"The third encounter: love"
Cold Open: Paraquat
3 Stars
The journey of marijuana from Mexico to New York City
I have context for this because of the Weekend Update segment from last episode. Mexican marijuana farmers think it's snowing but they are actually getting a herbicide dumped on them by the U.S. government. They ship the weed anyway and we see it travel by plane, truck and van (through magnets on a map) and eventually end up in the SNL band and passed to Bill Murray who takes a puff, chokes and says "Live from New York...". A pretty simple cold open, probably better if you smoked weed in 1978.
Richard Dreyfuss Monologue
I have context for this because of the Weekend Update segment from last episode. Mexican marijuana farmers think it's snowing but they are actually getting a herbicide dumped on them by the U.S. government. They ship the weed anyway and we see it travel by plane, truck and van (through magnets on a map) and eventually end up in the SNL band and passed to Bill Murray who takes a puff, chokes and says "Live from New York...". A pretty simple cold open, probably better if you smoked weed in 1978.
Richard Dreyfuss Monologue
3 Stars
John makes Richard perform Hamlet to prove his acting mettle
John told Richard backstage that Richard Burton deserved the Oscar more than he did. To prove that he's an Oscar caliber performer, Richard performs the To Be Or Not To Be monologue from Hamlet. During a dramatic pause, John feeds him a line and an argument ensues. John ends up punching Richard in the gut and stealing his Oscar. Got a bit of déjà vu from the Art Garfunkel episode which had a similar monologue, but this was still decent.
Cone Encounters Of The Third Kind
John told Richard backstage that Richard Burton deserved the Oscar more than he did. To prove that he's an Oscar caliber performer, Richard performs the To Be Or Not To Be monologue from Hamlet. During a dramatic pause, John feeds him a line and an argument ensues. John ends up punching Richard in the gut and stealing his Oscar. Got a bit of déjà vu from the Art Garfunkel episode which had a similar monologue, but this was still decent.
Cone Encounters Of The Third Kind
4 Stars
A man discovers the secret to the Coneheads
Richard is building a giant cone sculpture in his garage ala Close Encounters Of The Third Kind when he sees a commercial for Beldar's driving school and it all starts coming together. As he gets to the Coneheads home, they are awaiting a surprise visit from The High Master who is coming to check on their mission progress. I enjoyed the link between Richard's film and the recurring character. It gave this sketch a reason for being in this episode rather than just doing it to do it. I also liked Richard's realization that they were aliens, "Wait a minute, I know what it is now, it's the weird shape of your heads. You're not from France, you're not even from Europe".
Jimmy Buffett
Richard is building a giant cone sculpture in his garage ala Close Encounters Of The Third Kind when he sees a commercial for Beldar's driving school and it all starts coming together. As he gets to the Coneheads home, they are awaiting a surprise visit from The High Master who is coming to check on their mission progress. I enjoyed the link between Richard's film and the recurring character. It gave this sketch a reason for being in this episode rather than just doing it to do it. I also liked Richard's realization that they were aliens, "Wait a minute, I know what it is now, it's the weird shape of your heads. You're not from France, you're not even from Europe".
Jimmy Buffett
"Son Of A Sailor"
As Richard introduces Jimmy, we hear a faint sound resembling the Jaws theme. Richard brushes it off. With all due respect to any parrotheads, I'm not a huge Jimmy Buffet fan. It's not terrible music, it's just not my bag. The song picks up a little in the middle but there's just something about this that doesn't grab me in the slightest.
Sex Test
2 Stars
Richard clears up some misconceptions about sex
Richard, as himself, hosts a show to answer questions about sexual intercourse. Questions like, how many times should a married couple have sex in a week?; Once for every year they've been married, does it matter if the woman is satisfied?; No, and who discovered genitalia?; George Washington Carver. The readings of the questions from Richard got a little repetitive but the medical information from the doctors (specifically Bill bragging about how many orgasms he gives his partners) was fun.
Weekend Update
Richard, as himself, hosts a show to answer questions about sexual intercourse. Questions like, how many times should a married couple have sex in a week?; Once for every year they've been married, does it matter if the woman is satisfied?; No, and who discovered genitalia?; George Washington Carver. The readings of the questions from Richard got a little repetitive but the medical information from the doctors (specifically Bill bragging about how many orgasms he gives his partners) was fun.
Weekend Update
Jane begins the broadcast by addressing some concerns from viewers. She is apparently coming off as too bitchy when dealing with correspondents like Emily Litella, John Belushi and Roseanne Roseannadanna. She promises to remain professional from now on.
Bill Murray talks about the Oscars and he is still upset that Richard Dreyfuss won for The Goodbye Girl. He shows a clip from the film and we see Belushi doing a really funny Dreyfuss impression. Bill is still unconvinced that Dreyfuss was better than his competition and also calls out Richard for being "disgustingly fat".
Roseanne Roseannadanna reads a letter from a viewer about UFOs. This leads her to tell a story about seeing a butt at a drive-in movie. At first, Jane is keeping her calm as she promised but as Roseanne starts talking about eye boogers, mustaches and the size of Jane's breasts, Jane finally loses her cool, rips open her shirt and screams at her.
