Classic SNL Review: November 5, 1988: Matthew Modine / Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (S14E04)
RATINGS SYSTEM:
***** - Classic
**** - Great
*** - Good/Average
** - Meh
* - Awful
OPENING: DRILL SERGEANT
A drill sergeant’s (Phil Hartman) nicknames for the new recruits are awkwardly prolix.
One of my all-time favourite Phil Hartman performances; the combination of his commitment to the part and the very wordy nicknames (“Mr. Smiling-Laughing-Joking-Around-Man”) is great, but what I love is just how thoroughly the sergeant’s awkward and limited vocabulary permeates the entire sketch; even the chyron over the opening (“Ft. Army Base”) is an extension of the joke.
Doing a Full Metal Jacket parody was also a good way to integrate Matthew Modine, who starred in the movie.
Written by Robert Smigel and Bob Odenkirk.
Rerun alterations: Dress rehearsal used from Hartman telling the recruits “Look how scared you are!” through him asking Jon Lovitz his name, and for Hartman’s response to Einstein’s (Modine) suggested nickname through him trying to order push-ups.
*****
MONTAGE
In the original broadcast, Don Pardo’s microphone stops working about halfway through (right before Al Franken’s picture), and flickers back in and out afterward. This is fixed in the repeat.
MONOLOGUE
Matthew Modine says he isn’t recognizable because of how much he immerses himself into his roles.
Modine certainly is energetic, if not a little awkwardly over-eager. It was a little predictable, though there was decent escalation and it kept things brief.
Rerun alterations: The live show has the blue tint at the beginning of the studio footage, while the rerun starts with full colour. The portion of the monologue with the movie stills through the nature clip is from dress rehearsal.
** 1/2
COMMERCIAL: THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
There’s room for a blue collar worker, a Hispanic maid, an Asian-American college student, and a retired black schoolteacher in the Republican party.
An efficient comment on tokenism; nice job with the four spokespeople backed by a homogenous crowd of white men in glasses, among them writers Greg Daniels and Bob Odenkirk.
Rerun alterations: None
****
BAND SHOT
The SNL Band has three vocalists sitting in and scatting along tonight. I’ve been trying to confirm who these singers are for over 25 years; from others’ sleuthing around (thanks Brad and Dave), I’m fairly certain one of them is Curtis King, Jr. and the white guy is Frank Simms.
Rerun alterations: Audio remixed.
SKETCH: THE LIBERAL
Wounded fugitive Elliott Waxman (Matthew Modine) winds up in the care of Shannon (Victoria Jackson) and her very conservative family.
The first of tonight’s sketches commenting on the inevitability of Tuesday’s election results and the country seemingly turning away from liberal ideals; even though the protagonist is the one the audience is to sympathize with, there are some good jokes at the expense of both sides (the one with the father having accidentally shot one of his sons in the leg after mistaking him for a raccoon was particularly funny).
The line about giving Victoria Jackson’s character’s baby to a Mormon family reminds me that there is a fair bit of writing about the adoption industrial complex, particularly Kathryn Joyce’s The Child Catchers.
Written by Al Franken and Tom Davis.
Rerun alterations: Audience laughter during opening sequence more audible. The first few seconds of the tunnel scene are removed; the transition to Victoia Jackson’s first line is also shortened. The “one week later” and “one month later” graphics are trimmed. Audio remixed to remove music from band shot bleeding into the sketch’s closing theme.
*** 1/2
SHOW: CHURCH CHAT
Church Lady (Dana Carvey) judges an animal trainer (Matthew Modine) and his monkey, and gives Morton Downey Jr. a taste of his own medicine.
The first Church Chat of the season, and the first since February’s unexpected season finale. The bit with the monkey was fun (particularly the Church Lady saying he was the next best thing to Geraldo Rivera), though Modine’s performance was a little too shouty. Downey’s cameo is an interesting time capsule, since his show’s popularity only had a very brief peak, but presaged the trash TV shows of the 90s and aggressive right-wing media; watching the Church Lady beat him back was amusing (particularly Downey’s face as he lies dumbstrick on the couch), but for me the highlight was the part where she grabs his cigarette and takes a puff, only to exclaim “SATAN!”
The incident with Geraldo Rivera’s broken nose that the Church Lady refers to actually aired only two days beforehand.
Written by Dana Carvey and Bonnie & Terry Turner, with assistance from Robert Smigel.
