January 21, 1989 – John Malkovich / Anita Baker (S14 E10) [THROWBACK REVIEW]

Cold Opening – Super Bowl Call

• Dana’s Bush impression is always reliable for a few good laughs.
• Funny bit with Phil’s Reagan interrupting Bush’s call.
• I’m getting some good laughs from Reagan’s lines about why he should call the winners of the Super Bowl, and especially his reasoning about being the president during the actual season is pretty funny.
• Good & short cold open overall.

Rating: ***

Monologue

• Already, John is coming off charismatic & likable here. His voice in particular & delivery are just perfect in delivering deadpan lines.
• I absolutely love the bit where John mentions his hometown in Illinois, only to reveal a murder occurred there. John’s aforementioned trademark dry delivery make these lines even funnier. I’m already loving him as the host.
• And now John is getting a little self-deprecating, with the several funny lines about his film career & his lack of hair. These just show the great sport & talent that John generally possesses, and why he is such a beloved screen & stage legend.
• Funny mention of Steven Spielberg as a Jewish boy from John, enhanced more by his dry & funny delivery.
• A fairly solid monologue that went by smoothly & delivered plenty of laughs.

Rating: ****

Barbara & Nancy

• Tonight’s episode officially starts with an absolute classic of a sketch, as I, like many SNL fans, consider this sketch to be an absolute comedic masterpiece.
• Phil is SO good that he is able to milk huge laughs from the audience with just how he looks & acts as Barbara Bush early on in this sketch.
• Solid, subtle escalation with the passive-aggressive back-and-forth between Jan’s Nancy & Phil’s Barbara. Phil’s eager delivery of when Jan’s Nancy would be departing is hilarious.
• Damn at the whole bit with the family portraits, solid delivery from Jan about not needing them.
• Here comes the turn with Jan’s Nancy being literally dragged out of the room; a classic & memorable SNL moment in general.
• I absolutely love how much Jan’s Nancy is trying to remain in the White House, with her grabbing anything she can hold onto in order to avoid being violently dragged out, the turn especially with Phil’s Barbara hitting her fingers off the table with food utensils is having me on the floor right now.

Rating: *****

Attitudes

• Jan is on fire so far into the episode, as this is another memorable sketch of hers, and this recurring sketch features the underrated chemistry that she always had with Nora.
• Nora’s hilarious here, especially her manners and movements, doing such a dead-on impression of the typical TV hosts of the time.
• John is getting lots of laugh with his deadpan delivery of his lines, and the lines given to him here are so simple, yet he makes them funny.
• Nora’s various “yeah!” continue to crack me up throughout the sketch, as well as her posture.
• John’s “Doesn’t explode” response had me laughing out loud, yet again his delivery makes the dialogue even better.
• The whole showcase of the driftwood & the discussion around it is very funny.
• Very strong & funny sketch, with excellent performances by all three performers. I have yet to see the installment with Christopher Walken as the Rainbowhead guy, as I’ve heard it is particularly strong.

Rating: ****1/2

Gary Busey Motorcycle Helmets

• A very funny & spot-on impression of Gary Busey from Phil. Even when I kinda prefer the Michael McKean & Jeff Richards versions a little more, I can still appreciate & enjoy Phil’s version.
• This ad is around the time of Busey’s accident, and the concept of oversized motorcycle helmets might be kinda groanworthy, but Phil is one of the few people that could sell such a concept.
• The visual of the massive helmet over the already-large helmet made me laugh.

Rating: ***

You Mock Me

• A huge favorite of mine, and a well-known classic SNL sketch in general. The concept alone is wonderful & feels old-school, and the execution makes it even better.
• I love the 17th century costumes & set design, and this era did so many period pieces from that period & nailed them quite well.
• I love the concept of John’s character thinking that everybody’s mocking him, even those that are loyal & loving to him.
• Jon & Dana’s actions in the background are cracking me up so much, especially when they immediately stop their mockery of John’s character just before he turns to them.
• Quite fitting to have Mike Myers’ very first SNL appearance have him doing an English accent, considering his knack for doing many regional accents from the UK & North America.
• John’s execution of the sketch in general is top-notch. I cannot imagine many other hosts nailing this sketch concept as well as him.
• I love John’s look at the end of the sketch; a great use of John’s strong dramatic skills.

Rating: *****

Weekend Update

• Unless I’m forgetting something, the bit with Jan’s Sandra Day O’Connor swearing in Dana’s Dan Quayle is one of her ONLY appearances on Update, and this one isn’t even behind the Update desk.
• I do love the whole bit with Quayle being sworn in syllable-by-syllable due to him finding the oath too hard to repeat in complete sentences.
• I’m enjoying Dennis’ commentary about the ending of Reagan’s presidency, even when it feels light on the laughs, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be that way.
• Good to cover an A. Whitney Brown commentary, as I’ve always enjoyed how sharp & witty his commentaries always were.
• I do love A. Whitney’s whole bit about the ostentatious Bush inauguration celebration, especially about celebrating so lavishly before even doing anything.
• Ugh, Dennis is going through his infamous photo-based joke route, which is unfunny & corny in most occasions.

Rating: ***

California Condor

• I absolutely love the use of a huge mechanical puppet representing the hurt condor. Something about the oddness of the sketch makes me already on board with it.
• The sketch feels a bit odd, but I’m enjoying the humor here, and John’s various actions are giving me some decent laughs.
• Solid ending.

Rating: ***1/2

Johnny Canal

• Here comes a Jack Handey sketch I’ve always adored.
• Already, we’re getting the trademark Jack Handey brilliance, with the fun fake sponsors here.
• John Malkovich is absolutely the perfect host for such a character & premise, and I do love the look of his character here.
• A laugh from the visual of the map with the myriad of canals in it. This type of random, absurdist humor caters specifically to my comedic tastes, and it’s being executed wonderfully here.
• The audience is weirdly quiet at parts during this sketch, which is kinda weird as they’ve been pretty hot throughout the night. A shame, considering how many laughs I’ve been getting from the sketch’s writing & escalation.
• I love the moment where John jumps up the table with his knife. It has always stuck with me from past viewings.
• An overall very strong & clever sketch that focuses on the type of humor I greatly enjoy & love.

Rating: ****1/2

Talk Radio

• A pretty simple, Kevin Nealon-y sketch concept, one that feels like something that Dan Aykroyd would’ve done back during the original era.
• Some good laughs from Kevin annoyingly talking over the radio music.
• Lovitz is stealing the sketch as the angry caller demanding that Kevin shuts up as his favorite song is playing on the radio.
• A good, low-key way to end the episode.

Rating: ***

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

Barbara & Nancy

You Mock Me

Johnny Canal

Attitudes

Monologue

California Condor

Super Bowl Call

Talk Radio

Gary Busey Motorcycle Helmets

Weekend Update

Final Thoughts:-

• A very strong, flawless episode, and one of the finest from the 86-90 era. Lots to love in this episode, and the solid sketch concepts represent what a breath of fresh air this era truly was. While the quality cooled down in the post-Update half, beside the excellent “Johnny Canal” sketch, the whole show was still a wonderful watch. John Malkovich was also a pretty fantastic host, even when he was somewhat underused here compared to his next two hosting stints (how in the world he never became a five-timer, I’ll never know). He was exceptionally excellent in “You Mock Me” , “Attitudes”, and “Johnny Canal”. If I’d rank his hosting stints now that I’ve rewatched all of them very recently, I’d do as such: S34, S14, S19.

Up Next:-

• Luke Perry / Mick Jagger.