S1E14 Desi Arnaz

I'm surprised I didn't comment last post on the unexpected host for this week: Desi Arnaz. One of the oddest host choices for the first season. I remember watching the rerun of this one as a kid, at a time when I Love Lucy was still aired every day on local stations, and being thrown by just how old Arnaz looked.

THE HOST

It's a strange choice, and the main reason Arnaz is hosting is to promote his autobiography. Has anyone else hosted SNL to promote a book? I can't think of anyone.

Anyway, Arnaz actually does a fine job. He opens with a marijuana joke. I'm guessing as a bandleader in the 1940s, Arnaz had already had plenty of experience with pot, but his feigned ignorance over the special "cigars" the cast gave him is still funny, and immediately indicates he'll be up for anything. He's in plenty of skits, and he's the musical guest. Not bad for a guy pushing sixty, but who looks like he's already in his seventies.

THE GOOD

The highlights, naturally, are the I Love Lucy Parodies. The parade of failed I Love Lucy Pilots is a classic skit, one of the great early TV parodies done by the show. It's easy to forget, that for this cast, I Love Lucy was still an integral part of their lives. Not only had they grown up with it, but it was still aired every day. Up through the eighties, it was almost impossible to not find one local station showing reruns, unlike today. For many viewers, this was a long overdue parody, and it pays off great. Gilda does a great Lucy, and Desi Arnaz, Jr. guests as a young version of his father

Many people might not realize that Arnaz's production company was responsible for The Untouchables television show. Arnaz plays the villain, along with Radner reprising her Lucy, while Aykroyd nails Robert Stack's Eliot Ness. I've never seen an episode of The Untouchables, but the amount of detail that went into this skit tells me the SNL writers have. It's also a little odd seeing Arnaz Sr. and Jr. take part in a skit that involves Lucy being shot and killed at the end.

THE BAD

Only two things, and one is only here because I'm sick of seeing it. Enough with the diet pill commercial.

We've also entered the period where Gary Weis overstays his welcome. A film about Taylor Mead, a writer/actor/etc associated with Andy Warhol, and his cat, is fine, but why is it on this show?

THE MEH

Sadly, the rest of the episode doesn't fare as well as the two television parodies.

Gilda reprises her Lucy for one more skit and a commercial for Arnaz's book, and the gimmick wears thin from overuse.

Chevy gets a lot to do in this episode. He plays a white version of Barry White; a husband hoping to have sex on his 40th birthday but instead finding himself in the middle of a surprise party; and a man using nonsense phrases to frustrate his girlfriend and break up with her. All three skits are just okay, as is his Weekend Update.

Arnaz has two more showcases: His reading of the Jabberwocky, foiled by his Cuban accent, is entertaining. His performance as a Cuban acupuncturist treating John Belushi.... well, I can't remember a thing about it, so it didn't make much of an impact.

Garrett Morris gets a quick bit as Rubin Carter shilling for American Express, and Laraine Newman does an advertisement for cosmetics. It's another one of Newman's characters that doesn't really stick with you, and this is the second time in two weeks that Morris has played Carter. I guess this is the point when he was in the news a lot.

THE MUSIC

How awesome is Desi Arnaz? Seriously, I never paid attention to his music on I Love Lucy, but he's terrific here. He plays Cuban Pete, his biggest, pre-TV career hit, and he dances everyone out at the end to Babalu. He was good enough to make me seek out more of his music.

GRADE: A

Nothing too bad, the weaker skits are fine, and we've got two lengthy, classic skits. Weis's film is brief enough to be painless, and the music is great. Surprisingly, this is one of my favorite first season episodes.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

I was shocked to learn that Arnaz was about 59 at this point. He looks much, much older. And his teeth look dreadful, especially watching this on a big screen, digitally streamed. Hard living, I guess? I'd assumed he was in his 70s, he could even pass for 80s.

Radner does a great Lucy. It's a shame they beat it into the ground by using it four times in one show.

NEXT

Jilly Clayburgh with Leon Redbone. I have no feelings either way about that. Maybe she'll be funny, who knows.

