial gets my only big laugh of this rather forgettable commercial. Despite him playing a gay stereotype, his testimonial simply being him saying a sassy “Um…the bitch can skate” certainly made me laugh.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Band on the Run”


BROADWAY CARES
unprofessional spotlight technician Jeff foils host’s Cabaret performance

— This recurring sketch makes its first appearance in years, surprisingly. This also ends up being its final appearance, though there’s a variation of it in the season 38 Jeremy Renner episode, where the name of Bill’s Mike Underballs character is changed to Wes Underballs for some inexplicable reason, and instead of playing a douchey crew member named Jeff who ruins every take being filmed, Jason plays an idiot movie star named Dick Fuel who ruins every take.
— Very odd how Jason is making his first and ONLY live appearance of the night in 1) the final sketch of the night, and 2) with his scenes taking place in the rafters in SNL’s studio. (How often has a live sketch involved a performer in SNL’s rafters? Hell, is this the ONLY time in SNL history? Jerry Seinfeld had a scene in the rafters in Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ season 31 monologue, but his appearance was pre-taped.) When this originally aired, I remember almost wondering if the fact that Jason’s only live sketch appearance in this episode had him appearing in a separate part of the studio from the rest of his scene partners meant his appearance was filmed at a different time or in a different studio or something. This, and his diminished airtime in general this season, also almost made it feel to me back then like he was only a “part-time cast member” this season, much like how Eddie Murphy was, in some ways, only a “part-time cast member” in his final season, and Dana Carvey kinda was, too, in his final half-season. I hear that several of the veterans in SNL’s present-day season 46 cast will also only be “part-time cast members” this current season. (If you didn’t know, I’ve been on hiatus from watching new SNL episodes since December 2018, and thus, I can only go by what I’ve read about the current season.)
— I got a good laugh from Jason explaining that his mind is so distracted because “I saw Tangled again this week”.
— There’s Bill-as-Mike-Underballs’ angry pronunciation of “Jeff” that I always love: “JYYEEEEEEFF!”
— Jason’s getting the usual big laughs he always gets as this Jeff character, even if this installment isn’t quite as memorable as either of the previous two installments of this sketch.
— Unlike Rudd’s preceding episode from season 34, in which he got a number of fun things to do, especially with cast members like Bill and Andy, Rudd has been utilized poorly tonight. It feels like he’s been given nothing but forgettable straight roles practically all night.
— Very funny ending.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “A Day in the Life” & “Give Peace a Chance”


GOODNIGHTS
musical guest performs “Get Back”

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode. Not great, but pretty good. (“Pretty good” sadly seems to be the best this season can achieve, it feels like so far. There has yet to be a standout strong season 36 episode by this point.) Also, even though I don’t usually factor musical performances into the quality of episodes, it goes without saying that the many musical performances from the legendary Paul McCartney added a nice vibe to tonight’s episode.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
What’s That Name?
Stumblin’
Feline Culinary Creations
Broadway Cares
A Message From MasterCard / A Message From Julian Assange
Weekend Update
Monologue
Holiday Jam
Meryl Streep On Ice
Tax Package
Sexually Speaking
Affectionate Family


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Robert DeNiro)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Jeff Bridges, after previously hosting the show a whopping 27 years prior, hosts the Christmas episode

Posted on

February 13, 1993 – Alec Baldwin / Paul McCartney (S18 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
after Dateline NBC anchors admit ethical lapses, Toonces drives them home

 

