
Existentialist Weightlifting
Classic SNL Review: December 6, 1980: Ellen Burstyn / Aretha Franklin, Keith Sykes (S06E03)
Sketches include “Going Co-op”, “The Ed McMahon School of Laughing”, “What’s It All About”, “The Rocket Report”, “Video Date”, “Our Front Door”, “Pepe Gonzales”, “Planned Parenthood”, “Lesson”, “The Toni Tenille Show”, “Fish Heads”, “Blame The Kids” and “Lonely Old Lady”. Aretha Franklin performs “United Together” and “Can’t Turn You Loose”. Keith Sykes performs “B.I.G.T.I.M.E.”
Classic SNL Review: November 22, 1980: Malcolm McDowell / Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band (S06E02)
Sketches include "Execution", "Mutually Omaha's Wild Kingdom", "Tobacco Grower's Association", "Serf City", "Adopted Amy Carter", "American Milk Association", "Showdown", "Gothic Romance Novel Shop", "The 100 Years War", "Leather Weather Report", "Commie Hunting Season", "The Rocket Report", "Jack The Stripper", "Someone Is Hiding In My Apartment" and "The Wine Cellar",Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band perform "Hot Head" and "Ashtray Heart".
Classic SNL Review: November 15, 1980 - Elliott Gould / Kid Creole & The Coconuts
Sketches include "Glory Days", "Highway Education", "White House", "Billy-Gram", "American Cancer Society", "What's It All About", "Foot Fetish", "At One With", "Heart To Heart", "SNL Sports", "The Date", "The Accordian Killer", "Gidgette Goes To Hell" and "Speed Listening". Kid Creole & The Coconuts perform "Mister Softee" and "There But For The Grace Of God Go I".
SNL Up Close: 1980-81
The ill-fated 1980-81 season is one shrouded in mystery and a negative reputation that grew bigger the less frequently reruns from that season appeared in syndication.Like with 1981-82, I will be doing sketch-by-sketch reviews of the episodes this season.If anyone has information to contribute about the episodes, such as who wrote what, writer cameos, etc., I welcome it and will acknowledge my source in the sketch review.
SNL Season 36: Still ill.
I wrote last year about how SNL was showing signs of severe creative fatigue, with an over-reliance on recurring material, and a higher number of disappointing shows than in seasons past.I mentioned that unless the show took steps to fix some of these very noticeable signs of wear, the show is only going to get worse. SNL is still sick.I would argue it's a bit worse than last season, ever so subtly.There weren't any violently obvious symptoms like with last season, but the times when it appears to be firing on all cylinders are fewer and further between.
The staleness has been lingering for years now and the stench is starting to get pungent.At least when the show was at its worst they took quick emergency measures to fix the show.I do hope for next year that the creative powers-that-be realize they need to operate, or we're going to watch the show suffer and decay even further.
Classic SNL Review: May 22, 1982: Olivia Newton-John / The SNL Band (S07E20)
Sketches include "The Pig Meets Olivia", "Ebony & Ivory", "I Married A Monkey IV", "Pearly Gates", "Not A Record Ad", "Buzz Words", "Sandy's Curse" and "Sports Organ Classics".Olivia Newton-John and the SNL Band perform "Physical", "Make A Move On Me", and "Landslide".Michael Davis also appears.
Classic SNL Review: May 15, 1982: Danny DeVito / Sparks (S07E19)
Sketches include "Taxi", "Whiners", "Stress Out", "Old Friends", "Enzo", "Table Talk", and "Looks At Books". Sparks perform "Mickey Mouse" and "I Predict". Andy Kaufman appears with footage of his wrestling match with Jerry Lawler.
DVD Rewatch Thoughts: The Simpsons: The Complete First Season
I decided that I needed to go through a DVD box set that had been collecting dust upon my shelf for the last few years, and decided to start watching a few long-running shows in order from the beginning, posting my thoughts on them once I finish the season set.I decided to watch The Simpsons, because it had been years since I watched the episodes without commentary.
Classic SNL Review: November 14, 1981: Bernadette Peters / The Go-Gos, Billy Joel (S07E06)
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".
Classic SNL Review: October 31, 1981: Donald Pleasence / Fear (S07E04)
Sketches include "Eddie's Preparation Techniques", "Profiles In British Courage", "Jogger Motel", "Two Faces of Jerry", "I'm So Miserable", "Pumpkin", "Guardian Angel", "Tales From The Hip", "The Clams", "Intermission", "Sugar Breakfast", "Andy Warhol's TV: Costumes", "Home Movie Critique", "The Vic Salukin Show" and "Prose and Cons". Fear performs "I Don't Care About You", "Beef Balogna", "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones" and "Let's Have A War". Juggler Michael Davis also appears.
Classic SNL Review: October 10, 1981: Susan Saint James / The Kinks (S07E02)
Sketches include "Exxico", "McDonald and Wife", "Buh-Weet Sings", "The Bizarro World", "Blowing Up A Building", "Lifeboat", "She's A Pig", "Let's See What's Bothering Bob", "Single Women", "Honeymoon", "Cheap Laffs" "Andy Warhol's TV", "Alan Alda's Sensitivity Training For Men" and "Assassination Aftermath". The Kinks perform "Destroyer" and "Art Lover".
Classic SNL Review: Oct 3, 1981: (no host) / Rod Stewart (S07E01)
Sketches include "NBC", "The Little Richard Simmons Show", "The Clams", "Naughty Nuns on the Beach", "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney", "Prose and Cons", "Strangers in the Night", "Strangers in the Funeral Parlor", "Andy Warhol's TV", and "Season of Glass". Rod Stewart performs "She Won't Dance With Me", "Hot Legs" (with Tina Turner), and "Young Turks". Juggler Michael Davis also appears.
Barney Miller
I first got into Barney Miller in my first year of university, when a Canadian cable channel was running the show five times a week.I had no idea they were running it but I flipped onto one of the weaker early episodes once. Eventually I ended up catching better episodes, and after finding more about the show starting watching regularly when they were running season 3.Unfortunately the channel didn't keep with the reruns long enough to get through the entire series run, but by the time they dropped the show in the middle of season 7, this sitcom about the mundane work of plainclothes detectives in Greenwich Village cemented itself on my all-time favorites list.