Tag: Season 23

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January 10, 1998 – Samuel L. Jackson / Ben Folds Five (S23 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BUDGET SURPLUS
Bill Clinton (DAH) plans to make a kick-ass movie with budget surplus

— Funny idea Darrell’s Bill Clinton had for a naked Super Bowl, and how he got discouraged from that idea after seeing naked photos of Jerome Bettis.
— Some pretty good laughs from Clinton going on about the details for his idea of a big, expensive blockbuster movie.
— Overall, this was fine, but not quite as memorable as I had remembered.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host shares his blaxploitation-themed New Year’s resolutions

— I like the opening line with Samuel clarifying that he’s not Laurence Fishburne or Morgan Freeman.
— Pretty fun premise of Samuel sharing his New Years resolutions, complete with cool background music.
— The resolutions aren’t all that hilarious, aside from “Build a shrine to my own bad ass”. However, they’re coming off charming and enjoyable, in the way that only Samuel L. Jackson can make it.
STARS: ***


LEMON GLOW
Rerun from 10/18/97


PUBLISHERS CLEARING HOUSE GIVEAWAY
Publishers Clearing House visits the ghetto to award prize to (host)

— Funny premise of Publishers Clearing House presenting a prize to a family in the ghetto.
— I love Samuel’s line to Ana, warning her to get away from the door before he “stomps a prize-winning mudhole in your ass!”
— Feels like the first time in ages we’ve seen Tracy with a speaking role. He was completely absent in the last episode, and in the episode before that, his only appearance was reused footage from a season 22 Quiet Storm sketch in which he just played a silent role. Was he out sick for the entire month of December?
— The portrayal of the black family is stereotypical as hell, but is making me laugh, and the performances are adding good realism to this scene, especially Samuel’s performance. Even Tim, as unconvincing as he tends to be when playing tough homeboys, is cracking me up in this and is coming off as his usual likable self.
— Samuel, regarding the prize: “That look like a big-ass food stamp.” I also love Will responding, in his whitebred voice, “I assure you, that is not a big-ass food stamp.”
— Hilarious acting from Will during the dog attack at the end of the sketch.
STARS: ***½


QUENTIN TARANTINO: A PROFILE
Quentin Tarantino (NOM) presents unsuccessful Pulp Fiction screen tests

— The recently-fired-from-Weekend-Update Norm Macdonald makes his only appearance of the night in this pre-taped piece. I’ve always wondered if the reason for him not making any live appearances tonight is because the show let him have some time off as some kind of compensation for losing Update. Does anyone know?
— Man, Norm’s Quentin Tarantino is freakin’ spot-on. One of my favorite impressions of Norm’s, which is saying something, as he’s done a lot of solid impressions over the years on SNL. His Tarantino is slaying me, especially after I’ve recently reviewed the real Tarantino in the SNL episode he hosted in season 21.
— Interestingly, this is the second consecutive instance of the first SNL episode of a calendar year doing a screen tests sketch for a famous movie. The first episode of 1997 had the Star Wars screen tests, and now we have this in the first 1998 episode. It would’ve been fun if this had become an annual tradition for this era.
— Yes! Norm’s Burt Reynolds!
— Hilarious concept of Darrell’s Walter Cronkite auditioning as the gimp.
— I love Ana-as-Ann-B.-Davis’ bleep-filled audition.
— Good ending scene with Ann B. Davis and Samuel doing the famous Pulp Fiction dance.
— Overall, not as epic as the Star Wars Screen Tests, but still a very strong and fun piece.
STARS: ****½


JAZZTERPIECES
Jazzterpieces documents the rocky career of musical couple (host) & (ANG)

— Ana’s crazy, mumbly, high-pitched singing voice is cracking me up.
— Very funny line from the narrator about ending discrimination against blind interracial junkies.
— At first, before the aforementioned interracial line, I thought there’d be a twist in this sketch that Samuel’s blind character never realized all these years that Ana’s character is white, since Ana’s doing a convincing black voice here.
— The interview portions with Samuel and Ana are pretty funny and have good chemistry between them.
STARS: ***½


JUDGE JUDY
personal trainer (host) sues former customer (ANG)

— The first of several Judge Judy parodies in this era.
— Good casting of Cheri as the no-nonsense Judge Judy.
— Interesting having Samuel play his character from Jackie Brown.
— I liked Ana’s line about Samuel burning her teaspoons.
— Another good line from Ana, about how the cardio workout that Samuel had her do involved her running bags of money through airport security.
— I love the bits with Tracy throughout this.
— I don’t know if it’s part of the script or not, but all of a sudden, Cheri has gotten sloppy with her delivery towards the end of this sketch.
STARS: ***


TV FUNHOUSE
“George Clooney” by RBS- Speed Racer George Clooney dodges press

— I love this very random premise of George Clooney starring in a Speed Racer cartoon. I also love how this is bringing back nice memories of watching Speed Racer when I was a kid.
— Haha, what the hell is with Fran Drescher’s manly voice? It’s making me laugh out loud anyway, even though I don’t understand it.
— I like the sudden inclusion of Barbara Walters, voiced by Cheri.
— Hilarious gag with Eddie Murphy fighting with Marv Albert over a transvestite.
— Overall, I could not stop laughing at all the fast-paced randomness throughout this cartoon, even when some of the randomness flew right past me.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
Harry Caray (WIF) explores the implications of cloning hot dogs

— A new era of Weekend Update begins.
— With a new anchor, we also get a new Update set tonight.
— I remember an SNL review once pointing out that during the opening applause in this Update, you can hear the voice of a Norm Macdonald-sounding guy yelling “Hey, you!” towards new anchor Colin Quinn. The mysterious voice is actually yelling “Daddio!”, not “Hey, you!”, but yeah, the voice does sound similar to Norm’s. It’s obviously just an audience member, but it’s hilarious to imagine Norm sneaking into the studio audience to heckle his Update replacement by yelling “Hey, you!”
— Odd how Colin’s not wearing the traditional type of suit-and-tie attire that Update anchors typically wear.
— Excellent opening spiel from Colin about a new bartender, and how it turns out to be an analogy for Colin replacing Norm. This is a solid and wise way to alleviate the awkwardness of the circumstances behind Colin getting the anchorperson spot.
— Hoo, boy, only two jokes into this Update, and you can already see that Colin’s delivery seems VERY wrong for Update.
— Okay, Colin’s Bob Dylan joke just now was good, because the punchline of it allowed Colin to use his natural laid-back stand-up delivery instead of a straitlaced professional delivery that doesn’t fit him.
— Right in his very first Update, Colin does an “O.J. is a murderer” joke, proving that some people need to rethink the long-standing rumor that Norm got fired from Update for doing too many jokes about Don Ohlmeyer’s golfing buddy, O.J. Simpson.
— The punchlines to Colin’s jokes seem to be alternating between ones that have him using a professional delivery and ones that have him using a laid-back stand-up delivery.
— Even the graphics on the Update screen look different from how they typically looked in the Norm era of Update.
— Will’s Harry Caray!
— Just now, Will’s Caray tells Colin “Think of all the possibilities, Norm.” The slowly uproarious audience reaction to this is very funny. Will’s Caray then looks at the audience and asks “Hey, what’s going on over there?!?”
— Another Norm mix-up from Caray, by asking Colin “Hey, Norm, did you gain weight?”
— A memorable question from Caray right now, asking Colin “If you were a hot dog, would you eat yourself?”
— Colin’s interaction with Update correspondents is definitely going to need some work, as he’s stiff during this interaction with Will’s Harry Caray.
— Wow, Update’s ending already? I’m surprised by how short this Update was, though maybe that was intentional, considering Colin might not have had a lot of time this week to prepare as a new Update anchor.
— Overall, not a great debut for Colin as an anchorperson, but I see some promise there. They need to let him do more of the type of jokes where he can use his natural stand-up delivery, and let him develop better interaction skills with the correspondents.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Brick”


TITANIC
fifth-class passengers (host) & (TRM) wait to be evacuated from Titanic

— I got an unintentional laugh from Will stumbling badly through his yell of “Last call for all third class passengers!” Afterwards, he deliberately delivers his next yell in a slow, almost staccato manner, so he won’t stumble through it.
— Some good laughs from all of the things being put onto lifeboats before the two black passengers, even stowaways and pieces of both the ship and iceberg.
— Very funny ending with Tracy and Samuel telling Tim about how they survived the sinking of the Titanic by making a dead white folks boat.
STARS: ***½


MANGO
Mango enthralls an otherwise-heterosexual hard-core criminal (host)

— A big night for Tracy, who’s receiving much more airtime than he usually gets in these early seasons of his, obviously because we have a black host tonight (Tracy would receive this same amount of airtime two years later in the Jamie Foxx-hosted episode from season 25). A nice contrast to how non-existent he was in the last two episodes.
— Mango officially becomes recurring.
— So far, this Mango installment is starting out the exact same way the first installment started.
— Yeah, this whole sketch is basically just a rewrite of the first Mango installment, only replacing the businessman character played by Brendan Fraser with a gangster played by Samuel L. Jackson.
— I admit to getting a laugh from Chris’ delivery of “No, get out, I hate’choo!”
STARS: **


THE LEARNING ANNEX
The Learning Annex can help you become a joyful, germ-free fake preacher

— I like the germophobe character that Ana’s playing.
— Molly’s joyologist character, Helen Madden, becomes recurring, after debuting in an ensemble sketch from the preceding season’s Lisa Kudrow episode. Unlike that sketch, Molly’s character has the last name Madden here.
— Jim has been practically invisible tonight. Like I said about Colin a few episodes ago, I sometimes forget that Jim is even still a cast member this season, due to how little he’s been used lately.
— I do like the doctored photos of Jim with Kevin Bacon.
— Wow, there’s yet ANOTHER appearance from Tracy tonight. His big night continues.
— Molly’s going heavy on the number of “I love it!”s in this sketch, but her delivery of it is still somewhat low-key compared to how over-the-top we would later get used to hearing her deliver it. She’s also thankfully not doing the exaggerated physical gyrations that she would go REALLY overboard with in later Helen Madden appearances.
— I like Will worriedly telling Samuel “I think your class is illegal” before quickly saying to the camera with a smile “…and we’re out of time.”
— Overall, some laughs here and there, but a forgettable sketch.
STARS: **


POOLSIDE LOVIN’
dad’s death leaves (CHK) not in the mood to “get it on”

— I’m not seeing much potential in this sketch so far.
— Yeah, a few minutes into this sketch, and I have not been enjoying this, though Samuel’s performance is cracking me up.
STARS: *½


THE WESTON COLLECTION
Another rerun tonight, this time from 11/15/97


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An episode with a good first half, but the second half felt off, aside from the Titanic sketch. I didn’t care for ANY of the last three sketches. Despite that, and despite there not being much in this overall episode that I felt stood out as particularly great, there were enough good things to make this an overall okay episode. And I did like the energy and fun performance style that Samuel L. Jackson brought throughout the whole show.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Helen Hunt)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Sarah Michelle Gellar makes her hosting debut

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December 13, 1997 – Helen Hunt / Hanson (S23 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

CAROLING
carollers Marty & Bobbi work pop songs into their Christmas medley

— An interestingly out-of-the-ordinary use of The Culps. Not only are they out of their usual setting, but they’re being shown from a first-person perspective.
— I like Ana’s quiet laugh.
— And now, to make this Culps installment even more out-of-the-ordinary, we get the Culps being joined by two additional singers, played by Helen Hunt and Tim. This is the debut of Tim’s recurring Spanish teacher character from these sketches.
— Lots of funny lines among the pre-song pleasantries the Culps are trying to have with the off-camera person who’s perspective we’re seeing.
— I absolutely love how the Culps transitioned from the “two turtle doves” part of the “12 Days of Christmas” song into Prince’s “When Doves Cry”.
— Another great song transition, with Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song” turning into “99 Luftballoons”.
— Overall, I feel this is the best Culps sketch I’ve reviewed up to this point.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
Jack Nicholson [real] responds to castmembers’ impressions of him

— Pretty funny bit spoofing Helen’s hairstyle similarities with Hanson, by having her claim she’s the oldest member of Hanson, complete with a doctored photo being shown of her singing with them.
— Very funny Jack Nicholson impression from Jim, especially the facial expressions he’s making.
— Ha, Colin’s about to try a Jack Nicholson? Well, this sure is going to be a case of “so bad, it’s funny”.
— Hmm, Colin’s impression actually wasn’t all that terrible, showing that anyone can do a Nicholson (except Cheri Oteri, apparently, though her impression was still pretty funny).
— Surprisingly, this is the first time Jack Nicholson has ever appeared on SNL.
— Another good facial expression from Jim, this time when silently reacting to Jack confronting him with the obligatory quote from “A Few Good Men”.
STARS: ***


COOKIE DOUGH SPORT
Rerun from 10/4/97


THE DELICIOUS DISH
Margaret Jo & Terry drink eggnog & welcome rock & roll pastry chef (host)

— Ha, judging from the unusual demeanor of Molly’s character at the beginning of this, is she tipsy on eggnog?
— Yep, she is. This is going to be an interesting change of pace for this recurring sketch.
— A pretty good laugh from when, after Molly timidly says “I’m a little tipsy”, Ana bluntly says “I’m totally wasted.”
— Funny part with a tipsy Molly getting called out on saying something “mean” and “out of line” by her tame standards.
— Great twist with Ana and Molly finding out that the eggnog they’re drinking is actually non-alcoholic, meaning they’re not drunk like they had thought.
— Funny opening line from Helen in regards to her name Trudy.
— Some amusing features of Helen’s Graceland gingerbread house.
— I got a good laugh from Ana and Molly’s story about how their failed attempt at building a gingerbread house “got really ugly… we almost killed ourselves”, which is followed by an uncomfortably long silence between all three ladies.
— Overall, one of my favorite Delicious Dish installments.
STARS: ****


TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- Jesus searches for holiday spirit

— Here’s what would go on to be known as a classic TV Funhouse.
— I love Jesus making warning gestures behind various televangelists, and the televangelists attempting to get rid of him.
— A huge laugh from how one televangelist scene just has Jesus coming in, immediately kicking a televangelist who’s trying to “heal” a man in a wheelchair, and immediately leaving.
— Hilarious bit with a black choir breaking out into an energetic rendition of “Hallelujah” as soon as Jesus makes Kathie Lee Gifford disappear.
— Excellent twist with Linus’ Jesus speech from a Peanuts Christmas special being the only thing that Jesus agrees with, moving him to tears.
— A legendary ending visual of Jesus doing the Peanuts dance down the street.
STARS: *****


THE LADIES’ MAN
Leon & skank (host) field callers’ lovelife questions

— Yet another change of pace for a recurring sketch tonight, with this being the very first Ladies’ Man sketch to have a guest.
— A big laugh from Leon Phelps asking a caller “Medically speaking, just how dinky is your wang?” I also like how right afterwards, the caller is heard muttering “Not very medical…” under his breath.
— I’m surprised this sketch is already wrapping up. It felt like it was only about two-and-a-half minutes long.
— Good ending reveal from Leon that his definition of “dinner and a movie” is having sex and videotaping it.
STARS: ***½


BASEBALL DREAMS
major leaguers sour youngster’s (CHK) dream of becoming a baseball player

— Here comes another classic piece tonight.
— Chris always makes a convincing child.
— I love how comically out-of-hand the number of entering athletes is getting.
— Chris’ increasingly disillusioned attitude towards the athletes is great.
— Very funny line about how Ken Griffey Jr. stopped at a strip joint down the street.
— A particularly strong part with Will entering as a random guy, Ted Brogan, who played a little minor league in the 80s.
— Ted Brogan, to Chris’ mom: “I got rolling papers if you got weed!”
— When police sirens are heard, I love Brogan handing his gun to Chris and asking him to hide it.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “MMMBop”


WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ’s inebriation derails his International Monetary Fund commentary

— (*sigh*) Well, this is it. The final Norm Macdonald Weekend Update, which Norm himself was not aware of at the time.
— For obvious reasons, it’s very interesting in retrospect that Colin does a commentary as himself in Norm’s last Update. The even more interesting thing about this is that Norm himself did a commentary in the final Update anchored by the man who he would succeed as an Update anchor: Kevin Nealon. Two unintentional passings of the torch.

