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: 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.

SNL Season 36: Still ill.

I wrote last year about how SNL was showing signs of severe creative fatigue, with an over-reliance on recurring material, and a higher number of disappointing shows than in seasons past.  I mentioned that unless the show took steps to fix some of these very noticeable signs of wear, the show is only going to get worse.

SNL is still sick.  I would argue it’s a bit worse than last season, ever so subtly.  There weren’t any violently obvious symptoms like with last season, but the times when it appears to be firing on all cylinders are fewer and further between.

First off, I will concede that they did make a few good moves this season.  There was an infusion of new talent into the show at the start of the season with the addition of Paul Brittain, Taran Killam, Jay Pharoah and Vanessa Bayer.  This was a good decision because Killam and Bayer have made their mark on SNL very fast, demonstrating their ability to be good utility players and given the right chances will be the backbone of a new cast once veterans like Bill Hader, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis and Kristen Wiig decide to leave for more lucrative offers.  The other two didn’t fare quite as well: Jay Pharoah had a strong start on account of his impression ability but had a rougher second half of the season, and is still too green at live sketch comedy to fully integrate into the show.  Paul Brittain kept the lowest profile on the show, with an awkwardness reminiscent of Jenny Slate, and he stuck to filling the useless roles like a male counterpart to Abby Elliott, but had a few gems like Sex Ed or the Hallmark Cards for Norman Bates types.

I’m also going to give them credit for a more interesting host selection.   This is the year that we’ve seen quite a few former hosts and other guests return to the show after long absences: the show brought back Robert DeNiro (last host gig: 2004), Gwyneth Paltrow (2001), Dana Carvey (2000), Jim Carrey (1996) and Jeff Bridges (1983).  We also got a show hosted by Elton John (last booking: 1982 as musical guest), who performed his musical numbers with Leon Russell, who last appeared on the show in 1976 (and still looked like an old mountain man even in his 30s).   There were also left-field bookings like Helen Mirren, and more recent hosts like Jon Hamm, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Tina Fey, and Justin Timberlake made welcome returns even when the results were sub-par, which sadly was the case for most except for Hathaway.  Even the show’s requisite kowtow to the idiot demographic with Miley Cyrus proved to be the exception rather than the rule.

Whatever positive steps the show’s been taken has ended up being mitigated by the lame writing.  There seems to be a desperation to make any sketch that got laughs the first time around recurring: sketches like the 90-year-old reporter, What’s That Name and the Merryville Trolley did not necessarily need to be brought back for a second go around (although in the case of What’s That Name, the second go-around was actually funnier).  They also milked the Wikileaks and Julian Assange material for every last drop in December.  Like last year, the show is even reaching into even older sketches to bring back, from a sequel to the “Bunny Business” soundtrack (“Horse Play”), to Kenan Thompson’s soiled clothing merchant Googie Rene, to Kristen Wiig’s over-excited prize lady Cheryl Bryant.  A real sign of how bad it has become is the cold opening to the Scarlett Johansson show with the Hu Jintao/Barack Obama press conference, a pathetically lazy rewrite of a cold opening that appeared less than a year earlier, distinguishable only from the other sketch because Bill Hader took over the role of the Chinese leader from departed cast member Will Forte.   I actually wouldn’t have been surprised if they had tried to reprise Saundra’s House Of Massage with Jeff Bridges.  Way too many hosts, like Bryan Cranston or the aforementioned Galifianakis, were also wasted on material such as “The Bjelland Brothers” (Cranston and Fred Armisen singing a song consisting entirely of one line about a bottle of sparkling apple juice) or “Celebrity Scoop” (an entertainment gossip show with Canadians -played closer to the Minnesotans of Fargo- being polite and apologizing about how “the rohds are clohsed”).

Also disconcerting was number of sketches that made homosexuality the punchline.  We got yet another Affectionate Family sketch when Paul Rudd hosted, and while I do commend the level of commitment to the sketch the cast goes to (particularly Bill Hader), WE GET IT ALREADY.  There was also a lame sketch in this year’s Jon Hamm show involving homoerotic tension between CHiPs expys, and the Elton John episode had a drawn out sketch involving a gay cowboy.  It’s known that writers James Anderson and Paula Pell are openly gay and have been linked to some of the gay-themed sketches in the past, and I supposed by having the content on the air in itself shows how far acceptance of gay-themed entertainment has gotten, but I don’t think it helps when it lacks any real humor or bite to it.  Bill Hader’s Stefon character is the exception, largely due to the lengths that Hader and the writers go to with the randomness of the different nightspots and activities Stefon recommends.

There is still a lot of dead weight in the show.  The show’s writing staff still has far too many people to function effectively.  Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers, finishing his tenth season with the show and fifth as head writer, has outstayed his welcome and the show cries for a new direction.  There are still five current SNL writers who have stuck around as long or even longer than Meyers (not counting Lorne Michaels): Jim Downey, Steve Higgins, Paula Pell, James Anderson, Erik Kenward and Doug Abeles.  Five additional writers have been with the show five seasons or more.  This is a little less than half the writing staff.  Only two of last year’s four new writers came back for 2010-11 and several new writers joined as well, but I wonder if they are getting much on the show or if the veterans are muscling them out.

The cast is also filled with people taking up space.  Abby Elliott, despite getting promoted to full cast this year with fellow 2008 rookie Bobby Moynihan, is essentially furniture that can do the occasional impression and is a contender for the most useless regular cast member since Finesse Mitchell.  There had been suspicion that the main reason she was kept around so long was due to her famous lineage (daughter of Chris Elliott and granddaughter of Bob Elliott), nepotism (apparently she is writer/producer Steve Higgins’ niece), or the rumor of her being romantically linked with Fred Armisen, but those things would be less of an issue if she actually made more of a contribution on the show.  Speaking of Armisen, it’s more than obvious he is long past his prime on the show, usually playing interchangeable foreign dictators making outdated pop culture references or droning on in interminable cold openings with his weak Barack Obama impression.  With his new sketch comedy show Portlandia getting positive notice, Armisen would probably benefit if he committed to that full-time instead of his watered-down antics on SNL.  Kenan Thompson is also long overdue to leave the show, as we’re not likely going to see anything from him that we haven’t seen already: bad impressions and bug-eyed mugging.  Several other cast members had disappointing years (most notably Bobby Moynihan).  Kristen Wiig’s walking collections of tics and twitches were on shorter leashes this year, though, and Wiig actually decided to retire Penelope and Gilly after one appearance each this year because both characters had been played out.  She still had a few annoying moments (particularly with her Secret Word actress character Mindy Gracin), but she had a better season this year, and her performance in the movie Bridesmaids reminded me of what I used to enjoy about her before SNL started stretching her thin.

SNL’s condition has deteriorated mainly due to the cancer of complacency and coasting on three-year-old goodwill from the election material.   There have been a few notices about how lame SNL’s been getting in the few years (most recently a stunningly accurate critique by Slate.com’s Nathan Heller calling the show “The embarrassing uncle of American comedy“), but a lot of them were more focused on particular episodes (such as the January Jones debacle from 2009).   Despite this, it doesn’t seem like the producers and writers think anything is wrong with the show the way it is.  In a sense that has been keeping the show from descending into another 1980-81, 1985-86 or 1994-95: those seasons were not only savaged by critics and audiences, but one also got the impression that the negative reaction was starting to affect the show’s atmosphere, leaving a taste of despair in a lot of the weaker shows.  Watch the goodnights from the Sarah Jessica Parker episode from 1994 to see what I mean.

But not letting the most virulent criticism get to you is not the same as ignoring severe problems with the show.  The staleness has been lingering for years now and the stench is starting to get pungent.  At least when the show was at its worst they took quick emergency measures to fix the show.  I do hope for next year that the creative powers-that-be realize they need to operate, or we’re going to watch the show suffer and decay even further.

Classic SNL Review: May 22, 1982: Olivia Newton-John / The SNL Band (S07E20)

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

OPENING: THE PIG MEETS OLIVIA
-Skanky Paulette Clooney (Robin Duke) runs into her idol Olivia Newton-John in the ladies’ room.
-My recording from Classic SNL starts a little late and I didn’t feel like digging the tape from the box, but what I saw was alright, if not anything great (I’m not big on “recurring SNL character meets celebrity playing themselves”), carried largely by Robin Duke, who provided the biggest laugh of the sketch by wiping her armpit with a piece of paper towel.  Her dancing as she left the left the restroom was also amusing.
-Nice bit of continuity with her mentioning Petey (Tim Kazurinsky’s character from the first “She’s A Pig”).
-They seemed to get a good bit of mileage out of Robin Duke’s waifish figure as this is the first sketch which makes reference to her small bust (which her character decides to enlarge via paper towel).
***

MONTAGE/TALENT ENTRANCE
-The SNL Band gets their only acknowledgment in the opening credits in the Ebersol era (they are credited as musical guest), which is their last montage mention until 1986, when G.E. Smith and the band would become more prominent in the show.  Paul Shaffer, Ray Chew, Joe Caro and Sammy Figuroa are not pictured but credited at the end.  For the purposes of the guest rundown I am including the SNL Band collectively as a “guest”.
-Michael Davis is referred to as “special host”.
-Mel Brandt announces Olivia and the cast of Saturday Night Live but the cast doesn’t post on-stage with her.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “PHYSICAL”
-Alright performance.  Olivia had good energy and it’s nice to see the whole SNL band on stage (with the horn section making a contribution to the chorus).  She also made use of the whole main stage set and went into the audience.  Still feels a little cheesy though, especially after all those great performances the show had this season.
-One observation: one of the male backup singers has a cast on his right arm.

COMMERCIAL: TRANS-EASTERN AIRLINES [RERUN FROM 11/07/81]

SKETCH: EBONY & IVORY
-Frank Sinatra (Joe Piscopo) and Stevie Wonder (Eddie Murphy) prepare to record a new “Ebony and Ivory” duet that’s more fitting with the former’s style.
-If there’s a reason to watch this episode, it’s definitely this sketch, an undisputed classic and one of the best examples of Piscopo and Murphy at their peak together, which wouldn’t be the same for long (see the goodnights).
-Piscopo also gets some recognition applause right at the beginning when he appears as Sinatra.
-The part where Sinatra and Wonder sing the new version together is the highlight, especially at the lines “You are blind as a bat and I have sight / Side by side you are my amigo, negro, let’s not fight!”
-There is a boom shadow visible in the first show; as well, this sketch continues the convention the show used to have about displaying the real time on any clocks on the set.
*****

SKETCH: I MARRIED A MONKEY IV
-Tim discovers his chimpanzee bride Madge is now a nun of the order of the Seventh Day Horizontalists.
-Kind of flat.  The main laughs in the sketch come from the monkeys antics (particularly Madge sucking the teapot spout before pouring some into the cup, and baby Ronnie sneaking onto the chair behind Tim and hopping onto the table), but it’s basically a retread of the other sketches.
**1/2

SKETCH: PEARLY GATES
-Adolf Hitler (Tim Kazurinsky) tries to get past St. Peter (Tony Rosato) by dressing as Mother Teresa, but The Colonel (Graham Chapman) thinks the whole thing’s too silly.
-Rosato is fine as usual in his straightman role, and I have to giggle a bit at the premise, but if they were going to use a Monty Python member, I still can’t help but think that it should have been a better sketch than this.  It kind of felt like a copy of “Endings” from Chevy Chases’ ’78 show (it doesn’t help that both involved a Twilight Zone cutaway) and it felt like a wasted opportunity.
**1/2

COMMERCIAL: NOT A RECORD AD
-Whatever this product is, it’s amazing, but it’s not a record.
-Fillerish but it does have some funny non-sequiturs (particularly the dilemma of Tony Orlando rearranging your furniture and animals billing you for long distance calls).
***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “MAKE A MOVE ON ME”
-I liked this song a bit better than the first number.

