That Week In SNL

(Originally posted on May 15, 2023) We're doing something we haven't done in a looooong time: doing an Off Week episode about the current season of SNL. Timmy has more or less missed the bulk of the season and so, as selected by you, our lovely Patrons, we're digging into the Quinta Brunson episode to see if we can win him over. Will we find some boom stamp classics? Will we find some bombs? I mean...yeah. It's SNL. We probably will. The real question is; how the hell do you rate Lil Yachty? 

It's the end of our eighth season of the podcast and so we're celebrating by going all the back to the season finale of the very first season (well, if you don't count those summer episodes as being part of the season). Anyway, our ol' pal Jon Schneider is back with us again to discuss Elliott Gould's second hosting gig and what be the first of many for musical guest Leon Redbone. This episode is mostly known for Micheal O'Donoghue's lengthy Star Trek sketch and generally not much else and truth to be told, I had vague memories of it just kinda being a gassed out finale with a mini-epic tossed in the middle. But no! Turns out there's more here than meets the eye, including the first of the show's two moments of female nudity, Collins & Everson performing a song that would never be officially released, and a strange 1930s-ish theming to the whole thing. So join us as we close out our season the only way we know how: by talking WAY too long about vintage comedy. Who loves ya, baby? 

Sometimes you get towards the end of a season, you're getting tired and you just say "screw it" and hit the big red button labeled John Goodman. It's the eighth time hosting for the beloved character actor and this go-around gives us a chance to finally cover a perennial SNL favorite that has somehow alluded this podcast: Celebrity Jeopardy. Elsewhere, it's a pretty typical slice of this era: some real diffie takes on current events, recurring sketches aplenty (featuring the debut of Collette Reardon), a Mike Myers cameo and so on and so forth. Grab a glass of your favorite vintage of Will Ferrell vomit and enjoy.

Pass the podcast 'pon the left hand side, ammirite? Ha ha ha. We have fun. And speaking of fun, here's a wild one from the Ebersol years. Joan Rivers! Y'all know her. Comedienne extraordinaire, red carpet correspondent and world class Liz Taylor hater. She's here to host one of the loudest episodes of the show's history, complete with one of the show's most strangely under-seen moments of joyfully coming off the rails. And then there's poor Musical Youth, exhaustedly performing their early 80s hits late in the night's proceedings. It's a bit of a mess and Update...ooh boy, Update. Are the bits of shocking racism and Joan River's bursting-at-the-seams energy enough to sink Timmy's ship or will the gleeful madness save him in the nick of time? Tune in to find out.

It's another historical outing for the show, with the first political figure to ever host the show: Ron Nessen, Press Secretary for Gerald Ford! What better way for Ford to gain some momentum in the upcoming election against Jimmy Carter then make it seem like he's in on all the fun going on down at SNL? Just have Ron host the show, Ford can make a few pre-taped appearances, everything will be fine! Except it wasn't. Arriving late in the week, Ron didn't quite realize that the show had quietly written it's raunchiest outing to date, but with no time to do anything about it, well...the show must go on. In the end, Ron and Ford were made to look quite the fools indeed. But what about the show? Well, it lands an early classic (Super Bass-O-Matic), exposes America to some early punk with Patti Smith and keeps it's counter-culture image intact by making a fool of the president. Not bad for a show that was still trying to figure out just what the hell it was.

I've been meaning to get around to this one forever and so, by god by Gumby, we finally did it. William Ham returns to fold to discuss an episode that I firmly believe might be the most underrated of the entire OG era. Few outings of the show crackle with as much southern chaos as this one and that's not entirely surprising considering, ya know, Gary, a host the show gives way to so completely that he's actually doing a double duty stint here (with Rick Danko & Paul Butterfield in tow). And then you got Eubie Blake and Gregory Hines as well? Man, this one is a fun one. So pull up a chair, fellow slop jockeys, and join us as we try to figure out just what the Hot Bone is. 

The night before the very first Wrestlemania, Mr. T and Hulk Hogan drop by to host the show together...except they mostly don't. It was supposed to be Steve Landesberg but he had to drop out for reasons. I guess? He's still a special guest though, as well as Liberace, Bob Orton Jr. and Rowdy Roddy Piper. I know I say this a lot, but this is an ODD one. It's basically a host-less episode, one of the rare episodes with no Update and the best moments of the show coming from places you would least expect them. And you get The Commodores post Lionel Richie, which is sadly, not great. 

