Enough Of My Yakkin’?

Classic SNL - Season 2 Midseason Visit

I’ve gone into this project of rewatching old SNL episodes by limited myself to the first & last episodes of each season along with sampling the episode that took place in the season’s midpoint. Sometimes I’m fortunate enough to hit a classic; sometimes I wind up with an episode hosted by Ruth Gordon.

It’s always interesting to try to figure out why a host is chosen. Nowadays an SNL hosting stint is often part of a promotional tour; a host is there to plug a new movie. That wasn’t always as obvious in the early years. In Gordon’s case it makes sense why she was chosen. This episode ran in January 1977, a few years after the release of Harold & Maude, a movie that was very important for many in the show’s creative staff. The problem is that she was about 2 generations older than Lorne & company. I can only begin to imagine the culture shock she must have felt, and the episode really felt like there was no meaningful connection between host & cast.

Too much of the material focused on the obvious - Gordon’s age. There was a sketch premised on elderly hookers and at one point Gordon predictably appeared as Emily Litella’s sister. This week also leaned heavily towards recurring characters. In addition to not 1, but 2 Litella appearances, this one also had Dan Aykroyd’s Tom Snyder impersonation, his E. Buzz Miller character, and an edition of Mr. Mike’s Least Loved Bedtime Stories.

Those weren’t the only instances of repeat bits. One feature in the early years was that the show would solicit home movies from the audience; each week the show would air one. This week’s fan submission was…. The Mr. Bill Show! That one was so popular that Walter Williams was eventually hired as a writer and Mr. Bill films became a regular feature. I always loved Mr. Bill; the pure sadism as Mr. Hands & Sluggo systematically mutilated a Play-Doh figure was as reliable a laugh getter as there was.

This was only the 2nd episode following Chevy Chase’s departure and the show was still figuring out the best way to deal with that loss, as his opening fall each week & his Weekend Update hosting duties were such key features. This week’s cold open focused on an actual knee injury that John Belushi had recently suffered, which had confined him to a wheelchair. Lorne was arguing with Belushi’s doctor. Lorne was insistent that he was unable to go on, but the doctor was just as adamant that Belushi should. The final punchline was that if he didn’t work that week he wouldn’t get paid & therefore would be unable to afford drugs. That immediately awoke Belushi, leading him to make the “live from New York” pronouncement. (Belushi did little this week, sitting in that chair anytime he did appear.)

Jane Curtin had taken over the Update desk. They slightly changed the Update vibe to acknowledge there was a different person in that position. No Francisco Franco jokes, and they dropped the standard beginning which caught Chase in the middle of a phone call with his girlfriend. In Curtin’s case this week she was a seen adjusting her bra before realizing she was on air. She also had a disgusted, “I’m not putting with this s***”air about her. She would not tolerate Emily Litella’s stupidity. The Litella character would eventually be phased out, but Curtin used a similar tactic in later seasons with Roseanne Roseannadanna. I should also note that Chase’s replacement was already added to the cast - the Bill Murray Era had begun. I’ll discuss him a bit further next time. For now I’ll say that he expressed frustration with the thankless roles he was given in his early episodes; what he called playing the second cop. That was absolutely the case this week.

Instead, I want to say a few words about Laraine Newman. Of the original cast, Newman and Garrett Morris both had a bit of a Professor and Mary Ann vibe - they were clearly “and the rest.” Newman I believe is someone who would have thrived in the modern era of the show. SNL has often done well with performers who commit 100% to their characters - think of someone like Molly Shannon or Will Forte. At times they went a bit too over the top, but neither could ever be accused of half-assing things. Same with Newman, but the ultra macho “dames ain’t funny” mentality dominated the show at this time, so she rarely had opportunity to fully showcase her talents. Also, even at this early stage she was dealing with the eating disorder that made her look emaciated. This week she portrayed Howard Hughes in a sketch, and I suppose it fit the character to see her with arms & legs that looked as thin & sturdy as #2 pencils. It was quite disturbing to see someone looking so unhealthy on television.

