This season 47 episode 11 skit is called threesome and it's a little bit raunchy but unless you are a prude or an antisex religious nut you shouldn't have a problem with it. To be honest I don't know why youtube put a content warning at the beginning of this clip. I guess because this is an American show and as a society we still have an inhibited attitude towards sex.
As the name implies there are only three actors in this sketch. Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner play a married couple looking to spice up their love life by inviting a third man into their love making. The male gigolo is played by Will Forte. Apparently he specializes in heterosexual three ways. This a really funny yet simple sketch that shows off Will Forte's comedy skills. I also give props to the writers on this one. There is some really hilarious dialogue in this one.
More Cowbell was a skit performed on season 25 during episode 16 of Saturday Night Live in April of 2000. This is one of the funniest sketches from that season. Christopher Walken is very funny in this as he is in every show he hosts. He plays serious villains and psychopaths in most of his big screen films but somehow this translates into some really funny characters whenever he is on the show. It's the reason why he has been asked to host SNL 7 times at the date of this posting.
Of course Will Ferrell is also very funny in this one and is probably in my list of top ten comedians to ever host Saturday Night Live. Will is a professional funny man who stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of comedy greats like Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler. Will Ferrell has always been one of my all time favorite comedians and I have been in love with his comedy style ever since I saw the movie Step Brothers.
With these two sturdy professionals playing Bruce Dickinson and Gene Frenkle respectively we have enough acting genius and comedy experience in the room to make this a belly buster of laughs. However we also have Chris Kattan, Chris Parnell, Horatio Sanz and Jimmy Fallon rounding out the rest of the members of the band.
The skit begins as an episode of VH1 Behind The Music. The narrator tells us that in late 1976 the band Blue Oyster Cult assembled for a recording studio session with famed record producer Bruce Dickinson. The track that was layed down that day was their classic hit Don't Fear The Reaper.
The band tries to record the track in one session but keeps getting annoyed by Gene Frenkle's (Will Ferrell) over exuberance with the Cowbell. There are two points we're the band has to stop playing because Gene gets too carried away with beating his drumstick on the cowbell. Each time Bruce (Christopher Walken) enters the room to see what the problem is but each time he reiterates that he needs more cowbell.
This is a seriously funny SNL skit, one of the great ones from the 2000s period. I can watch this one over and over and I will still find myself holding my sides from all the laughter.
The skit also ends with a touching in memorium to Gene Frenkle who lived from 1950 to 2000. This is a hidden joke as this character is fictional, although modeled on the real musician Eric Bloom. Over the years the band has had many fans express their sadness over the passing of their former band mate.
This is another 1970s Saturday Night Live skit that deserves a review. It's from season 4 episode 8. This is one of Dan Aykroyds best impersonations ever in my opinion. Although I think he does a wonderful job of representing Julia Child I do have some problems with this sketch.
Julia Child is a great American icon. A wonderful French Chef and a woman with a huge personality. Her public television show The French Chef ran from 1963 to 1973 and produced more than 200 episodes. She was the author of many books and her TV shows taught professional cooking techniques in a way that made them understandable and accessible to millions of Americans.
Her personality and way of speaking made it inevitable that she would be top shelf comedy material for a sketch show like SNL. Dan Aykroyd dressed up like an older woman and mimicing her mannerisms was spot on in his performance. My only problem is that I think he should have continued with his impersonation of her rather than going for the cut and bleeding hand gag.
Physical comedy is the most difficult type of humorous endeavor, however the bloody finger gag is the oldest trick in the book. Don't get me wrong, I think this classic SNL skit is hilarious. I just think Dan Aykroyd could have gone in a different direction with this.
This classic 1970s Saturday Night Live skit from season 3, episode 18 is one the first repeating character sketches to appear on the show. It features Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin playing the two socially awkward Festrunk brothers. Two recently immigrated Czech brothers who don't really understand English lingo.
These two siblings are constantly trying to score with American women as they cruise the New York club scene. Although the title of this skit says computer dates I think there may be some confusion here. Instead of waiting for dates they are waiting for two foxes they met during their latest club outing. These two ladies played by Gilda Radner and Laraine Newman promised to meet them at their apartment.
