This week on the SNL Hall of Fame podcast we're joined by Mike Murray from the SNN to discuss the career and Hall of Fame candidacy of 4-time host Sir Charles Barkley.

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[0:40] Thank you so much, Doug DeNance. It is a thrill to be back here at the SNL Hall of Fame on the SNL Hall of Fame podcast. My name is JD and it is a absolute wreck outside. Let me fold up this umbrella. My feet are dirty. Follow my lead. I'm going to wipe them. You know what I'm saying? Let's go inside. But before we do, the SNL Hall of Fame podcast is a weekly affair where each Each episode, we take a deep dive into the career of a former cast member, host, musical guest, or writer, and add them to the ballot for your consideration. Once the nominees have been announced, we turn to you, the listener, to vote for the most deserving and help determine who will be enshrined for perpetuity in the hall. And that's how we play the game. It's just that simple. We have a Barnburner of a show this week, Thomas is going to be joined by stat guru from the SNN, Mike Murray, to discuss the career of four-time host Charles Barkley. This should be a good one, folks. But before we get into that conversation, why don't we visit our friend Matt Ardill in his trivia corner?

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[2:02] Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, I give you the Trivia Meister, Matt Ardell. Matt, how are you doing? I'm good, thanks, JD. And yourself? You know what? Any day that I get to sit here and listen to you tell me some of my favorite actor, actresses, or pop culture figures' height, then I am in a good place. Hey, it's the facts that everybody wants to know. That's right.

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[2:27] Well, I've got a very tall tale for you today. Um charles sparkly uh six six uh february 20th 1963 is his birth date um he was born in leeds alabama and nicknamed sir charles the bread truck and round mound off of rebound uh he is was the first african-american born in a segregated hospital in his all-white town and one of the the first group of black kids to attend his elementary school um in high school he actually didn't make the varsity basketball team at first yeah out of here no yeah it's true he was named uh as a reserve um but he grew from five foot ten to six foot four over the summer And then he was put in a starting position the next year And he averaged 19 points and 17 rebounds per game in high school.

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[3:33] He then went on to play for the Auburn Tigers in college, where he would become known for his talent of blocking shots and then dunking, often getting possession of the ball and running the full length of the court to dunk instead of pass.

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[3:50] Drafted to the NBA during his final year of college, he dropped out of school to join the 76ers and was best friends with Michael Jordan. They were born three days apart with and he is also friends with Magic Johnson, who, when Magic had to retire due to his HIV diagnosis, Charles changed his number from his college number of 34 to Johnson's 32 to pay tribute to him during his last year in the NBA. He is actually the shortest player in nba history to lead the league rebounding from 86 to 87 as well as being a basketball player and tnt sports commentator he is an actor with 30 film credits produced three and was one of the writers for inside the nba he has been on shows including including the Goldberg, Modern Family, and The Simpsons, and even the Clerks TV show appearing in an animated form as himself.

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[4:56] Huh. Very cool. You know, I never watched the Clerks cartoon. It's very Clerks-y. Yeah, yes. It's definitely got that Kevin Smith vibe. Well, this is very Barkley of you. So, nicely done. let's go downstairs with thomas and mike murray as they discuss more about our nominee this week charles barkley, All right.

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[5:52] Matt and JD, thank you so much and welcome to another discussion about a great nominee here at the SNL Hall of Fame. A fun one, an interesting one, I would say an unorthodox nominee for the SNL Hall of Fame. Of course, we were talking about the one and only Sir Charles, Charles Barkley, today for the host category. And with me, a repeat guest, I had to bring him back, Mike Murray from the Saturday Night Network, a stats guru for Saturday Night Live. Not just a stats guru, like, I don't wanna pigeonhole Mike as just a stats guy, Because, Mike, your knowledge of SNL goes beyond stats. I think you need to get more credit. You have insights that a lot of people don't have. So it's not just in the lab and the numbers, that's a lot of it. But you have genuine, awesome knowledge and insights about the show. So I'm so happy to have you back here on the SNL Hall of Fame. Thanks, Thomas. I mean, great intro right there. What do I say?

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[6:54] I'm happy to be on this show with you. I think you're one of the best SNL podcast hosts out there. So for me to be with you talking shop about basketball about snl what could be better than this so thanks for having me back yeah absolutely i hope brad and gary from the not ready for prime primetime podcast heard you just say that so we need to cut them down the pegs no they're great too my first appearance on snl hall of fame was with uh brad yeah they're no they're they're fun guys i actually got to meet them uh in person this past weekend in philadelphia oh so yeah so But I appreciate that, man. It's so good to have you back. Before we get started, we like to do the plugs up top. Why don't you tell people what you're up to this season on the Saturday Night Network? Well, big one coming up, Season 5-0. So, late September, we're going to have a new season of the show. So, that means the SNN, the Saturday Night Network, will be back in full force. So, we do three shows a week. We do a hot take show at 1 a.m. Following the broadcast. We do a Monday roundtable, and on Wednesday nights, that's my show. It's the stat show. It's called By the Numbers.

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[8:06] And if you've ever been interested in the analytics side of SNL, which is a hard pitch at times, but people gravitate towards it, and it was just something that I started doing, just kind of making my own sports world about my favorite show, because my number one love in life is sports and I'm always on the reference sites and like to do comparisons and I figured why not do that for the institution that is SNL so I started doing appearances and then I started doing screen time I made an algorithm to get an output number for each person who appears on the show called the power ranking and so we covered those three numbers every week on the show and And just kind of get into like a sports radio talk show about SNL every week. So following a new episode every Wednesday, 8 p.m. Eastern, you can hear that show on the SNN. That's awesome. And the thing with analytics on your show is it leads to discussions. So it leads to insights about that week's episode or the season as a whole. So you get really just neat discussions like sports radio and I'm the same way like I always watched SNL like it was sports I'm really into like the stats part of it I was perusing like.

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[9:30] Pro football reference basketball reference and baseball reference just today for one reason or another so i'm always on those sites yeah that's a normal day for me as well yeah absolutely i subscribe monthly to basketball reference so i don't get the ads so i do the football yeah.

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[9:45] That's awesome so those are great sites i've been working on a uh entire history of nfl game log yeah last year i have excel spreadsheets that people would just that would blow their mind about how much of a sports nerd that i am so so we're on the we're on the same wavelength mike yeah that's why we get along so well and for sure i'm glad you mentioned that because i do even as a kid thought snl was like a sport because it's live so you know i've said before that yeah it is cool to know how much screen time like chewbacca got and star wars but like it's edited like this is live things are being cut at dress things are being cut for time live during the the show so if you don't make it on that night like that's a zero but like if you you know what if all three of your showcases make it like wouldn't you want to look back i mean this is the snl hall of fame and say those are your hall of fame episodes just like games or seasons yeah precisely and we didn't do this on purpose by the way but this is the most seamless uh.

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[10:46] Segue i think that i've had in a long time uh comparing snl to sports because today's nominee charles barkley of course uh former nba player uh current well i guess that's maybe a little up in the air but he was on inside the nba for uh 24 years um but i guess now that's that's we'll see what happens heading into next season um but charles barkley known as one of the great characters in nba history even while he was still playing he was known as kind of an off the wall character um he's pretty Pretty short for his position.

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[11:21] They called him the round mound of rebound. Played an aggressive style, outspoken guy.

