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The End To Another Solid Season

Alright, it's official, this cast has finally grown on me after completing their first solid season as a team. I knew from the start of last season that it would eventually happen but, I have to admit, I'm surprised that it took this long.

That's not to say that it took to the end of this season, no, they'd already won me over by the end of episode one. I'm just surprised that they didn't already win me over by about halfway through season seven.

I think the most significant improvement started with the caliber of hosts. Where last season I had to refer to the IMDB after almost every episode just to figure out who the hosts were, this season, I not only knew who everyone was, I was at least a fan of one of their pieces of work going into each and every viewing.

Hell, I even knew Ed Koch, not only as the mayor but for his role in The Muppets Take Manhattan, where we find out that every Muppet except for Kermit is a complete jerk.

This is also the first season where I actually approved of all the cast changes. Granted, I liked the cast of season five, but these change came from people quitting the show and not the fire and replace situation that I'm talking about.

I wasn't a fan of Tony Rosato, and I couldn't stand Christine Ebersole who seemed to get special treatment from the show, so I was happy to see them go. I was unsure of their replacements after episode one because even Julia Louis-Dreyfus's first sketch let me down, but then all managed to win me over one by one to where I really liked them all by episode four.

It did take me a while to like Gary Kroeger because they barely used him at first but even he but I didn't hate him while I was figuring him out. Julia Louis-Dreyfus got me by episode two because they just used her more, and I could tell right away that Brad Hall would grow into the news even while I was hating him during week one.

And now that you know my feeling on this season of SNL, it's time to share what I saw during this viewing, so with that, it's time to move on and give you...

The Wicker Breakdown:

This week's show skipped the opening sketch to go straight into Ed Koch's opening monolog where he jokes about why he is hosting the show when he just the mayor. He then went on to explain a new FCC rule that lifted the restrictions for editorializing on the TV which allowed him to speak openly about his feelings about Ronald Reagan and goes on to call the president a wacko then complains about Reagan's special treatment when he comes to New York while he is stuck riding the bus.
We then went down for some man on the street interviews where a bunch of New Yorkers were asked, "What's the most disgusting thing that you've seen in New York?" which gets some pretty funny answers.
Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood finally returned to teach the children what it takes to be an "Ontapanure" aka entrepreneur aka a fencer who sells stolen goods until the police arrive and we learn what a fire escape is as he bails out with his "merchandise."
We then went back to the ledge that Eddie Murphy was going to jump off earlier in the season only this time he demands to talk to the mayor and doesn't seem all that impressed when Koch arrives and goes as far as to blame him for being the reason he wants to jump. The audience chants, "Don't jump" until Koch says he is there to save the day, to which, the crowd starts to yell, "Jump." Koch tries to talk Eddie into living by sharing everything that is great about New York which leads to a representative of the example to show up only to fall off the ledge. "Sinatra" eventually steps in to save the day.
Dexy's Midnight Runners then took to the stage to perform Come On, Eileen.
This was followed by a repeat of the fake Enquire ad that was the commercial break for "The Susskind Show" that discussed the aftermath of Buckwheat being assassinated.
Bald No More is a fake ad for a hair stimulant that promises to take your hair from looking like Ed Koch's shiny head to the crazy crown hairstyle of Don King who actually shows up in the sketch.
Once again, Brad Hall gives us the news. This week, Julie Louis-Dreyfus shows up as her annoying teen character to complain about her date to the prom,
We then got another visit from the Whiners where Robin Duke finds Piscopo's war medals. This sends us on a flashback to his whiney days in Vietnam as a P.O.W. who was forced to play Russian Roulette with Eddie Murphy only to be released because he was so obnoxious.
Once again, Brad Hall gives us the news. This week, Sweetchuck's guru character drops in to talk about the habits of stupid people. Marry Gross got a segment as her agro character where she ranted about the cancellation of her favorite shows, and Piscopo gave us the sports where he cuts Don King's hair to promote an upcoming fight, and I have to admit, I was pretty surprised that the stunt was real.
Harry Anderson then dropped by to do another one of his comedic magic acts where he and his wife race to see who could be the first to escape from their restraints.
This was followed by a parody of Late Night with David Letterman where Piscopo as Letterman starts the show off with a conversation with Paul Schaffer. He then does a stunt where he interviews the real Marv Albert in the men's room. He has another interview with Gumby, complete with a claymation blooper real of his special where they merely added new Eddie Murphy dialog to an old Gumby show.
Dexy's Midnight Runners then took to the stage to perform The Celtic Soul Brothers.
We then went to the Women's Auxiliary Meeting where Sweetchuck interrupts when he shows up as a strippergram performer there to entertain. At first, they try to send him away but then he gives them a sad story about stripping his way through medical school which gets the girls to insist that he dance and dance he does, down to his heart print boxers and those sock garter belts that I wonder if they still make these days? It turns out he's an escape exhibitionist from the mental ward.
Finally, Ed Koch closes the show by thanking the audience and saying his goodnights.

I wouldn't necessarily say that they finished the season on the highest of notes because this didn't feel like a season ender, but it was above par compared to the rest of the season with these as my favorite moments. First, I don't know why, but I really love this continuing ledge sketch because I like how Eddie keeps coming back instead of rotating through different potential jumpers. Next, I really liked seeing Don King on the news not only because it's fun to see this character of himself but mainly because I was impressed that he actually went through with the haircut stunt and didn't use a wig. Finally, I was a fan of seeing Mr. Robinson again because it seems like a while since he's been on.