Rerun alterations: Small trim after Church Lady says “I’m back!”. Downey stepping on stage up to “Let’s hear it for God!” replaced with dress rehearsal. Downey’s “Smoking allowed” line is replaced with dress rehearsal. Small cut when Downey and Church Lady are nose-to-nose. Small edit to remove Church Lady saying “piano mouth” an extra time. Camera angle changed after Church Lady grabs the cigarette.
****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “WHAT I AM”
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians perform their best-known song, which was just released as a single from that week, their debut album Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars having come out in August. Brickell has some interesting performing mannerisms (crossing her legs, rubbing her hands), but this is a pretty solid performance.
Rerun alterations: Audio remixed.
WEEKEND UPDATE
Opening music: “Who Do You Love” by The Doors
Best jokes: Gary Hart, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, condom ad, trapped whales.
Pretty solid night for Dennis Miller thanks to some pre-election weekend jokes about the candidates, as well as the continuation of the trapped whales saga. I also found it amusing that one of the bands listed in the joke about MTV admitting they were all the same group was the Canadian metal band Helix.
Al Franken drops by to show off his ability to draw a freehand map of the lower 48 states from memory, while using the analysis of various celebrities to come up with a potential scenario where Dukakis could narrowly win the electoral college. The expertise allgedly coming from individuals like Justine Bateman and Lisa Bonet was amusing, but watching Franken draw the map is pretty mesmerizing in itself.
A. Whitney Brown has thoughts on the uninspiring candidates in Tuesday’s race, decreasing voter turnout, and the questionability of having New Hampshire having the first primary. The usual quality stuff from Brown here, with a particularly interesting line about how “there will come a time when Jimmy Carter looks like a great president”.
Rerun alterations: None.
****
SHOW: DUKAKIS AFTER DARK
Resigned to defeat, Michael Dukakis (Jon Lovitz) uses his non-refundable paid airtime to throw a party.
The second sketch with the “liberalism is unpopular these days” theme, with a stronger emphasis on how Dukakis and his guests were attached to a pie-in-the-sky idealism that wasn’t connecting with the electorate in the 80s. Phil Hartman steals this with his impression of a drunk and very handsy Ted Kennedy bothering Kitty Dukakis (Jan Hooks).
The second Jimmy Carter jab tonight, with Dukakis introducing him (played by Dana Carvey) as “the greatest living American”. I also enjoyed Dukakis awkwardly calling Willie Horton “homeboy”.
Written by Jim Downey with contributions from Al Franken, Tom Davis, Jack Handey and Robert Smigel.
Rerun alterations: Audio remixed. Joan Baez (Nora Dunn) originally sings “We’ll not blame the liberal for anything he did”; “liberal” is relooped with “criminal”. The SNL logo during the band shot is white in live, yellow in the repeat; the repeat also has the animation start earlier and the picture inset to run the “Next Week” bumper for Mary Tyler Moore / Elvis Costello.
*****
SHOW: WIN, LOSE OR TIE
Burt Reynolds (Phil Hartman) and other celebrities join college students to test their reading and writing skills.
This works more due to the execution than the actual premise, with a lot of the laughs coming the guesses of what’s being written (including Lovitz guessing Bridge Over The River Kwai and the women misponouncing “Louisiana Purchase”). The debut of Hartman’s Burt Reynolds impression also boosts things (“Just gimme the damn pen”).
Nice jab at how frequently Win, Lose or Draw aired too (there was a network version on NBC hosted by Vicki Lawrence and the syndicated version hosted by Convy).
Interesting that one of the (fake) celebrities was supposed to be a cast member on Not Necessarily The News; Conan O’Brien and Greg Daniels had written for that show.
Written by Robert Smigel and Conan O’Brien, with Greg Daniels and Bob Odenkirk.
Rerun alterations: Edits to remove Carvey accidentally flipping past Jan Hooks’ caricature and a pause before Matthew Modine’s character introduces himself.
*** 1/2
COMMERCIAL: DUKAKIS
Barbara Bush’s change in appearance over 40 years portends what her husband is going to do to the country.
So cheap, but a solid laugh and a good companion piece to the previous episode’s petty Bush ads.
Rerun alterations: Band shot moved to right after Win, Lose or Tie; SNL logo is purple in live show but blue in repeat.
