Classic SNL Review: December 6, 1986: Chevy Chase, Steve Martin, and Martin Short / Randy Newman (S12E06)

/

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

OPENING: STUMBLEBUMS ANONYMOUS

  • A support group at the Gerald Ford Center waits for their counselor(Chevy Chase) to arrive.

  • A quick and efficient cold opening with a lot of good physical comedy, including an extended run from Chevy Chase as he makes his way from the door to his chair (which collapses).

  • The three hosts each get big cheers for their entrances, which sets a positive mood for tonight’s show.

  • I like the set decorations having a sign that says “One Step At A Time”.

  • Rerun alterations: None.

*** 1/2

MONOLOGUE

  • Steve Martin’s crisis of confidence ends when he realizes “I’m me!” and parades around the studio to celebrate.

  • This was a lot of fun, particularly once Steve Martin begins his march through the studio; not to say that Chevy Chase and Martin Short don’t get their own moments (Chase thanks everyone for their support while he was in rehab, Short does his Katharine Hepburn impression), but I always like a good excuse to go backstage.

  • Beginning with this episode, the pan from the alley beside the home base stage is replaced with a long tracking shot that starts with two pages opening the Studio 8H doors and the camera approaching the stage.

  • Rerun alterations: Martin Short’s “haaah!” at the beginning is mixed out.

****

SKETCH: COUCH CUSHIONS

  • Dad (Chevy Chase) unearths a lot of other things when he reaches into the couch for the channel changer.

  • A nice little low-key bit of silliness that really starts rolling once the items coming out of the couch become more surreal. Very good twist at the end too.

  • Written by Andy Breckman.

  • Writer Marc Shaiman has a funny cameo as Paul Williams (I like the detail of him singing “Rainy Days and Mondays” as he leaves the house).

  • Unusually, the show actually uses a teenage extra to play the son as opposed to having a cast member in the role.

  • Rerun alterations: None.

*** 1/2

SKETCH: THE DEVIL & ED GRIMLEY

  • Mephistopheles (Jon Lovitz) has a proposition for cash-strapped Ed Grimley (Martin Short) .

  • Martin Short’s signature character returns to the show without missing a beat, and Jon Lovitz’s devil character makes a good foil for him. (I like how his offer is just a $50 gift certificate for the department store of Ed’s choice). There’s also some good use of Ed’s regard for Pat Sajak here.

  • Written by Martin Short and others.

  • Rerun alterations: This entire sketch is replaced with the dress rehearsal version. There are some very noticeable differences between the two: in the live show, Martin Short has his earmuffs on for the whole sketch and his hair point doesn’t quite stick together for the whole sketch. As well, the picture of Pat Sajak isn’t crooked when Ed first notices it is, the lines about the Devil’s other names and the gifts Ed plans to give to each of his relatives were cut after dress, and Jon Lovitz has trouble removing the triangle from his cape in the live show.

****

MISCELLANEOUS: A HOLIDAY WISH

  • Steve Martin’s wishes for the holiday season are increasingly selfish.

  • This solo piece is pretty well remembered due to its inclusion on the Christmas Past compilations over the years, and is a perfect use of Martin. I like how dead serious he is when he starts into his more selfish wishes, and it gets funnier when he starts dismissing his first wish (“First, the crap about the kids”) and gets frustrated about forgetting revenge against his enemies (“They should DIE like PIGS in HELL!”).

  • Written by Robert Smigel.

  • Rerun alterations: Applause mixed out of the beginning. End fades into closing bumper.

*****

MISCELLANEOUS: THREE AMIGOS

  • Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short do the Three Amigos salute.

  • Not rateable, but it’s always nice to have a non-standard introduction to the musical guest, even if this is pretty much synergy to promote their movie that opens the next week. As well, even the musical guest selection is also tied to Three Amigos, as Randy Newman co-wrote the movie with Martin and Lorne Michaels.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “LONGEST NIGHT”

  • Randy Newman performs this with the full SNL Band, which also includes Tony Garnier on bass (T-Bone Wolk is on accordion), Tony Price on tuba, and Chris Parker filling in on drums. This song isn’t included on any of his albums, though a demo version appears on 1998’s Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman box set.

  • Rerun alterations: Closeup of Newman counting in the song at the beginning is removed. Newman’s “Thank you” is louder in the rerun.

