SNL: S21E01... HOST: MARIEL HEMINGWAY... DATE: SEPTEMBER 30, 1995

SNL: S21E01... HOST: MARIEL HEMINGWAY... DATE: SEPTEMBER 30, 1995

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with O.J. Today which was another sketch that provided parody coverage of the O.J. Trial that was still going strong even after the summer break. In the sketch, we got introduced to an entire morning news crew who reported on everything O.J. including O.J. weather, traffic, and sports. Other than that, this sketch pretty much just continued making fun of the fact that the case had become a fiasco. As always, this being the opening sketch, it eventually built to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Mariel Hemingway then officially opened the show with a monolog where she introduced a mostly new cast by quickly pointing out all of the men and making out with all of the women to highlight the fact that she’s gay. I’d say that if a guy tried to pull this off that it would be super offensive, but considering the time, this playful form of sexual harassment was apparently fine to joke about. I’m by no means trying to say “but no one seems to mind when…” as I point out this type of behavior whenever there’s a “hot host” on. This just happened to be the first case where an openly gay woman got to join in on the fun.
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for A.M. Ale that promoted early morning malt liquor drinking as the right way to start your day.
  4. Get Off The Shed! was a sketch that had to be an homage to the Steve Martin, “What the hell is that thing?” routine, and the several similar sketches that have played out over the years. In this version, we never actually see the kids, but we do watch their parents get more and more frustrated as they continue to yell, “Get off the shed!”  
  5. We then got a parody of Nightline where Darrell Hammond made his debut as Ted Koppel interviewed Tim Meadows as Colin Powell about how the public was pushing him to run for president, while Norm MacDonald as Bob Dole was furious because he had to hard-sell the public on why he should be in control.  
  6. Mariel Hemingway then portrayed Showgirls era Elizabeth Berkley for a sketch called Leg Up! This was a talk show sketch hosted by Molly Shannon and Cheri Oteri as Ann Miller and Debby Reynolds who interviewed their guest about dance but weren’t quite ready for “Berkley’s” pole dancing routine.
  7. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Nancy Walls made her news debut to deliver the “Head Shaking News” where she read a bunch of horrible stories for her and Norm to shake disappointingly shake their heads at how disappointing this world can be.
  8. Blues Traveler then took to the stage to perform Run-Around.
  9. The Telephone was a sketch where Mariel Hemingway got stuck on the phone with her long-winded relatives, so she turned to her husband, played by Will Ferrell, to help her get off the call only his efforts are more disturbing and/or creepy than being helpful in any way. In fact, his efforts are so bad, Mariel went as far as to take Ferrell to get tested to see if he was actually “retarded” (their words not mine.)
  10. Spade In America was pretty much an extended version of David Spade’s Hollywood Minute news segment where he got a little extra time and attention to rip on celebs making headlines. This week’s focus was on the Unabomber, so the segment’s not as similar to Hollywood Minute as I thought, but it does still use the same pithy brand of humor.
  11. This was followed by a parody of A&E Biography where the featured subject was Mariel Hemingway for a parody profile about how she landed her role on Central Park West, which in the world of the sketch, she won out over four men playing the single female role who all crammed themselves into one gigantic dress.
  12. Fuzzy Memories was the follow up to Deep Thoughts By Jack Handey, only instead of the stories being told via text, Jack’s quirky tales got acted out in single camera short films. This week Jack remember back to his grade school days when he used to get up by bullies and how this led his father to want to move since he was afraid of his son’s bully’s father.
  13. Blues Traveler then returned to the stage to perform Hook.
  14. Mark McKinney then tapped into his Kids In The Hall character portfolio for The Chicken Lady Show where the Chicken Lady hosted a public access show with her co-host Mickey The Dyke to discuss various forms of fetishism amongst their panel of guests.
  15. Finally, Mariel Hemingway closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S21E02... HOST: CHEVY CHASE... DATE: OCTOBER 7, 1995

SNL: S21E02... HOST: CHEVY CHASE... DATE: OCTOBER 7, 1995

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with parody coverage of  NFL On NBC where O.J. Simpson joined the NFL announcing team after being found innocent of a double homicide. While reporting from the sideline, O.J. kept inadvertently hinting at his guilt while interviewing the coach about the game. Of course, this being the opening sketch it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Chevy Chase then officially opened the show with a monolog about how great it was to be back just four days short of the exact day that he opened the very first episode of SNL exactly twenty years ago. He then went on to share a touching recollection of how things went down that night which for some reason led him to impersonal Jiminy Cricket to sing When You Wish Upon A Star.
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for Lobotol which was pretty much just valium meant to keep overachieving women in the proper place.
  4. Althea was a hyperactive child played by Cheri Oteri who got to visit the cockpit of a plane in flight only to annoy the hell out of Chevy Chase as the plane’s lead pilot.
  5. The Blame Game was a game show sketch hosted by Mark McKinney where contestants earned points through their efforts to pass the blame. The contestants this week were Chevy Chase and Tim Meadows who both used race to determine who was to blame for every question that was asked.
  6. Fuzzy Memories returned, this time, Jack Handey shared the tale of when a young Jack had a run in with an escaped convict while wondering where said convict now is.
  7. We then got a parody of Braveheart at least that what the sketch set up. After being introduced to the castmates dressed as Scottish troops all with their faces painted blue, we cut to Lorne Michael’s office where Chevy was dressed as Braveheart while he told Lorne that he didn’t want to do his famous fall. Lorne then pointed out the Chevy still owed him a couple of fall from his original contract from years ago. Chevy had nothing to do but give in and while walking to the set had a run in with Jim Breuer who offered to take Chevy’s fall. Chevy then gave Breuer a very touching warning about physical gags and how it led to his pill addiction, which ended with Chevy accidentally shoving Breuer down the stairs before introducing Lisa Loeb.
  8. Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories then took to the stage to perform Do You Sleep?
  9. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Norm started the news by announcing murder is now legal in California following the O.J. verdict. Father Guido Sarducci checked in after an extremely long absence for a satellite segment where he announced that the Pope had lost his wallet during his recent visit to Central Park. Several news stories after the announcement the Father returned to announce that the wallet’s been found.
  10. Prom Flashback was a sketch where Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri played and dull but successful married couple with kids we then flashed back to their wreck of a prom night to learn how they landed on this pathetic path.
  11. Gangsta Bitch Barbie was a fake ad for a line of Barbie products aimed at toward “urban kids,” that mainly played upon “ghetto” stereotypes.  
  12. The Mark Fuhrman Show was a parody talk show hosted by, racist O.J. cop Mark Fuhrman who in a desperate attempt to clean his racist image, had Tim Meadows as his guest who played a “gangsta rapper” who really hated white men. Fuhrman is successful in biting his tongue throughout the anti-white/anti-cop interview, only to plant evidence on the set the moment that Meadows was gone.  
  13. O.J. Today was a follow up to last weeks all O.J. morning news show where the morning O.J. news crew shared a few clips of their favorite outtakes from the trial after sharing how sad they were to have to go back to their old jobs.
  14. Spade In America also returned for another installment where David Spade discussed the decline of modern music, especially rock and roll.
  15. Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories then returned to the stage to perform Stay.
  16. Lampreys was a sketch where Will Ferrell and Nancy Walls played parents to Cheri Oteri who played a little boy named Timmy. Timmy was a boy who kept lampreys as pets which are apparently large leech creatures that rely on Timmy’s blood for sustenance and have grown to be too large for Timmy to support without dying, so he had to let them go.
  17. Finally, Chevy Chase closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights. 
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SNL: S21E03... HOST: DAVID SCHWIMMER... DATE: OCTOBER 21, 1995

