SNL Season 6: Final cast and episode summary

The cast:

Denny Dillon and Gilbert Gottfried

Denny Dillon:
Dillon made a strong impression fairly early on, carrying a lot of the sketches in the first two shows of the season, having the first recurring character of the season, and bringing needed energy to weaker sketches.  There was a little bit of a sameness to her performances that became more evident over the season, but she was a consistent, dependable performer.  She gave a lot of her castmates a boost whenever she shared sketches with them (Gail Matthius’ Vickie was better once she had Dillon’s Debbie to play off), and just seemed to exhibit a willingness and commitment in whatever she appeared in.  [MVP: Gould, McDowell]

Gilbert Gottfried:
It’s a little disarming to see Gofffried in these shows, with his eyes wide open and not speaking in that famous stilted squawk, and a tad green.  Where Dillon jumped in, Gottfried had a tendency to hold back: the legend goes that he didn’t want to use his A-material on the show because he was concerned the network would claim ownership.  Gottfried’s performances would end up being the clearest barometer of the Jean Doumanian era: early on, he’s more lively and animated, if a little green, but toward the end of the season, he is a little more sullen and withdrawn.  Maybe it’s because he got some of the most thankless jobs on the show that didn’t go to featured players (having to wear the Master Po makeup all night in Carradine, playing a vegetable along the featureds in Dazola, and his nadir: being the corpse in a funeral sketch).  Like most of the cast, though, he was not without his moments: he worked well with Dillon as the Waxmans, and I thought his collaborations with writer Ferris Butler were particularly fruitful.  [MVP: Kellerman]

Gail Matthius

Gail Matthius:
Matthius definitely had potential to be a great cast member, and hit the highest highs out of all three female leads, but she also had a few really frustrating moments on the show.  Impressions were her weakest point, and despite her efforts, she didn’t really have the ability to rise above some of the material she was given.  She had a rough time on Weekend Update as well; fumbling a bit in the early shows, and getting saddled with some of the worst jokes ever written.  These missteps seem even more disappointing because when she was actually given good material, she really did well with it: I especially liked Francis Lively, the little girl character she played in “Lonely Old Lady”, and she ended up going out on a strong note with “Same”.    I only wonder how she would have fared on a different incarnation of the show.  [MVP: Carradine, Harry]

Joe Piscopo

Joe Piscopo:
Piscopo ended up being one of the two castmembers that stole Rocket’s thunder this season by demonstrating he was a better fit for the characters and celebrity impressions that the show built its name on in the first five seasons.  Piscopo was consistent, well-rounded, and seemed to feel more natural in the prominent roles that Rocket was being schooled for.  I’d draw the line at calling Piscopo an MVP of the season: I believe the key to his relative success this year were clear and repeated hooks in his signature bits (SNL Sports and Paulie Herman; Sinatra developed more fully after Ebersol took over), but he was always more of a “safe” performer and didn’t have the kind of charisma that demanded attention like Eddie Murphy would provide, a quality that was desperately needed this season. [MVP: Gould]

Ann Risley:
I actually thought Risley handled the straighter roles fairly well.  Risley never managed to have a recurring character, and there were a few performances of hers that were pretty dodgy (mainly as the hosts of “Dying To Be Heard” and “Was I Ever Red”), but I wonder how much of it was actually her acting style (she’s more of a straight actress) and how much of it was the writers not finding a breakout role for her (she did come close with the Toni Tenille sketch).  Some say that she was a poor fit for SNL, but I see a few small glimpses at a potential Kristen Wiig-style performer whose true gift was understatement, although Wiig had the added benefit of being able to write for herself.  A key part of success on the show is either writing for yourself or finding the right writer to collaborate with; I don’t know whether Risley had that support for herself.

Charles Rocket and Ann Risley

Charles Rocket:
Doumanian was banking too much on Rocket to be the breakout star: usually when something is pushed so heavily, it only helps build a backlash toward the performer.  Rocket was no exception, and he had a few liabilities that probably hurt him on the show: his impressions were weak, and whenever he tried to play big (like his February Updates or even in Billy-Gram), he chewed so much scenery it was distracting.  When he dialed it back, though, he was a decent utility player, and his strengths in those roles presage his respectable career as a character actor.  Rocket’s true strength on the show, though, was catching people off-guard during The Rocket Report, where a different type of charm emerged than when he was doing sketches.  Unfortunately, Rocket became the public face for Jean Doumanian’s mistakes on the show, and that one moment during the Charlene Tilton goodnights overshadowed pretty much everything he did since, even after he took his own life.  [MVP: Black]

Yvonne Hudson:
SNL’s first black female featured player was essentially doing the same types of roles she had been doing uncredited the previous couple of seasons; aside from some increased prominence in sketches for a few episodes, she was still essentially an extra on the show.  There is actually one episode where she has less lines that SNL’s resident “old man” extra, Andy Murphy.  Despite no longer being in the opening credits, she was kept around as an extra the next few seasons.

Matthew Laurance:
Aside from Eddie Murphy, Laurance was the most prominent of the featured players.  I thought he was decent as a utility man, and served as a good counterpoint to the more exaggerated performances of Rocket and Piscopo, even if he didn’t make a strong impression on his own.  I wonder how he would have done in a pitchman role that usually went to either of those two.

Matthew Laurance and Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy:
From his first speaking role, Murphy demonstrated why he was full cast material.  There were a few appearances of his that betrayed his inexperience (particularly Newsbreak in Harry), but he had a confidence that the others in the cast seemed to lack, and made stronger impressions than much of the cast that had a heavier sketch load.   [MVP: Burstyn, Sharkey, Hays, Tilton]

Patrick Weathers

Patrick Weathers:
His Bob Dylan sketch in Carradine was the main thing that distinguished him; he might have made a bigger impact if he was given more to do.  I won’t hold Ravi Sings against him.

