Tag: Sting

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November 20, 1999 – Jennifer Aniston / Sting (S25 E6)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MESSAGE FROM DONALD TRUMP
Donald Trump’s (DAH) running mate is millionaire John Carpenter [real]

— Darrell’s still portraying Donald Trump with the New York mobster wiseguy-type voice that he used earlier this season, which sounds nothing like how his impression would later go on to famously sound.
— In retrospect, it’s quite odd seeing this 1999 sketch having Trump going on about how he’s gonna be president and we might as well not fight it.
— Funny line about a see-through bathtub.
— A cameo from John Carpenter, the winner of the previous night’s episode of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. By nature, this cameo has aged oddly (then again, so has this entire cold opening).
— The voice of Carpenter’s dad on the phone is played by SNL writer Tim Herlihy. This is his sendoff, as tonight is his last show . He’s funny in this cold opening.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host gets MOS, ANG, CHO, RAD to join her Catfight Club

— Tina Fey’s voice still sounds so different in her pre-cast member appearances. Kinda hard to believe that tonight’s appearance is less than a year before she starts doing Weekend Update. However, she has been gradually starting to look like how she would in her Update days, as she’s noticeably been losing weight.
— I like Jennifer Aniston’s passing mention of a restraining order she has on Tina.
— I absolutely love this turn with a Fight Club-esque violent fight between Jennifer and the female cast members. Very fun.
— Jennifer’s “Superstar” taunt to Molly was really funny.
— Good line with Jennifer ashamedly admitting that she hasn’t even seen her boyfriend Brad Pitt’s movie Fight Club yet.
— I like the inclusion of Rachel, and how she’s being pushed around by her female castmates because she’s a newbie. It feels odd in retrospect seeing her and Cheri interacting, considering this would be their only season together and I can’t think of many other sketches later this season that we see any onscreen interaction between them (besides the Ugly Models sketch from the Freddie Prinze Jr. episode and the Office Skank sketch from the John Goodman episode).
— I love Rachel’s excited yell of “This is freakin’ awesome!” into the camera.
STARS: ****½


PRETTY LIVING
joyologist Helen & horny self-esteem guru (musical guest)

— Oh, god, here we go. Though I do remember this particular Pretty Living installment being a little more tolerable than usual.
— Kinda interesting having a musical guest appear in a Pretty Living sketch for once, and Sting’s sketch work is always solid.
— Jennifer’s collage is really funny.
— Jennifer’s bitterness throughout this sketch is helping to indeed make this Pretty Living sketch more tolerable than usual.
STARS: **½


NICK BURNS, YOUR COMPANY’S COMPUTER GUY
Nick Burns (JIF) condescends while giving tech support to officeworkers

— Nick Burns makes his debut.
— Between the debut of the Boston Teens in the last episode and now Nick Burns’ debut tonight, Jimmy’s been doing a lot of character work all of a sudden, after previously doing mainly just celebrity impressions and guitar songs on Weekend Update.
— Ah, a character with an opening title sequence and theme song, feeling like a throwback to SNL’s late 80s/early 90s era. A memorable and fairly catchy theme song that Nick Burns has.
— Speaking of SNL’s late 80s/early 90s era, I’ve always thought that Nick Burns kinda feels like a character that Mike Myers would’ve played back in the day.
— Nick Burns’ snarkiness and arrogance throughout this sketch is pretty funny, and a good spoof of the type of computer experts who are exactly like this.
— Good turn with Burns having difficulty for once when trying to fix Jennifer’s computer problems.
STARS: ***½


WAYNE PORTER
castaway Wayne Porter (CHP) wants to be reelected as leader of the island

— A great and very creative premise, and Parnell is perfect in this.
— I love the line from Parnell about how he knows this commercial isn’t airing on TV, as he’s staring into a hole in a coconut.
— A little bit of awkwardness at the end of the live version I’m watching of this, especially the timing issues with Darrell’s ending voice-over.
STARS: ****½


PRIVOLIN
(host) confuses co-workers by breaking fourth wall for genital herpes ad

— A great twist on the cliche of someone in a commercial secretly speaking to the camera while being among a group of people.
— Jennifer is giving a very strong performance here.
— Ana: “She’s talking to the wall about herpes medicine!”
STARS: ****½


BAND SHOT

— I absolutely love how the preceding sketch carries over into this band shot, with Jennifer suddenly blocking the SNL Band by (silently) continuing to plug the Privolin medicine in front of the camera.


SEX AND THE CITY
Carrie (host) recounts her rendezvous with Mr. Peepers

— Our first time in a while seeing a Mr. Peepers sketch. Still not a long enough of a break, in my eyes. Not even crossing him over with a Sex And The City parody seems like it has potential to me.
— The portion of the sketch parodying Eyes Wide Shut is kinda clever, at least.
STARS: **


WEEKEND UPDATE
wired George W. Bush (WIF) plugs his book & fields COQ’s questions
subtitles reveal the truth behind the polite race discussion of COQ & TRM

— Some of Colin’s jokes are getting a really strong audience reaction. Too bad his delivery is still iffy for me.
— Like the first time he played Bush earlier this season, it’s interesting seeing how different Will’s early portrayal of Bush is from the portrayal that we would later become familiar with. Tonight’s particular Bush portrayal is playing up Bush’s coke habits, which Will is pulling off hilariously.
— Bush: “Is it cool if I do a couple of lines?” Colin: “What?!?” Bush: “…of my book!”
— I like how you can already hear audience members chuckling as soon as Colin begins a Michael Jackson joke, long before he’s even gotten to the punchline.
— Good to see Tracy playing himself again after the epic backstage sketch he did with Garth Brooks in the last episode.
— The captions of what Tracy and Colin are really thinking during their discussion are decent. I especially like Tracy’s caption “’Til my sitcom on the WB.”
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Brand New Day”


CHRISTMAS URCHINS
rented street urchins (host) & (RAD) entertain a family by begging

— This has always been a favorite sketch of mine, partly for reasons I’ll mention during the “Immediate Post-Show Thoughts” at the end of this review.
— I love this very random premise of 19th century street urchins being used by a family as Christmas lawn ornaments. Rachel’s portrayal of an urchin is particularly hilarious, and she’s getting great reactions from the audience. I remember when I first saw this episode, this was one of the very first sketches that really endeared me to then-newbie Rachel.
— Darrell’s line about the urchins having lice gave me a laugh.
— The urchins’ increasingly disturbing songs are a riot, particularly their final “I’d (insert unsettling action here) for you” song. Of the final song, I especially love the “I’d decapitate a whore for you” lyric, because hearing it in retrospect, it’s a very Tina Fey-esque line (she wrote this sketch).
STARS: *****


KIM PLUNKETT
Wayne Porter’s rival Kim Plunkett (WIF) counters with an attack ad

— Will’s portrayal of his psychotic character is absolutely priceless, especially him randomly starting to bark as one of his points.
— I love the odd photo of Will’s character wearing some kind of fancy outfit and holding a smoking pipe (the last above screencap for this sketch).
— A perfect ending yell from Will of the line “I’M GONNA EAT YOU!!!”
STARS: *****


