NOTE: As I mentioned at the end of my last review, this Charlize Theron episode is a very special episode for me as an SNL reviewer, as it’s the very first episode I ever did a review of, back when I regularly reviewed new SNL episodes right after they aired, for 14 long consecutive seasons. My original review of this episode is here, though only a few portions of it still exist, as I unfortunately lost most of it. Anyway, if you’d like, feel free to compare and contrast the linked review to the review I’m about to do below.
Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
A GLIMPSE OF OUR POSSIBLE FUTURE
swamped president George W. Bush (WIF)
— I love the beginning, with Will-as-Bush’s off-camera whining about how he doesn’t want to go on camera, as an angry aide (voiced by Parnell) is urging him to do it.
— Speaking of Will-as-Bush’s whining, his particular whine of the line “I don’t wanna go out, it’s too haaaaaarrrrrddd!” feels like a precursor to the whiny Bush impression that future cast member Will Forte would later do on a regular basis.
— In hindsight, this cold opening feels a little eerily reminiscent of a certain infamous event that would later happen under Bush’s presidency the following September 11th, so much so, that Comedy Central’s 60-minute version of this episode would remove this cold opening, and that’s noteworthy, as Comedy Central’s 60-minute SNL episodes usually NEVER removed cold openings from seasons 25 and 26. By the way, here’s something even eerier about this cold opening’s similarities to 9/11, on a more personal note: on the night of September 10, 2001, I randomly chose to rewatch this cold opening on a VHS tape that I had recorded this episode on back when it originally aired. After rewatching this cold opening, I remember Will-as-Bush’s line “That big tit building’s on fire again!” was stuck in my head the whole rest of that night. Well, fast-forward to the fateful next day, September 11, 2001, and hoo, boy, when I saw all the tragic breaking news on TV, there was one point where I couldn’t help but be reminded of the SNL cold opening that I had just watched the preceding night, and I was particularly reminded of the immortal (to me) line “That big tit building’s on fire again!”, and then I felt strangely both kinda guilty and prescient.
— Hilarious reveal that all of these disasters happened a mere two weeks into Bush’s presidency.
— The line about Bush having killed vice president Dick Cheney in a hunting accident? Hoooooly hell, talk about prescient, even if it was actually Cheney who would end up being the cause of the real-life hunting accident years later.
— Funny ending with an ostrich.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
TRM commiserates with host upon learning she’s an African-American
— When Charlize addresses an “audience member” played by Tracy as “sir”, I love Tracy responding “I’m not a sir, I’m Tracy Morgan, I’m on the show.”
— Tracy pointing out how Charlize is technically African-American is great.
— Tracy is a riot in this monologue, just being his natural self. He and Charlize have a nice chemistry too. This monologue feels like it’s in a similar vein to the backstage sketches that Tracy did with Garth Brooks and Jamie Foxx in the preceding season, but I can see why they instead put this one in the monologue spot tonight.
STARS: ****
TRL
Gemini’s Twin (ANG) & (MAR) added (host) for looks
— The debut of the Gemini’s Twin sketches.
— Funny music video shown of Gemini’s Twin early in the sketch.
— In Charlize’s second hosting stint 14 years later (which was coincidentally the second-to-last episode I reviewed during my aforementioned 14-year original run as a reviewer of new SNL episodes), she talks about this Gemini’s Twin sketch in her monologue and points out that the writers had to work around her inability to sing by having her resort to just throwing in brief one-liners after Maya and Ana’s harmonizing.
— Charlize’s performance here is cracking me up.
— This Gemini’s Twins group is a good parody of Destiny’s Child.
— Overall, while I’m not sure I’m going to enjoy this as a recurring sketch, this debut was pretty good.
STARS: ***
A GLIMPSE OF OUR POSSIBLE FUTURE
professorial president Al Gore (DAH)
— I like how this is a runner tonight, going through each of the presidential candidates.
— Darrell-as-Al-Gore’s teacher-esque treatment towards the nation is very funny, especially him chastising the nation for their performance in last week’s pop quiz (“Idaho, I’m lookin’ in your directiiiioooonnn…”).
— An interesting use of pre-tape and a body double to make it look like Darrell is playing both Gore and Bill Clinton in this sketch, but there’s an awful lot of awkward timing issues here. There’s some delays before they cut to Darrell as pre-taped Clinton, and the body double playing live Clinton is way off on his cues, as he keeps doing certain actions too early or too late.
STARS: ***½
MARLA AND CODY’S BLAIR WITCH TOUR!
Azrael & Circe take Marla (host) & Cody’s (HOS) Blair Witch Tour
— Funny sudden reveal of Kattan and Molly’s Goth Talk characters. This is a refreshing use of them, and ends up being their final appearance.
