"Anything I can get you? Water, tea, cocaine?"
Cold Open: The Oscars
2 Stars
Vanessa Redgrave cedes her Oscar speech to foreign diplomats
My world history is a little fuzzy for this sketch, but luckily my Oscar history is strong. Vanessa Redgrave caused a controversy when she used her Oscar acceptance speech to protest a group of "Zionist hoodlums". In this sketch she turns over her acceptance speech to Yassir Arafat then Anwar Sadat then Jimmy Carter. Topical and cute, not that funny 40 years later.
Michael Palin Monologue
My world history is a little fuzzy for this sketch, but luckily my Oscar history is strong. Vanessa Redgrave caused a controversy when she used her Oscar acceptance speech to protest a group of "Zionist hoodlums". In this sketch she turns over her acceptance speech to Yassir Arafat then Anwar Sadat then Jimmy Carter. Topical and cute, not that funny 40 years later.
Michael Palin Monologue
5 Stars
Michael Palin's manager shows his talent
Any monologue that ends with a man shoving live animals down his pants is a win in my book. Michael Palin's manager, Sid Biggs, comes out to stall for time while Michael gets into costume. Sid tells us about the other acts he manages and goes on to tell us that he too was once a performer in show business. He displays the act that made him famous by getting a plate of seafood salad and two domestic cats from the audience. Luckily, someone in the front row brought with them a seafood salad and two cats are handed down from the balcony. He first shoves the food in his pants and then follows that up with the cats. Good Lord, I hope they are declawed, I say to myself. During the Goodnights, Michael brings out the cats to prove that they have been unharmed.
Rerun of Little Chocolate Donuts
Confession
Any monologue that ends with a man shoving live animals down his pants is a win in my book. Michael Palin's manager, Sid Biggs, comes out to stall for time while Michael gets into costume. Sid tells us about the other acts he manages and goes on to tell us that he too was once a performer in show business. He displays the act that made him famous by getting a plate of seafood salad and two domestic cats from the audience. Luckily, someone in the front row brought with them a seafood salad and two cats are handed down from the balcony. He first shoves the food in his pants and then follows that up with the cats. Good Lord, I hope they are declawed, I say to myself. During the Goodnights, Michael brings out the cats to prove that they have been unharmed.
Rerun of Little Chocolate Donuts
Confession
3 Stars
A priest suffers a moral dilemma
Michael is taking confession when he is confronted by an agent with the I.R.S.. He is being audited and finds that he is unable to write-off his trip to The Vatican as he doesn't have any receipts. His next confessor claims to have made 30 million dollars in the past 5 years without paying any taxes. Now, Michael must decide whether to respect the confessional or turn this man in to the authorities to save himself. Turns out this is a commercial for H&L Brock, the ordained tax people. The ending was a little weak but this still had some laughs.
The Seagull
Michael is taking confession when he is confronted by an agent with the I.R.S.. He is being audited and finds that he is unable to write-off his trip to The Vatican as he doesn't have any receipts. His next confessor claims to have made 30 million dollars in the past 5 years without paying any taxes. Now, Michael must decide whether to respect the confessional or turn this man in to the authorities to save himself. Turns out this is a commercial for H&L Brock, the ordained tax people. The ending was a little weak but this still had some laughs.
The Seagull
4 Stars
Michael attempts to break an acting record
Michael will be doing a scene from Anton Chekhov's The Seagull but for added excitement he will be put in a strait-jacket and locked in a trunk, making his escape just in time for his cue. Bill and Jane act out the scene while Michael makes his escape, coming out of the trunk and flopping all over the floor. He makes his escape but didn't do it in time to break the record set by another actor in the same role. He wants to do it again but is told there's no time and then says that he never wanted to be an actor anyway but rather a claims adjuster. He launches into a Lumberjack-esque diatribe on the joys of claims adjusting but is quickly put back in the trunk.
Eugene Record
Michael will be doing a scene from Anton Chekhov's The Seagull but for added excitement he will be put in a strait-jacket and locked in a trunk, making his escape just in time for his cue. Bill and Jane act out the scene while Michael makes his escape, coming out of the trunk and flopping all over the floor. He makes his escape but didn't do it in time to break the record set by another actor in the same role. He wants to do it again but is told there's no time and then says that he never wanted to be an actor anyway but rather a claims adjuster. He launches into a Lumberjack-esque diatribe on the joys of claims adjusting but is quickly put back in the trunk.
Eugene Record
"Have You Seen Her?"
The hit song by The Chi-Lites is performed by the guy who wrote it.
Weekend Update
We get a shorter Update this week, which is always preferred. Dan states that he is in love with a paper clip but the camera cuts away before he can hold his lover up.
Dan interviews Tongsun Park, a South Korean lobbyist who was involved in some sort of political scandal. Jane sees through this and finds that he is not the real Tongsun Park, he is in fact Lee Kim, a South Korean actor who paid Dan $5,000 to be on the show to plug his acting credits. Production Designer, Akira Yoshimura gets his first speaking role of the season.
John Belushi talks about Radio City Music Hall. The owners are considering tearing down the structure for office space. John starts calm and then builds to an impassioned scream. The whole time you're just waiting for him to say "But, Nooooooo!" and then he does and the audience applauds.
Nerds Music Lesson
John Belushi talks about Radio City Music Hall. The owners are considering tearing down the structure for office space. John starts calm and then builds to an impassioned scream. The whole time you're just waiting for him to say "But, Nooooooo!" and then he does and the audience applauds.
Nerds Music Lesson
3 Stars
Lisa's music teacher gets inappropriate
Todd and Lisa are making their lame jokes and giving and receiving noogies. I still like these characters, Bill and Gilda have a solid chemistry and the comedy comes from their interactions rather than the actual jokes, which are bad on purpose. In this installment, Michael comes over to teach Lisa piano but ends up molesting her. Todd steps in to her rescue.
