'Wasn't That Special' Season Eleven Bonus Material

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 Eleven 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: Madonna

Christian: Only 19:37 of this episode is available on Peacock. It's basically been memory-holed.

Scot: Lotta Randy Quaid tonight - Franken & Davis get producer billing - Lots of new writers (Smigel, Swartzwelder) - Downey is head writer - Steve Frerrone, Lenny Pickett, GE Smith, T-Bone Wolk in live band.

Christian: Randy Quaid is so much taller than everyone else at 6'5". I looked it up.

Pinklisting - a gay actor (Terry) pretends to be macho in order to get work

Christian: Brunette Madonna looks like Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Weekend Update - Dennis Miller's Sports Fantasy

Christian: Wait - what is this? I have to pay attention to Weekend Update now?

Scot: Oral/anal sex joke early on is better than just about everything the past 4 seasons. Actual timing and skill. - Jokes about the news. What a concept.

Princess Di at the White House, Sweeney as Nancy, Randy Quaid as Reagan.

Christian: The joke is that Nancy is a mean drunk? Also, Madonna reads a couple of Lovitz’ lines.

Scot: Quaid's Reagan is barely in the same room with the actual person - A jumbled mess of a sketch.

Danitra Vanca as "Cabrini Green Jackson"

Christian: I am allergic to one-man (or woman)  shows.

Episode Two: Chevy Chase

Christian: You can draw a tight circle around these cast members: Chase worked with Quaid and Anthony Michael Hall on Vacation, AMH worked with Robert Downey, Jr. in Weird Science and Joan Cusack in Sixteen Candles.

Scot: I don't think Miller has been in a sketch yet, which is not surprising. Random: A return to the silent host bumpers, which just feels right.

Monologue - Chase talks about 10 years since working at SNL, Lovitz asks if he has any words of advice for the new cast

Scot: Lovitz is 28 here - Man, Chevy is rough.

The Pat Stevens Show - guest is feminist stripper Harriet De Lafayette (Danitra Vance) - won't take clothes off until/unless she want to

Christian: There's something in "feminist stripper," but this mostly flops.

Scot: Some potential here with the job description, but .... no.

Weekend Update - Ferraro joke re: Phllipine candidate, nuclear weapons dumped in New Jersey - Damon Wayans, financial analyst "Mo' money"

Scot: I just want to emphasize this - there are actual jokes about the news, not just picture jokes. And not dumbed down for the audience. - Miller ad libs, "It's kind of like having Antonio Fargas and Milton Friedman in the same chair." CRYSTAL clear from the start that Miller will not treat his audience as braying morons who enjoy picture jokes. - "GM justified the price hike by explaining the '86 models will actually work. Take that Toyota."

Those Unlucky Andersons - Chevy keeps advising butter for his ill-fated family - lost lottery ticket, frozen cat, arrow in arm, arrested under old law

Christian: Just feels so weird to have a 17 year old kid (AMH) on this show’s cast.

Craig Sundberg, Idiot Savant (Hall) judges a violin recital in Moscow

Christian: Actually didn't mind this.

Scot: Seems like just another swing at the pathological liars sketch.

Drums, Drums, Drums

Christian: Chevy thought he was going to make a career as a jazz drummer - he was in a college band with Christopher Guest.

The Blue, The Grey, and the Yellow - cowardly brothers are Civil War enemies

Scot: Going from a Season with a bunch of 35-year-old to a bunch of kids leads to problems like this one - there's a real college-style one-act feel to this.

The Life of Vlad the Impaler

Christian: This had to be an Al Franken. Like “Theodoric of York” Part Three.

Scot: I cannot fathom anything like this during Dick Ebersol's era as producer - Another where the audience can feel smart by putting some pieces together.

Episode Three: Pee Wee Herman

Christian: Phil Hartman and Paul Reubens wrote Pee Wee's Big Adventure together, so I assume Reubens brought him along to SNL for this episode.

Scot: Pretty solid show that runs out of gas at the end - Phil Hartman wrote something (my money is on the dinosaur sketch.)

Say No to the Army PSA

Scot: Bruce McCulloch!! And directed by Jonathan Demme!

