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My SNL Mandela Effect Mystery Has Been Solved!!!

There's been a mystery in my life that involves Saturday Night Live that's been bugging me for close to two decades and am happy to finally figure it out. Right around the time this episode originally aired, I started to brag how I was the same age as the show only to realize in my mid-twenties that I was a year off.

Granted the show is only about six months older than me so as soon as February passes our ages do sync up but for some reason, I was always under the impression that I was the same age as the season number which isn't even the case because I was zero upon birth in the middle of season one making the season start two counts ahead of my age.

I think part of my miscalculation stemmed from before there were digital guides when we would channel surf by literally flipping through the channels, we didn't get all of the extra information so I don't think people were as aware of season or episode numbers which now seems common knowledge to even the most casual of modern viewers.

Since I wasn't aware of the season count, it now makes sense to me how I made my Mandela Effect false memory. You see last season was the show's fifteen year anniversary and I turned fifteen around the midpoint which means I am actually the same age as the show's season for a couple of months but that not what created the mix-up because I was always under the impression that my aged matched the show's at the start of its year.

It turns out this big mystery start was very simple and I'm stupid for taking so long to figure it out until I saw the start of tonight's season opener where I saw that the show still had the signage celebrating last season's fifteen years of being on the air.

This must have been when I made the connection between my age and the age of the show because I was completely confused after nine years went by and the show was celebrating twenty-five-years on the air while I was only twenty-three, keeping in mind at that point I was still unaware of the season count so the whole deal where I was zero at birth and the show started at one, didn't even come into play.

So, it turns out that my entire Mandela Effect experience with SNL is the same as every other case where it turns out I simply misread something when I was young and this led to my adult confusion.

Not only am I excited about finally figuring out my confusion, I'm also excited by the new additions to the cast because the show was in desperate need for new blood and this season opener was a very good start to the year to where I no longer dread my next viewing.

I look forward to sharing more findings of this new cast of characters but until then it's time to move on and share what I saw, as I give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show started with A Message From Iraq where Dana Carvey as George Bush Sr. addresses Iraq following Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait where he threatens the country with war. He seems extra happy this week because instead of having to justify his presidency he gets to boast about the war that he's about to start to prove that he's not a coward. This was followed by an Iraqi panel show where a collection of guests analyzed the president's address leading up to the host's announcement of, "Live from New York..."
Kyle McLachlan then opened the show with a monolog about wanting to host the show in order to show another side other than the creep characters that he's played for David Lynch. He then turns to the audience for questions where he spoils the end of Twin Peaks. He then throws to the show and instantly gets called backstage to answer a phone call from David Lynch for ruining the end of the show. Following the phone call, he then rushed back to the stage to try and convince the audience that he was just kidding in an effort to save his career.
Bad Idea Jeans was a fake ad for jeans that parodied the trend from the time where men have conversations about their bad life choices over random shots of them in their jeans getting ready for a game of basketball. Each story told is worse and worse until we finally see that this collection of jean-clad white guys are about to play against a team of black guys in proper attire before the ad ended on a shot of the Bad Idea Jeans Logo.
Sprockets the returned for another installment where Dieter introduces a segment called Germany's Most Disturbing Home Videos where he and Kyle MacLachlan watch and analyze several disturbing videos as they were the hosts of America's Funniest Home Videos.
We then got a parody of Twin Peaks which unfortunately/surprisingly, is a show that I never got into so I didn't get the nuanced jokes that got the audience to laugh. A lot of the sketch just felt like randomness but knowing other pieces of David Lynch's works I found that the nonsense made sense and was still sort of entertained.
Sinead O'Connor then took to the stage to perform Three Babies.
Once again, Dennis Miller gave us the news. This week, Al Franken checked in via satellite from Saudi Arabia for a one-man mobile update on the current conflict that was building up in the Middle East at the time.
Chris Rock then made his debut on the show by playing Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew who was hired to perform at a record label event to promote an upcoming tour. After performing on stage he gets approached by a bunch of white stuffy executives with suggestions for his next raunchy hit while he is just trying to mingle.
All Things Scottish then made its debut to the show where Mike Myers played the Scottish store owner with who sells only Scottish made items living by the motto, "If it's not Scottish, IT'S CRAP." In this week's installment, he has to cope with Kyle MacLachlan who plays his son who has been Americanized.
Sinead O'Connor then returned to the stage to perform The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance.
We then got a sketch where Frank Sinatra And George Michael where hanging out in a lounge where Sinatra had advice for George about how to deal with his new fame, apparently making fun of an open letter that Frank Sinatra submitted to the Times.
Lonesome Cowboys II was a parody follow up song to the original Lonesome Cowboys where Kyle MacLachlan, Dana Carvey, and Phil Hartman sing a song that doesn't pull any punches as they sing about the reality of the mass production of beef products and the way cows are slaughtered en masse. The big reveal/final joke is that Kyle is actually playing K.D. Lang which is extra funny because he does actually kind of look like her without much effort at all.
Finally, Kyle MacLachlan closed the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

I have high hopes for this season partially due to these three moments from this solid opening night. First, I loved the introduction of All Things Scottish because this is one of my favorite reoccurring characters from this time. Next, I really liked this week's installment of Sprockets because it is the second installment of this sketch that comes to my mind when I think of the Dieter character, who is another favorite character of mine. Finally, I was a fan of the Luther Campbell sketch because not only was I a huge fan of 2 Live Crew when this episode originally air but I also loved how this was Chris Rock's introduction to the show.