SNL: S17E01... HOST: MICHAEL JORDAN... DATE: SEPTEMBER 28, 1991

SNL: S17E01... HOST: MICHAEL JORDAN... DATE: SEPTEMBER 28, 1991

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a new installment of Wayne's World where the basement dwelling cable access hosts talk about the current events that took place over the summer break leading them to introduce a segment called The Best And Worst Of The Summer Of 1991 which ended with the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
  2. Michael Jordan then officially opened the show with a monolog about how he's excited to host the show because it allows him to do something new besides playing basketball and acting in commercial where he has to play it safe to not to keep the sponsors happy. He then went on to share a couple clips for a few "ads" that never made it to air, including one ad for a douche and another ad for a Michael Jordan line of hardcore porn.
  3. We then got the classic ad for Schmitt's Gay Beer that parodies all of the beer ads from that time where women would magically appear whenever a beer was opened, only in this ad a bunch of beefy gay dudes appear instead of hot girls but this doesn't bother our beer drinking bros even the slightest bit as they turn out to also be gay.
  4. The First Black Harlem Globetrotter was a profile sketch that highlighted the history of the Harlem Globetrotters in a way that paralleled Jackie Robinson's influence on baseball. Though in the world of the sketch, The Globetrotters were already known as the Clowns Of Basketball, they were limited to very rudimentary moves and were very stiff for being athletes. Enter Michael Jordan's character who dominates the competition using modern basketball strategies that made it looked like he was taking on a team from the local elementary school. Even though the Globetrotters got the win the rest of the team wasn't happy about Jordan's ball hogging ways and blame it on the fact that he's black. Several of these teammates go as far as to threaten to start the Washington Generals when the owner saw money in Jordan and announced that he's there to stay. The teammates then confronted Jordan about being a team player so he tried to play the next game their way only this led to a horrible loss. Finally, after an overly dramatic scene between Jordan and his "sister," he goes back to playing a dominating game which was just too much for the white audience to handle. This led Michael Jordan to get fired because the world wasn't ready for his style. It also led it to take another twenty years for the Globetrotters to become the team that we know today.
  5. Bill Swerski's Super Fans returned with a special appearance by George Wendt and this time the beer drinking Bears fan switch the focus of their conversation to talking up "Da Bulls" since Michael Jordan played himself as their special guest who is lathered with compliments while being asked questions that highlighted just how great he was.  
  6. Public Enemy then took to the stage to perform Can't Truss It. 
  7. This week, Kevin Nealon took over for Dennis Miller as the host of the news where the real Jesse Jackson dropped in to perform a reading from Green Eggs And Ham in his best preacher tone making it sound like a very important manuscript.
  8. Daily Affirmation also returned and this time Stuart Smalley attempts to boost Michael Jordan's confidence, keeping in mind that Jordan was playing himself during the peak of his basketball career. To add to this irony, Stuart keeps referring to Jordan as "Michael J" in his efforts to protect the super star's anonymity.   
  9. Ellen Cleghorne then introduced her Zoraida who is an NBC page that does not hesitate to talk to the host and/or cast. This week she cornered Michael Jordan to share that she is a super fan only to shift her tune the second that he excused himself to get to work. The moment he started to walk away she started to yell out accusations that he was a jerk during their conversation when he was genuinely pleasant in plotting his escape.
  10. The Dark Side With Nat X was the next segment to return where this week the host of the only fifteen-minute show on television started with a new segment called "What Would Have Happened If He Was Black," where he shared his thoughts on what would have happened to Pee-Wee Herman is he was black and caught masturbating at a porno theater. He then interviewed La Toya Jackson but cut the interview short when the real Spike Lee dropped by since he was a much better representative of the black community since La Toya is borderline white. 
  11. Tales From The Barbecue was a sketch that took place at a black families Barbecue where Tim Meadows played the grandpa who worked the grill and shared tales of him barbecuing back during the war which is played out with a reenactment with Chris Rock playing the young Meadows who is Barbecuing on the deck of a ship during a typhoon. This not only impressed his own crew but also lured the Nazis, who were watching from a nearby submarine, to board the ship to ask for a taste only to get captured by the American crew, making Meadows/Rock a barbecuing hero to the world.  
  12. Public Enemy then returned to the stage to pay tribute to Miles Davis, who recently died, before going on to perform Bring Tha Noize. 
  13. The Elevator Fans also returned to pester Michael Jordan, again playing himself, only this time it's just Dana Carvey who got stuck with his hero only to annoy him by singing The National Anthem throughout the entire ride.
  14. Finally, Michael Jordan closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E02... HOST: JEFF DANIELS... DATE: OCTOBER 5, 1991

SNL: S17E02... HOST: JEFF DANIELS... DATE: OCTOBER 5, 1991

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of The Tonight Show where Dana Carvey as Carson and Phil Hartman as Ed McMahon make fun of the late-night duo's final anniversary episode where they stop playing nice since this their next step is retirement. Not only are they rude to their guests but they also bitterly bashed Jay Leno instead of politely playing nice until the official handoff. They even get a little rough with one another, now that they no longer care about ratings. Jeff Daniels also dropped in as Jay to be bashed in person which led to the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
  2. Jeff Daniels then officially opened the show by stepping out stage to start his monolog only to freak out and rush backstage where he shares his concerns with Lorne, who quickly hands him off to Dana Carvey to teach him the tricks to opening the show by showcasing the stereotypical moves used by a bulk of the host. This routine starts with Don Pardo's announcement followed by several goto moves to pull off, like clapping, pointing and dancing while the band continues to play and then the routine finishes by the hosts doing whatever they want. After Dana showed Jeff Daniels a sample of how this works, he then rushed back to his starting mark and attempted to give it another shot and found the advice to be helpful.
  3. We then got a parody ad for Earthies, the Earth-friendly diaper that you plant with the baby's poo acting as a fertilizer to grow either pumpkins or corn based on the sex of the child.
  4. We then met the Richmeister's Rival when Jeff Daniels entered the copy room as the company's new hire who not only uses his coworkers' names as catchphrases but he goes as far as to create a customized parody song. If the two aren't annoying enough on their own they are infinitely more irritating as they try to one-up one another in their efforts to win their coworkers over as fans.
  5. Community College Bowl was a parody of a Quiz Bowl only instead of challenging geniuses from Ivy League School the competing teams are comprised of idiots from Community Colleges that could be considered the thirteenth grade. No matter what the category, all of the students look lost as bored by every single question that was asked.
  6. The classic Chris Farley Show then made its debut where Chris Farley nervously interviewed Jeff Daniels, as himself, by sharing how big of a fan he is of Jeff Daniels' work and goes on to ask him if he remembered certain scenes with no intentions at all of asking a follow-up question.
  7. Color Me Badd then took to the stage to perform I Wanna Sex You Up.
  8. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Al Franken dropped in to discuss the start to the coverage of the 1992 Presidential Election, mainly to discuss his own liberal ways despite being paid tons of money and why he could never see himself switching sides while at the same time predicting a major loss. 
  9. Apex Novelty Company was a sketch where Jeff Daniels meets with his boss to get reprimanded for going rogue and adding his own twists to their novelty designs turning the tiny joke props into pranks that are a bit too extreme including a prank cigar that is so powerful that it blows all of the skin off of his bosses head leaving behind a talking skeleton.  
  10. Simon then finally returned where Mike Myers as the bathtub bound British businessman's neglected son joyfully shared his view of the world while accompanying his father on business trips, only to never leave the hotel.
  11. This was followed by a parody of Real Life With Jane Pauley where "Jane Pauley" interviewed Jeff Daniels and Siobhan Fallon who play one of the world's smartest woman who is married to one of the world's dumbest men about how these two polar opposites could possibly get along as a couple. 
  12. Color Me Badd then returned to the stage to perform I Adore Mi Amor. 
  13. Don't Get Me Wrong was a sketch where Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon played two rich dudes at a country club who complained about everything while adding the phrase "Don't get me wrong," along with a compliment to help soften the blow behind the complaints. Eventually, Jeff Daniels joined the two and added to the passive-aggressive complaints, only his complaints got rather strange rather quick to the point where he got sent away. 
  14. Finally, Jeff Daniels closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E03... HOST: KIRSTIE ALLEY... DATE: OCTOBER 12, 1991

