Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1986–87

(Redirected from Mr. Subliminal)

The following is a list of recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced between October 11, 1986, and May 23, 1987, the twelfth season of SNL.

Marge Keister

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A Jan Hooks sketch. Debuted October 11, 1986.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
12 October 11, 1986 Sigourney Weaver
12 November 15, 1986 Sam Kinison
12 December 13, 1986 Steve Guttenberg
12 February 14, 1987 Bronson Pinchot
12 May 16, 1987 Garry Shandling
13 October 24, 1987 Sean Penn
14 November 19, 1988 John Lithgow

The Church Lady

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Dana Carvey plays a "holier-than-thou" talk show host. Debuted October 11, 1986.

Church Chat

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Season Episode Host Notes
12 October 11, 1986 Sigourney Weaver Christopher Durang (Himself), Sally Kellerman (Jan Hooks), Ann Landers (Nora Dunn) and Zuul (Sigourney Weaver)
12 November 8, 1986 Rosanna Arquette Jenny Baker (Victoria Jackson), Rosanna Arquette (Herself) and Ric Ocasek (Himself)
12 November 15, 1986 Sam Kinison Church Lady boycott the show because of this night's host (Sam Kinison)
12 January 24, 1987 Joe Montana, Walter Payton Shirley MacLaine (Jan Hooks), Walter Payton (Himself) and Joe Montana (Himself)
12 February 21, 1987 Willie Nelson Church Lady and Willie Nelson sing together.

Danny DeVito (Himself), Ann Landers (Nora Dunn), Willie Nelson (Himself).

12 March 28, 1987 Charlton Heston Jim (Phil Hartman) and Tammy Faye Bakker (Jan Hooks)
12 May 23, 1987 Dennis Hopper Dennis Hopper (Himself)
13 October 24, 1987 Sean Penn Rashashimi Khadudi Hasumi-imi-humi (Jon Lovitz), Sean Penn (Himself)
13 December 5, 1987 Danny DeVito Jessica Hahn (Jan Hooks), Danny DeVito (Himself)
13 February 27, 1988 Judge Reinhold Pat Robertson (Al Franken) and Jimmy Swaggart (Phil Hartman)
14 November 5, 1988 Matthew Modine Morton Downey Jr. (Himself)
15 December 16, 1989 Andie MacDowell Nadia Comaneci (Jan Hooks), Leona Helmsley (Nora Dunn), Andie MacDowell (Herself)
15 February 24, 1990 Fred Savage Enid (Fred Savage), Marla Maples (Jan Hooks) and Donald Trump (Phil Hartman)
15 March 17, 1990 Rob Lowe Rob Lowe (Himself)
16 December 1, 1990 John Goodman Sadam Hussein (Phil Hartman) and the Church Lady's mother (John Goodman)
22 October 26, 1996 Dana Carvey O.J Simpson (Tim Meadows) & Madonna (Molly Shannon)
26 October 21, 2000 Dana Carvey Hillary Clinton (Ana Gasteyer), Anne Heche (Chris Kattan) and Eminem (Chris Parnell)
36 February 5, 2011 Dana Carvey The Kardashians (Nasim Pedrad, Abby Elliott, Vanessa Bayer) and Snooki (Bobby Moynihan)
41 May 7, 2016 Brie Larson Ted Cruz (Taran Killam) and Donald Trump (Darrell Hammond)
Additional appearances
  • Church Potluck- December 6, 1986
  • Christmas Eve- December 17, 1988
  • The '90s- January 13, 1990
  • Weekend Update- November 5, 2016

Mr. Subliminal

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Played by Kevin Nealon, he was originally an advertising executive (named Phil Maloney) who used subliminal messages to influence people. His appearances on Update utilized the subliminal technique (i.e. saying things rapidly and under his breath, in between sentences) to reveal what he is really thinking. For example, in an editorial on the 1994 caning of Michael Fay, he stated that:

"...the boy admitted to spray painting cars but he's only eighteen and young people often do stupid and impulsive things they later regret (Shannen Doherty). I happen to think [pause] that everyone's entitled to one mistake (Euro Disney). And I'm not saying there aren't [pause] those who I'd love to see get a good flogging (Urkel), it's just that [pause] I'm afraid we've become so insensitive that we've learned to accept the idea of a man's beating in public (Pee Wee Herman)."[1]

Debuted October 11, 1986.

Derek Stevens ("She choppin’ broccoli...")

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An English singer/songwriter (played by Dana Carvey) is meeting with his record producers to go over his demo, which they soon discover he has failed to record. He insists, however, that he has written songs and he can play the songs for them live, and when they ask him to do so, he quickly makes up a song called "The Lady I Know". He then sits at the piano and begins sloppily faking his way through the song, which ultimately becomes an endless refrain of the chorus, "Choppin' broccoli" in various vocal styles and intonations. Upon hearing it, the producers appear to be awestruck by his lyrics, and are ecstatic about recording the song. Debuted October 11, 1986.

