Classic SNL Review: November 15, 1986: Sam Kinison / Lou Reed (S12E04)

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RATINGS SYSTEM:
***** - Classic
**** - Great
*** - Good/Average
** - Meh
* - Awful

OPENING: CHURCH CHAT

  • The Church Lady (Dana Carvey) protests SNL inviting Sam Kinison to host after his last appearance and urges viewers not to watch tonight’s show before going backstage to confront him.

  • Showing just how quickly the Church Lady took off, this is the third appearance of the character in four shows, and right away it gets some entrance applause (as well as cheers for “Isn’t that special?”), and the crowd expresses disappointment when she says she won’t be in tonight’s show.

  • I wonder if Ants (also known as It Happened at Lakewood Manor) really was playing on channel 7 (WABC) that night.

  • When Carvey leaves the Church Chat set, you can see it’s on home base, and that there is a ramp attached to the side of the stage (for the big reveal at the end of the monologue).

  • Backstage scenes are usually fun too, especially if there are visible show personnel on camera. You can see Nora Dunn having a chat with Andy Breckman and Robert Smigel in the background.

  • I thought the reveal of the Church Lady being a fan of Seka’s films was funny; Kinison’s “touch from God” worked as a closer and a good segue to the LFNY.

*** 1/2

MONTAGE

  • For the first time, Don Pardo announces G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band (for the first three shows this season, Pardo introduced the collective band without singling out Smith). Buster Poindexter is also mentioned during the montage but his number was cut after dress.

MONOLOGUE

  • Sam Kinison plays guitar with the SNL Band and says he came back because the show gave him free reign to do what he wants tonight.

  • The beginning with Kinison jamming on guitar with the SNL Band is a lot of fun, especially once they segue into a more gospel-sounding number. The rest of the monologue seemed to be a slight recap of his May appearance (“WHERE’S THE BABY’S ROOM?” “BETTER YOU THAN US, RUSSKIES!”), until the big final joke with the policemen on horseback riding onto the stage.

  • Barry Rogers and Chris Parker fill in for Steve Turre and Steve Ferrone, respectively.

*** 1/2

COMMERCIAL: ADOBE

  • The Mexican import made out of clay is the first car to break the $200 barrier.

  • One of the great commercial parodies from this era, packed with quite a few memorable sight gags and one of Phil Hartman’s spot-on pitchman roles. Very well executed too, including the catchy jingle, the clay-stained tennis outfits, and the long list of states where the car isn’t street-legal.

  • Written by George Meyer

****

SKETCH: PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE

  • Kindergarten teacher Mr. Best (Sam Kinison) tells Mr. and Mrs. Giebler (Kevin Nealon and Jan Hooks) that their daughter is stupid.

  • Probably the best use of Kinison in a sketch tonight, in a premise that felt tailor-made for him (his entrance alone gets a big laugh). Hooks and Nealon are also very good in the straight roles (their wordless reaction when Kinison first says their daughter is stupid is priceless).

  • The ending felt a little like a cop-out, but I liked the cartoonish “G-G-GUH-AAAAAHH!” before Kinison jumps out the window.

  • Written by Andy Breckman

****

SKETCH: JUNGLE ROOM

  • Detective Chick Hazard (Phil Hartman) pays a visit to gangster Eddie Spimozo’s (Jon Lovitz) nightclub.

  • Not a lot of hard laughs in this one, but the performances, particularly those of Lovitz and Hartman, make this quite entertaining. I also liked the escalation of the joke where Kevin Nealon’s dumb bartender character is told to shut up.

  • The use of the SNL Band members plus Marc Shaiman playing live really adds a lot to this sketch, as well as the visible cigarette smoke that occasionally comes into frame during Lovitz’s solo number.

****

COMMERCIAL: THESE THINGS

  • This portion of SNL is brought to you by the plastic tabs that keep bread fresher than those twisty deals.

  • Not rateable, but it’s worth noting that the show had an aborted attempt at an outro joke similar to the audience captions and “coming up next” promos of the early seasons. This is the only time one airs in a live show.

SKETCH: PET CHICKEN SHOP

  • Ching Chang (Dana Carvey) is too attached to the chickens in his shop to sell one to a customer (Jon Lovitz) as a pet.

