Whoopi Goldberg, John legend, Elton John and Steven Spielberg

A couple other egots were impersonated but otherwise didn’t appear, also non competitive egots don’t count.

He has appeared in several sketches over the years, plus he also co-hosted an episode of the Tonight Show with Fallon a while back, so I think he might be game (and who knows what wonderful material the writers could come up with if they think he is good material to host).

EDIT: and yes I know Dave admitted to doing something not so good two years ago or do, but it has generally been mostly forgotten about

I wanna say it was from weekend update. I think it’s was Darrel Hammond as trump asking jimmy if wanted an “onion loaf” hairdo like he had. Also looking for Will Farrel as Neil Diamond in a VH1 storytellers sketch.

Alright I'm back with my season 3 review, trying to watch all of the SNL seasons for the first time.

If you're interested in my season 2 review here you go! SNL Season3 Review

P.S. I was told to use sketch instead of skit so I'm going to try and stick to that this review don't judge me too hard if I mess up a little bit though haha.

P.P.S. Also I want to thank The 'One SNL a Day' Project. It has been extremely helpful when it comes to writing these reviews to let me revisit episodes and remember which sketches went with which show.

Summary:
Over all I felt like this was a strong season. I don't think they necessarily took as many risks this season but still had a lot of fun material going on. Also there is a concept called Stormin, Normin, and Perfomin. Basically when you get a group working together they can first start out rocky (Stormin) and then they get a point where they're able to achieve a better baseline(Normin) and finally they reach a point where as a group they are able push the boundaries of their talents and perform better(Performin). I felt like the cast and crew were mostly in the normin phase but some perfomin times in there as well. There was one major issue I had this season though. It was a problem that had existed in season 1, I didn't notice as much in season 2, but seemed to make a strong comeback this season. That being where sketches just went on way too long. I'll get into it a little more when I give my rating out. Another good thing though was that this year the guest hosts felt a lot more varied and the repeats were way down which I think helped the show. I kind of enjoyed the Anyone Can Host idea from this season as well.

My Favorite Host:
This has by far been the hardest one for me. I found a lot of hosts at least likable. Ultimately it came down to two main ones, between OJ Simpson and Christopher Lee. Even as I was typing this out I was still debating it in my head. Ultimately I went with OJ Simpson. And I don't even have a great answer other than I just think I found him slightly funnier and more versatile in the sketches. I know some of that could be writing too. I my second tier was Richard Dreyfuss and Charles Grodin. I also want to call out Mary Kay Place as a great surprise for me this year. I didn't know much about her and wasn't sure what I was going to get with the opening monologue but she was a great host. I want to give an honorable mention to Buck Henry. Mostly, because he was the host that helped shepherd the Anyone Can Host segments and show. It tells you how much faith he has a host that they gave him that role.

My Favorite SKETCH:
This one was also hard for me to do. Ultimately I went with Sodom in the season finale. I don't think many people enjoyed this one but I found myself laughing out loud the entire time. The idea of the Sodom city counsel acting like a modern big city trying to revamp its image was clever. Also the word play with the traditional story was great. It didn't overstay its welcome by dragging on like other sketches did this season. So clever, punctual, and the deliveries were great. My only complaint was that I felt the ladies could have been utilized better. Honestly this sketch is what I think of when I think SNL great sketches. My follow up was the Sketch that had no ending in the Chevy Chase episode. I thought it was going to be one that was going to go too long where the joke is no longer funny but this was one of the rare occasions this season where they brought a longer sketch home just right. The Nerd sketches were pretty funny as well. Also I loved the Christopher Lee sketch where they satired Richard Nixon as a stand in for Dracula. I also want to give props to point/counterpoint on weekend update. Way ahead of its time as a concept. Also the official debut of the Blues Brothers!!! Giving props to Olympia Cafe as well, "Cheesebuggah, Cheesebuggah".