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[11:27] So people knew all about Charles Barkley. So I'm wondering, Mike, when did you take notice of Charles Barkley? And what's your basketball fandom like? Well, for me, I'm a big basketball fan, huge Celtics fan. So just got banner 18. So I have to shout that out. I think this team is going to be good for a while. But I am a Boston sports fan. so I know that things come and thank you very much and I know that these things come and they don't always work out. I have had a lot of heartbreak and a lot of triumph so very happy with the team right now but as far as Mr. Chuck there, I would say late 96 Space Jam, that was when I knew those players on the team I had all the Space Jam figurines as a kid including Charles Barkley. And so I was a little young to watch him play for the Sixers, but knew who he was. And then...

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[12:27] Seeing his like post post playing career persona i wanted to start this episode with you right now by saying like is charles brockley like the funniest athlete because i was thinking about this right right before the show so i'll give you a minute to think about it but a lot of athletes have a lot of charisma like they're big they're they're like larger than life people and they have a lot of bravado and so like they have funny personalities or they say things post game that are quotable but i think charles barkley is like naturally a funny dude yeah he is do you have any nominees who would who would be at his level or or funnier than him i think ricky henderson is is one was one of the funnier athletes maybe a little before some of our listeners times but But Ricky played from like 1979 to like 2003 or something. So he's been, but he was funny with the Red Sox cup of coffee with like almost every team. It seemed like, um, but Ricky was very funny. He would speak, he would call himself Ricky. So he would say, Ricky did this or Ricky did that or whatever. Like, so, but I don't know. I think Chuck's is more intentional. John Sally. If you remember John Sally, he was an actual standup comedian. Um, one other recent person I'll throw into the mix, honestly, is Blake Griffin.

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[13:46] Blake Griffin's one of the funnier athletes. Chuck and Blake Griffin are probably the two funniest athletes that I've seen in my opinion. And Blake Griffin's appearance on SNL two seasons ago in the Kim K show. Yeah, exactly. I'm halfway surprised he never hosted, but I don't know. He took classes at the Groundlings and stuff, so Blake was real serious about it. Yeah, but Chuck's just naturally funny. It seems like he doesn't even have to try. like you think like that's part of what draws people to him as an snl host is just sort of like some sort of natural humor like what is it that's made him such like a beloved figure in our community well i think it's kind of what i said is that there there might be a divide sometimes between the sports world and the theater slash comedy world and so when you see somebody who's willing to play for the other team which is maybe the team that we're on on this podcast of being comedy commentators slash analysts, and to see somebody come over to that side, and the fact that he's come back. I mean, we're going to talk about his shows, but he's hosted four times now.

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[14:51] Which is i i would consider a record for an athlete unless you count the rock as an athlete which i feel like he already is more of an actor coming from wwf first appearance like i count as an athlete appearance yeah but he was promoting his wrestling it was like he was like almost there as the rock and gimmick so i can maybe count that yeah so i mean he the rock is a five-timer but uh chuck is right behind at four and so to answer your question i feel like people are so you can say this about sports politics comedy anything like that people are always embracing somebody who's embracing them so i think that charles barkley the willingness to come back i mean he was coming off an n uh nba mvp season right so he was the reigning mvp i mean michael Jordan hosted in I think 91 and then he went on to be MVP but Charles Barkley reigning MVP we saw like uh Tom Brady and Eli Manning like they came off a Super Bowl win um Travis Kelsey more recently but so Barkley was the reigning MVP came in you know it's we're gonna talk about the show do that that show so we'll get into in a second but coming back three more times and just you He's not a trained comedian, but having a blast. I feel like the cast always liked working with him. We'll talk about some of the sketches that he appeared in that they wrote for him.

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[16:17] He was just so game. I think people in the SNL community and comedy just are down for somebody to hop over the fence.

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[16:25] That's such a good point. Somebody from another world really embracing our world of SNL. That's a really good point. That's a really quick way to endear yourself to our community as a quote-unquote outsider.

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[16:39] So yeah, no, I think that's such a good point. I always get stuck too on just the concept of athletes in general as hosts and how people feel about that. So you as a huge SNL fan, what do you think about athletes in general as hosts of the show? Honestly, I love it. Not because I'm a sports fan. And that does help because usually I know the person before they host, whereas maybe people were watching one night and JJ Watt was on the screen and they were saying, who the hell is this guy? So that helps that I know the people, but...

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[17:11] I think one of the best things about SNL, and you can quote me on this, is having not just comedians host the show. I think that it would be a great show if every week it was a hot stand-up or someone promoting a comedy movie that's coming out. But having other areas of entertainment come in is the beauty of the show. So we don't get it every season. We don't, of course, get it multiple times a year but when we see somebody like that come in it just brings us a certain energy it might not make for the funniest show or the most memorable sketch that's okay with me though it's a fun ride and it's something new and different and that's all i want from snl no matter what yeah i think i tend to get surprised in some ways i'm always skeptical going in they announced an athlete and i think in my mind i'm going to watch the episode and.

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[18:08] And suffer from like i'll be embarrassed for them and i hate feeling that way i hate seeing somebody on screen and i'm like feeling embarrassed for them so i in my mind i'm automatically like gloom and doom like oh no how is this gonna go travis kelsey's hosting how's this gonna go but i always tend to be pleasantly surprised i think like remember there's a low bar but it's always like some sort of a different energy i think when athletes host totally and i love low bar snl i won't lie like a lot of times i go in to a titan of the show and i get let down a little bit so when someone comes in that i've literally like an actor or actress i've never heard of and they impress me like that's great and same with athletes yeah so we've had athletes from all major sports that that i can remember even hockey we've had one hockey player that i I remember. Only one, right? Yeah. Only one hockey player. The great one, yeah. Yeah, the great one hosted, Wayne Gretzky. So yeah, so we've been, I think it's pretty cool, the times that we do see a pro athlete host. We're in for a wild ride. And we just had an Olympics on NBC.

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[19:17] So, Simone Biles. Maybe Simone, exactly. Come on down. Victory lap. Following Michael Phelps' footsteps as an Olympian. Nancy Kerrigan. Nancy Kerrigan, yeah. Yeah, so do I do remember maybe both of those episodes were a little rough? Michael Phelps, I think, is pretty good. Was it good? Okay, I haven't watched him in a long time. Michael Phelps, Space Olympics alone can get that up to a C. Okay, I think I need to go back and re-watch. Maybe I'll re-watch Phelps' episode if Simone Biles ends up hosting.

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[19:50] Yeah, good call. I'll be proved wrong. So, as far as Charles Barkley, a little bit of sports nerd background before he hosted his first episode. Um he hosted in september of 93 it was the season premiere so if you're a basketball player you're gonna host probably in the first two or three episodes because the way the season works if you're not hosting one of those first three episodes you're just not hosting that season so every basketball player that we've seen they'll get like the season premiere early on unless they're retired or something like that so he hosted in september of 93 by that point as you you mentioned like charles was probably considered the second best player in the league behind michael jordan won that mvp in 93 led the suns to the nba finals the summer prior the leading scorer on the dream team it wasn't michael jordan it's charles barkley that was the leading score and arguably the the dominant personality on that dream team so like couple all.

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[20:48] Of that with his personality i think it did make sense for him to host snl in 93 so again uh season 19 episode one notable because of musical guest nirvana uh appeared then that was their second time on the show um right away mike like really memorable monologue and a really memorable in my opinion snl moment from a lot of people's childhoods uh in that monologue with a certain like children's character yeah i mean first of all i watched the show last night the 93 is first show and how young he sounds because keenan thompson has now done an impression of charles brockley 22 times.