  • This is the infamous “chicken make lousy housepet” character. There were a few lines here and there that were funny, but the whole premise of Carvey playing a stereotypically Chinese man speaking in broken English (with a name that would be slightly altered to “Ching Change” in later appearances) makes this hard to stomach, especially now, even if the character is somewhat sympathetic and pitiable.

  • This character apparently got complaints even then; I wonder how much outrage this would spark today.

  • Written by Dana Carvey and Robert Smigel.

*1/2

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “I LOVE YOU, SUZANNE”

  • Lou Reed and his band (Fernando Saunders, “Woody” Smallwood, Rick Bell, and J.T. Lewis) do a spirited version of the lead single from Reed’s previous album New Sensations, which came out two years before. The song is very simple, but there are some nice solos, including some rollicking sax from Bell.

  • The stage has been altered since the last episode three weeks before; instead of the sliding security door, a brick wall with windows now separates the front and the ballroom.

  • There are some fun camera dollies in and out during the song.

  • J.T. Lewis previously appeared on SNL two years before as a member of Herbie Hancock’s Rockit Band.

  • At the end of this and the other performance, audience members can be bellowing “Looooouuu!”

WEEKEND UPDATE

  • Best jokes: Ronnie’s Swap Shop, C. Everett Koop, Merrill Lynch, Owling, Junior Achiever.

  • Music: “Wild Wild West” theme song.

  • Right at the start of this week’s Update, Dennis Miller says “Never let ‘em see you sweat” (which was the tagline to commercials for Dry Idea anti-perspirant at the time) to huge cheers and applause from the audience. The story is that the Weekend Update set was barely assembled in time before the segment started; the longer-than-usual shot of the rotating Statue of Liberty at the beginning and the hands on the WU set clock spinning fast and backwards support this information.

  • We are now officially in the Iran-Contra days. and there are several jokes about the hostages-for-arms deal tonight. Quite a few photo jokes this week: some work (Koop), some don’t. I enjoyed the deliberately bad pun after the Owling story as well.

  • Victoria Jackson returns with a report on terrorism that features her and daughter Scarlet playing in Central Park while “investigating”. This pretty much covers similar territory as Jackson’s bit in the premiere, though there is some additional humor from Jackson breaking into laughter during her narration and Miller playfully making fun of her afterwards.

*** 1/2

SHOW: LOVE CONNECTION

  • Sam Kinison’s date with Dr. Norma Hoeffering (Nora Dunn) and her partner Zena was not the hot time he was expecting.

  • This wasn’t bad writing-wise, and some of Kinison’s lines and reactions were pretty funny, but a little of his screaming goes a long way here; unlike the Parent-Teacher Conference sketch, this leans a little too hard on it.

  • Jan Hooks’ Marge Keister character from the premiere makes another appearance: they haven’t quite finalized the details about her character yet, as this time she is a widowed claims adjuster whose later husband was name Carl.

  • Who’s playing Dr. Hoeffering’s partner Zena in this sketch?

  • There’s an occasional echo on the audio whenever Kinison or Kevin Nealon says a line while the video is switched to the side stage where the women sit.

***

SKETCH: LEAPING LORD

  • Sketch artist (Jon Lovitz) uses reverse psychology on hyperactive Lord Christie (Dana Carvey), who shoots artists who fail to draw him as he dances.

  • The audience wasn’t really into this, but this is an interesting one-off from the era. Carvey’s cartoonish performance makes this fun.

  • Was Cheryl Hardwick playing the harpsichord live for the background music?

***

SKETCH: KRYPTON SURVIVES

  • Jor-El (Sam Kinison) and Laura (Nora Dunn) send baby Kal-El to Earth, but Krypton doesn’t blow up as expected.

  • An okay premise, but unfortunately the whole sketch drags; the biggest laughs I got out of it were the bloopers with the spaceship (which doesn’t close properly before being lifted out of the scene), the phone (“I answered the phone, will you stop ringing it?”) and Dennis Miller’s running in cheering “The earthquake’s over!”, which is so at odds with his persona.

  • I did also like the use of the side stage beside home base, complete with the “Now Appearing” sign with Kinison’s picture.

