Neither Eddie Murphy nor Joe Piscopo are on stage. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Joel Hodgson play around. There is no closing announcement, but the credits run in full, and several people in the balcony are seen getting up from their seats at the end.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

An off week, but not a disaster. Eddie Murphy's presence surprisingly does very little to boost this week's show, which felt like the cast and writers were struggling to fill the full 90 minutes. Curtis wasn't bad, but she didn't add much to the show, and was either stuck in bland roles or playing herself. This was a better show than her 1980 gig, though, which shows how much Dick Ebersol, Bob Tischler, the cast and writers have turned things around since then. The best sketches either took advantage of the extra possibilities provided by the film unit (Tag) or allowed an underutilized performer to tap into a specific skill. The rest of the show wasn't awful, but so much of it was forgettable or didn't quite fulfill its potential.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

The Julia Show

Tag

Persons Express

SHOW LOWLIGHTS:

Rehearsal

Jake's Video Hut

Saturday Night News

MVP:

Jim Belushi

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:

cast

Jim Belushi : 4 appearances [Rappin' Jimmy B, Tag, Rehearsal, Persons Express]

: 4 appearances [Rappin' Jimmy B, Tag, Rehearsal, Persons Express] Robin Duke : 3 appearances [Jake's Video Hut, Persons Express, Where Are They Now?]

: 3 appearances [Jake's Video Hut, Persons Express, Where Are They Now?] Mary Gross : 2 appearances [Jake's Video Hut, El Dorko]

: 2 appearances [Jake's Video Hut, El Dorko] Brad Hall : 4 appearances [Tag, Jake's Video Hut, El Dorko, Where Are They Now?]

: 4 appearances [Tag, Jake's Video Hut, El Dorko, Where Are They Now?] Tim Kazurinsky : 6 appearances [Tag, Jake's Video Hut, El Dorko, Saturday Night News, Heart Tartare. Where Are They Now?]

: 6 appearances [Tag, Jake's Video Hut, El Dorko, Saturday Night News, Heart Tartare. Where Are They Now?] Gary Kroeger : 6 appearances [Tag, Jake's Video Hut, El Dorko, Reagan Workout, Heart Tartare, Where Are They Now?]

: 6 appearances [Tag, Jake's Video Hut, El Dorko, Reagan Workout, Heart Tartare, Where Are They Now?] Julia Louis-Dreyfus : 3 appearances [Jake's Video Hut, El Dorko, The Julia Show]

: 3 appearances [Jake's Video Hut, El Dorko, The Julia Show] Eddie Murphy : 3 appearances [Monologue, Jake's Video Hut, The Julia Show]

: 3 appearances [Monologue, Jake's Video Hut, The Julia Show] Joe Piscopo: 3 appearances [Jake's Video Hut, Reagan Workout, Saturday Night News]; 2 voice-overs [Reagan Workout, Rehearsal]

crew and extras

Tom Barney : 1 appearance [Rappin' Jimmy B]

: 1 appearance [Rappin' Jimmy B] Michael Brecker : 1 appearance [Rappin' Jimmy B]

: 1 appearance [Rappin' Jimmy B] Andy Breckman : 2 appearances [Tag, Persons Express]

: 2 appearances [Tag, Persons Express] Tom Malone : 1 appearance [Rappin' Jimmy B]

: 1 appearance [Rappin' Jimmy B] Barry Nichols : 1 appearance [Persons Express]

: 1 appearance [Persons Express] Marc Shaiman : 1 appearance [Heart Tartare]

: 1 appearance [Heart Tartare] Clint Smith : 1 appearance [Persons Express]

: 1 appearance [Persons Express] Georg Wadenius: 1 appearance [Rappin' Jimmy B]

guests

Jamie Lee Curtis : 7 appearances [Monologue, Tag, El Dorko, The Julia Show, Rehearsal, Persons Express, Heart Tartare]

: 7 appearances [Monologue, Tag, El Dorko, The Julia Show, Rehearsal, Persons Express, Heart Tartare] The Fixx : 2 appearances ["One Thing Leads To Another", "Red Skies"]

: 2 appearances ["One Thing Leads To Another", "Red Skies"] Joel Hodgson: 1 appearance [Guest Performance]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:

Not rebroadcast on NBC (not counting a 2004 NBC All Night airing)

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.