SNL: S23E01... HOST: SYLVESTER STALLONE... DATE: SEPTEMBER 27, 1997

SNL: S23E01... HOST: SYLVESTER STALLONE... DATE: SEPTEMBER 27, 1997

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of Oprah where, Norm MacDonald, as Marv Albert discussed his bizarre sexual fetishes with Tim Meadows as Oprah, following a recent sex scandal that was making the rounds at the time. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Sylvester Stallone then officially opened the show with a monolog that turned into more of a sketch after the Rocky star started out with the usual routine about how he was happy to host and then Jim Breuer joined him on stage as Mickey, who was Rocky’s coach in the early movies and attempted to encourage our host to do the best monolog that he could.
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for Xerox Assjet 790 which was a copy machine specifically designed for photocopying asses.
  4. Rita's New Car was a sketch where Cheri Oteri’s “I keep it now” character was thrilled by the fact that her husband, played by Stallone, bought her a brand new Cadillac, only to end up super annoyed when she found out that her neighbor, played by Molly Shannon got to ride in it first.
  5. Car Accident was a sketch where Sylvester Stallone witnessed Norm MacDonald get into a horrible car accident and attempted to comfort him as he lied dying but couldn’t get past the fact that Norm just wouldn’t stop criticizing the star’s less popular movies.
  6. The Roxbury Guys then returned for more of the same head bobbing routine, this time with Stallone as the third head-bobber while revising his Rocky character.
  7. Reno's Investigation was a sketch where once again, Will Ferrell played Janet Reno following yet another Clinton campaign finance scandal
  8. TV Funhouse then returned with another installment of Fun With Real Audio where this week they animated Humphrey Bogart having a flatulence problem during the filming of Casablanca.
  9. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Ana Gasteyer dropped by as a character named Cinder Calhoun to sing a song called Sausage Of Pain, after a long-winded introduction of her feminist/vegan character traits. Norm MacDonald also interrogated special guest, Richard Jewell about his involvement in the recent Olympic Park bombing.
  10. Jamiroquai then took to the stage to perform Alright.
  11. Orange Julius was a sketch where Sylvester Stallone played a demented computer salesman who longed for the days when the building he worked in used to be an Orage Julius restaurant.
  12. The Lost Deep Thoughts then made its show debut with Jack Handey sharing a tale of a mosquito that attempted to suck all of the blood out of a mummy.
  13. Planet Hollywood was a sketch where Jim Breuer and Tracy Morgan played two huge but annoying fans who wouldn’t stop pestering Stallone during the grand opening of the latest Planet Hollywood restaurant.
  14. Lou's Lovely Daughters was a sketch where Sylvester Stallone played an old dad who attempted to find husbands for his unattractive daughters by hosting a public access show.
  15. More Songs I Rewrote To Honor Dead People was a parody ad for an album where “Elton John” released more Candle In The Wind-style songs to capitalize on the deaths of celebrities.
  16. Finally, Sylvester Stallone closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E02... HOST: MATTHEW PERRY... DATE: OCTOBER 4, 1997

SNL: S23E02... HOST: MATTHEW PERRY... DATE: OCTOBER 4, 1997

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with another installment of the Spartan Cheerleaders where the two wannabe spirit squad of two broke into the school gym in order practice their routines for the cheerleading tryouts in the morning. As always, this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Matthew Perry then officially opened the show with a monolog that started out with the normal small talk about being excited to be hosting the show while promoting his role on Friends. He then shared how Friends is filmed in L.A. though it’s set in New York and went on to share a few differences. The monolog then cut to a prerecorded bit where Matthew Perry tried to get New Yorkers on the street to jump into a fountain in order to recreate the Friends opening montage in an effort to prove that the people of New York are so uptight that they won’t play along.
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for Cookie Dough Sport which was a Gatorade-style drink that was actually nothing but raw cookie dough.
  4. Celebrity Jeopardy! then returned for another installment where this time, Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek had to handle Norm MacDonald as Burt Reynolds, Darrell Hammond as John Travolta and Matthew Perry as Michael Keaton in order to guide them through the game.
  5. Sarcasm 101 was a sketch where Ana Gasteyer played a new student of a sarcasm class only to end up offended by the sarcastic words that came out of the teacher’s and her classmates’ mouths.
  6. The Ladies Man then made its show debut with Tim Meadows as Leon Phelps who is almost just a funny version of Tim Meadow’s Quiet Storm, overnight radio D.J. only Leon takes more calls and isn’t just about talking up his sexy playlist in a romantic tone.
  7. Space, The Infinite Frontier then returned for another installment with Will Ferrell as Harry Caray who discussed the Russian Space Station with Matthew Perry who played a NASA astronaut.
  8. Oasis then took to the stage to perform Don't Go Away.
  9. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Norm went alone and just delivered the news without any special guests.
  10. We then got a parody of M-TV News where Ana Gasteyer’s news anchor character Kinkaid introduced a segment where Goat Boy announced an upcoming music tour with opening guest “Julio Iglesias” and “Willie Nelson.
  11. The Kevin Franklin Show was a fake ad for a new late-night talk show hosted by Tim Meadows that promised to be just like every other late night talk show that was already out there.
  12. We then got a parody of Friends which was intentionally mundane since the scene was meant to be broken by Matthew Perry who objected to how gay Colin Quinn was portraying the Chandler Bing character to be.
  13. We then got introduced to the awesome stop animation/puppet show-style sketch called The Go-Lords who were a religious couple who defended Bill Clinton against the Chinese following yet another Clinton campaign finance scandal.
  14. Oasis then returned to the stage to perform Acquiesce.
  15. Good Morning With Liza was a morning talk show sketch hosted by Liza Minnelli who frantically interviewed her guest while sneaking in sips of boozes and pulls from a cigarette in an effort to hide her nerves as she rambled on like a madwoman.
  16. The Kevin Franklin Show was a follow-up to the first fake ad that announced Kevin Franklin already had to go into rehab meaning it will debut in a mellower format than what was originally planned.
  17. Finally, Matthew Perry closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E03... HOST: BRENDAN FRASER... DATE: OCTOBER 18, 1997

SNL: S23E03... HOST: BRENDAN FRASER... DATE: OCTOBER 18, 1997

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a sketch called Janet Reno's Fantasy where we got to see an emotionally disturbed Will Ferrell as Janet Reno, alone in her room where she talked to a giant stull lion as she fantasized about Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton while she watched him interact with a group of foreign leaders on TV. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Brendan Fraser then officially opened the show with a monolog where he started out promoting his new movie, George Of The Jungle and then went on to explain how the worst thing about being an actor is how people think they know the real him based on what they know of his characters. To finish off the joke, he then told the audience all of the things that he likes in a list that innocent but a bit bizarre.
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for Lemon Glow which was a floor cleaner that marketed the fact that it provides a renewed suburban existences for those housewives who used to live the wild life.
  4. We then got a parody of Xena: Warrior Princess where Molly Shannon played the Amazonian mythical hero who kept on dropping hints that she was lesbian while roughing up a bar full of drunks in order to remind them that no man stands a chance with her either through fighting or anything sexual. Brendan Fraser pretty much played a twin to Xena who was also her nemesis and the two ended up turning on another on during some random swordplay.
  5. Issues was a talk show sketch where Jim Breuer and Brendan Fraser played two stoner talk show host who couldn’t control their laughter while attempting to interview community leaders about their stances on local issues.
  6. Delicious Dish then returned for another installment where this time the two monotone NPR talk show hosts droned with their interview of Brendan Fraser who was playing a gourd expert who knew everything there was to know about squash.
  7. The Go-Lords then returned for another installment where this time the stop-animation-style religious puppets, of sorts, saved the day from a nuclear warhead that was stolen from Bill Gates.
  8. This was followed by a parody of Monday Night Football where Darrell Hammond as Frank Gifford couldn’t stop commenting on personal problems with his wife Kathy Lee following a recent scandal. In the sketch, Frank is so intent on clearing his name that neither of his co-hosts could fit in a single word about the sport they were there to watch.
  9. Cheri Oteri’s pill-popping Collette Reardon character then made her return to the show where once again she made a trip to the pharmacy to pester Brendan Fraser as this week’s pharmacist who had to refill her latest re-up of prescription drugs.   
  10. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Will Ferrell dropped in as Harry Caray in order to talk about the potential teams to make it to The World Series, focusing more on the mascots that the players.
  11. Bjork then took to the stage to perform Bachelorette.
  12. We then got another Biography parody where this time Darrell Hammond, as the host profiled Molly Shannon as Courtney Love for his 500th episode where they mainly focused on her years as a stripper and all of the drugs that she’s been known to use.
  13. Chris Kattan male stripper character Mango then made his show debut where he unwillingly put Brendan Fraser under a seductive spell even though he was portraying a straight family man but that’s just the power of Mango.
  14. We then got a fake ad for The Shark Channel which was a parody of an attempt to one-up shark week by having a channel that one-hundred percent devoted to shows about sharks.
  15. The night then winded down as Brendan Fraser broke into singing a couple of Buddy Songs about Will Ferrell while the rest of the cast got creeped out this weird celebration of short-term friendship and how Will’s hand wouldn’t leave Brendan’s knee. Norm was the only other cast-mate to be into the song and even joined in near the end.
  16. Finally, Brendan Fraser closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E04... HOST: CHIS FARLEY... DATE: OCTOBER 25, 1997

