Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
OPRAH 2002
Linda Tripp (John Goodman) et al recall Lewinsky affair
— This is the second consecutive season premiere to begin with an Oprah cold opening.
— Decent fake-out with the “Oprah 2002” title screen immediately being followed by us seeing Tracy as a very heavyset, porkchop-eating woman, who we’re supposed to assume is what Oprah will look like in 2002, only for us to find out Tracy is just playing a woman who’s introducing Oprah.
— Interesting how this takes place four years in the future, looking back on the Lewinsky scandal.
— Tim’s delivery is a bit sloppy.
— I like the tanned, mustached look of Darrell as 2002 Bill Clinton.
— Chris Parnell gets the honors of being the one in tonight’s trio of new cast members who gets to appear right at the top of show in the cold opening. I wonder if viewers at the time were watching this cold opening asking themselves “Who in the world is that playing Kenneth Starr?”
— John Goodman makes his first of many cameos this season.
— A particularly energetic “Live from New York…” from Tim to kick off this season.
STARS: ***½
OPENING MONTAGE
— Season 23’s drab opening montage has thankfully been done away with after only one season, and we get a new montage tonight.
— After season 23’s experiment with doing an opening montage with no traditional New York City scenery, we get a welcome return of NYC scenery tonight.
— I know this isn’t a popular opening montage among SNL fans, but I have a very soft spot for it. There’s a reason for that. You see, this is the very first SNL episode I ever saw, when NBC reran it during the summer of 1999. I was either 14 or 15 years old at the time, depending on when in that summer this rerun aired (my birthday is in July), which I realize is quite older than the age that most people are when they first discover SNL. After my first SNL viewing, I would go on to be a very casual SNL viewer for the next year, where I would only tune into bits and pieces of the show on occasional Saturday nights on NBC while flipping the channel back and forth between that, MADtv on FOX, and other channels. (And to be honest, 14/15-year-old me had a bit more of a preference for MADtv than SNL back in those days, until I started really getting into older SNL reruns on Comedy Central.) Anyway, because my earliest memories of being an SNL viewer are from seasons 24 and 25, which both use the opening montage that’s introduced in tonight’s episode, this opening montage now has huge nostalgic, sentimental value to me. It brings back nice memories of the early days of my SNL fandom.
— I will admit that the cast photos in this opening montage are pretty bland.
— I’m not caring for the new theme music, but not to worry, because it doesn’t last. The early episodes of this season are going to have A LOT of experimentation with different theme music for the opening montage, until they finally settle on one.
— Jimmy Fallon, Chris Parnell, and Horatio Sanz have been added to the cast tonight, all joining as featured players, which begins a new tradition of it being a requirement for every new cast member to join as a featured player. Something odd, though: neither Fallon, Parnell, nor Sanz are credited in tonight’s opening montage! Very unusual. Some SNL fans have had a theory that perhaps the graphics department wasn’t yet finished with the featured players portion of this opening montage. Another theory I’ve seen is that perhaps SNL was taking a page out of MADtv’s playbook by not crediting extras who are occasionally given noteworthy co-starring roles in sketches (something that was kinda common on MADtv in their first 5 or so seasons).
— I like the unique way the end of this opening montage transitions to the “ON AIR” sign on SNL’s home base stage (screencap below).
MONOLOGUE
without provocation, host gets tough with audience member (Hugh Fink)
— We get a new home base stage.
— Very random premise, with Cameron Diaz putting on a badass persona and picking on an innocent audience member (played by SNL writer Hugh Fink).
— I’m not too sure what to think of this random monologue, but I’m getting enough laughs, and Hugh Fink is making a good foil in this.
STARS: ***
MASTERCARD
MasterCard made possible the priceless aspect of the Lewinsky affair
— Very funny twist at the end.
— Short and sweet.
STARS: ****
SIDE NOTE: Starting in tonight’s episode, SNL shows a brief glimpse of the next sketch being set up during each commercial break, which would go on to be a weekly part of the show that still remains to this day in 2019.