Robin Duke

Robin Duke:
Out of Dick Ebersol’s three full-cast hires, Duke made a smallest impression of the three, getting a band intro, a leftover Jane Curtin role, a decent part in a five-man sketch and a last-minute voice-over in the bag lady film.  None of these roles really showed what she was known for on SCTV, and viewers would get a better glimpse of her the next season.  Part of this can be attributed to the fact that Duke was a last-minute addition: Catherine O’Hara was originally slated to be on the show in her place (and was listed in news articles as late as five days before airtime), but O’Donoghue’s first staff meeting scared her away from the show.  O’Hara recommended old friend Duke for the show, and a month later, O’Hara was on the same network with the resurrected SCTV.  If the strike hadn’t happened, Duke could have been making an impact as soon as the next show.

Tim Kazurinsky:
Kazurinsky seemed to fit SNL immediately, and ended up dominating the first Ebersol-produced show.  Part of Kazurisnky’s strong first outing comes from his prominence in two of the longer pieces, but being a combination writer/performer, and coming from an improv background certainly would have helped.  It was John Belushi’s recommendation that got Kazurinsky hired on the show, and Belushi’s instincts turned out to be correct.  [MVP: Finale]

Tim Kazurinsky and Tony Rosato

Tony Rosato:
Like Duke, Rosato came from SCTV, and like Kazurinsky, he was hired as a writer/performer and made a fairly strong impression in his first show.  He and Kazurinsky worked well together in their two main sketches, but he would find a stronger footing the following season.

Laurie Metcalf

Laurie Metcalf:
One of the most successful people to have an incredibly brief SNL tenure, Metcalf’s sole appearance on the show was a pre-filmed “man on the street” piece.   I can’t assess how she would have fared if Ebersol kept her on based on that one segment.

Emily Prager

Emily Prager:
Prager didn’t even appear on-camera during her only live show.  She has, however, appeared on the show before and after (she was a girlfriend of Tom Davis’ and appeared occasionally as an extra around 1977-78; she and Davis also appear in the Button film next season).

Strongest shows:
1. Karen Black / Cheap Trick, Stanley Clarke: (Average rating: 3.18/5)
The show where everything seemed to go right.  It’s not flawless (SNL rarely is) but the combination of an energetic host, more determined writing and a receptive audience worked wonders.  As much as Black and the audience kept things lively, its really the cast and writers’ victory.
2. Bill Murray / Delbert McClinton: (Average rating: 3.11/5)
This is the textbook example of the host bringing a boost to the show.  The last four shows were dispirited affairs, and the prior show in particular contained the moment that overshadowed the rest of the Doumanian-era.  Murray shows up and infuses what would be the final Doumanian-produced SNL with energy and the sense of fun that had all but vanished in the second half of the season.
3. No Host / Jr. Walker & The All-Stars: (Average rating: 2.88/5)
Ebersol takes over, cleans house (as much as the budget would allow), and makes an appeal to nostalgia with his first show.  It’s weighed down by Chevy Chase’s disappointing Weekend Update return engagement, but this one remains consistently watchable if not an all-out return to form.

Weakest shows:
1. Robert Hays / Joe “King” Carrasco & The Crown, 14 Karat Soul: (Average rating: 2/5)
The string of mediocre-to-bad sketches that come after Weekend Update is the air seeping out of the SNL ’80 tire that they finally were able to inflate the week before.
2. Jamie Lee Curtis / James Brown: (Average rating: 2.22/5)
The first three shows of the season had enough highlights to counteract the weaker material.  Here is where the good to bad ratio finally tips to to the other side; while nothing in this show is as bad as “Commie Hunting Season”, a lot of the sketches were underdeveloped and uninspired.
3. Charlene Tilton / Todd Rundgren, Prince: (Average rating: 2.26/5)
A fair amount of OK material here, but the backstage runner that culminates in “Who Shot C.R.” is underwhelming, and the highs don’t really offset the lows enough.

Best sketches:
1. The Writer (03/07/81)
Bill Murray is in front but playing it straight, while the new cast gets the fun of acting out the revisions he makes to his story.  Just a good sketch done well.
2. Hospital Bed (01/17/81)
Probably one of the saddest sketches the show has ever done, with Gilbert Gottfried’s disembodied voice communicating the thoughts of a stroke victim.  It’s punctuated enough with humor to avoid mawkishness, but the writers wisely put the emotion of the scene first.
3. Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood (02/21/81)
The debut of one of Eddie Murphy’s signature sketches, pretty much fully-formed.  The audience is on board by the end of the theme song.
Honorable mention: The Rocket Report – Fifth Avenue
Charles Rocket’s signature piece remains the place where his talents were best put to use.

Worst sketches:
1. Commie Hunting Season (11/22/80)
SNL tries to make a pointed statement about the Greensboro Massacre acquittals; it’s uncomfortable and alienating, but without the humor to redeem it.
2. Ravi Sings (01/24/81)
The only joke in the sketch: a cartoonish portrayal of an Indian musician singing American love songs.
3. Badgers (12/13/80)
A grating, amateurish sketch that hinges on a pun.

Best musical guests:
1. James Brown
His sweat-drenched eight-minute medley of classics is a high point for both the season and the series, especially taking into consideration that the band exceeded their allotted time.
2. 14 Karat Soul
Five young singers with no instrumental accompaniment get one of the biggest reactions from the audience this season.
3. Stanley Clarke Trio
Instrumental jazz-fusion that rocks as hard as any other musical guest this year.