SNL: S23E04... HOST: CHIS FARLEY... DATE: OCTOBER 25, 1997

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a sketch called Permission To Host that took us back to the start of the season where Tim Meadows and Lorne Michaels weighed the plusses and minuses of having Chris Farley on as host considering ongoing issues with alcohol and drugs. At one point, Chevy Chase entered the scene as Chris Farley’s sponsor but that didn’t ease Lorne’s concerns considering Chevy’s history of hosting while being messed up as well. The scene ended with Chris Farley’s attempt to throw himself through Lorne’s desk to prove that he’s still got it only to find out it was made of real wood and far too durable to break. This failed stunt seemed to almost trigger a genuine laugh from Lorne which then led Farley to announce, “Live from New York…”
  2. Chris Farley then officially opened the show by continuing the narrative of the opening sketch as it appeared that he was a no-show. After a moment where we were left to stare at the empty stage, we went to a dressing room where Chris Farley seemed to be acting drunk as he went on to make out with Ana Gasteyer. Chris Rock and Tim Meadows then save the day as they tried to explain the delay. After a few jokes, they called out Chris Farley to officially open the show.
  3. We then got a fake ad for Yum Bubble Genital Herpes Gum which was, as the title suggest and gum for those with genital herpes which parodied the series of herpes drugs from the time where everyone seemed happy to live with their new pill that eased the symptoms of their STDs, mix with a typical bubble gum-style ad that promoted how their flavors were so extreme.
  4. Morning Latte was a parody of your average mundane local morning show with Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri as a set of hosts who rambled on with the usual insipid morning show-style talk about absolutely nothing at all. Chris Farley played the show producer who kept trying to join in on the conversation only to get super annoyed by the fact that he had to keep repeating himself since he could not be heard well from his spot offstage. After a while, Farley could no longer hide his rage from feeling ignored so joined the two on stage in order to yell at the both of them.
  5. Mary Katherine Gallagher then made her return to the show where this time Catholic school outcast befriended Farley as the fat kid and asked him to join her at the St. Monica Autumn Dance.
  6. This was followed by a parody of Martha Stewart Living where Ana Gasteyer as Martha shared a few of her crazy arts and crafts pointers to create an aesthetically-pleasing Halloween scene of mischief by making traditional holiday pranks that visually looked like they belonged in magazines.
  7. Chris Farley then revised his Matt Foley Motivational Trainer character in order to attempt to motivate the participants of a trendy new high-intensity spin class.
  8. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Tracy Morgan dropped in to share how he was proud to be “the other black guy,” on SNL.
  9. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones then took to the stage to perform The Impression That I Get.
  10. Goth Talk then returned for another installment where the two gothic, cable access hosts tried to put on a show as usual only to ended up constantly interrupted by Jim Breuer and Chris Farley as a pair of rowdy jock who dressed as the Budweiser frog to celebrate Halloween.
  11. The Lost Deep Thoughts also returned for another installment where this time, Jack Handey reflected on his misinterpretation of the phrase “finding Jesus.”
  12. This was followed by a parody of Sally which apparently was the new name of the show hosted by Sally Jesse Raphael. In the sketch, Cheri Oteri played the typical talk show mother of a super fat baby who was portrayed by Chris Farley in a diaper.  
  13. Bocephus was a sketch that took us behind the scenes with Chris Farley as Hank William Jr. who performed multiple options for the Monday Night Football theme song from these days.
  14. The Super Fans Revisited was a short film that shared what became of George Wendt as Bob Swerski and his Bears Super Fans after it was revealed that Mike Ditka left their favorite team to head south and host the New Orleans Saints. It turned out, some went through some extreme technics to turn themselves into Saints fans but even including these examples, none of the Sports Fans handled the change well at all.
  15. Weather Scope was a sketch that brought back Chris Farley’s El Nino character as he discussed the new contract that he signed to join the WWF as their latest wrestling superstar.
  16. Finally, Chris Farley closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E05... HOST: JON LOVITZ... DATE: NOVEMBER 8, 1997

SNL: S23E05... HOST: JON LOVITZ... DATE: NOVEMBER 8, 1997

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a sketch called Controlling The Airwaves where during an address by Darrell Hammond as President Bill Clinton, several media moguls kept interrupting the president in order to push their agendas following some deregulation of broadcasting rules that allowed such moguls to have enough power to do so. As always, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Jon Lovitz then officially opened the show with a monolog where he took the opportunity to boost his ego by sharing a piece from his new one-man show that ended with a song and dance about how much he loved himself to the tune of The Way You Look Tonight.
  3. This was followed by a sketch that took place behind the scenes of a fake ad for Dunkin Donuts that shared the last days of the “Time to make the donuts” proclaiming donut spokesman before his retirement. As much as he tried to make more out of his career and finish the series of ads with some closure, the director wants nothing more than for the donut man to just get the commercial over with. By the end of the sketch, we got to see the final product where the donut man said his goodbyes before hooking up with a bikini model and having a run in with the grim reaper to satisfy all of his closure-inducing ideas.
  4. Larry King's Wedding Reception was an event-style sketch that allowed the cast to use some of their more random impersonations, this time, to roast the aging talk show host on his wedding day.
  5. A Year With Jewel was a sketch where Jon Lovitz won an MTV prize where he got to live in the Alaskan wilderness with Ana Gasteyer as Jewel. It doesn’t take long for Lovitz to find Jewel to be no fun yet he was stuck with her for an entire year in a single room cabin where she did nothing but sing her own songs and share tales of her struggles as a child. Keep in mind, this was years before there was a reality show that focused on Jewel’s Alaskan family.  
  6. TV Funhouse then returned with another installment of Fun With Real Audio where once again, Robert Smigel added some animated fun while highlighting Bill Clinton’s liabilities while giving a speech to America.
  7. The Ladies Man also returned for another installment where this time Leon Phelps simply answered more questions from callers by giving sleazy sexual advice.
  8. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Jon Lovitz brought back his Pathological Liar character to lie about what he’s been up to since leaving the show.
  9. Jane's Addiction then took to the stage to perform Jane Says.
  10. We then got a parody of The Late Show With David Letterman where Norm MacDonald as Dave had on Jon Lovitz as Marv Albert who shared a few clips from a raunchy home video that made light of a recent sex scandal with the sports announcer who was fired for biting a woman’s back in the middle of a sexual assault.
  11. The Lost Deep Thoughts then returned for another installment where Jack Handey shared his thoughts on the biggest secret held by a mountain which he thinks to be that it’s fake.
  12. Colin Quinn Explains The New York Times was as the title suggests, a segment where Colin Quinn used his stand-up skills to explain what was going on in the news in terms that might make more sense to the common reader.
  13. This was followed by a parody of The Robin Byrd Show which was apparently a real New York City cable access show that focused on the world of porn. Cheri Oteri played the titular host and this week had on Jon Lovitz as Ron Jeremy to talk about his career which was followed by an interview with “Mark Wahlberg” and “Burt Reynolds” promoted the movie Boogie Nights.
  14. Set Our Nanny Free was another Feed The World-type parody where this time the cast impersonated a bunch of musical artists joined together to sing a charitable song about an au pair from the time who some thought was wrongfully accused of manslaughter after a child under her care died from a mysterious head injury that may have been there months before the actual death.
  15. Finally, Jon Lovitz closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E06... HOST: CLAIRE DANES... DATE: NOVEMBER 15, 1997

SNL: S23E06... HOST: CLAIRE DANES... DATE: NOVEMBER 15, 1997

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with A Message From The First-Lady Of The United States where Hillary Clinton took over an address by her presidential husband to finally get to speak after silencing her during the reelection process. Hillary took the opportunity to talk about health care reform only the second that she started to talk Bill started to use dirty techniques in order to get her to think that her time to talk was over. He also kept chiming in after every one of her points because he feared that every word she spoke equaled a loss of a point in his approval ratings. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually ended with the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Clare Danes then officially opened the show with a monolog about how she was excited to host the show especially since SNL is five years old then she is. For some reason, someone from the audience randomly stood and asked about the fact that she was going to Yale. Though the transition was a bit sloppy this led to a round of questions from the audience by people who were all turned down from the Ivy League School to question the validity of how she came to be accepted which really put her on the spot.
  3. We then got a fake ad for The Weston Collection where Will Ferrell played a successful man who had it all but didn’t feel it until he bought the new “I’m #1” hat that was being sold which allowed him to finally enjoy his success.
  4. Barry Scheck's Clients was a sketch where Norm MacDonald played the titular defense lawyer who kept getting surprise-visits from some of his more controversial/not-so-innocent clients while his wife was gone. Throughout the sketch, everyone kept hinting at how guilty they were even though Scheck managed to win their case. This turned into an impromptu party until eventually learning the truth that this was all a part of Scheck’s daily nightmare/dream that he deals with from getting all of these monsters off.
  5. This was followed by a parody of The View where, just like the review, the gaggle of hosts talked about the news of the day with each character having such a clear point of view that their opinions on any story were obvious. Also, like the real show, they kept talking over one another to the point where it’s impossible to hear a clear thought, except for at the end of every babble-fest when Tracy Morgan as Star Jones would highlight the fact that she’s a lawyer or shared some other random fact.
  6. Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer then returned as their single instructor characters named The Culps where this time they embarrassed their daughter Clare Danes with an impromptu performance at a College Career Day event.
  7. TV Funhouse then returned with another installment of The Ambiguously Gay Duo where this time their Big Headed nemesis questioned our heroes’ sexuality while they fought with an ice monster that he created.
  8. We then got a parody of Peter Pan where Chris Kattan played the forever young, green-clad, tights-wearing hero while Clare Danes portrayed a drunken Tinkerbell who let her real thoughts fly about how much she hated being Pan’s sidekick through her booze-fueled talk.
  9. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Colin Quinn returned as Joe Blow to discuss more local news that’s so local that it only affects him and whoever else may have been involved.
  10. Mariah Carey then took to the stage to perform Butterfly.
  11. Mr. Peepers In The Wild was a sketch where Chris Kattan’s monkey man character got released into the wild in order to rejoin his family in a parody of a documentary about Will Ferrell and Claire Danes who played a father and daughter who rehabilitated animals. At first, it seemed that Mr. Peepers was too domesticated to go back until we met a clan of monkey people who he quickly ran off to be with.
  12. We then for a fake ad for a teen magazine called CEO Dreamboats which was business version of Teen Beat only instead of pop stars the magazine focused on CEOs.
  13. Mariah Carey then returned to the show to perform My All.
  14. The Southern Gals In Paris was a sketch where, as the title suggests followed a group of Southern girls on their visit to Paris where they American-ed it up without even thinking of their host country’s culture.
  15. The Lost Deep Thoughts then returned for another installment where this time Jack Handey shared his thoughts on what it must be like to attend a party thrown by a mad scientist.
  16. Finally, Claire Danes closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S23E07... HOST: RUDY GIULIANI... DATE: NOVEMBER 22, 1997

