Blake says goodnight to his real Little Rascals co-stars, wherever they are. Joe Piscopo has his son Joe Jr. with him; Julia Louis-Dreyfus shouts out to some of her friends. Gary Kroeger seems to be wearing the same musketeer outfit from the previous two shows.

The rerun version uses the canned closing theme; Pardo's announcement (left in the Netflix version) mentions "ET's Drew Barrymore", before another reference to his rehiring ("This is announcer's name here saying 'Goodnight!'")

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Repeat version: Another below-average show. According to several testimonies in Live From New York, Blake was a jerk to the cast and writers, but whether his lack of use in tonight's show was because of that or because of his weak performances is unknown; either way, he weighs down the segments in which he appears. It feels very much like the cast is aware they're not performing their best material tonight, though a strong musical guest and Saturday Night News segment elevate the show, and the return to their regular studio seems to also provide a boost of its own. The last part of the show feels very much like they were short on material or running late.

Addendum [08/26/14]: Gary Kroeger recalls that week: "There is a rather infamous encounter that I had where I suggested an idea to him and I believe he wiped his ass with the script. As a result I had very little to do in that show and I disliked the entire episode. Blake (as Barretta) was a hero and I was very disappointed."

Because of the amount of material cut from the repeat version, I can't form a conclusive opinion on the quality of the show; when I get a copy, I will add my impressions.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

Viewer Mail

Saturday Night News

SHOW LOWLIGHTS:

DTV

Airheads Revisited

PBS

MVP:

Eddie Murphy

KNOWN CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN [will update/correct upon receipt of live show]:

cast

Robin Duke : 2 appearances [Blue Lagoon, Masterful Theatre]

: 2 appearances [Blue Lagoon, Masterful Theatre] Mary Gross : 4 appearances [Little Rascals Reunion, The Best Little Whorehouse On The Prairie, Saturday Night News, Masterful Theatre]

: 4 appearances [Little Rascals Reunion, The Best Little Whorehouse On The Prairie, Saturday Night News, Masterful Theatre] Brad Hall : 3 appearances [Blue Lagoon, Saturday Night News, Masterful Theatre]

: 3 appearances [Blue Lagoon, Saturday Night News, Masterful Theatre] Tim Kazurinsky : 4 appearances [Space Shuttle, Tyrone Goes Reggae, Saturday Night News, Masterful Theatre]

: 4 appearances [Space Shuttle, Tyrone Goes Reggae, Saturday Night News, Masterful Theatre] Gary Kroeger : 2 appearances [Space Shuttle, Masterful Theatre]

: 2 appearances [Space Shuttle, Masterful Theatre] Julia Louis-Dreyfus : 3 appearances [The Merv Griffin Show, Little Rascals Reunion, Masterful Theatre]

: 3 appearances [The Merv Griffin Show, Little Rascals Reunion, Masterful Theatre] Eddie Murphy : 5 appearances [Little Rascals Reunion, Space Shuttle, Tyrone Goes Reggae, Masterful Theatre, Viewer Mail]

: 5 appearances [Little Rascals Reunion, Space Shuttle, Tyrone Goes Reggae, Masterful Theatre, Viewer Mail] Joe Piscopo: 6 appearances [The Merv Griffin Show, Little Rascals Reunion, Space Shuttle, The Best Little Whorehouse On The Prairie, Saturday Night News, Masterful Theatre]

crew and extras

Hiram Bullock : 1 appearance [Tyrone Goes Reggae]

: 1 appearance [Tyrone Goes Reggae] Dick Ebersol : 1 appearance [No More Andy Kaufman]

: 1 appearance [No More Andy Kaufman] Steve Jordan : 1 appearance [Tyrone Goes Reggae]

: 1 appearance [Tyrone Goes Reggae] Alan P. Rubin : 1 appearance [Tyrone Goes Reggae]

: 1 appearance [Tyrone Goes Reggae] Clint Smith: 1 appearance [Tyrone Goes Reggae]

guests

Robert Blake : 4 appearances [The Merv Griffin Show, Little Rascals Reunion, The Best Little Whorehouse On The Prairie, Masterful Theatre]

: 4 appearances [The Merv Griffin Show, Little Rascals Reunion, The Best Little Whorehouse On The Prairie, Masterful Theatre] Kenny Loggins : 2 appearances ["Heart To Heart", "I Gotta Try"]

: 2 appearances ["Heart To Heart", "I Gotta Try"] Merv Griffin: 1 appearance [The Merv Griffin Show]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:

February 12, 1983

September 10, 1983

Known alterations:

Best Little House On The Prairie, Blue Lagoon / Next Week and No More Andy Kaufman removed.

Girls of SNL, Clysler-Prymouth, Jogger Motel (02/12/83 only), Sleepy Boy 2000 (09/10/83 only), and Video Victims added.

Sketches included in the 03/24/84 Best Of special:

Saturday Night News (Dr. Jack Badofsky segment only).

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.