Classic SNL Recap - Season 13 Finale
I had mentioned this before, but season 13 ended in February 1988 after only 13 episodes due to a WGA strike which lasted months. This brought to a close a running gag on Update in which Al Franken covered the presidential primaries as the first fully self-contained remote reporter. He followed the campaign whilst wearing a harness consisting of the camera & satellite transponder. The joke was that with each appearance the weight of all of that heavy equipment was causing increasingly excruciating pain. By the later appearances, he was barely reporting on the campaign, he was mostly describing his agony to Dennis Miller.
The strike also had a terribly sad result, as Gilda Radner was scheduled to host the next episode. This was a period in which her cancer was briefly in remission. I don’t like to use many superlatives for a show with a 50 year history, but I’m comfortable in saying that Gilda Radner was the single most beloved performer in SNL history. Especially considering that many of the writers from her stint on the show were back at this time, her episode would have been a love fest. Sadly, she never came back as host. The cancer would soon return, and she would die a year later.
Back to the episode in question, hosted by Judge Reinhold. Nothing against him, but the show generally likes to have a bigger name hosting a season finale, which obviously no one knew at the time that this would be it. He was a solid enough host; he used his distinctive slow cadence and ability to play slightly off center characters to good effect. For those keeping score, the musical guest was 10,000 Maniacs.
I generally avoid naming a recurring sketch as the best one of the week, but this episode’s edition of Church Chat was a good one. At the time two televangelists were very much in the news. One was Pat Robertson, who was running in the GOP primary. Franken’s Robertson impression was spectacular; he perfected the huge smile which masked some of the heinous things he was actually saying. Then, Phil Hartman appeared as a tearful Jimmy Swaggert, having recently publicly confessed to some extracurricular activities. The Church Lady enjoyed talking to Robertson, a man even more self righteous than she was, as well as Swaggert, a man dripping with religious hypocrisy.
Another good one this week, which isn’t on YouTube, was a talk show panel called When Great Minds Meet. The panel consisted of Aristotle, Galileo, Genghis Khan, Joan Of Arc, and Jefferson Davis (?) The intent was to have serious discussions about philosophy and history, but initially the group couldn’t get each other’s names straight. Then, to the increasing exasperation of moderator Jon Lovitz, they were all too puzzled by modern technology and terminology to have an actual debate. They were mystified by the heating duct in the TV studio, and names of modern countries were beyond their understanding. “Excuse me, Eng Land?”
SNL can always be counted on for a good commercial parody, and I liked this one advertising office trapdoors for business executives. Good concept, well executed.
Overall this was a solid B episode, maybe even a B+. Reinhold has always presented himself as a real nice guy, and that was the case with the majority of the sketches in which he appeared. Next week it’s time to jump to Season 14. It was hosted by Tom Hanks, not yet a five-timer at that point. I can remember at least one Hall Of Fame level sketch in that episode.
SNL Casting Update
Moving to the current incarnation of the show, the season premiere will be on September 28. Perhaps some of you may have heard that this will be season #50. The official announcement of this year’s cast came out on Monday. No big names are leaving - if anyone as major as Kenan or Bowen were to depart that news would almost certainly have come out before the end of last season. Trust me, Kenan Thompson would not do an Irish goodbye after all these years.
In recent weeks Punkie Johnson and Molly Kearney had already announced they are not coming back, but there will also be a third departure. In something of a surprise to me, Chloe Troast will not return for a second season. She appeared to have gradually gotten more air time as the season developed, plus she is a talented singer. I thought that was a good sign for her future, but I was wrong. The other 3 featured players - Marcello Hernandez, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker - have completed their 2 year apprenticeships and have all been promoted to full time members of the cast.
Three new featured players have been added: Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim, and Jane Wickline. It’s always tough sledding for a newbie, but it’s gotta be even more so this year. With all of the attention surrounding year 50, it wouldn’t be a shock to see a larger than normal number of surprise cameos. In addition, Maya Rudolph will return to portray Kamala Harris. It stands to reason that in the weeks she’s on she will stick around the studio to wind up appearing in non-Harris sketches as well. The battle for stage time is likely to be vicious. Good luck, youngsters. You’re going to need it.
