Thoughts on The Joe Piscopo New Jersey Special

 

Courtesy YouTube.

I'm dipping my toes back into Thoughts On with this special that originally aired Tuesday, May 13, 1986, on ABC.

1. A moment of silence for the network sketch comedy special. If I'm not mistaken, these went completely extinct once Bob Hope hung it up. Even in the mid-'80s, it was a dying programming concept. ABC, which previously had annual Rodney Dangerfield specials, gave sketch comedy a go a few times in 1986 and 1987. Their programs included the Emmy-winning Carol, Carl, Whoopi and Robin, the fourth and final Dom DeLuise and Friends (which aired Saturday, May 17, 1986), and tonight's entry.

2. Two years after leaving Saturday Night Live, Joe Piscopo was coming off the recently-released film flop Wise Guys, directed by Brian De Palma. The cast included Harvey Keitel, Ray Sharkey, Dan Hedaya, Lou Albano, Patti LuPone, and Danny DeVito, one of this special's three special guests. Luckily for Danny, he had Ruthless People waiting to be released. De Palma, meanwhile, moved onto The Untouchables.

3. The Joe Piscopo New Jersey Special aired after the second season finale of Moonlighting, with special guest stars Whoopi Goldberg and Judd Nelson. Over on CBS, the conclusion of Second Serve, starring Vanessa Redgrave as Renée Richards. NBC had the first season finale of Stingray. The YouTube upload I'm watching comes from my hometown ABC affiliate, WZZM 13 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

4. Joe starts the special reprising his SNL sportscaster character, as opposed to playing Paulie Herman. "I'm from Jersey! nasal laugh Are you from Jersey?" Smart move. In addition to Joe's "main man" Danny, the special includes then-Gov. Thomas Kean, R-N.J., who was early in his second term, and Joe's "old pal" Eddie Murphy, who had presumably just wrapped filming The Golden Child.

5. To his credit, Joe pokes fun at the ego involved in such a project. "Exciting? Thrilling? Indulgent." In addition to Wise Guys, Joe's recent career included the comedy album New Jersey. He scored a Grammy nomination for the "Honeymooners Rap," featuring Eddie as Ed Norton opposite Joe's Ralph Kramden. Up ahead, the Miller Lite years. As the story goes, before Lorne Michaels regained control of SNL, there was some interest of retooling the show in 1985 to a format with three alternating regular hosts: Joe, Billy Crystal, and David Letterman. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed.

Courtesy YouTube.

6. After some brief, very much of its time stand up ("The greatest invention of the 20th century has gotta be the remote control. Or, what I like to refer to it affectionately as, The Terminator."), Joe performs the title song from New Jersey, a Springsteen parody. I'll admit it, I smirked at the sight gag of not-Clarence Clemons getting drenched with "sweat" once Joe unnecessarily shook his head.

Courtesy YouTube.

7. Commercial Break No. 1: Ford ("Quality is Job 1"), Coors (Dad died in 'Nam? Don't worry, we've got a scholarship!), and Firestone (A racecar? Mom's car? They're getting the same quality.)

8. Time for Eddie and Gov. Kean's segment, "New Jersey Vice." We're only 10 minutes into this thing, and they've already exhausted my patience for stock footage. For a non-actor, Kean comes off the best. After being pulled over by a quickly-embarrassed not-Crockett & Tubbs, Kean launches into a spiel about what his state has to offer. "And we're fourth in wine production!" The crimefighters end the sketch trapped in their beater car's trunk while Don (Joe) searches for the right key.

9. Next, Joe tells us about when he was a garbage man on the "slop route," collecting from grocery stores, hotels, and restaurants, before reuniting with the elderly gentlemen at an Italian pizzaria and then coming to a party at his childhood home. There, various matrons reminisce. It's sweet and not particularly funny, even though the punchline's okay. Once Joe arrives, the guests decide to watch TV.

10. After a quick spoof of David Hartman, one of the better sketches, a Nightline parody. Ted Koppel (Joe) interviews Gorbachev (also Joe), whose growing birthmark puts the lie to Mikhail's claims that the USSR is not interested in conquering Eastern Europe, Cuba, and the world itself. It helps that the sketch is brief. The special's character makeup was done by Kevin Haney, formerly of SNL and a future Oscar winner for Driving Miss Daisy.