— Colin does a variation of the drunk commentary he did in the preceding season.
— I like Colin’s line about not getting his own movie deal “like The Roxbury Twins or whatever”.
— Funny ending visual of Colin’s commentary, with him standing up with half of his face covered in eggnog, after having his face shoved against the eggnog-covered Update desk a little earlier.
— An all-time classic Norm Update joke right now, about the percentage of two pie charts not adding up to 100% because the math was done by a woman. The audience’s reaction is priceless, which Norm follows up by telling them “For those of you hissing at that joke, it should be noted that that joke was written by a woman…. Now you don’t know what the hell to do, do ya?”, and then, after letting the audience react to that, casually adds in “Nah, I’m just kidding, we don’t hire women” before immediately attempting to move on with the next joke.
— A strong final joke from Norm, regarding Don Johnson dating a 71-year-old.
— Sad seeing Norm sign off at the end of this Update when you know that he’s unaware this is his last sign-off.
— And thus ends Norm’s last-ever Weekend Update. Before SNL comes back from Christmas break, Norm, along with Update producer Jim Downey, would infamously be abruptly fired from Update by NBC executive Don Ohlmeyer. Everything that can be said about that notorious situation has already been said many times over the years, and will probably continue to be said in the comments section of this review. I have nothing new to add; I just want to question why, if Ohlmeyer was going to fire Norm from Update underservedly, couldn’t Ohlmeyer have at least had the decency to wait until after the season ended? Did he really feel that ratings for Update were so dire that Norm needed to be yanked from Update pronto right in the middle of the season, right after the holidays to boot, and not even letting him know in advance before he went on the air for what ended up being his final Update?
— Seeing Norm go is particularly difficult for me, as he’s tied with Dennis Miller as my personal favorite Weekend Update anchor of all time. It’s been a joy to cover his three-and-a-half-year stint as an Update anchor. Although the quality of his Updates slowed down a bit during this final season of his, they were still enjoyable and he got to go out with a solid final Update, which contained an all-time classic joke (pie chart percentage).
STARS: ****


THE ROXBURY GUYS
therapist (host) counsels Roxbury Guys about how to interact with others

— Meh, these guys again.
— Interesting turn with the club music stopping as Cheri goes on an angry rant at the Roxbury Guys and calls them out on needing professional help.
— Now we get an actual scene of the Roxbury Guys in therapy. Another good shake-up to the format of this recurring sketch.
— A rare occurrence of the Roxbury Guys actually speaking full dialogue, which only happened in one earlier sketch they were in.
— My god, Jack Nicholson’s attempt at doing the Roxbury Guys head bop is LAUGHABLY bad. Epic. Clearly, Will and Chris agree on how laughably bad it is, as after Jack exits, they nod to each other in character before sharing an uncontrollable chuckle.
— The ending was too predictable.
STARS: ***


JOAN RIVERS’ 1997 FASHION WRAP-UP
skeletal Joan Rivers’ fashion critiques dismay Jodie Foster (host)

— A huge laugh right from the start, with the opening visual of Joan Rivers being portrayed by a talking skeleton. Great concept.
— Solid Joan Rivers vocal impression from an off-screen Ana.
— Spot-on casting of Helen as Jodie Foster.
— Due to her SNL ties (as bitter as they are), it feels odd seeing Janeane Garofalo as one of the celebrities in this sketch who’s photo is being harshly critiqued (last screencap above).
— Pretty funny ending gag with the Joan Rivers skeleton head popping off her body.
— Despite some laughs, something felt kinda underwhelming about this overall sketch.
STARS: **½


A BURT REYNOLDS CHRISTMAS
dirty jokes & pranks preclude festivity

— I actually thought this was a real NBC commercial at first, until Norm showed up as Burt Reynolds.
— Norm’s Burt Reynolds is slaying me as always.
— I like Will-as-Jerry-Reed’s disgust at one dirty joke that Burt wants him to read off of a card.
STARS: ***½


CHRISTMASOFT
Bill Gates (CHK) announces that Microsoft has merged with Christmas

— The return of Chris’ childlike, mildly-effeminate take on Bill Gates.
— Amusing concept of Gates merging Microsoft with Christmas.
— Wow, this sketch is ending ALREADY, after only 30 seconds?
— Never mind, I was mistaken.  This sketch isn’t over yet.
— The creepy mechanical message from a computerized Santa cracked me up.
— I love the security camera footage of Jim’s Fidel Castro and his men partying to Chumbawumba’s “Tubthumping”. Just hearing that song in this sketch makes this feel like such a time capsule for 1997.
— Hmm, maybe this sketch should’ve ended early after all, like I mistakenly thought it would 30 seconds into this. After about two minutes, this sketch is now starting to feel oddly stretched out and is going on too long. Feels like Chris is just vamping for time by this point, which he is not doing well. This sketch is slowly dying.
— Weak ending.
STARS: **


TORTURING HANSON
vengeful (WIF) & (host) repeatedly subject musical guest to “MMMBop”

— Our obligatory Hanson sketch appearance of the night.
— I love Helen sternly pointing out to Hanson how overplayed “MMMBop” was during the spring and summer of 1997. Brings back memories of how much 13-year-old me hated that song with a fiery passion back in ’97. Both that AND the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” song were the musical bane of 13-year-old me’s existence.
— Great concept of Helen and Will brutally torturing Hanson by forcing them to listen to an endless loop of “MMMBop”.
— I’ll give credit to Hanson for being good sports to participate in this.
— I can excuse the overacting from the two Hanson brothers who are acting out a mental breakdown.
— I love the dark ending with Will being shot off-camera, complete with blood being seen on the wall behind him when the elevator doors open back up.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Merry Christmas Baby”


GOODNIGHTS
host & castmembers end the show from Rockefeller Center skating rink

— Skating rink goodnights! Always a treat to see.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly solid Christmas episode; better than I had remembered, in fact. The first half was very impressive, with two five-star classics (TV Funhouse and Baseball Dreams) and a few other strong sketches. Things slowed down in the second half, but there were still some good things there, especially the Torturing Hanson sketch. I also like how tonight’s episode shook things up with the recurring characters, by refreshingly having them do something different for a change.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Nathan Lane)
a very slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 1998, with host Samuel L. Jackson, and the beginning of a new era of Weekend Update

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December 6, 1997 – Nathan Lane / Metallica (S23 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

WELL BABIES TRAGEDY
the McCaughey septuplets have fallen into a well & the media loves it

— This season, SNL seems to like doing cold openings that start with actual footage of then-current NBC sitcoms, before they get interrupted by a “special report”. In a cold opening earlier this season, the interrupted sitcom was “Men Behaving Badly”, and now it’s what appears to be a Jenny McCarthy sitcom that I have no memory of.
— A hilarious random premise of famous septuplets from this time period becoming trapped in a well.
— I love the “Well Babies Tragedy” graphic, made even funnier by the sound effects played during it.
— I have no idea what the real McCaugheys look like, but Molly’s look as Mrs. McCaughey is very funny.
— Great bit with Jim’s Mr. McCaughey talking about how he heard seven splashes and responded “Nooooo….” seven times. Solid delivery from Jim there.
— This sketch is so fleshed-out that we even get a cutaway to a press conference held by Darrell’s Bill Clinton addressing the tragedy. His message is hilariously brief and generic.
— Funny interview with a Cheri as a now-pre-teen, cigarette-smoking Baby Jessica.
— I love Will-as-Brian-Williams’ increasing greediness and pride towards getting the honor of covering this story.
— A big laugh from Ana’s way of getting rid of Chris’ Geraldo Rivera.
— Will’s Brian Williams, regarding the “Well Babies Tragedy” graphic: “Damn, that’s a kick-ass graphic!”
— A particularly funny part where, when telling us he’s not going anywhere during this breaking news coverage, Will’s Brian Williams says “I got a bag of Snickers and a piss jar under this desk”, which he shows to us. That’s always been my favorite part of this cold opening.
— For some reason, I enjoyed the freaky way the fake gummy teeth that Molly’s wearing made her look when she shouted “Live from New York…” at the end.
STARS: ****½


OPENING MONTAGE
— “A Cartoon by Robert Smigel” is credited, but the cartoon itself never ends up airing tonight. I guess the show ran long and they had to cut the cartoon for time at the last minute.


MONOLOGUE
host, Ernie Sabella [real], cast go worry-free & sing “Hakuna Matata”

— I’m really looking forward to seeing this. As I mentioned in the preceding season in my review of Mike Myers’ monologue, which I absolutely loved, tonight’s Nathan Lane monologue is in a similar style to the Myers monologue, and I haven’t seen this one in ages.
— I like Nathan casually reading a newspaper during his monologue.
— A laugh from Ana and Nathan’s comical put-downs of the song Hakuna Matata, such as Nathan calling it, with a smile, “One of the most irritating songs ever written.”
— A cameo from the voice of Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella)! Just hearing him doing the Pumbaa voice in this monologue is bringing back childhood memories.
— And now we begin the around-the-studio Hakuna Matata musical number that I was looking forward to. This reminds me that Comedy Central’s old 60-minute version of this episode would cut out the entire musical portion of this monologue, abruptly fading to black immediately after Nathan says “Who the hell cares?” and throws his newspaper in the air. I’m assuming the reason for the edit is due to music licensing issues regarding Hakuna Matata. Makes you wonder why they didn’t edit out the entire monologue instead of only leaving in the least interesting part. The Comedy Central edits of episodes from 1994-1999 in general had a lot of baffling and sloppy edits, especially the upcoming season 24.
— I like the make-up bit with Darrell’s Ted Koppel.
— This is the second time this season where a host makes a dig at Chris Kattan for typically playing characters that don’t speak. Thankfully, unlike Matthew Perry earlier this season, Nathan Lane doesn’t fuck up the joke.
— Good bit with an injured, half-conscious Will laying on a stretcher due to a mishap from rehearsals.
— When expressing doubts towards the Hakuna Matata philosophy, Tim says “I used that attitude around here, and then I was in 3 sketches in, like, 5 years.” A good self-deprecating dig at how underused Tim was in his early seasons.
— An epic visual of Lorne doing an electric guitar solo.
— Much like earlier in the monologue, we get another comical put-down of the Hakuna Matata song, with Nathan proudly making sure to let us know “This is the last time you’ll hear me sing this stupid song!”
— A dazed, head-bandaged Will awkwardly trying to join in on the group’s singing at the end is funny, and reminds me of the monologue he would later do when hosting SNL in 2018, in which he comes out onstage with a bleeding head scar and proceeds to act very out-of-it while singing a song with nonsense lyrics.
— Overall, while this didn’t measure up to the Mike Myers monologue, I still found this a lot of fun.
STARS: ****½


CHESS FOR GIRLS
changing the game’s rules & goals broadens the appeal

— Kind of a stretch of a premise, as chess isn’t really considered a boy-dominated game, last time I checked.
— Some laughs from the over-the-top girly, un-chess-like uses of the chess pieces.
STARS: ***


SPARTANS DREAM
Craig & Arianna dream they’re popular; Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders cameo

— An interesting change of pace seeing Craig and Arianna at home, speaking to each other over the phone.
— The dream sequence is adding a bit of a different feel to Craig and Arianna’s cheers.
— I like Craig’s “I’d like to find… my real birth mother” lyric during one particular cheer.
— Some fun, out-of-the-ordinary things happening to Craig and Arianna throughout this dream sequence.
— Funny line from Nathan’s coach character about Craig and Arianna getting their passports stamped to Dryhumpville.
— Now we get an appearance from the real Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.
STARS: ***


THE QUIET STORM
Chris Garnett & easy-listening deejay (host) have a playlist duel

— It feels like whenever they do this sketch, Tracy’s minor recurring role as a guy silently slow-dancing with his woman ends up being Tracy’s ONLY appearance of the entire night. In fact, judging from Tracy’s look in tonight’s sketch, I’m pretty sure the cutaways to him slow-dancing are actually reused footage from the last installment of this sketch, which means Tracy doesn’t even make any live appearances in tonight’s episode. The fact that SNL had to resort to reused footage of him makes me wonder if he was out sick this week.
— I absolutely love Tim’s line “You touch that button again and I’m gonna go Latrell Sprewell on your ass.”
— Nathan’s performance as a cheesy easy-listening DJ is adding a bit of a different touch to this Quiet Storm installment, despite this installment following the exact same formula of all the previous Quiet Storm sketches.
— During his radio announcements, Tim gives a shoutout to someone named G-Dog, which I’d like to think is a meta reference, as G-Dog also happened to be name of a short-lived but solid Tim Meadows recurring character from season 21.
— I’m kinda glad this ends up being the final installment of the Quiet Storm sketches, because they never take these sketches into any different directions. It’s basically the same thing every time.
STARS: ***


SISTER WENDY BECKETT’S ART ODYSSEY
Sister Wendy Beckett’s (host) Art Odyssey is a sexual repression outlet

— Funny pre-taped opening scene of Nathan as a nun out in the busy Manhattan street.
— Nice detail with Nathan’s fake teeth.
— I’m assuming this is a parody of an actual show that I’m not familiar with. I don’t seem to need to be familiar with it, though, as I’m still enjoying this parody, mainly due to Nathan’s performance.
— A lot of funny sexual comments from Nathan in regards to the various innocent paintings.
— A particularly good gag with the camera catching Nathan touching a statue’s penis, before defensively telling us “I just wanted to see if it would burn my hand.”
STARS: ***½


HISTORY OF VAUDEVILLE
Weber (host) & Rose (CHK) rode ethnic stereotypes

— I love Norm’s characterization of a crusty old commentator.
— This vaudeville sketch is perfect for Nathan’s style. Chris is also very fitting for this type of sketch. This is going to be fun.
— I like the hammy gestures Nathan and Chris keep making towards the audience at the end of each act when the audience is applauding them.
— I’m getting a lot of laughs from Nathan and Chris’ various bad ethnic stereotype acts.
— I love the voice that Ana is using as the elderly lady.
— The Jewish song that Nathan and Chris are performing is particularly funny.
— After Nathan and Chris’ inexplicable “I eat babies, I drink pee” French stereotype act, I got a big laugh from Ana’s only response to that in her following commentary being “….They didn’t know much about the French.”
— I like the ending with Norm’s crusty old commentator rattling off various classic comedy catchphrases.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
NOM inquires about officer Lou Costello’s (host) discovery of a dead body

— Norm seems to be going through this Update a little faster than usual, shortening his usual long pauses between jokes.
— Yes! Nathan playing Lou Cosetllo. As a big fan of classical comedy teams from the 1930s-50s (after all, why do you think my username is Stooge?), I love the idea of this.
— As expected, Nathan is doing a spot-on and funny Costello impression.
— I like how, during his questioning of Nathan’s Costello, Norm is doing a Bud Abbott voice.
— After Norm slaps Nathan, we get some great ad-libs from Nathan, which cause Norm to crack up.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Fuel”


SONGS THAT RUINED EVERYTHING
album documents artistic denouements

— Amusing premise of an album of career-destroying hits from formerly-cool artists.
— A particularly funny inclusion of Jefferson Starship’s “We Built This City”.
— Funny impression from Will as Dennis DeYoung.
— Aww, I actually like some of these songs. Should I be ashamed to admit that?
STARS: ***


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


MISS MILO
theatre veteran Miss Milo (host) lectures dresser (WIF) about her craft

— Nathan playing a second woman tonight?
— A funny vocal warm-up that Nathan’s Miss Milo character does, which involves saying various sentences that contain lots of “w”s.
— I got a good laugh from Miss Milo casually telling Will to put on her pantyhose while telling her about himself.
— Another great characterization from Nathan tonight.
— Lots of amusing little comments and stories from Miss Milo throughout this. Even when saying some things that aren’t particularly funny, I’m finding it pretty fun to watch the solid character work that Nathan’s doing here.
— Very funny reveal that Miss Milo was getting dressed as a Christmas tree.
— Another great ad-lib from Nathan tonight, this time saying, in regards to his incorrectly-applied gloves, “I like the gloves this way, it’s more experimental.”
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Marianne Faithfull [real] perform “The Memory Remains”


EX-CONVICT SANTA
ex-con Gene’s stint as a department store Santa doesn’t go very well

— Why is Colin’s weekly sole appearance of each episode always buried at the end of the show this season? I keep forgetting the man is even a cast member.
— The return of the ex-con character, Gene, that Colin previously played as a restaurant waiter in the preceding season’s Lisa Kudrow episode.
— I love Gene’s comment to Nathan’s son about Gene and members of the Aryan Brotherhood drinking Pruno and passing around a “jerk book”.
— Another good line from Gene, where, after finding out that Nathan’s son loves watching “that Christmas movie with Tim Allen” (The Santa Clause), Gene tells the boy “Kid, I did time with Tim Allen.”
STARS: ***½


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


GOODNIGHTS

— What the…? “Additional sketch by Adam Sandler”??? (last screencap above) What in the world could he have written in this episode? I’m stumped. Did whatever he write get cut after dress rehearsal?