Worst musical guests:
To be honest, I couldn’t really say that there were any truly bad musical guests.  Joe “King” Carrasco may have had a rough and raw sound but it was clear the band was going for energy over technique, and the worst I could really say about Ellen Shipley is that she was decent but a little generic-sounding.  The other musical guests only really pale in comparison to the stellar choices Doumanian (and whoever else was involved in snagging musical guests) made this year.  I wonder how much of the booking strategy was intentional and how much of it was necessity, but this was where the Jean Doumanian show had some of their biggest victories.

Writer tally and turnover:
(*) indicates the writer returned the next season, (~) indicates return to SNL.

Aside from Ferris Butler’s contributions (special thanks goes to Butler for providing a lot of insightful information about the season, by the way), knowledge of Blaustein & Sheffield’s partnership with Eddie Murphy and a handful of other sketches whose writers have been identified, I don’t really know what each specific writers’ voices are in the show and whether any shifts in quality were from writers joining or leaving, or being favored or disfavored.  If anyone has more information regarding who was responsible for any sketches, please feel free to drop me a line.

Full season:
Barry W. Blaustein*
Billy Brown & Mel Green
Patricia Marx
Douglas McGrath
Pamela Norris*
David Sheffield*
Terrence Sweeney

Full Doumanian run:
Larry Arnstein & David Hurwitz
Ferris Butler
John DeBellis
Jean Doumanian
Brian Doyle-Murray*~
Leslie Fuller

Shorter tenure:
Mason Williams (head writer, Gould through Carradine)
Jeremy Stevens & Tom Moore (head writers, Sharkey through finale)
Nancy Dowd (Gould and McDowell only)
Sean Kelly (Gould and McDowell only)
Mitchell Kreigman (Gould through Carradine)
Mark Reisman (Harry through finale)

Post-hiatus hires:
Mitchell Glazer
Judy Jacklin
Tim Kazurinsky*
Matt Neuman~
Michael O’Donoghue*~
Tony Rosato*
Dirk Wittenborn

An essay regarding the season as a whole will follow in a subsequent post.

Tom Davis and Nelson Lyon

Cancer claimed two former SNL writers this week.  Nelson Lyon, a writer for the 1981-82 season, died Tuesday of liver cancer at the age of 73.  Two days later, Tom Davis, one of the show’s original writers and a returning contributor to the show following Lorne Michaels’ re-arrival, succumbed to throat and neck cancer at 59.

Tom Davis (second from right, with (l-r) Sarah Paley, Liz Welch, and Bill Murray, Franne Lee and Matt Neuman in background)

Davis was a prominent figure in the show’s history, responsible for many of the well-known sketches such as Coneheads, Final Days, and got more than a few complaints with his and Al Franken’s Stunt Baby, X-Police, and First He Cries.  He appeared on camera fairly often through his tenure on the show, usually in tandem with Franken, and at one point landing “featured player” status with the other tenured writers for 1979-80; he also provided countless voiceovers for sketches.  He left with the original writers in 1980, then returned along with Lorne Michaels and Al Franken five years later.  Franken and Davis produced the poorly-received 1985-86 season (with Michaels as executive producer).  When Michaels took a more direct involvement with the show the following season, Davis was gone, but not for long: he rejoined the writing staff in January 1987 and stayed through the 1993-94 season.  He contributed sketches on 12 shows between 1997 and 2004, including “Leather Man” with Jimmy Fallon and Horatio Sanz.

Nelson Lyon (right, with Mary Gross)

Lyon was more of a shadowy, underground figure; a collaborator of Michael O’Donoghue’s probably known more for his sex comedy “The Telephone Book” and his association with John Belushi during his final days.  Lyon contributed to O’Donoghue’s “At Home With The Psychos” (with Terry Southern and Rosie Shuster) and penned “The Mild One”, an existential biker sketch featuring Bruce Dern.  He had a handful of on-camera appearances as well, as a prisoner, a bodyguard and Josef Stalin.  Lyon’s impact on SNL may be less apparent than Davis’, but as the basis for O’Donoghue’s “Mr. Mike” and a key part of the unique tone of the 1981-82 SNL, it should not be underestimated.

Classic SNL Review: April 11, 1981: (no host) / Jr. Walker & The All Stars (S06E13)

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

OPENING: STOREROOM
-Due to cutbacks at NBC, Chevy Chase is forced to change in a storage room holding cobweb-covered artifacts from the old show.  When he finds Mr. Bill (voice of Walter Williams) among the props and costumes, the two of them reminisce about the good old days.
-Although this was a shamelessly calculated attempt to link the retooled show with the original five years, it did get the audience in the right mood: they give big rounds of applause for Chase, the cobweb-covered Land Shark head, Mr. Bill, and the obligatory pratfall from Chase that preceded the “Live From New York…” line.  Once you saw Mr. Bill you had an idea what was coming, but I thought Mr. Bill’s mangling coming from Chase carelessly picking away at him, etc. worked.
-They worked in a dig at Chase starring in Oh, Heavenly Dog!, and the line “Yeah, you’re a little late, but they all are!” refers to the delay of the fall television season caused by the actor’s strike the previous year.
-Props seen/used: Bees Costumes, Coneheads prosthetic heads, the NBC Dancing N, the Land Shark head.  There are also boxes upon boxes of Bambu rolling papers.
***

MONTAGE
-A collection of still photographs taken around New York City by Patti Perret, with no animation or camera pans and zooms, ending with the camera pulling out to reveal the last shot is on a display stand on home base before a stagehand carries it away.
-The cast appear in random snapshots with text a simple white font for the main cast, and no text for featured players.  Among the highlights: Robin Duke’s slide of her posing while holding up a dress in front of a mannequin is crooked (you can see the film sprockets), Tim Kazurinsky is getting a haircut, Gail Matthius stares blankly while crawling between two carousel hourses, Eddie Murphy blows out candles on a birthday cake, and Laurie Metcalf reclining on top of a ping-pong table.  The picture of Joe Piscopo has to be seen to believed.
-I particularly like the shot of the Statue of Liberty.
-The band reverts back to the original 1975-79 theme song.
-Incidentally, two of the new cast additions can be seen on the local station promos advertising SCTV right after tonight’s show on my copy (from WNBC): Robin Duke is in the one right before the cold opening, and Tony Rosato can be seen at the end of the one that airs before the Wedding Day sketch.