SNL: S17E03... HOST: KIRSTIE ALLEY... DATE: OCTOBER 12, 1991

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with parody coverage of the Clarence Thomas Hearings where the members of the Senate seemed to get a kick out of questioning Clarence Thomas when questioning him about Anita Hill's claims of sexual harassment. At times they seem like they are seeking advice over evidence, being that most of the political figures involved had sex scandals of their own. After they finished with Clarence Thomas, they brought in Chris Rock who played a pornstar name Long Dong Silver who was featured in one of the porno movies linked to the Thomas case. When as to make his statement, Long Dong leaned into the microphone to announce, "Live from New York..."
  2. Kirstie Alley then officially opened the show with a monolog about how much she missed her TV family from Cheers which led her to sing the theme song and acted surprised when all of her fellow cast mates joined in for a quick reunion even though this was while Cheers was still on the air. Kirstie then pointed out how cool this was because it meant that everyone from her show has now hosted SNL while she ignored Kelsey Grammer who kept trying to point out that he had yet to host but everyone was too caught up in themselves to even notice. 
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for Lonely Choice Dinners, the miserable meal for the lonely professional types. I was surprised because I thought this ad was going to be aimed at pathetic slobs
  4. Il Cantore Restaurant was a sketch about a restaurant where that pretty much just sexually assaults their female patrons while simply playing it off as a cultural thing since the staff is made up of a bunch of first generation Italians. I guess the saving grace is that the women don't seem to mind even if their dates think it's weird.
  5. It's Pat then returned for another segment to celebrate Pat's birthday while having a lunchtime party at work. It turns out that not only is Pat secretive about his/her gender she's also pretty secretive about her age which is what started the line of overall questioning this week. Kirstie Alley also dropped in as Pat's mom or dad and also gets the third degree.
  6. We then got a Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack defended his use of the word puke when describing a recent dinner.
  7. Tom Petty then took to the stage to perform Into The Great Wide Open.
  8. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Chris Rock chimed in with his thoughts on the Clearance Thomas hearing where he has a very blame the victim tone in explaining why this is no big deal, making fun of her looks while saying, no harm no foul, because no actual sex was involved. Victoria Jackson also dropped by for an editorial on the term limits argument that was going on at the time, claiming all of the recent scandals were just a cry for help from politicians that wanted a way out. Sticking with the sexist theme, they then broke the scene to get Victoria to admit that she was only reading what was written for her and she had no idea what was going on. Rob Schneider then gave us some sports where he provided an extremely annoying play by play account during the highlights of a baseball game. 
  9. Their Eyes Were On Their Breasts! was a sketch where a UFO landed at a military base and the soldiers are surprised to find that not only are all of the aliens but their eyes are where their nipples should be, allowing the men to glare without being called out for their staring. These women aliens went on to offer solutions to all of the world's problems only the men in charge are too filled with questions about their breast.
  10. Coffee Talk also returned for another installment this time Linda Richmond took over for Paul Baldwin to host pretty much the same exact show only the accents are more extreme now that there's a lady host. In this installment, Linda and Kirstie Alley discuss their love of Barbara Streisand.
  11. Tom Petty then returned to the stage to perform Into the Great Wide Open.
  12. Psycho Divorced Mother was a sketch where Kirstie Alley played a single mother of two children and all of the pressure of not having a man to take care of things was driving her out of her mind.
  13. This was followed by another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack muses on how we would treat a tree if it talked and then ponders further or how we would treat them if all they ever did was scream.
  14. Look Who Else Is Talking Also was a parody of a Look Who's Talking sequel where now we hear the voice of every single item in Kirstie Alley's apartment. From the kid to the dog, to the steaks that they eat, literally, everything in the apartment now speaks in this parody sequel. 
  15. We then got yet another installment of Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack discussed how to make a child look like a deer.
  16. Finally, Kirstie Alley closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S17E04... HOST: CHRISTIAN SLATER... DATE: OCTOBER 26, 1991

SNL: S17E04... HOST: CHRISTIAN SLATER... DATE: OCTOBER 26, 1991

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of The McLaughlin Group where as always, Dana Carvey played the titular crotchety old talk show host who aggressively questioned his panel of guests about their political views, only this week it was Halloween themed being that this episode originally aired around that time of the year. Then as a Halloween treat Dana dropped dead and the real John McLaughlin stepped in to continue the questioning for a bit before announcing, "Live from New York..." 
  2. Christian Slater then officially opened the show with a monolog about the fact that he's tired of people accusing him of doing a Jack Nicholson throughout his acting career. To prove that his acting skill is his own and not stolen he called for a clip of the diner scene from Five Easy Pieces to compare their work only to find that no one was listening. When no clip played our host went back to the production booth to find that everyone is too caught up in watching the final game of The World Series which caused him to give up on the bit and throw to the start of the show.  
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for Coldcock Malt Liquor that is a parody of the old Schlitz ads where a bull would bust through a wall, only in this ad, the beer can has a fist that coldcocks the person drinking which knocks them out for the night.
  4. Super Fire Hot Chicken Wings was a sketch where Christian Slater was on a date with Victoria Jackson at a Wings And Things restaurant. When Slater orders the extra special super fire wings, the waiter gets concerned and tried to talk him out of the meal. Slater stuck to his guns and order even after the manager got involved. When the wings finally did arrive, Slater took a bite and didn't see why everyone was making such a big deal until it's revealed that he only got the medium. It turned out the medium was a test and after passing it, the manager let Slater upgrade to the super fire hot plate that he actually ordered. This dance keeps going until eventually they make him sign a release before finally giving him the real deal meal. The screen froze the moment he sank his teeth in for his first bite and then we learn through a text scroll and voice over the horrific events that followed while also learning that this was still only a hot wing and not the super fire hot wing that he wanted.
  5. Dysfunctional Family Feud was, as the title suggests, a parody of the Family Feud only one of the families feuding is in desperate need of some counseling as there are outbursts after every question while the competing team is absolutely pleasant. 
  6. Club Banana was a sketch that took place at a bar and we see the world through Julia Sweeney's eye to get her literal point of view. We start with her having a conversation with Victoria Jackson where Jackson complained about how horrible these meat markets are. Julia's character was much less jaded so she ignored Victoria's advice and took to the dance floor where we got to see every single guy that she passed try to make their move until the unwanted attention became so overwhelming that it led her to pass out on the floor.  She then awoke to find two male EMTs standing above her and the moment she said she was fine, they attempted to put on moves of their own.
  7. Bonnie Raitt then took to the stage to perform Something To Talk About. 
  8. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Ellen Cleghorne's Queen Shenequa made her news debut to share her two cents on the Clarence Thomas scandal only she's more upset by the fact that he's married to a white woman over the fact that he was sexually harassing Anita Hill then goes on to share her take on mixed relationships and how/why they're no good highlighting how in most cases it successful black men that take on white wives while black women are overlooked. Adam Sandler also stopped by for his classic segment where he shared a bunch of tips on how to do Halloween on a budget by doing things like putting a plant on your hear then calling yourself names like Crazy Plant Head before demanding candy. 
  9. We then got a parody of The Curse Of The Wolf Man where we witnessed Christian Slater transition into a Wolf Man while watching himself in the mirror. Every time he felt a change coming on he ducked out of view, explained what was going on and then popped up wearing a new piece of his costume. At first, it looked like we were supposed to think this was really going on but after a while, we caught a few shots of Slater applying his disguise. We also got to see this all play out in reverse after a pair of cops kicked down his door and shot him dead which led him to transition back into a human by ripping off the costume one spot at a time. 
  10. Young Actors Forum was a talk show sketch hosted by Christian Slater who interviewed a panel of famous young actors from the time about all their latest gigs only to announce who they all slept with whenever a female costar's name is brought up.
  11. Bonnie Raitt then returned to the stage to perform I Can't Make You Love Me. 
  12. Pumping Up With Hans And Franz then returned to do pretty much more of the same song and dance that I still find funny even though it's extremely repetitive. That said, they did share a clip where they teamed up with the real Arnold Schwarzenegger to talk to the kids during their school's Presidential Fitness week which concluded with the three doing an epic pose down.
  13. We then got another fake ad, this one was for the Nich-Aid Hair Dryers which was a hair dryer that you strapped to your head to blow back your hair while attempting a Jack Nicholson impression.  
  14. Finally, Christian Slater closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E05... HOST: KIEFER SUTHERLAND... DATE: NOVEMBER 2, 1991

SNL: S17E05... HOST: KIEFER SUTHERLAND... DATE: NOVEMBER 2, 1991

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with coverage of the William Kennedy Smith Jury Selection Process where we got to witness jurors being questioned on their views on the Kennedys in general in the court's effort to find an unbiased pool of jurors. Though some potential jurors have positive thoughts on JFK but, even then, they also see him and the rest of the Kennedy clan as a bunch of womanizing freaks. Juror after juror gets turned away due to their views until we meet Chris Farley who has no idea who the Kennedys are except for Ted, who he likes because he buys him booze at their compound parties. That said, he's such also such a blank slate to both lawyers agree to use him. Upon hearing the news that he's been accepted to the jury pool Farley then turned to the camera to announce with excitement, "Live from New York..."
  2. Kiefer Sutherland then officially opened the show with a monolog about the fact that he's wearing a tuxedo since he bought it expecting to need it for the award shows but that didn't go as planned, so he used hosting as an excuse to go formal. He then went on to explain that the attire reminded him of his lounge singer days which led him to sing a song before throwing to the start of the show.
  3. This was followed by the classic fake ad for the Lung Brush which is pretty much a chimney sweeping tool used by smokers to clean all of the gunk out of their lungs.
  4. Campaign '92: The Race To Avoid Being The Guy Who Loses To Bush was parody coverage of the Democratic debates building up to George Bush Sr.'s attempt at a second term. The premise of the sketch was that no Democrat wanted to challenge Bush since he was so popular due to his success with the Persian Gulf War. This was apparently before Bill Clinton was involved, during a time when the election seemed unwinnable. This entire idea was a surprise to me because I was too young to vote so I only remember the outcome and don't remember the details of the actual race.
  5. Whose Ass Should I Kiss? was a game show sketch hosted by Phil Hartman that worked very similar to, To Tell The Truth, where middle management contestants have to question a panel of three people who claim to be CEOs to discover which one is real through an ass kissing line of questions. 
  6. We then got a new installment of Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shared a tale of his grandfather's fishing trip that ended with him returning home with a whore.
  7. Skid Row then took to the stage to perform Piece Of Me. 
  8. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, we got nothing but the news without a single special guest or any sort of gag. I have to admit that even though Dennis Miller is the best technical SNL anchor of all time, I find myself laughing more at Kevin Nealon and other anchors more simple approach to comedic news coverage, especial considering the passage of time where the stories are no longer fresh or urgent and sometimes not even relevant at all, making the quick jokes more fun to watch.
  9. All Things Scottish then returned for another installment of Mike Myers as the Scottish store owner who lives by the code that, "If it's not Scottish, IT'S CRAP." This time, we met Myers' new employee played by Tim Meadow as well as Kiefer Sutherland who played Mike Myers' long-lost brother. Other than meeting these new people this sketch was pretty much just the same fun and games with Mike Myers as a hilarious but volatile Scotsman.
  10. We then got a fake ad for Kiddie Metal which was an album that featured Guns N' Roses performing bedtime songs for kids.
  11. This was followed by another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shared why he wished for a robot president that you can shoot at without getting in trouble.
  12. Daily Affirmation returned for another segment where Stuart Smalley is joined by his cousin play by Kiefer Sutherland who has a competing show based out of Canada which led to the start of an extremely passive aggressive feud.
  13. Skid Row then returned to the stage to perform Monkey Business. 
  14. Phone Illiteracy wasn't a sketch about anyone's inability to understand their smartphone as you would expect from a sketch with this title today but instead was a fake PSA where Kiefer Sutherland played the middleman between a person on the phone and a friend who just entered the room. It started out simple with the usual, "Oh, tell so and so that I said hi," then built to a full-on conversation. It didn't take long for Kiefer to grow annoyed and offer his friend the phone to talk for himself which is when the announcer stepped in to share the growing problem of Phone Illiteracy in America.
  15. I'm Chillin' also returned for another installment where Chris Rock and Chris Farley where we learned of their new malt liquor sponsor before hearing Rock's Mother Joke Of The Day.
  16. Finally, Kiefer Sutherland closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E06... HOST: LINDA HAMILTON... DATE: NOVEMBER 16, 1991

