Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
Time Warner interrupts celebrity contest
— Darrell’s Regis Philbin introducing Lance Bass as being from “Flash In The Pan, Florida” gave me a good laugh.
— Kattan’s David Duchovny impression is cracking me up with his facial expression alone.
— The constant “Disney has taken ABC away from you” disclaimer interruptions, parodying an actual ABC interruption that had recently happened, are making me laugh, even if they’ve gotten a bit tedious after a while.
— I love Darrell’s Regis introducing Cheri’s Kathie Lee Gifford by saying “The next voice you hear will be that of SATAN!!!”
STARS: ***
OPENING MONTAGE
— Maya Rudolph has been added to the cast tonight.
I wonder what the reason is for adding her so late in the season. Perhaps Lorne was worried that he might lose both Cheri Oteri AND Molly Shannon over the then-upcoming summer?
MONOLOGUE
plastered host mistakenly thinks he acted in the Flintstones prequel
— In the cutaway to a confused Tim and Will during John’s goofy Flintstones dancing, I love Tim saying “He’s not in the Flintstones movie” and Will saying “He is plastered.”
— Funny turn with Jimmy, Horatio, and Neil Young being the only ones who are into John’s Flintstones dancing, and agreeing with each other that “he’s kickin’ ass!”
— Not too sure this “John’s an alcoholic and needs an intervention” premise is working.
— Overall, ehh, a fairly tepid monologue, but with a few highlights.
STARS: **½
PLATINUM MACH 14
Gillette’s Platinum Mach 14 razor is more advanced than the Triple-Trac
— I’m reminded of SNL’s Triple-Trac commercial from the very first episode, which treated the now-marketable idea of three-bladed razors as silly.
— After about a minute-and-a-half into this commercial, I finally got my first laugh, from the bit about a phantom blade that’s only there to provide stabilization.
— The ending shot of Will with his face all cut up is kinda funny, but overall, I wasn’t crazy about this commercial as a whole.
STARS: **
WANNA BE A VJ 3
Raymond (CHK) & Shannon (ANG) compete for a job at MTV
— The debut of Jimmy’s Carson Daly impression and his accompanying catchphrase, “I’m Carson Daly, and I’m a massive tool.”
— John Goodman playing MTV’s Dave Holmes? Oooookay, bizarre casting there. Is this just an excuse to work John into this sketch?
— I got a laugh from “Play some damn videos” getting the most votes on the MTV poll.
— The video package of Kattan’s character is pure “WTF?”, but I laughed out loud at the very random shot of him holding his crotch in pain while yelling “Ohh, you got me in the—”.
— It feels so odd seeing Maya Rudolph at this point of my SNL project. This is making me realize that I’m slowly beginning to get closer and closer to SNL’s modern era. When I eventually reach the respective debuts of cast members like Amy Poehler, Fred Armisen, and Bill Hader, I’m sure it’ll also feel very odd. To say nothing of what it’ll feel like when I reach Kenan Thompson’s debut just a few seasons from now.
— Ana’s video package is funny.
— I love Ana trying to hide the fact that she obviously doesn’t know who Method Man is. I especially like her delivery of the line “I love the Wuuuuuuu!” when claiming she’s familiar with the Wu Tang Clan.
— Overall, this sketch picked up in the second half when it focused on Ana, but too much of this sketch felt less like an MTV parody and more like the exact type of stuff that you’d see on MTV in this era.
STARS: **½
OFFICE FLIRT
co-workers endure office vamp Adele’s (CHO) unsubtle sexual innuendo
— Nice to see Cheri attempting a new character, especially considering that this late stage of season 25 we’re in ends up being the homestretch of Cheri’s SNL tenure.
— Cheri-as-Adele’s over-explaining of her sexual innuendos is really funny.
— Good bit with Adele using an unwilling Rachel to demonstrate how she can “go both ways”, leading poor Rachel to explain “I’m just a temp!”
— Very funny ending line from Adele about her office having a waterbed and KY.
— Overall, a great sketch, and ends up being probably Cheri’s final great original SNL moment (not counting any recurring sketches). I’m glad that Cheri’s upcoming departure prevented SNL from eventually turning this into an unnecessary recurring sketch.
STARS: ****
TV FUNHOUSE
“The Life of a Catchphrase” by RBS- “Yeah, That’s The Ticket” is tracked
— It’s obvious that a lot of the animation in the opening Lorne segment is reused from the TV Funhouse cartoon that aired in SNL’s 25th Anniversary Special. You can even see a Dennis Miller doll next to Lorne at one point, which the 25th Anniversary cartoon did a bit with, by having the talking doll spout off an angry Dennis Miller rant when you pull its string.
