February 22, 1986 – Jay Leno / The Neville Brothers (S11 E11)

Cold Open – Studio Tour

• The third consecutive episode this season with the host appearing in the cold open.
• Funny visual of Jim Downey applying makeup to Mike the Dog.
• Here’s Tommy Flanagan for the second cold open in a row.
• This seems like it’ll be a fun way to tour SNL’s backstage area. These are usually fun to watch.
• Nice to see the sets of various sketches we’ll be seeing later on.
• Jesus Christ, whoever’s in charge of the lighting must have fucked up, because at one point, we can’t see Jon at all.
• I’m surprised this open is over already. For the most part, it was decent, even though Tommy Flanagan didn’t really have any standout lies tonight.

Rating: ***

Monologue

• Not really caring for Jay’s facial expressions during his entrance.
• Jay’s delivery is kinda funny, though I can see some people having an issue with it.
• Jay’s talk about various TV shows getting so needlessly complicated is making me laugh.
• More funny talk from Jay, this time considering The Dating Game possibly creating dumber people.
• I love Jay’s vocal impression of a typical old man who doesn’t understand modern society.
• Another funny bit from Jay about how some actors take advantage of the characters they play on TV.
• This standup monologue is starting to drag on a little bit, but I’m still enjoying it, for the most part.
• An overall good standup monologue from Jay.

Rating: ***½

Target Earth

• I’m not really caring too much for Robert’s facial expressions when he first enters.
• Jay and Robert’s deliveries as these two aliens are making me laugh. They’re actually nailing the cadence of typical cartoony aliens/robots well.
• Funny seeing Dennis in this role.
• A funny reveal of Robert and Jay’s alien civilization being far less advanced than Earth’s, and I love Randy’s angry attitude upon realizing this detail.
• I love Robert and Jay’s talk about dirt roads being one of their achievements, as well as the downfalls of it.
• A funny detail of the aliens having a musket for a weapon.
• An overall solid sketch.

Rating: ***½

Dinner with Mike

• Okay, who the fuck is Mike the Dog? I’m assuming that he must’ve been known enough to get a special guest credit in tonight’s episode, which is just plain bizarre. Either way, that dog has GOT to be long dead by now.
• In a way, it’s kinda interesting seeing a dog lead a sketch, especially knowing SNL’s history with using actual animals in sketches, let alone dogs.
• I must admit, Mike’s surprisingly hitting his cues well.
• I like Randy’s cheesy delivery in this sketch.
• Not entirely sure why Jay’s cast in this particular role, simply due to the fact that it’s not a rather comedic role.
• Meh, as this sketch progresses, I’m starting to lose interest. It feels as if it doesn’t have any real legs to stand on other than its premise, which is a cute one, but not really a funny one.
• A decent reveal that Mike used to belong to Randy.
• Overall, this was pretty much a wash.

Rating: **½

Weekend Update

• What was the point of Dennis saying the main line from Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” at the beginning? He didn’t even add anything funny to it.
• The usual pointless Weekend Update Dancers bit.
• While Dennis has been having decent jokes tonight, they’re not as good as they usually are.
• Here’s our second Big Picture commentary from A. Whitney Brown, just two episodes after the first.
• Like last time, I love Brown’s demeanor and delivery.
• Brown has some good lines, but I’m not finding this to be anywhere near as strong as his first Big Picture commentary.

Rating: ***

Star Search

• Randy’s Ed McMahon impression is pretty funny, though I prefer future cast member Phil Hartman’s take on him in the Tonight Show sketches with Dana Carvey’s Johnny Carson impression.
• I did not care for Nora’s rant towards Randy, despite her solid fast-paced delivery.
• Jesus Christ as Robert’s hammy facial expressions during his scene as a mime.
• Kinda funny seeing Joan and Dennis reenact an Olympia Cafe sketch from the original era, and the latter’s inherently-funny delivery actually worked well for this part.
• A funny visual of Danitra walking onstage carrying a big gun.
• Jon’s Jewish standup comedian bit isn’t really working for me, despite him giving his usual solid performance.
• Ooh, here’s the Angry Comic portion that I’ve heard great things about.
• Before even saying a word, Damon’s already making me laugh with both his facial expression and the way he picked up his microphone.
• A big laugh from Damon saying he killed three white people.
• Damon’s delivery and demeanor is freaking KILLING me. It’s a damn shame that this might be one of the last times I get to enjoy Damon, given what ends up happening backstage during the next episode.
• A hilarious part with the judges changing their scores for Damon after he gives an intimidating look.
• I love Damon saying what he plans to do with the prize money.
• Overall, man, what a killer part from Damon. Too bad that everything else that came before it was very weak. In fact, this sketch didn’t feel all that worthy of its long length (11 minutes).

Rating: **

Evil Twin

• Jay Leno playing someone named Jay? Is he supposed to be himself in this sketch?
• I like Jay’s demeanor when asking Joan for sex.
• Jay’s initial entrance with that mustache on is pretty funny.
• Jay’s doing a solid job with this “evil twin” persona.
• An okay reveal of Jay’s “evil twin” persona being an act.
• I’m not sure what to make of Jay’s straight-to-camera message. It has some laughs here and there, but it also kinda feels unnecessary.
• This overall sketch was a little too short for my likings, but it was decent enough for what it was.

Rating: ***

Stand-Ups

• Nice to see the return of these characters, given how damn fun their first appearance was.
• Very interesting seeing Dennis play one of these characters, as he’s actually really good here.
• Like last time, there’s a lot of funny observational humor from the performers involved, even if there aren’t really any lines that stand out.
• The whole bit about the existence of God is very solid.
• I like Jay’s delivery as an old-school comedian, even if I feel that Tom Hanks was the better host to appear in these sketches.
• Jay’s bit about the differences in comedy back then and comedy now is solid.
• An overall decent installment, though this pales in comparison to the strong first installment with Tom Hanks.

Rating: ***

Man Beat

• Right off the bat at the initial sight of Randy and Robert, I’ve got a bad feeling that what I’m about to watch might come off rather offensive. We’ll see, though.
• I do kinda like Randy pressuring Robert not to reveal the number yet.
• Why is Terry playing a flamboyant secretary? It feels kinda unnecessary, though I’m certain that his flamboyancy is part of the sketch’s main joke.
• Overall…I don’t know what to make of this sketch. All I know is that I barely got a smirk while watching it.

Rating: *

The Further Adventures of Biff and Salena

• The jacket Jay’s wearing kinda looks like the one that Marty McFly famously wore.
• Jesus Christ, Joan’s delivery in this sketch is fucking TERRIBLE.
• The voice Jon’s using is also kinda unbearable in this sketch.
• An odd part with Jon and Joan doing hand motions (for lack of a better term).
• Overall, just like the Man Beat sketch prior to this, I have no idea what to make of this sketch. I want to appreciate the slice-of-life feel it has, but the fact that Jon and Joan were kinda overdoing it in their deliveries made it a slog to get through.

Rating: **

Final Thoughts

• A very up-and-down episode, though it’s certainly a step up from the rough preceding episode with Jerry Hall. While there were more good segments here than in that episode, nothing really stood out as strong. The post-Update half in particular was pretty frustrating, as the only good sketches in that half were average. I also wasn’t crazy about how the night ended with two questionable sketches that were really hard to figure out.

Up Next:

Griffin Dunne hosts with musical guest Rosanne Cash and special guest Penn & Teller. It’s also the final episode for featured player Damon Wayans.