or...

The Bored And The Beautiful

Let me start by reminding you that I judge Saturday Night Live on its comedic content over anything else and found this episode to be pretty dull. I wouldn't say that I've been rough on said episodes but I have used terms like mediocre, average and even went as far as claiming that I had landed in the second half slump but always added while being entertaining. This is the first episode that I actually felt bored during since episode two which was more of a music special than a comedy program.

I am not of the school that believes there are no funny women in comedy. As a matter of fact, I am pleased as punch to see that Madeline Kahn is hosting the next episode in the queue because she was another childhood hero who would also negate any claims that it's an issue of mixing beauty and comedy. That said, I do blame the writing for defaulting to very lazy jokes.

First off, this was another episode that was filled with music, with two guest performers and every other sketch with Raquel Welch quickly led to her singing a song. If she wasn't singing she was either being sexually harassed or scrutinized by Muppets or cast member playing themselves as she would just stand there and smile with her nipples poking through her shirt.

Sure she might not be known for her comedic acting but neither was the Press Secretary of the United States who just hosted the week before, and they managed to find something funny for him that didn't involve five minutes of gyrating around the stage all gussied up. I'm sure they were trying to play to her strength, but they should have tried to make it funny as well.

And with that, I give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

Chevy Chase opens the show as the host of an award show reading the nominations for the presidential candidates' most influential decision of the election cycle. These decisions are ironic jabs and pretty funny. Chevy goes to read the winner only to find a not to get to the fall. Chevy then claims that he's done with the fall routine only to fall on his way out.
Raquel Welch opens the show with a quick attempt at a joke to then quickly transitions to sing Don't You Remember You Told Me You Love Me Baby and is eventually joined by Belushi Cocker.
Gilda Radner and Garrett Morris's apartment is filled with lethargic rats then the Pied Piper enters to promote Purino's Rat Chow.
The Council of Standards and Measures announces that not only will America be going metric but that are converting to a 10 letter alphabet called the decabet.
The Muppets show up again and complain about not being let onto the show anymore in what feels like a set up that their days are numbered. Raquel Welch joins in on the conversation only to get groped by the Muppets with what looked like a lot of extra grabbing from the Muppeteers. The sketch ends with Chevy Chase telling her to take her top off.
Phoebe Snow sings All Over.
Chevy Chase and Jane Curtin announce the famous Ski Shooting sketch where they added the sound of guns being fired to skiers falling only to blame Claudine Longet, whoever that is.
This leads into another real commercial for Polaroid.
Which is then followed by a sketch about Howard Hughs and his attempt to design a bra which ends up having motorized propellers.
This was followed by the news which had a report about communist accusations being thrown around on the campaign trail.
The news commercial was Raquel Welch dressed as sexy Gore Vidal sharing a moment from history in Bisexual Moment.
The news returned to the Belushi meteorologist angry about music that gives weather a bad name which leads into an explosive rant about The Wizard of OZ and why Toto was the only one that didn't get a gift.
John Sebastian sings Welcome Back complete with a false start and an appearance by Belushi Cocker.
Loren Michaels then offers The Beatles $3,000 to reunite on the show.
Next, was a great sketch where the Bees did a parody of Cuckoo's Nest (which is one of my favorite movies of all time) called One Flew Over the Hornet's Nest.
Gilda Radner then points out that she has all the same parts as Raquel Welch only Raquel's are better arranged.
This was followed by a short film with Raquel Welch gyrating around the screen.
Phoebe Snow then returns to sing Two Fisted Love.
And I found it weird and a little rude that this was directly followed by Raquel Welch singing It Ain't Necessarily So.
The Muppets then returned in a sketch that really seemed like their goodbye as they all realize they're just Muppets and climb into a chest to be stowed away now that they've given up.
The show ends with Chevy once again asking Raquel to take off her shirt which she does to reveal the worst green screen effect that I've ever seen.

For an episode that was so bad, it was pretty easy to find my favorite sketches. First, I was a huge fan of the One Flew Over the Hornet's Nest sketch because it was genuinely a good parody of the movie. Next, I was humored by the Decabet sketch and am sort of surprised it didn't become a classic. Finally, I was a fan of the Ski Shooting sketch because it's a classic that stands out in my mind even though I never knew who Claudine Longet was.