SHOW: DRIVE FOR AMERICA
-Frank Sinatra (Joe Piscopo) solicits support for the American auto industry through guilt trips, jingoism and openly bashing the Japanese.
-I do have to give credit to Piscopo’s Sinatra impression, but right off the bat I’ll say that all the anti-Japanese slurs were very cringe-worthy, even if they tie in well with the whole theme of the sketch.
-Of the three other castmembers appearing in the sketch, Rosato did OK with a relatively serviceable part, Matthius had an excellent “little girl” voice (although the pathetic facial expression was a bit much), and Kazurinsky had the best part (especially the sight gag with him raising his amputated arm by mistake).
-Former featured player Yvonne Hudson makes a non-speaking appearance as the nurse pushing Matthius’ wheelchair.
**1/2

COMMERCIAL: LITE BEER
-In a bar, Bill Cosby (Eddie Murphy) recommends Lite Beer to a table of young children, because regular beer’s too heavy for them.
-Funny concept, with some good lines (“By the time you’re nine you’ll be drinking like a 37-year-old”).  The whole thing has a very loose feel to it and is mostly an excuse for Murphy to do his impression of the Cos, but was a good sendup of how he seemed to pitch anything back then.
-Denny Dillon is the waitress, but has no lines.  Talent coordinator Liz Welch can be seen at the table behind Murphy and the kids, sitting with the two African-American extras (is that Hudson?  I’ll add her to the sketch listing once I get a corroboration).
***

SKETCH: I MARRIED A MONKEY
-A cuckolded husband (Tim Kazurinsky) confronts chimpanzee wife Madge about her affair with his best friend (Tony Rosato).
-This really gets the audience going: they like Madge enough and respond well to her (particularly when she starts drinking the sugar bowl), but what really makes this memorable is the blooper with the “baby” not wanting to let go of the trainer to go onstage.  Kazurinsky gets applause after his line about Madge having turned the baby against him.
-Kazurinsky acquits himself well in this sketch, and does a good job of playing off some of the chimps’ unexpected behavior.  For all the cheesiness of the concept (right down to the old-timey soap opera organ stings), Kazurinsky commits to it, and that helps the sketch.
-Rosato’s character’s name is Mike Short, a shout-out to Martin Short’s older brother, a writer who worked with both Kazurinsky (on Big City Comedy) and Rosato (on SCTV).
***1/2

MISCELLANEOUS: JOHNNY CASH AT SPANDAU PRISON
 -A brief fake NBC promo slide.  Definitely a Mr. Mike bit.
***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “ROADRUNNER/SHOTGUN”
-Robin Duke promises she’ll have more to do next week (oh, the irony) before talking about how they used the original SNL theme again, and how that was written with Walker’s sound in mind.
-Walker is very energetic and his band has a very spare and simple sound; very back-to-basics R&B.

WEEKEND UPDATE I: WITH CHEVY CHASE
-At the beginning, an intense announcer with a British accent reads in an exaggerated tone (that reminds me of a goofy Paxton Whitehead impression for some reason) that Weekend Update is sponsored by “Smitt-Burney” who makes money “the old-fashioned way: we steal it”.  I’d love to know who is doing the voiceover: it’s not Pardo and doesn’t sound like anyone in the cast.
-Best joke: Bad day for the Little Engine That Could.
-The audience gives a lot of applause for Chase sitting at a recreation of the old Weekend Update set from the first seven shows, and he keeps the flashback alive by saying “You still aren’t”.  Unfortunately, his delivery seems to be really lax this time around, with a lot of pauses and speech fillers (“uh”).  Hill & Weingrad mention that when Chase was on the fence about showing up because it might cut into a movie shoot, Ebersol offered to let him fly back from Hollywood on the day of the show.  Whether or not that is what happened is yet to be confirmed, but it would account for why he’s essentially cameoing instead of serving as an official host, as well as for the sloppiness of this week’s Update.  The jokes themselves seem to be an improvement over the Doumanian WUs, though.  I wonder who was writing them, since Brian Doyle-Murray is not credited as a writer this week.
-In light of the allegations Mackenzie Phillips made in her memoir High on Arrival, the joke about her and father John announcing their wedding plans really comes off more disturbing than intended.
-Raheem Abdul Mohammed (Eddie Murphy) gives a review of Stir Crazy that reveals he was watching Altered States instead.  Not one of the better outings for the character, although this is the first time where they establish him as their film critic.  He isn’t quite as angry as he would become, and at the end offers to sell Chase some marijuana.
-Laurie Metcalf makes her only appearance as an SNL featured player in a short “man on the street” film where she asks people if they would take a bullet for the President.  This was an odd segment: it was played completely straight in the wake of the recent assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan.  I give them credit for doing something different and tasteful, though.  Once the film ends, the band starts playing and goes to commercial.  Some places list Weekend Update as one segment for this episode, but for the purpose of this review I will list them as two separate bits.
**