Locker Room - (Quaid) is interested in a hooker, but his best friend can't figure it out

Scot: I laughed. So that's something. Just simple and goofy enough to work.

Pee Wee's Thanksgiving Special - Joan Cusack as Brooke Shields, Terry Sweeney in blackface as Diana Ross even with Danitra right there in the cast, Danitra as Cicely Tyson

Scot: Prototype for Pee Wee's Playhouse, in a way - Look for Robin Duke in the crowd - The occasional impression-palooza.

Christian: Robin Duke getting as much airtime when she's not in the cast as when she was. 

The Pat Stevens Show - dealing with runway drool; depression expert (Randy Quaid)

Scot: Quaid was really good in this, pulled some laughs out of me.

Cellmates Tommy Flanagan & Pee-Wee tell stories

Christian: Jon Lovitz and Reubens both came from the Groundlings. Would be shocked if they hadn't worked together. This sketch would seem too on the nose these days with George Santos in the news.

Scot: Flanagan and Stevens back immediately - I guess Pee Wee is not technically playing Pee Wee in this one? - There's a little Willie & Frankie in this back and forth.

Weekend Update - Miller breaks down "Dancing In the Street" - "What's Mick? 73, 74?" - Fr. Guido Sarducci starts his own church with female papal outfits & 10 Suggestions

Christian: One major change to WU - Miller is reading off cue cards and not off papers in front of him. Makes a huge difference - feels like he's talking to you.

Scot: Trump joke: "Trump's Big Thing" world's tallest building plans.

Glen Sturdevant's Dinosaur Town - looking for a mouse in a bottle of Coke to save Randy’s Dinosaur Town

Scot: I guess this is how you write around Pee Wee in character - turn the silliness to 10.

Christian: I enjoyed the stereotypical "guys from Chicago" (who were in the sketch for absolutely no reason.)

Love Letter - Pee Wee writes love letter for his teacher Miss Patterson (Joan). And she loves him.

Christian: I liked this one! Well written and acted. It's basically "Rushmore: The Sketch."

Cabrini Green gives expectant mothers tips on smoking, alcohol, drugs

Christian: Not much here, but not apocalyptically bad.

Money Magnetism Seminar - Quaid

Christian: Apocalyptically bad.

Scot: What is the joke here? Yikes.

Episode Four: John Lithgow

Christian: Two sketches this episode are just "what if we took this saying literally."

Scot: Surprising amounts of Randy Quaid so far, but I guess he's the elder statesman here.

Cold Open - Reagan (Quaid) is warned about Halley’s Comet by Lithgow

Christian: They still don't know what to do with Reagan. Quaid plays him as a moron.

Master Thespian (Lovitz) has an acting duel with mentor Baudelaire (Lithgow)

Christian: Lithgow is actually better at this bit than Lovitz 

Double R Rolls - Double R (RAQ) & son (RDJ) sell the Rajneesh’s Rolls-Royces

Scot: What the heck is going on here and why should I care?

Dad can only offer his daughter (Joan) cliches in her time of need

Christian: Did people kiss their adult daughters on the lips in 1985?

Sam Kinison stand-up

Scot: Luke 24:37 "The disciples were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit." - I'm surprised by how little I enjoyed this.

Christian: Yeah, not outstanding.

Crew enter's Captain's quarters with mutiny demands - no one knows what they are

Christian: Almost sounds like Lithgow is doing a Lorne impersonation.

Scot: Swartzwelder plays a character with the same name - An interesting idea but stops just short of really working.

Episode Five: Tom Hanks

Christian: Hanks was born to do this. Instantly gets it better than the SNL cast members.

Scot: Hanks shows what would make him such a sought-after host.

Cold Open - Entertainment Tonight parody - Nora as Mary Hart, Hanks co-host, Brooke Shields (Joan), George Michael (Downey), others

Christian: AMH playing himself in a sketch is weird. This is interminable.

Scot: AMH missed last week and this week for the film - Hanks vocalizing the ET theme is fun, and then a sad "boop" after the death - long, almost seven minutes.

Stand-up comics Hanks, Lovitz, Wayans talk conversationally in stage patter

Christian: This is essentially a parody of Seinfeld's stand-up before Seinfeld was famous.

