In The Year 2025

Classic SNL Recap - Season 15 Finale

Candice Bergen, who hosted the final episode of season 15, was a crucial figure in SNL history. She was the first host who got it. In Doug Hill & Jeff Weingrad’s backstage history of the show she was quoted as saying that hosting SNL was like being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. You either adapt & become Tania, or you die. Bergen fully assimilated into the atmosphere and she broke the code into what constitutes a successful host. It’s no coincidence that she was the first host who was asked back for a second time.

This episode was her 5th & final hosting gig. No jacket ceremony for her; the sketch which introduced the Five Timers Club had not yet aired. This episode from May 1990 aired during the second season of Murphy Brown, so Bergen’s stardom was arguably at its peak at this moment. This is a tough episode to judge, as it is one that Peacock has heavily edited - it’s only 32 minutes long. What remains is pretty blah, but there’s always the possibility that the good stuff is sitting in a vault somewhere.

The end of a season often means that it’s the final appearance of certain cast members and this turned out to be the farewell for 2 of the holdovers from the first season of Lorne’s return - Nora Dunn & Jon Lovitz. Dunn was a solid utility player; she had a Jane Curtin vibe about her at times. By this time Dana Carvey had clearly surpassed him in the hierarchy, but there was a period when Lovitz was the #1 star in the show. Because I only watch 3 episodes per season for this segment, there is always the risk that I miss out on some of the stronger work from individuals. Because of the old music rights issue I didn’t get to see any Sweeney Sisters sketches. As for Lovitz, I got to see plenty of Tommy Flanagan, but no Master Thespian or Harvey Fierstein.

One of this week’s highlights was another appearance from Toonces. I admire the fact that the show was able to take a one joke premise and make it work. The MVP’s were the puppeteers who gave Toonces such great facial expressions, and they did double duty here. This week we were introduced to Toonces’ arch enemy, another cat who could also drive, but much better than Toonces.

One noteworthy piece was a fairly tale sketch about a constantly displeased queen. It wasn’t very good, but I always enjoy seeing writers who had not yet become famous act as extras in a sketch. This one included very visible appearances from both Conan O’Brien and Rob Schneider. There was another background player who was only shot from the side who looked vaguely like Robert Smigel, but I couldn’t get a good enough look at him to confirm if it was actually him.

The best piece of the week starred Bergen as a corporate president presiding over a staff meeting. She pauses to ask if she can get coffee for anybody. It looked like it was going to be a sketch satirizing the thought that even a powerful woman was still reduced to performing menial tasks, but as it turned out she was such a Type-A personality that she refused to delegate anything. By the end she had attached herself to a harness so that she could wash the office windows and hopped on a bike so that she could make a delivery.

So ends season 15. Next week I’ll look at the season 16 premiere, hosted by Kyle McLachlan. That season came with some cast changes which would eventually lead into the so-called Bad Boy era years later.

The Ballot Countdown

Newcomer #2 Felix Hernandez - I suppose that CC Sabathia is a legitimately stronger HOF candidate than King Felix is, but hear me out. Voters will soon have to come to grips with the reality that changes in starting pitcher usage will necessitate changing the ways in which they evaluate a pitcher’s career. Why not begin with the pitcher whose Cy Young Award demonstrated a similar signal change in awards voting?

Hernandez was clearly the American League’s best pitcher in 2010, but even 5 years earlier than that voters would have NEVER given the honor to a pitcher with a 13-12 record. By 2010 voters knew better; there are so many statistics that better tell the story of a pitcher’s dominance than won-loss record. That season wasn’t a fluke for Hernandez either. He finished in the top 10 6 different times, and if you are a fan of durability, he was your man. He finished with more than 200 innings pitched in 8 consecutive years, and he also topped 190 in the 2 preceding seasons. One could make the argument that he was the American League’s best pitcher in a 7 year stretch, or at least in the top 3.

The problem is that his fall was sudden and rapid. Perhaps that innings total took its toll, because he was essentially done by the time he turned 30. Unlike Sabathia, he wasn’t even able to be a league average innings eater. As a result, his cumulative totals don’t stand out. But in my eyes, particularly when it comes to pitchers and the ever present threat of injury, I’m more concerned with what their peak years look like. For the same reason I don’t hold the sudden drop off against him the way that I do against Andruw Jones.

The counter argument is that it’s unfair to the likes of Johan Santana, whose career arc and credentials are strikingly similar. I get that, and in the unlikely event that Hernandez is eventually elected there are scores of pitchers who can legitimately make the “what about me?” argument. But once the Greinke/Kershaw/Scherzer/Verlander generation makes it in starting pitching candidates will be few and far between. Voters will need to eventually recalibrate what it means to be a HOF starting pitcher. I’m a “yes” on Hernandez.

Holdover #2 Chase Utley - Once again I risk suffering from the wrath of my fellow Mets fans by saying nice things about Chase Utley. While it’s true that he is one of the all-time Met villains, he is also one of the clearest examples of the type of guy whom you would hate if he plays for your rival but would absolutely love if he was on your team.

More than anyone on this year’s ballot his chief appeal comes from the advanced stats crowd. He contributed to winning teams in so many ways, not all of which is accurately measured by traditional statistics. Advanced metrics were growing in favor during his career, but they were far from universally accepted, so he wasn’t fully appreciated as he was playing. For example, unlike 2 of his longtime Phillies teammates, he never won an MVP award. Not that he deserved one, but he was more valuable to the Phillies success than Ryan Howard or Jimmy Rollins were. More strikingly, he never won a Gold Glove. Had fielding metrics been taken into account in the voting the way they are now, it’s likely he would have won a few.

