Saturday Night Live: Walter Matthau/Garrett Morris

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Walter Matthau/Garrett Morris ranks 167,592 out of all 118,840 episodes (of all shows) on TV.com.

Saturday Night Live fans have written a total of 1 reviews of Walter Matthau/Garrett Morris.

Air Date

Saturday December 2, 1978

Production Code

Unknown

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  7 Good

  “Well, it’s short and sweet, but no one wants to see it” hide show

  Legendary actor Walter Matthau makes his SNL hosting stint in early December 1978, without a scheduled musical guest (possibly because of a last minute drop out, who knows?) so Garrett Morris fills in as musical guest Cold Open- Silverman’s Office- NBC president Fred Silverman (Belushi) talks about canceling and replacing bad shows with even worse ones. This is the second appearance of Belushi’s Silverman impression and considering the real deal allowed ‘Supertrain’ to be broadcast, I’d say this is dead-on. Monologue- Matthau wonders if he is funny enough. Just a regular monologue not much else.
  
  Epoxy-dent- An adman (George Coe) convinces a man of the super strength denture cream by allowing him to be lifted into the air by a helicopter with only his teeth. And they chose to broadcast this for what reason?
  
  Bad News Bees- In an obvious parody of the 1976 movie Bad News Bears, the bees taunt another (Belushi) who likes to “buzz off” a lot while at camp. The coach (Matthau) intervenes to quell the controversy. This was really funny and the references to masturbation and the sound gag in the middle and end worked as well. Olympia Cafe- The Greek restaurateurs (Belushi, Laraine, Bill, Aykroyd) deal with customer complaints and a convincing Coca-Cola representative (Matthau). These sketches usually had something different with each segment and became more of an ongoing storyline. Father/Daugher Bonding- While a couple (Gilda, Bill) is trying to bond, a father (Matthau) interrupts to do the same with his daughter. I thought this was well-written and possible a Marilyn Suzanne Miller piece, but since Miller left after season 3, I’m passing the possible responsibility on to Rosie Shuster and Gilda.
  
  Weekend Update- Laraine discusses homosexuals mourning the death of openly gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk over footage of China and Mao Zedong; Belushi commentates on the less fortunate before going into full rant. Good Update.
  
  The New Dick- Nixon (Aykroyd) speaks with campaign manager (Matthau) about ways to get back in power, and then unveils his new slogan to his excited daughter Julie (Gilda), dense son-in-law David (Bill) and increasingly agitated wife Pat (Curtin). These sketches are always funny and Curtin as Nixon’s wife steals each scene she is in.
  
  Woman to Woman- Connie Carson (Gilda) interviews more real women; this time model Vanessa Lake (Laraine) is interviewed. This didn’t do much for me.
  
  Garrett sings “Dalla Sua Pace” from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, at the request of Matthau. Garrett does have a great singing voice. At the end, Matthau claps, shows strong appreciation and ends it with a funny line.
  
  Surplus Store- A store owner (Matthau) deals with customers looking for consignments and the relationship problems of one in particular (Laraine); another well-written sketch that emphasizes the plot and characters.
  
  Network Battle of the T’s and A’s (rerun from Rolling Stones episode) - funny promo ad with inter cut footage.
  
  Mr. Bill’s dog (film) - The much harmed claymation man must endure his dog getting crushed and smashed while doing tricks. I enjoy these mostly because they are so bizarre, despite it being the same joke.
  
  Walter Matthau was sufficient in his various roles and Garrett Morris filled in just fine as “musical guest”, with that said this show was a good one. 7/10

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  bry456 Added Aug 19, 2009 All my reviews

• Guest Cast

  • Garrett Morris Himself
  • Walter Matthau Himself
  • George Coe Epoxy-Dent Spokesman (uncredited)

• Stars

  • Laraine Newman Herself
  • Michael O'Donoghue Himself
  • Tom Davis Himself
  • Gilda Radner Herself
  • Dan Aykroyd Himself
  • Bill Murray Himself
  • Don Novello Father Guido Sarducci/Various
  • Jane Curtin Herself

• Recurring Roles

  • Brian Doyle-Murray Lambrose
  • Dave Wilson Recurring Role
  • Don Pardo Announcer
  • John Belushi Himself
More Episode Cast and Crew »

• Check this out: At the time the Olympia Restaurant exchanges Pepsi for Coke, a cheeseburger costs $1.50, and Pepsi (or Coke) costs 28¢. Jane Curtin is charged $3.82 for two cheeseburgers, one Pepsi, and one chips. That makes two big numerical errors: (A) Four bags of chips costs $1.22, an amount that does not divide evenly into 4; (B) One bag of chips and one Pepsi/Coke do not cost 82¢. [edit]

• There is no musical guest for this episode. Instead, Garrett Morris sings "Dalla Sua Pace". [edit]
• This was the last time The Bees were performed. [edit]

• Uncle Ned: ..The bartender takes one look at this thing, and says, "Where does a 500 lb. gorilla sleep?" [ laughs ] "Anywhere he -"
  
  [ suddenly, Uncle Ned's false teeth slip out, and bounce across the picnic table ]
  
  Niece: Uncle Ned! That's disgusting! [edit]

• There are currently no allusions. Add allusions!