— I love Lorne reading off a profanity-filled fan letter complaning about SNL’s habit of running things into the ground.
— Great part with Lorne using certain cast members to demonstrate catchphrases that work and don’t work, such as Rob Schneider receiving audience cheers from saying “Makin’ copiiieeees!” but getting his head torn off by the audience when saying “You like-a da juice?”
— SNL gets in YET ANOTHER dig about Joe Piscopo being a has-been, for the second consecutive episode.
— I’d like to think that the part with Molly Shannon is Robert Smigel’s way of acknowledging how badly downhill Molly’s been going lately.
— I’m absolutely loving the meta-ness of this whole cartoon.
— Great turn with Jon Lovitz’s popularity from the phrase “Yeah, that’s the ticket” coming to a halt as soon as Lorne brings in newbie Dana Carvey and his catchphrase “Well, isn’t that special?”
— Why in the world is Jenny Jones animated as a black woman?!? (the woman on the right in the third-to-last above screencap for this TV Funhouse, if that’s indeed supposed to be Jenny Jones. It may just be a Jenny Jones guest, though. If so, disregard what I said.)
— A very good sequence showing Jon’s “Yeah, that’s the ticket” popularity gradually diminish, eventually leading to an older Jon watching himself saying that catchphrase on a Comedy Central rerun (complete with the now-old-school Comedy Central station bug on the bottom corner of the TV screen). Interestingly, this cartoon is predicting that SNL reruns would still be seen on Comedy Central in the year 2019, which sadly didn’t turn out to be true.
— During the scene with aliens worshiping Jon after witnessing him in a Comedy Central SNL rerun, I love Jon quickly destroying the aliens’ TV screen as soon as a Church Lady sketch pops up on it.
— An overall brilliant cartoon.
STARS: ****½
THE CHRISTOPHER LOWELL SHOW
fey panelists laud decorating ideas
— A typical Chris Kattan role, but I’d be lying if I said he didn’t make me laugh early on in this sketch, before I realized the one-note route this sketch was going to take.
— Oddly, John in that Christopher Lowell-esque get-up makes him look like Dom DeLuise.
— John’s various “MMM-mmm!”s and “AHH-ahh”s are making me laugh. Not sure why his “MMM-mmm!”s and “AHH-ahh”s are making me laugh more than Kattan and Jimmy’s, but they are.
— Overall, I got some laughs from the silliness here, but as a whole: ehhh.
— SNL would later replace this sketch in reruns with the dress rehearsal version, which contains a blooper at one point in which Kattan’s fake beard peels off a bit, resulting in a funny ad-lib from Kattan (something like “I haven’t shaved all week, so…”, I can’t remember the exact line).
STARS: **½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Razor Love”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Kevin Brennan [real] downplays the value of familial relations
lame duck Bill Clinton (DAH) tells Cuban-Americans to shut up
— After a joke just now, I love how Colin ad-libbed “MMM-mmm!”, as a callback to the Christopher Lowell Show sketch from earlier tonight.
— Good to see SNL writer Kevin Brennan in his second (and final) Update commentary. His previous commentary gave me an A. Whitney Brown vibe that I liked.
— Brennan’s overall commentary was decent, though nothing memorable. However, if SNL was prepping this guy to potentially take over Colin’s anchorperson spot the following season, NO. In my opinion, Kevin Brennan as an anchorperson would NOT have worked. His delivery is too monotone and lethargic to anchor Update. Audiences would probably have gotten bored of him fast, and I doubt he would’ve been the upswing that Update needed after the Colin Quinn era. Brennan is more suited to A. Whitney Brown-type guest political commentaries. We end up not getting him in any capacity the following season, as he doesn’t return to SNL that season.
— For the second episode in a row, Colin himself does a Weekend Update Editorial, this time an amusingly brief, wordless one where he bitterly tears up a paper regarding a Kentucky Derby horse race that he lost a bet on.
— Is Colin EVER capable of making an ad-libbed statement towards the audience without trailing off towards the end of his sentences? I can rarely fully decipher his muttered ad-libbed statements.
— Great to see Darrell’s President Clinton back at the Update desk.
— I love Darrell’s Clinton saying “Shut the eff up” towards the upset Cuban community in regards to the Elian Gonzalez saga, then smugly informing us that he can speak freely at this point because “What are ya gonna do, impeach me again?”
