'Wasn't That Special' Season Eighteen Bonus Materials
As the Wasn’t That Special co-hosts watch each season of Saturday Night Live, they compare notes on each episode, chatting back and forth about both popular and long-forgotten sketches. Some of the topics they discuss make it to the final podcast; others are left on the cutting-room floor.
But for those of you who join at the Executive Producer level, you will have access to Christian and Scot’s behind-the-scenes notes, as well as bonus materials the co-hosts used to prepare for the episode.
Below is the Season Eighteen bonus notes section, with the clips coming next week.
So please help keep the podcast advertisement-free and upgrade to the Executive Producer level, which will keep these emails coming in the future.
Episode One: Nicolas Cage
Christian: Breaking the cycle of strong starts.
Scot: This is a bad, bad show. No Spade, no Meadows. Jan looks so happy during Goodnights. Mike Myers removed from opening montage, off until December (getting treatment not afforded to Jon Lovitz)
Woody Allen (Dana) runs into Mia Farrow (Jan) outside a movie theater; Schneider as Soon-Yi
Scot: Honestly never thought the Woody Allen rambling was all that funny and that's pretty much all there is here.
Tiny Elvis - Tiny Elvis (Cage) dislikes buddies calling him “cute”
Christian: I remembered this being better.
Scot: From tiny Andrew Dice Clay to this - weird to have a SFX exercise as the first sketch of the season.
Powerful Perot - Ross Perot uses money to demonstrate power over others' actions
Christian: With Perot riding Chris Farley like a piggie, this is FAR more degrading to Farley than Chippendale's was.
Scot: Does Farley seem substantially bigger this year? - better Perot impression.
Nightline - Koppel (Dan) and undecided voters question Bill Clinton
Christian: Farley is just doing his Chris Farley show bit?
Scot: First Hillary impression (Jan) - I dunno, kind of a weird pacing to the whole thing - like game show contestants, undecided voters are morons.
The Queen Shenequa Show - with Bobby Brown; no blacks in Woody Allen movies
Christian: It's better than Pat Stevens?
Scot: Trying for recurring, but ends up being a one-off for obvious reasons.
Mr. Casual Sex - Mr. Casual Sex (Schneider) responds to Dan Quayle a la Murphy Brown
Christian: Cringe.
Scot: Yikes.
Episode Two: Tim Robbins
Christian: An appalling, Season 6-level show. Robbins was the worst host in a long while. Unforgivable given the talent still on this cast.
Scot: Phil missing from goodnights, didn't want to share stage with Sinead. Rock is so pissed, but that's about lack of use. Robbins was a bust as a host. Played himself as activist everywhere. Really light Phil night. The worst start to a season in forever, both in writing and cast usage.
Lorne dreams that Robbins rants against General Electric & gets SNL cancelled
Christian: Eh, wasn't worth the effort.
Scot: No mention that Bob Roberts previously aired on SNL? - What a coincidence this is the open that night Sinead does her thing.
Caracci’s Pizza guarantees that any unsanitary pie is half-price
Christian: It's just the "no sex with dead bodies" funeral home commercial, but with pizza.
Founding Fathers - Time travel for Franklin, Jefferson, Washington
Christian: It's a bad sketch, but dead-on.
Scot: OMG, it's the most prescient sketch ever in the history of the show.
Cooking with Dennis Miller - Spade helps prepare a dish
Christian: The Miller impersonation only really works when Miller is right there reacting?
Scot: It's too accurate for its own good. Dana is too close, the jokes are too real, the struggle was really happening.
Book Burning - Bob Roberts & young conservatives sing songs & burn books in a campfire
Christian: Charles Rocket-era bad. I think that is Christine Zander?
Scot: If you find the "joke" here, let me know.
Tori Spelling (Hutsell) previews new 90210 season & trashes Shannen Doherty
Christian: Her mugging is insufferable. Being funny is one thing, actively begging for laughs makes you look pathetic.
Scot: Melanie studied at the Chevy Chase School of Cue Card Reading - Does not approach comedy at any time.
Sinead O'Connor - "War" - tears up photo of the Pope
Christian: The most lecture-y SNL in the show's history?
Scot: Excitement! - It's a captivating vocal performance. Clearly the APPLAUSE sign did not go on, but could the studio audience see what she had ripped up?
Sweet Jimmy, the World's Nicest Pimp - Jimmy (Robbins) genuinely cares about his whores
Christian: Victoria's absence has left a glaring hole.
Scot: Melanie is playing her character as Tori Spelling again, apparently.
Episode Three: Joe Pesci
Scot: Better all around. Pesci was wonderful. A great fit.
George Bush , Bill Clinton, Ross Perot debate each other
Christian: Spade always complains about this one - he starts the sketch dressed as Perot, but they cut to video of Dana to do the actual impression.
Scot: Clinton explaining away the Russia trip is classic Phil/Clinton behavior - "You got to jiggle it."
Pesci criticizes Sinead O’Connor’s actions & shows repaired Pope picture
Scot: Spade had the missing piece, as you might know.
Pinky Ringery - Pesci shops for pinky ring and silently mimes conversations
Christian: A lot of dead space in this one before it gets to the (really good) jokes. The ending pushed it up a notch.
Single White Person - Pat gets roommate
Christian: Succeeds in spite of Hutsell.
Scot: Parody of Single White Female movie - Melanie has two moves: Jan Brady and Tori Spelling - Man, never seen Pesci play something like that.
Bank Robbers - bank robbers waiting for TV news exposure sit through endless commercials
Christian: Big laughs for the puppy dog commercial, which is clearly Smigel.
Scot: Strangely, they tried to do too much. There are 4-5 different sketches in here that could have worked, but to jam all the ideas together just leaves it as average.
Episode Four: Christopher Walken
Christian: In all-time best episode territory.
Scot: An episode in which everything fit. The news cycle, the writers, the host, the cultural relevance (Sinead), the special guest, the right recurring characters. Dana in just the cold open as phase-out begins - With Myers out, Dana leaving, Farley in rehab, Schneider becomes clear #2 male (well, Nealon, I guess.)
Ross Perot (Dana) ditches Admiral Stockdale (Phil) on the side of the road
Scot: Might be the last Dana/Phil sketch? - Miller would later lightly criticise this for taking shots at a war hero, but, come on. It's a slam dunk.
The Continental - The Continental flirts when a woman comes to reclaim her glove
Christian: Huge laughs from beginning to end.
Scot: I confess I generally like these a little less than the public at large, but this is a really good installment - doesn't even come close to breaking when the mustache starts to fall off.
Ed Glosser, Trivial Psychic (Walken) annoys co-workers with ho-hum visions.
Christian: Phil...almost breaks?
Scot: Really great. Good pacing. Love the comeback from Phil.
Stalk Talk - guests discuss the nature of their obsessive trailing
Christian: Good performances that didn't necessarily translate into a funny sketch.
Scot: Everybody is fantastic here, but especially Jan and Walken. It's a great spot for Sandler.
Walken sings about catching STD on “The Boulevard Of Broken Balls”
Scot: Final sketch submitted by Michael O’Donoghue.