Classic SNL Review: February 21, 1981: Charlene Tilton / Todd Rundgren, Prince (S06E11)

RATING SYSTEM:
***** – Classic
****   – Great
***     – Good / Average
**       – Meh
*         – Bad

OPENING: SUPER FIGHT
-Joe Piscopo teases the upcoming paperweight championship between Marc Weiner’s puppets Rocko Weineretto and Weindulah.
-This was a very short cold opening (under 50 seconds) and mainly served to tease a segment later in the show, so I can’t really rate this.  This is the same reason why I didn’t rate the opening segment to the Danny DeVito show from the following season.  I did get a laugh from the “stats” presented for the boxers (no neck on either).

MONOLOGUE
-Charlene Tilton mentions how Charles Rocket took her under his wing this week.  Backstage, Gail Matthius tells Joe Piscopo that girlfriend Ann Risley was at Rocket’s place last night.  Piscopo vows revenge.
-Tilton is energetic and enthusiastic, almost distractingly so:.  The joke about escaping the crime, sex and corruption of Dallas by going to New York was a little corny, but this monologue’s real purpose was to set up tonight’s runner by having Tilton talk about how Rocket serve as a mentor during this week and be the only one who hasn’t tried to take advantage of her.
-I’m counting this as a combined segment with the backstage antics; not really much to laugh at although I though Matthius seemed to be giving it her all (especially on the line “Joe, get with it!”).
**1/2

COMMERCIAL: GREATEST RECORDS OF ALL TIME
-Music by the likes of Jack Webb, Jerry Lewis, Robert Mitchum and Hugh Downs is perfect to get you and your loved one in the mood.
-There’s really not much more to the joke than the fact that this “makeout music” is mostly comprised of one-off albums by unlikely singers, but it wasn’t bad.  I still have to chuckle at the fact that there is a real album called “An Evening With Hugh Downs” (just the album cover alone, with Hugh and his guitar, makes me laugh).
**1/2

SHOW: MISTER ROBINSON’S NEIGHBORHOOD
-Mister Robinson (Eddie Murphy) gives a lesson on how to say “bitch”, gets a “chemistry kit” from Mr. Speedy (Gilbert Gottfried) and shows why he can’t get a cab.
-The audience was won over by the end of the theme song.  Pretty much all the basic pieces of the sketch are intact here, from the theme song and the “word of the day”, to Mister Robinson’s “reaction face” and the way people answer the door in his neighborhood.  (“WHO IS IT?”).
-Lots of great lines in this one: my favorite ones were “Did mommy slap you? Then you said it right!” and the dig at Richard Pryor’s freebasing accident.
****

SKETCH: PORK PARADE
-Former Culhane’s Pork Queen Sally (Gail Matthius) gives her successor Starla (Charlene Tilton) advice before the big Osceola Pork Parade.
-Pretty laugh-free, with the few laughs in this coming from whenever Matthius makes a snorting noise.  I suppose the fact that they treat pig meat so seriously is the big joke, but it really just dragged on.
-Once again, Yvonne Hudson (appearing here as the “Chitlin Princess”) gets no lines.  She honestly had more to do when she wasn’t billed in the opening credits.
-There seems to be a fair number of mistakes in this sketch: Matthius stumbles on one of her lines, Dillon calls Risley the wrong name (Mary Jean instead of Mary Ann), and at one point Matthius’ sash slips off her shoulder.
*

FILM: THE ROCKET REPORT- SUBWAY
-Charles Rocket takes Charlene Tilton on her first New York City subway ride.
-A return to form for Charles Rocket, with him asking passengers if they stole their stereo equipment.  The funniest moment doesn’t belong to Rocket or Tilton, though: the old lady with a few teeth missing describing an unpleasant subway experience gets the biggest laugh by talking about how someone was “fooling around” so she hit him.
-Tilton’s a little annoying in this one.
***1/2

COMMERCIAL: A FIDDLER BE ON THE ROOF
-In the tradition of the all-black “Hello Dolly” and “The Wiz”, Stevie Wonder (Eddie Murphy) plays Tevye in an adaptation of “Fiddler On The Roof”.
-The audience liked this one and started clapping along to the music.  Murphy did alright matching the Stevie Wonder visual with a wheezy “old Jew” voice.
-I’m pretty sure that’s Neil Levy in the shadows with the violin, going by the outline and the fact that he’s played violin on the show on several occasions.
***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “HEALER” – TODD RUNDGREN
-A full band rendering of one of Rundgren’s one-man recordings, and they do a good job of it in this lively performance.
-Once again, a different set is used for the musical guest.  This set reminds me a little of the early 90s set with the working fan.
-Backing band: Pat Travers (guitar), Kasim Sulton (bass), Roger Powell (synthesizer), Ralph Schuckett (keyboards), Ernest “Boom” Carter (drums), Mike Shrieve (percussion), Eric Troyer (vocals), Rory Dodd (vocals).  Schuckett appeared with Ellen Shipley two months before.  Dodd appeared with Meat Loaf in 1978 and is the guy who sings “Turn Around” on Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse Of The Heart.

WEEKEND UPDATE: WITH CHARLES ROCKET & GAIL MATTHIUS
-Best Joke: Budget cuts rant
-If I thought Charles Rocket was over the top in the last two shows, it’s nothing compared to how he was tonight: he’s powering through the jokes at manic speed, and at one point he’s stomping his foot after the punchline to a joke.  It really is a shame to see Rocket go from cool and reserved to all but begging for laughs.  Poor Gail Matthius gets her worst set of jokes and actually gets a bit more response to her reactions to each joke that dies than to the actual jokes.  This was a shorter-than-normal edition; that saved it from being a one-star.
-Reagan budget director David A. Stockman (Gilbert Gottfried) proposes a new social program where the receipt of food stamps depends on claimants ability to catch criminals.  Gottfried’s voice in this segment sounds almost like the stilted voice that has become his trademark, with a little less squawk to it (and of course no squinting).  This wasn’t too bad and provided a welcome break from the jokes.
-Rocket ends Weekend Update by promoting the fight later tonight.  His face when he was saying “Where’s Joe Piscopo?” might have been an attempt at goofiness but I couldn’t help but read a little bit more into that.  Matthius ends her last Weekend Update by pretending to write something in an exaggerated way; that was probably funnier than most of what she was stuck with for all six shows.
*1/2

SKETCH: LINCOLN BEDROOM
-Nancy Reagan (Gail Matthius) leaves her detested daughter-in-law Doria (Ann Risley) to fend with the ghosts in the Lincoln Bedroom.
-Not very strong, but better than it could have been, despite the underdeveloped feeling and weak ending.  I’m not a fan of Matthius’ Nancy Reagan, but I have to give some credit for whatever did work in this sketch to her and her delivery choices (especially “Of course I’m right”).
-For some reason I laughed at the absurdity Mary Todd Lincoln (Denny Dillon) breaking from a moan to “Oklahoma!” (and Risley’s line after).
-Goof: sounds like the knock for the Ford’s Theatre apparition (Eddie Murphy) came a bit too early.
**

MISCELLANEOUS: BACKSTAGE
-Charlene Tilton learns of Rocket’s two-timing from Gilbert Gottfried, who is jealous of Rocket going out with all the hosts.
-Again, mostly there to propel the runner, but not without humor (the movie Gottfried mentions he wouldn’t mind seeing again is Insatiable, a 1980 adult film staring Marilyn Chambers).  Gottfried’s a little more sullen in this, although for some reason that made his reading of “Ann’s carrying Charlie’s baby” a bit funnier.
-Listing Malcolm McDowell as one of the hosts Rocket went out with and Laurance telling Gottfried he’d go out with him reminds me a little of how the current writers tend to add a gay reference as a joke.
-Goof: you can see a hand-held microphone in the shot at one point.
-Is it just me, or would this shot of “Angry Young Gillie” make an awesome meme on par with Unsure Fry?
**