— I’m really liking Charlize’s characterization here.
— A big laugh from Azrael Abyss fearfully answering “Yes” when Charlize asks him and Circe Nightshade the rhetorical question of if either of them were ever caught in a parking lot while the shop teacher went down on them.
— Great bit with Azrael’s “I’m so scared” close-up turning out to be him struggling to pee in the woods.
— Horatio is funny as the alleged Blair Witch.
STARS: ***½
TV FUNHOUSE
“The All New Adventures of Mr. T” by RBS- actors’ strike leads to ad gig
— Good to see this back.
— The picket sign holder’s odd way of walking when approaching Mr. T’s van is strangely amusing to me.
— I like the random involvement of actor Michael Gross.
— Some good laughs from the mere fact that Mr. T is fighting just to be a Maxi-Pad commercial.
STARS: ****
THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH
jealous Joe DiMaggio (JIF) guards wife Marilyn Monroe (host) on the set
— Darrell’s foreign-accented line about Marilyn Monroe’s wonderful “crotchenboxen” was very funny.
— Oh, god. There’s the obligatory breaking from Jimmy, for no apparent reason.
— A very funny reveal that Horatio’s character, who’s squeezing Marilyn Monroe’s breasts as if to get them ready for the scene that’s about to be filmed, doesn’t even work here.
— Funny ending line from Parnell’s voice-over braggingly saying, in regards to Joe DiMaggio, “He had sex with Marilyn Monroe, and you didn’t”, which is humorously followed by a long, rapidly-scrolled list of people who did have sex with Marilyn. I caught some interesting names in there, including some SNL-related ones. (For anyone curious, below are screencaps of the list)
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hurricane Eye”
WEEKEND UPDATE
RAD’s attempt to spring a surprise wedding on JIF meets with failure
TIF explains the electoral college & the potential order of succession
lone Jewish SNL writer Hugh Fink [real] talks about Joe Lieberman
— Interesting commentary with Rachel as herself in a wedding dress, proposing to Jimmy.
— A pretty good laugh from Jimmy telling Rachel that he can’t marry her because he just got PlayStation 2, which, as he says, is “very time-consuming”.
— Solid side segment from Tina explaining the convoluted process of how the president is elected.
— Yikes, Jimmy botched the Renovations joke HORRIBLY, which is something that usually comes to mind whenever I think about how green Jimmy sometimes tended to come off in his first season as Update anchorperson. However, he immediately saves himself in his botched Renovations joke tonight with a great ad-lib, where he says a mock-surprised “Oh, we’re gonna do it live this week?!?” Right before that ad-lib, I also like Tina’s hand reaching into the shot of Jimmy to comically rub his face (the sixth above screencap for this Weekend Update) after he botched the joke.
— Jimmy’s critique of GQ’s picks for Men of the Year is pretty funny.
— Man, Jimmy is STILL botching jokes. Pretty rough night for him.
— SNL seems to be letting a lot of their writers do Update commentaries as themselves lately, between Kevin Brennan in the back half of the preceding season, Adam McKay in the last episode, and now Hugh Fink tonight.
— I love Fink making fun of the last names of his fellow SNL writers (e.g. McNicholas, Herlihy, Shannon).
— Fink’s impression of Joe Lieberman is cracking me up.
— An overall solid commentary from Fink. I wish this led to him doing more Update commentaries, but alas, this ends up being his only one.
STARS: ***
BEDTIME STORIES
sex therapy patient (host) is turned on by Mr. Peepers
— It’s gradually feeling more and more odd lately to see Molly still on the show this season. It doesn’t feel out of the ordinary when I see her playing her recurring characters like Circe Nightshade or her Delicious Dish character, but when I see her playing non-recurring characters like in this sketch, it gives me a weird feel of “Oh, Molly’s still in the cast this season? I forgot.”
— Meh, a Mr. Peepers sketch.
— Charlize is a real good sport to participate in all of these crazy things that Mr. Peepers is having her do while she’s blindfolded, but it sure is disgusting to watch.
— When starting to hump Mr. Peepers in a doggy style position, Charlize accidentally pulls Kattan’s wig off (the last above screencap for this sketch). Surprisingly, this blooper isn’t all that noticeable and doesn’t affect the sketch (unlike a similar wig blooper with Brendan Fraser in a Xena sketch), probably due to all the craziness and raunchiness happening in the scene right now. Eventually, after failing in his attempt to put the wig back on his head, Kattan just casually throws the wig aside during the wild three-way humping session between Mr. Peepers, Molly, and Charlize.
— Overall, while still not all that great, I found this a little more tolerable than a lot of Mr. Peepers sketches, partly due to Charlize’s great commitment, and partly due to the crazy ending.
