"Pay special attention to the feet"
Cold Open: Tightrope
4 Stars
The show's about to start but Pee-Wee is walking a tightrope between the World Trade Center
This is exactly what I want from a cold open. It's short, sweet and gets me excited for the show. The cast is outside watching Pee-Wee through binoculars as he walks a tightrope. We cut to Pee-Wee on an obvious green screen and he spins around, which is done with a cheap looking model. He gets knocked off by a rogue bird and as he plummets through the sky screams "Live from New York..." It was silly and stupid but highly effective.
Pee Wee Herman Monologue
This is exactly what I want from a cold open. It's short, sweet and gets me excited for the show. The cast is outside watching Pee-Wee through binoculars as he walks a tightrope. We cut to Pee-Wee on an obvious green screen and he spins around, which is done with a cheap looking model. He gets knocked off by a rogue bird and as he plummets through the sky screams "Live from New York..." It was silly and stupid but highly effective.
Pee Wee Herman Monologue
4 Stars
Pee-Wee gives out some nicknames and dances in some big shoes
It's amazing how this ridiculous character became a pop culture icon. He must have been huge at this point because the audience goes insane when he pulls out a pair of over-sized shoes and does the Pee-Wee dance. He goes out into the audience and gives people secret code names for the show, Valerie is "Valerie-O", Adam is "Adam-O". He dances in a giant pair of women's heels and ends by doing a dance on his tiptoes. How did this take America by storm? The crux of the character is that he is an annoying man child. The joy of him is though that he is all about innocence and fun and that is really nice to watch sometimes. You don't have to think you can just be transported to when you were a kid numbing your brain to children's television. But Pee-Wee also has a hidden layer of naughtiness to him so it's for kids and adults. It's an accidentally fascinating character that somehow caught on.
Just Say No
It's amazing how this ridiculous character became a pop culture icon. He must have been huge at this point because the audience goes insane when he pulls out a pair of over-sized shoes and does the Pee-Wee dance. He goes out into the audience and gives people secret code names for the show, Valerie is "Valerie-O", Adam is "Adam-O". He dances in a giant pair of women's heels and ends by doing a dance on his tiptoes. How did this take America by storm? The crux of the character is that he is an annoying man child. The joy of him is though that he is all about innocence and fun and that is really nice to watch sometimes. You don't have to think you can just be transported to when you were a kid numbing your brain to children's television. But Pee-Wee also has a hidden layer of naughtiness to him so it's for kids and adults. It's an accidentally fascinating character that somehow caught on.
Just Say No
3 Stars
The army. It's like playing with a loaded gun.
AMH and RDJ are driving around town and future Kid In The Hall Bruce McCullough is in the car too. It's always weird seeing an uncredited writer in a sketch, especially now when the cast is so huge. Like I'm supposed to think that Jon Rudnitsky was too busy or too proud to take this part with no lines? The piece follows the kids around as they go through different forms of peer pressure but Hall finally says "No" when they try to get him to join the army. Pretty decent gag and the piece was short.
Locker Room
AMH and RDJ are driving around town and future Kid In The Hall Bruce McCullough is in the car too. It's always weird seeing an uncredited writer in a sketch, especially now when the cast is so huge. Like I'm supposed to think that Jon Rudnitsky was too busy or too proud to take this part with no lines? The piece follows the kids around as they go through different forms of peer pressure but Hall finally says "No" when they try to get him to join the army. Pretty decent gag and the piece was short.
Locker Room
5 Stars
Pee-Wee doesn't seem to get the hint
Randy Quaid is having a heart to heart with Pee-Wee in the locker room after a workout. The fact that Quaid is sweating in gym clothes and Pee-Wee is still in his trademark suit is never addressed. Quaid says that he is having sexual difficulties and is considering hiring someone. Like a psychiatrist? No. A nurse? No. Balloon salesman, clown, mime, skeleton, evil mailman...? Pee-Wee doesn't seem to understand and then says that Quaid should just forget all about it and get himself a hooker. It's like a reverse Willie And Frankie sketch where one person guess something absurd but the other person is in the real world. It really made me laugh, mostly due to the fact that this was Pee-Wee suggesting that Randy Quaid go to see an evil mailman.