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— I’ve always really liked this episode, and I have a lot of happy memories of watching it when I was younger. Tonight’s viewing lived up to my nostalgic memories, even if it’s not an outstanding episode. A big part of the reason for my long-standing fondness for this episode is Nathan Lane, who was a strong host, added a fun vibe to the show, and came off as a natural for SNL due to his theater experience. The writers also accommodated him well, giving him a lot of sketches that perfectly fit his fun comedic style and let him run away with it.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Mayor Rudy Giuliani)
about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Helen Hunt hosts the Christmas episode. It’s also the final episode of the Norm Macdonald era of Weekend Update.

Posted on

November 22, 1997 – Mayor Rudy Giuliani / Sarah McLachlan (S23 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BACKSTAGE
COQ tries to get overly-dramatic host to return to his NYC roots

— I know a lot of readers are probably expecting me to feel awkward reviewing a Giuliani-hosted episode, but I can separate the Giuliani of 1997 from the Giuliani of today. It also helps that I’m aware Giuliani is a good host in this episode. I’m not all that hesitant to review episodes hosted by people who would later go on to have a notorious reputation. After all, I recently covered a Kevin Spacey-hosted episode with no problem. Plus, I have four Louis C.K. episodes to eventually cover, and I’m not worried about that. However, God help me when I eventually have to cover the notorious Donald Trump episode from 2015. Yikes.
— Very funny entrance from Rudy, dressed and acting like an eccentric fop.
— Rudy, in a dignified voice: “Call me Rudolph.” Colin: “……….No.”
— Colin: “You probably don’t know this, but I’m from Brooklyn.” Rudy: “How could I not know? It’s half your act.”
— A good mock-inspirational speech from Colin.
— Nice variation of the typical “Live from New York…” sign-on, with Rudy replacing “New York” with “the capital of the world”.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
drifter Sid (NOM) is happy host has declared NYC safe for hitch-hiking

— Rudy is handling himself well here for a non-actor.
— Great use of Norm as a creepy hitchhiker, who is killing in this role.
— Rudy even managed to make his flub of the “Borrowing police horses” line charming.
— Funny bit with Rudy eating gum off of the bottom of his shoe and saying “Yum! New York-y!”
STARS: ***½


NIGHTLINE
host spurns, Ted Koppel (DAH) befriends Saddam Hussein (WIF)

— The debut of Will’s Saddam Hussein impression.
— A big laugh from Saddam randomly giving a shoutout to his “friend” Rudy Giuliani, which is followed by a cutaway to Rudy watching this on his TV and going “What the hell?!?”
— Saddam: “(threateningly) I’ll kill anything that moves!….. (pleasantly) and I think Giuliani has a great smile.”
— I love Saddam’s friendly nickname for Rudy: Roods.
— Will’s characterization of Saddam is great. Will has a strong knack for giving famous madmen a likable personality (e.g. the Unabomber, Marshall Applewhite).
— A big laugh from Darrell’s Ted Koppel joining in on Saddam’s singing of “Time Warp” from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
— Fun pre-taped montage of Saddam and Ted Koppel frolicking together in the park.
STARS: ****


THANKSGIVING
Rita Delvecchio & her mother (host) banter & prepare Thanksgiving dinner

— I believe this ends up being the final Rita Delvecchio sketch.
— A wild visual of Rudy dressed as an old lady.
— Rudy’s doing a good job in this role.
— Little girl: “Aunt Rita, we’re starving!” Rita: “So is Sally Struthers.”
— Good ending.
— Overall, this recurring sketch as a whole had a nice run. This was never considered a hugely popular sketch from this era, but I appreciate the realism and depth this recurring sketch always brought. Underrated in my eyes. I prefer this to some of Cheri’s more one-dimensional, repetitive, cartoonish recurring characters.
STARS: ***½


ST. MONICA SPELLING BEE
Mary Katherine Gallagher delivers a monologue before winning spelling bee

— Seems a bit too soon for another Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch, after she recently appeared in the Chris Farley episode.
— Some good laughs from a lot of little things that Will’s doing throughout this.
— At some points, Molly seems to be playing MKG even more quivery and nervous than usual tonight.
— A very funny part where the sentence example that Rudy gives MKG for the word “syzygy” is “Your spelling bee word is ‘syzygy’.”
— I keep expecting to get sick of these Mary Katherine Gallagher sketches, but surprisingly, I can still tolerate them by this point.
STARS: ***


GRAFFITI
host’s new anti-graffiti plan appends “sucks” to taggers’ signatures

— An absolutely hilarious premise of Rudy’s solution to graffiti: “We’re gonna put the word ‘sucks’ right under your name!”
— I love Rudy’s delivery of “Everyone’s gonna think… you suck”.
— Overall, short but very strong.
STARS: ****½


WEEKEND UPDATE
Cinder Calhoun & musical guest sing “Basted in Blood” to decry Turkey Day

— I like the random running gag with Black Tail magazine. And the mere thought of Norm being subscribed to that magazine is priceless.
— Like in her last commentary, Cinder Calhoun is getting some good laughs from me during her opening spiel.
— Funny “Basted in Blood” title for Cinder’s anti-turkey-slaughtering song.
— Good duet from Cinder and Sarah McLachlan. I especially like when Ana gets really into her singing during the chorus towards the end.
— An okay visual of Norm eating a turkey leg at the end of the Calhoun/McLachlan song, though he always looks so checked-out during these Cinder Calhoun commentaries.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sweet Surrender”


FRIGGIN’ GIULIANI!
NYC cabbie (host) complains to his passengers about Mayor Giuliani

— Another sketch tonight casting Rudy in a comically out-of-place role that’s funny to see him in.
— The Richard Dreyfuss seatbelt message was hilarious, as was a confused Will responding “What the hell was that?!?”
— There’s our first utterance of the immortal phrase “Friggin’ Giuliani!”
— This sketch is a memorable instance of “host plays a character who’s the exact opposite of himself”, in the tradition of sketches like George Steinbrenner playing a boss who doesn’t like firing his employees.
— The occasional repetition of “Friggin’ Giuliani!” isn’t getting old for me, and is making me laugh every time, due to Rudy’s silly delivery.
— Another hilarious celebrity seatbelt message, this time from James Earl Jones.
— I like Tracy playing a very Tracy Morgan-esque character at the end of this sketch.
STARS: ****½


THE JOE PESCI SHOW
host’s anti-mob measures make for friction

— This is the last-ever Joe Pesci Show sketch. Feels very unnecessary to see this sketch tonight, considering the preceding installment with the real Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro famously appearing would’ve provided perfect closure to this recurring sketch as a whole. Where else do you go with this sketch after that? Reportedly, the only reason they’re doing this sketch tonight is because during the pitch meeting that Monday, Rudy complimented Jim on his Pesci impression. In that case, if they wanted to work Jim’s Pesci impression into this episode, they should’ve done something in a similar vein to the side bit his Pesci did with Sylvester Stallone in the season premiere.
— This sketch is making me realize how very little we’ve been seeing of Jim Breuer this season. His airtime has been pretty flimsy this season, and from what I remember, it doesn’t get any better in the second half of this season. (Was he busy filming “Half Baked”?) A fairly forgettable final season for him.
— I like the “It’s my show” “It’s my city” exchange between Pesci and Rudy, when Rudy wants Pesci to put out his cigar.
— Surprisingly, this is the first time Will is playing his crew member character, Spider, since one of the very first Joe Pesci Show sketches, back in season 21.
— Funny seeing Tracy playing Marion Barry, after Norm’s long-standing running joke about Marion Barry on Weekend Update.
— Something about the execution of this sketch has a sluggish feel. Even Jim’s performance feels a little off. Just goes to show you that this recurring sketch as a whole is past its expiration date.
STARS: **


COLIN QUINN EXPLAINS THE NEW YORK TIMES
COQ explains The New York Times to keep people intellectually prepared

— This segment officially becomes recurring. However, this ends up being the final installment, considering a certain anchorperson gig Colin is going to find himself suddenly getting three episodes from now. If that certain gig never happened, Colin most likely would’ve continued doing these “explaining the New York Times” segments every few weeks.
— Compared to how extremely underused he’s been this season, Colin has actually been getting quite a lot of airtime tonight.
— They changed the setting for this segment. The first installment of this segment was placed on the home base stage, and now tonight’s installment is set in some kind of office, which almost resembles the set that was temporarily used in the first two installments of Spade In America. I feel the home base stage setting fit these “Colin Quinn Explains The New York Times” segments better. The office set looks kinda out of place to me.
— Funny bit with the unavoidable gay ambassador/meat-packing joke.
— Some stumbliness in Colin’s delivery here and there, kinda foreshadowing the rough go he would have as a Weekend Update anchorperson.
— Overall, another good “Colin Quinn Explains The New York Times” installment; a little better than the first one, in fact. Kind of a shame Colin couldn’t continue doing these.
STARS: ***½


JANET RENO’S DANCE PARTY
host & Janet Reno (WIF) duke it out

— The “Teen Talk” portion of this sketch is awfully one-note.
— This sketch picks up after Rudy enters.
— After Rudy mentions he’s the mayor of New York, I love Will’s Janet Reno saying “My throwing stars and nunchucks will make you the mayor of pain.”
— Very fun turn with Janet and Rudy facing off in a boxing match.
— Rudy: “You box dirty!” Janet Reno: “(braggingly) Then how comes my conscience is so clean?!?”
— Solid ending with the jumbotron in Times Square showing Rudy’s humiliating yells of “Janet Reno is the boss of me!” as he gets beat up by Reno.
STARS: ****


PERSPECTIVES
David Dinkins supporter Lionel Osbourne is cool toward host

— Not only is this yet another recurring sketch tonight, but it’s yet another recurring sketch that’s making its last-ever appearance. Odd how so many recurring sketches are being retired in tonight’s episode.
— As always, a lot of really funny ignorant statements from Tim’s Lionel Osborne.
— I like the turn with Lionel subverting his usual utterances of “Faaaantastic” by saying “That is not fantastic” when finding out Rudy beat David Dinkins in the election.
— A laugh from Lionel immediately going from telling Rudy he’s deeply offended to saying “That’s okay” in his usual laid-back manner.
— Overall, a solid final installment of Perspectives. Of all the retiring recurring sketches tonight, this is definitely the one I’m going to miss the most.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode. There were several strong pieces, and everything in the show worked for me, aside from a weak Joe Pesci Show sketch. For a non-actor, Rudy Giuliani did a good job, came off likable, was a good sport, and did well in the few character roles he played. There was a bit too much of a sameness to the last three sketches he was in, though, which were all recurring sketches that interviewed him as himself.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Claire Danes)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Nathan Lane

Posted on

November 15, 1997 – Claire Danes / Mariah Carey (S23 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

HILLARY’S TIME
Bill (DAH) reluctantly gives Hillary (ANG) Clinton a chance to speak

— I got a big laugh from the fake-out with Darrell-as-Bill-Clinton’s false announcement of America now being at war with Iraq, which he then reveals he only said just to make his approval rating go through the roof.
— A pretty significant moment right now: we get the debut of Ana’s Hillary Clinton impression.
— Amusing how Bill is using a timer to let Hillary speak for 60 seconds.
— A good laugh from Hillary beginning to disclose an incident from 1983 where she caught Bill on all fours wearing an E.T. mask.
— So far, Ana is solid in the Hillary Clinton role; a big improvement over the last cast member who tried to take a stab at a Hillary impression (Janeane Garofalo).
— Yet another Mark McKinney impression gets taken over by another performer, with Will now playing Al Gore and even doing the same random “Hi, I’m Al Gore” bit that Mark used to do. The gag still comes off funny with Will in the role.
— Now we get a random “Hello, I’m Barbara Walters” from Cheri. I like the manner she walked off in afterwards.
— Ana delivers her first-ever “Live from New York…”.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— The theme music would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version. Same goes for the following monologue.