Hanks has a fantasy about his wife dying and what life will be like - Carol Liefer wrote

Christian: Long windup, but worth the payoff.

Scot: And there it is; the first above-average sketch of the season. Great sketch, Hanks is perfect. Excellent ending. - They tried with every male host this season, but Hanks is the one who got it to work.

Fishermen Hanks and Quaid trying to catch fish from sea

Christian: Welp, we at least know it was live.

Scot: Quaid's mustache is falling off

Episode Six: Teri Garr

Scot: An absolute clunker of a show. AMH missed like the next two months filming a movie.

Time Machine Trivia - AMH has time machine that affects parents' trivia game

Christian: Five-star premise, but two-star execution. 

Scot: You can see AMH's shadow on the stairs throughout the sketch and it's kind of distracting.

Hildy - the Deavers’ maid (Sweeney in drag again) rewards herself for saving Christmas

Christian: What percentage of sketches is Sweeney in drag? 80%? Why not just hire another female cast member?

Scot: Not utterly devoid of value but awfully close.

A Roy Orbison Christmas - GE forcing NBC to air all unused material from the past

Scot: There was no point to any of this.

The Big Tree movie trailer

Christian: Is it bad if the studio audience is dead silent throughout a sketch?

Scot: Miller in a sketch! - Look at AMH read those cue cards! - This is real bad.

Episode Seven: Harry Dean Stanton

Christian: So much talent in this writing room, and this one is just a dog.

Scot: Among The Replacements, Harry Dean Stanton and Kinison might be the show with the most under-the-influence guest line-up ever. Scores indicate just a subpar show all around, yet still slightly better than the Garr episode. Worried we are entering a fallow period.

Herb (Quaid) explains why he's never had a Whopper

Christian: The audience reacts as if they have just been told they have a week to live.

Harry Dean Stanton (HDS) & SNL Band perform “Baby What You Want Me To Do,” HDS climbs up to be with band

Scot: Harry might have been drinking a bit pre-show.

Gulf Coast Furniture Warehouse - Double R & son have a “stink sale” to move furniture quickly

Christian: I've seen enough. I do not enjoy Randy Quaid as a cast member.

Scot: This one is a little better, I guess - "Who thought brass could hold a smell?" is a good line.

Cleveland Vice - HDS and Quaid investigate bowling ball thefts

Christian:

Scot: Credits parody is decent - Kudos for ID'ing Cleveland artists for music (Tommy James, The McCoys) - There just aren't many actual jokes here.

Death of a Gunfighter - The death of Bat Masterson (Quaid)

Christian: Sweeney's over-acting in the background is distracting. He only has one level, and it is 11.

Scot: Seriously, how did I not know this was the Season of Quaid? - Some chuckles with the wordplay, but not enough.

New father (Lovitz) mad about what wife (Joan) said about him during labor

Christian: Jesus Christ, what TF happened in the middle of this sketch? It just died.

Scot: Started promising and petered out.

That Black Girl - Danitra and Damon plays her fiance

Christian: Not "good" per se, but a decent premise and had a pulse.

Sam Kinison stand-up

Christian: Unlikely to see wife-beating jokes on SNL these days.

Scot: The last bit saved it from worse, but the TELL US stuff was working.

Big Ball of Sports - footage of the 1914 Balkan Dirt Diving Championship

Christian: This is from 1914 but people are wearing bike helmets from the 1980s?

The Replacements - “Kiss Me on the Bus”

Scot: Famous performances that go them banned. Drunk as hell, swapped clothing between performances - These songs are so good they survive the chaos.

Episode Eight: Dudley Moore

Monks break their vow of silence. Lovitz wants to put annual profits on the Patriots in the SB, is outvoted.

Scot: Good call. The Bears, as we all know, covered easily.

Christian: One of many Bears Super Bowls to come. Right? RIGHT?

Limits of the Imagination - Moore is doing stand-up, wants audience to respond, makes deal with Devil (Lovitz)                                                   

Scot: I didn't like this the first time, but the concept definitely is growing on me.

Christian: It's fine.

Pat Stevens Show - Poses that build self-esteem and Jackie Stewart (Moore) as race car driver

Christian: The biggest laughs in this come when Moore stares directly into the camera in disbelief.