Pee Wee's Thanksgiving Special
Randy Quaid is having a heart to heart with Pee-Wee in the locker room after a workout. The fact that Quaid is sweating in gym clothes and Pee-Wee is still in his trademark suit is never addressed. Quaid says that he is having sexual difficulties and is considering hiring someone. Like a psychiatrist? No. A nurse? No. Balloon salesman, clown, mime, skeleton, evil mailman...? Pee-Wee doesn't seem to understand and then says that Quaid should just forget all about it and get himself a hooker. It's like a reverse Willie And Frankie sketch where one person guess something absurd but the other person is in the real world. It really made me laugh, mostly due to the fact that this was Pee-Wee suggesting that Randy Quaid go to see an evil mailman.
Pee Wee's Thanksgiving Special
5 Stars
Pee-Wee and his celebrity friends celebrate the holidays
This was so bizarrely fun to the point that I wanted to whole show to be just this. Before we get to the sketch itself let's just talk about how absurd this is. A fictional character is hosting a late night sketch comedy show and just doing what his character would do. It's like if Steve Urkel hosted in 1994 but also wrote the episode. Joan Cusack plays Brooke Shields and they make hand turkeys before throwing to Terry Sweeney as Diana Ross. Now with all the crap I gave Billy Crystal for his extensive blackface in season 10, I should probably have a problem with this but this was so much fun that I have to give it a pass. She sings "Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand)" but then refuses to let anyone in the audience physically touch her. Danitra Vance shows up as Cecily Tyson and they act out a hippie Thanksgiving. It ends with Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr. coming out as Hall & Oates and this may be the hardest I've laughed all season. There was just something inherently fun about Hall prancing about the stage while Downey performs on his knees that tickled me so. I wish we would have gotten this later in the season. I still have not really gotten to know this cast yet and their show is being hijacked.
The Pat Stevens Show
This was so bizarrely fun to the point that I wanted to whole show to be just this. Before we get to the sketch itself let's just talk about how absurd this is. A fictional character is hosting a late night sketch comedy show and just doing what his character would do. It's like if Steve Urkel hosted in 1994 but also wrote the episode. Joan Cusack plays Brooke Shields and they make hand turkeys before throwing to Terry Sweeney as Diana Ross. Now with all the crap I gave Billy Crystal for his extensive blackface in season 10, I should probably have a problem with this but this was so much fun that I have to give it a pass. She sings "Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand)" but then refuses to let anyone in the audience physically touch her. Danitra Vance shows up as Cecily Tyson and they act out a hippie Thanksgiving. It ends with Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey Jr. coming out as Hall & Oates and this may be the hardest I've laughed all season. There was just something inherently fun about Hall prancing about the stage while Downey performs on his knees that tickled me so. I wish we would have gotten this later in the season. I still have not really gotten to know this cast yet and their show is being hijacked.
The Pat Stevens Show
3 Stars
Pat Stevens interviews a depression expert
I'm probably giving this a pass because I'm still riding a Pee-Wee high but the episode has been so fun so far that I can even sit through Pat Stevens. 2nd incarnation for this character and I still don't get it. I guess she's a former model and she's condescending. She's dumb but not in an airhead way and she's obviously successful in the industry. Why does she have a talk show though? She brings on Quaid who is an expert on depression and the joke is that he himself is depressed. Quaid has some good lines here but Pat Stevens doesn't do anything funny. Maybe I'm looking at the sketch wrong. Maybe she was designed to be the straight woman to interesting guests and the sketch was never really about her at all. This isn't your standard SNL talk show sketch, like if The Church Lady wasn't funny and instead was just a vehicle to interview characters like Dieter and Tommy Flanagan. But if The Church Lady wasn't funny, she probably wouldn't be on 19 times. Still trying to solve the Pat Stevens puzzle.