MONOLOGUE
audience members challenge host’s qualifications for admission to Yale

— And there’s the reason why this monologue would later be replaced with the dress rehearsal version in reruns. After mentioning that SNL is five years older then her, Claire Danes is supposed to say “I think I was born in the Tim Kazurinsky years”, but when saying that line, she unintentionally struggles through the pronunciation of Kazurinsky badly, and then ad-libs “I’m sorry, I don’t even know who that is.” Ouch. If Kaz was watching SNL this night, I hope he had a good sense of humor about himself.
— The audience members’ questions are pretty funny so far
— Steve Higgins is stealing this monologue with his great bit.
— Good delivery from Claire during her defensive speech to the doubtful audience members.
STARS: ***½


THE WESTON COLLECTION
“I’m #1” hat & “I’m Hot Stuff” necklace let others know how cool you are

— A simplistic but funny premise for a fake ad, and Will is perfect for this.
STARS: ***½


BARRY SCHECK’S HOME
infamous defendants administer Barry Scheck’s (NOM) courtroom karma

— I love Norm-as-Barry-Scheck’s yell of “DAAH!” when Claire’s Louise Woodward (the British nanny who was in the news at this time for allegedly shaking a baby to death) asks if she can be his nanny.
— A laugh from Woodward’s only references in her resume being Barry Scheck and the country of England.
— Very funny bit with Woodward violently shaking the ketchup bottle to get the ketchup out.
— An even funnier bit right now with Tim’s O.J. Simpson casually using a knife to get the ketchup out, even going so far as to use a glove for his knife.
— Ha, and now we get an appearance from Will as the Unabomber! This sketch is getting funnier and funnier.
— Norm is a solid straight man here.
— Having Jim now show up as the Oklahoma City Bomber is pretty funny in itself, but humor-wise, it feels like a step down having his entrance follow the Unabomber’s entrance. You’re never going to top the Unabomber entering this sketch.
— Great cutaway to O.J. with a now-bloody-looking shirt.
— During his straight-to-camera epilogue speech about the tragic things that his clients ended up doing to him and his family, I like Barry Scheck saying his house got blown up twice.
STARS: ****


THE VIEW
Barbara Walters (CHO) & panelists consider issues superficially

— An important debut of a popular series of Tina Fey-written View parodies that this era would do.
— Second appearance tonight from Cheri’s Barbara Walters.
— Funny opening title sequence with Cheri-as-Barbara-Walters’ intros to her various co-hosts, such as calling Star Jones “A sassy black woman” and Debbie Matenopoulos “A total idiot”.
— A laugh from Cheri’s Barbara singing The View theme song.
— I love the other ladies’ increasingly irritated non-verbal reactions to Debbie Matenopoulos’ various idiotic statements.
— The childish Spice Girls question that all the ladies are asked is pretty funny.
— A really good harsh reality check that Ana’s Cokie Roberts delivers to both Barbara and Debbie.
— I’m loving Tracy as Star Jones, especially the end of the statements she’s heard saying after all the ladies stop talking in unison.
— An overall solid and well-written showcase for the female cast, Tracy, and Claire.
STARS: ****


PARENTS’ WEEKEND
(host)’s parents Marty & Bobbi embarrass her at college with a medley

— Interesting meeting the Culps’ daughter.
— I loved Will’s line about the “University of Gettin’ Down”.
— Some of my favorite opera-ized songs the Culps are performing tonight are “Super Freak” and “American Woman”.
STARS: ***½


TV FUNHOUSE
“Blow Hot, Blow Cold” by RBS- The Ambiguously Gay Duo battles ice monster

— I’m surprised it took this long for this season’s first Ambiguously Gay Duo cartoon to appear.
— I love how when Ace and Gary decide to take action against the villains, we get a cutaway to them trying on jackets at a Barney’s store.
— Funny when the villains’ conversation about Ace and Gary’s apparent lack of girlfriends turns to Big Head’s own lack of a public love life.
— Memorable bit with Ace and Gary crashing through the ice monster’s butt.
STARS: ****


PETER PAN
jealous Tinkerbell (host) spews venom at Peter Pan (CHK) & Wendy (ANG)

— Meh. I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I’m not too crazy about this cliched premise of a family-friendly character going off on an obscenity-filled angry rant.
— I will say that Claire is performing this as well as she can, though I can’t help but think that a more comedy-experienced female host would make this material feel less cliched.
— I do kinda like the cheesy special effect of Tinkerbell drinking an entire bottle of whiskey.
— What was with the non-ending?
— Fun how after the sketch ends, we get to see the set being disassembled behind Claire as she dances while still hanging in the air on wires (though it feels like SNL only did this to hide the lack of an ending). It’s sad that I liked that better than most of the stuff in the actual sketch.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE
Joe Blow gives the latest news about his neighborhood & family

— Man, the audience is quiet during a lot of jokes tonight. After one particular tepid audience reaction a joke receives, a guy in the audience breaks the tension by randomly yelling out “Norm!” and Norm humorously responds “Hello, hi, how are ya?”
— It’s about time SNL lets Colin do his first Update commentary of the season. Considering how badly SNL has been struggling to find appropriate roles for him this season now that he’s a repertory player, you’d think they would’ve already let him do an Update commentary or two earlier this season, since Update commentaries are clearly his niche at SNL.
— I think this is the last time we ever see Joe Blow, considering we’re only a few episodes away from a certain change in Weekend Update anchors.
— As always, Joe Blow is getting a lot of laughs out of me from his ranting about his personal life. I especially like his whole bit about the differences between public and catholic schools.
— I’m getting tired of how the Joe Blow commentaries always end with him grilling Norm about a beer he wants them to have together. That was a nice running bit for a while, but tonight, it felt like they did it just for the sake of doing it. At least this is the last time I’ll have to see it, if this indeed ends up being Joe Blow’s final appearance.
— An unusual amount of scattered booing from the audience in reaction to some of Norm’s jokes tonight.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Butterfly”


MR. PEEPERS
(WIF) & (host) attempt to release Mr. Peepers back into the wild

— Meh, though at least the setting for this Mr. Peepers appearance is different and may be interesting.
— So far, this is just going through the same tired beats these Mr. Peepers sketches always go through. Yawn.
— When Mr. Peepers is humping the truck, Claire starts cracking up and tries to hide it by burying her face into Will’s chest, which then causes Will himself to crack up, who also tries to hide his face (screencap below). Rare at this point of Will’s tenure to see him breaking.

— Interesting seeing Mr. Peepers’ family, portrayed by Ana, Cheri, and Jim all doing Mr. Peepers impressions.
— So, wait. Was this originally intended to be the final Mr. Peepers sketch ever? The way this sketch ended sure made it appear so. This would’ve been fitting closure for Mr. Peepers. Why, oh, why couldn’t they have kept this his final appearance?
— Without looking it up on SNL Archives, I’m trying to remember when Mr. Peepers’ next appearance is, to see how long SNL kept him retired after tonight’s sketch before needlessly resurrecting him. Off the top of my head, I can’t remember any Mr. Peepers sketches appearing in the remainder of this season. The next Mr. Peepers sketch I can think of is with Kelsey Grammer early in the following season (and I recall that sketch being particularly bad). I wonder what made SNL bring Peepers back after a year-long retirement. It’s not like Chris was desperate for a popular recurring character by that point. After all, he was busy shoving Mango down our throats at that time.
STARS: **


C.E.O. DREAMBOATS
teens (host), (CHO), (MOS), (ANG) adore moguls of CEO Dreamboats magazine

— Funny premise and good execution from Claire and the female cast.
— A good laugh from Molly french-kissing her C.E.O. poster.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “My All”


SOUTHERN GALS
hick tourists (MOS), (CHO), (ANG) keep trip’s Frenchness at a safe level

— Wow, yet another sketch tonight starring the entire female cast. This is a huge night for them. They’re very dominant in this episode.
— Lots of little laughs all throughout this, from the southern ladies’ various observations and mistakes. And as usual, this is being well-performed by the female cast.
— Funny appearance from Tracy as a Frenchman, especially with that wig he’s wearing.
STARS: ***


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode. There wasn’t much in this episode that I felt stood out as great, but most of the show had a consistently good, comfortable quality to it, and the episode as a whole flowed pretty well. Also, it can’t be said enough what a very dominant and strong night the female cast had, particularly Ana Gasteyer. It feels like this is the turning point where the Gasteyer/Oteri/Shannon female group officially became a dynamic trio.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jon Lovitz)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Mayor Rudy Giuliani

Posted on

November 8, 1997 – Jon Lovitz / Jane’s Addiction (S23 E5)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

CONTROLLING THE AIRWAVES
Bill Gates (CHK), Bill Clinton (DAH), media moguls fight for the airwaves

— Ha, we open with a scene from “Men Behaving Badly”, which was apparently a Rob Schneider-starring sitcom, judging from the scene that SNL is showing. I only remember “Men Behaving Badly” by its title; I have no memory of Rob being in the show (then again, I wasn’t yet familiar with him in 1997).
— Chris takes over Mark McKinney’s Bill Gates impression, and instead of doing a nerdy, froggy voice like Mark did as Gates, Chris portrays Gates in a typical Kattan-esque manner, giving him a childlike, slightly effeminate voice. I admit, this take on Gates is actually amusing me, but Mark definitely had the superior take.
— Hmm, another Mark McKinney impression being taken over by another performer. This time, it’s Will as Ted Turner, though Mark had only played Turner once before, so it’s not like he’s closely associated with the role.
— Fun premise with the constant interruptions from powerful famous men.
— I love Gates saying with a smug smile “Don’t screw with me, Turner” when interrupting Ted Turner’s own interruption.
— Another good line, with Ted Turner responding to Gates’ aforementioned “Don’t screw with me, Turner” line with a smug line of his own: “TV’s my world, Gates, so watch your ass!”
— Good bit with Turner’s horror when realizing that Gates has turned him into black-and-white.
— For some reason, it amuses me how each powerful man who interrupts the airwaves is introduced by the same announcer, using a different voice each time. It’s especially funny when the announcer does a goofy Australian accent when introducing Rupert Murdoch.
— When each powerful man gets his delivery of “Live from New York…” cut off, I believe this is the closest Jim Breuer would ever get to saying “Live from New York…” during his entire SNL tenure.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
JOL presents highlights from his self-centered one-man Broadway show

— It feels good to be able to review Jon Lovitz again.
— We get a great Master Thespian-esque “Thank youuuu!” from Jon at the beginning of this. Speaking of which, I’ve always wondered why tonight’s episode doesn’t have a Master Thespian sketch. After all, it was Jon’s second biggest recurring character.
— I love Jon’s “Excuse me, my lip has gas” ad-lib(?).
— Ha, Jon’s Broadway show at the time was titled “Jon Lovitz is Jon Lovitz”? I can’t think of a more perfectly Jon Lovitz-esque title for something that Jon stars in.
— Jon makes yet another brief statement in his Master Thespian voice. Maybe this is his way of making up for the lack of a Master Thespian sketch tonight.
— I like Jon’s brief dancing demonstration, with him wildly dancing in place for a few seconds before throwing his back out, then smugly asking us “Jealous?”
— I sometimes forget what a great singing voice Jon has, which he previously displayed a number of times during his SNL tenure, mostly just in his early seasons.
— Funny bit with Jon singing a romantic song to himself on the TV monitor.
— I swear that, from my past viewings of this monologue, I remember one part where Jon briefly makes his Biff face during the song. As for what I mean by “Biff face”, Biff is an obscure recurring character that Jon had in season 11, in a weird recurring sketch in which Jon and castmate Joan Cusack played a baffling couple. In those sketches, Jon always had his upper lip tucked in a way that made it look like he had a large overbite (Cecily Strong does the same thing in more recent years when playing her recurring character Jemma). I thought I remembered Jon briefly making that same overbite face at one point of his song in this monologue, but I’ve just gone through tonight’s viewing of this entire monologue without spotting it. It would’ve made for a good screencap.
STARS: ****


DUNKIN’ DONUTS
Michael Vale (JOL) wants to control fate of his Dunkin’ Donuts character

— Here’s a sketch that I’ve always loved.
— Perfect casting of Jon as the Dunkin’ Donuts guy.
— One very small detail that I always crack up at when watching this sketch: after looking at one particular tray of donuts on the table, Will’s director character asks off-camera stagehands “Can we get some more light on these crullers?” I laugh at that way more than I probably should, but Will is always great at delivering funny little touches like that in sketches.
— Some hilarious dark messages that Jon tries doing for the commercial.
— After one particularly dark message that Jon does during a take, I love a disturbed Will responding “Yeah, we’re gonna need to go way lighter there.”
— A particularly great raunchy line from Jon, when talking about his hot stewardess girlfriend: “From now on, it ain’t gonna be donuts I’ll be eatin’!”
— Yet another great line from Jon, when telling Will how attached America has become to his Dunkin’ Donuts commercial character: “They wanna see him die or GET SOME TAIL!”
STARS: ****½


WEDDING RECEPTION
Ross Perot (DAC) crashes Larry King’s (NOM) star-filled wedding reception

 

— Ha, Will plays Ted Turner twice in the same night.
— Funny line from Molly as Larry King’s young wife: “I finally found the man of my dreams: a 63-year-old balding Jew who’s been married 8 times.”
— Yes! Norm’s Larry King is doing his “News and Views” routine, a routine I’m always a sucker for. It’s particularly hilarious being delivered in this out-of-place setting of a wedding reception. I also like the touch of how, as he goes from one random “News and Views”-esque one-liner to the next, Norm’s King keeps turning from one side of the podium to the other, as if he’s speaking into different cameras like he does on his “News and Views” show.
— Larry King: “If you ever see one movie for the rest of your life, it should be GATTACA!”
— Cheri’s Fran Drescher impression is surprisingly pretty weak. I didn’t notice if it was also this weak when she did it in the Madeline Kahn episode that I covered in season 21.
— Chris’ Al Pacino isn’t the best take I’ve seen of Pacino from an SNL cast member (*coughHadercough*), but he is cracking me the hell up. I’m practically on the floor.
— The return of Jon’s Harvey Fierstein impression! I’m not sure, but I think this portion of the sketch would later be removed from Comedy Central’s 60-minute version of this episode, presumably for time reasons, since this is a fairly lengthy sketch.
— Darrell’s Dennis Franz impression is pretty funny.
— A Dana Carvey cameo!
— Dana is immediately commanding the stage, getting huge laughs as Ross Perot right out of the gate in this sketch. I especially like his line to Norm’s Larry King “Has any woman ever seen you naked and said ‘I gotta get me some of that!’?”
— I love the way Norm’s King is just staring deadpan at Dana’s Perot while Dana’s Perot is giving him the roasting of his life.
— I’m glad they’ve toned down the number of Dana-as-Perot’s utterances of “Can I finish?!? You gonna keep interruptin’ me?”, which they went way overboard with in the last appearance Dana made as Perot when hosting in the preceding season.
— Ross Perot: “You can squat on a pitbull, but that won’t give you rhubarb pie… UNLESS THE PITBULL MAKES THE PIE!”
STARS: ****


SPEND A YEAR IN THE ALASKAN WILDERNESS WITH JEWEL
MTV contest winner (JOL) can’t stand living in a cabin with Jewel (ANG)

— Interesting premise.
— I got a laugh from how one scene just ends after the “Wanna make out?” “No.” exchange between Jon and Jewel.
— Funny Jewel impression from Ana.
— When calling the Alaskan Airlines in a frenzy, I like Jon breaking down in frustrated tears when hearing Jewel’s “Who Will Save Your Soul” being played as the hold music over the phone.
— The cue cards make an accidental onscreen cameo (screencap below).

— I got a cheap laugh from Tracy doing a Missy Elliott impression at the end of this sketch (screencap below).

