March 25, 1978 – Christopher Lee / Meat Loaf (S3 E15) [THROWBACK REVIEW]

Cold Opening – Locker Room

• Very good to see another fun backstage cold open in this era.
• I’m enjoying the premise of John changing his name to Kevin Scott. And the reactions of both Bill & Gilda here amuses me each time I view this cold open.
• I’ve always wondered if John’s “gaffe” at the end of the cold open with him saying “liv” instead of “live” was genuine. Yet, knowing the consummate professional that he was, I highly doubt that he made an error here & that it was part of joke.

Rating: ***

Monologue

• Here comes a very famous SNL monologue, this has always been one of my favorites in SNL history.
• Right out of the gate, I’m loving Christopher’s dry, witty English-accented delivery. He has always been one of my personal favorite actors, and this episode is a quintessential one for this era in its horror-themed atmosphere which Christopher is more than adapt in.
• And now a series of horror movie trailers are shown to us, thus truly beginning this very memorable monologue.
• As a massive Victorian literature fan, I’m loving the subtle use of several horror novels as the titles of these movies.
• Gilda is hilarious in the first movie, playing a perfect deformed companion.
• The whole “The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave” part is probably the most famous from this monologue, and in particular Jane’s fantastic horror movie scream.
• Dan’s great Vincent Price impression returns, as we now get a trailer of him portraying Mr. Rogers. And I love the mix of the classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Mr. Rogers, considering how much I love that book (and this parody is FAR better than a certain wretched season 35 sketch).
• An overall truly epic & fantastic monologue, and greatly deserving of its reputation. One of my personal favorite monologues in all of SNL’s history.

Rating: *****

Speech Therapy

• As always, funny & solid British accents from both Dan & Jane. Their strong accent skills were always very underrated in my personal view.
• I do love the clever fake-out with the musical number being abruptly stopped before the performers started to sing.
• Great to see Gilda’s always-fun Baba Wawa back, and the Pygmalion setting is a good usage of our host, and also considering that the play is one of my personal favorites.
• I’m enjoying the back-and-forth between Christopher & Gilda, and the former’s deadpan delivery is working perfectly for this sketch.
• Solid ending.

Rating: ***1/2

Weekend Update

• Already a good laugh from Jane’s opening remarks.
• Interesting to review a John Belushi commentary, considering how memorable these usually are.
• Ah, we’re attempting a runner tonight it seems, with John not answering Dan till he addresses him as John instead of Kevin.
• Man, I love Dan as much as the next SNL fan, and he has always been in my top 5 favorite cast members, but he barely worked as an Update anchor. No wonder he’s out of the desk after this season.
• That’s it? That’s John commentary? Aside from the whole oil spilling bit with Dan, nothing here was remotely memorable to me.
• I kinda like the idea of the Sesame Street bit, as a huge Sesame Street & Muppets fan, but it’s not working that well for me.
• Great to see Bill doing his very first Oscars predictions commentary, which would go on to be a beloved tradition of his throughout his tenure & in many of his hosting stints.
• Interesting to hear Travolta’s as a potential host that had to back down from hosting, as I’m very familiar with his hosting stint from the wretched season 20, where he was absolutely phenomenal and made that episode easily amongst the very best in that dire year.
• Love Bill just dismissing the whole best supporting actor & best supporting actress categories.
• Oh, we’re now getting a Point/Counterpoint? I always thought these debuted in season 4, but then again, it’s been years since I binged the original era, so I must’ve forgotten.
• Great delivery & ranting by both Dan & Jane, and the former is getting better as this Update is going along, considering the infamous mess he has always been as an anchor.
• A strong way to end a solid edition of Update, especially the great one-two punch of Bill’s Oscars commentary & the debut of Point/Counterpoint.

Rating: ***1/2

Mr. Death

• A sketch that I’ve always absolutely loved, and has always been quite possibly my favorite Laraine Newman showcase from her tenure.
• Great, terrifying entrance from Christopher as Death, and I love the direction as he makes his entrance.
• Already, a fantastic sketch concept with Death meeting a child, as played wonderfully by Laraine, to explain to her the nature of his job in a kind, fatherly manner.
• Laraine is excellent here and is absolutely endearing. As much as I love Gilda in these roles, I’m so happy that Laraine got the opportunity to get to play this role instead of her, considering how much of a fan she is of Lee & horror films.
• Christopher’s natural warmth, which was sadly rarely showcased throughout his illustrious career is really shown here, as his portrayal of Death as a kind, understanding, yet dutiful figure is brilliant.
• Very funny line from Christopher’s Death about the Romans, which gets a great audience reaction.
• I LOVE the ominous ending with Christopher’s Death telling Laraine’s character that she’ll see him during her 15th birthday. Christopher’s natural eerie & terrifying presence made that line even better than it already is.
• Overall, a masterpiece.

