SNL Review: Season 1, Ep. 1
I've been a huge SNL fan ever since I was a kid. I've been wanting to watch every single episode starting from the very first one. Another blog has already done this ("One SNL A Day"), but they haven't reviewed the more recent seasons. Also, a lot of their 4-5 star sketches weren't that great to me and I liked a lot of the sketches they didn't like.
I decided to do my own "SNL a Day" review. Instead of some long, drawn out intro about how long I've watched the show or how annoying it is when people whine about how it isn't funny anymore, I'm going to just get right into the review.
So we start off with the very first episode, baby, the one that started it all. We go back to October 11, 1975. Comedian George Carlin is the host. Already, this looks promising.
The intro doesn't show the cast members and Don Pardo doesn't announce their names. Instead, their names and the names of all the guests are shown as opening credits.
Cold Open- We have the late John Belushi and writer Michael O'Donoghue sitting at what looks like some kind of therapy session. O'Donoghue's character is trying to teach Belushi, who is playing a foreigner, different phrases. Belushi repeats them in a funny accent. Finally, O'Donoghue has a heart attack and falls to the floor. Belushi, thinking it is still part of the lesson, falls over as well.
I thought this was a pretty funny cold open. It's nice to see a non-political cold open for a change. Belushi's accent and falling over added a lot to the sketch. Perfect comedic timing.
4 out of 5 stars
George Carlin Stand-Up Routine- Instead of having a monologue, George Carlin performs stand- up at different segments of the show. The jokes are funny for the most part. Carlin is one of my favorite comedians, so I enjoyed the stand-up routines. His bit on religion definitely got laughs out of me.
5 out of 5 stars
Andy Kaufman Bit- I always thought Andy Kaufman was a cast member of SNL, but he's not. He did appear in some of the early episodes though. He's not in any sketches, but he does his Mighty Mouse bit he's well known for. He plays a record of the Mighty Mouse theme song and lip syncs only the line "Here he comes to save the day!". He appears nervous and comically sips some water as he's getting ready to lip sync that same line. It's absurd and I LOVE it! Just like the George Carlin stand-up, I enjoyed this. I'm a huge fan of absurd humor.
5 out of 5 stars
The Muppets "Land of Gorch" Segment- In the early episodes of SNL, there were some Muppet segments called "The Land of Gorch". Unlike the more family friendly Muppets we're all used to, these shorts had dark humor and adult themes. Honestly, I didn't care for this segment. The jokes were lame. The family friendly stuff is funnier in my opinion. The puppetry was good, but the jokes were just meh. I see why the cast and writers hated these Muppet sketches.
1 out of 5 stars
Courtroom sketch- This sketch involved a woman played by Jane Curtain who is being questioned about some inappropriate things said to her. She's reluctant to repeat the comments, so she writes them on a piece of paper. The paper gets passed around and gets some shocked expressions from the jurors. Finally, the paper gets to John Belushi and Gilda Radner and their expressions aren't shocked, but more like "Yeaaaaaah!". The sketch was meh, but it was Belushi and Radner that made it funny at the end.
3 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find a picture of the sketch, so here's a photo of Jane Curtain.
Billy Preston and Janis Ian Performances- This episode had two musical guests instead of one like they normally do. Billy Preston performed "Nothing From Nothing" and "Fancy Lady" and Janis Ian performed "At Seventeen" and "In the Winter". I enjoyed the musical performances. I like both artists. "At Seventeen" always hit close to home for me because I struggled with self-esteem and had a hard time in high school.
5 out of 5 stars
Billy Preston
Valri Bromfield Stand Up- I had never heard of Valri Bromfield and judging from her bit on this episode, I wasn't missing anything. Sure, she had energy and seemed confident, but I didn't get her shtick. It's like she was going for an eccentric teacher type character. I'm not one of those people who thinks women can't be funny, but I wasn't impressed by this comedienne.
1 out of 5 stars
Killer Bees Hospital Sketch- The Killer Bees were recurring characters throughout the 70's. In this sketch, a group of male bees are waiting for their babies to be born (or hatched?). Some have drones, others workers, and one has a queen. It's not all that funny.