SNL: S23E07... HOST: RUDY GIULIANI... DATE: NOVEMBER 22, 1997

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a sketch called Dramatic Giuliani where Colin Quinn attempted to talk some sense into Mayor Giuliani to straighten up before doing the show since the politician was going overboard with his efforts to fit in as an actor. Colin Quinn is mainly upset that Giuliani’s new Shakespeare inspired look will make him come across as a weak representative of New York City and insisted that he mayor-up before heading out of the monolog. As always, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Rudolph Giuliani then officially opened the show with a monolog where he showed just how much he had improved New York since becoming the city’s mayor. He even went as far as to claim that New York City is now so safe that he wants to bring back hitchhiking as a legitimate form of transportation. He then went on to introduce us to Norm who played a hitchhiker who Giuliani picked up on his way in to host the show.
  3. This was followed by a parody of Nightline where Giuliani interrupted an interview with Will Ferrell, as Saddam Hussein, in order to refute the dictator’s claims that the two were best friends as another period of tension with Iraq started to build once again. Though Giuliani wasn’t interested in the friendship, Ted Koppel was quick to take Saddam up on his offer to hang out as besties.
  4. We then got a Thanksgiving sketch where Giuliani played the mother of Cheri Oteri’s, “I keep it now,” Rita DelVecchio character so that the two could prepare their family’s Thanksgiving dinner while constantly being interrupted by her family’s kids who keep checking in for updates on the holiday dinner. They also get interrupted by the neighborhood kids from time to time.
  5. St. Monica's Spelling Bee was actually a Mary Katherine Gallagher sketch where the nervous Catholic School girl competed in a spelling bee. Halfway through Mary Katherine’s attempt to spell her word, she broke into a monolog as if she were taking advantage of the stage time to audition for a play. Really, she was just filling time while she thought how to spell her word.
  6. Graffiti was a sketch that showed us, Giuliani, as he enforced his new stricter punishment for graffiti artists who vandalize New York City. This new punishment consists of adding the word, “SUCKS” right under the artist’s signature/tag.
  7. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Ana Gasteyer dropped in as her folk singing character, Cinder Calhoun to sing the song Basted In Blood with musical guest, Sarah McLachlan.
  8. Sarah McLachlan then took to the news to perform Sweet Surrender.
  9. The Joe Pesci Show then returned for more Pesci fun where this time, the guest being harassed were Giuliani as himself, and Tracy Morgan as Marion Berry where the joke was that Giuliani was cutting New York’s ties with the mob and ended up having his security takedown Pesci to show that he was the alpha male.
  10. Friggin' Giuliani! was a sketch where Giuliani played a New York City cab driver who was outraged over the way that the Mayor (himself) was going about cleaning things up in NYC and how he preferred a city filled with porn.
  11. Janet Reno's Dance Party then returned for another installment of Reno’s impromptu interview show/basement dance party. Once again, this was more of the same only Will Ferrell as Reno got to joke with a legitimate politician with Giuliani playing himself whole the confused kids who just wanted to dance had to sit through their political talk.
  12. This was followed by another installment of Colin Quinn Explains The New York Times where once again, Colin Quinn broke down some of the latest New York Times headlines.
  13. It then became 4:45 in the AM which meant it was time for Perspectives where this time host, Lionel Osborne interviewed the Giuliani as himself in an effort to drum up some votes but unfortunately this fiction episode of this late night talk show was postponed until after the election. As always, Lionel Osborne was oblivious to this fact along with all of the other points that Giuliani was trying to promote.
  14. Finally, Rudy Giuliani closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E08... HOST: NATHAN LANE... DATE: DECEMBER 6, 1997

SNL: S23E08... HOST: NATHAN LANE... DATE: DECEMBER 6, 1997

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with the parody NBC News Special Report: Well Babies Tragedy. This sketch was in reference to the Baby Jessica incident from a decade before this episode originally air where the eighteen-month-old Baby Jessica fell down an uncovered well down in Texas. In this version, the McCaughey Septuplets, who were making news at the time for being the first surviving set of septuplets, fell down a well as well and “Brian Williams” was psyched because he thought of the potential ratings being that people watched coverage of Baby Jessica endlessly and that was just one baby. Other famous anchors and fame seekers also stepped in and attempted to steal the spotlight. Even President Clinton chimed in for a bit to get some positive attention with his pro-trapped babies stance until the whole thing came to an end with the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Nathan Lane then officially opened the show with a monolog where he arrived in a bathrobe and read the funny pages almost as if he didn’t even care about his duties as host. Eventually, Ana Gasteyer and Nathan’s Lion King co-star confronted our host, leading him to burst out singing the chorus of Hakuna Matata as the three went on to sing and dance around the studio, collecting cast member to join in on the fun in the process.
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for Chess For Girls where “Mattel” offered a feminized version with dolls, dresses, and bubbles, claiming the original version was a “boring boy’s game.”
  4. The Spartan Cheerleaders then returned for another segment where this time they were both at home talking over the phone about their Christmas wishes. They both ended up falling asleep during their conversation only to wake in a shared dream where they are both official Spartan cheerleaders and perform a few cheers with a few of the real Dallas Cowboy’s cheerleading squad.
  5. The Quiet Storm then returned for another installment after a long time off, this time, Tim Meadows, pre-Ladies Man, smooth talking, overnight, radio DJ had a run in with Nathan Lane who hosted the morning’s easy listening show and the two went on to have an on-air turf war where they battled by sharing their top hits, answering viewer mail, and making shout-outs to their corresponding fan bases.
  6. Sister Wendy Beckett's Art Odyssey was a sketch where Nathan Lane played the titular nun who visits an art museum in New York and struggles to hide her love of all the erotic artwork.
  7. Marianne Faithfull then took to the stage to perform The Ballad of Lucy Jordan which was apparently accidentally cut off by a commercial on the night this originally aired.
  8. History Of Vaudeville was a profile sketch that featured Chris Kattan and Nathan Lane as Weber and Rose who were notable for being one of the earliest vaudeville routines to taste success thanks to their ethnically stereotypical content. Norm MacDonald, as the host of the profile-style show, acted as if these performances weren’t offensive since the people of the time genuinely believed that the Vaudeville duo was so good that they actually believed them to be the race they were offensively trying to portray.  
  9. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Nathan Lane dropped by as Lou Costello which led Norm to take on the Bud Abbot role in order to create an Abbot And Costello-style routine where Costello was freaked out by a mummy.
  10. Metallica then took to the stage to perform Fuel.
  11. This was followed by a fake ad for an album called Songs That Ruined Everything where Will Ferrell played the lead singer of Styx to promote this album filled with failed hits that ruined the careers of various rock stars from the era. The funny part is, most of the songs used as examples are the songs that the bands are now known for thanks to comedic movies and shows that overplayed these tunes due to their novelty value.
  12. The Lost Deep Thoughts then returned for another installment where this time Jack Handey shared his thoughts on the hypnotic effect of looking between an old man and a picture of him from his youth.
  13. Nathan Lane then went on to portray Broadway veteran Miss Milo who acted up in her eccentric ways as she complained about her trade while Will Ferrell attempted to get her into a Christmas tree costume to get her ready for her performance of Mrs. Christmas Tree which seems like it was meant for children. It turned out that she wasn’t getting dressed for a play at all, instead, she was just Santa’s sidekick at the mall.
  14. Metallica and Marianne Faithfull then teamed up and returned to the stage together to perform The Memory Remains.
  15. Colin Quinn then introduced his character Ex-Con Gene who took on a job as a cranky, kid-scaring mall Santa Clause. This sketch was fun but it would have been great if they would have also incorporated Nathan Lane as Miss Milo from the last mall Santa sketch.
  16. The Lost Deep Thoughts the got yet another segment tonight. This time, Jack Handey shared a tale of a little boy who desired to be an acrobat when he grew up only to do so and find out it’s boring, especially when he didn’t go the legitimate route and ended up a busking street weirdo.
  17. Finally, Nathan Lane closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E09... HOST: HELEN HUNT... DATE: DECEMBER 13, 1997

SNL: S23E09... HOST: HELEN HUNT... DATE: DECEMBER 13, 1997

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with Christmas Caroling With The Culps where Will Ferrell’s and Ana Gasteyer’s singing instructor couple went out Christmas caroling to neighbors who want nothing to do with their music. After struggling to keep the final neighbor on the caroling route to keep their door open, Tim Meadow as Senor Franklin and Helen Hunt as Connie Davenport join in to sing a medley of Christmas classic mashed-up with modern hits. Other than the sing of a medley of songs from these two couples, this sketch built up to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Helen Hunt then officially opened the show with a monolog where after sharing a few of the standard opening pleasantries, the cast inundated our host with their horrible impersonations of Jack Nicholson since she was there to promote their movie As Good As It Gets. This went on for a while until the real Jack Nicholson took to the stage to share his reviews of the casts’ impersonation of him.
  3. This was followed by a repeat of the Cookie Dough Sport commercial from earlier in the season which was a sports drink made out of raw cookie dough.
  4. We then got another installment of Delicious Dish where this time the two monotoned NPR hosts put on an eggnog special with Helen Hunt as a gingerbread specialist/guest.
  5. TV Funhouse then returned with another installment of Fun With Real Audio where this time, Robert Smigel animated Jesus as he struggled to find an example of goodwill in modern times to the audio of popular religious content that was being aired at the time.
  6. Tim Meadows also returned for another installment of The Ladies Man where host, Leone Phelps, prepared to enjoy the holidays with his in-studio guest played by Helen Hunt. 
  7. Baseball Dreams was a classic sketch where Chris Kattan played a little kid who was being put to bed while being told that he could be anything when he grew up. Kattan was at an age where he wanted more than to be a baseball player until his parents left the room and a group of real-life baseball players filled his room as they exited the closet while providing evidence that they might not be the best role models when all is said and done.
  8. Hanson then took to the stage to perform MMMBop.
  9. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Colin Quinn returned as a drunken version of himself to fight with Norm while trying to comment on the International Monetary Fund that was recently in the news because it bailed out South Korea.
  10. The Roxbury Guys also got another segment where this time they ended up visiting Helen Hunt as a counselor following a night filled with failure at their favorite club.
  11. Joan Rivers' 1997 Fashion Wrap-Up was a sketch were Joan Rivers, as played by a literal skeleton, and a panel of guests rated the worst celebrity fashion choices of 1997.
  12. A Burt Reynolds Christmas was a Christmas special sketch with Norm MacDonald as Burt and Will Ferrell as Jerry Reed and the two do nothing but goof off while laughing at their own hijinks.
  13. A Message From Bill Gates was a sketch where Chris Kattan played a lonely Bill Gate who announced the merger of Microsoft and Christmas as a whole.
  14. Torturing Hanson was a sketch where Helen Hunt and Will Ferrell played a couple who were into torture so they trapped the Hanson boys in an elevator while they were out on tour and then forced them to listen to their own music which***
  15. Hanson then returned to the stage to perform Merry Christmas, Baby.
  16. Finally, Helen Hunt closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S23E10... HOST: SAMUEL L. JACKSON... DATE: JANUARY 10, 1998