SNL NEWSBREAK WITH MARY GROSS, CHRISTINE EBERSOLE AND BRIAN DOYLE-MURRAY: COMMENTARY BY GRAHAM CHAPMAN, TIM KAZURINSKY, OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN AND EDDIE MURPHY, SATURDAY NIGHT SPORTS WITH JOE PISCOPO
-Best joke: Sex without partners on the QE2, Nancy Reagan’s family
-After last week’s shorter installment, this week’s Newsbreak is back to 15 minutes long.
-Mary Gross and Akira Yoshimura are back for a segment in which Mary found “Arnold Schwarzenegger” outside a bar in the East Village called the Anvil.  I think this might be my favorite of the Mary/Akira pairings just for the fact that not only does Akira not look/sound anything like Arnold (or make any attempt to for that matter), he’s also wearing the Conan the Barbarian outfit which for some reason makes him look so much funnier.
-after airing a banned ad for The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball which ends with him revealing he’s wearing a tutu and garter belt, Chapman apologizes for any desecration of the US Flag or mocking of the Moral Majority.  Chapman only got mild applause when he is introduced and the end where he stands up and reveals a garter and an American flag Speedo (shades of Show Your Patriotism?) felt a little predictable.  Brian Doyle-Murray gets one up on him for wearing a garter and tutu himself as he gets up to shake his hand.
-Tim Kazurinsky comments on the glut of self-help books flooding the market.  It felt like a warm-up for some of Kazurinsky’s other commentaries, namely his Salute To Journalism feature and a few other book reviews where he uses that same sarcastic tone.  There are some good lines, particularly Kazurinsky’s assertion that Dr. Wayne W. Dyer looks like he “pulls his own string”.  He also ends with probably one of the more directly angry lines on the show about how these books sell so many copies while small-minded towns burn The Catcher In The Rye.
-Next is the return of SNL Newsbreak’s favorite crutch in the last third of the season, the photo montage, this one being two minutes devoted to Sophia Loren in prison for tax evasion, using stills from her previous film roles.  Whatever chuckles coming from the audience there were, they seemed to die off pretty fast.  Brian Doyle-Murray gets a good line at the end about how European values have stars thrown in jail while Americans put stars in the White House.
-Olivia Newton-John gives a commentary about Secretary of the Interior James Watt, listing his ethical issues as well as his callous disregard for the environment.  This segment was too straight and too earnest to really be funny.  It would fit in as a cold opening for the show in 2010-11.
-Joe Piscopo raises the energy level with his final Saturday Night Sports for the year, turning more into a prop comic while displaying potential new athlete-endorsed products.  Best one: Secretariat for ballpark franks.  Piscopo also ends the segment with a pull-string doll saying his catchphrase and gets a few laughs by pushing the doll into Brian Doyle-Murray’s face.
-Eddie Murphy gets the highlight of the week’s Newsbreak with his commentary about prom night and that fathers shouldn’t fool themselves into thinking their daughters won’t be having sex because “everybody gets it on prom night”.
**

GUEST PERFORMANCE: MICHAEL DAVIS
-Davis demonstrates his oral juggling abilities by sucking and spitting ping-pong balls and hard-boiled eggs.
-Davis cartwheels onto the stage and is funny, engaging and impressive as usual.
-Best joke: “If I were to swallow this ball…it would hurt.  (pause) Twice.”
****

SKETCH: BUZZ WORDS
-Businessmen (Tim Kazurinsky, Joe Piscopo, and Eddie Murphy) communicate in corporate-speak but when one is fired, he can’t comprehend the others’ euphemisms
-The show slips quality-wise with this not particularly funny sketch, which suffers also from a largely dead audience.  Lame punchline too.
-Eddie Murphy finally realizing that he’s fired and yelling at his co-workers was the only highlight, particularly his switch from his angry bellow to his “normal” voice.
**

SKETCH: SANDY’S CURSE
-Geeky Rydell High students Norma (Mary Gross) and Kathy (Robin Duke) don’t exist in the same social strata as Sandy (Olivia Newton-John), Rizzo (Christine Ebersole), Danny (Tony Rosato) and Kenickie (Brian Doyle-Murray).
-Interesting idea and I thought Robin Duke and especially Mary Gross did a good job here (watch Gross’s gestures and facial expressions during  the “Grow boobs grow” chant).
-Olivia Newton-John didn’t really add much aside from just showing up and Brian Doyle-Murray as Kenickie seemed more funny just because the man always comes across as middle-aged this season even if he’s not trying to be.  He always looked old for his age, which is even more obvious when you realize Seth Meyers is now older than he was back then.
-More flat-chest jokes at Duke’s character’s expense.  As well, I can’t believe they actually used the word “retard” in this sketch, coming from Mary Gross’ mouth no less.
***

COMMERCIAL: SPORTS ORGAN CLASSICS
-Bring the excitement of the ballpark back to your living room with a songbook of Sports Organ Classics.
-Another meh sketch.  Tony Rosato’s exaggerated facial expressions when he was playing the organ were funny as well as him playing “Hava Nagilah” when “the Blausteins from next door” arrive (an obvious joke, yes).   Otherwise, it feels like they didn’t have enough material for the whole show (exhaustion perhaps) and they came up with this in five minutes.
-I’ve heard from someone that the young man on the far right watching the game is John Murray, younger brother of Bill and Brian.
**

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “LANDSLIDE”
-Christine Ebersole, Mary Gross and Robin Duke introduce Olivia by each saying a part of her name.
-This was the weakest of the performances.
-The percussionist playing the timpani is Ray Chew, who is now the music director for American Idol.

COMMERCIAL: THE CLAMS [repeat from 10/03/81]

GOODNIGHTS
-Joe Piscopo mentions that Eddie Murphy’s going to be filming a movie with Nick Nolte that summer; during the credits, still images show highlights from the season just concluded.
-Of course, we all know what movie Eddie Murphy was filming, and by the time the show returned in the fall, he would cement his position as the dominant cast member.
-Tony Rosato can be heard yelling “How ’bout that band, huh?”
-Going by the still photos, the producers must have been especially proud of the Daniel J. Travanti, Blythe Danner, Bill Murray and Tim Curry shows, but there were also a few shots from John Madden and one of Robert Conrad.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Aside from the classic Ebony & Ivory sketch and a great as usual performance by Michael Davis, this episode is a bit of an anticlimax like most SNL season finales are.  Olivia Newton-John didn’t really contribute a whole lot to the show besides three okay music performances, and Graham Chapman’s appearance was a little disappointing.  The last half of the show also gets weighed down by weaker material and while nothing is truly awful (even the weak sketches are over with quickly), it’s a largely forgettable show that gets boosted by one very good sketch.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
-Ebony & Ivory
-Michael Davis

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS
-SNL Newsbreak aside from Eddie Murphy
-Buzz Words
-Sports Organ Classics

MVP
Eddie Murphy & Joe Piscopo

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN
cast
Robin Duke: 2 appearances [The Pig Meets Olivia, Sandy's Curse]
Christine Ebersole: 2 appearances [SNL Newsbreak, Sandy's Curse]
Mary Gross: 4 appearances [I Married A Monkey, Pearly Gates, SNL Newsbreak, Sandy's Curse]
Tim Kazurinsky: 5 appearances [Ebony & Ivory, I Married A Monkey, Pearly Gates, SNL Newsbreak, Buzz Words]
Eddie Murphy: 3 appearances [Ebony & Ivory, SNL Newsbreak, Buzz Words]
Joe Piscopo: 5 appearances [Ebony & Ivory, Pearly Gates, SNL Newsbreak, Buzz Words, Sports Organ Classics]
Tony Rosato: 4 appearances [Ebony & Ivory, Pearly Gates, Sandy's Curse, Sports Organ Classics]
featured player
Brian Doyle-Murray: 4 appearances [Pearly Gates, SNL Newsbreak, Sandy's Curse, Sports Organ Classics]
non-cast
John Murray: 1 appearance [Sports Organ Classics]
Akira Yoshimura: 1 appearance [SNL Newsbreak]
guests
Olivia Newton-John: 6 appearances [The Pig Meets Olivia, "Physical", "Make A Move On Me", SNL Newsbreak, Sandy's Curse, "Landslide"]
Graham Chapman: 2 appearances [Pearly Gates, SNL Newsbreak]
The SNL Band: 3 appearances ["Physical", "Make A Move On Me", "Landslide"]
Michael Davis: 1 appearance [Guest Performance]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
August 21, 1982

Additional screen captures from this episode can be found here.

I will be doing a final post about the season and cast in general following shortly.

Classic SNL Review: May 15, 1982: Danny DeVito / Sparks (S07E19)

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

OPENING: ANDY KAUFMAN WRESTLING TEASER
-A short clip of Andy Kaufman’s April 5 wrestling match against Jerry Lawler with voiceover from Piscopo teasing Kaufman’s first time wrestling a man.
-I’m not going to review this as it is too short to really comment on and it’s strictly a teaser for a segment later on in the show.  As well, my recording begins about halfway through the opening montage.

MONOLOGUE
-Danny DeVito announces that Taxi has been cancelled by ABC, to the audience’s dismay.  He reads a letter from his mother Julia that bad-mouths the network.  Because the season finale was taped two months earlier and the cast did not know the network was cancelling the show, Danny then introduces castmates Andy Kaufman, Christopher Lloyd, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza and Judd Hirsch for a belated final bow.
-DeVito comes off as an engaging and enjoyable host right away, and it’s no surprise that he would end up doing the show five more times as host.
-Even though this wasn’t a strict comedy monologue, this gets the show off to a good start.  The audience response was really strong going by the applause DeVito gets at the beginning, their boos at ABC for cancelling Taxi, and the standing ovation they give the cast as they all assemble on stage.
-You can see Marilu Henner through the window on the set…she’s obscured by  the cloudiness of the glass but it’s her going by the outfit she’s wearing.
-Of course, NBC would pick up Taxi for the next fall.
****

FILM: TAXI
-Louie DePalma (Danny DeVito) gets his revenge on ABC.
-A good companion piece to the monologue.
-Of course, in a post-9/11 world, Louie bombing the ABC headquarters via remote control would NEVER be allowed on the air.
****

SKETCH: WHINERS
-Aboard an airplane, Doug (Joe Piscopo) and Wendy Whiner (Robin Duke) complain loudly to a stewardess (Mary Gross) and the man in the seat next to them (Danny DeVito).
-The audience gives Piscopo and Duke recognition applause right at the start of this sketch, which really felt too similar to the last one.  I also find Duke and Piscopo’s voices really grating in these sketches, which was probably the effect they were going for. Duke’s Wendy Whiner moan reminds me a little of Julia Sweeney as Pat.
-The main thing this sketch had going for it was DeVito, who was an excellent foil for the Whiners, and a great ending where after being nagged repeatedly by Doug and Wendy to be careful with a package of china, DeVito aggressively kicks and shakes the box while the couple is distracted by “What I Did For Love” on their headset, all the while mimicking their repeated admonitions in a nasal, mocking voice.
**

SKETCH: STRESS TEST
-Bill’s (Danny DeVito) excitement over his promotion is short-lived as a perfect storm of personal crises converge.
-I apologize that the sketch name gives away the twist at the end of the sketch, but all the episode guides (including the official show sketch titles) call it that or a variant of that.
-DeVito stumbled a little at the beginning but again was a good straight man for all the antics in the sketch.
-I really enjoyed Joe Piscopo’s smug snake co-worker character commenting as the drug dealer (Eddie Murphy) gives DeVito some cocaine and threatens him with a knife for not paying, but the others had some good moments, particularly Christine Ebersole screaming “YOU ANIMAL!” at DeVito for giving her herpes and Mary Gross’ orgasmic moans over the speakerphone.
-The twist with it all being a test the CEO orchestrated to see how Bill handles pressure was pretty funny, especially the denouement with DeVito muttering and growling while holding a knife.
***1/2

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “MICKEY MOUSE”
-Ron Mael, toothbrush-mustached keyboard player and songwriter for Sparks, prefaces the number with a lecture about the mouse.
-Crunchy, guitar and synth heavy power-pop, but the real fun is the contrast between energetic lead singer Russell Mael and his brother with the Hitler mustache.  Ron’s facial expressions and upstaging activities make the performance for me, especially the part where they cut to the different band members singing and Ron is just smiling creepily.  Plus, Ron gets his own dance solo during the instrumental break.

MISCELLANEOUS: NEXT WEEK
-Tim Kazurinsky has Danny DeVito guess who next week’s special guest is.
-Good break from the usual format, which also felt like this was a way for them to get rid of a little extra time.