Scot: Is this four Pat Stevenses in eight episodes? - Letter says "Vogue is my favorite book." - This is not funny enough for anyone to be breaking.

Name That Tune - Lovitz hosts Moore and Joan - Can't ID easy songs (NY, NY, Take Me Out To the Ballgame, Happy Birthday)

Christian: At some point we have to start tallying up the "dumb game show contestants" sketches.

Scot: Just a one-note joke here that stretches far too long.

Moore meets ex-flame at laundromat - he has named his new daughter after her, same vacation destination, same job

Scot: I think this was cut from dress and brought back for re-runs; it's VERTIGO - replacement-level sketch.

Moore & SNL Band mix Tchaikovsky with “I Got You”

Christian: Feels like something Ben Folds would do.

Scot: Impressive more than anything else.

Episode Nine: Ron Reagan

Christian: Ron Reagan is a former ballet dancer, which was the root of the gay jokes the show made against him in prior years. Ron and Nancy released a statement saying they were "delightfully surprised to see what a good performer he is."

Scot: By this point, you can see how the cast can't quite function - Miller is not in sketches. Vance is best working alone. Dunn seems to focus on Pat Stevens. Downey is too young to play an adult. Sweeney is limited for reasons. Hall is gone. Quaid, Lovitz, Cusack have to carry load.

Ron left in charge of WH with parents away - does some Risky Business moves.

Scot: Pretty big of Ron to do this after all the gay jokes.

Pat Stevens - Little Richard (Wayans) argues that everyone stole his ideas

Christian: Who in the writer's room was like, "Pat Stevens is crushing it, we need one of these every week'?" Just a few months ago a documentary came out criticizing Little Richard for his religious activities even though he's clearly gay.

Back to the Future - Ron goes 30 years into the past to the day Ron Sr. and Nancy met - Ron talks his dad into being a conservative

Christian: It's not very funny, but the premise is brilliant. And it made national news, in newspapers everywhere the next day.

Scot: Feels like Downey helped with this one.

Christian: I assume you don't mean Robert Downey.

The Nelsons “Walk Away”

Christian: I can assure you this was a real band and is not a parody.

Flotilla Williams (Danitra) explains Romeo & Juliet using modern, urban terminology

Scot: Danitra was dyslexic and couldn't read cue cards but no one knew until after she was cast - some of this kind of works, but mostly not.

Episode Ten: Jerry Hall

Christian: Dunn and Cusack seem like polar opposites; Dunn is a polished, professional performer, but not funny - Cusack is funny, but at 23 she struggles with performing.

Scot: WU has a lot to do with it, but there's a renewed feel that this shows live inside our world and not in some insular soundstage. It is of the times. Not welcoming hosts from 25 years ago. Not ignoring things that are happening.

Tommy Flanagan & Jerry Hall in bar, Tommy takes credit for all things Stones, Mick Jagger arrives and uses Tommy as alibi

Christian: MICK IS ON THE SET AND YOU HAVE JERRY HALL HOST? (Also, this was written by A. Whitney Brown based on an idea Jerry Hall had - she wanted to get back at Jagger for lying to her about something.)

Scot: I liked it more and more as it went on - A pretty sharp cold open, all things considered.

Limits of the Imagination - Jerry tries to seduce Terry who resists for obvious reasons

Christian: This is a dud, but Hall is better than I expected.

Scot: Third episode in a row for this - "The wrong man for the wrong job."

Models Against the Wilderness - Joan as Brooke Shields, Sweeney as her mom, plane crashes, rationing supplies - Randy arrives as Bob Guccione

Scot: Downey really is struggling in just about everything.

Pat Stevens

Christian: Please God make it stop. Why are they laughing?

Scot: Three straight shows - I think Pat Stevens is officially the "You Look Marvelous!" of S11.

Master Thespian - Jungle movie, falls in love with co-star who was just "acting!"

Christian: I liked this! An actual worthy recurring character that develops.

Scot: Lovitz tells camel "Be prepared to improvise." - Wayans refused to do this sketch because he would have to be holding a spear.

