"There's nothing fascist about pep"
Cold Open: Pep Rally
Cold Open: Pep Rally
3 Stars
Mary Kay tries to pep up the cast
Don Pardo tells us that Grizzly Addams Sets Fire To His Head will not be seen tonight so we're watching SNL instead. Mary Kay Place is trying to lead the cast in a pep rally but they are mostly glum. John shows up late and thinks cheerleaders and pep are stupid. There's a lot of alliteration with p's by Mary Kay but before I can call it quits on this cold open, a marching band comes out and the cast all break through a drum screaming their names, forming a pyramid and yelling "Live from New York...". Much like the cast, this cold open lulled me into a false sense of boredom but got the show started off with some energy.
Mary Kay Place Monologue
Don Pardo tells us that Grizzly Addams Sets Fire To His Head will not be seen tonight so we're watching SNL instead. Mary Kay Place is trying to lead the cast in a pep rally but they are mostly glum. John shows up late and thinks cheerleaders and pep are stupid. There's a lot of alliteration with p's by Mary Kay but before I can call it quits on this cold open, a marching band comes out and the cast all break through a drum screaming their names, forming a pyramid and yelling "Live from New York...". Much like the cast, this cold open lulled me into a false sense of boredom but got the show started off with some energy.
Mary Kay Place Monologue
1 Star
Mary Kay reads from her 8th grade diary
What's the opposite of interesting? Mary Kay is still in her cheerleader outfit and reads to us from her 8th grade diary. It sounds too written to be real so this is obviously a bit, but it's not fun or funny. She reads 3 passages involving homework and a boy she has a crush on and it is painfully slow moving and dull.
Hey You!
What's the opposite of interesting? Mary Kay is still in her cheerleader outfit and reads to us from her 8th grade diary. It sounds too written to be real so this is obviously a bit, but it's not fun or funny. She reads 3 passages involving homework and a boy she has a crush on and it is painfully slow moving and dull.
Hey You!
2 Stars
The perfume for one night stands
Gilda puts on some perfume at a bar and gets approached by a guy who looks a lot like Norm MacDonald. Turns out this is a perfume specifically for one night stands. Gilda's walk of shame at the end was cute but this wasn't one of my favorite commercial parodies of the season.
More Insects To Worry About
Gilda puts on some perfume at a bar and gets approached by a guy who looks a lot like Norm MacDonald. Turns out this is a perfume specifically for one night stands. Gilda's walk of shame at the end was cute but this wasn't one of my favorite commercial parodies of the season.
More Insects To Worry About
3 Stars
A bug expert describes a new, very annoying insect
If you weren't already afraid of African bees, wait until you meet the Lens Beetle. It lays eggs in between your eyeball and contact lens after mating in your underwear and secreting a crazy glue like substance to ensure privacy. Belushi's description of the bug is fun. I specifically liked his line of "As a scientist I respect nature but this makes me want to vomit".
Total Woman
If you weren't already afraid of African bees, wait until you meet the Lens Beetle. It lays eggs in between your eyeball and contact lens after mating in your underwear and secreting a crazy glue like substance to ensure privacy. Belushi's description of the bug is fun. I specifically liked his line of "As a scientist I respect nature but this makes me want to vomit".
Total Woman
3 Stars
Women compare notes on how to keep their men happy
4 women are meeting to go over the rules to keep their husbands interested. Laraine talks about hiding in the basement when she had a boil on the back of her neck. Gilda says she never refuses sex with her husband, even in the hospital after gall bladder surgery. The two role play a scenario of getting your husband his pipe, slippers, favorite drink and the sports section in a sexy outfit. All 4 have a prayer circle asking their doctors to renew their Valium prescriptions for when their drunk husbands come home with friends looking for dinner. Could have used a good punchline to this but it was a fun sketch for the ladies to play by themselves.
Willie Nelson
4 women are meeting to go over the rules to keep their husbands interested. Laraine talks about hiding in the basement when she had a boil on the back of her neck. Gilda says she never refuses sex with her husband, even in the hospital after gall bladder surgery. The two role play a scenario of getting your husband his pipe, slippers, favorite drink and the sports section in a sexy outfit. All 4 have a prayer circle asking their doctors to renew their Valium prescriptions for when their drunk husbands come home with friends looking for dinner. Could have used a good punchline to this but it was a fun sketch for the ladies to play by themselves.
Willie Nelson
"Whiskey River", "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"
I always think of Whiskey River as a slow ballad but this version was a little more hard rocking that got my toes tapping. The second song was a slower one that I would have preferred at the end of the night.
I always think of Whiskey River as a slow ballad but this version was a little more hard rocking that got my toes tapping. The second song was a slower one that I would have preferred at the end of the night.
Weekend Update
Laraine Newman shows us how to tell if someone is lying. Look for subtle facial expressions like eye rolling, winks and sticking your finger down your throat when telling someone their dinner was delicious.
Bill comes out as Eric Severeid, a recently retired journalist for the CBS Evening News. He was forced to retire due to being 65 despite the president of CBS being older than him. He's a little bitter but delivers his ire with the straightforwardness of a newsman. Maybe they should just hire him to anchor Weekend Update, he's just as amusing.
Married in a Minute!
Bill comes out as Eric Severeid, a recently retired journalist for the CBS Evening News. He was forced to retire due to being 65 despite the president of CBS being older than him. He's a little bitter but delivers his ire with the straightforwardness of a newsman. Maybe they should just hire him to anchor Weekend Update, he's just as amusing.
Married in a Minute!
