Classic SNL Review: October 11, 1986: Sigourney Weaver / (no musical guest) (S12E01)

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RATINGS SYSTEM:
***** - Classic
**** - Great
*** - Good/Average
** - Meh
* - Awful

OPENING: IT WAS ALL A DREAM

  • Madonna reads a statement from NBC about last year’s entire season.

  • A good way to both address and move on from the last season, and it also fits with the whole soap opera motif of the finale.

  • This of course is a takeoff on Dallas revealing their entire previous season as a dream in an episode that aired a little more than two weeks before this show.

  • Written by Andy Breckman.

  • Rerun alterations: A second or two of dead air before Madonna starts talking is cut.

****

MONTAGE

  • A brand-new opening montage directed by Bruce Dowad of Jennie & Co. debuts, with quick flashes of television static mixed with static shots of NYC buildings and signs and clips of the cast all rushing to get somewhere. The cast are shown dressed up at a nice restaurant as Don Pardo announces their names.

  • Special guest Christopher Durang is announced after the main cast, followed by featured players A. Whitney Brown and Kevin Nealon, followed by the Saturday Night Live band (credited in the montage beginning this season) with Buster Poindexter, and finally the host. As of 2021, the host continues to be announced last in the montage.

  • Rerun alterations: Some additional cheers and applause are added at the beginning. Don Pardo’s voiceover is completely redone; he is a little more energetic in the live version. A frame of skyline between Brown and Nealon’s pictures is removed.

MONOLOGUE

  • Sigourney Weaver introduces her friend Christopher Durang and talks about how he encouraged her in her career. They plan to sing a Brecht opera tonight; director Paul Miller panics and cuts to commercial.

  • Weaver has a bit of an odd delivery, but I feel like this is in part due to her and Durang essentially just bantering a la their off-Broadway cabaret show Das Lusitania Songspiel. There are some funny lines, though, such as Weaver proudly talking about appearing mostly naked in Half Moon Street, and talking about Lorne Michaels (allegedly) agreeing there wasn’t enough German Expressionist opera on T.V. The quick cut to Paul Miller shouting “Go to commercial!” at the end was a good way to end this.

  • This season has a brand new home base set built to look like a fancy (though somewhat dilapidated) ballroom in a building next to an alleyway, with scaffolding on both sides, and a removable chain link fence (later to be replaced with a wall with windows). There is also a door on the right side of the set where Durang enters from.

  • As well, the audience seating on the floor reverts to the bleacher-style seats used in Studio 8H during the Ebersol era.

  • Rerun alterations: Sigourney’s first “thank you” is inaudible in the live show; this is fixed in the rerun.

***

COMMERCIAL: GENERAL DYNAMICS

  • Defense contractor’s commercial features a young couple’s jeans ad-style sexy conversation.

  • This was well produced, but the joke really hinges on the familiarity with the Levi’s jeans commercials of the era that didn’t actually mention the product until the end, so it may be lost on viewers today.

  • Written by A. Whitney Brown, produced and directed by James Signorelli

  • Music: “Mr. Blue” by The Fleetwoods

  • Rerun alterations: Some additional applause mixed in at the end.

** 1/2

SKETCH: GIRLFRIENDS

  • Two-timing Tommy Flanagan (Jon Lovitz) is confronted by both his girlfriends (Nora Dunn and Sigourney Weaver).

  • Last season’s breakout character Tommy Flanagan returns; this one is a little more interesting because they actually create a full sketch around him instead of plopping him into the SNL “reality” like they often did in the previous year. A pretty safe sketch to begin the season with, especially as it features the host, plus returning players Lovitz and Dunn.

  • Written by A. Whitney Brown and Jon Lovitz

  • As with the other Liar sketches, there are some guaranteed laughs, and this one has some good bits (the letter which has “that is the ticket”, “He’s in black-and-white, I’m in color”).

  • Weaver’s delivery is a little odd but I think it works with the character’s naiveté.

  • After this sketch, Smith and the SNL band appears on-camera before the show goes to commercial, the start of what would be a regular thing on the show; the band’s outfits are also coordinated for the first time, with the members all dressed in white jackets and black ties.

  • Rerun alterations: A brief second of a black frame during a camera switch is removed; a few seconds of the SNL band outro is trimmed to mix the music and applause in earlier to eliminate the delayed audience response at the end.

***

SHOW: QUIZ MASTERS

  • Psychic Lane Maxwell (Dana Carvey) has an unfair advantage over fellow contestant Marge Keister (Jan Hooks).

  • Solid premise and writing, but what really is notable about the sketch is that this is the first appearance for three performers who would have a particularly big impact on the show over the next few seasons: Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks and Dana Carvey. Hartman pretty much comes roaring out of the gate here, completely in his element as a game show host, Hooks debuts her great character work middle-aged midwestern housewife Marge Keister, and Carvey gets the big laugh lines as the psychic.