WEEKEND UPDATE II: WITH CHEVY CHASE
-Best jokes: Jean Harris, Microwave Baby
-Pardo introduces Chase this time around.  Chase reprises more of his old Weekend Update bits, including the nose picking, Franco Dead (which gets a little applause), the “nations of” joke.  There are a few better jokes than in the other segment but Chase is still half-assing it.
-The “Microwave Baby” joke refers to a Mrs. “Nelson Lyon”, a shout-out to the Telephone Book writer-director, who O’Donoghue would bring onto the writing staff next season.  That joke has to be another Mr. Mike contribution.
-Al Franken brings back his “Al Franken Decade” routine, including his name appearing superimposed whenever he mentions it, to explain the show’s tumultuous season and ask that viewers send letters requesting that NBC “Put SNL To Sleep” (but not before next week’s show with him, Tom Davis and the Grateful Dead).  While Franken says he doesn’t want to be cruel to Jean Doumanian, this bit is essentially SNL formally disavowing the past twelve shows, and the audience applauds Franken for saying he has nothing to do with the new show.  He gets in a dig at Chase (“Then, Chevy left. And the show, of course, got even better”), and doesn’t spare new producer Dick Ebersol either, sarcastically calling him “Mr. Humor” and playing up some questionable shows he brought to the network, such as The Waverly Wonders, Rollergirls, and Joe & Valerie (a promo for the latter’s April 1978 premiere is on Youtube, as well as the Rollergirls opening title sequence).  His conclusion: “he doesn’t know dick” about comedy.
-In a way it does feel like this is a potential final episode, because the Writer’s Guild of America strike had began that day (Chase alludes to it after one of his jokes bomb); knowing the rest of the season (including the Franken & Davis / Grateful Dead show, as well as a Dan Aykroyd-hosted show for April 25) had to be scrapped makes Franken’s commentary seem even more like it’s a part “SNL is dead, long live SNL”, and part pouring gasoline on the studio, lighting a match and walking away.
***

MUSICAL SKETCH: “SAME”
-Irene Cara (Gail Matthius) sings about how tedious it is for her to keep singing “Fame” over the past year.
-What turned out to be Gail Matthius’ last hurrah was a funny parody of “Fame”.  Her singing’s a little dodgy/shouty in this one but the bit was enjoyable and helped increase the show’s energy.
-I especially dug the outro with Matthius and the dancers exiting out of Studio 8H to the music.  Still adds to the “potential last show” feeling though.
***1/2

COMMERCIAL: THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS
-A new NBC series features holier-than-thou professionals one-upping each other on who takes their job the most seriously.
-Probably the best-written sketch all night, despite the tepid audience response.  It built on the joke nicely, with a nice payoff in the form of Eddie Murphy as a patient demanding the right to die with dignity (for a flesh wound).  O’Donoghue’s narration worked for me too.
****

SKETCH: WEDDING DAY
-Italian Papa (Tony Rosato) imparts Old World advice to son Frank (Tim Kazurinsky) on his wedding day, but tensions between the two build to shouting matches.
-A slower, somewhat sweet character piece with a bit more emotional depth.  Rosato does alright, but Kazurinsky is better in the straight role.  I prefer the second appearance of these two characters a little better just because while the obscene gesture fight toward the end of this one was a little funny, the big fight in the other one was a bit more impressive.
**1/2

COMMERCIAL: THE FAMOUS BROADCASTER’S SCHOOL OF CUE-CARD READING
-Pitchman (Joe Piscopo) betrays the quality of the school’s education on discreet card reading and camera switches.
-Pretty one-joke but goofy enough for it to work.  Best part in this was Kazurinsky as the cue-card holder repeatedly turning his head to read the address of the card he’s holding.
-The logo for the school looks so cheap!
***

MISCELLANEOUS: FRIENDS
-Chevy Chase thinks Saturday Night Live is bouncing back, but friends Christopher Reeve and Robin Williams don’t back him up on that.
-Not really going to rate this as it’s mainly a musical guest intro with a few cameos, just thought it warranted a mention.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “HOW SWEET IT IS/WHAT DOES IT TAKE”
-”How Sweet It Is” is a bit more relaxed, but I really thought “What Does It Take” was the best song they did all night, with the band sounding more intense than ever.

COMMERCIAL: WILD COUNTRY GUN CARDS
-Families bond when they learn about different species of firearms together.
-An old sketch: there is a still photo on Gettyimages that shows the original cast performing this sketch (mislabled as the “Lupner skit”) at a dress rehearsal sometime in season 2, with Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin as the parents, and John Belushi and Gilda Radner as the children.  Knowing that kind of ruins the sketch for me because I can’t help but compare Rosato’s more relaxed delivery with how I would imagine Aykroyd would do it.  The casting seems a little odd too (Piscopo is usually the patriarch in family sketches, while Duke usually played children the next season). Dillon actually works in the Radner role, though.  Nice dark ending with them shooting what they thought was a burglar.
-Addendum: Dennis Perrin confirms this was another Michael O’Donoghue sketch.
**1/2

FILM: “BAG LADY”
-Offscreen voices criticize a homeless woman (Denny Dillon) for being derivative of other downtrodden characters in media.
-The film Neil Levy discusses being suckered into taking credit for by Dick Ebersol in Live From New York.  It’s not quite as bad as he makes it out to be: without the overdubbed voices it would have come across as mawkish.  While still pretty unremarkable, it was good enough as a filler piece.
-Matthius and Duke are two of the offscreen voices.  Any idea who the others are?
**

GOODNIGHTS
-Chevy Chase kisses Madge while Kazurinsky thanks the audience.  The chimps’ trainer Dave Sabo joins Chase, the All-Stars and the cast on home base.  Irene Cara (Gail Matthius) and her dancers come down the stairs for a reprise of “Same”.
-The original broadcast ends at the Eaves-Brooks credit and Matthius breaking character to say “You gotta put me down now, Chevy!”.  The full goodnights (on the repeat version aired on Comedy Central) have Matthius and the dancers going around the studio.  The credits are in a different font than normal; acting coach Del Close is credited as “House Metaphysician”.

