Saturday Night Live: "Mardi Gras Special"

Premiered February 20, 1977.

For this review, we depart from our usual summary-review format.  Because that wouldn't be fair to this special.

We're both huge fans of the "original cast" era of Saturday Night Live.  This Mardi Gras special was broadcast once and never re-shown on television.  This gave it a legendary status among fans of SNL.

Part of the allure of SNL is that "anything can happen" on live tv.  But cast members and hosts have rarely gone off script, nor have any major on-air accidents occurred.  In the Mardi Gras special, just about anything that could have happened did happen, and the result was mixed at best.  This special only aired once and was unavailable until the recent DVD release of the series.

What works:

Dan Aykroyd begins the festivities, doing his perfect impression of Jimmy Carter.  When the camera pans out, we see he's sitting on the back of the equestrian Andrew Jackson statue, located in Jackson Square!

Instead of the usual "Live from New York", Aykroyd/Carter exclaims "Live from Mardi Gras, it's Saturday Night!"

After the cold-opening, Randy Newman sings his song "Louisiana 1927".  It's about the Great Mississipi Flood of 1927, but the song (sadly) gained new currency after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. Newman later performs another Lousiana-centric song called "The Kingfish", about Gov. Huey Long.

Jane Curtin and Buck Henry had the thankless task of covering the Bacchus Parade, surrounded by thousands of drunken revelers.  They did the best they could, under difficult circumstances, with writers composing jokes on the fly, projectiles being hurled at them by the crowd and the parade running way behind schedule.

We get a scene featuring guest Penny Marshall and recurring SNL characters Sherry the stewardess (Laraine Newman) and Rhonda Weiss (Gilda Radner) looking to meet guys.  The guys they meet are members of the Wild Bees Motorcyle Club!

Garret Morris performs a K-Telesque commercial for an album called "Garrett Morris Sings Fats Domino".

Baba Wawa (Radner) interviews Henry Winkler, who was very famous at the time for his role as Fonzie on Happy Days.  In a humorous exchange, Winkler seems confused about where his personality ends and Fonzie's begins.  Winkler served as King of the Bacchus Parade during Mardi Gras '77.

Eric Idle reports on the Mardi Gras festivities being held at a local restaurant.  Unfortunately, the party has ended and emptied out by the time Idle goes on the air!

Awkward (presumed) ad-libbing at its finest

SNL's resident filmmaker Gary Weis gives us two short films that capture the spirit of New Orleans.

The New Leviathan Oriental Foxtrot Orchestra performs a nice, 1920s flavored performance of the song "Rebecca Came Back From Mecca".

Paul Shaffer (then part of SNL's house band) sings "The Antler Dance"...

You've gotta love Paul Shaffer's "groovy" 70s shirt!

...while Michael "Mr. Mike" O'Donoghue does the Antler Dance on a balcony in the French Quarter.  Many in the crowd below O'Donoghue attempt to do the Antler Dance as well.

"Put your hands on your head, like a big ol' moose
Keep your elbows high, and your legs real loose
Groove around the floor, kinda leap and prance
Shake your middle just a little, and you're doing the Antler Dance!
Well, well, well, the Antler Dance!
Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!" 

Emily Litella (Radner) confuses the words "liver" and "river" while interviewing a riverboat captain.

New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu gives native son Garret Morris the "Combination To The City".  In the background, a random masked man approaches them before he's restrained by security.  Kind of creepy
.

In a bizarre (but funny) sketch, Weekend Update anchor Laraine Newman interviews people who are celebrating "Mouse Sunday".  This involves taping white mice over their eyes!

The high point for us was John Belushi's reenactment of the "Stella!" scene from A Streetcar Named Desire, with unexpected results.  Belushi's Brando impression was great as always, plus Streetcar was set in New Orleans, giving it extra resonance.

"STELLLAAAAA!"

I won't spoil it, but the absolute best joke of the whole special comes from Jane Curtin at the very end.

While they "work", most of the above aren't exactly hilarious.  

What doesn't work?
Just about everything else.  Don't get us wrong, it's interesting to watch a live broadcast struggle to keep from falling apart.  But the rest of the show isn't very funny or entertaining. 

I've always loved Aykroyd's impression of Tom Snyder.  But the sketch where Snyder investigates topless & bottomless strip clubs starts out well, but goes on forever, to no effect.

Tom Snyder (Aykroyd) interview a stripper named Velocity (Cindy Williams).

While I like Randy Newman's music, this show has too much Newman.  Four songs in a 90-minute special is about two too many.  This was done because Newman's theater location was the most stable spot they had to work with and served as "home base" for the chaotic production.

