Saturday Night Live/Jason Alexander/Peter Gabriel

Jason Alexander/Peter Gabriel is the seventeenth episode of the eighteenth season of Saturday Night Live, and the three hundred and forty-fifth episode overall.

Guest Stars: Jason Alexander (Host), Peter Gabriel (Musical Guest)

Episode Breakdown

• Clinton-Yeltsin Summit: President Bill Clinton (Hartman) and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (Farley) meet for a summit, but when Yeltsin's wife Naina (Sweeney) comments that she wishes Clinton's wife Hillary had come with, Clinton produces a present for Naina. He offers to make Yeltsin a proposal that if he can spend a day Naina, he'll offer over one billion dollars in aid. George Stephanopoulos (Myers) objects, saying that she's not that good looking, but Clinton explains that he was going to give the aid anyway so he "may as well have some fun." A month later, the Russian aid package fails to pass according to a report by Norma Quarles (Cleghorne), and only $50 is appropriated.
• Jason Alexander's Monologue: Alexander comments that at one time, he acted on the Broadway stage. To illustrate his former life, he removes his robe to reveal a Peter Pan costume and is hoisted into the air by wires while he sings a song about flying from the Peter Pan musical. Suddenly, midway through the song, he stops and asks if some stage hands can "fly him" over to Lorne Michaels. He complains to Michaels about how he's hovering, to which Michaels responds by raising the platform he's on above Alexander's head and telling him that even though he's only four feet off the ground, the viewers at home think he's soaring. With this new confidence, Alexander finishes his song.
• Jiffy Express: In a parody advertisement for a shipping company, a delivery man (Schneider) delivers a package to a woman (Sweeney), who berates him for sitting on the package for a month. The delivery man explains that at Jiffy Express, they'll take the blame for slow delivery to cover up for people forgetting to ship their package on time. Another simulation is shown between a secretary (Hutsell) and an executive (Nealon), as well.
• Woody Allen Fan Club: At a YMCA in New York, the chairman (Alexander) of the Woody Allen fan club calls the club to order. The room is sparse, with only four members present including Martin (Nealon), Steve (Schneider), Andrew Breckman (Spade) and an unnamed member (Smigel). All of the characters speak using Allen impersonations and discuss the trial between Allen and Mia Farrow with a clear Woody Allen bias. After adjourning the club, the chairman admits to the fourth wall that he knows that Allen is immoral, but the club means too much to him.
• Deep Thoughts - Best Medicine: "Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess was why several of us died of tuberculosis."
• Hub's Gyros: Two men (Alexander and Myers) sit in Hub's Gyros, and one (Alexander) decides to ask for more "juice" for his gyro. The cashier (Schneider), obviously pleased with this, starts to say, "You like-a the juice?" repeatedly, which causes a chain reaction with the other employees (Sandler, Farley and Smigel) who also repeat the catchphrase. The patron gets his "juice" and goes back to his table, but notices the employees staring at him. They continue to ask the two if they want more juice. This repeats one more time with ketchup, again when another customer (Meadows) asks where the bathroom is and one more time when the owner (Hartman) calls and asks if the customers like the juice. Finally, Spade walks in and asks that they end the sketch because it's the same thing over and over again.
• Steam: Peter Gabriel song.
• Weekend Update:
  • News correspondent Bennett Brauer (Farley) makes commentary about how the viewer typically only wants commentary from a "Ken doll." He makes several denigrating remarks about how he's ugly, stupid, unclean and has nothing interesting to say, using "air quotes" for the last words of each phrase.
• Food Union: In a supermarket, two employees (Alexander and Schneider) hang out in the employee lounge. While they listen to Eric Clapton and microwave a ham and cheese sandwich, a customer (Sweeney) bursts in on them. They decide to move to the stockroom where they might have some privacy, although they're suddenly interrupted by Mr. Coleman (Hartman) explaining what they should move later. They change locations again, this time hiding in the utility closet, but despite their best efforts, Canteen Boy finds them. They finally find some privacy when they stick their heads in the duct system, although a rat gets uncomfortably close to their heads.
