Keaton says "Bubbles, I love you" and apologizes that they had to cut Andy Kaufman for time. Joe Jackson briefly runs to the front of the stage to wave. Some of the cast stand Gary Kroeger on his head.

Robin Duke is not on stage; she wasn't in the show at all this week. Does anyone know why she was absent?

This is the first 1982-83 show to have a voice-over from Don Pardo to announce the next live broadcast, which also acknowledges his absence and return to the show: "It's good to be back! I don't care what they say, I'm as sharp as I ever was! Tune in next week for more on Jeopardy!". As with any repeat of a show that has a Pardo voice-over during the credits, the repeat uses the canned version of the closing theme.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

An "off" week: Keaton was a little rough and barely used as a host. The vibe I got from this show was that splitting between the two studios affected the format and structure of the sketches, with two very long segments (The Interesting Four, Bill Smith Cares) and a few solo bits (A Sense of Fear, Nutty President). I wonder if the focus on longer pieces meant that there wasn't enough time to develop the shorter sketches. Another question to explore: what effect, if any, did Andy Kaufman being cut have on the content of the final air show? The New Joe Jackson Band's performances were memorable, though; Duke's absence gave Mary Gross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus more airtime, and Ebersol was correct in that Michael Palin's presence helped somewhat. Despite these highlights, though, the show as a whole still felt quite low-energy.

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS:

Thank You, Ron Reagan

Snookie

SHOW LOWLIGHTS:

Michael Keaton's monologue

A Sense Of Fear

Nutty President

Bill Smith Cares

MVP:

Mary Gross

CAST & GUEST BREAKDOWN:

cast

Robin Duke : absent

: absent Mary Gross : 4 appearances [The Interesting Four, Saturday Night News, Bill Smith Cares, Topol The Idiot]

: 4 appearances [The Interesting Four, Saturday Night News, Bill Smith Cares, Topol The Idiot] Brad Hall : 2 appearances [The Interesting Four, Saturday Night News]

: 2 appearances [The Interesting Four, Saturday Night News] Tim Kazurinsky : 3 appearances [The Interesting Four, Snookie, Bill Smith Cares]

: 3 appearances [The Interesting Four, Snookie, Bill Smith Cares] Gary Kroeger : 2 appearances [Makeup Room, Bill Smith Cares]

: 2 appearances [Makeup Room, Bill Smith Cares] Julia Louis-Dreyfus : 4 appearances [The Interesting Four, Snookie, Bill Smith Cares, Topol The Idiot]

: 4 appearances [The Interesting Four, Snookie, Bill Smith Cares, Topol The Idiot] Eddie Murphy : 3 appearances [Makeup Room, Saturday Night News, Bill Smith Cares]

: 3 appearances [Makeup Room, Saturday Night News, Bill Smith Cares] Joe Piscopo: 3 appearances [The Interesting Four, Bill Smith Cares, Nutty President], 1 voice-over [A Sense Of Fear]

crew and extras

Joe Dicso : 1 appearance [Makeup Room]

: 1 appearance [Makeup Room] Andrew Kurtzman : 1 appearance [Bill Smith Cares]

: 1 appearance [Bill Smith Cares] Andy Murphy : 1 appearance [Bill Smith Cares]

: 1 appearance [Bill Smith Cares] Karen Roston : 1 appearance [Bill Smith Cares]

: 1 appearance [Bill Smith Cares] Clint Smith: 1 appearance [Bill Smith Cares]

guests

Michael Keaton : 4 appearances [Makeup Room, Monologue, Bill Smith Cares, Topol The Idiot]

: 4 appearances [Makeup Room, Monologue, Bill Smith Cares, Topol The Idiot] The New Joe Jackson Band : 2 appearance ["Steppin' Out", "Another World"]

: 2 appearance ["Steppin' Out", "Another World"] Michael Palin: 3 appearances [Makeup Room, A Sense Of Fear, Topol The Idiot]

REBROADCAST HISTORY:

August 20, 1983

Additional screen captures from this episode are available here.