Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary

Saturday Night Live: 15th Anniversary [fragments]
NBC
September 24, 1989
Variety
VHS
C+

Jumping the gun by over a year (but not as badly as Sisbert with their "500th anniversary"), this is a self-back-patting salute that I was so enthralled by that I taped two of the Timothy Dalton Jane Eyre episodes over part of it.  I've got the first couple minutes and then the last half hour or so.  None of it, even Robin Williams teasing the celeb-filled audience, is particularly funny.  Also, I'm not thrilled that I have to tag, blech, Bruce Willis.  But Paul Simon sings "Still Crazy After All These Years," and that's always good.  This is the 2000th show of mine I've reviewed, and no, we will not hit 3000.

The Richard Pryor Special?

The Richard Pryor Special?
NBC
May 5, 1977
Variety
VHS
C+

I don't know if the question mark represents the meta-ness here, with Pryor planning his special and receiving unwanted advice from everyone, or if they're telling us they're not sure if this is really that special.  In any case, this uneven program, which was successul enough to lead to Pryor's troubled weekly show later that year, is now mainly of interest for its guest stars, including:

• Maya Angelou delivering a serious monologue as the wife of an alcoholic;
• John Belushi as a slave-driver and a bartender;
• 21-year-old Sandra Bernhard, instantly recognizable in her tiny role as the one white woman among the black militant writing staff;
• Mike "the better Lionel Jefferson" Evans as one of the writers;
• Shirley Hemphill moonlighting from ABC as Pushy Fan from Tour Group;
• 10-year-old Kristoff St. John, later of the interracial soap opera Generations, as one of the kids doing the musical number celebrating multiracial contributions;
• LaWanda "Aunt Esther" Page as Sister Mabel Williams; 
• and the Pips, minus Gladys Knight, which luckily means exactly what you think it means.

Also, Brady Bunch fans will recognize the Security Guard John Wheeler, who played three roles on Bunch.

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.