Classic SNL Review: October 15, 1988: Matthew Broderick / The Sugarcubes (S14E02)
RATING SYSTEM:
***** - Classic
**** - Great
*** - Good/Average
** - Meh
* - Awful
OPENING: SEDUCTION
Nancy Reagan (Jan Hooks) plays Mrs. Robinson to Dan Quayle’s (Matthew Broderick) Benjamin Braddock.
Interesting idea to plug the inexperienced and ill-prepared Quayle into a Graduate parody, complete with direct spoofs of the “one word: plastics” and “you’re trying to seduce me” scenes. I also enjoyed Carvey’s Bush telling Quayle that he attracts the “rock and roll vote” and that his “good strong chin” bridges the gender gap.
The transition to the “live from New York” line was a bit awkward; I chalk it up to Broderick’s performance, which otherwise fit the role.
Written by Bonnie and Terry Turner.
Rerun alterations: Small edit during scene change back to Quayle looking in the fish tank. The “through-the-legs” shot is replaced with dress rehearsal.
*** 1/2
MONOLOGUE
Matthew Broderick breaks the fourth wall to go over the four rules of SNL monologues.
A pretty breezy and to-the-point monologue; I got a good laugh at the referring to “craziness” being intended to make the writers think they haven’t lost their edge.
Matthew Broderick was originally booked to host one of the shows during the previous season that got cancelled due to the WGA strike, with musical guest Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. There is a Don Pardo voiceover during the “encore presentation” disclaimer in the Danny DeVito rerun announcing that had to be rescheduled, so I’m assuming this would have been the April 9 show.
Tonight’s show also started 50 minutes late thanks to the first game of the World Series.
Joe Shepley is still sitting in with the band tonight, but regular trumpeter Earl Gardner’s also there. Tony Garnier continues to fill in on bass.
Written by Jim Downey.
Rerun alterations: The live airing is full colour immediately after the cut from the montage to the studio, while the rerun version has it fade to colour from the blue tint.
***
COMMERCIAL: MCDONNELL-RAND
Spokesman (Phil Hartman) touts harvesting the sea’s bounty of medical waste.
An underrated lost sketch, with some great visuals coming from the syringes being used as corn cob holders, a bed pan used for baking, and Hartman skipping a piece of a human skeleton across the water.
Written by John Bowman and Shannon Gaughan.
This sketch was removed from the repeat version of the show; the band shot that follows remains in the show but the SNL logo animation is different.
****
SKETCH: THE FIVE BEATLES
Albert Goldman (Phil Hartman) admits that his John Lennon (Matthew Broderick) biography was revenge for being kicked out of The Beatles.
Good concept, with Hartman giving a hilarious performance as the out-of-place Goldman, ruining “I Saw Her Standing There” with a trombone solo. To tie into Goldman’s other infamous biography, Elvis (Kevin Nealon) drops by to encourage the band to fire the “fat, bald, unattractive guy”.
The club announcer (voice of Conan O’Brien) introducing the band members cracks me up: “John, Paul, George, Albert Goldman, and Ringo!”
Goldman telling the band “audience not LIKING, Beatles DYING!” reminds me of the story about George Meyer saying “Show DYING!” during 1985-86.
Written by Conan O’Brien, Robert Smigel, Bob Odenkirk, Greg Daniels, and John Bowman.
Rerun alterations: Carvey counting off again following the trombone solo is cut. Small edit when Hartman returns and is told he is out of the band. Small edit at the beginning of the band shot.
****
SHOW: COOKING WITH MONKEY
Don Winston (Dana Carvey) stresses the importance of using fresh monkey meat.
One of those “so wrong, it’s hilarious” sketches with Carvey casually showing the picture of the baby monkey he used in today’s recipe, reading a letter from a viewer who served “orange monkey flambee” to the shock of her guests, and selling “patented monkey de-boners”.
Written by Jack Handey and Shannon Gaughan.
Rerun alterations: Audience reaction during title screen mixed out. Small cut during transition from videotape to the French Monkey House scene.
**** 1/2
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “BIRTHDAY”
The Sugarcubes perform their breakout single from their debut album Life’s Too Good, with Bjork’s instantly recognizable voice front and centre as Einar Orn Benediktsson plays dissonant notes on his pocket trumpet (or is it a cornet?). The atmospheric, bass-heavy song sounds pretty good here.
Rerun alterations: None
WEEKEND UPDATE
Opening music: “Tall Cool One” by Robert Plant.
Best jokes: Dodgers/Mets poll, two spherical objects, Judd Nelson
Dennis Miller doesn’t have quite as hot a week as last time, but there are some fun jokes here, including some more Quayle mockery as well as a silly bit where a baseball lands on the desk, referencing Kirk Gibson’s hit during tonight’s game.