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[21:31] On snl and so you know you're used to that cadence of the impression from keenan and of course if you watch inside the nba and you know charles brockley well you can do an impression yourself kind of like a christopher walken type of person everybody can do with charles brockley and say you know that's terrible whatever um he sounds so young and he doesn't really get too much live screen time because the monologue is dedicated to a pre-taped segment of him playing one-on-one with barney the.

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[22:00] Purple dinosaur yeah yeah and he's like elbowing barney uh in the face and dunking on him and uh doing all that stuff and i think it was a play so i think around this time barkley had some ads where he said i am not a role model so that was a being he's like i'm not a role model parents are role models so he had this whole thing of like you need to be role models to your kids because i'm not so maybe it was kind of a play off of that like another i guess barney's considered like maybe with kids role model i'm gonna push barney around and elbow him in the head and all of that so that was yeah really memorable you're right though chuck um didn't really get a they didn't give him a lot to do in the monologue which is probably smart they don't know they you know i think jordan was a little rough maybe like he had a good episode but then jordan as a host was a little stiff so maybe that the expectations they don't want to give the athlete a ton in the monologue i'm guessing yeah for sure and overall that night he appeared in seven out of the 14 segments not including the musical performance intros um and i will say i think the best part of the show was nirvana so i was gonna shout out the first time i listened to snl hall of fame thomas senna the man himself was the guest talking about nirvana so had to shout that out. So yeah, Nirvana was really memorable in this episode. Is there something, a sketch or anything?

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[23:28] Sticks out as far as charles barkley and his first time here on the show goes, definitely the one that seemed like they could use him and you know we'll talk about his later shows where they put him front and center but the first episode which like i mentioned there are like a handful of segments you know have to show of course including cold open and we can update that he did not appear and was the steward smalley daily affirmations because they just kind of let him be himself, even though they did call him Charles B., who plays for the Phoenix S's. So that got a laugh out of me. And Muggsy Bogues comes on, and he joins the sketch. And it's a classic Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley sketch, but it seemed like he was comfortable with that. So I guess since you're the best basketball player in the world, then I guess I guess you've won a lot of championships. Well, actually I never won the championship.

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[24:36] And Charles, how do you feel about not having won, you know, a championship? Fine, it's no big deal.

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[24:48] But they did right after that or a couple sketches later do the uh big and tall black store, and you know charles brockley was like you know front to you know straight to camera mugsy also appears in that one so i'll shout those ones out as like a a soft launch of charles brockley's comedic career yeah i definitely think that daily affirmation stood out to me as well i jordan had done a daily affirmation with store smallie and his hosting gig two years prior. So it was really funny. It was almost a callback to Jordan without saying his name because Charles said that he referred to himself as the best basketball player in the world. And then I love Stewart's response. He's like, well, if you're the best basketball player in the world, then I guess you've won a lot of championships. And so that's like Charles laughing at himself. As we saw post-career, him and Shaq, they're always kind of giving Charles grief for never winning a title. So I think that showed that Charles can laugh at himself when Muggsy was sharing his feelings to Charles. You could tell Charles was having fun with it and it's kind of starting to break a little bit. So I definitely dug that daily affirmation with Stuart Smalley. Charles Barkley's big, tall, and black men's stores. I like that they just gave Charles something to do like straight to camera, like something solo, just to like give him his kind of showcase like it's just Charles. When you're Charles Barkley, shopping for clothes is never easy. Too small?

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[26:15] Too short? Not black enough. That's why I started my chain, Charles Barkley Big, Tall, and Black Men Stories. You see, ordinary black men have been able to always dress in style. Now big and tall and black men can too. Kind of a fun concept. He's not taking himself too seriously. So those are really two good pulls as far as showcasing his personality goes. Yeah, for sure. Those are the two that stood out for me. He did do the donkey basketball camp at the end of the show, which was funny if for no other reason that we have Charles Barkley, 6'6", on a donkey. I think they didn't make the donkey hold the entire weight of the round amount of rebound. I was sitting there wondering, too. I'm like, is that donkey okay?

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[27:11] But the donkey does lose it a little bit. It's a classic SNL live animal moment where everyone in the house and on set is laughing. That was a good way to end that show. Is it Tim Meadows' donkey that just starts walking away? Way yeah i think yeah there's like i think four donkeys on set yeah yeah and i think uh it's probably an old comedy rule that just like a group of people sitting on donkeys is just a funny visual they recreated it there was the political sitting on my donkey political talk show that they did uh in the late 90s that that was really funny and i think just that visual of people sitting on donkeys like time-tested classic and i'm a huge fan of donkeys i think that they're very underrated, underrated animal in general yeah that's a hot take here donkeys are underrated i like it yeah i would love to have a pet donkey i mean he'd probably live in the house yeah they don't name enough sports teams after donkeys as well also true maybe hot take as well uh yeah so i think that this this first one was just kind of testing charles's comfort level um like i said giving they They gave him like one straight to camera. He was in a gap sketch. So he's in like a recurring along with Stuart Smalley, another recurring character.

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[28:30] So like a decent, like kind of endearing for a current NBA player to be doing something like that. And very similar to what you mentioned about The Rock's first show. Just kind of testing the waters. And also because like, yeah, the gap sketch. And we also got to keep in mind, this is season 19. So this is that fourth season with the Farley, Spade, Sandler, Meadows, Schneider, that group. So the viewers at home are kind of expecting these sketches, and they're fitting in Charles Broccoli to them. So with the Gap sketch, he comes in at the very end, it's fantastic.

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[29:09] He comes in and drag and it's like a punchline. And then Rob Schneider, out of Africa, you can put your weed in this. He comes in at the end as the police officer. So it's kind of just like, okay, the sketch could have been for anybody. Let's put Chuck in at the end. And that's okay with me because much like the Rock show, it was like a WWF promo show. So this was kind of just, let's have some fun with Charles Broccoli on set. It's always funny to see somebody who's much taller or much different than the cast so that's fine with me yeah he was around he was 30 years old he was still in the league for seven more years yeah good shape he was in good shape by the way like you know i think that that was his most slim as an nba player too because he was maybe a little chubby in philadelphia sometimes but like 93 charles barkley like in skinny guy in good shape so it was back in the time too like the The conventional thinking, it seemed, especially on SNL, was if you're a big macho guy, you're going to win people over if you dress in drag. That was the whole thing. If we got an action star, an athlete, we put them in a dress or something like that, and it's going to get laughed. So I think they leaned into that a lot around that time period, especially. Yeah, and that was for sure popular at that era.

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[30:31] Look at the Gap sketch. It's Sandler, it's Spade. They did that a few times. That was the fourth time they did that. So they had already been doing those characters. So to have, you know, okay, let's bring in the big NBA player to join them. It's, you know, low-hanging fruit for the show at that point. September of 93, first hosting gig. Pretty fun. It took a while for them to bring him back. He retired from basketball in the year 2000, but it took another 10 years almost for Chuck to come back. So it was season 35 episode 11 january of 2010 and again like some some more nba themed stuff he's involved in uh recurring sketches of the time so he's playing with this cast of 2010 and kind of getting involved in in their sketches and their nonsense and this this one might have like maybe in my opinion maybe his best performance in a sketch out of his four times um just a little teaser, but is anything in his second hosting appearance that kind of sticks out to you? Well, this one, notable now, you know, he's 46 years old, the episode was delayed, 35 minutes because of the Cowboys-Eagles.

