Steve Martin/Randy Newman (1.21.1978)

Disclaimer – “Bruce Jenner Wins The Javelin Catch” is being pre-empted. The photo is Jenner impaled on a Javelin. This was definitely funnier than most of the previous ones. B+

State of the Union 1978 – President Carter (Aykroyd) gives his annual speech in front of speaker Tip O’Neill (Belushi) Vice President Mondale (Murray) and congress while Barry Potter (Davis V/O). The speech itself is mostly straight. The laughs come from O’Neill drinking beer in the background and throwing paper airplanes with Mondale as well as the captions like “all thinking about snow tires”, “trying to look upset” and “Edward Muskie – Senator From Mars”. I did like the t-shirt that said “young and disadvantaged”, but other than that this felt like sort of a weak, underwritten political open. C-

Monologue – Steve comes out mentions the lack of rehearsal due to the snowstorm. He then notices $50 missing from his pocket and then remembers that Belushi was the last person he saw in his dressing room and brings him onstage to accuse him of stealing it just before finding his money in his opposite pocket. He then blames his bad mood on the press and lack of privacy bemoaning an “enquirer” piece about “’this thing on my weenie”. He then does the old “spilled water/mic electrocution” gag before explaining how you can “be a millionaire and never pay taxes” by stating to the IRS “I forgot” when they come to collect back taxes you haven’t payed and then following that up with “excuuuuuuuse meeeee!” if necessary. This was much better than his monologue from the season premiere and had a great line to go out on. B+

Swill – Commercial repeat from 10/8/77

Mystery of Bigfoot – Park Ranger McConnell (Martin) comes in from a bad snowstorm to inform Belushi and Radner that they are evacuating residents due to the Bigfoot scare. They say they’ve never seen Bigfoot as long as they have been living in these parts as they revealing their abnormally huge feet. Belushi states he is going out to chop wood and puts on his coat as the Ranger tells him Bigfoot is usually seen walking upright with a thick fur coat. Radner offers him to stay the night since his snowmobile broke down when he suddenly thinks he sees Bigfoot by the woodpile and shoots him with a tranquilizer dart. Belushi comes back in and says he noticed large footprints and says he is tired and going to take a nap. They laugh as the ranger confesses to mistaking Belushi for Bigfoot. This was a very thin premise, but the writing and execution saved it. It wouldn’t have worked had nobody committed to being oblivious. B-

Festrunk Bros. II – Georg (Martin) and Yortuk (Aykroyd) are at their pad preparing for a visit from “two swinging foxes” they met using computer dating. They also get a visit from their neighbor Cliff (Morris) inviting them to a party tomorrow night as their dates arrive. They were expecting American foxes, but they get the Cherbu sisters from Croatia Bodka (Curtin) and Vobisna (Newman) who came to America with their Uncle Krabosh (Belushi). The sisters try to trick the brothers into taking them out on an actual dinner date until they see Cliff trying to make his exit and try to get him into bed while the brother go swinging with Uncle Krabosh. This was a much more developed version of the Czech brothers and they got a lot funnier with each sketch after this. B+

Body Floss - Martin pitches this alternative to bars of soap and washcloth. Basically, it is giant dental floss for your epidermis. Radner, Murray, Morris and Curtin illustrate its use at a floss party in the shower. Martin was the only one who didn’t add much here. This laughs were mostly from the visuals of everyone else using the floss. I also liked “the Dating Game” theme being used here as that sounded pretty silly. C+

Weekend Update w/ Curtin and Aykroyd – Best Jokes: Oral Roberts, Leo the MGM Lion, Jane welcomes new NBC president Fred Silverman saying he’ll elevate their network the same way he did for ABC (gee, that worked out well, huh?) and the anchors introduce themselves as “Laverne Curtin” and “Shirley Aykroyd”. Nice effort, but that joke kind of fell flat. Jane examines Jimmy Carter’s falling record and sleazy family associations. This bit was too long with an unsatisfactory payoff. Roseanne Roseannadanna makes her first Update appearance. She is supposed to report on flu prevention which turns into a rant about finding a hair in her soup and then finding strange toenails in hamburgers and soft boiled eggs to the point where Jane becomes nauseous and asks what her point was to which she responds “it’s always something” followed by a ton of clichéd sayings and invites her to dinner. She made a strong debut her, but her subsequent appearances would be better. Watching Roseanne annoy Jane is always funny.

Randy Newman – This is worth noting because he performs “Short People” where his backup singers are briefly seen on their knees. Afterwards, he addresses his critics and those that were offended by the song by simply blowing a raspberry at them. He then states his next song will offend only real cowboys before doing “Rider in the Rain”.

Family Feud – Richard Dawson (Murray) pits the Joe Mel family (Martin, Aykroyd, Belushi) against the Beldarr Conehead family (Aykroyd, Curtin, Newman). The Coneheads win, despite giving rather obscure answers. This was enjoyable. Putting the Coneheads in a new setting is something current writers of recurring sketches could be taking note of. Murray’s Richard Dawson impression really fell apart, but he still had several funny lines and I also liked him slapping Belushi. B-

What If? – Host Joan Cage (Curtin) questions Col. Ray Eghardt (Murray) and Julius Carruthers (Morris) on tonight’s question “What if Napoleon had a B-52 at the battle of Waterloo?”

Both guests point out how he would’ve immediately taken advantage of this opportunity as he was doing quite poorly in battle. The dramatization shows Napoleon (Belushi) walking aboard to the pilot showing him how it works and how to drop missiles on target. Subsequent “What If?” sketches would be far more entertaining. C-

Weis film – Martin introduces this film he and Gary Weis made in Beverly Hills which is just Martin driving around looking for celebrity houses trying to greet them with no response. Thanks to Martin, this had more entertainment value than the typical Weis film. I liked the woman who forgot his name at the beginning and he told her he was George Carlin and identifying a guard dog as Rin Tin Tin. B-

Well, this was one of Martin’s more underrated hosting stints in some parts. Next episode is Robert Klein with Bonnie Rait.