Sketches include "Lorne Greene: The Meat Dogs Love", "Come On Out America", "The New Celibacy", "20/20", "The Khaddaffi Look", "Poets", "Fab Fifties", "The Uncle Tom Show", "Meet The People" and "Blythe's Plea". Rickie Lee Jones performs "Pirates (So Long Lonely Avenue)", "Lush Life", and "Woody & Dutch On The Slow Train To Peking". Juggler Michael Davis also appears.
Read MoreSketches include "Backstage", "Buh-Weet and De Dupreems", "Reach Out and Touch Someone", "Paul Harvey News & Comment", "Focus On Film", "Buy A Bullet For A Hungry Kid", "Hail To The Chief", "Fur: You Deserve It!", "Golden Age School of Obedience", "The Embryo", "Headline Challenge", "Low Class Italian Theatre" and "The Thing That Destroyed Tokyo". Mink DeVille performs "Maybe Tomorrow" and "Love & Emotion". Brian Doyle-Murray pays tribute to John Belushi.
Read MoreMy SNL reviews will begin again this week, and I will try to get Robert Urich, Blythe Danner and Daniel J. Travanti done as quickly as possible to make up for lost time. I'll give a few teasers for each:
I've been watching the new shows on the weekends, of course. I see a good amount of promise from the new castmembers, but the show still has a lot of the problems of last year. It's too early to write off the whole season, though, and they have been getting some good hosts (Jane Lynch was the best of the three), but I still see a lot of lame one-joke premises, unwelcome rehashes of previous sketches, lazy writing, and over-reliance on gross-out humor and using homosexuality as the joke. (Tangent: I know there've definitely been a few out SNL writers over the years, but it seems odd they've gone 25 years without an out gay cast member. I don't advocate they hire someone just because they're gay, and I recognize the trap of pigeonholing, but perhaps it is time again.) There's at least one good sketch per show, though, and even that Bjelland Brothers sketch from Bryan Cranston's show was so bad it was actually pretty funny.
I have to wonder what's dictating the direction the show's been going in the last year or so, though. I want to be reminded why I liked Kristen Wiig instead of gnashing my teeth every time I see her on screen, and I want to not predict how the sketch is going to go in the first 15 seconds. I doubt any of the SNL writers or cast will see this (they had to learn early on that us nerds on the Internet are nasty and don't like anything), and they're not writing or booking for my own personal "elitist fuck" tastes, but I really would like to know if the stronger material's just not playing with the right people or if, God forbid, this truly is the best they're capable of now.
I realize my blog's becoming nothing but SNL reviews and commentary so I'll just mention I've been watching Dollhouse season one on DVD. Good show: it did take a few episode to find its bearings but I've finished through "Omega", and look forward to "Epitaph One" and the second season when it comes out this week. Kind of a shame it didn't last but oh well, at least FOX didn't make Whedon retool it into Gleehouse or something like that.
Sorry I haven't posted the next review yet; I'm in the middle of packing and preparing for a move this weekend and the reviews are not a priority right now (and truth be told should be less a priority than the job hunt). I do prepare on finishing out the 1981-82 season as soon as possible though but there will be a delay before I post the review of the Robert Urich / Mink DeVille episode.
Sketches include: "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather", "Big Damn Plastic Bubble", "Speaking As A Woman", "The Party", "Hostage Audition", "Papal Tour" and "Lowembrau". Daryl Hall & John Oates perform "You Make My Dreams", "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)", and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Comedian Harry Anderson appears, Joseph Papp also cameos.
Read MoreSketches include "Backstage", "Ski Trip", "Who Do You Hate?", "Focus On Film", "The Bizarro World", "Songwriters", "The Mild One", "Fracas", "The Flight" and "Melina's Cafe". Luther Vandross performs "Never Too Much" and "A House Is Not A Home"
Read MoreSketches include: "The President's 71st Birthday", "Reach Out and Touch Someone", "I Married A Monkey", "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood", "Jesus In Blue Jeans", "Crazy Mary, Gay Jim", "Victims", "Magnificent Analyst", "The Khaddaffi Look", "Unique Perspectives" and "Those Crazy Taboosters". Lindsey Buckingham and The Cholos (an early version of Mick Fleetwood's Zoo) perform "Bwana" and "Trouble". Christine Ebersole performs "Don't Let It Show". Marc Weiner also appears.
Read MoreSketches include: "Loser's Locker Room", "The Johnny Carson School of Acting", "Jogger Motel", "Betty Beer", "Poetry Corner", "The Lou Grant Show", "Next Week", "SNL Newsbreak", "The Uncle Tom Show", "Madden Story", "Mafia Name Giver", "From Super Bowl to Saturday Night Live", "Old Friends". Jennifer Holliday performs "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" and "One Night Only". Comedian Andy Kaufman also appears.