THE VIEW
Mark McGwire (WIF); Debbie Matenopoulos (host) battles raccoon
— A new opening title sequence for these View sketches. I like how in the intro shot for Star Jones, we see Tracy as himself getting his Star Jones wig applied.
— I’m not too happy about the fact they they did away with Cheri’s Barbara Walters singing The View theme song.
— I like Molly-as-Meredith-Viera’s random “I am not wearing underpants” revelation.
— Ana’s Joy Behar impression makes her View debut.
— Will’s look as Mark McGwire is making me laugh.
— I got a good laugh from the picture of Will’s McGwire being hugged by his son, played by Darrell (the third-to-last above screencap for this sketch).
— I love Cheri’s Barbara blurting out at Cameron’s Debbie Matenopoulos “I will destroy you!”, before covering her own mouth in a shocked “Oh!”-type manner.
— A very funny “Dare Debbie” segment, with the View ladies trying to do away with Debbie by trapping her in a bag with a raccoon.
STARS: ****
OOPS! I CRAPPED MY PANTS
Oops! I Crapped My Pants can withstand full blasts from seniors’ bowels
— One of the more famous fake ads in SNL history.
— The reveal of the product is absolutely priceless.
— This hilarious commercial is made even better by the fact that the elderly couple is played by real elderly people and how they’re playing this so straight.
— A great line from the elderly man on how he knows so much about Oops I Crapped My Pants: “I’m wearing them… and I just did.”
— In Comedy Central’s 60-minute versions of this season’s episodes, this fake ad was strangely added to nearly EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. I kid you not, people. Just one of many examples of baffling, shoddy edits in Comedy Central’s versions of this season’s episodes.
STARS: *****
THE LADIES’ MAN
Leon & (host) act out scenes from the Starr Report
— A great change of pace, with Leon Phelps theatrically performing The Starr Report.
— The various vignettes that Leon and Cameron are performing are a lot of fun.
— Tim’s stumbliness from the cold opening is carrying over into this sketch a little, though he managed to make his flubbed line in this sketch funny.
— I love Leon’s line about having his wang “mouthified”.
STARS: ****
THE BEST OF THE FIRST 20 MINUTES OF SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
The Best Of The First 20 Minutes Of SNL redefines straight-to-videotape
— A clever self-deprecating take-off of the endless barrage of SNL “Best Of” specials that were aired on NBC that summer. Even if you didn’t have knowledge of that, this commercial still works, as the idea of an SNL “Best Of” special consisting of just the first 20 minutes of an episode is simply funny. There was once a similar gag on Weekend Update in the first episode after SNL’s 15th Anniversary Special, where Update anchorperson Dennis Miller presented a highlight reel of the next 15 years of SNL, which was just a sloppy montage of sketches from earlier that same night.
— Much like the Oops I Crapped My Pants ad, part of the reason why this fake ad is working so well is because it’s being played so straight.
— SNL would soon get even more mileage out of spoofing their own over-reliance on “Best Of” specials in the very next episode, where they do a “Best Of” fake ad for a certain new cast member.
STARS: ****
THE NEW HOLLYWOOD SQUARES
the game goes on despite collapse of the board
— Interesting concept of the Hollywood Squares board collapsing and severely injuring the celebrity players.
— Right in his very first appearance, Jimmy Fallon displays his knack for celebrity impressions. His Gilbert Gottfried impression is absolutely spot-on and is cracking me up. Bonus points to Jimmy for doing an impression of a former SNL cast member.
— Overall, this sketch was okay and the various celebrity impressions were fun, but this didn’t come off quite as strong as I think SNL wanted this creative concept to come off.
STARS: ***
TV FUNHOUSE
“Fun With Real Audio” by RBS- Richard Nixon haunts Bill Clinton address
— This is the second consecutive season premiere to have a TV Funhouse that consists of “outtakes” from something. Hopefully, this will be much better than the fart-filled Casablanca Outtakes cartoon from the last season premiere.
— A lot of laughs from Kenneth Starr holding up various semen-stained women’s clothing behind Bill Clinton. I’m kinda surprised SNL can get away with this, even in animated form.
