"How did I suddenly get so God damn funny?!"
Cold Open: World Series Bet
2 Stars
Mayor Rudy Guiliani makes a wager with the mayor of Atlanta
The Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees are in the World Series and the mayors of the respective cities have made a friendly bet on who will win. The Atlanta mayor offers up a bushel of Georgia peaches for a box of New York strip steaks. Guiliani wants to go one step further and offers up a painting of the Virgin Mary smeared with feces for 50 inbred, redneck Georgia state troopers. More crazy bets follow until Darrell screams the sign on. There is something about a cold open featuring Darrell Hammond talking straight to camera that makes me instantly bored. Thankfully, this was short. The version on NBC.com must be from the dress rehearsal as the version I have has an intro from Tim Meadows that is missing online.
Norm MacDonald Monologue
5 Stars
Norm explains how he became funny enough to host the show
One of my top 5 SNL monologues. Norm first explains how he got fired as only he can.
"I wanted to keep my job and they felt the exact opposite"
One of my top 5 SNL monologues. Norm first explains how he got fired as only he can.
"I wanted to keep my job and they felt the exact opposite"
He was fired for not being funny but only a year and a half later he's asked to host the show. A year and a half isn't enough time for a dude to learn how to be funny. Then it occurs to him that he hasn't gotten funnier, the show has gotten really bad. So Norm is hilarious compared to the crap we're gonna see later tonight. Biting the hand that feeds you and crapping on the guys that canned you. These are the things us normal people wish we could do. Plus he says "God damn" on live television which was bleeped in reruns.
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia
2 Stars
Martha Stewart gloats as her IPO goes public
Ana plays Martha Stewart, in soft focus, as she talks about her stock being one of the most successful in Wall Street history. Not too much to say about this as it was probably funnier at the time. Amusing in hindsight as she went to jail for insider trading just 5 years later.
Great Moments In Yankee History
We get part two of The Millennium focusing on the events that never happened like Mark Twain and Skeletor winning the Battle of Norway, a kitten performing a heart transplant and Lucille Ball being put to death by Cap'n Crunch.
Donald Trump's ex-wife Marla Maples is here to expose Trump for what he really is. She quickly realizes that she misses the man though and regrets turning 26. Colin still thinks she's beautiful and asks her out. Marla quickly changes her tune as she is too good and classy for Quinn.
Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg
Ana plays Martha Stewart, in soft focus, as she talks about her stock being one of the most successful in Wall Street history. Not too much to say about this as it was probably funnier at the time. Amusing in hindsight as she went to jail for insider trading just 5 years later.
Great Moments In Yankee History
5 Stars
Lou Gehrig clarifies his famous statement
"Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth"
The crowd cheers for Lou Gehrig as he gives his famous speech to a stadium after retiring from baseball due to being diagnoses with ALS (commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease). Lou then retracts his statement and says that he was being sarcastic and is actually the unluckiest man on Earth. He has a disease so rare they named it after him. This is about as pure a Norm MacDonald sketch as you're ever gonna get.
Jeopardy!
"Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth"
The crowd cheers for Lou Gehrig as he gives his famous speech to a stadium after retiring from baseball due to being diagnoses with ALS (commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease). Lou then retracts his statement and says that he was being sarcastic and is actually the unluckiest man on Earth. He has a disease so rare they named it after him. This is about as pure a Norm MacDonald sketch as you're ever gonna get.
Jeopardy!
5 Stars
Burt Reynolds, Sean Connery and French Stewart compete
Probably the most classic incarnation of this sketch which has had a lot of great moments. This one has "Ape Tit for $200", Connery bragging about having sex with Alex's mother, Burt's oversized foam cowboy hat, "Suck it Trebek" and, of course, Turd Ferguson.
Crosstalk
Probably the most classic incarnation of this sketch which has had a lot of great moments. This one has "Ape Tit for $200", Connery bragging about having sex with Alex's mother, Burt's oversized foam cowboy hat, "Suck it Trebek" and, of course, Turd Ferguson.
Crosstalk
3 Stars
Models and actresses discuss how thin is too thin
David Gregory from NBC news interviews a plus-sized model, the editor of Cosmopolitan and Ally McBeal star, Calista Flockhart (Rachel Dratch in her first episode). Some good gags here, mostly from Chris pawing over the wafish thin women, ogling Cheri's hospital pictures from when she had anorexia. I also liked Rachel's puppet body as the very skinny Flockhart. But I came here for a Norm episode, what's this doing here? I remember watching this live and thinking the same thing. I kept waiting for Norm to come out and give his opinion but he never did.
Larry King's News & Views
David Gregory from NBC news interviews a plus-sized model, the editor of Cosmopolitan and Ally McBeal star, Calista Flockhart (Rachel Dratch in her first episode). Some good gags here, mostly from Chris pawing over the wafish thin women, ogling Cheri's hospital pictures from when she had anorexia. I also liked Rachel's puppet body as the very skinny Flockhart. But I came here for a Norm episode, what's this doing here? I remember watching this live and thinking the same thing. I kept waiting for Norm to come out and give his opinion but he never did.
