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A Solid Start To The Season With This Third Solid Episode In A Row

Even though this is probably the start of a cycle of Not Ready For Prime Time Players that I'm the most familiar with, I'm still a little gun shy about cheering them on as they and their characters find their voices couple season went so terribly wrong. With that said, this is a solid start to a season where all three episodes that I've seen so far have been better than the last.

Though these episodes are amazing when compared to anything from last year, this is still a season where a majority of the cast is made up of freshmen and the content is just average when compared to the stronger years and being that this is the start to my wheelhouse years with the show, my judgement might be a little more harsh as this cast of characters that set the bar as far as my standards of the show goes.

As always, average isn't a bad thing, especially when I don't have to add the "for this season" qualifier to validate an otherwise bad show. No, this episode was average when compared to even the best of seasons. The only reason I add the average tag is due to the fact that the cast and writers seem to still be figuring things out, making the sketches seem simpler while some of the characters that I know will grow to be more complex haven't been fully developed so they can come across a little flat.

With the rate of improvement that this season is showing, I'm willing to bet that an above average episode is just around the corner and I won't have to wait until next season for it to feel like they finally figured it out, which makes me excited to keep on watching without feeling like each viewing is a chore.

So, now that my hopes for this season have been stated, it's now time to move on and share what I saw, as I give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with a Newsreel breaking down the news from the week focusing on how the Mets surprise win of the World Series led to SNL being preempted and not going out live for the first time in the show's eleven years on the air.
We then got what would have been the opening sketch that would have been the first segment if the show didn't get a late start due to the game. In the sketch, we are in Rosanna Arquette's dressing room when Jan Hooks finds out about the Neck With The Producer sketch that isn't on the schedule because it turns out The Pathological Liar claimed to be Lorne Michaels and used this as an excuse to sneak in a make-out session. Then the real Lorne Michaels entered the scene and contemplates giving the Neck With The Producer sketch a shot, only Rosanna has different thoughts as she announces, "Live from New York..."
Rosanna Arquette then officially opened the show with a monolog about the midterm elections and how she can't speak openly about her political views because that would me the show would have to provide equal time to promote the politician who she secretly tries to bash.
We then got a parody of The People's Court where Rosanna Arquette sues the Devil because the Beauty Salon that she sold her soul for didn't turn out to be as successful as she was hoping due to the devil's clause in the contract to where her hair cuts were so good that her customers never needed to return.
Church Chat then returned for another installment whereas always the Church Lady grills her guest about their relationship with "SATAN," which I loved as a kid but I think this will get old rather quick since I already got burnt out on the character one way back when these episodes originally aired.
We then got a fake ad for The Helmsley Spook House hosted by Leona Helmsley in her Midtown Manhattan Hotel where they don't use peeled grapes for their bowl full of eye balls, being that their clients are so rich they get to experience the real deal and the same goes for all of their Halloween haunted house props.
Ric Ocasek then took to the stage to perform Emotion In Motion.
We then got a fake ad for Pork where Kevin Nealon plays an Olympic athlete with pork as his preferred fuel for his workouts.
Once again Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, A. Whitney Brown dropped in with another Big Picture segment where he discusses the latest increase in censorship in the increasingly conservative political environment of the time, while also working in a C.H.U.D. joke.
The Sammies was a sketch where two best buds named Sammy hang out in their man cave to watch the game while discussing their plans to improve their lives only to instantly admit that these are improvements that neither of them will ever get to. Nora Dunn, who plays the sister, then arrives with her boyfriend who eventually falls into the slacking Sammies trap as he joins in on their drunken conversation instead of getting ready for his business trip.
Dog Baseball was a film bit where we went to a field to watch a bunch of dogs that do dog things that are edited together to look like they are playing baseball against their owner.
Make Joan Baez Laugh was a parody of Make Me Laugh where comedian contestants are challenged to do as the title suggest and make the moody musician laugh. It's set up that this would be an impossible feat but all that it took was "Howie Mandell" to do his famous inflate a rubber glove over his head trick to get her to laugh until the water she's drinking sprays right out of her nose.
We then got a follow-up to the fade ad for Pork where once again it is promoted as the meat for those who are on a health kick and need the extra energy to work out because this was apparently from a time where pork was an unhealthy meat and not the acceptable protein that it's returned to be these days.
Ric Ocasek then returned to the stage to perform Keep On Laughin'.
Koko, Mishu, and Lebee was a fairy tale told by Jane Hooks about two clowns named Koko and Mishu and a giant named Lebee who scamper about the forest as the scenes that Jane introduces play out in the style of a children's stage play.
Rosanna Arquette then played a punk rock girl in a coffee shop who sing a song called I Saw God about how she saw God in said coffee shop and how he's the one to blame for her rebellious look and way of being.
Pango, Giant Dog of Tokyo was another sketch that was cut from reruns and that I couldn't find anywhere on the internet.
We then got a short film by Jim Jarmusch that is Steven Wright and Roberto Benigni segment from the feature film that came out decades later called Coffee And Cigarettes.
Finally, Rosanna Arquette closed the show by thanking the audience and saying her goodnights.

Again, this was the third solid show in a row with these three moments being my favorite from the night. First, I loved The People's Court sketch because one, I'm a fan of the original show and two, I love the idea of someone suing the Satan over a devil's clause. Next, I really liked the Dog Baseball short film because it was both cute and funny. Finally, I was a fan of seeing the Steven Wright and Roberto Benigni scene from the movie Coffee And Cigarettes because it was impressive to see evidence that Jim Jarmusch actually took that many years to create his feature film.