— Overall, despite me getting some laughs throughout this sketch, I dunno, something about this sketch as a whole didn’t quite work for me.
STARS: **½


TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- Bill Clinton press conference goes awry

— They seem to be cutting down on the number of TV Funhouses this season. This is surprisingly only the second TV Funhouse cartoon to air this season, and the last one (that weak Casablanca farting cartoon) was all the way back in the season premiere. These TV Funhouses were much more common in the preceding season.
— A lot of funny random things falling out of Bill Clinton’s suit, such as a bong, a Chinese businessman, and a vibrator.
— As usual for Fun With Real Audio, this is filled with tons of fast-paced hijinks that I love.
— A particularly funny part with Clinton randomly dropping his pants and underwear in front of the reporters, and Al Gore trying to hide Clinton’s genitals with the same things that fell out of Clinton’s suit earlier.
— Great ending with Clinton, Gore, and the Chinese businessman suddenly breaking into a silly dance in unison while “Ya’ll Ready For This” is heard playing in the background.
STARS: ****


THE LADIES’ MAN
Leon sips Courvoisier & expresses regard for Delta Burke

— This sketch has officially become recurring, giving Tim his very first huge recurring character. It can’t be said enough how insane it is that it took Tim EIGHT SEASONS to get a popular recurring character.
— I got a big laugh from Tim’s Leon Phelps asking the premature ejaculator caller “How quickly does the semen leave your wang?”
— Funny reaction from Leon to hearing about an old couple having sex.
— I like Leon’s Delta Burke obsession.
— Overall, Tim continues to do well as this new character. I’m a little eager for them to start doing Ladies’ Man installments that have guests, though. The guest-less installments with Leon just taking questions from callers are pretty interchangeable with one another.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
Tommy Flanagan tells what he’s supposedly been up to lately

 

— Norm tells us that an old friend who was not seen on Weekend Update in many years is about to stop by. That can only mean…
— Yep, there he is: Tommy Flanagan! Great to see him back.
— Despite not having played this character on SNL in ages, Jon’s still got it.
— I love the little part with Flanagan saying in an out-of-character deep, dramatic voice “It was the only time I ever lied.”
— Good story from Flanagan about being overqualified for a nude scene in “Boogie Nights”.
— Ha, this is surprisingly the first in a long time we’ve gotten a traditional Ricki Lake fat joke from Norm, and boy, did tonight’s joke not let me down.
— Now we get a good ol’ classic prison rape joke from Norm.
— Great Richard Gere joke to end tonight’s Update. Tonight’s overall Update had a fairly sluggish first half but a solid second half.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Jane Says”


THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTTERMAN
Marv Albert (JOL) shows home movie

   

— Geez, a THIRD Mark McKinney impression being taken over by another performer tonight? And it’s Kattan getting the honors once again???
— I love Norm-as-Letterman’s opening line “Let me just get rid of this, uh, doll of steak!”
— I do like the new addition of Tracy as Biff Henderson. However, between the Ladies’ Man sketch and this, Tracy has been playing quite a lot of stage managers tonight.
— Norm’s Letterman never fails to slay me whenever he says that “Uh, y-ya got any gum???” catchphrase, even though it was much funnier in the first Letterman sketch.
— Chris’ take on Paul Shaffer isn’t quite as terrible as I had remembered, but it still pales in comparison to Mark’s take. I will admit that I do like the laugh that Chris keeps doing as Shaffer.
— Awkward unscripted moment with Norm practically halting the sketch to adjust his chair.
— Feels odd seeing someone other than Norm play Marv Albert after Norm killed with a spot-on Marv Albert earlier this season, but Jon actually played Marv before, back in a Super Bowl cold opening from the John Malkovich episode in 1989. His Marv Albert impression was very generic back then, though, with Jon basically just using his normal voice. Hell, he didn’t even throw in any utterances of “Yesssss!”, IIRC (then again, maybe Marv wasn’t yet known for saying that in the 80s). Jon is doing a more accurate take on Marv tonight, but it still doesn’t hold a candle to Norm’s take on him.
— Jon-as-Marv-Albert’s line about how he currently has a silky thong bikini up his ass is hilarious.
— Marv’s pre-taped sports bloopers/S&M video is okay, but not quite as hilarious as I had remembered it.
— I love Tracy’s eager delivery of “Wanna bite me on my back?” Something about that line just comes off priceless in Tracy’s trademark delivery.
— Overall, a fairly big step down from the last two installments of this sketch, but I still found this decent enough.
STARS: ***


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS

— Is it just me, or are this season’s Lost Deep Thoughts nowhere near as funny as the original Deep Thoughts from the early 90s? These feel like pale imitations from someone trying to emulate Jack Handey’s style. Actually, some of season 20’s Deep Thoughts tended to feel like that as well.


COLIN QUINN EXPLAINS THE NEW YORK TIMES
COQ explains The New York Times by interpreting various news items

— The struggling Colin Quinn finally gets thrown a bone, by being given his own segment as himself, in which he discusses items from the newspaper. I really like the idea of this.
— I like Colin’s definition of what wannabes are: two kids in Salt Lake City who wear their Utah Jazz cap backwards and listen to Wu-Tang Clan when their parents are at church.
— As usual for Colin, this is featuring his style of funny, relatable stand-up comedy. To be honest, though, this isn’t the funniest material I’ve seen from him, but I’m enjoying it nonetheless. And Colin’s current events style fits more here than how it would later fit when doing it as a Weekend Update anchorperson.
STARS: ***


THE ROBIN BYRD SHOW
porn actress Robin Byrd (CHO) & adult film industry guests chat

— I have no familiarity with the real Robin Byrd Show, though the audience seems to think Cheri is doing a spot-on parody.
— Ha, Ron Jeremy, a role that Jon was born to play. When I was younger, I used to think there was a very strong facial resemblance between both Lovitz and Jeremy, though I don’t see it as much anymore now that I’m older.
— Cheri’s off-beat performance is pretty funny, though the over-the-top laugh she keeps doing is kinda annoying after a while.
— Not caring too much for this sketch so far.
— Sketches always benefit from the addition of Norm’s Burt Reynolds.
— I love Norm’s Burt asking Jim’s Mark Wahlberg, in regards to Robin Byrd, “What the hell’s this crazy skank talking about?”
— Ha, in typical Norm fashion, Norm just randomly walks off the sketch before the sketch has even ended. I dunno, maybe that was part of the script, but I’d like to think Norm just thought to himself “Ehh, screw it” and walked off on his own because he’s aware this sketch is kind of a flop. Besides, he had no more dialogue left by the time he walked off anyway.
STARS: **


SET OUR NANNY FREE!
British pop artists aim to help au pair by singing “Set Our Nanny Free!”

— This era takes a stab at the memorable We Are The World-type sketches that SNL’s early 90s era would famously do. Odd placement of a sketch like this, though, with it being buried in the 10-to-1 slot tonight.
— Hmm, I don’t like how they’re displaying a graphic of each singer’s name. The We Are The World-type sketches from the early 90s never did that, which I like, as it was fun to guess which singer each cast member was playing. Then again, if tonight’s sketch didn’t tell us who each cast member is playing, I never would’ve guessed who Darrell and Tracy are supposed to be, as I have no idea who Prodigy is (it sure is wild seeing Tracy in that make-up, though).
— Will’s Elton John impression is iffy (then again, Will was never known to be a dead-on impressionist), but his solo number in this sketch is funny.
— Oh my god, Colin’s solo bit as Elvis Costello is AWFUL. First of all, he completely misses his cue to start singing, thus we get 5 seconds of awkward dead air as he just stands there silently staring at the camera while waiting for an appropriate part of the music to come in, and then he proceeds to do the world’s worst Elvis Costello impression (especially when you remember that Michael McKean once did a spot-on Elvis Costello in one of the We Are The World-type sketches from the early 90s). This alone shows why SNL’s idea to promote Colin to repertory player and try to make him a versatile sketch performer is an ill-fated plan. Just let him stick to the few things he does well.
— Ehh, most of the impressions in this sketch aren’t as fun as the impressions from the earlier We Are The World-type sketches, nor am I crazy about the lyrics in tonight’s sketch.
— Okay, I am laughing at Jon’s singing as Sarah Ferguson.
— Ha, Norm as Mr. Bean! An absolutely priceless visual gag.
— Overall, ehh. I hate to give a lukewarm review for this type of sketch, but I wasn’t too crazy about what I just watched here. This had a few highlights, but as a whole, this was pretty unmemorable and paled in comparison to the We Are The World-type sketches from the early 90s.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An episode with a fairly solid first half, but a forgettable second half. Not too bad a show as a whole, but it wasn’t as strong as I would expect a Jon Lovitz-hosted episode to be. Speaking of whom, Jon Lovitz did a solid job as host and it was great to see him back on SNL, but it felt like some sketches could’ve utilized him better.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Chris Farley)
Ehh, the Farley episode is kind of on an island of its own. It doesn’t feel right to compare any other episode to it.


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Claire Danes

Posted on

October 25, 1997 – Chris Farley / The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (S23 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

PERMISSION TO HOST
testimonials of TIM & CHC persuade skeptical LOM to let CHF return to SNL

— Tim: “Fatty falls down, ratings go up!” Hmm, season 20’s ratings seem to disagree with that statement.
— Right from Chris Farley’s entrance, you can see what horrible shape he’s in by this late stage of his life. He’s fatter than we’ve ever seen him and his voice sounds hoarse as all hell. I once read an online comment on the SNL newsgroup (alt.tv.snl) saying that, compared to how he looks in tonight’s episode, Farley looked like Mr. Universe in the classic Chippendales sketch from 1990.
— I like the hint of something infamous that supposedly happened during the Marisa Tomei episode, as Farley vaguely explains to Lorne “I had to go to the bathroom!”
— When the camera cuts to Lorne after Farley brings up an incident where he set Tim up with a transvestite, Farley lets out the most INSANE-SOUNDING wheezing laughter I’ve ever heard in my life. I don’t know whether to laugh or be horrified.
— Pretty funny gag with Chevy Chase, of all people, being Farley’s sponsor. However, it’s hard for me to get excited for a Chevy cameo at this point in the show’s history, for reasons I don’t think I need to explain.
— Despite the health issues and delayed timing in his delivery of some lines, Farley is still giving me some laughs here, and as the ending of this cold opening shows, he can still do a mean pratfall onto a table.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
TIM & CSR take over the monologue while waiting for CHF to show up

— Hmm, a monologue with the host failing to show up after Don Pardo announces their name. I don’t think SNL has done that since way back in season 2 (the Candice Bergen episode).
— A very fun idea to have this monologue be a continuation of the cold opening. It’s a shame, though, that Farley’s subsequent drug-related death casts such a dark shadow over the premise, so much so that both the cold opening AND monologue would later infamously be removed from Comedy Central’s 60-minute version of this episode, causing this episode to abruptly begin with the opening montage before abruptly going right into the Morning Latte sketch.
— Amusing line from Chevy saying he previously sponsored Robert Downey Jr., which reminds me that I recall once hearing that Downey is who SNL originally wanted to cameo as Farley’s sponsor tonight, but they weren’t able to get him, so they had to settle for Chevy.
— Feels weird seeing Farley interacting with a newer cast member who joined after he left the show (Ana).
— I like Ana’s “Eeww” response to finding out her dressing room used to be Farley’s.
— Another dig at how surprisingly long Tim has been on SNL: Chevy excitedly says to Lorne, in regards to Tim, “He’s really got something. Is he new?” and Lorne responds with a deadpan “This is his eighth season.”
— I love Tim desperately wanting to host this episode, despite still being a cast member. (Trying to pull an Eddie Murphy, are we, Timmy?) It sure is nice seeing him standing on that home base stage as if he is indeed tonight’s host.
— Chris Rock! However, there’s some sadness to his appearance tonight when you’re aware that he truly was brought into SNL earlier this week as an emergency backup host, because SNL realized that Farley’s condition was so bad that they weren’t sure he’d be able to go through with hosting the show that weekend.
— Rock, on hosting SNL again: “I’m on more now than when I was on the show!”
— Rock: “I’m not the host tonight… and Timmy DAMN SURE ain’t the host tonight!”
— Feels good seeing season 16 rookies Tim, Farley, and Rock standing together onstage, which Rock points out by saying all three of them started the same year.
— When going on about how he, Farley, and Tim’s careers have advanced since starting out on SNL together, I love how the only thing Rock can say about Tim is “Timmy’s still black.”
— Rock is fantastic in this monologue, and as much as I hate to say this, he’s clearly in a far more suitable condition to host tonight than Farley is.
— When concluding the monologue while standing onstage by himself, Farley does the same arm-running gesture that he famously did in the very first Matt Foley sketch when saying “We gotta get ourselves on the right track!”
STARS: ***½


YUM BUBBLE GENITAL HERPES GUM
combat sexually-transmitted disease with Yum Bubble Genital Herpes Gum

— Boy, this premise is just plain dumb, and not the funny kind of dumb.
— I guess SNL thinks that if they say “genital herpes” enough times in this commercial, it’ll eventually start being funny. Nope, still not funny after the 50th utterance of the term.
— I think this is the first pre-taped fake ad in this era that I’ve given a negative review of. I hadn’t realized until now what a good track record this era has been having with fake ads.
STARS: *½


MORNING LATTE
Tom (WIF) & Cass (CHO) trade insipid personal anecdotes

— This sketch makes its debut.
— Will and Cheri are doing a fun and spot-on imitation of typical morning show hosts.
— Farley’s already-hoarse voice seems to be getting worse and worse as this episode goes along.
— Funny part with Cheri being wrong on what an Italian phrase that Will said means.
— More laughs from the denseness of Cheri’s character, with her always missing a point that someone has just made to her.
— A good part where, right in the middle of his and Cheri’s lighthearted laughing, Will suddenly turns the mood somber and grim by bringing up a school shooting that recently happened.
— Classic part with Farley telling Cheri “OVER THE WEEKEND, YOU STUPID BITCH!” Something about Farley’s hoarse, lower-pitched voice strangely made his delivery of that line funnier, as bad as I feel for saying that.
STARS: ***½


ST. MONICA AUTUMN DANCE
at a school dance, (CHF) boogies with wallflower Mary Katherine Gallagher

— Funny little part with Cheri immediately going from laughing at Jim’s rude comment to randomly asking him “Do you wanna feel me up on the dance floor?”
— Feels weird seeing Farley playing off of Mary Katherine Gallagher, but I definitely see why they’re doing this sketch with him, as his knack for pratfalls will fit perfectly in a recurring sketch that regularly features pratfalls from Molly. Though for that same reason, part of me kinda wishes that SNL combined this and the Matt Foley sketch that we’ll be seeing later tonight, by doing a “Matt Foley meets Mary Katherine Gallagher” sketch.
— The timing for this sketch feels off in certain parts, and for once tonight, it’s seemingly not Farley’s fault. This sketch just feels a bit under-rehearsed.
— I am liking the dramatic, sentimental turn this sketch has taken after Jim humiliates poor MKG on the dance floor.
— A sweet slow-dancing scene with MKG and Farley.
— Heh, now we get the obligatory double helping of pratfalls from Molly and Farley that this sketch was building up to. However, Farley’s pratfall here looks surprisingly very tame for his standards, especially when compared to the pratfalls that Molly’s doing.
STARS: ***


MARTHA STEWART LIVING
Martha Stewart (ANG) tells how to carefully plan your Halloween tricks

— Surprisingly, this is only the second time Ana has played Martha Stewart, after almost an entire year has gone by since the classic Martha Stewart Topless Christmas Special sketch. This is also the first time that Ana is playing Martha in a live sketch.
— A lot of laughs from Martha Stewart showcasing various traditional Halloween prank items in her usual professional way.
— Great ending line from Martha about spending 364 days of the year suppressing her inner demons but inviting them to dance on “All Hallows Eve”.
STARS: ****


SPINNING CLASS
Matt Foley tries to inspire a health club exercise cycle workout class

— A laugh from Tim’s inappropriate line “I’m thin, I’m handsome, I can have sex with anyone in this room.”
— As soon as Tim mentions he hired someone to motivate his spin class, I like how you can tell that the audience immediately knows who’s about to show up.
— Holy hell, Farley’s stomach looks bigger than ever in his usual tight Matt Foley button-down shirt.
— Another holy hell at how awful Farley sounds when trying to do his old Matt Foley voice. I recall an old comment from someone on the aforementioned SNL newsgroup saying that, at some points of this sketch, they almost thought Farley was randomly attempting to make fun of the way deaf people typically talk. That comment is sadly spot-on, especially the way Farley sounds when he says “–and I am a motivational speaker” early on in this sketch.
— It’s so interesting in retrospect seeing Farley and Will interacting with each other.
— Funny bit with Matt Foley’s pants being heard loudly splitting when he gets on the exercise bike.
— I’m noticing throughout tonight’s episode that Farley keeps making a rockstar finger sign with his hands for some reason (here’s an example of what I mean by “rockstar finger sign”). It seems out of place when he’s doing it as Matt Foley.
— Man, Farley keeps sounding dangerously out-of-breath throughout this sketch, when he’s barely even moved around yet.
— Yeah, throughout this sketch, I’m constantly alternating back-and-forth between laughing at the material and being scared for my life in regards to Farley’s health.
— Speaking of being scared for my life for Farley’s health, what was with the brief moment where Farley abruptly stops in the middle of his coffee-drinking to hold his hand near his chest and go “Whoa, whoa, whoa”? Frightening moment there.
— Jim would later mention during a radio interview that when Farley spits out his coffee all over some of the cast members in this sketch before yelling “SHUT YER PIPEHOLE, MISSY!”, Jim uncontrollably burst out laughing so hard that he couldn’t get his next line out, and thus, they had to cut to someone else. Jim has actually told a lot of interesting Chris Farley backstories from this episode during that radio interview (Jim’s a great SNL storyteller in general), but as you can imagine, almost all of his Farley stories are very sad.
— Oops, we get an instance of a camera mistakenly entering the shot (screencap below).

