The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with a Drug Testing sketch where Lorne returns to drug test the new cast at least that's what the wiki page says as I couldn't find this sketch anywhere on the internet. 
2. Madonna then officially opened the show with a monolog her marriage to Sean Penn acting as if the event were a low-key day instead of the extravagant affair that the tabloids were reporting it to be. We then got to see a "home video" of the wedding that starts out parodying the couple's family's until the press arrived turning it into a full on war zone with choppers galore trying to capture Father Guido Sarducci trying to marry the young couple off.
3. Where You're Going was a fake ad for a beer aimed at the executive class who are heading to hell for their corrupt business practices. 
4. National Inquirer Theatre was a sketch that takes headlines from the National Inquirer and with the help from the magazine's experts they put on a play to share how the story went down. This week, we got to see Marilyn Monroe's last day on the planet and how she was about to break up with the dozens of men she was involved with and get her life together only to be gang murdered by her gaggle of men after Elvis's attempt to thwart their evil plan.
5. We then got a lesson on the Blacklisting days to then learn about the new Pinklisting fears that were triggered by the outbreak of Aids that was starting to pique at the time. The sketch then shows a character who is obviously gay and his attempts to act straight in order to save his career. By the time they get to the make out scene our star has to admit that he is gay only to find out it's no big deal because everyone else on the set is as well their just not flamboyant, making it much easier to hide. Madonna seems to be the uptight one in this episode but it turns out she also has Pinklisting fears as an intravenous drug user, only rather than this being a uniting bit of news she's the one that ends up getting shunned. 
6. Simple Minds then took to the stage to perform Alive And Kicking. 
7. Critic was a fake ad for a suspense movie that treats Jon Lovitz Critic character as if his reviews were as important and dangerous as the reporters who broke the Whitewater break in while ironically pointing out how useless a professional opinion on film actually is.
8. Anthony Michael Hall and Damon Wayans then played the Jones Brothers' which is pretty much the same idea as the Mo' Money characters from In Living Color who sell things out of their van only these characters are more crack-head like than the high energy fencing hustlers they later became when Damon teamed up with his brother Keenen to portray them.   
9. Dennis Miller then made his debut as the new head anchor for the news, finally, the show has a proper news man again. This week, Jon Lovitz displays the proper Heave-Hoe technique to avoid damaging your back while throwing out your trash, and Dennis Miller also got a special sport's segment where he gives a sports fan a chance to live out his dream by giving him an attempt to bat against one of the toughest pitchers from that time only to get hit in the head by the pitch making his new sports dream the hope to recover from living out his first dream. 
10. El Pectaculare De Marika was a Telemundo style show where Madonna sings Take On Me with a Spanish accent and dance, the sketch then goes on to be almost the original version of Viva Variety at least when it comes to parodying the real deal Mexican shows, that being from San Diego, I used to catch while watching TV during the rabbit ear days of my life.
11. Simple Minds then returned to the stage to perform Sanctify Yourself.
12. Penn & Teller then took to the stage with Teller in a tank of icy water and plans to hold his breath until Penn can find the card from the trick he is going to perform at a very casual pace being that his partner's life is on the line. Of course, the trick goes wrong in that Penn and Teller way that is far more entertaining than the actual setup of how things are supposed to work. 
13. We then went to the White house where Ronald and Nancy Reagan Meet Charles & Di. First, we see a press conference that just sets up the scene but then got to see how dysfunctional the presidential couple is the moment the cameras are gone in a nightmare of an evening for Charles and Di that goes on and on and on until the perfect British couple finally let down their polite wall and reveal their dysfunctional marriage as well.
14. The Limits Of The Imagination was a parody of the Twilight Zone's " The calls are coming from inside the house," episode only it's Madonna getting told that the calls are coming from within her car which was weird enough for the time because she was talking on a landline and not the big boxy car phones from the time. We then find that the killer is up in the engine and the cop that saves the day was also calling from the trunk in a very cinematic scene.
15. Cabrini Green then got a moment to promote her new color book called I Don't Want A Baby Coloring Book that she created in an attempt to keep her kids from growing up to have kids while still being kids themselves.
16. Finally, Madonna closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with fire scene where Chevy Chase plays a fire chief who is extremely insistent that his men check every single door down the hallway full of smoke until he collapses from smoke inhalation then wakes to announce, "Live from New York..." 
2. Chevy Chase then officially opened the show with a monolog about his history with the show and the fact that it's now been on the air for so long while mixing up all the details as he plays the super confused character that's become his signature bit.
3. Wacky Glue was a fake ad for a Crazy Glue like product that works too well as the actor who gets a piece of wood glued to his head for the product's very first commercial ends up having to deal with the adhered lumber for the rest of his the time he's alive and even continued to stick to his skull after death.
4. The Pat Stevens Show was a talk show sketch hosted by Nora Dunn who answers viewer mail about fashion with a serious tone but a dumb model type of response. The then went on to interview Danitra Vance who plays a feminist stripper who refuses to take off her clothes. 
5. We then went to the White House again to make fun of Reagan's memory issues as he prepares for an upcoming summit meet with Russia by getting advice from Chevy Chase who is revising his impersonation of Gerald Ford and the two have an idiot off about the current affairs.
6. Sheila E. then took to the stage to perform Hollyrock. 
7. We then got a very patriotic fake ad for Freedom featuring footage of the Statue Of Liberty with voice over talking about how important it is to be free at first it sounds like it is talking about our country but the freedom the ads referring to is the freedom from kids as this turns out to be a fake ad for Trojans condoms. 
8. Those Unlucky Andersons was a parody of a family style sitcom, complete with a laugh-track, that follows a family where everything starts out sounding positive but ends up going horribly wrong. 
9. Once again Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, Damon Wayans dropped by for some Uptown advice on the recession and how the US should start collecting on their loans to other countries just like they do in the hood.
10. Jose Cuervo's Party School Bowl was as the title implies, a quiz bowl sketch between two party schools who struggle with questions about current events but ace any question that has to deal with booze. The sketch ended with a special announcement from The Jose Cuervo Institute that provides help to those who have injured themselves while on the hooch.
11. The Life of Vlad The Impaler was a historical sketch that told the tale of how the man who went on to inspire the character of Dracula had to deal with the neighbor who took issue with the impaled people on his front lawn. We eventually go into Vlad's house to see that he is filled with self-doubt about his action and that his wife is an encouraging woman.
12. The Blue, The Gray, & The Yellow was a "Civil War Drama" about two brothers, one from the North the other from the South who were both cowards that opted to run away from the war and both decided to head home to hide where they then went on to fight amongst each other over who is the biggest coward while keeping their North vs South pride.
13. Drums, Drums, Drums! was a fake ad for a TV album filled with nothing but drum solos.
14. Jon Lovitz then debuted his Pathological Liar character in a fake PSA for Pathological Liars Anonymous.
15. Sheila E. then returned to the stage to perform A Love Bizarre. 
16. Craig Sundberg, Idiot Savant was a sketch where Anthony Michael Hall plays Craig who looks and acts like a complete idiot who is filled with genius level insights while also not being aware of his own brilliance.
17. Finally, Chevy Chase closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with Pee-Wee doing a tightrope walk between The World Trade Center Buildings, only to fall off the rope when a bird lands on his balancing pole. During the fall Pee-Wee announces, "Live from New York..."
2. Pee-Wee Herman then officially opened the show by doing his Pee-Wee routine just like he was hosting Pee-Wee's Playhouse, with his famous Big Show Dance to the song Tequila and joke about how Pee-Wee's Big Adventure was beaten in the box office by Back To The Future.
3. This was followed by a fake PSA that looks like it's going to be anti-drugs/drinking/smoking but it's actually pro-vice and anti-military as the message is Army: Say No.