Finally, the musical guest this week was Chuck Berry. Once again, it’s tough to imagine that selection occurring these days. True, he is an all-time legend, but this was already several years removed from his brief commercial renaissance. It remains a cultural oddity that this man wrote & recorded over a dozen rock & roll classics, yet his only #1 hit came with a novelty song about his dick. The 1970’s, man. Overall, this was one of the weaker episodes from SNL’s first golden era. Things will improve when I look at the season 2 finale. This was the first instance of what became the traditional season’s close - Buck Henry as host. I’ll visit that when the next offweek for the current show occurs in a few weeks.

The Ballot Breakdown - Mariah Carey

This was a nomination that I was frankly surprised to see take as long to come as it did. Once the Hall proactively moved away from limiting inductees to that narrow white guys playing guitars population, you would think that Mariah Carey would have been one of the first names to look at. In addition to being one of the most talented pure singers of her generation, she also ranks among the most successful recording artists in history. Not only has she had 19 different songs hit #1, only 1 shy of The Beatles’ record, but she has tallied the most total weeks at #1 by a large margin. It’s also worth noting that she has written or co-written the vast majority of those hits.

When Carey debuted she was promoted as the next Whitney Houston, and that lazy comparison between the two haunted them for years. To be sure, there were some superficial similarities between the two. Both had otherworldly voices, with great power and range. And yes, both danced very awkwardly in their early videos. Both also seemed to be held back creatively by mentors. In Carey’s case, Tommy Mottola was not only her Svengali, he would soon become her husband. This despite his being around 20 years her senior. Man, the music industry is creepy.

It was in these early years where she developed a reputation that proved difficult to shake. Mottola preferred that she sing a series of power ballads meant to show off her voice. She nailed that, but later years would prove that her heart lay elsewhere. She grew up loving hip-hop, and would much rather record R&B with a hip-hop tinge than the dramatic ballads that Sony Music steered her towards. As a result her earlier records simply required her to sing as loud as possible, with little subtlety.

She gradually moved away from that, and as she finally broke away from Mottola personally & professionally she completely broke out of that cocoon. It’s no coincidence that one of her crucial albums was titled Butterfly. She could finally do what she was most comfortable doing. Rather than pound a song into submission, she was much more suited to riding her vocals over the rhythm; her voice was another instrument onto itself. She was obviously able & willing to reach for those big notes that were beyond the capabilities of most mere mortals, but she saved that for when it was most necessary. She served the song, and that is a valuable skill.

As a bonus, her career arc also told a great survival story. After a solid decade of almost unprecedented success - including the recording of a Christmas album that you may be familiar with - her career began to take a downturn. It happens to everyone, that’s all part of the natural cycle. But it came with three big blows to her career. It’s pretty obvious that after their divorce Mottola, who was a powerful industry figure after all, was doing everything he could to sabotage her, especially after she had left Sony Music. Then, her Glitter movie was an absolute debacle. (She probably could have had a decent acting career under different circumstances. She deglammed herself for Precious, and did quite well. But Glitter destroyed her chances of becoming a leading lady. Also, fun fact. She is not the only supporting actor in Precious to appear on this years ballot.) Finally, she had an embarrassing moment when, suffering from exhaustion, she started to do a strip tease on TRL. It sure looked like she was in the midst of a total mental breakdown.

And then came the emancipation of Mimi. After a couple of years out of the spotlight she returned with a spectacular comeback and finally had the last laugh at all of her critics. Also, by this time All I Want For Christmas Is You had been firmly established as a new holiday standard. Even if she never records again, her legacy is fully assured. Maybe she won’t get that 20th #1 hit, but we will continue to hear her voice in the month of December for the remainder of our lives. She is as inner circle legend as it gets, with a body of work that can match that of anyone.