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[31:50] NFC wildcard game, Cowboys won, and they referenced that in the monologue because they're delayed. Now it's not Saturday Night Live, it's early Sunday morning live at this point.

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[32:02] And it was funny, he did, I will point out, I have to point this out, he did cite some SNL stats in the monologue. He made fun of the show because they had had almost no black hosts for a long stretch.

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[32:15] And he does call out Dwayne Johnson as being partially black to count him in those stats. So whenever I hear a host do some stats, I have to mention that. But for that, he gets to be in a whole new playground. Ground and now we're in 2010 so we're in this maybe third golden age um of snl with sudeikis wig sandberg you know it's near the end of that era probably because you know they came in 0506 but he gets to be in a mcgruber so he gets a three-part run pre-tape and i'll just start with that because or durell yeah durell it's daryl so i'll start with that because it's it's fun to have um you know we had betty white come after this show and she did a mcgruber as well and another sketch we'll talk about i'm sure but that was uh i'll start with that one i mean the mcgruber is racist as a concept was just funny anyway but to have charles barkley there made it way funnier in my opinion okay don't worry gang and when i say gang i'm not insinuating that anyone here is a crip or a blood or in any other black gang or white gang whites could have gangs too right durell it's daryl shown up but look if there's one thing i've learned from the sensitivity training classes that i was forced to go to is that regardless of the color of our skin we can all work together 10 seconds mcgruber okay uh biggie hammer that screw you got it mcgruber Okay, Durrell, respectfully.

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[33:45] Hand me that pen. Which pen? That one, right there.

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[33:48] I can't tell which one you're pointing at. Be more specific. That one, the African-American pen. What? Sorry, the Negro pen? The Negro-American pen? Just call it a black pen. Oh, so now... Just seeing the steps by the end, MacGruber had gone to some sort of counseling or racial sensitivity training.

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[34:07] And he's just, like, he pretends to be Zen, But then at the end, the racist nature of MacGruber just comes out again. But Charles is just like, you could tell. I think this is a good reason why he's so endearing is because watching him in this sketch, it seems like he gets the humor. He gets why this is funny. He gets the show. Part of him understands what's happening in the MacGruber sketch and why it's funny. So I can kind of get the sense that Charles has a good sense of humor and knows why this is funny. Totally. and to go off a point you mentioned earlier about why he's a funny athlete is the self-deprecation because mm-hmm.

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[34:46] I can remember back then when the first video came out of his golf swing. And if you've never seen that video, it's basically, you know, like a lot of ex-athletes who get into golf and he was one of them. And his golf swing is basically him doing a backswing, coming up, pausing, and then hitting the ball. And that was shared all over the internet. You know, we're going back, this is even pre-2010, but he did do a sketch with doing that. And i think this is maybe thomas you're going to mention the sketch but his his like physical comedy that he does it the concept of the sketch is him doing other activities in the same manner of going like going in pausing and then going way too hard so i i have in my notes him putting the magnet on the fridge was my favorite moment of the show no that you know that was outstanding and he's just so good. He's really good at knowing his brand or knowing why people like him and why people think he's funny. And part of it is he knows he has a jacked up golf swing. So he leans into it.

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[35:53] Might as well, right? Let's lean into it, make fun of myself. And yeah, the Haney Project, that's what that sketch was called. Like, yeah, yeah, it's just total self-deprecation. But he's like, you know, we're all laughing together. Like, we're not laughing at Charles. And like, he's laughing with us. And he really did that. He really got the swing coach. Yeah, he really did. Yeah, I've seen him swing a golf club in person right before my eyes. And it was jarring. I knew I had seen video of it, but we went to a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe every summer. So we went in 2010, maybe a few months after this episode, and we saw Charles at one of the holes. And I took video of it, and it was just a sight to behold. So it is even more jarring in person to see that swing, man. That's a great two truths and a lie or icebreaker is that I saw Charles Broccoli's golf swing in the flesh. And it scarred me for life. But yeah, Charles makes fun of it. He made fun of himself too in a sketch, the very last one, Barclays Bank. So he kind of made fun of his gambling proclivities in that one, which is a really great premise, Mike. Barclays Bank. For over 300 years, Barclays has offered products and services tailored to meet the specific needs of its customers worldwide with investment strategies that span the financial spectrum.

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[37:21] Boring. Hi, I'm Charles Barkley. If you're looking for a new way to manage your money, perhaps you should try Barkley's Bank. At Barkley's Bank, it's simple. You give me your money, I promise you two things. I'm either going to double it or I'll lose it all. And that's a promise. Yep, that was the other one I wanted to mention because of this quote alone. Give me your money, I promise you two things. I'm either going to double it or lose it all. that's a promise and then he only asked what two questions to them.

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[37:54] Yeah uh what's your favorite color right and then okay i think they said you know blue or something and then they said uh what what about between red and black just between red and black yeah so yeah he he did take outside things that if if you've never heard of charles barkley they're funny but if you if you're familiar with what makes him funny even at his own expense he leaned into it so i think the second show is what makes him a returning host for three and four but also just solidifies him as like this guy can do this he would have been just a one-time host that we would remember like oh yeah i remember when charles barkley hosted in 93 but but his run on tnt and just him building up.

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[38:40] His brand and everything and i think yeah you're right the second hosting gig was like okay i think we have a mainstay because this guy just kind of like gets it he's like down to clown and and that's what a lot of this show is about but my honestly like low-key my favorite barkley sketch i think he's the best in in the first sketch of the night it's an old it's a game show sketch called real quotes the next famous line is from the film a few good men it's famously delivered by jack nicholson and the line is you can't handle my privates incorrect be that as it may you cannot handle them so keep your hand to yourself no one was asking you can never be too safe reg it's an old snl trope of a game show with bad contestants they're asking them to like finish movie quotes and they're giving the the wrong quotes of course and they're frustrating bill haters the as the game show host but Charles has like, Pretty good comedic delivery in this one probably his best delivery out of the four episodes that he's hosted like this was a, Kind of impressive by Chuck. I liked his sketch and I liked his performance.

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[39:52] I literally had that, Thomas, in my notes. Chuck's line delivery kills, I think, the best timing he's shown on the show. Yeah. No, it's really great. Who was the other contestant? I forget. Was it Kristen? It was Wig, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It was just the two of them. Just the two of them and then Bill as, of course, the game show. Yeah, Bill Hader, Kristen Wig, and Chuck. Yeah, Chuck played really well off of Bill and Kristen. That was impressive. When I doubted Chuck's like performances and sketches, his sketch comedy ability, which I mean, let's be honest, he's not as far as hosts go and like hosts that we especially we've talked about on this show. He's not the classic going to knock it out of the park with my performance in a sketch. But this one really impressed me. So I'm glad you highlighted it, too. Yeah, for sure. Sure. I mean, I have one more, and I just feel like it's worth mentioning because of this sketch's area in the SNL universe, which is Scared Straight. And I just wanted to show the list of people that he's come after and before, which are the prisoners that play alongside Kenan's character. We all know the sketch. We have the three youths there being scared straight by Jason Sudeikis' police officer. They bring Kenan in to scare them and make the raunchiest jokes of the night.