Larry King's News & Views
4 Stars
Larry King gives his two cents
One of the weirder bits Norm got on the show. It's hard to imagine him pitching this idea and having someone think it's a good idea, since it's funny because of how unfunny it is. Norm just stares into the camera and delivers musings like "Of all the figures of the 20th century one of the greatest has to be Robert Urich" and "Between Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Andrew, nothing beats Hurricane Hugo".
Fun With Real Audio
3 Stars
Charlton Heston speaks to congress about gun rights
Heston and Tom Selleck speak to congress about the NRA and the right to bear arms when apes attack and take them all hostage. As Heston babbles on, the apes don't understand and reveal that they cut out Selleck's brain. Then God carves the 2nd amendment in stone. A little too preachy for my taste, even though I agree with the message, but fun.
Larry King's News & Views
Heston and Tom Selleck speak to congress about the NRA and the right to bear arms when apes attack and take them all hostage. As Heston babbles on, the apes don't understand and reveal that they cut out Selleck's brain. Then God carves the 2nd amendment in stone. A little too preachy for my taste, even though I agree with the message, but fun.
Larry King's News & Views
4 Stars
"Does anyone care if Pakistan has the bomb?"
"Now that the world population has reached 6 billion, something tells me it's only gonna get bigger."
"Nothing is consistently funny on the tube as the TV show Becker."
Then after his last one, "I have no compassion for anyone who commits rape", he just stares into the camera for an uncomfortable amount of time and says "That's the end". This is what I love about Norm, he doesn't really care if you laugh. He has the confidence that he'll get you eventually and he's not afraid of bombing. In fact, I think he enjoys it.
Weekend Update
Well, this is awkward. It's like if you were trying to impress a girl in gym class by spinning a basketball on your finger and LeBron James walks in. I would love to know what Colin Quinn was thinking having to do this while the guy you replaced is sitting in his dressing room. I would love to know how Norm felt about it. I remember watching this live and really hoping that Norm would come out for a commentary. It's probably best that he didn't. I'm sure he's friends with Colin and doesn't want to take away from his time on the show. Still, how awesome would that have been? Jokes this week include Bob Dole taking Viagra, Bill Clinton likes screwing fatties, wrestling fans are hillbillies and Kenny G sucks. Could have used a few more "crack whores".
We get part two of The Millennium focusing on the events that never happened like Mark Twain and Skeletor winning the Battle of Norway, a kitten performing a heart transplant and Lucille Ball being put to death by Cap'n Crunch.
Donald Trump's ex-wife Marla Maples is here to expose Trump for what he really is. She quickly realizes that she misses the man though and regrets turning 26. Colin still thinks she's beautiful and asks her out. Marla quickly changes her tune as she is too good and classy for Quinn.
Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg
"Still D.R.E."
I was a fan of this album when it came out and was one of the few rap CDs I owned. The music is good but the lyrics are just about how awesome he is. I did love how Norm introduced them as "fellas". Something about picturing Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre walking into a room and Norm saying, "Hey fellas" makes me laugh.
McMullins House
3 Stars
A husband and wife bicker during Halloween
Trick or treaters come to the McMullins house for candy. As soon as they leave, the couple returns to their living room to drink and fight. Not a terrible sketch but this is the first Norm sketch this episode that doesn't feel like a sketch he had any hand in creating. I feel like they could have saved this for Dylan McDermott next week. Why waste time on this when I'm sure there's a sketch Norm wrote back in the day that never made it to air. This actually probably would have worked better with Will in the Norm role. He and Cheri have a great chemistry that could have made this.
Bar
Trick or treaters come to the McMullins house for candy. As soon as they leave, the couple returns to their living room to drink and fight. Not a terrible sketch but this is the first Norm sketch this episode that doesn't feel like a sketch he had any hand in creating. I feel like they could have saved this for Dylan McDermott next week. Why waste time on this when I'm sure there's a sketch Norm wrote back in the day that never made it to air. This actually probably would have worked better with Will in the Norm role. He and Cheri have a great chemistry that could have made this.
Bar
2 Stars
Michael Jackson drowns his sorrows
How excited I was when Michael Jackson walked into a bar and Norm was the bartender. This is gonna be the greatest sketch in the world, I say to myself. Unfortunately, the jokes here just aren't very good. Michael is depressed about his divorce and Norm gives him helpful advice. I felt like this wanted to get darker, considering Norm's frequent jokes about the King of Pop being a homosexual pedophile. Aside from Michael having a "Macaulay" tattoo and Tim throwing in an "I says, I says, I says" to make Norm laugh, this had little. At the end Jimmy comes out as Howard Stern, apparantly. I had to check SNL Archives to see who he was supposed to be. At first I thought Ozzy Osbourne then maybe Dave Matthews.
First appearance of Will's James Lipton impression, which would get more absurd when he starts interviewing Charles Nelson Reilly and Screech from Saved By The Bell. Norm's Clint Eastwood impression has a connection to my SNL history. The first episode I stayed up all night to watch was the John Malkovich episode from season 19 where Norm played the voice of Clint in the last sketch. Clint gets tired of James's line of questioning and threatens him and lets out three more "God damn"s.