****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “LITTLE MISS S”
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians perform their song about Edie Sedgwick; Brad Houser’s bass line stands out.
Rerun alterations: Audio remixed.
SKETCH: TWO SAMMIES
Sammy (Kevin Nealon) and Sammy (Dana Carvey) watch the hockey game, eat Chinese food, and discuss pipe dreams; their friend Lenny (Matthew Modine) also drops by.
The second and final appearance of characters that last appeared on the show two years before; pretty similar to the last one, though their enjoyment of the fights over the gameplay and their hockey-related dreams were pretty funny. I wonder whether this was cut down between dress and air, though.
Another Geraldo Rivera reference when Lenny notices the players fighting on the TV.
Written by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon.
Rerun alterations: None.
***
GOODNIGHTS
Matthew Modine reminds the audience: “Go out there and vote! Unless you elect not to.”
Don Pardo announces next week’s show with Demi Moore and Johnny Clegg & Savuka, and also reminds viewers to vote on Tuesday, “and if you can’t, for God’s sake don’t tell anyone you didn’t.”
Rerun alterations: Don Pardo voiceover replaced with a new one advertising next week’s new show with Mary Tyler Moore and Elvis Costello.
Final thoughts: Another pretty good night tonight, with the election providing more inspiration as well as a few sketches (and a music performance) that ended up in the season’s “best-of” compilation. Matthew Modine was certainly game, though I wouldn’t say live sketch comedy was really his forte. This ended up being another strong showing for Phil Hartman, particularly in the cold opening and Dukakis After Dark sketches.
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:
Dukakis After Dark
Drill Sergeant
Church Chat
Dukakis
The Republican Party
Weekend Update
The Liberal
Win, Lose or Tie
SHOW LOWLIGHTS:
(none)
MVP:
Phil Hartman
CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN
cast
Dana Carvey: 5 appearances [Drill Sergeant, Church Chat, Dukakis After Dark, Win, Lose Or Tie, Two Sammies]
Nora Dunn: 3 appearances [The Liberal, Dukakis After Dark, Win, Lose Or Tie]
Phil Hartman: 4 appearances [Drill Sergeant, The Liberal, Dukakis After Dark, Win, Lose Or Tie]; 1 voiceover [Church Chat]
Jan Hooks: 2 appearances [Dukakis After Dark, Win, Lose Or Tie]
Victoria Jackson: 3 appearances [The Liberal, Dukakis After Dark, Win, Lose Or Tie]
Jon Lovitz: 4 appearances [Drill Sergeant, The Liberal, Dukakis After Dark, Win, Lose Or Tie]
Dennis Miller: 3 appearances [Drill Sergeant, The Liberal, Weekend Update]
Kevin Nealon: 3 appearances [Drill Sergeant, Dukakis After Dark, Two Sammies]
featured players
A. Whitney Brown: 2 appearances [Drill Sergeant, Weekend Update]
Al Franken: 1 appearance [Weekend Update]
unbilled crew, bit players, and extras
Joe Tom Collins: 1 appearance [The Republican Party]
Alicia Coppola: 1 appearance [Dukakis After Dark]
Gregory Daniels: 1 appearance [The Republican Party]
Tony Garnier: 1 appearance [Dukakis After Dark]
Cheryl Hardwick: 1 appearance [Dukakis After Dark]
John Henry Kurtz: 2 voiceovers [Win, Lose Or Tie, Dukakis]
Marisol Massey: 1 appearance [Dukakis After Dark]
Bob Odenkirk: 1 appearance [The Republican Party]
Don Pardo: 2 voiceovers [The Liberal, Dukakis After Dark]
Grafton Trew: 1 appearance [The Republican Party]
Stephen Vause: 1 appearance [Dukakis After Dark]
guests
Matthew Modine: 7 appearances [Drill Sergeant, Monologue, The Liberal, Church Chat, Dukakis After Dark, Win, Lose Or Tie, Two Sammies]
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians: 2 appearances [“What I Am”, “Little Miss S”]
Morton Downey Jr.: 1 appearance [Church Chat]
REBROADCAST HISTORY:
March 18, 1989
Known alterations:
Edits: The Liberal, Church Chat, Win Lose or Tie
Dress substitutions: Drill Sergeant (part), Monologue (part), Church Chat (part)
Audio remixing: Band shots, The Liberal, “What I Am”, Dukakis After Dark, “Little Miss S”.
Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.