Today’s Chitter Chatter

The pictures from the Palisades fire are frightening. Hope all of you in Southern California are safe.

Classic SNL Recap - Season 16 Premiere

With a new year comes cast changes, and season 16 was no different. Long time stalwarts Nora Dunn and Jon Lovitz were out. There were no replacements in the main cast, but there were 2 new featured players, with more to be added later on in the season. (As a sign of how male-dominant SNL was, there were no women added to replace Dunn. But it’s not as if Jan Hooks & Victoria Jackson were asked to do an inordinate amount of heavy lifting. There was little for the women in the cast to do.)

The first of the rookies was Chris Rock. As I mentioned when he hosted a few weeks back, for all of his brilliance as a standup, he was never a particularly good sketch performer. Add that to the fact that the writing staff was overwhelmingly white, and too often Rock was relegated to solo pieces airing post-Update. The other rookie was Chris Farley, and his addition was the first appearance of the group of comics branded as either the Bad Boys or the Frat Boys who increasingly dominated the show in the years to come. In fact, the rest of them were already in the writers room for this first show of the season & all would be added as featured players before the year was done.

As for this episode, it was another one which Peacock has heavily edited; it runs just above 30 minutes & one result of those edits was that the debuts of both Farley & Rock were nowhere to be seen. Kyle McLachlan was the host, and the only 2 sketches that I remember from this episode were among those cut. One of them was the obligatory Twin Peaks sketch. That one provided an opportunity for the cast members to pop in and impersonate the assorted Twin Peaks characters. If memory serves correctly, as a sign of the lack of women in the cast, Hooks had to do a quick costume change mid-sketch so that she could appear as both Nadine Hurley and the Log Lady. The other MIA sketch was Sprockets. I clearly remember McLachlan as the presenter for a segment of Germany’s Most Disturbing Home Videos. He came on clad in head to toe black leather, dark shades, and an asymmetrical haircut, introducing videos sent be “ordinary Germans like you and me.”

Now to the material actually on Peacock. This week featured one of the better versions of a standard monologue template - the audience Q&A. After taking two perfunctory questions, the third came from an audience member portrayed by Jim Downey. “Are we going to find out who killed Laura Palmer?” “Yes, it’s Shelley the waitress. It will be revealed in the final episode.” McLachlan was then called into the control room to field a phone call from David Lynch. We heard incoherent screaming coming from the other end of the line with McLachlan attempting to calmly explain why he spilled the beans. “He asked me. What am I supposed to do, lie?”

I haven’t commented much on the cold opens in these classic episodes, mostly because by chance practically every episode that I watch has the same premise - an Oval Office address from George Bush (Dana Carvey.) This one took place shortly after Iraq invaded Kuwait and as Bush was constructing the international coalition that would drive Iraq out in Operation Desert Storm. This time he addressed Saddam Hussein directly, complete with Arabic subtitles on screen. It had the usual Carvey Bush-isms; fractured syntax and “it’s bad, it’s bad.” When he finished, instead of Bush shouting “Live from New York!” it cut to an Iraqi news panel breaking down the address. “He is a madman, but one we can work with.”

As he begins what would be his final season at the Update desk I suppose I’ll have to eventually get around to talking about Dennis Miller, but not yet. Instead I’ll spotlight this week’s remote piece. During the 1988 primary campaign Al Franken introduced a bit in which he was his own self-contained news crew. The joke was that the harness he wore to operate the camera/transponder etc. was so heavy that it was causing excruciating pain. Here he’s at it again, this time in the Middle East except that in addition to the back pain he was also lost and dangerously dehydrated.

You may remember the All Things Scottish sketch in which Mike Myers played the proprietor of a store specializing in, well, all things Scottish. In this edition McLachlan portrayed his son who is trying to convince his father to diversify the business a bit. I liked the nice touches - the fact that the door chime plays bagpipe music, Myers’ temper explosion when a customer tells him that Scotland and Ireland are the same thing, and the money line “all of Scottish cuisine is based on a dare.”

Two final points on this episode. I don’t usually bother to mention the musical guests because they are not seen on the Peacock stream, but I should point out that this week’s guest was Sinead O’Connor. In case you were wondering it wasn’t THAT O’Connor performance. (Side note - she was initially booked the previous season. It was the Andrew “Dice” Clay episode that both she and Nora Dunn boycotted.) Next, this episode came with a piece featuring even more notable cameos from SNL writers who later became famous. This was the commercial parody for Bad Idea jeans. It included both Bob Odenkirk and David Spade. Spade would soon be added to the cast as a featured player. Odenkirk was never an SNL cast member, but I think he turned out OK in the long run.

Next week I’ll be back with a look at the midseason episode, one I am really looking forward to rewatching. It was hosted by Joe Mantegna, and it contained a batch of absolute bangers.

Hall Of Fame Season Never Ends

ABC aired its edited version of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony last week, which means that it’s already time to begin the debate for the next class. The Nominating Committee generally meets some time this month with the ballot announcement made in the first week of February. So who will we be likely to see on the ballot and argue over this year?

It’s now 2025, which means that we could see the first nominee whose entire career has taken place in the 21st century. I find it unlikely; there is no one on the list of 2000 first time eligibles found on the invaluable Future Rock Legends website that screams Must Induct Immediately. I suppose you can make an argument for Pink, but there are plenty of artists with similar profiles who should go in before she does. And Linkin Park’s reunion tour is generating a lot of attention, but an induction as a FYE feels like a big stretch.

