"I feel like I’m in a sassy sandwich"
Cold Open: Open House
3 Stars
Bill and Hillary greet crazy people and professional wrestlers at the White House. Not much to say about this but it was short. Odd that this is Jan’s only appearance in tonight’s episode. Why did the show feel like nobody else could play Hillary? Once again, I would have loved to see Melanie Hutsell’s take on the First Lady.
Dana Watch ‘93 continues. Dana is listed in the opening credits of this episode but this will officially be the last time.
Luke Perry Monologue
Obi-Wan Kenobi tells Luke to use the force and the cue cards. This was very stupid but funny and Luke comes off as charming.
Rerun of Chameleon XLE
The Tampon Prince
Some inspired silliness inspired by real-life events. Prince Charles declares that he is giving up the throne to live life as a tampon in his girlfriend Camilla’s purse. Thought the sketch was ending there but then we see this acted out The Fly style. Dana’s head switches with a tampon and that sight gag alone gives this 5 stars. I don’t really know all the context for this, I guess he just said he wanted to be his girlfriend’s tampon, so maybe I do have all the context if that’s all it was. But I’m not sure how well it plays if you didn’t know it was based on reality.
Yard Boy
An old, boozy Julia hits on her young gardener but he’s too dumb to pick up on sexual innuendos. Cute with good performances and once again Luke comes off way better than I thought he would. He’s got a natural charisma and much better comic timing than I would have expected from the star of a teen soap opera.
Mick Jagger
"Sweet Thing"
Weekend Update
Opera Man sings about gays in the military, Hillary Clinton, the Bills losing the Super Bowl again, and Prince Charles.
Magic Fish Town Meeting
A town meeting is had to discuss the dwindling amount of wish granting fish. This may end up being my favorite sketch of the season. I’m sure I’ve seen this one before but I didn’t remember it. The last time I remember enjoying a sketch this much for this blog was Mr. Belvedere Fan Club. So many good things here, the fact that everyone is dressed like a king but that’s never really addressed, Al Franken’s giant brain, Sandler’s giant erection (which he regrets), Mike suffering from a wish his children made, and most of all Phil’s head exploding when he suggests the town go back to hard work and determination.
And thus ends Dana Watch ‘93 as this marks Dana’s last sketch appearance as a cast member.
SNL Halftime Spectacular
I’m guessing this is based on the then-recent Super Bowl Halftime Show but it actually works better out of context because now it’s just silly and absurd. Rock plays Michael Jackson who badly lip-syncs a medley surrounded by “children and midgets alike, living together and sharing much common ground”. Loved the Richmeister and It’s Pat mascots. Those are the coolest props ever.
Mick Jagger returns with "Don't Tear Me Up" which is much better than his first song, but his first song was as fun as listening to whale farts.
High School Liars Club
Luke, Sandler and Spade compete on a game show where they make up lies about how cool they are, how much beer they can drink, and how many ladies they scored with. Fun performances elevate your typical game show sketch. I also liked all the technical snafus. Looks like they forgot to reset the board after dress rehearsal so half the questions are already uncovered. Then I guess they tried to make it better by covering them up with paper but they don’t remove the paper so it makes it look worse than if they did nothing at all.
Sassy's Sassiest Boys
3 StarsI had to re-read my Season 19 recap of the Christian Slater episode to remember how I felt about the second installment of this. I recall really enjoying it but I wasn’t crazy about this one. Maybe it’s just diminishing returns in reverse. Since I saw the second one first it seems more fresh. But I also recall more absurd variations of “sassy”
Dark Moments In Black History
2 StarsQueen Shenequa equates a football play to things being stolen from the black man. She’s also not happy about Michael Jackson’s lip-syncing. I guess now I have context for that halftime sketch.
Saying Goodbye
Luke is leaving home but his father is terrible at saying goodbye. More sweet than comedic. I usually don’t go for these types of sketches but solid performances had me hooked. Phil and Melanie are both really good in this. I’ve said this before but this season has really turned me around on Melanie Hutsell.
“Why is he like that?”
“Because he loves you and he doesn’t know how to say it. Also, he drinks.”
"Nowadays a lot of fish don’t even speak English"
Average
3.6 Stars
MVP
Phil Hartman
Open House, Monologue, Chameleon XLE, The Tampon Prince, Yard Boy, Magic Fish Town Meeting, High School Liars Club, Sassy’s Sassiest Boys, Saying Goodbye
Best Sketch
Magic Fish Town Meeting
Worst Sketch
Dark Moments In Black History
How I Would Have Lorne Michaels-ed It
Get a better musical guest. This episode ruled outside of Update and Mick Jagger.
Host Analysis
He handled everything he was given, which wasn’t very much. I guess I can’t blame the show for not utilizing him. I had very low expectations as I think you should with a teen hearththrob. I found him really charming and a good actor. Not the funniest guy in the world but you could tell he was having a good time and giving it his all. Maybe I’m looking through rose colored glasses since he’s no longer with us, but I’m wishing he had a bigger career after Beverly Hills 90210.
Final Thoughts
Speaking of 90210, I’m very surprised we didn’t see a Tori Spelling appearance. She’s been in practically every other episode this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if Luke Perry nixed that himself, maybe wanting to separate from his day job.
Two solid episodes in a row in the middle of an enjoyable season. I wonder if I’m looking at this era through rose colored glasses as well since this is when I started watching the show as a kid. Season 19 was my first but I still identify with the Dana Carver years due to excessive Comedy Central reruns. The show just feels a little more underground and hip in this era (and I am 100% positive that is me being an old man trying to tell the youth that it was better in my day, but it was). Maybe the exit of Dana has me feeling a little wistful or maybe it’s because I’m at the halfway point (not just this season but the show in general) but this episode got me thinking on the age old adage “SNL isn’t as good as it used to be”. It’s good to be back with this era again after taking a trip through the Kenan Thompson years because I just like this show better. Not saying the show sucks, but it’s different. SNL feels like a tourist attraction now. This is an episode hosted by Luke Perry, the guy with the sideburns on that show your kids watch, and there’s no hooting from the audience. Imagine that happening today (or watch the Harry Styles episode) they would pack the crowd with some teenage girls. This episode ended with a homespun slice of life sketch about a family trying to express their emotions.
I guess I’ll blame the internet. Or Jimmy Fallon, he’s a good guy to blame. But the show used to be on and then gone, and that was probably for the best. You could put on an oddball sketch that you didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in just to see what happened. I remember being a kid staying up late on Friday nights just so I could see the weird bit on Late Night with Conan O’Brien after the first guest. Now you can go to bed whenever you want and watch it on YouTube. More convenient? Absolutely. Do I want to go back to those prehistoric times when I couldn’t watch an old ass episode of SNL whenever the hell I feel like? Absolutely not. But I’m glad it existed and I’m glad I experienced it.
Sorry for the nostalgic old man rant but if you read this you’re underground and hip too and I’m sure you have your era.
Up Next
Alec Baldwin and Paul McCartney?!?! Shit. That’s either a classic like I remember it or I’m gonna shatter my rose tinted glasses.
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