or...

The Legendary Host Of An Okay Episode

First off, I have to preface this, just like I did for George Carlin's first appearance, and put it out there that I am a huge fan of Carlin, especially when it comes to his stand-up comedy. I also like him in his later-in-life movie roles where he seemed to care less about the camera and just perform as himself.

That's not to say that he seemed uncomfortable being on camera, it's just that his acting seems a little stiff at this stage in his career which is fully understandable because looking at his resume from this time it's obvious his interest was still stand up because this episode took place four years before his acting credits started to grow.

It also doesn't help that the writing from this season has been barely above average so far. The flat acting mixed with the barely better than mediocre writing left me feeling meh. That said, admittedly, this episode also suffered from the fact that I went into the viewing with super high expectations for Carlin as a host based on his later career that there is almost no way that it could live up to what I wanted.

So again, like other shows that I admit to being disappointed by, it's not necessarily because I thought it was bad.

Now that I've got that out of my system, it's time to move on to what I saw as I give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

The week's show with a profile of Walter Mondale: Ex-Politician where "Walter Mondale" pitches a new razor now that he out of politics. Gary Kroeger, who is playing Mondale, eventually breaks the scene to express his disappointment that Mondale didn't do better in the election because he was banking on him being his career-making character that instead he decided to retire with the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
George Carlin then officially opened the show with a monolog about how this was his first time back to the show after hosting the very first episode of Saturday Night Live. He then discusses some of the controversy that came from his first visit due to some of the religious content in his jokes which leads to another anti-religious routine where he directly calls out some of the religious leaders from the time to call into the show for a debate which I hope will come into play later on in the show.
Willie and Frankie then returned for a second week in a row this time they play night security guards to perform the same fun but repetitive routine. This is the actual sketch that I think of when these characters come to mind.
"Profiles In Sports" is a profile sketch that follows Belushi as a chess coach who is over the top aggressive who seems better fit to yell at a failing basketball team.
We then got a parody of The Joe Franklin Show. Though I am aware of the real show, I've only heard about it through references so I might have missed some of the nuance related jokes but it was still a pretty funny talk show themed sketch filled with random weirdo guests, interacting with a very boring host.
Rich Hall's Election Report then returned where Rich Hall sums up the rhetoric from both Reagan and Mondale that led to the results of the presidential election that is very reminiscent of things that have been said about this latest election and how we ended up with Trump.
Strategic Airborne Contraceptive is a fake ad for a contraceptive that works pretty much like Reagan's Star Wars program only it goes after sperm.
Ye Olde Comedy Shoppe is a sketch that takes place during the thirteen colony days and features Carlin as Jackie Jefferson performing stand up in the titular comedy club with jokes relevant to the time.
Jim Belushi then hosted The Ghostbuster Show where he interviews Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Mary Gross as Russian's to talk about his favorite movie of all times and pretty much just recap the movie with their silly but not too over-the-top accents.
This week, George Carlin sits in as the special host of the news. Pamela Stephenson also got a segment to talk about America's obsession with breast while hers seem to have a mind of their own, Gary Kroeger also dropped in as a science reporter to talk about a painful condition called random spot bleeding but it turns out he just forgot to take the pins out of his brand new shirt, and once again Billy Crystal's old Princess Bride like character gave us the sports.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood then took to the stage to perform Two Tribes.
Ted's Book Of World Records is a fake ad for "Ted" to capitalize on the popularity of the Guinness Book by putting out a book of his own only it contains nothing but his own personal world records including longest bath.
Alan Thicke's In Thickeness & In Health was a fitness based talk show hosted by "Alan Thicke" that parodies a fictional follow-up to his In The Thicke Of The Night talk show where he interviews a vaudeville era songwriter about his current health routine and finishes off the interview with a physical stress test where the old timer passes out while running on a treadmill machine.
Carlin and Crystal then play a father and son cop team that still lives together. Carlin is so proud of his son for joining the police academy to carry out the family tradition that he completely blocks out every attempt Crystal makes to break the news that it's just not his calling in one of those end of the night sketches that is more sentimental than funny.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood then returned to the stage to perform Born To Run.
Finally, George Carlin closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

Though I hate to admit how I wish that I liked both of Carlin's appearances more than I did neither visit was bad and I was still able to find these favorite moments from this show. First, I loved the Ted's Book Of World Records because as a narcissist who used to often apply to the Guinness Book while drunk, I can relate to this character. Next, I really liked the Aggressive Chess Coach sketch because it's a classic that stands out in my mind and I still find it rather funny. Finally, I was a fan of the Ye Olde Comedy Shoppe sketch because I like the reminder that people throughout history had comedic insights about the current times and not everyone agreed with historic decisions and how a victory doesn't always mean a win.