'Wasn't That Special' Season Nineteen 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 Nineteen 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: Charles Barkley
Scot: A great show ... for me to poop on (Smigel's gone, you know). Downey is not a miracle worker. Nobody here knows how to write a sketch yet. Nothing from Phil past Larry King.
Bill Clinton (Phil Hartman) tells what the health care plan will & won’t cover
Christian: Phil's Clinton works best when he's on the move - trying a Carvey direct-to-camera here and it doesn't work as well.
Scot: Your comment 100 percent - Breast augmentation, covered. Breast reduction, not covered.
The Gap - Gap girls Kristy & Lucy recall unpleasant experience with Skid Row
Christian: What these sketches was missing was an attempted sexual assault by Sebastian Bach. Nirvana was asked to be in this sketch and they said no, as they wanted no party of a sketch that accused them of attempted rape.
Scot: Appallingly bad.
What's That? - contestants guess the sex of crossdressed men; RuPaul cameo
Christian: Even if you place yourself back in 1993, it's still a dud. Full college courses could be taught on this today. You will be shocked to learn this has been cut from the Peacock version.
Scot: Melanie Hutsell’s on-screen for 5 seconds just to be called a man.
Donkey Basketball Camp - host stresses importance of human-ass cooperation in donkey basketball
Christian: An absolutely appalling sketch made funny only because Meadows' donkey walks off and he waves goodbye to it. Looks like Farley can actually really play ball.
Scot: What is Myers thinking being forced to be in this thing?
Office Space cartoon by Mike Judge- disgruntled worker Milton stews
Christian: Totally spoils the Office Space movie, which would come out six years later. G.E. Smith then plays the Beavis and Butthead theme song.
Scot: Is this passable only because we know it results in Office Space?
Episode Two: Shannen Doherty
Christian: Having Phil Hartman on this cast must have been strange - like working with your dad.
Scot: Spade, Sandler, Schneider gone from writer's list.
Crystal Gravy commercial
Christian: Obviously Crystal Pepsi came out around this time.
The Denise Show - jilted Brian (Sandler) is obsessed with ex-girlfriend
Christian: Being generous because I remember liking it a lot at the time, when it was far more relatable.
Scot: Amid the dreck, this is passable.
Is It Date Rape - Doherty & Farley use Antioch College guidelines to decide
Christian: OK, so it is effectively an anti-date rape, pro-verbal consent piece, but still probably not happening today. Prescient in how this would eventually be litigated on campuses.
Scot: Incredibly prescient. No one that I know of was talking/thinking like this for 20 years.
The Relapse Guy - Relapse Guy (Farley) says he’s changed, but he’s still unreliable
Christian: It isn't funny, but feels very raw and confessional. And really affecting knowing what eventually happens. He knew his end all along.
Scot: Farley has dropped some pounds - Wooo. Dark, dark stuff here. Some humor (the operating room scene).
Salem Bitch Trials - early-American lynch mob wants to find (host) guilty at Salem Bitch Trial
Christian: All premise. Hutsell looks legitimately shocked people laughed at her line. Another sketch where Doherty has to deny Farley's advances.
Scot: Tom Davis still getting random roles.
Episode Three: Jeff Goldblum
Scot: Look at these last three sketches. Barely-written rubbish. Jay Mohr and Norm Macdonald featured players, Sarah Silverman and Dave Attel appear uncredited.
Schneider is a street musician in the subway that doesn't accept tips - sings specific songs about how people should give him money
Scot: Schneider again shows he has chops.
Aerosmith - "Cryin'"
Christian: Steven Tyler is a few months older than Phil Hartman.
Spade works at video store, spoils movie, announces Goldblum is getting porn, is generally annoying
Scot: “Bob Saget, big porn freak.” - Thought Spade was actually pretty good in this.
Canteen Boy runs garage sale, everyone is mean to him, he summons snakes to attack them
Christian: Ooof.
Scot: Can't watch these now without thinking "off brand Honker (Bill Murray’s “Carl Spackler-like character)"- Why are adults treating him like this?
Aerosmith - "Sweet Emotion"
Christian: This song saw a brief resurgence around this time due to its placement in Dazed and Confused (which came out a few weeks prior to this episode.)
Christopher Walken's Celebrity Psychic Friends Network - Jay Mohr's big break.
Christian: It's a plausible impression, but the sketch goes nowhere.
Scot: So, real Walken is Ed Glosser?
History's Greatest Overthinkers - Goldblum as host overthinks everything, keeps cutting off Edison, Wright, Da Vinci, Einstein
Christian: 30 seconds in, the joke is blown and nothing else happens.
Scot: A waste of electricity to broadcast across the country.
Episode Four: John Malkovich
Christian: The writers this season should petition for their names to be blocked out in reruns.
Scot: Now have a perverse desire to continue to see how bad this gets. Worse than Tim Robbins. Worst episode since S11? (Maybe Teri Garr?)This is profoundly bad writing matched with awful performances.
Phillies/Blue Jays - Anne Murray (Hutsell) sings Canadian anthem, Phillies keep spitting, spit on Murray
Scot: Freaking amateur hour. Would slide in alongside any Season Six cold open.
Macintosh post-it-notes
Christian: This seems like...something that could exist today? Certainly spellchecker, and handwriting-to-text exist.
Menendez Brothers trial - blame it on two unknown Menendez brothers - pretend they have twins
Scot: Showing empty chairs for 30 seconds was funnier than 60% of sketches this season - Unfathomable that this is all they came up with to develop the main joke.
Of Mice and Men: Disney’s version features two Lennies (Malkovich and Farley), Lorne shoots Farley after the latter breaks Hooks' neck during sketch
Christian: Jesus Christ, who thought this was a good idea?
Scot: WTF is Jan Hooks doing in this?
Ruining it for Everyone - guests’ actions spurred preventative measures
Christian: These are the people who steal food from the mobile order shelf at Chipotle, so now you have to ask the workers for your order.
James Carville (Malkovich) urges Hillary Clinton (Hooks) to run in 1996
Christian: The joke is that people love Hillary and that she should be president. Mark that down as non-prescient. Pretty dead stuff.
Scot: I don't know what's happening here. Hillary was unpopular. The health care reform package was unpopular. Democrats themselvers were offering other proposals. Bill and Hillary's marriage was not a love story. So it's an alternate universe? But the things dragging Bill down are real. So, what? What?