The show's coverage of the Apollo Ball is hampered by bad camera work and sound.  Plus, Cindy Williams was lost in the crowd outside when they first cut to the ball, and poor Penny Marshall seems uncertain of how to cover for Williams' absence.

Belushi's "reenactment" of Mussolini's speech seems pointless, all build-up with little pay-off.  And the drunken crowd chanting "Duce! Duce!" is a bit ... unsettling.

Belushi as Moussolini.

Bill Murray portrays legendary New Orleans pirate Jean Lafitte, in a one-joke sketch.  Lafitte doesn't like to be called a pirate.  He proceeds to shoot everyone who calls him a pirate, it gets old fast.

Don't call Lafitte a pirate.

This isn't a great special, but if you're a fan of Classic SNL, you owe it to yourself to watch it.  This special can be found as a bonus feature of Satuday Night Live:The Complete Second Season (disc 8, to be exact).

The cast and everyone who worked behind the scenes deserves an A for effort, but this special is no lost classic.

J.A. Morris and RigbyMel's rating:

2 and a half King Cakes.

Treme: "Carnival Time"

"Not as awesome as breaking a tooth on some sort of plastic alien fetus."
-Nick, when finding the baby inside the King Cake

Premiered June 5, 2011.

In this episode from season two of the HBO series, it's Mardi Gras 2007 in New Orleans, and the citizens are preparing to celebrate in a variety of ways.

Fidlde player Annie Talarico (Lucia Micarelli) has been invited to a Courir De Mardi Gras celebration with other musicians 2 hours away in Cajun country.  Her boyfriend Davis McAlary (Steve Zahn), a local DJ, has never missed a Mardi Gras in New Orleans and isn't crazy about spending this one in the country.  He learns his father is riding on a parade float for the first time in years, which provides Davis an out.

Annie in the costume she made for Courir De Mardi Gras.

Local defense attorney Toni Bernette (Melissa Leo) has decided to cast her late husband Creighton's ashes into the Mississippi River.  She would like her teenage daugher Sofia (India Ennega) to participate in the ceremony, but Sofia acts indifferent.  Some of this may stem from the fact that Sofia has recently learned that her father's death was a suicide.

Sofia and Toni check out the parade;Sofia is disinterested.

Delmond Lambreaux (Rob Brown)  and Antione Batiste (Wendell Pierce) have recently fired their guitarist Sonny (Michael Huisman) from their band, Soul Apostles.  Sonny's drug addiction is impacting his musicianship.  However, Delmond wants to give Sonny another chance and assigns Sonny to work on a oyster boat during Mardi Gras, as a means of keeping him out of trouble.

Delmond pays a visit to Sonny.

Antoine has plans to meet up with several different women during Mardi Gras.  His plans change when his ex-wife LaDonna (Khandi Alexander) sends their sons to spend the day with Antoine.

Antoine (somewhat reluctantly) celebrates Mardi Gras with his sons.

Politically connected busisnessman Nelson Hidalgo (John Seda) buys his way onto the Zulu float.  This is part of his plan to develop land ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Nelson gets painted up to ride the Zulu float.

Albert Lambreaux (Clarke Peters), Chief of the Mardi Gras Indians, has made a new costume and is preparing to participate in the revelry.

Janette Desautel (Kim Dickens) is living in New York, working as a sous chef at a fancy restaurant and feeling homesick for Mardi Gras.    Her spirits are lifted when not only does her boss give her the night off to celebrate but someone mails her a King Cake from New Orleans.  This gives her a chance to share Mardi Gras with her flatmates.

Jannette introduces Frank (James Ransone) and Chas (Derek Cecil) to King Cake.

Police officer Terry Colson (David Morse) is patrolling the parades, hoping to minimize crimes during Mardi Gras.

J.A. Morris says:

This is one of the strongest episodes of Treme.  "Carnival Time" feels almost like an anthropological documentary about Mardi Gras.  There's a great scene at around the 25-minute mark.  It's a montage of the different ways people are getting into costumes, accompanied by the Professor Longhair song "Go To The Mardi Gras".  Great television.

Davis (in a "Scream" mask) angles to catch beads at the parade.

I've never been to a Mardi Gras, but I don't think we'll see a better depiction of it on television any time soon.  There's a lot of different plots and sub-plots to keep track of, but this episode could serve as a decent introduction to the series and its characters.

Nick finds the baby in the King Cake!

"Carnival Time" is a strong episode of a very good series and is highly recommended.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 King Cakes.

RigbyMel says:

This is a strong episode of a strong series.  It gives a great overview of many different contrasting aspects of Mardi Gras. We see plenty of "laissez les bons temps rouler" as well as incipient  Ash Wednesday hangovers.

Harley (Steve Earle) plays guitar at Courir De Mardi Gras.