Here's a bit of an oddity selected for us by one of our Patrons. Mostly known these days for having a surprise appearance of Barbra Streisand in Coffee Talk (which already has a sketch-long cameo performance from Madonna), there's also the fascinating and far less talked about case of the Red Hot Chili Peppers basically imploding live on stage, with John Frusciante going completely rogue from the band. And you've also got Roseanne, who's, uh...a lot less fun personality these days than here in 1992. Tom Arnold is there too, i suppose. The whole thing is just a strange gumbo. There's a lot of narratively focused sketches that work out both for the better and for the worse, the tricky balance of having two hosts, and just a strange vibe overall. 

By special request, we're heading back to S38 to cover Christoph's only hosting gig to date. Why this one in particular? I dunno. Mattalamode really wanted us to do it so...here we are! And it's certainly an episode, that much is true. Join us as we discuss a surprisingly stellar cold open, a memorable pre-tape, whether or not Christoph is a decent host and oh! The Alabama Shakes! They're a really good band. And speaking of music, we also get to hear some of the modern SNL band playing during commercial break so that's fun. Timmy might not agree but I certainly think so. 

This week, we've got what is quietly one of the most important episodes of SNL ever. Not only do we get Ralph Nader, who would go on to cameo on the show up until 2000, but it's also the debut of one Mr. Bill Murray on the cast side of things, Jim Downey on the writing side of things and the very first appearance of both the Coneheads AND Rhoda Weiss. Even Andy Kaufman gets in one of his most celebrated bits. It's a big one. Join us as we dig in.

It's the first episode of 2025 and we're kicking it off in style with two of America's most beloved performers still to this day: DAG and Snoop Dogg. It's the first time going back to S22 in quite some time for us and we've landed on a pretty fascinating one. Can the show correctly navigate yet another Jesse Jackson sketch? What does Snoop Dogg have in store for his first album in three years, sans Dr. Dre? Where the hell did that ten-to-one come from? These are only some of the questions we attempt to hash out in this Hugh Fink dominated episode. 

Our old pal Jon Schneider is back once again to discuss one of the most integral episodes of the first season: it's Christmas episode. Not only is it the first time a host would return to the show but it manages to include a number of iconic moments while somehow also managing to seem incredibly loose and nearly incomplete at times. But that's just the magic of S1 SNL. Lots of weirdness abounds: live Polaroid commercials, Mel's Char Palace...done three times with almost no change, the fastest the show would ever get to a musical guest that wasn't pulling double duty, and, most importantly, Maggie Kuhn.

Hey, look. It's that guy. The guy from Party of Five and Lost. Good ol' what's his face. He's hosting SNL! Join us as we explore a surprisingly grim outing of the show (Car Bombs! The Michael Richards Incident!) and take in some super fun Tenacious D performances just as it's become infinitely less fun to think about Tenacious D!

It's the first of Buck's two hosting gigs in S5 (his 9th overall) and he's here to get this season back on track after a shaky start. We've got some real interesting ones in here, including Yvonne Hudson's first big sketch (Bad Clams), a rather notorious epic (The Mystery of Toad Island) and one of the naughtier outings of the Nerds we've seen yet. Oh, and Tom Petty is here to play some pretty undeniable classics. Dig it!

From the iconic to the absolute depths of comedic hell, the Betty Thomas episode has it all. We've got an episode long runner, one of Eddie Murphy's most famous and iconic sketches, a whole lot of Jim Belushi trying to establish himself on the show and one of the most problematic sketches we've seen in quite some time. Oh, and one of us watched the live version and the other watched the rerun and thus, chaos ensues. 

Ah, yes. Another infamous outing from a rather infamous season. We return to S30 to explore what is probably it's most notable episode and sadly, it's notoriety has nothing to do with the comedy or the host or anything like that. It's all about Ashlee Simpson and her second (botched) musical performance. But there's still an episode that happens on either side of that. Kinda. Mostly, it's Oops! All Cold Opens! Uh oh!  

Eddie Ham and Mattalamode join us for another odd little outing of the show. A still mostly unknown Fred Willard hosts one of the mellower episodes of the original era, with Devo, still at their most abrasive, making their national television debut. It's slice of life heavy, including the debut of Don Novello's Mall sketches, while also being incredibly broad, with the official debut of Bill Murray's Honker character and a big, physical sketch for John Belushi. Does it work? Tune in to find out!    

WE'RE BACK AT IT ONCE AGAIN, kicking off the premiere of the eighth season of the podcast with the episode that began one of SNL's more successful and celebrated transitional years. We've got some late period bangers from Bill Hader, some late period slop from Fred Armisen, attempts at capitalizing on the summertime explosions of Gangnam Style and Honey Boo Boo and, at the center of it all, the rather divisive figure that is Seth MacFarlane.

While the Fonz was out jumping sharks on ABC, Richard Pryor was giving one hell of a bizarre history lesson on NBC. Ancient Japan, Mississippi in the 20s, finding the Book of Life in Egypt. It's all in a days work for a man who keeps another man's head in a bird cage.