SKETCH: MASTERMIND

  • Ronald Reagan’s (Phil Hartman) doddering public persona obfuscates that he is fully in charge.

  • Phil Hartman’s debut as Ronald Reagan, and a turning point for SNL’s political sketches. Hartman’s impression is arguably the best out of all the takes the show has done on Reagan (I must give Harry Shearer credit for his), but the way it’s used here, going from lovable grandpa to stern taskmaster in a beat is remarkable.

  • Dana Carvey’s Jimmy Stewart impression also makes its first appearance here.

  • Written by Jim Downey, Al Franken, George Meyer and Robert Smigel.

  • Rerun alterations: Moderate audience sweetening.

*****

WEEKEND UPDATE

  • Best jokes: Oliver North/Hero, Claus von Bulow, Shande for the Goyim

  • The pairing of Dennis Miller with original Weekend Update anchor Chevy Chase may have sounded like a good idea on paper, but this just comes off as a mess; a lot of Chase’s jokes are weak (especially the approval rating poll), and there are more laughs from how amused Miller is at their lack of chemistry than the actual pairing.

  • Thankfully, Miller has some good jokes this week, even though the prop joke with the Congressional Subpoena See-N-Say (which takes the Fifth) kind of peters out quickly.

  • Tommy Flanagan (Jon Lovitz) returns in a tie-in to Reagan press secretary Larry Speakes’ resignation; even though the character is already played out by this point, I still found there were still some good jokes in this commentary (“Speakes, I spoke”, contraceptives to the condors, Jeane Kirkpatrick being his mistress).

  • Rerun alterations: Thicker font on poll graphic text.

***.

SKETCH: THE EGGSHELL FAMILY

  • A sensitive family tries to avoid upsetting each other when they get a phone call.

  • This was a bit of a slog to get through; the performances were good, but the premise was just too thin and telegraphed too early by the name of the family.

  • I’ve heard conflicting things about the authorship of this piece: this has been varyingly attributed to Franken and Davis or Steve Farrell (of “Pango, Giant Dog of Tokyo!”)

  • Rerun alterations: None.

**

SHOW: THE PAT STEVENS SHOW

  • Pat Stevens (Nora Dunn) is more interested in talking about Imelda Marcos’s shoe collection with Corazon Aquino (Jan Hooks) than politics.

  • The first Pat Stevens sketch of the season; the first half feels a little like a refresher of the sketch for viewers who didn’t bother with the show last year, but the second half with Jan Hooks as Corazon Aquino is pretty solid, problematic casting aside.

  • I love the look Cory gives Pat after she asks what her husband (who was assassinated three years before) thinks about her job, and Pat’s oblivious “Are you dating?” immediately after.

  • Written by Nora Dunn.

  • Rerun alterations: Moderate to heavy sweetening. Band bumper moved to after Halsey & Roarke in rerun.

***

SKETCH: CHURCH POTLUCK LUNCHEON

  • The Church Lady (Dana Carvey) smugly bullies Jenny (Victoria Jackson) and other attendees at her church’s potluck.

  • An interesting change of pace and a nice bit of worldbuilding for the Church Lady (who gets cheers and applause as soon as the camera pans over to Carvey). As well, this features the debut of Church Lady’s Superior Dance, which soon normally concludes each edition of Church Chat.

  • I like Chevy Chase’s performance as Minister Bob, including the callback to his knock-knock jokes in season 1’s National Uvula Association (“Barb’s enlarged liver who?” “I don’t know, Barb, but I do know this…”). His dance at the end is also pretty funny.

  • Rerun alterations: Camera pan from other attendees removed from beginning; audience applause can be heard before still fades into scene.

*** 1/2

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES”

  • Randy Newman performs a solo piano version of a song he would record for 1988’s Land of Dreams album (after expanding the third verse a little); this is one of his more bitterly satirical songs, a take on systemic racism and structural inequality.

  • Rerun alterations: None.

SKETCH: HALSEY & ROARKE: BRITISH CUSTOMS

  • Terry Halsey (Eric Idle) and Clive Roarke (Dana Carvey) find reasons to suspect smuggling in travelers’ ordinary items.

  • Interesting having an Eric Idle cameo as the 10-to-1 sketch; he and Carvey work well together, although the sketch itself is a little disappointing.

  • Written by George Meyer.

  • Who’s the guy on the Welcome to Heathrow sign?

1986-12-06-452.jpg

  • I see some of the church potluck extras in the line of travelers being waved through at the end.