The scenes of people casting the ashes of departed loved ones into the Mississippi as a way of saying goodbye is very touching and also contrasts in an interesting way with Ash Wednesday/ Lent.  We also see contrasts between the country Cajun celebration which harks back to a more Europe-centric Mardi Gras tradition and the anything goes polyglot craziness of the big celebrations in NOLA.

Plus the music, as is typical on the show, is pretty awesome.     As J.A. Morris says, there are aspects of "Carnival Time" that play like a Mardi Gras documentary, but it's the relationships between the characters and their environment that makes this episode (and Treme in general) well worth watching.

RigbyMel's rating:

4 King Cakes.

The Simpsons: "I Love Lisa"

Premiered February 11, 1993.

"I love Lisa Simpson, and when I grow up I'm going to marry her!"
-Ralph Wiggum

Valentines are passed out in Miss Hoover's class. Everyone gets at least one Valentine...except Ralph Wiggum (Nancy Cartwright).

Lisa notices this and feels sorry for Ralph.  She erases her name from a Valentine and gives it to him. Ralph is touched by this gesture, thinking Lisa's Valentine was declaration of love.  He asks if he can walk her home, she lets him but isn't comfortable with it.

Later, Ralph shows up at the Simpsons' house, and Lisa hides from him.  When her father Homer (Dan Castellaneta)  hears Ralph say "I'll do anything for Lisa", he puts him to work doing housework and home repairs.

Meanwhile, a school play is being planned in honor of Presidents Day.  Ralph and Lisa are cast as George Washington and his wife Martha.  Lisa fears that Ralph's "love" for her will ruin the play.

At the same time, Bart is attempting to cause havoc on Valentine's Day by writing confrontational messages on candy hearts.

"Attention everyone, this is Principal Skinner. Some student (possibly Bart Simpson) has been circulating candy hearts with crude off-color sentiments."

Ralph asks Lisa to accompany him to Krusty the Clown's 29th Anniversary Special, one of the toughest tickets in town. (Bart is very upset that Lisa gets invited instead of him!)   Lisa asks Homer if it's okay to accept gifts from someone you don't like. Homer tells her not to let her conscience bother her about it, so Lisa accepts the invitation.

"Watch this, Lisa. You can actually pinpoint the second when his heart rips in half."

Their "date" to the Krusty show does NOT go well.  Ralph declares his love and intent to marry Lisa on live television.  She loses her cool and tells him she only gave him the Valentine out of pity, which crushes his spirits.

A week later, it's time for Springfield Elementary's Presidents Day play.
Will Ralph forgive Lisa?  Or will he let his feelings get the better of him and make a scene during the play?

J.A. Morris says:

A very good episode from the classic era of The Simpsons. In elementary and middle school, I remember a few times when a Valentine led to misunderstandings. Lisa's pity for Ralph backfires and create a monster. Yes, Ralph is annoying, but he has no reason to think Lisa doesn't like him "in that way" until she tells him so.

Itchy & Scratchy get a Valentine's Day cartoon!

In addition to the stuff mentioned in the summary, we get some funny scenes that feature Ralph's father, Chief Wiggum (Hank Azaria) abusing his power as Chief of Springfield Police Department.

Apu gouges Homer for (dusty) last-minute Valentine candy 

I'm a huge fan of The Simpsons.  I Love Lisa is a very good episode and anyone who ever spent a Valentine's Day alone will sympathize with Ralph Wiggum.

J.A. Morris' rating:

3 and a half Valentine Hearts.

RigbyMel says:

This is a classic episode from season four of The Simpsons.  It is also a bit of a rarity in the world of holiday television as it combines Valentine's Day AND Presidents Day.  To my knowledge, this may be the only Presidents Day show on record -- or at least the only one that isn't a documentary.

"We are the mediocre presidents.  You won't find our faces on dollars or on cents ..." 

As is typical of the series, the jokes come fast and furious.   My favorite non sequitur of the episode involves the "Monster Mash" being inappropriately played to kick off the Valentine show on KBBL radio.   Principal Skinner's Vietnam/Apocalypse Now flashback via intercom and Bart's response to it ("Cool!  I broke his brain!") are pretty amusing as well.

Lisa and Ralph star in a "thorough re-telling of the life of George Washington"

The main plot, of course, revolves around Ralph's unrequited love for Lisa and is handled very well.   There are shades of Charlie Brown evident in the gift of a "used" Valentine and Lisa learns that sometimes no good deed goes unpunished.   Both Ralph and Lisa's positions are utterly relate-able.   I remember being VERY careful about what Valentines I gave to classmates in elementary school exchanges.

I also like that the situation resolves with Ralph and Lisa deciding to just "bee" friends.

This episode is well worth re-visiting!

RigbyMel's rating:

3 and a half Valentine hearts