Jr. Walker & the All-Stars

This was the first show from the 6th season to air after the mass firing and marked the start of the sweeping overhaul. Gone were Charles Rocket, Gilbert Gottfried, Ann Risley, the executive producer Jean Doumanian and nearly all of the writing staff from Season six. The change over in staff writers from the first five seasons to six is what hurt this season more than any cast change over in my opinion. The quality of the jokes and penned sketches were not nearly on the level established in the first five seasons and it painfully showed.

The overhaul led to no listed host for this show except the musical guest Junior Walker and the All Stars.

Junior Walker's solo work usually gets lost in the mix of his contemporaries. His biggest hits were sharing the spotlight with star R&B vocalists like Otis Redding, James Brown and Wilson Pickett. He had a revival of sorts near the time of this show's airing for his ripping sax solo on Foreigner's Urgent. Walker even ended up recording a solo version of Urgent.

The show itself feels incomplete. Second City performers, Robin Duke and Tony Rosato (both also were regular cast members on SCTV) make brief appearances. Also the excellent Tim Kazurinsky appears in his first episode.

Making their last appearances here as regular cast members were Denny Dillon, Yvonne Hudson, Gail Matthius and Matthew Laurance. Emily Prager and Laurie Metcalf make one episode appearances as cast members.

Chevy Chase and Al Franken both make brief appearances but neither are credited on IMDb for appearing. Neither is Junior Walker for that matter. Whoever moderates these reviews, please pass this information along.

Despite feeling incomplete, the episode is enjoyable and seeing Junior Walker perform is a treat.