4. We then went to a gym locker room where Randy Quaid is talking to Pee-Wee Herman about his married life and how he is contemplating getting a hooker only he doesn't actually say the word leaving Pee-Wee's "innocent mind" to fill in the blank with a bunch of suggestions that are way off and complicated that he ends on the note it would be easier to just see a hooker.  
5. Pee-Wee Herman's Thanksgiving Special is one of those sketches that lets the entire cast try out an impression to create a star filled holiday special filled with Pee-Wee Herman style activities to keep the show moving along.
6. The Pat Stevens Show then returned with Nora Dunn as the host who answers view mail and interviews Randy Quad who plays an expert on depression in that he's an expert in being depressed and not an expert in finding a cure. This is another one of those sketches that can be kind of fun but I don't know the show being referenced so I feel that I am missing out on some of the humor.
7. Die Foreigner Die! was a fake ad for a Sylvester Stallone and Chuck Norris collaboration where the enemy is anyone who is non-American.
8. The Pathological Liar then returned this time he's in jail with Pee-Wee Herman where he lies about why he is doing his time, while Pee-Wee tells tall tales of his own as to why he is being held but he treats it more like a playful lying competition than actually trying to pull something off. In the end, it turns out they're actually both in for jaywalking as the prison guard informs them that they both made bail.  
9. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, Dennis Miller breaks down the Mick Jagger/David Bowie collaboration, Dancing In The Street and how lame it is. Father Guido Sarducci also dropped in with financial advice where he tells us to start a church to get around having to pay taxes and how he started a church of his own where every single member gets to be the Pope. 
10. Dinosaur Town was a sketch where the owner of the prehistoric theme park is holding out as long as he can before selling it off to avoid foreclosure which almost breaks Pee-Wee Herman's heart as an avid visitor. The sketch then gets very convoluted when Pee-Wee Herman joins in on a scam to find a mouse in a bottle of Coke in order to sue the soda company to get the money required to rebrand and reopen the park. That said, it's convoluted in a way that could only make sense with Pee-Wee Herman as host.
11. Queen Ida & The Bon Temps Zydeco Band then took to the stage to perform La Louisiane and Frisco Zydeco back to back.
12. Pee-Wee Herman then got told to stay after school by his teacher named Miss Patterson who found one of Pee-Wee's notebooks filled with love letters about her. At first, he denies that this is his work but then finally gives in after she reads a couple examples. This then turned into a sentimental/sweet sketch as Miss Patterson tries to set boundaries but ends up falling in love in the process. This only works in this cast because Pee-Wee is such a man-child without coming across as an actual child.
13. The character Cabrini Green then got another segment to talk about all of the vices a young adult has to avoid while pregnant. 
14. Hal Fisher's Money Magnet Method was a sketch about Randy Quaid as a motivational speaker with a crazy idea to use a "money magnet" to attract all of the money you need. This sketch's tone is almost too spot on that a majority of it doesn't seem like a joke and it never seemed to build to any of the jokes I was wanting/expecting.
15. Finally, Pee-Wee Herman closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights and then performing James Brown's Sex Machine.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with a John Lithgow portraying his Buckaroo Banzai character who gets news that Halley's Comet has switched direction and is now heading straight towards Earth which leads him to try to contact President Reagan but he turns out to be little help as he is too hung up on the Russia scare to be bothered with the valid doomsday scenario. This leads the Lithgow character to accept his fate so he throws to the show by announcing, "Live from New York..."
2. John Lithgow then opened the show with a monolog about how hectic it is to work on the show while treating his speech like it's just a dressed rehearsal which he needs because he's still off a little due to jet lag. The director then chimed in to let Lithgow know they are live and that he must not have changed his watch from LA time which causes him to completely freak out.
3. We then got a repeat of the Where You're Going beer ad from episode one that markets beer to the money hungry yuppies who are heading to hell due to their greed.
4. This was followed by a sketch in a suburban how where John Lithgow and Nora Dunn bicker over how cold the coffee is. Robert Downey Jr. then entered the scene only to also get nagged at by Lithgow. We then followed the host to work where he continues his knit picky ways. Finally, we follow to the hospital where we find out that he literally has a bug up his butt which is what was making him impossible to live with.
5. Jon Lovitz's Master Thespian character then made his premiere to showcase his brand of "ACTING!" In this week's installment, we got a lesson in disguise as Lithgow trick Lovitz purely through costume and "ACTING!" The two then carry out the scene with more examples of improved dramatic choices that involve costume as the two continue to act while being their own biggest fans.   
6. We then got a fake ad for Double R Rolls who may have been based on a real man who spent all of his riches on a batch of 84 rare Rolls-Royces and in the sketch he's now trying to sell them one by one to make up for this major expense. This may have seemed extreme back then because they claimed the combined price of the cars was only five million dollars which for 84 cars of any brand nowadays that price would be considered a steal.
7. Mr. Mister then took to the stage to perform Broken Wings.
8. This was followed by a fake ad that covered so much ground that it was hard to tell what it was for which turned out to be the point of the sketch because it was actually an ad for The Ad Council which is actually a pet peeve of mine because I can't stand seeing marketing for marketing which is not omnipresent on the internet.
9. We then went to a basement workshop where Lithgow is working away at his craft when his daughter enters for some marital advice only to get her answers spoken in Dad Cliches, where not a sentence is spoken that wouldn't fit well on a bumper sticker.
10. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, Damon Wayans got a segment to updates us on the Uptown take of the US/USSR Peace Summit with a bunch of insights that are still relevant today especially with this renewed Russian scare.
11. We then went to the White House where Nancy Reagan dozes off during a Ronald talk and we get to see her Showbiz Dream of staying Nancy Davis and having her own Las Vegas revue.
12. Sam Kinison then took to the stage to perform one of his stand-up routines that I don't think aged well over time because in this routine he seems to mainly rely on the yelling while his overall jokes were mediocre which is not what I used to think about his act.
13. Mutiny on the U.S.S. Cameron was a pirate sketch where the crew of the U.S.S. Cameron attempts to pull off a mutiny only it's very poor planned so they struggle to come up with a real list of demands because, for the most part, everyone seems rather happy.
14. We then got a new fake ad for Trojans condoms with the same sort of setup and theme as the Trojans fake ad in episode one where it seems to be talking about American pride but is actually talking about not having children who will only mess everything up.
15. Mr. Mister then returned to the stage to perform Kyrie.
16. The Limits Of The Imagination returned for another installment of the Twilight Zone-esque sketch where Randy Quaid does the intro that seems to go on forever before sharing the whacky tale of an All-U-Can-Eat restaurant that not all that you want to eat but a restaurant that forces you to eat as much as you possibly by shoving their food down your mouth.  
17. Finally, John Lithgow closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with an Entertainment Tonight parody with fake news about pop culture from the time. During the segment, it sounds it sounds like they are going to interview "Brooke Shields" about something important only to end up talking to her about men. This was followed by a "George Michael" about Wham! that ends up to be British ramblings about his attempt to date Brooke Shields then jumps around through random polls and other segments that go on and on and on just like the real Entertainment Tonight in what felt like with the longest opening sketch that I've seen so far, finally, ending with the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
2. Tom Hanks then officially opened the show with a monolog about how hosting the show is a dream come true because he was such a big fan of it while in college. He then went into his journey on how he became the host of the show and how he feels a little disappointed because he actually wants to watch the show which is when he discovered the director's monitor and put on a show for himself.   
3. We then got yet another repeat of the first Trojans fake ad that originally aired in episode one.
4. We then went to Carol's comedy club for a bit of a prequel to Punchline where Tom Hanks, Jon Lovitz, and Damon Wayans all play observational comedians that seemed to be making fun of Jerry Seinfeld.