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[41:14] And it was Tracy Morgan, Taylor Swift, Betty White, Zach Galifianakis, and Lindsay Lohan. So I mentioned Betty White did a MacGruber this season as well. So Charles Barkley, and this is maybe not a highlight for Chuck, but he's having a blast. and it's a sketch notorious for breaking, so you can't blame the guy, but I have to highlight that one. All right, now, my name is Lorenzo McIntosh. And I'm his dad, Marvin. But you can call us the Ken Griffiths because whether you get junior or senior, we gonna knock your ass out the park. That's right. Now, what are they in here for? You know what? Let me guess. Cannibalism. Good guess, son. What are you kidding? That's a horrible guess. No, we caught these kids hanging around the abandoned rail yard. Trespassing, huh?

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[42:03] That's where it starts next thing you know it's rabies show me a pop rabies he's following taylor swift and cornrows that legacy you know that's that's a hell of a legacy to live up to yeah charles is up for the challenge uh so probably a very loose episode a very fun loose episode um again theme nobody's gonna accuse chuck of being like this amazing sketch performer this amazing app, but he has this like charisma about him. People want him back, and they got him back two seasons later. It didn't take 16 years. It only took two years to bring him back. Season 37, episode 11, January of 2012. As soon as he appeared on screen, I was like, has he lost weight? He looks a little more slim, but then that's what his monologue was about. So it wasn't just in my imagination. Yeah, he said he lost 38 pounds.

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[43:01] Yeah, he was glued to the cue cards, though. That was one of my big observations. Like, oh man, Chuck, this is your third time and you're like really glued to those cue cards still. And the button on the monologue didn't hit with the audience. Yeah. He makes a joke to the audience that they all look like turkey legs to him. Like he wants to eat the audience because he's been so hungry on his weight loss journey. The point is Weight Watchers work for me. I feel great. except for one thing. I am so hungry. I am starving.

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[43:36] So please forgive me if I eat one of you tonight. Y'all all look like turkey legs to me, especially you. But we have a great show for you tonight. A turkey leg named Kelly Clarkson is here. I'm going to cover her in butter and gobble her up. So stick around. We'll be right back.

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[43:56] But yeah, he's lovable. That's part of his charm is he could just make a make a totally dead joke and and we'll hear crickets but uh so the first sketch kind of funny like i always kind of like when uh when the host is being impersonated in a sketch that they're doing so charles playing shack keenan playing charles barkley how many times did you say keenan impersonates 22 22 times wow and once in front of chuck maybe it was yeah or no twice did he because in one of his monologues i think he asked keenan to do his impersonation yeah he does as as himself as keenan pops out in that show okay or the other show yeah so so do you think like um starting with the sports sketch because i always wonder like non-sports fans like what they think are they going to get some of these references or anything so inside they do an inside the nba sketch like him like again truck playing shack and keenan playing charles like how do you think something like that goes over with kind of the general snl crowd I always think that's risk-reward, and you can't please everybody. They'll have younger actors, actresses, parody their own shows come in that I haven't seen the show, but...

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[45:09] Jokes per page. If it works, it works. But it also would be an entirely missed opportunity if you didn't try to exploit that audience because you're hoping that they joined the audience just for tonight and hopefully they'll stay for next week. So he did it inside the NBA in the second episode we didn't mention but with Andy Sandberg playing a make-a-wish kid as a commentator. So this third one is an actual true inside the NBA because it's the panel. Now, Elyse, get your predictions for the late game. I have a prediction. I'm the great Chakradummas. Who's giving them all these props? I will predict that Charles Barkley's going to be fat again. He'll be so fat, he'll star in Fat Free Willy 2.

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[45:58] First of all, dummy, there was already a Free Willy 2. But I'd rather be in Free Willy 2 than Kazam 1. What you know yeah we have keenan playing charles brockley and him being shack which.

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[46:14] His like hair and makeup were just hilarious yeah it kind of didn't look like shack it didn't look like shack at all he was totally game to make go on and make fun of shack yeah on snl yeah i bet i bet they they showed the clip on inside the nba after that and they all had a laugh but uh yeah Yeah, I like seeing them start with something like that.

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[46:36] Definitely, yeah. I mean, this is when you see somebody who's known to the audience for one thing, you want to give them that one thing. So no problems with me and as somebody who watches inside the NBA and knows that panel, that show itself is funny. So you just watch it, you'll get laughs. Of course, it's funnier if you're an NBA follower, but like those guys on that stage are funny so it's not like taking a political sketch that's not funny and trying to punch it up like those people are funny so if you haven't seen it then they are referencing comedy outside the show uh is there another segment or sketch that really like was a highlight for you in this episode yeah there were there were probably two other ones and i wanted to highlight the joanne's coming out sketch because we mentioned the 90s trope of with men in drag. Then we had a big era with Kate Adi-Cecilie of women in drag, especially in politics, playing Republican politicians and stuff. But this is a case where Charles Broccoli played small and it really worked because the timing with the other cast members was really, really good. And the sketch never really escalated.

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[47:53] Which normally is not a great thing, but the fact that Charles Barkley, who's a big, large man, as a woman, announcing to the friend group that she's a lesbian, you'd think that it would have been more exploited and kind of like, ha-ha about that, but it was played pretty serious, and there was a moment with Vanessa Bayer. But what about that time we took that outdoor shower together? You never once looked down. I'm not attracted to you.

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[48:25] Really? Is there something I need to fix? Yes. And there's no other line after that. They move the scene along. So just, yes. So I think a moment like that, we're going to talk about, is he Hall of Fame worthy?

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[48:41] There are moments in his career at SNL that I like to highlight as this guy can do it. And that's a moment because he could have broke. They could have added a keenan crutch line after that to highlight the humor but they didn't they let charles brockley just go yes very very subtle very low key very good delivery and does uh was it paul britain who who you got the kind of like the the good funny visual of like paul britain's shortened stature standing next to chuck and and so there's like some good visuals yep he was the boyfriend of joanne yeah yeah yeah so yeah joanne's announcement uh i that one stood out to me but i have a feeling you're about to say um my favorite from the night but i don't know we'll see if we're on the same wavelength here well also fred armisen that sketches says you're gonna be a great lesbian very heartfelt yeah it just totally matter of fact not played for or anything else besides just that, you're going to be a great lesbian, is I would say... We're talking about Paul Britton. Are you teeing me up here? Yep. Okay, all right. Lord Windermere, which is one of four Paul Britton recurring sketches...

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[50:00] And this like hit for me more now, especially knowing the history of the cup of coffee that Paul Britton had on the show who left to me, you know, mid season. That's a character that I don't think is, has that been covered on a podcast? No, there would be no reason. We certainly haven't covered Paul Britton here. Like, like Paul Britton, someone who's like just kind of slipped through the cracks of SNL history. Honestly, totally. Totally. You want to tell the folks at home what Lord Windermere is? Who he is? The premise of the sketch is Jason Sudeikis plays this guy who's hosting his friends to watch the football game. And his daughter's boyfriend is coming by. And he's this aristocratic, dainty, dressed in... What would you describe it?