SNL NEWSBREAK WITH MARY GROSS, CHRISTINE EBERSOLE AND BRIAN DOYLE-MURRAY: MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT DR. JACK BADOFSKY (TIM KAZURINSKY), WEATHER WITH LOU GRANT (TONY ROSATO)
-Best joke: Death penalty in NJ/Rely tampon
-An improvement over the past several SNL Newsbreaks, partially because of a shorter running time (only 12 minutes) and also because they don’t use the photo montage like they had been the last few weeks, even if they still use their other crutch, the crawl with names.  Still not great, but it doesn’t weigh down the show as much as it had been the last few weeks.
-Dr. Jack Badofsky gets a big round of applause, but this was one of the weaker outings this season, with more groan-worthy puns.
-Mary Gross gets an amusing “ditzy correspondent” segment, thanks largely to the dog that’s supposed to be playing “Sandy” spooking (you can hear him growl) and she makes a few adlibs as she tries to get him back on the bench.  She also gets a good adlib after another one of Brian Doyle-Murray’s marblemouth moments.
-Falkland Island Rorschach Crawl was alright, again preferable to the photo montage bits they did the last few shows, with some unintentional humor coming from Doyle-Murray and Ebersole having time to kill before the crawl finishes.
-Tony Rosato returns as Lou Grant, fresh off his just-cancelled CBS drama and reduced to doing the weather, where he promptly changes the subject and appeals for aid in El Salvador before Doyle-Murray tells him that Grant Tinker has cancelled the weather report.  For some reason I like Rosato’s Asner/Lou Grant a little more this time in spite of the makeup job (they didn’t do a great job on John Belushi when he played Lou Grant either).  The whole thing where Lou Grant claims he fixed Tinker up with Mary was a little cute for my liking.
***

SKETCH: SOLOMON AND PUDGE
-Solomon (Eddie Murphy) and Pudge (Joe Piscopo) discuss the Falkland Islands.  Wino buddy Willie (Danny DeVito) reunites with his friends in time to watch Solomon dance.
-This sketch was again carried by the chemistry between Piscopo and Murphy, although the mood was distinctly lighter than the previous Solomon and Pudge sketch.  DeVito’s character was a good addition and fit the mood of the sketch.
-Best line was Solomon talking about the “Puerto Ricans in the Falklands!” and Thatcher being “out of her Falkland mind”.
-Eddie Murphy doesn’t really appear in this episode much; this is his only starring role and he only appeared in one other sketch before and none after.
***1/2

MISCELLANEOUS: KAUFMAN VS. LAWLER
-Brian Doyle-Murray interviews Andy Kaufman about his April 5 match against Jerry Lawler and shows highlights.  Kaufman announces he will never wrestle again and apologizes for his past matches against women.
-When I first saw this episode, I thought this segment was boring, particularly because it was a wrestling match framed by what looked like a straight interview between Doyle-Murray and Kaufman, even though Kaufman had a good line about wrestling women bigger than Jerry Lawler.  Since it became known that the “feud” between Kaufman and Lawler was actually as staged as any other professional wrestling storyline and the two were actually close friends, I have to admire their commitment to the hoax.
-As well, the wrestling match also plays pretty well as a slapstick/silent movie type deal with Kaufman mocking Lawler, running away and putting Lawler in a headlock only to get slammed with a pile driver.
-Funniest moment for me: when Lawler taunts Kaufman “Are you here to wrestle or act like an ass”, the commentator (Lance Russell) repeats the comment but pauses and says “so and so” instead of “ass”.
****

COMMERCIAL: ENZO
-Ozzy Osbourne (Tim Kazurinsky) touts the enzymatic mouthwash’s ability to remove various animal parts from his teeth.
-Slightly fillerish.  The funniest part was Robin Duke as the groupie slurring “Wowts rull min-tee” and swigging from the bottle in the last shot.
**

COMMERCIAL: COME ON OUT AMERICA [RERUN FROM 03/27/82]

SHOW: TABLE TALK
-Tony Rosato demonstrates how to intimidate the wine steward (Nate Herman).
-Rosato is in fine form here.  I’ve finally figured out that he reminds me a LOT of Jason Sudeikis, because they both can play both the straight and support roles as well as somewhat boorish, obnoxious types.   I’d say he was the perfect choice to do this segment and he carries it well.
-The part where Rosato does a quick devilish laugh after demonstrating his displeasure to the wine steward reminds me of Vic Salukin after his crank call.
-Nate Herman reportedly was a last-second fill-in for a regular cast member.  For all the screen time the original writers of SNL got, Ebersol and Doumanian didn’t really give their writers many bit parts (except for Andy Breckman) so for a writer to have a big role as this is rare.
***1/2

SHOW: LOOKS AT BOOKS
-Karen Block (Mary Gross) interviews “A Hard Day’s Reich” author Dr. Simon Radlauer (Tim Kazurinsky), who asserts the Beatles stole their ideas from the Nazis.
-While the doctored Beatles covers were funny, the joke really runs out of steam and it doesn’t really feel like they worked too hard on fleshing out the idea.
-This is notable for being the only time the show would use the title “Looks At Books” after the original cast left.  Most of the time Ebersol book review show sketches would be “Book Beat”
-Gross’ exaggerated delivery at the beginning was a little irritating.  Also, if the Nazi music records were supposed to be LPs then that would be an anachronism seeing that the 33 1/3rd RPM LP wasn’t developed until after the war.
**

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “I PREDICT”
-You can see Danny DeVito dancing on the side stage as the band starts playing.
-Another catchy number.  Ron seemed to be cracking up a little at Russell at one point.
-One of the song’s jokes (pointed out elsewhere): the prediction that the song will fade out, but it actually ends cold.

GOODNIGHTS
-Danny’s mother Julia DeVito (who’s even shorter than he is) curses out ABC in Italian to cheers from the cast and audience.
-A few audience members can be seen standing up in the balcony, evidently trying to start another standing ovation.  It doesn’t take.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Easily one of the highlights of the season and definitely a highlight of the later part of the year.  Danny DeVito was the strongest host the show had in a while, perhaps since Bill Murray, and while the show still had a few stumbles, overall the cast and writers seemed to have a good night.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
-Monologue/Taxi Film
-Kaufman vs. Lawler
-Table Talk
-Stress Test
-Solomon & Pudge

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:
-Looks At Books
-The Whiners
-Enzo

MVP:
Danny DeVito

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:
cast
Robin Duke: 2 appearances [Whiners, Enzo]
Christine Ebersole: 3 appearances [Stress Test, SNL Newsbreak, Enzo]
Mary Gross: 4 appearances [Whiners, Stress Test (voice only), SNL Newsbreak, Looks At Books]
Tim Kazurinsky: 4 appearances [Next Week, SNL Newsbreak, Enzo, Looks At Books]
Eddie Murphy:  2 appearances [Stress Test, Solomon and Pudge]
Joe Piscopo: 4 appearances [Wrestling Teaser (voice only), Whiners, Stress Test, Solomon and Pudge]
Tony Rosato: 4 appearances [Stress Test (voice only), SNL Newsbreak,  Enzo, Table Talk]
featured players
Brian Doyle-Murray: 3 appearances [Stress Test, SNL Newsbreak, Kaufman vs. Lawler]
non-cast
Nate Herman: 1 appearance [Table Talk]
Yvonne Hudson: 1 appearance [Whiners]
Neil Levy: 1 appearance [Whiners]
guests
Danny DeVito: 6 appearances [Monologue, Taxi, Whiners, Stress Test, Next Week, Solomon & Pudge]
Sparks: 2 appearances ["Mickey Mouse", "I Predict"]
Andy Kaufman: 2 appearances [Monologue, Kaufman vs. Lawler]
Tony Danza: 1 appearance [Monologue]
Marilu Henner: 1 appearance [Monologue]
Judd Hirsch: 1 appearance [Monologue]
Christopher Lloyd: 1 appearance [Monologue]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
September 18, 1982
Known alterations: Next Week is removed, The Khaddaffi Look (from 10/03/81) is added.

Additional screen captures are available here.

Classic SNL Review: April 24, 1982: Robert Culp / The Charlie Daniels Band (S07E18)

RATING SYSTEM:
***** – Classic
****   – Great
***     – Good / Average
**        - Meh
*          - Awful

OPENING: TENNIS CLUB
-Kelly Robinson (Robert Culp), reduced to pushing towels at the tennis club, runs into his “I Spy” buddy Alexander Scott (Eddie Murphy), still living the high life and plugging products.
-A decent opening.  Culp seemed to be overdoing it with his delivery and Eddie had a few stumbles but this was one of the better segments of the night, and making fun of Cosby’s tendency to plug products always makes me laugh.
-The segments with Piscopo as John McEnroe throwing a tantrum because Culp said his towel wasn’t “in” the hamper and Kazurinsky as Billie Jean King (telling Culp “Hold my balls” while she used the restroom) were a little obvious but funny nonetheless.
-I also liked how the ending tied it into “The Greatest American Hero”.  Who was that playing Ralph in this sketch?
-You can hear an audience member shout “Eddie!” when Murphy makes his entrance in this sketch.
***

MONTAGE
-This is one of the earliest episodes where the audience response for Eddie Murphy is considerably louder than for the other cast members, at least, this is the first one where I really notice it.

MONOLOGUE
-After being told that they don’t do the monologue anymore due to the number of non-comedian hosts, Robert Culp tries to demonstrate his stand-up comedy skills.
-Culp was very nervous and fidgety throughout this really quick monologue, and even him delivering a joke poorly wasn’t funny in itself.   It came across as desperate instead of self-deprecating.
*

COMMERCIAL: MIDDLE AGE OF AQUARIUS
-Mary Travers (Christine Ebersole) pitches an album of altered 60s hits for the flower child that ditched peace and love for materialism and stock options.
-This was written by Joe Bodolai and is a companion piece to Jesus In Blue Jeans from the James Coburn show back in February.  I have to say the earlier one was a better piece overall, but the audience response to this was strong, and it had some amusing song titles just like the other one (I like “Why Don’t We Do It In The Bank?”)
-The audience really loved “If I Had A Valium”.
-I guess this sketch falls under “it’s funny because it’s true”.  As Patti Smith once lamented, “My generation, we had dreams, we had dreams man and we fuckin created George Bush!”
***

SKETCH: EGG & SPERM
-After a woman’s (Christine Ebersole) bad one-night stand, one of her partner’s sperm (Tim Kazurinsky) tries to pick up her egg (Mary Gross) in her uterus.
-A weaker sketch.  I kind of felt that the whole thing played as too cutesy with the wordplay about “Labor Day”.  There were still some amusing moments like Gross asking Kazurinsky “Who the hell are you?” when he entered and disgustedly pointing out he was “nothing but…sperm!”
-The highlight was Kazurinsky realizing another particularly drunk sperm (played by Tony Rosato) was not from his own group and then yelling upward “You slut!” towards Ebersole.
-Robert Culp only makes a brief appearance at the beginning but he still seemed very nervous in the sketch.
-Brian Doyle-Murray appears at the end wearing a very thick wig…I wonder why they didn’t use his normal hair this time?  He usually did when he was playing nondescript small roles like this one.
**

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “STILL IN SAIGON”
-Robert Culp introduces The Charlie Daniels Band holding a frightened baby wearing a “Greatest American Hero” outfit.
-This song is about a Vietnam veteran with PTSD, one of a few songs that started coming out at that time when the plight of the Vietnam veteran was becoming well-known.  Stevie Wonder’s “Front Line” and Billy Joel’s “Goodnight Saigon” came out that same year.  Good performance, seems a little more rockish for Daniels.