5. The Pat Stevens Show then returned for another segment where once again Nora Dunn answers viewer mail before interviewing "Minister Louis Farrakhan" where she tries to talk fashion while he sticks to his traditional black power agenda.
6. Sade then took to the stage to perform Is It A Crime.
7. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, Dennis Miller did a commentary of the new warning labels on records, and he also gave us the sports where a fan was allowed to give refereeing boxing a shot only to get knocked out.
8. We then went to a fancy restaurant with Tom Hanks and Joan Cusack out on a married couple's night out. We first hear how open they are with each other then we get to hear Hanks's inner most fantasy about Joan's death and how he would hook up with the woman who takes care of the kids who is also a part-time model who somehow also kick starts his own modeling career then we find out that Joan just has regular fantasies that only involve her man. As she stands to leave in anger she ends up getting stabbed to death a steak knife that just happened to be in the waiter's hand which triggers Hank's fantasy to actually start to play out. 
9. The Pathological Liar then returned to celebrate Christmas Eve with his family where he and Hanks, who plays his brother participate in another lie-off. 
10. Sade then returned to the stage to perform The Sweetest Taboo. 
11. Steven Wright then returned to the show to perform another stand-up routine. 
12. Christmas Shopping Break/Holiday Moms is yet another sketch that I couldn't find anywhere on the internet and now that I'm ahead of the reference site that I used to use to fill in the blanks, I have no idea where this sketch is about, only that it was supposed to be part of this episode.
13. We then met up with a couple of Italian fishermen who don't seem to like their fishermen lives but it is what they do and after casting a net they pull back an electric guitar which Hanks thinks is due to the ocean tormenting him over his inability to play and Randy Quaid has to talk him down. They try again this time they pulled back a treasure chest filled with all sort of expensive jewels while Quaid is still hungry for fish making him the one that now needs to be talked down because he doesn't appreciate the gift while Hanks wants nothing more than the rich life that Quaid rejects.
14. Finally, Tom Hanks closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights. 

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with the Cabrini Green character who goes to a department store's gift wrapping counter where she meets Damon Wayans who is a rapping wrapper and the two have a rap battle over her decision to wait so long to buy her Christmas presents that ends with both of them working in the line, "Live from New York..."
2. Teri Garr then officially opened the show dressed as the Pope as she performs a monolog/sketch where she talks about spending time with her new friend Pope Maurice who is actually Guido Sarducci who's going by Maurice for some reason and is carrying out a joke that he made during the news a couple weeks ago where he claimed to have started a new church where everyone involved gets to be the Pope which explains Teri Garr's attire. It turns out that Teri is Maurice's only disciple which leads the two into a duet of I've Got You Baby that seems unrehearsed and the microphone wire seems loose as the sound kept cutting out in a way that is obviously from the night of the shoot and not that I'm watching a poor copy of the show.
3. We then got a repeat of the Critic ad from week one that promotes a fake suspense movie about a Critic and treat him like the topic is supposed to be interesting and exciting.
4. We then go to a Caribbean Island where Randy Quaid and Jon Lovitz discuss the value of eggs on the island almost as if it is the island's currency as we find out that Teri Garr could have been bought as a teen for one to three dozen eggs depending on their size which is a funny idea but the sketch seems to go on forever with the reoccurring egg talk being the only thing that makes the sketch funny but even that humor runs pretty dry right away.
5. Hildy was a sketch about a fake family sitcom where Hildy is a dysfunctional family's beloved maid who loves doing her job even though in the world of the sketch it's actually Christmas Day. None of the family members know what day it is but Hildy's on top of it and bought everyone present enabling the family to continue their ways while acting like decent people. By the end of the sketch, it turns out not only did Hildy buy everyone else in the family presents to cover for their forgetful ways but she also bought a bunch of presents for herself, including a trip, money and a car, as an attempt to escape the family. 
6. Dream Academy then took to the stage to perform Life In A Northern Town.
7. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, Guido Sarducci shows up as Mr. X who is supposed to play an anonymous witness to mob related activity but all of the attempt to hide his identity end up going horribly wrong,   
8. A Roy Orbison Christmas was a sketch based on the premise that after RCA sold NBC to GE the new owners wanted to take advantage of the content they now own but was never aired to make extra money off of budgets that have already been spent while treating it like original material so they're re-airing this closing portion of the Roy Orbison special that was cut off due to a major storm. If the intro wasn't convoluted enough the sketch also takes a lot of work as it starts with Randy Quaid as Roy Orbison singing Pretty Woman which leads to a performance from a Beach Boys style band in summer attire singing a Christmas song. Then gets even more convoluted as it ends with a poem from Danitra Vance which was "controversial" at the "time of the special," because she was a "negro," which was a joke that added zero to the sketch that never came close to making any sense even though the audience seemed to get it.
9. Penn and Teller then returned to the show for another magic act where they put Teller in an electric chair and show that it's working by having Teller light up a light bulb only to ruin the bit by explaining how electricity works after Teller overplayed the effect that he was actually being electrocuted.
10. The Big Tree is introduced as a Soap Opera type sketch that is center around the gigantic Rockefeller Center tourist trap that then turns into another convoluted sketch that's main joke is everyone's obsession with the tree mixed in with melodramatic soap opera style acting that is filled with soap opera cliches.
11. The Cult then took to the stage to perform She Sells Sanctuary.
12. Trivial Pursuit Time Travel was a sketch where two couples are playing Trivial Pursuit while the host teen age child is up in his bedroom experimenting with time travel causing the power to fade and the answers to change whenever there is a historical question. 
13. Finally, Teri Garr closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with people demanding a press conference from some man named Herb, who was apparently a part of a Burger King marketing campaign from the time where this elusive Herb character was the only person in American not to have tried a Whopper. In the sketch, Randy Quaid played Herb who addresses the crowd to let them know he's never had a Whopper because he was in a coma after eating a burger from one of Burger King's competitors and now has a phobia toward any form of fast food meat and just wants to be left alone. This harsh truth silences everyone until Dennis Miller closes the press conference by announcing, "Live from New York..."
2. Harry Dean Stanton then officially opened the show with a monolog about how hectic it's been working with this cast and crew and then goes right into singing the blues without any attempt to add humor to his opening tune, but he does climb up a ladder to sing with G.E. Smith and The Saturday Night Live Band who have a new home in the upper deck.
3. We then got a repeat of the Army: Say No ad from when Pee-Wee Herman was the host.
4. Double R & Son II was a follow-up fake ad from the character from a couple weeks ago who spent five million dollars on Rolls-Royces to try and turn a profit. This time he back with his son trying to profit off of a warehouse full of moldy furniture that he inherited from his dad who recently passed away.
5. Cleveland Vice was a parody of Miami Vice but instead of all of the glitz, glamor, and sunny beaches from Miami, the show takes place in the winter hell hole of Ohio where the crime of the week was a man stealing balls from the local bowling alley without a hint of the Miami Vice aesthetics at all.. 
6. Death Of A Gunfighter was a sketch hosted by Joan Cusack that reenacted the death of Batt Masterson who was called out to a gunfight due to the death of Harry Dean Stanton's brother who failed to be brought back to life by Dr. Frankenstein. It turned out there was never a gunfight that night, he was only called out but they do blame the stress induced by the stress was to blame for his death many years after the fact.
7. The Replacements then took to the stage to perform Bastards Of The Young.
8. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, there was just news with no special guest and no jokes that really stood out.  
9. We then went to a hospital room after Joan Cusack had just given birth. Jon Lovitz then joined the scene as the father who is completely shell-shocked from the things that Joan yelled while suffering from labor pains to the point where he feels like the relationship cannot be saved.  