Sam Kinison stand-up

Christian: This is the Leslie Jones school of comedy. Say nothing funny but YELL IT REALLY LOUD.

Scot: Is it possible Sam Kinsion was terrible at stand-up comedy? If he's not screaming he's not getting a single laugh.

Kaddafi (Lovitz) threatens Nora and Jerry when they get close to his "line of death"

Scot: "It is not a free country. That's the point I'm trying to make!" - this is not great, but I laughed twice which is more than can be said about most of this show.

Episode Eleven: Jay Leno

Scot: Probably ends up being one of the best eps of the season?

Leno dives right into a high-energy monologue

Christian: Leno is so polished, I think it almost hurts his jokes. He's a machine. Like a joke-telling animatronic figure at Disney World.

Aliens (Leno & Downey) bring a book to Earth - acting tough, but from a civilization far behind ours.

Christian: Clever, but could have been better. Also, there is a distinct possibility RDJ was on drugs a lot this season.

The Further Adventures of Biff & Salena - at a diner

Scot: Looks like Leno is getting set to play Marty McFly - Why were people applauding for Lovitz's entry? - I was worried it was going to find humor in these kinda "special" people, but this just came off as kind of sweet and I liked it in the end.

Lovitz, Miller, Wayans as observational stand-ups backstage (brought back from Hanks ep) - Leno joins them as older comic

Christian: I enjoy these a great deal.

Scot: I'm not sure what the shelf like is on these, but they work pretty well.

Episode Twelve: Griffin Dunne

Christian: Is this season as bad as the reviews? No. Is it good? Also no.

Scot: Did Nora miss this episode? No Pat Stevens, at least.

Tommy Flanagan opens the show once again - clears up rumors about SNL’s ratings & reviews.

Scot: First real acknowledgment of troubles this season (though, so far, I would say it's overblown).

Dunne is stressed about hosting, hair falls out, sweating - plays the “Wipeout” drum solo with only one hand on surfboard

Scot: The drumming is so stupid and that's why you should like it.

Christian: You are half right - it is stupid!

Double R & son hold Ferdinand Marcos Malacanang Palace Liquidation Sale - lots of stuff Americans paid for

Christian: Writer's room: "maybe THIS will be the time this works!"

Mr. Monopoly (Lovitz) uses game cards to help his client.

Scot: The infamous sketch in which Wayans plays his cop as gay without telling anyone; fired after show; never heard from again.

Christian: Hope it was worth it. Wayans joins long list of cast members who either left or got the boot that went on to success on other sketch shows. (Odenkirk, Ben Stiller, etc.)

Two Jones' Cable Installers

Christian: A version of this eventually ended up on In Living Color.

Scot: Huh. Wayans was allowed to do this sketch despite what happened earlier.

Weekend Update - I'm a Contra/Dr. Pepper joke - on coddling murderers - Weekend Update dancers - The Name Game with Amelda - A. Whitney Brown - Miller cuts Central America off of map - The Pinochet Countdown contest

Christian: A Whitney Brown is a human New Yorker humor column.

You Can Pick Your Friends, You Can Pick Your Nose, But You Can't Pick Your Friend's Nose

Christian: Good stupid.

Scot: Feels like a Breckman.

Penn & Teller

Christian: This is tedious and uninteresting.

Scot: They’re still using this trick today.

Zombie Dunne visits old girlfriend's mom

Christian: Effectively the Large Marge bit from Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Scot: This is completely dying with the audience.

Episode Thirteen: George Wendt

Christian: Wendt is the uncle of future cast member Jason Sudeikis.

Scot: I've seen enough. Talk of canceling this show, despite some obvious problems, was ridiculous. The Madonna episode, bad as it was, poisoned the well and no one saw what was developing. There's no way this is a bottom-10 season when all is said and done.

Lorne tells cast that NBC has brought in Francis Ford Coppola to direct tonight’s SNL - he's in charge - Lorne says he might leave to do wrestling

Christian: Lorne says he is moving to wrestling - a direct shot at Ebersol.

The Honeymooners: Lost Episodes - Wendt with bad Kramden impression - Ralph actually knocks out Alice

Christian: You can hear someone whisper "Nora" at the beginning?

