Saturday Night Live Season 12 Reviews - Episode 20 - Dennis Hopper / Roy Orbison

"I popped a butterscotch lifesaver and sucked away like there was no tomorrow"

Cold Open: Easy Rider

3 Stars

Billy shows off some motorcycle tricks

The ending of Easy Rider is played as Billy and Wyatt are shot by truckers.  Later that day they come out of a hospital and are offered pain pills by a doctor.  Phil comes out as Jack Nicholson's character from the film and they ride off on their motorcycles.  Hopper, Dana and Phil are driving in front of a green screen and Hopper stands up on his bike, balances from the handlebars and then jumps off and runs beside it.  He then looks into the camera and yells, "Live from New York...".  Seemed pointless and rushed but it was cute for what it was.

Dennis Hopper Monologue

2 Stars

Dennis is glad to be clean and sober

Hopper doesn't really attempt any jokes in his monologue he just says that he's happy to be sober and happy to be hosting.  Not much of a monologue but fine for what it was.

Church Chat

2 Stars

Church Lady interviews a bible student and Dennis Hopper

Church Lady's first guest is Jenny Baker who is the college bible student of the year.  Church Lady accuses her of canoodling with Minister Bob as she saw the two tiptoeing out the back door of church last Sunday.  Jenny gets upset and leaves and Church Lady brings out her next guest, Dennis Hopper.  He tells some stories about his past days using drugs and shows a clip from Blue Velvet that offends Church Lady.  Eventually the two reconcile and they share in a superior dance.  This sketch is quickly becoming a catchphrase countdown.  When is she gonna say 'Satan!' and "Isn't that special"?

Roy Orbison

"Crying/Pretty Woman"

Roy sings 'Crying' which is a slow and soulful song.  He has a hypnotically beautiful voice.  Who is this man in black and why is he so alluring?  Could it be Satan?  One song isn't enough as he lets the applause die down a little and then launches into 'Pretty Woman'.

Frank Booth's "What's That Smell?"

2 Stars

Dennis Hopper's character from Blue Velvet invites celebrity guest to huff gas

Frank Booth, Hopper's iconic character from Blue Velvet who routinely huffs an unknown gas, hosts a game show where celebrity panelists guess the smell.  Tonight's contestants are Robin Leach, Tammy Faye Bakker and Judd Nelson (who is a returning champion and excels at the game due to his large nostrils).  They inhale some gas, smell some rags soaked in celebrity sweat, Frank murders Judd by making him smell carbon monoxide from a 57 Chevy.  This was all very stupid and not in a fun way.

Weekend Update

'Well, this thing came out this week.  What the hell is wrong with mankind?'

Once again, I didn't write down any specific jokes from Miller.  I liked him this season, he has a nice balance of political commentary and just silly.  This episode had another joke where the punchline was "this caused George Steinbrenner to fire Lou Pinella".  The one critique I have about him is his speed.  Every now and then I completely miss what he's saying because he rushed the setup.  Then other times he will speed through the punchline and move on before I have time to process the joke.  Norm mastered this technique where he would deliver the setup seriously, pause and then give you the joke.

Tommy Flanagan makes one final appearance this season (6 this year) to talk about Oliver North.  He is defending the disgraced marine and his defense is simple, North didn't do anything illegal because any crime committed was committed by Flanagan and his wife, Morgan Fairchild, whom he's seen naked.  Just like the Church Lady, I get it at this point, we can move on.

A. Whitney Brown makes one final appearance this season.  He's here to talk to the graduating class of 1987, most of whom are illiterate.  It will be hard for them to find a job not being able to read as there are only so many spots to fill at USA Today.  He tells them that in life they will have to deal with a lot of things and he demonstrates this by juggling several balls.  He does so impressively for a few seconds before they all fall to the floor.

Problem Drinkers From Outer Space

2 Stars

Two drunk aliens visit Earth

We get the title, we get the setup from Lovitz as a news reporter, then we get footage of the UFO landing.  By the time Dennis and Phil emerge as drunk aliens the joke has lost pretty much everything.  They aren't here to invade or conquer they just want us to keep distilling booze.  They fly home but since they're inebriated they crash into the Capital Building.  Hopper's drunk voice sounds a lot like a bad Bill Cosby impression.