10. That Black Girl was a parody of the show That Girl, only the "That Black Girl," proclamation when pointing her out has a much more negative tone than when "That Girl" was used in reference to Marlo Thomas, but she still keeps the same positive tone. 
11. Sam Kinison then returned to the show to perform another one of his stand-up routines
12. Big Ball Of Sports was a sports show sketch that claimed to share strange sports from around the world then highlighted an event in some Russian land where competitors jumped from a super high platform, landing directly in the dirt. 
13. Barroom Drunk was a sketch where Harry Dean Stanton heckles Robert Downey Jr. who is just trying to enjoy his date.
14. The Replacements then returned to the stage to perform Kiss Me on the Bus. 
15. We then got a fake ad for Jack's Discount Emporium with some pretty offensive deals to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday that would/could never be written today.
16. Finally, Harry Dean Stanton closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights. 

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with a bunch of monks entering a convent to talk about business during their annual break from their vow of silence. When it gets to the point where they discuss what to do with the profits, Monk Lovits suggest that they put all of their money on the Patriots to win that year Super Bowl. Everyone moans as if this is a poor financial plan but it turns out they just want to bet on the Bears. Finally, before reinstating the vow of silence, Monk Downey Jr. fits in a few more words by announcing, "Live from New York..."
2. Dudley Moore then officially opened the show with a monolog about hosting Saturday Night Live just ten years before this appearance and then goes on to play a piece from Beethoven on the piano, only he sprinkles in the tune from the Colonel Bogey March song in with the actual Beethoven song.
3. Miss Pregnant Teenage America Pageant was a sketch that no longer feels all that far-fetched considering the programming that you can find on America's "Learning" Channel, at least that's what I assume, being that I couldn't find this sketch anywhere on the internet.
4. Al Green then took to the stage to sing Going Away. 
5. The Pat Stevens Show returns and once again, Nora Dunn starts by answering viewer mail and then continuing on to interview her guest, Jackie Stewart, who was apparently a Scottish race car driver from the time who shared Nora's modeling concerns of getting out of a car while wearing a skirt. Again, I don't know who Pat Steven's is and never saw the show being referenced so might not get some of the subtle jokes which makes me annoyed that this sketch has been featured almost every week so far this season. 
6. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, the Pathological Liar drops by the news for the first time to discuss how Ferdinand Marcos was actually a good man having spent time with him in a prisoner's camp during one of the wars where the Philippines helped to play a role in a US effort to win.  
7. The Limits of the Imagination the returned for another installment of the Twilight Zone parody show that introduction is as long as the actual sketch. During this installment, we go to a comedy club to meet Dudley Moore who is playing a stand-up comedian who reminded me of my time on the stage as he stammered throughout his entire performance unable to catch the attention of the crowd. We then go back stage to see him almost get fired but begs for another chance claiming he'd do anything to succeed. The club owner then leaves and the Devil Lovitz appears to buy Dudley's soul in exchange for a better appearance where the audience will actually pay attention to his words. With the crowd now listening to his every word the twist kicks in and they start to care about more than just the fictional punchlines and start responding to his hypothetical calls to the audience with a much deeper psychological response that what any comedian would want to deal with.
8. Name That Tune was a parody of a revised version of the old show with the same name, only the contestants get to hear the entire tune before finally getting to chime in with their guess but both Dudley Moore and Joan Cusack are still terrible and can't name a single tune even with blatant clues from Lovitz who played the host.
9. Al Green then returned to the stage to sing True Love. 
10. Master Thespian then returned where he and Dudley Moore have and act-off while both bragging about their abilities when it comes to "ACTING!"
11. We then went to a laundromat where Dudley Moore and his wife Joan Cusack were doing laundry with their kid when Dudley's ex then entered the scene where we learn that all of his efforts toward his marriage stem from Dudley's attempt to recapture his past failed relationship. 
12. We then got a repeat of Die Foreigner Die! from a couple weeks ago.
13. Dudley Moore and the SNL Band then took to the stage to mix Tchaikovsky with James Brown's I Feel Good.
14. Finally, Dudley Moore closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with the Ron and Nancy Reagan calling Ronald Reagan Jr. from Camp David to tell him to keep an eye on the White House while they are gone. This leads to a Risky Business parody with Ronny Jr. sliding around the Capital Building in his underwear and sock to Old Time Rock And Roll, ending with the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
2. Ron Reagan then officially opened the show with a monolog where he jokes about the doors that have opened for him since becoming the President's son. Then claims to be the second most powerful person in the world due to these nepotistic privileges, which might be true because he's nice but not great at delivering a joke yet here he is as the host. 
3. We then got a repeat of the Where You're Going from a couple episodes ago.
4. The Pat Stevens Show returned once again for the same half interesting setup where Nora Dunn starts by answering viewer mail, then moving on to her guest, who was Little Richard this week. The two had a somewhat funny interview but this sketch, in general, reminds me of The Joe Franklin Show parodies from last season where the subtleties of the host's personality that got the audience to chuckle at best were completely lost on me because I never saw any of the material that's being referenced.  
5. Dalkon Shield Trout Lures was a fake ad for a new fishing lure built from recalled Dalkon Shield IUD after the parent company got sued out of business. 
6. The Reagan family then replaced the McFly family in a Back To The Future reboot where Ronny Jr. played Marty who went back in time using a crazy blender to save his dad from an accident that took him out of acting which I thought would lead to the world being saved from a Ronald Sr. president but instead the sketch was hit by the convoluted curse from this season and Ron Reagan Jr. who even in the sketch is a liberal, talked his dad who was liberal as well into his uber conservative stance in order to facilitate the relationship between Sr. and his mom and ended up being how Sr. actually became President, which was also kind of funny considering the source material but the steps to get there did make all that much sense due to some shorthand logic jumps from taking for granted that people knew the original movie. 
7. The Nelsons then took to the stage to perform Walk Away.
8. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, The Weekend Update Dancers did a quick routine to celebrate a drop in oil prices due to a shady deal made with Saudi Arabia where they ignored an oil pricing pact. A. Whitney Brown also dropped in for his first news visit and the introduction of his Big Picture segment where he delves deeper into the news of the day.
9. Penn and Teller then returned to the show for another magic trick. This week they did their classic bit where it looks like they've discovered anti-gravity but it turns out they are actually hanging upside-down and the image has simply been flipped.
10. We then got another installment of The Limits Of The Imagination, at this point I'm tired of the super long introduction but I have yet to be disappointed by the meat of the actual sketch. This week, we witness a case of mistaken identity where no one recognizes Ronny Jr. even though he's in his own house. It finally turned out that all anyone needed was a glance at his ID to figure that he's actually telling the truth because he is just that unforgettable.
11. Shakespeare in the Slums was a sketch that took place in the projects where the residents perform a section of Romeo And Juliet and Danitra Vance gives a ghetto Cliff's Notes breakdown of what we are about to see get acted out.
12. The Nelsons then returned to the stage to perform Do You Know What I Mean?
13. David's Woody Allen Obsession was a sketch where Jon Lovitz is out with Joan Cusack before watching the latest Woody Allen flick and he such a fan that he pretty much lives the life of a Woody Allen impersonator which Joan starts to realize that she cannot stand which only adds to the similarities as she leaves Lovitz alone to have a side conversation with the camera.
14. Finally, Ron Reagan closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with the Pathological Liar meeting Jerry Hall at a bar where he uses his lies in an attempt to pick her up for the night then goes a little too far with his claims to being connected to The Rolling Stones as their manager/song writer which Jerry doesn't buy due to the fact that she's practically Mick Jagger's wife. Just when Lovitz thinks that he's been caught, Mick Jagger arrives in the scene and uses Lovitz lying ways to help sell a lie of his own by creating an alibi as to why he was out so late the night before, ending with the announcement, "Live from New York..."
