[8,3/10] David Hyde Pierce is such a pro, and this episode, like most SNL eps, is such an interesting time capsule. Case-in-point, the opening sketch is about the early portion of the OJ trial, and while it’s riddled with name drops that were presumably contemporary but also a bit mystifying to me, it’s interesting to watch not long after having seen the various shows in 2016 that touched on that trial.
Pierce is great in the episode. His little “Modern Major General” parody riffing on his role on Frasier and Kelsey Grammar was amusing and fun. He strikes the right notes as the English teacher whose students are submitting known rock and roll songs in lieu of composing their own poems. And he goes full slapstick in the Little Women parody that devolves from mannered, old timey speak to Chris Farley hurling modern day insults as everyone ends up stuck in the icy water.
Plus, I’d forgotten that this was when Norm MacDonald was behind the update desk. His caustic wit is hilarious, and between the dark humor of his one-liners, and asides to the audience about which part of the joke they’re laughing at, he’s just perfect. The correspondent bits are short and sweet, with Tim Meadows doing a one-joke but punchy bit about the African American community responding to the end of the NHL strike, and Jay Mohr doing a warmed over bit about faux sports bloopers.
It’s not all gold though. The soccer hooligan bit with Mike Myers and Mark McKinney isn’t particularly amusing until Pierce shows up as a mild mannered “Tennis Hooligan.” The “Amazin Lazer” commercial parody barely has a joke in it. And the “one of us is a robot traitor” bit has its laughs, but feels pretty standard.
The end of the episode gets pretty weird and also revealing of the times. Gags about legally required African American talk shows feels very of the time (and the “Perspectives” sketch wasn’t fully formed here yet). The bit about Disney owning everything and putting out its own spin pieces posing as news is short but amusing for a one-joke sketch. The cybersex bit feels very “how bout this crazy new internet thing, huh?” but Mark McKinney’s character’s obliviousness makes for some good humor. And the whole bit with David Hyde Pierce and Michael McKean as lawyers who shear sheep and inseminate shetland ponies as nervous habits is an amusingly out there sketch. Hell, even the “foreign guy can’t understand english” bit, which feels a bit like punching down, has a good punchline with the “foreigners and Jersey guys, learning from each other” tag.
Overall, there’s an energy and a lot of good (if sometimes weird) comedy here that made this a fun episode to revisit two decades later.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-09-30T02:09:42Z
[8,3/10] David Hyde Pierce is such a pro, and this episode, like most SNL eps, is such an interesting time capsule. Case-in-point, the opening sketch is about the early portion of the OJ trial, and while it’s riddled with name drops that were presumably contemporary but also a bit mystifying to me, it’s interesting to watch not long after having seen the various shows in 2016 that touched on that trial.
Pierce is great in the episode. His little “Modern Major General” parody riffing on his role on Frasier and Kelsey Grammar was amusing and fun. He strikes the right notes as the English teacher whose students are submitting known rock and roll songs in lieu of composing their own poems. And he goes full slapstick in the Little Women parody that devolves from mannered, old timey speak to Chris Farley hurling modern day insults as everyone ends up stuck in the icy water.
Plus, I’d forgotten that this was when Norm MacDonald was behind the update desk. His caustic wit is hilarious, and between the dark humor of his one-liners, and asides to the audience about which part of the joke they’re laughing at, he’s just perfect. The correspondent bits are short and sweet, with Tim Meadows doing a one-joke but punchy bit about the African American community responding to the end of the NHL strike, and Jay Mohr doing a warmed over bit about faux sports bloopers.
It’s not all gold though. The soccer hooligan bit with Mike Myers and Mark McKinney isn’t particularly amusing until Pierce shows up as a mild mannered “Tennis Hooligan.” The “Amazin Lazer” commercial parody barely has a joke in it. And the “one of us is a robot traitor” bit has its laughs, but feels pretty standard.
The end of the episode gets pretty weird and also revealing of the times. Gags about legally required African American talk shows feels very of the time (and the “Perspectives” sketch wasn’t fully formed here yet). The bit about Disney owning everything and putting out its own spin pieces posing as news is short but amusing for a one-joke sketch. The cybersex bit feels very “how bout this crazy new internet thing, huh?” but Mark McKinney’s character’s obliviousness makes for some good humor. And the whole bit with David Hyde Pierce and Michael McKean as lawyers who shear sheep and inseminate shetland ponies as nervous habits is an amusingly out there sketch. Hell, even the “foreign guy can’t understand english” bit, which feels a bit like punching down, has a good punchline with the “foreigners and Jersey guys, learning from each other” tag.
Overall, there’s an energy and a lot of good (if sometimes weird) comedy here that made this a fun episode to revisit two decades later.