— After Matt Foley’s crash through the wall, Tim’s over-the-top delivery of “OH MY GOD!!!” slays me every single time I watch this sketch. Only Tim Meadows could make that type of overacting come off so damn funny.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE
TRM reminds viewers of his SNL claim to fame- being “the other black guy”

— Haha, damn, Norm is laying on his usual bluntness particularly thick tonight, by flat-out calling various women in the news unattractive. I feel like not even Michael Che could get away with doing that on Update nowadays, but who knows?
— It’s noteworthy that after one joke gets a tepid audience reaction, Norm ad-libs “Try to laugh anyway, cuz it helps Farley get a little rest.”
— Tracy doing an Update commentary as himself for the very first time. And this particular commentary would go on to be a very important part of Tracy’s SNL timeline, as he playfully addresses his lack of airtime and lack of identity on the show. This is basically his version of Bill Murray’s famous “I don’t think I’m making it on the show” sketch from back when Bill was a struggling new cast member.
— I love Tracy’s demeanor during this “The Other Black Guy” commentary, and there are some really funny and memorable bits here, such as Tracy teaching us how to spell his first and last name, and talking about his recurring character: The Guy Who Smiles Real Big At The Goodnights, complete with a montage of Tracy at various goodnights. As I pointed out during the last episode I reviewed, smiling real big at the goodnights was literally the ONLY thing Tracy got to do in that entire episode. I’d like to think that’s what inspired him and/or the writers the following week to come up with this meta Update commentary that Tracy’s now doing.
— The audience reaction during Tracy’s commentary is merely okay; they’re not laughing as much as I would’ve expected them to. I think this commentary of Tracy’s holds more significance to us SNL fans in retrospect, considering the fact that, unlike SNL audiences in 1997, we have the benefit of knowing the trajectory and upswing that Tracy’s SNL tenure would eventually take.
— Great ending to Tracy’s commentary, with his “I’ll see you in 45 minutes” line.
— Norm does a good variation of his usual “Don’t I know it!” gag (where he usually holds up several dollar bills), this time by holding up a realistic-looking human kidney.
— Holy hell, Norm’s “Which once again proves my theory: women can’t drive” joke receives one of the most uproarious audience reactions I’ve EVER seen a Norm Macdonald Weekend Update joke get. Lots of “Ohhhh!”s and exuberant screaming, cheers, and whistles from men in the audience.
— I’m almost surprised we went through this entire Update without getting the return of a Farley character (Bennett Brauer, perhaps? Then again, no, because they’d never be able to top his last appearance with the classic “wire caught on the light fixture” blooper), but as Norm said earlier, Farley needs some rest by this point of the show.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Impression That I Get”

— The lead singer’s raspy voice strangely matches how Farley sounds tonight. If I was watching this musical performance with my eyes closed, I’d think Farley was doubling as tonight’s musical guest.


GOTH TALK
Azrael’s brother Glen (JMB) intercepts Baron Nocturna (WIF)

— A change of pace for Goth Talk, with tonight’s installment being set in a garage instead of a living room.
— Boy, Kattan sure screwed up his laugh line “And I don’t get beat up in the mall parking lot.”
— In these Goth Talk sketches, I always get a huge laugh from the sudden mood change when Jim crashes the show as Kattan’s dickish older brother.
— I got a laugh from Farley bragging about his “suh-weet Grand Cherokee”.
— A pretty funny mention of “The Gloom Room” being right next to a Pizza Hut.
— Very funny brief walk-on from a distressed, soaking-wet, depantsed Will.
— Jim and Farley actually make a good team.
— Kattan seems to be playing his Azrael Abyss character in an even more childlike manner than usual tonight.
— Overall, I like how this installment of Goth Talk changed things up and didn’t follow the same formula of the previous two installments of this sketch (though part of me is a bit curious about what it would’ve been like to see Farley in goth make-up playing the interviewed guest).
STARS: ***


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS


SALLY
teen mom (CHO) can’t control giant baby (CHF)

— This has the distinction of being the very first sketch that then-new SNL writer Tina Fey ever got on the air.
— A laugh from the photo with Farley’s head being shown on a baby’s body.
— This is getting good mileage out of the huge size difference between Farley and Cheri.
— Farley’s doing a funny and accurate portrayal of a toddler, and we’re getting a lot of solid physical work from him here.
— I love the part where, when talking about how fast Farley’s body is developing, Cheri says in regards to Farley’s brain “That ain’t developin’” as Farley is seen staring into blank space with his tongue hanging out.
— Great blooper with Farley making Tim crack up when whispering baby nonsense into Tim’s ear.
— A huge laugh from the outrageous gag of Farley tearing off Tim’s arms, which Ana’s Sally and Cheri both treat as if Farley had just done something minor.
STARS: ****


BOSEEPHUS
sound engineers (TIM) & (WIF) find respect for Hank Williams, Jr. (CHF)

 

— A rare sketch appearance in this era for SNL band member Lenny Pickett.
— Farley is cracking me up as Hank Williams Jr., a.k.a Boseephus, despite how his portrayal of Boseephus’ out-of-control alcoholism has unfortunate similarities to Farley’s own out-of-control substance-abuse issues at this late stage of his life.
— Okay, this sketch is starting to fizzle out really fast.
— Colin “Oh, he’s in the cast?” Quinn makes his obligatory useless one appearance of the night, this time playing Boseephus’ redneck buddy who just silently stands behind him the whole time. Colin’s role practically might as well be played by an extra. (In fact, the first time I ever saw this sketch years ago, I actually did think that was an extra playing Boseephus’ buddy, until I recognized Colin at the very end of the sketch. Then I went “Holy shit, that was Colin Quinn all this time?!?”) Once again, I have to ask, they promoted Colin to repertory player for THIS? At this point, I’m starting to wonder that, if he hadn’t eventually replaced Norm as a Weekend Update anchor later this season, would Colin have been fired after this season? It’s starting to seem that way. They are really struggling to find things for him to do this season.
— Hmm, interesting serious turn with Boseephus standing up to the technicians while defending himself and his buddy.
— A nice-sounding soft, slow-tempo version of the Monday Night Football theme song sung by Boseephus and the technicians (while Colin, of course, continues to just stand silently in the background).
— A good touching ending direct-to-camera message from Boseephus. Between the more sentimental parts of the Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch earlier tonight and now the ending of this Boseephus sketch, I like that they’ve been letting Farley perform some tender, heartwarming, semi-dramatic moments tonight.
STARS: ***


THE SUPER FANS REVISITED
Mike Ditka’s [real] departure causes Super Fan schism; Bill Kurtis cameo

— A Super Fans follow-up! A pre-taped mockumentary is a very creative way of bringing these characters back tonight.
— Great to see George Wendt and Robert Smigel again.
— Solid visual of Wendt’s character wearing a half-Bears/half-Saints jersey, glued together with nacho cheese.
— Very funny scene with Smigel’s character being stripped down to his bear-head underwear while he’s having a nervous breakdown.
— I like Farley’s character being in denial by pretending he’s living in 1986.
— What the…? Is that Mike Freakin’ Myers playing the Chicago-accented rabbi who says “Forget it, my friend, Todd’s a fruitcake.” (the fourth-to-last above screencap for this sketch) If you look past the fake beard and sunglasses, it sure looks like Mike’s face, and the voice sure sounds like his. Did Mike Myers seriously just make a disguised cameo in a Chris Farley-hosted episode, and no viewers knew about it all these years? I’ve never seen Mike’s cameo mentioned ANYWHERE. Not on SNL Archives, not in any episode guides, not in any SNL reviews, nowhere. (SNL Archives claims that’s Darrell playing the rabbi, but it’s definitely not.) Also, the fact that the rabbi is named Naftali “Pat” Ehrenfeld is further evidence that this is indeed Mike Myers, at Pat was the first name of Mike’s Super Fans character Pat Arnold, and I think this sketch is cleverly implying that Pat Arnold changed his identity and became a rabbi. Still, it blows my mind that seemingly no SNL fans, including myself, have realized until now that Mike Myers makes a disguised cameo in this episode. That’s hilarious.
— Showing how much faith SNL has in Will Ferrell, he gets to be the only current cast member to appear in this nostalgic throwback short film.
— For obvious reasons, Farley’s heart attack sequence in this sketch comes off more unsettling tonight than it did in previous Super Fans sketches.
— Mike Ditka cameo!
— I love Ditka informing Farley that “I’m coachin’ the Saints now” and “We actually suck”. I also love the harsh reality check he eventually yells at Farley.
— The ending felt a little abrupt. I used to think Comedy Central’s 60-minute version of this episode shortened the ending of this film (which they had a habit of doing with some sketches from 1994-1999), but I’m currently watching the original live version, and it turns out that’s just how the film originally ended.
STARS: ****½


WEATHER SCOPE
pro wrestler El Nino (CHF) challenges hurricanes to rumble

— Classic scene with Farley’s introductory speech as El Nino, especially his line “El Nino is Spanish for……… The Nino!”
— Fun premise, doing a Weather Channel/WWF hybrid.
— Once again tonight, Farley’s out-of breath, delayed delivery after getting beaten-up by Jim’s Ric Flair just makes you scared for Farley’s real-life health.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very difficult episode to assess; in fact, it’s one of the most difficult episodes I’ve ever had to assess in this entire SNL project of mine. It’s needless to say that Chris Farley’s horrible condition and subsequent death a mere two months later casts a pall over this entire episode. However, the writing of the episode itself was fine (certainly better than the writing Farley was typically given during his last two seasons as a cast member), and despite his terrible health, his on-air struggles, and how much of this episode I spent being worried for his dear life, Farley was still able to get laughs out of me throughout the episode. I could still see glimpses of his usual talent and commitment. So, yeah, this episode… I dunno what to say. Very mixed feelings from me right now.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Brendan Fraser)
a mild step down, due to Chris Farley’s health, though writing-wise, both episodes are about on the same level… in fact, tonight’s might be a little better


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Thankfully, an SNL alum in actual good health: Jon Lovitz

Posted on

October 18, 1997 – Brendan Fraser / Bjork (S23 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

JANET’S BEDROOM
in her bedroom, girlish Janet Reno (WIF) has a Bill Clinton (DAH) fantasy

— A funny childlike scenario for Will’s Janet Reno. Also a humorous detail with the Jonathan Taylor Thomas poster on her wall in the background.
— I love Reno’s line “I have nails for dinner, and for dessert, I eats A-bombs! Aoow-oww!”
— Interesting voice that Tim is using as John Conyers.
— John Conyers: “What are you going to wear to the justice department?” Janet Reno: “My one blue dress.”
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— The new theme music from the first two episodes of this season has been replaced with a different one tonight, which is the one that will be used for the remainder of this season. This new theme music fits this opening montage decently enough, but I personally have never cared much for this music, which I guess is even more fitting, since I don’t care for this opening montage.


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Interesting out-of-the-ordinary entrance from Brendan Fraser, with him entering by swinging on a rope, ala George of the Jungle.
— I’m enjoying this monologue’s unconventional, laid-back premise of Brendan just listing off the many things he likes, especially when his likes start getting random and absurd.
STARS: ***½


LEMON GLOW
Lemon Glow floor cleaner convinced wild (MOS) to settle in suburbia

— A solid Molly Shannon showcase, and lot of laughs from how her details of her disturbing, troubled past is being interspersed with dissonant shots of her pleasantly showcasing the shine that Lemon Glow is giving her floor.
— Great detail with the seedy tattoo being seen on Molly’s arm.
STARS: ****


XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS
fight between Xena (MOS) & Urswina (host) contains hints of lesbianism

 

— I’m liking Ana’s performance as Gabrielle.
— A funny opening spiel from Brendan when he makes his entrance.
— A classic blooper right now, where Molly accidentally yanks off Brendan’s wig, and Brendan, after getting thrown to the floor, frantically tries to put his wig back on in a hurry. This blooper causes both Brendan and Molly to uncontrollably laugh their way through the rest of the sketch. Without this great blooper, this would be a forgotten sketch.
STARS: ***


ISSUES
stoners (host) & Jeff (JMB) lose focus when topic’s not legal pot

— After two seasons of Joe Pesci and Goat Boy, Jim attempts a new recurring sketch, in a role that he was born to play: a stoner.
— I’m aware that Brendan’s giggling is purely in character, as he’s playing someone who’s high, but I wonder if some of it is genuine leftover giggliness from the Xena wig blooper that happened mere minutes ago.
— Accurate stoner characterizations from Jim and Brendan.
— I got a laugh from Brendan’s line “Bake sale? I’ll be there.”
STARS: ***


THE DELICIOUS DISH
Margaret Jo & Terry talk gourds with controversial squash expert (host)

— Very scattered recognition applause from the audience at the beginning of this.
— Amusing bit with Ana and Molly looking at vacation photos that we can’t see, while making very vague comments about them.
— A laugh from Brendan’s passing mention of his squash-inspired haikus.
— I love Ana’s playful “We can get in a lot of trouble for this show; I hope the censors aren’t listening” line after Brendan brings up something very tame and innocent.
— Very funny how the trivia segment is only one question, which Brendan already answered earlier in the sketch.
— For the very first time, a Delicious Dish sketch has a caller that’s NOT Cheri or the recently-departed Mark McKinney. This time, it’s Tim.
— Overall, one of the better installments of the always-good Delicious Dish.
STARS: ****


THE GOLORDS
Golords beat robots but fail to save NYC from Bill Gates’ nuclear warhead

— I’m surprised to see this so early in tonight’s episode, considering its debut in the preceding episode aired towards the end of the show, and that’s where I remember most of these Golords films airing.
— I didn’t realize until now how catchy that Golords theme song is.
— I got a huge laugh from the male Golord telling Bill Gates “Hands up, dickweed!”
— Another laugh-out-loud line, this time from Bill Gates bragging “I use $100 bills to wipe my ass!”
— Very funny scene with the female Golord trying to make the robots go haywire by taking off her clothes, suggestively eating a banana, and washing a car.
— Odd fourth-wall break with Bill Gates pandering to the live SNL audience by praising New York City’s crowd, resulting in SNL’s audience being heard cheering in response. Not sure what the point of that is, unless it’s a reference to something Bill Gates said in real life.
— Overall, The Golords continue to be a solid new addition to this season.
STARS: ****


MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
Frank Gifford (DAH) mixes NFL & personal matters; Eric Dickerson cameo

— There are some laughs from Darrell’s Frank Gifford ranting endlessly in a professional sportscaster voice about problems in his personal life, but this sketch is pretty one-note.
— When talking about problems he has with his wife Kathie Lee (who’s identity he thinly hides here by substituting her name with “the Jacksonville Jaguars”), I like Frank Gifford’s passing reference to “that K-Mart sweatshop thing”.
— Boy, Eric Dickerson’s cameo has been met with DEAD SILENCE from the audience.
STARS: **