COMMERCIAL: THE COMPETITION
-Finger-breaking is fair game for the piano rivals (Gail Matthius and Joe Piscopo).
-A parody of the then-current movie of the same name starring Amy Irving and Richard Dreyfuss (Piscopo’s definitely imitating Dreyfus’ delivery here).  This worked largely because it was so short and ends on the joke; honestly, I thought it held up even without knowing what it’s supposed to be a parody of.
-The commercial that was being parodied actually aired during the network commercial break in the original broadcast of this show (after Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood).
***

SHOW: SPEAKING OUT
-Officer Ruth Warren (Denny Dillon) alerts the public of the disturbing upswing in illegal handicapped restroom stall use.
-Pretty weak sketch: Dillon tried, but there really wasn’t anything there to carry.  Matthew Laurance got a prominent but thankless role; the whole thing felt pretty lopsided right down to the microphone levels (Dillon’s was much louder than Laurance’s).  At least it was short.
*1/2

SKETCH: WOMEN BEHIND BARS
-Hardened female inmates give a fresh-faced new prisoner (Charlene Tilton) “the treatment”: a debate on whether America’s public school system was adequate during the Industrial Revolution.
-A takeoff of the 1950 movie “Caged”.  I have to give this sketch credit for having a good twist in the usual premise, but I felt there wasn’t too much more to the sketch beyond that.  The structure felt a little stronger than some of the other bits from tonight, though.
-Written by Ferris Butler with assistance from Billy Brown and Mel Green.
-Aside from the reveal, the part where Dillon’s character had a graph about illiteracy was probably the best part of the sketch.
-Yvonne Hudson gets her first lines of dialogue in over a month.  Looks like the older female extra from this season as the matron too.
**1/2

SHOW: SNL SPORTS
-Joe Piscopo and Don King provide commentary on the big fight between Rocko Weineretto and Weindulah.
-More amusing than out-and-out funny, but it helps that the audience seems really involved in the outcome of the bout, and the presence of Don King helps the commitment to the whole segment.
***

COMMERCIAL: SUBMISSIVE SUGAR DADDIES
-A new referral service matches wealthy old men with attractive women who like their money and gifts, but like to remain in control.
-Pretty much a one-joke segment.  It lasted the right amount of time.
-The actor playing “Ralph” was one of the hoodlums from last week’s “Sinatra Interview” cold opening.
**

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “TIME HEALS” – TODD RUNDGREN
-More poppy than the first song (that hook is going to be stuck in your head for days), ending with Rundgren going nuts on the guitar.
-Man, his pants leave very little to the imagination.

MISCELLANEOUS: MARY LOUISE
-Denny Dillon’s solo performance of her character, a bossy little girl who uses her hand puppet Sam The Snake to terrorize her friends at her birthday party.
-Nice to see Dillon bring this back (again, viciousness filtered through puppets is one of my weaknesses); I found it interesting that this was a solo performance. I would have liked to have seen some back-and-forth with someone, though, and overall this wasn’t quite as good as the last time she did the character.
**

SHOW: AFTER MIDNIGHT
-Vince Calypso (Charles Rocket) and Marilyn “Kitty” Sparks (Gail Matthius) get suggestive while bathing a dog on a kinky cable show.  When the sketch is interrupted by a sniper’s bullet, the question is “Who Shot C.R.?”
-Again, mostly there to prop up the runner, although this one has a few funny unscripted moments thanks to the dog continually walking away.
-There’s also a funny moment when, in the middle of the ensuing panic, Tilton casually accepts Gottfried’s brunch invite.
-Seen in the ensuing kerfuffle following the gunshot: Billy Brown (orange shirt), Joe Dicso, Neil Levy and Liz Welch.
**1/2

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “PARTYUP” – PRINCE
-An all-time classic.  Backing Prince is Dez Dickerson (guitar), Andre Cymoné (bass), Lisa Coleman (keyboards), Doctor Fink (keyboards) and Bobby Z. (drums).  Perfect ending with Prince forcefully knocking the mic stand to the ground and the band all leaving the stage.
-Prince sings “Fighting war is such a fucking bore”

GOODNIGHTS
-With some time to kill, Charlene Tilton asks Charlene Rocket how he’s doing.  Rocket replies: “Oh man, it’s the first time I’ve ever been shot in my life.  I’d like to know who the fuck did it”, then smirks.  Everyone’s reaction is priceless: Tilton cackles, Dillon locks shocked, Risley puts her hand over her mouth, Murphy makes a face similar to his Mister Robinson reaction shot before breaking into a huge grin, Laurance really seems to enjoy it, and Matthius has this naughty look on her face.
-The band start to play, and the camera makes a rare pan over to the side stage: you can see pretty much the whole group there.
-Over the closing theme, Don Pardo announces the next show will be in two weeks with Bill Murray, and confesses that he shot Charles Rocket for fooling around with his wife, with a Smith & Wesson bought from the Spiegel catalog (“Chicago, 60608″).

Final thoughts:
If it weren’t for the incident during the goodnights, this would just be a typical 1980-81 show, with maybe a slight improvement over the three previous shows thanks to Mister Robinson, a better Rocket Report.  There’s still one long pointless sketch, a few bits that fail to fully live up to their promise or are saved by their brevity, and a Weekend Update that seems to be aware of how bad it is, but there are still signs of life throughout the show.  One thing I’ve noticed about watching this particular episode is that now that you know what happens during the goodnights, it helps the runner feel more like it’s leading up to something.

Rocket’s comment seems more deliberate than just a mere slip a la Jenny Slate or Paul Shaffer, but it still has the feeling of something tossed off and in-the-moment.  It would be what led to the end of the line for Doumanian’s version of the show and end up following Rocket to his grave, but it still seems more like a quick lapse in judgement than anything else.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:
-The reaction to Rocket during the goodnights.
-Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood
-The Rocket Report

SHOW LOWLIGHTS:
-Pork Parade
-Weekend Update
-Speaking Out
-Submissive Sugar Daddies
-Backstage
-Mary Louise
-Lincoln Bedroom

MVP:
Eddie Murphy

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:
cast:
Denny Dillon: 6 appearances [Pork Parade, Lincoln Bedroom, Speaking Out, Women Behind Bars, Mary Louise, After Midnight]
Gilbert Gottfried: 5 appearances [Greatest Records of All Time, Mister Robinson's Neighborhood, Weekend Update, Backstage, After Midnight]
Gail Matthius: 7 appearances [Monologue, Pork Parade, Weekend Update, Lincoln Bedroom, The Competition, Women Behind Bars, After Midnight]
Eddie Murphy: 4 appearances [Mister Robinson's Neighborhood, A Fiddler Be On The Roof, Lincoln Bedroom, After Midnight]
Joe Piscopo: 5 appearances [Super Fight, Monologue, The Competition, SNL Sports, After Midnight], 2 voiceovers [A Fiddler Be On The Roof, The Competition]
Ann Risley: 6 appearances [Monologue, Greatest Records of All Time, Pork Parade, Lincoln Bedroom, Women Behind Bars, After Midnight]
Charles Rocket: 5 appearances [Monologue, Pork Parade, The Rocket Report, Weekend Update, After Midnight]

featured players
Yvonne Hudson: 2 appearances [Pork Parade, Women Behind Bars]
Matthew Laurance: 2 appearances [Backstage, Speaking Out]

non-cast
Billy Brown: 1 appearance [After Midnight]
Joe Dicso: 1 appearance [After Midnight]
Neil Levy: 2 appearances [A Fiddler Be On The Roof, After Midnight]
Liz Welch: 1 appearance [After Midnight]

guests
Charlene Tilton: 7 appearances [Monologue, Pork Parade, The Rocket Report, Backstage, Women Behind Bars, Submissive Sugar Daddies, After Midnight]
Todd Rundgren: 2 appearances ["Healer", "Time Heals"]
Prince: 1 appearance ["Partyup"]
Don King: 1 appearance [SNL Sports]
Marc Weiner: 2 appearances [Super Fight, SNL Sports]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
Not rebroadcast on NBC.