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[50:57] It's all very Baroque. Baroque. you have like uh bill hater as his footman playing a tiny harpsichord yeah yeah like very jaunting around the maypole you know feather in the cap knickers on yes yes yes exactly so he's this just like goofy character uh he he wants everybody to call him lord windermere i think his name's something else uh they call him a different name but he wants to be called lord windermere and he um he demands sweets that's his favorite thing he he's always wanting sweets he likes tickle fights uh so he's just like a little odd character created by paul britain did he only do it twice yeah that was it yeah and i remember both of them clearly like lord windermere is something that like was etched into etched into my mind and this was a really great When I love Charles, because everybody in the room was just kind of put off by Lord Windermere. They didn't know what to think, and I thought it was a little weird. But Charles immediately buys in and was taken with Lord Windermere. So I love that, and I love how Charles played it. I know a riddle, but I shan't tell us all unless you can pinch my bottom. But you'll have to catch me first. I'm on it. Get that button over here. Bring that little... How about you hear that riddle? For the love of God, Garrett, piss that bottle. I'm crying.

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[52:19] Oh, man, this is the best night of my life. I love the little Lord. He's just a regular Joe. A regular Joe? And that's also the nature of that sketch, is Sudeikis is the girlfriend's dad, and he loves him. He loves him, yeah. Already, that's the premise of the sketch, is you think, the trope of meeting your girlfriend's father is going to be tough. It's going to be some machismo and some nervousness. It's that this little guy prancing around and Sudeikis can't get enough of it. And so Barkley plays as the extension of him. You've got to pinch his bottom.

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[53:00] I'll have a riddle for you, but I won't tell you unless you pinch my bottom. And he starts running around. and like Barkley wants in on that so the other two you know Sandberg and like they're just trying to watch the game but yeah Barkley's all in he's all in I love when Barkley says uh I want to hold him just like just as a matter of fact that like gave me a nice like real genuine laugh and Chuck's just like I want to hold him and he's so Paul Britton's so small that he could and Sudeik is just yelling at Andy Sandberg who's his son why don't you go get Lord Windermere some sweets just the whole is this chaos like uh this and what's the other paul britain that i like sex ed is another yeah that was his one that he did the most that i love that one so that that's if anything he's known for it's that but this one is a hidden gem because is it the greatest sketch ever no but it has a joke and it hits you with it and you i like it and most importantly i think chuck is like genuinely good in this sketch too and trying his hardest i think out of all the sketches he's been in to not break yeah that's surprising because it seems like once per episode that that he'll start breaking but it didn't happen in lord windermere that's kind of that's kind of crazy it seemed like he again he knew why this was funny and he's just down to clown.

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[54:20] Because, yeah, at one point he does hold Paul Britton, Lord Windermere. And, of course, you have large NBA star Charles Barkley holding this small man. And Charles Barkley is doing everything he can to not just lose it. That was the highlight of the episode for me in terms of I think it was just the best sketch. And it was Charles' best performance in a sketch. Nice. I'm glad you liked that one. Yeah, I know. It was great.

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[54:45] Absolutely. Love Lord Windermere. um yeah not not much else like they had one where he played a character called the dong father in the 17th annual adult video awards is basically the whole sketch was just the in memoriam at these uh adult video awards but yeah i mean snl uh obviously liked him he had a fun episode again a very loose atmosphere there in 8h that night six years later charles is back for more uh season 43 episode 14 his fourth and most recent appearance so it's been going on seven years now six or seven years since he's been on there is actually you know what especially like the run at the end i thought was really good like uh but what first stood out to you with this episode this one is fresh in my mind for sure i i have to say the previous one we just talked about a friend of mine went to that taping and so I texted him this morning because he was at the after party and I said what did you remember from Chuck at the after party and because he told me a couple months ago I had no idea I'd be talking about Charles with you tonight and he just said that he sat at the bar the whole after party and was surrounded by models.

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[55:59] And they were doing tequila shots all night and Charles Broccoli kept telling them I have to be in New Orleans tomorrow or cover a Pelicans-Mavericks game.

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[56:11] And that just played out the whole after party. So a little inside baseball, but shout out to Dylan for the story. The season 43 one. This one is interesting because they lean a little political in this one, right? A little bit, yeah. There's a couple concepts that charles brockley seems very game with but it's because of the lebron james shut up and dribble controversy when he spoke out about something and you know he got that comment about like just play basketball and that was a big thing going on in the whole sports world you know this is around kaepernick time kneeling for the anthem and so he says and it's a perfect chuck Chuck quote, I've been saying whatever the hell I want for 30 years. I'm hosting SNL for the fourth time for no reason. That was his tee-up was like for that more politically charged episode for the fourth when his previous three were mostly silliness. He does that. They do a Me Too style sketch with the Grabby Awards, where it's all about actors who are handsy on set and giving unwanted massages and stuff. And the male co-host is Beck Bennett, and he gets replaced by Chris Redd, who gets replaced by Luke Knoll.

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[57:33] Charles Broccoli plays Tim Franklin, who's wearing not a Time's Up pin, but a Tim's Up pin. Oh, gosh. And then there's one other one I'll say is the Ned's Roach Away. Do you want to talk about that one? Yeah, yeah. So Charles plays a guy named Ned. He's the pitch man for his product, Ned's Roach Away. And it is very socially kind of aware sketch. So he gives basically, quote unquote, good roaches guns to take care of the bad roaches. So forget about those sprees. Roaches just drink that stuff up like tequila. You might as well put it in a piñata and throw those roaches a party. But with Ned's Roach Away, the party's over.

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[58:16] Now, some people might say, but Ned, when gun-carrying roaches just add to my problem, that's so dumb it makes me mad. My bed and scissors make sure only the best high-character, guard-fearing roaches can carry guns. It's time to go to church. And none of my roaches are gay. And for really bad problems, you need Ned's Roach Away Max with Bubstock. There's like commentary on the discourse after there's a mass shooting like a good guy with a gun could have taken care of it and so that's like the the play on that which i found interesting because charles i mean charles will speak on politics a little bit but i've never really seen him get involved with something so like politically heavy in its message uh like something like that because something like ned's roach way like had did have like a clear perspective and voice i think, and it was a funny sketch it was all like animated little roaches holding AR-15s and the people in the house would be going about their day where they would hear just these gunshots going off as in the good roaches are shooting the bad ones, and they hit you with the button at the end that Ned's Roach Away is NRA.

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[59:30] Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I admit, like, I kicked myself. I was like, I should have picked up on that immediately. Then at the end, I was like, oh, come on. You've got to be more of an astute viewer of SNL than that. So, I was kicking myself, like, after that. Yeah, that one I completely forgot about. So, you know, maybe in the consciousness at the time, you have these, like, three in a row political type of things. Or at least like socially social issues and then he had that pre-tape in the can that they had which was actually funny but the next one was was the homework hotline yeah him playing off mikey day who has a striking resemblance to like jim henson as the puppeteer i think his name is bobo was the puppet and it's all just sexual innuendo that he's hooking up with the puppet which i think has been been done but it was funny with Charles Barkley like literally having to carry that sketch it's really just him and a puppet and like callers coming in and he has to play oblivious at first and then he's like gets wise to it and he's like hang up on them so yeah there was a third one though as far as like like social conscious kind of sketch what was it kind of in a conversation.