PHARMACY
Colette Reardon explains her medication needs to pharmacist (host)

— Cheri’s Colette Reardon character officially becomes recurring.
— I like this character of Cheri’s, but is it necessary to have her second appearance be in the exact same pharmacy setting that her first appearance was in? Seems kinda lazy. At least in her subsequent appearances, they place her in different settings, such as Weekend Update, her home, and a school classroom.
— When seeing Brendan’s pharmacist character, Colette asks “Where’s Cliff?” I wonder if Cliff is the pharmacist that John Goodman played in the first installment of this sketch. If so, at least we’re getting some continuity in this recurring sketch.
— Brendan: “What kind of dog is he?” Colette Reardon: “He’s an amputee.”
— Colette Reardon on her menopause: “Menopause, you know, meaning no chance of gettin’ pregnant.” Brendan: “I think that’s good news for all of us.” Colette Reardon: “Ha ha haaaa! Yeah!” Brendan: “I’m serious.”
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
Harry Caray’s (WIF) World Series analysis mostly deals with team mascots

— Boy, Norm’s first few jokes tonight are getting a very tepid audience reaction. However, their reaction isn’t quite as bad as I had remembered. My memory of this Update had Norm’s first two jokes getting literally ZERO laughs from the audience.
— Weird seeing Will’s Harry Caray appearing for the second consecutive episode, though he has an excuse to appear tonight, with that year’s World Series going on.
— As always, tons of funny kooky lines from Harry Caray, especially the whole bit regarding scalps and Indians.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Bachelorette”


BIOGRAPHY
Jack Perkins (DAH) drinks during Courtney Love (MOS) profile

— Darrell’s drunken Jack Perkins is always worth some laughs. I worry, though, that this joke might get a little old if they do one more Biography sketch, but IIRC, the only remaining Biography sketch is a bit of a different one where Darrell’s Perkins is bitter because he’s being replaced by a new host, Harry Smith, and thus, Perkins does a very slanderous biography on Smith.
— I love the part with Courtney Love’s mother revealing that Courtney invented crack as a child.
— Funny contradictions between Courtney and Brendan’s respective interviews regarding Courtney’s stint as a stripper.
— Haha, holy hell at Jack Perkins’ line “They call that shotgunning a beer… and it was a shotgun that Courtney’s husband Kurt Cobain used to BLOW HIS HEAD OFF!”
— I never can get enough Frank Sebastiano sightings on SNL (the sixth above screencap for this sketch).
— Wait, former SNL stage manager Joe Dicso?!? (the last screencap above) What’s he doing here? I thought he left after season 21. And no, his (pre-taped) appearance in this Biography sketch isn’t a clip from the Courtney Love Show sketch that he appeared in back in the Christine Baranski episode from season 21. Even though he gets wildly kissed by Molly’s Courtney Love in both this sketch and the season 21 Courtney Love Show sketch, they’re both different scenes. Maybe this scene is from a cut dress rehearsal sketch from back when Dicso was still working at SNL? That’s the only explanation I can think of.
— The ending felt a little abrupt. I was expecting more scenes.
STARS: ***½


MANGO
(host) becomes obsessed with enigmatic male stripper Mango (CHK)

— Ohh, boy. Right from the start of this sketch, I can already tell which dreaded character is about to enter.
— Yep, there he is. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut! I feel wrong for saying that with an exclamation point, as if I’m excited about that. It’s merely a catchphrase of mine that I copy-and-paste whenever I reach the debut of a particularly big recurring character, whether the character is good or bad.
— As I often do when covering the debut of this era’s most polarizing recurring characters, I’m going to approach this Mango debut by treating it as a standalone sketch, pretending that I’m unaware it’s the first of a series of sketches.
— I do like Brendan’s befuddled facial expressions when Mango is seducing him.
— Aaaaand the sketch is now over, with me having said practically nothing about it. Geez, even in its first installment, this Mango sketch already wasn’t good. I will admit that I did kinda appreciate what the format and narrative of this sketch was going for, but it just wasn’t very funny or entertaining. I did notice, though, that Chris’ take on Mango was lower-key here compared to how exaggerated and cartoonish his characterization of Mango would gradually become over time.
STARS: **


THE SHARK CHANNEL
Shark Channel programming only partially reflects network’s implied focus

— I’m enjoying the absurd escalation from normal shark programming to increasingly un-shark-like programming, especially the shark-themed teen pregnancy show.
STARS: ***½


BUDDY SONGS
creeped-out cast watches as host sings about his new best friend WIF

 

— Very interesting premise, and I almost always like the rare times that post-1985 SNL has a sketch that takes place on the home base stage. That was much more common in SNL’s first 10 seasons.
— Geez, I keep forgetting that Colin is even a cast member this season. He’s JUST NOW making his first and only appearance of the night, in a small supporting role in this 10-to-1 sketch, and he’s obviously only appearing in this because it’s a (sorta)full-cast sketch. Will somebody please remind me why SNL promoted him to repertory player this season? We’re three episodes into this season, and he has done jack squat except for that Friends sketch from the preceding episode. Hell, I think he got more airtime back when he was just an occasionally-credited featured player.
— But hey, at least Colin’s actually appearing tonight, which is more than I can say for poor Tracy, who isn’t in ANY sketches tonight (which is something he’ll sadly have to get used to these next few seasons, as this is far from the last time this will be happening to him). Hell, Tracy gets far more face time during this episode’s goodnights than he does during the actual show, which reminds me of a certain important Weekend Update commentary he would do as himself in the very next episode (you’ll find out what commentary that is when we get to it).
— I’m loving this sketch, and there’s a lot of amusement from Brendan’s sappy buddy song. And something about the simplicity, innocence, and friendliness of the song lyrics make this sketch feel connected to Brendan’s “Things I like” monologue from earlier tonight.
— Great touch during the song with Will just sitting there with a frozen smile on his face the entire time while having his hand placed on Brendan’s leg.
— When the camera pans across each cast members’ disturbed facial reaction to the song, I love how the shot ends on Norm with a big gleeful smile on his face. (Unfortunately, this “camera panning across a group of people who are weirded-out by what they’re witnessing, except for one individual who’s actually enjoying it” gag would go on to be overused in later SNL eras.)
— Funny line about Colin’s Hip Hop Napoleon sketch getting cut.
— Norm’s very awkward delivery of his line about growing apart from his buddy is unintentionally hilarious in the way that only Norm could make it.
— More laughs from Norm, this time with his badly out-of-sync attempt to sing in harmony with Will and Brendan.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode. A lot of fairly solid segments, a few great segments, and not too much that didn’t work for me.


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

 


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
A near-death Chris Farley

Posted on

October 4, 1997 – Matthew Perry / Oasis (S23 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

PRACTICE
hoping to become real Spartans, Craig & Arianna practice for tryouts

— A bit of a change of pace by having the Cheerleaders star in a cold opening.
— I got a laugh from the prostate exam part of a cheer that Craig and Arianna do.
— Funny bit about Arianna’s brother’s blow-up doll.
— This feels like a step backwards for this recurring sketch as a whole. I’ve never been crazy about the Cheerleaders sketches that just have Craig and Arianna doing various cheers for four minutes and occasionally having a conversation with each other in between the cheers, which basically sums up the first few sketches they appeared in, as well as tonight’s installment. I prefer the more recent (at this point in the show’s history) Cheerleaders sketches that involve actual storylines and various characters.
STARS: **½


OPENING MONTAGE
— The theme music is still the same one that was introduced in the preceding week’s season premiere, but the tempo is slowed WAY down tonight. This slower-tempo theme music doesn’t fit this opening montage at all. The faster-tempo theme was much more in line with this montage’s style.
— I do like the long saxophone note that’s played at the beginning of tonight’s theme music, though.


MONOLOGUE
host tries to get NYC residents to help re-create Friends fountain dance

— I like the older woman responding “F*** off!” to Matthew’s question about dancing in a water fountain.
— Adam McKay probably wrote this monologue, as we get an appearance from two of his Upright Citizens Brigade buddies, Matt Walsh and Ian Roberts, the latter of whom has probably the funniest part of this monologue, as a guy who all-too-eagerly takes his shirt off as soon as Matthew asks him the water fountain question.
— Funny scene with Matthew and a fat guy jovially dancing with each other in a water fountain while the “Friends” theme song plays.
STARS: ***½


COOKIE DOUGH SPORT
the drink replenishes sugar lost during exercise

— Hilarious concept, replacing Gatorade with cookie dough, of all things.
— I love the cookie dough-themed recreation of scenes from typical Gatorade commercials.
STARS: ****


CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Michael Keaton (host) & others exasperate Alex Trebek (WIF)

 

— The audience finally gives Norm’s Burt Reynolds impression the recognition applause it deserves when he’s shown during Will-as-Alex-Trebek’s introductions to each contestant.
— I like Trebek immediately replacing the “Renaissance” category with the much simpler category “Shapes”.
— I don’t understand Darrell’s John Travolta impression at all. It sounds nothing like Travolta, and just seems like Darrell’s doing a bad variation of his Bill Clinton voice. Once you hear Clinton in his Travolta voice, you can’t unhear it.
— Matthew’s Michael Keaton impression is cracking me up. I know a lot of SNL fans have found his Keaton impression baffling and nothing like the real thing (it doesn’t help that the wig and make-up do nothing to help Matthew resemble Keaton), but I definitely see what he’s going for, especially with the hesitant mannerisms and constant eyebrow raises. It’s all making me laugh.
— Michael Keaton: (dramatically) “I’m Batman!” Alex Trebek: “No, you are not.”
— I absolutely love how the Audio Daily Double for the “Name this continent” question is just a man saying “ASIA” in a booming, monotone voice.
— Wasn’t necessary to have Norm’s Burt Reynolds do the “Kick me” sign prank a second time.
— A big laugh from Travolta’s “Miso Horny” Final Jeopardy answer.
— Overall, another great Celebrity Jeopardy, though for me, these sketches haven’t quite reached five-star status yet. (And Darrell’s bad Travolta impression didn’t help.) IIRC, these sketches finally become five-star worthy with the next installment of this sketch later this season, even though Norm and his Burt Reynolds impression are unfortunately gone by that point.
STARS: ****½


SARCASM 101
students in (host)’s Sarcasm 101 class get first-hand irony experience

— After the opening sarcastic conversation between Matthew and the students, I like the eventual reveal that the class is named Sarcasm 101. This sarcasm premise seems perfect for Matthew, given his character on “Friends”.
— A laugh from Tim telling Ana “Whenever you talk, it makes me wanna have sex with you less.”
— Norm’s off-beat, idiotic one-liners are priceless.
— Interesting twist with Ana turning out to be a plant.
— When Norm is told that he cannot take a bath with Ana, I absolutely love the brief close-up of him just looking at the camera with a hilarious teeth-gritting facial expression (screencap below). That is an all-time classic Norm Macdonald image to me.

— Yet another hilarious bit from Norm (who’s providing my only real big laughs here, though I am enjoying the sketch), with him going “Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!” You can tell that’s not part of the script, as Tim and some of the background extras are seen being genuinely amused by it. Also, pay attention to Will during that part: while Norm is going “Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!”, Will still stays in character and just stares towards the camera in a comically dumbfounded manner.
— Speaking of Norm’s “Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!”, he would later repeat it in his epic monologue when he hosts in season 25.
STARS: ***


THE LADIES’ MAN
old-fashioned player Leon Phelps (TIM) takes some calls

 

— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut!
— The lisp on Tim’s Leon Phelps is a nice touch.
— When a caller asks how he can spice up his love life, I love Leon’s response being a blunt “May I suggest you consider the butt?”, which is followed by the caller immediately hanging up the phone.
— Leon not knowing what self-esteem means is funny.
— Some laughs from Leon’s bad, insensitive advice to the overweight female caller.
— Tracy’s role as Leon’s stage manager ends up becoming a recurring character in these Ladies’ Man sketches, but gets dropped after a few installments and is now forgotten by SNL fans. I myself didn’t even remember Tracy’s recurring role in these early Ladies’ Man sketches until seeing it just now.
— An overall good debut for this sketch, and Tim already seems to have a good handle on this soon-to-be-big character of his.
STARS: ***½


SPACE, THE INFINITE FRONTIER WITH HARRY CARAY
Harry Caray (WIF) drifts into sci-fi

— I have mixed feelings about seeing this sketch officially become recurring. On one hand, Will’s Caray is always a hoot and the first installment of this sketch with Jeff Goldblum was a bonafide classic, but on the other hand, I already know they’ll never top that first installment and I’m worried the follow-ups will just come off as inferior imitations.
— I got a good laugh from Caray’s “Don’t jerk me around, Ronald, it’s a simple question!” line.
— Overall, this was very funny, but yeah, doesn’t measure up to the first installment. While Harry Carey had lots of funny absurd statements and questions tonight as usual, none of them really stood out as classic and some of them just felt like thinly-altered versions of some of the memorable lines from the first installment.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE

— Norm surprisingly does a Janet Reno joke that, for once, doesn’t end with a punchline about her being a man.
— Norm’s “forgetting to go to an evangelical group meeting” joke was so bad in itself, but he made it so damn funny with his delivery. It’s that weird Norm magic.
— No guest commentaries tonight.
STARS: ***½


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


MTV NEWS
Goat Boy sings with Willie Nelson (WIF) & Julio Iglesias (host)

— I think this is the only time Kincaid appears outside of season 22, but I’m not sure.
— Kincaid AND Goat Boy sketch in the same sketch? A rare occurrence of two unrelated recurring sketches colliding.
— Kincaid’s typical routine of reminiscing about pop culture is receiving dead silence from tonight’s audience. I still find it somewhat funny, though her routine feels more forced than usual in this sketch. If this indeed ends up being her final appearance, no big loss there. I’m surprised by how tolerant I’ve been of her in my reviews, though, considering I used to find her pretty insufferable when I was younger. Goat Boy, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. I used to find him pretty funny when I was younger, but he now does nothing for me.
— Hmm, the audience gives Kincaid nothing in this sketch, yet a minute later, they laugh heartily at the weak, one-note Goat Boy shtick that ran its course long ago. Go figure.
— Matthew’s Julio Iglesias impression is pretty funny. In fact, he’s been providing my ONLY laughs here.
— This feels like a jumbled, messy, unfunny mishmash of a sketch.
STARS: *½


THE KEVIN FRANKLIN SHOW
The Kevin Franklin Show will be different from the other black talk shows

— Interestingly, the title of this sketch, The Kevin Franklin Show, was actually used on SNL before, in another Tim Meadows-hosted talk show sketch back in the Danny Aiello episode from season 21. (Even the “The Kevin Franklin Show” logo is the exact same) However, the Kevin Franklin character that Tim played in that season 21 sketch appears to be different from the Kevin Franklin he’s playing in tonight’s sketch. He has a completely different look and personality. Makes me wonder why they bothered reusing the “The Kevin Franklin Show” title.
— A good parody of interchangeable urban talk shows from this era.
— Tim’s always able to get laughs with silly-but-likable characterizations like this.
STARS: ***


FRIENDS
host doesn’t care for COQ’s fey Chandler characterization in Friends skit