SNL: S23E10... HOST: SAMUEL L. JACKSON... DATE: JANUARY 10, 1998

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with A Message From The President Of The United States where Darrell Hammond as President Clinton pitched his idea to use the countries budget surplus to make a high budget movie filled with every top trending movie trope from the time, complete with Terminators, Playboy bunnies, and war scenes that use actual bombs. This movie was going to be directed by the Pope with the working title, Porky’s.  Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Samuel L. Jackson then officially opened the show with a monolog that started with him reminding us that he’s not Laurence Fishburne or Morgan Freeman and that he was happy to be hosting the first show of the year. This led to our host reading off some of his New Year’s resolutions to kick off 1998 which mainly consisted of him promising to continue to be the bad ass self that he is.
  3. We then got a repeat of the fake ad for Lemon Glow from earlier in the season which pitched a cleaning product to suburban housewives who may not have that clean of a past.
  4. Publisher's Clearinghouse was a sketch where Samuel Jackson played a dad from a New York City projects who won the Publisher’s Clearinghouse grand prize. Though the Prize Patrol keep insisting they’re they to give the family their ten million dollar check, Jackson and the family start out super untrusting, thinking they were just there to collect on an unpaid bill. The Prize Patrol was eventually allowed into the tiny apartment where more hood based stereotypes played out as we got to see the conditions the family was living in that might not have played as well with any other host.
  5. Quentin Tarantino: A Profile was a parody profile piece about the quirky director as played by Norm MacDonald who shared that he always wanted Samuel Jackson in the role of Jules but then went on to share his alternate choices for the Travolta role. We then got to see several audition clips of these early choices as they tried out. We also got to see a few auditions from other big names who tried out for smaller roles.
  6. Jazzterpieces was a PBS parody that profiled a jazz duo named Dexter Spoons And Della Fiztwashington where Samuel Jackson played an old blind piano player with Ana Gasteyer as his singing partner/wife who’s been with him since the early ‘40s. The sketch mainly made fun of how drug-fueled and chaotic the jazz scene was back in the early days. This sketch might actually be where South Park got their Loch Ness Monster joke from because at one point Gasteyer share how she once shot Samuel thinking that he was the Scottish loch monster.
  7. This was followed by a parody of Judge Judy with Cheri Oteri as the judge and Tracy Morgan as her bailiff/sidekick. The case being tried in this sketch was between Samuel Jackson who played a shady fitness instructor and Ana Gasteyer who played the swindled housewife who refused to pay the bill because she was legitimately ripped off. Judge Judy didn’t seem to care about who actually was at fault as she yelled at anyone and everyone who ticked her off. Judge Judy ended up siding with Jackson after he gave her a couple of compliments.
  8. TV Funhouse then returned with a parody of Speed Racer only with George Clooney in the starring role as he tried to escape the paparazzi.
  9. This week Colin Quinn took over for Norm as the new host of the news. He started with a fun joke to explain the change without going into details then quickly went into sharing stories. Though I loved Norm on Weekend Update, I loved it because Norm was being Norm and the stories didn’t matter at all. I don’t mind this change because Colin Quinn turns out to be another one of my favorite SNL anchors of all time. This week, Will Ferrell dropped in as Harry Caray in order to give us a look back on the last year as a bit of a New Year’s special, this visit led to my favorite Harry Caray question of all time when he asked Colin Quinn if he eat himself if he was a hot dog who found himself starving while continually confusing Colin for Norm.
  10. Ben Folds Five then took to the stage to perform Brick.
  11. We then got to see a parody of Titanic where Samuel Jackson and Tracy Morgan showed us what the fifth class black passengers had to put up with on that night that the boat hit the iceberg. Where all the white folks freak out through the entire sketch as the boat continued to sink, Jackson and Morgan calmly waited for their turn to get on a lifeboat. Their waiting highlighted how used to this type of second thought treatment black folks have had to put up with over time to where they saw this treatment as usual. In the end, all of the waiting might have saved their lives as we learned that they made it to land safely by tying the dead white people together in order to make a boat.
  12. Mango then returned for another installment where this time he enticed Samuel Jackson with his male stripper magical ways after he and his crew accidentally ended up in the wrong strip club.
  13. We then got a fake ad for The Learning Annex which made fun of the bizarre classes one can take in the world of continued education for adults. Though she wasn’t really the focus, this sketch also introduced Molly Shannon’s character who loves to proclaim, “I’m 50,” while showing off what she can still do at her old age.
  14. Poolside Lovin' was a parody of a Playboy Channel show where Chris Kattan and Sam Jackson played friends who hung out by the pool in an effort to pick up ladies. Where Jackson was all in to get down with the girls, Kattan couldn’t get into the vibe because he kept thinking about his dad who he learned had died just before the taping.
  15. This was followed by a repeat of the fake ad for The Weston Collection commercial from earlier in the season where Will Ferrell pitch a new fashionable “I’m #1” hat.
  16. Finally, Samuel L. Jackson closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E11... HOST: SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR... DATE: JANUARY 17, 1998

SNL: S23E11... HOST: SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR... DATE: JANUARY 17, 1998

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a sketch called the Unabomber Defense Plan with Will Ferrell as Ted Kaczynski who decided to forego legal help in order to defend himself. The sketch showed the meeting between the Unabomber and a psychiatrist to gauge whether or not he was sane enough to actually represent himself. Of course, he came across as crazy as a loon while at the same time he continued to insist he was competent to lead his own trial until he eventually gave in and announced of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Sarah Michelle Gellar then officially opened the show with a monolog about how most people only knew her from Buffy. She then went on to share more about herself and career only to be interrupted by Cheri Oteri who bought her a gift for being such a good host. Gellar then gave Oteri the earring from her ears and acted as if it was a well thought out gift. Gellar then went on to try to share more about herself until Norm interrupted with another well thought out gift, only to have Gellar lie to returned another impromptu gift again. This went on again with Darrell Hammond which led Gellar to steal a purse from the crowd and give him the pot that was within it. Tim Meadows was the last to arrive with his gift being his kidney and the gift he got in return was the leftover contents of the purse. The sketch then ended right after that so Gellar never got to share anything about herself, which I guess was the point of the joke?
  3. We then got a fake PSA of the Spice Girls On Smallpox where, as the title suggests, the “Spice Girls” share a few tips on how to avoid Smallpox.
  4. This was followed by another parody of The View where once again, the gaggle of female host discussed the topics of the day with each member having such a clear point of view that it’s easy to guess their opinion on anything. They also did more of the routine where everyone would start to talk over one another to where it’s impossible to make heads or tails out of what is being said except for the final blurting out of some proclamation by Tracy Morgan as Starr Jones, something like, “And I’m a lawyer.”
  5. Dr. John Gray was a fake infomercial-style ad where Norm MacDonald played the titular doctor who kept mixing up the gender roles while trying to pitch his latest edition Men Are From Mars, Women Are Venus book. If he wasn’t mixing thing up, the samples he used to explain gender-specific interest were either extreme or completely bizarre in a way that seemed to only strengthen the divide instead of solving anything.
  6. The was followed by another fake PSA called Spice Girls On Rheumatoid Arthritis where again, the “Spice Girls” share a few facts about Rheumatoid Arthritis.
  7. Family Dinner was a sketch that showed a family break out into random dysfunctional brawls throughout their attempt to enjoy a meal. Things started out calm and seemed normal until their casual conversation would touch on a topic to set everyone off and start to yell. They’d then calm for a bit and start the process over again. This was the classic sketch where Will Ferrell would finish his rage-filled rants by pointing out that he drove a Dodge Stratus.  
  8. Eye On Nagano was a sketch where Sarah Michelle Gellar played Tara Lipinsky who demonstrated her new bad-girl image going into the upcoming Winter Olympics of 1998.
  9. Go-Lords then returned for another installment where this week the two holy superheroes were at the Super Bowl where they thwarted Saddam Hussein’s plot to spread anthrax all over the crowd by dropping it from the Goodyear blimp.
  10. Goth Talk also got another segment where this week, the two black-clad public access hosts tried to interview Sarah Michelle Gellar who played their special guest who was there to promote her own goth-themed cable access show while trying to not wake Azrael Abyss’s brother who was hiding from their parents because he was drunk following a beach party from earlier in the day. At one point, Gellar’s character attempted to show a clip from her show only Circe Nightshade swapped out the tape with Sarah Michelle singing and dancing to a pop tune.
  11. Once again, Colin Quinn gave us the news. This week, Tim Meadows dropped in as O.J. in order to share his views on the Unabomber’s decision to defend himself when his case went to trial which of course led to many O.J. jokes about how he would handle the defense.
  12. Portishead then took to the stage to perform Only You
  13. The Robin Byrd Show also returned for another installment where this week the parody of the porn-themed public access show had Cheri Oteri as Robin Byrd interview Tim Meadows as a male stripper named Istanbul and Sarah Michelle as a stripper named Nikki Monroe.
  14. We then got a parody of Buffy The Vampire Slayer where the Seinfeld show got a reboot that had a new Buffy-style format where Seinfeld and friends are now a group of Draculas and Sarah Michelle as Elaine who was a vampire slayer who still had the Seinfeld group as her friends.
  15. Teen Talk was a parody of a talk show that was hosted by a panel of teens who talked about pop culture and other things interesting to teens. There special guest for the day was an old guy who directed a Jonathan Taylor Thomas film because he was the closest thing to the teen of their dreams that these girls could actually get. The best part of the entire sketch was when Norm, as said director, lost his fake mustache during the sketch and he had to explain to the girls that it wasn’t real while completely staying in character.
  16. The Lost Deep Thoughts the returned for another installment where this week Jack Handey shared the worst thing that can happen to an actor who forgets their lines.
  17. Finally, Sarah Michelle Gellar closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S23E12... HOST: JOHN GOODMAN... DATE: FEBRUARY 7, 1998