POKEMON
parents (DAH) & (host) are worried because their kid isn’t into Pokemon

— Interesting how they’re using a real child in this large role, instead of having a cast member play it. Also interesting seeing Darrell in such a major non-impression role, which is a huge rarity for him.
— A good take-off on the Pokemon craze from this time, which, when watching this in retrospect, serves as a nice time capsule for 1999.
— Jennifer and Darrell’s mean-spirited reactions to their son’s dislike of Pokemon has many great lines, especially Jennifer flat-out telling her son he’s a dumbass and Darrell telling him they’re so disappointed in how he’s turned out. This era is great at doing sketches with kids being berated by adults (e.g. various Will Ferrell sketches, Colin Quinn’s debate with a little girl on Weekend Update earlier this season).
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Cheb Mami [real] perform “Desert Rose”


THANKSGIVING DINNER
Roberta ruins the family Thanksgiving dinner to which she invited herself

— The return of a character, Roberta, who Cheri previously played only once, very early in her SNL tenure. Very odd that they’re bringing this character back FOUR YEARS LATER. That has got to be one of the longest-ever gaps between a recurring character’s first and second appearance when the performer who plays them was in the cast (I’m not counting times when cast members came back to host).
— If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear this is the same family from the Urchins sketch earlier tonight. Like that sketch, we have Parnell as a gray-haired dad, Ana as a mom, and Darrell as a crotchety old grandpa. Speaking of Darrell, he’s surprisingly been playing a lot of noteworthy non-impression roles tonight.
— Roberta’s cat names are pretty funny.
— Cheri’s delivery as this character sounds different from how I remember it sounding the last time she played her. I guess going four years without playing this character will do that.
— A big laugh at the end from Cheri’s disturbing story regarding unwashed sheets at a hotel.
— Overall, while I remember being disappointed by the first Roberta sketch, I actually kinda enjoyed this one. It wasn’t anything particularly great and had kind of a generic “Cheri Oteri plays yet another weirdo” feel, but I got enough laughs from this.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

— With this being SNL writer Tim Herlihy’s last show, Tim Meadows can be heard repeatedly shouting “HERLIHY!”, and Will holds up a card saying “Thank you, Tim Herlihy!”

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— (***LONG STORY ALERT***) This episode plays a HUGE importance in my SNL fandom. I first saw this episode when NBC reran it during summer reruns in the year 2000, back when I was still a casual SNL viewer who usually only tuned into bits and pieces of the show. During that viewing of this episode, I fell in love with the episode so much that I ended up watching it constantly the next few weeks on the VHS tape that I just happened to record the episode on. That, in turn, heightened my interest in SNL and led to me watching and recording the entire episodes on a regular basis on NBC every Saturday night, and also finding online SNL sites and message boards, which all quickly turned me from a casual SNL viewer to a diehard SNL nerd. Getting back to my first viewing of this episode, shortly after that viewing, I, as mentioned in my review of the Sabra Price is Right sketch from season 17’s Tom Hanks episode, recorded audio from Jennifer Aniston’s Fight Club monologue and the Christmas Urchins sketch onto a cassette tape (which also contained audio I recorded from a few other SNL sketches, which are mentioned in the Sabra Price is Right review I linked to) that I ended up listening to on a VERY frequent basis. Because of that, and because of how much I fell in love with this episode in general during my first viewing, the Fight Club monologue and (especially) Urchins sketch will forever be significant to me. All in all, this episode holds a very special place in my heart for all of the reasons I’ve just mentioned, and thus, I may be biased when saying right now that this is one of my personal all-time favorite episodes. Even judging this episode on the same level of other SNL episodes, I still feel that this episode is strong. There was a good number of standout great sketches, and even Pretty Living managed to be less insufferable than usual. Jennifer Aniston was also a very solid host and did a great job in every sketch.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Garth Brooks)
technically about the same, but on a personal level for reasons I mentioned earlier, a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Christina Ricci

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March 15, 1997 – Sting / Veruca Salt (S22 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

REPLACEMENTS
injured Bill Clinton (DAH) points out the undesirable order of succession

— Some laughs from Darrell’s President Clinton blaming Hillary for his wrongdoings, though it reminds me a little too much of a cold opening that Phil Hartman did as Clinton in the Nancy Kerrigan episode from season 19.
— I love Clinton’s line about Al Gore: “If I go down, that boring sumbitch is goin’ with me.”
— Hilarious how Strom Thurmond is represented by a picture of the Cryptkeeper from “Tales From the Crypt”.
— Chris’ brief scene made me laugh.
— A big audience reaction to Clinton casually admitting he just smoked a huge brick of hash on Monday.
— We get the very first instance of Will’s Janet Reno busting through a wall, which would go on to be a recurring gag in subsequent Janet Reno appearances.
— Very funny visual of Will’s Reno grabbing Darrell’s Clinton in a headlock.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host helps save rain forests for the sake of animals like Mr. Peepers

— Meh, they’re wasting a monologue to do another Mr. Peepers reprisal.
— I did get a laugh from Sting’s translation that Mr. Peepers’ favorite song is “King of Pain”.
— A fairly wild sight to see Mr. Peepers going out into the audience, humping audience members. Otherwise, nothing new here. And Sting is no Kevin Spacey when it comes to playing a great straight man to Mr. Peepers.
STARS: **


EVITA
Juan Peron (NOM) can’t fathom why Evita (ANG) breaks into song

— A variation of the classic West Side Story sketch from earlier this season.
— While this is still making me laugh, it’s just repeating the exact same bits from the West Side Story sketch, and it’s not as funny here.
— A pretty good laugh from Norm pushing Chris off the balcony. Knowing the real-life animosity between Norm and Chris, I bet Norm got a kick out of doing that.
— This sketch is such a carbon copy of the West Side Story sketch that we even get Tim again doing a foreign accent as a rival character.
— A hilarious blooper at the end, where Norm forgets to duck out of the shot after “jumping off the balcony” (the last above screencap), shattering the illusion that he jumped from a high area. When realizing his mistake, Norm awkwardly keeps alternating between ducking out of the shot and standing up, with a goofy smile on his face the whole time, before just giving up and walking out of the scene. This was absolutely priceless. My description does not do it justice, nor does the screencap; it needs to be viewed to be appreciated. SNL would later replace the ending of this sketch with the error-free dress rehearsal version in reruns. Bad move there. The botched live version of the ending was much funnier.
STARS: ***


THE NUDE CRUSADE
Middle Agers (WIF), (ANG), (CHK) try to sell Pope (MAM) on a nude Crusade

— During the opening listing-off of fake sponsors, the first sponsor is Spider Whistle, which is reused from the Unfrozen Cave Man Lawyer sketch from the first Phil Hartman-hosted episode. Seems kinda lazy to reuse that. Thankfully, the rest of the fake sponsors in this Nude Crusade sketch are new (the first two above screencaps for this sketch).
— Chris has been all over tonight’s episode so far.
— Ana’s story of how she was convinced to join the Nude Crusade is very funny.
— A good laugh from Will’s suggestion to wear flesh-colored armor with painted-on nipples and pubic hair.
— This sketch is tickling me, and I like the Monty Python-esque feel to it (hell, why couldn’t Michael Palin and John Cleese have been given this in the Kevin Spacey episode instead of doing an unnecessary reprisal of their Dead Parrot sketch?). However, despite the laughs I’ve been getting, I’m not finding this sketch quite as strong as I usually find Jack Handey-written pieces.
STARS: ***½


THE LAID BACK NEUTRAL MC’S
The Laid Back Neutral MC’s (TRM) & (TIM) fear gangsta rap violence

— Funny concept and a decent use of Tracy.
— Tracy’s singing during the “Let’s Learn a Lesson From the Swiss” song has always stuck in my memory since the days of Comedy Central frequently showing SNL reruns.
STARS: ***


SHOPPING AT HOME NETWORK
Don West (WIF) & Eddy Lewis (CHK) put Mark Hamill [real] up for sale