Scot: Wendt comes in the wrong door to begin the sketch.

Coppola wants to be tech director for next sketch - but (intentional bad cuts prevent us from seeing details in a Mystery Playhouse sketch

Scot: I liked this an awful lot, despite the simplicity.

That Black Girl - Coppola says it's too sweet, tells the staff to mess it up, add grit

Christian: This is either super racist or a chance for Vance to show off her acting chops. Why would Coppola agree to this?

George tries to sell a whale at his fish market

Christian: So good. "Blubber - nature's toothbrush."

Scot: "What the kids don't eat, you can melt down for candles" - very close to perfect, end doesn't quite bring it home.

Jimmy Chance (Robert) & Ashley Ashley (Nora) talk about working with Coppola

Christian: Oddly, Robert Downey's dad was the exact type of director about whom people would sit and have these pretentious conversations.

Vietnam sketch - Scene broken when AMH is "shot" for real - everyone quits.

Christian: This is painful to watch.

Grand finale pays tribute to live television & Studio 8H - Wendy does not take part, at bar with Franken & Davis.

Scot: This is really beautiful stuff - the camera tracking shot across the whole studio with sets from the night.

Christian: Almost seems like a send-off to the show. Or one last attempt to convince people of its historic place.

Episode Fourteen: Oprah Winfrey

Christian: It's really just a four-person cast at this point; Quaid, Lovitz, Dunn, and Cusack (who is fading.) Everyone else is just a bit player. Oprah becomes only the second black woman to host SNL in its first 11 seasons (behind Cicely Tyson.) There have been 13 black hosts in the first 213 episodes (through S11), with Eddie Murphy hosting twice. That's 6% of hosts.

Scot: Way, way, way too much Downey in this episode. Of course, after I offer praise they give me a subpar show like this.

Oprah says she won't play stereotypes - Danitra is Lorne's servant, tells him to beat up Oprah to get her to listen.

Scot: In which Vice does not get the joke. 

The Wart Hog

Christian: I knew I shouldn't have drunk that milk beyond the expiration date.

Scot: Woof.

Craig Sundberg, Idiot Savant (AMH) helps create a high-strength alloy

Christian: On the bright side, I always enjoy set director Leo Yoshimura in sketches.

Scot: Oh, this is pure, concentrated death. - He flew to D.C. and ... took his bike with him?

Episode Fifteen: Tony Danza

Scot: Numerically, this may not end up being at the bottom of the first couple of seasons, but the hosts aren't good, the music is terrible, and half the cast is barely functional, which drags it down.

Lyndon Larouche (Quaid) Theater - Henry Kissinger (Franken) & Danza are lovers, Cusack as QE2

Christian: A few chuckles in this one.

Scot: It's hard to sell comedy after such a convoluted intro (which, yes, is kind of the point - that Larouche is out there)

Danza boxing AMH with a new a 30-second count rule

Christian: AMH is pretty convincing at getting his ass kicked.

Scot: A decent idea, but it just takes so long to unfold.

Nancy Reagan (Terry) works out with trainer who snuck onto White House grounds

Scot: I think we have to put ourselves back in '86. This would have been pretty good at the time.

Laurie Anderson "Day The Devil”

Scot: What in the world is going on here? - she later married Lou Reed, which makes a lot of sense.

The Further Adventures of Biff & Salena - Biff sings “butt dance” song after finding confidence

Christian: There is no chance Downey, Jr. is not coked out of his mind. Lovitz and Cusack are sweet, but it's not enough to save this.

Scot: Downey is such a sketch-killer - call me a sucker, but I like this sweetness between Lovitz and Joan (and the song was pretty decent).

Episode Sixteen: Catherine Oxenberg

Christian: Oxenberg was in two sketches, not counting “Dirk Landers,” where she spoke three words.

Scot: OK, yes, a rough patch here. There's no denying it.

Paul Simon performs “You Can Call Me Al” - he has so much more hair now than in the 1970s

Scot: 99% sure that's just a backing track he's singing over, which is odd for SNL; that bass riff is literally impossible to perform live.

Dirk Landers - former CIA operative (Downey) is killed by stranger (Catherine)

Christian: The two main characters of Boogie Nights were Dirk Diggler and Brock Landers. Coincidence?