If elected, will she perform at the ceremony? Probably. She would certainly appear, whether she sings is a different question. It could go either way, but I would lean towards yes.

Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hit - We Belong Together. I would treat All I Want For Christmas Is You, and its annual return to the charts, in its own category.

My Personal Favorite - Breakdown

The Most Horrible Story Of The Week

There has been a noticeable increase of harassment of non-binary youths in recent years. This story out of Oklahoma is particularly tragic. A 16 year old gender fluid high school student was beaten in a bathroom by 3 classmates. They later succumbed to their injuries and died, this coming after school officials failed to quickly summon an ambulance for the assaulted teen. Even beyond the horrifying echoes of the Matthew Shepard murder, this one has the added factor that this school district is one specifically targeted by the woman behind the notorious Libs of Tik Tok account.

The increased welcoming of all types of gender identification by younger people today has always given me a positive “I believe the children are our future” feeling. I think back to when I was a teenager and the gay slur that begins with the letter “f” was not just casually tossed around but was often used as a general one size fits all insult. I myself used that word to my lasting shame. That particular slur is rarely heard anymore among younger people, which is a good thing.

But as we all know too well, every societal advance comes with a backlash. We have seen everything from pushback against pronoun identification to flat out demonization of transgender people. What has happened to the notion of live and let live? Why can’t people be allowed to freely be who they are as long as they are not harming anyone else? As encouraging as it is to see increasing visibility of people who do not stick to standard gender norms, I also see a disturbing Weimer Republic atmosphere in the sense that a welcoming society could turn tragically ugly very quickly.

The Oklahoma tragedy is only one story. It’s up to all of us to prevent something like this from becoming common. It’s as crucial as ever to be allies with the communities that are in peril. I heard a great point the other day. We can’t take comfort by simply dismissing things because they happen in certain states. As long as the Supreme Court has its current majority, we are all essentially living in red states. I’ve lost count as to how many times I have heard the phrase “most important election of our lifetime.” This time it’s absolutely the case. We cannot allow Trump to bring his group of evil freaks back into power. As bad as things are now, they would become much, much worse.

Pitino

It would be inaccurate to say that Rick Pitino threw his St. John’s team under the bus. What he did instead was recreate Ricardo Montalban’s death scene from The Naked Gun. He tossed his players under the bus, ran them over back and forth, and then brought in a steamroller to finish the job. He even added in Robert Goulet’s demise from the sequel, sending an escaped lion after his team.

I get that brutal honesty is part of Pitino’s spiel, but he went too far here. Publicly calling out players by name is not cool. In addition, I like to pay attention to see when and how coaches use “they” instead of “we.” In this case he was saying “they” are inadequate, implying that if only his players would be more attentive to his coaching then results would be much different. St John’s’ struggles are entirely their fault, not his. Moreover, he can’t be held responsible in any way - just look at how poor the university’s facilities are. He called this the most unenjoyable season of his career. Maybe he should look in the mirror.

The contrast with UConn could not be any clearer. Danny Hurley is just as hard driven as Pitino is, but he didn’t complain about the bare cupboard he found when he took the job. Upon taking the St. John’s job Pitino immediately said that he was going to get rid of most of his players. Hurley, by contrast, stuck with what he was given & rebuilt the roster around the existing footprint. It resulted in a national championship last year and he has followed it up this year with a long stint at the top of the rankings.

Pitino has always been able to work his charm and put together strong recruiting classes, but I can’t say that he has covered himself in glory this year. You can bet that rival coaches will negatively recruit against him this cycle. It’s easy to see someone convince a prospect that Pitino would once again point fingers at the first sign of adversity.

Closing Laughs

Friends, we’re almost there. We’re about to have baseball back on our televisions. Granted, it’s only exhibition games. But still, it’s baseball. If only I could somehow replicate the sheer joy I felt as a child the first time I heard the familiar voices of Lindsay Nelson, Bob Murphy, and Ralph Kiner. Play ball! See you all again on Friday.