Die Foreigner Die
I'm probably giving this a pass because I'm still riding a Pee-Wee high but the episode has been so fun so far that I can even sit through Pat Stevens. 2nd incarnation for this character and I still don't get it. I guess she's a former model and she's condescending. She's dumb but not in an airhead way and she's obviously successful in the industry. Why does she have a talk show though? She brings on Quaid who is an expert on depression and the joke is that he himself is depressed. Quaid has some good lines here but Pat Stevens doesn't do anything funny. Maybe I'm looking at the sketch wrong. Maybe she was designed to be the straight woman to interesting guests and the sketch was never really about her at all. This isn't your standard SNL talk show sketch, like if The Church Lady wasn't funny and instead was just a vehicle to interview characters like Dieter and Tommy Flanagan. But if The Church Lady wasn't funny, she probably wouldn't be on 19 times. Still trying to solve the Pat Stevens puzzle.
Die Foreigner Die
4 Stars
Trailer for an upcoming action movie
Footage of two muscle men wearing guns plays under a voice-over. Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone are gonna team up to kill a bunch of different ethnicities. They're going to take on Mexicans, Iranians and Indians (both kinds). The comment on how racist these types of movies really were gets a little lost when they transition to how much blood you're gonna see in the film but it's still a fun little commercial parody.
Jail Cell
Footage of two muscle men wearing guns plays under a voice-over. Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone are gonna team up to kill a bunch of different ethnicities. They're going to take on Mexicans, Iranians and Indians (both kinds). The comment on how racist these types of movies really were gets a little lost when they transition to how much blood you're gonna see in the film but it's still a fun little commercial parody.
Jail Cell
4 Stars
Pee-Wee and Tommy Flanagan stretch some truths behind bars
Hey, that's featured player Dan Vitale as the guard. This might be his only appearance and instead of being a recognized SNL cast member he instead exists only so I can win bar bets of who can name the most obscure SNL cast member ever. No joke, Dan Vitale has won me two different trivia contests. Pee-Wee gets thrown in jail and his cell mate is Tommy Flanagan. We're only on the 3rd episode of the season and so far the recurring character count is at 2. It becomes a game of Top That with lies. Tommy says something outlandish and Pee-Wee comes back with something more crazy. They keep lying like they feed on lies as a junkie would heroin. Turns out Tommy is only in jail for jaywalking and his wife paid his fine. His wife, Morgan Fairchild.
Weekend Update With Dennis Miller
Hey, that's featured player Dan Vitale as the guard. This might be his only appearance and instead of being a recognized SNL cast member he instead exists only so I can win bar bets of who can name the most obscure SNL cast member ever. No joke, Dan Vitale has won me two different trivia contests. Pee-Wee gets thrown in jail and his cell mate is Tommy Flanagan. We're only on the 3rd episode of the season and so far the recurring character count is at 2. It becomes a game of Top That with lies. Tommy says something outlandish and Pee-Wee comes back with something more crazy. They keep lying like they feed on lies as a junkie would heroin. Turns out Tommy is only in jail for jaywalking and his wife paid his fine. His wife, Morgan Fairchild.
Weekend Update With Dennis Miller
"I went bowling yesterday and it's really not that bad"
I'm going to stop rating this segment because it seems unfair to bring the episode average down. If I were to give it a rating, probably 2 stars, it's not horrible but it's not something I want to watch at all. Oddly enough though, I started watching this episode around 11:30pm so by the time I got to Update it was lulling me into a nice sleep, just as it would when it originally aired. Miller has a piece here where he plays the Mick Jagger and David Bowie music video for "Dancing In The Streets" and goes on a long rant about how stupid it is. It's nice to know that this thing was weird at the time too because when I first saw it I questioned why anyone ever thought either of them was ever cool. Father Guido Sarducci shows up to talk about his new church, The People's Catholic Church. He started the church and made himself pope and that's the great thing about the church, if you want to, you can be a pope as well. They have multiple popes and for a small fee you can get the cool hat and outfit and the title of pope. It's a pretty fun bit. I never really got this character but I like when people make fun of religion. His church got rid of the ten commandments and instead went with the ten suggestions.