1 out of 5 stars
Albert Brooks's Short Film "The Impossible Truth"- I don't remember this short film much because it didn't interest me. It wasn't funny and went on for too long. These segments were what made it hard for me to love the 70s era of SNL. I liked the stuff that focused on the main cast and not the extra stuff.
1 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find a screen cap of the film, so here's a photo of Albert Brooks.
Trojan Horse Home Security Sketch- John Belushi and Gilda Radner play a married couple who's sitting on the couch when a salesman played by Dan Aykroyd and his assistant played by Garrett Morris break into their house. The salesman pitches the Trojan Horse Home Security system to the couple. They're reluctant and put off by the aggressiveness of the salesman. It isn't until the salesman fires blanks at the husband that they decide to purchase the home security system. I absolutely LOVED this sketch. Hands down, this was the best sketch of the whole show. I feel like the cast member's talents were really put on display here, especially Dan Aykroyd. I know I'm a simp for Aykroyd, but he was the highlight. I always thought he had a good salesman voice and he took advantage of that here. Eccentric salesmen would be something he'd excel at in other sketches, particularly the Bass-o-Matic sketch.
5 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find any pictures of the sketch, so here's a photo of Dan Aykroyd (*simping intensifies*)
Academy of Better Careers Sketch- This sketch is a parody of late night ads that try to get people to get jobs in telemarketing. I didn't care for this one too much even though I got the joke.
2 out of 5 stars
Triple-Trac Commercial Sketch- Basically an ad for a three blade razor. I guess those were unheard of at the time. I didn't find it very funny. Mad TV did a funnier fake razor commercial.
1 out of 5 stars
Jamitol Sketch- Another fake ad sketch. This time, we have Chevy Chase and Michael O'Donaghue talking about Jamitol and how they take it everyday. It doesn't say what exactly Jamitol does. Chevy Chase talks about how much he loves his wife and how wonderful she is. The joke is that Michael O'Donaghue is supposed to be his wife. This was not funny and has aged like milk. I'm not offended by this sketch, but I found it to be stupid, even for that time period.
1 out of 5 stars
New Dad Sketch- Another fake ad. These must've been pretty popular back then. This one is basically about replacing your father with another man. This one was like the above two, not very good.
1 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find any pictures from the sketch so here's a photo of writer Rosie Shuster and Dan Aykroyd.
Victims of Shark Bite Sketch- For this sketch, we have an interviewer played by Jane Curtin interviewing a man played by John Belushi who claims he was bitten by a shark. The interviewer isn't convinced at all despite the many exaggerated attempts by the man to prove he was bitten. This was a silly sketch, but Belushi was funny and Curtin's no-nonsense approach to his eccentricity was gold.
3 out of 5 stars
Triopenin Sketch- Another fake ad. This one is for a medication for arthritis called "Triopenin". The joke is that the bottle is so hard to open, you're cured of your arthiritis. This one was better than the Jamitol sketch.
2 out of 5 stars
Show Us Your Guns Short- This wasn't really a sketch, but more of a short. We see lots of people, including grannies and housewives holding up guns. We see a robber running out of a store holding a gun and the storeowner chasing him while also holding a gun. This was a pretty good short with some dark humor. I feel like this would still be relevant if it were featured on a modern episode. Gun control has always been a hot-button issue, especially now.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Weekend Update- Chevy Chase was the very first WU host. I'm not a fan of Chase honestly, but it's hard to totally diss him here. He does bring some smug charm as host. He talks about current events and Laraine Newman plays a reporter. It's okay, nothing overly memorable.
3 out of 5 stars
So what did I think of the episode?
Overall, this wasn't a bad episode considering it was the very first one. Sure, there were some duds like the fake ads, the Bee Hospital sketch, and Valri Bromfield's stand up routine. However, there were some truly funny sketches and moments like the cold open, the home security sketch, and George Carlin's stand-up. We can see that the cast has some real potential, especially with John Belushi, Gilda Radner, and Dan Aykroyd.
Stay tuned for Season 1 Episode 2.....