Sketches include “Pep Talk”, “The Honeymooners: The Lost Episodes”, “Commercials”, “Mystery Playhouse”, “That Black Girl”, “Whale”, “Actors”, “Ghost of Thespians Past”, “Vietnam Sketch”, “Suitcase Boy” and “Finale”. Philip Glass and the Philip Glass Ensemble perform “Lightning” and “Rubric”.
Read MoreSketches include “Halley’s Comet”, “Posterior Arthropod”, “Master Thespian”, “Double R Rolls”, “Ad Council”, “Cliches”, “Vegas Nancy”, “U.S.S. Cameron”, and “The Limits of the Imagination”. Mr. Mister performs “Broken Wings” and “Kyrie”. Sam Kinison also appears.
Read MoreSketches include “The Joe Franklin Show”, “That White Guy & His Wife”, “Night of 100 Stars”, “Plexiglass Stand-up”, “Called Shot”, “Do You Know What I Hate (V)”, “First Draft Theatre”, “Dynasty’s Greatest Fights”, “Tom, Dick, & Horny”, and “Shootout at the Zepplin Chorale”. The Power Station performs “Some Like It Hot” and “Get It On (Bang A Gong)”.
Read MoreSketches include “Backstage”, “Ed Grimley and Miss Malone”, “Time”, “A Couple of White Guys”, “Kelly Cola”, “Power From Giving”, “New York on Five Dollars a Day”, “Fritz’s Bait & Tackle”, “Tuesday Night Titans” and “New Auctioneer”. Tina Turner performs “What’s Love Got To Do With It”, “Better Be Good To Me”, and “Private Dancer”.
Read MoreSketches include “Green Room”, “MacDouglass-Drummond”, “Do You Know What I Hate (IV)”, “Nose Hair Trimmer”, “Safeco”, “Fire Dance”, “Predictions”, “The Joe Franklin Show”, “Boxer”, “Scary Lady” and “Strictly From Blackwell”. John Waite performs “Saturday Night”.
Read MoreSketches include “Adopted Son”, “Kate & Ali”, “Book Beat”, “Seventh Wedge”, “Let’s Watch T.V.”, “Marty”, “Vaudeville Funeral”, “Eyeball to Eyeball”, and “Elevator Stool”. Billy Squier performs “Rock Me Tonite” and “All Night Long”.
Read MoreSketches include "Advice", "Do You Know What I Hate?", "The Question Is Moot!", "Refrigerator Magnet Safety Advisory Board", "Just Kidding", "First Class", "Tippi Turtle", "Wrong Voice, Right Face", "Funny Black People", "Jeane", "Rich Hall's Election Report", "Fashion Report" and "Rainbow Coalition". Andrae Crouch performs "Right Now" and Wintley Phipps performs "Tell Me Again".
Read MoreSketches include "St. Patrick's Day Wrap-Up", "Hung Like Me", "Winston University", "Family in the Attic", "Sammy & Reagan", "Unanswered Questions of the Universe", "Bad Career Moves", "God's Place", "The Womb", and "The First Show". Al Jarreau performs "Mornin'" and "Trouble In Paradise".
Read MoreSketches include: "Cheer Squad", "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood", "Thirsty Guy", "History: The Real Story", "Dion's", "Coronet Man", "Dopeball", "Caffeine Achievers", "Kennedy: The Man Behind The Woman!", "Sarcastic Mother Superior", "Help Me - She's A Witch", and "Man On The Street". Mick Fleetwood's Zoo performs "Tonight" and "Way Down". Joel Hodgson also appears.
Read MoreOther people are probably going to write more extensively about tonight's SNL 40th Anniversary special, so I'll leave it to them, but I'll say my piece about a few things:
Most of the show was entertaining; the clip montages were well-chosen and edited, and it was good to see the lesser-celebrated Doumanian and Ebersol years get more "deep cuts" covered in the highlight reels, as opposed to the same Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo clips they normally rely on.
The music performances weren't bad; nothing on par with Prince doing "Electric Chair" at the 15th anniversary or the Eurythmics and Al Green medleys at the 25th. Miley Cyrus doing "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" was surprisingly good, though.
Jane Curtin doing Weekend Update with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler was a highlight, and she killed it with her Fox News joke. She was always the secret weapon of the original years, or at least the one hidden in plain sight.
The biggest misstep of the night was the Californians sketch, which didn't seem to play too well in studio. Despite the participation of Laraine Newman and cameos from Bradley Cooper, Kerry Washington, Taylor Swift and Betty White, the sketch dragged. David Spade posted a close-up of the script on Instagram earlier, which revealed this was the handiwork of James Anderson and Kent Sublette; for all I know they may be wonderful people, but this was all too typical of their other work on the show*. The same could be said for Garth and Kat, which ground the pacing of the "salute to musical sketches" segment to a halt.