— Feels odd seeing this sketch in such an early timeslot, considering the previous installments of this sketch all aired towards the end of their respective episode.
— Chris continues to dominate tonight’s episode.
— The baseball card of Chewbacca gave me a good laugh.
— Funny involvement from a kidnapped Mark Hamill, being put up for sale.
— Great line from the Shopping at Home Network guys about how last year, they sold a Mark Hamill that turned out to be a Bruce Boxleitner.
— The ridiculous quotes Hamill is forced to say are pretty funny.
— I like the phone call from a low-talking, grumbly Harrison Ford, voiced by Darrell.
STARS: ****


KU KLUX KLAN
(JMB) dislikes white power gossip of fellow Klan members Rolf & (host)

— A somewhat fast costume change for Jim, considering this sketch is airing back-to-back with the Shopping at Home Network sketch (which Jim appeared in during the first minute), without a commercial break in between.
— IIRC, this ends up being the final appearance of this Colin Quinn character, Rolf.
— I love the country music conversation between Rolf and the other guys.
— A very good meta turn with Sting, in character, defending Sting’s solo work as a singer.
— Overall, a solid final appearance from this Rolf character, who went out with what I feel is his best appearance.
STARS: ****


WEEKEND UPDATE
during his St. Patrick’s Day message, drunk COQ gets defensive & bugs NOM
(ANG)’s assumption of Annie role drives Joanna Pacitti (CHO) batty

— Funny commentary from a drunken Colin.
— When telling Norm he was a comedian longer than him, I like Colin saying “I was on Remote Control”, which gets a big reaction from the audience.
— I love how after Colin’s commentary has ended, Norm continues doing Update jokes while Colin’s drink on the desk is still visible in the shot.
— Ah, a crew member must’ve realized that Colin’s drink was visible in the shot, as it has now suddenly disappeared. Too bad; I kinda felt it added an even funnier touch to Norm’s jokes.
— I love the running gag throughout tonight’s Update with Norm doing constant “Note to self”s. It’s now gotten to the point where as soon as Norm reaches for the tape recorder in his pocket, the audience immediately laughs.
— A rare season 22 Weekend Update that has more than one guest commentary. Until now, the only Update this season that had more than one commentary was way back in the season premiere.
— Speaking of rare, it feels kinda rare at this point in Cheri’s tenure to see her do an Update commentary as a character.
— During Ana’s singing, I like the cutaway to a distressed, cigarette-smoking Cheri stabbing her mechanical pet pig with a knife, then pointing a gun at the audience.
— Funny how both guest commentaries in tonight’s Update (Colin and Cheri) have ended with the commentator being dragged off-camera by the same two security guards.
— After non-verbally ad-libbing for a long time with Cheri’s cigarette after the Cheri/Ana commentary has ended, Norm looks off-camera and says to someone “Yeah, I know”, then says “Oh, you want me to say that?” Haha, Norm must’ve been speaking to an off-camera crew member who I’m guessing was impatiently signaling Norm to move on and read the next line off the cue card. After finally reading the next line, Norm turns back to the off-camera crew member and says in a humorously wise-ass manner “I said it.”
— WTF? And now, after Norm’s aforementioned “I said it” remark, the screen suddenly goes black when Norm turns to the other camera to tell the next Update joke.
— And now, when the screen finally comes back on after several seconds of blackness, the camera is on the wrong shot while Norm is delivering his Update joke. When realizing the camera is on the wrong shot, Norm stops mid-joke and looks at someone off-camera while saying with a smirk “You know, it’d probably be better if I was over on this camera”, which receives huge audience applause and laughter. Then when SNL finally cuts to the correct camera, Norm says “Now that I’m over on this camera, it’d probably be better if you put the cards over here.” Absolutely classic Norm. (And these fantastic ad-libs of his are somehow made even better by the fact that he still has Cheri’s cigarette in his hand, which, when combined with his ad-libbing, unintentionally accentuates his badass, don’t-give-a-fuck style.) This Update has imploded in the best way.
— More great ad-libs from Norm to end this Update.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Shutterbug”


THE BRENDAN BOYLE SHOW
leprechaun (host) rebukes limerick critics

— Interesting sketch for Colin, who’s getting a lot more screentime than usual tonight, between his Rolf sketch, his Update commentary, and his lead role in this sketch.
— I love the visual of Tracy as a mustached Irish leprechaun.
— A funny turn with Molly questioning why all of Sting’s limericks have to do with women cooking and the food not tasting good.
— Sting’s various limericks are cracking me up.
— I like the visual of a leprechaun goblin hesitantly starting a standing ovation.
— Funny ending line from Colin about how the guests in his next episode will be the Keebler Elf and David Spade.
— I’m surprised by how little this sketch ended up focusing on Colin, who, despite being the host of the sketch, basically just set up Sting’s appearance and then concluded the sketch after Sting’s whole bit was over.
STARS: ***½


NEW BEAU
Mrs. Attebury’s daughter’s (MOS) 37 year-old boyfriend (host) gets fresh

— The return of Ana and Mark’s Atteburys characters. I’m not too happy to see these characters back, but I’ll try to be more open-minded towards this sketch, after I’ve noticed several commenters on this site express appreciation for these characters in response to my fairly negative review of their first sketch.
— I love Mr. Attebury’s line “Weren’t we supposed to get divorced at one point?”
— So far, Ana’s Mrs. Attebury character is making me laugh a little more in tonight’s installment, and I can appreciate what Ana is going for in her characterization.
— When Mrs. Attebury is speechless while Sting suddenly makes out with her, there’s a good laugh from Mr. Attebury saying a delighted “Ah, silence.”
— This ends up being the final Atteburys sketch to have Mark playing Mr. Attebury. The next installment of this sketch wouldn’t be until THREE YEARS LATER (long after Mark had left SNL), where the role of Mr. Attebury would be taken over by Will, who I never felt was as good at doing this character’s deadpan one-liners as Mark was.
STARS: ***½


AUDITION
host’s wife Trudie Styler [real] digs song interpreter Kyle DeMarco (CHK)

— Speaking of a sketch that would later go through a casting change in its subsequent installments, this is the debut of a Chris Kattan sketch that, in all future appearances, would give Chris’ character a brother to be paired with, played by future cast member Chris Parnell.
— Being familiar with the Chris Parnell-involved installments of this sketch, it feels odd seeing this sketch with Kattan’s character working solo.
— Some laughs from Kattan’s literal interpretations of various Sting songs. However, I feel this gag works a little better when it’s both Kattan AND Parnell doing the song interpretations, even if I was never all that crazy about the Parnell-involved installments of this sketch.
— Decent ending.
STARS: ***


RACE AND RACISM
(TIM) asks apartheid dismantler (host) about Ghostbusters

— After such a serious start to the interview, I love the sudden random turn with Tim asking Sting “Have you ever seen the movie Ghostbusters?”
— Throughout his straitlaced comments to Sting, it’s very funny how Tim occasionally throws in a lighthearted, goofily-delivered “I ain’t ‘fraid of no ghosts!” and “Who you gonna call?”
— I like how, as the sketch goes on, it becomes more and more obvious that Tim’s character has no idea what the apartheid is.
— I love Tim’s goofy dancing to the Ghostbusters theme song at the end of this sketch, so much so that, ever since I first saw the full version of this sketch(*) years ago, I’ve never been able to hear the beginning of the Ghostbusters theme song without picturing Tim doing that goofy dance. (* I say “full version of this sketch” because the old Comedy Central version of this episode, which was my first actual viewing of this sketch, abruptly edited out the ending of this sketch, presumably due to music licensing issues regarding the use of the Ghostbusters theme song.)
— Overall, this was the type of sketch that Tim is always fantastic at pulling off.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “My One & Only Love”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty solid episode. There wasn’t much that stood out as particularly great, but the show had a consistently good flow for the most part, despite some slowness early on with the weak monologue and derivative Evita sketch.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Alec Baldwin)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Mike Myers becomes the seventh and final former cast member to host this season

