Robert Klein and Medical Marijuana

Another great under-rated comedic presence, Robert Klein performed his final (to-date) HBO special in 2005.  It included several songs, such as "Medical Marijuana."

And going back nearly 30 years before, here's an episode of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson with a long segment with Klein.  He starts off slow, but it's pretty good overall.

More Dave and Johnny

With Johnny Carson back on Antenna TV, here's a look back at him with his protege, David Letterman.  The first is a generally great guest shot for Dave, while the second brief bit features Dave and Johnny cringing at Joe Piscopo's impression of Letterman.

SNL and Tim Kazurinsky

Here's a couple of quiet character-driven pieces from SNL's forgotten years (1980-85).  The first is from season 7 and features two couples having dinner, until one realizes their celibacy was all a misunderstanding.

The other is from an excellent season 9 episode with future castmember Billy Crystal... he's not in this particular sketch about a couple who used to shelter people in their attic during World War II.  A number of excerpts from this episode are posted here.

Note that Tim Kazurinsky features in both sketches, an under-rated bright spot during the first half of the 1980s.

Pokemon v. Chinpokomon

For all of you who enjoyed Pokemon as a child, and are now dumbfounded that they're back, here is a parody commercial from "South Park." #SNL40kidz

The Comedians of Catchphrase Comedy

Season 36 and 37 of SNL each featured a fake commercials for "bootleg DVDs" of "The Comedians of Catchphrase Comedy."  Explaining this to anyone who actually likes catchphrase comedy... is pointless.  Just enjoy parts one and two... and part three, which was slated for the season 37 finale (with Mick Jagger) but somehow got bumped.  In the past, SNL would have run this at a later date, despite the presence of Jagger, but now it just gets posted online.  That's a shame, since it's actually funnier than part two.

Homer Simpson learns to play bass

Homer Simpson discovers the BASS!  The best line is about the gels.

Famous Samples

A great collection of samples used by rappers in the 1980s and 1990s.  It's rare that both the samplor and samplee are good, but back then it still applied.

Film auditions and SNL

An occasional SNL trope is the recreation of auditions for famous films. The first one I can find is from season one, when prisoners auditioned for Peter Cook.  That one is a classic, but only available as part of the full episode on Hulu+.  Here's some that are easier to find:

-Superman (1985): host Christopher Reeve auditions (and barely gets the part).  Another classic, and the only one on this list that's a standard sketch (as opposed to pre-tape).

-Star Wars (1997 / 2015): This was done for the film's 20th anniversary reissue.  The sketch is posted in parts here and here and here.  SNL did a similar bit when Episode VII was released, which is here.

-Pulp Fiction (1997): my favorite part of this is Norm's bizarre Quentin Tarantino impression.

-Top Gun (2011): Top Gun is a stupid movie, but this sketch is funny.

-Fifty Shades of Grey (2013): Proof that Miley Cyrus could be a classy beauty, as opposed to a human Rolling-Stones-logo.

-Back to the Future (2015): "GREAT JOB, SCOTT!"  Classic.

And this is only peripherally related, but it's the show's take on A Charlie Brown Christmas on Broadway.  Meh.

Don Rickles and Joan Rivers

Don Rickles was a familiar presence (both as guest and guest host) on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" from his 1965 debut until 1979.  That year, David Letterman began filling the host chair much of the time Johnny was away.  Rickles had only five appearances that year, three in 1980, and none in 1981 or 1982.  In the late 70s/early 80s, it seemed Johnny (for various reasons) began paring back some of his regulars.  My guesses...

-Joey Bishop and McLean Stevenson were no longer "hot"
-Rodney Dangerfield would be increasingly baked
-Robert Klein began appearing more on "Late Night with David Letterman"
-Charlie Callas allegedly shoved Carson during an appearance (I'm not buying it; he may have become too "Vegas")
-David Steinberg transitioned into directing
-David Brenner and Rich Little seemed to annoy Johnny (read: Johnny's fake laughter) in their few post-1980 appearances
-Jerry Lewis seemed to do the same shtick and usually had nothing to promote
-Plus there was a huge new generation of comedians coming up due to SNL and the comedy club boom.

The only ones who seemed to survive this were Buddy Hackett and Don Rickles, who were limited to about one appearance a year.

Rickles returned to the show in 1983 with one appearance, and after that he was always with Johnny until 1992... with one exception.  Here is a shaky, iPhone-kinescoped appearance from 1984 with guest host Joan Rivers.  I hate to admit it, but Rickles was obviously saving his A-game for Carson.

#SNL4Kidz: Mr. Monopoly

This is the beginning of a new feature of this blog, #SNL4Kidz: sketches that are safe (or nearly safe) to show young people and hopefully foster their love for comedy beyond Disney sitcoms.  I'll be going back and adding the hashtag to older posts as I find them.

This first one is Mr. Monopoly, from season 11 (the first year Lorne Michaels was back).  This sketch is infamous because, at dress, Damon Wayans was in a suit, and the sketch got so-so laughs.  Lorne Michaels told him to change into a police uniform so people would know who he's supposed to be, adding that the suit made him "look like a pimp."  This sent Wayans into a rage, and he decided to "derail" the sketch (in his and Michaels' minds) by playing the character with a major lisp on-air.  This wasn't agreed to by anyone, and Michaels went ballistic and fired him, saying Wayans had violated the shows' principles.  I can't disagree, but Wayans' subsequent success (and the fact that he was even invited back at the end of the season) tell me this wasn't that big a deal.  The whole story is in Tom Shales' SNL book.  The sketch itself does not seem to get derailed by the lisp, and will be quite funny to kids who have played Monopoly.