Reviewing Olympic Sports
Boxing - How the mighty have fallen. Boxing was one of the major marquee sports in the days when ABC was the Olympic network. It didn’t hurt that it was one of those sports which could be easily promoted as a proxy battle in the Cold War. Watch young amateurs compete against the shamateur Cuban and Soviet boxers! Nowadays, amateur/Olympic boxing is barely a blip on the radar. For me personally, Paris was the first time that I literally did not watch a single moment of boxing. It’s become the textbook definition of irrelevant.
Boxing’s long decline slightly parallels its similar drop in mainstream appeal in the professional ranks, especially once MMA surged in popularity. It can’t entirely be blamed on that, however, the wounds in amateur boxing are largely self-inflected. Going back as far as Seoul 1988, if not Los Angeles 1984 (the Evander Holyfield disqualification) the story has been about abysmal judging decisions even more than it has been about the actual action in the ring. The International Boxing Association has made many attempts to fix the scoring issues, none have worked.
It has gotten so bad that the IOC took stewardship of boxing away from the IBA. The organization’s dubious and indefensible banning of two female boxers for vague reasons of gender eligibility (which were demonstrably false, both boxers are undeniably women and were correctly allowed to box in Paris) is only the most recent example of the organization’s ineptitude. As of now, boxing is not part of the program for Los Angeles 2028. The federation is appealing that decision and is trying to get back into the Olympics, but even coming to this point would have seemed unimaginable a couple of generations ago. How the mighty have fallen indeed.
Breaking - Breaking is also currently no longer an Olympic sport. I already spoke of it during the Paris games, so I don’t have much to add to what I have already said. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much I enjoyed the competition, and while I’m not stomping my feet in disgust over its absence from the next Olympics (I’m not even doing a Raygun-esque kangaroo hop in protest) I wouldn’t mind seeing it return in the future. And let me reiterate this - breaking was never part of the Los Angeles program; Raygun did not personally sabotage the sport.
The Voice
For most people, the first thing they think of when James Earl Jones comes up is that magnificent speaking voice. Deep, resonant, brimming with authority, ominous when needed, voicing both Darth Vader and Mufasa would have been sufficient to burnish his legendary status. Plus, how many times have we heard him intone “This… is CNN?” And don’t forget his old commercials for the Yellow Pages. “This is the book that got Bubba cooked.”
He was clearly much more than simply an outstanding narrator, he was one of the greatest actors America has ever produced. He won just about every honor that an actor could earn. His Oscar was a honorary award, so he wasn’t technically an EGOT but he did win the other 3, earning multiple Tonys & Emmys in addition to his one Grammy. His performances in the likes of The Great White Hope and Claudine were indelible, and he lent his gravitas to all sorts of crowd pleasers such as the Coming To America and Jack Ryan franchises. This goes as far back as his very first film role; he was part of Slim Pickens’ bomber crew in Dr. Strangelove.
It was on stage where he made his greatest mark. It’s the unfortunate nature of theatre work that few of his best performances have been preserved for posterity, but he has a long list of credits that run the gamut of original productions such as Fences to revivals of classic works such as the many Shakespeare plays in which he starred.
One of my very favorite scenes in his career came in one of his lesser known projects. He won an Emmy for his starring role in Gabriel’s Fire, an ABC show which only ran for one season. He portrayed a former cop released from prison after serving more than 20 years for a crime for which he was framed. Upon his release he was bitter and angry, and with his height/voice/scowl he cut an imposing figure even though he was already around 60. He dropped his facade when he came across a hot dog vendor and excitedly ordered a dirty water dog, barely able to articulate himself. The pure joy he experienced was infectious. Sometimes pleasure can be found in the most mundane things, and he conveyed that perfectly. It takes a skilled actor to be able to do such an abrupt 180 in one brief scene. James Earl Jones died this week at the age of 93. He left a vast legacy.