2. Jerry Hall then officially started the show with a monolog about how glamorous her life with Mick Jagger is and it's actually her idea to hold off on marriage despite the fact that they already have several kids.
3. The Limits Of The Imagination the returned for another installment where, as always, we start with the super long introduction before getting to the actual sketch where a group of people are given a tour of the house use in the movie Cat On A Hot Tin Roof which then turns into a parody of the film which I know nothing about other than the title so I don't think I got the subtleties of the jokes but it was pretty funny to see Jerry Hall's character get rejected by Terry Sweeney's character who kept dropping hints about his sexuality while obviously being 100% gay.
4. Models Against The Wilderness was a sketch that told the tale of a plane full of models that went down in the mountains of the Pacific North West and what they had to put up with in order to survive out in the wild with only a limited supply of makeup.
5. Stevie Ray Vaughn & Jimmy Vaughn then took to the stage to perform Say What?
6. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, we got another visit from the Weekend Update Dancers, and Nora Dunn also got a segment where she portrayed a French model, to bring us news from her recent visit to Manilla that's more vapid model talk than any actual news.
7. The Master Thespian then returned to do some "ACTING" with Jerry Hall who unlike other hosts who have been in this sketch doesn't have the actual acting chops to pull off the joke but it does have one of the funniest things that I've seen in a while when Lovitz warns a real life camel to be prepared to improvise highlighting my concerns with the scene.
8. Sam Kinison also returned to the show to perform a little more of his stand-up routine from the time. 
9. Kaddafi's Line Of Death was a sketch where again Jerry Hall plays her model self out on a boat with her model friend as they cross into Libya's waters to be threatened with death and the two vapid models don't get the concept that they are not in America and that their US rights aren't guaranteed. 
10. The Pat Stevens Show yet again and as always we start with view mail, then go into Nora Dunn's interview where this week she interviews Jerry Hall as herself joking how she's an empty headed bore. 
11. Stevie Ray Vaughn & Jimmy Vaughn then returned to the stage to perform Change It. 
12. We then got a sketch where Randy Quaid has a sore big toe and with the help of his family he continues to place said sore toe into very hazardous predicaments which was pretty fun until the end where this season's convoluted curse struck and Randy Quaid ended up accidentally hanging himself after a simple trip to the basement.
13. Finally, Jerry Hall closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with Jay Leno roaming the backstage area looking for anyone who can direct him as to where he can go to get ready to host the show but everyone is too busy with their own thing to even try to help him out. This is when the Pathological Liar stepped into the scene pretending to be a producer of the show, giving Jay a tour of lies as they both wander around the set until Jay catches on in an anticlimactic twist where they crowbarred in the announcement, "Live from New York..."
2. Jay Leno then officially opened the show with a monolog/stand-up routine about current events which, even back then, was reminiscent of one of his openings on The Tonight Show only with a tiny bit more of an edge.  
3. Target Earth was an old Sci-Fi parody of a sketch where several members of the US military have a run in with a UFO where the alien inside demand the usual meeting with the world leaders. The aliens leave behind a reference book filled with everything there is to know about their planet and it turns out they are 300 years behind our technological advances causing their threats to be laughed at as they too find out how behind they actually are and retreat the second they see our weapons.
4. The dog from Down And Out In Beverly Hill then got a sketch where he plays the star that he is, just trying to enjoy his dinner only to be swamped by his fans then has a reunion with the man who used to own him but lost him due to a poker bet back before he was famous and is now trying to win him back.
5. The Neville Brothers then took to the stage to perform The Big Chief.
6. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, The Weekend Update Dancers return once again which seems to be nothing but an excuse to show some skin being that they used to at least try to work it into a joke, now they just call in the women. Also, A. Whitney Brown got another Big Picture segment where he talks about his early days as an idea man and how people no longer seem to try to fix any of the world's problems and have zero idea of the actual cause.
7. We then got a Star Search parody sketch with Randy Quaid as Ed McMahon who hosted the mess of a talent show with this sketch pointing out how mediocre/strange some of the real Star Search contestants were. Holy crap, this sketch goes on almost as long as the actual show, at least it seems that way because the Star Search reference doesn't age well even if it did feel pretty accurate when compared to my memories.
8. Jay's Evil Twin was a sketch that played off the old soap opera trope where all it takes is a mustache to create an evil brother and we see this play out with Jay on a date with Joan Cusack with the twist being he doesn't actually have a twin but instead he's just a two faced asshole.
9. Observational Stand-Ups II was the follow up to the sketch that was introduced back when Tom Hanks was the host, which made fun of a group of stand-up comedians that all talk like Jerry Seinfeld. 
10. Man Beat Magazine was a fake ad for a Teen Beat parody magazine that's target audience is gay men. This was kind of funny because I was expecting the prediction of Maxim Magazine but was way off.
11. The Neville Brothers then returned to the stage to perform The Midnight Key. 
12. The Further Adventures of Biff & Salena was a sketch that took place in a diner where Jon Lovitz plays Biff and Joan Cusack plays Salena and the two have an adorably quirky customer/waitress romance in one of those more sentimental than funny, end of the night routines that I really love.
13. Finally, Jay Leno closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with A Message From Tommy Flanagan (AKA the Pathological Lair) where he lies about be the owner of NBC and how SNL is getting great ratings this season with "great" reviews but before going into any real evidence that things are going well because it's just not there, he cuts the scene off by announcing, "Live from New York..."
2. Griffin Dunne then officially opened the show with a monolog about his nerves in the build up to a live show. He then claimed to be doing fine now that the actual day has come but every time he nervously ran his hand through his hair he would pull out a big ole clump. He then took off his jacket revealing huge sweat stains before performing the drum solo to wipe out using just one hand which was a pretty amazing stunt.   
3. Double R & Son then returned this time the crazy family is selling the surplus from the Ferdinand Marcos estate that they somehow managed to acquire.  
4. Mr. Monopoly was a sketch that took place in an interrogation room where a man busted for murder was waiting for his lawyer. Mr. Monopoly then arrives as said Lawyer who gets the man off with a Get Out Of Jail, Free card that actually works. It turns out Damon Wayans got fired from the show for it just for deciding to make his character gay at the last moment. Though the gay aspect didn't add to the scene it also didn't take anything away because other than the premise it wasn't that great to begin with.
5. You Bet Your Finger was a game show sketch where contestants get the chance to risk their fingers in an attempt to win an around the world vacation. If this concept wasn't enough, this week's contestant, Griffin Dunne, keeps losing fingers due to the guillotine malfunctions.
6. We then got a message from Nancy Reagan who is trying to discredit claim from her daughter's book even though it's supposed to be fictional. Nancy then goes on to promote a book of her own that's "pure fiction" entitled Bad Seed and is a rebuttal to the daughter's "fictional" claims making her out to be the bad guy.
7. Buon Giorno, Ireland, Buon Giorno was a fake ad for Guido Sarducci who plays the most famous Italian singer in all of Ireland.
8. Rosanne Cash then took to the stage to perform Hold On.
9. The early version of the Mo' Money boys from In Living Color, Two Jones, returned, this time as cable installers who will hook you up with illegal cable by stealing it from your neighbors.
10. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, they are not even trying to link The Weekend Dancers to the story in any way, they are just purely out there for the skin and A. Whitney Brown got another Big Picture segment where he discusses what later became the Iran Contra Scandal and America's meddling in the Middle East as well as Central America.
11. You Can Pick Your Nose, You Can Pick Your Friends, But You Can't Pick Your Friends' Noses was a serious talk show sketch where professionals discuss the criminal justice system. The two attorney's being interviewed are close friends and one keeps trying to test the title of the show by attempting to pick his best buddies nose but the host just isn't having it.