SNL: S23E12... HOST: JOHN GOODMAN... DATE: FEBRUARY 7, 1998

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with the Lewinsky/Tripp Luncheon where John Goodman played Linda Tripp who attempted to get information from Molly Shannon as Monica Lewinsky over lunch. Little did Lewinsky know but Tripp was wearing a wiretap even though she was terrible at trying to conceal it. Toward the end of the sketch, we learn the person at the other end of the listening device was Dan Aykroyd as Bob Dole. This kept going until Lewinsky was being forced to admit what happened into the microphone which instead led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. This was around the time of the Blues Brothers 2000 sequel so John Goodman took the stage as his Blues Brother character and was joined by Dan Aykroyd and the two performed the song Looking For A Fox with the original Blues Brother band, in lieu of an opening monolog.
  3. Morning Latte then returned for another installment where this time Cheri Oteri and Will Ferrell did their usual high energy morning talk show host routine while discussing a weekend fishing trip with their new producer who was played by John Goodman. They also tried to involve Goodman in other areas of their obnoxious conversation only to get quick annoyed answers from John since he was a producer who never intended to be on-air.
  4. Clinton/Moses was a sketch that took place back in biblical time where Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton wouldn’t stop questioning John Goodman as Moses about whether or not he was sure that God really wanted the whole adultery thing to be one of the Ten Commandments.
  5. Eye On Nagano then returned for another installment where this time Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan played two former figure skaters who were providing commentary for the ’98 Winter Games. This was a parody of one of those Olympic segments where the commentators venture out to explore the hosting city and the brought Molly Shannon as Michelle Kwan to go on a shopping tour with Will and Chris being culturally insensitive throughout the trip and Michelle Kwan was pissed because she hated being mistaken as being Japanese.
  6. TV Funhouse then returned for another installment of the X-President which shared the continuing adventured of the former presidents with superpowers who continued to battle the Russians X-Men style after a trap was set during continued peace talks that followed The Cold War. This time the X-First Ladies also got involved.
  7. This was followed by a parody of Emeril Live where Jim Breuer played our chef of a host to show us how to cook with Monica Lewinsky’s attorney William Ginsberg who was only focused on clearing Monica’s name to the TV views while all Emeril wanted to do was share how to cook a hot batch of chili and couldn’t care less about the politics.
  8. Once again, Colin Quinn gave us the news. This week, Will Ferrell dropped in as a frat boy in order to share his views on the Monica Lewinsky scandal, which of course he was one-hundred percent on board and was more against Linda Tripp for turning him in.
  9. Paula Cole then took to the stage to perform I Don't Want To Wait. 
  10. We then got another parody of Judge Judy where this time Cheri Oteri played the short-tempered judge with Tracy Morgan as her bailiff/sidekick to try a case between Dan Aykroyd’s classic, sleazy toy salesman, character and Ana Gasteyer whose son was injured while playing with one of his unsafe toys. We then got to see a line of this dangerous toys when they were presented as evidence. As usual, even though Aykroyd is clearly in the wrong, Judge Judy ruled against Ana Gasteyer for trying to ruin this entrepreneur’s career.
  11. This was followed by a parody of Martha Stewart Living where Ana Gasteyer as Martha showed us how to prepare for a trip to Cuba by sharing crafty techniques to build a refugee boat from items found around the house, doctor a passport, and create a comfy pouch to keister important things in your anus.
  12. Sabado Chistoso was a parody of a Telemundo talk show with Dan Aykroyd and Molly Shannon as the host of this wacky night of entertainment that started out making fun of a real Telemundo show until Goodman returned and William Ginsberg which led the sketch to be more of a continuation of the Emeril parody from earlier in the night which was a little disappointing to me.
  13. The Cobra was a sketch that took place on a plane where after announcing the landing time the pilot calmly added that there was a live cobra loose on the plane. At first, Ana Gasteyer was the only passenger to clearly hear this warning. The pilot then made a second announcement that was still calm but said loud and clear which got everyone to freak out. As the sketch continued on we learned of more and more cobras until this seemed to become the inspiration to Snakes On A Plane.
  14. Neil Diamond: Storytellers was a parody of the old VH1 Storyteller show would share stories about what inspired their songs before they went on to play them. In this sketch Will Ferrell as Neil Diamond revealed the disturbing inspiration to his songs, like how Sweet Caroline was inspired by a crazy story where Neil Diamond killed a kick during a hit and run car accident, or how Coming To America was actually inspired by his hatred of immigrants.   
  15. Finally, John Goodman closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E13... HOST: ROMA DOWNEY... DATE: FEBRUARY 14, 1998

SNL: S23E13... HOST: ROMA DOWNEY... DATE: FEBRUARY 14, 1998

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with parody coverage of the Monica Lewinsky Congressional Address where they blended real footage of the actual event to create funny reactions to Molly Shannon as Lewinsky as she addressed Congress about her affair with Bill Clinton where she spoke as if she were talking to one of her peers. Darrell Hammond as Ted Koppel eventually had to cut her off to come back to the studio as she started to share stories that were too dirty to air. We eventually went back to Lewinsky again to hear her wrap things up, only to come back to the studio for the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Roma Downey then officially opened the show with a monolog about the difference between being in New York versus being on the set of Touched By An Angel which was filmed in Utah. She then went on to say that she missed Della Reese most of all. Before she could continue on comparing the big city with her small Utah town experience Tracy Morgan magically appeared as Della Reese and the two ventured around the studio and attempted to save the souls of the heathen who make up the SNL cast.  
  3. This was followed by a repeat of the fake ad for Chess For Girls from earlier in the season which was a chess game marketed to girls where all of the chess pieces were replaced with dolls and girly things which even included a tea time play set for taking breaks from this non-chess version of the game.
  4. The Culps the returned for another installment where the singing instructing couple sang pop songs with their Culps twist this time with a Unitarian Church as the backdrop. Though they were supposed to be in a church, the middle-aged couple was extra feisty tonight to the point where they even made out with tongues.
  5. This was followed by a sketch about Catherine The Great where Roma Downey played the Russian leader to answer questions from the citizens who wouldn’t stop harping on the rumors that she once had sex with a horse in a way that paralleled the Clinton/Lewinsky affair.
  6. We then got another parody of Martha Stewart Living where this time Ana Gasteyer as Martha share a few tips for the lonely and depressed on how to make Valentines more tolerable with crafty decorations for your lonely home.
  7. Road To Nagano then returned for another installment of the parody Winter Olympics coverage where this week Will Ferrell played and new anchor who interviewed the very first person to win a gold medal in the sport of snowboarding since it was a new event that year. Said snowboarder had his medal taken away after testing positive for marijuana only to get the medal back after the ruling that pot is not an enhancing drug. As for the interview, Jim Breuer just acted like a snowboarding stoner while Will Ferrell frustratingly attempted to make it a real interview.
  8. I'm Riding My Donkey Political Talk Show was a crazy sketch where Will Ferrell first performed a super fun theme song that led to a political talk show with a panel of guest who all sat upon real-life donkeys during the show. If that wasn’t crazy enough, at one point, one of the donkeys fell to the ground bringing Tim Meadows down with it. Though he didn’t seem hurt, Meadows seemed pretty nervous throughout the rest of the sketch. Not only was there a donkey failure but at one point, Darrell Hammond had to deal with a technical issue where a trick arrow didn’t properly activate during a stunt, making this an even more hilarious sketch for unintended reasons.
  9. Monica Lewinsky's Answering Machine was the first installment of a series of sketches where we got to hear a message from Bill Clinton as he attempted to ask her out by joining him at an upcoming Blues Traveler concert.
  10. Once again, Colin Quinn gave us the news. This week there were no special guests and was just Colin giving us the news. The thing that I like about Colin as an anchor is how his segments as a whole have the structure of a routine as opposed to just a collection of individual stories/jokes that said in any order and it wouldn’t change a thing, which also works but each style achieves different things.  
  11. Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliot then took to the stage to perform the song Sock It 2 Me and the song Beep Me 911 back to back.
  12. We were then introduced to Fran who was played by Cheri Oteri who met with her cousin and her cousin’s bridesmaids as a church to prepare for the special day. Fran is a girl from Delaware who has no manners and is only involved because she’s family because, other than the fact that she doesn’t fit in with the other, more uppity, women at all. Eventual, we got to see Fran’s wedding reading where she did do her job with a cigarette dangling out of her mouth.
  13. Monica Lewinsky's Answering Machine the returned for round two where this time Bill Clinton left a message because he was afraid that Monica stood him up at the local TGI Fridays.
  14. The Ladies Man also got another segment where this time Leone Phelps took calls from his viewers to answer questions about Valentine’s Day.
  15. TV Funhouse then gave us a parody of an anime that satired the Olympics’ issues with performance-enhancing drugs.
  16. Lou's Lovely Daughters was a sketch that took place in a high school dance where the titular lovely daughters weren’t all that lovely at all, in fact, Cheri Oteri played a daughter who looked like a sideshow freak. Since looks aren’t everything, their personalities were also bizarre.
  17. Monica Lewinsky's Answering Machine returned to complete the rule of three where the outgoing message was from both Bill and Monica as if they were now an official couple. This time Bill was calling to say hi, share that he listened to the Counting Crows CD that she bought for him, and make sure that she was erasing the messages.
  18. Finally, Roma Downey closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S23E14... HOST: GARTH BROOKS... DATE: FEBRUARY 28, 1998