SNL: S21E03... HOST: DAVID SCHWIMMER... DATE: OCTOBER 21, 1995

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody ABC News Special Report to cover the response to Luis Farrakhan's Million Man March. In the world of the sketch, this meant another Million Man March only the men involved were made up of a bunch of frat boys who showed up to support Hootie And The Blowfish’s lead singer, Darius Rucker. Tim Meadows, as Hootie, himself, performed a quick parody song that led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. David Schwimmer then officially opened the show with a monolog about how he loved the show as a kid and used to imagine how cool it would be to host the show only to find out that it’s actually terrifying. He then started to talk/sing the theme song to Friends which led to the reveal that Nicole Aniston and Lisa Kudrow were there to sing along. Just when this seemed like a touching moment, Gary Coleman joined in and started to sing the theme song to Different Strokes, followed by Barry Williams who sang the theme song to The Brady Bunch and ended on Jimmy J.J. Walker who sang the theme song to Good Times.
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for Grayson Moorhead Securities which was an investment firm whose CEO sounded like he was being very open while actually being very vague while he discussed the companies promise to the customer. One of the highlights of the sketch is his repeated reference to the list of clients and how much they’ve invested and how said list is in a very safe place.
  4. Kids Vs. Grownups was a game show sketch hosted by David Schwimmer. This was a Nickelodeon style show that pitted a pair of children against two adults with questions that heavily favored the adult team to the point where it wasn’t close to being fair. Not only that, but Schwimmer also seemed to hate kids since he would intimidate them whenever they’d question the fairness of the show.
  5. We then got a second installment of the fake ad for Grayson Moorhead Securities where this time the CEO explained the rules of Secret Santa, again with the primary focus being the list that was hidden in a safe place.
  6. Rita DelVecchio the made her show debut. Rita was Cheri Oteri’s crazy old lady character who yelled, “I keep it now,” whenever one of the neighborhood kid’s toys would land on her porch either by accident or as an attempt to taunt her.
  7. Fuzzy Memories returned for another installment. This time Jack Handey shared a tale of the best Thanksgiving from his childhood where his family was too poor to afford a turkey.
  8. The Elevator was a sketch where David Schwimmer tried his hardest to use elevator etiquette by standing in the corner whenever a passenger joined him for the ride. Only these other passengers either don’t know or don’t care about the unspoken rule as they would all crowd the same corner even though there was plenty of room to spread out. Things got wackier as the sketch went along, but it was mainly about encroaching on Schwimmer’s personal space in the tiny elevator.
  9. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Jim Breuer made his news debut to tell the story of a recent visit to the bar where to his surprise, his buddy managed to piss everyone off before he arrived. He then reenacted the beating he received after trying to defend his pal. Will Ferrell also dropped by for his first time as a Native American Chief to discuss the offensive logos during the World Series between the Indians and the Braves where he was fine with the Indian’s mascot because that was the team he was rooting for. The segment ended with Will admitting that he wasn’t a Native at all but just some random white Indian’s fan from Cleveland.  
  10. Natalie Merchant then took to the stage to perform Wonder.
  11. Secrets was a sketch that took place in Darrell Hammond’s apartment while his friends decorated his place for a surprise birthday party. During the decoration process, these friends continually find more and more items that he probably would have hidden if he knew they were there. These guilty unhidden pleasures start out innocent at first but get more and more disturbing as the discoveries continued on.  
  12. Spade In America also returned for another installment where this time David Spade had Nicole Aniston on as his sidekick to rip apart the current annoying trends in television, only she wanted to keep things nice. This installment was more like Hollywood Minute with more rapid-fire jokes with multiple subjects that stuck to the same topic as opposed to the single focused segment that the first two installments had been.
  13. Slim Shannon was a sketch that took place in a plus-sized clothing store with Slim Shannon as the new cashier who’s not all that good at relating to her plus-sized customers and had no idea that her interactions were actually very offensive.
  14. Natalie Merchant then returned to the stage to perform Carnival.
  15. Triumph Performers was a talk show sketch hosted by Nancy Walls who interviewed entertainers who triumphed over extreme obstacles to continue to chase their dreams. Will Ferrell played a mime who was paralyzed from the neck down. David Koechner played a ventriloquist who had to speak using a voice box. Finally, Darrell Hammond played an impressionist who suffered from a terrible accident that burnt off most of his face.  
  16. Finally, David Schwimmer closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S21E04... HOST: GABRIEL BYRNE... DATE: OCTOBER 28, 1995

SNL: S21E04... HOST: GABRIEL BYRNE... DATE: OCTOBER 28, 1995

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with parody C-SPAN coverage of Halloween In New Hampshire where Republican Presidential hopefuls joined trick-or-treaters to pester a New Hampshire resident into considering voting for them in the ’96 Presidential Election. Not only did they pitch themselves for the position but they also disguised themselves as the opposition in an effort to discredit them as a viable choice. This being the opening sketch, it ended with Norm MacDonald as Bob Dole who announced, “Live from New York…”
  2. Gabriel Byrne then officially opened the show with a monolog about being an Irishman in New York, then went on to explain why this was such a great time to be Irish and working in the arts. As he goes on to discuss his nation with pride, Fred Wolf and Colin Quinn danced behind him while dressed as a bottle of whiskey and a potato.
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for Marshall Power Tools where David Koechner played the pitchman/son of the company’s creator who had a hook for his hand. Throughout the ad, we met more family members who were all missing digits and limbs but still promoted the power tool products.
  4. Mary Katherine Gallagher then made her show debut as the nervous nerd who was trying out for her Catholic School talent show. After fighting through her many nervous quirks, she went on to perform a monolog from a Lifetime Channel movie-of-the-week. She then went on to sing a song that started out somewhat normal but then got strange in the tradition Mary Katherine Gallagher way.   
  5. Cooking With Keith was a parody cooking show hosted by Gabriel Byrne as Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones, who cook stoner-style food while rambling in that famous Keith Richards’ way.
  6. This was followed by another Fuzzy Memories where Jack Handey shared a tale of a fishing trip with his father where he had an irrational fear that his dad was trying to drown him.
  7. Alanis Morissette then took to the stage to perform Hand In My Pocket.
  8. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Darrell Hammond dropped by as Phil Donahue to complain about Sally Jesse Raphael and other daytime talk show host for stealing his thunder as one of the originators of the controversy-driven daytime genre. Cheri Oteri then got her first Weekend Update segment to review the movie Dangerous Minds only to act very self-conscious when she noticed that Norm MacDonald was watching. The news devolved to be reminiscent of a high school scene when we learned that Cheri was acting weird because she had a crush on Norm. Molly Shannon and David Spade added to this sense of High School immaturity as they joined in to aid the anchor and guest efforts to flirt with each other. Finally, Lorne Michaels ended the fun by canceling the evening wrap party to punish the group for not sticking to the sketch as planned.
  9. Miracles Of Genetics was a sketch where Gabriel Byrne played a fertility doctor who offered Nancy Walls and Mark McKinney way more information about their future child than the proud parents to be really wanted, including the fact that he's grown up to be a bisexual. He then went on to share their child’s entire life based on his genetic alone. He even went as far as to introduce the couple to a cloned teenage version of their unborn child.
  10. Spade in America returned for another installment where this time David Spade shared a video where he checked in from the World Series to playfully interview players from both the Indians and the Braves.
  11. Alanis Morissette then returned to the stage to perform All I Really Want.
  12. Special Ladies took place in a bookstore where Gabriel Byrne played the author of a book called the Golden Age Of You which was apparently a huge hit amongst his female readers. He then went on to read a couple of entries from his book of poetry and personal journal that seemed rather cheesy, but the crowd of women enthusiastically ate it up. That was until he revealed that his fetish was golden aged women, which didn’t go over well with the middle-aged crowd.
  13. Rikers Island Guard was a sketch that took place in the Rikers Island warden’s office where he Gabriel Byrne tried to fire Tim Meadows as a prison guard because he kept getting beat up and raped by both the inmates and Byrne himself. Meanwhile, Meadows did not want to go because he apparently liked the abuse.
  14. Finally, Gabriel Byrne closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S21E05... HOST: QUENTIN TARANTINO... DATE: NOVEMBER 11, 1995