S1E13 Peter Boyle w. Al Jarreau

So here's a case of a host at one peak of his career, but likely better known today for a later peak. Best known today as the father in Everybody Loves Raymond, at the time he hosted, Peter Boyle was best known for his work in Young Frankenstein. This his only stint hosting SNL.

THE HOST

Boyle does fine, though it would have been nice to see him, and the cast as well, do more. This episode has an above average amount of musical performances, film shorts, and reruns from past episodes. You'd think coming back from a two week break would have rejuvenated the writers and cast, but it doesn't seem to be the case. The highlight of the night feels less like a written skit and more like something Belushi and Boyle were riffing on backstage that made it's way in front of the camera.

THE GOOD

The aforementioned Dueling Brandos, featuring the Brando impersonations of both Belushi and Boyle. It's great, and yet another strong showcase for Belushi.

We're introduced to two stoners played by Aykroyd and Newman, when Boyle visits them as their clueless neighbor. It's all very '70s drug humor, but it worked for me. Apparently these are recurring characters, but I don't recall them. Maybe these skits were edited out of the shortened reruns aired in the '80s, either for time or content.

A wrestling match between Bees and WASPS beats an old joke into the ground, but it's funny at least the first time you see it.

And, Gilda Radner has another cute segment just being herself, this time being harassed by Garrett Morris reading aloud a filthy valentine he's written for her.

THE BAD

I usually put them in the Meh category, but the reruns of commercial parodies really grate this episode, since there's so many and they're far from the best ones. Ambassador Training Institute? New Dad? The do-it-yourself price gun? Diet pills? Why are we still seeing these?

And while I don't want to be too critical of three preteen girls, what the heck is the deal with the Shapiro Sisters?  They lip sync This Will Be by Natalie Cole. The audience seems to love it, but what's it doing on this show?

Gary Weis is starting to annoy, as well. His film on the Pledge of Allegiance, complete with a closing shot of Garrett Morris as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, is heavy-handed and pretentious.

Did the audience really request a repeat of Weis' Homeward Bound film? Because I sure didn't.

THE MEH

The opener, with Chase playing a valet shot during the St Valentine's Day Massacre, is an odd choice.

Samurai Divorce Court shows that minus Buck Henry, the Samurai skits aren't nearly as good.

The one decent commercial of the night is Aykroyd as Ricardo Montalban in a parody of his infamous car commercial.

Weekend Update chugs along with more Emily Litella.

Aykroyd does what I think is his first Nixon impression on an interview show with Jane Curtin. He'll get bettter.

Boyle coming home to find his wife with a house full of men pretending to be human appliances is only so-so.

This week's home movie is literally a static shot of a home.

THE MUSIC

It's Al Jarreau. I don't think he does any of his better known hits here, but I'm not a fan, so who knows. Not my thing, so I find myself pretty ambivalent about him.

GRADE: C

I feel like I should rate it higher, because it's not terrible, but this episode is so pedestrian. About half of it feels like repeats or non-cast related stuff, so it inevitably feels like they're coasting.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Apparently Boyle actually married, and remained married, to the woman he sings to in his monologue.

I'm finding myself already wanting change. Chase's Weekend Updates never blow me away like I'd expect, so I'm already eager to see how things shift when he's removed from the equation next season. The other cast members still don't get the spotlight enough, and we all know they can handle it.

S1E12 Dick Cavett w/ Jimmy Cliff

Well, it was a good run while it lasted. After one classic episode after another, we find ourselves with Dick Cavett. At least Jimmy Cliff is around to energize things.

THE HOST

Nothing against Dick Cavett, but he doesn't mesh well with the cast at all. Most of his skits are solo affairs. He seems to be over-thinking the whole thing, as if he was taking part in an interesting experiment and not there to entertain.

THE GOOD

We get another opening touching on Chase's burgeoning popularity. Garrett Morris playing with a voodoo doll, and clearly enjoying it, takes us into more mean-spirited territory. It'll get worse.

Aside from John Belushi's commercial parodies of H&R Block, the rest of the episode is a wash to me. And even those are funny entirely because of Belushi's performance.

