or...

My Birthday Episode: Year 12

Two things came to me during today's viewing of SNL. First, I realize that if you take, past host, Harry Anderson and smoosh him together with, past guest, Steve Guttenberg both their features and temperaments merge to create Judge Reinhold. Being a fan of all three, especially at that time, I don't really see this as a negative observation.

The second thing that I realized is that there are a lot of host from this time, just like Judge who I thought had much more prolific careers than their IMDB page can corroborate. I think this is due to the fact that these people were from a time with fewer options leading you to watch the same movies over and over again, especially when a pay cable channel would offer a free weekend that seemed to mainly air the same set of movies every time.

With the passing of time, this repeat of programming seems to have tricked my brain into thinking that I've seen over a dozen Judge Reinhold movies when in reality I've just seen Fast Times, Vice Versa and the Beverly Hills Cop trilogy at least fifteen times each to where it seems like I've seen him in damn near a hundred movies, especially when you consider that I now struggle to get through an entire movie on the first try.

This is why, with many hosts, I'll claim to be a huge fan when in reality I've only seen one or two of their films. At first, I thought that maybe talk show appearances played into this disconnect but now I'm realizing all of the repeat viewing from youth is a more likely candidate to blame.

Thankfully, whether I've seen four Judge Reinhold movies a dozen times or have seen one hundred of his films only once, I still found this to be a solid ending to a season that was shortened due to a strike.

Now that I've shared my findings along with a super simple review, 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 another Pumping Up With Hans And Franz which I am still entertained by but it is pretty much the same thing every time they are on the screen only with the tiniest of twists. This week's twist is that it is Winter Olympic time so now all of the muscle talk is based on the winter games where they bring in Judge Reinhold who plays a downhill skier only to make fun of how puny he is and how he needs to pump up, and of course being the opening sketch it ends with the announcement of, "Live from New York..."
Judge Reinhold then officially opened the show with a monolog about how nervous he is to host the show being that he's not really a person who lives in the fast lane and this is a high-stress show. He then went on to explain that he does like the power of being the host because it allows him to do whatever he wants as the stage hands set up cactuses and fence to create a western vibe to the room. G.E. Smith then entered the scene dressed as a rancher with guitar in hand and some old guy came out, also in country garb and two coconut halves to create the soft galloping sound as Judge Reinhold whistles a western themed end of the night tune.
Wilson Trap Doors was a fake ad for a top of the line trap door that starts out by showing the competitors flaws before finally showing how the Wilson brand's trap door work perfectly in every situation.
Church Chat then returned for another installment and like Pumping Up this sketch is entertaining but it's pretty much the same every time the Church Lady takes to the stage, with the main joke being the build up to her saying... "SATAN."
Deregulated Airlines was a sketch that highlighted just how horrible the airlines have become following the deregulation of the industry to where traveling by air actually seems worse than traveling on some chicken filled bus in a Third World Nation but at least the prices are fare.
10,000 Maniacs then took to the stage to perform Like The Weather.
Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, Al Franken returned as to one man mobile news unit to continue with his coverage of the presidential campaign where this time he gets struck by lightning after explaining all of the technology that is attached to him and the personal struggles that come with lugging all this weight around in his efforts to cover such an important story. A. Whitney Brown also dropped in for another Big Picture segment where he breaks down the line-up of losers that were running for president back in '88.
Jorge Garcia, Nice Guy Dictator is a sketch that, as the title implies follows Judge Reinhold as this nice guy dictator who runs what seems to be a Central or South American leader who rules with an iron fist but is also very fair even if his staff prefers him to be more of a traditional bad guy.
The Cop And The Prostitute had a sit-com feel where the title pretty much says it all with Judge Reinhold playing the cop and Victoria Jackson as the prostitute in their titular roles.
When Great Minds Meet was a PBS parody where Jon Lovitz hosted a panel show with some of the greatest minds from throughout time but being that they are all from different times they have trouble sorting out all these new names while also struggling to grasp events from the time periods in which that were not involved.
10,000 Maniacs then returned to the stage to perform What's The Matter Here.
Pirate Birds was a sketch that took place on a pirate ship during the days when pirates branching out and trying other birds in an attempt to break the parrot cliche.
Finally, Judge Reinhold closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

I think this might be my second favorite episodes from this season with these three favorite moments contributing to the reason why. First, I loved the When Great Minds Meet sketch because I loved how they made it so these people from various times throughout history struggle to communicate due to their different places on histories timeline instead of how these things are usually treated where time travelers instantly grasp the difference. Next, I really like the Pirate Birds sketch because it was a pretty funny statement on fashion trends. Finally, I was a fan of Jorge Garcia, Nice Guy Dictator because I often fantasize what it would look like to have a powerful leader that actually stands with the people instead of the traditional monster who dreams to take over the world.