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.

Classic SNL Review: February 14, 1981: Deborah Harry / Funky 4 + 1 (S06E10)

RATINGS SYSTEM:
***** – Classic
****   – Great
***     – Good / Average
**       – Meh
*         – Bad

OPENING: SINATRA INTERVIEW
-Ronald Reagan (Charles Rocket) discusses the most pressing issue in America today: is Frank Sinatra (Joe Piscopo) a hoodlum?
-A weak opening hampered by a fairly obvious joke (Reagan naming the mobster, then giving the nickname).  At least Piscopo’s Sinatra impression is better than Rocket’s Reagan.
-The ending with Sinatra getting Reagan to pose with him and a bunch of mobsters (one played by Dom Irrera) was unnecessary.
*1/2

MONOLOGUE
-Deborah Harry introduces her blonde-wigged parents, and celebrates Valentine’s Day by having Cupid (Eddie Murphy) shoot an obnoxious audience member (Neil Levy).
-This was fast-moving enough to prevent it from overstaying its welcome, even if there really wasn’t that much to it.  It’s worth it to see Eddie Murphy in the costume, though.
-The “parents” are the same older extras I’ve been seeing all season.
**

COMMERCIAL: DON’T LOOK IN THE REFRIGERATOR
-The horror that awaits when you return from a month-long vacation and want a snack…
-This feels like something that would have been on a kid’s show, not SNL.  Mercifully short, though.
*

SKETCH: LIVELYS II
-Phil (Charles Rocket) and Frances (Gail Matthius) keep the game show going with a nursing home representative (Ann Risley).
-Aside from the choice of having Don Pardo playing Dad, this was an unnecessary retread of the sketch from the Karen Black show, with many of the basic jokes repeated instead of built on; it reminds me of all the recurring sketches from the last few years that just use the same beats with very minor variations.
-While the audience is a bit more tepid, I did laugh a little at “Back to you, Beverly!”, and the audience still liked Matthius making the buzzer noise in Risley’s face.  I actually though Risley did alright in the straight role.
**1/2

MISCELLANEOUS: NEWSBREAK I
-Eddie Murphy reports on Jean Harris, the Las Vegas Hotel Fires and a suspicious order to a Soviet “Chicken Delight” restaurant from Poland.
-This was alright, even if its main purpose was to set up a runner for tonight’s episode.  Eddie Murphy seems a little uncomfortable here, but no worse than the Rocket / Matthius Weekend Update Team.
**1/2

SKETCH: WHERE’S COOTER?
-The ordinary and repetitive existence of Cooter (Gilbert Gottfried) hillbilly family is deemed a one-act play by the Tennessee Williams Authority.
-The main thing that this has going for it is the twist where Matthew Laurance appears as the Authority representative, because the part before that was very repetitive and tedious.  At least Gottfried does a good bumpkin voice, and things picked up a little when Matthius ran in as Raylene (whose stretches on the “mmmmmmmmmama” line seem to be getting bigger as the sketch goes on).  I thought Rocket was playing too big to the point of distraction.
-In the audience watching the family as a one-act play: Yvonne Hudson, Wendie Malick, Andy Murphy and the older couple from the monologue.
**

FILM: THE ROCKET REPORT – CENTRAL PARK
-Charles Rocket looks for danger in the park’s trails, tunnels and playgrounds.
-Again, a weaker Rocket Report; not very much interruption or interaction with people (except from a distance).  Probably the weakest one overall.
-The audience laughed loud at Rocket slipping and falling when he runs away from a jogger, and at least the unexpected slide gave Rocket a few impromptu comments.
**

SKETCH: CARD STORE
-Jersey guy Paulie Herman (Joe Piscopo) meets his female counterpart (Deborah Harry) while browsing for cards.
-A little predictable, and again still not my favorite character, but Harry gave a good effort (the audience seemed to like her approximation of Piscopo’s nasal Jersey whine) and it ended at exactly the right point.
-Hudson appears as an extra at the very beginning of the sketch, again with no lines.  She has not had a single line in a sketch since the Karen Black show.  I’m not sure who the other two people looking at cards are.
***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “LOVE TKO” – DEBORAH HARRY
-Harry covers Teddy Pendergrass’ signature song; I always liked her version in this show (with a bit of a reggae tinge to the verses), especially the organ/bass sound during the choruses.
-Personnel: Chris Stein (guitar), Georg Wadenius (guitar), Lou Marini (sax), Leon Pendarvis (piano), Chris Palmaro (organ), Marcus Miller (bass), Buddy Williams (drums), Errol “Crusher’ Bennett (percussion), Janice Pendarvis (backing vocals)

WEEKEND UPDATE: WITH CHARLES ROCKET & GAIL MATTHIUS
-Best joke: Michael Reagan.
-Rocket’s decline in delivery is really apparent now, with the most egregious example being the first joke: not only was it a horrible joke to begin with, Rocket’s desk slap afterward really comes off as a panicky and desperate move.  Matthius is mostly given crap to read, but her delivery seems to be getting better this week.
-Who is that in the picture being described as the agent who issued Sinatra his gaming license?
-Gottfried’s commentary as “Reagan philosopher” Atkinson Peabody III about how there aren’t any poor people in America wasn’t bad.  It might have felt a little exaggerated back then, but now sounds like something you’d expect to hear for real on Fox News now.
-Rocket was really overdoing it on the reveal of the Polish invasion of the Soviet Union; the interview with the Polish ambassador (Andy Murphy) had a few funny lines but the pacing felt off.
-After a mistaken throwback to Matthius, Rocket introduces Piscopo who has puppeteer Marc Weiner back.  The audience liked the Weindulah rap (who was doing the voice) but I thought this was a bit weaker than the first Weiner segment because it didn’t really have all that much to it besides the puppet “dancing” and rapping.
*1/2

SKETCH: BIG BROTHER
-The milquetoast dictator (Gilbert Gottfried) gets his courage together and asks prole Michelle (Deborah Harry) out.
-Best sketch of the night, with a good concept and funny dialogue (especially Melvin/Big Brother saying he’d feel like a schlep if  he still had to address Michelle every morning even after she turned him down), and helped by having a strong ending (Melvin deciding Michelle is too easy after she accepts and has her reprogrammed).
-Gottfried does well although Harry has a little trouble with her lines.
-Written by Ferris Butler, with assistance from Gilbert Gottfried.  Music during the wake-up sequence: Petrushka, Scene I (The Shrovetide Fair) by Igor Stavinsky.
***1/2

FILM: “SWEET HEARTS” – LEON ICHASO
-In a foreign/gangster movie pastiche, robbers Swifty (Kenny Vance), Vinnie (Matthew Laurance) and their female ringleader successfully steal women’s undergarments from a laundromat, but turn on each other after a discovery.
-Aesthetically this was pretty well done; not really funny but more along the lines of Schiller’s pieces for the show.  I liked this a bit more than Ichaso’s other piece for the show (Pepe Gonzales).
-Any idea who’s playing the ringleader?  It doesn’t look like anyone in the cast or Harry.
***

SKETCH: SOHO
-Susan (Deborah Harry) tries to come out subtly during a surprise visit from her aunt and uncle, Pinky (Denny Dillon) and Leo Waxman (Gilbert Gottfried).
-I always liked this one; a very low-key sketch that wouldn’t have felt out of place in the earlier seasons, and a nice way to get the Waxmans (who get some recognition applause) into a new context.
-I noticed a few audience members laughed nervously when Harry tells Matthius that she loves her.  Just found that interesting.
-Check out the audience at the end; in the row behind the audience member that gets the caption, you can clearly see Glenn Close.
***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “COME BACK JONEE” – DEBORAH HARRY
-A Devo cover; same personnel as before except Clem Burke on drums instead of Williams, no Marini or Bennett, and only the female backup singers this time.  Stein is wearing a pink mask.
-Georg Wadenius and Marcus Miller are really playing the hell out of their instruments.  Chris Palmaro seems quite into it too (rocking on his organ bench).

