"The Continental" is a recurring sketch on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'' (SNL) featuring Christopher Walken. The first sketch aired on the eleventh episode of the fifteenth season, January 20, 1990.

History

It is a parody of

Renzo Cesana Renzo Cesana (30 October 1907, Rome – 8 November 1970, Hollywood, California) was an actor, writer, composer, and songwriter most famed for his title role on the American television show '' The Continental''. He was also known as Renato Cesana. ...

, who starred in a 1952–1953

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

series, '' The Continental''. The series used a subjective camera, and Cesana spoke directly to women in the viewing audience. Cesana's show was subjected to many parodies, including ''Mad'' magazine's "The Countynental" (which was also the name used in a parody by

Ernie Kovacs Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was a Hungarian-American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years aft ...

Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program '' The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...

's "The Transcontinental", and

Floyd Vivino Floyd Vivino (born October 19, 1951), also known as Uncle Floyd, is an American television, film, and stage performer primarily known for his comedy/variety TV show ''The Uncle Floyd Show'' (1974–1998). Early life Vivino was born in Paterson ...

's "Ricardo Romantico." The premise of the ''SNL'' sketch is that Walken is a "suave ladies' man" who in reality can't say or do anything to keep women from giving him the cold shoulder, typically due to a number of perverse actions that often border on sexual predation. For instance, he invites a woman to wash up in his bathroom. Once she is inside, it becomes obvious that the bathroom mirror is a

two-way mirror A one-way mirror, also called two-way mirror (or one-way glass, half-silvered mirror, and semi-transparent mirror), is a reciprocal mirror that appears reflective on one side and transparent at the other. The perception of one-way transmission i ...

when the Continental is seen lighting up a cigarette. The Continental has both a telescope with which to "spy" on his female neighbors and a collection of "erotic"

Hummel figurines Hummel figurines (also known as M.I. Hummel figurines or simply Hummels) are a series of porcelain figurines based on the drawings of Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel, O.S.F. History The sketch art of Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel began to appea ...

he acquired on

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

. These sketches are always shot from the woman's point of view, so we never see her face, just her gloved arms as she pushes him out of her way. Whenever he offers her a glass of

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

or, as he calls it, ''champagna'' , she invariably ends up throwing it in his face. The character also has the catchphrase of "Wow! Wowie-wow-wow-wow!" which is usually said at some point when the woman has physically shown she has no interest in him, only for him to become even more aroused by her "tempestuousness". In 2002, Walken was quoted as saying that he would like to do a ''Continental'' movie. "The problem with the Continental is that he never leaves his house. But it might be interesting to see the Continental go out and nothing works. He's a social catastrophe. I think that would be interesting."

Phil Hartman

The

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...

at the beginning of the sketch is provided by

Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...

and has been used three times since his death in 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Continental, The Saturday Night Live sketches Saturday Night Live in the 1990s Saturday Night Live characters Television characters introduced in 1990

History

Phil Hartman

See also

References