SNL NEWSBREAK WITH MARY GROSS, CHRISTINE EBERSOLE AND BRIAN DOYLE-MURRAY: COMMENTARY BY TIM KAZURINSKY AND EDDIE MURPHY, SATURDAY NIGHT SPORTS WITH JOE PISCOPO
-Best jokes: White House set their clocks to 1932.
-Another overlong SNL Newsbreak segment (15 minutes) with another long photo-montage, this week about the length of time the Royal Navy took when going from Portsmouth, England to the Falkland Islands.  There were a few funny pictures (they gay pride parade shot being used for the crowd) but the audience tired of this fast, and it’s becoming obvious how much of a crutch these bits are.
-The Royal Navy bit was four minutes when combined with the portion where Brian Doyle-Murray draws the navy route on the map, spelling “slow” in cursive handwriting.  I could see where this was going fast.
-The jokes this week were also considerably weak, with a terrible joke about the city of Stanley changing its name to Puerto Argentino, leading to a bad Laurel & Hardy joke.  Several other jokes died hard.  Thank goodness for the commentaries.
-Tim Kazurinsky’s commentary about the baby boomers giving their kids “jerky” names was pretty amusing, particularly when he got to the fake “real” names for Ricardo Montalban and Ronald “Ebeneezer Pennypincher” Reagan.
-Mary Gross’ dash from ABC to CBS when she realizes she’s reporting from the wrong network was amusing as well, and a break from overusing Akira Yoshimura.
-Joe Piscopo has a merely OK Saturday Night Sports about George Steinbrenner trading away the Yankees’ best players.  The audience loved it as usual.
-Related to an item on NASA launching their first black astronaut in space and mentioning a racist backstage joke, Eddie Murphy comments on how the resemblance between black people and monkeys is a myth, giving different examples and even bringing out a hirsute crew member (actually writer Barry W. Blaustein) and comparing body hair.  This was quite funny, and the best commentary of the night.
**

SKETCH: PARTY GIRL
-Two out-of-towners (Brian Doyle-Murray and Joe Piscopo) take the porter’s (Eddie Murphy) suggestion to hire a “party girl” while attending a dental convention, but Mavis (Robin Duke) has a different idea of what kind of party they want.
-The audience wasn’t really into this, but I thought it was a funny enough sketch, carried by a good performance by Duke in her only appearance tonight.  Piscopo was also amusing as the guy who seemed to be enjoying himself, and Eddie Murphy steals his scenes as the porter, giving his character a kind of nasal older-guy voice.
-The bit where Duke’s character has Piscopo and Doyle-Murray chasing her to pin the tail on her and they end up in each others arms reminds me of something they did with the Roxbury guys in the 90s.  Piscopo can be seen sticking his tongue out!
-This sketch uses the same bedroom set as Sperm & Egg, and a boom shadow is visible at the very beginning.
***

COMMERCIAL: JAMES BROWN IS ANNIE
-The Godfather Of Soul, James Brown (Eddie Murphy) brings his own style to the title role of the musical.
-The best segment of the entire show, with Eddie Murphy doing his classic James Brown impression with the added visual of him wearing a red wig and dress.
-This is very similar to James Brown’s Celebrity Hot Tub, performed a year and a half later; his “Tomorrow” is basically the same music and rhythm as the Hot Tub song.  Hot Tub was a more fully fleshed out idea so I would have to say that was the better sketch, but this was very good, and I especially liked that they worked Brown’s cape act into it.
****

FILM: “BABIES IN MAKEUP” [RERUN FROM 01/23/82]
-Mary Gross introduces an encore presentation of the film by mentioning the hate mail they got over it the first time it aired in January, adding “Hope you get it this time.”

COMMERCIAL: HAPPY’S MAYONNAISE PALACE
-Happy (Eddie Murphy) advertises all-mayonnaise dessert treats at his Carvel-esque parlor.
-Another Eddie Murphy solo showcase.  This one was written by Mark O’Donnell according to the music publishing database.
-This was more silly and fun than outright funny, but I did like Murphy slowly changing his voice into the high-pitched screechy “Aunt Jollity” voice and the camera switching back to Murphy before he was finished his “uncle’s” spiel.  Eddie also breaks character a little bit after the “Aunt Jollity” routine.
-For some reason, the graphic of “Maynard the Clown” cracks me up.
***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “THE DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA”
-Another good performance.  I have a feeling most of SNL’s viewers wouldn’t care about another song off of Daniels’ then-new album so it’s appropriate they played their big hit tonight.
-That has got to be the highest number of giant hats and beards ever on stage for an SNL musical performance.

SKETCH: SUNKEN SUBMARINE
-Business as usual for the crew of the U.S.S. Cunningham, still stuck on the ocean floor with the life support systems intact for 19 years.
-My God, I hate this sketch.  Hate. Hate. Hate this sketch.  This is definitely the season’s low point and has got to be one of the five worst SNL sketches of all time.  Not only is it incredibly long (over 10 minutes), meandering and pointless, but there are also very long stretches where the audience is dead and for the most part the most they even give is a light chuckle.
-What’s amazing is how many jokes and gags really fall flat, from the wearing of the ship’s dress, to Kazurinsky’s character playing with string, to the command being misinterpreted, to Culp telling Rosato to call him skipper instead of captain.  I still have no idea whether Neil Levy pretending to be a dog or Culp eating a bowl of mush without a spoon was supposed to be funny.
-I did get a couple of mild chuckles from a few moments, like Culp saying “Damn! Same as yesterday!” when told the coordinates of their sub, and the AWOL ensign actually have being retired in one of the torpedo tubes.  Eddie Murphy also got the best reaction in the sketch when he yelled “Put your leg down!” at Levy’s character.  The difference in reaction between that and the rest of the sketch really illustrates what a giant bomb this sketch was.
-Evidently the producers could tell this sketch died, because they moved it to the end of the show in the rerun.  I’d call it a 10-to-1 sketch but because this was so incredibly long and the goodnights were also extended, this actually began at about 17-to-1.
-I can’t make out who most of the non-cast in this sketch are.  I think Nate Herman’s in the back; I’m not sure.
*

GOODNIGHTS
-Robert Culp kills time by trying more stand-up jokes.   Eddie Murphy gives him advice on delivery and demonstrates how Bill Cosby would tell the same jokes as the show closes.
-According to the credits, Paul Shaffer was sitting in with the SNL Band that week.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
A weaker episode, weighed down especially by the outstandingly shitty sunken submarine sketch, a below-average SNL Newsbreak, a lack of outstanding material except for “James Brown is Annie”.  This week’s show had a generally tired aura to it, relying on a rewrite of a commercial from February and the rebroadcast of a film from January.  Robert Culp didn’t seem to help matters much; he came across as an ill fit with the show pretty much all night and seemed nervous at times.  Most of the strong moments belonged to Eddie Murphy who had two solo showcases tonight, and it’s becoming obvious he is the fan favorite.   One thing I can’t fault the show for this year, though, is the musical guest selection.  It’s not quite as cutting edge or filled with big names as the original era, nor as avant-garde as 1980-81, but for the most part they’ve been solidly entertaining and Charlie Daniels Band was no exception.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
-James Brown Is Annie

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:
-Sunken Submarine
-Monologue
-SNL Newsbreak except for the commentaries
-Egg & Sperm

MVP:
Eddie Murphy

CAST & GUEST RUNDOWN:
cast
Robin Duke: 1 appearance [Party Girl]
Christine Ebersole: 3 appearances [Middle Age Of Aquarius, Egg & Sperm, SNL Newsbreak]
Mary Gross: 2 appearances [Egg & Sperm, SNL Newsbreak]
Tim Kazurinsky: 4 appearances [Tennis Club, Egg & Sperm, SNL Newsbreak, Sunken Submarine]
Eddie Murphy: 6 appearances [Tennis Club, SNL Newsbreak, Party Girl, James Brown Is Annie, Happy's Mayonnaise Palace, Sunken Submarine]
Joe Piscopo: 3 appearances [Tennis Club, SNL Newsbreak, Party Girl]
Tony Rosato: 2 appearances [Egg & Sperm, Sunken Submarine]
featured players:
Brian Doyle-Murray: 4 apperances [Egg & Sperm, SNL Newsbreak, Party Girl, Sunken Submarine]
non-cast:
Barry W. Blaustein: 1 appearance [SNL Newsbreak]
Ronnie Cuber: 1 appearance [James Brown Is Annie]
Lawrence Feldman: 1 appearance [James Brown Is Annie]
Neil Jason: 1 appearance [James Brown Is Annie]
Neil Levy: 2 appearances [Tennis Club, Sunken Submarine]
Tom Malone: 1 appearance [James Brown Is Annie]
Lou Marini: 1 appearance [James Brown Is Annie]
Alan P. Rubin: 1 appearance [James Brown Is Annie]
David Spinozza: 1 appearance [James Brown Is Annie]
guests:
Robert Culp: 4 appearances [Tennis Club, Monologue, Egg & Sperm, Sunken Submarine]
The Charlie Daniels Band: 2 appearances ["Still In Saigon", "The Devil Went Down To Georgia"]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
August 7, 1982

Additional screen captures not posted above are available here.

Classic SNL Review: April 17, 1982: Johnny Cash / Elton John (S07E17)

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

OPENING: “MAN IN BLACK”
-Johnny Cash sings “Man In Black” as his younger self (Tim Kazurinsky) undergoes character-forming experiences.
-Johnny Cash gets a big round of applause for his signature “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”, getting the show off to a good start.
-This was a pretty funny opening segment, particularly the still of the mother holding a black-clad baby, and the flashback sequences were pretty good.  Kazurinsky was the right choice to play the younger Cash, playing him more as a pip-squeak kid than attempting a real impression of Cash.  Having Kazurinsky say the requisite “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die!” in that high voice made the joke funnier.  Speaking of that scene, can anyone ID the older prisoner for me?
-Cash himself was pretty funny in a deadpan sort of way.  His delivery on some of the lines was a little off but I did particualrly like the fade from young Cash being admonished by his mama that he’s going to poke a hole in his face from twisting his finger on his cheek to middle-aged Johnny doing the very same, or to him singing with increased vibrato as Joe Piscopo gives him a massage.
-There seems to be a new design to the back set when the stage is lifted for the music performances.
-There were a few bloopers: you can see a single sheet of paper fall down at one point during Cash’s singing, and the camera goes black-and-white for a few seconds as Cash crosses over from the side stage.
****

SHOW: THE HONEYROONEYS
-Andy Rooney (Joe Piscopo) plays Ralph Kramden opposite Audrey Meadows’ (Chrstine Ebersole) Alice and Art Carney’s (Eddie Murphy) Ed Norton.
-I did get a few laughs out of the comments about the phony buildings and the “Ever want to send your wife to the moon?” line, but overall this wasn’t really all that funny and based on a thin premise, and the ending seemed a little hokey.  It doesn’t help that Piscopo’s Andy Rooney voice is so incredibly grating.
-Christine Ebersole gave a good performance as usual, and I did like Eddie Murphy’s Ed Norton.
**

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “EMPTY GARDEN (HEY HEY JOHNNY)”
-More big applause for Elton John, who appears with his classic band lineup of Nigel Olsson, Dee Murray and Davey Johnstone (his second SNL appearance this season, after appearing with Meat Loaf & The Neverland Express).  Elton John is the only musical guest this season to get a separate stage for his performances, as opposed to playing on the giant home base set.
-A sad, emotional performance befitting the song, John’s tribute to his friend John Lennon.  I wonder what it would have been like to hear this song when it originally came out less than 18 months after the “insect” killed Lennon.  Sometimes I wonder if I can fully grasp how sad that event really was considering Lennon has always been dead within my lifetime.  Coincidentally, I actually watched my recording of this episode the morning of December 8, the thirtieth anniversary of Lennon’s murder.

SKETCH: LAST REQUEST
-Death row inmate Frankie’s (Eddie Murphy) bluff is called when Johnny Cash fulfills his last request by singing the uncut “99,999 Bottles of Beer On The Wall”
-Eddie Murphy’s charisma carries this sketch, while Johnny Cash, despite being a little stiff, plays well opposite him by singing the song completely deadpan.
-The best moments in the sketch are purely visual, from Murphy’s gleeful dancing as Cash sings with utter seriousness, to the very bored warden and the older prisoner (who wails “This is cruel and unusual punishment!” at one point) playing cards as the priest munches on a burger and holds a soda.
-Murphy messes up his line towards the end: “That’s the warden! I mean, that’s the governor!”
***1/2

MISCELLANEOUS: NEXT WEEK
-Bill Cosby (Eddie Murphy) announces his old I Spy co-star Robert Culp will be the host next week
-Interesting way to shake up the Next Week formula.  I think the “It’ll make you smile” comes from Cosby’s Coke ads from that timeframe.