Dinosaur Town
4 Stars
Pee-Wee comes up with a scheme to save Dinosaur Town
Some Japanese business men are trying to buy Dinosaur Town and Pee-Wee is upset. The family that owns and runs the park is going under and would need to raise a lot of money to keep it afloat. Someone mentions that they could get a lot of money if they found a mouse in a Coke bottle to which Pee-Wee gives a mischievous look into the camera. Now here's why this sketch is absurdly brilliant, and I know it's not fun to dissect a joke but, you think Pee-Wee is going to fake a mouse in a Coke bottle and sue. Instead we cut to Pee-Wee and the employees of Dinosaur Town opening up and pouring out bottles Willy Wonka style trying to find a mouse. Nobody ever comments that this is a stupid plan, you, as the audience have to connect the logic jumps in your brain. They ask for more bottles and Pee-Wee calls some friends, who are 1970s pimps played by Wayans and Hall, and asks them to keep an eye out for a mouse in a coke bottle. They deliver one and a Coke executive drops off a suitcase filled with a million billion zillion dollars.
Queen Ida
"Frisco Zydeco"
Some Japanese business men are trying to buy Dinosaur Town and Pee-Wee is upset. The family that owns and runs the park is going under and would need to raise a lot of money to keep it afloat. Someone mentions that they could get a lot of money if they found a mouse in a Coke bottle to which Pee-Wee gives a mischievous look into the camera. Now here's why this sketch is absurdly brilliant, and I know it's not fun to dissect a joke but, you think Pee-Wee is going to fake a mouse in a Coke bottle and sue. Instead we cut to Pee-Wee and the employees of Dinosaur Town opening up and pouring out bottles Willy Wonka style trying to find a mouse. Nobody ever comments that this is a stupid plan, you, as the audience have to connect the logic jumps in your brain. They ask for more bottles and Pee-Wee calls some friends, who are 1970s pimps played by Wayans and Hall, and asks them to keep an eye out for a mouse in a coke bottle. They deliver one and a Coke executive drops off a suitcase filled with a million billion zillion dollars.
Queen Ida
"Frisco Zydeco"
Love Letter
2 Stars
A teacher explains love to Pee-Wee
Pee-Wee's teacher asks him to stay after class. I've slightly touched on this but Pee-Wee has been playing Pee-Wee this whole episode. Everyone has been calling him Pee-Wee in every sketch. Here Pee-Wee is in school. I know that the Pee-Wee Herman character is an adult man (wait, I think, maybe I don't know that to be true) so is this Pee-Wee Herman playing a character? And his name just happens to also be Pee-Wee? Bro, you're blowing my mind. Anyway, Cusack is the teacher and she finds a note written by Pee-Wee declaring his love for her. She tries to explain to him that he only likes her and love is an emotion that he doesn't fully comprehend. Pee-Wee is adamant that his feelings are legitimate and they end up getting married at the end. This was a big old pile of "huh?". I guess times were different and an adult woman marrying a student wasn't frowned upon but this also didn't seem to have any jokes. I guess the only joke being that it's Pee-Wee Herman. In the praise of this sketch though, Cusack and Pee-Wee seem to have this memorized. At one point Cusack delivers a monologue directly into Pee-Wee's eyes. I couldn't imagine today's cast doing anything like this. Picture Leslie Jones stringing together more than 3 sentences without glancing at the cue cards or stumbling over her lines.
