EPISODE REVIEWS
Matthew Perry / Oasis
October 4, 1997
Matthew Perry is the fourth "Friend" to have the distinction of hosting "SNL" and by this point they are much easier personalities to exploit. I was really looking forward to this episode almost as much as the season opener. The musical side of things, on the other hand, made me apprehensive because Oasis is a notoriously bad live act. Still, I expected a good show.
[OPENING] Spartan Cheerleader wanna-bees Craig & Arianna
Typical patheticness and wearing thin; not the kind of thing that works well as an opener, either. Plus, they're just not funny playing off each other and no one else.
Grade: C-
[MONOLOGUE] Matthew Perry
It's been two episodes and no one has sung yet? A first rate monologue with Perry's usual first-rate delivery and wins the prize for best show intro by a star of "Friends."
Grade: B+
[COMMERCIAL] Cookie Dough Sport Drink
The less said, the better.
Grade: F
[SKETCH] Celebrity Jeopardy
First, a few quibbles. Travolta, et al. are smart people and portraying them as idiots is really not funny, especially if you keep doing it incessantly. Next, John Travolta sounds nothing like Bill Clinton. Finally, "Celebrity Jeopardy" doesn't have champions. This could be funnier if they approached it from another direction. Why don't they mock celebs who are perceived as stupid or jerk around another type of occupation?
Grade: D+
[SKETCH] Sarcasm 101
This took a little while to get rolling but they softened the ending so no one seemed "too mean." It completely stole the heart from the whole enterprise. On the upside, they made good use of Perry's natural talents better then they did in the last skit.
Grade: C
[SKETCH] The Ladies' Man
The first skit to actually be good. Easy laughs but by this point I was really beggin' for them.
Grade: B-
[SKETCH] Space the Infinite Frontier with Harry Caray
Ingenious in its stream of conscious humor; it makes you laugh by operating on another plane of reality. On the downside, Matthew wasn't reacting the way I think a normal person would.
Grade: B
[WEEKEND UPDATE] with Norm MacDonald
A smoker. Relatively brief but it was consistently entertaining. One of his very best. And I loved the Jane Fonda joke even though it had the relevance of Cook's memoir of his North Pole adventures.
Grade: A
[MUSICAL GUEST] Oasis
How come every time I see these dunderheads perform on television they look so bored to be there? At least their execution of this song was dead on and fun to listen too.
Grade: A+
[SKETCH] MTV News: Goat Boy press conference
The first Goat Boy skit of the season and I REALLY DO NOT CARE. Kill this character or kill me but, please, let it end. Just let it end.
Grade: F
[COMMERCIAL] The Kevin Franklin Show promo
Well, it does seem like something UPN would show ...
Grade: F
[SKETCH] "Friends"
Well, it's about time but it wasn't a pure satire of the show. Still, it did have a great payoff but the build-up was most definitely not worth it.
Grade: D+
[MISCELLANEOUS] The Go Lords
Er ... never mind.
Grade: F
[MUSICAL GUEST] Oasis
Ooo ... lighting effects. Surprisingly, it wasn't the single "D' You Know What I Mean," which I guess means that they've given up that particular single. Ahem. This song wasn't as much fun to listen to as the first but they acquitted themselves well.
Grade: B
[SKETCH] Good Morning with Liza
I don't know why they wanted to pick on Liza in this way but it was funny. It went for the jugular and that's the way it should be. The skit that catches the "SNL" spirit best.
Grade: B-
[COMMERCIAL] The Kevin Franklin Show promo 2
Much, much better.
Grade: B
OVERALL
Well, seeing as I gave last week's episode a "B," I can't give this a really good grade. There were just too many average and just plain horrible sketches. Perry was wasted more often than not despite the high potential for him to be one of the very best hosts of the season. Only Oasis exceeded my expectations.
Grade: C-
Episode Review written by Michael Keith Goodman
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