— Funny line from Julia’s Jane Pauley about Dateline being a cheap knock-off of 60 Minutes.
— I like how the NBC mishaps the anchors are apologizing for are getting more and more ridiculous.
— Reruns of this episode use the dress rehearsal version of this cold opening (you’ll see why later in my review of this opening). One big difference between the live and dress version is that the live version I’m currently watching doesn’t have the meta bit with Mike’s Stone Phillips apologizing for SNL’s crass comments about Chelsea Clinton in a recent Wayne’s World sketch (during that apology, Mike gets in a dig at himself by mentioning that the Wayne’s World sketch starred an overrated performer). SNL’s director apparently didn’t receive notes that that portion of this cold opening was removed after dress, because there’s one point where, after one of Julia-as-Jane-Pauley’s news items, the camera mistakenly cuts to a close-up of Mike’s Stone Phillips as if it’s his turn to tell the next news item, but he’s just sitting silently while an off-camera Julia is the one doing the next news item.
— Odd moment where, as the Dateline show is fading to black, Julia is heard mistakenly saying her “Well, that was pretty painless” line way too early, when she’s supposed to say it a minute later when she and Mike are shown in the car.
— Toonces! First time we’ve seen him since late last season. They’re clearly phasing him out by this point, as this is among his final stretch of appearances, each of which feature him only making a surprise appearance towards the end of an unrelated sketch.
— After the car crash, there’s a malfunction with the chroma-key screen behind the car, as it isn’t showing any scenery.
— I love the idea of Toonces meowing “Live from New York”, though even that had technical issues. The audio of Toonces meowing LFNY fails to play when the LFNY subtitle appears on the bottom of the screen, then the meowing starts playing too late right as the SNL theme music begins.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host generously tips cast & crew to get special backstage treatment

— Fun monologue with Alec going around the studio thanking and bribing various crew and cast members for their efforts. I love how Alec is smoothly navigating through this monologue with total ease, showing how extremely comfortable he had become as a regular host by this point.
— Fantastic how during Lorne and Paul McCartney’s conversation, we get a clever reference to Lorne’s famous Beatle Offer sketch from the original era. The studio audience seemed to miss the reference because they were too busy going “Woo!” at the mere sight of Paul.
— When Alec returns to the home base stage, you can see a section of a football field laid out on the floor in front of the stage (you can also see it on the floor in the second above screencap for this monologue). This is leftover from the preceding episode’s SNL Halftime Spectacular sketch.
STARS: ****


THE CLUCKIN’ CHICKEN
Rerun from 11/21/92


THE MIMIC
(JUS) hires self-proclaimed master of 1000 voices (host)

— I like the 1960s aesthetic to this.
— Paul McCartney as a butler is actually a clever reference to the preceding week’s also-legendary and also-English-accented musical guest Mick Jagger playing a butler in a Prince Charles sketch. Unfortunately, this reference is lost on a lot of viewers nowadays, as the Prince Charles sketch has kinda faded into obscurity over the years (partly because it was cut from Comedy Central’s old 60-minute version, and partly because I don’t think it’s available online) while this Mimic sketch is very well-known and fondly remembered by SNL fans.
— Great opening title sequence.
— This sketch is an excellent display of Alec’s comedic talents. His horrible, cartoonish-sounding imitations of Julia’s character and her husband are hilarious.
— I love how Alec is now doing bad imitations of miscellaneous sounds, such as bird-squawking and pier noises.
— Funny turn with Alec revealing it was him who made the phone call to Julia recommending him to her.
— Classic ending with Alec telling the butler in a McCartney-esque voice “But, Jamison, you can’t throw yourself out, I’m you!”
STARS: *****


THE CHRIS FARLEY SHOW
CHF asks musical guest some dumb questions

— Here comes a legendary Chris Farley classic that would go on to be among his most defining SNL moments.
— Farley’s usual routine of “You remembeeerrrrr when…”s, pulling his hair in anger after making a faux pas, and asking the guest off-topic questions are coming off particularly charming in this installment.
— I love Paul actually having to clarify to Farley that the “Paul is dead” thing was a hoax and that “I didn’t really die”.
— Wonderful part with an excited Farley silently mouthing what appears to be “Awesome! Fuckin’ A, man! Fuckin’ A!” to the camera, in response to Paul’s answer to the question about the “The love you take is equal to the love you make” lyric.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Get Out Of My Way”


WEEKEND UPDATE
KEN gives a subliminal editorial about early days of Bill Clinton’s term
ADS sings an ode to his “Red Hooded Sweatshirt”; Linda McCartney cameo