— An absolutely priceless bit with dripping semen from the ceiling making Clinton’s hair stick up, as a nod to a famous scene from Cameron Diaz’s then-recent hit There’s Something About Mary.
STARS: ****
WEEKEND UPDATE
COQ thinks it’s time to stop obsessing over the Lewinsky affair
Dominican Lou wants $1,000,000 for a baseball vaguely tied to Sammy Sosa
— As I mentioned earlier, this is the first SNL episode I ever saw. And more specifically, this Weekend Update is the very first thing I saw in the episode. Since Colin Quinn was my official introduction to SNL, I’ve always wondered if that’s the reason why I’ve never been quite as harsh on him as an Update anchorperson as a lot of other people are.
— Right out of the gate in tonight’s Update, before the opening title sequence is even shown, we get a big change of pace by abruptly opening with Colin doing a straight-to-camera rant while standing in front of a green-screen. Very interesting. Nothing like this had ever been done by an Update anchorperson before this point.
— Now that Update has begun proper, we see that SNL has a new Update set.
— Colin is really going all Colin Quinn on tonight’s Update, as he’s now doing another straight-to-camera rant (this time behind the desk), this time doing a breakdown of Bill Clinton’s testimony about the Lewinsky scandal, complete with actual clips of the testimony. I prefer Colin doing stuff like this to him trying to sound like a traditional Update anchor.
— Dominican Lou’s excitement while gushing about Sammy Sosa is charming.
— Tonight’s overall Dominican Lou commentary was okay, but nothing memorable or special.
— An unusually short Update.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Perfect”
THE ROXBURY GUYS
at the Moomba Club, foxy (host) picks up Roxbury Guys, Festrunks
— Surprisingly, this is the first Roxbury Guys sketch since the Helen Hunt Christmas episode from half a year earlier. And the only reason we’re even seeing a Roxbury Guys sketch tonight is because the ill-fated A Night At The Roxbury movie is about to open. By the way, tonight’s sketch also ends up being the final sketch that the Roxbury Guys ever appear in. I’ve heard a theory from some people that perhaps SNL lost the rights to continue doing Roxbury Guys sketches after the movie came out. The same thing happens a year later to Mary Katherine Gallagher after the movie Superstar comes out. Then again, earlier in this decade when the first Wayne’s World movie came out, SNL still continued doing Wayne’s World sketches on a regular basis.
— Not many laughs from me so far during this sketch.
— The audience apparently shares my opinion, as they’re fairly silent during a lot of this sketch, minus occasional random screaming cheers from some girls.
— The Festrunk Brothers! Fun twist.
— Even though it feels weird seeing the Festrunks being played by an older, slower, and less thin Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin, I’m still enjoying this, and this is bringing back nice memories of reviewing the original Festrunk Brothers sketches back when I covered the original SNL era.
STARS: **½
WITCHES BREW
words fail odor of witches’ brew; Jonathan Richman & Tommy Larkins cameos
— Odd premise, but I’m getting some good laughs from the creative disgusting descriptions of what the witches’ brew smells like.
— The off-camera yells from townspeople complaining about the smell have some solid lines. Tracy steals the sketch by not even being onscreen while yelling “That smells like Sasquatch’s nuts!”
— We randomly end the sketch with a cameo from the musician guys from There’s Something About Mary (Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins) singing a song about the bad smell of the witches’ brew. Kinda funny, if out of place.
STARS: ***½
GAP
“This is so easy” says sax-playing Bill Clinton (DAH)
— I love the idea of a Gap commercial starring a smug, sax-playing Bill Clinton.
— Again, short and sweet.
STARS: ****
JINGLEHEIMER JUNCTION
new cast member (WIF) spells disaster for kids show
— While the Weekend Update from tonight’s episode is the first thing I ever saw on SNL, Jingleheimer Junction has the distinction of being the first actual sketch I ever saw on SNL. This and Weekend Update are the only two things I remember seeing on SNL that night.
— And, boy, what a sketch for me to be introduced to SNL with. I am very honored to have this well-known classic be the first SNL sketch I ever saw.