Final Thoughts:
Not a bad first outing for Dick Ebersol.  A little over-reliant on the nostalgia, yes, and Chase’s lazy performance prevented the Weekend Update doubleheader from being a highlight, but there are no truly bad sketches.  Murphy and Piscopo both appear in one fewer sketch each than new regulars Rosato and Kazurinsky, the latter standing out above the others tonight.  Poor Robin Duke and Laurie Metcalf don’t make as big impressions, while Emily Prager doesn’t even show up in tonight’s show.  This show doesn’t exactly feel much like a triumphant return, though: as I said a few times in the review, this show had a feeling of them knowing it could very well be their last show, and it gives the whole show a bittersweet aura.  Even the use of the 1980-81 home base sets made it feel a little like everyone snuck into an abandoned building right before demolition to have one last party.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
-The Self-Righteous
-Al Franken commentary (Weekend Update II)
-Same
-I Married A Monkey

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:
-Bag Lady
-Weekend Update I

MVP:
Tim Kazurinsky

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:
cast:
Denny Dillon: 4 appearances [Storeroom, Lite Beer, Wild Country Gun Cards, Bag Lady]
Robin Duke: 2 appearances [The Self-Righteous, Wild Country Gun Cards], 1 voiceover [Bag Lady]
Tim Kazurinsky: 5 appearances [Drive For America, I Married A Monkey, The Self-Righteous, Wedding Day, The Famous Broadcaster's School of Cue-Card Reading]
Gail Matthius: 2 appearances [Drive For America, "Same"], 1 voiceover [Bag Lady]
Eddie Murphy: 4 appearances [Lite Beer, Weekend Update I, The Self-Righteous, Wild Country Gun Cards]
Joe Piscopo: 4 appearances [Drive For America, The Self-Righteous, The Famous Broadcaster's School of Cue-Card Reading, Wild Country Gun Cards], 1 voiceover [Lite Beer]
Tony Rosato: 5 appearances [Drive For America, I Married A Monkey, The Self-Righteous, Wedding Day, Wild Country Gun Cards]

featured players:
Laurie Metcalf: 1 appearance [Weekend Update I]
Emily Prager: 0 appearances [credited in montage]

non-cast:
Yvonne Hudson: 1 appearance [Drive For America]
Michael O’Donoghue: 1 voiceover [The Self-Righteous]
Liz Welch: 1 appearance [Lite Beer]

guests:
Jr. Walker & The All-Stars: 2 appearances ["Roadrunner/Shotgun", "How Sweet It Is/What Does It Take?"]
Chevy Chase: 4 appearances [Storeroom, Weekend Update I, Weekend Update II, Friends]
Al Franken: 1 appearance [Weekend Update II]
Christopher Reeve: 1 appearance [Friends]
Robin Williams: 1 appearance [Friends]
Walter Williams: 1 voiceover [Storeroom]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
September 26, 1981
Known alterations: ”Drive For America” and “Bag Lady” are removed; “60 Minutes” from Karen Black (s06e07) and “Mister Robinson’s Neighborhood” (s06e11) are added.  Opening montage removes blurry picture of the World Trade Centre and replaces it with a shot originally seen later in the montage; it also segues into I Married A Monkey.  Full closing credits.

Additional screen captures from this episode can be seen here.

Classic SNL Review: March 7, 1981: Bill Murray / Delbert McClinton (S06E12)

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

OPENING: DRESSING ROOM
-Bill Murray advises the cast not to worry about the negative reviews and comparisons to the original show.
-This was the first time the show openly acknowledged the bad press that they’ve been getting all season.  Later seasons with bad publicity tended to sour the mood of the show whenever they referred to how bad the show was, but I didn’t get that feeling from this opening.  While Murray does in a way playfully validate a bit of the criticism (Rocket copying Murray, Gottfried’s sad-sack demeanor), bringing up the criticism only to adopt an attitude of “it just doesn’t matter” helped a lot.
-A lot of the credit for the success of this segment rightfully belongs to Bill Murray, who just has a way of infusing a scene with energy.  The audience cheers the loudest it has all season for the Live From New York line here.
-ADDENDUM: The whole cold opening is a reference to a scene in Meatballs, right down to the shirt Murray is wearing.
***1/2

MONOLOGUE
-A manic Bill Murray has the band play the theme again and picks up an audience member, nearly dropping her on her head.  Eddie Murphy rushes out to stop him, and the two declare themselves a new Pryor and Wilder by declaring “we bad”.
-Right away, Murray brings the energy in what is easily the most memorable of the season 6 monologues.  Murphy and Murray play off each other well, with laughs from Murphy saying “we terrible, gimme 15!” and dismissing Murray’s suggestion of the two doing an Irish jig as “bad and dangerous”.
-Murray is the first host to enter the home base set through the elevator instead of the stairs; the only time the elevator had been used all season was in the Gould monologue (he still used the stairs) and in the Handgun Association commercial from the Karen Black show.
***1/2

FILM: FORMULA FOR THE GOOD LIFE
-New Jersey chemical plant worker Paulie Herman (Joe Piscopo) is proud of his job and of where he’s from.
-I liked this a bit better than the other Paulie Herman bits this season for some reason; maybe its just that the pre-filmed aspect took a bit of the edge of his irritating qualities or that the character worked better in a documentary context.
-Nice little sight gag there with Paulie talking about how lunch tastes better at the plant before a bunch of white powder spills from his hat onto his food.
***