 

— Kevin’s subliminal editorial contains the usual good laughs, especially the subliminal lines about J. Edgar Hoover being an example of a strong woman in the White House, and Hee-Haw being the right forum for Bill Clinton.
— WTF? Why did a picture of George Burns randomly show up on the news screen briefly during Kevin’s news item about a Dallas Cowboys parade? That gaffe caused the Cowboys parade joke to completely bomb with the audience.
— Oh, NOW I see why a George Burns picture mistakenly showed up, as the aforementioned Cowboys parade joke was followed by a mention of George Burns’ birthday.
— Adam’s guitar songs officially become a recurring Update segment.
— Nice topic for Adam’s guitar song tonight. Much like his preceding Turkey Song from earlier this season, the lyrics here are very fun and charmingly goofy, though I appreciate how this one is actually telling a coherent story and isn’t just a collection of random, non-sequitur lyrics.
— The obligatory participation from Kevin during Adam’s song is particularly great here, with the intermittent close-ups of Kevin looking into the camera to say some of the brief lyrics (e.g. “dip dip dip”, “sham-a-lam-a-ding-dong”).
— And now, the “audience” participation is making this song even more fun, especially with Paul and Linda McCartney’s involvement.
— Between these guitar songs of his and his smash-hit Operaman commentaries, Adam has recently become Weekend Update gold.
— An interesting tidbit about the Red-Hooded Sweatshirt song: it was originally going to be performed in the Harvey Keitel episode from earlier this season, where instead of being a Weekend Update commentary, it was going to be a standalone sketch in which Adam performs the song on, I’m assuming, the home base stage. That version of the song also obviously didn’t feature participation from Paul and Linda McCartney. Also in that version of the song, Adam set it up by saying he feels bad that the preceding week’s episode (Danny DeVito) used the word “ass” about a dozen times, so he wants to sing about something nice: his red-hooded sweatshirt.
— I loved the audience’s “Ohh!” response to Kevin’s “And now, for the lighter side of the news” one-liner when a picture of Michael Jackson shows up on the news screen.
— Very nice touch at the end of this Update, with Kevin working “dip dip dip” into his usual “I’m Kevin Nealon, and that’s news to me” sign-off.
STARS: ****


FRANCAIS
French teacher (host) makes sure students’ inflection matches his

— A lot of laughs so far from each student eventually catching on that Alec wants them to say their French phrases in the same goofy, gleeful inflection that he’s using. Farley’s attempt at the inflection is particularly priceless.
— Adam’s very Adam Sandler-esque over-the-top gibberish when repeating Alec’s French phrase was hilarious.
— Surprisingly, this is Phil’s first appearance all night (not counting the Cluckin’ Chicken repeat), and it’s just a small role at the tail end of this sketch.
— Very funny ending with Alec getting the crap beat out of him when trying to correct real Frenchmen’s language.
STARS: ****½


SOAP OPERA DIGEST
TV doctor (host) mispronounces medical terms

 

— Funny mock-dramatic entrance from Phil, who has a great soap opera-esque look in this. I think that’s the same wig he wore in another memorable soap opera parody, All My Luggage from two seasons earlier.

— By the way, this ends up being Phil’s final appearance tonight. An episode with Phil only having two measly walk-on roles, both being in sketches buried after Weekend Update, is unheard of (at least until the upcoming season 19, where we’ll sadly see Phil often pushed to the side), especially considering how particularly heavily he dominated the preceding week’s episode, appearing in almost every single sketch in a lead role. Maybe SNL felt he needed a breather after that? He was in several cut dress rehearsal sketches from this episode, one of them having him in a lead role that will later be recast with host Bill Murray in the following week’s episode (I’ll reveal which sketch that is when I review that episode).
— Alec’s hot streak tonight continues, as we get another all-time memorable performance from him here. His various medical mispronunciations are great. I especially love the “ay-nal cay-nal” (anal canal) one. The premise itself isn’t particularly amazing, but Alec is absolutely perfect for this material and this is a quintessential example of how his dry, serious delivery can make certain dialogue hilarious.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Biker Like An Icon”