SNL: S23E14... HOST: GARTH BROOKS... DATE: FEBRUARY 28, 1998

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a sketch called Clinton/Hussein/Lewinsky/Meadows Phone Chat which featured Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton talking to Will Ferrell Saddam Hussein on the phone where he asked the dictator to hold off on letting the inspectors back in to investigate Iraq’s weapons manufacturing facilities in order to distract the world from the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Before the conversation could go much further, the two leaders were interrupted by call waiting only to discover that it was Molly Shannon as Lewinsky on the other line. Clinton talked to her for a bit then turned it into a three-way call which turned the conversation into something more reminiscent of a party chat line. To add to the party chat line feel, Tim Meadows joined in as himself, after calling Saddam to let him know that Lorne said no to having Hussein on as a host. Saddam was bummed but then quickly cheered up when he got to announce, “Live from New York…”
  2. Garth Brooks then officially opened the show with a monolog where he made a few jokes about being a country bumpkin in the “Large Apple.” The country star then went on to share that musical roots were started in the psychedelic music genre and then went on to play a psychedelic song about a crazy mushroom party that sounded pretty legit for the genre. Then again, I’ve always liked psychedelic but have never been a huge fan of psychedelic music.
  3. Cowboys On The Range took place around a fire pit out in the prairie where a group of cowboys discussed the joy and struggles of living out on the range. There were three old-timey cowboys talking about traditional cowboy stuff and Garth Brooks as himself who loved his wireless headset microphone and griped about issues that happen while he’s on stage which just went over the real cowboys’ heads.   
  4. Chris Kattan then returned as Mango where this week Garth Brooks, as himself, fell into Mango’s male stripper trance.
  5. This was followed by a parody of Oprah where Tim Meadows as Oprah started out the show by sharing that she settled in a lawsuit she had going with some Texas Beef association. She then took a bite of a burger to show that there was no hard feeling following the settlement. She then brought out Monica Lewinski to talk about her scandal since her recently released book just made Oprah’s book club. During the interview, Oprah not only ate the burger but also ate other beef products while barely paying attention to what was being said.
  6. TV Funhouse then returned for another installment of Fun With Real Audio where this time Robert Smigel made an animation to the audio of David Brenner struggling as a talk show guest on Letterman, Conan, and a couple other talk show. Even the devil was uninterested in what Brenner had to say.
  7. We then got introduced to the game show entitled Old French Whore! This was a game with Will Ferrell as host that paired high school students up with Old French Whores and quizzed them for a chance to win money. As side from the actual sketch, another aspect that made this bit funny was that Garth Brooks played one of the Old French Whores.
  8. Once again, Colin Quinn gave us the news. This week, Ana Gasteyer returned as her singing comedian character, Cinder Calhoun to sing a duet with Garth Brooks entitled I’m In Love With Garth.
  9. Garth Brooks then switched to musical guest mode and took to the stage to perform Two Pina Coladas. 
  10. This was followed by another game show sketch called Who's More Grizzled?! This was another game show sketch this time hosted by Norm where two grumpy old-timers, one being the real Robert Duvall the other by Garth Brooks, played a Jeopardy-style game where they were given clues and earned points by having a personal gripe from living life that made the best answer.
  11. Hey, Remember the 80's the made a long waited returned where this week, Goat Boy interviewed Chris Kattan as Brian Setzer, Garth Brooks as “The guy from Dexy’s Midnight Runner,” and Cheri Oteri as Cyndi Lauper who brought along Darrell Hammond as Captain Lou Albano where, as always, they all talked nostalgically about the ‘80s.  
  12. Loew's Movie Previews was a sketch where an endless stream of ads for upcoming Shelley Long movies had theater-goers trapped in the theater. Though a bulk of the audience was super annoyed, Tracy Morgan loved the entire experience even after they discover the doors were locked and ended up stuck watching ads for a couple of days. As time continued on, the audience started to scavenge and fight as if they had survived a shipwreck and had very limited supplies. We eventually learn that things got so bad that Tracy Morgan ate the lower half of himself but was still a happy camper. Finally, the featured film started and everyone calmly took to their seats to watch.
  13. Lay, Lady, Lay took place in a hospital with Will Ferrell as an intern who attempted to sing Lay, Lady, Lay to special guest, Robert Duvall, who played a tired patient that just wanted to get some rest and the singing didn’t help at all. It turned out that singing Lay, Lady, Lay was the hospital’s policy for overnight workers to keep the patients calm. After learning that Ferrell was just trying to do his job, Duvall gave into the process and let him sing and even began to sing along, making this one of those, end of the night sketches, that was more sentimental and sweet than laugh out loud funny.
  14. Finally, Garth Brooks closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E15... HOST: SCOTT WOLF... DATE: MARCH 7, 1998

SNL: S23E15... HOST: SCOTT WOLF... DATE: MARCH 7, 1998

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of Larry King Live with Norm MacDonald as Larry King who had on Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton to defend his building collection of scandal accusations. This turned out to be harder for Bubba to handle than he expected considering the fact that there were sixteen accusers all chiming in via satellite and who all tried to talk at the same time. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Scott Wolf then officially opened the show with a monolog by letting us know that I lot of people often say that he reminds them of Tom Cruise. He then went on to say that he was excited to host because it brought him back to the East Coast, close to his childhood home in Jersey. This triggered Jim Breuer, Darrell Hammond, and Cheri Oteri, who played a group of Jersey-born audience members, to keep pestering our host with local slang throughout the rest of his monolog. I thought for sure the Tom Cruise reference would come up as a taunt but that ended up going nowhere.
  3. Mary Katherine Gallagher then returned for another segment where this time the nervous Catholic school girl started her first day as a waitress at the local TGIFriday’s. Her job for the night was to shadow Scott Wolf as her trainer only to end up failing miserably and losing the job after falling through a table full of food.
  4. The Celine Dion Show was the parody of a fictional show hosted by the self-proclaimed best singer in the world. Ana Gasteyer played the Canadian diva who hosted the show as a front in order to show dominance over other divas who she has on as her guest. This week’s guest was Mariah Carey as played by Cheri Oteri who shared her new song which led the host diva to try to one-up her guest until she got frustrate and left. Tim Meadows also dropped by as Erykah Badu and the visit ended with the results.
  5. We then got a Party Of Five parody preview of the upcoming episode where the Salinger family from the show was completely caught off guard by the presence of a black man being on the show. The black man in question was Tracy Morgan who kept acting as if he was a member of the family but they are too worried about coming across as racist so they just let it play out. After a while, the family did eventually build to ask who Tracy was which just led him to shrug his shoulders and then run away.
  6. Once again, Colin Quinn gave us the news. This week, Jim Breuer dropped in as the heavy metal singer, Gunner Olsen in order to perform a song to help the youth wrap their heads around current events.
  7. Natalie Imbruglia then took to the stage to perform Torn.
  8. The 3rd Annual Reenactment Awards was a parody of an award show that was hosted by Robert Stack who handed out awards to actors who performed in reenactments in made-for-TV movies and true-crime shows.
  9. The Spartan Cheerleaders then returned for another installment where this week the cheerleading weirdos just finished watching Titanic for the eightieth time and were so obsessed with the experience that they cheered in the theater lobby as the waited to watch it again. After a few cheers, they had a run in with Scott Wolf who was playing himself and was sad that they stopped sending him fan letters ever since they discovered their new favorite flick. That’s all that it took to win back the cheerleaders which then got them cheer for our host.  
  10. Issues then returned for another installment where Jim Bruere brought back the pot-obsessed host who teamed up with Scott Wolf, who played his nervous, straight-laced cousin who got high for the very first time. The two then attempted to interview a representative from the library about an upcoming charitable event but it didn’t get far because the two were stoned out of their mind.
  11. The Lost Deep Thoughts also returned for another installment where this week Jack Handey pondered the worst thing that about having King Kong walk down your street.
  12. Troubadour was a sketch that had Scott Wolf and Chris Kattan as two guitar-playing Troubadours who were both trying to woo a group of co-ed from opposite sides of the campus courtyard with covers of classic ‘70s tunes.
  13. We then got a fake ad for Breath Spray Plus which was breath spray with the “Plus” meaning mace where users could easily take advantage of either use with the flick of a switch only the switch setting are so complex that it’s a gamble as to which one you will get every time you use it.
  14. Finally, Scott Wolf then closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E16... HOST: JULIANNE MOORE... DATE: MARCH 14, 1998