• Deep Thoughts - Earth Pets: "I wish outer-space guys would conquer Earth and make people their pets, because I'd like to have one of those little basket-beds with my name on it."
• Weak Crime Boss: Two goons named Nick (Nealon) and Tony (Hartman) bring in a thief named Marcus (Meadows) to their boss Frank D'Angelo (Alexander). Marcus keeps breaking free of the goons' grasp and attacking the boss. After every incident, D'Angelo works him over before telling the goons to let him go, and Marcus attacks him again.
• Ignorant Proposal: In a parody of Indecent Proposal, Billy Dee Williams (Meadows) plays a man who offers another man, played by Eddie Murphy (Rock), fifteen dollars to sleep with his wife, played by Mary J. Blige (Cleghorne).
• Deep Thoughts - What Frightens Ants: "You know what it is that frightens ants the most? It's not the anteater. And it's not the steamroller. No, wait, it is the steamroller. I got mixed up."
• Tales of Irony: The host (Alexander) of a new anthology series called Tales of Irony introduces three stories about irony. In "Rocket to Irony," Al (Nealon) and Eve (Sweeney) escape from a planet wrecked with violence and pollution, which turns out to be Earth. The host accepts that the story was a poor example and moves on to "Dial 'I' for Irony (On a Date)" where a woman (Hutsell) frets over her blind date seeing a large wart on her face. Her date (Spade), comes in and also has a wart on his face, but it turns out to be a fake one. Again, the host explains that the segment wasn't irony either before introducing "The Ironic Prospector," which is just a prospector (Schneider) dancing. The host's director (Farley) walks in and hands the host a note saying that his show is cancelled.
• Deep Thoughts - Lifeless Desert: "When people say that the desert is lifeless, it just makes me want to grab them by the collar and yell, 'Why you stupid, stupid bastard!' Then I drive them out into the desert to where the circus is, and point out the many forms of zebra and clown life."
• In Your Eyes: Peter Gabriel song.
• Black Coworkers: A new employee (Alexander) comes to sit in a restaurant with his new supervisors, Steve (Spade), Sharon (Hutsell), Pam (Sweeney) and Darnell (Meadows). When Jeff goes off to hang up his coat, Darnell is replaced by Raymond (Rock), and Jeff confuses Raymond for Darnell. To make up for his blunder, he offers to buy a round of drinks, and the two switch places again while he's away. He makes the same mistake again when he mistakes Darnell for Raymond and buys another round of drinks to make up for it. Darnell explains that he's obviously Darnell because of the "D" cut in the back of his head. But, when Denise (Cleghorne) comes into the restaurant and Darnell gives her the same "D" with his buzz pen, Jeff makes the mistake yet again because he can only see the back of Denise's head. In a final attempt to make amends, Jeff goes off to buy champagne for the table, but while he's gone, the three have their names changed by an African priest (Hutcherson) to African names. Predictably, Jeff begins to use their old names, but Steve saves him by yelling fire, and Jeff pleads with the audience that, although he's white, he's not the policeman who beat Rodney King, so he doesn't want his house set on fire in the riots.

Notes

"Live from New York, It's Saturday Night!"

• Julia Sweeney as Naina Yeltsin, wife of Boris Yeltsin.

Trivia

The Show

• First Appearance: The sketch "Clinton-Yeltsin Summit" marks the first appearance of Mike Myers (or, indeed, anyone) in an impression of George Stephanapoulos on SNL. Myers would portray the journalist and Clinton administration official several more times.

• Infamous: The sketch "Hub's Gyros" is often regarded as one of the worst Saturday Night Live sketches in the history of the series. The sketch lasts for over five minutes with the central premise being repeated over six times before David Spade breaks character to ask that they end the sketch.