THE GAP
Gap employees Kristy & Lucy both think (host) is their guy

— This sketch officially becomes recurring.
— I like how there’s nice continuity, with Mike’s character referencing his appearance in the preceding Gap Girls sketch, as he makes a passing mention of the baggy outfit the Gap Girls convinced him to buy in that sketch.
— Adam and David’s catty comments early on in this sketch are cracking me up.
— Tim’s character makes a passing mention of Tater Junction, which is where a future Gap Girls sketch takes place in (the famous one with Farley’s “Lay off me, I’m starving!” moment).
— The fast-paced back-and-forths between Alec and Adam during their conversation are really well-delivered and entertaining.
— Farley’s Gap Girl character makes her debut here.
— Rob’s Donut Hut character is very funny, especially the bitchy looks she constantly gives the other girls.
— Overall, an improvement over the first Gap Girls installment.
STARS: ***½


NAKED WOMAN THEATRE
(host) responds to complaints the show has received

— Alec’s dignified delivery while defending the show’s random use of naked women is fairly funny, but this sketch is nothing particularly great, especially compared to most of what preceded it tonight.
— I absolutely love the way this ended, with Alec’s host character seguing into the following Daily Affirmation with Stuart Smalley sketch by saying viewers in other parts of the country will see that instead of the Naked Woman Theatre play that’s about to take place. Feels like a nice throwback to times when the original SNL era would segue from one sketch to another in this manner.
STARS: **½


DAILY AFFIRMATION WITH STUART SMALLEY
Stuart deconstructs some Valentine’s Day cards

— It’s nice to see more and more of a glimpse into Stuart’s personal life, as he now mentions recently getting out of a toxic relationship with someone named Dale.
— I’m getting some good laughs from Stuart deconstructing Valentine cards and relating them to issues like co-dependency.
— The ending was actually sweet and heartwarming, with Stuart detailing how he’s going to send himself a bouquet of roses with a sentimental note to show himself some much-needed appreciation.
STARS: ***½


THE BODYGUARD: THE SERIES
David Hasselhoff (host) & Patti LaBelle (ELC) in The Bodyguard TV series

— Funny concept of a David Hasselhoff/Patti LaBelle-starring Bodyguard TV series.
— Eh, I’m not caring too much for how the Alec/Ellen scenes are turning out.
— The testimonial quote from Jay Leno is priceless (the third above screencap for this sketch), and serves as a reminder that the infamous late night war between Leno and David Letterman was taking place around this time. Funny thing is, the Leno jokes in this sketch still remained relevant decades later during the 2010 late night war between Leno and Conan O’Brien, which is when I first saw this sketch.
— I like how the ending of this went further with the Leno bit, with Kevin popping in as him and smugly bragging “I got to stay!”
— According to GettyImages, Mike Myers had a part cut after the dress rehearsal version of this sketch where he plays an assailant shooting Alec’s Hasselfhoff (pic here).
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hey Jude”

— Funny to think that while this absolutely legendary performance is going on, Al Franken is somewhere in the studio stealing jeans from the Gap Girls set, as he would later disclose in the “Live from New York” book.


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A phenomenal episode, and one of the best and most memorable of this early 90s era. So many things to rave about in tonight’s episode: there were lots of classic moments all throughout, there was a long streak of sketches receiving a four or five-star rating from me until we got towards the end of the show, and the overall episode had a very fun and charming vibe. To say nothing of what Paul McCartney’s mere presence brought to the show. While a lot of hosts would get overshadowed by such a heavy dosage of McCartney throughout an episode (Paul Rudd knows what that’s like), we thankfully had Alec Baldwin as tonight’s host. Alec, who had already proven himself twice as a fantastic host before tonight, gave what I personally feel is his strongest hosting performance of all time in this episode, enhancing every single sketch he was in with masterful performances and having some of the most memorable roles of his SNL hosting stints.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Luke Perry)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Bill Murray