The Forgotten Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes
Todd and Lisa are making their lame jokes and giving and receiving noogies. I still like these characters, Bill and Gilda have a solid chemistry and the comedy comes from their interactions rather than the actual jokes, which are bad on purpose. In this installment, Michael comes over to teach Lisa piano but ends up molesting her. Todd steps in to her rescue.
The Forgotten Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes
3 Stars
Sherlock Holmes likes his cocaine
After Michael introduces this piece as Orson Welles, we see Michael as Sherlock Holmes in his study. His memory and sleuthing skills are not what they used to be as he has been hitting the nose candy pretty hard. Dr. Watson deduces this because Sherlock has been overly paranoid and he still has a rolled up dollar bill in his nostril. When assigned a case, Sherlock starts looking for clues around his study and finds a handkerchief with his initials and assumes that he is the suspect. Michael is really funny here and the cast are all amusing with their various levels of British accent.
Party Night
After Michael introduces this piece as Orson Welles, we see Michael as Sherlock Holmes in his study. His memory and sleuthing skills are not what they used to be as he has been hitting the nose candy pretty hard. Dr. Watson deduces this because Sherlock has been overly paranoid and he still has a rolled up dollar bill in his nostril. When assigned a case, Sherlock starts looking for clues around his study and finds a handkerchief with his initials and assumes that he is the suspect. Michael is really funny here and the cast are all amusing with their various levels of British accent.
Party Night
1 Star
A couple argue before going to a party
Bill and Laraine are getting ready to go to a party but are having a fight. She doesn't want to go because she thinks Bill will spend all night drinking, singing and talking to other people. This is relatable but not funny. We've all had these pointless arguments with our significant other but probably the least fun thing to watch is someone else doing it.
Eugene Record returns with "Trying To Get To You" which is a smooth jazz song with a saxophone and nice vocals. Can't complain about this at all.
The Mr. Bill Show
Bill and Laraine are getting ready to go to a party but are having a fight. She doesn't want to go because she thinks Bill will spend all night drinking, singing and talking to other people. This is relatable but not funny. We've all had these pointless arguments with our significant other but probably the least fun thing to watch is someone else doing it.
Eugene Record returns with "Trying To Get To You" which is a smooth jazz song with a saxophone and nice vocals. Can't complain about this at all.
The Mr. Bill Show
Mr. Bill Pays Taxes
2 Stars
2nd episode in a row with a Mr. Bill Show. I gave my thoughts the last time, this is cute but feels like filler material and is usually the same gag repeated. Mr. Bill gets his dog dumped in boiling water and gets abused by his taxman, H&R Sluggo.
Danger Probe
1 Star
Bigots are confronted by Victorian fops
This had an interesting start but didn't go anywhere. John and Al are two racist guys in a bar, John is on probation with the KKK for being too racist. Michael and Garrett come in as Belgian aristocrats who talk about how much they love kissing other men. John and Al get ready to pummel them but the fight is broken up by the feds. This one had too much set up. Usually I'm a fan of telling the audience what the joke is at the beginning but by the time Michael and Garrett enter the scene, the sketch is basically over. We should have set up John and Al as hardcore racists and bigots and then got the sight gag of Michael and Garrett coming in and making out. There was a lot more that could have been done with this.
FINAL ANALYSIS
This had an interesting start but didn't go anywhere. John and Al are two racist guys in a bar, John is on probation with the KKK for being too racist. Michael and Garrett come in as Belgian aristocrats who talk about how much they love kissing other men. John and Al get ready to pummel them but the fight is broken up by the feds. This one had too much set up. Usually I'm a fan of telling the audience what the joke is at the beginning but by the time Michael and Garrett enter the scene, the sketch is basically over. We should have set up John and Al as hardcore racists and bigots and then got the sight gag of Michael and Garrett coming in and making out. There was a lot more that could have been done with this.
FINAL ANALYSIS
"Let's hear it for the seafood salad!"
Average
Average
2.6 Stars
MVP
Michael Palin
From the cast...John Belushi
The Oscars, Little Chocolate Donuts, Confession, Weekend Update, The Forgotten Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes, Danger Probe
From the cast...John Belushi
The Oscars, Little Chocolate Donuts, Confession, Weekend Update, The Forgotten Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes, Danger Probe
Best Sketch
The Seagull
Worst Sketch
Party Night
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
I would have saved The Seagull for the end of the night. The episode really petered out. Move Danger Probe to before Update and end the episode with Michael Palin popping out of a trunk. Before Weekend Update, I was all in for some fun. The monologue was great and the first two sketches were good then everything after Update was either a forgettable recurring sketch or filler.
Host Analysis
Michael Palin might be my favorite member of Monty Python. John Cleese is the most consistently hilarious but I just love Palin's delivery. He's just naturally funny in everything he does. Even when he was playing the straight man (like in Nerds Music Lesson) he was always fun to watch. The man's a natural entertainer and made this episode fun. The stuff I didn't like about this show were the things he wasn't in.
Final Thoughts
A mixed bag of an episode. If you're a Michael Palin fan then this one has some great stuff like the monologue, The Seagull and Sherlock Holmes. Everything else this week was fairly forgettable. I was really hoping for an episode like the Charles Grodin or Robert Klein ones and I was let down. I figured bringing in Michael Palin would give the show the same feel as Monty Python's Flying Circus but, sadly, the silliness wasn't as rampant as it should have been. Still, even with a few duds, this was a pretty fun one.
Up Next
Another Michael, Michael Sarrazin hosts. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Palin is probably the funnier of the two.
Another Michael, Michael Sarrazin hosts. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Palin is probably the funnier of the two.
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