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How About That??? All Three Amigos As Host!!!

One of the most shocking things that I've found during this SNL review process is how often I've felt let down by some of my favorite names in comedy when it comes to their relationship with this show even though I still love their involvement and non-Saturday Night Live careers.

Take Chevy Chase for example. Even though I will still watch any of the Vacation movies on a whim, I wasn't all that impressed with his role as the original lead of the Not Ready For Prime Time Players because I felt the star treatment went to his head to where he started to seem like he felt he was too good for the show.

When it comes to Steve Martin, I have yet to be blown away by any of his hosting appearances so far. In this case, I feel that all of these old Steve Martin shows were looked at as classic episodes that have been over played through reruns over the years to the point where I am burnt out on the material and not that these shows were actually bad.

Then we have Martin Short, who I used to think was hilarious as a kid when his energy alone was enough to make me laugh. I've since grown to find his style of physical comedy to be extremely obnoxious but I still have fond memories of him from the past leading me to have mixed feeling when it came to his run on the show which led to a couple of negative comments.

All of these past disappointments led me to feel a bit iffy about this episode but after the viewing, I was not only satisfied but I now want to track down The Three Amigos to watch later on while I go to bed because this was such a fun episode.

With Chevy, he seemed much more humble and less like a homecoming cast member who was there to haze the young cast like some of his hosting duties from the past. Steve Martin seems to be into his more cerebral phase of his career and no longer counts on his nervous energy that made him feel a bit like that guy at a party with obvious prepared jokes but he acts like these joke are just coming off the top of his head. Martin Short was just Martin Short but in his younger years before I found him to be obnoxious.

With this more mature energy that comes with no longer having to prove themselves, this hosting trio seemed to be just having fun and that energy seemed to carry on to the rest of the cast making this another solid episode from the most solid season that there has been in a couple of years.

Now that I've finish breaking down and building up three of my childhood comedic heroes, it's not time to move on and share what I saw, as I give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started at the Gerald Ford Clinic for a meeting of Stumblebums Anonymous where everyone at the meeting is a complete clod especially Chevy Chase who plays the group leading that crashes into everything as he crossed the room only to end up on the ground to announce, "Live from New York..."
Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short then officially opened the show with a monolog where they introduced themselves individually then Chevy Chase jokes about his latest stay in a Rehab Facility. Steve Martin then gets his turn where he fakes a panic attack causing him to leave the stage and the other two follow and attempt to rebuild his confidence. It works as Steve Martin marches around the backstage area declaring his newly found courage which eventually evolves into a song.
This was followed by a sketch in a suburban home where Chevy Chase plays the father who is looking for the TV remote by digging in the couch where he finds everything from change to a piece of classic art and even their dead cat but there is no sign of the channel changer that started the quest in the first place, until finally, he pulls out Victoria Jackson in a French Maid outfit who physically changes the channels for the family.
Ed Grimley then made his return to the show to do his Ed Grimley thing while hanging out in his studio apartment while making Christmas treats that he ends up burning to a crisp. This leaves him with nothing to give out as gifts and he is too broke to simply start over. Eventually, the devil arrives to buy Grimley's soul in exchange for a fifty dollar gift card. After legitimately weighing it out Grimley decides not to give into temptations as he tells the devil no but the two hang out and play the triangle even though the deal didn't go through.
Steven Martin then shared his Holiday Wish that starts out sharing his dreams of world peace but then builds to a laundry list of wishes that do nothing but fulfill Steve Martin's own greedy/power hungry needs.
Randy Newman then took to the stage to perform Longest Night.
We then went to the White House to catch the end of an interview with President Reagan who comes across as a complete idiot. The moment the reporter leaves the room, Reagan switches gears where he seems more like the Master Brain who runs the oval office with a totally competent tone. This switching back and for from being brainy to dumb keeps going on every time the President gets a new visitor that isn't involved with his evil plans.
Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news with Chevy Chase as his guest co-host. This week, The Pathological Liar dropped in for a segment where he lies about his involvement in the Iran Contra Scandal.
The Eggshell Family was a family sit-com of a sketch where everyone in the family is walking on Eggshells as they all seemed terrified about how the father of the family is going to react to even the slightest of issue that comes up. We then met Steve Martin who played the dad and it's not that he's angry or aggressive but passively terrified about everything so they are all just trying to save him from the stress.
The Pat Stevens Show then returned and even though it's a new season, the is pretty much the same as every other Pat Stevens sketch from last year only instead of viewer mail she started the sketch by flipping through a magazine before interviewing Jan Hooks who was playing some politician that must have been in the news at the time but just like the other installments of this segment, I don't know the reference material and don't find this character to be funny enough to where I have yet to care whenever this segment appears on an episode's sketch list.
Church Lady then returned to the show only in this appearance she isn't hosting her talk show but is instead having Potluck Luncheon where she still berates everyone claiming that they are working in cahoots with "SATAN" finding sin in even the most innocent of the luncheon's guests.
Randy Newman then returned to the stage to perform Roll With The Punches.
Halsey & Roarke: British Customs Agents was a profile sketch where we got introduced to Eric Idle and Dana Carvey who are playing British customs agents who are overly protective about what they let into the country where they treat even the most innocent souvenir/container as if it were a way to smuggle drugs as they arrest every person in line.
Finally, The Three Amigos closed the show by thanking the audience and saying their goodnights.

This episode was more fun than classic and hilarious so I admit it was kind of hard to come up with three favorite moments but here's what I managed to come up with. First, I loved Chevy Chase looking for the "channel changer" in the couch, because no matter how advanced technology gets, this sketch will always be relatable because there is always something to be lost in the couch whether it's a remote control of a new modern phone. Next, I really liked Steve Martin's Christmas Wish because it actually is a classic routine and it was fun to see this rendition of the joke. Finally, I was a fan of the Ed Grimley scene because even though I don't really want to I still like this character because he's so positive and can find fun in everything that he does, even in this sketch where he turns down a deal with the devil but still treats him well like you would with any other guest in your house.