or...

Cheers To Another Solid Episode

The biggest thing that sucks about this challenge is how I was a bit deceived into thinking that Seeso offered every single episode in its entirety. This belief stayed strong as the first five seasons had every single sketch as well as every music guest and everything was played in the same order as the night that it originally aired.

From season six on, you can only get abridged versions of the show minus any sketch that might have any sort of licensing issue. This means an episode can run anywhere from 15 to 50 minutes, which I feel is a disservice because these abridged episodes make it feel like they are putting out "Best Of," collections of the show when half of the time the sketches without licensing issues are the worst episodes of the night and sometimes it feels like they're just leaving out random content.

Luckily, I have a work around to where I can watch what,s available through the paid services that I'm signed up to then have several sites that I can check with to fill in any gaps which works perfectly most of the time. Every once in a while there are nights where as hard as I try there are two to three sketches that can't be found anywhere making the viewing/research process take twice as long as when all of the content was there.

That was the case with this episode and though I was entertained while watching the bulk of the episode, the hunting for left out clips left me extremely annoyed so rather than take it out on the host or show, I figured I'd explain the situation in place of a normal review.

Then again, I don't think my reviews are all that normal in the first place, so this is just what I managed to come up with and now that it's off my chest, it's now time to switch gear and move on to share what I did manage to find as I give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with a parody of Cheers where the SNL a politician from the time whose alcoholism led to a scandal is demanding drinks from Dana Carvey as Woody even though it is after last call. Woody eventually calls Sam over who is actually played by Ted Danson and the politician manages to talk him into pouring another drink in exchange for secret information. Sam gives in and pours the drink but the secret information is worthless. This is when Sam looks over to the other side of the bar to see a passed out Dukakis. The two drunken politician then continue to ramble on as both Sam and Woody try to get them to leave because it's closing time. Eventually, the first politician starts to announce the opening line only he passes out leaving Dukakis to announce, "Live from New York..."
Ted Danson then officially opened the show with a monolog about peer pressure when it comes to clapping saying to only clap when you really feel it or if the applause sign is lit up. He then goes on to blatantly plug his movie Cousins, which up to this point only a handful of hosts have done. During the plug, he informs the audience that, like Three Men And A Baby, Cousins is based on a foreign film and claims SNL is an American remake as well, then throws to a clip with Mike Myers doing an opening monolog only in French where he pees his pants while acting nervous. When we come back from the clip Ted Danson remakes the same routine only a little different to appeal to the American audience.
Sleepytime Rat Control was a fake ad for a sleeping pill for sewer rats for those who want a humane way to deal with an infestation problem, with the idea being a sleeping rat is better than an active one since they never suggest removal.
The Iranian People's Court was a pretty offensive sketch making fun of the Iranian language and culture while parodying The People Court.
Women Can't Say No was a sketch where Victoria, Jan, and Nora are enjoying wine in their apartment complaining about how they are too nice to say no when Ted Danson arrives, as the neighbor. Though the three women would prefer to have girls' night alone the next thing you know, Ted Danson's inside after inviting himself and making out with whichever girl is left alone during the girl's sidebar conversations about trying to get him to leave. He then leaves on his own after having sex with the last girl left alone with him.
Plug Away then returned for another installment where Jon Lovitz as Harvey Fierstein continues to sneak in questions to guest as to whether or not they find him attractive because he, "Just wants to be loved... Is that so wrong," and then gives them an opportunity to plug their latest project. This week is a Valentine's Day special with "Pat Riley", "Roseanne Barr", and "Casey Kasem."
Luther Vandross then took to the stage to perform She Won't Talk To Me.
Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, "George Michael" checked in via satellite to complain that his butt wasn't featured enough in a recent TV commercial which was the only clip that I could find on the internet from this week's news and it cut off the first part so I don't know what the commercial in question was for.
We then went to a New York apartment where Nora Dunn and Ted Danson play a couple who are Living With Hogs. At first, they seem very into the idea until the cleaning lady quits. This causes Danson to start and second guess, not the hogs but the idea of living in the city with them. The downstairs neighbor then dropped by to complain only to be treated as if he's the one who's strange for taking issue with the living condition of the apartment full of hogs that are starting to affect the entire building. The moment he leaves the two treat the confrontation as just an uptight neighbor who loves to complain and that they are the normal ones.
Dana Carvey's Grumpy Old Man then made his non-news debut, complaining to Old Man Jon Lovitz about the youth of today while sharing his childhood struggles while claiming, "That's the way it was and we LIKED IT," with Old Man Lovitz fanning the flame by adding his own examples.
Luther Vandross then took to the stage to perform For You To Love.
Kevin's First Love was a sketch that I couldn't find anywhere on the internet.
Going To England was another sketch that I couldn't find anywhere on the internet.
Finally, Ted Danson closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

Luckily, even with the missing sketches, it was still easy to find these three favorite moments from what I was actually able to watch. First, I loved the Grumpy Old Man And Friend sketch because I'm a fan of this character and need to start using the, "That's the way it was and we liked it," catchphrase now that I'm old enough to legitimately complain about the youth. Next, I really liked this week's Plug Away because I like Jon Lovitz and Harvey Fierstein before I even knew who that was. Finally, I was a fan of the Sleepytime Rat Control ad because it's funny how this pest control product goes beyond human to where you just let the rats sleep without removing them from your house.