In some instances a nomination can come down to a simple matter of timing. Think back to last year’s Grammy ceremony. The night had 2 emotional highlights. One was Joni Mitchell’s performance. The other was Tracy Chapman’s appearance with Luke Combs. Chapman is a famously private person, so she has been out of the public eye for some time. When the audience saw her the roars were deafening, it was if they collectively realized how much they love her & miss her. That surge of attention could have led to a nomination but for the fact that the committee had already met. If that performance had taken place a couple of weeks earlier she would have been in the forefront of the minds of committee members and at least one would have certainly made a strong argument for her inclusion. Now? It’s a year later and Chapman has retreated back into privacy. Is there any remaining momentum to include her?

I should also note that although the Hall never releases final vote totals, hints are offered sometimes. Last year Hall chairman John Sykes revealed that 8 artists from the ballot were inducted because the totals between the 7th & 8th highest vote getters were so close that it made sense to induct both, BUT there was a huge drop in support from 8th to 9th. That would normally lead me to believe that no one from last year’s ballot will carry over to this year’s; it would make more sense to wait another year before revisiting any of those candidates. However, part of me also thinks that Cher took away a lot of potential Mariah Carey votes and her second chance could come as early as this year. Also, with their own reunion tour, Oasis’s profile is at an all-time high. Not that there is any chance in hell that they would actually attend the ceremony if elected, but I can see the desire among voters to strike while the iron is hot.

I’ll try to sift through the huuuuggggge list of potential candidates and see who I think have the best shots at making onto the final ballot. Look for that next week.

The 2024 Critics Consensus Part 3

Here is the next set of 10 albums on my consolidation of assorted 2024 critics polls. Where did your favorite land? (FYI - Johnny Blue Skies is actually Sturgill Simpson recording under a new name.)

20. Mount Eerie - Night Palace

19. Kim Gordon - The Collective

18. Johnny Blue Skies - Passage du Desir

17. Magdalena Bay - Imaginal Disk

15. (tie) Clairo - Charm

15. Adrianne Lenker - Bright Future

14. Fontaines D.C. - Romance

13. Doechii - Alligator Bites Never Heal

12. Mk.gee - Two Star & The Dream Police

11. The Cure - Songs Of a Lost World

Top 10 to come on Friday.

TV Of the 21st Century - Crashing

Crashing got somewhat lost in the shuffle among more high profile HBO series, but it was a low key charmer. Put it another way. As a standup Pete Holmes has a sweet natured presence, and he hides the occasional darkness of his material behind that veneer. Such was the case with his TV series as well. To be fair, the TV landscape is filled with shows starring standup comics in which the premise is more or less an extension of their standup persona. One can argue that we didn’t need yet another. But Holmes is so inherently likable that he made this one worthwhile.

Incorporating some autobiographical elements Pete Holmes portrays a budding comedian named Pete Holmes. At the show’s outset he discovers his wife cheating on him which gives him the impetus to leave his suburban home and move to New York City to fully commit to his dream. The show’s title comes from the fact that while he was trying to make a name for himself he needed to rely on the kindness of others who would allow him to crash at their place for a night or two. Or several.

Over the course of the show’s three seasons multiple comedians appeared as fictionalized versions of themselves. Sometimes their portrayals were reasonably close to the real thing. Sarah Silverman has a reputation as a benevolent den mother for young comedians, so she was eager and willing to offer a spot on her couch for Pete to crash. John Mulaney, on the other hand, acted as the ultimate egotistical diva.

The most frequent recurring star was Artie Lange, who initially presented himself as a mentor to Pete. In a very brave performance Lange’s portrayal perfectly mirrored his own ongoing struggles with substance abuse. He never tried to soften his demons. It was raw and honest.

I’m not sure if there is a more difficult segment of show business to break into than standup. The humiliation of having to beg for a spot on stage along with having to deal with hecklers as you slowly find your voice is a tough one two punch. In this case a recurring scene in the earlier episodes involved the owner of the local comedy club requiring Pete to hand out flyers on the street in order to earn stage time. That plot point hit. I’m sure most people who have worked in large cities have dealt with this; the many times I had to hear someone aggressively ask me “hey, do you like stand up comedy?” as they try to stuff a flyer in my hand when I’m simply trying to go out and grab some lunch. Who knows how many soon to be famous comedians I walked past while making my I Can’t See You face?

My favorite moment from the series is one that I can’t find on YouTube. In that one he spent the night at the apartment of a woman with whom he had hooked up and would go on to be his on again off again girlfriend. The next morning as she went off to work she told him that he could hang out in her place for the day and he could help himself to food. He took that too literally; he dug through her pantry and proceeded to cook an entire lasagna. After he takes it out of the oven he places the tray on her glass coffee table and parks himself in front of the TV as he eats the lasagna. Which is still in its hot tray. Which he placed on a glass table. Without a trivet or even a towel. Needless to say the heat completely shattered the table. Oops.

Originally aired on: HBO

Currently streaming on: Max

Closing Laughs

Let’s stick a pin in this for today and circle back on Wednesday. Have a great day everyone.