SNL NEWSBREAK WITH MARY GROSS, CHRISTINE EBERSOLE AND BRIAN DOYLE-MURRAY: MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT DR. JACK BADOFSKY (TIM KAZURINSKY), EDITORIAL BY EDDIE MURPHY
-Best joke: James Stewart/Ginger Rogers having sex from memory, albino baseball player.
-Another overlong segment; this one clocks in at 17 minutes.
-Mary Gross reprises her ditzy correspondent act in Red Square where she asks a Japanese tourist (Akira Yoshimura) if he’s seen the ailing Brezhnev.  I always find Akira Yoshimura’s deadpan, decidedly non-actor delivery funny in itself (especially considering his character is supposed to be Japanese but speaks with Yoshimura’s American accent) but it seemed a little off this time.
-There’s also another very long segment of still photos: over four minutes are dedicated to the different salutes of world leaders.  I’m of two minds of this, because I do appreciate the amount of effort that went into this one and it had a few funny lines and pictures (the one of Charles and Di with Charles’ limp wrist describing their wedding night), but it’s really clearly a crutch at this point and could have been much, much shorter.
-Speaking of things that could have been much shorter, the bit with Doyle-Murray and Ebersole discussing varying pronunciations seemed to stretch something that was purely the setup to a line about the different pronunciations of “Falk” too thin.
-Dr. Jack Badofsky (Tim Kazurinsky) returns for a third appearance, in which he discusses the different types of amputations.  The usual assortment of silly wordplay with a few highlights like Ramputations (weird lonely shepherds experience these), and Kazurinsky breaks character briefly after he delivers the line about using Krazy Glue instead of jelly leading to a Diaphragmputation, which makes this a little more memorable than the other installments.
-Christine Ebersole seems to flub a lot of her lines later in the segment.
-Last segment is Eddie Murphy reading a viewer letter accusing him of really boiling Larry the Lobster with a racially loaded comment about blacks’ supposed aversion to seafood, which led him to boil Larry in revenge.  Decent closure to last week’s episode.
**1/2

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: CASH MEDLEY “I WALK THE LINE”, “FOLSOM PRISON BLUES”, “RING OF FIRE”
-Good performance, and Cash really is beginning to look like he’s enjoying himself here, particularly during the “Folsom Prison Blues” guitar solo.
-Of note is that one of Cash’s guitarists in this appearance is a young Marty Stuart.

SKETCH: HAIL TO THE CHIEF
-Ronald Reagan (Joe Piscopo) is back from vacation and Ed Meese (Tony Rosato) has kept him in the dark about the Falklands situation.  Despite Meese’s best efforts, Margaret Thatcher (Mary Gross) and Leopoldo Galtieri (Brian Doyle-Murray) meet the President, who uses the situation to fulfill every actor’s dream by directing.
-Decent sketch, with Rosato in fine form as usual as Meese.  I particularly liked Mary Gross’ awkward reaction as Galtieri is about to kiss her under Reagan’s directions.
-Interesting use of Joe Piscopo in Reagan makeup strictly for the mirror’s “reflection” when the rest of the sketch is him doing the voice over only.
***

FILM: “JAY CLAY GETS DEPRESSED” BY TIMOTHY HITTLE
-A claymation man’s suicide attempt.
-A silly little film despite the dark subject matter; this also has an uplifting ending as Jay’s head bounces around and lands on his butt, and he realizes “I lost my head!”.
-The painting in the film is “L’Absinthe” by Edgar Degas
***

COMMERCIAL: TEGRIM
-Kathy’s (Robin Duke) friend (Christine Ebersole) tells her how to check for problem dandruff: shake her head over Johnny Cash.
-A brief but very enjoyable commercial parody, with possibly the best in-sketch use of Johnny Cash all night.  He didn’t have to utter a single word.
-Robin Duke really looks young here.  Speaking of Duke, this is her only on-camera appearance in a sketch tonight, not counting a voiceover-only role in the opening and appearances in the talent entrance and goodnights.  I never really noticed it until now but she really seemed to be struggling at the end of this season.  I always liked her as a performer but between her very limited appearances at the end of this season and a few other incidents in other shows (blown cue in Madden, Newsbreak piece not doing so well in Danner) I wonder if she was kept on because Ebersole was gone over the summer.  Duke made a good impression at the beginning of the season and in some other shows, but I’m seeing her get eclipsed by Ebersole and Gross a lot.  Fortunately Duke got a second chance next fall as well as the added bonus of joining the writing roster.
****

MISCELLANEOUS: FLASH AND SHOWMANSHIP
-Johnny Cash demonstrates how Elton John’s performance style has begun to rub off on him.
-Not really a rateable segment but the visual of Cash wearing the gaudy outfit and glasses was also a highlight of the show.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “BALL AND CHAIN”
-A catchy, uptempo song from Elton’s then current LP Jump Up!

SKETCH: TRAIN POET
-A man who loves passenger rail (Johnny Cash) waxes poetic about the rails to a commuter (Brian Doyle-Murray).
-Not really much in terms of laughs but it was a cute segment, even if the ending was a little sappy with Cash advising Doyle-Murray “If you take the train to work, you’ll never enjoy the ride”.
-Cash’s delivery is a little awkward at the beginning before he gets into the rhythm of the poem.
**1/2

SHOW: BLACK TALK
-Eddie Murphy shares his experience paying the power bill with buddy Clint Smith.
-Short, fillerish segment that depends mainly on Murphy’s charisma.  Good one-joke-and-out structure.
***

COMMERCIAL: REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE [rerun from 02/06/82]

GOODNIGHTS: “SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN”
-The cast really seems like they’re having a ball here, especially when they’re circled around Cash on the stage like children.  Eddie Murphy can be seen smiling and dancing while Robin Duke can be heard singing along at one point as the credits roll.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
This was an unusual show with a few weaker segments, and it felt kind of like halfway between a show and a week off for the writers thanks to the extra music performances in the show.  There was a considerably higher number of shorter pieces throughout this episode, while SNL Newsbreak lasted forever.  Cash, a limited host, stuck pretty well to his comfort zone but fortunately that comfort zone was itself something that could work well in sketches, and he seemed to be a good sport having a fun time that night.  Besides Cash, Eddie Murphy in particular seemed to dominate tonight, particularly in “Last Request”, the next week segment, SNL Newsbreak and Black Talk.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
-Tegrim
-”Man In Black”
-Last Request

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:
-The Honeyrooneys
-Train Poet
-SNL Newsbreak’s obvious padding

MVP:
Eddie Murphy

CAST & GUEST RUNDOWN:
cast
Robin Duke: 2 appearances ["Man In Black" (voice only), Tegrim]
Christine Ebersole: 4 appearances [The Honeyrooneys, SNL Newsbreak, Hail To The Chief, Tegrim]
Mary Gross: 2 appearances [SNL Newsbreak, Hail To The Chief]
Tim Kazurinsky: 4 appearances ["Man In Black", Last Request, SNL Newsbreak, Hail To The Chief]
Eddie Murphy: 5 appearances [The Honeyrooneys, Last Request, Next Week, SNL Newsbreak, Black Talk]
Joe Piscopo: 3 appearances [The Honeyrooneys, Last Request, Hail To The Chief]
Tony Rosato: 2 appearances [Hail To The Chief, Train Poet]
featured players:
Brian Doyle-Murray: 4 appearances [Last Request, SNL Newsbreak, Hail To The Chief, Train Poet]
non-cast:
Andy Murphy: 1 appearance [Train Poet]
Akira Yoshimura: 1 appearance [SNL Newsbreak]
guests:
Johnny Cash: 6 appearances ["Man In Black", Last Request, Cash Medley, Tegrim, Flash and Showmanship, "Sunday Morning Coming Down"]
Elton John: 2 appearances ["Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)", "Ball and Chain"]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
August 28, 1982
Known alterations: Next Week is removed.

Additional screen captures not posted above are available here.

Classic SNL Review: April 10, 1982: Daniel J. Travanti / John Cougar (S07E16)

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

OPENING: LARRY THE LOBSTER PHONE-IN VOTE
-Eddie Murphy interrupts a sketch as a chef (Tony Rosato) is about to boil a lobster, protesting the killing of a living creature.  Murphy names the lobster “Larry” and invites the home audience to determine his fate via a 1-900 number phone in vote.
-I wasn’t originally going to rate this segment because its purpose is to set  up a real vote the show had that night, but there was enough comedy mixed in to warrant a rating, from Murphy telling Rosato to “speak English to me” and screaming “YOU PEOPLE ARE SICK!” to the audience, to Rosato cutting in a few times to say “Let’s boil that sucker, huh?”, to Eddie rushing through the “save” number and slowly and clearly reading the “kill” number.
***1/2

MONOLOGUE
-Daniel J. Travanti reminds the viewers about the poll and sets up the short film.
-I’m not going to rate this as it’s not really a standalone monologue; I thought I’d point out that you can hear an audience member shout “boil him!”

FILM: RIDEALONG
-Daniel J. Travanti accompanies a real NYC policeman as he responds to a domestic disturbance call.
-Interesting change-of-pace segment with no recognizable SNL performers or personnel.  I don’t think they’d do anything like this today.
-It had a few somewhat funny parts like the real policeman having only seen Hill Street Blues once, and the audience reacted well to the part where they tell the woman to clean up their dog, but I didn’t really go for the ending where the couple recognize Travanti, pose for a picture with him, and resume their fighting.  It just felt a little obvious.
-Some of tonight’s bumpers were shot during the taping of this segment, including one of Travanti and the couple.
**1/2

SKETCH: WHINERS
-Grating couple Doug and Wendy Whiner (Joe Piscopo and Robin Duke) annoy the maitre d’ (Tony Rosato) and patrons of the restaurant where they had their first date.
-The Whiners are definitely two of the most irritating and corny characters that have ever been on SNL; part of it is deliberate but it’s so overly broad and one-joke (the sketches usually have a mention of diverticulitis every time, too) that it’s hard to really enjoy the sketches.  It reminds me a little of Kristen Wiig’s tics-and-twitches characters in the way that there really isn’t any room for growth with the characters: they whine, therefore they are.
-The main thing that elevates these bits from the copy-by-numbers sketches they tend to have now is that there’s a little more variety with the situations they got into, and of course the humor coming from the frustration of the foil who has to deal with the couple.  This is one of those sketches where Rosato is really on his game, doing excellent slow-burn as the increasingly pissed-off maitre d’.
-Funniest moment: Rosato grabbing the wine from the passing waiter and plunking it onto the Whiners’ table.
-An observation: a lot of the same extras that appear in the sketch – regular extra Andy Murphy, the other people in line at the beginning, and the waiter in particular – show up in several of the other sketches tonight.  As well, I’m pretty sure that white-haired woman who had to give up her table to the Whiners had been on a few times in the 70s (I think she was “Jody from next door” in Celebrity Bingo in Steve Martin ’77).  If someone can confirm or ID her, please comment. [Addendum: the white-haired woman is Karen Roston, SNL's costume designer] 
***

SKETCH: THE MERMAN ZONE
-An Ethel Merman impersonator (Christine Ebersole) auditions for the head of a celebrity doubles agency (Tony Rosato), who desperately to convince her that every single human being can do an imitation of Merman and ends up in what Rod Serling (Brian Doyle-Murray) calls “The Merman Zone”
-Before I begin the review, can anybody identify the guy playing Barry, the Woody Allen impersonator at the beginning of the sketch?  He’s about as short as Kazurinsky and it doesn’t  look like any of the writers I’ve been able to identify.  The part is a significant one in this sketch and it’s odd they don’t credit him.
-I really enjoyed this sketch, with good performances from everyone, particularly Rosato and Ebersole, and the different impressions from everyone around made this a lot of fun.  The real fun begins when Rosato breaks the fourth wall and starts approaching the SNL crew (including cameraman Al Camoin), and the producers (Dick Ebersol and Bob Tischler; Ebersol’s wife Susan Saint James is also visible in this part), and everyone in the control room (including Dave Wilson and Audrey Peart Dickman) singing.
-I also really enjoyed the part with Kazurinsky as the out-of-work Kazurinsky impersonator (and the line about how nobody’s really even demanding the real thing).  I also found it really funny how Duke was visibly annoyed that he kept coming back to the agency.
-Callback to last show:  one of the extras in the hallway is wearing the tuna fish outfit from the Blythe Danner show.
****

MISCELLANEOUS: LARRY THE LOBSTER PHONE-IN VOTE: SO FAR
-In his intro to John Cougar’s performance, Travanti announces that “Kill Larry” is leading  65,743 to 56,893; after commenting “Eddie’s right, you’re sick!” he reads the voting numbers again, speeding through the “Kill Larry” number and slowly reading the “Save Larry” number.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “HURT SO GOOD”
-Good performance.  Right after the first chorus, John jokes “Sound just like the Supremes, don’t we?”

MISCELLANEOUS: NEXT WEEK
-My recording is missing part of this; it sounds like Kazurinsky is reminding people about the contest and giving an update beforehand. I do have him announcing next week’s guests will be Johnny Cash and special musical guest Elton John.