— I’m surprised tonight’s obligatory “Friends” parody is being buried so late in the episode. I feel like in more recent years, this would be the first sketch right after the monologue.
— I’ve seen much better Jennifer Aniston impressions in more recent years (including on SNL itself), but I can see what Cheri is going for with the Rachel mannerisms, especially the head-bobbing, which is pretty funny.
— Facially, Ana could not look any less like Phoebe, but her vocal imitation is pretty solid.
— Chris’ Ross impression is dead-on and hilarious.
— Speaking of Chris, he’s surprisingly been having a quiet season so far. He’s barely appeared in any sketches in these two episodes. Maybe I should be happy about that, considering the very next episode has him debuting a certain dreaded recurring character that would go on to define his SNL tenure (you can probably guess which character I’m speaking of).
— Speaking of underused cast members, the recently-promoted-to-repertory-player Colin Quinn is just now making his first live appearance of the whole season, after practically being shut out of the season premiere.
— Colin’s inaccurate foppish imitation of Chandler is very funny.
— I like Matthew visibly being thrown off by Colin’s baffling take on Chandler, but trying to stay in character as Joey.
— Yikes, Matthew screws up what was supposed to be a big laugh line. He tells Chris “Do yourself a favor and stick to characters that TALK!”, when the latter part of that line was obviously supposed to be “characters that DON’T TALK”. As you can imagine, this botched line results in confused silence from the audience. Oof. You can tell Matthew realized he screwed up the line, as he delivers his next line in an awkward, halting manner, as if he was distracted while probably thinking in his head “Wait, did I just fuck up that last line?” SNL would later show the dress rehearsal version of the second half of this sketch in reruns, where Matthew delivers his “characters that don’t talk” line correctly and the sketch in general flows better.
— The ending is also a bit different in reruns. In the live version I’m currently watching, the sketch ends with Matthew entering the set of “Friends” while saying in Colin’s foppish Chandler voice “Ooh-hoo, Chandler’s home!”, before the screen does a freeze-frame as the “Friends” ending music sting plays. The rerun version has Matthew’s “Ooh-hoo, Chandler’s home!” line being followed by a few more foppish lines from him before the freeze-frame and music sting occur.
STARS: *** for the live version, ***½ for the dress rehearsal version shown in reruns


THE GOLORDS
puppet siblings Mike & Sissy Golord rescue kidnap victim Bill Clinton

   

— An out-of-the-ordinary segment for SNL, which eventually becomes a recurring segment this season.
— The Asian whorehouse scene has some good laughs, especially the male Golord getting a “quickie”.
— I love the differing reactions that Bill Clinton and his impostor have to being shown a picture of Paula Jones.
— Some very funny gory visuals when the Golords are beating up the villains, such as one villain’s brains getting blown out all over the wall behind him when he gets shot (which receives groaning laughter from the audience) and another villain getting his heart pulled out through his stomach.
— Overall, this was surprisingly hilarious. When I last saw these Golords segments ages ago, I remember kinda dismissing them as an unnecessary alternative to TV Funhouse, but I now have gained much more appreciation for them during tonight’s viewing. I’m looking forward to seeing more installments of this.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Acquiesce”


GOOD MORNING WITH LIZA!
unstable Liza Minnelli (MOS) & Woody Allen (host)

— Meh, yet another example of SNL’s lazy habit of giving celebrity impressions their own talk show sketch. I can occasionally let it slide when it’s great stuff like Space The Infinite Frontier, but the idea of a talk show sketch hosted by Liza Minnelli doesn’t exactly excite me.
— I am kinda liking Molly’s unhinged, quivery take on Liza Minnelli. The sketch itself isn’t doing much for me, though.
— Yet another funny celebrity impression from Matthew tonight, with him now doing a spot-on Woody Allen.
STARS: **


DISCOVERING FAITH
a sober Kevin Franklin announces his new show- Discovering Faith

— I like how Tim-as-Kevin-Franklin’s hyped-up descriptions of “unusual, innovative” things his talk show will contain are actually just generic things that every talk show has.
— Interesting twist with a now-solemn and rehabilitated Kevin Franklin condemning his former self and announcing a retooled version of his show. The incomplete feel of the first Kevin Franklin Show promo earlier tonight now makes sense, as it just turns out they were waiting until later in the night to give us the payoff. This is more clever than funny, but still fairly well-done.
— Funny line from Kevin Franklin about not legally being allowed anywhere near a party anymore.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An average episode. Not much else I can think of to say, other than it was a satisfying-enough episode with a few strong highlights that were buried among a sea of averageness, and there were a few sketches I could’ve done without.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Sylvester Stallone)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Brendan Fraser

Posted on

September 27, 1997 – Sylvester Stallone / Jamiroquai (S23 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OPRAH
Marv Albert (NOM) discusses his unusual sexual practices

— It’s noteworthy that this is the very first live SNL episode to have an NBC station bug in the bottom corner of the screen, as can be seen in this review’s screencaps.
— A laugh early on from Tim-as-Oprah’s “I lost 20 pounds!….aaaaand I gained 35” announcement when talking about her summer.
— A humorous way to tackle that summer’s Marv Albert scandal.
— Yet another great celebrity impression from Norm.
— Oprah: “Here’s the difference between you and me, Marv: I like to eat baklava, baby back ribs, and back bacon. But you like to eat back.” Marv Albert: “Yessss! And ASS!”
— Marv Albert: “Usually when I eat pizza, I do not have a FULL ERECTION!”
— Yet another funny line from Marv Albert, with his “It’s great to have the support of Rod!”, which is more funny for Norm’s delivery of it.
STARS: ****


OPENING MONTAGE
— New montage.

— Yikes. SNL, what are you doing with this montage? This is just plain bad. The graphics are overly simplistic and boring, and this has the distinction of being the only SNL opening montage to not show any New York City scenery. SNL opening montages and NYC scenery should go hand-in-hand. Overall, this is easily the worst opening montage in SNL history, in my opinion.
— I recall hearing that there was a new Ed Sullivan Show commercial at this time that the style of this SNL opening montage seemed to be inspired by. I’m curious to see that Ed Sullivan commercial for myself, just to compare to this opening montage.
— The new theme music isn’t bad, though, and the fast tempo of it fits this montage well. Speaking of the new theme music, it’s actually different from the one that would soon go on to be regularly used for this montage.
— Colin Quinn has been promoted from featured player to repertory player.
— After debuting a year ago, TV Funhouse now has the honor of being credited in the opening montage, being billed as “A Cartoon by Robert Smigel”, which feels like a nice throwback to how the opening montage in season 1 used to credit “A Film by Albert Brooks”.


MONOLOGUE
trainer Mickey (JMB) advises host- “less Cop Land, more Rocky”

— Jim’s impression of Burgess Meredith’s Mickey character from “Rocky” is cracking me the hell up, though I’m aware that some SNL fans at the time considered it a bit tasteless, considering Burgess Meredith had recently passed away.
— Funny walk-on from Tracy as Mr. T (wearing the same camouflage pants Tracy wore as Mike Tyson in the cold opening).
— A fun, energetic turn this monologue takes at the end when Sylvester allows himself to go full-on Rocky.
STARS: ***½


XEROX ASSJET 790
the Xerox Assjet 790 photocopier is optimized for office hijinks

— Every time I’ve seen this commercial in the past, I’ve always howled at the part where Will as the spokesman asks us, in regards to a sophisticated copier, “But can it copy your ass?” as Jim is seen in the background accidentally crashing ass-first through the copy machine. During that part, you can hear screaming laughter from a woman in the audience.
— It’s Colin Quinn’s first episode as a repertory player, and he makes his ONLY appearance of the whole night in a brief, silent role in a pre-taped ad. Geez. An early sign of the huge struggle for airtime Colin is going to have in the first half of this season, before he gets the Weekend Update anchorperson gig mid-season when Norm gets canned.
— A particularly funny feature of the Assjet, with the butt-shaped bucket that you place your ass onto.
— A very funny and solid execution of a juvenile premise.
STARS: ****


NEW CAR
Rita Delvecchio is excited when husband (host) brings home a new Cadillac

— I’m kinda surprised they’re leading off the season premiere with this, but I’m not complaining, as I always like this character and find her to have more depth than most of this era’s recurring characters.
— Interesting how we now get to see Rita Delvecchio’s husband for the first time ever.
— The car alarm saying “Back away from the freakin’ car” in a monotone goombah voice made me laugh way more than it should’ve.
— I like Rita’s anger over Molly having ridden in the new car first.
— We get a Frank Stallone reference from Sylvester.
STARS: ***½


ACCIDENT
car wreck victims (NOM) & (ANG) slam host’s career when he comes to help

— Here comes one of my all-time favorite Norm Macdonald sketches.
— Seems to be a car theme in tonight’s sketches so far.
— Great premise of a dying Norm calling out Sylvester on his bad movies.
— I got a huge laugh from Norm’s sudden yell of “GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I just remembered ‘Staying Alive’!”
— I particularly love the part right now with Norm snarking on the ridiculous premise of “Over The Top”, involving Sylvester arm-wrestling for the custody of his son (I can’t even describe that movie’s premise with a straight face).
— Sylvester’s a good sport to allow this sketch.
— Will, to Sylvester: “The man is injured and he happens to think ‘Tango & Cash’ is jackass, so you hit him?!?”
— Norm, in a panicked, half-conscious manner: “Stop… Stop… Stop… Or My Mom Will Shoot sucked.” I also love Sylvester begrudgingly repeating to everybody “He said ‘Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot’ SUCKED!!!”
— A priceless ending with Will finding a copy of “Rambo” in Norm’s possession, only for it to turn out to be a porno titled “Rambone”.
STARS: *****


THE ROXBURY GUYS
Roxbury Guys take Rocky (host) on the town & teach him how to dance

— Meh, this sketch again, although having this installment be a crossover with “Rocky” has promise and might add some new life to this recurring sketch.
— This is the third consecutive sketch tonight to involve a car. Just a random little thing I’ve been noticing.
— I like the turn with Rocky’s “I can’t dance!” outburst.
— Sylvester’s performance is fun, and is helping to make this sketch more tolerable than most of the latest Roxbury Guys installments.
— Not sure what the point is of Rocky being joined by a large group of kids dressed as the Roxbury Guys. Seems corny to me. Maybe this is just SNL’s way of showing how much the popularity of the Roxbury Guys sketches has been taking the nation by storm, much like how a Halloween sketch that SNL did in the preceding season involved, at one point, two trick-or-treating kids dressed as the Spartan Cheerleaders. Is there a “kids dressed as Mary Katherine Gallagher” sketch that SNL eventually does, to complete the trifecta?
STARS: ***


INVESTIGATION
Janet Reno (WIF) mulls Clinton fund-raising charges; Richard Jewell cameo

 

— I have to laugh at how the real Richard Jewell showed up just to punch Will’s Janet Reno in the gut and then immediately leave.
— I am kinda liking the montage of Reno in deep thought at various locations.
— This overall sketch felt a little weak and seemed kinda underdeveloped compared to other Janet Reno sketches.
STARS: **½


TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- flatulence dominates Casablanca outtakes

— I can appreciate a well-done fart gag, but man, this cartoon is NOT working for me and is very one-note.
— That’s it? The cartoon is over? I was hoping this would take an unexpected turn. Overall, this is, by far, my least favorite TV Funhouse to air up to this point.
STARS: **


WEEKEND UPDATE
Cinder Calhoun sings “Sausage of Pain” to protest existence of hot dogs
though Richard Jewell [real] has been cleared, NOM is still suspicious

— The audience reactions to some of Norm’s jokes are pretty delayed.
— Did I just hear Norm say “flemale” instead of “female” during the WNBA joke?
— Ana’s Cinder Calhoun character, who made her debut in an ensemble sketch the preceding season, now makes her first Weekend Update appearance, with a bit of a different physical appearance.
— Good characterization from Ana here.
— A pretty good laugh from the little touch with Cinder Calhoun’s accented pronunciation of the word “Latina”.
— Funny “Sausage of Pain” song from Cinder.
— Boy, Norm could not look any less interested during this Cinder Calhoun commentary.
— Another Richard Jewell cameo.
— Meh, this Richard Jewell commentary isn’t too funny, but I am liking Norm’s delivery throughout it.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
Joe Pesci (JMB) is upset with host for stealing his co-stars

— A nice deviation from SNL’s usual straightforward musical guest intros.
— I like Jim’s Pesci complaining about being in the movie “8 Heads In A Duffel Bag” “with freakin’ David Spade ova here”.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Alright”


THE COMPUTER STATION
Orange Julius holdover (host) waits on customer (WIF) in computer store

— Already a laugh right from the start of this sketch, with Sylvester entering with a disheveled, seedy look.
— A hilarious off-beat characterization from Sylvester, who’s doing a great job in this role.
— Will is equally great, doing a terrific straight man as usual.
— So many funny lines from Sylvester, especially him confusing a vending machine for a computer.
— Interesting new hairstyle from Tim this season, which eventually grows into long dreads over the course of these next few seasons.
— I love Tim trying to convince Will to buy the vending machine just to appease Sylvester.
— Very funny ending with Sylvester at Orange Julius.
STARS: *****


THE LOST DEEP THOUGHTS

— After being away for two seasons, Deep Thoughts returns, under the new title of “The Lost Deep Thoughts”. Feels weird hearing someone other than Phil Hartman doing the voice-over intro for this.


PLANET HOLLYWOOD
at Planet Hollywood opening, fans (JMB) & (TRM) eventually tick off host

— Tons of camera-mugging from Jim here, reminding me of his mugging-directly-at-the-camera performance in that old lady sketch he did in the Tom Arnold episode from season 21.
— Tracy has noticeably lost weight over the summer, beginning a gradual transformation that we’ll be seeing these next few seasons until we get a thin Tracy in his last three seasons.
— Tracy, when meeting Sylvester: “You better than Gumby, dammit!”
— Tracy is really funny in this. Jim’s making me laugh too (yes, even his direct-to-camera mugging), but Tracy’s performance is standing out to me.
— I like Jim telling Sylvester “I gotta say……. I thought you were bigger, man!”
STARS: ***½


LOU’S LOVELY DAUGHTERS
homely (ANG), (MOS), Maria (CHO) need men

— A hilarious look for Cheri’s soon-to-be-recurring character Maria, and I like how she’s spending most of the sketch just silently staring at the camera.
— I love the voice Darrell’s using as the caller.
— A pretty good laugh from Maria’s accordion-playing.
— Good reveal of one of the daughters being pregnant (and smoking a cigarette to boot).
STARS: ***


MORE SONGS I REWROTE TO HONOR DEAD PEOPLE
Elton John’s (WIF) album features More Songs I Wrote To Honor Dead People

— A laugh from Elton John’s Jimmy Stewart tribute song being a sloppily-altered version of the song “Daniel”, titled “Your Name’s Not Daniel”.
— Wow, after only about 40 seconds, this sketch suddenly gets cut off by a commercial break right when Will’s Elton John started launching into another song. The show has obviously run out of time, forcing them to abort this sketch mid-progress. This sketch got cut off so early that I have to wonder what in the world made SNL think they had enough time to perform the full sketch. Why not just air a pre-taped fake ad in this spot instead?
— I believe they would later show the full version of this sketch in reruns, but I’m not 100% sure, as it’s been ages since I’ve last seen the rerun version of this sketch.
STARS: N/A (incomplete sketch)


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good start to the season. There was a bit of a slump in the middle of the show shortly before Weekend Update, but the show as a whole was enjoyable and contained two personal favorite sketches of mine (Accident and The Computer Station). I’m also glad that, aside from Roxbury Guys, this season premiere didn’t go overboard with overexposed or soon-to-be-overexposed characters the way the preceding year’s Tom Hanks-hosted season premiere did.
— Sylvester Stallone kinda surprised me with how good and funny of a host he was. I liked him a lot in this episode.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1996-97)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Matthew Perry