Rating: *****

Suggestions for Sadat

• Wow, is this Garrett’s first appearance since way back in the monologue?
• I’m getting some good laughs per usual from Garrett’s portrayal of Sadat & his inherently funny line deliveries, but boy, the audience is barely laughing, which is weird, considering how lively they’ve been throughout the episode.
• I do like the bit where Garrett’s Sadat is asking the viewers to send in some suggestions.

Rating: ***

Cold As Ice

• Good lord, I’ve always really disliked these Gary Weiss-made shorts, as they’re mainly dull & with almost no jokes (aside from a few exceptions, of course).
• Am I supposed to know the main actress here? Or the guy she’s torturing?
• Boy, this short feels like forever & there are no laughs to be had from me here, even when this piece isn’t as bad some of his others. Why the hell are they airing these pieces in such a unique episode like this one?!
• Overall, meh.

Rating: **

Del Stator’s Rabbit Hut

• Very happy to see our trademark Dan Aykroyd commercial piece which are sadly feeling more and more rare as his tenure progresses.
• Like always, solid commercial pitchman delivery from Dan throughout this sketch, but the commercial itself so far has been simply fine, if not a little unmemorable.
• Ok, I do like semi-disturbing visual of the roasted rabbits on a skewer.
• Overall, this was good. Yet, nowhere near as solid or memorable as Dan’s other commercial pitchman sketches.

Rating: ***

Vampire / Nixon

• Ooh, right out of the gate, I’m loving that we are getting more horror-themed sketches tonight, and Christopher is perfect as this Abraham Van Helsing-esque character.
• Ha, I could tell that Dan is playing Nixon, as the way he acts as him is very distinctive, even from the back.
• Per usual, a spot-on vocal impression from Dan as Nixon. And it is always hilarious to me how the original era was (rightfully) constantly shitting all over Nixon.
• I love that the whole sketch revolves around stopping Nixon’s forthcoming memoirs from being published. This is absolutely priceless & a great way to do our obligatory Dracula parody with Christopher.
• Dan is excellent here, portraying Nixon in his usual evil & cunning way, which is such a perfect foil to Christopher’s Van Helsing-esque protagonist.
• A great, exaggerated death scene with Dan’s Nixon, and underrated physicality from Dan here. This era’s constant ripping of that crook never fails to have me practically on the floor each time.

Rating: ****1/2

Guest Performance

• Boy, it feels weird seeing Richard Belzer in this context.
• It looks we’re getting some musical impressions during this stand-up set, which will at least make it different than some of the other guest performers during this era.
• Holy hell at that Mick Jagger impression, and it comes off funnier as I just very recently watched to his musical performances in one of my reviews.
• Interesting mention of how Bob Dylan would sound in old age, considering that he’s (thankfully) still with us to this day, and he kinda sounds like how Richard is impersonating him.
• This is feeling a little longer than it should be, and some parts here, outside of some fun impressions, are dragging & hurting the momentum.
• An overall good set, a little better than I expected considering that I knew nothing of Richard’s stand-up comedy past.

Rating: ***

Mr. Bill’s Circus

• Hoo, boy. I recall getting REALLY sick of these shorts near the era’s end, but I do remember liking this one a lot. We shall see how my reaction to it during this viewing will be.
• I love the visual quality, and I’m already getting some good laughs from some of the insane visuals throughout the short.
• Holy hell at the dog poison bit, absolutely priceless.
• Hilarious & insane bit with Mr. Bill being fired from the cannon, which ends this short on a strong high.
• Overall, a great way to end the night & quite possibly my favorite of these Mr. Bill shorts.

Rating: ****

Segments Ranked From Best to Worst

Mr. Death

Monologue

Vampire / Nixon

Mr. Bill’s Circus

Speech Therapy

Weekend Update

Del Stator’s Rabbit Hut

Locker Room

Guest Performance

Suggestions for Sadat

Cold As Ice

Final Thoughts:-

• A strong episode, with several fantastic highlights in it, including a now-legendary monologue, and a favorite of mine (Mr. Death), as well as several very solid sketches all night long. Christopher Lee was, as expected, a fantastic host & I absolutely loved the horror-themed, gothic atmosphere that tonight’s episode had in which Christopher is an obvious natural for.

Up Next:-

• Nothing! See ya when 22-23 starts airing everyone!