SNL: S21E05... HOST: QUENTIN TARANTINO... DATE: NOVEMBER 11, 1995

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a visit to the White House Kitchen where Darrell Hammond debuted his Bill Clinton in order to pig out on White House food while he apologized to his supporters over the phone for the fact that he ran as a centrist only to create leftist policies after taking office. Not only did he apologize over the phone but he also tried to make good with Tim Meadows who played a pizza delivery guy by attempting to buy his vote for a hundred bucks.  Of course, this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Quentin Tarantino then officially opened the show with a monolog about his love of live TV and how live events lead to the most memorable moments. He then went on to sing the song I’m Gonna Blow You A Kiss In The Wind which was a song that Samantha wrote in an episode of Bewitched, in his effort to create a memorable moment of his own.
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for Bug-Off which was a roach motel that was designed to be more of a torture chamber with viewing windows that allowed users to watch trapped pest get torn apart for cheap thrills.  
  4. Spartan Cheerleaders then made their show debut with Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri as the overly excited C-squad cheerleaders who attempted to amp up the crowd at less popular sports. This week the cheerleading duo cheered at a Jr. Varsity football game only to receive more taunts from the crowd than cheers.
  5. Clara Turley's Bible Challenge was a game show sketch hosted by Nancy Walls who played the titular Christian who was too trusting for her own good to the point where Norm MacDonald is able to lie his way to a victory by tricking her and the other trusting contestants. The game itself involved Nancy Walls asking a biblical question while also providing the answer; she then asked the contestants whether or not they already knew the answer. Norm just blindly said that he knew everything which led to his simple win.
  6. Directors On Directing was a panel talk show where Tarantino played himself amongst a couple of castmates who impersonated other directors, who weren’t known for their looks, in order to discuss their craft. Rather than focus on the art of directing, the interview was more about director’s true intentions to hook up with their leading actresses. Though all of the other directors deny these claims, Tarantino openly admits that he has sex with as many of his actresses as he can since no good looking girl would even look at him back when he was a schlub.
  7. Smashing Pumpkins then took to the stage to perform Bullet With Butterfly Wings.
  8. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Tim Meadows dropped in as Don King to deny any wrongdoings in an instance where he was accused of insurance fraud. Fop and Fagin also made their news debut to admit their huge fans of Norm.
  9. Leg Up then returned for another installment with Cheri Oteri as Debbie Reynolds and Molly Shannon as Ann Miller who mistakenly invited Quentin Tarantino onto their dance-themed show because they mistakenly thought that he was a choreographer who directed musicals.
  10. We then went to a Campfire where a group of white trash campers who were first highly entertained by the volume of liquid inside an egg that Tarantino tried to cook for dinner. It then turned out that everything was overfilled from the beer Will Ferrell cracked open that went everywhere to all of the mosquitos that would spray blood everyone whenever a redneck would crush them.
  11. Spade in America also returned for another installment where David Spade introduced Robert Hegyes to Quentin Tarantino through a game of This IS Your Life, in an attempt to inspire a John Travolta-like comeback for the Welcome Back Kotter costar.
  12. Smashing Pumpkins then returned to the stage to perform Zero.
  13. All Aboard! was a sketch where Tarantino played an old train engineer who now enjoys playing with his model train set while sharing old tales of beating up hobos who tried to freeload on his real trains back in the good old days.
  14. Finally, Quentin Tarantino closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S21E06... HOST: LAURA LEIGHTON... DATE: NOVEMBER 18, 1995

SNL: S21E06... HOST: LAURA LEIGHTON... DATE: NOVEMBER 18, 1995

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started on Air Force One showing actually footage of Bill Clinton living it up in the First-Class portion of the plane which then cut to Norm MacDonald and Darrell Hammond as Bob Dole and Newt Gingrich dealing with third world accommodations while traveling back in coach. Of course with this being the opening sketch it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”   
  2. Laura Leighton then officially opened the show with a monolog about how just three years earlier she was a pathetic broke waitress. She then went on to share about her Melrose Place success only to be interrupted by Mark McKinney’s and David Koechner’s old-timey English characters Lucien and Fagan who lavished our host with flowers while sharing their favorite moment from her on her show. They finish the scene by presenting Laura with a portrait of the two of them enjoying her performance on their TV screen while they are “bare-assed naked.”  
  3. This was followed by the classic fake ad called Old Glory Insurance which was an insurance plan aimed at protecting old people from robot attack when they come to steal their medication.
  4. Laura Leighton then played The Fortune Teller who finds herself with Norm MacDonald as a very skeptical customer. He received an appointment as a present and wouldn’t stop making fun of the soothsayer for incorrectly guess at the name of his hometown even though the rest of her information was one hundred present accurate, including who killed his mother.
  5. We then got a fake a for a Life-Time video series called Home For The Holidays that featured family fights from Thanksgiving for those who can’t make it home for the holidays.
  6. What a Woman Wants was a talk show sketch hosted by Molly Shannon and Laura Leighton who took phone calls from men to answer any question that they might have about women. Though this is supposed to be an informative show, all roads lead to sexual talk from both the two female host as well as all of the male callers.
  7. Cydney was a sketch that took place in the world of Melrose Place where Laura Leighton’s character found herself in a surreal ad campaign for a perfume that shares her name. Apparently, this Cydney character was a complete bitch because she couldn’t make it through a take without complaining about the five “midgets” who were meant to add to the surreal sense of the scene. I have “midgets” in quotes because that’s what Cydney and the director referred to them as despite being constantly reminded that time had changed and they preferred to be called little people. After one final rant, Cydney awoke back in Melrose Place to find that it was all just a dream.
  8. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Norm MacDonald kept getting pranked by Howard Stern fans who were sneaking in plugs for Stern’s book Mrs. America. Colin Quinn also dropped in as a character named Joe Blow who shared some local news, and by local, I mean so local that he only talked about the things that were happening in his own life.
  9. Rancid then took to the stage to perform Roots Radical.
  10. Roberta was a sketch that took place at a party where Cheri Oteri played the titular Roberta who was the host’s (Laura Leighton) co-worker who invited herself after overhearing Laura talk about the event at work. Roberta was such a bore that she ruined everyone’s story by sharing some boring story from her life that she felt was similar which also ended up ruining the entire night.
  11. Spade In America then returned for another installment where this time David Spade interviewed Sean Penn who would only allow this to happen if he could tattoo Spade while they talk. This segment turned out to be more about the tattooing Spade than anything all that informative about Penn.
  12. Self-Punishment was a sketch that took place in a bank with Laura Leighton as a loan officer discussing an application with Mark McKinney. Jim Breuer played an assistant who would check in from time to time only to literally beat himself up whenever he learned that he had made a mistake that slowed down the whole loan process.
  13. Rancid then returned to the stage to perform Ruby Soho.
  14. Git With You was a sketch where Laura Leighton stepped out of a fancy restaurant to then be approached by Tim Meadows who tried to pick up on her while she was waiting for a cab. From time to time he would slip into talking about art, foreign films, and romantic things that he’d like to do, only to ruin any sense of sentimentality by blurting out, “I want to get wit you.” This proclamation was always followed up with examples of how he might not be as refined as he kept accidentally implying he might actually be. In the world of the sketch, I think he was supposed to be a genuine thug, and not a gem with a fake thug persona the way I might be explaining him to be.
  15. Finally, Laura Leighton closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S21E07... HOST: ANTHONY EDWARDS... DATE: DECEMBER 2, 1995

SNL: S21E07... HOST: ANTHONY EDWARDS... DATE: DECEMBER 2, 1995

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of Inside Politics that covered the Republicans who were holding an anti-war rally against the conflict in Bosnia. They were against war more because the Democrats were for it and not that they cared at all about the actual matter at hand. Bob Dole then stepped in to break up the rally because he couldn’t stand seeing his party going against their traditional warmongering ways. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Anthony Edwards then officially opened the show with a monolog about how happy he was to be a part of the show ER. He then went on to introduce David Koechner who played a character named Swabby who was a Popeye looking guy that was supposed to be a janitor who was cut from ER during the show development process. It then turned out that the SNL audience was more excited about Swabby than Gilbert from Revenge Of The Nerds.
  3. This was followed by a fake ad for Grimaldi's Classic Creations which was a Christmas Nativity Scene with a digitally crying Jesus that sounded Satanic and would not stop until the battery died.
  4. The Joe Pesci Show then made its SNL debut with Jim Breuer as Pesci who hosts a talk show where he both verbally and physically abused his former co-stars “Sharon Stone” (Nancy Walls) and “Macaulay Culkin” (Anthony Edwards) who he had on as his guest. He finished the night with “Jim Carey” (Mark McKinney) who he had on just to be his amusement only to end up abusing him as well.
  5. We then got a parody of Nightline where Darrell Hammond as Ted Koppel discussed health care issues with actors who play doctors as his guest, including the host, Anthony Edwards who played a doctor on ER, TV’s medicine woman, Dr. Quinn, Dr. Zhivago, and Dr. Pepper who rounded out the panel. As the sketch went on, more and more fictional doctors were introduced to the scene with no one having an idea of what is really going on in the world of medical treatment.
  6. Mary Katherine Gallagher returned for another installment where this week she was her quirky/annoying self while showing off at a wedding reception.
  7. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, David Koechner dropped in to read some news as Norm’s younger brother named Gary who the family saw as the funny one, but his nerves were so overwhelming that he could barely get out his jokes.  
  8. Foo Fighters then took to the stage to perform I'll Stick Around.
  9. G-Dog Does The Nasty was a sketch where Tim Meadows played the titular G-Dog who throws his back out in the middle of his a nasty dance routine.
  10. Spade in America then returned for another installment where David Spade reenacted a Thanksgiving that he spent with his father in a bar.
  11. Turning Point was a parody of a talk show hosted by Barbara Walters where they interviewed Anthony Edwards as Princess Diana to show her ditsy side while she discussed how she didn’t fit in with the royal family.
  12. Foo Fighters then returned to the stage to perform For All The Cows.
  13. The Hulk Hogan Talk Show!!! was, as the title suggests, a talk show sketch with Hulk Hogan as the host. Will Ferrell played The Hulkster’s fill-in host who interviewed a recently released hostage. Even though this was supposed to be a serious show since Hogan wasn’t around, they still stuck to the regular format by breaking in with wrestling clips from time to time.
  14. Finally, Anthony Edwards closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S21E08... HOST: DAVID ALAN GRIER... DATE: DECEMBER 9, 1995