  • I thought it was a brilliant move to have Hartman, Hooks and Carvey make their on-screen debuts in first sketch after the commercial break (in the live show).

  • Written by Andy Breckman

  • Rerun alterations: The buzzer sound effect is higher pitched in the rerun.

****

COMMERCIAL: THE AMAZING ALEXANDER

  • Identical audience testimonials all state that the hypnotist’s Broadway show is “much better than Cats”.

  • A one-joke premise, yes, but handled very well, and the ending with the zoom in to the eye on photo of Jon Lovitz as Alexander as announcer (John Henry Kurtz) intones hypnotic suggestions to call for tickets was funny.

  • The man in the first testimonial (first screencap above) is current MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell.

  • Written by Andy Breckman, directed by James Signorelli.

  • Rerun alterations: Audience noise mixed out at the beginning

*** 1/2

COMMERCIAL: HEF-TEA TEABAGS

  • Sarah Ferguson (Sigourney Weaver) prefers the giant taste of their jumbo-sized teabags.

  • Kind of a low blow about the Duchess of York’s appearance (complete with camera shakes for her footsteps and an echo effect on her voice), but Sigourney Weaver throws herself into the role and makes it more fun than it should be. The timing seems a little off in it, though.

  • This sketch was removed from the repeat version; I wonder if there was some blowback over this piece.

***

SHOW: CHURCH CHAT

  • Pious Chuch Lady Enid Strict (Dana Carvey) scolds Christopher Durang, Sally Kellerman (Jan Hooks), and Ann Landers (Nora Dunn) before trying to interview Zuul (Sigourney Weaver).

  • Right away, you can see why this was Carvey’s breakout character; this first sketch is a bit rudimentary compared to the later installments, but the big hooks are there (“Could it be…SATAN?”, “Isn’t that special”), there are some great impressions from Hooks and Dunn (her Ann Landers is particularly hilarious), and Sigourney Weaver seems to be enjoying herself here.

  • Written by Dana Carvey and Rosie Shuster.

  • Who’s doing the demon voice? (“I AM THE HOST OF HELL!”) Al Franken? David Johansen?

  • Carvey based the character on the judgmental older ladies who would scoff at his family’s irregular church attendance when growing up.

  • According to Carvey in Live From New York, this was originally done at the end of dress rehearsal, but got such a response from the audience it was moved much earlier in the show. Reruns move this even earlier, where it is the lead-off sketch after General Dynamics.

  • Rerun alterations: Mild audience sweetening.

*** 1/2

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE”

  • Weaver (still dressed as Zuul) and Durang blame technical difficulties for cutting off their performance earlier and promise it will come later on, before introducing bandleader G.E. Smith and Buster Poindexter. The performance of the song itself (a 1955 single by The Charlie Calhoun Orchestra) was alright; the mix sounded really off though. It does work as a statement of purpose for Poindexter, and it’s a good showcase for a Lenny Pickett sax solo.

  • This actually isn’t the full SNL band performing; it’s Smith and the horn section, plus Poindexter’s backup band The Banshees of Blue: pianist Joe Delia, bass player Tony Garnier (who occasionally filled in for T-Bone Wolk on SNL), drummer Tony Machine and violinist/vocalist Soozie Tyrell (who later appeared on SNL several times as a member of the E Street Band).

  • There’s an unintentional laugh from the stonefaced reaction of two audience members after the performance ends (h/t to Stooge for pointing this out).

  • This performance was removed from the repeat version of the show.

WEEKEND UPDATE WITH DENNIS MILLER

  • Best jokes: What is the frequency, Columbus Day & Yom Kippur, Poll

  • Opening music: “Layla” - Derek & The Dominoes.

  • Weekend Update gets a minor makeover this season; the opening sequence now features a rotating Statue of Liberty figure, while the set is much simpler than the previous year’s.

  • Pretty solid night for Dennis Miller; aside from the standard news items, he also debuts his “character”, French clown Koko, with him doing an appropriately half-assed mime bit.

  • The Russian Entry in the America’s Cup joke that gets groans from the audience is about Soviet submarine K-219.

  • Victoria Jackson makes her SNL debut here, supposedly after coming back from covering the Reykjavik summit, but the video footage was her in a hotel room with her baby daughter Scarlet. It works as a way to introduce her on the show, but the funniest part was Miller making her laugh with his “Kroner in the bowl tract” line.

  • A. Whitney Brown returns to put the Reykjavik summit into The Big Picture, predicting it will have “about as much action as a C-SPAN special” and won’t yield much of a deal between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Some good lines in this one as usual.

  • Miller concludes tonight’s broadcast by saying “Good luck, Chevy, you are in our thoughts.”

