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Classic SNL Recap - Season 17, Episode 10

There were a couple of additions to the cast in the early weeks of season 17. Since we last checked in Beth Cahill and Melanie Hutsell came aboard as featured players. This was Cahill’s only season, but Hutsell stuck around. She had one of those recurring characters whom I had forgotten about until I watched this episode; she played the head of a sorority called Delta Delta Delta. The catchphrase was that she answered the phone by saying “Delta, Delta, Delta, can I help ya, help ya, help ya?” She is best remembered for her Jan Brady impersonation, and she in fact had an Update desk piece this week as Jan.

Speaking of the cast, season 17 brought in a structural change. For the first 15 years, the longest reigns for cast members would be 5 years. Lorne left the show after season 5, and the remaining original cast members departed at the same time. No one was in the cast for the entirety of Lorne’s absence. Upon his return the only member of his first new cast who stuck around for a 6th season was Dennis Miller, but since he rarely appeared in sketches I’m not sure if you can accurately call him a Roger Bannister-esque barrier breaker. When season 17 began Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Victoria Jackson, and Kevin Nealon all entered their 6th seasons in the cast. Such extended runs have since grown to become much more common. (One could also include Al Franken, but with an asterisk. As often as he appeared on camera over the years, it was never as a full cast member, only a featured one. And that wasn’t every week, either.)

As for the episode in question, Rob Morrow hosted. This episode from January 1992 ran in the middle of his time on Northern Exposure. But Morrow was only of secondary interest. Nirvana was the musical guest and this was the week that Nevermind replaced Michael Jackson’s Dangerous at #1 on the charts, as symbolic of a passing of the torch as there ever was. Morrow had a cute moment in the monologue; he played a clip of a sketch from 1980 in which he was an extra. He mentioned that he made such a strong impression as Juror #7 that the show just had to invite him back to host 12 years later.

The cold open combined two recent events into one premise. This episode aired shortly after the infamous moment when a flu stricken George Bush vomited on the Japanese Prime Minister at a state dinner. This was also shortly after the release of Oliver Stone’s JFK. Hartman portrayed Stone, certain there was a conspiracy behind the incident, painstakingly showing the film frame by frame to Nealon’s studio executive. It was a funny touch to see Barbara Bush (Hartman again) crawl across the table Jackie Kennedy style in the middle of the chaos. It was one of the rare instances in which the actor remained in character whilst delivering the “live from New York” line. Stone apparently convinced Nealon’s character that there was more to the vomiting story than what “they” were telling us, and Nealon stared into the camera in amazement as he read the famous line.

Morrow isn’t someone known for comedy, so the show had to find a way to build the premises around him. I liked this one; it’s one of those situations that most of us can relate to. He’s hanging with friends, but has trouble keeping up with the conversation. He is constantly too late to come up with good responses, always at least one topic too late. It unfortunately putters out; it ends with him jumping into a time machine that’s located in the men’s room. The ending feels forced.

There was another good one in which Carvey portrays a man who has just died and is standing at the pearly gates where he is questioned by St. Peter (Morrow) and 2 archangels (Hartman & Nealon.) At first he is asked the standard questions - have you been a good person, etc. But then they ask him what he thought of The Silence Of the Lambs, more specifically if he is bothered by any of the plot holes. His interview with the angels eventually just becomes a discussion of recent movies.

The one sketch that I remembered from this show was one that was not on the Peacock stream, nor is it on YouTube so I have no idea if it holds up. Morrow played a down on his luck guy who purchased Lenin’s corpse from the Russian government with the hope that he could somehow monetize it. If I recall correctly Mike Myers portrayed the corpse.

This was a solid B of an episode. Rob Morrow had a reputation of being a little too similar in real life to his most famous character; like Joel Fleischmann he often gave the impression of thinking he was better than everyone else. No such worry here, he clearly checked his ego at the door and assimilated himself well into the SNL culture. Next week I’ll wrap up season 17 with the season finale, hosted by Woody Harrelson.

Side Categories

Although the Musical Excellence category has increasingly been used as a way for the Hall to induct artists who have been bypassed in the general vote, it was initially derived from the old Sideman category. There remain a significant number of performers who legitimately fall under the previous criteria who are worthy of consideration.

A good place to start is with well known backup bands. In 2012 the Hall corrected an oversight and inducted a number of such bands, one of which was the Famous Flames. I would suggest that the JB’s are an even better choice, or at the very least the Hall should induct drummer Clyde Stubblefield pronto. His drumbeat on Funky Drummer is one of the most heavily sampled musical pieces in history. In my eyes he ranks up there with Estelle Axton as the single most puzzling oversight from the side categories.

Two other famous bands for whom I would advocate are The Wailers and The Revolution. The Wailers are the more deserving of the two; all of Bob Marley’s classic 1970’s albums were credited to Bob Marley & The Wailers, so it seems that they should have entered alongside Marley to begin with. (A reminder that this is the full Wailers band, NOT the vocal trio that also included Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh in the early stage of Bob Marley’s career. I wouldn’t be opposed to inducting those two men as well, but the Wailers band along with the I-Threes backing singers need to get in first.)