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[1:00:46] Probably even still but especially at the time he was in a sketch with Alex Rodriguez and then Keenan playing a former football player and the sketch is basically about how harmful the effects were of playing football yeah so they're asking the CTE conversation yeah exactly so they're talking about like Charles is talking about how hard basketball is how grueling it is and then Alex is saying how grueling baseball is and then Keenan's like obviously affected by CTE so that's like kind of saying something too like these sketches are kind of getting involved in a lot of like the discourse that was happening and yet they found a way for charles barkley to be a good player in all of them we talked about at least i did earlier about him kind of just being shoehorned in for a laugh in the earlier ones where he's leading these sketches and they're hitting so maybe it's a commentary about modern snl and he happened to be the host but he did a good job with it yeah yeah agreed um i said that there was a good run at the end. And the last three sketches of the night were probably like, I think the three best in my opinion. So, so they, like the beginning was like, wow, they're kind of going there with a lot of these topics. But then the last three, which as of now are the last three sketches he's done on SNL, Hump or Dump, which was Charles, it was a dark sketch. Like I was kind of a little surprised by that, Mike. Right. It's like the, the classic dating show sketch, but...

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[1:02:13] All the commentary just comes back to, you know, rule of three, Charles Brockley is the third contestant. And he just keeps doubling, tripling down. If you don't pick me, I'm going to kill myself. That was the joke of the sketch. And they ran with it and made it funny. Nah, girl, you pick me because I'm Twitter verified and I always send you home in an Uber pool. Ooh, color me intrigued. And Doug? Let me put this plainly, Amanda. If you don't pick me, I'm going to kill myself.

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[1:02:45] I'm sorry. I don't think I heard you right. Yeah, you did. I'm going to kill myself. I came to win, and I'm putting all my chips on the table. Hey, come on, man. That's not cool. I mean, you can't put that on her. If you're battling depression right now, we can get you some help. I'm not depressed. This is a game show. I want to win. Is he allowed to do this? No, of course not. Because he was just saying it so matter-of-factly, like, oh, that's just what I'm going to do. And then his justification was like, he's in it to win it or something. So, like, that was his strategy. Yep. That was completely strategic. Maybe they put that in there to soften the blow a little bit. Exactly. Yeah. I think he turned to Chris Redd and Chris Redd says, oh, I'll kill myself. And he goes, well, how are you going to do it? He's like, I don't know. He's like, see? This guy. this guy doesn't know he doesn't know he's never thought about it he's not he's just bluffing yeah.

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[1:03:42] And like charles yeah he was kind of like straight face pretty decent characterization, of somebody like this so uh i think yeah i think that was a fun one by chuck the next one the construction workers one might be my favorite sketch that charles was in though he's part of the ensemble but just as an overall sketch it might have been my favorite one that he was was involved with like across all four it's up there all right i want to hear your commentary on it then, Okay, so the basically like these construction workers get into a conversation about what they would wear if they were women. And so I think Beck's the only one that's kind of resistant. Well, all of them are kind of they're kind of like put dipping their toe in the water of the conversation.

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[1:04:21] And then all of a sudden, like the three of other ones, including Chuck kind of get more into it. And Beck's still trying to fight it. But I just love how they ramp up like the escalation is them kind of saying like, Yeah, I've kind of wondered what you know, if I was to dress elegantly, like what would I wear? Woman what i would wear and then it turns into them like having specific ideas of what they would wear and what would look good on them and everything so i just love the escalation i thought they handled this very delicately and very in a clever way so i was like all bored with this sketch come on guys let's eat roast beef sandwiches and talk about the girls we'd like to date around with huh come on we do that every day today we're exploring new avenues you You know, sometimes when I watch the Oscars on the red carpet, I'm like, how would I wow them if I were a nominated actress? I don't know, right? I think I'd wear a gown that had a large peekaboo hole in the back. I'd put a backwards necklace with a little pendant that comes around and floats in the middle. I don't know. I'm just spitballing.

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[1:05:22] Yeah, this is definitely his ensemble piece because it's hard to make a pro athlete or a former pro athlete fit in the cast.

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[1:05:34] Usually, we've seen it recently with a really hot host and they make fun of, or comment on how hot they are. A really tall host, let's talk about how tall they are. This one was just like Charles, one of the guys.

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[1:05:48] And so, he was able to service the sketch more than comment on, hey, Charles Broccoli's on SNL. Like, isn't that funny? That's true. Yeah, that's a really great point. And he added to it. And again, it was good timing. And Chuck didn't always have that, you know. But I think in this sketch, it was just like he added to the tone, I guess. He struck the right tone for what the sketch was asking for. Whether it was by accident or not. but like he he totally like fit in it was like his true again yeah it's just his ensemble piece that he pulled his own weight in this ensemble piece yeah and this might be a thread that we're getting to tonight but it's the idea that charles barkley is not a comedically talented individual he is a funny individual for sure but gets comedy and we've seen trained actors famous people on the show who are in funny sketches and i don't know if they get it so the fact that he is involved and like i said servicing that idea we want to talk hall of fame in the night here like that's something that would you know edge him over to your to your ballot if you want to vote for him is that he is bolstering this, not a passenger.

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[1:07:12] As many hosts are in good sketches. Yeah, yeah, agreed. And then the night ends in a totally fun way. Maybe his most fun sketch that he's been in in SNL, Last Call, one of those great Kate and Kenan sketches. Sheila Sauvage. Sheila Sauvage, yeah. Just Charles has the right amount of awkward energy for this to work, I think yeah and that's something that I don't know if we've we've hit on hard enough tonight is his charisma is so good like he's such a likable person, If you dig into his backstory, he had a tough childhood. He really was, like Thomas said, top of the night. He was short for his position. He was a rebound king. He didn't make his team. All these different aspects of him, but he's a super likable guy. So when you put him, this could ultimately be, if he never hosts again, his final SNL sketch, and you have him paired with Kate McKinnon, last call of course 10 to 1 sketch and it's everything you could want it to be, i gotta be honest when i first saw you tonight i thought hell no but now i'm not thinking because i'm drunk and of all the men in here you're the only man in here.

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[1:08:34] Let's go back to my place and do missionary huh that's where you try to teach me english until you get frustrated and leave the country.

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[1:08:43] I'd rather do the reverse cowgirl. That's why I put your cowboy hat over your face and walk you out back until you fall out the window. You're bad, man. You're bad. My favorite part, like the showstoppers, and they put those things from the dentist that they put in your mouth to keep your mouth open. Because their lips are in the way. Yeah. He and Kate just start kissing, and of course you always get the funny Kenan reactions. To whatever's happening at the bar. Keenan turns to stone. He turns to stone. Yeah, this was just, Charles just totally let his guard down. Like he said, screw it, I'm not self-conscious. And this, more than a lot of these other sketches, proved that he's not self-conscious. He's down to do whatever. And Kate, it seemed like Kate was having a really fun time playing off of him. It seemed like she was really enjoying this sketch too. And the Vogelcheck sketch, I can obviously mention that one, and then this one, which involves a lot of kissing and physical intimacy on a live stage. So I don't think you would have Charles Barkley or any other host. I mean, I have the list in front of me. Maybe you can name some other names. What is it? What list is it? Oh, people who have appeared in the Sheila Sauvage last call sketch. Oh, Larry David. Larry David, yep. Amy Schumer? Correct.

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[1:10:11] She's second most recent. Okay. Who else appeared in the last call?

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[1:10:18] He was the seventh, Charles Barkley. Okay, who else was it? It's been done nine times. First of all with Louis C.K., then Vince Vaughn, John Goodman, Woody Harrelson, Larry David, Dave Chappelle, Charles Barkley, Amy Schumer, Adam Sandler. Okay, I should have remembered. I remember the Dave Chappelle and Louis C.K. I should have remembered, too. I remember that. John Goodman. I don't remember that. I have to go. I didn't either. Yeah, I have to go rewatch all the Sheila Savage sketches now. Right. But I don't know. Maybe it's just me, but I can't imagine Kate McKinnon would want to... She will do what it takes for the comedy, but if it's a weird host, maybe she wouldn't want to. I know I just listed some names that might trigger some feelings, but Charles Barkley, like you said, has that awkward energy that matches because Sheila Sauvage is not a sexy character.