  • Rerun alterations: Mild audience sweetening. A second of dead air cut before Jackson’s video clip.

*** 1/2

SKETCH: MR. SUBLIMINAL

  • Advertising executive Phil Maloney (Kevin Nealon) uses his subliminal techniques in the real world.

  • The debut appearance of featured player Kevin Nealon, who makes his only appearance tonight in this sketch. This would end up being one of Nealon’s signature bits to the point that he would even incorporate it into his tenure as Weekend Update anchor; here, it’s a solid introduction to Nealon’s understated but often hilarious presence on the show.

  • One thing I notice about these early 1986-87 shows is how green Victoria Jackson is as a sketch performer, which is understandable given that she was a stand-up; she hadn’t quite really mastered getting into character at this point and it feels like most of her roles are just “Victoria Jackson as herself”.

  • Written by Kevin Nealon with Al Franken.

  • Rerun alterations: Lovitz saying “Boy, I like that guy” cut.

****

SKETCH: ALIENSES

  • Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the marines fire on an alien intruder, who turns out to be E.T.

  • This is an odd one; there are good moments and some particularly funny performances (Dana Carvey steals this as Private Hudson), but the whole thing doesn’t quite come off. The broad silliness I like, but the sketch really feels underwritten (particularly the ending).

  • Christopher Durang is appearing in a lot of sketches tonight.

  • Written by Robert Smigel, Jon Vitti and George Meyer.

  • Rerun alterations: Sequence from after Hartman says “Hit the door!” to after he says “Hold your fire!” replaced with dress rehearsal: E.T. doesn’t fall back in live, the machine gun noise is louder, and a visual effect was added to the guns. Microphone level fixed on Dunn’s “Yeah, you’re not so tough now, ha!”. Minimal audience sweetening.

** 1/2

COMMERCIAL: TEN WEEKS IN JAIL

  • NYPD Deputy Commissioner Craig W. Doyle (Phil Hartman) announces the city’s tough new anti-murder legislation.

  • A quick-hit, but hilarious. Phil Hartman is particularly good here.

  • Written by George Meyer.

  • Rerun alterations: none.

****

MUSICAL SKETCH: “BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE”

  • This has a bit of a throwback feel to it; it’s more a pleasant interlude than actually funny, but Weaver and Poindexter manage to sell it. The choreography also helps empathize the subtext of the woman in the song just playing coy.

  • Rerun alterations: none.

SKETCH: COMEBACK

  • Has-been rocker Derek Stevens (Dana Carvey) hasn’t finished his demo in time for a record company meeting, so he performs his new songs live.

  • Another big moment for Carvey, best known for the “Choppin’ Broccoli” song that originated in his stand-up, which he performed in his SNL audition. I think Phil Hartman’s performance is what makes this sketch for me, though, particularly his facial expressions as he listens to Carvey, or his dancing to “Going To The Club” song.

  • The audience response was a little slow early in the sketch, but they woke up once the song started to get going.

  • Written by Dana Carvey with Al Franken.

  • Rerun alterations: Applause from the end of “The Amazing Alexander” mixed over the beginning of the sketch in the repeat. Mild audience sweetening.

****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “OH ME OH MY (I’M A FOOL FOR YOU BABY)”

  • A cover of the Jim Doris song originally recorded in 1969 by Lulu, later covered by Aretha Franklin, among many others. Poindexter’s affectations aren’t quite as big here as in “Smack Dab”, and overall the band does a good job.

  • Rerun alterations: Replaced with the dress rehearsal version. In the live show, Sigourney Weaver begins her introduction before the camera is back on and she restarts it; she is also wearing the same outfit from the previous sketch. In dress, she is wearing the same outfit as she wears in the Brecht/Rogers Medley sketch. As well, the dress show has an additional repetition of the chorus at then end (the live show was running long).

MISCELLANEOUS: BRECHT/ROGERS MEDLEY

  • Sigourney Weaver and Christopher Durang perform a Das Lusitania Songspiel take on Mahagonny.

  • This was a lot of fun, especially once you realize what Weaver and Durang are doing. The audience also gets into it more as it goes along, and the ending with them singing “Mahagonny” to the tune of “Oklahoma” was a great capper.

  • Durang looks at his watch as he and Weaver sing the finale as they were running out of airtime.

  • Written by Sigourney Weaver, Christopher Durang, and Marc Shaiman.

  • Rerun alterations: None.

****

GOODNIGHTS

  • Weaver thanks the “great audience” and tells them not to forget Half-Moon Street where she’s naked.

  • The feed cuts off before the credits roll in the original live broadcast.

Final thoughts: An unassuming but confident opening show for the season with a pretty consistent quality throughout the night. The previous year’s first episode with Madonna felt like it was trying too hard to get attention or distinguish itself from the old show; this show felt more like a throwback to earlier seasons, but without consciously trying to get by on nostalgia.

