“Bees are like muppets with longer contracts”
4 Stars
Gilda lets us know that she has very little to do in the show as all her sketches were cut. As a consolation prize she gets to say “Live from New York…” which she does and we get a graphic that she’s being phased out. I like how the theme song comes in early before she’s finished her piece, unless I’m forgetting something that’s the first time they’ve done that gag. Gilda is her usual charming self.
Jodie Foster Monologue
SNL’s youngest host to date doesn’t instill much confidence during her monologue. They didn’t give her the best material to be fair, comparing her childish behavior to other adult hosts and bringing out a tardy slip signed by her mom, but she’s not coming off as a strong live performer. I suppose I should cut her some slack, she’s only 14. I was confused as to why she was hosting until I looked up that she had Taxi Driver, Bugsy Malone, and Freaky Friday all come out this year which is kinda wild to think about. That’s would be a weird trilogy to binge. I remember my dad telling me that Jodie really stunk up the joint. He had an SNL book that had pictures of all the hosts and when I was surprised to see a kid, much less a kid who would go on to win two Oscars, he told me he remembered the show being a bomb. I guess I’m about to find out just how right old dad was.
Pilson’s Feedbag Dinners
Oh, hey Chevy. How you been since you left? Wait, have you left? I’ve yet to see an episode without you. This is a pretty decent ad for feed bags for humans on the go. The visual gag of people eating like horses sustains itself for the whole thing.
Peter Pan Bees
Bees fly into Jodie’s window but they’re also Peter Pan…or something. Ok, what’s with the bees? Why are they bees? Is it just because this sketch eventually breaks the fourth wall. Jodie doesn’t believe in bees and thinks she’s just hallucinating from being “wrecked”. John starts dying and can only be brought back to life by applause, like in Peter Pan, but he won’t get up unless he gets a standing ovation. Then we cut to the control room and they’re all bees too.
I don’t get it, man. And for the record, I got a little “wrecked” before watching this so I think I’m the target audience.
Brian Wilson
“Back Home”
Puberty Helper
Dan sells bags you can wear over your entire body during those awkward teen years. Some good fast talking Dan at the end.
Metal Detector
Dan keeps getting buzzed by a metal detector, turns out he’s some kind of metal freak who has pockets full of metal, wears a metal collar, underwear, and skull cap. I enjoyed how weird this got as Dan reveals all his different metal apparatuses but for whatever reason they had Brian Wilson play the security guard with one line. He says that one line, the final line in the sketch, with all the gravitas of a man who has never acted before. It adds a bit to the weirdness of the sketch, but accidentally.
Weekend Update
What Kinda Guy Watches Saturday Night?
John plays a guy who owns a plant shop but is no homo. He’s had gonorrhea five times and likes raunchy comedy like NBC’s Saturday Night. I think I get the gag. This guy is supposed to be a douche, someone NBC wouldn’t want as a spokesperson. But it didn’t quite go far enough and I also can’t tell if John thinks this character is a bad guy. I’ve seen him slap women around for laughs and now he’s taking about hating gay people. Like, he’s joking, right? I can’t tell.
Brian Wilson
“Love Is A Woman”
Little Known Talents Of The Not Ready For Prime-Time Players
Laraine does sound effects of a baby crying, a dog getting stepped on, and a possessed chicken. I’m sure this was just filler but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of this kind of stuff. Her shouting “Pluck me! Pluck me! Pluck me!” is something I’ll probably remember for a long time.
Don Pardo: The First 50 Years
Weird seeing a Don Pardo tribute in Season 2 when 40 years later they barely referenced his passing. This was nice but long. We start with baby Pardo doing his own birth announcement and end with his audition for SNL. Dan’s bizarre laugh which gets more and more intense as the sketch goes on was probably the highlight.
Teacher
It’s the last day of school and Jodie is having a hard time saying goodbye to her teacher. She seems to be smitten. This is cute but not funny but it’s not going for funny. I enjoyed Jodie’s performance in this. It’s so weird that she’s only 14. She comes off pretty much the same way she does today.
Kids’ Dream
Keeping with the running joke, Gilda intros this week’s Gary Weis film as she’s stopping by the studio. Kids talk about their dreams and nightmares but I’m positive none of these kids know what they’re saying but are instead just babbling. This theory proves true with the last kid who just says “Ummm…” a bunch of times before “I don’t know”. More random stuff Gary filmed yesterday but this one has cute kids so it’s watchable.
The King Kong Dirge
I have absolutely no idea why Garrett is singing a song about King Kong but I love his commitment to whatever this bit was.
Audience
White Like Me
Jane admits to her boyfriend Garrett that she’s not black. Her name is Jemima but that’s just a coincidence. A fun premise and both Jane and Garrett are good but the ending lost me. His parents are both white and he thinks he’s white too? Not quite sure.
Mr. Mike’s Least-Loved Bedtime Tales
4 Stars
The addition of Jodie sitting on Mr. Mike’s lap gives this a creepier feel than usual. A determined train can’t quite make it up a hill and rolls down killing a school bus of children. A frog who survived the crash was beaten to death just to maintain balance in the universe.
Brian Wilson closes the show with “Good Vibrations”. I want an album of just Brian Wilson introducing songs. Before he starts he talks about how his mom used to tell him about dogs feeling strong vibrations, and this song is called Good Vibrations. I know I shouldn’t laugh because this guy was severely mentally ill and probably shouldn’t have been performing but it’s funny for the wrong reasons.
FINAL ANALYSIS
“Don Pardo, is he still alive?”
2.8 Stars
MVP
Dan Aykroyd
Puberty Helper, Metal Detector, Weekend Update, Don Pardo: The First 50 Years, Teacher
Best Sketch
Teacher
Worst Sketch
Peter Pan Bees
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
The monologue and Peter Pan Bees had me thinking that this was gonna be a dud. But after that the show had a nice flow. Outside of Weekend Update which continues to be a waste of everyone’s time. Brian Wilson added to the light and breezy atmosphere.
Host Analysis
She was only in two sketches so she couldn’t really ruin anything. She wasn’t great but far from abysmal. I was expecting a trainwreck just because my dad said it was and the monologue had me feeling shaky but I thought she handled herself well in what she was given. I can’t really blame her, I don’t think the writers were interested in writing for a 14 year old girl. Or maybe they realized she was a little out of her element and gave her less.
Final Thoughts
Due to not having a dominant host we got to see the cast a lot more this episode. Minus Gilda but her runner about not being in the show managed to make her the most memorable. But everyone else got something fun to do. Garrett got to sing, Laraine got to cluck, John had some nice moments in the Pardo sketch, Jane got to show off her sketch ability late in the night to wash the taste of Update out of my mouth, and Dan continued to prove himself the most versatile of cast members. There wasn’t anything I disliked outside of Update and the bees, so basically the tired and stale stuff I’ve seen before. When they give me something new I enjoy it. I’m gonna bring this episode up to my dad next time I see him, I’m curious if he still remembers what he thought was bad. But there’s been plenty of episodes that I have faulty memories of. Also depends on your mood. I guess I was in a good one when I watched this one. It’s also so much better than the last two episodes which were rough to get through.
Up Next
Candice Bergen for the third time with Frank Zappa
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