MISCELLANEOUS: NEWSBREAK
-Eddie Murphy gives an update on the Polish invasion of the Soviet Union.
-Murphy actually has a bit of a rougher go here; he really starts to stumble on his lines about halfway through the bit.   He seems a little less confident here too.  Aside from the monologue, the two Newsbreak segments were the only things he appeared in all show.
-The filmed vox pops were the best part, with one passerby commenting about how it’s about time someone stood up to Russia.
-The runner ends with the Polish army turning toward the Arctic circle and all marching into the sea.  I give the show credit for trying a running joke throughout the show but it felt like there should have been more done with this for it to work.
**1/2

SKETCH: BIG APE
-Faye’s (Deborah Harry) comment to her date (Joe Piscopo) leads to a chain of events right out of “King Kong”.
-Not very much to it.  The sketch seems to be written as an excuse for Piscopo to do his King Kong impression, which was somewhat funny.
-Harry’s delivery was off again, although I did like how she delivered “your bullets have killed my date!” in a mildly annoyed tone.  Something about that stuck me as funny.
-Who’s the other cop shooting at Piscopo with Gottfried?  He has a mustache and doesn’t look like anyone in the cast.
**1/2

SKETCH: DROPOUT
-Vickie (Gail Matthius) tries to impress dropout Tina (Deborah Harry).
-Matthius did her best, and it was good to see her continue to put the character in new situations, but overall this was fairly forgettable.
**
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “THAT’S THE JOINT” – FUNKY 4 + 1
-Notable for the historic importance of being the first rap act to appear on a national television act.
-This is just the first two minutes of the song with them rapping as a group; the individual raps on the 12″ are a better example of their ability.

GOODNIGHTS
-Some people on the stage are waving Japanese flags (both the state flag and the Rising Sun), and someone is dressed in military garb.  I assume that must have been a sketch cut from the show.
-Gilbert Gottfried is now starting to dress like Charles Rocket.
-Don Pardo announces next weeks guests Charlene Tilton and Todd Rundgren and reminds the audience that there is eight days until his birthday, but begs “please, no more toasters!”

Final summary:
Most of the show fell in the “forgettable” category more than truly wretched, with the possible exception of Weekend Update (slipping even further), the weak cold opening, and the dumb “Refrigerator” commercial.  There were still a few bright spots, especially in the segments right after Weekend Update, and a few twists that helped some otherwise weak sketches.  Deborah Harry may not have been the best at sketch comedy but she seemed to try to put an effort in places, and is more engaged than Kellerman was at least.  Still, her best performances were the two covers she performed with Chris Stein, Clem Burke and the SNL band.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
-Big Brother

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:
-Don’t Look In The Refrigerator
-Weekend Update
-Sinatra Interview
-Where’s Cooter
-Dropout
-The Rocket Report

MVP:
Deborah Harry / Gail Matthius

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:
cast
Denny Dillon: 3 appearances [Where's Cooter?, SoHo, Dropout]
Gilbert Gottfried: 5 appearances [Where's Cooter?, Weekend Update, Big Brother, SoHo, Big Ape]
Gail Matthius: 5 appearances [Livelys II, Where's Cooter?, Weekend Update, SoHo, Dropout], 1 voiceover [Big Brother]
Eddie Murphy: 3 appearances [Monologue, Newsbreak I, Newsbreak II]
Joe Piscopo: 4 appearances [Sinatra Interview, Card Store, Weekend Update, Big Ape], 1 voiceover [Big Brother]
Ann Risley: 2 appearances [Livelys II, Where's Cooter?]
Charles Rocket: 5 appearances [Sinatra Interview, Livelys II, Where's Cooter?, The Rocket Report, Weekend Update], 1 voiceover [Don't Look In The Refrigerator]

featured players:
Yvonne Hudson: 2 appearances [Where's Cooter?, Card Store]
Matthew Laurance: 4 appearances [Sinatra Interview, Where's Cooter, Card Store, Sweet Hearts]
Patrick Weathers: 2 appearances [Sinatra Interview, Dropout]

non-cast:
Errol “Crusher” Bennett: 1 appearance ["Love TKO"]
Dom Irrera: 1 appearance [Sinatra Interview]
Neil Levy: 1 appearance [Monologue]
Wendie Malick: 1 appearance [Where's Cooter?]
Lou Marini: 1 appearance ["Love TKO"]
Marcus Miller: 2 appearances ["Love TKO", "Come Back Jonee"]
Andy Murphy: 2 appearances [Where's Cooter?, Weekend Update]
Chris Palmaro: 2 appearances ["Love TKO", "Come Back Jonee"]
Janice Pendarvis: 2 appearances ["Love TKO", Come Back Jonee"]
Leon Pendarvis: 2 appearances ["Love TKO", "Come Back Jonee"]
Kenny Vance: 1 appearance [Sweet Hearts]
Georg Wadenius: 2 appearances ["Love TKO", "Come Back Jonee"]
Buddy Williams: 1 appearance ["Love TKO"]

guests:
Deborah Harry: 9 appearances [Monologue, Don't Look In The Refrigerator, Card Store, "Love TKO", Big Brother, SoHo, "Come Back Jonee", Big Ape, Dropout]
Funky 4 + 1: 1 appearance ["That's The Joint"]
Clem Burke: 1 appearance ["Come Back Jonee"]
Chris Stein: 2 appearances ["Love TKO", "Come Back Jonee"]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
Not rebroadcast on NBC.

Additional screen captures from this episode can be seen here.

Classic SNL Review: February 7, 1981: Sally Kellerman / Jimmy Cliff (S06E09)

RATINGS SYSTEM:
***** – Classic
****    - Great
***      - Good / Average
**        - Meh
*          - Bad

DISCLAIMER
-The Battle of the World Superpowers will be delayed tonight.

OPENING: REAGAN & THE ECONOMY
-Ronald Reagan (Charles Rocket) uses some visual aids to explain the sorry state of the U.S. economy as well as his advanced age. -The audience was amused enough by this, it was concise, and to be honest it had a few funny lines, but I thought it suffered from Rocket’s unsteady Reagan impression, which seemed to go back-and-forth into his regular voice (especially on the “optical illusion”).  It looks like someone was a little late for their cue too because Rocket waited around for a second and coughed right before Matthius and the extras came into view.
-Writer Terry Sweeney makes an appearance as one of the guests; judging by the way he’s dressed (and the picture in the background of the stage), I’m assuming he’s playing Ron Jr.  Talent scout Liz Welch is right beside him; I’ve been seeing the bald guy with the glasses everywhere this season (and the season after) too.
**

MONOLOGUE
-Sally Kellerman mentions all the films she was in before Dave Wilson cuts her off. -If it looks like there’s really no point to the monologue based on my description, you’re right.  A “talk monologue” would be an improvement over this, which only really made Kellerman seem unlikable.
*