SNL: S17E06... HOST: LINDA HAMILTON... DATE: NOVEMBER 16, 1991

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a Special Weekend Report with updates in the year's non-presidential election results that led up to parody coverage of David Duke's Concession Speech, who was an Ex-Klansman that was running for Governor of Louisiana at the time. Dana Carvey played Duke who reminisced about the beautiful racist sentiment that he experience while on the campaign trail while trying to mend fences with the Nazis for when he runs again. As always, this being the opening sketch it eventually built up to Duke's announcement of, "Live from New York..."
  2. Linda Hamilton then officially opened the show with a monolog about how she is more than just the action star that we all know from Terminator. She then went on to show "clips from her growing up" only it was filled with nothing but explosion juxtaposed with her very innocent tale of her youth. 
  3. This was followed by a fake ad with a catchy commercial tune for Leevi's 3 Legged Jeans which were jeans with an extra leg that serve no actual purpose.
  4. The Tooncinator was a parody of Terminator II with Toonces The Driving Cat returning to the show to play the role of the shape-shifting Terminator from the real movie and is after our host Linda Hamilton with Edward Furlong also reprising his role as a quick cameo for the night, and Phil Hartman playing Arnold. As per usual, this sketch inevitably built to Toonces driving off a cliff while taking everybody with him.
  5. It's Pat also returned for another segment. This time Pat showed up at a gym where Linda Hamilton played a trainer who struggled to figure out how to perform the new member evaluation because of the gender mystery. The sketch built up to where we were about to learn Pat's sex as he/she was left to choose which locker room to enter only to have the scene interrupted by an unimportant Weekend Update Report.  
  6. Massive Headwound Harry then made his debut to the show with Dana Carvey playing the titular role and tries to navigate an otherwise normal day with an untreated massive head wound while claiming to be okay. This week, he visits a cocktail party to freak everyone out with his affliction by being thoughtless about his major wound. It started simple with him just startling guest who were unprepared for such a site but then builds to him sticking his head into the snack why reaching down to pick up a dropped knife and ended with him lying down from feeling light headed only to have a dog try to eat his open wound, which is the most hilarious scene ever because the dog really goes to town, but in the world of the sketch this was the final straw that caused everyone to leave the house.
  7. We then got a Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey segment where Jack share how a sunset once reminded him of a day fishing salmon.
  8. Ellen Cleghorne's NBC page character named Zoraida made her return to the show to pester Linda Hamilton while sharing that fact that she is such a huge fan of her TV series Beauty And The Beast while thinking the Beast was actually real. She does all this while acting completely unaware and/or uninterested that Linda is actually in a rush to get ready for the next sketch.
  9. Mariah Carey then took to the stage to perform Can't Let Go.
  10. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Dana Carvey introduced a new Vaudeville era entertainer who discussed the controversy of Michael Jackson's new Black Or White video which had some questionably anti-Semitic scenes in the original cut, only to end up defending the King Of Pop with a bunch of backhanded remarks.   
  11. Barroom Brawls was a sketch that took place in a bar where Mike Meyers and Victoria Jackson are on a date and noticed Linda Hamilton as herself having a drink by herself. Mike Myers is so excited to see his favorite female action start that he just won't shut up about her. The two then go over to say hello only Victoria and starts to pick a fight. At first, Linda tried to ignore the aggressive behavior but then ends up forced to fight and when the other women witness this it triggers an out and out battle over who is the alpha female.
  12. The Chris Farley Show also returned for another installment where a nervous but excited Farley fanboys out over his guest, Martin Scorsese, while asking him if he remembered the most famous scenes from his films. 
  13. This was followed by another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shared a tale of the day where it was raining out yet all he could hear was urine.
  14. Mariah Carey then returned to the stage to perform If It's Over. 
  15. Baby Talk Dinner was a sketch with Phil Hartman and Julia Sweeney on a double day with Dana Carvey and Linda Hamilton where Linda and Dana are too into baby talk to the point where it's downright disturbing.
  16. We also got another short film from the Schiller Visions series. This week's installment was fake mini-documentary Sweden that exposed a cut scene from an American Hidden Video Commercial where they swapped out Chris Farley's gourmet coffee with a cheap instant brand. Rather than be impressed like in the real commercials from the time Chris Farley goes nuts and takes out his anger on the entire restaurant as if he were a mini King Kong with everyone jumping on his back making efforts to stop his attack making this one of my favorite sketches of all time.  
  17. Finally, Linda Hamilton closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S17E07... HOST: MACAULAY CULKIN... DATE: NOVEMBER 23, 1991

SNL: S17E07... HOST: MACAULAY CULKIN... DATE: NOVEMBER 23, 1991

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of Home Alone only in this version Macaulay is abandoned by the cast and the crew for a sketched Studio Alone. In this parody, Macaulay is sent to his dressing room after beating up Chris Farley after learning they forgot to order a plain cheese pizza. While in the dressing room he wished everyone would just disappear before making the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
  2. Macaulay Culkin then officially opened the show with a continuation of the opening sketch with Macaulay taking to the monolog stage to find that no one else is around. We then saw that everyone else was on a plane to Paris as if there was a last minute decision to make this an international special. Meanwhile, back in the studio, Macaulay was living it up, playing with the props and costumes from classical sketches throughout the years. Unlike the real movie, there are no bad guys involved but just like the real movie, the cast finally does realize that they left the little guy behind and became super apologetic and kind upon being reunited. This led to a second start of the show where Macaulay came out to a crowd to introduce the night.   
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for The Love Toilet which is a side by side toilet that allows you and your partner to share even the most private of times.
  4. Bob Swerski's Super Fans then returned to the show where this time the beer drinking Bears fans celebrated Thanksgiving while talking about the traditional Thanksgiving game between the Detroit Lions and the Bears. As part of this Thanksgiving special, Macaulay and his little brother reenacted the first Thanksgiving Day, only in their story, it looked more like a tailgate party with an endless supply of meat. At one point, we also flashed back to meet Farley's character's wife after he felt guilty for flirting with, special guest, George Wendt's oldest daughter who was recently crowned The Polish Sausage Queen of the town.
  5. We then got an installment of Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack questioned what it would be like to be on a first date as a mobster and how embarrassing it would be if someone was trying to kill you.
  6. The Richmeister also returned for another installment where this time, the copy machine stalking name repeater flashes back to when he first started his name game. This took us back to an elementary school where Macaulay played the young Richmeister whose desk was located right next to the pencil sharpener where he commented on every single child who dropped by which is what started this annoying trend. 
  7. Tin Machine then took to the stage to perform Baby Universal.
  8. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Victoria Jackson dropped in for a segment where she discussed the post-Cold War economy where once again she makes a brilliant point only to end up being treated like an idiot when it pointed out that she only reads what's written for her without comprehending the words. Adam Sandler also stopped in for another segment where he acts like he's at a family event for his family to watch in his absence only to end up in a fictional fight that's pretty standard considering the family event in question is Thanksgiving Dinner. 
  9. Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer the made his show debut with Phil Hartman playing the primitive man who for some reason was unfrozen in order to practice law even though he struggles to grasp the workings of the modern world but this doesn't stop him from being a winning attorney. In fact, his simple ways seem to win over the members of the jury.
  10. Simon also returned for another segment where the neglected son of a businessman share his view of the world from the many hotel bathtubs that he's relegated to. This week he had a tub mate in Macaulay Culkin who played a fellow neglected tub ridden British child of a businessman.
  11. This was followed by another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack ponders whether or not it would still be funny if you witnessed an old lady fall if you were an ant and she was falling in your general direction.
  12. Young Superboy was a sketch where the Home Alone star played the young version of Superman where the bad guys are too caught up in how adorable this tiny superhero is while ignoring the genuine threat of his adult-sized superpowers.  
  13. We then got yet another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shares his concerns about little dogs not having their voices heard if canines were to take over the world.
  14. Tin Machine then returned to the stage to perform If There Is Something.
  15. Daily Affirmation was another reoccurring sketch to return with Stuart Smalley and his nephew "Kyle" (Macaulay) as his special guest to talk about his alcoholic parents and how their many problems are not his fault at all. Being a kid, "Kyle" doesn't take any of this all that serious which threw Stuart Smalley off guard.  
  16. U.S. Fon was a sketch where Phil Hartman tried to scam Julia Sweeney over the phone only to get called out thanks to a very early version of caller id. Though this did work to save Julia from the scam it also put her in danger as Phil Hartman flipped into assassin mode after realizing this meant that she had all the information required to turn him into the authorities.
  17. Scalder And Son took place in the medieval days with Chris Farley teaching his son, Macaulay, his line of work as the two dump boiling oil on their enemies who are storming the castle. He goes on to discuss things like how hot the oil should be and the perfect time to dump it as if this were a standard job and as if the victims below didn't lead to a terrible sight to see, especially for a kid who's that young.
  18. This was followed by yet another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shared how funny he thinks it would be if you found yourself in a situation where your parachute didn't open and you simply pretended to swim to freak out your friends and family. 
  19. Finally, Macauley Culkin closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E08... HOST: HAMMER... DATE: DECEMBER 7, 1991