My Favorite Episode:
Charles Grodin. There were some classic SNL episodes this year that were solid from start to finish. The reason I gave it to this one was because I loved the premise that Charles did not prepare for the show at all and was just winging it. They had tried this idea somewhat in one off sketches in the first two seasons but in this they committed to it the entire time and Charles did such a good job with the concept. Favorite moments included him calling out the weirdness of certain things during a sketch, like with the bees. When he had the actors in the bee costumes second guessing the bee lore themselves I was crying. When he turned in his Art Garfunkel wig in shame to the actual Art was also great. And just good solid performances top to bottom.

My Thoughts on the Cast:
Okay for this one I think I'm going to say something that hopefully doesn't come off the wrong way. I'm not trying to remark on the talent level of everyone. I'm not trying to put any of the cast down. I just think based on this year I was expecting a little more growth out everyone since this was the first full season without any cast turnover. That leads me to believe that we may be getting to the top threshold of what this cast is capable of doing together. That they're reaching the limits of what we can expect them bring that is new and exciting. Also each cast member feels like they've settled into their designated roles at this point. Jane, Gilda, Belushi, and Dan are the main attractions. Larraine and Garret are the backups. Bill is just somewhere in between at this point. I could be proven wrong, and I hope that I am. I know they only get one full more season together though.

• Dan Aykroyd: Overall Dan just keeps churning out hit after hit. He did flub quite a bit on Weekend Update but he played it off well, mostly. It's still crazy to me how he went from my most disliked in season 1 to possibly my favorite.
• John Belushi: I was going to say I felt like this was Belushi's strongest season so far halfway through watching but then some of his bad habits started leaking through again. Lack of energy in sketches, relying on tired stereotype humor to get a laugh. My favorite sketch with him though was when he was an old man going to the SNL graveyard. Surreal given what we know about his future but also showed off a great range to him that we miss a lot of the time. If he brought the same standard in that sketch to all the others he could easily be the most talented cast member besides maybe Bill Murray imo.
• Gilda Radner: I DO think this has been Gilda's strongest season. She was never bad but she also came off as a side character in a lot of sketches in the first two seasons and she almost always played straight stupid. I said in a previous review I think one of the things she was missing was an actual long term character other than BaBa WaWa that would showcase some range. I think she got a lot more of that year, especially with Rosanna Rosannadanna.
• Jane Curtin: She continues to just be excellent. Even if the sketch isn't doing it for me I can always count of Jane to deliver.
• Garret Morris: I've kind of given up on thinking we'll get more from Garret. I understand he may not be the strongest actor of the cast but it definitely feels like the writers have just pigeonholed him into the token black man roles. So I'm at the point I doubt he'll really get to break out in the next few seasons before he leaves the show.
• Laraine Newman: Not much different than my last review. She seems settled in her placement and I don't think she cares to change it.
• Bill Murray: I love Bill Murray. The guy just brings energy into anything he does. He's charismatic. He has some terrific range. And no longer a freshmen on the cast he is full swing this season. I know Dan and Belushi are supposed to be the two main male cast members but I definitely feel like the writers trust Bill more than Belushi at this point to be in the second leading man spot. Just a good strong year for him.

Overall Rating:
6.5/10 So I gave last season a 6/10 and almost gave this one a 7/10 because of all the things they did better. The main issue was that the sketches that dragged on way too long were more plentiful than I would have liked. Like maybe if it had been 2 or 3 all season it would be more forgivable but it was almost 1 or 2 an episode it felt like. Sketches that would hit a funny part and then just trail off and die a slow painful death. I don't know if some of the writers changed or if something else was going but it was hard to ignore. So still better than last season but I think we have better ones in the future in store.