FILM: THE ROCKET REPORT - HOSTAGES
-Charles Rocket reports from the ticker-tape parade for the returned hostages and greets Barry Rosen. -This was filmed on January 30, and while it was an improvement over the previous Rocket Report, it still fell a bit short of the usual standard; not a lot of actual interaction with people.
-Rocket does get a funny moment when he misreads a truck sign as being “the council of salutes”.
**1/2

SKETCH: THE AUDITION
-An aspiring stand-up comic (Gilbert Gottfried) does his act for a talent scout (Sally Kellerman) and his lower-class Italian-American family. -Better than expected, despite the overly broad to the point of stereotypical characterizations.  The audience was amused by Dillon’s old lady character dusting around the house and singing to herself; I have to admit it was a little funny even it was milked for all it was worth.
-The best moments in the sketch belong to Gilbert Gottfried, who is as animated as he would be throughout the show’s run.  He gets a good chunk of the sketch’s laughs, especially during his routine.
-Sally Kellerman was decent as the straight character, who didn’t really have a whole lot to do but react to the other characters.
***

SHOW: NAME THAT SIN
-Constestants (Ann Risley and Eddie Murphy) try to identify perversions from the audio clues on this game show. -A lot of randomness and non-sequiturs (“anal vanity”, “freeze-dried sodomy”), which I have to admit I like, but this was also helped by the pacing (one example where Rocket playing over-the-top helped the sketch), and the “historical sins” section actually built the joke pretty well.
-Written by Ferris Butler; this is an adaptation of another one of his pieces from “Waste Meat News” with some of the dialogue toned down to be acceptable for network television.  Charles Rocket assisted with some of the dialogue.
-It sounds like Gail Matthius and Denny Dillon doing the sin sound effects for the first round.
***

FILM: EYE EAR NOSE & THROAT
-A pianist plays “If You Knew Susie” with their nose as various other body parts are seen in close-up. -I’d say this was alright, I suppose.  Not very much to it.
-Where did this film come from?  I can’t find anything about this film, either a director or the year it was made.  It doesn’t look specifically produced for the show and was probably already a few years old by the time SNL acquired it; the young man whose face is partially visible in a lot of the closeups looks an awful lot like Jeff Goldblum.
**

SHOW: WAS I EVER RED
-Carmen Campbell (Ann Risley) hosts a panel discussion of socially-escalated women’s most embarrassing breaches of dinner etiquette.

-This was bad.  The audience only started giving a response when it proceeded into the meat of the sketch, which was Kellerman’s character’s story.  That part just really gave a “trying too hard” feeling, as it was just one gross-out after another.  The payoff of the true horror coming from cold soup felt weak too.
-I found the “snooty” voices that Ann Risley and Gail Matthius were using were so over-the-top to the point of being distracting.  (Risley used a lower register that I guess could be described as someone making fun of Lana Del Rey even though this was taped years before she was born; Matthius was doing this exaggerated high voice with a lot of syllables drawn out).
*

COMMERCIAL: IRANIAN JOKE BOOK
-Play pranks on your hostages the way the Iranians do, like the classic “fake execution” bit. -This was short and didn’t have a lot to it, but didn’t stretch the joke too long.  Rocket is starting to appear manic here.
-According to Ferris Butler, the hostage was played by writer Billy Brown.
** 1/2

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “I AM THE LIVING” -This is a more stripped down performance than on the LP, which has horns.  Cliff is energetic and dancing around.
-Cliff’s songs were performed on a different stage than normal.  Lani Groves is one of the backup singers (thanks to Raj for the ID).

WEEKEND UPDATE WITH CHARLES ROCKET & GAIL MATTHIUS
-Best joke: Crazy Eddie-style budget cuts, Brenda Vaccaro -Charles Rocket’s delivery is really starting to become more frantic by this point; Ferris Butler attributes it to the uncertain future of the show.  Unfortunately, whatever effort Rocket is putting into the jokes can’t distract from how weak they are.   Gail Matthius gets the weakest jokes once again aside from the Vaccaro joke. -Eddie Murphy’s commentary on the Emancipation Proclamation not being valid because Lincoln forgot to sign it was his usual boost to the show, and he gets a little back-and-forth with the audience: after someone laughs at the reveal of the invalid document, he ad-libs “I don’t think that’s funny!”.  There’s also a funny moment when he thanks Matthius for introducing him, and she catches him off-guard by saying “you’re welcome”.  His delivery is starting to become more confident. -Piscopo also gets the audience going with his Saturday Night Sports feature, a guest performance by puppeteer Marc Weiner as Rocko Weineretto.  Piscopo touts the fighter as the new future of boxing, and this serves to set up a segment that will air on the show two weeks later.
-According to the Hill & Weingrad book, Rocket was not happy that Piscopo was bringing in outside performers on Weekend Update.
-I found a few pictures of segments that were cut before air on Getty Images: one was a commentary by Matthew Laurance, and another featured Gilbert Gottfried dressed as an Eskimo, holding a newsletter with a picture of Fidel Castro and the headline “Big Man in Tropics is Wimp in Arctic”.  The latter was an adaptation of “Eskimos Against Castro”, another “Waste Meat News” sketch by Ferris Butler.   Butler also had another piece in dress rehearsal called “Failure Magazine”.
**

SHOW: PARENT AND CHILD
-A demonstration of the proper way to handle when a child (Gilbert Gottfried) walks in on mom (Ann Risley) and dad (Joe Piscopo) during a little BDSM.
-This has a few good moments, particularly Piscopo hopping to and from the bureau in ankle cuffs, and donning glasses and smoking a pipe when he goes into “dad mode”.  I thought it did suffer a little from Matthius’ delivery in the intro and outro, which came across as stilted, and this sketch could have developed the scenario or the parents’ explanation a bit further.
-Gottfried’s exaggerated childlike facial expressions were funny.
**1/2

FILM: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A HOSTAGE
-A first-person perspective shows that while freed from Iran, the released hostage has a new captor: the attention from his friends, neighbors and the media. -More satirical and pointed than out-and-out hilarious, and the point is driven home by the closing visual of Uncle Sam strangling the hostage with a yellow ribbon.
-Barry W. Blaustein and David Sheffield are seen around the piano at the bar; no idea who any of the other actors are.
***

SKETCH: LEAN ACRES
-Lois (Ann Risley) and Tina (Denny Dillon) are prisoners of a fat farm.  An audience member decries the sketch as insensitive to the overweight, and discovers the sketch’s writer is fuller-figured herself. -Maybe the whole “fat farm = prison” trope hadn’t been done to death at the time, but in the wake of jokes on “The Simpsons” and “South Park”, I can’t help but feel that it was a tired idea even back then.  Maybe that’s why they used the fake audience member to shake things up.
-Kellerman seems to be playing her role as the sadistic counselor exactly the same as her other roles tonight: slightly aloof, affected…I have to credit the writers for using her in roles where that seems to fit.
-I appreciate that the show was trying to do some of the fourth-wall breaking that the original show used to do (e.g., The Killer Bees), and while it wasn’t executed as smoothly as it could have been, it was a noble try.
-Ferris Butler identifies the audience member as Karen Roston, the show’s costume designer.  It does look a bit like her (especially going by the wild salt-and-pepper hair, although she normally wore glasses) but I’m still going to hold off on listing her as a confirmed extra until I get a second corroboration.  The writer was apparently a paid extra though.
**

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “GONE CLEAR” -I actually liked the recorded version a little better, but this wasn’t bad at all.

