The Morning After

Note: I wrote the majority of today’s newsletter before any election returns came in, so keep that in mind. The sunny optimism seen in this week’s SNL has already aged poorly.

And to follow up on what I wrote in the heading, it seems so trivial and pointless to send out a regular newsletter in light of what happened yesterday, but here goes. I fully understand if anyone just doesn’t have the stomach to read my nonsense today. My hope is that it can at least be a brief respite as we await the horrors to come.

SNL Recap

John Mulaney was an ideal choice to host the final SNL episode before Election Day. He brings such a distinctive energy to the studio that one can’t help but maintain a big smile all the way through. To quote his most famous creation, this week’s show had everything. A terrific monologue. A revisit to one of his top sketches from his time as an SNL writer. Another edition of the recurring bit that everyone expects to see in one of his hosting stints. And oh yeah, a surprise cameo or two. I wouldn’t go so far as to say this week’s show was an all-time classic, but it was an outstanding 90 minutes with no duds.

One of which was not a surprise, being that we all received alerts on our phones that Kamala Harris was going to make an appearance. It was a mild bummer that the surprise was spoiled, but there was no avoiding that. It’s relatively easy to sneak in, say, a sitting US Senator into 30 Rock. You can’t do that with the Vice President and her security detail. As a result, during the cold open we were forced to impatiently sit through another round of Dana Carvey reminding us that Joe Biden is old and JAJ reminding us that the mind of the Former Guy is no longer mint condition. We kept thinking, “I don’t care how much we love Jim Gaffigan, bring us Kamala!”

It was worth the wait; they went with the standard speaking into a mirror sketch format, as Maya Rudolph’s Harris interacted with the real life Kamala Harris. And she did quite well for herself; it’s not as if her busy schedule allows for much rehearsal time.

Mulaney’s monologue was predictably magnificent, touching on topics which including his own premature signs of aging as well as the high mortality rates of children early in the 20th century. In his tight 5 he shows why he is one of the top standup comics in the nation. Not only does he have a very distinctive cadence, but if you listen carefully he takes great care to construct his jokes perfectly. He is a skilled wordsmith and has an excellent feel as to how to best phrase his monologue.

The first post-monologue sketch is my choice for Best Sketch Of the Week, which is a little surprising being that it was a game show sketch - an overused format - as well as a recurring bit. But it was one of the better recurring bits from his time as an SNL writer; What’s That Name? Most game show sketches mine their humor from the same premise - look how stupid the contestants are. This one uses a difffent tactic, it is predicated on how awful the contestants are. In this edition Michael takes the hosting duties from Bill Hader; he gave a game effort but he couldn’t quite match the sadistic glee that Hader used to take. The contestants were Mulaney & Sarah. Oddly enough Mulaney’s contestant was the only one who was answering questions. Sarah’s relative silence in the sketch would eventually pay off with a terrific kicker. The sketch also included a cameo from Sen. Tim Kaine, who showed a nice comedy flair.

Next came the latest Midnight Matinee from Dan Bulla, a video set in NASA mission control as a capsule completes the first Earth orbit. The star of the show was the spacecraft’s pilot, Beppo the monkey. I’m always a sucker for great animal puppetry. Things went wrong in the mission, & I was watching the sketch thinking to myself, are they really going to go there? Don’t you dare kill off Beppo you monsters!

When the next sketch began with an establishing shot of the Port Authority Bus Terminal that meant it was time for Mulaney’s latest musical production number, filled with references both universal and very New York specific. This time Pete Davidson returned along with Andrew as a pair of passengers stocking up on supplies in the terminal’s Duane Reade before hopping on their bus back to Boston. To Mulaney’s horror, Davidson was ready to purchase a container of milk. (I’m with Mulaney on that one. What kind of idiot would purchase milk before a bus ride from New York to Boston? It would go bad at some point in Connecticut.)

These musical numbers are practically required in an episode hosted by John Mulaney, but the sketch is clearly showing diminishing returns. There were some good moments; as someone who HATES how difficult it is to shop in chain pharmacies I appreciated the sighting of Marcello as a shampoo bottle held under lock & key. It’s easier said than done, but it might be time to retire this premise.