Garrett Morris shows up playing their cool American friend named Cliff. He is convinced that his two buddies have been stood up but there may still be a chance for some swinging in their bachelor pad tonight.
This is a great skit. I think Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd had real chemistry together back in the 1970s. I wish there were more skits with them together. As it is they rehashed their roles as the Festrunk a few more times but more importantly it led to the creation of many more recurring characters. Recurring roles would become commonplace on SNL throughout the 70s, 80s and beyond.
Season 47 episode 12 features Willem Dafoe in the guest seat and surprisingly turned out to be a tummy tickler.
Willem Dafoe has never hosted Saturday Night Live and I think it is about time he got his shot. With the huge success of the new Marvel movie Spider-Man No Way Home it became possible for this Willem to do what every Hollywood actor dreams of, hosting SNL.
Willem has never been a comedic actor, most of his roles are too serious to make room for goofs and one liners. He has been in a lot of critically acclaimed movies and there can be no doubt of his dramatic ability for anyone who has seen The Lighthouse, Platoon or Boondock Saints.
When it comes to hosting SNL, having copious amounts of comedy experience is not a prerequisite for a one time gig. Almost everyone who has had serious mainstream success in Hollywood will be asked to host the show sooner or later.
Of course if you want to host multiple episodes you will have to have real comedy films in your oeuvre of work. This is why actors like Steve Martin, John Goodman, Tom Hanks and Alec Baldwin are constantly being asked to host the show multiple times.
Sometimes the best Saturday Night Live Skits come from more dramatic actors like Willem Dafoe. I think we did get some funny sketch comedy from this episode. Some of the better skits to look out for are Beauty and the Beast: The Mirror, Good Morning Columbus and Nugenix. I only wish we could have gotten a Spider-Man or Green Goblin skit, that would have been a real treat.
There is also the opening monologue itself which features Aidy Bryant and Mikey Day pretending to be from his hometown in Wisconsin. This is featured in the clip below, I hope you enjoy it.
This season 47 episode 10 Saturday Night Live skit is another cold open featuring James Austin Johnson as President Joe Biden.
In this sketch the President has figured out what is causing the spread of the Omicron covid variant. It all seems to have started around the same time the new Spider-Man No Way Home movie came out. He is convinced that the problem will go away once every stops seeing Spider-Man for the 100th time.
It seems that nearly the whole cast was in on this was. The Whitehouse reporters are played by Bowen Yang, EgoNwodim and Andrew Dismukes. Pete Davidson also makes an appearance as another version of Biden from Marvel's multiverse. Apparently this dimensions President Biden is not the real one but was created as a joke.
This cold open SNL sketch was a lot of laughs. I really enjoyed it. James Austin Johnson does a tremendous job or portraying the President in a way that really brings out the hilarity of the character. This is a magnified version of Joe Biden that doesn't exactly fit with reality but it works and it has the crowd rolling in the aisles.
I look forward to more Joe Biden parodies like this. It reminds me of the fun the cast use to have in the Bush W. era. Or if you want to go even further back, the Reagan Presidency.
This new Saturday Night Live sketch is from season 47, episode 12. This cold open skit is a parody of the Russian disinformation campaign going on right now as Vladimir Putin attempts to invade Ukraine. President Biden is being briefed by some of his top aids about the escalating tensions between Russia, America and the Ukraine as the Russians attempt to use social media to twist the facts to their advantage. Will the Kremlin succeed in convincing Europe and the west that they are the good guys?
This is a particularly funny SNL skit. It features Kenan Thompson as one of Bidens top Generals. Ego Nwodim and Alex Moffat also have starring roles as members of the presidents cabinet of advisors.
This skit also has a small appearance by Pete Davidson as Aaron Rodgers and Chris Redd as a statefarm representative. I won't gives this short vignette away but it's hilarious.
Chloe Fineman also has a small but significant role as a teenage social media expert brought in to fight fire with fire by starting her own meme war with Putin.
James Austin Johnson turns in an applaudable performance as President Joe Biden. His portrayal of the president as a clueless boomer who still hasn't yet figured out how the internet works and who is still stuck in a post WWII mindset when it comes to Germany should not surprise anyone.
