Today’s Mutterings

Leading off, to any readers who live in Milton’s path, my thoughts are with you. Hopefully you have all been able to safely evacuate.

SNL Recap

This was more like it. Nate Bargatze’s return as host was a treat, bringing back memories of his successful debut from a year ago. Time and again the show made good use out of his keen ability to act befuddled and/or hesitant. It had moments both predictable and unexpected. Who really thought that a Sabado Gigante parody in 2024 would prove to be such a delight?

Let’s get the cold open out of the way quickly. The ringers all returned, as Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff sat down with wine and cheese to watch the VP debate, eventually joined by Joe Biden wandering aimlessly in their home. The debate hit all of the jokes that one would expect to hear; the best I can say about it is that it lasted nowhere near as long as last week’s marathon cold open did. Bargatze’s monologue was strong; it largely focused on the ways in which his upbringing had prevented him from understanding basic info about food products. He saw extra virgin olive oil listed on a menu and thought to himself that the regular amount of olive oil would have been enough for him. He never saw an actually raspberry until he was 40, and when he asked “what’s that?” upon seeing a bowl of raspberries, his colleague assumed he meant to ask what a bowl is, because it was beyond his understanding to think that an adult man could not identify a raspberry.

The show got the required sketch out of the way early. If you thought they would not revisit last season’s popular George Washington sketch, then you clearly have never seen SNL before. Once again, General Washington was speaking to his troops during a critical point of the Revolution - this time during the crossing of the Delaware - offering promises of what the new nation would be like. The law of diminishing returns was in clear evidence; there were laughs but not as many as came the first time around. Fear not, this premise will certainly return whenever Bargatze hosts for a third time.

After the obligatory bits were out of the way, it was time for the bulk of the episode, and I loved the dark tone that a lot of this week’s bits had. My choice for Top Sketch Of the Week was the pre-filmed piece in which Bargatze’s golfer constantly had tragic interactions with the wildlife living on the course. Premises based on killing animals can be tricky to pull off, but this one had the proper tone. The water park sketch also succeeded in that regard. In this one an elderly park visitor had suffered a fatal heart attack at the top of the water slide. It was clear within the first 10 seconds that the paramedics were going to remove the body by pushing it down the slide, but the comedy came from the ways in which all parties were tiptoeing around saying the quiet part out loud as a solitary park worker was attempting to be the voice of sanity. Dark, twisted, but funny.

The show can be at its best when a premise is obviously tailored for the host, and that was the case with the Sabado Gigante sketch. Bargatze was an unsuspecting audience member - who spoke no Spanish - roped into the insanity of that show. If anyone has never watched that show; trust me, it perfectly replicates the incoherent madness.

Update was relatively short this week, with only enough time for one correspondent piece. Jane Wickline became the first of this year’s new featured players to get an Update spotlight. This temporarily moves her to the front of the line, but don’t read too much into that yet. In earlier seasons both Brooks Wheelan and Aristotle Athari had similar early Update features, but neither were asked back for year 2.

Once again, the number of returning alumni comes at the cost of the current cast. For the second week in a row Sarah was not seen at all until after Update, and for the second week in a row Andrew portrayed a waiter. That was another good one. A family was out to dinner having the uncomfortable discussion about needing to place their dementia suffering father into a facility. Heidi was the wife of one of the siblings, there to offer emotional support. During the midst of this serious conversation she was participating in one of those food challenges; if she could wolf down a humongous hamburger & milk shake she would win a trip to Hawaii. She committed fully to the premise, burying herself face first into a massive pile of meat. (Not a euphemism)

Finally, if Andy Samberg is already in the house, why not bring back The Lonely Island? Or at least two thirds of them. The familiar “An SNL Digital Short” title card led into Samberg and Akiva Schaffer presenting their idea to a trio of venture capitalists; a franchise of Sushi Glory Holes. The shark tankers were horrified, but that did not stop the budding entrepreneurs from singing and rapping about the concept, and the video featured several castmembers kneeling in front of the holes as they were fed pieces of sashimi.

It was a tight battle for the Employee Of the Week prize. Marcello was outstanding as Don Francisco in the Sabado Gigante sketch; he held it together so perfectly. But Heidi deserves a reward for her physical work in the meat challenge sketch. Congrats.

Overall this was a terrific episode which more than makes up for the shaky season premiere. Nate Bargatze proved that his first hosting stint was no fluke, he will clearly be asked to come back and it’s only a matter of time until he receives his Five Timer jacket. Next week Ariana Grande makes her own second appearance as host. Stevie Nicks will be the musical guest.

Reviewing Olympic Sports

Modern Pentathlon - Despite the name, it’s not very modern. The format of the sport is designed so that it parallels the quest of a Napoleonic soldier caught behind enemy lines - fencing, equestrian, pistol shooting, swimming, and running. In recent years the shooting and running disciplines have been combined, so now it’s 4 events and not 5. It’s not even a pentathlon any more. The sport’s position in the Olympics has been tenuous for as long as I have been following the games. What saves it is that the sport was allegedly invented by the founder of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, although that appears to be as much of a myth as Abner Doubleday’s invention of baseball.