Our long preamble journey is finally over; it's time to finally dig into The Richard Pryor Show proper and my lord, does this show come out swinging. We discuss the events the transpired over the summer between Richard's TV special in May and the debut of the show, attempt (and fail) to uncover the mystery of Al Alen Peterson, and generally marvel at how this damn thing even ended up on air. 

As a companion piece to both last month's Richard Pryor special and last week's S5 coverage, we're digging into Chevy's first special for NBC. Basically the first thing of note that he did after leaving SNL, this one contains some interesting correlations to his earlier Groove Tube/Radio Hour days but the question remains: is it funny?  

It's the last stop before we get to the Richard Pryor Show: Richard's NBC special that precedes the show by just a few months! It's a cameo-filled journey through the back stages of NBC and beyond, including an earth shattering performance by Maya Angelou and the first televised appearance of Sandra Bernhard! 

It's that time of year again! Time to check back into MADtv with season four's Christmas special from 1998! There's been a few scattered changes from last year (some of better, some for the worst) but we're definitely in the era of peak popularity for the show and you know the show is gonna ring all the bells it's got to ring. Spishak, Ms. Swan, Stuart, Rusty, the Vancome Lady; they're all here! And by gum, we discuss them all.  

We begin our Richard Pryor Show journey here, in 1974, with a Flip Wilson special. Produced by Lorne Michaels a full year before SNL started and only a few months after Flip's show had ended, it acts as a sort of passing of the torch moment from the old guard to the new guard. Too bad it never really comes together in any cohesive way...and too bad William is dead.

We're again returning the Cannon Group well for this year's October Off Week and coming up with Tobe Hopper's Invaders From Mars remake from 1986, featuring Laraine Newman! It's got Hooper in the directors chair, Dan O'Bannon on script and Stan Winston on effects. Can such pedigree produce a fun, sci-fi romp? Tune in to find out! 

(Original Patreon air date: Sept 9, 2022) It's the 30th anniversary of the first Wayne's World movie and so, here we are...trying our best to break it down but instead finding a surprisingly convoluted script for such a simple premise. Does the most successful SNL movie of all time still hold up all these years later? The answer...is somewhere in the middle. 

Here we are! We're closing out the seventh season of That Week with the season finale of S24 and we've once again brought Jon Schneider along for the ride. Join us we cover one of the horniest episodes of sketch comedy ever produced and battle over the musical legitimacy of the Backstreet Boys!

It's another classic Ebersol era Weird One as we wind down one era of the show and build up the next (and beyond) with a record five people showing up in this one before they became cast members. You got Fernando on Update. You've got a mini-epic with the Turkey Lady. Spinal Tap! Soupy Sales! Lets go!

It's time for Fridays once again and this time, we've got William in tow! To get the full scope of this one, we needed two separate versions of the episode but it's all worth it just to see that magical moment when Rich Hall bombs harder than anyone has ever bombed in sketch comedy history. Elsewhere, we really run the gamut with this one: some classics and some outright duds (some possibly never seen since they originally aired). It's Fridays and we wouldn't have it any other way. 

No, this isn't a rerun. This is just the tenth time John Goodman is hosting the show in as many years but thankfully, it just may be his finest outing ever. Join us as we explore this intensely dark outing from the last few months of Adam McKay's reign over the show and maybe, just maybe, learn a little something about family.

It's time for another infamous episode and thus we'll need the combined forces of both Arthur Meyer AND Jon Schneider to help us get through this one. Despite being a huge ratings boost for the show at the time, this one has long been since viewed as one of the  worst episodes of SNL...but is it ALL bad? Join us as we see if there's anything to salvage from this notorious bomb.

For the first time in a long time, we're jumping to the next episode in chronological order from our last one and why not? It's Willie Nelson doing double-duty with some backup from special guest Danny DeVito! Join us as we untangle this mellow, laid back entry into the annals of sketch comedy history. 

It's Valentine's Day over at the ol' SNL factory and that means we gotta break out the big guns. Not only do we get a host way out of his depth with Bronson Pinchot and the middling musical stylings of a one Paul Young but we've also got model Paulina Porizkova in tow and of course, because it's S12, a little smattering of Buster Poindexter as well. It don't add to much at all so thankfully, we've got a live copy from Hawaii to give us a little bit of something to dive into. 

What's this? William Ham and Eddie Ham appearing on the show to discuss an episode hosted by Jon Hamm?! That certainly sounds whimsical indeed! Join us as we struggle to sort the present from the past with an episode that is good but is also kinda bad and misses a few key moments and we rant and rave. It's fun! 

