Saturday Night News with Christopher Guest

Weaker night for Guest’s jokes, but he only has three full ones tonight. This also features SNL’s first-ever mention of Donald Trump; he is mentioned in passing as the owner of the New Jersey Generals football team that signed Doug Flutie. The Flutie joke is interrupted by Robert Latta (Rich Hall), the man who had recently gained infamy by sneaking into the White House on Inauguration Day (the audience responds to him telling Guest that he “sneaked in with the band”; how he got into the White House). The doctored pictures of him sneaking into different places (the space shuttle, the arms talks, and Zelig) were also a hit with the audience, and Guest does well as usual as straightman. Can anyone ID the guy playing the security guard in this piece? Nathan Thurm (Martin Short) is back to represent the Tobacco Growers of America, still as nervous and defensive as ever. This is pretty much the same as the other Nathan Thurm bits beforehand, and although Short is good in them, this is perhaps something that would have been better left as the one-off in the 60 Minutes sketch. Jim Belushi also returns as critic-at-large one episode after his last appearance in the role, this time reviewing a restaurant but still giving out airhorn blasts. These bits feel like they’re trying too hard to be similar to John’s “but nooooo!” rants, however, this actually manages to still find a fresh angle from the last review, with Belushi getting as much as he gives, first, from the humiliating dinner Captain Kangaroo-esque dinner jacket he is forced to wear, to his girlfriend breaking up with him for being too tense, to the airhorn blast he gives himself when he starts into the self-pity (*HONK* “LIGHTEN UP, BELUSHI!”)

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