STARS: **½
A GLIMPSE OF OUR POSSIBLE FUTURE
fantastic president Ralph Nader (JIF)
— Hilarious idea of doing an “A Glimpse of Our Possible Future” scenario with the no-chance-of-realistically-winning Ralph Nader. I absolutely love the screaming laugh from a guy in SNL’s audience upon hearing the Ralph Nader reveal at the beginning of this.
— I remember when this episode originally aired, I missed the beginning of this sketch, but even when I came into this sketch mid-progress and saw Jimmy, I could immediately tell he was playing Ralph Nader. Jimmy’s doing a good impression of him, right down to imitating his twitchy eye.
— I like the hints that Nader’s presidency would only happen when pigs fly and when hell freezes over. When I first saw this sketch when it originally aired, then-teenage me didn’t “get” the joke of two shivering devils in scarves (played by Parnell and SNL writer Scott Wainio) throwing snowballs at each other, until I soon saw it explained on an online SNL forum that the joke is implying that hell has frozen over. I also remember having a difficult time figuring out who was playing the non-Parnell devil, as I wasn’t all that familiar with Scott Wainio at the time, plus the red face paint made it even harder to identify him in this sketch.
STARS: ****
AUDITION
musical guest watches Kyle & Sean DeMarco interpret his songs via dance
— Geez, TWO Chris Kattan recurring sketches in a row tonight? (Not counting the Nader mini-sketch in between.) Ehhh….
— Always nice to see Paul Simon appear in a sketch. I just wish it was something better than THIS sketch.
— I will say that I am kinda liking the DeMarco Brothers’ interpretation of “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”.
— Okay, these song interpretations are quickly getting old.
— I’ve had nothing but good things to say about Charlize’s performances so far tonight, but geez, she’s kinda awful in this sketch. She’s overacting badly.
— Okay, the DeMarco Brothers are kinda winning me back over with their pretty funny interpretation of “Slip Sliding Away”.
— Overall, blah. SNL should’ve given this recurring sketch an early retirement after the tolerable Britney Spears installment.
STARS: **
THE COCONUT BANGERS BALL: IT’S A RAP!
Robert Goulet (WIF) covers rap songs on album
— Yes! The debut of Will’s Robert Goulet impression!
— A hilarious concept of Robert Goulet singing famous rap songs in a crooner style.
— Haha, holy hell at Will’s Goulet casually dropping the n-word when singing lyrics from “The Thong Song”. It took serious balls for Will to do that on the air.
— I howled at Will’s intense delivery of the lyric “Throw your hands in the air if you think YOU’RE A PLAYA!!!”
— Ha, Will gets away with another n-word drop during another song.
— Will-as-Goulet’s whole interaction with the big-horned sheep is pure comedy gold, especially the staring contest.
— Overall, my god, this sketch was so damn funny, even moreso than I had remembered all these years. Absolutely perfect. A Will Ferrell classic.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Old”
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB
Buena Vista Social Club members get friendly with audience member (host)
— You can tell that this sketch is being rushed, as it fades in on Parnell already mid-sentence, as if SNL told him right before the show came back on air to hurry up and start speaking so they can try to squeeze in this sketch, due to the show starting to run long. Paul Simon’s preceding musical performance also felt unusually short (it was seriously only about two minutes long), and I wonder if he was also told to rush, or if that’s just the normal length of the song.
— Man, this is Jerry Minor’s FIRST (and only) appearance all night. So far in his SNL tenure, he sadly hasn’t been getting many opportunities to show his strengths as a performer.
— Some laughs from the Latin singers’ dirty lyrics that Will is casually translating.
— Tracy’s delivery here is cracking me up.
— I love Will translating the Latin singers’ lyric about getting rid of the dumbass with a red tie, only for Will to then angrily realize “Hey, I’m the only dumbass here with a red tie!”
— Uh-oh, looks like SNL is unsuccessful in their attempt to squeeze in this entire sketch before the show runs out of time, as the ending of this sketch abruptly gets cuts off by a commercial break. I can’t remember if SNL would later show the full ending of this sketch in reruns or not, but I don’t think they do.
STARS: ***
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode, and had some strong sketches here and there, as well as one classic (The Coconut Bangers Ball), though there were unfortunately two subpar Chris Kattan recurring character pieces mixed into the second half of the show. Aside from her performance in the DeMarco Brothers sketch, Charlize Theron was a pretty solid host, better than I would’ve expected her to be.
— On a personal note, reviewing this episode just now has brought back so many nice memories of when I wrote my very first SNL review ever. It’s going to feel odd but exciting re-reviewing these next few seasons, especially now that I’m much older and more mature than the teenage version of me who originally reviewed these seasons back in the early 2000s.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Dana Carvey)
a slight step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Calista Flockhart