4 Stars
4 single ladies in New York City discover the good life
A parody of romantic comedies from the 40s and 50s, the girls all get off the bus to New York City and instantly find fame, fortune and romance. An eccentric millionaire at the bus station gave them his penthouse, Gilda finds a million dollars in cash, Mary Kay gets a call from a producer looking for Broadway actresses, Gilda marries a French Prince who disowns the throne for her, Laraine gets a million dollar contract from a rich magician, John comes out as a rich oilman and Garrett is a white millionaire posing as a black bellhop, both of whom propose marriage. Jane finding a note from God giving her a career was the highlight. A very fast moving and absurd sketch with a lot of good gags. Jim Downey coming out of the closet as a priest to marry everyone was a good capper.
Andy Kaufman
A parody of romantic comedies from the 40s and 50s, the girls all get off the bus to New York City and instantly find fame, fortune and romance. An eccentric millionaire at the bus station gave them his penthouse, Gilda finds a million dollars in cash, Mary Kay gets a call from a producer looking for Broadway actresses, Gilda marries a French Prince who disowns the throne for her, Laraine gets a million dollar contract from a rich magician, John comes out as a rich oilman and Garrett is a white millionaire posing as a black bellhop, both of whom propose marriage. Jane finding a note from God giving her a career was the highlight. A very fast moving and absurd sketch with a lot of good gags. Jim Downey coming out of the closet as a priest to marry everyone was a good capper.
Andy Kaufman
4 Stars
Andy plays the bongos
Done completely in foreign gibberish, I kept saying to myself, "I don't know what I'm watching, but this is genius". He grabs a volunteer from the audience and gets her to lay down on the stage, dances over her and stands her up. He ends with more bongo playing and getting the crowd to participate in a sing-along of his made-up language.
Bad Musical
Done completely in foreign gibberish, I kept saying to myself, "I don't know what I'm watching, but this is genius". He grabs a volunteer from the audience and gets her to lay down on the stage, dances over her and stands her up. He ends with more bongo playing and getting the crowd to participate in a sing-along of his made-up language.
Bad Musical
3 Stars
Scenes from a musical about the inventor of the microscope
Leonard Pinth-Garnell introduces us to a bad musical about Frederick Leeuwenhoek, the inventor of the microscope. It closed 2 and a half minutes after it premiered. This is leaps and bounds better than the Bad Opera sketch from the Madeline Kahn episode, by which I mean the musical wasn't awful to sit through. It was stupid but Mary Kay has a fine voice and I enjoyed Bill coming out to have sex with Frederick's wife.
"Let's have sex, Mrs. L./Let all the rest go to hell"
We also get a soft shoe in clogs from Gilda.
Willie Nelson & Mary Kay Place
"Something to Brag About"
Leonard Pinth-Garnell introduces us to a bad musical about Frederick Leeuwenhoek, the inventor of the microscope. It closed 2 and a half minutes after it premiered. This is leaps and bounds better than the Bad Opera sketch from the Madeline Kahn episode, by which I mean the musical wasn't awful to sit through. It was stupid but Mary Kay has a fine voice and I enjoyed Bill coming out to have sex with Frederick's wife.
"Let's have sex, Mrs. L./Let all the rest go to hell"
We also get a soft shoe in clogs from Gilda.
Willie Nelson & Mary Kay Place
"Something to Brag About"
The host and the musical guest duet a country song. It's a cute song about not having anything other than your significant other. I'm poor, my job sucks, my clothes are old but I got a good woman.
Farbers Chanukah
2 Stars
The Farbers explain Chanukah to their gentile friends
The Farbers are having some friends over for Chanukah dinner. As Gilda starts to tell the story of The Maccabees and the burning oil, John transitions to play the head of the Maccabees. They all watch the light burn for 8 days. The biggest, and really only, laugh comes from John returning to the scene in progress after changing outfits.
FINAL ANALYSIS
The Farbers are having some friends over for Chanukah dinner. As Gilda starts to tell the story of The Maccabees and the burning oil, John transitions to play the head of the Maccabees. They all watch the light burn for 8 days. The biggest, and really only, laugh comes from John returning to the scene in progress after changing outfits.
FINAL ANALYSIS
"Marvelously bad, really bites the big one"
Average
2.7 Stars
MVP
John Belushi
Pep Rally, More Insects To Worry About, Total Woman, Married In A Minute!, Bad Musical, Farbers Chanukah
Pep Rally, More Insects To Worry About, Total Woman, Married In A Minute!, Bad Musical, Farbers Chanukah
Best Sketch
Married In A Minute!
Worst Sketch
Farbers Chanukah
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
The show got off to a slow start with the pep rally, monologue and commercial parody but there's not much you can do about that. Nothing else works as a cold open. This one had momentum problems and it was probably due to me being confused, I'm unfamiliar with Mary Kay Place so I had no idea why she was a cheerleader trying to get the cast's spirits up. Was she a cheerleader? Was she on a cheerleading show? Was she known for her peppiness? The sketches this week were also not gut busters, they were more pleasant and cute. Putting the sketches in a different order wouldn't help matters much.
Host Analysis
Host Analysis
I feel like not being familiar with Mary Kay Place hurt my enjoyment of this one. I know her from Being John Malkovich, The Big Chill and Captain Ron. I never saw her Emmy winning work on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She was fine in this episode but starting with the cheerleader sketch and then having her read her diary made me instantly feel like I was missing something.
Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
A second viewing helped this one for me. After 3 really good episodes that played with the format of the show, this was back to business as usual. I was really let down the first time I watched it because I was hoping for and expecting more goofiness and craziness. Watching it a second time, knowing where the sketches were going and lowering my expectations boosted my enjoyment. It's still one of the weaker ones of the season so far.
Up Next
Up Next
Don Pardo tells us that next week's host will be the winner of the Anyone Can Host contest. Spoiler alert, it's Miskel Spillman. He also tells us that The Sex Pistols will be the musical guest but another spoiler, it's really Elvis Costello.
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