"LIVE, FROM NEW YORK"

"Saturday Night Live" was a hoot last night. Host Justin Timberlake was adorably hilarious and even the musical guest, Lady Gaga, was fine since she didn't try any over-the-top spectacle like playing the piano while standing on the bench, then bending over in her thong underwear. Thank god for small favors.

I've been a fan of SNL since its inception in the 1970s, laughing at the Grade A skits and suffering through the bad ones. Which leads me to the main topic of the day: My Favorite SNL Skit Of All Time (and that's 36 years for those of you counting):

Flash back to 1988. Clueless Lawrence (Martin Short) and his serious brother Gerald (Harry Shearer) star as Olympics synchronized swimmer wannabes coached by Christopher Guest as their way-too-swishy coach. Never mind that there is no male's synchronized swimming competition in the Olympics and Lawrence can't swim. He wears nose plugs and water wings because "I'm not a strong swimmer." That's an understatement. Gerald has a smidgeon of talent--enough so that he's given up his job as an accountant to dedicate himself to men's synchro "for the rest of this century." His long-suffering wife supports them as a door-to-door saleslady.

The brothers practice their pool moves in a dance studio that has water waves painted across a mirrored wall. Their synchro coach, once a director of "Shakespeare in the Park--and if I ever have to do that again I'm just going to kill myself with a Veg-a-matic," pushes the guys through their paces. Lawrence doesn't know up from down or left from right, but he's joyfully game at trying. And this attitude impresses the coach. "They're thinking gold. I mean, who would want to wear bronze, anyway?"

Finally, the the guys are ready to move to actual water. They jump into the pool to the musical strains of the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" theme song, Lawrence wearing a life jacket and swim cap and Gerald resplendent with thick chest hair and rouged cheeks. Lawrence is usually about a half-step behind his brother; it's more of a follow the leader exercise. But in the end, they are triumphant and ready to take on the world---or at least their local pool, preferably in the shallow end since Lawrence is still "not that strong a swimmer."

I could watch that skit over and over again....along with nerdy teens Todd and Lisa (Bill Murray and the late Gilda Ratner), the singing Sweeney Sisters, the Chippendale's Dance-Off between the late greats Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley, the "More Cowbell" song rehearsal with Christopher Walken, Church Lady, star-struck Catholic student Mary Catherine, the Coneheads, the Widettes, Will Ferrell and Shari Oteri's cheerleader wannabes, Eddie Murphy's spot-on delivery of James Brown.....the list goes on and on and on. Thanks for all the laughs, SNL.