We end with a rerun of Chess for Girls. Something was obviously cut as Horatio is seen wearing leather pants at the goodnights. Unless, of course, that's just his after party attire.
FINAL ANALYSIS
"My wish for the new millennium is that we see a lot more John Larroquette"
Average
How excited I was when Michael Jackson walked into a bar and Norm was the bartender. This is gonna be the greatest sketch in the world, I say to myself. Unfortunately, the jokes here just aren't very good. Michael is depressed about his divorce and Norm gives him helpful advice. I felt like this wanted to get darker, considering Norm's frequent jokes about the King of Pop being a homosexual pedophile. Aside from Michael having a "Macaulay" tattoo and Tim throwing in an "I says, I says, I says" to make Norm laugh, this had little. At the end Jimmy comes out as Howard Stern, apparantly. I had to check SNL Archives to see who he was supposed to be. At first I thought Ozzy Osbourne then maybe Dave Matthews.
Norm introduces a couple of fellas that go by the handles of Dr. Dre and Eminem who perform "Forgot About Dre". I'm always impressed when rappers are able to edit themselves. They're doing a song they've performed countless times very quickly and able to effortlessly cut out all the swear words.
Inside the Actors Studio
5 Stars
James Lipton interviews Clint Eastwood
We end with a rerun of Chess for Girls. Something was obviously cut as Horatio is seen wearing leather pants at the goodnights. Unless, of course, that's just his after party attire.
FINAL ANALYSIS
"My wish for the new millennium is that we see a lot more John Larroquette"
Average
3.6 Stars
MVP
Like I'm giving it to anyone other than
Norm MacDonald
Cheri would be my pick from the cast
Norm MacDonald
Cheri would be my pick from the cast
Best Sketch
Jeopardy!
Worst Sketch
Bar
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
It was fun to see Rachel succeed in her first sketch appearance but I would have saved Crosstalk and McMullins House for next week and put on two Norm-centric sketches. I also would have cut that cold open and put Norm up front. I would have had Norm anchor Weekend Update. I would cut the two musical performances and shown clips of Norm's standup routines. What else...? Oh, instead of ending with Chess For Girls, I would just cut to Norm.
Host Analysis
If you hadn't already gathered, Norm is kind of my comedic hero. Growing up I was a junkie for standup comedy and he was always one of my favorites. He became the first SNL castmember who I knew of before he was on the show. So I was always excited to see him pop up in sketches and then lived for him on Update. I said it in my season 23 reviews but him getting fired turned me off of the show for a good while. I still watched but not as rabid as I once did. This was a really good episode and it's beacuse of Norm. It stinks that this was his only time hosting but, in a way, it's also kind of cool. He did it once, did it perfect and never had to do it again.
Final Thoughts
This one's a classic for me. I wonder how the majority of the cast felt, seeing that they were there for his firing. Norm didn't really share the screen with anyone tonight, aside from Tim, Cheri and Will. Chris Kattan, Horatio and Molly were nowhere to be seen this week and Ana only appeared in the sketches he wasn't in. Tracy was also M.I.A. but that's not out of the ordinary. I'm fairly certain that Kattan wasn't a huge fan of Norm and I would doubt Ana would be either. I always sensed an awkwardness when Ana would do characters on Update. I don't remember Molly and Norm being on screen together much, but maybe there was a reason for that. His possible animosity with some of the cast is what probably makes this feel less like an episode of SNL and more like a Norm MacDonald show featuring the SNL cast. Which is either a good or a bad thing, depending on your tastes. I'm sure there are people who hate Norm or don't think he's funny and for those people, this is definitely not one for you. For me, this is one I'll put on my all-time great list. I didn't mention that Savion Glover was on the show to tap dance inbetween sketches, which added a cool and different feel to this episode.
Up Next
Final Thoughts
This one's a classic for me. I wonder how the majority of the cast felt, seeing that they were there for his firing. Norm didn't really share the screen with anyone tonight, aside from Tim, Cheri and Will. Chris Kattan, Horatio and Molly were nowhere to be seen this week and Ana only appeared in the sketches he wasn't in. Tracy was also M.I.A. but that's not out of the ordinary. I'm fairly certain that Kattan wasn't a huge fan of Norm and I would doubt Ana would be either. I always sensed an awkwardness when Ana would do characters on Update. I don't remember Molly and Norm being on screen together much, but maybe there was a reason for that. His possible animosity with some of the cast is what probably makes this feel less like an episode of SNL and more like a Norm MacDonald show featuring the SNL cast. Which is either a good or a bad thing, depending on your tastes. I'm sure there are people who hate Norm or don't think he's funny and for those people, this is definitely not one for you. For me, this is one I'll put on my all-time great list. I didn't mention that Savion Glover was on the show to tap dance inbetween sketches, which added a cool and different feel to this episode.
Up Next
Dylan McDermott hosts, or is it Dermot Mulroney?
Funny how they have not had a Canadian cast member since Norm left btw the beef between Chris and Norm was cause Norm called Chris gay cause of his flamboyant characters.
ReplyDelete