SNL NEWSBREAK WITH MARY GROSS, CHRISTINE EBERSOLE AND BRIAN DOYLE-MURRAY: EMERGENCY BROADCAST WITH TONY ROSATO, SATURDAY NIGHT SPORTS WITH JOE PISCOPO, OSCARS REVIEW WITH TIM KAZURINSKY
-Best jokes: 7-year-old Cavalry soldier, Easter Bunny, New York Compost
-This particular edition stretches for 14 minutes; SNL Newsbreak is starting to eat up more and more of the show, and it’s guaranteed never to be the show’s strongest segment.  It kind of feels like Seth Meyers’ more recent Weekend Updates but I’d say Meyers WU has better jokes; it’s sometimes the correspondents that can really sink a segment whereas during the SNL Newsbreak era it was often the other way around.
-This is also the only Ebersole-period Newsbreak that made it into the 60-minute
-The first segment is Mary Gross’ report from the HMS Invisible; her “ditzy correspondent” act was a little too cutesy (especially the HMS stands for “HuMongous Ship” line), but I always enjoy the complete deadpan of SNL’s production designer Akira Yoshimura (who appeared in all of the SNL Star Trek sketches as Sulu) as the fake Prince Andrew.  The ending was dumb with Doyle-Murray suggesting Gross invite him to a sushi dinner, but the “Sunday morning – sneak attack” line was funny.
-Tony Rosato appears to give a test of the Emergency Broadcast Network [sic], which consists of panicked screaming.  Kind of an obvious joke but Rosato did alright with it and his segues between that and his calm intro and outro were flawless.
-Joe Piscopo’s Saturday Night Sports segment changes the formula a little bit by not having Piscopo utter a word: instead, Piscopo was made up to look as if he were covered in ice and snow as on-screen captions spelled out the normally bellowed lines.  It was a welcome change of pace and the audience loved it.
-Up next is an interminable two-and-a-half minute photo montage bit about the many photos of the Reagans waving.  By this point in the season, they really are padding out the Newsbreak segments with these bits (there’s some more pointless ones to come) and while there were a few humorous asides from Brian Doyle-Murray and the somewhat funny last pictures with the Reagans’ arms starting to move propellor-like, the bit definitely did not warrant its length.
-Tim Kazurinsky comments on that year’s overlong Oscars by offering suggestions on how to improve next year’s ceremony.  I thought this was alright, particularly when Kazurinsky suggested to take the award away from the winner if their speeches ran too long and mentioning Bette Midler as a “hilarious woman with large breasts”.  The funniest moment, though, was when Kaz handed off back to Christine Ebersole who asked “What the heck was Morgan Fairchild doing there?”  The audience evidently agreed.
-The little bit where Doyle-Murray spells the new formula for relativity on a blackboard as ROLAIDS is a spoof of a then-current ad campaign for the antacid.  You can view the commercial here.
-At the end of the segment, Doyle-Murray gives the numbers to vote on Larry’s fate.
***

SHOW: HILL STREET BLUES
-Captain Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) has trouble keeping his work life and personal life separate.
-It really is unusual to see a straight parody of a current TV show during the Ebersol era of SNL.  I do admire that they did attempt something like this, but I couldn’t help but be underwhelmed by the whole thing.  It was 10 minutes long and it seemed like they were throwing together things that didn’t gel as a whole.  Some of it was especially clunky, particularly Travanti’s lampshade hanging line of being overly sensitive, “especially for a cop”.  In what would become de rigeur for SNL’s later parodies, we get a cameo by one of the host’s co-stars: Bruce Weitz appears in the parody, playing the animalistic Belker as even more of a dog.
-Mary Gross did a very good job playing against type as Joyce Davenport.  It was rare that they had her play an attractive woman who wasn’t a prostitute at this point, and the long hair really went a long way in softening her look up.  Joe Piscopo’s take on Phil Esterhaus was alright.  I did enjoy Robin Duke as Fay but felt they didn’t make her pathetic enough; same with Brian Doyle-Murray as Howard Hunter, which also felt like a wasted opportunity.  Eddie Murphy’s bit as Neal Washington didn’t really have a lot to work with and Rosato’s “Gypsy King” informant was kind of lame.  Christine Ebersole seemed pretty miscast as Lucy Bates; Ebersole reminds me a lot more of Barbara Babcock (Grace Gardner) and I don’t recall Bates being a mopey type like she was written here.
-The ending with Furillo starting to rant about his problems and breaking down crying was an OK way to wrap the sketch up, though.
-The extras from the Whiners’ sketch are all in the hallway outside of the office.  As well, Akira Yoshimura gets a quick laugh with his bit as an undercover detective.
**1/2

MISCELLANEOUS: LARRY THE LOBSTER PHONE-IN VOTE: LARRY’S STORY
-Eddie Murphy announces that “Save Larry” has pulled ahead 184,316 to 171, 717, and gives the audience a view of the kind of lobster Larry really is.
-More “cute” than laugh out loud funny; Rosato (not dressed in the chef outfit but still using the accent) gets a laugh with another “Let’s boil that sucker, huh!”
***

FILM: BAVARIAN BUTTERFLY BY JOSEF SEDELMAIER
-A silent film demonstrates a hopscotching dance.
-Short, amusing slapstick.
***

SHOW: CAREER CORNER
-Burt Wedermeyer (Tim Kazurinsky) interviews Mr. Tooth Fairy (Eddie Murphy) about his unrewarding and dangerous job.
-Aside from the Whiners sketch, this is the other one that seems to show up in highlight reels and compilations, with a tutu-wearing Eddie Murphy complaining about how difficult delivering teeth to God is for a living.  It benefits from good back-and-forth between Kazurinsky and Murphy, but it’s clearly the latter’s showcase.
***1/2

MISCELLANEOUS: LARRY THE LOBSTER PHONE-IN VOTE: NIGHT ON THE TOWN
-Eddie Murphy announces that in a few minutes they will have the final tally of the vote; Mel Brandt announces what Larry can look forward to if he lives.
-Some of the photos were pretty funny, but this basically was a time filler segment to wrap up the voting portion.
-This originally was part of the 12:30 station break segment; subsequent repeat versions edit this together with Reagan-Brand Economics in the same segment.
***

COMMERCIAL: REAGAN-BRAND ECONOMICS
-Ronald Reagan (Joe Piscopo) suggests to an impoverished family that they try a new brand of economics.
-This is a funny spoof of the Sanka commercials with Robert Young but with a good amount of bite, particularly Rosato’s line “I only like real economic programs!” and the family having to sell their surviving child to pay for food under the new program.
-This is also the first time we see Piscopo in Reagan makeup; before this appearance he was a voiceover-only role in the “Hail To The Chief” sketches.
****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “AIN’T EVEN DONE WITH THE NIGHT”
-Cougar and band have a particularly big sound tonight; they also seemed to having fun as well which makes things enjoyable.

MISCELLANEOUS: LARRY THE LOBSTER PHONE-IN VOTE: RESULTS
-Eddie Murphy reads the final vote: Larry the Lobster lives, 239,096 to 227,452.  The SNL band plays “Happy Days Are Here Again” as the cast and extras celebrate.
-Not really much more to it than that, really.  Even the guy who played Barry the Woody Allen Lookalike in The Merman Zone is here.

GOODNIGHTS
-Eddie conducts a mock interview with Larry as Daniel J. Travanti exclaims “Larry Lives!”
-Mel Brandt announces next week’s show with Johnny Cash and special guest Elton John and says “Good night from New York!  …which I don’t think is the most dangerous city in America”.  Kind of an odd attempt at Don Pardo’s style of humorous comments over the goodnight announcements.
-Brian Doyle-Murray is standing far back from everyone else for some reason.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
An above-average show with an interesting gimmick to carry it through.  Despite not being used at all in the last half hour, Travanti actually was quite good in what he appeared in and while sometimes the writing wasn’t up to par (Hill Street Blues could have been so much better), there wasn’t a terrible segment at all tonight except for a little bit of the overlong SNL Newsbreak.  Even the Whiners (never my favorite characters) didn’t weigh the show down.  Tony Rosato seemed to have his best night ever this week too, especially in the first half of the show.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
-Reagan Brand Economics
-The Merman Zone
-Career Corner
-Larry The Lobster Phone-in Vote

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:
-the Reagans Waving portion of SNL Newsbreak
-Ridealong
-Hill Street Blues

MVP:
Tony Rosato

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:
cast
Robin Duke: 4 appearances [Whiners, The Merman Zone, Hill Street Blues, Larry: Results]
Christine Ebersole: 5 appearances [The Merman Zone, SNL Newsbreak, Hill Street Blues, Reagan Brand Economics, Larry: Results]
Mary Gross: 4 appearances [The Merman Zone, SNL Newsbreak, Hill Street Blues, Larry: Results]
Tim Kazurinsky: 5 appearances [The Merman Zone, Next Week, SNL Newsbreak, Career Corner, Larry: Results]
Eddie Murphy: 7 appearances [Larry: Phone-In Vote, The Merman Zone, Hill Street Blues, Larry: Larry's Story, Career Corner, Larry: Night On The Town, Larry: Results]
Joe Piscopo: 5 appearances [Whiners, SNL Newsbreak, Hill Street Blues, Reagan Brand Economics, Larry: Results]
Tony Rosato: 8 appearances [Larry: Phone-In Vote, Whiners, The Merman Zone, SNL Newsbreak, Hill Street Blues, Larry: Larry's Story, Reagan Brand Economics, Larry: Results]

featured player:
Brian Doyle-Murray: 4 appearances [The Merman Zone, SNL Newsbreak, Hill Street Blues, Larry: Results]

non-cast:
Dick Ebersol: 1 appearance [The Merman Zone]
Bob Tischler: 1 appearance [The Merman Zone]
Al Camoin: 1 appearance [The Merman Zone]
Audrey Peart Dickman: 1 appearance [The Merman Zone]
Dave Wilson: 2 appearances [The Merman Zone, SNL Newsbreak (voiceover only)]
Andy Murphy: 4 appearances [Whiners, The Merman Zone, Hill Street Blues, Larry: Results]
Akira Yoshimura: 2 appearances [SNL Newsbreak, Hill Street Blues]
Yvonne Hudson: 1 appearance [Whiners]
Neil Levy: 2 appearances [Whiners, Hill Street Blues]

guests:
Daniel J. Travanti: 5 appearances [Larry: Phone-In Vote, Ridealong, The Merman Zone, Larry: So Far, Hill Street Blues]
John Cougar: 2 appearances ["Hurt So Good", "Ain't Even Done With The Night"]
Susan Saint James: 1 appearance [The Merman Zone]
Bruce Weitz: 1 appearance [Hill Street Blues]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
September 11, 1982
January 15, 1983
Known alterations: Next Week is removed.

More captures from this episode are available here.

Classic SNL Review: March 27, 1982: Blythe Danner / Rickie Lee Jones (S07E15)

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

COLD OPENING: LORNE GREENE: THE MEAT DOGS LOVE
-Lorne Greene (Joe Piscopo) pitches Alpo dog food but his canine pal All-Star has another preference.
-Short and to the point; didn’t take too long to get to the punchline and didn’t belabor the point either.  Him calling for “Hop Sing” as All-Star attacks him made me laugh.
-Piscopo stumbles on one his “healthy, happy…” line.
***

MONOLOGUE
-Mary tells Blythe she loved her as Eleanor Roosevelt opposite Edward Herrman’s FDR; to her embarrassment  Blythe tells her she actually played Eleanor Gehrig opposite Herrmann in a different movie.  Mary shows Blythe her Eleanor Roosevelt impression, then gets on a power trip when she makes Blythe impersonate random celebrities.
-Cute monologue with an interesting idea.  Nice to see Mary bring back the Roosevelt (from the Conrad show).
-Mary on her power trip reminds me of how animated she would get during her “spittin’ mad” commentaries the next season, and that attempt at a maniacal laugh made me chuckle.
***

COMMERCIAL: COME ON OUT AMERICA
-In a spoof of the “America’s Turning 7-Up” campaign (with a little “I’m A Pepper” thrown in), Americans are dancing their way out of the closet.
-This reminds me a little of “Show Us Your Guns” from the first season, with the random townspeople waving to the camera.
-I’ve always liked this one and it kind of stands on its own without the knowledge of the soft-drink ads it was parodying.  Some may feel the “I’m a homo, you’re a homo” ending is dated but I thought it worked.
****

SKETCH: THE NEW CELIBACY
-Steve (Tim Kazurinsky) and Doreen (Robin Duke) tell friends at dinner their newfound focus on other projects is owed to no longer having sex.  When they discover it was all a misunderstanding, a rushed, sexually tense meal makes their guests uncomfortable.
-Another sketch I’ve always really liked, with funny performances from all involved and nice escalation into the Tom Jones style eating sequence.
-One thing I’ve noticed is that Robin Duke’s character’s voice goes from this pinched, bright and chipper tone when she’s entertaining to this really deep, breathy voice once she and Kazurinsky start getting sexual again.
-Best line: “Who cares? Just give me MEAT!”
-Two bloopers: Christine Ebersole can be seen running onto the stage at the very beginning (and Robin Duke is looking toward the camera), and later on, Kazurinsky says it was November 23, 1981 they last had sex but they earlier said it was over a year since they last did it.
****1/2