A. Whitney Brown has his first “Big Picture” of the season focus on the environment and climate change. The audience was a little quiet (it was almost 1:00 AM by that point), but this had the usual mix of smart jokes (including using Republican talking points about extinct species “not working hard enough”), and is sadly still pretty relevant today.
Normally the Weekend Update set clock reflects the correct time, but they didn’t bother this week.
Rerun alterations: None
***
SKETCH: NUDE BEACH
Beachgoers welcome new member Doug (Matthew Broderick) and his small penis to the club.
This is an infamous sketch, which legendarily got 46,000 complaints and lost the show some sponsors over the 40-plus times the word “penis” was used. It is a little one-note by design, but the gleeful abandon at sticking the word in as many places as possible makes this fun.
This was originally intended for the Carl Weathers show in January, and a version was performed and recorded at last week’s dress rehearsal with Tom Hanks, which was incuded as a bonus feature on his Best Of DVD.
Written by Robert Smigel, Conan O’Brien, and Greg Daniels.
Rerun alterations: Dialogue before Lovitz’s character is introduced (from “You could pick a lock with that penis” on) is from dress. Dennis Miller’s character showing vacation pictures is from dress. Small cut before discussion of being from Denver. Small cut when the women are introduced. Small edit before Nora Dunn’s character responds to Broderick. Victoria Jackson’s “that’s OK” was replaced to remove Dunn stepping on Broderick’s line. First half of the club anthem is from dress.
****
SKETCH: THE THUMPER FAMILY
A family of Christian fundamentalists responds to the slightest aggravation with rebukes and threatened damnation.
Speaking of one-note, this is one of those Franken and Davis “family name is their salient trait” sketches; it does get over largely due to the performances of Jan Hooks and especially Phil Hartman.
Written by Al Franken, Tom Davis, Jack Handey, and Christine Zander.
Rerun alterations: Small cut after Hartman’s “evil construction site” line. Small cuts before and after Broderick says “wrong number”.
***
SHOW: LEARNING TO FEEL
Denise Venetti (Nora Dunn) tells her patients that they’re frightened and scared.
I appreciate the performances and the parody of shallow pop psychology, but while it does break from the normal format of Venetti just telling her patients to look at themselves, this just kind of lays there. I do always enjoy Lovitz’s neurotic Neil Simmons character, though, and Matthew Broderick saying that he doesn’t want the people he works with in his house was funny. Dunn must have realized the sketch ran out of gas as this is the last appearance of the character.
Written by Nora Dunn and Christine Zander
Rerun alterations: Audience reaction to Lovitz’s character turning during the introduction mixed lower.
**
FILM: LAURIE HAS A STORY - DOUGLAS MCGRATH & LIZ WELCH
At a dinner party, Leslie (Catherine O’Hara) goads Laurie (Laurie Metcalf) into telling a story, which is interrupted by other distractions.
Not really a laugh-out-loud piece, but there are amusing moments throughout (I love one of the guests saying “This was before he died!” after another mentions Andy Warhol).
This is a particularly interesting film for SNL history buffs; Metcalf was a featured player for one episode (the final episode of season 6, which aired April 11, 1981) and O’Hara would have started on the show that same week had she not changed her mind about SNL. As well, co-writer/co-director Douglas McGrath wrote for the show in season 6, Liz Welch, the show’s talent coordinator at that time, worked on the show from 1978-1982 and again from 1988-1994, and season 9 writer Adam Green is one of the other guests.
O’Hara had also just starred in Beetlejuice the previous spring, while Metcalf would become a household name when Roseanne premiered on ABC three days after this originally aired.
Can anyone ID the older woman guest in the film?
Written by McGrath and Welch.
Rerun alterations: Audience mixed out.
***
SHOW: HOLLYWOOD SALUTE
Gangster film star Jackie Jarvis (Jon Lovitz) didn’t change his acting style when branching out into westerns.
The idea was funnier than the sketch turned out to be, but this wasn’t bad at all; it felt like a cousin to Lovitz’s old-timey sketches with Phil Hartman like Chick Hazard and One Last Mission, it’s pretty smartly written, and there are some nice performances from both Lovitz and Hartman.
Written by Phil Hartman
Rerun alterations: Hooks’ voiceover of Jackie Jarvis’s movies redone to remove her hesitating before Bullets Be Not Few.
***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “MOTORCRASH”
The Sugarcubes perform another Life’s Too Good track, which would be released as the album’s final single the next month. This is a little more energetic and urgent than the studio version, with more vocalizations from Bjork between verses.
Rerun alterations: Different part of Einar Orn Benediktsson’s closing remarks audible in rerun.
SKETCH: BABY
Bullies taunting a baby (Matthew Broderick) are met with calm and nonchalant answers to their mocking questions.
A little slight, but the matter-of-fact replies are pretty funny (I also like Broderick’s “a song about me” comment after the bullies circle him singing “baby, baby, baby!”). Phil Hartman’s appearance as a friendly fairy was a strong ending.