THE BAD

At least there's not much that's terrible, but the one thing that is is a doozy. A construction worker delivers a monologue about being true to himself, strips to a bra and panties, and sings "I Gotta Be Me". It's the type of time filler we saw in the first few episodes, and it feels very out of place at this point.

THE MEH

Pretty much everything else. Cavett does some commercials for various vocational schools for unlikely vocations. He delivers a monologue parodying Our Town that's okay, but weighed down under the strain of striving too hard to be cerebral. Chevy Chase interviews him about a book detailing his time as a Nebraska pimp, which makes no attempt to go further than "Dick Cavett as a pimp, isn't that funny?" We get a Dick Cavett look-alike contest, featuring a winner who looks nothing like him and takes up far more screen time than he should. They just don't seem to know what to do with their host, and it shows.

A skit involving Chevy Chase as an accident prone hunter never rises above mere silliness, and Jane Curtin playing Betty Ford as she delivers a speech through interpretative dance is just odd.

We also get a standard Weekend Update (again with Emily Litella), as well as a rerun of another tired commercial (cat food versus tuna). And Gary Weis' film isn't too bad this week.

THE MUSIC

Thank goodness something salvages this episode. Another great musical guest from season one - the legendary Jimmy Cliff, riding high from his movie The Harder They Come. He does two classics (the film's title track and Many Rivers To Cross) as well as a song I'm unfamiliar with. He's amazing, and the performances haven't dated at all.

GRADE: C-

There's not much that's dreadful (and what is doesn't involve the regular cast or host), but there's little to recommend from this episode, either. The cast takes a two week vacation after this, and it looks like they need it.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

I could have sworn I'd heard somewhere that Cavett wasn't the first choice to host this week, but I may be confusing him with Buck Henry. There's little attempt to integrate him with the cast, so it's possible he was shoe-horned in late in the game.

Is this the first time a musical guest has been allowed to perform three numbers? I'm used to big names like McCartney and U2 being given the opportunity, but Jimmy Cliff more than validates the choice.

S1E11 Peter Cook & Dudley Moore w/ Neil Sedaka

Here's a first - an SNL hosted by legendary British comedians. But it's not anyone from Monty Python. Before watching this, I hadn't realized that Peter Cook & Dudley Moore had ever hosted the show. These days, it's Moore who's most likely to be remembered (and even then, I think his fame has waned substantially since his death), but for a time in the late '60s, at least in England, it was the duo that commanded attention. I feel like their popularity was probably fading at this point in their careers. I honestly didn't even know they were still working together in 1976. SNL was probably an opportunity for them to make some extra cash and maybe get some new gigs, but in hindsight it feels more like the end, with Moore about to surprise everyone by launching a massively successful solo career.

THE HOSTS

They're both seasoned comedy professionals, so they know what they're doing, and they do it well. The infamous tension between Cook and Moore is absent, so overall the episode runs smoothly and entertains throughout. Cook and Moore both take part some skits with the cast, but most of their screen time is devoted to routines that I suspect were part of their regular stage show. Their opening monologue, a famous skit involving a one-legged Moore auditioning for the role of Tarzan, definitely is.

THE GOOD

The opening skit, featuring Chevy Chase defusing a bomb, but instead ending up with a pie in the face, features a pretty big mistake when the pie misses most of Chase's face. It's reprisal at the end, though, makes for a nice reminder that the show really is live.

The real highlight is a skit featuring prisoners auditioning for a production of "Gigi". The big moment is Garrett Morris' performance of the song "I'm Gonna Get Me A Shotgun And Kill All The Whities I See". If you've seen anything from this episode, it's this. The entire skit is great, though, and holds up as well as the best of this era.

All of Cook & Moore's skits are strong. In addition to the monologue, they do some very British routines involving a restaurant called The Frog & Peach, one involving shepherds meeting the baby Jesus, and they even play Scottish Sonny and Cher. It's a different style than we usually see on SNL, and at times it feels like they've hijacked the show, but if you're a fan of British comedy, it's consistently entertaining.

As for the regular cast, the standout is John Belushi as a male impersonator in another one of Jane Curtin's interview segments, skits that are often hit or miss for me, depending completely on who she's partnered with and what they're doing.