SHOW: 20/20
-Geraldo Rivera (Joe Piscopo) investigates “Horror In Our Hospitals”, misinterpreting a routine birth at Mount Sinai as something more sinister.
-SNL’s first “Geraldo is an ass” sketch!  Piscopo’s impression was pretty good.  The sketch itself was pretty one-note and predictable but saved by the impression its brevity.
-Favorite parts: when the doctor asks Geraldo who he is, Geraldo is looking directly at the camera when he says “I’m Geraldo Rivera!”, and Kazurinsky as the father screaming “I’ll kill you, that was a Nikon!” after Geraldo breaks his camera alleging his pictures of the delivery were child porn.
***

COMMERCIAL: THE KHADDAFFI LOOK
-Repeat from October 3, 1981

SKETCH: POETS
-Flighty poet (and incontinent shut-in) Ariel Feeley (Mary Gross) faces a burglar, but the armed robber is Tyrone Green (Eddie Murphy): he and Ariel share a mutual appreciation for each other’s work.
-This kind of had a slow start to it but it really picks up when Eddie Murphy comes in and becomes an excellent way to bring back his character from “Prose and Cons”.  I suppose it was necessary for them to repeat the “Cill My Landlord” poem to establish who he was.  Eddie actually gets a good round of applause when his character exits the scene.
-I also thought Robin Duke’s character, Ariel’s homely spinster sister/caretaker Lina, was a good foil, and I noticed Duke gave her character an interesting walk/body movement.
-I was surprised at the bathroom humor with Gross’ character but they did it in a funnier, subtler way than has been done in the show’s last 20 years.  I chalk it up to the more restrictive censors at the time but I can just see them making more explicit pee jokes if they remade this sketch.  And Ariel would have been played by Kristen Wiig.
****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “PIRATES (SO LONG LONELY AVENUE)”
-The title track from Jones’ 1981 album (get it, it’s quite good) gets a decent performance, but not quite as solid as the last group of guests though.  It’s an interesting song with a few mood/time changes.
-Jones seems to be pulling at her lip a lot.  She also says “This is for you, Chuck E.” during the closing, shouting out to pal Chuck E. Weiss.

SKETCH: FAB FIFTIES
-At the 1982 Senior Spring Fling, Tim Kazurinsky and Blythe Danner explain the Fifties are back in the Eighties, the good and (mostly) the bad.
-A short little piece with a few laughs, like Brian Doyle Murray’s character telling Christine Ebersole “Well, abortion’s illegal, so you’re ruined for life, you tramp!”
-I have to wonder if Tim Kazurinsky wrote this because it has the exact same sarcastic tone that his Salute  To Journalism segments had the next season, and a little more willingness to criticize the current political climate at the time.
-Blythe Danner screws up a few of her lines pretty badly.
***

SNL NEWSBREAK: WITH CHRISTINE EBERSOLE AND BRIAN DOYLE-MURRAY, MARY GROSS ON ASSIGNMENT, FASHION WITH YVONNE “SPIKE” DEMOUCHIER, SATURDAY NIGHT SPORTS WITH JOE PISCOPO
-Best jokes: Reagan organ donations, school for Motown singers in Peking, unemployed protests of Reagan.
-This is the first SNL Newsbreak with Christine Ebersole as co-anchor.  Mel Brandt actually announces that she is just filling in for Mary Gross during the opening, but Ebersole would remain co-anchor for the remainder of the season.  I thought she was a better match for Doyle-Murray than Gross was and had much better delivery than either of the two.
-Ebersole’s Newsbreak tenure begins with a hilarious blooper.  As the segment begins, you can see someone else trying to help her pin her microphone onto her necklace.  You can hear fumbling around as Brian Doyle-Murray reads his first joke (which has a strange echo to it) and then he looks down and realizes he doesn’t have his own microphone clipped to his tie.  There’s also a rewinding noise during the first joke.  Afterward, during Mary Gross’ report, she quips “I loved that first piece, Brian!” and you can hear Ebersole guffaw loudly.
-Speaking of Gross, this is the first time they have her in the role of ditzy correspondent, always going to the wrong location or interviewing the wrong person.  Tonight was a miss; I usually preferred the ones with Akira Yoshimura anyway because his complete deadpan is always hilarious.
-Robin Duke appears as fashion correspondent Yvonne “Spike” DeMouchier, criticizing the fashions of the Best Actress nominees with glib one-liners.  It kind of felt too close to something real to be funny in itself, and I have to wonder if Duke was trying to create a new recurring character for Update.  She kind of seemed nervous towards the end of the segment too, as if she was aware it wasn’t going too well.
-Joe Piscopo has a short par-for-the-course Saturday Night Sports about the NCAA Basketball playoffs betweek UNC and Georgetown, giving the latter the edge based on the co-eds.  Not one of his more memorable segments.
-Brian Doyle-Murray ends tonights’ edition with a story about the birth of his nephew, Bill Murray’s son Homer Banks Murray, without identifying Murray aside from the picture (which Doyle-Murray refers to as a “male nurse”) and a reference to the father coaching the baby out with “Come on out, you knucklehead”!
**1/2

GUEST PERFORMANCE: MICHAEL DAVIS
-Davis juggles a bowling ball, an egg and a tomato.
-The usual great routine from Davis, with many great random lines, such as how the “razor-sharp” bowling ball is more dangerous than a knife because “you can’t tell where the edge is”.
-There’s also some funny back and forth with the audience members when the audience member lobs back the tomato when Davis is about to tell him not to; he has a good comeback when he asks the audience member to catch the bowling ball.  As well, when he has the audience member inspect the tomato, the audience member beside him can be heard saying “It’ doesn’t look like it’s real!”
*****

SHOW: THE UNCLE TOM SHOW
-Tom Snyder (Joe Piscopo) interviews cigar-chomping cartoon legend Gumby (Eddie Murphy), who has a new tell-all book.
-The first appearance of Eddie Murphy’s take on Gumby, performed as a crotchety hard-boiled Jewish showbiz old-timer.  It wasn’t quite as good as some of the later installments (I prefer the Letterman spoofs myself) but it had some good lines (“The woman is a slut, Tom”- Gumby re: Wilma Flintstone).
-Interesting that Gumby’s first appearance is opposite Piscopo’s Tom Snyder, and his next appearance is opposite Piscopo portraying his NBC replacement, David Letterman.
-The set for the Uncle Tom Show is different this time out, with just a simple drawing of a city backdrop.
***1/2

SHOW: MEET THE PEOPLE
-Three ordinary Americans (Robin Duke, Blythe Danner, Tony Rosato) horrify Princess Di (Christine Ebersole) with invasive, rude questions.
-This is the second show in a row where Brian Doyle-Murray does a panel show with a newsmaker.  Still a little one-note, but I thought this was funnier than the previous week’s “Headline Challenge” largely because the questions posed by the panel were funnier, matched by the increasingly upset Princess’ reactions.
-Blythe was kind of stiff all night but I thought it kind of worked in her favor in this sketch as she was a kind of upper-class woman who mentioned picturing Di going to the bathroom and asking if her panties creep up the crevice of her fanny.  That last one is even funnier considering the different meaning “fanny” has in England than it does in the States…no wonder she was horrified!  I doubt that was intentional though…
-Rosato was also good as the sleazeball character, and I loved his follow-up comment to Blythe’s panties question: “Mine do all the time!”  It reminded me of when he had that random comment about the hotel where Kazurinsky was staying in “Strangers In The Funeral Parlor” from the season premiere.
-That maternity dress Ebersole wears has made its way around on the show; I remember seeing it on Victoria Jackson in the “This Old House” sketch with John Larroquette in ’88.
-Ebersole’s lines about being harrassed and photographed have a weird quality to them considering the implication of the paparazzi in Princess Di’s death 15 years later.
***

MISCELLANEOUS: BLYTHE’S PLEA
-Blythe Danner explains that arts funding cuts force legitimate actors to do Saturday Night Live.
-A short filler-ish segment.
-Who is the old cigarette-smoking woman bringing the tuna fish costume in at the end?  She’s been seen in the background of a lot of the Ebersole era shows, kind of like a female Andy Murphy.
**

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “LUSH LIFE”, “WOODY & DUTCH ON THE SLOW TRAIN TO PEKING”
-I liked the first number a little better, but the more upbeat second song provided a good contrast to the sad Billy Strayhorn standard..
-Rickie begins the second number by announcing they had 7 minutes and 20 seconds left and is constantly checking the camera on the side of the stage to see if it’s still on.  At the end, she announces to the band “We’re still on camera!  We made it!”

GOODNIGHTS
-Blythe Danner is dressed in the tuna fish costume from Blythe’s Plea, and Eddie Murphy introduces Piscopo’s dog All-Star, who was in the cold opening.  Mel Brandt announces the encore presentation of SNL with “Football’s John Madden” on April 3 and a special prime time presentation of “The Best of the New Saturday Night Live” on Monday April 5.  I’m curious what made the special.
-Interesting that Robin Duke and Rickie Lee Jones were standing beside each other talking since Duke actually impersonated Jones about a year before when she was on SCTV.
-The credits show that Margaret Oberman is now a writer on the show.  I believe Urich was actually her first show but there were no credits on the original broadcast and my tape is currently packed up.
-Addendum: This is the final show this season with Pam Norris credited as a writer.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Despite a fairly unremarkable host, I thought this was actually a pretty strong edition and it seemed to move by pretty fast.  A lot of the credit goes to Eddie Murphy, who actually had a productive night despite appearing in only two segments: he made more of an impression in those two segments than most of the other cast did that night.  Christine Ebersole also made a comeback this week, going from the least featured cast member last week to the most this week.  SNL Newsbreak’s change in anchors was welcome too, although the segment still had its weaknesses.  Besides that, though, the show was helped by a stronger first hour and the always welcome Michael Davis.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
-Michael Davis
-The New Celibacy
-Poets
-Come On Out America
-The Uncle Tom Show

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:
-the commentaries on SNL Newsbreak (usually it’s the other way around!)
-Blythe’s Plea

MVP:
-Eddie Murphy

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN
cast
Robin Duke: 4 appearances [The New Celibacy, Poets, SNL Newsbreak, Meet The People]
Christine Ebersole: 6 appearances [Monologue, The New Celibacy, 20/20, Fab Fifties, SNL Newsbreak, Meet The People]
Mary Gross: 3 appearances [Monologue, Poets, SNL Newsbreak]
Tim Kazurinsky: 3 appearances [The New Celibacy, 20/20, Fab Fifties]
Eddie Murphy: 2 appearances [Poets, The Uncle Tom Show]
Joe Piscopo: 4 appearances [Lorne Greene, 20/20, SNL Newsbreak, The Uncle Tom Show]
Tony Rosato: 2 appearances [20/20, Meet The People]
featured players
Brian Doyle-Murray: 4 appearances [The New Celibacy, Fab Fifties, SNL Newsbreak, Meet The People]
non-cast
Neil Levy: 1 appearance [20/20]
guests
Blythe Danner: 5 appearances [Monologue, 20/20, Fab Fifties, Meet The People, Blythe's Plea]
Rickie Lee Jones: 2 appearances ["Pirates (So Long Lonely Avenue)", "Lush Life/Woody & Dutch"]
Michael Davis: 1 appearance [Guest performance]

REBROADCAST HISTORY
June 26, 1982

Classic SNL Review: March 20, 1982: Robert Urich / Mink DeVille, Buh-Weet And De Dupreems (S07E14)

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

OPENING: BACKSTAGE
-After overhearing disparaging comments from Robin and Mary, Robert is frustrated with being compared to Burt Reynolds.  A Clutch Cargo-style Burt head appears and tells Robert that he made him in his image, and that the best way to have a good show is to “be like ME!”.
-An interesting idea at least.  I wonder if the idea came from the fact that SNL didn’t seem to be booking as big stars as it had a few years ago.
-I still jokingly refer to Urich as “Robert You-rich” based on Mary’s mispronunciation of his name.
-There were a few awkward stretches.  Robert seemed to pause a long time before he said “To Hell with Burt Reynolds!” as if the musical sting was supposed to go there, and the ending had something that felt off about it.
-The Clutch Cargo Burt head had some funny lines, especially when Robert said talking to him was like talking to God and Burt piped “Better!”
-It doesn’t really hold up well as a separate segment but it does set up an interesting running gag.
**

MONTAGE AND TALENT ENTRANCE:
-Keeping with the running joke, Urich wears a fake mustache and is credited as Burt Reynolds in the opening montage and does his introduction to Buh-Weet as Burt.
-Buh-Weet and De Dupreems are also billed as a musical guest.
-I thought I’d point out here that one of the cameras seems to have a problem with it throughout the show: the upper left and lower right corners are pink.  It’s especially visible in the talent entrance, Paul Harvey News and Comment, Golden Age School of Obedience, SNL Newsbreak, and The Embryo.