Scot: Huge set-up for 15 seconds of sketch and yet STILL torpedoed by Downey.

Penn & Teller - escape during Casey At the Bat

Christian: I am immune to the charms of Penn and Teller. Also, personal note - right about this time, I memorized all of "Casey at the Bat" and recited it to a school poetry competition. It may have been because I saw this!

Mother's Day message - Joan is talking about something but we can’t hear and it doesn't matter anyway

Christian: What am I missing?

Scot: Bad, bad, bad, bad.

Episode Seventeen: Jimmy Breslin

Monologue - Breslin tells stories, kinda interesting, not necessarily funny

Christian: "The test of an idea is if it lasts through the hangover."

Midday with Jennifer Hicks - talking with Bond villains about lessons learned

Christian: Is this the Austin Powers rough draft? I didn't laugh, but thought it was clever.

Scot: In the Breckman mold - Explaining why everything has to be self-contained in a secret lair - Don't use your own money. "I didn't take a bath. Crocker Bank took a bath."

Lone Wolf McCord - Quaid as Dirty Harry character, wants to quit b/c commish yelled at him - he didn't know his nickname was "Lone Wolf"

Scot: Crowd cheers expecting Tommy Flanagan, but it's not! Twist!

Christian: Was this the winner of the "write the worst sketch of the season" contest?

Tornadoville -  residents talk about frequent twisters and damage done

Christian: Six minutes I will never get back.

Scot: Very slow and not building to anything at all - AMH is a drag in most everything.

At school assembly, Cabrini Green sings a song to prevent teen pregnancy

Christian: Are these written by Newt Gingrich?

E.G. Daily “Say It, Say It”

Scot: Dottie in Pee-Wee's Big Adventure - Our second backing track performance in two shows?

Christian: Wow! Dottie tried a career as a Madonna rip-off?

Episode Eighteen: Anjelica Huston

Anjelica comes out, talks Oscar curse - AMH and Yankees Manager Billy Martin backstage getting autograph - Mephistopheles (Lovitz) appears

Christian: Billy Martin - not a Master Thespian.

Scot: AMH keeps clearing his throat for no good reason - "You're going to see  new Billy Martin tonight" FORESHADOWING.

Lorne to camera, explaining a sketch was pulled from last week for  glamorizing drinking - Quaid as liquor council spokesman with response

Christian: It was great until the Quaid bit, which was completely unnecessary.

Scot: The sketch stinks; Quaid’s rebuttal saves it from a watery grave.

Actors on Film - Jimmy Chance & Ashley Ashley extol the virtues of Top Gun

Christian: Cocaine was responsible for both the writing and acting in this bit. The rare double-dip.

Scot: We have a contender for Chi-Chi and Consuela as worst 3X recurring characters.

Nora tries to pick up Joan at a bar - Robert as fiance left with Anjelica, the bartendress

Christian: Ummmm....what?

Scot: There was something here, then ... poof!, nothing at all.

Damon Wayans stand-up

Scot: How is Damon growing more hair as the season goes on?

Christian: Isn't that typically how hair works?

Book Minute - Danitra reads nursery rhymes for inner-city children

Scot: Semi-generous goodbye rating for Danitra - one of her stronger pieces.

Christian: My sketch-ometer is far too fine-tuned to provide extra mercy points.

Patti LaBelle (Sweeney in drag and blackface) and friend are loud at a movie theater

Christian: HOLY SHIT. Might be the most offensive single portrayal on SNL to date. Not surprisingly, it is not on Peacock, memory-holed forever.

Scot: Atrocious - Oh, hey. Here's Terry for the first time tonight as a horrible blackface Patti LaBelle - Might be the worst thing this season.

End-of-year cast party, Billy sets room on fire, Lorne saves just Lovitz and sends writers into the room - WHO WILL SURVIVE? WHO WILL PERISH? TUNE IN OCTOBER 11.

Christian: Might be the best sketch of the year, saved for last. Brutal to the current cast, and mostly prescient. Not on Peacock!

Scot: Smigel wrote this - Damon is in the room, so is Al - Everyone has ? next to name in credits.