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February 24, 1996 – Elle MacPherson / Sting (S21 E14)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

HOTEL
Pat Buchanan (DAK) manhandles Steve Forbes (MAM) into giving him money

— A nice use of the republican candidates.
— Norm’s Dole impression finally starts receiving the audience applause that it deserves.
— I like the part with Norm’s Dole and Molly blatantly vamping for time while Mark is off-camera getting cables attached to him.
— A funny visual of Mark’s Forbes hanging from a light fixture by a wedgie.
— Very cool how during his “Live from New York…”, Mark gets lifted up into the air, stopping in front of the audience members in the bleacher seats. A fun change of pace for a “Live from New York…”.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— After sounding very sick during the last episode, Don Pardo is out tonight with a case of laryngitis. Darrell Hammond fills in for him, for his first of several times during Don’s tenure as SNL announcer.
— It doesn’t even sound like Darrell is attempting to imitate Don’s voice here, like he later would do in the James Van Der Beek episode from season 24 (remember the monologue from that episode?). He’s just using a generic announcer’s voice tonight. In fact, he’s using pretty much the same generic announcer’s voice that he would later go on to use regularly when becoming SNL’s official announcer after Don’s death.


MONOLOGUE
while host speaks, on-screen text goes on about her physical attributes

— Yes! We get a Buck Henry-esque text crawl monologue. I always like these throwbacks to the original era.
— Several funny lines in the onscreen text, especially “Elle MacPherson makes my wife looks like she has rickets”, “Oh, no, what if my wife’s watching?…. Who am I kidding? Nobody’s watching.” Sadly, there’s probably a little truth to that “Nobody’s watching” line. I believe it’s not until season 22 where SNL would regain most of the viewers they lost during seasons 19-20.
— Very funny cutaway to SNL writer Hugh Fink in the audience, being ridiculed in the onscreen text for looking like a dork and actually paying attention to what Elle is saying. Haha, poor Hugh Fink always gets picked on when he plays an audience member during a host’s monologue. Remember Cameron Diaz’s monologue from season 24?
STARS: ***½


A.M. ALE
Rerun from 9/30/95


SWIM MEET
irrepressible Craig & Arianna try to bring spirit to a swim meet

— Will and Cheri’s performances as the Cheerleaders are still fun, but yeah, I’ve officially run out of things to say about these two characters and, as I explained in the last installment, I’ve officially reached the inevitable point where I’m starting to develop a slow burn towards them.
— The “taco, burrito, what’s that comin’ out of your speedo?” number is memorable, at least.
— I do like how we’re getting a little more insight into the Cheerleaders’ relationship with each other.
— SNL sure loves throwing a scantily-clad Tim Meadows into sketches.
STARS: **½


RECORDING SESSION
jazz pianist (TIM) voices inappropriate catchphrases during a session

— A wonderfully goofy Tim Meadows performance, and a quintessential example of how great he is at performing silly material like this.
— Tim’s random pop culture catchphrase quotes during his jazz sessions are hilarious, made even funnier by his gleeful delivery.
— We get a meta reference with Tim’s latest catchphrase quote being “Morgan Fairchild, yeah, that’s the ticket!”
— Great ending with the “Pac-Man Fever” album title.
STARS: ****½


FRESH FACE MODELING CONTEST
Mary Katherine Gallagher & (host) compete in a teen modelling contest

— I guess it was inevitable that we’d eventually get an episode that features both the Cheerleaders AND Mary Katherine Gallagher. I’d better get used to this, considering the HUGE oversaturation we’re going to get of these two recurring sketches in the upcoming season 22, one of the things I’m kinda dreading about that season. I’ve always joked to myself that I don’t think there’s a single season 22 episode that DOESN’T feature either a Cheerleaders, Mary Katherine Gallagher, or Roxbury Guys sketch. (I’m sure that in actuality, there are at least a few season 22 episodes that don’t feature any of those three sketches, but you get my point.)
— After not having the audience 100% on her side yet in her first three sketches, Mary Katherine Gallagher finally receives recognition applause and lots of hearty audience laughter throughout this sketch.
— Ha, Darrell doing a Jon Lovitz impression! Between the preceding sketch’s “That’s the ticket” reference and now Darrell’s impression, Jon Lovitz’s repertoire is getting a big workout in tonight’s episode.
— The debut of Cheri’s supporting character in these Mary Katherine Gallagher sketches, who always speaks in a fast manner and always holds onto her own arm.
— MKG and Elle trying to pose over each other in front of the camera is pretty funny.
— A particularly large amount of panty flashes from MKG in tonight’s installment.
— Will’s giving me some good laughs in his great performance as the straight man.
— An overall pretty good MKG sketch. Not my favorite appearance of this character, but I’ve always considered both this and the one with Teri Hatcher later this season to be the most representative installment of this recurring sketch.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Lucien & Fagin remain big NOM fans, even after he reproaches them

— Hmm, Norm’s jokes are a bit tame and forgettable so far tonight, for his standards.
— Even Norm’s obligatory O.J. joke of the night didn’t quite land as well as it normally would.
— Okay, Norm’s jokes are now starting to get a little better, especially the instance of another classic “crack” joke.
— I guess to complete tonight’s trifecta of overused season 21 recurring characters, we have another appearance from The Fops.
— A big laugh from The Fops describing themselves as becoming “moist” by Norm.
— I love Mark’s big open-mouthed smile after saying “paisley” in that typical deep voice he always uses as his Fop character.
— Wow, Norm gives The Fops a reality check by harshly calling them out on their many problems, temporarily breaking their spirit (before they immediately go back to fawning over Norm, for his brutal honesty).
— Haha, we get a particularly long camera staredown during tonight’s instance of Norm’s recurring “Or so the Germans would have us believe” joke (last screencap above). This staredown hilariously goes on for almost 20 seconds.
STARS: ***


REDENBACHER HOLIDAY THEATRE
holiday special tells the story of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

— Wow, a very out-of-the-ordinary sketch. I’m enjoying the ambitious and fun nature of this.
— Ha, a random appearance from T-Bones, appearing for the second consecutive episode.
— Lots of Adam McKay appearances tonight.
— Will and Tim are funny as a singing-and-dancing silicon and saline implant.
— Wow at Nancy dumping a whole open bag of potato chips into her mouth. That came out of nowhere.
— Speaking of T-Bones randomly appearing, we now get another random recurring character appearance: Cheri’s Mickey The Dyke.
— The ending came off awkward. Something seemed off about the timing.
STARS: ***½


COMA
Stan Hooper wakes from coma & insists his wife & sister must be reversed

— A very busy night for Will, appearing in almost every single sketch.
— I love Stan Hooper’s “Good god! Why’d you wake me up?!?” response when learning the pathetic details of his life.
— A lot of good laughs from Hooper trying to find a way around his sibling relation to Elle so he can have sex with her.
— Cheri’s frumpy voice in this sketch kinda reminds me of a typical Robin Duke character. I guess that makes sense, as there’s always been a pretty strong facial resemblance between Cheri and Robin.
— The text crawl ending wasn’t as terrible as it often is in other sketches, but I still can’t help but feel like it was a lazy cop-out for this sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “You Still Touch Me”