Read MoreSketches include "The People's Court", "In The News", "Wild Wild Wild West", "Babies In Makeup", "Overexposure", "Battle Of The Week", "A Few Moments With Andy Rooney", "Nixon Vs. FDR", and "Sister". The Allman Brothers Band perform "Midnight Rider", "Southbound", and "Leavin'".
Read MoreSketches include: "The Phone Company", "Tales Of The Unlikely", "No Tomorrow", "MX-5 Tampons", "SNL Newsbreak", "Fairytale", "Sarducci's Predictions", "At Home With The Psychos", and "Supply Side Christmas". The Spinners perform a medley of "Then Came You", "I'll Be Around", "Working My Way Back To You". The Yale Whiffenpoofs of 1982 perform a medley of "The Whiffenpoof Song", "Boar's Head Carol", "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman", "Jingle Bells". Father Guido Sarducci (Don Novello) and Juggler Michael Davis make guest appearances.
Read MoreSketches include: "Texxon", "Mick!", "Poppa I Love You", "The Trouble With Fred", "Father and Son", "SNL Newsbreak", "Tim and Meat's One Stop Rocky Horror Shop" "The Zucchini Song" and "A CBS Special Report: If Reagan Had Survive The Assassination". Meat Loaf and The Neverland Express perform "Promised Land" and "Bat Out Of Hell". Frank Nelson cameos.
Read MoreSketches 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 MoreSketches include "Exxico", "Here's Cos", "Dressing Room", "Hail To The Chief", "Transeastern Airlines", "Whisper", "The Khaddaffi Look", "Cheap Laffs: Macho Wipe", "Harlequin Romance Novels For Men", "Reach Out", "Velvet Jones School Of Technology", "Reality '81", "Blowing Up A Building", Bitter People" and "Art Is Ficial". Rick James & The Stone City Band perform "Give It To Me Baby" and "Super Freak". William S. Burroughs also appears.
Read MoreSketches 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.
Read MoreSketches include "Control Room '81", "Mister Robinson's Neighborhood","53 At Studio 54", "A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney", "Velvet Jones School of Technology", "Mr. Bill in L.A.", "Spray On Laetril", "La Cage Aux Folles '81", "Up And At 'Em", "Rubik's Teeth", "An Editorial Reply", "Jake The Hired Hand", and "Tuna Melts and Typing". Miles Davis performs "Jean Pierre'. Harry Anderson also appears.
Read MoreSketches 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".
Read MoreSketches 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.
Read MoreThe 1981-82 season, while not considered a great year for the show, is SNL's most unique season.
Read MoreThis is my last part in my series of posts about the 2009-2010 season of SNL.If I blog about SNL any more during the summer hiatus I'm going to focus on earlier seasons and episodes.I plan on doing reviews of an earlier season during the summer, but I wanted to give some final thoughts on the castmembers and the shows this year.I've said before that the writing was the big problem on the show, but I wanted to get in depth on the individual castmembers' performances this year.I also wanted to highlight a few of the standout moments of this year, both good and bad.
Read MoreI 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.
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.
“The Cisco Kid” sketches include “Message From Prickley: The Cisco Kid”, “Marlon Perkins’ Wildlife Dinner Restaurant”, “Promo: Neil Jung, Psychiatrist”, “Promo: The Love Boat”, “Kanadian Korner” and “The Cisco Kid”.
“The Best of SCTV” sketches include “Message From Guy: Satellite”, “Sunrise Semester: Do-It-Yourself Advertising”, “Promo: The Merv Griffin Show”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Promo: Taxi Driver”, “The Dick Cavett Show”, “Promo: Elvis ‘N Costello”, “K-Tel’s Fast-Talking Playhouse”, “Promo: White Man, Black Girl”, “Promo: My Fair Lady”, “Promo: My Life, One More Time”, “Mamorex Video Tape” and “Signoff: The National Anthem”.
“Mel’s Rock Pile - MacArthur Park” sketches include “Sunrise Semester: Greek Travel”, “Message From Prickley: Mel’s Rock Pile”, “Promo: Jackie Stewart’s Wide World of High Voices”, “Exercise Is Easy”, “Kanadian Korner” and “Mel’s Rock Pile”.
“Dick Cavett” sketches include “Cooking With Marcello”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Promo: Fish ‘N Chips”, “Logos Galore”, “Monster Chiller Horror Theatre” and “The Dick Cavett Show”.
“The Mating Game” sketches include “Promo: Starting Out with Bill Needle”, “Eskimo Arts”, “Message From Prickley: The Mating Game”, “Kanadian Korner”, “Promo: Taxi Driver”, “SCTV News” and “The Mating Game”.
“Gene Shalit’s America” sketches include “Sunrise Semester: Societal Behavior”, “American Express”, “SCTV Special News Report”, “Kanadian Korner”, “SCTV News”, “Comment with David Brinkley”, “Gene Shalit’s America” and “Dialing For Dollars”.
“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”.
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.