SNL: S21E08... HOST: DAVID ALAN GRIER... DATE: DECEMBER 9, 1995

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of Nightline where once again Darrell Hammond portrayed Ted Koppel to cover Michael Jackson’s recent back injury that took him off of his tour. In the sketch, Koppel took too much pleasure out of calling the pop superstar Jacko which was a new nickname that was going around at the time. Koppel also took much pleasure out of using the term backo when referring to his injury as he built to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. David Alan Grier then officially opened the show with a more of a stand-up routine than a monolog where he joked about the East Coast energy that’s far more aggressive than what he’s grown used to while living on the West Coast. He then went on to joke about how his old East Coast friends react to him whenever he comes back for a visit. He finished his set with a couple of jokes about his love of boxing.
  3. The Rocky Roads a motivational troop who provided uplifting performances for school assemblies. The members of the troop looked like they might have inspired The Wiggles. The name, The Rocky Roads, came from the two black members being the chocolate and the two white members making up the marshmallows. Their focus was on race relations with examples that got a little inappropriate at times even though they always kept up their cheerful, kid-friendly delivery.
  4. We then got a parody of The Today Show where we got to see David Alan Grier as Bryant Gumbel who would instantly start acting like a slang-speaking thug whenever the show would go to commercial which went against his booshie on-air persona.
  5. Three Wise Men was a sketch that took us back to biblical days with David Alan Grier as the only of the three wise men to forget to bring the baby Jesus a gift. Thinking quick, he ended up getting a bunch of impulse products from an ancient convenience store. It turned out that since Jesus was a baby, he personally thought the last minute gifts where much more fun than the frankincense and gold.
  6. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Darrell Hammond dropped in as Bill Clinton to give a big thumbs up to the writers of the movie The American President for creating a plot line where the first lady is dead, allowing Michael Douglas as president to openly pursue her replacement. Colin Quinn also stopped by as Lenny The Lion to discuss his struggles as the king of the animal kingdom, while treating his time in zoos the same way someone would talk about prison.
  7. Silverchair then took to the stage to perform Tomorrow.
  8. Wake Up And Smile was a morning talk show sketch where Will Ferrell, Nancy Walls, and David Alan Grier celebrated their twentieth year with the show only to have things devolve into a Lord Of The Flies-like scenario after the teleprompter gives out.
  9. Spade In America then returned for another installment where David Spade gave a year-in-review which was pretty much an extended version of his Hollywood Minute which is what I was expecting all of these Spade In America segments to be since I forgot about its actual structure.
  10. Black People a sketch that profiled David Alan Grier as, black musician, Charles Honeydew Wilkins who was famous for being the one black performer in an otherwise all-white jazz orchestra back in the black and white days of film. Not only was he the only black member of the group but he openly denounced his own race through the lyrics of his Louis Armstrong parody tune making him the first black performer to be lynched by his own race.
  11. Silverchair then returned to the stage to perform Pure Massacre.
  12. It then magically became 4:53 in the A.M which meant it was time for Perspectives where host Lionel Osbourne welcomed David Alan Grier as Dr, Emory Coleman who host almost the exact same show on a competing channel. The two went on to carry out a polite conversation that went absolutely nowhere at all since both men got their gigs from their non-threatening black point of view. We even saw a clip from Dr. Coleman’s show where Lionel Osbourne was his guest.
  13. Finally, David Alan Grier closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S21E09... HOST: MADELINE KAHN... DATE: DECEMBER 16, 1995

SNL: S21E09... HOST: MADELINE KAHN... DATE: DECEMBER 16, 1995

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with parody coverage of NBC's Christmas Salute To Our Bosnian Troops hosted by Darrell Hammond as Jay Leno along with the rest of the cast trying out some of their obscure impersonations the same way most of these parodies of star-studded specials usually play out. Again, when I say obscure impersonation, I don’t mean that the people being impersonated are obscure, they’re just not impersonations that the cast members are usually known for making. Of course, with this being the opening sketch it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Madeline Kahn then officially opened the show with a quick monolog about how great it was to be hosting again after eighteen years had passed since her last hosting appearance and how she really didn’t think it would take that long. She then switched gears to sing both the soprano and frog sounding voices to the Clarence “Frogman” Henry song, Ain’t Got No Home which she planned to perform years ago, back when she didn’t think it would take her so long to return as the host.
  3. We then got a repeat of the Gangsta Bitch Barbie ad from earlier in the season which was a Barbie line of products that was marketed to inner-city children.
  4. The Spartan Cheerleaders then returned to do their cheerleading routines at the high school basketball game, even though their presence wasn’t at all appreciated.
  5. John-John Mackey's Storm Tracker Accu-Cast was a sketch where Tim Meadows played the badass titular weatherman who treated weather like his personal bitch.
  6. Giant Bird was a sketch where David Koechner and Madeline Kahn played a couple who argued about typical married couple things while being carried away by a giant bird that grew to be huge from growing up next to a nuclear power plant.
  7. Leg Up then returned for another installment where this time “Debbie Reynolds” and “Ann Miller” had on Madeline Kahn as their special guest who played an old famous Russian ballerina.
  8. Bush then took to the stage to perform Comedown.
  9. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Colin Quinn dropped in as jolly old St. Nick to share with Norm how he became the present giving fat man.
  10. Lucien & Fagan's Antique Shop was a sketch where Mark McKinney’s and David Koechner’s old-timey British characters ran an antic store where they were very strict with their no return policy even when it came to Madeline Kahn who played their top customer who was partially to credit for keeping the store open with her purchases.
  11. Fuzzy Memories then returned for another installment where Jack Handey remembered to back when he was a kid and stuck his head out of a car window, accidentally knocking a dogs head off in the process.
  12. Spade in America also returned for another installment where this time David Spade shared his New Year’s wish list for 1996.
  13. Bush then returned to the stage to perform Glycerine.
  14. Wedding Vows was a sketch where Madeline Kahn and Will Farrell shared their bizarre self-written vows on their wedding day.
  15. Fuzzy Memories then returned again for another installment where Jack Handey remembered a crazy family crisis.
  16. This was followed by a repeat of the Old Glory Insurance ad from a couple of weeks ago which was an ad for an insurance plan to protect old people from attacking robots.
  17. Finally, Madeline Kahn closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S21E10... HOST: CHRISTOPHER WALKEN... DATE: JANUARY 13, 1996