SKETCH: THE WRITER
-While a writer (Bill Murray) makes revisions to his script, actors performing the scene behind him struggle to keep up with the changes.
-This was such a simple idea, but still so clever and so well done, that it’s a highlight of the season.  This escalated nicely and had a good ending.
-While Murray was the perfect choice to serve as the anchor of the piece, special mention has to go to the castmembers involved: they do all the comic business and mix their “performances” as Murray’s characters with great reactions to the last-minute changes he makes.   There’s a sense of fun to their performances here that seemed absent through a lot of the last few shows, especially the part where Matthew Laurance and Ann Risley struggle to hold their pose.
-I especially thought Risley had a good part in this, as the actress who is either removed from the scene or forced to be the pitiful, sickly maid.
-Addendum: Ferris Butler informed me that this was a Billy Brown and Mel Green piece.
*****

SKETCH: ALTERED WALTER
-Just-retired Walter Cronkite (Bill Murray) alarms wife Betsy (Denny Dillon) and Dan Rather (Joe Piscopo) with his obsessive experiments in drugs and isolation chambers.
-I have to give credit for the interesting concept (a parody of Altered States with Walter Cronkite) as well as the topicality of this sketch (this original aired the day after Cronkite’s last day as CBS Evening News anchor), even if it did stetch on a little long.  I still thought it was fairly well done if not hilarious, and ended on a strong note (with Cronkite turning into a test pattern).
-The trip sequences, while well-done, did feel a little like padding (although with excellent music choices, including Frank Zappa’s Uncle Meat Variations).  I’ve never been a fan of Piscopo’s Dan Rather, but Murray carries the whole piece anyway.
-One thing I noticed about 1980-81 is that they always seemed to try to squeeze in three segments between commercial breaks, excluding musical guests and Weekend Update, and usually not really late in the show.   I think the emphasis on doing a lot of shorter material ended up hurting the season in the long run: although longer sketches have the danger of seeming indulgent or tedious, a lot of the time I’ve been seeing underdeveloped ideas, and packing the show with so many sketches seems to make them seem longer.
***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “GIVING IT UP FOR YOUR LOVE”
-Bill Murray introduces McClinton as someone who once sang with Jake Blues, and mentions Bonnie Bramlett joining him tonight.
-Tight and energetic performance of McClinton’s only Top 40 hit, with SNL Band members Ronnie Cuber, Lou Marini, Alan P. Rubin and Tom Malone playing alongside regular McClinton saxman Robert Harwell.

SATURDAY NIGHT NEWSLINE: SCIENCE BREAK WITH DR. JONATHAN LEAR (MARK KING)
-The news segment gets another major overhaul for the third time this season, split into three shorter segments spaced throughout the show’s middle third: no Pardo voiceover introducing any of the segments.
-This was amusing and kept short; it reminds me of the Dr. Jack Badofsky segments Tim Kazurinsky would do in the following seasons: both featured a guy with an exaggerated nerdy voice displaying jokes on cards.
-Too many places list this Mark King as the same one that was in Level 42; this is the Mark King appeared on Cheers about two seasons later as a nerdy scientist character Carla fools into thinking he’s the father of her baby.
***

COMMERCIAL: CHAPSTICK
-Autograph seeking girls (Denny Dillon and Gail Matthius) find that Dr. J., Sammy Davis, Jr. (Eddie Murphy), John Kenneth Galbraith (Joe Piscopo) and Roman Polanski (Gilbert Gottfried) have adopted “ChapStick” as their surnames.
-This is a spoof of the ChapStick commericals (“Suzy ChapStick” is the best known example, but the version with “Dr. ChapStick” was airing at this time; this is a parody of that commercial).  I chuckled at the absurdity of the girls getting excited over Galbraith, but the Roman Polanski part with the girls going in with him just felt a little tasteless (though I though Matthius wailing “Roman Polaaaaanskiiiiiii” was funny).
-Who was playing Julius Erving?
**

SATURDAY NIGHT NEWSLINE: ARTS & LEISURE WITH BILL MURRAY
-Murray bringing back his “Oscar Nominations” board for the fourth year in a row went over well with the audience, and after his usual “nobody cares” remark about supporting actors.
-More notable for the sentimental quality of nominating his former castmates than anything funny, although the big “Caddyshack” magnet slapped on the board for Best Picture was funny.
***

SKETCH: NICK RIVERS
-Aboard a riverboat paddling down the Mississippi, lounge singer Nick (Bill Murray) and pianist Paul Shaffer entertain a crowd including a former hostage (Yvonne Hudson) and some Mary Kay representatives (Denny Dillon and Gail Matthius).
-Another sentimental favorite brought back.  Murray carries this, and he and Shaffer get the audience going with their version of “Celebration”.
-Neil Levy plays the magician at the beginning, and costume designer Karen Roston can be seen among the lounge patrons, as can Patrick Weathers.
***1/2

SATURDAY NIGHT NEWSLINE: WITH CHARLES ROCKET
-Best joke: Welles / Winters
-Still nothing great, but Rocket seems comparatively toned down this week, despite still adopting a Bill Murrayesque delivery.  I wonder how this would have played out if they kept him on.
-Piscopo’s bit seemed a little weaker than usual.  Dom Irrera and Dennis the recurring extra are the two hockey players.  Rocket pokes fun at his F-bomb in the last show by asking “Did you say Puck?”
**

FILM: “CUT FLOWERS” – MARY PAT KELLY
-A florist (Bill Murray) tries to find just the right flower for an exacting customer (Brian Doyle-Murray).
-This was directed by the show’s associate producer, who was Murray’s sister-in-law at the time; Murray’s then-wife is credited with the idea for the short.
-I thought this one had a good payoff, and it looked and sounded significantly better than a lot of the films that ran this year.  Very nice use of tight closeups.
-This was shot at the Associated Cut Flower Company on West 28th St. in New York; incidentally, they are wholesale only and do not sell to retail customers as depicted in the film
-Looks like Dennis the recurring extra is in here as well (he’s the first person you see in the film).
***