SNL: S23E16... HOST: JULIANNE MOORE... DATE: MARCH 14, 1998

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with A Message From The President Of The United States where Darrell Hammond as Bill Clinton shared his comments on the Starr Report that shared Kenneth Starr’s findings in his investigation of the Monica Lewinsky Scandal. Though he denies his action, he reads the details of his sexual exploits that are shared in the report with a sense of pride. Toward the end of the address, Will Ferrell broke the scene acting as Kenneth Starr to issue a subpoena to Darrell Hammond as himself since he did Clinton so well. Of course, with this being the opening sketch it also eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Julianne Moore then officially opened the show with a monolog where she shared the fact that she just had a baby, was there to promote The Big Lebowski and was just nominated for an Oscar for her role in Boogie Nights. She went on to share how proud she was to be grouped with the other nominees only to be interrupted by Cheri Oteri as Gloria Stewart who re-enacted her final scene from Titanic in an effort to prove to the audience that she should win the award over our host.
  3. Delicious Dish then returned and this time the droning NPR host interviewed Julianne Moore who played a sorghum expert and throughout the monotone interview, we not only learned her favorite foods but also that her farm compound was actually a front for a cult.
  4. The Ladies Man also returned for another segment where this time Leone Phelps answered some viewer mail before bringing in Julianne Moore to help him answer one of the letters that asked how to be a better lover. Though Leone’s technics get the desired results in these dramatized reenactments, there is no way that any woman would fall for any of Phelps’s move, at least not in these current times.
  5. Then, as Don Pardo attempted to announce next week’s host and musical guest, Will Ferrell interrupted as Kenneth Starr in order to serve one of the band members a subpoena.
  6. We then got our annual parody of the Barbara Walters Oscar Special where this time, Cheri Oteri as Barbara interviewed our host along with a handful of cast members along who did impersonation of celebrities who were nominated for an Oscar that year making fun of Barbara interview style and how she was always shot with a blurry camera filter.
  7. The Lost Deep Thoughts then returned for another installment that started out seeming like a repeat of the one about a young boy wanting to be an acrobat only Jack Handey got interrupted by Will Ferrell as Kenneth Starr and was also served with a subpoena.
  8. Once again, Colin Quinn gave us the news. This week there were no special guests, just Colin Quinn, and the news. Of the anchors so far, I feel that Colin is the best at these nights where the news person goes at it alone to where it still feels like a segment and not just fulfilling a weekly obligation. Not that the others were bad, Colin’s just the best so far at going solo.
  9. Backstreet Boys then took to the stage to perform As Long As You Love Me.
  10. Pretty Living was a parody of a daytime talk show hosted by Juliane Moore and Ana Gasteyer who interviewed Molly Shannon as the “I love it, I love it, I love it,” lady who claimed to be a joyologist and was so filled with joy herself that it could easily be confused as manic.
  11. We then got a fake ad for Heineken that was interrupted by Will Ferrell as Kenneth Starr so that he could serve subpoenas to the beer drinking extras to continue the running gag.
  12. Terence Maddox was a sketch that took place at an art class where Will Ferrell played a nude model that took the gig at the last minute after the original model backed out. Since he is new to the field, he loved being nude but wasn’t all that professional, doing weird things and talking while trying to pose.
  13. TV Funhouse then introduced a segment called Conspiracy Theory Rock which was a School House Rock parody the explained what media-opoly means and how it allows corporations to buy up media outlets in order to control the stories being written about them.
  14. We then got another installment of Good Morning With Liza! This was a parody of a morning show hosted by Molly Shannon as Liza Minelli who first introduced us to her bandleader/new fiancé Captain Montclaire Vanderhausen III played by Tracy Morgan who chimed in with crazy proclamations from time to time as Liza interviewed her guests, Julianne Moore as Gillian Anderson and Chris Kattan as one of Liza’s co-stars from Cabaret.
  15. The Go-Lords also returned for another installment where this time the religious superhero couple saved the day after chaos erupted after Alan Greenspan told investors to be more cautious in order to avoid another recession and the people of Wall Street couldn’t handle this advice. We also learned that all of our financial issues stem from a Canadian plot to ruin the US financial system because they are jealous of our money and think their currency is looked at like a joke.
  16. Shirtless Bible Salesmen had Will Ferrell and Tim Meadows who struggle to sell bibles to a housewife played Julianne Moore, and never once thought to try putting on their shirts in order to make her feel comfortable. It also doesn’t help that they don’t seem to know what’s actually inside the holy book that the two were attempting to sell.
  17. Finally, Julianne Moore closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E17... HOST: STEVE BUSCEMI... DATE: APRIL 4, 1998

SNL: S23E17... HOST: STEVE BUSCEMI... DATE: APRIL 4, 1998

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with an interactive sketch called Viewer's Choice where Tim Meadows announced to the viewers that they had the chance to choose between seeing a Lewis Lapham commentary or a sketch where Darrell Hammond as Clinton has a pajama party. Unfortunately this sketch didn’t involve a real poll like rating stunts like this in the past but instead, we switched back and forth between both sketches while pretending that we the viewers were the ones making the choice. Of course, this being the opening sketch, it also eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Steve Buscemi then officially opened the show with a monolog where he shared how before he got typecast as a psychopath he used to be known for his comedy. He then brought out Will Ferrell, Ana Gasteyer, and Tim Meadows to help him show off his improv skill. He started out by rejecting any suggestion that was offered by the audience in order to start the scene. He then went on to be the worst improv performer ever to the point where he just kept delivering lines that he already had memorized since they were taken straight from his movies. By the end of the sketch, he had to admit that he had never done comedy at all.  
  3. This was followed by a repeat of the Xerox Assjet 790 from earlier in the season which was an ad for a copy machine specifically designed to photocopy people butts.
  4. We then got a parody of Alice In Wonderland where Steve Buscemi played the Mad Hatter at such a high level of madness that he went beyond being eccentric as he seemed more mentally disturbed.  
  5. Morning Latte then returned for another installment where Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri play a morning show duo who seem way too hopped up on caffeine. This week, they interviewed Steve Buscemi who played a super-fan of the play Grease and was there to share a few fun facts about the show but struggled to get a word in with the over-caffeinated rambling host. He then became ecstatic when he learned that he was about to me meet the real Didi Conn who played Frenchie in the movie, only to end up disappointed again when they focus on Didi as the person she is instead of her Frenchie character.
  6. Goth Talk also returned for another installment where this time the dark lord praising cable access hosts held an impromptu Prom Of Doom in their school's boiler room only to keep getting interrupted by Steve Buscemi who played the school janitor and was just trying to do his job. After talking to Buscemi for a bit, they realize that he’s more of an ally than you would think because the cool kids at the school picked on him as well.
  7. TV Funhouse then gave us an animated parody of the Titanic that was drawn in the style of a classic version of The Little Engine That Could which gave “Titey” the sinking ship a happy ending to his story.
  8. Stuff We Made was a parody of a PBS furniture making show where Steve Buscemi and Jim Breuer played two craftsmen who shared the projects they just completed. Buscemi went fist and shared a stick with a green piece of felt and googly eyes glued to it that he used to freak out his ex-wife’s new husband. Jim Breuer’s invention was a napkin holder that had a weird backstory as well. The two then went back and forth sharing increasingly strange creations that all had very little practical use.
  9. Once again, Colin Quinn gave us the news. This week, Tracy Morgan dropped by as Reggie White and ended up making racist statements while trying to defend similar controversial remarks that he made during a speech that he made in Wisconsin.
  10. Third Eye Blind then took to the stage to perform How's It Going To Be. 
  11. We then got another parody of Judge Judy with Cheri Oteri as the Judge and Tracy Morgan as her bailiff/sidekick where this week’s case was between Ana Gasteyer and Steve Buscemi. I’m not sure if Gasteyer was playing the same character from the Samuel L. Jackson episode when she sued him for being a personal trainer but this time she was suing Buscemi for being a horrible dance instructor who she hired to get ready for her daughter’s wedding. As always Judge Judy was harsh toward whoever was talking even though Gasteyer was clearly ripped off. Also, as always, the judge ended up siding with the dirtbag over the woman after Buscemi showed her an example of his ability to dance.
  12. Job Interview was a sketch that had Steve Buscemi as a crazy boss who interviewed Chris Kattan while acting put off by every single word that came out of Kattan’s mouth, including during his polite introduction. Buscemi continued to act confused and frustrated throughout the entire interview which confused Kattan while completely ruining his confidence. At one point, Kattan was told that he didn’t get the job but then after a few crazy back and forths we found out he was actually hired and in an ultra-confused state he accepted the job. As soon as Kattan left the room, Buscemi brought in the next candidate who was played by Natasha Henstridge who he referred to as John and the sketch ended before she could speak a word.
  13. I Took A Gay Guy To Prom was the parody of a docu-series or should I say, a mocu-series, where we saw a segment of a show that interviewed straight women who took gay men to the prom highlighting how these types of dates have been going on all throughout history since the women were both young and old.
  14. Jim Halsey's Truck Drivin' Museum was, as the title suggests, as sketch that profiled the titular truck themed museum where Will Ferrell and Steve Buscemi played former truck drivers who now own the roadside attraction who gave us a mini tour while talking about their love of trucks, well Ferrell did at least, since Buscemi a Teller-type to Ferrell’s Penn and didn’t speak a word.
  15. The Lost Deep Thoughts then returned for another installment where this time Jack Handey pondered why they didn’t crucify people on windmills in order to make the execution more extreme.
  16. Finally, Steve Buscemi closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E18... HOST: GREG KINNEAR... DATE: APRIL 11, 1998