Posted on

May 17, 1980 – Steve Martin / Paul and Linda McCartney, 3-D (S5 E19)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars


COLD OPENING
via satellite, Father Guido Sarducci waits outside McCartneys’ London pad

   

— I liked Don Pardo’s opening “Day 122 of Paul McCartney without marijuana” announcement.
— Only Jane at the Update desk? Where’s Bill?
— From what I’ve heard about this episode, Father Guido Sarducci really IS being broadcast live from London for this episode.
— Ha, Sarducci rocking the 1980 Bo Derek braids and beads.
— Sarducci throwing stuff at Paul McCartney’s window to wake him up is fairly funny.
— Tonight’s LFNY is said by a random English milkman! One of the very few LFNYs in SNL history that was uttered by an unidentifiable person.
STARS: **½


MONOLOGUE
host talks about his ideals in the form of “What I Believe”

 

— Who were those two guys seen running off the home base stage right before Steve made his entrance? (screencap below)

— I loved Steve slow-strutting his way onto the monologue stage while the theme music was still playing.
— Is it just me, or is this the third monologue where he announces in a mock-serious voice that he’s “getting out of the comedy business”? I know he definitely said it in his monologue from earlier this season, and I think he said it in one of the previous seasons as well.
— Loved his random line about “Uncle Todd, who waves his penis”.
— His “What I Believe” speech is great and has so many hilarious random one-liners.
— Overall, one of the funniest monologues Steve has done so far.
STARS: ****½


REAL INCREDIBLE PEOPLE
not-very-exotic citizens are on display

     

— I’m assuming this is a take-off of the then-popular show “That’s Incredible!”.
— Very delayed entrance from Bill. He looks funny in that wig and mustache, though.
— Ha, all five of these people are the HOSTS?
— Hey, it’s Akira Yoshimura, playing a character with his real name.
— Humorous how the “incredible” things about the people on display are just mundane, everyday things like eating sushi and reading before bed.
— Lots of fantastic energy from the five hosts.
— LOL at the hosts’ amazement over a man having “very dark brown skin”.
— Good part with the fake audience members being interviewed.
STARS: ****


THUGS
(GIR) & (JAC) clean up the mess made by their sons during a home invasion

   

— The way Bill and Steve busted into the apartment at the beginning had shades of X-Police.
— Bill and Steve are hilarious as the goofy robbers.
— Funny turn with Gilda and Jane showing up as the robbers’ mothers to clean up the mess their sons made during their robbery.
— Jane’s sudden gunshot at Harry genuinely made me jump.
— I loved the part with Gilda and Jane forcing Laraine and Harry to lean forward….. so they can fluff the pillows behind them.
— Overall, a decent sketch, but it kinda dragged in the middle when Jane and Gilda were cleaning up the place.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
3-D performs “All-Night Television”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Father Guido Sarducci sings a Beatles medley to get McCartneys’ attention

   

— Funny bit from Bill at the beginning, with him randomly asleep on the desk during Pardo’s intro.
— I’m getting tired of this season’s running segments with Father Guido Sarducci waiting to interview someone. They already did this earlier this season with him trying to interview Nixon.
— Sarducci singing a medley of Beatles songs over the bullhorn is going on WAY too long.
— Oh, man, the Sarducci segment is how they end Update tonight?
— During Jane’s sign-off, Bill’s not there at the desk. Guess this is yet another Update this season where he had to duck out early to get in costume for the next sketch.
— Overall, a blah Update. An unusual amount of Bill and Jane’s jokes fell pretty flat, and the long Sarducci segment killed any remaining momentum.
STARS: **


THE HOMINIDS
caveman (BIM) feels threatened by more-evolved (host)

     

— Great caveman make-up job on the performers, especially Bill. I now see why Bill had to duck out of Update early, as it must’ve taken several minutes for the make-up people to give him that caveman look.
— Interesting voice on Gilda.  I’ve never heard her sound like that before.
— Bill’s loud scream after walking on the fire was hilarious.
— Laraine bluntly saying “You make me wet” to Steve was a riot. I’m surprised the censors would allow that in 1980.
— Fitting how Steve’s the only one talking in a normal non-caveman speech pattern.
— Pretty funny ending with Bill repeatedly slamming a boulder into a sleeping Steve.
STARS: ***½


