Holiday Triumphs: Tarzan, Tonto, and Frankenstein

Continuing the fabled tradition begun all the way back in 2009, Scratchbomb presents Holiday Horrors and Holiday Triumphs: an advent calendar of some of the more hideous aspects of this most stressful time of year–with a few bits of awesomeness sprinkled in.

My favorite SNL cast remains the first one I ever saw, the late 80s/very early 90s one of Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz et al. Not that this was necessarily the best one ever (though I think it’s definitely in the top five, at least), but it is the one for which I have the biggest soft spot. It transferred pretty effortlessly from recurring-character-driven/lowbrow sketches to high-concept/weird ones and everything else in between.

For instance, this extremely brief segment that never fails to make me laugh. It came at the very end of an episode around Christmastime and features Tarzan (Kevin Nealon), Tonto (Lovitz) and Frankenstein singing “Away in a Manger” in grating monotones (or in Frankenstein’s case, confused groans). It is unexplained, simple, silly, and stupid, and it slays me every time.

The concept was repeated a few times over the years, and at one point Tonto was replaced by Chris Farley as himself. But this version remains my favorite. Dig in!