SNL: S17E08... HOST: HAMMER... DATE: DECEMBER 7, 1991

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with A Message From The President Of The United States where Dana Carvey as Bush Sr. attempts to reassure Americans that the economy is just fine going into Christmas. He shares this information in a deceptive tone as he also pushes the citizens that he rules to run out and spend all their money in an effort to improve the economy even more while undermining any risks. He then goes on to pitch a bunch of cheesy Christmas presents before building to the announcement of, "Live from New York..." 
  2. Hammer then officially opened the show with a monolog about how excited he is to host then goes on to pitch his latest album as well as his involvement in the Addams Family movie. He does all this while talking in the third person about himself which is a little confusing because it's unclear if this is a joke or the way he actually talks. After a while, Chris Rock joined the scene as Michael Jackson and starts to sing one of his popular songs only to be cut off by Hammer before he headed over to the music stage to perform Too Legit To Quit. 
  3. We then went to a group therapy session for people who suffer from Bad Haircuts. Where most of the others in the group are past the denial stage and open to the idea of getting help, Hammer played a new member and won't stop arguing that his hair is actually dope while claiming he's just there to support his wife played by Ellen Cleghorne whose hair is the same color orange as a 1970s rug.
  4. Pearl Harbor Headline was a sketch that took place the day after Pearl Harbor where we are in the writing room for a small market newspaper as a group of journalist pitch their front page story ideas. Even though Phil Hartman thinks that the Japanese attack is the obvious choice everyone else in the room thinks that the top story should be a lot more local. The fact that all the other writers were so calm as they casually pitched their mundane local ideas made Hartman panic even more as he seemed to be the only one in the room who saw this as a sign that we were about to join the World War which ultimately drove him crazy.
  5. Hammer then switch to musical guest mode and returned to the stage to perform Addams Groove. 
  6. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Ellen Cleghorne's Queen Shenequa character dropped in once again, this time to discuss the traditions of Kwanzaa while cracking pop culture jokes in the process.
  7. Tales From The Barbecue returned for another installment where Tim Meadows is out barbequing during the winter which led him to tell the tale of him joining Admiral Byrd as his expedition chef during the exploration of the North Pole which led to a reenactment. In this reenactment, Chris Rock played a young Meadows who managed to save Santa Clause with his barbecuing skills and then went on to kill and cook Santa's lesser-known flying cow.  
  8. Johnny Letter was a Western sketch with Mike Myers playing the titular role as the small town's letter writer. While hanging out at the bar Chris Farley played someone new to town who didn't know better than to mess around with this letter writing legend. After a quick confrontation that ended with Johnny Letter rushing out of the bar, Farley quickly learned the power of the letter writing man when he returned to his camp to find a very angry boss who just finished reading Johnny's note and forced Farley to apologize.
  9. We then got a repeat of the Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey sketch from last season where Jack shared the Disneyland prank that he pulled on his nephew.
  10. Remembrances Of Love With Wilt Chamberlain was a sketch that made fun of Wilt Chamberlain's claim to have slept with over ten thousand women then went on to share the story of woman #1399 who he hooked up with over a room service meal while #1398 was still in the bathroom. The best part of this sketch is Hammer's super long fake legs and the fact that he as Wilt makes these quick encounters sound memorable and romantic.
  11. This was followed by a new Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack explains that it takes a big man to cry and a bigger man to laugh at said crying man.
  12. Hammer switched back to musical guest mode once again, this time to perform This Is The Way We Roll.
  13. We then went to the offices of Dick Clark Productions where David Spade introduced his receptionist/assistant character who is way too passive aggressive with the gatekeeper aspect of his job as he denies everyone access to his bosses office no matter how urgent the situation may be. 
  14. Finally, Hammer closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S17E09... HOST: STEVE MARTIN... DATE: DECEMBER 14, 1991

SNL: S17E09... HOST: STEVE MARTIN... DATE: DECEMBER 14, 1991

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with Steve Martin and the cast performing a song and dance called Not Gonna Phone It In Tonight where Martin enthusiastically promises to put give it his all like he did with the original cast on instead of phoning it in like he claims to have in the past. This gets the rest of the cast to join in and promise to put in a real effort as well. This being the opening performance, the crescendo of the song led to the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
  2. Steve Martin then officially opened the show with a monolog about this being the holiday episode pointing out that there are more holidays being celebrated than just Christmas. He then goes on to explain that he is excited to work with this cast again, as well as meet the new member even though he's way off at guessing their names. This sends him down a bit of a stand-up routine about being famous and all of the crazy demands.
  3. We then got a repeat of the fake Schmitt's Gay Beer commercial from earlier in the season where Chris Farley and Adam Sander discover they are house sitting a mansion with a pool full of magical gays.
  4. Suckerpunch was a game show sketch with Steve Martin as the host who would randomly sucker punch the contestants in the middle of asking a question. Every once in a while there'd seem to be an actual structure to the game only to find out there's not, thanks to another surprise attack from the host.
  5. The Doormen then returned for another round of Kevin Nealon and Rob Schneider being as pleasant as punch to the tenants only to give in to self-hate and talk trash about themselves behind said tenants backs, sort of how like Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz used to do in their Girl Watcher A Go-Go sketch from the past only more pleasant in their brand of self-hate.
  6. We then got a Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shared a story of stepping on a snail which led him to realize how close they were to being the same only his shell was made up of tin foil.
  7. Steve Martin then introduced Chris Farley and Adam Sandler as The Energy Brothers who were a comedy team with no established routine but instead entertained the crowd with their high energy as they destroyed a table that set up for a fancy holiday dinner. 
  8. James Taylor then took to the stage to perform Stop Thinkin' About That. 
  9. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Adam Sandler dropped in as the travel correspondent to talk about his recent trip to Disney World only to once again spend more time discussing his hotel room while barely mentioning the featured destination of the week. 
  10. Theatre Stories is a British talk show sketch where Mike Myers plays an old Brit who interviews a collection of aging actors. I'm not sure if the two British guests are based on real people but this is the sketch where Dana Carvey debuted his classic impersonation of Mickey Rooney who still thinks he's the number one star in the world. Though the group was supposed to talk shop about acting only they're all so senile that they struggle to track the conversation at hand.
  11. This was followed by a parody of Live With Regis And Kathie Lee where Kathie Lee was out on vacation, leaving Regis to be his crazy self with his wife stepping in as the cohosts. The sketch started by making fun of a few of the shows standard segment before building to an interview with Steve Martin as himself but can't fit in a single word thanks to Regis's super high energy.
  12. We then got another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack laments that fact that families are sometimes ripped apart by wild dogs.
  13. James Taylor then returned to the stage to perform Shed A Little Light. 
  14. Grandma Pugga Loves Cats was a sketch where Chris Farley brought his new girlfriend over to hand out with his cat-lady of a grandma who was played by Steve Martin. Grandma Pugga's apartment is so filled with cats that there is cat hair all over the place which is bad enough on its own but got super disgusting when Pugga's starts offering food like waffles with syrup, candy apples, and other sticky dishing where the cat's fur can easily cling to.
  15. This was followed by yet another installment of Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack ponders on how the face of a child can say it all, especially when it comes to their mouths.
  16. Steve's Coward-Slapping Spree was a sketch that took place backstage where Steve Martin gets a little power happy due to the fact that he's dressed like a military captain and marched down the hall slapping every person in his path across the face while giving them brutally honest feedback.
  17. The Dark Side With Nat X also returned for another segment where our host of the only fifteen-minute talk show on television read some viewer mail questioning his favorite reindeer which turned out to be Rudolph being that he was the only reindeer to be treated unfairly by the rest. After that Nat X interviews Michael Jackson but this had to be via satellite due to the fact that Chris Rock was playing both parts. Other than the duel character aspect the interview was nothing more than your tradition Michael Jackson jokes from that time.
  18. James Taylor then returned to the stage once again, this time to perform the song Sweet Baby James. 
  19. Being that Jon Lovitz is gone from the show Chris Farley took his place as Tonto, only to portray himself as himself in Chris Farley, Tarzan, And Frankenstein Sing Feliz Navidad.
  20. Finally, Steve Martin closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E10... HOST: ROB MORROW... DATE: JANUARY 11, 1992