Both Democratic and Republican Presidents have been fodder for SNL comedians since the shows conception. When the sitting President is well into his golden years the Saturday Night Live writers are going to take full advantage of that. There is no political favoritism here. In the past most older Presidents have been Republicans so it's just Biden's turn.
Overall this is a really funny sketch. I think James Austin does a particularly good job of portraying the President in a comedic manner. This is a really good cold open and one that I will remember for a long time. Let's just hope the real crisis on the Ukrainian border works itself out before it turns into a disaster.
Here is a classic SNL skit from the 1980s called 'The Eggshell Family'. Its from the sixth episode of season 12. It's about a family that is neurotic and extremely sensitive to the point that the family cannot function or even communicate with each other.
The 1980s was the golden age for Saturday Night Live in my opinion. I know many people believe the 1970s were the best years for good SNL skits but I am a 80s and 90s child so I love these two decades the most.
That being said this is not one of my favorite classic SNL sketches. It's just not that funny. I generally love Steve Martin, he was great in many of of his appearances on the show over the years. The guy is in a very exclusive club having hosted SNL 15 times as of this posting. I love his stand up as well as his many comedy blockbusters. The Jerk is one of my favorite funny movies.
Maybe it was the writers fault, or maybe I just don't know good comedy but I never really liked this one very much. Martin Short was also in this as one of the male sons of the oversensative father played by Steve Martin. Short has always been hit or miss with me when it comes to his SNL work. Jan Hooks who I have also enjoyed in other skits plays the mother. I sure wouldn't have any problems communicating with her if she were my mom if you know what I mean.
All in all this comedy sketch is average at best but because I love Steve Martin I will probably end up posting all of his Saturday Night Live appearances on this blog.
This is one of the greatest SNL skits of all time. It features in incomparable John Belushi as the Samurai Futaba or Samurai Hotel clerk and Chevy Chase who in my opinion is one of the greatest comedians of all time. It's interesting how Chevy Chase ended up having more big screen success than John Belushi even though John was the bigger mainstream star at the time and I don't mean this because of Belushi's early death.
This Saturday Night Live skit was featured in the 7th episode of the first season and is Belushi's first portrayal of Samurai Futaba. He would go on to do a total of 18 sketches as this character. The role is based on Toshiro Mifun's character in Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo. In that movie Toshiro plays a peerless Samurai named Sanjūrō Kuwabata who's mind is even quicker than his sword.
Although the role may be based on a more serious character Belushi turns it into comedy genius. Speaking mock Japanese to Chevy Chase's perfect English, the two seem to understand each other despite the language barrier and that is part of the underlying comedy here. Richard Pryor makes an appearance as another Samurai employee of the hotel. Apparently there is some confusion as to who is the bellboy at this establishment and a mock sword battle ensues.
I won't give away all the laughs in this one but if you haven't seen this classic SNL skit you must watch it immediately. If you like vintage Saturday Night Live clips and you like reading about the history of this great American sketch comedy series then stay connected to this blog because for the next few months I will be posting tons of great SNL skits from the 70s and 80s and adding lots of great commentary.
So it's been a long time since I worked on this blog. I've been gone for about seven years. What can I say, things happen that are beyond our control sometimes. I'm back now, and that's the only thing that matters.
I have a lot of blogs that I had to leave dormant. I am amazed that many of them still exist. I guess using a free hosted blog format that is owned by Google has its advantages. One thing that really took me by surprise is that this blog was actually getting traffic during those years that I was gone. Not a lot mind you but the fact that I've only had four posts on here got me thinking. Where would this blog be if I had been making a post or two every week during that time instead of leaving it blank?
I'm sure this blogspot blog would be in a much different place if I would have given it the attention it deserves. So from here on I plan on doing at least one post a week and if possible I'll do a lot more. Hopefully I will never be in a situation where I can't post for that long of a period again.
As I move forward I plan on focusing on classic SNL skits to begin with. I love the old stuff because it's the Saturday Night Live that I grew up with. I hope you don't mind. In the end it's all for the laughs.
