SNL Review: Season 1, Episode 3
Alright, we're diving in to Episode 3 of Saturday Night Live! This time, the host is ol' Meathead himself, Rob Reiner.
Cold Open- We see Chevy Chase in a wheelchair who regains his ability to walk, but falls as he soon as he gets out of his wheelchair. Chase falling is another running gag during his time at SNL. I'm not a fan of him or running gags that aren't funny. The sketch where Keenan Thompson keeps falling out of the wheelchair is way funnier in my opinion.
1 out of 5 stars
Rob Reiner Monologue- Rob Reiner comes out wearing a black wig looking like Engelbart Humperdinck and starts telling the audience they're beautiful and sings Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In the Wind". There's a funny moment where Rob points to an audience member and introduces him as Irving Berlin. The camera pans to the guy and the caption says "This is not Irving Berlin but Mr. Reiner Doesn't Know It". At the end of the monologue, Rob pulls the wig off and is just himself. Not a bad monologue.
3.5 out of 5 stars
National Pancreas Association Sketch- Gilda Radner and John Belushi play a married couple, similar to the one in the Trojan Horse sketch from the first episode. The husband has issues with his pancreas so he goes to see a doctor played by Dan Aykroyd. This sketch wasn't near as funny as the Trojan Horse one. Dan was cute as the doctor telling knock knock jokes and he and Belushi are a legendary duo. However, this sketch was just okay and that's it.
3 out of 5 stars
Fashion Don'ts Sketch- Rob Reiner and his then-wife Penny Marshall host a fashion "don'ts" show. The cast members come out wearing ridiculous outfits. Garrett Morris is stuck to a chair, John Belushi wears fake lobsters on his eyebrows, and Dan Aykroyd wears a tacky leisure suit. This sketch was corny, but had some funny visual gags.
3.5 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find a picture from the sketch, so here's a photo of the late Penny Marshall who was a guest star on this episode
Golden Needles Sketch- It's fake ad time! Here we have one for an acupuncture company called Golden Needles that specializes in voodoo. I don't know, it wasn't funny to me. Not a fan of these fake ads.
1 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find a picture of the sketch, but here's a picture from a much funnier SNL acupuncture sketch.
Andy Kaufman Bit- Comedian Andy Kaufman plays a record of "Pop Goes the Weasel" and lip syncs the whole song. He does some goofy motions as he's lip syncing. This was funny, but not as funny as his "Mighty Mouse" bit. I love absurd humor and this was way better than that Golden Needles fake ad.
4.5 out of 5 stars
Dangerous But Inept Sketch- Similar to the "Victims of Shark Bite" sketch, we have Jane Curtin playing an interviewer. This time, she interviews Manson Family member Squeaky Fromme (played by Laraine Newman). Fromme makes several attempts to shoot the interviewer while calling her names. Each attempt is unsuccessful. This one was kind of funny. Newman's failed attempts at shooting Curtin were funny and Curtin's nonchalant attitude was the best part.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Felina Cat Food Sketch- *groan* Another fake ad. This one's for cat food. A salesman in a supermarket asks a woman to sample some tuna. One sample is the cat food and the other actual tuna. This was so stupid and predictable. Even the most clueless person on Earth would know that the punchline would be the woman liking the cat food over the tuna. Even the woman's reaction to eating cat food was unenthused. This was dumber than the Golden Needles ad. Ugh.
1 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find a picture from the sketch so here's a bodega cat.
The Lockers's Performance- Instead of a musical performance, dance troupe The Lockers performs. They're fun to watch and entertaining. I read that "Mickey" singer Toni Basil was a member and sure enough, she was there.
4 out of 5 stars
Weekend Update- WU starts with the running gag of Chevy Chase talking on the phone. Laraine Newman plays a reporter reporting from the Blaine Hotel (another reoccurring theme for some reason). This is the first time WU does the "News For the Hard of Hearing" bit. Chase reports, but as he's reporting, Garrett Morris yells over him. This bit wouldn't fly today because some SJW on Twitter would cry about it. I honestly enjoy this. Like I've said many times, I'm not a Chevy Chase fan, but this is funny. Garrett Morris is severely underrated.
4.5 out of 5 stars
"With a Little Help From My Friends"- John Belushi does an exaggerated impression of British singer Joe Cocker. He performs one of Cocker's biggest hits "With a Little Help From My Friends". Belushi mimics Cocker's facial expressions and hand movements but dialed up to 10. This was funny as fuck and so entertaining! Hands down, best part of the episode. This shows just how well Belushi was at playing eccentric characters. This was gold, I tell you.
5 out of 5 stars
Droolers Sketch- Chevy Chase plays a guy with a drooling problem and this is more of a fake PSA than an ad. He's basically wanting people who drool to not be mocked. It was okay. I guess some would find Chase drooling on himself to be funny. It was meh to me.
2 out of 5 stars
Middle America Van Lines- Yes, it's a fake ad. A moving company that moves people and not furniture. I think only boomers would find that funny. Next.
1 out of 5 stars
Hoe Down Sketch- There's a square dance and the hoe-down caller (played by Dan Aykroyd) calls out rather strange instructions throughout the dance. Stuff like slapping your partner, ripping their top off, and finally shooting them dead. It was a corny sketch, but I appreciate the morbid humor. Also, Dan was electric as ever.
3.5 out of 5 stars
The Land of Gorch- Another meh Muppets segment. The one from Episode 2 was okay, but this one went back to being unfunny. I'm glad these segments were short-lived honestly.
1 out of 5 stars
Nuns Sketch- Future SNL cast member Denny Dillon and Mark Hampton play nuns that emcee. That's really it. It wasn't funny and it went on for too long. Dillon is likeable, but this doomed sketch is just a sign of things to come for her SNL career.
1 out of 5 stars
What Gilda Ate Segment- Gilda Radner talks about what all she ate that day. It's a lot and it's a lot of junk food. Gilda is lovely and was a truly funny cast member, but I found this bit to be quite dark and I'll tell you why. I read the tell-all SNL book "Live from New York" and I found out that Radner had suffered from bulimia, an eating disorder. Binging and purging, basically. I don't know if this was her way of making light of her eating disorder or if the writers were aware and just thought it would be funny to have a small framed woman talk about what all she ate. I know I'm being a Debbie Downer here, but it was just hard to laugh knowing Radner struggled with body image and bulimia. However, Radner's smile and enthusiasm was cute, despite the dark truth.
3 out of 5 stars (mainly because of Radner's sunniness, not on the subject matter)
Albert Brooks Film- I enjoyed the short film from the last episode but this one, not so much. In this one, Brooks tries performing surgery. It went on for way too long and wasn't all that funny to me.
2 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find a picture from the sketch so here's a photo of Albert Brooks
Killer Bees Sketch- The Bees, reoccurring characters, appear in the last sketch of the night. Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall are having and Rob tries to act out a dramatic scene. He's interrupted by the Bees and head bee John Belushi gives a heartfelt speech about the Bees not feeling important. There's some fourth-wall breaking, but it's done in a funny way. This was a decent sketch and a nice way to close the show.
3.5 out of 5 stars
NOTE: The fake Wrigley's gum ad was cut from this episode so I'm unable to rate it. I watch these on Peacock TV so some episodes have segments cut.
So what did I think of the episode? This was an okay episode. Rob Reiner was a pretty good host. He didn't play any characters and showed up in two sketches, but the times we did see him, he seemed to be having fun and let loose. The winners of the night were the Weekend Update and John Belushi's Joe Cocker impression. There were also some duds like the fake ads and the Land of Gorch bit.
Stay tuned for Season 1 Episode 4...