1-600-555-AUSSIE
callers can’t comprehend Australian phone sex operators’ dirty talk

— Geez, only a few seconds into this sketch, and Elle ALREADY starts cracking up in the middle of her opening line, for no apparent reason.
— I love Jim’s confused “Whaaat?!” in response to Molly’s dirty Australian slang terms.
— Nancy has a lot of funny lines, especially her request for Koechner to do her “Yahoo Serious style”.
— I remember the first time I saw this sketch, in a Comedy Central rerun, I didn’t even recognize Sting as the leather daddy.
— Ha, there’s Tim working in his tongue-clicking routine, which he does whenever he talks in fake foreign dialect in sketches.
STARS: ****


FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
the fate of mom’s exquisite Easter eggs


MISS MANNERS
on a first date, (JMB) cuts mannerless but gorgeous (host) lots of slack

— I like Tim’s “I’m just a waiter, man” when Jim is going on and on to him about his approaching date for the evening.
— When taking Jim and Elle’s order, I like Tim’s deadpan “Alright, nothing for the lady” after she makes him sniff the inside of her shoe.
— More out-of-character laughing from Elle, though this time, I’m KINDA laughing along with her. Jim is doing a solid job trying to keep the sketch going with some good ad-libs.
— Elle’s character kinda feels like a precursor to Kristen Wiig’s Shana character (a sexy office worker who would do uncharacteristically disgusting things).
— Another great one-liner from Tim, telling Jim “Get out while you can” in response to a particularly weird thing Elle does.
— I’m having a hard time understanding Elle’s lines, between her constant laughing, her accent, and her talking with her mouth full of food.
— Okay, this sketch is getting dumb. I’m over this.
— Geez, now Elle is accidentally choking on her food a bit. What a disaster she is in this sketch. God bless Jim, though, for again trying his damnedest to save the sketch with another good ad-lib: “People choke, whaddaya gonna do?”
STARS: **


FUZZY MEMORIES BY JACK HANDEY
Rerun from 12/16/95


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Even though there wasn’t much that I disliked tonight, this episode had a bit of a “meh” feel for this season’s standards. I feel like my rating average doesn’t match my feelings for this episode as a whole. Even Norm’s Weekend Update wasn’t up to par. And there was too much reliance on overexposed recurring characters, which is part of what attributed to the lazy feel of this episode. I can’t complain too much, though, because there was still a large number of things that I liked tonight, especially Tim’s Recording Session sketch. As a host, Elle MacPherson performed the way you’d expect a supermodel with little-to-no acting experience to perform.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tom Arnold)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Our annual John Goodman episode. We also get a newly-hired addition to the cast.

Posted on

February 20, 1993 – Bill Murray / Sting (S18 E14)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Beverly Hills residents question Bill Clinton (PHH) about his policies

— Amusing detail of Kevin-as-Michael-Eisner’s Mickey Mouse tie.
— Sting’s Rod Stewart impression is really funny.
— Impressions aren’t usually Farley’s strong suit, but I like his Rob Reiner.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— Father Guido Sarducci is credited as a featured player, for the first time since season 11.


MONOLOGUE
BIM talks about the good vibes of the past week as the truth scrolls by

— As always, a fun, energetic entrance from Bill.
— I appreciate Bill pointing out names of familiar faces from the original SNL staff who are still working there today.
— It’s the classic Buck Henry screen crawl monologue gag! I love that they’re doing this for a Bill Murray monologue, as it truly makes it feel like a throwback to the old days.
— I always like when Bill speaks in what I call his “Bill Murray-isms” (it’s a little hard to describe, but he just has a certain distinctive way of wording things).
— A lot of laughs from the screen crawl refuting every positive thing Bill is saying about then-modern-day SNL. The “He made Kevin Nealon cry” disclaimer especially got a huge laugh.
— Great how Bill is doing a very Nick the Lounge Singer-esque rendition of I Will Always Love You, which is nice compensation for the fact that we’re not getting a Nick the Lounger Singer sketch tonight.
STARS: ****


HIBERNOL
long-term cold & flu medicine lets (CHF) sleep through sickness

— Great visual of the oversized cup of medicine.
— Strong concept for a fake ad, and I like the graphic showing the colds and flus coming and going through Farley’s body as he sleeps through the winter.
— Very funny visual of Farley waking up with his hair, beard, and fingernails all being long.
— Overall, the early 90s era knocks one out of the park again with yet another very memorable fake ad.
STARS: ****½


THE WHIPMASTER
a not-so-proficient actor (BIM) takes over the title role

 

— Hilarious reveal of Farley with red marks all over his face after Bill’s repeated attempts to whip the cigar out of his mouth.
— Lots of funny instances of Bill’s unskilled whipping.
— I love Phil’s reaction to getting whipped in the crotch.
— Very funny bit with Bill using his whip to knock down an obvious dummy of Julia.
— Nice touch immediately after this sketch, with G.E. Smith and the SNL Band being shown playing an instrumental version of the Whipmaster theme song.
STARS: ****


FREQUENT FLYER
Frequent Flyer (BIM) gives unsolicited tips to his fellow passengers

— Second sketch in a row with Bill playing a character with his own theme song.
— Some trivia: this sketch was cut from the preceding week’s Alec Baldwin episode, where the Frequent Flyer character was played by Phil. Alec played the role that Mike is playing here.
— Bill’s getting laughs from his constant tips to fellow passengers. Not a hilarious concept, but Bill is solid in this role and is making this sketch work. I can’t help but be curious how Phil’s unaired version of this character compares to Bill’s. I’m sure Phil pulled off this role well in his own right.
— I like the ending with Frequent Flyer even giving tips to a terrorist hijacker.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You”


WEEKEND UPDATE
moron Hank Fielding gives perspective on Bill Clinton’s economic address
Father Guido Sarducci reviews Groundhog Day & relates a recurring dream
Hollywood Minute- Steve Martin [real] gives DAS his comeuppance

— After getting cut after dress rehearsal many times since his first appearance earlier this season, Robert Smigel’s Hank Fielding character finally makes it on the air again.
— I haven’t been enjoying tonight’s Hank Fielding commentary quite as much as the first one, but there are still laughs from this, especially him naming Gomer Pyle as an example of gays in the military.
— I like the idea of Father Guido Sarducci doing a review of Bill’s new movie Groundhog Day.
— Much like a lot of his commentaries from the past, tonight’s Guido Sarducci commentary is going on a really long time. However, he’s cracking me up throughout this one, with a lot of funny little comments.
— David’s Hollywood Minute is providing the usual laughs, especially the comment about Stevie Nicks. However, I didn’t get David’s “I don’t care what he said, I never touched the freak” quote when Brooke Shields’ pic came up.
— A memorable Steve Martin appearance during David’s Hollywood Minute, even if it is the type of “sneaker-upper” bit (I think that’s what it’s called, when a celebrity makes a “surprise” appearance to confront a cast member making fun of them) that would go on to be a tired, corny SNL trope.
— We’ve gotten quite a number of nice throwbacks to the original era in tonight’s episode, between Bill Murray’s presence, a Buck Henry-esque monologue, a Father Guido Sarducci commentary on Update, and now a Steve Martin appearance.
— What was with Steve at the very end of this Update? After signing off, Kevin turns to Steve and tries to start a conversation, but Steve snubs him by rudely turning away with an arrogant look on his face. I’d like to think that was just Steve doing a “bit”, but it doesn’t make any sense in this context.
STARS: ***½


