Siskel & Ebert: "You Blew It!"

Siskel & Ebert: "You Blew It!"
Syndicated
May 12, 1990
Movie Review
VHS
B-

While it's interesting to see what Roger and Gene thought the other was wrong about, or they both thought the audience was wrong about it, and why, I had to mark this down because none of the movies sound at all appealing.  Begley and Barr are tagged for She Devil, Murray for Scrooged.

Siskel & Ebert: The Worst of 1989

"Mood slime"

Siskel & Ebert*: The Worst of 1989
Syndicated
Early 1990
Movie Review
VHS
B-

Gene and Roger organize the movies into trends, although these overlap.  The movies that the tagged stars were in:

• Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray for Ghostbusters II
• Tony Danza for She's Out of Control
• Shelley Long for Troop Beverly Hills 
• Richard Pryor for Harlem NIghts
• Burt Reynolds for Physical Evidence

*As near as I can tell "& the Movies" was dropped from the title by this time, maybe earlier, but this was the first I noticed.

Square Pegs: No Substitutions

Square Pegs: No Substitutions
CBS
February 14, 1983
Sitcom
DVD
B

This Andy Borowitz story takes a different approach than I was expecting.  To begin with, we just saw an episode where Rob Donovan (Steven Peterman) was the "unconventional" teacher, but here he has to be the sane one in comparison to substitute teacher Jack McNulty, played by Bill Murray at his most billmurrayness.  He comes in and sweeps Patty, the school, and the episode off their feet, so it's hard for the viewer to get his or her bearings.  One minute McNulty comes across as a charming predator and then the next we're not meant to take anything he says or does seriously.  Lauren, loyal to Rob, is the only one who doesn't fall for McNulty, although she's initially pleased when he pairs her up with Vinnie for the class mock-marriage assignment.  (Johnny seems pleased to be paired with Muffy, who's revolted, while Marshall and Jennifer both seem mildly annoyed by their marriage.  And LaDonna is a widow.)  While McNulty does some questionable things here (including insulting students), Murray is of course a funny scene-stealer.  And, yes, and another SNL connection.

Karen Armstrong again appears as Cindy.

Saturday Night Live: Elliott Gould & Gary Numan [Condensed]

Saturday Night Live: Elliott Gould & Gary Numan [Condensed]
NBC
February 16, 1980
Variety
VHS
B-

This is one of the hour-long (I think they were called Best of Saturday Night Live) editions that were syndicated later in the '80s, in this case '87.  The highlights here are Kramer vs. Godzilla and the Wizard of Oz parody, although the latter does have regrettably racist casting of Morris as a flying monkey.  (Poor Garrett was in tears a few days afterwards, after five years of mistreatment.)  Numan sings "Cars."  The running joke of Father Guido Sarducci waiting to interview Nixon live outside his new apartment building gets tedious, until there's an unexpected pay-off right at the end.

And, yes, the jokes about candidates Carter and Reagan are pretty ironic of course, especially the one about Reagan being senile.  (He had recently turned 69, which is right between the ages of current candidates Clinton and Trump, although at the time he was definitely the oldest American presidential candidate ever.)

The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash

The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash
NBC
March 22, 1978
Comedy, Musical
VHS
B+

This movie is roughly equivalent to the big-screen Spinal Tap movie of six years later, although it's a more band-specific parody.  Much of the Beatles history-- including their looks and sounds-- is captured and lovingly but not gently satirized.  The Yellow Submarine Sandwich segment is up there with the top scenes ever made for television.  However, with the exception of Mick Jagger, I don't think the cameos are on the same level as the Lads from Rutland.

This first aired on the same network as Saturday Night Live (Lorne Michaels and much of his cast were involved) and was the worst-rated show of the week!  It did better on BBC2 a few days later and has since become something of a cult show.  Both Idle's corny McCartney and Innes's "nasty" Lennon are even funnier than they would've been at the time.  (I taped this off Comedy Central around '93.)

Saturday Night Live: Julian Bond & Tom Waits

I'd have been happier watching an hour of this.

Saturday Night Live: Julian Bond & Tom Waits
NBC
April 9, 1977
Variety
VHS
D+

This is the hour-long (counting commercials) version that aired on Nickelodeon in the late '80s, but honestly I've mostly kept it for the Bad Cinema sequence.  The rest ranges from mildly amusing to dull and unfunny, with the Dr. X sequence not working at all.  This is a good example of how the idea of the "golden age" of the early days of SNL seems false to me, although I haven't watched any recent episodes in years (just segments on the Internet), so hypothetically it may be worse now.