11. Commercial Break No. 2: Bud Light (Don't just say, "Gimme a light."), Ford, a promo for tomorrow's Dynasty ("You double-crossed me!") and Hotel ("You just can't forget the office, can you?"), Republic Airlines (which merged in 1986 with Northwest, which merged in 2010 with Delta), Ry-Krisp ("The Body Cracker."), First of America (a Kalamazoo-based bank that's now part of PNC), and WZZM's 5 p.m. fare, reruns of Benson and Too Close for Comfort.

12. Danny makes his first appearance in "The Flintstones: The Lost Episodes," where Joe-as-Fred is Jackie Gleason dialed up several notches. "You know, these Hollyrock audiences are the greatest in the world!" I love Danny DeVito, but he's really miscast as either Barney Rubble or Art Carney. And since when was Dino (in this case, a costumed dog) green?

13. Another song from New Jersey, "I Wanna Sound Like a Black Man." I hope that choir was well-paid.

Courtesy YouTube.

14. Commercial Break No. 3 (Can you tell I'm enjoying these more than the special?): a rerun of the Ford ad from the second break, Emery Worldwide (With their own variant of "9 to 5"), Sears (Two old guys are amazed by mall culture.), an "American Television and You" PSA (Being a parent includes explaining the news.), and a Dom DeLuise and Friends Part IV promo (The Chippendales dancers, Red Buttons, and Joan van Ark are featured.)

15. Next, a disappointing sketch. A formerly hip father (Joe) falls prey to "Old Fogy Syndrome." It's not this sketch's fault that the premise has been done to death as of 2026. What's annoying, though, is that Danny DeVito is required to repeat all the ways Joe upsets his wife (Deborah Harmon) and kids (two actors I couldn't identify, but feel like I've seen before). "Referring to Merv Griffin on a first name basis." Here in 2026, it is funny what was considered square in 1986 (among other things, wearing boxers).

16. After this, Joe briefly does Allen Funt (reprising a bit from the monologue), then David Letterman. Allen thought if would be fun if David received 9-1-1 calls. "My wife's temperature is 106." "Really. What's her humidity?" David then introduces "Joan and the Joanettes." Like his Funt and his Letterman, Joe's Joan Rivers impression is a carryover from SNL. Here, she sings "The Fastest Girl in High School," a Shangri-Las-style ditty about Heidi Abromowitz. The song has some okay lines. "Heidi was the brightest, Heidi was the best/Had the highest score on the home pregnancy test."

Courtesy YouTube.

17. After this, a commercial parody. Joe's quickly defeated in the boxing ring in the upcoming Saki.

18. Commercial Break No. 4, the last one: American Express (Rodeo cowboy Larry Mahan, who died in 2023.), a final Ford ad, still touting the results of their drivers survey, Domino's (The Noid was apparently not yet a thing, so instead we're touting that "One Call Does It All."), Miller Genuine Draft, and a promo for The Brotherhood of Justice (Keanu Reeves: "I plan on going to Harvard in the fall. Not Lebanon.").

19. Finally, the inevitable Sinatra sketch. Frank and Bruce (both Joe) give their own spins on "Born in the USA, "New York, New York," and "Born to Run." Yet again, not a disappointment, but not a classic.

20. The Joe Piscopo New Jersey Special was executive produced by George Schlatter (Holy crap, he's still alive!), with airfare provided by Eastern (defunct) and accomodations from the Loews Glenpointe Hotel in Teaneck (now the Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe). Paul Miller directed. He went on to do SNL from 1986-89, then most of In Living Color's run. The credited writers included Joe Piscopo, John DeBellis (previously from SNL's 1980-81 season), and Paul J. Raley (Grace Under Fire), plus special musical material from Nate Herman and Hal Willner (SNL).

21. Under the credits, promos for tonight's Nightline ("If diets work, why is there a new one every week?"), Thursday's episode of The Colbys ("Jason confronts Sable and Zach, and a fatal shot is fired."), and tonight's Eye on Hollywood (alas, no segments are teased).

22. To the best of my knowledge, this was always intended as a one-off special rather than as the pilot to a weekly sketch comedy series. If ABC and/or Joe went that route, the sketches would have needed to be longer or have sharper hooks. "Did you notice that David Hartman talks like Bullwinkle?" doesn't cut it.