SNL: S21E10... HOST: CHRISTOPHER WALKEN... DATE: JANUARY 13, 1996

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with one of my biggest pet peeves as Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Governor George Pataki opened the show by apologizing for the low quality of tonight’s episode. They went on to explain how the cast was too busy helping the city’s efforts to remove snow following The Blizzard Of '96 instead of using their time to rehearse. It’s bad enough that there are only eleven segments to the night but more often than not, these joke warnings about bad shows turn out to be accurate. As usual, this being the opening sketch it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”  
  2. Christopher Walken then officially opened the show with a quick monolog about being stuck with his family due to the blizzard and how that meant they had nothing to do but sit and watch his old movies. He then went on to sing Let It Snow with Molly Shannon, Cheri Oteri, and Nancy Walls who were dubbed The Snowdiggers and danced alongside Walken as he sang.
  3. Rita Delvecchio then returned for another installment where this time she yelled, “I keep it now,” at the neighborhood kids who threw their winter-themed toys onto her porch. In between her interaction with the kids, Rita kept trying to get Christopher Walken to clear her walkway while he was clearing his own property with his brand new snow-blower.
  4. The Continental also returned where once again, Walken played the lecherous creep who was trying to trap an unexpected female visitor into his high-rise bachelor bad.
  5. Joan Osborne then took to the stage to perform One Of Us.
  6. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Jim Breuer dropped in to do his stand-up routine where he shared how his stomach reacted to different types of liquor while giving each of his drinks a voice. Darrell Hammond also stopped by as Jesse Jackson to compare civil rights with laughter.
  7. Connie Stinson Talks was a talk show sketch hosted by Christopher Walken who had on a bunch of men on to complain about their girlfriends only to twists his guest's words to make them seem way harsher than they actually were. For example, when Will Ferrell claimed that he was concerned about his girlfriend’s weight because of health issues Walken turned it around and quoted him as saying that he hated that she’d grown to be a fat hog. He not only twisted the men’s words but he would rework the women’s claims of being body image positive into them saying that they were proud to be big fat hogs. Though the sketch mainly focused on weight, he twisted the intentions of other topics of conversation as well.
  8. Mary Katherine Gallagher also got another segment where this time she was her quirky/annoying self while daydreaming about dancing with Christopher Walken who was playing her guidance counselor from school.
  9. Spade In America was another return segment where this week, David Spade reported live from the street during the blizzard while Christopher Walken manned the Spade In America desk. Due to technical difficulties, Spade never realized when he went live which led to him getting caught talking trash about the show, the cast, and the host while everyone was watching on.
  10. The Execution was a sketch where Christopher Walken was sent to the electric chair only to be tortured by David Koechner who was in charge of the switch and was too busy goofing around to commit to putting Walken down.
  11. Finally, Christopher Walken closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S21E11... HOST: ALEC BALDWIN... DATE: JANUARY 20, 1996

SNL: S21E11... HOST: ALEC BALDWIN... DATE: JANUARY 20, 1996

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of Nightline where Darrell Hammond announce the breaking news that Lisa Marie Presley had filed for divorce with Michael Jackson. In the sketch, this news was much more important than the conflict that was still going on in Chechnya. Koppel started out by interviewing several other reporters about the how horrible this news is until he eventually interviewed Tim Meadows as Michael Jackson who not only announced that this just meant that he had more time to spend with the ladies, but he also announced, “Live from New York…”
  2. Alec Baldwin then officially opened the show with a quick monolog about the fact that he just became a new father. Mark McKinney and David Koechner as Fops Lucien and Fagan then joined Baldwin to help him share how much his love for Kim Basinger has only grown more with the birth of their first child.
  3. We then got a repeat of the fake Marshall Power Tools ad from earlier in the season which was a fake ad where the founding family of a power tool company pitched their family product without acknowledging that every single one of them was missing at least one body part.
  4. Spartan Cheerleaders then returned for another installment where this time the unwelcomed cheerleaders attempted to hype the crowd as their high school chess tournament.
  5. The Joe Pesci Show also returned for another installment with Jim Breuer as Pesci like always, but this time Alec Baldwin played Robert DeNiro who played the sidekick and help Pesci verbally and physically abuse his line-up of celebrity guests.
  6. Literary Theatre was a PBS style show hosted by Fops Lucien and Fagin who introduced a play called Dense And Densibility which of course was a parody of Sense And Sensibility where everyone in it was dumb. 
  7. Tori Amos then took to the stage to perform Caught A Lite Sneeze.
  8. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Colin Quinn brought back his Joe Blow character who gave an update on local news that is so local that it’s based on the things going on in his personal life. After sharing a few stories, Joe Blow attempted to befriend Norm and get to join him for a few beers after the show.
  9. Buckwell's Follies was a sketch where Alec Baldwin played a politician named Henry Buckwell who accidentally shot Lassie late one night after hearing a noise and thinking she was an intruder. We then learned of several other faux pas made by Buckell while out on his campaign trail in his effort to become a governor, including cursing at a baby and wiping his ass with the American flag which were all genuine mistakes. To top things off, he ended his run of bad luck by wiping his ass again after getting hit by eggs only this time he wiped his ass with the baby that he already cursed at.
  10. Fuzzy Memories also returned for another installment where this time, Jack Handey thought back to his youth about his days playing Pirate with his friends but in reality, they were just a gang of juvenile muggers.
  11. Accidentally Shot By Hunters was a talk show sketch that showcased several people that have been accidentally shot by hunters. Not only were the guest accidentally shot in the past for valid reason but Will Ferrell played a hunter shot a couple of them dead while watching the show from the audience.
  12. Alec's Belated Season's Greetings was a quick sketch where Alec Baldwin attempted to get all of his belated Christmas greetings and thank yous out of the way via video.
  13. She was a sketch where Alec Baldwin and Mark McKinney played to navy shipmates who had no problem talking about their ship as if it were a lady but struggled to use the same terms when speaking about the women in their lives.
  14. Tori Amos then returned to the stage to perform Hey Jupiter.
  15. Tales of Bill Brasky then made its debut for the classic sketch where a group of drunks describe their pal Bill Brasky in impressive ways that were impossible to be true as if he were a fictional legend whose feats were amplified by the booze. Then at the end of the sketch, we got to see a hint that Bill Brasky was actually real as well as hints that he lived up to his preceded reputation.
  16. Finally, Alec Baldwin closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S21E12... HOST: DANNY AIELLO... DATE: FEBRUARY 10, 1996

SNL: S21E12... HOST: DANNY AIELLO... DATE: FEBRUARY 10, 1996

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of Inside Politics where Mark McKinney and Norm MacDonald as Steve Forbes and Bob Dole answered questions about what they have to offer as the Republican candidate for the ’96 Presidential Election. Forbes seemed to be in it for shits and giggles while Dole fumed over the fact that he was stuck in second place to the multi-millionaire. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Danny Aiello then officially opened the show with a quick monolog about how he really got a kick out of watching Christopher Walken sing and dance from his episode, which aired just a few weeks ago. He then admitted that this inspired him to sing the song Chubby Clementine by Bobby Darin.
  3. Ma's Spaghetti Sauce was a sketch that took place at an Italian family dinner where a comment about Ma’s (Cheri Oteri) special homemade spaghetti sauce set off a brutal family fight amongst the group of made-men with Ma initiating most of the violence.
  4. The Kevin Franklin Show was a talk show sketch where Tim Meadows played the titular host who was openly wrong about every single piece of information that he added to the conversation between him, Danny Aiello, and Coolio who played themselves as the guests on the show.
  5. This was followed by a fake ad for Time-Life's Valentine's Day Arguments which was a series of video cassettes that provided virtual Valentine’s Day fights with various themes for those who may be missing out on the romantic holiday, including a special collection for gay lovers.
  6. Cheri Oteri then brought back her Althea character who is a hyperactive kid and this week, she annoyed the hell out of her Greyhound bus driver during an extremely long trip to Florida that seemed even longer with her line of annoying questions and insights. 
  7. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, David Koechner returned as “Norm’s brother” Gary to ramble on with a personal commentary about the Republican Party. Football player, Larry Brown, also dropped by so that Norm could interrogate him as to why as the MVP Super Bowl winner didn’t win big enough to cover the point spread which led Norm to lose a huge bet.
  8. Coolio then took to the stage to perform 1, 2, 3, 4.
  9. Spade In America the returned for another installment where this week, David Spade talked with Chris Farley as Newt Gingrich which turned out to be just an excuse for the two to promote their latest movie, Black Sheep.
  10. Danny Aiello then played an insurance salesman who was blatantly open about his love of  Hi-C And Turkey while asking for lunch from one of his clients while trying to pitch the sale of a new life insurance policy.
  11. Coolio then returned to the stage to perform Gangsta's Paradise.
  12. This was followed by a parody of Martha Stewart Living where Nancy Walls, as Martha Stewart tried to deny her New Jersey background only to have her geographic root slip out throughout the segment.
  13. Fuzzy Memories also returned for another installment where this week Jack Handey recalled the time where he tricked his brother into jumping off the roof while using an umbrella as a parachute.
  14. Finally, Danny Aiello closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S21E13... HOST: TOM ARNOLD... DATE: FEBRUARY 17, 1996