— What the hell? A brief snippet of the Weekend Update theme music has LOUDLY played right in the middle of Darrell’s commentary just now. I’m surprised that very noticeable technical gaffe didn’t throw Darrell off.
— Darrell’s overall Clinton commentary was awesome as usual and killed with both me and the audience.
STARS: **½
ROCK & ROLL RESTAURANT
Jim Morrison impersonator (HOS) waits on diners at rock & roll restaurant
— I love Tracy’s impression of the lead singer from Cameo.
— When Jimmy asks if they can get another waiter because they don’t remember the lead singer from Cameo, I got a good laugh from Tracy bitterly responding “Yeah, and I guess my kids can eat dirt!” and then pushing Jimmy’s head when making his exit.
— I’m liking Horatio’s as a latter-years Jim Morrison.
— The rock-and-roll-themed menu items that the customers are reading off are pretty funny.
— You can tell that this sketch is fairly early in Horatio and Jimmy’s SNL tenures, as Horatio is going fully over-the-top right next to Jimmy, yet Jimmy is staying perfectly in character, not cracking a smile. If this sketch were from 2002-2004, you know that both Jimmy and Horatio would be absolutely losing their shit at Horatio’s own antics.
— Okay, the whole Jim Morrison bit is getting old, though Horatio is giving it his all. This sketch feels kinda like a poor man’s version of Horatio’s Just Enjoy The Ozzy And Keep Your Mouth Shut sketch from the preceding season.
— I did get a laugh from Horatio suddenly grabbing at the customers’ inappropriate areas.
— I liked John’s line to the customers about how they need to accept the fact that when you see the latter-years Jim Morrison, he’s gonna show you his wiener.
— Hmm, after I’ve pointed out how perfectly in character Jimmy is staying while watching Horatio’s antics, Jimmy now looks like he’s trying to hide his laughter after Horatio began exaggeratedly singing into Jimmy’s face.
— Horatio smashing a bottle on Jimmy’s head before diving onto the table was pretty funny.
— After the table of customers leave in an upset manner, I love Horatio yelling towards them “Buncha JACKHOLES!”
STARS: **½
TRAFFIC STOP
troopers (host) & (TIM) administer sobriety test to the Bloater brothers
— The Bloater Brothers officially become recurring characters. As I explained in my review of their first appearance, these characters are big guilty pleasures of mine, and I’m well-aware that I’m in the minority.
— The Bloater Brothers’ singing of their refrigerator commercial jingle is amusing me.
— Tim gets a great laugh from his blunt delivery of “I’m gonna take this nightstick and hit ya in the head.” That’s the type of line that only Tim Meadows could get such a big laugh out of with his delivery.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Silver & Gold”
TEK-CO
Tek-co Mechanical Currency Masticator automates coin valuation via biting
— Will has surprisingly been having a very light night. This is his first appearance since all the way back in the Platinum Mach 14 commercial right after the monologue.
— I love Will revealing his missing teeth when saying he bit the coins in the last treasure chest.
— A very random premise for a Chris Parnell pitchman ad, but I’m liking this randomness.
— Parnell surprisingly flubbed a word just now (reminds me of how surprised I would always be when seeing the rare times that Phil Hartman messed up), but he immediately recovered well.
— I like the part with Parnell listing off various ridiculous terms for coins.
— A funny visual of John with his finger coyly in his mouth when Parnell catches him trying to pass off a fake coin as a real one.
— Hmm, all of this lengthy, complicated, speedy dialogue may be a bit too much for Parnell, as even a consummate pro like him seems to be having a little trouble getting through some of these lines.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not quite as terrible as I had remembered it, but it was still a subpar episode and had a forgettable feel. John Goodman also gave YET ANOTHER forgettable hosting performance in which he disappeared into the background, aside from some laughs here and there. You know, I really hate to say what I’m about to say about John Goodman, and this may result in me getting stones thrown at me, but after reviewing 11 straight seasons in which John Goodman hosted, I’m honestly starting to wonder why he was such a frequent host who was brought back season after season. I love John Goodman as much as the next guy, but he rarely, if ever, stands out as a host, and he just plays forgettable, thankless roles most of the time. He doesn’t have that Buck Henry quality, either, that would justify frequently bringing back such a host that rarely stands out in sketches. I’d understand John hosting every few seasons or so, but on an annual basis??? It’s probably a good thing that he ends up taking a one-year break from hosting SNL the following season.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tobey Maguire)
a big step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Britney Spears