We're back for the first episode of 2024 and finally getting around to one that we've had on the back burner for awhile now. Yes, we did slightly cover this one all the way back at the birth of the show on an early Off Week but now we're digging full bore into one of our favorite modern SNL outings! Get ready for fun, adventure and bracing Tim Cicali monologues!

It's time to go deeper, weirder and more esoteric than we've ever gone before: we're going local. Charlotte, NC to be specific. Join us as we uncover the sweaty, disturbing mysteries of public access perennial, Z-Axis and Wild Wild South, the birthplace of Charlotte's own disgraced local legend, Unknown Hinson. 

As the wise Beach Boys once said, "Christmas comes this time each year" and following those sage words, we've decided this would be the best time to drop our Christmas episode! Jon Schneider is back aboard the ship to discuss Martin Short's cameo packed S38 outing as we hack it up about canonical vs. non-canonical moments, tearing ass, fateful bus trips and much more! 

It's the Smother Brothers! Hosting SNL during the Ebersol era! Now that's some cozy, down-home holiday fun if I do say so myself. William Ham joins us as we break down the history of the mighty Brothers and how it runs up against a cancelled SNL special, live commercials tell the tale of the pre-crash video game market, more Airplane 2 discussion than you'd expect and more!  

We've got a true oddity on our hands this time around: one of the few episodes to hosted by someone completely in character. We're talking dominant hands, audience cameos, fluctuating ages, Swartzwelder, Father Guido Sarducci AGAIN, and more!

We don't visit season 28 of the show much, mostly for good reason, but this one has so much going on that we just had to do it. You've got Brittany arguably at the height of her popularity post-8 Mile, cameos from beloved alum like Adam Sandler and Garrett Morris (also, Rob Schneider shows up), and your usual smattering of SNL sketch offerings, mostly re-occuring. And along the way, Andy learns some things!

What a match made in heaven this should have been. You've got one of rock's greatest satirists hosting America's premiere late night sketch show (a show that he's already been on and crushed it, mind you) for the HALLOWEEN episode and yet, nearly the whole damn thing is just rotten. Frank tries to torpedo already questionable material, no one seems to want to be on stage with anyone else. It's just bad vibes all around. William Ham joins us to slog through one of the show's saddest misfires.

Ah, now here's a real oddity. You've got technical difficulties, feverish non-endings to sketches, a brutal runner about family strife, and a host giving scenes more honest realism than may have even been on the page. It's just our kind of show. Let's dig in (digging in may not be recommended if you're a My Chemical Romance fan)!

Hot damn, we're BACK, baby! It's the premiere of the seventh season of That Week and this time we're hitting up the first episode of the second season of SNL for what turns out to be an important episode in a number of fashions. You get the final Land of Gorch sketch, a greasy Dan Aykroyd, the origins of the Antler Dance, three, count 'em, THREE James Taylor performances and hell, even Taylor Mead too. The gangs all here, man. Let's go!

We rejoin our podcast already in progress as we break down the last half of The Groove Tube, discuss the final part of Ken's Hollywood career and how it intersects with SNL and William lays down an explanation for one of the strangest moments in the show's first season. 

Join us for part one of two scholarly deep dives into the man that was Ken Shapiro and what he meant to the early 70s underground sketch comedy movement. Here we discuss Ken's earliest showbiz days, the Channel One Theater and the first half of the film it was all leading up to: 1974's The Groove Tube. 

When you've got something as strange as two syndicated episodes of SCTV that aired in Pittsburgh, PA that pull together two-thirds of the S5 premiere from NBC, you know you gotta call in the big guns. That's why William Ham is back again to explore this wild night of sketch comedy, which includes some of SCTV's finest work and also some of the most harrowing local commercials we've ever seen. 

Today we're chatting with Jason Klamm, author of the new upcoming book (Sept. 12th to be exact) all about sketch comedy in the 90s, We're Not Worthy! We discuss the hardships of putting the book together, various bombshells dropped during the making of it and more!

We're kicking off our Summer Off Week episodes with what we thought would be a mellow, easy way to get into the swing of things. But then the New Show decided we were idiots for not understanding their bizarre cast lineup and delivered us some of the most insipid sketch material we've seen and it was then that we knew...it doesn't get any easier, kids. (Originally published Jun. 3, 2022)

In celebration of the grand return of the Kids In The Hall to sketch comedy, we're going back to their pilot episode for HBO to see just how the whole empire got off the ground. We discuss our own history with the show and then proceed to dig into one of the best pilot episodes in television history. 

We wrap up our journey through the first season of In Living Color with the fifth episode and the season finale, touching on such classics as Homey D. Clown, Black World, Benita Butrell...and the Buttmans. 

It's time. It's finally time to talk about In Living Color! In this first (of two) part, we discuss our own personal history with the show, how it to came to be and break down the very first episode...and also talk about an aborted journey to see The Batman!