The Revolution are a little less obvious, as they only received credit on 3 Prince albums, and even on those it’s not always clear to what extent it is the Revolution performing as opposed to Prince playing all of the instruments himself. But anyone who has seen either Purple Rain or any live concert footage from that era can attest that they can rank with any of the greats as a kick ass live band.

Who could be looked at similar to Neil Giraldo or Steve Stevens, long time collaborators with solo artists? There are acts such as Billy Joel, John Mellencamp, Lou Reed, etc. who had core band members that have been with them forever, but I don’t know if any individual musician stands out. I would strongly consider the entire Elton John band (Davey Johnstone, the late Dee Murray, and Nigel Olsson.) Mick Ronson would be another great candidate. Perhaps David Lindley?

Prolific session musicians are a deep population to take a look at. I have previously advocated for Carol Kaye’s induction, but she is just one of many. They could consider the entire batch of musicians who seemed to play on every Los Angeles based session for two decades - Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel, Lee Sklar, Waddy Wachtel. Ray Cooper is another guy whose name you can find in the liner notes for countless classic recordings. Same deal with Jim Keltner. Or Richard Tee. Or Tony Levin. There are also several musicians who have had notable careers in their own right whose side session work could be what puts them over the top - Ry Cooder, Adrian Belew, Nick Lowe.

Finally, let us not forget The Funk Brothers. They are the musicians who performed on practically every Motown recording in the label’s golden era. James Jamerson and Benny Benjamin have previously been inducted, but this group faces the same challenge as The Wrecking Crew does. There are dozens of musicians who were part of the group at one time or another. If the Hall wishes to induct more members, where do they begin and where do they draw the line?

Updates

We have our champions for the inaugural season in the Unrivaled league. The Rose Basketball Club defeated the Vinyl in the championship game. Rosters were a bit fluid, because on occasion substitute players were added as injury replacements, but the star for the Rose was Chelsea Gray, and Brittney Sykes had a superb game in the title match. League co-founder Napheesa Collier was named MVP, and Angel Reese won Defensive Player Of the Year.

That didn’t take very long. Conan O’Brien was a wonderful Oscar host, and the Academy took the unusual step of already naming him next year’s host. I like the move; hosting that show is a thankless task, but he made it look effortless and he thread that difficult needle quite well. He found the perfect tone, but that’s to be expected. The dude is great, and we sometimes take him for granted.

The DC Comics IP - The Books Of Magic

Years ago there were talks of creating a live action version of The Books Of Magic, talks that never got out of development. Now the chances of such a project moving forward are near zero. One reason is that Neil Gaiman (ugh) wrote the initial 4-issue miniseries, and he is as toxic a figure as it gets. No one wants to do business with him. The second reason will be very obvious once I describe the concept.

Magical and supernatural characters have been a major component in comic books going all the way back to the Golden Age. They particularly thrived in the post-war period in which superheroes largely fell out of the favor. That meant that many of DC’s magic characters were designed to appeal to an audience of young kids and were quite cheesy. When you have characters with names such as Doctor Occult or Sargon the Sorcerer you’re not exactly dealing with mature story lines.

By the time The Books Of Magic was published in 1990, John Constantine had become one of the most popular characters in the DC Universe, and although the official Vertigo line had not yet been introduced there was an increasing number of mature comics that dealt with more adult themes. There was a desire to essentially place decades worth of supernatural characters together and make them more serious as a whole, and this series was the impetus for doing so.

BOM introduced Timothy Hunter, a 12 year old boy who had the potential to become the most powerful wizard of them all. In the series several of the established magic characters took him on a series of quests, bringing him into the past, present, and future, and into assorted mystical realms as well. The purpose was to show him the power and danger of magic, and to give him the option to embrace his destiny.

Let’s see, a series focused on a pre-adolescent boy with tremendous magical potential? And he was a British lad with dark hair and glasses? And evil forces knew of the potential threat he posed to them? All that’s missing is the lightning bolt scar and you’ve got Harry Potter. Now, this series was published years before the first Potter book, but if anyone today would propose an adaptation of this material, the universal reaction would be screams of “rip off!”

In the end, Hunter has been a part of the DC Universe, but didn’t take off enough to become a major player. The series did accomplish what it intended to, as most of DC’s magic based characters now lean towards a Constantine type of vibe. I mostly chose to discuss this series due to the Harry Potter parallels. I’m not trying to imply that J.K. Rowling “stole” the concept, (although she’s such a repulsive personality that my impulse is to say “f you” to her) but it is always fascinating to see how often different creators can come up with similar concepts. Think of how many DC & Marvel characters that were introduced so close to each other share common traits. The drawback to that, as we often see, is that circumstances can sometimes result in the original recipe getting accused of being the copycat.

Closing Laughs

That’s a wrap for today. Just another reminder that the tip jar is open; this newsletter is free, but the option to upgrade to paid is there if you are so inclined. Thanks to all free & paid subscribers, and I will see you again on Friday.