It can’t be understated how much of this is due to the new cast; Dana Carvey manages to click with the audience right away, Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks already seem like natural fits for the show, and Kevin Nealon makes a memorable debut in his only sketch (I’ve already discussed Victoria Jackson’s relative greenness). The remaining players from last year (Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz and Dennis Miller) come off as on even ground with them; we’ll see more of their chemistry with the new folks next week.

Sigourney Weaver herself had a bit of an odd but surprisingly fun presence; she and Christopher Durang also reminded me of how the show used the hosts in the earlier seasons, sometimes bringing in their own acts and routines.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Comeback

  • Mr. Subliminal

  • It Was All A Dream

  • Ten Weeks In Jail

  • Quiz Masters

  • Brecht-Rogers Medley

SHOW LOWLIGHTS:

  • None

MVP:

  • Dana Carvey

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:

cast

  • Dana Carvey: 4 appearances [Quiz Masters, Church Chat, Alienses, Comeback]

  • Nora Dunn: 3 appearances [Girlfriends, Church Chat, Alienses]

  • Phil Hartman: 5 appearances [Quiz Masters, Church Chat, Alienses, Ten Weeks In Jail, Comeback]; 2 voiceovers [General Dynamics, Church Chat]

  • Jan Hooks: 3 appearances [Quiz Masters, Hef-Tea Teabags, Church Chat]

  • Victoria Jackson: 2 appearances [Weekend Update, Mr. Subliminal]

  • Jon Lovitz: 3 appearances [Girlfriends, Mr. Subliminal, Alienses]

  • Dennis Miller: 2 appearances [Weekend Update, Alienses]

featured players

  • A. Whitney Brown: 1 appearance [Weekend Update]

  • Kevin Nealon: 1 appearance [Mr. Subliminal]

unbilled crew, extras and bit players

  • John Henry Kurtz: 2 voiceovers [The Amazing Alexander, Ten Weeks In Jail]

  • Lawrence O’Donnell: 1 appearance [The Amazing Alexander]

  • Marc Shaiman: 1 appearance [Brecht/Rogers Medley]

G.E. Smith and The Saturday Night Live Band with Buster Poindexter

  • Lew Del Gatto: 2 appearances [“Smack Dab In The Middle”, “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby”]

  • Joe Delia: 2 appearances [“Smack Dab In The Middle”, “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby”]

  • Alex Foster: 2 appearances [“Smack Dab In The Middle”, “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby”]

  • Earl Gardner: 2 appearances [“Smack Dab In The Middle”, “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby”]

  • Tony Garnier: 2 appearances [“Smack Dab In The Middle”, “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby”]

  • Tony Machine: 2 appearances [“Smack Dab In The Middle”, “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby”]

  • Lenny Pickett: 2 appearances [“Smack Dab In The Middle”, Baby It’s Cold Outside, “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby”]

  • Buster Poindexter: 3 appearances [“Smack Dab In The Middle”, “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby”]

  • G.E. Smith: 2 appearances [“Smack Dab In The Middle”, “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby”]

  • Steve Turre: 2 appearances [“Smack Dab In The Middle”, “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby”]

  • Soozie Tyrell: 2 appearances [“Smack Dab In The Middle”, “Oh Me, Oh My (I’m A Fool For You Baby”]

guests

  • Sigourney Weaver: 8 appearances [Monologue, Girlfriends, Hef-Tea Teabags, Church Chat, Alienses, Baby It’s Cold Outside, Comeback, Brecht/Rogers Medley]

  • Christopher Durang: 5 appearances [Monologue, Hef-Tea Teabags, Church Chat, Alienses, Brecht/Rogers Medley]

  • Madonna: 1 appearance [It Was All A Dream]

REBROADCAST HISTORY

  • January 10, 1987

  • July 4, 1987

Known alterations:

  • Hef-Tea Tea Bags and “Smack Dab In The Middle” removed

  • “Un Film De” added

  • Audience sweetening:

    • Minimal to mild: General Dynamics, Church Chat, Weekend Update, Alienses, Comeback.

  • Edits: It Was All A Dream, Girlfriends, Quiz Masters, Mr. Subliminal

  • Dress substitutions: Alienses (one portion), “Oh Me Oh My (I’m A Fool For You)”

Repeat-only content:

FILM: “UN FILM DE” - MICHAEL AUSTIN

  • Sylvie (Blair Tefkin) brainstorms ideas for her film with a friend (Antonia Dauphin); Claudio (Rupert Everett) is critical.

  • This was…odd. I see what they were going for with the subtitle jokes and the general plot, but it wasn’t really enough to sustain the whole thing.

**

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.