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Just That Fast I'm Back On Board With This Season

Just yesterday I was saying how I had reached the breaking point to where I was officially fed up with this season. Where I have genuinely hated seasons from the past, in this case, I was more frustrated that these episodes have been just mediocre when they truly have the potential to be super good based on what they had to work with.

For some reason, this season seems to have lost the shows edge with where it feels more like I'm watching an after school sit-com like Facts Of Life or Silver Spoons to where the show can be fun and entertaining to watch without a single laugh out loud moment, with last night's episode being the absolute worst.

Thankfully, this episode was a really good show that may have gotten a few bonus points due to my childhood crush on Melanie Griffith but I think there is way more to it than that. I think the big difference in this episode was that the show seemed to get its edge back simply by making Melanie's characters feminine but strong no matter what position they held.

Whether she played a hooker in jail or the actual boss in charge it felt like she was playing female characters and not just a caricature of a woman even when she had to deal with demeaning caricatures of men. That's not to say that this made the show funny but it added an interesting layer that stood out even more following a run of extra bland/safe episodes.

I was not only impressed by Melanie Griffith's role as host but over all, this was the strongest episode of the season so far, but unfortunately, even with that said, I still felt this show lacked any big laughs but it has revitalized my enthusiasm toward this season because the rest of the hosts are just too good for them not to figure it out.

Alright, I'm happy to have my enthusiasm revived and really hope that it holds up through tomorrow but until then, it's now time to move on and share what I saw as I give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with Church Lady On Christmas Eve where we went away from the Church Chat studio to see the Church Lady's bed time prayer and other pre-sleep rituals to ward of the evils caused by SATAN. Apparently, these prayers to get the devil to stay away were of no use because Lovitz eventually arrives as Lucifer and attempt to trick the holy one into selling her soul but she doesn't buy in and gets a Satan statue for her dashboard as a consolation prize. This gift/cursed object came with a note that read, "Live from New York..."
Melanie Griffith then officially opened the show with a monolog about how she excited to host the Christmas episode before sharing her views on the true meaning of the season which is world peace and what not, only to have a disclaimer running at the same time reassuring that neither the show nor the network endorses her me harmonious views.
First Guardian MetroCard was a fake ad for a bank that goes so far with their customer service that they actually call their clients when they see excess spending, not for security purposes but instead to act like a surrogate husband in a cliche world where men are apparently responsible with their spending and have to keep an eagle's eye on what their wives buy even if it's their own personal funds. Even after justifying each purchase, the ad still ends with Melanie Griffith appreciating the service saying it feels like she has a new dad.
Miss Self-Esteem USA Pageant was a sketch about a beauty pageant for women who genuinely have a high sense of self-worth. We then met the three final contestants, Jan Hooks who is self-confident in a self-help bumper sticker talk, Victoria Jackson who isn't actually confident at all and is there by default being the only one to apply from her region, and Melanie Griffith who is confident in a New York that some might consider a bitch. It turns out that Melanie Griffith is the only one with a true self-esteem but that's because she's the only one who doesn't seem to try to fit in with the traditional views on what's considered feminine because she's unpolished and just acts like herself.
We then to a CIA Christmas Party where everyone tries to mingle but can't really speak about anything due to the secrecy involved in their line of work
Community Chapstick was a sketch where Kevin Nealon borrows Dana Carvey's Chapstick as if he were just borrowing a pen. Nealon thinks nothing of this while Carvey is understandably freaked out. As soon as Kevin Nealon leaves the scene person after person notice and borrow the lip gloss as if it were no big deal, while the mouths of the people involved continually grow to be more and more disturbing ending on a big lipped alien who asks for a shmear.
Little Feat then took to the stage to perform Let It Roll.
Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, Victoria Jackson dropped in for a poem about a Christmas Tree that she recited while standing on her hands and dressed as the festive plant only she falls just before finishing her performance but she's graceful enough to land without getting hurt. Dana Carvey as Dennis also stopped by and the dueling Dennises did a reading of A Night Before Christmas.
The Sweeney Sisters then ended up in jail because they were mistaken for hookers due to their fur coats, big hair, and caked on lounge singer style make-up. It doesn't take long for the mix up to be resolved but during their short stay, they made a connection with Melanie Griffith so they say their good byes with a medley of jail themed songs.
Love Is A Dream was a black and white dream of a sketch where an old Jan Hooks enters a bank to check her security box and the tiara inside sends her back to a colorized version of the world where she is young and gets serenaded by Phil Hartman as the two start to ballroom dance while Hooks joins in on the song. This sketch also aired either on Phil Hartman's last episode or the weekend after he was killed, either way, it's pretty moving no matter the occasion it's connected to.
Little Feat then returned to the stage to perform Hate To Lose Your Lovin'.
Misreading Signals was a sketch where Melanie Griffith played the boss who takes a meeting with Kevin Nealon who tries to make out with her every few seconds while she does absolutely nothing but do her job and he claims to be seeing signals even though she is perfectly clear that she's not interested, to the point where she eventually calls security to get him to leave. There's a really interesting tone to this sketch because it is clear that Nealon is being inappropriate while Melanie never even hints at playing along to where it feels like a bit of a modern serious message instead of something silly that just didn't age well with time. Based on the audience's reactions it was hard to tell if this whether or not it was ever meant to be funny in the first place.
Tonto, Tarzan, and Frankenstein then returned for another Season's Greetings where the trio sang Deck The Halls.
Finally, Melanie Griffith closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

These might not be the funniest of moments but they are my favorite three sketches from the night. First I loved the Love Is A Dream short film because it is one of those sentimental end-of-the-night sketches that I'm a fan of while also being the first sketch that comes to mind when I think about the late Phil Hartman kind of like the Don't Look Back In Anger short was a touching pre-death tribute to John Belushi even if it was meant to be a joke when it was originally shot. Next, I really liked the Community Chapstick sketch because working on movie sets I've seen weird things like this shared as if it were no big deal so I found this to be a funny idea. Finally, I was a fan of the Miss Self-Esteem USA Pageant because of how Melanie Griffith's character provided a different take on what a confident woman can look like.