COMMERCIAL: NO SEX WITH MARY
-Despite leaving Bendix for Seagram’s, Mary Cunningham (Gail Matthius) still can’t get away from executives making suspiciously specific denials that they sleep with her.
-This is another topical sketch based on a real story at the time: Mary Cunningham resigned from a corporate position at Bendix due to speculation that she was promoted because of a relationship with the CEO, and had just gotten a new position at Seagram’s at the time of the show’s original airing.
-Basically a one-joke premise, with the executives all denying affiars, but decent performances from all (Rocket seems very reigned-in), especially Matthius with her non-verbal mortified reactions.  Gottfried (as the janitor) gets the biggest laugh from me with his “I think she’s frigid” comment after his denial.
-Dennis the recurring extra is Jim Deacon, and has one line (“No”).
**1/2

SKETCH: CAT’S NAME
-Frustration rises as Richard (Bill Murray) and Marilyn (Ann Risley) struggle to remember the name of their friend Ron’s (Matthew Laurance) cat.
-This feels like a sketch that could play in any season, largely getting laughs from how universal the situation would be.  Murray gives good energy and carries the whole scene, but I also thought Risley did alright here.  I wonder how she would have played if she was used more like Kristen Wiig was in the earlier years of her tenure.
-One observation: they establish it to be a female cat earlier on but the name ends up being Herman.
***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “SHOTGUN RIDER”
-A more laid-back tune this time.  Good performance from McClinton and Bramlett.

SKETCH: BUBBA’S WASH, FAYETTA’S DRY
-Divorced couple Bubba (Bill Murray) and Fayetta (Denny Dillon), still sharing their laundromat after marriage has ended, snipe each other about their new significant others.
-A slower character piece that has some surprising emotional moments towards the end: good work from both leads here.
***1/2

GOODNIGHTS
-Bill Murray announces that next week’s show will be Robert Guillaume with Ian Dury & The Blockheads, and apologizes to the old cast for appearing on the show.
-The cast gives him a one-sided group hug.  Murray seems more interested in bonding with Murphy, who hugs Patrick Weathers as well.  Charles Rocket wears horrific pink pants.
-No Don Pardo credit voiceover; judging by the runtime of the Comedy Network version, the show must have run long and had the goodnights cut off on original broadcast.

Final Summary:
The Jean Doumanian era ends on a high note; while Karen Black’s show had a few more peaks, Murray brought an energy that seemed to erase the combination of defeat and panic that lingered over the last few shows.  Rocket’s over the top tendencies were reigned in, Risley seems to find her niche, and everyone seems to be having fun again.  The reduction in the number of sketches seems to have also helped tonight.  Most importantly, I didn’t have a feeling of “this may be our last show”; if the show had continued with the same cast, writers and producer, I wonder if they would have come up with for Guillaume / Dury.  NBC would fire Doumanian the next week, and when the show returned the next month, Rocket, Risley and Gottfried were no longer in the cast, and the writing staff was now without Larry Arnstein & David Hurwitz, Ferris Butler, John DeBellis, Brian Doyle-Murray and Leslie Fuller.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
-The Writer
-Nick Rivers
-Monologue
-Dressing Room
-Bubba’s Wash, Fayetta’s Dry

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:
-Newsline (Rocket/Piscopo segment)
-ChapStick

MVP:
Bill Murray

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:
cast:
Denny Dillon: 6 appearances [Dressing Room, The Writer, Altered Walter, ChapStick, Nick Rivers, Bubba's Wash Fayetta's Dry]
Gilbert Gottfried: 3 appearances [Dressing Room, ChapStick, No Sex With Mary]
Gail Matthius: 4 appearances [Dressing Room, ChapStick, Nick Rivers, No Sex With Mary]
Eddie Murphy: 4 appearances [Dressing Room, Monologue, ChapStick, Nick Rivers]
Joe Piscopo: 6 appearances [Dressing Room, Formula For The Good Life, Altered Walter, ChapStick, Newsline, No Sex With Mary]
Ann Risley: 3 appearances [Dressing Room, The Writer, Cat's Name]
Charles Rocket: 4 appearances [Dressing Room, The Writer, Newsline, No Sex With Mary]

featured players [none credited in montage]:
Yvonne Hudson: 1 appearance [Nick Rivers]
Matthew Laurance: 3 appearances [The Writer, Altered Walter, Cat's Name]
Patrick Weathers: 1 appearance [Nick Rivers]

non-cast:
Ronnie Cuber: 2 appearances [Monologue, "Giving It Up For Your Love"]
Lawrence Feldman: 1 appearance [Monologue]
Tom Malone: 2 appearances [Monologue, "Giving It Up For Your Love"]
Lou Marini: 2 appearances [Monologue, "Giving It Up For Your Love"]
Chris Palmaro: 1 appearance [Monologue]
Leon Pendarvis: 1 appearance [Monologue]
Karen Roston: 1 appearance [Nick Rivers]
Alan P. Rubin: 2 appearances [Monologue, "Giving It Up For Your Love"]
David Spinozza: 1 appearance [Monologue]
Buddy Williams: 1 appearance [Monologue]

guests:
Bill Murray: 9 appearances [Dressing Room, Monologue, The Writer, Altered Walter, Newsline: Arts & Leisure, Nick Rivers, Cut Flowers, Cat's Name, Bubba's Wash Fayetta's Dry]
Delbert McClinton: 2 appearances ["Giving It Up For Your Love", "Shotgun Rider"]
Bonnie Bramlett: 2 appearances ["Giving It Up For Your Love", "Shotgun Rider"]
Mark King: 1 appearance [Newsline: Science Break]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
Not repeated on NBC.

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.