Inaugural Preview – This was merely actual footage of Ronald
Reagan’s first inauguration edited to make it look like Nancy (possibly
Stephenson’s voice) was whispering the oath to Ron after the Chief Justice
recited it to him. The clip is dated January 21, 1985. This seemed kind of
cheap and lame, but I’m sure it was funnier then. C+
Monatge – Harry Shearer is still credited as a cast member
and would be for the remainder of the season even though last week was his last
episode. He claims he left due to “creative differences” with NBC…meaning he
was “creative” and NBC was “different”.
Monologue – Schieder talks about how New York is his
hometown as he was currently living there between shooting films in LA. He
tells a brief anecdote about going to see a Knick game that didn’t seem to go
anywhere, but I like his line about people “knowing” they’re crazy in New York.
You could tell he had the right amount of energy to host the show and that he
seemed comfortable and enjoyed being there. C+
Super Sunday – Ricky (Crystal) and Phil (Guest) are
preparing for the big game. They each go through the snacks Phil got and just
playfully insult each other until one of them goes too far. Crystal was playing
the character he debuted in the Ed Asner/Kinks episode. Guest actually calls
Crystal a “douchebag” and “smegma” which I’m surprised they could say on NBC in
1984. I always thought the latter was one of those goofy made up words from MAD
magazine, but…it’s not…google at your own risk. This was actually pretty funny
because Guest and Crystal were playing off each other differently. This was
obviously more of a character study type piece and it was miles better than
Willie and Frankie. Toward the end, it seemed like they were trying to get each
other to break character. B+
Good Cop/Bad Cop – Short reprises his Lawrence Orbach
character as a police officer interrogating DeBoney (Belushi) who spends the
whole sketch implying that all the women in the Lieutenant’s family are sluts.
Lieutenant (Scheider) tries to get Orbach to play the part of the “bad cop”,
but keeps confusing it with “sad cop” and incompetent cop. He even goes as far
as playing the bad cop himself as an example just before giving up and going to
the squad car. Somehow, this gets a confession out of DeBoney. I was expecting
to hate this, but it was actually pretty funny. I liked seeing this character a
s a bumbling cop and I liked that they put him in a different setting each time
with no repetitive phrases or anything. Short was great at making this
character completely his own and not relying on any gimmicks. B+
Stand up – Special Guest Stephen Wright performs his
routine. This was great. My favorite jokes were broken mirror, submarine,
rabbit shadows, instant coffee microwave, seashell collection, and rare
photographs. I also liked his bowling imitation. A-
Foldgers Crystals – This was your standard coffee commercial
fare, except this time the spokesman goes into an intensive care unit and
replaces the blood supply hooked into the veins of the patients. Gross reacts
well to this. This was a repeat from 83-84. This was pretty dark, yet funny and
it seemed like they knew just how long the joke would last. B-
In Praise of Women – Julio Iglesias (Kroeger) hosts this
talk show “honoring women of distinction and achievement.” His guests include
French novelist Simone De Beauvoir (Gross) Dr. Helen Caldicott (Dreyfus) and
actress Dame Peggy Ashcroft (Stephenson…under so much old age makeup she was
almost unrecognizable). Julio would repeatedly state how much he “loves women”
to the point where he just sleazily hits on his guests until they all get
disgusted and walk out. This was essentially a one joke sketch, but Kroeger’s
electrifying performance really saved it. I especially liked him telling
Dreyfus to “sit on his knee” and tell him all about her book as well as all of
his interactions with Stephenson…especially toward the end when he started
carrying her around. This was another sketch that knew exactly where it should
end. A-
Saturday Night News – Best Jokes: Koch/Hayes marriage, Goetz
shootings/muggers poll, inauguration, KKK/dunces precision. Guest actually had
decent jokes and his delivery seemed to be improving. Syndicated columnist Ann
Landers (Gross) discusses poll results of her own. She was investigating the
misconception that most women in regards to sex would rather “forget about the
act” and be held closely based on a letter she received. Her poll results of
women favored this heavily, but they unfortunately thought “the act” referred
to an old Liza Minelli production. On the other hand, her poll results of men
indicated that they all preferred the “act” itself. Specifically, these were
the likes of mailmen, milkmen, meter men, criminally insane men and members of
Van Halen. I didn’t much care for this. I wasn’t quite sure about the
impression and the commentary seemed a little light on jokes. Rich Hall
reprises his Paul Harvey impression. This time, he comments on US/Soviet
missile reduction. He works in a reference to a “roach proof” product and “free
enterprise” before Guest tries to stop him from using public airtime for commercials
again. Harvey then decides to give the rest of his commentary in Russian. I
liked this, even thought Paul Harvey was kind of played out by now. I did like
his references to “Pravda value hardware” and “pepski boys”. Still, I have to
appreciate Hall doing something different with his Harvey impression. BBC
commentator Angelah Bradliegh (Stephenson) delivers a Super Bowl pre game
commentary on how she is “fascinated with quarter back buttocks” she also calls
it “barbaric” and says Joe Montana has the “massive organs of a prize bull”.
This was funny and better than her last appearance. Belushi comments on going
to the movie theater and how certain people don’t know how to behave. He
essentially tells people not to talk unless the theater is on fire or you are
being attacked or if you happen to be a black guy at a kung fu movie. He also
suggests new parents leave their babies at home and that those with bladder
issue sit in the isle. He also talks about blowing his airhorn in people’s
faces and screaming at them as they’re trying to talk during “Pinocchio”. I
know there wasn’t much to this either, but it actually made me laugh for some
reason. This was one of the better Updates this season. B+
Ticket Scalpers – Schieder is scalping tickets and he has a
pair of tickets right on the 50 yard line that he refuses to sell for less than
five million dollars. Belushi tries to haggle with him continuously. He even
brings a friend with a 19th century British painting worth two million.
Scheider has to go back to his family that he “let down” because no one was
willing to pay five million. His wife (Gross) insists that he never let his
family down. She also states that he is the “finest, most wonderful man in the
world…and If the world doesn’t know it, god does.” Suddenly, he is mysteriously
struck by lightning. Gross says he was “too good for this world.” This sketch
was very well written and performed even if it was a little slow in parts. It
was really funny. Belushi and Scheider were the best performers. B+
Flaming Parrot – Penny Lane (Crystal in drag) is an old bar
hag singing and playing piano for a group of guys. She manages to charm bar
patron Lester (Scheider). This had the feel of another one of Crystal’s
“character pieces”. It was just as drawn out and maudlin, but performed as a
duo with Schieder. The audience was barely responsive through this and the idea
of Crystal playing a woman is pretty unappealing on its own. I really disliked
this, even though there was a certain sweetness to it. D+
Mental Hospital – Dreyfus and Gross reprise their roles as
Chi Chi and Consuela. Chi Chi (Gross) committed herself to a mental institution
voluntarily. She discusses her bizarre dreams about Richard Dawson and they
encounter a manic dancer who thinks he is John Oates. Chi Chi confesses that
the real reason she committed herself was because Francis Ford Coppola spent
$47 million to make “Cotton Club.” This was another great sketch. It wasn’t
laugh out loud funny, but it was interesting enough on its own and well
written. Kroeger was funny in his small part as well. I always liked these
characters by Gross and Dreyfus and I liked how they were in new settings and
situations each time. B+
Well, this was certainly one of the better shows of the
season. I would definitely place it somewhere in the top three. Schieder proved
to be a capable host whenever he was on and the writing was great. Next episode
is Alex Karras/Tina Turner.
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