The "In Memoriam" montage was well-done, but I noticed a few glaring omissions:
They may have kept to a "more than one season" rule for writers, but I found it odd they didn't count the other band members who have passed. I believe there were also a few other crew and staff members that had been memorialized beforehand but not here. That said, it was nice to see some others get their due. I was most concerned that Charles Rocket, Danitra Vance, Michael O'Donoghue and Tom Davis would get short shrift, and was pleased to see they were counted. The same goes for Don Pardo, Dave Wilson and Audrey Peart Dickman (from many accounts, she was the engine that kept the show running, production-wise).
Other than those issues, the special served its purpose: it reminded the audience why this show (and it's history) is special, and it was good to see a lot of familiar faces again. I hope everyone there had a good time (even Anderson and Sublette).
*A partial list of other Anderlette sketches this season: "Forgotten Television Gems", "Women In The Workplace", "Campfire Song", "Nest-presso", "Amy Adams Monologue", "Singing Sisters", "Soap Opera Reunion", "The Journey", "Casablanca".
Sketches include "Texxon", "Johnny Keep Your Gun Clean", "Escape From Escape From New York", "I Married A Monkey", "A Message From Eddie Murphy", "Hidden Photo", "Bedtime Story", "Man Ray And Mic", "Sketch In The Dark", "42nd Street", "Nick The Knock", and "Rock 'N Roll Heaven, Incorporated". The Go-Gos perform "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got The Beat". Billy Joel performs "Miami 2017" and "She's Got A Way". Bernadette Peters performs "Making Love Alone".
Read MorePersonal website of photographer and writer Bronwyn Douwsma.
I’m on the bus. It’s too early to be human and I haven’t had my coffee yet so I don’t really want to do much; maybe read or listen to music, things that help tune out the other people or the monotony of the commute. When I leave the suburbs, it's usually dark. I sometimes look out the windows, but more to see how far I’ve traveled than at anything interesting. By the time I arrive downtown, I can see the sun coming up over the harbour.
The year is winding down. I’m preparing to go to New Brunswick for my regular Christmas visit with the family; my travel arrangements up there have all been taken care of. I haven’t bothered with Christmas shopping yet; my cash flow was a little tight until my last paycheque came in, and my tolerance for the malls has dropped over the years. Everything costs too much money now.
“Midnight Express Special” sketches include “Sunrise Semester: Basic Photography”, “Mamorex Video Tape”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Promo: Tomorrow, Today, Tonight”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “Message From Guy: Midnight Express Special”, and “Midnight Express Special”.
“Cookery Crock” sketches include “Sunrise Semester: Disasters In The Home”, “Nasex Nasal Deodorant”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Promo: The Freddie De Cordova Show”, “Cookery Crock” and “Quincy: Cartoon Coroner”.
“Two-Way TV” sketches include “Sunrise Semester: Astrology”, “Promo: Monster Chiller Horror Theatre”, “Kanadian Korner”, “SCTV News”, “Comment with David Brinkley”, “Promo: Cruisin’ Gourmet”, “Two-Way TV”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “Promo: Crazy Crafts”, and “Sermonette: Rabbi Karlov”.
“Alpha Channel” sketches include “Gordon Lightfoot Sings Every Song Ever Written”, “Cooking With Marcello”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Crazy Crafts”, “Message From Guy: Alpha Channel”, “Promo: Alpha Channel”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, and “Dialing For Dollars”.
“The Irwin Allen Show” sketches include “Men On Women”, “Message From Guy: Men On Women”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Cooking With Marcello”, “Promo: Taxi Driver”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “Message From Guy: The Irwin Allen Show”, and “The Irwin Allen Show”.
“Big Brother” sketches include “Got A Minute?”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Promo: Taxi Driver”, “Message From Guy: The New Year”, “Message From Prickley: The New Year”, “SCTV New Year’s Eve Party 1983”, “Komrade Kangaroo”, “Comrade Allen”, “Promo: Doublethink”, and “The Praise Big Brother Show”.
“Star Wars” sketches include “Sunrise Semester: Do-It-Yourself Advertising”, “Promo: Chick Monk: Roadie For The Defense”, “Kanadian Korner”, “SCTV News”, “Joni Mitchell’s For Dogs Only”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “SCTV Premiere: Star Wars”, and “Dialing For Dollars”.
“Hollywood Salutes Its Extras” sketches include “Message From Prickley: Extras”, “Mamorex Cassette Tape”, “Bill Needle’s Mailbag”, “Promo: Taxi Driver”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Howard’s Bristol Cream”, “Sneak Previews”, “Promo: Hawaii Five-Ho”, “Hollywood Salutes Its Extras”, and “Promo: White Man, Black Girl”.
There’s a podcast called The Loudest Girl In The World, hosted by Lauren Ober. The show concerns Ober’s autism diagnosis at 42, as well as her experience dealing with this information and opening up to others about it. When I listened to it last summer, I related pretty heavily to what she was talking about. I’ve also started to make peace with how my own brain works in the last few years. It’s been a rough road, though.