This Week With David Brinkley

2 Stars

Sam Donaldson keeps falling out of his chair

It's a weekly news wrap-up show.  Kevin Nealon is playing Sam Donaldson and every time he speaks he leans back in his chair to the point where he almost falls over.  Nealon displays some impressive physical comedy skills here but the joke just keeps repeating.  He almost falls over, then he does it again, and again, and again.  I couldn't help but wonder if this was based on something that actually happened or was just random silliness.  Either way, it could have been much better.

Cannibalism Interview

2 Stars

A group of cannibals interview an applicant

Hopper is interviewing for a job and the second question he is asked is about his feelings towards cannibalism.  He says he never really though about it and then is asked more questions about his eating habits and his openness to try new things.
"Do you think you are what you eat?"
"Yes."
"Interesting."
"Do you like kids?"
"Yes."
"Fat ones or lean ones?"
He leaves and the group says that he isn't as good as their favorite applicant and they move a picture of some kind of native to the top of their bulletin board.  This is an odd thing to complain about in a comedy sketch but what the hell was the job?  I was never clear as to what was going on.  Obviously they are all cannibals but are they hiring someone to eat or are they just looking for an employee who shares their interests?  If it's the latter, why?  What company do these people work for where they can freely and openly participate in eating human beings?  And if they are all cannibals then why do they want to hire more cannibals?  Wouldn't that mean there is less humans for them to eat?  These are the types of questions I ask when I am not laughing at a sketch.

Roy Orbison returns with "In Dreams" which is another beautiful and melodic tune.

Last Chance

2 Stars

Two mechanics give a broker what for

Phil's car has broken down somewhere in Nevada.  He's in a hurry to get back to work as an investment broker and he assumes that the two ignorant mechanics wouldn't know what he's talking about.  Here's the thing though, they are very smart when it comes to finance.  So they drop investment lingo that makes Phil seem stupid.  Then they make him feel dumb for not knowing anything about cars.  I really didn't like this one.

Sweeney Sisters

3 Stars

The Sweeney Sisters sing a medley

The Sweeney Sisters are introduced and they sing a medley of songs.  And at long last I am proved right.  These two don't need a sketch or an interview to surround their song, they can just perform.  That's all this is, Jan and Nora sing to the crowd and to each other.  Their energy is infectious and it's a nice ending to a lackluster episode.

FINAL ANALYSIS

 

"Live and drink in peace or watchman robots will have to spell it out for you"

Average

2.2 Stars

MVP

Jan Hooks
Frank Booth's What's That Smell?, Last Chance, The Sweeney Sisters

Best Sketch

Church Chat

Worst Sketch

Problem Drinkers From Outer Space

How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It

Write better sketches?

Host Analysis

I'm glad Dennis got his life together.  He gives up the booze, the drugs and the pills and has a great year which included Blue Velvet, an Oscar nomination for Hoosiers and an appearance in Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2.  At the end of the show he plugs a movie that he just directed which won't be released for another year.  So things are looking up for Dennis Hopper.  I just wish he had a little more energy in his sketches.  He seemed a little lost at times, relying heavily on the cue cards and he just wasn't that funny.  In his defense he was given very little to work with but I would definitely not invite him back unless he was the only option.  He did host one more time and I'll get to that if I ever get around to season 16.

Final Thoughts

This was a very weak episode to end the season.  Nobody came off as funny here.  Dana got to do Church Lady one more time, which judging by Hopper's genuine amusement during that sketch must have been a big hit already.  Lovitz got to do Tommy Flanagan once more and Hooks and Dunn got The Sweeney Sisters.  It had the feeling of a best of the season episode but it was missing something.  I think the fault goes to the host.  I hate blaming the host for the weakness of an episode because there are so many more factors that go into a show but if Hopper had been a bit more lively I think the episode would have been 50% better.

Up Next

Cast rankings and best of/worst of lists for the entire season