Disclaimer – “Grandma Walton Tries To Tie Her Shoelace” is
being pre-empted. Thanks to Eddie, this one is really only funny in context
(Ellen Corby had a stroke the previous year and returned to “The Waltons”).
Otherwise, the text/photo combination didn’t really do it justice. Still, the
disclaimers are getting a little better even if this one seemed a little tacky.
C+
Academy Awards – Newman and Murray present Vanessa Redgrave
(Curtin) with the Best Supporting Actress award for her role in “Julia”.
Redgrave uses her speech to condemn Zionists and racist hoodlums and invites
Yasser Arafat (Belushi) who thanks his guerilla warriors in Lebanon. Arafat
then invites Anwar Sadat (Morris) who condemns Syrian dwarfs (?) and then
invites President Carter (Aykroyd) who condemns those who use acceptance
speeches to recognize outstanding achievement in motion picture arts. This was
a very funny topical opening that took celebrity involvement in politics to its
ironic logical conclusion. As long as people like Michael Moore and Sally Field
are still working and winning awards, this sketch will always hold up well. B+
Monologue – Palins’ manager Sid Biggs (Palin) steps out in
Palins’ absence and stalls for time explaining that he is having some costume
difficulties. He then explains how Palin is really a “nice boy” and tells us
who his other clients are. He then shows the audience his old act from the war
which consists of him shoving a plate of seafood salad and two domesticated
cats down his pants. This was a great bit of surrealist, Pythonesque humor.
Palin did a great job stalling for himself and it’s a shame we don’t see many
other hosts do monologues “in character”. This and the McKenzie brothers
monologue from the Moranis/Thomas 1983 episode are the only ones I can think of
at the moment. B+
Little Chocolate Donuts – Repeat from Buck Henry/Leon
Redbone (11/19/1977)
Confession – IRS agent Earl Undergaard (Aykroyd) questions
Father Terrence O’Neal (Palin) on some of his previous tax return while he is
taking confessions from Curtin and Morris. It turns out his deductions from a
church pilgrimage are highly suspect and Earl strongly advises him to get all
his receipts for next time. Meanwhile, Morris confesses to not paying taxes on
$30 Million income and names all his tax cheats. He is also under the mistaken
belief that his confession won’t go any further than this confession booth.
With the IRS agent still being in the booth next to him, Fahter O’Neal now
faces a big moral dilemma as narrated by Murray. This sketch is revealed to be
a big commercial for H&L Brock being “the ordained tax people” with Henry
Brock (Belushi) stating the fact that they “solve moral dilemmas” as another
reason you should come to them. This was another well written sketch. It was a
lot better than that automated confession sketch from the premiere episode with
Steve Martin. I liked Palin’s attempted Irish Catholic brogue as well as
Belushi’s line about the “team of trained philosophers and tax theologians” and
Palin’s line to Curtin “if you should succumb to the temptation again, I
suggest you use a spray afterwards”. B+
The Seagull – Palin states his intent to extend his
“dramatic range” and challenge himself as an artist by playing the poet
Tregorian in Anton Chekov’s “The Seagull” whilst attempting to escape form a
straightjacket and escaping from a canvas bag in a steamer trunk. He also attempts
to beat the previous record of one minute and five seconds escaping right on
his cue. Curtin and Murray perform the second act of “The Seagull” as Palin is
carries in and attempts to escape in the middle of their scene. Palin escapes
successfully and delivers his line but unfortunately goes just over the record
time. He then performs a variant of the famous “Lumberjack Song” altered to
“The Claims Adjuster Song” as Curtin and Murray shove him back in the trunk.
This was also very fun to watch. It was another piece of ambitious, absurdly
over-the-top Python humor done live. In terms of the Python pantheon, I’m quite
partial to the “lumberjack” number, so changing it just for the close of this
scene was a nice touch. B+
Weekend Update w/Curtin and Aykroyd – Best jokes: Susie
Chapstick, Sirhan Wrap, Neutron Bomb, Vanessa Redgrave, John Wayne. South
Korean Congressional bribe peddler Tongsun Park is supposed to answer the
charges against him. As Dan interviews him, Curtin gets him to mix up his facts
and reveal that he is actually aspiring actor Lee Kim (Yoshimura) and that he
bribed Dan to appear. This bit dragged, but they kept it short enough. Always
nice to see Production Director Akira Yoshimura making a deadpan cameo
appearance. Belushi delivers an editorial on the planned demolition of Radio
City Music Hall due to loss of revenue. He starts with childhood memories of
shows he saw at Radio City, and just as the commentary slowly builds to a rant
he suggests other building that should be torn down and how other countries
have respect for old buildings no matter their conditions or revenue stream.
This was Belushi’s second “BUT NOOOO” routine done on Update and they were
always a highlight of this era of SNL. I especially liked him barking “Don’t
touch me, Curtin!” This was one of the better Updates from this season, even
for one that wasn’t jam packed with guest commentaries because there were more
things that worked than things that outright bombed. B+
Nerds Music Lesson – Todd LaBounta (Murray) is walking Lisa
Loopner (Radner) home in time for her piano lesson with Mr. Brighton (Palin).