SNL: S21E13... HOST: TOM ARNOLD... DATE: FEBRUARY 17, 1996

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with parody coverage of the WMUR 9 CNN Debate that made fun of the front-running Republican candidates who were running in the ’96 Presidential Election. The main focus was how the Republican Party was such a mess at the time that there was no way any one of them could have beaten Bill Clinton and that they were actually rooting for him. Since this was the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Tom Arnold then officially opened the show with a monolog where he talked about how happy he was to be back hosting the show again. He added how he was a tad bit surprised to be back following a recent incident at the Golden Globes where he said something off-color about Teri Hatcher while presenting. He then went on to make several cluelessly cruel jokes while interacting with the cast throughout the rest of the intro.
  3. The Life We Lead was a parody of a soap opera where the network had an idea to save some money by sneaking news stories into the show’s dialog, making for some very interesting, informative but melodramatic interactions.
  4. St. Gabriel's Bake Sale was a sketch where Nancy Walls played a loyal churchgoer who was extremely intense about the annual charity sale to where she would physically threaten any of the other women who did not go along with her self-imposed rules. The sketch ended with her kicking Tom Arnold’s ass after he as the preacher entered the church and attempted to snag a free lemon square.
  5. Tupac Shakur then took to the stage to perform California Love.
  6. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, “O.J.” called in via phone to provide a special update to Norm where he claimed to still be looking for the real murder of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown while going about his normal life. Colin Quinn returned as Joe Blow for more local news that so local that it only deals with his own personal issues. Adam Sandler also dropped in as a special guest to sing a song called Dip Doodle which was about his grandmother following her recent death.
  7. Miracles Of Science was a talk show sketch hosted by Will Ferrell where Tom Arnold played a big headed guest named Gus “Brainiac” Grady who looked like he should have genius abilities thanks to his oversized brain, only to find out that he was actually a complete idiot.
  8. Jim Breuer then played the female character Naive Mrs. Kogen who was extremely naïve in her efforts to convince Officer Tom Arnold that her son, Colin Quinn, was not the criminal that he obviously was portrayed to be.
  9. David Koechner then returned as his Gerald “T-Bone” Tibbins character to prepare Tom Arnold for a major surgery only to have his prankster ways scare the hell out the nervous patient.
  10. Fuzzy Memories then returned for another installment where Jack Handey recalled his dad’s woodpecker-inspired suicide.
  11. Tupac Shakur then returned to the stage to perform I Ain't Mad At Cha.
  12. Tree Slice Display was a sketch where Tom Arnold played a forest ranger who used a giant slice of a tree where the rings noted a timeline of a couple of historic events along with several marks that noted the timeline of this tree idea. After a while, we learned that he obtained the tree through illegal means and that the cops were actually after him. It turned out that this sketch was actually a PSA to warn people about making sure that any forest rangers you may come across are actually legit before buying into their stories.
  13. This was followed by a fake ad for Petchow which was a rat poison that was disguised as dog food in an effort to fool rats into eating it up without realizing it’s actually meant to kill them.
  14. Finally, Tom Arnold closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights. 
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SNL: S21E14... HOST: ELLE MACPHERSON... DATE: FEBRUARY 24, 1996

SNL: S21E14... HOST: ELLE MACPHERSON... DATE: FEBRUARY 24, 1996

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with more parody coverage of the ’96 Presidential election where this time Bully, “Pat Buchanan” forced “Steve Forbes” into donating money into his campaign while the two attempted to check out of their hotel rooms following a recent political event. Of course, with this being the opening sketch, it eventually led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Elle MacPherson then officially opened the show with a monolog about how happy she was to host the show. She then went on to ramble about how she lived in New York and loved. I say ramble, not because she seemed ill-prepared because it was intentional to allow the on-screen text discuss how hot she was without the worried of the audience missing anything all that important while reading.
  3. This was followed by a repeat of the A.M. Ale ad from earlier in the season which was a malt liquor for early morning drunks.
  4. The Spartan Cheerleaders then returned to do their usual hilariously quirky cheers only this time they were at the high school swim meet where once again they were unwanted.
  5. Tim Meadows then portrayed a jazz pianist for a sketch called Winston Graff Recording Session where he used TV catchphrases to make up the melodies to his new collection of songs.
  6. Mary Katherine Gallagher also returned for another installment where the awkwardly spazztic Catholic school girl competed in the Fresh-Faced Teen modeling competition where she takes on Elle MacPherson.
  7. Sting then took to the stage to perform Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot
  8. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Lucien and Fagin returned to share that they were still huge fans of Norm to the point where they are the founding members of the Norm Macdonald fan club.
  9. Redenbacher Holiday Theatre was a sketch where the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue was adapted into a holiday special put on by the popcorn pushing Redenbacher family. This was a musical sketch where men and boys slept on the cold winter streets in order to get their first copy in the morning. We also got to see Elle MacPherson as a Santa of sorts for the swimsuit themed holiday. Molly Shannon also played a Wicked Witch Of The West-looking feminist who, after a quick cut to the end of the special, turned out to not only be won over by the concept but actually joined in on the holiday, though none of the men waiting in line cared about these details as they all rushed home to masturbate.
  10. Stan Hooper In The Hospital was a sketch where Norm MacDonald played the titular Stan who woke from his coma thinking that his sister, played by Elle MacPherson, was his incredibly good-looking wife while denying the fact that Cheri Oteri was his actual wife.
  11. Sting then returned to the stage to perform You Still Touch Me.
  12. 1-600-AUSSIE was a phone sex line where all of the sex talk workers were Australian making them damn near impossible to understand by their horny American callers.
  13. Fuzzy Memories the returned for another installment where Jack Handey recalled a tale of his mother’s fancy Easter Eggs that were so fancy that he and his siblings had to
  14. First Date Manners was a sketch where Jim Breuer was extremely lenient with his rude blind date because she was played by Ell MacPherson who was way out of his league.
  15. We then got a repeat of the Fuzzy Memories from earlier in the season where Jack Handey recalled a family crisis where the family was too broke to pay the bills so little Jack buried his piggy bank in the backyard.
  16. Finally, Elle MacPherson closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.
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SNL: S21E15... HOST: JOHN GOODMAN... DATE: MARCH 16, 1996

SNL: S21E15... HOST: JOHN GOODMAN... DATE: MARCH 16, 1996

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of 20/20 where Cheri Oteri as Barbara Walters interviewed Tim Meadows as Chris Darden about his rumored affair with Marcia Clark. This led to a flashback where we actually saw Nancy Walls as Marcia Clark to see how they went from co-workers to lovers. The sketch then went back and forth between flashback and the interview before learning that Barbara and cohost, Hugh Downs had the same type of affair which happened on air, building to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”  
  2. John Goodman then officially opened the show with a monolog about now that he’s a member of the Seven-Timers Club, he now has the power to make the cast do anything that he wants so he has a seat in a throne while letting the cast do the dirty throughout the monolog which ended with Goodman forcing Jim Breuer to impersonate Alanis Morissette to perform a Bob Dole-themed parody of the song One Hand In My Pocket.
  3. This was followed by the first part of the Grayson Moorhead Securities sketch from earlier in the season which was the ad for the investment firm where the CEO shared that their secret to success was keeping a list of their clients as well as the money that they’ve invested.
  4. We then got an MTV News parody where the real Kurt Loder gave us a quick but funny update of the world of music from that time before throwing the sketch over to the start of The Real World parody.
  5. This was followed by said parody of The Real World where Norm MacDonald as Bob Dole was the latest MTV show housemate who just wanted everyone to not touch his peanut butter or his favorite chair.
  6. The Joe Pesci Show then returned for another installment where this time John Goodman portrayed a heavy set DeNiro with the joke being that he’s now back to the size he was after putting on weight for Raging Bull. As usual, the host and cohost violently attack their famous guest where this week the theme was recent Oscar winners.
  7. The Real World sketch returned for another installment where Bob Dole continued to struggle to fit in with the rest of his juvenile housemates.
  8. Chris Kattan then made his show debut as Substitute Teacher Suel Forrester who’s English is so mangled that the students struggle to follow the lesson which only gets Suel more fired up and even harder to understand.
  9. The Real World then returned for a third installment where the housemates finally kicked out Bob Dole and left him roaming the streets with his favorite chair and peanut butter.
  10. Everclear then took to the stage to perform Santa Monica
  11. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Colin Quinn dropped in for a segment to discuss his thoughts on St. Patrick’s Day in a way that sounded like a stand-up routine.
  12. Fecal Matters was a talk show sketch hosted by “John Fecal” who was overly-obsessed with discussing the topic of fecal matter to the point where he’d scare off his guest. Not only was there an interview segment but there were several other spots for fecal related products.
  13. We then got the second part of the Grayson Moorhead Securities from earlier in the season where the CEO of the investment firm continued to emphasize the importance of their company’s list.
  14. David Koechner then returned as Norm’s nervous brother for a sketch called Gary MacDonald At Work where Gary freaks out over his work’s downsizing procedure since he knows that he’s going to get cut.
  15. Mark McKinney then played Steve Forbes for a sketch called Forbes America where he shared his plan to make his own America after giving up on his run to become president. The plan was to by some cheap land in Russia and then use lasers to cut the land into the shape of America where he can have full control.
  16. Bill Brasky's Buddies At Holiday Inn was a follow up to the last Bill Brasky sketch and was pretty much the same routine where a bunch of businessmen drunks continued to build the legend of the mythological giant, Bill Brasky.
  17. Finally, John Goodman closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S21E16... HOST: PHIL HARTMAN... DATE: MARCH 23, 1996