THE BAD

Honestly, nothing. Like other recent episodes, part of this episodess success is due to a lack of bad skits as much as to a preponderance of good skits.

THE MEH

The commercials - one new, two reruns - are just adequate, as usual these days.

Weekend Update is about what you'd expect, though Emily Litella makes an appearance.

Moore's skit with the cast, involving doctor's harvesting the organs of a man who's clearly still alive, is less successful than Cook's prison skit.

So why aren't Gary Weis or the Muppets in the bad category? Weis' film about a New York novelty store isn't too bad,  and the Muppets aren't on, aside from Scred being told by Gilda that they won't be on this week. It's the beginning of the end for the Muppets. Our long national nightmare will soon be over.

THE MUSIC

It's Neil Sedaka, at a time when he was experiencing a resurgence. He's okay, though a gimmick of him listening to one of his old songs on a transistor radio before playing the modern version of it fails when the radio is too faint to hear.

GRADE: A-

It's another strong episode, with little to drag it down.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Between the pie and Sedaka's radio, this is a gaffe prone episode, at least in a way that stands out more than usual.

I get the sense that the cast is getting a little burnt out. They leave most of the heavy lifting to Cook & Moore, so it's less noticeable, but we're halfway through the season, they're on their third week in a row with one more to go. They just feel a little AWOL from their own show.

S1E10 Buck Henry w/ Bill Withers, Toni Basil, The Blues Brothers

That's three weeks in a row that we've been introduced to popular recurring hosts. Actually, in terms of hosts, the show's been on a roll since the Lily Tomlin episode. This week, we get Buck Henry. While not a household name (even then, more so now), he would go onto host numerous times with the original cast. I know it's unlikely, but I'd love to see him come back and host today. So, let's see how he does on his first hosting attempt.

THE HOST

After a good monologue in which he acknowledges how unlikely he is to be hosting the show, Henry settles in well with the cast, appearing in most of the skits, and even turning up during Weekend Update. He also finds a permanent role as the straight man to Belushi's samurai, providing the final element this concept needed. He's a perfect example of comedic chops trumping celebrity to turn out a decent episode of SNL.

THE GOOD

Samurai delicatessen is the obvious highlight here. If you watched reruns of SNL in the '80s and '90s, you no doubt saw this skit numerous times. It sets the template for all future samurai skits.

There's a Citizen Kane II skit that pretty much nails the style of that film, down to mimicking the end credits.

Michael O'Donoghue does an impression of Mike Douglas being stabbed in the eyes with needles, that's so weird for its time that I have to admire it.

THE BAD

The Muppets, as usual.

Most of the commercials feel tired, also. We get a rerun of the Wrigley's commercial, and of the triple blade razor commercial.

THE MEH

Like the Lily Tomlin episode of a few weeks ago, this episode fares well not so much because it has so many great skits, but because it has so few clunkers.

On the political front, there's an interview with a woman claiming to have had an affair with President Kennedy, and one involving secret service agents stumbling and falling along with President Ford in order to make him seem less clumsy.

Three new commercial parodies involving the cast fare better than the reruns: one for a school that promises you to learn speed reading, but not necessarily the ability to read well; one about a giant-sized deodorizer for a room; and an anti-drug ad featuring Chevy Chase being too stupid to properly roll a joint.

An auto mechanic telling bedtime stories revolving around car repair and one involving around a series of jokes about Buck Henry's character suffering from constipation round out the skits.

Gary Weis' films haven't quite reached the point where they become too annoying yet, so even that isn't too bad this week.

THE MUSIC

Obviously, the big news here is the unveiling of the Blues Brothers. though this week they're used more to drag out the killer bee gag.

Bill Withers sings "Ain't No Sunshine", and does as well as you'd expect him to.

Toni Basil does a song that I'm pretty sure was never a hit. Why is she here, exactly? They couldn't just have Bill Withers do two songs?