MUSICAL SKETCH: BUH-WEET AND DE DUPREEMS
-Buckwheat (Eddie Murphy) mispronounces a medley of Supremes classics, including “Ayby Nub” and “Meech Out and Dutch Dumbody’s ‘and”
-After being shoehorned into other sketches, this is the first time since Buh-Weet Sings that Eddie’s Buckwheat carries an entire sketch.
-It’s still more of the same formula of mangled song lyrics, but still fairly entertaining.
-The funniest part was the subtitles during the last song and Buckwheat making the audience members participate.
***

COMMERCIAL: REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE
-Repeat from February 6, 1982.

SKETCH: PAUL HARVEY NEWS AND COMMENT
-Paul Harvey (Joe Piscopo) pauses as dramatically as usual when he broadcasts “News and Comment” while his producer (Brian Doyle-Murray) assists.
-The audience reacted very well at the beginning and end of it.  Piscopo I thought was a little hammy but having heard the real thing growing up I thought it was a good enough impression.
-Brian Doyle-Murray was actually funny doing a mainly silent role as the producer getting his coffee and changing his sheets.
-Best line: “After forty-five years, it’s still hard!  (pause, changes page) To say good night!”
***

SHOW: FOCUS ON FILM
-Raheem Abdul Mohammed (Eddie Murphy) was able to get a big star this week, “Burt Reynolds”.  After getting suspicious, Raheem eventually removes Robert Urich’s fake mustache.
-Funny segment.  Urich’s Burt Reynolds, while not going to make anyone forget about Norm MacDonald, was kind of funny but more for the high-pitched laugh he would let out after making a racist crack at Raheem.
-I laughed at Raheem calling Burt’s movie’s rip-offs (Sharkey’s Machine not having a shark in it, the Smokey in Smokey and the Bandit wasn’t Robinson).  Also funny was Raheem not recognizing who Robert Urich was at first, then afterwards telling him to “get a job!”.
-I think the Burt Reynolds running gag would have had more traction if they kept it going for a little longer in the show.
-This is the second time they mention Vega$ tonight.  Kind of odd since it went off the air the year before.
-Keeping with the running joke, the bumper right before this segment has Robert wearing the mustache.
-The Focus on Film set now has its regular Blaxploitation movie posters.
***1/2

COMMERCIAL: BUY A BULLET FOR A HUNGRY KID
-Supporting American policy regarding Central America will ensure starving little Maria will be put out of her misery.
-One of the nastiest political bits they did that season.
***

SKETCH: HAIL TO THE CHIEF
-To Ed Meese’s (Tony Rosato) horror, Reagan (voice of Joe Piscopo) has hired Dr. Strangelove (Tim Kazurinsky) as an advisor.  Strangelove proposes a smart bomb to rid the world of all except powerful men and beautiful young women.
-Rosato was good as usual and Kazurinsky was a good choice to play Dr. Strangelove.
-It was interesting that they did this sketch since Terry Southern, who co-wrote the screenplay to the original movie, was on the writing staff at SNL that season.
-A lot of the Strangelove stuff was just a repeat of the movie, especially the out-of-control arm and the bomb only leaving certain men with a lot of young, nubile women.
-The sketch unfortunately dragged a lot and the audience was also disconcertingly quiet.  I can’t help but think this sketch should have been a bit better than it was.
-The funniest part was Meese using the postcard of people limboing instead of the surveillance photo.
**

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “MAYBE TOMORROW”
-Kind of a retroish Brill Building meets Springsteen vibe to it; very tight performance.
-This season really seems to have a long streak of excellent musical guests.
-I saw in an old paper that the original choice for musical guest this week was The New Mamas and The Papas; I’d say Mink DeVille was a better choice.

COMMERCIAL: FUR: YOU DESERVE IT!
-A hunter targets and kills New York City fur-wearers for their coats.
-A well made, if particularly dark, commercial parody.   The image of the hunter clubbing the women at the end like seals may not fly with some.
****

COMMERCIAL: GOLDEN AGE SCHOOL OF OBEDIENCE
-(Eddie Murphy) dog-trains Nana (Robin Duke) and Pop (Tim Kazurinsky) into submission when they start annoying their son (Robert Urich) and daughter-in-law (Mary Gross).
-Duke and Kazurinsky are always funny as old people; I heard a little of Duke’s Molly Earl character from SCTV when she kept asking “What time is it?” and the post-training sight of her flinching away from Urich was pretty funny.  I also remembered Kazurinsky yelling “I want a jelly donut!” for a while after first seeing this.
-Eddie Murphy does an excellent job as the trainer, particularly when he grabs and breaks Kazurinsky’s character’s false teeth and makes the old people do push-ups.
-There’s a shadow in the corner of the shot when Piscopo is talking that’s distracting.
****

SNL NEWSBREAK: WITH MARY GROSS AND BRIAN DOYLE-MURRAY, SPECIAL REPORT FROM DR. JACK BADOFSKY (TIM KAZURINSKY)
-Best jokes: Simultaneous heart attacks, Billy Carter.
-The segments begins with another pointless relationship segment between the two co-anchors.  This is the last time Mary Gross sits at the Newsbreak desk and it was a funnier than normal segment, but I’m relieved they dropped this angle as it was just a waste of time.
-Some of the jokes really died hard, namely the Kennesaw, GA, unleaded gasoline/handguns and the Kennedy speech being used instead of Reagan.
-The Pac-Man Diversified segment was pretty funny, mainly because they kept it fairly short.
-Dr. Jack Badofsky returns for the second episode in a row to discuss phobias; after a few really groan-worthy puns at the start, it really gets rolling with Mofobia (fear of being insulted by a black man).   “Phoebesnobia” (fear of hiccups while singing) was my favorite one.  These segments are pretty corny but some of the individual jokes are usually pretty good.
-There is another lengthy series-of-pictures/crawl regarding Rev. Donald Wildmon’s boycotts of NBC, RCA and Hertz.  This is redeemed largely by the uselessness and absurdity of some of the products and subsidiaries of the companies listed in the crawl (example: “Rely Tampon Repair Kit”, “Sexual Harassment Mood Music”, “Homes for Dead Cats”, “Diff’Rent Strokes Survival Kit”, “Video Tapeworm Library”)
**1/2

SKETCH: THE EMBRYO
-Expectant parents Bob (Tony Rosato) and Carol (Robin Duke) learn of a mix-up at the embryo bank: their unborn child is a koala bear.
-An interesting idea that unfortunately doesn’t really take off.  I give Duke and especially Rosato credit for their performances but the audience clearly didn’t know what to make of this.  It didn’t play as funny as it should have, and the discussion of abortion kind of weighed it down.
-That said, the abortion discussion did give a funny line: “What if we have a retarded bear?”  I did also like the photo album with the real photos of Duke and Rosato posing with a stuffed koala.
**1/2

SHOW: HEADLINE CHALLENGE
-Representatives from the CIA, and the militaries of El Salvador and Nicaragua have trouble identifying Jose Tardencillas Espinosa (Tim Kazurinsky).
-A one-joke premise, although there were a few laughs like the CIA guessing he was Jane Fonda and Ed Asner.  I also did like Kazurinsky’s surprised facial expression upon receiving a prize of Rice-A-Roni.
-This sketch has not aged well at all; it was based on a recent event (which was referenced in this week’s Newsbreak), but the incident has long been forgotten.
*1/2

MISCELLANEOUS: FUTURE GUESTS
-Eddie Murphy announces some of the big guests they will be having in the weeks to come.

SHOW: LOW CLASS ITALIAN THEATRE
-A production of “Hamlet” has elements of “Rocky” and “Raging Bull”.
-I didn’t really care for this segment; the audience was also pretty quiet as well and there were a lot of awkward silences which broke the flow.  There also didn’t seem to be a payoff.  Despite that the cast did decently and I did laugh at the visual of Piscopo’s Horatio wearing a white tank top, though.
-This was Christine Ebersole’s only appearance all night.
*

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “LOVE & EMOTION”
-After a string of uninspiring material, this was a welcome respite.

FILM: “THE THING THAT DESTROYED TOKYO” BY GARY SNEGAROFF, BRAD SOLOTOFF, FRANK VITTORI
-An ersatz Japanese monster movie about a giant hammer smashing the city.
-A dumb, cheap movie but amusing.  The audience didn’t seem to be into it, but I always enjoyed the part where the scientist tests the formula and drops dead, and his daughter says “But Daddy, you’re not a hammer!”.
***

MISCELLANEOUS: JOHN BELUSHI TRIBUTE
-On the first live show after Belushi’s death, Brian Doyle-Murray tells the story of the time Belushi pushed him out of the way of an incoming truck, then survived getting hit.
-I can’t really give this a rating but this was the best segment of the night: a very simple, moving remembrance by someone who was evidently very close to John Belushi.  Doyle-Murray was restrained but very clearly emotional in this segment, and it fades in silence to a still bumper of Belushi.
-Cruelly, for unexplained reasons this remembrance is taken out of the repeat version of the episode.  Fortunately I was able to track down an original West Coast airing.

GOODNIGHTS
-Robert Urich says the cast are the “greatest people in the world”.  The feed cuts off before the credit roll.
-Addendum: Margaret Oberman joins the writing staff with this episode. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:
A weak episode that runs out of the little steam it has shortly after SNL Newsbreak.  I can’t really put a lot of the blame on Urich who didn’t really get a whole lot to work with besides the whole Burt Reynolds gimmick that only lasts for about 15-20 minutes.  It’s almost like the writers didn’t know what else they could do with him; he’s considered one of the “Bobs” (four underwhelming and questionably relevant hosts named Robert) but I don’t think he was bad himself, and at least he was the right age for SNL’s demographic.  There seemed to be a few good ideas that unfortunately weren’t able to fully deliver on their promise, and the second half of the show had a few unfunny stinkers (again, partial blame goes to the datedness of the topical humor).  The main thing this episode has going for it is two excellent musical performances from Mink DeVille and the touching tribute to Belushi at the very end.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
-John Belushi tribute
-Golden Age School of Obedience
-Fur: You Deserve It!
-Focus on Film

EPISODE LOWLIGHTS:
-Low Class Italian Theatre
-Headline Challenge
-parts of SNL Newsbreak
-Backstage
-Hail To The Chief
-The Embryo

MVP:
(tie) Tony Rosato / Brian Doyle-Murray

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN
cast
Robin Duke: 4 appearances [Backstage, Buy a Bullet for a Hungry Kid (voice only), Golden Age School of Obedience, The Embryo]
Christine Ebersole: 1 appearance [Low Class Italian Theatre]
Mary Gross: 4 appearances [Backstage, Golden Age School of Obedience, SNL Newsbreak, Low Class Italian Theatre]
Tim Kazurinsky: 5 appearances [Hail To The Chief, Golden Age School of Obedience, SNL Newsbreak, Headline Challenge, Low Class Italian Theatre (voice only)]
Eddie Murphy: 5 appearances [Buh-Weet and de Dupreems, Focus on Film, Golden Age School of Obedience, Headline Challenge, Future Guests]
Joe Piscopo: 6 appearances [Backstage, Paul Harvey News and Comment, Hail To The Chief (voice only), Golden Age School of Obedience, Headline Challenge, Low Class Italian Theatre]
Tony Rosato: 3 appearances [Hail To The Chief, The Embryo, Low Class Italian Theatre]
featured players
Brian Doyle-Murray: 4 appearances [Paul Harvey News and Comment, SNL Newsbreak, Headline Challenge, John Belushi Tribute]
guests
Robert Urich: 5 appearances [Backstage, Focus on Film, Golden Age School of Obedience, Headline Challenge, Low Class Italian Theatre]
Mink DeVille: 2 appearances ["Maybe Tomorrow", "Love & Emotion"]
De Dupreems: 1 appearance [Buh-Weet and de Dupreems]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:
June 19, 1982
Known alterations: Upcoming Guests and John Belushi Tribute are removed.