#7
I could be wrong, but I’m fairly certain that the first professional athlete - or in this case, retired athlete - whom I ever saw in the wild was Ed Kranepool. One day when I was taking the subway home from high school, there he was in the flesh riding the N train like a regular dude. It’s fitting that it was in this atmosphere that I spotted him, he was about as Noo Yawk as it gets. A quintessential Met, Kranepool died over the weekend at the age of 79.
Born and raised in the Bronx, Kranepool played his entire 18 year career with the New York Mets. He rode that roller coaster, suffering through the misery, contributing to the glory, and sticking around long enough to experience the next wave of misery. Not technically an original Met - he signed with the team right out of high school, made his major league debut late in 1962, and was the only member of that expansion team to remain around long enough to be part of the 1969 Miracles.
He spent most of his time as a platoon first baseman before becoming one of the game’s top pinch hitters. He still remains near the top of the leaderboard for almost every career stat in Mets history. A New Yorker through and through, he stayed in the area after his retirement and was always available for any personal appearance that the club requested. Sure, there were plenty of better players than he was in Mets history, but there have been few who represented the franchise as well as he did.
Five years ago the Mets held a celebration to honor the 50th anniversary of the 1969 World Series champs. Simple math would indicate that that was going to be the last time this team could be so honored, and in fact several members of the team have passed on in the years since. Kranepool is the 4th whom we have lost this year alone. Kranepool was the player who had the privilege of being the last man introduced at the ceremony as well as being the one to address the crowd on behalf of his teammates. Fans always have a special connection to players who were part of a championship team as well as to players who give off a vibe of “that’s our guy.” Both of those descriptions fit Ed Kranepool. A huge part of Mets history has been lost with his passing. He will be missed.
TV Of the 21st Century - Pen15
There are so many ways that this show could have gone terribly wrong, but it worked perfectly. Pen15 was created by and co-starred Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle as 13 year old BFF’s navigating the pain of adolescence at such a crucial age. Note that I said the 2 starred as well. These were 2 actresses in their early 30’s portraying teenagers. It never felt gimmicky, and if you look closely you can see that the scenes were shot so that adult actresses and teen actors never had to share scenes in situations that would otherwise feel uncomfortable.
The reason that the casting wasn’t pure gimmick was that Erskine & Konkle have the necessary acting experience to be able to handle occasionally heavy subject matter. In addition to standard adolescent awkwardness they were both dealing with tough situations at home. (Many of the plots were autobiographical.) Maya was negotiating the struggles of trying to fit in in her high school as a child of mixed heritage. In a fun twist, her father was portrayed by Richard Karn of Home Improvement fame. He was a loving father, but freaky away from home because he was often on tour in his Steely Dan cover band. Anna’s home life had issues as well. Her parents were in the midst of a divorce, which they were trying to hide from her in the early episodes, but she eventually noticed that Dad was often sleeping on the couch.
The show ran for two seasons, which seemed just about right. The two leads ended the show before they ran out of story to tell, but it left with the sense that these two would be there for each other forever. It fell under the umbrella of cringe comedy; here is a great example. In one episode a talent agent told Anna that she should be a model and was interested in signing her. Everyone tried to convince them it was a scam, but they ignored the warnings and snuck away for a photo shoot with Maya pretending to be Anna’s mother. They also brought Anna’s pet hamster with them for emotional support. They quickly realized it was getting creepy and left - they took the photos with them - and on the way home they passed a front yard of a house with a pet Labrador. They played with the dog before deciding it would make for a cute photo to place the hamster on top of the dog’s head. Let’s just say it did not end well for the hamster.
The show was funny, touching, and a wonderful portrait of devout female friendship. Erskine’s star has risen since the show ended; she received much acclaim for the TV adaptation of Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Konkle was just as good; hopefully she’ll be able to find a role that can bring her similar success.
Originally aired on & currently streaming on: Hulu
Closing Laughs
Time to wrap things up as the closing credits kick in. Thanks for checking in again today, don’t forget that reading is fundamental. See you all again on Friday.