The rerun version moves this after the “Puppeteers For Dukakis” ad and before the first commercial break; oddly enough, it works better in that slot.
Written by Conan O’Brien, Greg Daniels, Robert Smigel and Bob Odenkirk
Rerun alterations: Small cut before and after Broderick’s response to “does the widdle baby cry?”.
*** 1/2
GOODNIGHTS
Matthew Broderick congratulates Kirk Gibson before he and everyone on stage try to kill 30 seconds before the credits roll; Jon Lovitz and Dana Carvey say “thank you” in a variety of silly voices, Dennis Miller remarks “we look pretty good when we ad-lib”, Einar Orn Benediktsson endorses Donald Duck for president, while Sugarcubes drummer Siggi Baldursson tells Broderick “Have ten nice days”. Don Pardo announces next week’s guests will be John Larroquette and Randy Newman.
Rerun alterations: First few seconds of Broderick tugging his ears removed. Don Pardo’s voiceover removed.
Final thoughts: A step down from the premiere, though by no means a bad show. Matthew Broderick was a bit of a limited host, but the writers found a way to incorporate his boyish, aw-shucks demeanor into tonight’s sketches, the best examples being Seduction and Nude Beach. This show was more of a demonstration of Phil Hartman’s strengths, and his ability to boost sketches with his presence. The Sugarcubes were a strong choice for musical guest as well.
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:
Cooking With Monkey
McDonnell-Rand
Nude Beach
The Five Beatles
Seduction
Baby
SHOW LOWLIGHTS:
Learning To Feel
MVP:
Phil Hartman
CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:
cast
Dana Carvey: 6 appearances [Seduction, McDonnell-Rand, The Five Beatles, Cooking With Monkey, Nude Beach, Baby]
Nora Dunn: 4 appearances [Seduction, McDonnell-Rand, Nude Beach, Learning To Feel]
Phil Hartman: 5 appearances [McDonnell-Rand, The Five Beatles, The Thumper Family, Hollywood Salute, Baby]
Jan Hooks: 6 appearances [Seduction, Cooking With Monkey, The Thumper Family, Learning To Feel, Hollywood Salute, Baby]
Victoria Jackson: 6 appearances [Seduction, McDonnell-Rand, Cooking With Monkey, Nude Beach, The Thumper Family, Learning To Feel]
Jon Lovitz: 7 appearances [McDonnell-Rand, The Five Beatles, Cooking With Monkey, Nude Beach, The Thumper Family, Learning To Feel, Hollywood Salute]
Dennis Miller: 5 appearances [The Five Beatles, Cooking With Monkey, Weekend Update, Nude Beach, Hollywood Salute]
Kevin Nealon: 4 appearances [The Five Beatles, Nude Beach, The Thumper Family, Baby]; 1 voiceover [Learning To Feel]
featured players
A. Whitney Brown: 1 appearance [Weekend Update]
unbilled crew, bit players, and extras
Tom Davis: 1 appearance [Weekend Update]
John Henry Kurtz: 1 voiceover [McDonnell-Rand]
Conan O’Brien: 1 voiceover [The Five Beatles]
Don Pardo: 1 voiceover [The Thumper Family]
Ann Timmons: 1 appearance [Seduction]
guests
Matthew Broderick: 8 appearances [Seduction, Monologue, The Five Beatles, Nude Beach, The Thumper Family, Learning To Feel, Hollywood Salute, Baby]
The Sugarcubes: 2 appearances [“Birthday”, “Motorcrash”]
Adam Green: 1 appearance [Laurie Has A Story]
Douglas McGrath: 1 appearance [Laurie Has A Story]
Laurie Metcalf: 1 appearance [Laurie Has A Story]
Fred Newman: 1 appearance [Laurie Has A Story]
Catherine O’Hara: 1 appearance [Laurie Has A Story]
REBROADCAST HISTORY:
December 24, 1988
Known alterations:
McDonnell-Rand removed
Puppeteers For Dukakis added
Edits: Seduction, The Five Beatles, Cooking With Monkey, Nude Beach, The Thumper Family, Baby, Goodnights
Dress Substitutions: Seduction (part), Nude Beach (part)
Audio remixing: Cooking With Monkey, Learning To Feel, Laurie Has A Story, Hollywood Salute, “Motorcrash”
Repeat-only content:
COMMERCIAL: PUPPETEERS FOR DUKAKIS
Michael Dukakis is the change that’s needed after the last 8 years of Reagan and Bush.
This was OK; the big joke is that after the cartoonish Bush puppet, they use a puppet Dukakis to lip-sync his acceptance speech at the convention and do the standard photo-ops in political ads.
At the time, the Sid and Marty Krofft-produced D.C. Follies was running in syndication, in some markets after SNL; I wonder if that was an inspiration for this piece.
Written by George Meyer.
** 1/2
Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.