— True story: in my original viewing of this sketch, I mistook Will for Colin Quinn. As I said above, Weekend Update was the only other thing I remember seeing in this episode during my original viewing, and when Will entered this Jingleheimer Junction sketch, I remember thinking to myself “Hey, it’s the news guy again!”, thinking Will was the same guy who I had seen anchoring Weekend Update. I was so damn proud of myself as a new SNL viewer for being able to recognize the same SNL cast member in two different segments. Little did I know that Will and Colin were two different cast members. As embarrassing as that mix-up sounds, that ain’t all. I spent my first year as a casual SNL viewer thinking Chris Kattan and Jimmy Fallon were the same person. I kid you not, people. And then eventually, I saw both Kattan and Jimmy standing next to each other in a sketch (from Jennifer Aniston’s season 25 episode) and my mind was blown.
— A priceless visual of the Jingleheimer Junction members innocently standing in an order that causes their shirts to spell out a letter-scrambled “fuck”.
— Tim’s reactions throughout this sketch are great. Between the Oprah cold opening, the Ladies’ Man sketch, and now this, Tim has been having a strong night.
— I love how after Horatio Sanz says “We’re supposed to learn about friendship, Joe”, Tim angrily snaps back at him “Shut up, Umberto!”
— Hilarious how every instance of “fuck” nearly being spelled out gets cut off by a “Please stand by” screen. When I first saw this sketch as a new SNL viewer, I remember being shocked at how close they kept coming to spelling out “fuck”, a shocked feeling that made me realize I was watching something special and daring.
— This overall fantastic sketch was the perfect length, not being dragged out too long.
STARS: *****
GAP
“This is not easy” says electric guitarist Hillary Clinton (ANG)
— Another creative political-themed Gap ad.
— I like how uncharacteristically badass Ana’s Hillary is coming off in some portions of this.
— These Gap parodies tonight are very well-done and have a lot of good little details in them.
STARS: ****
A MESSAGE FROM THE SPICE GIRLS
Spice Girls (MOS), (CHO), (CHK), (host) give advice for pregnant mothers
— Another Spice Girls PSA sketch, after the two that appeared in the preceding season’s Sarah Michelle Gellar episode.
— No Ginger Spice this time? I guess this was after she left the group.
— Like last time, I’m laughing more than I feel I should at Kattan’s mannerisms as Scary Spice.
— Some funny lines here, such as Molly’s Baby Spice proudly saying that if she has twins, she’ll give them each a different name.
STARS: ***
MAAKIES
by Tony Millionaire- proletarian Drinky Crow deadens himself
— “Tony Millionaire”?
— The debut of a very short-lived recurring segment. Strange how SNL feels the need to have two unrelated animated segments in the same episode, with both TV Funhouse and this.
— I believe these Maakies cartoons would later be turned into an Adult Swim series, titled something like “The Drinky Crow Show”.
— A strangely likable bizarre theme song.
— Interesting minor detail with the squirrel having a human right hand.
— Random ending with the crow blowing his brains out with his new gun.
— Overall, a very, very unusual cartoon. It felt completely out of place on SNL, but I’m all for SNL trying new things. I didn’t laugh all that much at this cartoon, but its weirdness did keep me interested in a way. However, I can’t even imagine how many SNL viewers were completely put off by this weirdo cartoon.
STARS: **½
GAP
“This is easy” says Kenneth Starr (CHP) as he jigs amid evidence
— Chris Parnell gets his very first lead role!
— I love how in his first big showcase, Parnell gets to show off his dancing skills. His dancing in this is hilarious.
— The fact that each of tonight’s Gap ads have the person in it randomly saying a variation of “This is easy” makes me think that these are a parody of a specific series of Gap commercials from this time. Oh, well, even without being familiar with them, these parodies still work for me.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid season premiere. I may be biased a little due to this being the first SNL episode I ever saw, but I feel that almost the entire episode was enjoyable, we got two all-time classics (Oops I Crapped My Pants and Jingleheimer Junction), and we got plenty of fun Lewinsky scandal-based material. I also like the new feel and look SNL had in this season premiere, compared to the last few seasons that preceded this. I was also surprised by how shorter-than-usual a lot of segments felt, leaving room for a higher number of overall segments (especially pre-taped fake ads and cartoons) than a typical episode from this era has.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (1997-98)
a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Kelsey Grammer
Jimmy later reprised his Gilbert impression in “I’m A Celebrity…Who Farted?” from Season 28. It’s one of his greatest and most underrated impressions.