MEN’S JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Tommy Two-Step (BIM) readies men’s jazz dancing ensemble for big show

— The pre-taped rehearsal montage is pretty fun.
— A good laugh from the ending of Bill’s inspiring story, where he reveals he puked into the orchestra pit.
— I love the goofy gleeful looks on Farley and Mike’s faces during their simultaneous choreography at front of the stage during the big show at the end of the sketch.
— An overall charming, cute, and enjoyable sketch, even if it wasn’t intended to be all laugh-out-loud funny. The next time Bill hosts in 1999, they do a sketch that feels like a spiritual successor to this, in which Bill is the leader of an all-male group of Knicks City Dancers performing for an unruly crowd. Unfortunately, I recall that sketch being really weak, though I haven’t seen it in ages, so maybe my opinion will change when I eventually cover that episode. I used to think that episode in general was surprisingly pretty wretched for a Bill Murray-hosted show, but now that I’m thinking back on it, I can recall a number of pretty solid things from that episode.
STARS: ***½


COFFEE TALK WITH LINDA RICHMAN
Linda & neighbor (BIM) discuss the year’s Oscar nominations

— Funny line about how Barbra Streisand deserves an Oscar just for keeping her nose.
— Bill’s character discussing that year’s Oscar nominees makes me have a disappointed realization that we didn’t see Bill do his trademark Oscar picks tonight. It would’ve been a treat to see that again.
— Overall, I kinda liked Bill’s characterization, but this sketch as a whole kept me largely uninterested, as usual for Coffee Talk.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Is Stronger Than Justice”


I’M CHILLIN’
today’s mother joke & a plug for Bitch Come Running cologne

— First time this recurring sketch has appeared all season. This also ends up being the last time we’ll ever see this sketch during Farley and Rock’s tenure as cast members (not counting when they bring the sketch back in Rock’s season 22 hosting stint, in which Jim Breuer replaces Farley’s character).
— A big laugh from the sponsor Bitch Come Runnin’ Cologne.
— I liked Farley’s line “Marky Mark ain’t nothin’ but Vanilla Ice in his drawers.”
— Very funny confused look that Rock gives Farley after Farley namedrops Gertrude Stein.
— Rock unfortunately stumbled over his delivery of the Mother Joke of the Day.
STARS: ***½


MCDONALD’S
to get free food, Honker poses as meat inspector testing for tainted beef

— Always nice to see Bill’s lesser-known Honker character.
— Bill’s delivery as this character always consistently cracks me up, especially the way he just now repeatedly said “salt” with his mouth full of food.
— Honker’s scheme to getting free food is pretty funny.
— During Ellen and Rob’s grossed-out reactions to Bill jamming a thermometer into the burger’s “rectum”, I liked Rob repeatedly saying “Shouldn’t have done that!”
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Every Breath You Take”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly solid episode. There were no real classics, but this was a fine and consistently good episode (minus Coffee Talk). Bill Murray was a great, fun, laid-back, and expert host as always, and it’s always interesting seeing him work with different casts whenever he comes back to the show.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Alec Baldwin)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Our annual John Goodman episode

Posted on

January 19, 1991 – Sting (S16 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Wayne’s World- opinions on the best & worst of Gulf War TV coverage

 

— The topical concept is a nice change of pace for Wayne’s World, and is a great way for SNL to address the recently-started Gulf War right out of the gate tonight.
— This is also the first time Wayne’s World has ever been used as a cold opening, which would soon go on to be a regular thing.
— Lots of great lines during Wayne and Garth’s rundown of the best and worst of Gulf War news coverage. Some of my favorites are them pointing out how fake Wolf Blitzer’s name sounds and equating it to if somebody was named “Howitzer Explosion Guy”, and Wayne’s definition of “scud” being a girl who looks good from a distance but looks bad up close.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
musical guest performs “All This Time”

— I liked Sting’s story about the irony of him turning down previously-offered hosting gigs earlier this season because they were during weeks of distracting events, and then the week he DID choose in advance ends up being the same week the Gulf War broke out.
— He segues into a full-fledged musical performance on the musical guest stage.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


HEDLEY AND WYCHE
British people love brushing with sugary Hedley & Wyche toothpaste

— Love the visual of the British citizens’ bad teeth while they’re touting the British toothpaste.
— Funny reveal that the toothpaste has sugar.
— Farley steals the commercial during the cutaway to him happily stating “And it tastes great on a cracker.”
STARS: ****


ELEVATOR
during a long elevator ride, fans (KEN) & (DAC) sing host’s songs to him

— Some good initial laughs from the awkward realism of Kevin and Sting’s conversation while Kevin’s praising Sting as a singer.
— Priceless turn with Kevin slowly breaking out into a high-pitched rendition of “Roxanne”, much to Sting’s discomfort.
— Dana as a second elevator occupant eventually starting a high-pitched singing of “If You Love Somebody” is equally hilarious.
— Haha, this has now become classic with Dana and Kevin dueting, driving Sting crazy.
— I like the pre-taped shot of an out-of-breath Sting walking up a long flight of stairs.
STARS: *****


THE SINATRA GROUP
Sinead O’Connor (JAH) & others discuss issues

— A great and creative idea for a McLaughlin Group parody.
— Sinatra casually addressing Sinead O’Connor as “Sinbad O’Connor” had me HOWLING.
— Love how fast-paced the humor in this is. We’re only a minute into this sketch so far, and it has ALREADY been full of laughs.
— I love Rock’s Luther Campbell declaring “I don’t have any talent!”, while Sinatra absurdly claims Campbell has a Ben Vereen/Dionne Warwick quality.
— Great cutaway to Sinatra sarcastically miming tearful violin-playing during Sinead’s rant about starvation in the world.
— Sinatra: “Forget the head. Put a bag over it and do your business!”
— IIRC, when a clip from the “Milli Vanilli: what is this f**got crap?” portion of this sketch was shown in the “SNL in the 90s” documentary (if not that, then it was some other SNL documentary), they bleeped out Phil’s utterance of the f-word slur and blurred it out of the text displayed on the bottom of the screen.
— Sting is great as Billy Idol.
— As much as Sinatra’s “Sinbad O’Connor” utterance had me dying with laughter earlier, him calling Sinead “Uncle Fester” just now is even funnier.
— Sinatra to Billy Idol: “I got chunks of guys like you in my STOOL!”
— Overall, an undisputed classic and one of the greatest of all time. There was hardly a moment during this masterpiece where I wasn’t laughing.
STARS: *****


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on figuring out why clowns seem frightening

— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring segment debut! And I could not be any more excited to finally arrive at the coming of this segment. Deep Thoughts has always been a HUGE favorite of mine.
— Hilarious bizarre punchline to this one. I can’t think of a better way for Deep Thoughts to have debuted. A quintessential display of Jack Handey’s brilliantly off-kilter humor.
— I wonder what it was like at the time watching this inaugural Deep Thoughts edition when this episode originally aired, as SNL had never really done anything like this before.