Pregnancy Tips
Pee-Wee's teacher asks him to stay after class. I've slightly touched on this but Pee-Wee has been playing Pee-Wee this whole episode. Everyone has been calling him Pee-Wee in every sketch. Here Pee-Wee is in school. I know that the Pee-Wee Herman character is an adult man (wait, I think, maybe I don't know that to be true) so is this Pee-Wee Herman playing a character? And his name just happens to also be Pee-Wee? Bro, you're blowing my mind. Anyway, Cusack is the teacher and she finds a note written by Pee-Wee declaring his love for her. She tries to explain to him that he only likes her and love is an emotion that he doesn't fully comprehend. Pee-Wee is adamant that his feelings are legitimate and they end up getting married at the end. This was a big old pile of "huh?". I guess times were different and an adult woman marrying a student wasn't frowned upon but this also didn't seem to have any jokes. I guess the only joke being that it's Pee-Wee Herman. In the praise of this sketch though, Cusack and Pee-Wee seem to have this memorized. At one point Cusack delivers a monologue directly into Pee-Wee's eyes. I couldn't imagine today's cast doing anything like this. Picture Leslie Jones stringing together more than 3 sentences without glancing at the cue cards or stumbling over her lines.
Pregnancy Tips
3 Stars
Cabrini Green Jackson gives some tips to expectant mothers
This cast isn't trying to waste time. The recurring character count is now up to 3 in as just as many episodes. Cabrini gives some advice to teen mothers like don't smoke or drink, because you don't know your baby's favorite cigarette brand or whether they like beer or vodka. I'm not really sure who this character is yet but I like the performance. In a way, why does a character have to be anything? I guess I'm just so use to characters like Tommy Flanagan and Pat Riley, who can be easily defined in an adjective or two. This is just a real person who has problems and something to say.
Money Magnetism Seminar
This cast isn't trying to waste time. The recurring character count is now up to 3 in as just as many episodes. Cabrini gives some advice to teen mothers like don't smoke or drink, because you don't know your baby's favorite cigarette brand or whether they like beer or vodka. I'm not really sure who this character is yet but I like the performance. In a way, why does a character have to be anything? I guess I'm just so use to characters like Tommy Flanagan and Pat Riley, who can be easily defined in an adjective or two. This is just a real person who has problems and something to say.
Money Magnetism Seminar
1 Star
A get rich quick seminar in a hotel conference room
Quaid is giving a seminar about how to make money. His method is real estate and finding motivated sellers. Go to a guy who just lost his job and if he's asking $70,000 for his house offer him $10,000. What's he gonna do? Might as well take advantage of people I guess. He then brings on Downey who is a kid who bid $1 on a farm that nobody wants and now owns it. I have no idea where the joke is here. It felt like I was watching a real money making seminar. There was absolutely no exaggeration and Quaid's character wasn't fun enough to warrant any interest.
FINAL ANALYSIS
Quaid is giving a seminar about how to make money. His method is real estate and finding motivated sellers. Go to a guy who just lost his job and if he's asking $70,000 for his house offer him $10,000. What's he gonna do? Might as well take advantage of people I guess. He then brings on Downey who is a kid who bid $1 on a farm that nobody wants and now owns it. I have no idea where the joke is here. It felt like I was watching a real money making seminar. There was absolutely no exaggeration and Quaid's character wasn't fun enough to warrant any interest.
FINAL ANALYSIS
"Look, if it were so easy to find a mouse in a bottle of Coke do you think the company would pay so much?"