This song was originally in a Dana Carvey stand-up comedy routine about the vapidness of popular music.

Stevens returns in a later sketch, in which his producers try to convince him that his premature death might help the sales of his album. A fearful Stevens responds by hyping a new song, with the same tune as "The Lady I Know", but featuring different, though equally repetitive, lyrics and a similar endless refrain ("My pretty little lady! My pretty little gir-rl!") The producers are unimpressed.

Stevens appeared once more on SNL's 40th Anniversary Special in 2015, singing "Choppin' Broccoli".

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
12 October 11, 1986 Sigourney Weaver
12 December 13, 1986 Steve Guttenberg
12 February 14, 1987 Bronson Pinchot
13 February 13, 1988 Justine Bateman

The Sweeney Sisters

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The Sweeney Sisters are a duo of party singers, Candy Sweeney (played by Jan Hooks) and her sister Liz (played by Nora Dunn). They normally sing cover medleys of pop standards in very high-pitched voices, a la Nick the Lounge Singer. Their medleys always include the first two lines of "The Trolley Song" ("Clang, clang, clang went the trolley...") about two-thirds of the way through, followed by a string of scatting. In these medleys the last word of one song often segues into the first word of the next. The sisters are usually seen performing at various U.S. hotel lounges, and their performances usually begin with "You must have pressed 'L' for 'lobby'! Come, join us." They were the opening act at the 40th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1988.[2] Candy and Liz have a sister (a former member of the group), Audrey, who was played by Mary Tyler Moore. The Sweeneys' accompanist, Skip St.Thomas, was played by composer Marc Shaiman. Debuted October 18, 1986.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
12 October 18, 1986 Malcolm-Jamal Warner
12 November 22, 1986 Robin Williams
12 December 20, 1986 William Shatner
12 January 31, 1987 Paul Shaffer
12 March 28, 1987 Charlton Heston
12 May 23, 1987 Dennis Hopper
13 November 14, 1987 Robert Mitchum
13 December 19, 1987 Paul Simon
14 December 17, 1988 Melanie Griffith
14 March 25, 1989 Mary Tyler Moore

Instant Coffee with Bill Smith

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A Kevin Nealon sketch. Debuted October 18, 1986.

The Two Sammies

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A Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon sketch. Debuted November 8, 1986.

Miss Connie's Fable Nook

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A Jan Hooks, Dana Carvey, Dennis Miller and Kevin Nealon sketch. Debuted November 8, 1986.

The Jungle Room

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A Phil Hartman and Jon Lovitz sketch.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
12 November 15, 1986 Sam Kinison
12 January 24, 1987 Joe Montana, Walter Payton
12 October 24, 1987 Sean Penn
12 December 5, 1987 Danny DeVito

Ching Chang

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Dana Carvey played the character Ching Chang, a typical Asian-American stereotype whose only goal in life is to put his chickens in their own show on Broadway. Debuted November 15, 1986.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
12 November 15, 1986 Sam Kinison
12 January 31, 1987 Paul Shaffer
12 February 28, 1987 Valerie Bertinelli
12 May 9, 1987 Mark Harmon
13 November 21, 1987 Candice Bergen
16 November 10, 1990 Jimmy Smits
26 October 21, 2000 Dana Carvey

The NFL Today

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A parody of The NFL Today, with Phil Hartman impersonating Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder and Kevin Nealon impersonating Brent Musburger.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
12 January 24, 1987 Joe Montana, Walter Payton
13 October 17, 1987 Steve Martin
13 January 30, 1988 Carl Weathers
15 April 14, 1990 Corbin Bernsen

Mace

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A Phil Hartman sketch. Debuted January 24, 1987.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
12 January 24, 1987 Joe Montana, Walter Payton
13 November 21, 1987 Candice Bergen
15 March 17, 1990 Rob Lowe
16 March 23, 1991 Jeremy Irons

Nightline

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A parody of the late-night news program Nightline, with Dana Carvey impersonating its host Ted Koppel.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
12 February 14, 1987 Bronson Pinchot
16 January 12, 1991 Joe Mantegna
18 September 26, 1992 Nicolas Cage

Discover with Peter Graves

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Phil Hartman impersonates actor Peter Graves in this series of sketches. It parodies actors hosting documentary series, portraying Graves as not being able to fully understand or comprehend the show's topics.

Appearances
Season Episode Host Notes
12 February 28, 1987 Valerie Bertinelli
12 April 11, 1987 John Lithgow
13 October 24, 1987 Sean Penn
13 January 23, 1988 Robin Williams

President Dexter

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A Charlton Heston sketch. Debuted March 28, 1987.

References

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  1. ^ "SNL Transcripts: Steve Martin: 04/22/78: Dancing in the Dark - SNL Transcripts Tonight". 8 October 2018.
  2. ^ Stutz, Colin (October 9, 2014). "Jan Hooks' Top 5 Musical Moments". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
Preceded by
Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1985-86
Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches (listed chronologically) Succeeded by
Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1987-88