SNL: S17E10... HOST: ROB MORROW... DATE: JANUARY 11, 1992

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a Hollywood meeting between Oliver Stone and top-level studio executive. In the sketch, Oliver was super paranoid because he had discovered unedited footage of President George Bush Sr. from when he threw up on the prime minister of Japan and is now pitching a JFK type of movies about the incident. The studio executive simply dismissed the story as Oliver being crazy from living in a Conspiracy filled world only to have second thoughts when Oliver got wind of a new incident where the President just peed his pants. This new information left the executive speechless as Oliver rushed out to learn more. After a moment of pondering, the dumbstruck Exec had nothing to say but, "Live from New York..."
  2. Rob Morrow then officially opened the show with a monolog about how most people think that he's host because of his role on Northern Exposure but then went on to explain that he was actually invited to host due to the fact he's an alumni before he went on to show a clip where he was a non-speaking extra back in the days with the original cast. He then went on to promise to improve on his performance before throwing to the first official sketch.
  3. We then got a fake ad for a Salon hair products that parodied a hair product commercial only there was no actual hair product involved. Instead, David Spade as a flamboyant pitchman promised prettier hair by simply pronouncing the word Salon in a very pretentious way.   
  4. It's Pat returned for another installment where this time our androgynous hero got invited to a party where Rob Morrow had a secret plan to figure out Pat's sex by talking him/her into a game of strip poker. After playing a couple of hands, it turned out that Pat is actually a... card shark and never lost more than his/her belt while everyone else was fully nude by the end of the game.
  5. We were then introduced to the Delta Delta Delta sorority where the female cast members played annoying sorority girls who whined and complained while they attempted to come up with a plan for the night. Though I found this debut to be just okay, I was fan of the introduction of their, "Delta Delta Delta can I help ya, help ya, help ya," catchphrase
  6. Lonesome Cowboys then returned only this time Rob Morrow is the center cowboy/lead singer who sings a tune called I'm Going To Be A Better Cowboy about his cowboy New Year's Resolutions to be a better man with Phil Hartman and Dana Carvey singing backup. 
  7. Nirvana then took to the stage to perform Smells Like Teen Spirit. 
  8. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Melanie Hutsell introduced her Jan Brady impersonation to talk about the new FDA rulings on banning silicone from breast implant which turned into more of a rant about her older sister Marsha. Victoria Jackson also dropped in to complain about dumb blonde jokes not because they're mean but because she doesn't find them to be funny. She then went on to share a few example only to find out that the jokes in question "are actually funny" and that she just didn't get the punchlines.
  9. Lenin's Body was a news profile sketch that shared the story of how Vladimir Lenin came to be buried above ground to be on display to the Russian citizens. It then went on to explain Russia's struggles after the collapse of Communism. We finally learned that due to money struggles, Russia put their former leader's body up for auction. At this point, it switched to be an actual sketch where we met the random American who placed the winning bid thinking that there would be money in owning this corpse somehow. There's a bit of a Lars And The Real Girl vibe to the surrealness of this scene as Rob Morrow failed time and time again to turn this into a money-making venture. Eventually, Morrow found a newspaper article that gave him the idea to rent Lenin's body out to Hollywood to use as a stunt double in films.
  10. We then got a Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack muses on the world going mad only to be distracted by supper. 
  11. Heaven Small Talk was a sketch that as the title implies took place in heaven following Dana Carvey's character's death. At first, it seemed like the angels at the golden gates were going to question Dana about his life only it turned out that these angels were more interested in making small talk about cinema and quizzed Dana about his taste in film to test if he was worthy to stay.
  12. Chris Rock's White Person's Guide To Surviving The Apollo was a fake ad for a self-help line of videos where Chris Rock offered advice to white comedians who think they have what it takes to perform to the dominantly black Apollo crowd.  
  13. This was followed by another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shares his views on the beauty in this world and why it makes him want to gargle.
  14. Insulting Names was a sketch where Rob Morrow and Mike Myers made fun of each other using horrible names that only best friends could call one another without anyone getting hurt or offended. More friends eventually joined the two and had the same approach jabbing rude jokes at their friends. After a while, we eventually learned that everyone in the world of this sketch took this playfully mean approach to communicating with one another.
  15. Nirvana then returned to the stage to perform Territorial Pissings. 
  16. Late Comments was a sketch with a group of friends hanging out at a diner and Rob Morrow played the buddy who always chimed in with the perfect comments only he was always at least one topic behind, making for a very confusing night. After a while, Rob dismissed himself to collect his thoughts in the bathroom where he found a time machine and went back to relives the night sharing his jokes with perfected timing during the second round. 
  17. Finally, Rob Morrow closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E11... HOST: CHEVY CHASE... DATE: JANUARY 18, 1992

SNL: S17E11... HOST: CHEVY CHASE... DATE: JANUARY 18, 1992

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with another installment of Wayne's World where this time the basement dwelling cable access hosts did a quick recap of 1991, being that this was their first visit in the New Year. One of the highlights was the collapse of Communist Russia which led Wayne and Garth to share a Top Ten List of reasons why they will miss the Cold War. Of course, this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
  2. Chevy Chase then officially opened the show with a monolog about how excited he was to work with this mediocre new cast and then went on to share his history with the show while taking a couple of jabs at the original cast members. He quickly apologized for being mean, claiming he was just playing into expectation while announcing that he's actually a new man. He then went on to have to search for names while thanking his family for helping him change and then started to lip sync Greatest Love Of All by George Benson before throwing to the start of the show. 
  3. We then got a repeat of the fake Love Toilet ad from earlier in the season where we were pitched a side by side toilet for those romantic couples who can't be separated even when they poop.
  4. Adopt-A-Pet was a PBS-style sketch where Chevy Chase and Victoria Jackson showcased poorly trained pets that were up for adoption to any viewers who might be interested. Even though neither host had a positive trait to share about the animal they were trying to pitch, they were both still super surprised to find that no viewers were phoning in.
  5. We then followed George Bush Sr. on a Campaign Stop where, the President at the time, dropped by a coffee shop in a tiny New Hampshire town with C-SPAN there to cover it. During the visit, Dana Carvey as Bush Sr. did his regular routine of desperately trying to spin even his slightest of achievements as being major accomplishments as he awkwardly interacted with the public wanting to just get it over with throughout the entire trip.
  6. We then went to meet Jeffrey Dahmer in jail when he called for a meeting with his lawyers to share his plan on how he would convince the jury that he's crazy. The confused the Lawyers a bit since convincing anyone of his craziness was the least of their concerns. While the lawyers attempted to explain with, Chevy as Dahmer started to eat his own hand which freaked the lawyers out and sent them running out of the room. 
  7. Robbie Robertson & Bruce Hornsby then took to the stage to perform Go Back to Your Woods.
  8. This week, Chevy Chase joined Kevin Nealon and the two gave us the news. Chevy didn't last much longer than the introduction as it quickly went back to a single host newscast. Chris Rock also dropped in to discuss whether or not Arizona is racist based on their recent decision to not recognize Martin Luther King Day. Soon after Chris Rock's segment, Chevy returned for a segment of his own where he discussed the history of breast implants continuing the coverage of the new debate on the use of silicon. Chevy and Nealon also did a bit of a play on the Mr. Subliminal routine where Nealon would speak and Chevy would suggest the word Nealon was looking for whenever he would get lost.
  9. Bob Swerski's Quiz Masters was a game show sketch that featured George Wendt and the rest of his pack of Bears fans with Wendt playing the host of a Jeopardy-like game filled with questions about their beloved team. About halfway through the sketch, there was also a quick fake commercial for I Can't Believe It's Not Polish Sausage. We then returned to the game in time to witness Farley win the prize of spending five minutes on the cheese fry booth where French fries are blown around for him to grab and dip into a bucket of cheese that's strapped around his neck. 
  10. We then went to a Van Morrison Concert where the audience is old enough that the concert is filled with chairs for the old timers to sit and enjoy the show. Meanwhile, Melanie Hutsell played someone's young date who only wanted to dance and was the only one standing which really pissed off Chevy who was sitting directly behind her. This sketch used to drive me nuts as a kid because I couldn't stand the blank dumb stare that Melanie Hutsell would make to the point where it may be why I never really liked her on the show even though now I'm finding that I don't mind some of her characters.
  11. Robbie Robertson & Bruce Hornsby then returned to the stage to perform The Weight. 
  12. Comforting Tim was a sketch were Chevy attempted to comfort Tim Meadows while trying to find out why Meadows was crying. Chevy tried to cheer him up only to get turned down as we found out that the reason for Tim's tears was the fact that this was his only sketch of the night and no effort went into writing it.
  13. Kaufman's Big And Tall, And Short And Small Sephardic Jew Men's Clothing Store was a fake ad with Rob Schneider and Chevy Chase as pitchmen for this very specific store. 
  14. Finally, Chevy Chase closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E12... HOST: SUSAN DEY... DATE: FEBRUARY 8, 1992

SNL: S17E12... HOST: SUSAN DEY... DATE: FEBRUARY 8, 1992

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of L.A. Law which I didn't really get because I've never seen the real show and most of the humor seemed to come from the impersonations and references to the show, that is until Susan Day heads to the copy room to copy her legal documents when we learned this was actually a Richmeister sketch, where Rob Schneider played his name game for a bit before announcing, "Live from New York..."
  2. Susan Dey then officially opened the show with a monolog about how she's excited to be doing live television then went on to share her early years of acting when she was on The Partridge Family where she was the first teenage girl on television to constantly wear a pants suit. She then went on to joke about how she continues to be known as a pants suit wearer thanks to her role on L.A. Law then switched out of the pants suit she was wearing to reveal an outfit with a little more sex appeal.
  3. We then got a repeat of the fake Leevi's 3 Legged Jeans ad from earlier in the season where we were pitched a pair of three-legged pants.
  4. We then went to a parody of the Mike Tyson Trial from back when he was accused of rape where the main argument of the defense is that there wouldn't have been an issue if it wasn't for the size of Tyson's penis. Due to this approach, the random guy playing Iron Mike was told to whip it out to be used as evidence. It then became a sketch filled with jokes about penis size.
  5. The Arakawa Group was an offensive parody of the Japanese version of The McLaughlin Group. This sketch is made up of the worst Japanese impersonations as they make fun of Americans for being fat, lazy and stupid. It was funny when it cut to a clip of a monkey impersonating George Bush Sr. from when he puked during his visit to Japan.
  6. The Sensitive Naked Man then made his debut to the show where Rob Schneider played the titular role to help Susan Dey work out her issue that makes her seem like she's feeling down only it turns out her biggest problem is his nudity. That didn't stop our naked sensitive dude to continue to push until gave in and shared a sad story from her youth but also made it clear that she is still a bit disturbed by hanging out with this naked man who she finds to be just a supportive friend that she wished would just wear some clothes when she's around.
  7. C+C Music Factory then took to the stage to perform the songs Here We Go Let's Rock & Roll and Gonna Make You Sweat back to back. 
  8. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Ellen Cleghorne introduced her Jamaican character to talk about the rise in "Haitian Boat People" that was going on at the time. Adam Sander also introduced his character, Cajun Man, who discuss the upcoming Mardi Gras celebrations. Kevin Nealon also got his own special segment to check in as Mr. Subliminal.
  9. The Partridge Family Vs. The Brady Bunch was a parody merger of these two fictional families that started with the Partridges recording their latest song when Jan Brady dropped in to complain about Marsha only to get asked to join the band as their tambourine player. It doesn't take long for Jan to realize that the Partridges are nothing but a bunch of lip-syncers which led her to call over the rest of the Brady Bunch for an impromptu battle of the bands.
  10. This was followed by a Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey where Jack shares his suggestion for when you feel like you're going mentally insane.
  11. We then joined Susan Dey and Mike Myers who are on their first day for a sketch called Semi-Verbal Points where everyone in the world of the sketch is over expressive with their gesturing while carrying on even the most casual of conversations.
  12. Ellen Cleghorne's Zoraida character also returned to pester Susan Dey on her way to the dressing room while sharing the fact that she is such a huge fan of her career, confusing her character's actions with reality.
  13. Janitor-Executive Irony was a sketch that I feel was done in the past where a Janitor and an Executive were childhood friends who are both surprised to be in this situation. We then cut away and returned to find that their roles had been reversed due to a mishap where the janitor won the company after a crazy lawsuit. This role reversal happens several times until we eventually learned that they were actually both janitors and this role-playing is just their way to get through the day when the real executive entered the room and threatened to fire them both.   
  14. C+C Music Factory then returned to the stage to perform A Deeper Love. 
  15. We then went to an Art Museum where we saw from the point of view of a painting as we witness untrained idiots give their opinions on what I'm guessing is modern art since there is a pretentious tone to their every word.
  16. We then got another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shared his love of his favorite uncle, Uncle Caveman who turned out to be a bear.
  17. Finally, Susan Dey closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S17E13... HOST: JASON PRIESTLEY... DATE: FEBRUARY 15, 1992

