SNL Review: Season 1, Episode 4
This makes the first female-hosted episode of SNL. The beautiful and funny Candice Bergen is the host with Esther Phillips as musical guest. Let's dive right in!
Cold Open- Chevy Chase plays Gerald Ford, the current president at the time. Chase's Gerald Ford was very clumsy, based on a real incident where Ford fell down at Salzburg Airport in 1975. This was an okay cold open. They really ran with that one incident and made Ford look clumsy as fuck. Chase has him pouring water in the wrong glass and even trying to drink from an empty pitcher. The cold open ends with Chase's Ford falling over some chairs.
3 out of 5 stars
Candice Bergen Monologue- As Bergen does her monologue, she's interrupted by both Chevy Chase and John Belushi as one of the Bees. Chevy tries "swatting" the Bee away and eventually "kills" him. It's a cute monologue for a landmark episode. I say landmark because Bergen is the first female to host.
4 out of 5 stars
Ambassador Training Institute Sketch- Our first fake ad of the show. This one is for the fictional Ambassador Training Institute, where you can be an ambassador for the United States as easy as 1-2-3. I didn't care for it.
1 out of 5 stars
CIA Records Sketch- Garrett Morris plays himself and tries to get some records on him from a CIA employee played by Dan Aykroyd. The employee gets frustrated as he can't find Morris's records. This wasn't a bad sketch. Aykroyd and Morris were both funny. The sketch would've been weak had it been anyone else.
3.5 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find a picture from the sketch, so here's a photo of Garrett Morris.
Landshark (aka "Jaws II")- The very first appearance of the Landshark, a reoccurring character during the early seasons. The Landshark lures young women by pretending to sell flowers and Candygrams. I thought these Landshark sketches were going to be dumb, but this one was pretty funny. You have Belushi and Aykroyd who are the investigators and the end is funny. Laraine Newman bops Garrett Morris (playing a Jehovah's Witness) over the head, thinking he's the Landshark! It's silly but it's funny and I enjoyed it.
5 out of 5 stars
Weekend Update- Chevy Chase brings us the news and interviews Jane Curtin who plays an uptight politician. Chase mocks her as she's talking. Curtin as always plays her part nonchalantly and ignores the taunts. Ending WU, is Garrett Morris with "News For the Hard of Hearing". Curtin and Morris were the highlights.
4.5 out of 5 stars
Long Distance Sketch- Uhhh...this is a weird one. It's a fake ad but a fake ad for what I'm not sure. It's basically about a man who calls his mother and recalls when he used to wear her clothes and the joy it gave him. I feel like this was poking fun at gay men or possibly transgender women. This would not fly today for obvious reasons and isn't all that funny even for the time period. This one reminds me of the Jamitol sketch from an earlier episode.
1 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find a picture from the sketch nor anything relating to the sketch, so here's Goemon Ishikawa XIII trying to use a smartphone
Chanel Sketch- Candice Bergen plays actress Catherine Deneuve in this fake ad for Chanel perfume. Deneuve reflects on her career throughout the ad while having her face against a bottle of Chanel. At the end of the ad, Deneuve lifts her head and the bottle is attached to her face! This was a cute sketch, not the funniest, but cute. Bergen played Deneuve very well, accent and all.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Andy Kaufman Bit- This time, Kaufman does his Foreign Man routine that became a classic. Foreign Man is nervous and tries to win over the audience by telling jokes and doing impressions. I loved this so much. I enjoy Kaufman's style of anti-humor.
5 out of 5 stars
Insecurities- Candice Bergen and Gilda Radner play as themselves and discuss their insecurities. It doesn't feel like a sketch, but like a real, genuine conversation between Bergen and Radner. It was okay.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Albert Brooks Film- These short films are hit or miss, but this one was definitely a hit! This short film was a parody of NBC's primetime lineup featuring ads for ridiculous made-up shows. "Medical Season" a parody of soap operas, "The Three of Us" an obvious raunchy parody of "Three's Company", and "Black Vet" a parody of racially-driven TV dramas.
5 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find a picture from the sketch, so here's the villain from The Simpsons Movie, voiced by Albert Brooks
Trans Atlantic Airlines Sketch- A prank caller (played by Michael O'Donoghue) calls Trans Atlantic and says creepy things to an employee (played by Laraine Newman). The employee isn't the least bothered and continues the conversation. This wasn't a bad sketch. It was short and Newman's reaction to the creepy caller was funny.
3.5 out of 5 stars
I couldn't find a picture from the sketch so here's a photo of Laraine Newman
Polaroid Sketch- Chevy Chase is acting out a scene from Hamlet when he's interrupted by Candice Bergen dressed as one of the Bees. The sketch then turns into a fake ad for Polaroid. It's weird and very random. I didn't hate it though.
3 out of 5 stars
Midnight Probe- Candice Bergen hosts a talk show. Her guests are two kiwi hunters from Australia played by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. This is a pretty funny sketch with Aykroyd and Belushi making funny noises and trying to put Bergen in a burlap sack.
4 out of 5 stars
Land of Gorch- Ehhh...I'll be glad when they stop showing these. This one wasn't as painful as the others, but still not my cup of tea.
2 out of 5 stars
Practical Jokes- Candice Bergen plays a reporter interviewing a Middle Eastern ruler (played by John Belushi). Bergen asks silly questions and taunts the ruler, who is surprisingly patient. This sketch shows how even facial expressions can have good comedic timing. Belushi's furrowed eyebrows and scowl in response to Bergen was perfect and damn funny. I wasn't expecting to hear the word "raghead", which is what Bergen calls the ruler. For those of you who don't know, "raghead" is a slur for Middle Eastern people, particularly Muslims. That wouldn't fly today of course. I personally wasn't bothered by it, but a Middle Eastern person might understandably be uncomfortable with the sketch.
4.5 out of 5 stars
Black Perspective- Garrett Morris interviews Jane Curtin, who claims to be an "expert" on black people despite clearly being a white person. This was funny and I even think it would fly today. Imagine this sketch being on an episode hosted by Dave Chapelle or that episode with the now infamous Bill Burr monologue. It would be genius and would stick it to those SJW Karens.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Pong- Tom Davis and Al Franken talk about Franken bringing his girlfriend home to meet his parents over a game of Pong. It felt very real, like an actual conversation between the two. It wasn't the funniest, but it was charming and authentic.
3 out of 5 stars
So what did I think of this episode? It was actually pretty good. Candice Bergen was delightful as host. This was the first episode to have the host be active in the sketches. There weren't as many annoying fake ads and even the Land of Gorch segment wasn't bad. I enjoyed Andy Kaufman's Foreign Man bit. My favorite sketches were Practical Jokes, Landshark, and Midnight Probe.
Let's see what Episode 5 has in store for us...