GRADE: B

It's a solid, if not spectacular, episode, but the show seems to finding a steady groove, with each week delivering a solid chunk of entertainment.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

I'm a little curious as to how Buck Henry actually did end up hosting. Anyone out there know? As a kid, I'd always assumed he was someone famous before my time, only to learn later that he was almost always a behind the scenes figure.

I'm amazed at just how much effort they put into that Citizen Kane skit. It's weird to think that for that generation, Citizen Kane was probably something that ran on television often enough that doing something as simple as replicating the closing credits would get a laugh.

NEXT: Peter Cook & Dudley Moore - one of them's on his way to becoming famous... the other, not so much. Neil Sedaka will be around, as well.

S1E9 Elliott Gould w/ Anne Murray

At a glance, this may seem like an uncool episode of SNL. Today, Elliot Gould is probably best known as Ross and Rachel's father on "Friends", or as one of the less interesting criminals in the Ocean's 11 films. But during the '70s, he epitomized the quirky male leading man so popular in that era. For every Robert Redford or Burt Reynolds, there was also a Donald Sutherland or Dustin Hoffman. Not as cool as Deniro or Pacino, but still somewhere above old school Hollywood.

Anne Murray, however, was never cool.

THE HOST

Gould was popular, and would go on to host every year until being saddled with hosting duties on the first episode featuring the all new 1980 cast. He never returned. A connection? Who knows.

He's fine in this episode, solid in the skits, though most of his appearance centers on him having spent the night before with Gilda Radner, culminating in an on-air marriage during the ending credits. It's an early example of a recurring plot thread that runs through the episode, something fairly rare these days.

His monologue consists of him singing old standards. It's odd, and seeing him enter to thunderous applause feels strange even though I know he was huge back then. I guess I just didn't realize how popular he was.

He's solid, seems game for anything (he even seems a little high), so it's easy to see why they invited back so often.

THE GOOD

Finally, a strong Killer Bees skit. Portraying them as violent terrorists is a logical place to go with the joke, and Gould does a good job as the leader. The skit cops out on a punchline by intentionally falling apart, but it does result in the first on-air appearance of Lorne Michaels.

The Godfather therapy session is an early favorite of mine. Laraine Newman gets to show off her Valley Girl character (which feels pretty dated and less funny now), but more importantly, Belushi takes the spotlight with a great Brando impersonation. I think sometimes I sound a little biased toward Belushi in these reviews. I'm actually not a huge fan of his, it's just that in these early episodes, in which Chase is the breakout star, it surprises me to see Belushi give so many stand-out performances and yet not quite break out yet. Chase is excellent in his short stint on the show, but he's hardly the only strong performer in the first season.

Weekend Update makes good use of the Chevy Chase/Michael O'Donoghue Jamitol commercial that's been shown before, having O'Donoghue turn up on set as Chase's "wife".

We get a new commercial, Shimmer, the floor wax that's also a whipped topping. In my memory, Aykroyd was the pitchman for this. I was surprised to see it was actually Chase, with Aykroyd in the less showy role of the dad. Still a classic early commercial parody.

Albert Brooks delivers one of my favorites of his films, in which he test markets himself to see if he's funny or not.

I even like the Gary Weis film a lot, a montage of different people singing "Misty". It's arty but entertaining in a way that sadly many of his later contributions aren't. This was rerun a lot in syndication, also, so it's always stuck with me.

THE BAD

The Muppets. And, I guess that's it, so all in all, a strong episode.

THE MEH

The Gilda/Gould marriage skits are okay, but nothing hilarious. It's a cute thread, but I'm not sure it does much beyond fill time.

The opener, featuring a dead string quartet keeling over and, as a result, playing notes, is just okay. I guess they wanted to try something different. It feels like something out of the Ernie Kovacs Show.

It probably has its fans, but Interior Demolitionists is just average for me, as is the skit involving obstetricians.

Franken and Davis are a little more successful doing a comedy act than they are with their Pong skits.

And we get a rerun of the pacemaker battery commercial. The farther we get along, the more out of place these early commercials, featuring none of the cast, seem.

THE MUSIC

It's Anne Murray. Doing two songs I'm not familiar with. She feels out of place, as if she was supposed to be on a prime time variety show and walked through the wrong door.