COPY MACHINE
Richard Laymer (ROS) bombards his co-workers with elaborate nicknames

— Ladies and gentlemen, we have ANOTHER major recurring segment debut! Two in a row tonight!
— Kevin’s uptight delivery of “The name is Randy!” when Richmeister gets his name wrong always makes me laugh whenever I see this installment.
— This Richmeister routine is a good spoof of “that guy” who’s commonly found in real-life settings like this.
— I liked Phil’s sour face immediately after playing along with Richmeister and imitating his routine for a second.
— In retrospect, it’s weird how this inaugural installment is literally just Richmeister spouting off endless nicknames for his co-workers, with no real plot twist or conflict. This was probably hilarious at the time it debuted, but comparing it to the character’s subsequent appearances where things actually happen, this one feels empty and unmemorable. I can still laugh, though, when looking at it in the original context it was intended to be looked at in.
STARS: ***


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on the definition of cowardice


WEEKEND UPDATE
one-man mobile uplink unit ALF reports on the Gulf War from Baghdad
DAS gives his thoughts on what’s in & what’s out
DEM demonstrates the mating habits of the dancing Coke can

— As expected, tons of Gulf War jokes tonight.
— Excellent topical setting for One-Man Mobile Uplink Unit Al Franken. Speaking of which, this ends up being the final appearance this recurring piece makes during Al’s years as a writer.
— Great ending with Al casually detailing the path of a homing missile, until he realizes it’s headed right towards him and he lets out a horrified “OH MY GO–” before an explosion cuts off the satellite feed.
— I love this idea of David Spade’s commentary, with him doing a “what’s in and out in 1991” segment.
— David, after praising the Gulf War American troops and bashing Saddam Hussein: “In: sucking up to popular opinion for applause. Out: integrity.”
— David: “In: people who recognize me from this show, even though I’ve only been on twice. Out: people who think I’m Dana Carvey.” Supposedly, that’s based on truth, as viewers really DID frequently mistake David for Dana Carvey early on in his rookie days on SNL, due to the fact that both he and Dana look similar from a distance.
— David: “In: radar. Out: palindromes.”
— A fantastic commentary from David overall. I loved the format, he came off very engaging and relaxed for a newbie, and he had one great line after another. Unlike the dolls commentary he did on Update earlier this season, THIS commentary is more of an accurate glimpse into the type of Update commentaries he’d regularly do later on.
— Great segment with Dennis demonstrating the mating habits of the dancing Coke can. The ending is especially funny, with a can opening sound effect being played when the can climaxes.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mad About You”


DR. FRANKENSTEIN
Dr. Frankenstein (host) tries to expand his monster’s verbal skills

 

— Interesting use of Phil’s Frankenstein.
— Dana’s making me laugh as Igor.
— Some good laughs from Frankenstein’s various reactions to the baby bunny story.
— This sketch is a little too slow moving for my likes.
— Classic part with Frankenstein’s successful uttering of words while sipping from a tea cup in a dignified manner.
— Weak ending.
STARS: **½


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on telling kids where rain comes from


COFFEE TALK WITH PAUL BALDWIN
Paul Baldwin (MIM) takes calls about dogs & daughters

— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a third major recurring segment debut tonight!
— The opening Coffee Talk theme music is different from the one we’re now used to hearing, but that’s nothing compared to the most glaring difference: Mike Myers is playing someone other than Linda Richman!
— This Paul Baldwin character isn’t much different from the later Linda Richman character, except Mike is playing him in a more low-key manner and is using a deeper version of the voice he’d later use for Richman.
— I got a laugh from the caller saying we should saw off Saddam Hussein’s privates with a circular saw.
— The big “joke” throughout this sketch just seems to be Paul Baldwin and all the New York-accented callers saying an excessive amount of words that have an “aw” sound. As a heavily-accented New Yorker myself, I can relate, but that doesn’t make this sketch funny.
— They must use the dress rehearsal version of this sketch in reruns, because in the live version I’m currently watching, the Boston-accented caller (voiced by writer Conan O’Brien) introduces himself as Arnold Barr, whereas the rerun version has him named Paul Sean.
— Overall, meh. As much as I’m not a fan of the future Linda Richman-hosted installments of Coffee Talk (as you’ll see when we reach that point in SNL’s run), at least those sketches have actual things going on, instead of just New York-accented characters uttering words with “aw” in them for four minutes. It’s similar to how the inaugural Richmeister sketch earlier tonight feels empty compared to subsequent installments where actual things happen instead of just Richmeister spouting off nicknames for four minutes.
STARS: **


DEEP THOUGHTS BY JACK HANDEY
on the contents of a big shark’s stomach


FIRST IMPRESSION
flashbacks show the first time (VIJ) met husband’s (host) parents

— This sketch would later be replaced in reruns with an autobiographical Jack Handey film about his teenage obsession with a hammer. Between that and the huge amount of Deep Thoughts scattered throughout the night, the rerun version of this episode is absolutely DOMINATED by Jack Handey.
— Boy, this is one weird sketch, but I sure am enjoying it.
— Some good laughs from Victoria randomly embarrassing herself in outlandish ways, such as wearing an upside-down plate of mashed potatoes on her head.
— I like how each time they cut back to Victoria and Sting in the present-day scene, one of them has been replaced by an ugly-looking dummy mouthing the actor’s pre-recorded dialogue. This is a tongue-in-cheek meta joke about how Victoria and Sting don’t have enough time to rush back-and-forth from the flashback set to the present-day set, so SNL has to resort to using dummies in the present-day scenes. There are also some other funny little meta touches, like the “blooper” with Phil “mistakenly” starting to walk off the set too early when the screen was still doing a ripple effect transition into the present-day scene.
— Yeah, this is DEFINITELY one of the strangest sketches SNL has ever done. It actually has almost a creepy undertone to it, which is only adding to my enjoyment. Even the aforementioned screen ripple effect transition is bizarre-looking, unlike the generic wavy screen transition SNL typically uses for flashbacks in sketches.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Purple Haze”


POET
Ernie Hitchens suggests (host)’s bleak poetry could be brighter

— Love Phil’s performance as the British emcee.
— Sting’s delivery of his tragic poem is very good.
— The return of Mike’s Ernie Hitchens character from the Talking Through Touch sketch in the Dennis Quaid episode.
— Speaking of Mike, he has been getting TONS of airtime tonight. Most of the rest of the cast, on the other hand, have barely appeared in anything tonight.
— The turn this sketch has taken with Ernie Hitchens and Sting’s conversation hasn’t been doing much for me.
— Fairly weak ending with Sting telling Hitchens many variations of “get lost”.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very memorable first half of the night, which had lots of strong and well-regarded pieces. Unfortunately, the quality trailed off in the post-Update half, aside from the insanely bizarre First Impression sketch. However, this is a very important episode, as it featured the debuts of several things that would go on to help define the early 90s era of SNL: Deep Thoughts, Richmeister, and Coffee Talk.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Joe Mantegna)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Kevin Bacon

Posted on

October 17, 1987 – Steve Martin / Sting (S13 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

COLD OPENING
Ronald Reagan (PHH) clubs Robert Bork (JOL) a la The Untouchables

— Interesting build-up.
— From what I remember hearing, this is a parody of a scene from the movie The Untouchables, which came out that same year. I’ve never seen the movie myself, though I’m familiar with the original TV series from the 60s.
— The little-known debut of Dana’s George Bush impression. He kinda does a nasal voice here as well as a bit of a hand mannerism, but it’s nothing like how his Bush would later famously go on to be.
— Good sequence with Phil’s Reagan brutally beating Jon’s Bork with a bat.
— I liked Jon’s “It’ll take more than that to make me quit” after the bloody beatdown.
— Decent way to start the season, if not the most exciting way.
STARS: ***


OPENING MONTAGE
— It’s the same montage from last season.
— Kevin Nealon has been promoted from a featured player to a main cast member, and has gone from having just a still photo in the montage to now having a moving shot like the main cast members. (screencap below)

— The featured players, guests, and SNL Band’s still photos are now shown in black-and-white instead of in color.