SNL: S21E16... HOST: PHIL HARTMAN... DATE: MARCH 23, 1996

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with Phil Hartman as Charlton Heston who gave Advice To Bob Dole while attempting to give him an image makeover in an effort to improve his chances to win the ’96 Presidential Election. Mainly Heston efforts are to get Dole to act more natural even though his own delivery is over-the-top while referencing several of his movies. Of course, with this being the opening  
  2. Phil Hartman then officially opened the show with a monolog about how his history with the show, having worked on it for eight years in a total of one-hundred and fifty-three episodes. He then went on to talk about how tuff the monolog is and how it ended up ruining many of host from the past. He then announced that he was going to show everyone how it’s done and how excited he was to finally act as himself. Moments into this official start to the monolog Hartman quickly realizes that the years he’s spent impersonating others has led him to lose any sense of his real identity. This causes Hartman to run from the stage and it took Tim Meadows encouraging pep-talk to get him back.
  3. This was followed by a repeat of the BugOff sketch from earlier in the season which was a roach motel that tortured the bugs, complete with a viewing window for sadistic people to watch on.
  4. Leg Up returned for another installment where this time hosts “Debbie Reynolds” and “Ann Miller” have on Phil Hartman as Frank Sinatra in order to talk about the good old days of Hollywood.
  5. Phil Hartman then played the teacher of an Acting Class who is very arrogantly abusive to his student while constantly name-dropping a bizarre list of actors who he claims to have worked with. He also shares some acting techniques that are quite unusual as well.
  6. The classic Roxbury Guys then made their show debut to Bob their heads to the song What Is Love by Haddaway while aggressively trying to pick up on ladies at a very popular dance club.  Only this was before they developed their trademark moves and the introduction of their trademark song.
  7. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Phil Hartman dropped in a Frankenstein to discuss the latest batch of US budget cutbacks. Darrell Hammond then stopped by to point out how black actors and actresses are constantly snubbed at the Academy Awards.
  8. Gin Blossoms then took to the stage to perform Follow You Down.
  9. You're The Man was a black and white sketch from the ‘50s where Phil Hartman play a cop trying to arrest Chris Kattan, who was trying to rob a local diner. Hartman’s approach to reassure Kattan that he was the man in control in order to keep him calm while trying to take him down. This technique works as Hartman was able to pull his gun and fire off all the rounds while Kattan still felt like he was in control. None of the bullets hit but more importantly, Kattan didn’t do anything dumb.
  10. Spade In America returned for another installment that was more of an extended Hollywood Minute where David Spade ripped on popular movies from the time.
  11. Phil Hartman then revised his Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer character in an effort to use his naiveté to defend a very powerful tobacco company.
  12. Gin Blossoms then returned to the stage to perform Memphis Time.
  13. Mark McKinney then played talk show host Taddli whose show shared his name where he would continually chastise his pot smoking guests.
  14. We then got a repeat of the Fuzzy Memories sketch from earlier this season where Jack accidentally knock a passing dogs head off while they were both in passing cars with their heads sticking out of the windows.
  15. Finally, Phil Hartman closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S21E17... HOST: STEVE FORBES... DATE: APRIL 13, 1996

SNL: S21E17... HOST: STEVE FORBES... DATE: APRIL 13, 1996

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with Will Ferrell as Ted Kaczynski for a sketch called Unabomber Class Reunion where the anti-technology terrorist got a chance to attend his college reunion to connect with old friends while being guided by guards while shackled. With this being the opening sketch, reunion jokes about what Ted’s been up to eventually led to the announce of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Steve Forbes then officially opened the show with a quick monolog about his run for presidency and the upcoming tax season before taking on questions from the “audience” with the hopes that they would mainly focus on his Flat Tax plan only every question asker was more interested in the great things he could/should do with his extreme wealth.
  3. This was followed by another repeat of the Grayson Moorhead Securities sketch that has already aired twice this season where the CEO of an investment firm shares that the secret to success is to keep a list of their clients and their investments.
  4. Chris Kattan then returned as his mumble-mouth character for a sketch called Drill Sergeant Suel Forrester where he brings his loyal cadets to tears because they just can’t understand the orders that are being barked at them and keep getting in trouble for not following their commands when they are fully willing to.
  5. This was followed by a parody of Nightline where Ted Koppel interviewed a smug Steve Forbes, “Bob Dole,” and “Pat Buchanan about a slanderous tell-all book about the Republican candidates that he competed against while he was running for president. Though this book was supposed to be an anonymous piece of fiction it was clearly written by Forbes and was obviously based on actual events where the names were barely changed at all. The slight name changes are to credit for the classic “Teve Torbe” reference.
  6. Rita Delvecchio then returned for another installment where she continued to collect the neighborhood kid’s toys that landed on her porch and claiming, “I keep it now,” this time while talking to Steve Forbes as a college recruiter about a potential scholarship for her oldest boy. The big difference this time is that it takes place indoors but most of the interactions still involved a lot of porch activity.
  7. Forbes On Forbes was a sketch were Mark McKinney confronts Forbes as Forbes to complain that him dropping out of the presidential race is bad news for McKinney’s SNL career since it’s one of his staple impressions.
  8. This was followed by the second half of the Grayson Moorhead Securities sketch that has already played twice this season which was the second installment of the ad about “The List.”
  9. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Fred Wolf dropped in for his first speaking role to comment on how the new form of personalized charity letters with your name pasted throughout the document almost makes it as hard not to give in and help the same way that it’s hard to deny helping a someone in need when they ask in person.  
  10. Rage Against The Machine then took to the stage to perform Bulls On Parade with two upside-down flags hanging on their amps in protest of the show’s host which got the band banned from their second performance.
  11. Roofers was a sketch with Colin Quinn, Mark McKinney, and Steve Forbes all playing roofers who were slacking off while on the job. The main joke was a Mullet clad Steve Forbes trying to act like a common man who knows what it’s like to be poor.
  12. Seattle Today was a morning show sketch where Norm MacDonald’s Stan Hooper character turned out to be the artist responsible for the infamous Unabomber sketch and admitted to his artistic shortcomings when compared against the feral looking man who was caught.
  13. Fuzzy Memories then returned for another installment where Jack Handey reminisced about the time when he splashed a kid with a puddle and then splashed him again just to be a jerk, all of the while, as he told this story, he led us to believe that the kid was actually him and not the jerk of a driver that turned out to be the case.
  14. Gerald “T-Bone” Tibbins returned to the show this time as an untrustworthy prankster of a barber student who’s trying to cut hair with Steve Forbes as his victim.
  15. Fast Talk was an old black and white sketch that made fun of how fast people talked back in the era of film.
  16. Florida Bugs was a sketch that made fun of how big the bugs in Florida are by having Jim Breuer play a gigantic bug who yells at Steve Forbes for hitting his brother bug who was played by Chris Katan.
  17. Finally, Steve Forbes closed the night by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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SNL: S21E18... HOST: TERI HATCHER... DATE: APRIL 20, 1996