As for Jingleheimer Junction, I thought I was going to lose my breath the first time I watched it, because I was laughing so hard.
I remember it definitely felt exciting getting no cast members, I started watching right when the “new cast” came in and this felt like the first time we got some new blood since I started watching. I recall online the biggest deal was being made about Horatio of the 3 newbies, being the show’s first Latino castmember and of course all the comparisons to Belushi and Farley were all being made, seems like there was a lot of pressure on him being the shows new “fat guy” cast member who does high-energy stuff. I definitely recall them casting him in more Farley-esque roles when he first joined, one of his earliest the “bear ate my parents” especially seemed like the writers blatantly trying to make him the new Farley. Though I think it was Fallon who became the true breakout just a few episodes in when he did Sandler and his guitar act on Weekend Update in the same show, he exploded after that. Always felt bad for Parnell in that sense, always seemed like that guy was overshadowed since day one.
I loved those weird Maakies shorts, I think McKay was the one who got Tony to make those for SNL since he was a fan of the comic strip. By the way, thats Andy Richter (Tony was Andy’s brother-in-law) as the voice of Drinky Crow in the original shorts, while McKay voiced Uncle Gabby (Drinky’s monkey friend with the top hat) and the gun salesmen in this one. At one time all the Maakies made for SNL were online (doesn’t seem to be the case anymore, just googled it and couldn’t find them) I believe only 2 of them ever made it to air.
And yes, I definitely remember the “This is easy!” GAP ads they were parodying at the time, each one had a different celebrity singing or whatever, the SNL ones were pretty spot-on. The one I most remember had Aerosmith.
Fun fact about Tony Millionaire- he’s married to Becky Thyre- the actress who played Moonbeam in “PCU”- I met him a couple times- had mutual friend with him
I rather liked this first version of the new theme. It had rather complex chord changes & sounded more exciting than what followed in Episode 5, which I think was when it changed.
This is a good episode which mostly serves to show the confidence SNL had in itself in this period. The basics are all in place, so they mostly just try to pull out the stops for a fun premiere – lots of cameos, a lively newcomer as a host, and a new approach to their filmed pieces.
The Gap ads remind me of how the show started to immerse itself more in pop culture around this time. I think by the mid-00s this takes over too much of the show (dominating sketches, making some dubious choices for host, etc.) but they get the balance right here.
I’m not that into most SNL credits sequences that are just pictures, but some of these do stand out – Ana’s in particular is one of my strong memories of her.
I really loved Jingleheimer Junction when I first saw it – pretty sure it was live. It was the most I’d laughed at a sketch in years – since the days of Phil and the gang. Still holds up well, but nothing beats that first time watching when you realize what they’re about to do. I also remember this Roxbury Guys sketch, mostly for being a bit sad at seeing Dan in that getup again. It feels silly now that I’m so much older, but it was jarring because most of my memories of SNL Dan were of the ’70s repeats (I think the most I’d seen of him otherwise were his cameos as Bob Dole – I didn’t watch some of his more extended appearances until later years) and he was so physically different. Watching now, I can enjoy the moment a little more, but still…so many of Dan’s best characters relied on the very specific patter and energy he had as a cast member that their returns tend to feel bittersweet.
Not that most people watching care about those things but I wonder if anyone would’ve guessed Cameron Diaz would be hosting 16 years later (and if she hadn’t mostly retired from acting she might have popped up again). She’s not the most diverse personality, but she has a ton of energy and she helps keep the show fun.
Oops I Crapped My Pants is another example of how special fake ads can be with the right guest actors (who for some reason still aren’t credited, even today…). As with Old Glory Insurance, and most recently, Toilet Death Ejector, they hit in a way the cast we’re so familiar with can’t, no matter how hard they may try.
