May 24, 1986 – Anjelica Huston and Billy Martin / George Clinton & The Parliament Funkadelic (S11 E18)

Cold Open – Hands Across America

• Boy, that opening jingle is really cheesy. Then again, this was the 80s, back when a lot of these types of songs were cheesy.
• Odd seeing Billy Martin in this particular role.
• Funny entrance from Randy as a one-legged runner.
• I got a chuckle from Randy saying the same thing about the homeless that Billy said (“What, those bums?”).
• Not sure if I cared for the segue to LFNY.

Rating: ***

Opening Montage

• For the first (and only) time this season, Al Franken is credited as a featured player.
• Yay, Damon Wayans is back! That said, I’m only aware he was brought back for a guest performance. Still though, nice to see him.

Monologue

• Right now, Anjelica mentions there being an Academy Awards “curse”, which leads to another joke about the decline in quality this season.
• I wasn’t entirely sure if I was gonna care for the part where Anjelica tells a long joke, but then they revealed that this was intentionally meant to be cut off so that we could go backstage.
• Jesus Christ, Anthony seems to be clearing his throat way too much while talking to Billy. Was something wrong with him this week?
• Meh, this Billy Martin/Anthony conversation is starting to lose me the more it goes on.
• Our first appearance of Mephistopheles tonight. From what I hear, tonight’s episode has a running theme involving him and Billy.
• I wasn’t crazy about that ending.

Rating: **½

The People’s Second Choice Awards

• Blah, I’m not caring for where this sketch has been going so far. It’s just a long list of names without any jokes to support it. This is the kind of sketch that you’d expect from S20.
• It’s over already?

Rating: *

Moments of Doubt

• I didn’t care for Randy’s first inner monologue.
• Okay, Anjelica’s inner monologue is giving me some chuckles.
• Interesting seeing Joan and Anjelica in a sketch together, knowing that they’d end up being in Addams Family Values seven years later.
• I got a chuckle from the dog’s obviously-fake bark.
• Overall, I wasn’t too crazy about that overall sketch. It’s another example this season of some sketches not living up to their potential.

Rating: **

Glamorous Drinking

• Nice to see Lorne front-and-center at the start of a sketch.
• Interesting premise to this sketch.
• I like the brief part with Joan and Danitra.
• Hmm, y’know, the more this goes on, I’m not really caring for the fact that they keep hammering in the fact that this sketch is about glamorous drinking.
• It’s kinda nice to see Tom Davis in a sketch.
• An interesting turn with us seeing an ad for the National Council of Liquor and Spirits.
• Randy’s ending message did provide some decent laughs.

Rating: **½

Actors on Film

• The third and final appearance of Robert and Nora’s pretentious actors, who first made their debut in a miscellaneous piece from the Wendt/Coppola episode.
• Robert and Nora’s deliveries always make me laugh.
• Meh, this piece is completely washing over me. None of the stories from Robert and Nora are eliciting so much as a mere smirk from me.
• And now this piece is over. Yeah, this one didn’t work for me at all.

Rating: *

Hallmark

• I recall hearing that this is a character that Anjelica played before, though I don’t know who.
• A lot of the cards being read by Anjelica are only okay, though I’m certainly not laughing too much.

Rating: **½

Weekend Update

• Didn’t Dennis already do the “I will never go hungry again” joke at the start of a previous Update, or am I just mistaken?
• The first Al Franken Update commentary in a long time.
• Ha, the return of the graphic of Al’s name always appearing whenever he says “me: Al Franken”. Nice to see that come back.
• I think Al got a little dig at this cast supposedly being untalented, but I’m not sure.
• Some fairly funny photos of Al’s babies.
• And now we get the real reason why Al’s here: to promote a movie he wrote with Tom Davis.
• Neat seeing the places where this movie is opening scroll on the bottom of the screen.
• An overall good commentary from Al Franken.
• Another A. Whitney Brown commentary this season.
• Ah, looks like this commentary is gonna be less a Big Picture commentary and more of a farewell to the “graduating class of ‘86”.
• Brown has plenty of funny lines throughout this commentary as usual.
• Oh, so this was a Big Picture commentary after all. My mistake.
• (*groan*) Here come the Update Dancers. Well, at least this is their final appearance.
• Okay, I’ll admit that hearing them do an interpretive dance to Father Guido Sarducci voiceover is inherently amusing.
• Holy hell at Dennis wearing a burqa.
• I love Dennis’ “knock knock” bit at the end. It’s a fitting way to end his first year as an Update anchor.