SKETCH: IRANIAN STUDENT COUNCIL
-The Tehran University Class of 1981 discusses the success of their latest fundraiser and try to figure out how they’ll follow the hostage-taking. -The audience was completely silent for this aside from a few titters, but this had a decent concept behind it, treating the international incident as a mere extracurricular activity arranged by young, nauseatingly enthusiastic keeners.
-The audience member who is captioned with “Wishes she was a hostage” looks like she fits that caption.
**1/2

FILM: “NEW YORK” – C.F. BRESSLER
-A short claymation cityscape set to Ray Charles’ “New York’s My Home”
-More technically impressive than anything else, but I thought this was a good palate-cleanser, similar to how the films were used before.  I liked the mood this one set.
-The audience audio was not mixed in with the sound from the film, similar to how the audio was during filmed segments in the first season.
***

SKETCH: PILLOW PETS
-A woman (Ann Risley) is upset her husband (Gilbert Gottfried) seems to favor the dog over her, especially since the “dog” is just a stuffed pillow.
-This sketch has probably my favorite concept of the night, and probably would have been more highly regarded if it were performed either on a different show, or on SNL more than 20 years later.  I honestly could see Will Forte doing something like this.
-Gottfried is a little withdrawn and sullen in his delivery, but I thought it helped him with a few of the lines (especially “Oh, you were wrong” to Risley thinking that a man who loved the pillows so much could give her a lot of love).
***

SKETCH: TELEVISED TRIAL
-In the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling, a televised small claims trial takes the format of a late-night talk show.
-This wasn’t bad; it didn’t outstay its welcome, and Gottfried did well as the plaintiff suing a restaurant for putting a ball bearing in his food.
-The cameo by Jim Fowler worked well, and he gets a few of the best lines.
-I thought having the image inset into a graphic of a television was a little unnecessary.
-Dom Irrera, one of the people passed over for the new cast, is the juror whispering the verdict to the foreman.
***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “STARTING OVER AGAIN”
-Sally Kellerman performs the Donna Summer and Bruce Sudano-penned song about a middle-aged couple’s dissolved marriage, which was then a recent hit for Dolly Parton.
-She’s not a bad singer, but it doesn’t seem like something you’d end an SNL on.

GOODNIGHTS
 -Kellerman doesn’t seem as affected here, amazingly enough.  Rocket sniffs her head amorously, and Denny Dillon and Gilbert Gottfried hug.
-Don Pardo announces Deborah Harry is hosting next week, and says “happy birthday” to the President before mentioning his birthday is on February 22 and soliciting birthday gifts.
-The costume house that SNL used underwent a name change between the Hays and Kellerman shows; Brooks-Van Horn was acquired by the Eaves costume company and became Eaves-Brooks.

Final Thoughts:
I was surprised how high I rated the sketches; it always seemed like it was worse than it actually was, thanks to a limited host (Kellerman seemed to only play snobbish), an overabundance of jokes on the same topic, a dead audience in places, and a creeping self-awareness that the show’s days (with that staff) were numbered.  But  the more I think about it, aside from the monologue and Was I Ever Red, I didn’t strongly dislike very much of the show, and could find pieces of worth in a lot of tonight.  It seemed more that the show’s biggest issue was a lot of sketches that were sub-par (in either concept or execution), but weren’t balanced out with standout pieces as in other Doumanian shows; even the usually reliable Rocket Report wasn’t up to standard.  Ann Risley had the most appearances out of anyone tonight (I have to wonder if that colors people’s perception of the episode), but for me, it was Gilbert Gottfried who stood out.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
-commentaries on Weekend Update.

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:
-Was I Ever Red
-Monologue
-the jokes on Weekend Update
-Reagan & The Economy
-Eye, Ear, Nose & Throat

MVP:
Gilbert Gottfried

CAST & GUEST RUNDOWN:
cast
Denny Dillon: 4 appearances [The Audition, Was I Ever Red, Lean Acres, Iranian Student Council], 1 voiceover [Name That Sin]
Gilbert Gottfried: 4 appearances [The Audition, Parent & Child, Pillow Pets, Televised Trial]
Gail Matthius: 5 appearances [Reagan & The Economy, Was I Ever Red, Weekend Update, Parent & Child, Iranian Student Council], 1 voiceover [Name That Sin]
Eddie Murphy: 3 appearances [Name That Sin, Weekend Update, Iranian Student Council]
Joe Piscopo: 5 appearances [The Audition, Weekend Update, Parent & Child, Iranian Student Council, Televised Trial]
Ann Risley: 7 appearances [The Audition, Name That Sin, Was I Ever Red, Parent & Child, Lean Acres, Iranian Student Council, Pillow Pets]
Charles Rocket: 5 appearances [Reagan & The Economy, The Rocket Report, Name That Sin, Iranian Joke Book Weekend Update], 1 voiceover [A Day In The Life of a Hostage]

featured players:
Yvonne Hudson: 0 appearances
Matthew Laurance: 3 appearances [Iranian Joke Book, Iranian Student Council, Televised Trial], 1 voiceover [A Day In The Life Of A Hostage]
Patrick Weathers: 2 appearances [Iranian Joke Book, Televised Trial]

confirmed non-cast
Barry W. Blaustein: 1 appearance [A Day In The Life of a Hostage]
Billy Brown: 1 appearance [Iranian Joke Book]
Dom Irrera: 1 appearance [Televised Trial]
Neil Levy: 1 appearance [Iranian Joke Book]
David Sheffield: 1 appearance [A Day In The Life of a Hostage]
Terry Sweeney: 1 appearance [Reagan & The Economy]
Liz Welch: 1 appearance [Reagan & The Economy]
Dave Wilson: 1 voiceover [Monologue]

guests
Sally Kellerman: 5 appearances [Monologue, The Audition, Was I Ever Red, Lean Acres, "Starting Over Again"]
Jimmy Cliff: 2 appearances ["I Am The Living", "Gone Clear"]
Jim Fowler: 1 appearance [Televised Trial]
Lani Groves: 2 appearances ["I Am The Living", "Gone Clear"]
Marc Weiner: 1 appearance [Weekend Update]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
Not rebroadcast on NBC.

Additional screen captures from this episode can be found here.

Classic SNL Review: January 24, 1981: Robert Hays / Joe “King” Carrasco & The Crown, 14 Karat Soul (S06E08)

RATINGS SYSTEM
***** – Classic
****    - Great
***      - Good / Average
**        - Meh
*          - Bad

OPENING: AMERICA NOT HELD HOSTAGE ANYMORE
-Following the release of the hostages, Ted Koppel (Joe Piscopo) keeps Nightline on the air by counting down the days the hostages are out of captivity.
-Nothing outstanding, but decent satire of the news media’s tendency to milk a story, which would be done better for Buckwheat Buys The Farm two years latter.  Actually, so would Piscopo’s Koppel (still not really a fan of the impression, though).
-I did like Koppel positioning the freeing of the hostages as the tragedy, and there was a little bit of scattered applause for the line about harassing the victims’ families.  Ann Risley’s part seemed pretty unnecessary, though.
**1/2

MONOLOGUE
-Robert Hays draws attention to an instant Nielsen rating that appears on the screen, which goes down once he starts bad-mouthing Nielsen families.
-Not a bad concept, and they ended it when it needed to, but this was way too similar to Buck Henry’s May 1979 monologue (thanks to TheLazenby for calling that) and not as well-executed.
**

COMMERCIAL: DAZOLA
-Indian (Denny Dillon) speaks highly of the spread that’s low on cholesterol and high on psylocibin.  Really highly.
-A spoof on the “You call it corn, we call it maize” Mazola commercials, right down to the tagline (“You call them mushrooms.  We call them magic”), but is essentially one big drug joke on par with Dopenhagen from the David Carradine show.
-What amused me more than anything was the goofy facial expressions on vegetable costumed Yvonne Hudson, Matthew Laurance and Gilbert Gottfried.  I wonder who got stuck in the pea outfits.
-Incidentally, the actual Mazola commercial they spoof is in my recording of last week’s show.
**