MONOLOGUE
host’s big dance number “I Bite Down Hard” is shot from the waist-up

 

— While the home base stage is still the same from last season, there are some minor changes, mainly the removal of those pipe ladder-looking things (not sure what they were) on the left and right ends of the stage.
— Some really funny typical Steve Martin humor here.
— Interestingly, when talking about SNL, he nicely mentions the fact that “all the regulars are back; none of them were fired”, which must’ve been a big deal at the time considering the frequent cast turnover the show experienced from seasons 10-12.
— I liked the gag with a cue card error leading Steve to pronounce tonight’s musical guest as “Stingy”.
— We get a mention that there’s a technicians strike going on. What is it with so many strikes affecting season 13 anyway? Unlucky number 13?
— Hilarious how his song is randomly titled “I Bite Down Hard”.
— Great sequence with him dancing around the stage while the camera stays in one place the whole time due to the aforementioned technicians strike. I mentioned in earlier reviews that Steve’s style had mellowed down by the mid-80s, but in this I Bite Down Hard number, he’s coming off as his wild 70s self.
— And now the musical number has gotten even funnier with the use of obviously fake legs on the bottom of the screen.
— Overall, one of my favorite Steve Martin monologues.
STARS: ****½


GARY HART
Gary Hart’s effect on women- “You can’t get him out of your mind”

— At first, the dramatic camera angles and the use of Jan had me thinking this was going to be the famous Calvin Klein Compulsion commercial, but this instead turned out to be about Gary Hart. Good reveal. I guess the Compulsion ad doesn’t debut until later this season.
— I love the cinematography and music in this.
— Pretty good ad overall.
STARS: ***½


COMMON KNOWLEDGE
correct answers are those given by high school seniors

— Funny reveal that the answers were determined by high school seniors.
— I like Nora finally catching on to how the game is played.
— Dana’s hair has really grown out over the summer.
— The lightning round part is really good.
— A good laugh from the consolation prize being a yearly subscription to TV Guide.
— An overall strong and memorable gameshow sketch.
STARS: ****


SLIDE WHISTLES
slide whistle sound effects reflect thoughts of daters (VIJ) & (host)

— I’m liking this premise.
— LOL at Frank Stallone being one of the celebrities Steve’s company represents, which of course results in a down slide whistle sound effect from Victoria.
— Very good aversion with a neutral slide whistle sound effect being played when Victoria is confused over two of the celebrities Steve has mentioned.
— The orthodox bit with Jan and Jon was hilarious.
— Great ending reveal of Steve’s height.
STARS: ***½


THE NFL TODAY
during players’ strike, George Plimpton (DAC) has success
Sip-N-Save Beer’s You Make The Call- very many men on the field penalty

— What are those velcro sounds I keep hearing throughout this? Is that coming from Kevin’s mic?
— Dana’s George Plimpton impression is hilarious.
— Funny part about female football players, especially the picture of the old lady shown as one of the players.
— This sketch was good overall, though I didn’t like it quite as much as the NFL Today sketch from the previous season.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “We’ll Be Together”


PERMISSION TO SPEAK FREELY
officers of a ship regret giving underlings permission to speak freely

— Steve immediately going off on a heated, insult-filled rant towards Jon when given permission to speak freely is really funny.
— Haha, Steve is getting so into his rant that at one point, he visibly spits on Jon’s face by accident, which gets a very funny reaction from Jon.
— Wow, that’s it? I’m very surprised by how short this was. Probably a good thing, though, because this might’ve gotten old if it kept going on any longer.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
ALF exposes Bruce Babbitt’s [real] abuse of supermarket express lanes
VIJ sings “I Am Not A Bimbo” & dances on the newsdesk

 

— Dennis’ 80s mullet is looking more 80s than EVER this season.
— I see Dennis is continuing his running gag from last season where he uses a random unrelated punchline about George Steinbrenner firing Lou Pinella.
— Hmm, Al Franken eager to start a political scandal by exposing skeletons that politicians have in their closet. Can’t help but notice the unfortunate irony there.
— Interesting and pretty funny video with Al interviewing Bruce Babbit and then showing a videotape of Babbit causing trouble at a supermarket.
— Our very first instance of a Victoria Jackson Weekend Update song.
— Ah, it’s the classic “I Am Not a Bimbo”, probably Victoria’s most famous SNL song.
— Nice effortless catch from Dennis when Victoria kicks her skirt off into the air while standing on the desk.
— A fantastic overall song from Victoria.
STARS: ****


ADVENTURES IN THE LOST REALM
a dinosaur takes its time eating (JOL)

— The use of obvious dolls and puppets to represent Jon being eaten by a dinosaur is fairly funny.
— I like some of the cutaways to Phil and Steve doing and talking about trivial things during Jon’s slaughtering.
— Didn’t care for the ending.
STARS: **½


BULLETS AREN’T CHEAP
thrifty James Bond (host) battles musical guest

— I love this concept of Steve playing James Bond.
— Great use of Sting as a Bond villain.
— Why do the lights keep briefly dimming intermittently?
— Is Victoria playing herself? She was addressed by her own first name for some reason. Speaking of Victoria, she’s surprisingly been getting tons of airtime tonight. I’m not used to seeing her so prominent in an episode.
— Loved the Scorpion conversation between Steve and Sting.
— The close-up of Steve’s hand pouring the champagne back into the bottle during the lovemaking scene was a strong ending.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Little Wing”


PUMPING UP WITH HANS & FRANZ
the musclemen (DAC) & (KEN) insult viewers

— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut!
— Interesting how this debuted as a 10-to-1 sketch, which shows they definitely had no idea how big these characters would become.
— The opening “Pumping Up With Hans & Franz” title graphic (first screencap above) is different from the one that would later be used in these sketches.
— Weird not hearing the usual big audience response when they first utter the phrase “We want to pump… (*clap*)… you up.”
— Strange seeing them in red outfits during the videotape clip.
— Overall, this was very generic compared to future installments of this sketch. Just from watching this inaugural installment, you’d never guess that these characters would go on to be so huge. Judging this inaugural installment on its own merits without comparing it to future installments, it was just okay but nothing special at all really. Kinda felt like a typical 10-to-1 sketch. These characters would definitely improve over time.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS:
— A solid season premiere. Very smooth-feeling too, where you can tell the show and cast had really found their stride after last season. Nothing was particularly terrible tonight, and we got at least four memorable segments with the monologue, Common Knowledge, Bullets Aren’t Cheap, and Victoria Jackson’s I Am Not a Bimbo song.
— There’s a story about how this is the only episode in SNL history to not have a dress rehearsal.  Supposedly, right when this episode’s scheduled dress rehearsal was to begin, a fire broke out in a nearby studio, forcing Studio 8H to be evacuated. SNL had to cancel the dress rehearsal, and that combined with the evacuation left the SNL cast and crew distraught.  (Sorta adds on to what I said earlier about this season being unlucky number 13) The live show later that night reportedly went on at Steve Martin’s insistence.  However, I once read an online post from an SNL fan who claimed that story is mostly false.  Said fan was supposedly an audience member for this episode’s dress rehearsal and explained that, while it’s true that a fire indeed broke out in a nearby studio right before dress rehearsal and forced an evacuation, the dress rehearsal still went on after everyone was allowed back into 8H.


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1986-87):
— about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW:
Sean Penn