Average
3.5 Stars
MVP
Joan Cusack
Tightrope, Pee-Wee's Thanksgiving, Dinosaur Town, Love Letter
Real MVP goes to Pee-Wee though
Joan Cusack
Tightrope, Pee-Wee's Thanksgiving, Dinosaur Town, Love Letter
Real MVP goes to Pee-Wee though
Best Sketch
Pee-Wee's Thanksgiving Special
Pee-Wee's Thanksgiving Special
Worst Sketch
Money Magnetism Seminar
Money Magnetism Seminar
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
There's absolutely nothing I would change about this episode. It's like the show went in descending order. It started out great, then stayed at that level until the musical guest and all the lesser stuff was buried at the end of the night. Since the first half of the show was so good I didn't even really mind stuff like Love Letter or Money Magnetism Seminar because I was over all enjoying the episode.
There's absolutely nothing I would change about this episode. It's like the show went in descending order. It started out great, then stayed at that level until the musical guest and all the lesser stuff was buried at the end of the night. Since the first half of the show was so good I didn't even really mind stuff like Love Letter or Money Magnetism Seminar because I was over all enjoying the episode.
Host Analysis
Pee-Wee Herman was always billed as Pee-Wee Herman, we never even knew that Paul Reubens existed. So it makes sense that this was hosted by Pee-Wee but just try to wrap your head around how weird this was. Can you imagine an entire episode of SNL hosted by Stefon? But also Stefon appears in sketches like he's a real person? Pee-Wee seems like he dominated the proceedings but, unlike Chevy Chase last week, let the rest of the cast get attention as well. Even in the sketches he headlined like Pee-Wee's Thanksgiving Special, most of the laughs came from Cusack and Sweeney. I don't know if I would like to have seen Pee-Wee get a second hosting shot, actually I take that back, he totally should have hosted when Phil Hartman was a cast member.
Final Thoughts
Pee-Wee Herman was always billed as Pee-Wee Herman, we never even knew that Paul Reubens existed. So it makes sense that this was hosted by Pee-Wee but just try to wrap your head around how weird this was. Can you imagine an entire episode of SNL hosted by Stefon? But also Stefon appears in sketches like he's a real person? Pee-Wee seems like he dominated the proceedings but, unlike Chevy Chase last week, let the rest of the cast get attention as well. Even in the sketches he headlined like Pee-Wee's Thanksgiving Special, most of the laughs came from Cusack and Sweeney. I don't know if I would like to have seen Pee-Wee get a second hosting shot, actually I take that back, he totally should have hosted when Phil Hartman was a cast member.
Final Thoughts
This was a huge step up from the last 2 episodes, not just because Pee-Wee was so entertaining but the writing and the cast seemed to have more of a spark to them. This is one of the weirdest episodes I have ever seen but because of and despite that it's also one of my favorites. I don't think we should open SNL to other fictional characters but this was a nice little oddity.
Up Next
Up Next
You had my interest at John Lithgow, you sold me when you threw in Mr. Mister.
Fun fact, Phil Hartman actually cameos in Pee Wee's Thanksgiving Special and had a hand in writing some of the sketches. Also, the reason why Phil was even casted in the show was due to this episode and the aforemention successful writing he did on this episode. Also, I don't think Pee-Wee Herman could've gotten to host in Phil's tenure because Phil and Paul Reubens started to beef and never would get back in good graces even before Phil's death.
ReplyDeleteThat IS a fun fact, thanks. I knew he wrote for Pee-Wee and guest wrote on this episode but I missed his cameo and didn't know they had beef. I really want to watch that Pee-Wee documentary from a few years ago but (and this is not a bit) I don't want to see Large Marge! I saw that once on the big screen when I was 3 years old and I've never seen it again. I know they are gonna show it and I won't be prepared for it. Like, I'll be watching Paul Reubens be vulnerable and honest about his life and then all of a sudden...."It looked like THIS!" and a little bit of pee will come out of me. And now I have a little dribble in me trousers and my wife is running in the room asking me why I screamed and why I'm now curled up on the floor in a fetal position. For what? Just so I can learn more about Paul Reubens and his beef with the late, great Phil Hartman? Sorry, it just doesn't seem worth it to me. Thanks for the info. Love ya, buddy. Peace.
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