One thing that I like about modern pentathlon is that the final event is straightforward. As opposed to track & field’s decathlon and heptathlon, you don’t need to reference charts at the conclusion. The running/shooting combo is the finale, and the start time for each runner is determined by the point standings at the time. Leader leaves first, the point differential between the first & second place competitors determines when the runner up leaves the starting gate, and so on. Therefore, whomever crosses the finish line first is your gold medalist.

Where it loses me is that compared to the other world class athletes we see during the Olympics, these ones don’t measure up as well. They are generalists rather than specialists. The swimmers, for example, seem so slow. Don’t get me wrong. I’m fully aware that they all swim significantly faster than I ever could. It’s just that this sport does not make me feel as if I am watching the world’s top athletes.

There is going to be a big change to the event in 2028. The cross country equestrian portion will be eliminated; there have been too many stories about mistreatment of horses for the IOC to ignore. In its place will be an American Ninja Warrior type obstacle course. At least that is modern.

Rhythmic Gymnastics - I don’t generally take part in arguments over what is a sport and what is not, but I’ll do so here. In my eyes, rhythmic gymnastics is more of a skill than it is an actual sport. I almost feel like I’m channeling Potter Stewart, but I know a sport when I see it, and this is more of an example of someone perfecting a technique than it is of someone taking part in a competition. I’m not disparaging their skills, or the countless hours of practice that are needed to perfect those skills, but I devote zero time to following rhythmic gymnastics in the Olympics.

El Tiante

Like any young baseball fan I spent many hours trying to emulate the styles of current star players, and in the 1970’s there were so many to choose from. I did the Joe Morgan elbow flap, I impersonated Willie Stargell’s looping warm up swings, I held my bat high up in the air just like Lee May, and I aped Rod Carew’s relaxed way of holding the bat. Not that any of this helped me hit, but that’s an issue for another day.

As far as pitchers go, there was one and only one pitcher that everyone tried to imitate; the wonderful Luis Tiant. That’s not only because he was so fun to watch, but because he had different pitching motions. There was such a variety of options to choose from. How about the long pause in the middle of his delivery which screwed up the hitter’s timing? My personal favorite was the way he would turn his back to the hitter mid-motion, once again hesitating just long enough to throw off the opposing batter. He brought so much joy to the game, which really made me sad to hear that he has passed away at the age of 83.

Tiant was one of the top pitchers in the American League for nearly a decade. He won 20 games 4 times, led the league in ERA twice, and in shutouts thrice. Not only was he an ace starter for the pennant winning 1975 Red Sox, but that World Series produced a nice moment. Tiant was a Cuban native and the son of Luis Sr. who was a star pitcher in his own right in the Negro Leagues. However, the elder Tiant had remained in Cuba and as a result of the travel restrictions had not seen his son in years nor had he seen him pitch in the major leagues. He was able to travel to the US for that World Series and NBC heavily played up that reunion in their telecasts.

Tiant was one of the most beloved players of that era. Fare thee well, Luis. You were a great one.

50 Years Ago - It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll

Rolling Stones albums from the mid-1970’s were in an odd place. The Stones continued to be one of the most important rock bands in the world, and the trio of albums they released in this time period contain their fair share of songs that are regularly heard on your local classic rock station. And yet, the full albums tended to be relatively blah. The filler material on these albums was fairly weak, so as a result none of these albums could be considered seminal.

It’s Only Rock & Roll is a good case in point. The best word I could use to describe it is “competent.” Nothing wrong with that, but you would expect more than that from the Stones. This album was actually the first one that Mick & Keith produced for themselves under the Glimmer Twins moniker. Coincidentally or not, this has a much more antiseptic vibe to it than their earlier albums did. It feels like every note is perfectly in place; there is none of that muddiness which was such a defining characteristic of the Stones at their peak.

That’s not to say that there isn’t anything to recommend. The two big hits from the record, the title track and the cover of Ain’t Too Proud To Beg might not be among the best Stones tracks, but still better than what a lot of other artists were putting out. They remained a band that listened to, and were inspired by, different sounds. Luxury has a nice faux reggae feel to it. And although I criticized the quality of this record’s filler, Time Waits For No One is a real solid deep cut.

This would also turn out to be Mick Taylor’s final record with the band. It even offered a preview for the Ron Wood era. The title track came out of a jam session that Wood participated in; he receives no songwriting credit, but the liner notes read “inspiration by Ronnie Wood.”

The Stones were far from done. Wood would soon be a full-fledged member of the band, and their creative rejuvenation with the Some Girls album was only a few years in the future. Think of It’s Only Rock & Roll as a palate cleaning sorbet in preparation for the main course to come.

Closing Laughs

That is all for today. LFGM and see you all again on Friday.