Lisa worries that Todd will embarrass her in front of Brighton as her mother
(Curtin) invites Todd to stay for dinner. Over the course of the lesson,
Brighton professes his love/lust for Lisa and heavily makes out with her. As
Todd catches him red-handed, he leaves in a hurry. In some way, this felt like
the first “real” nerds sketch. They were still doing their lame school yard one
liner shtick, (I especially like the ruler, peep, “noogie suicide” and “play by
ear” jokes as well as the audience reaction to Murray repeating Steve Martin’s
“EXCUUUSE MEEE” line) but this was the first one to establish their setting and
flesh out the characters a little more (it would be more fully developed with
the Steve Martin episode two shows after this one). However, some things still
strike me as odd or not quite right about this sketch. For one, the timing of
the cues when the doorbell rang four times before Gilda just said “I think
that’s him” and answered it. Also, Palin’s character appeared to be a full
grown adult (even though his age never appeared to be established) who was
attracted to a grade schooler (high school at the oldest, even though her last
sketch indicates that she graduated last year but that would be the clumsiest
retcon ever) and yet Palin reprises this character in yet another nerds sketch
when he hosted next season and tried to hit on Curtin’s character. It’s
probably best to just assume Palin’s character is closer to Lisa’s age, anyway.
I also liked Bill’s “noogie suicide” and the “language” back and forth between
Curtin and Murray. C+
Lost Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes – This features a taped
introduction from Orson Welles (Palin) on a beach with Terry Jones constantly
correcting him from off screen mid-sentence as he goes on about “follies of
youth”. We then revisit “The Case Of The Scarlett Membrane”. As Holmes (Palin)
plays violin and shoots targets with a straw in his nose, his maid Mrs. Hudson
(Curtin) and Dr. Watson (Ayrkoyd) try to intervene about his rampant cocaine
habit. He unsuccessfully tries to prove that it doesn’t “cloud his genius
gifts”. Meanwhile, Inspector LeStrade (Murray) brings in Sarah Hammercrack
(Radner) to consult Holmes on the case of her sister, Silvia’s murder. He
mistakenly deduces that he did it because he doesn’t remember what he did last
night, but finds a bloody handkerchief monogrammed “SH” and a hundred pound
missing from his wallet. Watson points out the handkerchief is his and Mrs.
Hammercrack points out that the pound note is rolled up and stuck in his nose.
Mrs. Hudson says he was here all night playing violin and shooting targets. A
constable tells everyone that the murder has been solved by his department and
everyone goes home. This was another funny, well written sketch that may have
dragged in some parts. Murray’s cockney accent sounded rather strange and
unnerving coming from him. I did like how none of Holmes’ deductions had
nothing to do with the case at hand or the details Radner’s character gave him
as well as his mistaking Watson for Moriarty and the bit about the George III
statue. Also, the pre-taped introduction with Palin’s dodgy Orson Welles
non-impression seemed obviously taken from his previous series with Terry Jones
as it was only tenuously connected to the sketch at hand. One final note, Palin
did seem to be sweating quite a bit in this sketch. Given the premise of this
sketch, was he really “getting into character” if you catch my drift or was
that just a makeup effect? You be the judge. C+
Party Night – Murray and Newman are arguing just before
going to a party. Newman doesn’t want to go because she doesn’t like any of the
guests and Murray will only talk to them instead of her. Murray says that’s the
whole point of a party and that he will talk to her, but Newman says they don’t
need to go to party to do that. Since they got a call from one of the guests,
they decide to go. Since this centers on a specific relationship, this was
obviously a Marilynn Suzanne-Miller penned sketch. Still, it has more
entertainment value than her previous sketches. C+
Mr. Bill Pays Taxes – Mr. Bill greets the audience and Mr.
Hands give Spot a bath in boiling water. Mr. Hands reminds Mr. Bill that it’s
tax time and refers him to H&R Sluggo who quite literally charges him an
arm and a leg. Mr. Hands marries Mr. Bill to Mrs. Sluggo. This was quick,
punchy and got in, got the gags and got right out. I like this quality of short
film on SNL.
Danger Probe – Dave Mabel (Aykroyd) sets up this incident
set in a deep-south roadhouse bar involving bigoted bartender Rod M. (Franken)
and bigoted martial artist Matt Q. (Belushi) and their encounter with a Belgian
fop (Palin) and his Spanish blackamoor (Morris). Matt threatens to use a lead pipe
on them just as the cops bust in. This sketch had quite a few faults. Once
Aykroyd established the premise, there were no real laughs aside from Belushi
asking for a lead pipe. Everyone was just doing character exercises with
seemingly straight dialogue. Plus, Belushi and Franken looked the part, but
their thick fake accents made it almost impossible to understand the lines they
were delivering. In short, this didn’t live up to its full potential. C-
This was one of the very strong episodes of this season
thanks to Palin’s style of humor. I would say it’s a strong contender for top
5. Next episode is Michael Sarrazin with Keith Jarrett and Gravity.
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