  • Rerun alterations: Applause from the end of The Pat Stevens Show mixed over the beginning. Applause at closed mixed over SNL Band “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” bumper.

***

GOODNIGHTS

  • Chevy Chase says “Gilda, we’re glad you’re better, and we send our love”; Martin Short blows a kiss. Fake Steve Martin from the monologue and Kevin from Couch Cushions are on stage, and Marc Shaiman can be seen hanging out by Leon Pendarvis’s keyboard.

  • Don Pardo announces next week’s show with Steve Guttenburg and “Chrissie Hynde & The Pretenders”, and can’t remember the name of his new place to dwell at the end of Lonely Street.

  • For some reason, they changed the font of the closing credits slightly from the one used for the first five shows of the season.

Rerun alterations: Audience applause mixed out. New Don Pardo voiceover added to advertise repeat of Valerie Bertinelli show; same Heartbreak Hotel joke as in live.

Final thoughts: A mostly very good show, though there are a few stumbles here and there (the misguided Miller/Chase pairing on Weekend Update, The Eggshell Family, Eric Idle’s wasted cameo). This week is a big improvement on Chase’s previous appearance; Martin and Short also do solid jobs this time out. The three hosts understandably dominate here, though Phil Hartman’s performance in Mastermind is what really stands out here, especially impressive considering he doesn’t do much else tonight.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Mastermind

  • A Holiday Wish

  • Monologue

  • The Devil & Ed Grimley

  • Couch Cushions

  • Stumblebums Anonymous

  • Chuck Potluck Luncheon

SHOW LOWLIGHTS:

  • The Eggshell Family

MVP:

  • Phil Hartman

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:

cast

  • Dana Carvey: 3 appearances [Mastermind, Church Potluck Luncheon, Halsey & Roarke: British Customs]

  • Nora Dunn: 4 appearances [Monologue, Mastermind, The Pat Stevens Show, Halsey & Roarke: British Customs]; 1 voiceover [Halsey & Roarke: British Customs]

  • Phil Hartman: 2 appearances [Mastermind, Halsey & Roarke: British Customs]; 1 voiceover [Halsey & Roarke: British Customs]

  • Jan Hooks: 5 appearances [Monologue, Couch Cushions, The Eggshell Family, The Pat Stevens Show, Church Potluck Luncheon]; 1 voiceover [Mastermind]

  • Victoria Jackson: 3 appearances [Monologue, Couch Cushions, Church Potluck Luncheon]

  • Jon Lovitz: 5 appearances [Monologue, The Devil & Ed Grimley, Mastermind, Weekend Update, Halsey & Roarke: British Customs]; 1 voiceover [Mastermind]

  • Dennis Miller: 3 appearances [Monologue, Mastermind, Weekend Update]

featured players

  • A. Whitney Brown: 2 appearances [Monologue, Mastermind]

  • Kevin Nealon: 4 appearances [Stumblebums Anonymous, Monologue, Mastermind, The Eggshell Family]

unbilled crew, extras and bit players

  • Joe Dicso: 1 appearance [Monologue]

  • Lorne Michaels: 1 appearance [Monologue]

  • Marc Shaiman: 1 appearance [Couch Cushions]

G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band

  • G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band: 1 appearance [“Longest Night”]

guests

  • Chevy Chase: 6 appearances [Stumblebums Anonymous, Monologue, Couch Cushions, Three Amigos, Weekend Update, Church Potluck Luncheon]

  • Steve Martin: 6 appearances [Stumblebums Anonymous, Monologue, A Holiday Wish, Three Amigos, The Eggshell Family, Halsey & Roarke: British Customs]

  • Martin Short: 6 appearances [Stumblebums Anonymous, Monologue, The Devil & Ed Grimley, Three Amigos, The Eggshell Family, Halsey & Roarke: British Customs]

  • Randy Newman: 2 appearances [“Longest Night”, “Roll With The Punches”]

  • Tony Garnier: 1 appearance [“Longest Night”]

  • Eric Idle: 1 appearance [Halsey & Roarke: British Customs]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:

  • June 6, 1987

Known alterations:

  • Audience sweetening:

    • Medium to heavy: Mastermind, The Pat Stevens Show

  • Edits: “Longest Night”, Church Potluck Luncheon

  • Dress substitutions: The Devil & Ed Grimley (full sketch)

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.