SNL: S17E13... HOST: JASON PRIESTLEY... DATE: FEBRUARY 15, 1992

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with parody coverage of Olympic Skating with Jason Priestly playing a male figure skater and isn't as bad as far as the ice skating goes but his jumps are a complete disaster. After a few falls, he started to struggle with every aspect of the routine landing him a combined score of 0.9 from the judges. When asked how he thought the performance went Priestly announced, "Live from New York..."
  2. Jason Priestly then officially opened the show with a monolog about how different working in New York is compared to the time he's spent working in the 90210 zip code. He then went on to introduce several winners from a Beverly Hills 90210 fan-based contest where all of the winners were disappointed that they didn't win time with Luke Perry instead.
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for the Jiffy Pop Airbag which as the name suggests was a car airbag that fills with popcorn in order to provide a snack for you after an accident while you wait for the ambulance to arrive. 
  4. The Life And Times of Johnny Hildo was a profile docu-drama of a sketch that followed the life of Johnny Hildo who was bullied his entire life because his name is so close to dildo. The bullying goes on until he was pushed to the point where he killed seven people and landed in jail. His cellmate, played by Kevin Nealon, turned out to be the first person to call Hildo by his proper name which we learn is because his name is Larry Vagina. 
  5. Sprockets then returned for another installment. This time Dieter hosted a Valentine Special by introducing a game called Love Werks which was pretty much a parody of Love Connection only playing off of the quirks of German's serious personalities and quirkier sexual perversions.
  6. We then got a parody of The Arsenio Hall Show where Chris Rock as Arsenio interviewed "The New Kids On The Block" following a controversial period where they were accused of lip-syncing at their concerts. The sketch concluded with a live performance where Priestly and the cast as the band actually sing what they claimed to be their latest hit and of course it sounded absolutely awful.  
  7. This was followed by another installment of Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shares how he calms himself when he's overcome by homicidal rage.
  8. Teenage Fanclub then took to the stage to perform The Concept.
  9. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, David Spade dropped in to discuss animal abuse after a recent incident that involved a circus elephant that had to be put down after acting up and stampeding the crowd. At first, this seems to be anti-animal cruelty until we learned that Spade was against the use of guns because he felt he could've taken the animal down with his bare hands.  
  10. We then got a parody of Beverly Hills 90210 where the collection of thirty-year-old high school students get called into the auditorium to discuss the new sideburn rules in the dress code before getting to the big news that the 90210 zip code is being cut due to the struggles from the recession and the new postal could would be 90218 linking these spoiled brats to the people of North Hollywood. Following the assembly, we went to The Peach Pit to witness the "kids" as they coped with this horrible news.
  11. La Tour And Johnson then made their debut with Tim Meadows and Ellen Cleghorne as a pair of Peaches And Herb-style performers who pitched their latest album Strong And Lasting Love filled with love songs for dysfunctional lovers. 
  12. We then followed Jason Priestley as he met with Fiancee's Father to ask for his blessing in his plan to marry his daughter only to get denied. This didn't stop Priestley which turned out to be one of the father's many tests that continue on while walking a fine line of falling into the creepy zone. That's is until the end where the test started became unquestionably dark and weird.  
  13. This was followed by another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shared a wish to be able to save himself from both Superman and Dracula at the same exact time. 
  14. Teenage Fanclub then returned to the stage to perform What You Do To Me and the song Pet Rock back to back.
  15. Racist Robbery was a sketch that took place in a bank in the middle of a black community where Jason Priestley and Dana Carvey entered to rob the joint only to be called out as racist when they just wanted to commit the crime.
  16. This was followed by one more Deep Thoughts By Jack Handy where Jack pondered the connection between powerlifting and peeing when it comes to the sport's rules.
  17. Finally, Jason Priestley closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E14... HOST: ROSEANNE & TOM ARNOLD... DATE: FEBRUARY 22, 1992

SNL: S17E14... HOST: ROSEANNE & TOM ARNOLD... DATE: FEBRUARY 22, 1992

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with A Message From The President Of The United States where Dana Carvey as George Bush Sr. addressed the country for the first time since officially winning the nomination for his attempt at a second term. He also acknowledged that it was close enough to him to get the message that the people were pissed which made him a little nervous as he built up to the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
  2. Roseanne and Tom Arnold then officially opened the show with a bit of a stand-up routine where they joked about themselves and their relationships both past and present while expressing concerns that they may be to the point where they are overexposed. Worried that they have nothing new to share, Tom nervously started to make-up new rumors in an effort to please the audience. 
  3. Dick Clark's Receptionist returned with David Spade as the late producer's office gatekeeper who is too hip to recognize even the most famous appointments who dropped in, including "Our Savior, Jesus." Being that this was the period where Roseanne was going through her super diva phase her angry reaction felt like it came from experience.
  4. Coffee Talk then returned once again with Linda Richman sitting in for Paul Baldwin and Roseanne and Madonna playing her special guest for the night to talk coffee and movies in their over the top New York accents. This sketch ended with a special visit from Barbara Streisand which was a legitimate surprise to the cast. 
  5. Tall Tales of the Recession was a western-style sketch with Dana Carvey as Dollar Bill who shared a tale of two CEOs who had a layoff competition that's to a piece of regulation that turned hiring practices into the Wild Wild West where these executives could do whatever they wanted.
  6. Red Hot Chili Peppers then took to the stage to perform Stone Cold Bush.
  7. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Dana Carvey dropped by as his Grumpy Old Man character to bitch about the Winter Olympics while he shared the horrible hurdles of winter sports from back when he was a kid while reassuring that the actually "LIKED IT."
  8. Delta Delta Delta also returned for another installment of the female cast playing sorority girls that mainly made fun of youth culture from the time while Roseanne played the first ever sorority girl to be accepted from night school as a way to explain their age gap.
  9. A Star Is Born was a parody of a biopic about Tom Arnold's life and how he was absolutely nothing without Roseanne only to become the most famous mooch of all times while it also shared how he went from Thomas to Tom. 
  10. Daily Affirmation also returned with Stuart Smalley who introduced us to Roseanne and Tom who played his sister and her ex-husband who was now a deadbeat dad and the three aired out some family laundry that got crazier and crazier the more that we learned. At one point Stuart offers Roseanne a healing technique while he tried to get her to take her aggressions out by hitting a pillow with a foam rubber bat only to end up getting violently assaulted by Tom Arnold instead due to all the pent-up anger.  
  11. Red Hot Chili Peppers then took to the stage to perform Under The Bridge.
  12. When then got a Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shared his views on why a shark riding an elephant is the most dangerous animal on the planet.
  13. Finally, Roseanne and Tom Arnold closed the show by thanking the audience and saying their goodnights.
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SNL: S17E15... HOST: JOHN GOODMAN... DATE: MARCH 14, 1992

SNL: S17E15... HOST: JOHN GOODMAN... DATE: MARCH 14, 1992

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with "C-SPAN coverage" of a Star Trek Convention that the Democrats hijacked in order to campaign against George Bush Sr. for President in order to lock down the nerd vote. Of course, this being the opening sketch all of the Trekkie political talk built to the announcement of, "Live from New York..." 
  2. John Goodman then officially opened the show with a monolog about how this is his third time hosting but this is the first of his visit to promote a film which happens to be the movie, Babe. He then went on to share a few "clips" where we learn that it's a musical with a French Connection-style car chase, and a scene where Babe Ruth grew to the size of Godzilla. 
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for an album called Unforgivable making fun of Natalie Cole's duet album with her late father Nat King Cole. In the ad, Natalie sings more duets "with her dad's dead old friends," which is actually the tagline for the album.
  4. My 75 Kids was a fake sit-com sketch that made fun of a fertility doctor who was in the news at the time who was using his own semen to impregnate all of his patients by showing his life at home if he had to actually raise all of the kids that he had helped to produce. 
  5. We then got a Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shared his anger over aquarium employees taking issue with his attempts to feed fried chicken to dolphins.
  6. Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer returned for another installment where the Caveman Lawyer was responsible for pitching a land development deal where there were environmental concerns that just didn't exist at the time when he was frozen in ice which is the focal point of his argument. 
  7. Garth Brooks then took to the stage to perform Rodeo.
  8. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Chris Farley dropped in for his first news segment where he discussed gays wanting to march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade by taking an unintentionally ironic stance against advertising being gay since it's more of a personal trait when the whole point of the day is for people to advertise the fact that they are Irish. Cajun Man also dropped by for an editorial on Spring Break. Finally, the news ended by sharing footage from "Ed McMahon's" latest marriage. 
  9. Theatre Stories also returned for another installment where Mike Myer's old actor British host character interviewed a collection of theatre stars where once again my main interest was Dana Carvey who played Mickey Rooney who is continually emphatic that he was once, "The number one star IN THE WORLD." 
  10. Anton Mesrobian: Teen Dermatologist was a sketch where Chris Farley dropped by the doctor to get help for his "Zit Goatee" which John Goodman, who played the titular role quickly determined was caused by his football chin strap. Julia Sweeney is the next to drop in and again we witnessed another instant diagnosis only this one was a little sexist. Goodman then got a house call to help Chris Rock with his hat line zits where this time it got a little racist as Goodman suggests that these zits stem from the stress of being the only black kid in a white community to which he suggested that they move back to the hood.  
  11. Garth Brooks then returned to the stage to perform The River.
  12. Schlomo Fuchs was a sketch where John Goodman played an up and coming country star who was meeting with a potential agent that suggest Goodman change his name from Bob Wilson in an effort to broaden his audience only to find out at the end of the sketch that the agent’s name is Schlomo Fuchs which might be why he was so interested in the name change.
  13. This was followed by another installment of Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack admitted that he hates to be accused of fearing one thing when he actual fears another. 
  14. Caesar's Sauna was a sketch where the politicians of Rome met in the sauna to discuss their plan to assassinate Caesar only to be continually interrupted by John Goodman who played just an average citizen who was trying to take advantage of the public amenity.
  15. We then got yet another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shared why he wished that there was such a thing as a golden skunk.
  16. Finally, John Goodman closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E16... HOST: MARY STUART MASTERSON... DATE: MARCH 21, 1992