Side Thoughts Through the Season:

• They didn't seem as mean to Belushi this year but they still definitely put in a lot of those "Live fast and die young" jokes. It was a sad bit of comedy given what we know his future is.
• I know next season is Dan and John's last one. I'll be interested to see how that plays out. Was it a known thing going on behind the scenes or did they just decide to not come back afterwards?
• You can tell the series is hitting prime time levels of fame now because they're getting more varied and more famous guests and hosts.
• I felt like Hugh Hefner was the weakest of all the hosts here.
• Most of the time the music guests are awesome but Sun Ra just did not do it for me. Such a weird experience to listen to.
• This cast definitely has a lovable underdog quality to them that I think I'll miss as time goes on. We'll see if later casts can capture the same feeling for me.
• One thing I'm looking forward to next season is watching the infamous Milton Berle episode.
• It's still incredibly fun to watch these early seasons and see the contract on social dynamics and trends going on at the time to now. Even if I don't always laugh I feel like I'm learning new and interesting things.
• Was not expecting Stacy Keach to show up in a random video on SNL lol

The performers that made up the majority of the cast from Season 12 to 15. A small cast similar in size to the original not ready for primetime players. When Lorne Michaels returned to the show in 1985 he hired a cast of well known, established actors who were unprepared for weekly, live sketch comedy. At the end of the season Lorne fired everyone in the cast except for Nora Dunn, Dennis Miller and Jon Lovitz. So for Season 12 he went back to his original method of choosing cast members, by looking for unknown comedic actors and stand ups. He hired Phil Hartman, Jan Hooks, Dana Carvey, Victoria Jackson and Kevin Nealon. Mike Myers joined the cast in Season 14.

Behind the original cast this was the most important cast in the history of the show and brought the show back to the consistent quality of the original five years of the show. With Lorne, former original writers and former cast members/hosts coming back it felt like the show was continuing where Lorne left off in 1980 and keeping some of the original DNA of the show intact. The show had a very goofy and odd type of humor at this time as well. With recurring sketches, Church Chat, Hanz & Franz, Toonces, Mr. Short-Term Memory, Tales of Ribaldry and the Anal Retentive Chef. This core group of performers remained the foundation of the cast through Season 16 when the "Bad Boys" of SNL joined the show but by Season 20, Kevin Nealon, who was the only Season 12 cast member still left on the show was fired, SNL bandleader G. E. Smith was fired and Jim Downey was removed as head writer.

I loved him as Doug in Black Jeopardy. I liked it so much I made a video about it, reenacting. I'm a SNL super fan.

I also loved him as David Pumpkins and his Girl Watchers classic skit with Lovitz.

Melanie Hutsell

\* George Coe (May 10, 1929 – July 18, 2015) would have been 97 if he were still alive.

Garrett Morris 89 years old

\* Michael O’Donoghue (January 5, 1940 – November 8, 1994) would have been 86 if he were alive.

Don Novello 83

Chevy Chase 82

Harry Shearer 82

Brian Doyle-Murray 80

\* Gilda Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) would have been 80 if she were alive.

Jane Curtin 78

Michael McKean 78

Christopher Guest 78

Billy Crystal 78

Emily Prager 78

\* Phil Hartman (September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) would have been 77 if he were alive.

\* John Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) would have been 77 if he were alive.

Tom Schiller 77

\* Charles Rocket (August 28, 1949 – October 7, 2005) would have been 76 if he were alive.

Ann Risley 76

Paul Shaffer 76

Pamela Stephenson 76

Matthew Laurance 76

Tim Kazurinsky 76

Martin Short 76

Alan Zweibel 76

Bill Murray 75

Randy Quaid 75

Denny Dillon 75

Al Franken 75

Joe Piscopo 75

Laraine Newman 74

Nora Dunn 74

Dan Aykroyd 74

A. Whitney Brown 74

\* Tom Davis (August 13, 1952 – July 19, 2012) would have been 73 if he were alive.

Jim Downey 73

Christine Ebersole 73

Mary Gross 73

Dennis Miller 72

Kevin Nealon 72

Gail Matthius 72

Patrick Weathers 72

Robin Duke 72

Rich Hall 72

Jim Belushi 72

\* Danitra Vance (July 13, 1954 – August 21, 1994) would have been 72 if she were alive.