Track 3:

[1:11:17] It's not played for the romantic, it's played for the gross aspect. So Charles Barkley doing that surprised me.

Track 3:

[1:11:25] When I watched that episode, like, live in March of 2018, I was surprised to see, like, oh, they're ending with this? I know. We all know what's happening next. Yeah. It was a great ender. I think a great run of sketches to end the night. Fun episode, I think. That's what you're getting with Chuck. You're getting just him being fun, a loose atmosphere. And I know a lot of us, like, we're really into, a lot of SNL fans are really into, like, the art of sketch comedy, right? Right. Like somebody is a technically good sketch performer and they hit all the right beats and everything. But what should we do as fans of sketch comedy with somebody like Chuck, who's honestly like we've said it, like not the most gifted sketch performer always, you know, but he has that charisma. He's clearly beloved. So what should we do when somebody like that hosts like let our guard down, you think? Yeah, I think that's a good way to say it is buckle in, enjoy the ride, because I think I probably said this earlier, but like we're being silly here. You know, it's this doesn't have to be so serious. I mean, I think that SNL of all shows nails it to get serious and be funny. They don't always nail it. They've had some missteps with that, but and been super serious. Yeah.

Track 3:

[1:12:49] When you have someone like it's charles barkley like what do you want from us we're having fun here is there no room for that you know like of course there is and i would love to have him back for a five-timer.

Track 2:

[1:13:15] So there's that a great four-time host sir charles barkley mr murray leaves us with a cliffhanger though does he get invited back to become a five-timer very very interesting i would say he's in the news a lot right now with the tnt move uh the nba move from tnt and inside the nba being um a show that won't be anymore and that's very disappointing because for me who's not even Even a big basketball fan, that is just a very enjoyable show. Barkley is a big part of that. And if you didn't get that from the conversation between Thomas and Mike, then listen to it again, for heaven's sake. Listen to it again. We're going to go right now to a sketch. This is called Real Quotes, and it comes from a hosted episode by Charles Barkley.

Track 5:

[1:14:16] It's time for Real Quotes! All right, welcome to Real Quotes, the game show that tests your knowledge of famous lines of movie dialogue. I'm your host, Reg Barnaby. Let's meet our contestants. He manages a blockbuster in Baltimore, Maryland, Sam Jefferson! Good to be here. Now that you manage a blockbuster, I bet that's gonna come in handy. If you say so, Reg. And from Tacoma, Washington, she's a schoolteacher, Rebecca Lumpin. It's so great to be somewhere, Reg. Okay. Well, let's play the game Real Quotes. I will read the beginning of a famous movie quote. First one to buzz in and complete it wins the points. First quote from the film Cool Hand Luke. What we have here is a failure to... Sam. Launch. Incorrect. But that's a movie. Oh, Failure to Launch is a movie, but it does not complete the quote. Seems like a gray area, Rich. Well, it's not. Rebecca, what we have here is a failure to. A failure to get along. But that doesn't mean we won't see eye to eye one of these days, so let's not burn any bridges and just agree to disagree. I bid you adieu, Godfrey.

Track 5:

[1:15:41] It's incorrect. The right answer was a failure to communicate. Oh, right. From Spartacus. No, no. From Cool Hand. Luke! That wasn't one of our quotes. Again, Riz. That's a gray area. The next famous line is from the film A Few Good Men. It's famously delivered by Jack Nicholson, and the line is, You can't handle... My privates.

Track 5:

[1:16:09] Incorrect. Be that as it may, you cannot handle them, so keep your hands to yourself. No one was asking. You can never be too safe, Reg. Rebecca, you can't handle... You can't handle your liquor. And if you don't leave me and my girlfriends alone, I'm going to have a word with the management, Buster Brown. Incorrect. You thought that was the famous line for the military courtroom drama, A Few Good Men? I did. And I still do. I was looking for the truth. I told you the truth. You can't handle my privates. Okay. All right. Very funny. Very good. Very good. All right. Next up, from the 1975 film Jaws, upon seeing the shark for the first time, Roy Scheider utters the unforgettable line, we're gonna need a bigger... Shark! No. See, they saw the shark. He was so big, they thought they were gonna need We're gonna need a bigger... Shark bag.

Track 5:

[1:17:15] Think water. Ocean. We're gonna need a bigger ocean? Yeah, if you get a bigger ocean, it's gonna make the shark seem smaller. Then the joke would be on the shark. No. No. Rebecca, we're going to need a bigger... We're going to need a bigger house. If we intend to start a family, and intend to start a family, we do. Three girls, three boys, and an adopted child of sex yet to be determined. Oh, no. All this talk about family made me forget to return my library books.

Track 5:

[1:17:54] I was looking for a boat. Then you should go to a marina. I'm not looking for a boat. Ridge, you got to stop talking in riddles. The quote was, we're going to need a bigger boat because the shark was so big, the original boat wasn't big enough. Man, that sounds like a good movie. I'm about to see that one one day. You manage a blockbuster and you haven't seen Jaws? No, I manage blockbusters. We're a demolition company that specializes in destroying entire city blocks. bucks.

Track 5:

[1:18:26] In the 1989 film Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner utters the line, if you build it, we will knock it down. What? That's the slogan for blockbusters. If you build it, we will knock it down. Look. Very good. All right. That noise means it's the end of the round. You each have zero points but Sam advances because he seems to have a slightly better sense of what quotes are sorry Rebecca sorry for what come on down soon all right okay it's time for the speed round complete as many quotes as possible as fast as you can and here we go, Houston, we have a... Arby's! No. I see blank people. Two people. You and Rebecca. No. Life is like a box of... Dead people.

Track 5:

[1:19:34] May the force be... Equal to mass times acceleration. How do you know that i'm not a dummy i just haven't seen a lot of movies why don't you come on a show called real quotes i actually thought it was about fishing fishing quotes yeah like we're gonna need a bigger boat all right you know what i'm done i'm done, Let's just stand here and wait for the buzzer. All right, and that's all the time we have on Real Quotes. Until next time, here's looking at you, kid. You shouldn't be looking at kids, Rich. That is the quote.

Track 2:

[1:20:17] Nice blow on that. You shouldn't be looking at kids, Rich. Great sketch. Man, I miss Hader as the game show host. That was some good stuff always. Speaking of good stuff, another great conversation between Thomas and his guest. In this case, it was Mike Murray. Follow more of his stuff on his Twitter account or at the SNN. I want to thank Thomas and Matt for joining us this week. And of course, our friend Doug Donatz for his excellent announcing. I want to remind everybody that we do have a new email address. And that email address is the SNL hall of fame at gmail.com. The SNL hall of fame at gmail.com. Shoot us an email. We'd love to hear from you next week. We've got Nicole Brady who was last with us in season four, nominating on a gas tire. She is back and she will be discussing Bob Odenkirk. So that should be real fun.

Track 2:

[1:21:18] Listen, that's what I've got for you this week. It's been an absolute pleasure to be here with you. I am going to be leaving now, but before I do, I have a favor to ask you on your way out as you pass the weekend update exhibit, turn out the lights because the SNL hall of fame is now closed.

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