12. Penn and Teller then returned to the show for another one of their comedic magic acts. This week the two taught us as viewers how to rip off people with a common card trick then showed us the very convoluted techniques required to pull it off.
13. Business Beat was a talk show sketch hosted by Danitra Vance who interviews people about their crazy ass business ventures.
14. Rosanne Cash then returned to the stage to perform I Don't Know Why You Don't Want Me.
15. The Zombie was a sketch where Joan Cusack is making a midnight cup of tea when she has a run in with her daughter's ex who is now walking the world as a zombie who has the look but talks per-usual, doesn't have a craving for brains and only wants to go back to living his life with his girlfriend who doesn't want anything to do with him because of the whole living dead thing even though the mom is very supportive.
16. Finally, Griffin Dunne closed out the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with a cast meeting where Lorne Michaels informs the cast that the network has forced him into letting Francis Ford Coppola direct the show in an attempt to boost the ratings. Rather than getting excited about this opportunity, the cast acts concerned about this switch in leadership. There weren't just leadership fears, toward the end of the sketch, Joan Cusack asks if the show would still open with, "Live from New York..."
2. Following Joan question in the opening sketch, we then got a more cinematic opening credit scene than the typical intro that we've seen every other week.
3. George Wendt then officially opened the show and his entrance is also more cinematically stylized.  He starts by thanking the crowd then interacts with our famous guest director who's also directing the monolog more like a film when he has George redo his lines with a different motivation. George is concerned about the show's start but Francis reassures him that everything will be fixed in editing despite this being live TV.
4. The Honeymooners, The Lost Episodes was a parody of the original show with George as Ralph, Nora Dunn as Alice and Anthony Michael Hall as Norton during the night that Ralph does more than just threat and actually knocks Alice out, in a bit of a Street Car Named Desire type of outburst.
5. We then got the start to a fake commercial that got stopped right away because Francis was promised a Commercial-Free episode and he took it to mean commercial-free even when it comes to sketches.
6. Francis then headed to the production booth because he wanted control over them as well, then goes on to call for the angles and shots as the sketch Mystery Playhouse eventually plays out with a Clue-like murder mystery that is filled with suspense because all of the interesting action takes place off screen making the audience do the work by interpreting the onscreen actors' responses. 
7. Philip Glass then took to the stage to perform Lightning. 
8. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news but unlike the rest of the night, there is nothing more cinematic about it. This week, we got another pointless visit from The Weekend Update Dancers, Joan Cusack got a segment to give a horrible review of the movie Out Of Africa because she went into the viewing thinking that it was a romantic comedy, and Francis Ford Coppola breaks the scene because he doesn't agree with a bit.
9. That Black Girl then returned for another installment where Danitra Vance auditions to be a toothpaste pitchgirl and wins the role and everyone has a hard time believing the news due to the simple fact that she's black. About half way through the sketch Francis breaks the scene once again demanding a gritty sketch, making out peppy "That Black Girl" more stereotypically black even though it goes against the point of the sketch, which just kind of highlights how movie people see race. 
10. We then went to a local fish market where George Wendt plays the shop owner who is desperate to get rid of a multi ton whale that his son accidentally ordered by mistake. 
11. Nora Dunn and Robert Downey Jr. then act as network executives who review his sketches from the night.
12. We then met The Ghost Of The Master Thespian who comes to Francis with some other worldly advice to go big or go home. At first, Coppola couldn't care less but then after a moment of thinking, he decides the ghostly thespian might actually be right.
13. This was followed by a Vietnam Sketch ala Apocalypse Now where we learn the Coppola's plan to go big includes using live ammunition in the sketch and Anthony Michael Hall gets shot, ending with what I thought might have been a parody of Heart Of Darkness but that documentary wasn't released until about five years after this episode.
14. Philip Glass then took to the stage to perform Rubric. 
15. Suitcase Confrontational was a sketch where Robert Downey Jr. is stuck in a suitcase with just his head sticking out while giving a confrontational monolog until Joan Cusack got dragged out in a suitcase of her own with plans of going next which leads to a suitcase fight.
16. We then got The Grand Finale where the ghost of the Master Thespian summarizes the entire history of the SNL set, going all the way back to the radio play days of NBC. 
17. Finally, George Wendt and Francis Ford Coppola closed the show by thanking the audience and saying their goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with Lorne knocking on Oprah's dressing room door to ask her why she is not getting made up for the Aunt Jemima sketch, to which, Oprah puts her foot down and refused to participate in any sketches that would put her in any sort of stereotypically black role. Lorne seemed confused by this as Oprah closes the door on him and before you know it Danitra Vance shows up talking like a slave to offer her boss some tea. Lorne then asked Danitra for advice and the answer she gives is to "Beat Her." Since he was given an okay by his, now, only black cast mate after Damon was fired, he entered the dressing room and we heard a struggle from behind the door, only to have Oprah emerge from the dressing room with Lorne in a headlock to announce, "Live from New York..." 
2. Oprah Winfrey then officially opened the show with a monolog about her night at the Academy Awards and the fiasco that went into her getting into her outfit for Oscar night. The Pathological Liar then joined her on stage to give her an "award" of his own. 
3. Lookin' At America Through John Cougar Mellencamp's Eyes was a fake ad for a video cassette that shows you the would not only through John Cougar's eyes as he sings but also through his hair is it constantly seems to be in his face. 
4. The Pat Stevens Show the returned for another installment of the same thing, Nora Dunn answering a letter from the audience before interviewing Oprah as herself, in a way that is almost too real to be all that entertaining.
5. Cabrini Green then returned but instead of doing more of a one woman show type performance she plays a pregnant cheerleader who has to go home from school to break the new to her mom who is played by Oprah Winfrey, in a sketch that feels more like an after school special than something that supposed to be viewed as a joke.
6. Joe Jackson then took to the stage to perform Right & Wrong.
7. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall then got a segment to do a book review where all of their criticisms are made through various types of fart noises, then went on to make fun of Dennis Miller for being such a stuffy reporter, and A. Whitney Brown got another one of his Big Picture segments where he continues to subtly make fun of America for bullying the rest of the world.
8. The Wart Hog was a detective show sketch where we started at a crime scene with regular detectives who can't solve the crime at hand so they call in the Wart Hog. At first, it sounds like this may be a nickname but no, it's Randy Quaid playing a character who is half wart hog and half man. When he first arrives he keeps highlighting how ugly he and yet is still the best detective in the land. None of the other detectives agree so they take him to another set for an impromptu contest that ranks men's look where he gets awarded the Ugliest Man Award. Then we go back to the crime scene which has now been solved and something else happens but it was so anticlimactic that I stopped paying attention to the screen.
9. Danitra Vance then sat in her makeup chair getting ready to play the maid in Gone With The Wind and get a five-minute warning until she is needed on set, which sends her into singing a song called I Play The Maids.
10. Actors on Film is a public access type show where Robert Downey Jr. and Nora Dunn discuss film. The focus this week was Steven Spielberg and his film The Color Purple, which I assumed would eventually lead to a drop in by Oprah but instead, these two just rambled on about whatever seemed to come to their character's minds including how smoking is acting and other movie talk that ended up going nowhere.
11. Craig Sundberg, Idiot Savant then returned for another segment where Craig talks like an idiot while discussing topics that would take a genius to understand. This week he has to go to Washington D.C. to invent a super alloy that would end apartheid for some reason that makes zero sense but that only adds to the humor of the sketch. 
12. The Cute Shop was a sketch that took place inside a shop that sells cute things where Oprah goes to get a gift for her new born niece and all that happens is Oprah and Joan Cusack both overreact to items because they are cute. This whips Oprah into a cute frenzy which gets Joan to send out her goons to trap her and lock her in a room.  Before the goons could do anything Oprah pulled out a gun claiming to be a part of a police sting as she released the captive prisoners from the room next door.  