Nick Springs
3 Stars
Nick performs at a hotel
Nick has a drum machine now, which he uses to sing "Love To Love You, Baby" at increasing speeds. He makes some small talk with the guests and sings some songs. The highlight of this one is Bill putting lyrics to the Close Encounters Of The Third Kind theme.
Pet Peeves
Nick has a drum machine now, which he uses to sing "Love To Love You, Baby" at increasing speeds. He makes some small talk with the guests and sings some songs. The highlight of this one is Bill putting lyrics to the Close Encounters Of The Third Kind theme.
Pet Peeves
1 Star
A couple argue about their differences
Reminiscent of the Party Night sketch with Bill and Laraine, this is about a couple fighting with each other. They argue about all the things they hate about the other one and then end up making up and going to bed. Laraine and Richard give fine performances but I was so bored for this.
The David Susskind Show
Reminiscent of the Party Night sketch with Bill and Laraine, this is about a couple fighting with each other. They argue about all the things they hate about the other one and then end up making up and going to bed. Laraine and Richard give fine performances but I was so bored for this.
The David Susskind Show
4 Stars
Celebrities are interviewed with their mothers
It's Mother's Day and David Susskind has invited 3 celebrities and their mothers to his show. All the mothers look and act just like their sons. John plays Henry Kissinger with his mother, Laraine, Dan is Tom Snyder with his mother, Jane, and Garrett is Leon Spinx with his mother, uh oh, Gilda. Luckily she doesn't put on the blackface, she just has an afro wig with Leon's trademark gap in his teeth. The women outshine the men here with Jane's Tom Snyder impression being as funny if not funnier than Dan's. Gilda is also really funny as the Spinx matriarch giving the reason for her missing teeth as "I floss too hard".
Gary Tigerman
It's Mother's Day and David Susskind has invited 3 celebrities and their mothers to his show. All the mothers look and act just like their sons. John plays Henry Kissinger with his mother, Laraine, Dan is Tom Snyder with his mother, Jane, and Garrett is Leon Spinx with his mother, uh oh, Gilda. Luckily she doesn't put on the blackface, she just has an afro wig with Leon's trademark gap in his teeth. The women outshine the men here with Jane's Tom Snyder impression being as funny if not funnier than Dan's. Gilda is also really funny as the Spinx matriarch giving the reason for her missing teeth as "I floss too hard".
Gary Tigerman
"White Oaxacan Moon"
Again, Richard hears the Jaws theme as he introduces the musical guest but brushes it off. I was not into this at all. It's a guy and a guitar singing a very slow and dull song.
How You Pay For Your Sins
4 Stars
Father Guido Sarducci explains the afterlife
The first of 31 appearances over almost 20 years for Don Novello's Father Guido Sarducci. He talks about a number of topics like Jesus's younger brother, Billy Christ, and what happens to you when you die. Everyone gets paid $14.50 per day during their life and when you die you have to pay for your sins. Big sins like murder can cost up to $50,000 while smaller sins like masturbation go for 35 cents, which can add up over a lifetime. If you don't have enough money to get into heaven, you have to go back and do it again.
I Want To Be Seduced
The first of 31 appearances over almost 20 years for Don Novello's Father Guido Sarducci. He talks about a number of topics like Jesus's younger brother, Billy Christ, and what happens to you when you die. Everyone gets paid $14.50 per day during their life and when you die you have to pay for your sins. Big sins like murder can cost up to $50,000 while smaller sins like masturbation go for 35 cents, which can add up over a lifetime. If you don't have enough money to get into heaven, you have to go back and do it again.
I Want To Be Seduced
2 Stars
Richard sits atop Paul's piano and sings a Broadway cabaret like number written by Gary Tigerman. The song is about a man wanting the woman to make the first move on him. It's fine.
FINAL ANALYSIS
"Arrivederci, America"
During the Goodnights, we get closure on the Jaws theme running gag as Richard is attacked by a shark as he plugs his new movie opening in October.
Average
2.8 Stars
MVP
Jane Curtin
Cone Encounters Of The Third Kind, Weekend Update, The David Susskind Show
Cone Encounters Of The Third Kind, Weekend Update, The David Susskind Show
Best Sketch
The David Susskind Show
Worst Sketch
Worst Sketch
Pet Peeves
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
Would have preferred a second Jimmy Buffett song over Gary Tigerman. Sex Test would have worked better as the last sketch of the night and would have been a stronger ending than Richard's song.
Host Analysis
Richard was just fine. He seemed professional and well rehearsed if not particularly funny. He didn't have many opportunities since he played the straight man all night. I liked him the Coneheads sketch but he was just a seat filler in Nick Springs and Pet Peeves was less funny and more like a cute little one-act play.
Final Thoughts
A pretty enjoyable episode that feels a bit like a placeholder for the last show of the season. The heavy lifting is done by the stuff they know works like Coneheads and Dan's Tom Snyder impression. 3 musical performances and a guest spot from Father Guido Sarducci took up half the episode so hopefully we get more sketches next week.
Up Next
Buck Henry hosts the season finale.
Buck Henry hosts the season finale.
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