GRADE:B+

Higher than I expected to give when I started this post, but it really is a strong episode.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Between Gould and Murray, and the "Misty" film, this episode feels even more '70s than usual.

Gould seems so cocky when he takes the stage. It's like he instantly thinks he's the coolest guy in the room.

NEXT: Another first, Buck Henry, joined by Bill Withers, Toni Basil, and some act called The Blues Brothers.

S1E8 Candce Bergen w/ Martha Reeves/The Stylistics

Candice Bergen, again, already? These days, with every season planned out for maximum opportunities for celebrities to promote their projects, it's odd to see hosts turn up several times a season, for no reason other than that the producers and/or cast liked them. Come to think of it, most of the hosts haven't specifically plugged much this season.

I enjoyed Bergen's previous episode, but was surprised at how few stand-out moments it contained. Perhaps this episode will better showcase her.

THE HOST

It's Candice Bergen, and, yes, she's a little stiff and comes across as a little too serious, like she usually does, but she appears to genuinely love being on SNL, and it shows. Her monologue - it's nothing but a brief bit in which she describes hosting as a Christmas gift to herself.

THE GOOD

There are a few standouts in this generally solid episode.

Mel's Char Palace, a recurring skit in the form of an ad promoting a restaurant where you select, stun, and butcher your own cow, is the real highlight. It's pure Aykroyd, right up there with similar skits, like the Bass-O-Matic.

Chevy Chase as a son calling his parents to let them know he's been arrested for murdering 26 boys is dark enough that it feels like it was written by Michael O'Donoghue.

Chevy Chase coming out as an elf to his sister, played by Bergen, is an obvious metaphor for homosexuality, but it works, largely in part to the great chemistry between him and Bergen.

Also, Chase once again opens as Gerald Ford, this time having a mishap with a Christmas tree.

THE BAD

Pong is back again.

For some reason, Bergen devotes a few minutes to introducing Margaret Kuhn of the Gray Panthers to talk about growing old. I'm sure she was an important woman, but it still feels out of place.

THE MEH

It's always a good sign when even the Muppets don't fall in the bad category. I never enjoy them, but when they break with the regular format, in this case singing a Christmas song with Bergen, they at least become tolerable.

There's a cute film featuring the Bees ice skating in Rockefeller Plaza.

More ads, that are fine, but pale next to Mel's Char Palace: we get Bergen as Princess Grace selling tarnish remover, the personal price gun to set your own prices at the grocery store (a concept that must seem alien to many people today), a selection of gifts offered by Don Pardo.

Belushi and Radner have a nice silent skit involving a laundromat. Radner also does a monologue detailing what she ate.

Laraine Newman gets her own skit playing a German? Swedish? cook messing up her ingredients.

Even Minute Mystery with Mike Mendoza is palatable this week, thanks to Bergen being involved.

We also get the first film by Gary Weis, a montage of people greeting one another at an airport set to the song "Homeward Bound". It's okay, suitable for the season, if a little sappy. Weis will be back to bore us later this season and all through the second. We'll also be seeing more home movies, as Chase and Bergen ask viewers at home to mail theirs in. I guess they needed something to fill up that airtime.

THE MUSIC

We get Martha Reeves (well into the twilight of her career) and The Stylistics (at the beginning of their twilight). Both are fine.

We also get the cast singing Christmas songs. It's more earnest and cheesier than we'd see today, but I guess it fits the times.

GRADE: B

Bergen's fun is infectious, even though so far her episodes haven't matched her enthusiasm. Still, this feels like a moment when the cast is beginning to realize they're turning into a big deal. They seem happy, relaxed, and it feels like they're all still getting along for the most part.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Boy, can Candice Bergen take things seriously for being on a comedy show. There's the Margaret Kuhn moment, but her "Merry Christmas" at the end of the "Homeward Bound" short feels heavy for a variety show.

I'm a little surprised they're still booking less prominent musical acts at this point. Nothing against Martha Reeves - I love her work with the Vandellas - but what was she doing in 1975 to warrant national TV exposure? Unless Bergen requested her, which is possible.

NEXT: Another popular host, Elliott Gould.