S1E6 Lily Tomlin

And I'm back, and with a much more memorable episode to write about than the previous one with Robert Klein. Lily Tomlin, another early regular (although, as I do a little research, she only hosted two more times - I could have sworn it was more than that) is hosting, and the result is an episode that, like the Candice Bergen one, goes a long way toward cementing the format. Will it be funnier than that episode, though?

THE HOST

The half hour syndicated reruns of SNL must have run the Lily Tomlin episodes a lot, because I could swear that when I was a kid, she turned up so often she almost felt like an honorary cast member. Like Bergen, she seems thrilled to be there. Her monologue is just okay, and her strongest contributions tend to not involve the cast, but her energy makes it work.

THE GOOD

Belushi's three short Beethoven skits are easily the most memorable of the episode. The concept doesn't wear out its welcome, as each one is funnier than the one before.

Spud Beer is one of my favorite early commercial parodies. A potato based beer, ideal for post-electro shock therapy drinking.

THE MEH

It may sound like faint praise to lump the rest of the episode in this category, but since there's nothing really bad about this week, this still makes for a stronger episode than usual.

We get Chase delivering another Ford opener, though a minor one this time.

We get another land shark parody, an early example of how good ideas can find themselves overused on the show.

There's a brief, but dated, skit about an interracial couple that looks more like it was done to make use of the sets that were already up for the shark skit.

Tomlin's two character monologues, one done as a letter to Patty Hearst and another as a teenager talking about a school dance, are enjoyable. Her Edith Ann film is fine, too, though I imagine that character isn't as well known today as it once was. I'm old enough to remember when she used to turn up on Sesame Street.

Dan Aykroyd's harassment at the hands of Tomlin and Curtin as female construction workers is good, and falls just short of being better than average.

Weelend Update is solid, still doing the Garrett Morris news for the deaf closer.

We get repeats of the Triopenin and Show Us Your Guns commercials. A diet pill commercial is new, but still feels like a leftover from the early beginnings of the series.

Albert Brooks film is a repeat from the first episode. I'm wondering if they ran out of filmed material around this time.

Even the Muppets are tolerable this week, doing a duet with Tomlin instead of another of their interminably long sketches.

THE BAD

Like I said, there's nothing bad about this episode. It may not reach great heights, but it doesn't stumble either.

THE MUSIC

No musical guest, just Tomlin singing St. James Infirmary with the house band in nurses uniforms. It's one of the more famous musical moments from the early days, probably due to it being rerun so much more. I'm guessing that the host doing a song that might even be public domain likely clears up a lot of broadcast rights issues.

GRADE: B+

I wish more of it was laugh out loud funny, but it's consistently enjoyable enough that it's always fun to watch.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

It's funny, in my memory this had more classic skits than it actually does. Perhaps I'm confusing it with Tomlin's next episode.

I'm still amazed that Belushi didn't break out faster. Here he is again with a standout performance, but the focus still seems to be on Chase, whose Weekend Update, while enjoyable, is generally not memorable enough for me to say much about it.

NEXT: A truly classic episode - Richard Pryor.