13. Joe Jackson then returned to the stage to perform Soul Kiss. 
14. One-Shoe Emma was a sketch that took place in a diner where Danitra Vance plays a waitress who only wears one shoe and treats it like it's a disability because it's not that she can't afford shoe number two. Dennis Miller then showed up as a prince and it turns out this whole thing was a Cinderella scenario where not even Danitra believes that it's real which is too bad because I was loving the non-Cinderella story that I was building up in my head that I thought this sketch was building to.
15. Finally, Oprah Winfrey closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started in the SNL locker room with Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall dressed in military garb ready to join the Navy in order to join the fight in Libya. Randy Quaid then steps in and tells them a tale from Vietnam as if he were a war hero with a warning but it turns out his tale is just part of a script that he's writing and the other two are just dressed up to get girls and not to actually fight. Once they all realize they are on the same team, the group of three then turned to the camera to announce, "Live from New York..." 
2. Tony Danza then officially opened the show with a with a bit of a tap dance before joking about his big Italian family claiming that they are there and when he asks them to stand the entire audience gets feet and waves. He then goes on and attempts to joke about the news for a bit before rambling about his boxing career. It's not really that this monolog is bad but it is extremely scattered.
3. We then went into the White House where Nancy Reagan was doing some redecorating, which involved smashing a vase that she couldn't find a place for. When the maid arrives to pick things up she informs Nancy that someone just got caught sneaking into the oval office and that someone turned out to be Nancy's secret Personal Trainer who she shares her crazy workout routine with in her efforts to get a few pointers. 
4. Laurie Anderson then took to the stage to perform Baby Doll. 
5. Lyndon LaRouche Theatre was a PBS type piece where we saw a performance play out between familiar names that are still being thrown around as the real underground world rulers as the Queen of England gives Henry Kissinger heroin to distribute to the US East Coast to keep the citizens addicted. Kissinger backs out due to another controversy and Prince Charles takes his place since he was heading to Florida with Princess Di for an American Vacation. 
6. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, we got yet another pointless performance from the Weekend Update Dancers, Nora Dunn also returned as her French model character where she relates French politics to talking to a gorgeous woman, and Rock'em Sock'em Robots acted out the latest Spinks fight.
7. We then went to a boxing match between Tony Danza and Anthony Michael Hall where we got to see the effects of the new 30-Second Count rule that allows Tony to do interviews while the referee is counting.
8. Penn and Teller then returned to the show for another one of their comedic magic routines. This week the pair showed us the old cut the cord trick where you cut the cord in half then reveal that it's still intact, only for this trick the cord was a snake.
9. Big-Time Professional Golf was a fake promotional spot for an upcoming golf tournament where Jon Lovitz interviews golfers who act as if they were professional wrestlers.  
10. We then went to Tony Danza and Joan Cusack who play a couple lying in bed who are discussing how much they love each other and who loves the other one more. This leads to a "What if?" game where the two throughout scenarios to test just how unconditional their love actually is. At first, it starts out fun but then Joan throws out a cheating scenario that sounds like it could be real which freaks Tony out until he gets a call from his mom where he then has to play the "I love you more" game with her as the scene fades out.
11. Master Thespian then returned with his PBS style show instead of in a random sketch. In tonight's sketch the Master Thespian gave us a Masterclass in his brand of mastered "ACTING!!!"
12. Laurie Anderson then returned to the stage to perform Day The Devil
13. Biff and Salena then returned for another adorable end of the night sketch showing these two quirky characters falling in love. This week, the two are hanging out in a country bar during open mic night where Biff what's to show Selena his special skill but needs a bit of encouragement from her before he can take the stage. He finally builds up the courage and sings her the Butt Dance song to the tune of a blend of honky-tonk style songs.
14. Finally, Tony Danza closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with Paul Simon taking to the stage to perform You Can Call Me Al. He then ended the song b very politely announcing, "Live from New York..." 
2. Catherine Oxenberg then officially opened the show with a monolog about how different she is from the character that she played on Dynasty.
3. We then got a fake ad for an upcoming special where Geraldo Rivera was going to open the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier.
4. Jon Lovitz and Paul Simon then played two Shackled Prisoners plotting their escape from jail. When the time comes for the guard ambush everything goes wrong as the two idiots are completely unaware of how limited their movement is due to their chains. When attempt one doesn't work they try again, this time attempting to get let out on the spot due to good behavior and when they are denied they try to attack again.
5. The Late Show with Joan Rivers was a parody of Joan's real show where Terry Sweeney does a great impersonation and in the world of the sketch Joan stole Ed from Johnny then goes on to interview three famous actresses who wrote a tell-all-book to rebut a tell-all-book about themselves but it wasn't interesting enough to go back and figure out who these women were or what they were talking about because they all seemed to be impersonating the same exact character, at least by the sound of their voices. 
6. The Limits of the Imagination then returned for another installment with its long introduction where this week Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall played two boys from Queens in 1959 who are obsessed with bassoons and turn out to be Simon and Garfunkel who sell their souls to the devil to become famous but the devil's clause is that they also had to give up the bassoon. Years then pass and an old Paul Simon arrives in a building lobby to find a bassoon player that brings back the memory before he gets stuck in the elevator haunted by Muzak versions of his greatest hit which literally turns out to be hell.
7. Dirk Landers was a sketch where Robert Downey Jr. played an American James Bond type character who gets shot seconds after an enemy spy entered the room, making the entire series last about a minute before getting the end to the show.
8. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, we learned that the Russian Nuclear Program was just the game Mouse Trap that's been super-sized, A. Whitney Brown gave us the Big Picture about how the Chernobyl Meltdown was being downplayed by the Russian media as well as other world news from the week, and Dennis Miller announced that Saturday Night Live will be coming back for at least another year.
9. Paul Simon then returned to the stage with Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the two performed Homeless.
10. Penn and Teller then returned to the show yet again for yet another one of their comedic magic routines where Teller is put in a strait jacket and hung upside-down by his feet while Penn read a poem Kasey At The Bat while Teller tries to escape before getting dropped on giant spikes if he doesn't manage to get out before the story is over. When it looks like Teller is about to pull it off Penn starts to read the story faster but the two manage to finish at the exact time so the crisis was successfully averted.
11. The Pathological Liar also returned to the show where he visited a country club and tries to pick up on Catherine Oxenberg who is lying as well because she's actually just the waitress on a break and trying to hook up with this "Producer."
12. Brim Decaffeinated was a fake ad for a decaf coffee where the cast is too tired to even act as they yawn their way through the scene. The sketch is intentionally so slow that it almost put me to sleep, but in a way that wasn't annoying.
13. We then got A Mothers Day's Message from Joan Cusack who gives advice but whispers her way through the important parts in a sketch that I didn't really get, it might be because it was in reference to something from the time that I am just not aware of because I was lost when the audience laughed.
14. We then got yet another repeat of the fake Trojans condoms ad that has aired several times throughout this season.
15. Paul Simon then returned to the stage alone to perform Graceland.
16. Finally, Catherine Oxenberg and Paul Simon closed the show by thanking the audience and saying their goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with a weigh in for a fight between Anthony Michael Hall vs. Marvin Hagler where Anthony Michael Hall talks up the fight like a professional wrestler and we find out this fight was the idea of Hall's manager, The Pathological Liar who didn't realize that it was Marvelous Marvin Hagler who was the Marvin in this fight when they set it up. Hall does more trash talk revealing he shaved his head to look like the champ, to which Hagler responded with the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
2. Jimmy Breslin then officially opened the show with a monolog about being old and how this is the first time that he has had to worry about pleasing an audience since back in his Catholic School days and how getting the SNL audience to like him is the opposite of his journalism career where the goal of his writing is to get the person being reported on to hate him for revealing hidden truths.  