The episode was very front loaded this week, so there was only time for 2 post-Update pieces. I did like both of them, particularly the randomness of the Sitcom Pioneers sketch. Bowen interviewed Mulaney, who portrayed the producer of a 90’s family sitcom, which used Little Richard (Kenan) as a guest star in an episode. Richard then continued to stick around for further episodes. You wouldn’t think that Little Richard jokes in 2024 would land, but it worked. The show ended with a campaign ad for a New York assemblyman named Harvey Epstein who is running for City Council, and yes, he is a real guy who just happens to have an unfortunate name which evokes two of the more notorious sexual predators.

Quickly wrapping things up: it’s still early in the season & things will likely change as election season ends and the ringers step aside, but it’s another episode in which newbie Ashley Padilla was almost invisible. On the other hand, in what is sometimes an encouraging sign Jane Wickline made her second Update appearance, this time as a character and not as herself. She has so far seen the most screen time by far of the 3 rookies.

Next week Bill Burr takes over the Dave Chappelle role of hosting the first post-election episode. It’s also a landmark episode for me personally. The musical guest is Mk.gee. I could be wrong but this might be the first time in SNL’s long history that I scratched my head and said “I don’t know who that is.”

An Election That Steve Garvey MIGHT Win

It would be the most Cooperstown thing imaginable if this year’s Eras Committee elects Luis Tiant into the Hall Of Fame weeks after his death. Yet, here we are. He is one of the 8 finalists on the ballot.

As a reminder, the 16 voters (whose names have not been revealed yet) will meet to discuss the ballot on December 8 during the winter meetings, with the secret vote and announcement of the results to take place on that day as well. Each voter can select a maximum of 3 candidates, which makes the math very daunting. Stay tuned for my annual dive into the ballot. Spoiler alert: Dick Allen has got to make it in this time. He barely missed out the last two times his name has come up. Third time the charm?

Le Q

Quincy Jones’s career was so long and broad that he would have been a Certified American Legend even if he had never worked with Michael Jackson. He was a premiere jazz musician, a prolific composer for both television and film, and one of the most successful record producers in history. The list of people with whom he worked over his decades in the business reads like a Who’s Who In American Music, starting with his work with Ray Charles when they were both still teenagers.

He has won so many prestigious awards that one would hope the shelves he used to hold his trophies have been strongly reinforced. He has won a Kennedy Center honor, the Film Academy’s Jean Hersholt Award, and the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame’s Ahmet Ertegun Award. Most notably, he earned a total of 28 Grammy Awards, which is 3rd all-time. Among his many compositions are 2 huge pop culture landmarks: the theme song to Sanford & Son and Soul Bossa Nova, which is best known these days from its usage in the Austin Powers movies.

But of course nothing stands out more than the trio of landmark albums that he produced for Michael Jackson: Off the Wall, Thriller, & Bad. He also produced the historic We Are the World session. Later in life he was one of the most delightfully unfiltered interview subjects; he long ago ran out of f***s to give and he clearly did not care if he pissed anyone off with his honesty.

Quincy Jones died earlier this week at the age of 91. It was a long life and he accomplished quite a lot in that time. He was actually all set to receive yet another honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards later this month.

50 Years Ago - Paradise and Lunch

Ry Cooder has had an outstanding career. One of the seminal figures in American roots music, he has never been a star but has been a crucial figure in the music scene for decades. Whether it’s been in his solo albums or in his prolific recordings as a much in demand studio guitarist he has long been one of the leading lights who laid the groundwork for what eventually became known as Americana.

Paradise and Lunch was his 4th, and most highly acclaimed album. This represents Cooder quite well; it is largely an acoustic blues record which almost sounds like it could have been recorded in the Mississippi Delta sometime in the 1940’s but the record as a whole contains elements of gospel, R&B, and early rock & roll. He also so effectively conveys a swampy sound to his vocals that it’s easy to forget he is a native of Los Angeles.

This record is a collection of covers, which runs the gamut from traditional songs to more contemporary ones. He is assisted by an equally broad range of supporting musicians; everyone from fellow studio pros such as Jim Keltner & Russ Titelman to old school jazz pianist Earl “Fatha” Hines.

Ry Cooder is far from a household name, but I would bet that if you pull out some random discs from your CD collection - assuming you still own CD’s - chances are good that you will see his name in the liner notes on at least a few of them. This is an album which is a very worthwhile listen.

Closing Laughs

OK, deep breathe everyone. Thanks to all for being part of the Tending the Herd community. I wish I had something encouraging to say, but I’m just as stunned as everyone else is. We have woken up today to a much different world, a much more horrifying one. See you all on Friday.