SNL: S23E18... HOST: GREG KINNEAR... DATE: APRIL 11, 1998

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody ad for Martha Stewart Living where Ana Gasteyer as Martha and good friend Chad Burman, played by Greg Kinnear, shared their plans for an upcoming Easter episode while blatantly avoiding any Passover talk as they both pointed out they weren’t Jewish. This being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”  
  2. Greg Kinnear then officially opened the show with a monolog where he shared how he got his start working on Talk Soup and the next thing he knew he was an Oscar-nominated actor for his role in the movie As Good As It Gets. He then went on to show the audience the one flawed scene from the movie where he continued to eat his breakfast while Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt were acting their asses off. At one point, in the scene, Kinnear speared something with his fork only to end up eating a piece of bacon with his hand which led our host to believe that it was this minor slip up that cost him the Academy Award.
  3. We then got another repeat of the Cookie Dough Sport commercial from earlier in the season which was an ad for a sports drink made out of raw cookie dough.
  4. This was followed by a game show host called Name That Dog! Greg Kinnear played the host who asked contestants to guess the name of various dogs that were brought out by game show-style model. This sketch seemed to be making fun of the fact that the new Game Show Network cable channel was so desperate for programming that they were just grasping at straws because other than the premise, I’d say the sketch was a little boring. Well, Tim Meadows’s energy was also kind of as he seemed desperate to save the bit with random outbursts of exaggerated excitement.
  5. The Culps then returned and this time the singing-instructing duo performed their covers of popular drug-themed songs at a rehab center.
  6. High Five! was a sketch where Greg Kinnear played a character named B-Ball who was all about giving out high fives which didn’t go over all that well with his blind date played by Cheri Oteri.
  7. We then got a repeat of the TV Funhouse: Fun With Real Audio segment from earlier in the season where they animated Tom Snyder stalking Dolly Parton over the audio an actually interview between the two.
  8. House Of Dogs had Tracy Morgan as the owner and operator of a dog store that sold dangerous dogs, just like the ones from the Name That Dog gameshow from earlier in the show.
  9. Once again, Colin Quinn gave us the news. This week, Jim Breuer returned as rock star Gunner Olsen to rock out and sing a song that incorporated headlines from the news.
  10. All Saints then took to the stage to perform Never Ever.
  11. Ted Koppel's Brother was a sketch were as the title suggests, we met Ted Koppel’s brother who was played as a junkie by Greg Kinnear and looked and sounded just like Ted other than his focus on drugs attempting to get drugs instead of delivering the news.
  12. Bob Hoskins then dropped by as a special guest for a sketch called Walk The Plank. In it, he played Captain Kidd who forced Will Ferrell to walk a plank that was so long that it reached land, defeating the purpose of the punishment.
  13. The Robin Byrd Show then returned for another installment where this time Cheri Oteri as the porn-themed cable access host had on Greg Kinnear who was accidentally booked as a stripper even though he thought he was there to promote his non-stripper dance career where he danced at venues like a small stage at a county fair.
  14. Later Reunion was a parody of a special that reunited the many hosts who cycled through the late night talk show called Later that aired after every other late night talk show was done for the night which led to a high turn-around.
  15. The Lost Deep Thoughts then returned for another installment where Jack Handey reflected on the versatility of playing dead.
  16. Finally, Greg Kinnear closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E19... HOST: MATTHEW BRODERICK... DATE: MAY 2, 1998

SNL: S23E19... HOST: MATTHEW BRODERICK... DATE: MAY 2, 1998

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with The Ladies Man where this week host, Leone Phelps, experienced the side effects of Viagra after expressed his excitement over the new drug while explaining the “scientific” benefits and decided to give it a shot for recreational purposes. To get the full effect he then tried to turn himself on with a picture of Delta Burke and then us a picture of Sally Jessy Raphael to calm himself down only to find his plan to calm down didn’t work. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it also led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Matthew Broderick then officially opened the show with a monolog about it’s been ten years since he last hosted the show and then gave us a quick update on his life, including the fact that he just wrapped up working on the latest Godzilla. This Godzilla mention led Tracy Morgan and Jim Breuer to interrupt in order to ask questions about their favorite film franchise while also annoying our host with their impersonations of the radiated lizard monster.
  3. We then got a fake ad for Flex Speed Stick which was a deodorant that not only killed odor but was also filled users with steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs that turned them into Incredible Hulk-style monsters due to the mood swings that were part of the products side effects.
  4. The was followed by another parody of The View where once again, the cast impersonated the gaggle of daytime talk show hosts who talked over one another while they discussed the topics of the day. Viagra was the main topic of the intro and then they brought in Matthew Broderick as George Stephanopolous who was there to promote his book but it seemed all of the Viagra talk at the top of the show had all of the women turned on so they mainly focused on sex. As usual, the only part that I really liked was how Tracy Morgan, as Starr Jones, ended every bickering outburst with a crazy proclamation that usually worked as the opposite of a humble brag even though she blurted her boasts out so casually.
  5. The Zimmermans then returned for another installment of Chris Kattan and Cheri Oteri as an oversexed couple who go way too far with the public displays of affection, this time with Matthew Broderick and Molly Shannon as their disturbed dinner guests.
  6. This was followed by another installment of Pretty Living where Ana Gasteyer as the host interviewed Molly Shannon’s crazy “joyologist” character name Helen Madden, whose catchphrase is, “I love it, I love it, I love it.” I like the character but whenever she’s on it’s the character that gets the laughs over the content, making it kind of hard to describe without it sounding like a bore. During this visit, we met her new boyfriend played by Matthew Broderick but as I just said, other than the funny character choices there wasn’t much more to the sketch.
  7. This was followed by a fake ad for Viagra where they interviewed men on the street about the new drug and man interviewed seemed annoyed that anyone would have the nerve to even ask if they needed the boner pill.
  8. Once again, Colin Quinn gave us the news. This week was an all Colin week with no guest and just him reading the news. Once again, I think he is the best anchor so far when it comes to delivering the news alone and he’s only been the head anchor for half of the season.
  9. Natalie Merchant then took to the stage to perform Kind And Generous.
  10. The Celine Dion Show then returned for another installment where once again Cheri Oteri played the Canadian diva who took delight in upstaging the divas she had on as her guests which this week was a panel made up of Molly Shannon as Shania Twain, Cheri Oteri as Mariah Carey and Matthew Broderick as Gloria Estefan.
  11. We then got parody C-SPAN coverage of the British Parliament where Prime Minister Tony Blair, as played by Matthew Broderick, answered questions from Parliament about recent U.K. issues. Other than Will Ferrell’s obsession with the Teletubbies, it was hard to tell if some of the jokes were based on real British news or if they were just making fun of Parliament in general since it’s hard enough to keep up with American issues after so much passage of time.
  12. Prom Limo was a sketch where Matthew Broderick and Cheri Oteri rented a limo with Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon for their double date to the prom. Of course, they all end up standing through the sunroof where they waved at passers-by and celebrated while singing a song about the prom. After a while a low overpass appeared, knocking off Ferrell’s head.
  13. Tenacious D then took to the stage to perform both The History of Tenacious D and the song Double Team back to back.
  14. Comic Minds was a comedy profile show where Matthew Broderick played the host who profiled Orbit and Larry played by Will Ferrell and Tracy Morgan who were supposed to be the Cheech and Chong of PCP-based comedy. We also got to hear a couple of clips from their album which was just the two of them acting freaked out while on the high powered drug.
  15. Finally, Matthew Broderick closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S23E20... HOST: DAVID DUCHOVNY... DATE: MAY 9, 1998

SNL: S23E20... HOST: DAVID DUCHOVNY... DATE: MAY 9, 1998

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of The X-Files where Will Ferrell as Janet Reno dropped by to check in on her FBI Agent Fox Mulder and went on to proclaim her love after pretending to be an undercover whistleblower who Mulder thought was a man. The rest of the sketch revolved about Mulder politely trying to turn Reno down. This was followed a quick moment where Reno attack the real Scully when she incidentally entered the room. There was also a quick moment with the mysterious smoking man but I never really got into the X-Files so I didn’t get the joke other than Reno gave up on Mulder in exchange for his nemesis. With this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. David Duchovny then officially opened the show with a monolog he first lied about it being his first time in New York that admitted he was actually from the city and was just lying because of his nerves. He then attempted to perform a song in an attempt to get over his nerves. He had a cheapy guitar in hand and a story about how he had strong memories of his dad buying it for him. When he started to strum the strings, it was obvious that he wasn’t really playing but that didn’t really matter because he quickly dropped his pick into the hole behind the string. After struggling to get the pick back for a few seconds he broke the guitar in a fit of rage while yelling how much he hated his dad. The shattered guitar freed the pick which led Duchovny to happily continue the song while strumming the air and throwing to the first non-opening sketch of the night.
  3. The Spartan Cheerleaders for another segment where this time the cheerleaders got to train at a cheerleading camp hosted by the real Paula Abdul and with David Duchovny as the camp leader who also joined in on the cheers. This was one of those rare Spartan sketches where the Ferrell’s and Oteri’s cheerleading antics were actually encouraged to the point where Duchovny and Abdul joined their two-person team in order to fulfill the four-member requirement in order to officially compete.
  4. TV Funhouse also returned with another installment of The Ambiguously Gay Duo where we got to see more from the inside of their Fortress Of Solitude to find even more hints of their sexual proclivities.
  5. This was followed by another Celebrity Jeopardy segment where this week Will Ferrell as Alex Trebek struggle to wrangle David Duchovny as Jeff Goldblum, Molly Shannon as Minnie Driver and Darrell Hammond as Sean Connery as they did anything but answer the extra simple Celebrity Jeopardy questions.
  6. Puff Daddy & Jimmy Page then took to the stage to perform Come With Me. 
  7. Once again, Colin Quinn gave us the news. This week, Tracy Morgan dropped in as his character Dominican Lou to discuss the Kenneth Starr investigation of Bill Clinton since Lou was a superintendent and had a similar experience in his line of work even though that we quickly learn that the similarities weren’t that similar at all and Lou just wanted to get back at his competition live on the air. Ana Gasteyer also stopped by as her folk singing/comedian character, Cinder Calhoun who sang a song called Unshackle My Leg in protest of pantyhose.
  8. Mango also got another segment where this time Chris Kattan’s mini male stripper character hypnotized David Duchovny with his male stripper moves after saving Mango following a suicidal jump from a bridge.
  9. This was followed by another parody of Oprah where Tim Meadows played the bread-loving host in order to reunite Goat Boy with his long-lost brother who was played by David Duchovny and was named Goat Boy #2. Since the two Goat Boys were both cloned they were technically more than twins and instantly hit it off and even playfully started to butt heads.
  10. This was followed by a fake ad for Interbank which was a parody of a travelers checks ad that promised to not only replace any money that may be stolen while on vacation but they would also send in a SWAT-style team in order to get revenge.
  11. From The Earth To The Area Around The Earth was a sketch that provided parody coverage of the least eventful space shuttle mission that was so routine that it barely struck any public interest at all.
  12. The Go-Lords also got another installment where this week the religious superhero couple took on James Cameron who planned to rule the world with his newly developed Leonardo DiCaprio clones.
  13. The Lost Deep Thoughts wound down the night with another installment where this time Jack Handey pondered a mouse trap style device that would trap babies without killing them but would keep them in the same position until they could be removed.
  14. Finally, David Duchovny closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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