It took time for Philadelphia to appreciate what they had. He did not earn regular playing time until his age 26 season. Combine that with the fact that he drew a lot of walks (and led the league in hit by pitch three years in a row) he failed to reach 2000 career hits. Despite falling short of that milestone, there is a lot to like about his record. In his 5 year peak he averaged 29 homers and 101 RBI, hitting over .300 twice in that span. In that same time frame his average bWAR was 7.9, which is elite, and his average OPS+ was 135. He would be an easier call had that elite level of production lasted one more season or two, but to me he did enough. He’s a “yes.”

The Most Interesting Man In Baseball

It says something about one’s impact that even though he had a fairly nondescript career that he was still the subject of an MLB Network documentary. Such is the case with Lenny Randle, who died this week at the age of 75. Where to begin? How about the time he responded to a pitch thrown behind his back by bunting on the next pitch for the sole reason that it gave him an excuse to run into the pitcher at full speed as he headed towards first? Or the time that he punched his manager Frank Lucchesi in the face after being informed that he would not be the Rangers starting second baseman coming out of spring training?

That incident led to a trade to the Mets, where he was one of the few bright spots on the team. His most noteworthy moment came as he was the man at bat when the New York blackout occurred in 1977. Later on in Seattle he ensured himself a spot on every blooper reel when after Amos Otis hit a slow roller down the third base line Randle got down on all fours and blew the ball into foul territory. Brilliant. There were a lot of players who had better careers than Lenny Randle, but his was one that was memorable.

Randle’s is just one of several well-known people who have died within the last several days whose passings bear mentioning. Starting with Greg Gumbel. One of the biggest compliments you can pay to someone is to say that they make a difficult job seem easy. Gumbel was so smooth as a broadcaster that I am sure countless people have watched him and thought “oh, I could do that.”

Gumbel’s long career included stints at the embryonic stages for both ESPN and WFAN. During his network years at NBC & CBS he handled both play-by-play and studio work, including making history as the first African American to call a Super Bowl on network television. But it was as a studio host where he received the most acclaim. (Side note, when he first gained notice I assumed at the time that it was an Albert brothers type situation. It wasn’t until years later that I realized Greg was the older Gumbel brother. That just shows what a natural talent Bryant is, that he was able to reach the pinnacle of his profession at such a young age.)

I contend that the two most difficult jobs in sportscasting are the studio hosts for the NFL and for March Madness. In both instances your network is broadcasting multiple games at the same time; it takes a special skill to handle the game transitions from that many locales. Never mind that modern day studio show tends to be a bro fest with the analysts all slapping each other on the back and laughing at all of the inside jokes. Someone in Gumbel’s position needs to be the adult in the room and keep the show grounded. It’s almost like herding cats. He held that with aplomb. The first sign that something was wrong was his absence from the 2024 NCAA tournament. CBS’s explanation was that he was dealing with a private family matter. We now know the severity of that. Gumbel was 78, he seemed to be at least a decade younger than that.

Linda Lavin also died this week. I have to admit that my image of her was skewed by her most famous role, as Alice in the sitcom of the same name. I watched that show a lot, even though I never really liked it. I found the character irritating, and therefore I thought the same of the actress. But what do I know, the show ran for 9 years. I have more affection for her pre-Alice TV role, as Wentworth in the early episodes of Barney Miller. Her TV work brought her fame, but her true talent was seen on stage. She had a slew of Broadway credits, in both musicals and plays, and she received a total of 6 Tony nominations with 1 win. She finally won me over late in life; she found consistent work as the go-to actress whenever someone was looking to cast for a cranky older woman. Lavin was 87.

Famed record producer Richard Perry passed away as well. He was one of the industry’s most successful producers for more than a decade. Among the highlights in his discography were such major releases as Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Schmilsson, Ringo Starr’s Ringo, Carly Simon’s No Secrets, and Barbra Streisand’s Stoney End. His longest lasting and most fruitful collaboration was with The Pointer Sisters. Let’s not forget that he also produced Tiny Tim’s debut album. That’s range. Perry was 82.

Non-Peak TV - Lucan

I have semi-fond memories over this show because it came out at precisely the right time. There were all sorts of adventure/science fiction fantasy shows that premiered a few years later than Lucan did, but by that point I found schlock beneath me. If Lucan was on in the early 80’s I would have lumped it in with the likes of Voyagers, or Automan, or Manimal and easily ignored it. But in 1977 Lucan easily appealed to an 11 year old kid like me.

Briefly running for 11 episodes and a made for TV movie spread across 2 seasons, Lucan told the story of a 10 year old boy found being raised in the wild by a pack of wolves. In the pilot he was now a grownup who left the scientific institute in which he was retaught how to be a human and went on a quest to learn more about his past while evading his pursuers. It was a road story akin to something like The Fugitive or The Incredible Hulk. Each week he found himself in a different small town where there was underlying criminal activity, which he helped solve. You see, his time with the wolves helped him develop animal strength and instincts which would serve him well.

Memories can be fuzzy, especially considering that I haven’t watched an episode of this show since its 1978 finale. But my recollection is that it wasn’t all that cheesy, or to be more specific, no cheesier than anything else that was on television at the time. The only moment etched in my mind was the episode in which he met the wolf pack that had originally met him. He said “remember me?” to the mother wolf. OK, maybe it was a little cheesy. It was still better than Automan.

Closing Laughs

It’s a brand new year everyone. As my resolution I will refrain from the standard jokes about still writing 2024 on my checks. Hope you all had a peaceful and pleasant NYE. Rest up & I will see you again on Friday.