SNL: S21E18... HOST: TERI HATCHER... DATE: APRIL 20, 1996

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with Will Ferrell as Ted Kaczynski for a sketch called Unabomber Defense Team where Kaczynski got introduced to his defense team for the first time which turned out to be a Dream Team of high profile attorneys that were involved with cases that made big headlines in the tabloids. This being the opening sketch, it eventually built to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Teri Hatcher then officially opened the show with a monolog about being happy to host while promoting her new role on Lois And Clark where she was the new Lois Lane.  She went on to brag about how her version of Lois actually knows that Clark is Superman and how the whole glasses as a disguise thing is pretty lame. Right after making this point several members of the cast then joined her on stage and she couldn’t recognize a single one of them as long as they had on glasses and had no idea who Tim Meadows was either way.
  3. We then got another repeat of the Old Glory Insurance ad that’s already aired a couple of times this year which was an ad for an insurance company that claimed to protect old people from robots.
  4. Mary Katherine Gallagher returned to do her quirky Catholic school girl while auditioning against Teri Hatcher to play Maria in school play version of West Side Story.
  5. Mood Music was a sketch where Chris Kattan struggles to find the right seductive music to get Teri Hatcher in the mood because he can’t settle on one that fits with the seductive dance that he tries to pull off to go along with the music. At one point he literally humps the couch halfway across the room from being so into this mating routine of his. Meanwhile, Teri just watches on confused as hell by this process until she got up and showed him how it’s done.
  6. The Princess And The Homeboy was a parody sit-com featuring Teri Hatcher and The Princess and Tim Meadows G-Dog character as The Homeboy where these polar opposites need to learn to live together while living up to a cliché sit-com formula. I believe this may be the birth of the, “Now go make me a sandwich,” joke that I thought originated from Tracy Morgan.
  7. The Spartan Cheerleaders then returned to do their thing at a Math Club competition only this time the delusional cheerleading duo is almost split up when Will Ferrell is offered a position on the real cheerleading team.
  8. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, Mark McKinney dropped in as Golfer, Greg “The Shark” Norman to try to figure out a more appropriate nickname since his golf game had dropped off and he was no longer as aggressive of a competitor as he used to be.
  9. Dave Matthews Band then took to the stage to perform Too Much.
  10. Spade In America then had another installment where Teri Hatcher played David Spade to interview David Spade as herself in order for the two to insult one another over the careers that they’ve made for themselves.
  11. Colin Quinn’s Joe Blow character then broke from Weekend Update to get his own segment called The Local News where, as always, the news is so local that all Joe Blow does is talk about himself. His guests are his family and friends and at one point Norm even dropped by to finally join Joe for the drink he’s been promising him since the character was invented.
  12. Fuzzy Memories then returned for another installment where Jack Handey reminisced about a worm-eating bet that he made when he was a kid.
  13. Nancy Walls’ aggressively competitive churchgoing character from the Bake Sale sketch from weeks ago returned for the St. Gabriel's Rummage Sale where she had a run in with Teri Hatcher who played the same type of person only visiting from a different church which led to a bit of a territorial battle after Teri wouldn’t back down like the rest local ladies
  14. Dave Matthews Band then returned to the stage to perform So Much To Say.
  15. This was followed by a repeat of the Petchow Rat Poison commercial from earlier this year which was a rat poison that looked like dog food in order to trick the rats.
  16. Finally, Teri Hatcher closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights. 
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SNL: S21E19... HOST: CHRISTINE BARANSKI... DATE: MAY 11, 1996

SNL: S21E19... HOST: CHRISTINE BARANSKI... DATE: MAY 11, 1996

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with Dole/Rodman '96 where “Bob Dole” announced he’d be taking on Dennis Rodman as his running mates in an effort to improve his numbers. The real Dennis Rodman made a few quick statements before we cut back to the newsroom for the announcement of, “Live from New York…”

  2. Christine Baranski then officially opened the show with a quick monolog about being happy to host, while joking how most people are just now recognizing who she is since her name isn’t standard enough to stick out in people’s minds. She eventually turned to the audience to take some questions only to become the butt of a bunch of Polish jokes.

  3. We then got a repeat of the A.M. Ale ad that has already aired a couple times this season which was a fake ad for a morning malt liquor.

  4. Molly Shannon then became Courtney love for the debut of The Courtney Love Show where the wasted singer interviewed racist Reds owner Marge Schott, played by Darrell Hammond, and Christine Baranski as Julie Andrews.

  5. Get Off The Shed then returned for a sequel where once again Will Ferrell continued to yell at his off-camera kids to get off the shed, while at the same time trying to entertain his guests.

  6. 20 Years And One Week was a sketch was Cheri Oteri played Barbara Walters to share two decades and one week’s worth of her celebrity interviews which allowed the cast to pull out some fun impersonations. The main focus was celebrity couples who claimed they’d be together forever only to later have their relationships famously fall apart.

  7. The Cure then took to the stage to perform Mint Car.

  8. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, David Koechner as Norm’s brother Gary gave doing the news another shot only to once again end up too nervous to make any sense at all. Dennis Rodman also stopped by to review his own new book Bad As I Wanna Be in a very flamboyant way.

  9. Christine Baranski then played a Nightclub Singer who was horribly off-key to where everyone in the audience mocked her until she shared that she had a terminal illness and was just trying to live a dream which won the audience over right away even though it was a lie.

  10. Spade In America then returned for another installment where this time David Spade spent his time with Lucien and Fagin who pump him full of compliments while out on the streets of New York.

  11. Rolf On Death Row was a sketch where Colin Quinn played the titular Rolf who liked to gossip with his fellow death row inmates. The scene started with four inmates who would talk behind the others back and soon as they were sent to the chair.

  12. Goat Boy Sings Popular Songs of the 80's then made its debut to the show where Jim Breuer played his classic Goat Boy character who was a lab experiment turned talk show host who loved to sing ‘80s tunes.

  13. New Personality Traits was a sketch where Jim Breuer played a boss who drastically changed his personality with the help of some consultants in an effort to win over his new employees. His change is so extreme that he took on an English accent, grew out some chops, and even divorced his wife. This effort didn’t work so he kept on

  14. The Cure then returned to the stage to perform Inbetween Days.

  15. 1-600-LANSING was a phone sex line that catered specifically to the residents of Lansing, Michigan.

  16. Fuzzy Memories also returned for another installment where Jack recalled a haunted house from back when he was a child.

  17. Finally, Christine Baranski closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

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SNL: S21E20... HOST: JIM CARREY... DATE: MAY 18, 1996

SNL: S21E20... HOST: JIM CARREY... DATE: MAY 18, 1996

The Wicker Breakdown:

  1. This week's show started with a parody of Nightline where Bob Dole was interviewed about his recent announcement that he officially quit the Senate in order to focus on his presidential run. Right away, he got upstaged by Bill Clinton who announced that he was quitting as president in order to focus on his own presidential run. This led to a game of one-upping where Bob Dole started to make crazy promises in an effort to out-do Clinton. This being the opening sketch, it led to the announcement of, “Live from New York…”
  2. Jim Carrey then officially opened the show with a monolog where he acted as some sort of alien addressing the audience about the differences between his planet and ours, highlighting how his quirky ways are normal where he comes from. He then stopped the bit after noticing one member of the “audience” who wasn’t laughing. It turned out this audience member didn’t like Jim Carrey’s attempt to try something new, so Carrey quickly shifted gears and started to revise some of his famous characters which instantly got the guy to laugh which was enough to get us to move on.
  3. Jim Carrey then played a foreign exchange student who joined the Spartan Cheerleaders and shared some crazy cheers of his own while hyping the crowd at the high school wrestling match.
  4. Roxbury Guys then returned with Jim Carrey as their new club comrade to do the head nod dance to What I Love, Baby Don’t Hurt Me, while aggressively trying to dance with any women who would make a hint eye contact.
  5. Overprotective Lifeguard was a sketch where Jim Carrey played a lifeguard watching over a hot tub and was way overzealous with playing the role of the tiny pool protector.
  6. Once again, Norm MacDonald gave us the news. This week, had no guest and was just Norm giving the news.
  7. Soundgarden then took to the stage to perform Pretty Noose.
  8. I'll See You In Hell! was a sketch where Jim Carrey threatened everyone at work by saying, “I’ll see you in hell,” to the point where the threat becomes meaningless.
  9. Spade In America then returned for another installment where David Spade made fun of the cast before looking back at his favorite Hollywood Minutes.
  10. The Joe Pesci Show also returned with Jim Carrey as Jimmy Stewart who was on the show to complain about Mark McKinney as Jim Carrey over his impersonation of him only both guest ended up getting acted by Jim Breuer as Joe Pesci. That is until Jimmy Stewart fights back and ends up kicking Joe Pesci’s ass.
  11. Soundgarden then returned to the stage to perform Burden In My Hand.
  12. Jimmy Tango's Fat Busters was an infomercial parody with Jim Carrey playing a pitchman selling weight loss through a combination of heat beads and crystal meth.
  13. Finally, Jim Carrey closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.
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