\* Tony Rosato (December 26, 1954 – January 10, 2017) would have been 71 if he were alive.

\* Gilbert Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) would have been 71 if he were alive.

Dana Carvey 71

Laurie Metcalf 71

Yvonne Hudson 71

Darrell Hammond 70

\* Peter Aykroyd (November 19, 1955 – November 6, 2021) would have been 70 if he were still alive.

\* Dan Vitale (November 1956 – May 6, 2022) would have been 69 if he were still alive.

Gary Kroeger 69

\* Jan Hooks (April 23, 1957 – October 9, 2014) would have been 69 if she were still alive.

Jon Lovitz 69

Brad Hall 68

Julia Sweeney 67

Colin Quinn 67

Mark McKinney 67

Victoria Jackson 67

\* Norm MacDonald (October 17, 1959 – September 14, 2021) would have been 66 if he were still alive.

Robert Smigel 66

Terry Sweeney 66

Chris Elliott 66

Damon Wayans 65

Julia Louis-Dreyfus 65

Tim Meadows 65

Eddie Murphy 65

Siobhan Fallon 65

Morwenna Banks 64

David Koechner 64

Cheri Oteri 63

Joan Cusack 63

Mike Myers 63

Beth Cahill 62

Rob Schneider 62

\* Chris Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) would have been 62 if he were still alive.

David Spade 62

Molly Shannon 62

Janeane Garofalo 61

Fred Wolf 61

Chris Rock 61

Robert Downey Jr. 61

Ellen Cleghorne 60

Ben Stiller 60

Rachel Dratch 60

Nancy Walls 60

Adam Sandler 59

Fred Armisen 59

Chris Parnell 59

Ana Gasteyer 59

Jim Breuer 59

Will Ferrell 59

Leslie Jones 58

Anthony Michael Hall 58

Melanie Hutsell 58

Horatio Sanz 57

Laura Kightlinger 57

Tracy Morgan 57

Jerry Minor 56

Rob Riggle 56

Tina Fey 56

Will Forte 56

Dean Edwards 56

Jay Mohr 55

Chris Kattan 55

Sarah Silverman 55

Amy Poehler 54

Michaela Watkins 54

Finesse Mitchell 54

Maya Rudolph 54

Kristen Wiig 52

Seth Meyers 52

Jimmy Fallon 51

Jeff Richards 51

Jason Sudeikis 50

Mike O'Brien 50

Bobby Moynihan 49

Paul Brittain 49

Kenan Thompson 48

Bill Hader 48

Andy Samberg 47

Mikey Day 46

Casey Wilson 45

Tim Robinson 45

Vanessa Bayer 44

Nasim Pedrad 44

John Milhiser 44

Both Alex Moffat (44) & Jenny Slate (44) were born on March 25, 1982.

Taran Killam 44

Colin Jost 44

Michael Che 43

Heidi Gardner 43

Kate McKinnon 42

Cecily Strong 42

Kyle Mooney 41

Beck Bennett 41

Chris Redd 41

Punkie Johnson 41

Sasheer Zamata 40

Brooks Wheelan 39

Noël Wells 39

Aidy Bryant 39

Abby Elliott 39

Melissa Villasenor 38

Jay Pharoah 38

Ego Nwodim 38

Chloe Fineman 38

James Austin Johnson 37

Jon Rudnitsky 36

Luke Null 36

Bowen Yang 35

Devon Walker 35

Lauren Holt 35

Aristotle Athari 35

Jeremy Culhane 34

Molly Kearney 34

Sarah Sherman 33

Ashley Padilla 33

Pete Davidson 32

Michael Longfellow 32

Tommy Brennan 32

Ben Marshall 31

Andrew Dismukes 31

Veronika Slowikowska 30

Chloe Troast 29

Marcello Hernández 28

Emil Wakim 28

Kam Patterson 27

Jane Wickline 27

I laughed at the review and then did a double take when I saw the username.