This incarnation of The View is sort of running out of steam, but still has some laughs (mainly the Dare Debbie segment). I wonder why they waited an entire season to start impersonating Joy Behar. I can’t say Ana’s impression does much for me – much as I get why it’s a good thing the show no longer has male cast members impersonating women, Fred Armisen’s version was funnier. Speaking of Ana and impressions, I sometimes forget she played Hillary for 5-6 years as I don’t remember her having any standout moments. The Gap ad is fun, but… I don’t know, it’s still difficult to connect her to the character.
The Hollywood Squares sketch reminds me of something Mad TV would have done (they did their own version a few years later) and makes me wonder about which times SNL may have tailored some of their humor in these years on what might have gotten the Mad TV audience. Anyway, this one runs a little long, but I enjoy the different approach and the commitment of the actors playing the slowly dying celebs. (and, nothing against Cheri, but if you have to bring back that Fran Drescher impression, this is probably the best way to do it).
This episode sort of maps out the roles of the three newcomers.
Jimmy – crowd-pleasing, charismatic impressions
Horatio – boisterous supporting performance
Parnell: – ????
There’s something very fitting about Chris Parnell being given a few showcase moments in his first episode yet not even being credited.
I was pleasantly surprised by his Gap ad, as it used his physical energy in a way we often didn’t see.
Chris was perfect for this time period, especially in shoring up the male side of the cast, yet he was also very ahead of his time in that there have been a series of “this guy is so talented but we have NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH HIM” men in his wake (Bill Hader pre-Mulaney; Taran Killam, Beck Bennett, etc.). If only Andy Samberg had come along a few years earlier to give Chris an assist. Oh well. Whatever my complaints, I’m still going to look forward to sitting back and just enjoying his tenure this time around – the first time I couldn’t as I was never sure he’d make it to another season.
Yup at this point 94-95 is a distant memory and the show is basically back to being the cool place to be even if there is a blandness and sameness to it. To think just 3 and a half years earlier the show was at its nadir
And I don’t think at this time anyone would have guessed Diaz would become a friend of the show and be a fixture for the next decade and a half. She most certainly would have been a five timer already if she hadn’t taken a break from the business
Also I believe this was the first SNL to go up against the new Stern show on CBS. That was a pretty big deal at the time I remember
There’s an allegation, purportedly by Millionaire, that the Maakies segments were shot down by Robert Smigel and J.J. Sedelmaier ( http://www.popculturespectrum.com/godhatescartoons.html ). I don’t buy that for the reasons that a) Smigel had more than Saturday TV Funhouse on the go, ESPECIALLY given Triumph’s popularity at the time, and b) Millionaire admits in a podcast that his amount of involvement in an adaptation is “steer influence and cash a check” ( https://riyl.podbean.com/e/episode-292-tony-millionaire/ ). Certainly, Maakies got on SNL through Adam McKay.
I understand the Maakies cartoons are more fondly remembered now, divorced from SNL and held up as an example that SNL doesn’t recognize comedy. I don’t know if it’s the over-simplified backgrounds or the pacing, but they look amateurish compared to SNL’s previous animated segments. At least the Maakies cartoons are straight gag-strip adaptations, so they’re faithful to the source material.
You know if this were nowadays, Kenneth Starr would be played by some random cameo.
Using the 2019 system of booking, I wonder if Dana Carvey might have been tapped to play Starr.
A Night at the Roxbury may have been shit, but I do love the soundtrack.
This episode was shown on Comedy Central maybe 100 times a month. When it went to E! they re-edited it to make it a coherent episode. The CC version was missing the monologue, half of update, and added KCF Shredders.
I actually like the Saul Bass-esque opening montage used for this season and the one following it, although part of it might have to do with the faster-paced theme music they’d end up using for it regularly.
That being said, I won’t argue that the cast photos are fairly underwhelming and that the brief clips of NYC feel like a hasty attempt at throwing a bone to the fans who complained about the lack of it in the previous montage.
Is there anywhere to watch the Witches Brew skit? The episode on Peacock doesn’t include it.