SHOW: LOVE AMERICAN STYLE
-In “Love and the Celebrity” by Sid “Slappy” White, Robert Hays gets companionship on a lonely promotional tour when an inflatable prostitute (voice of Gail Matthius) appears.
-Another merely OK bit, largely carried by the timing of the string pulls and the reactions from Robert.  The predictable ending was made up for by the strong sight gag of an inflatable pimp.
**1/2

SHOW: SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE SPORTS CENTRAL
-Matthew Laurance interviews Asteroids champ Eddie Atari (Eddie Murphy) from inside his ship, and witnesses him lay waste to flying saucers and the Goodyear blimp.
-Piscopo’s sports anchor persona anchors this sketch, and gets some amusing material with his overpoetic descriptions of Eddie Atari’s Asteroids technique, but once again Murphy walks away with the whole sketch, doing more with relatively few and succinct lines than either Piscopo or Laurance.
-Piscopo’s “Oh, the humanity!”  got some laughs and applause.  I’m wondering when Herbert Morrison’s quote from the Hindenberg became a common pop-culture trope: I know it was used in WKRP’s “Turkeys Away” show (probably the best-ever example of it in pop-culture, IMO), but right now it’s so common it’s cliché.
***

COMMERCIAL: REAGANCO
-Celebrate the new Reagan administration with decorative and cosmetic products by Reaganco.
-Written by Ferris Butler with assistance from Jeremy Stevens.
-Not bad, although the amount of ridiculous products that have been legitimately marketed to capitalize on the Obama inauguration make this one seem quaint in comparison.
-The audience really liked the line about the rouge that made even a corpse come alive.  Cheap, but sometimes cheap works.
***

SHOW: SAVE-A-NETWORK TELETHON
-Joe Piscopo emcees a telethon where viewers are invited to pledge a premise to the struggling network.
-Alright idea, but I found this more interesting for the on-screen appearances of cue card man Al Siegal (playing deli worker Sidney Sharkman), cameraman Al Camoin, and announcer Don Pardo (only his second on the show, and first where he’s introduced as himself).  The audience goes wild for Pardo, and he seems to be enjoying himself, especially while singing.
-One cringeworthy line in the part about Pink Lady & Jeff and Shogun.
-I can’t tell who most of the phone bank volunteers are (the recurring extra with the combover and glasses is one of them), but it looks like Neil Levy on the right side of Gilbert Gottfried’s table.
-I noticed Ann Risley adlibs a “right” after an audience member says “yay” to the NBC peacock sheets she holds up.
***

SHOW: PRE-SUPERBOWL PRE-GAME PREVIEW
-A panel (Robert Hays, Ann Risley and Charles Rocket) overinflates the importance of tomorrow’s big game.
-Weak.  The main jokes (the hype-up of the game and the football/ballet metaphor) were stretched way past their breaking points, and the final payoff (the anchors don’t even know who are playing tomorrow) underwhelmed.
*1/2

FILM: “THE FOREIGN FILM” – WILLIAM DEAR
-A short segment from “Elephant Parts” features a man (Michael Nesmith) and a woman spouting subtitled gibberish.
-The audience liked this a bit more than the last sketch, but it still suffered from the joke being stretched past the breaking point.  Gibberish is funnier than hyperbole and weak metaphors, though.
**

SKETCH: FUNERAL
-Inappropriate music selections from substitute organist Harry Osborne fit a sports game more than a dignified funeral.
-This was a little predictable once he started playing his first number, but it was silly enough to be worthwhile, largely because of the mourners’ reactions to the music.
-Best part for me was the organ swipe when the widow (Denny Dillon) closed the casket because she didn’t want her husband to hear it.
-I’m still not sure if Harry Osborne is a real person or just some outside actor or production staff member; the leading SNL sites list him as a real person so unless I get other information I’m going to treat him like a cameo.
***

WEEKEND UPDATE WITH CHARLES ROCKET & GAIL MATTHIUS
-Best Jokes: Reagan letter (for the graphic), Margaret Trudeau
-Most of the jokes were pretty bad this week (worst: Mondale and Eldridge Cleaver jokes…).  They’re at least curbing the forced chemistry between the anchors (only one attempt this week) and Gail seems to be getting better, although I don’t think anyone could have made the Eldridge Cleaver joke work.  Probably would have been something Brian Doyle-Murray would have done next season.
-Charles Rocket gets a short bit getting an “apology” from the same dummy of Ayatollah Khomeini they used on the show last season (100th show).   Meh.
-Tiffany Fleur (Ann Risley) shows some of her fashions for the engineering student.  A few easy nerd “slide rule” and “pocket protector” jokes but the sight of the pocket protector glued to the one model’s chest woke up the audience.  That’s writer David Hurwitz playing Paul (the bearded guy), while Robert is one of the administrative staff (no name, unfortunately, but it’s the same guy as in Taped Confession).
-Joe Piscopo gets another prop-based Saturday Night Sports, this time predicting the outcome of Super Bowl XV with an electric football game.  The audience liked his dismissal of the Oakland Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles as mediocre teams.
-Eddie Murphy gets the strongest segment, discussing how he was out both reefer and heating oil money thanks to frozen Iranian assets.  Murphy actually tells a few audience members that applaud at the beginning of his commentary to “hold it”.  Good payoff.
**

COMMERCIAL: DISCO MELTDOWN
-Dena Disco (Denny Dillon) invites dancers to watch her change colors from “disco radiation” at her nightclub inside a nuclear reactor.
-Not good.  My main problem with this was that it was a thin premise to begin with, but it didn’t really seem to build on the main joke or have any payoff.  It was also a little too dependent on the greenscreen.  Disco was already on the decline by that point so it dated pretty horribly.  Dillon tried, though.
-The song was written by Dillon, with Kenny Vance and Philip Namanworth.
-Vance is actually one of the dancers, as is Wendie Malick.  I think I see Liz Welch in there, and in the promotional photos for this sketch, you can see Yvonne Hudson and Neil Levy in the crowd.
*

FILM: THE ROCKET REPORT – REAGAN
-From Washington, DC, Charles Rocket tries to show us what a day in the life of the President is like.
-Not one of Rocket’s stronger reports: Rocket is at his best when he’s interacting with other people and this was sorely missed.  It had a few funny moments (Rocket saying the cop in riot gear was Reagan atop his horse “Darky”…though, what’s with the racial jokes tonight?)
**1/2

COMMERCIAL: THE PACESETTER
-Liven up plays killed with slow pacing by administering electric shocks to the actors.
-Once again this was an idea milked a little too long.  I found the button noise a bit irritating as well.  Compared to some of the other material tonight it was merely OK.
**

COMMERCIAL: RAVI SINGS
-Master sitar player Ravi Shankar (Patrick Weathers) has a new album of romantic American ballads.
-I guess the joke is from the juxtaposition of Indian sitar music with American love songs but it really just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, with the brownface makeup and bug-eyes.  The audience seemed to be laughing more at the cartoonish impression than the concept.  It might have played a little better as a photo montage.
-Weathers is lipsyncing to a recorded track here (like Gilda Radner in Stretch Marks).
*

SKETCH: CUT ‘N CURL
-Roweena (Gail Matthius) and Nadine (Denny Dillon) don’t see eye-to-eye on the Reagan inauguration,
-They probably could have used The Pacesetter for this as it felt pretty leaden.   This ended up being weaker than the other Cut ‘N Curl sketch; the asides to the audience just seemed to derail the bit.  Both Matthius and Dillon seem to be having trouble with a few of their lines.
-One thing I didn’t pick up on until someone pointed it out was that Dillon’s wearing the exact same outfit (well, a cheap copy of it) that Nancy Reagan wore to her inauguration a few days before, right down to the hat (which was the subject of a photo joke on tonight’s Weekend Update).
*

MISCELLANEOUS: PROMOTION
-Eddie Murphy announces that he has been promoted to the full cast of “Saturday Night Live”
-Not a rateable segment, but the audience seemed to think Murphy deserved his promotion.  Funny visual gag with the rings, sunglasses and mirror too.