  • During the band shot at the end, you can see Barry Rogers looking at something offstage.

**

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE: “THE ORIGINAL WRAPPER”

  • The first single from Reed’s current album Mistrial, I find this superior to the album version. This has some really nice fretless bass work from Saunders, as well as solos from Reed and Bell. [Addendum: reader The Garofaholic informs me that “The Original Wrapper” was the third single from Mistrial; “Video Violence” and “No Money Down” were released before.]

MISCELLANEOUS: STAND-UP

  • Sam Kinison does stand-up about how he chooses the wrong women and how to keep them happy.

  • This was pretty good; it’s a bit lower-key than some of his other stand-up routines he did on the show.

***

GOODNIGHTS

  • Kinison apologies to Buster Poindexter because the show ran long and tells the women in his life they did the right thing by leaving before plugging a gig in Houston. Dennis Miller seems to really be enjoying Kinison here. Jan Hooks and Nora Dunn come to home base late. The band plays the intro to the closing theme a while.

  • Don Pardo promotes next week’s show with Robin Williams and Paul Simon, promising it will be a great show “unlike this one, which I have mixed feelings about! But I loooove Seka…”

  • Eddie Gorodetsky joins the writing staff beginning with this episode.

  • You can see an audience member standing up and putting their jacket on during the final balcony shot.

Final thoughts: A good episode, but with a few weak parts, namely the hard-to-watch Pet Chicken Shop and the plodding Krypton Survives sketch. This is more the cast’s show: despite trading on his infamous appearance the month before, Kinison mostly stuck in his lane tonight, but his best sketch appearance successfully found a way to incorporate his persona into a role.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Adobe

  • The Jungle Room

  • Parent-Teacher Conference

  • Church Chat

  • Weekend Update

  • Monologue

SHOW LOWLIGHTS:

  • Pet Chicken Shop

  • Krypton Survives

MVP:

  • (tie) Phil Hartman / Jon Lovitz

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:

cast

  • Dana Carvey: 5 appearances [Church Chat, Parent-Teacher Conference, Pet Chicken Shop, Leaping Lord, Krypton Survives]

  • Nora Dunn: 5 appearances [Church Chat, Adobe, Parent-Teacher Conference, Love Connection, Krypton Survives]

  • Phil Hartman: 4 appearances [Adobe, Jungle Room, Leaping Lord, Krypton Survives]; 1 voiceover [Church Chat]

  • Jan Hooks: 3 appearances [Parent-Teacher Conference, Jungle Room, Love Connection]

  • Victoria Jackson: 4 appearances [Adobe, Weekend Update, Love Connection, Krypton Survives]

  • Jon Lovitz: 3 appearances [Jungle Room, Pet Chicken Shop, Leaping Lord]

  • Dennis Miller: 3 appearances [Weekend Update, Leaping Lord, Krypton Survives]

featured players

  • A. Whitney Brown: 1 appearance [Krypton Survives]

  • Kevin Nealon: 6 appearances [Adobe, Parent-Teacher Conference, Jungle Room, Love Connection, Leaping Lord, Krypton Survives]

unbilled crew, extras, and bit players

  • Andy Breckman: 1 appearance [Church Chat]

  • Don Pardo: 2 voiceovers [These Things, Love Connection]

  • Marc Shaiman: 1 appearance [Jungle Room]

  • Robert Smigel: 1 appearance [Church Chat]

G.E. Smith and the Saturday Night Live Band

  • Chris Parker: 1 appearance [Jungle Room]

  • The Saturday Night Live Band (collective): 1 appearance [Monologue]

  • G.E. Smith: 1 appearance [Jungle Room]

  • T-Bone Wolk: 1 appearance [Jungle Room]

guests

  • Sam Kinison: 6 appearances [Church Chat, Monologue, Parent-Teacher Conference, Love Connection, Krypton Survives, Stand-Up]

  • Lou Reed: 2 appearances [“I Love You, Suzanne”, “The Original Wrapper”]

  • Seka: 1 appearance [Church Chat]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:

  • Not rebroadcast on NBC (not counting a 2006 NBC All Night rebroadcast)

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.