LONDON REMOTE
Paul & Linda McCartney dodge Father Guido Sarducci’s marijuana questions

  

— Ugh, Father Guido Sarducci is STILL trying to wake McCartney up. I’m so over these segments.
— Hey, Paul McCartney has finally shown up!
— Double ugh at Sarducci asking Paul “If you could be any animal, what would it be?” It wasn’t funny when he asked that question to Nixon earlier this season, and it ain’t funny now.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
Paul & Linda McCartney perform “Coming Up” in music video

   


REAGAN DINNER
Ronald (HAS) & Nancy (JAC) Reagan have dinner with some reporters

 

— Harry’s Reagan impression looks very different from the last time he played him, and he’s wearing a ton of make-up this time. I guess it’s true that Harry was really the very first SNL cast member to make a big deal about going out of his way to look like the celebrities he impersonates, something that upcoming cast member Joe Piscopo would take to even further extremes in the next SNL era. A huge contrast to the very early SNL days of putting little-to-no effort to make people like Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd look like the politicians and celebrities they play.
— Weird seeing Jane as Nancy Reagan. I never knew she played her.
— This sketch is very quiet so far.
— That’s it? The sketch is over? Wow, what was the point of this? This was very dull, fell really flat, and I got almost no laughs from it. A waste of Harry’s Reagan impresion.
STARS: *½


STRETCH MARKS
bitter loneliness in aging Patti Caldwell’s (GIR) album

   

— The “Stretch Marks” title is already making me like this sketch.
— Gilda’s lip-syncing is really obvious.
— Never mind, I guess the blatant lip-syncing is intentionally part of the joke, since Gilda now seems to be going out of her way to make some parts of her singing look very out-of-sync.
— The “F-U-L-L-F-I-L-L-M-E-N-T” song was hilarious.
— Overall, a very funny sketch and a great Gilda showcase, the latter of which feels almost rare at this late stage in Gilda’s SNL tenure. She’s surprisingly been fairly quiet this season, I guess due to spending so much time doing her one-woman stage show “Gilda Live!” throughout this season.
STARS: ****½


DEER CROSSING
buck (host) & doe (GIR) wait for traffic to let up at a deer crossing

   

— I like the idea of this.
— What the hell kind of animal is Garrett supposed to be dressed as?
— Oh, he’s a cow, I see.
— It’s over already? Well, that certainly went NOWHERE. The idea of the sketch was cute, but absolutely nothing interesting happened in it. I didn’t laugh a single time. It ended up being another sketch tonight that left me asking myself “That’s it? What was the point of that?”, much like the Reagan sketch.
STARS: *½


GOODNIGHTS
crew breaks down location for London satellite shoot

   

— According to Steve, they have a lot of time to kill.
— Laraine doesn’t look very happy. I’ve noticed that about her in several goodnights this season, actually.
— For some reason, the scrolling ending credits are in a yellow font tonight instead of the usual white font.
— I love the cutaway to the SNL crew in London putting away their equipment.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A very up-and-down, inconsistent episode. Some things were very strong, some things were terrible. Actually, come to think of it, the show started out really well, as most of the pre-Update material was good and featured some great energetic performances. The inconsistency of the night seemed to start halfway through the episode, where even Update was pretty flat. There were two solid sketches after Update (Stretch Marks and The Hominids), but some of the weaker sketches in that half were some of the most laughless flops the show has had in a while.  And it goes without saying that I could’ve done without so much Father Guido Sarducci throughout the show.
— This was Steve Martin’s final time hosting during the original SNL era. I’m gonna miss seeing him working with this cast, which to this day still remains the cast he had the best chemistry with.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bob Newhart):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
(*sigh*) It’s the end of an era, folks. Buck Henry hosts the original cast’s final episode.