3. We then went to a Submarine where the crew discovers Muammar Gaddafi standing at the top of their periscope so they call the White House to see what to do, only to then have to deal with a bumbling Reagan who is too busy sharpening pencils to focus on the task at hand. Devil Reagan and Angel Reagan then appear on Reagan Reagan's shoulder and they too are just as indecisive and after hours of thinking, Gaddafi easily gets away.
4. Tornadoville was a sketch that took place in a town that's been plagued by tornados where they are constantly in a state of rebuild. In the sketch, Randy Quaid and Anthony Michael Hall share tornado stories with the main joke being Anthony Michael Hall has hanger sticking out of his head from trying to unlock his car during the last horrific storm. 
5. We then got a Public Service Announcement from Marvin Hagler with Tips For The Knocked Out for any of his potential future opponents.
6. Midday With Jennifer Hicks was a talk show sketch hosted by Joan Cusack who interviewed three James Bond villains who teamed together to write a book about their common nemesis filled with tips on how to kill the cunning spy. The main advice is to just kill him with a gun the moment you see him because of how he seems to always escape if you attempt to drag things out.
7. Level 42 then took to the stage to perform Something About You. 
8. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week was all Dennis Miller and no special guest reporters.
9. Lone Wolf McCord was a sketch that took place in a police department here Randy Quaid played McCord, who is a bad ass shoot first ask questions later brand of detective until he gets in trouble with the boss when he heads back to his locker and cries like a child who's been punished while the rest of the cops try to comfort him.
10. Sam Kinison then returned to the show for another one of his stand-up performances about how great it is that Chernobyl happened in Russia and how great America is a being a bully and he truly seems proud of our horrible way and the audience is genuinely cheering him on which I'm willing to bet I was in the same frame of mind at the time. 
11. The Pat Stevens Show returned for another installment of this sketch that I can't really stand mainly because I don't know the show being referenced but also because it never gets funny enough to feel like a parody of anything. This week Nora Dunn started with her usual viewer mail segment then goes on to do an interview with Jimmy Breslin that has a couple jokes but for the most part feels like it could be real, though I do like Jimmy Breslin's outrage for being booked on this type of show because that too felt legitimate and real.
12. Cabrini Green then returned to the show as a guest speaker for a high school assembly where she discusses teen pregnancy and shares a song as an aid to help remind kids to avoid it until they're read.
13. We then got another Public Service Announcement from "Jody Hagler," Marvin's "brother" who is Flight Attendant who has advice for passengers to not try to fight flight attendants because that's not their job and they just want to be left alone.
14. E.G. Daily then took to the stage to perform Say It, Say It.
15. Finally, Jimmy Breslin and Marvin Hagler closed the show by thanking the audience and saying their goodnights.

The Wicker Breakdown:

1. This week's show started with a Hands Across America sketch where we meet a group of hand holders in Texas who get a warning about a pickpocket who's been stealing from participants in the event and are told that if they were to be robbed just keep holding hands and yell out for help to get one of the organizer's attention. Soon after this announcement a one legged man hops along and tries to get in the line only everyone refuses to let go of their neighbor's hand to open up a spot. I think this one legged man was famous at the time because there is a joke about the incident that wounded him and because if he wasn't an actual person from the news the sketch is pointless because there is no other reference to the pickpocket and the one legged man does nothing else but announce, "Live from New York..."
2. Anjelica Huston then officially opened the show with a monolog about this being her first live performance unless you count her winning speech for her recent Oscar win. She then goes on an attempts to tell a few jokes while we go back stage to catch up with the second host, Billy Martin, while Anthony Michael Hall tries to get his autograph. After Hall leaves the devil arrives to taunt our second guest. Finally, Anjelica Huston finishes her routine and joins Billy Martin in the SNL locker room.
3. The People's Second Choice Awards was a fake award show for the sidekicks, straight men, and backup singers. 
4. Moments Of Doubt was a sketch where Randy Quaid and Anjelica Huston play empty nest parents having breakfast as the two think back to what life may have been if they never decided to get married. Joan Cusack then enters the scene and we get to hear her doubts as well. We then end the scene by hearing the doubts from the dog.  
5. Lorne Michaels then took to the stage to set up the following sketch by saying that it was pulled from last season because the censors thought that it glamorized drinking but that was not the intent. The sketch then starts with people playing craps, each with drinks in their hands. Billy Martin has the biggest drink which makes him stand out from the rest as the most interesting man in the room. The rest of the sketch then goes on to promote drinking as if it were the best thing since sliced bread.
6. National Council Of Liquor And Spirits was a sketch that came directly after the drinking sketch that was supposed to be a rebuttal to the booze promoting sketch but the lead council member also declares excess drinking to be fine up until the point where it isn't.
7. Actors On Film then returned with Robert Downey Jr. and Nora Dunn rambling on as film fanatics while talking about the movie Top Gun.
8. Hallmark Organized Crime Cards was a fake ad for a new line of Hallmark cards that are geared toward members of the mafia.
9. George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic then took to the stage to perform Let's Take It To The Stage.
10. Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, Al Franken made his return to the stage to reassure the audience that it's still the decade of Al Franken then goes on to promote a movie he wrote that was being tested in Sacramento before getting a wide release. A. Whitney Brown also get another one of his Big Picture moments to talk to the graduating class of 1986 where he bitches about the youth the same way modern adults bitch about Millennials and Guido Sarducci ended the news with a spoken word performance of God Bless America that got acted out by The Weekend Update Dancers in their first appearance to make any sense or at least seemed somewhat justified. 
11. We then went to a Lesbian Bar where Nora Dunn tries to pick up on Joan Cusack who didn't realize the theme of the bar and has to think through why she prefers men over women and doesn't have an answer so she leaves with Dunn to give lesbianism a chance. Robert Downey Jr. then enters the scene as Joan's former fiance who gets hit on by Anjelica Huston who also plays a lesbian but is still interested in Downey Jr. for some unclear reason.
12. Bocce Ball My Way was a fake a for an instructional Bocce video hosted by Father Guido Sarducci.
13. We then went back to the SNL locker room where the devil returns to tempting Billy Martin in an effort to get him fired again as the devil's clause for selling his soul and also just to taunt him.
14. Damon Wayans then got a chance to return to the show after being fired as a featured player to perform one of his stand-up routines about racism still being a thing even though it was 1986 and gives us several examples. He then goes on to talk about having a club foot as a child.
15. Book Minute was a sketch where Danitra Vance played the host to talk about children's nursery rhymes then go on to promote a children's book of her own that's gear toward inner city children. 
16. Terry Sweeny then played Patti LaBelle in the most offensive blackface makeup that this show has done since I started this challenge. In the sketch, Patti and her mother, played by Danitra Vance go to the movies where they portray the stereotype of black people being loud at movies. 
17. We then went to a kitchen sketch where Danitra Vance talks out her personal issues with Joan Cusack and ask who Joan turns to for help. This leads Joan to describe her go to friend and it sounds like she's talking about God but she's actually talking about Colonel Sanders who she turns to when she's feeling down. Billy Martin then enters the scene only to break it almost instantly as the character of himself is drunk and wants to redo his performance.
18. George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic then returned to the stage to perform Do Fries Go With That Shake.
19. Finally, we went to the SNL locker room where the cast says their season goodbye while Billy Martin attempt to burn down the building. After seeing the fire Lorne enters the locker room to save Lovitz alone and then sends in the writers to celebrate with the rest of the cast knowing the fire will cause them to die.
20. We then went to the main stage where Anjelica Houston and Billy Martin closed the show by thanking the audience and saying their goodnights.

SNL: SEASON ELEVEN SUMMARY