or...

I Totally Forgot He Was Lenny

If you follow this blog at all, I'm pretty sure you noticed that I called Ted Kazurinsky as Sweetchuck when reviewing his entire SNL career based on his character from The Police Academy while also being easier to spell.

That said, I openly admit to being that guy, who doesn't let go of referring to actors as the character they might not really be proud of but it really depends on my sobriety level as to whether or not I'd be obnoxious enough to refer to said actor as said nickname if I were to meet them in real life.

This is why I'm sort of surprised that I totally forgot Michael McKean was Lenny of Lenny and Squiggy fame because I was a huge fan of them on Lavern and Shirley. I'm also surprised that it took the fake heckler to remind me of this fact because I'm sure it wouldn't have been required if the reverse happened and Squiggy were to host the show.

I think one of the reasons why this wasn't my go-to thought was because I was too hung up on the fact that Michael McKean would eventually because a Not Ready For Prime Time cast member so I kept losing track of him as the host to the point where I kept thinking the star of the show was being ignored even though he was heavily involved in what turned out to be a pretty good show for the season.

Alright, now that I've got my thoughts on identity issues worked out, it's time to move on and share what I saw as I give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

The week's show starts with A Paid Political Announcement from "Geraldine Ferraro" who has a song and dance about her failed campaign due to the country's fear of letting a woman run the show. This was the first time in a while that they skipped the announcement of, "Live from New York..." so this episode starts with a point against it.
Michael McKean the officially opened the show with a monolog about his excitement to perform live in New York then goes on to introduce his interest in Scottish singing only to get heckled from the audience by a guy who can't get over the fact that he is Lenny of the Lenny and Squiggy duo.
A Message From the President of the United States is a sketch where "Reagan" announces that he wants to bring back prayer to school wanting to put I Decline To Pray armbands on the students who don't want to participate for any reason.
We then got a very short fake movie trailer for Baby Double where a baby gets the heart of a serial killer transplanted instead of the baboon heart she was supposed to get ending on an image with a baby sucking on the handle of a very sharp knife as if she has become the killer.
Fernando's Hideaway was then debuted with Billy Crystal's Fernando character's first special segment outside of the news where he interviews Barry Manilow only the real Barry backed out so he grabbed the nearest crew member to take his place to be interviewed as if he were the real deal.
The Folksmen was a documentary style sketch that covered the reunion of Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest's fictional folk band who got featured much later in life in the movie A Mighty Wind in almost a shot for shot remake of this sketch.
The Folksmen then took to perform Old Joe's Place.
Buddy Young, Jr. Is Back! was a fake ad for an upcoming special about the return of a Catskills-style insult comedian/Billy Crystal character.
First Draft Theatre then returned only this is another sketch that I can't find anywhere on the internet and even the summary sites that I visit are vague as to what this week was about.
This was followed by a parody video of Madonna's Lucky Star where Pamela Stephenson doesn't even change the words to the song, she just does the impersonation and a silly dance routine to the song.
We then went to the PBS Pledgebration where Harry Shearer pitches support for the publicly funded channel before throwing to Vincent Price for his story as to why PBS is important to him as he previews his PBS haunted library cooking show as he shares a creepy recipe.
Chaka Khan then took to the stage to perform I Feel For You.
Billy Crystal then played a Strange Rabbi who has bizarre advice for Martin Short who came to him for marital advice. At first, he tries to deflect the question by bringing up issues of his own, then advises him to kill his wife because life is nothing more than God's dream.
This week Edwin Newman returned to the show as the special host of the news. It would be awesome if they made him permanent because I love how he points out what would be unethical for him to participate in when it comes to politics being a former reporter. Julia Louis-Dreyfus steps in as a political figure who actually can discuss the politics of last week's Jesse Jackson appearance with "Dr. Ruth" providing the counterpoint and Rich Hall got a segment to warn about drunken voting.
Walter Mondale's Staff is another sketch from the night that I can't find anywhere on the internet.
Chaka Khan then returned to the stage to perform This Is My Night.
"David Byrne" from The Talking Heads then dropped in for the SNL Fashion Report where they parody the Once In A Life Time Video and make fun of his gigantic suit.
Finally, Michael McKean closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find every sketch to this episode but I was still able to find all of the favorite moments that I am about to share. First, I loved Rich Hall's Talking Heads impersonation not only because it's a classic but I fully remember having the same thoughts on the gigantic suit when I first saw the real video when I was little. Next, I really liked The Folksmen sketch especially after realizing it was the shot for shot original of the same scene from A Mighty Wind. Finally, I was a fan of Fernando's Hideaway because I loved how the real-life cameraman played along and became Barry Manilow in a pinch.