SNL: S17E16... HOST: MARY STUART MASTERSON... DATE: MARCH 21, 1992

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with another parody of The McLaughlin Group where as usual the host grills his guest over the headline-making topics of the day while belittling anyone who doesn't share his same exact views. This this was a Presidential Election year, the main focus was on the remaining candidates' campaigns and with this being the opening sketch it eventually built to the announcement of, "Live from New York..." 
  2. Mary Stuart Masterson then officially opened the show with a monolog about how she is often cast as the tough but vulnerable characters before going on to show that she can pull off vulgar and stupid as well by a spastic dance that supposed to be sexy since she also revealed her bra. By the time she was done, she even thought it was stupid and pointed out how it made her feel vulnerable before she reassured the audience not to worry because she's also tough enough to put it past her and move on.
  3. We then got a fake ad for Action Cats which was a toy for kids that allowed them to turn their feline friend into an action toy through a collection of clip-on weapons and accessories.
  4. Lisa Pongrasic: Very Pregnant Undercover Cop was, as the title suggests as suggests, a sketch about a bad ass of an undercover cop who also happened to be extremely pregnant. After a quick cold opening where the police captain yelled at our baby-bearing hero over her over the top antics we got one of the best opening credits scene ever, featuring a very pregnant Mary Stuart doing very extreme cop things without being slowed down by her belly at all. After the credits, the novelty kind of wore of as the sketch almost became almost a legitimate undercover drug bust scene with only a couple of jokes.
  5. Lyle, the Effeminate Heterosexual then returned to the show where this week the effeminate but straight Dana Carvey had a confrontation with the mailman over what he would get out of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issues who is blown away after discovering that Lyle is not actually gay to the point where he's also married. This was just the introduction to get to the sketch's theme song. The rest of the sketch is filled with more of the same confusion that's still pretty funny even though it's pretty much a one-note joke.
  6. This was followed by an installment of Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack shares his plans on how to deal with Thanksgiving food that you don't like.
  7. En Vogue then took to the stage to perform Never Gonna Get It and the song Hold On back to back.
  8. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, "George Wendt's daughter" from the Bears Fans sketch dropped in to share a few beauty tips for brides to be to think about when planning their look for their wedding day and being that she's a beauty pageant queen her pointers leaned to the extreme. Cajun Man also dropped in once again, this time to talk about March Madness.    
  9. The Delta Delta Delta sorority sketch also returned for more of their brand of youth culture bashing while the girls of the show plan for Alum Week. Mary Stuart Masterson joined in as a homecoming guest only to scare the girls with tales from the real world outside of school where no one cares which sorority you're from.  
  10. We then got another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where this time Jack shared his advice on how to make a child feel lucky.
  11. This was followed by a fake ad for Monster Spray that was marketed to kids to keep monsters away while they're in bed. The product was also so overpriced the Phil Hartman, as the pitchman, suggested to kids that they should steal from their parents to buy it since they'll just deny that it works. 
  12. Who Shot Me?! was a sketch that took place in a rough high school where Kevin Nealon played a teacher who got shot. He then went on to question the students in the same way a teacher might if he were looking for a jokester who was simply shooting spit wads since he was way more annoyed than scared.
  13. This was followed by yet another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack ponder the joys that a Native American must have felt back in the day when they would kill a settler who was stealing their land.
  14. En Vogue then returned to the stage to perform Free Your Mind.
  15. Colosseum Events Committee was a sketch that took place during the gladiator days where we met the group who planned all the fights. During this pitch session, the three men involved brainstormed their way through the craziest of ideas, to somehow come up with an early version of baseball only with a lot more violence.
  16. We then got a Schillervision short film called Million Dollar Zombie where Victoria Jackson was in an abusive relationship so she didn't hesitate to look into her Publisher's Clearing House victory claim only to end up a mindless envelope stuffer who helped to generate the enormous amount of junk mail that the contest company produced.
  17. The Panhandler was a sketch where we got to hear the inner thought of Phil Hartman as he contemplated giving a homeless Chris Farley some money. Throughout this internalized struggle, we also witnessed Chris Farley's inner thoughts that were strictly about the booze until he ended up getting denied and thought he was getting attacked by spiders thanks to a case of DTs.
  18. Finally, Mary Stuart Masterson Closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S17E17... HOST: SHARON STONE... DATE: APRIL 11, 1992

SNL: S17E17... HOST: SHARON STONE... DATE: APRIL 11, 1992

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with another installment of Wayne's World where the two basement dwelling cable access hosts checked back in for their Second Annual Oscar Special where they shared their best and worst moments from the recent award ceremony. Of course, this being the opening sketch their top two picks were actually the announced of, "Live from New York..." 
  2. Sharon Stone then officially opened the show with a monolog/parody of Basic Instinct where she wore the exact same outfit that she wore in the interrogation scene. She also sat in a similar chair the exact same way as in the movie only instead of being questioned about a murder she uses her sex appeal to perform a cliche intro about how excited she was to be in New York hosting the show and how much she liked working with the cast. All this while everyone was hung on to her every word waiting for her to uncross and then re-cross her legs only she broke character and threw to the first sketch before this could actually happen.
  3. This was followed by a repeat of the Jiffy Pop Airbag ad from earlier this year which was as the title suggests an auto airbag that filled with popcorn to provide a snack while you wait for an emergency team to respond.
  4. Hitting On Women was a sketch with Sharon Stone at a bar having to deal with unconfident men who can barely speak while attempting to hit on her only to act like arrogant jerks when they return to talk to their male friends. That is until Jon Lovitz appears and triggered the opposite reaction where Sharon was at a loss for words.
  5. Sex Games was a sketch that I couldn't find anywhere on the internet but apparently, it featured Sharon Stone and Kevin Nealon role-playing in bed only they're both very vanilla in playing out their fantasies.
  6. We then met Flippy, The Flipping Chihuahua that started out as what seemed to be a new character only to find out that this was actually a Toonces, The Driving Cat sketch when he ran over the flipping dog before it turned into your Toonces sketch.
  7. We then got a repeat of the Lung Brush ad from earlier in the season which was a mini chimney broom designed for smokers to clean out their lungs.
  8. It's Pat returned for a new installment called Pat's Interrogation which parodied Basic Instinct only unlike with Sharon Stone, people seemed less excited about the leg-uncrossing scene except for the fact that it may lead to the answers they seek. Again, this is was another sketch that I couldn't find anywhere on the internet. 
  9. Pearl Jam then took to the stage to perform Alive.
  10. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Rob Schneider shared his views on the environmental crisis by sharing the jaded response that he got from a man while out doing his research. Ellen Cleghorne also returned as her character Queen Shenequa to talk about her plan to make it illegal to tax black people in exchange for reparations.
  11. Airport Security Check was pretty much a sketch that predicted the modern TSA where a group of airport security guards over searched Sharon Stone because they thought she's hot and made her take off more and more clothing before going through the x-ray machine.
  12. Ernie's was yet another sketch that I could not find online but from what I've read, it featured Chris Rock's old man Ernie character who runs a small shop and just bickers back and forth with his wife as the two call each other some horrible but funny names that you'd expect from two people who have spent so much time together.
  13. We then got a fake ad for Tayster's Choice Spermicidal Jelly which I could not find anywhere on the internet but from what I've read this was a parody of the Taster's Choice ad campaign from the time where a neighbor randomly drops by to borrow some instant coffee only in this case it's spermicide.
  14. Phil Hartman Creations was a sketch where we got a tour of Phil Hartman's characters by being introduced to their wigs.
  15. We then got a follow-up Tayster's Choice Spermicidal Jelly where again I'm only going by what I've read because I couldn't find this on the web. In this installment, Sharon Stone played the neighbor who borrowed the spermicide, dropped back by to return it only to catch Dana Carvey in the Middle of a date with Julia Sweeney but being that this is a commercial, this doesn't lead to any jealousy because they are all too excited about the product.
  16. Pearl Jam then returned to the stage to perform Porch.
  17. The Porno Couple was a sketch where Phil Hartman and Sharon Stone met up for drinks to discuss their upcoming marriage. During their wait for service, the two started to get things off their chest and how both of their lives were so porn dependent. First, we learned that Hartman was a porn actor and then quickly learned that Sharon Stone was a porn scientist, but it didn’t end there as the two continued to list off how even the most innocent aspects of their lives were actually link to not just sex but to the porn community.
  18. This was followed by a third installment of the Tayster's Choice Spermicidal Jelly ad where again, I'm going by what I've read thanks to the fact that this sketch isn't online. In this version, Dana Carvey had a surprise run-in with Sharon Stone at his sister's house where they continued to market the spermicide through their awkward commercial conversations. 
  19. Finally, Sharon Stone closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S17E18... HOST: JERRY SEINFELD... DATE: APRIL 18, 1992

