I was hoping to keep up a two-post-a-week schedule for a little while, but I’ve been feeling a little burnt out from the extra work this project takes and need a break from the whole process for the rest of the month.
Read MoreIn four seasons, executive producer Dick Ebersol had brought Saturday Night Live back from the cancellation, had the hottest comedian in America in the cast, and oversaw its transition from a live incubator of new comic talent to an increasingly prerecorded showcase for established comedians. By 1985, though, Ebersol found himself tired of the show’s grueling schedule, and, after toying with staying with a mostly-prerecorded version of the show that wouldn’t premiere until the next January, decided to step away. Brandon Tartikoff, president of NBC Entertainment, had to consider his options, and fast.
Read MoreI started this review project back in the summer of 2010; at the time, SNL message board regular Stooge was posting reviews of the early 90s shows with screen captures of sketches and occasional tidbits about which scenes were altered in repeats with dress rehearsal footage. I figured I may as well do my own set of reviews for a more obscure part of the show’s history.
Read MoreDick Ebersol’s “Steinbrenner season” gambit, where he loaded the SNL cast with established comedy writer-performers, paid off for the most part. Compared to the preceding seasons, the show was more consistently funny, and even the weakest show of the year wasn’t truly bad. The professionalism that the ringers brought to the show and increased use of prerecorded material gave this year an increased slickness; in a way, this may have given the show a bit more of a blandness than in previous seasons, but only insofar that the risk of failure wasn’t as big a factor as it had been before. Indeed, there were a number of enduring classics that came out of this season, and even though the big stars dominated every week, the returning cast and writers contributed some of their best work.
Read MoreEach week, I will be posting a list of 25 sketches from each 5 year block of the show's history (five sketches per season), a description of the sketch, and what about it that's worth checking out.
Click on the links to read my earlier posts in this series: Part one: 1975-80, Part two: 1980-85, Part three: 1985-90, Part four: 1990-95, Part five: 1995-2000.
Read MoreA compilation of highlights from the 1984-85 season, including “I Am Also The World”, “Rescue Mission”, “Black History Minute”, “Jackie Rogers Jr.’s $100,000 Jackpot Wad”, “60 Minutes”, “Saturday Night News: Eddie Murphy on dolls”, “Wheel of Fortune Interview”, “Superman Auditions”, “Fernando’s Hideaway”, “The Question is Moot!”, “Do You Know What I Hate? (II)” and “Houses of Shame.
Read MoreSketches include “Do You Know What I Hate? (VI)”, “Hospital”, “Inside Out”, “Run, Throw & Catch Like A Girl Olympics”, “Bar Mitzvah”, “Sports Beat”, “Fernando’s Hideaway”, “Red Guys Rap” and “Good Sex with Dr. Ruth Westheimer”. Greg Kihn performs “Boys Won’t (Leave The Girls Alone)” and “Lucky”.
Read MoreEach week, I will be posting a list of 25 sketches from each 5 year block of the show's history (five sketches per season), a description of the sketch, and what about it that's worth checking out.
Read MoreSketches include “A.D. 13: Part V: A New Beginning”, “Superman Auditions”, “Jackie Rogers Jr’s $100,000 Jackpot Wad”, “Escaping the Germans”, “Palisades Nursing Home” and “Talk Back”. Santana performs “Say It Again” and “Right Now”. Steven Wright also performs.
Read MoreEach week, I will be posting a list of 25 sketches from each 5 year block of the show's history (five sketches per season), a description of the sketch, and what about it that's worth checking out.
Read MoreSketches include “I Am Also The World”, “Toxic Waste”, “Camp Crystal Lake”, “Fernando’s Hideaway”, “Houses of Shame”, “Substitute Teacher”, “Ohio Savings & Loan”, “The Joe Franklin Show”, “Trash Talk” and “Affair”. The Commodores perform “Nightshift” and “Animal Instinct”. Comedian Steve Landesberg also performs.
Read MoreEach week, I will be posting a list of 25 sketches from each 5 year block of the show's history (five sketches per season), a description of the sketch, and what about it that's worth checking out.
Read MoreBilly Crystal hosts a selection of SNL’s filmed segments from the past few seasons; Siskel & Ebert are on hand to give their reviews. Films include “Synchronized Swimming”, “Kannon AE-1”, “Walking After Midnight”, “Buddweiser Light”, “Lifestyles of the Relatives of the Rich & Famous”, “Needleman”, “Prose and Cons”, “Hitchhiker”, “Video Victims”, “Ballplayers” and “White Like Eddie”.
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 “Congress”, “The Kate & Ali Valentine’s Day Special”, “American Profiles”, “While You Were Gone” “Ronald Reagan Jeans”, “Oscar Talk”, “Salem Witch Trials”, “Hats” and “Small Time Agency”. Bryan Adams performs “Somebody” and “Run To You”.
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 MoreEach week, I will be posting a list of 25 sketches from each 5 year block of the show's history (five sketches per season), a description of the sketch, and what about it that's worth checking out.
Sketches include “Inauguration”, “Super Sunday”, “Scalper”, “In Praise of Women”, “The Flaming Parrot”, “Good Cop, Bad Cop” and “Mental Hospital. Billy Ocean performs “Caribbean Queen” and “Loverboy”. Steven Wright also performs.
Read MoreEach week, I will be posting a list of 25 sketches from each 5 year block of the show's history (five sketches per season), a description of the sketch, and what about it that's worth checking out.
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 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.