SNL: S19E14... HOST: MARTIN LAWRENCE... DATE: FEBRUARY 19, 1994

or...

My Birthday Episode: Year 18

 

Even though I was a pretty big fan of the TV show Martin and liked seeing Martin Lawrence whenever he would show up in a movie, I have to admit, I was never really a fan of him as a stand-up comedian because I feel he’s one of these types that add extra energy to his delivery in order to cover up the fact that his actual jokes are just okay. With that said, I was looking forward to this episode because that extra energy can really come in handy in the world of sketch comedy.

 Fortunately, I was right this time, as I’ve often been way off when it comes to my expectations during this challenge. This turned out to be a pretty fun show and I think a big part of it came from the fact that Martin Lawrence’s high energy made it believable that he was actually happy to be there.

As I’ve pointed out in the past, attitude alone can be enough to give me a better outlook on an otherwise just average show, so this episode that was already fun minus the added enthusiasm turned out to be good enough to genuinely like even though it used the fewer but longer format complete with a repeat sketch which was the only thing working against this episode.

Now that I’ve shared my views on this show, it’s now time to share what I actually viewed, as I give you…

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with A Message From Jeff Gillooly played by Rob Schneider who shared his side of the Nancy Kerrigan knee bashing scandal only to distract from his guilt he mainly focused on the Clinton Health Care Initiative since he wouldn’t be covered for his hit job since he was only a contracted worker for Tonya Harding. Of course, this being the opening sketch, it eventually built to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”

  2. Martin Lawrence then officially opened the show with a bit of his stand-up routine from that time, instead of an actual monolog, where he tells women to wash their ass.

  3. This was followed by a repeat of the fake ad for McIntosh Post-it Notes from earlier in the season.

  4. We then got a parody of COPS called THUGS where instead of a camera crew following the police, they followed the people who actually commit the crimes with Martin Lawrence and Phil Hartman playing an unlikely pair of common street criminals who mainly mug people who they stalk from their car.

  5. Daily Affirmation then returned where this time host, Stuart Smalley, had on Martin Lawrence as his guest to talk about race relations only his overly passive tones didn’t blend well with Lawrence’s straight up aggression as he went on to accuse Smalley of being a homosexual which brought out his inner rage and tapped into Martin’s sensitive side in the process. By the end of the sketch, they were both crying “like little girls.”

  6. Crash Test Dummies then took to the stage to perform Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.

  7. Once again, Kevin Nealon gave us the news. This week, Norm MacDonald dropped in for a segment to talk about a case where a woman accused him of stealing her song and defended Michael by asking where he would meet a girl since he is a child molester who hangs out with nothing but little boys (Norm’s words not mine.) David Spade also dropped by for another installment of his Hollywood Minute segment where once again he roasted celebrities who were making the news that week.

  8. Matt Foley: Motivational Speaker also returned to give warnings about ending up, “LIVING IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER,” to a bunch of kids in a prison as part of the Scared Straight Program which ended up not scaring the kids at all even after teaming up with Martin Lawrence who played a much more aggressive inmate who kept physically threatening the kids only to get made fun of in return.

  9. Mike Myers then debuted his The Bike Messenger character who was a very regal speaking bike delivery man making fun of the fact that the NYC bike messengers always carried themselves as the king of the roads. Another aspect of the sketch was that Myers kept yelling out conversations to people on the street even after being called out by Norm MacDonald who pointed out this form of communication would be completely impossible since one side was stagnant while the other was supposed to be traveling at a high speed.

  10. Crash Test Dummies then returned to the stage to perform Afternoons And Coffeespoons.

  11. The Benchwarmer was a sketch where Martin Lawrence played The New York Nets’ benchwarmer who loved to talk trash but was scared to death when it came to actually playing the game.

  12. This was followed by a parody of The Ricki Lake Show that focused on abusive fathers and husbands of major celebrities that featured Martin Lawrence as Joe Jackson and Tim Meadows as Ike Turner

  13. Finally, Martin Lawrence closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnight.

Again, another good sign of a good episode is how easy it is to sort out my three favorite moments of the night which I am about to share. First, I loved the THUGS sketch that parodied COPS because I always love when they reverse these roles for the sake of comedy. Next, I really liked this week’s Daily Affirmations With Guest Martin Lawrence because it was funny to see these polar opposites navigate their way to end up on the same page. Finally, I was a fan of This week’s Matt Foley: Motivational Speaker because I loved how it parodied Scared Straight which is usually a pretty unintentionally funny show on its own.

 
 

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