Rating: ***

Lesbian Pick-Ups

• Hmm, not too sure about this premise.
• Meh, I’m not really caring much for Joan’s constant defenses for her not being a lesbian.
• The payoff to Joan’s conversation with Nora felt weak.
• The turn with us seeing Robert as Joan’s fiance isn’t working for me.
• Weak ending, though I did kinda like how they started dancing while walking off the set.

Rating: **

Bocce Ball My Way

• Uh-oh, a fake ad with Father Guido Sarducci in a starring role? Well, THIS certainly spells doom.
• Wait, this fake ad has just ended without any observations from me? What was the point of this overall fake ad?!

Rating: *

Backstage

• The continuation of the Billy Martin/Mephistopheles runner established in the monologue.
• I got a laugh from the part where Mephistopheles just names all the places where he and Billy work so well together.
• And now Mephistopheles breaks out into a Tommy Flanagan voice after telling a lie, further proving how overused he’s been this season. I’ll admit, though, that it did make me chuckle.
• The ending with Anthony felt painfully awkward.
• An overall decent way to continue the runner.

Rating: ***

Guest Performance – Damon Wayans

• I have a feeling that I’m gonna love this.
• I’m already cracking up at Damon’s opening bit about racism.
• I love Damon’s vocal impression of a guy who offered him watermelon at the grocery store.
• A great part from Damon where he talks about “special shoes” he had as a kid.
• Damon’s limp walk is very funny.
• Another solid part with Damon mentioning various insults thrown towards his sister.
• An overall strong standup set from Damon Wayans.

Rating: ****

Book Minute

• Fitting seeing two back-to-back solo showcases for this season’s criminally underused black performers.
• I’m getting plenty of laughs from Danitra’s more urban versions of various classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes.
• The “merry old soul” part is particularly solid.
• Overall, while I didn’t have too much to say about that overall piece, I really enjoyed it.

Rating: ***½

Movie Theatre

• What…the…FUCK?! Seriously, the amount of blackface makeup put on Terry for her impression of Patti LaBelle is just plain horrifying to look at.
• Terry’s “black voice” is fucking cringeworthy. I’m gonna be in for a looooooonnng sketch, aren’t I?
• Really, now we’re doing a “black people yelling in the movie theater” sketch? I need to know who wrote this, as this trope is soooooo hacky and dated.
• Blah at the ending gag with Terry giving away the movie’s ending, causing everyone to walk out.
• Overall, not a single laugh from me throughout this entire sketch.

Rating: *

My Friend

• The extremely long setup from Joan about who her friend is is kinda funny.
• Ha, I love the reveal of Joan’s friend being Colonel Sanders, amusingly being played by Billy.
• I like how Billy is playing Colonel Sanders all casually, not even bothering to change his voice.
• A good fourth-wall turn with Billy breaking character, and Joan revealing that he’s drunk.
• An interesting turn with Joan and Danitra completely giving up on this sketch after realizing Billy’s drunk.
• I like Billy’s drunken rant as he walks off.
• An overall solid sketch, and a nice way to continue tonight’s runner.

Rating: ***½

Fire / Goodnights

• Oh, here we go! Possibly the most-remembered segment of tonight’s episode.
• Interesting hearing the cast talk about how they’re looking forward to next year, knowing in hindsight how most of them don’t even come back.
• A great turn with Billy setting the locker room on fire.
• An absolutely hilarious part with Lorne, after realizing that the cast won’t be able to do the show next year if the locker room is set on fire, going in there and making it look like he’s about to rescue the whole cast, only for him to rescue just Jon, leaving everyone else to burn.
• Funny part with Lorne bringing in three of the “writers” to the room.
• I love the title screen saying “Who will survive? Who will perish? Tune in October 11th”.
• Nice touch with question marks being shown next to everyone’s names during the end credits.
• An overall fantastic way to both end this season and acknowledge its troubles.

Rating: *****

Final Thoughts

• A fitting way to end this season, as this was a rather poor finale. Sure, we had a fun runner, and a fantastic conclusion with the cast being set on fire, plus other solid segments such as Book Minute and Damon Wayans’ standup, but a large majority of tonight’s segments were rather underwhelming, some of which stand out as amongst this season’s worst sketches, including that dreadful Patti LaBelle sketch. All in all, this was not a nice way for the season to go out.

Up Next:

The Season 11 wrap-up extravaganza, including my final thoughts on the season, episode averages, and highest and lowest-rated sketches.