SNL: S17E18... HOST: JERRY SEINFELD... DATE: APRIL 18, 1992

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with parody coverage of the Clinton-Brown Debate that started in the green room with "Bill Clinton" and "Jerry Brown" having a pre-debate debate over who gets what podium and which topics were and were not off limits to allow both men to bury their controversies that, at least in Clinton's case are still going on to this day. We never got to the actual debate as the sketch was cut short due to the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
  2. Jerry Seinfeld then officially opened the show with a monolog/stand-up routine about New York, being that it's his hometown. This fact allowed him to go into specific details to win of the locals in the crowd. After all the New York talk he went into his classic routines about flying on airplanes, how cops should serve double duty by being janitors in their downtime, along with several other classic bits.  
  3. Stand-Up And Win was a game show sketch with Jerry Seinfeld as the host who quizzed three hack comedian contestants on their knowledge of hack observational jokes, many of which were hack jokes that hack comedians make while referring to Jerry Seinfeld as a hack himself.
  4. Make You Think was a sketch that took place in a high school with Jerry as the teacher who had a new plan to help the kids learn since they failed so badly on their latest test that he decided to throw out the results. This new plan was to get the entire class to work together as a group but even collectively, they were too dumb to figure anything out. This sketch seemed to go on forever because it was it was actually really long but felt longer since it only stuck to one note. I personally felt that it also dragged on because I just don’t find youth bashing to be all that funny since to me it highlights the poor job done by the elders plus, I don’t even think that it’s true. 
  5. Annie Lennox then took to the stage to perform Why?
  6. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Adam Sandler introduced is Opera Man character to recap some of the top stories of the week through song.
  7. Elijah The Prophet was a sketch that took place at a Passover dinner where Elijah was actually at the door when Kevin Nealon went to carry out the religious tradition of opening the door to let his spirit it. It turned out that Elijah is a bit of a jerk who criticized the food and hit on one of the children. Jesus also arrived near the end of the sketch but this just a real quick scene to get us out of the sketch.
  8. Lank Thompson: I'm A Handsome Black Man was a follow-up sketch to an earlier ad hosted by Mike Myer’s only this time he advised Black Men how to be handsome in a very cheesy TV way, like always wearing suits and forcing a cheesy smile.
  9. Postures was a sketch that took place in an office where all of the employees were stuck in awkward poses that only made sense once we saw how they spend their day. For example, Jerry walked hunched over with his hands behind his head which really looked strange when he entered the room but made perfect sense when he fell into his chair and landed in the perfect reclined position.
  10. Annie Lennox then returned to the stage to perform Legend In My Living Room.
  11. I'm Chillin' then return for another segment where once again Chris Rock and Chris Farley start by sharing their new sponsor Bullet Hole Tampons for those who have other bloody holes to fill and then went on to share The Mother Joke Of The Day.
  12. The Lenny Wise Show was the parody of what I’m guessing was a radio host from the Superman comics who interviewed Jerry Seinfeld as The Man Of Steal about his day to day life as a superhero as if it weren’t that big of a deal
  13. Finally, Jerry Seinfeld closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E19... HOST: TOM HANKS... DATE: MAY 9, 1992

SNL: S17E19... HOST: TOM HANKS... DATE: MAY 9, 1992

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with fake political spot for the Ross Perot For President 1992 campaign where Dana Carvey and the tiny millionaire started out talking about the Rodney King Riots claiming that if he were President at the time he’d simply write a personal check to clear up all of the problems and then he would train all of the Crips and Bloods to take on the Chinese Technical industry in exchange for five percent of all future profits. He then went on to make a similar promise to the entire country if they would simply elect him to be the next President of The United States. As always, this being the opening sketch is eventually built to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”  
  2. Tom Hanks then officially opened the show with a monolog about how excited to host the show with Bruce Springsteen and how he is actually filling in for Joe Pesci who had to back out because the filming of Home Alone II ended up running long. This makes me a little nervous because looking at the lineup of sketches the show looked a little rushed even before I learned of this fact. It also didn’t help that this monolog seemed rushed as well. We then followed Tom Hanks backstage where Tom Hanks and the cast openly joked about the concerns that I just expressed until it turned into a quick parody of the, “What do I look like a clown to you…” scene from Goodfellas.
  3. We then got a fake ad for John Cabrizio Chevrolet Mazda Hyundai where Rob Schneider played a local car dealer who was using the insanity of the Rodney King Riots to pass on his crazy deals on cars that were damaged during the incident.
  4. Sabra Price Is Right was an Arminian parody of The Price Is Right where Tom Hanks revisited his deal pushing Arminian character to host the show while wheeling and dealing with the contestant and making them purchase what was supposed to be their prize.
  5. This was followed by one of my favorite sketches of all time where Tom Hanks tries to start a Mr. Belvedere Fan Club that met at the local community center. There was a pretty good turnout, considering the subject, that range from obsessed fans to Tim Meadows who was only there for the open mic night that was taking place later in the evening. The main point of this meeting is for the group to come up with a special name to secretly share their love for Belvedere when meeting with fellow fans. In the end, they all eventually agree on Brocktune.
  6. Bruce Springsteen then took to the stage to perform Lucky Town.
  7. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Jay Leno made a special appearance to share what he witnessed during the Rodney King riots while Kevin Nealon underhand pitched him the setups for what was more of a stand-up routine. David Spade also dropped in to talk about his family history as Mother’s Day started to near. Queen Shenequa also got a segment to talk about her West Coast family’s experience with the Rodney King Riots as well.
  8. She Turned Into Her Mother!!! was a horror movie parody where Tom Hanks and Julia Sweeney were discussing their day over dinner with Julia evolving in front of Tom’s eyes, starting slowly by saying similar things then builds to take on her voice and ending with her taking on her mother’s physical appearance as well.
  9. Bruce Springsteen returned to the stage to perform 57 Channels and the song Living Proof back to back.
  10. The Dark Side With Nat X then returned for another installment where this time the host of the only fifteen minute talk show on television interviewed the Rodney King Jury about how they even selected to serve let alone how they came up with the not guilty verdict that triggered the riots that week.
  11. This was followed by a Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey where Jack pondered whether or not God liked enchiladas playing of the claim that he lives within all of us.
  12. Showcase Playhouse Theater was a PBS style show where the host introduced a play called They Wanted To Fly where Mike Myers and Julia Sweeney played little kids in a stage play where we could see that they were attached to stunt strings but never lifted off of the ground.  
  13. Finally, Tom Hanks closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S17E20... HOST: WOODY HARRELSON... DATE: MAY 16, 1992

SNL: S17E20... HOST: WOODY HARRELSON... DATE: MAY 16, 1992

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of The Tonight Show where Johnny and Ed did a parody of the very last segment of the very last The Tonight Show. In the segment, Ed was drunk disruptive while Johnny tried to introduce the next bit which was a collection of filmed interviews of his competition as they said their goodbyes. This was followed by a bunch of surprise drop in visits from show regulars that ended with David Brenner getting mauled by an albino tiger from the San Diego zoo which led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Woody Harrelson then officially opened the show with a monolog about how he was thirteen when the show first aired and then went on to perform a song that he wrote for this special occasion of hosting the season’s last show, only to get too caught up in the introduction to get around to singing it. He eventually did get around to the song but it wasn’t all that noteworthy.
  3. We then got a repeat of the Action Cats sketch from earlier this year that offered attachments that would allow you to turn your cat into an action toy.
  4. Take Your Shirt Off was a sketch that took place on the beach where Woody and the male members of the cast are enjoying their day in the sun. Woody took off his shirt as if it were no big deal then turned to Chris Farley to talk him into joining. At first, Farley doesn’t want to disrobe because of his weight issue but Woody eventually talked him out of not being concerned about his appearance and enthusiastically joined in. This process then repeated over and over again as Woody talked everyone else to ignore their increasingly disturbing physical trait and take off their shirts and have fun ending on Dana Carvey who was embarrassed by his exposed baboon heart from an earlier operation.
  5. Sprockets then returned for another installment where Dieter discussed the failure of Euro Disney’s opening week with a German filmmaker played by Woody Harrelson who opened a competitive theme park called EuroTrash that highlight the darker themes of European culture.
  6. This was followed by a Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack suggests a new format for math test that doesn’t require correct answers to pass.
  7. Vanessa Williams then took to the stage to perform Save the Best for Last.
  8. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, the Bears Super Fans dropped in via satellite to talk about the Bulls taking on Knicks for the NBA Championship. Opera Man also made another appearance to sing about the top stories of the week.
  9. We then went back to the Delta Delta Delta sorority for some more youth bashing where this time the girls prepared for their finals only to be interrupted by Woody and David Spade who wanted their notes to cheat which didn’t go over well with the girls until the guys started to flirt which caused the girls to drop their guard and give in.  
  10. The Singing Cowboys then returned, this time with Woody singing the lead of a song called We're Cowboys And We're Proud that snuck in a lot of offensive jabs and city folks and people of color while pleasantly singing about their country life without them.
  11. Zoraida the page returned to pester Woody Harrelson on his way back to his dressing room where once again she confused the fictional characters that he played with Woody the real person.
  12. Frank Gannon, P.I. P.I. returned were once again the Politically Incorrect Private Investigator searched a crime scene for clues only to unintentionally offend everyone in the room with his disconnect in what he considers tasteful.
  13. Vanessa Williams then returned to the stage to perform The Comfort Zone.
  14. The Sensitive Naked Man also returned for another installment where this time our naked friend was at a baseball game with his son who is embarrassed by his naked dad yet Rob Schneider misinterpreted his kid’s concerns with something personal being disguised.  
  15. This was followed by another Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey where Jack pitched a movie idea about a brain scientist whose gets hit in the part of the brain that makes you obsessed with brains and how they work.
  16. Bad Expectant Mother was a fake PSA sketch where Victoria Jackson played a pregnant wife who doesn’t hesitate to join in on all of the things that you’re supposed to avoid when you have a kid inside your stomach like drinking, lifting and using a microwave with her belly inside the machine. The fun part of this is that she’s not the typical white trash that’s just going on with her trashy life like you’d expect from this sort of scene but is instead just oblivious to the fact that she was doing anything wrong at all.
  17. Finally, Woody Harrelson closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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