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That Guy Who's Played Every That Guy, Got To Be Host Of The Show!!!

Other than the fact that I've seen Harry Dean Stanton in what seems to be a billion films, he was always just a "That Guy" character-actor to me until a couple years ago when I heard him on Doug Loves Movies. After his first podcast appearance, I became an actual fan so I was super excited to see that he got a chance to host this episode of Saturday Night Live.

Unfortunately, as much as I continue to root for this season, it continues to let me down to the point where I can see why this season almost led to the cancellation of the show. I keep saying that I have a problem with the fewer but longer format but that's only the tip of the iceberg.

In yesterday's review, I started to wonder if this season is so bad due to the fact that there are so many actors this season as opposed to the sketch comedian filled casts from the past, which leads to different types of performing that might not always work to get laughs.

This also might be a bit of a repeat from yesterday but it bears repeating as I now see it as the biggest problem this year, the sketches are not only long but they are also extremely convoluted as you can see by how much I have to write to break down even the simplest of sketches that should only take a line or two to get the point across.

Hell, half the time this season, I've gotten so bored just trying to figure out a way to explain the setup that I either get angry or lost by the time they get to the actual joke. The other problem with these convoluted setups is that they seem to be overly dramatic, possibly to fulfill the "actors" needs instead of the sketches need to make the audience laugh.

All of that said, I'm still a fan of everyone involved and continue to hold out hopes that at least one of the episodes from this season will actually blow me away.

Alright, now that I've rehashed my ongoing issue with this season, it's time to move on and share what I actually saw as I give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

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..."
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.
We then got a repeat of the Army: Say No ad from when Pee-Wee Herman was the host.
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.
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..
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.
The Replacements then took to the stage to perform Bastards Of The Young.
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.
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.
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.
Sam Kinison then returned to the show to perform another one of his stand-up routines
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.
Barroom Drunk was a sketch where Harry Dean Stanton heckles Robert Downey Jr. who is just trying to enjoy his date.
The Replacements then returned to the stage to perform Kiss Me on the Bus.
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.
Finally, Harry Dean Stanton closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

This was another episode that actually made it easy to choose these favorite moments because they were the only moments that I liked at all. First, I loved the That Black Girl sketch because I used to like the show That Girl, but I also loved Danitra Vance's unbreakable optimism despite others having an issue with her race. Next, I really liked the Big Ball Of Sports sketch because it reminded me of the good old days of channel surfing where you used to stumble upon similar weird ass sports from around the world that you'd then watch until the commercial break to then never see the sport again. Finally, I was a fan of the opening sketch because it was a pretty funny response to the Burger King campaign that claimed there was only one person in America who never tried the Whopper.