COMMERCIAL: DREAM DATE
-A chance at a $40,000 dream date with your ideal partner and location has just one particular step…
-The only joke is the $40,000 in cash that Rocket goes on about being a part of the dream date is supplied by the contestants themselves.
*

COMMERCIAL: ORDINARY ELEPHANT PEOPLE
-The new movie with a family as disfigured internally as they are on the outside.
-My recording is missing this sketch (damn Comedy Network didn’t run short station break segments), but the transcript makes it sound like one of the more worthwhile bits tonight.  I can’t actually rate it until I see it, though (Canadian Netflix only has seasons 20-35, and I can’t access Hulu).

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “I WISH THAT WE WERE MARRIED”, “THIS TIME IT’S FOR REAL” – 14 KARAT SOUL
-After the last group of segments, this was more than welcome.  An excellent a capella performance; the audience response was so huge that it actually delayed the start of the second number (you can see Glenny T. Wright start to snap his fingers for a few beats before stopping).  The second song had the audience clapping along.
-I wonder why they had both musical guests scheduled so late in the show (after the 12:30 station break)

SKETCH: NATIONAL ENQUIRER
-Editors of the tabloid work on compiling stories for the latest issue.
-Another mostly laugh-free sketch that dragged on for  a little too long.  It felt a little like they were going for going for shock/bad taste jokes (cartoon of a man throwing his wife into a treeshredder, “cripples are big now”, romantically linking Desi Arnaz Sr. with Jr.).
-Rocket was doing a character voice for his role but it took me out of the sketch.
*

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “DONT BUG ME BABY” – JOE “KING” CARRASCO & THE CROWN
-For the longest time, I thought this was terrible, but now I’m actually starting to enjoy it.  Most if it is from how entertaining the performance is: Carrasco goes wild here, jumping off amps and diving into the audience.  Music-wise it was pretty raw: I thought the guitar was the weak link, but the main things driving the song were Kris Cummings’ organ and Brad Kizer’s drumming.  This brought the energy up in a show that really needed it.

GOODNIGHTS
-Robert Hays almost accidentally exposes Gail Matthius’ left breast.
-Don Pardo does not announce an upcoming host but continues to show off his singing ability.

Final Thoughts:
I actually was a little taken aback at how weak the show was when I rewatched it.  After last week’s strong episode, this one started off as somewhat of a step down to “business as usual” before crashing after weekend Weekend Update.  I wonder if it was they were exhausted from pulling off three live shows in a row or if there was another factor.  What’s unmistakable is how much dreck comes in the second half of the show, and how much it makes the musical performances seem like a relief.   Hays really didn’t distinguish himself either way.  Even the usually reliable “Rocket Report” was sub par.  I think the biggest disappointment about this episode is that the cast and writers already proved themselves as capable as last week: it felt almost like this is the point where the bad press is starting to seep in.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
-Eddie Murphy’s segments in his sketches.  I know it’s a lazy way to list highlights, but this week it really felt like he was the only thing in the show that was really standing out (aside from the music performances), and he managed to do more to make the audience laugh in three short appearances than everyone else who had more airtime tonight.

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:
-Ravi Sings
-Disco Meltdown
-Dream Date
-National Enquirer
-Cut ‘N Curl
-Pre-Super Bowl Pre-Game Preview
-The Pacesetter
-Dazola
-Monologue
-The Foreign Film

MVP:
Eddie Murphy, 14 Karat Soul

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN
cast
Denny Dillon: 4 appearances [Dazola, Funeral, Disco Meltdown, Cut 'N Curl]
Gilbert Gottfried: 5 appearances [Dazola, Save-A-Network Telethon,  Funeral, Ordinary Elephant People, National Enquirer]
Gail Matthius: 4 appearances [Monologue, Save-A-Network Telethon, Weekend Update, Cut 'N Curl], 1 voiceover [Love American Style]
Joe Piscopo: 6 appearances [America Not Held Hostage Anymore, Saturday Night Live Sports Central, Save-A-Network Telethon, Weekend Update, The Pacesetter, National Enquirer], 2 voice-overs [Ravi Sings, Ordinary Elephant People]
Ann Risley: 6 appearances [America Not Held Hostage Anymore, Save-A-Network Telethon, Pre-Superbowl Pre-Game Preview, Weekend Update, The Pacesetter, Ordinary Elephant People]
Charles Rocket: 8 appearances [Reaganco, Pre-Superbowl Pre-Game Preview, Funeral, Weekend Update, Rocket Report, The Pacesetter, Dream Date, Ordinary Elephant People, National Enquirer], 2 voiceovers [America Not Held Hostage Anymore, Save-A-Network Telethon]

featured players
Yvonne Hudson (uncredited): 2 appearances [Dazola, Disco Meltdown]
Matthew Laurance: 4 appearances [Dazola, Saturday Night Live Sports Central, Funeral, National Enquirer]
Eddie Murphy: 3 appearances [Saturday Night Live Sports Central, Weekend Update, Promotion]
Patrick Weathers: 2 appearances [Ravi Sings, National Enquirer]

confirmed non-cast
Al Camoin: 1 appearance [Save-A-Network Telethon]
David Hurwitz: 1 appearance [Weekend Update]
Neil Levy: 2 appearances [Save-A-Network Telethon, Disco Meltdown]
Wendie Malick: 1 appearance [Disco Meltown]
Andy Murphy: 1 appearance [Funeral]
Don Pardo: 1 appearance [Save-A-Network Telethon]
Kenny Vance: 1 appearance [Disco Meltdown]
(any confirmation that’s Liz Welch?)

guests
Robert Hays: 5 appearances [Monologue, Love American Style, Pre-Superbowl Pre-Game Preview, The Pacesetter, National Enquirer]
14 Karat Soul: 1 appearance ["I Wish That We Were Married/This Time It's For Real"]
Joe “King” Carrasco & The Crown: 1 appearance ["Don't Bug Me Baby"]
Michael Nesmith: 1 appearance [The Foreign Film]
Harry Osborne: 1 appearance [Funeral]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
Not rebroadcast on NBC.

Additional screen captures of this episode can be found here.

Random pictures of SNL writers

I should be getting the Robert Hays show reviewed on the weekend, but in the meantime, I’d like to call attention to a Tumblr I created: Fuck Yeah SNL Writers is just a place where I post pictures of the SNL writers that have had walk-on appearances or bit parts in various sketches over the years.

I’m kind of blown away to the response I’ve been getting to my Splitsider article.  Thanks to everyone who said they liked it!

Getting back on track

I have a new article at Splitsider!  It’s about the “lost sketches” of The Kids In The Hall not included in the DVD sets.

I want to apologize for the lack of substantial updates on Existential Weightlifting for the last little while.  I’m working through a few other priorities in meatspace right now (including a friend’s wedding a few weeks ago).  I promise that my SNL season 6 reviews will finish soon, and I’ll be constructing my thoughts on the most recent SNL season just as soon as I have some time to put them together.  I also decided on a new look for the site that I’ll be implementing fully in the coming weeks.

Voice your choice (a poll post)

Which versions of the following songs are superior?

“What Do You Want The Girl To Do”

(Boz Scaggs)

(Lowell George)

“Lovers In A Dangerous Time”

(Bruce Cockburn)

(Barenaked Ladies)

“Gonna Get Close To You”

(Lisa Dalbello)

(Queensryche)