Month: February 2020

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February 5, 2000 – Alan Cumming / Jennifer Lopez (S25 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BREAKFAST IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
presidential candidates have breakfast after the New Hampshire primary

— Darrell’s Al Gore impression, still in its early stages, is slowly starting to sound like how it would famously go on to later sound, though it’s still got a way to go.
— Will’s George W. Bush impression, on the other hand, remains not even close. His Bush continues to not have any of the specific Bush mannerisms that his impression would later become famous for. All that being said, his Bush portrayal in this cold opening is still funny, and they are at least introducing hints of the soon-to-be-famous aspect of his Bush being “slow”.
— Funny bit about Parnell’s John McCain only being comfortable eating with a blindfold.
— Good to see Tim’s Marvin The Martian-sounding Alan Keyes impression for the first time since way back in season 21’s Tom Arnold episode.
— I love Tim’s Keyes panickedly bolting out of the room when Parnell’s McCain realizes Keyes stole his copy of USA Today.
— The ending of this cold opening would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version. The most noticeable difference is Parnell’s “Live From New York…” delivery: in the live version, he delivers it in a frenzied way with a smile, whereas in the dress version, he delivers it in a sort-of scared manner with a surprised look on his face.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— After sounding awful in the last episode, Don Pardo is out tonight with, I believe, laryngitis. Darrell Hammond fills in for him once again. Darrell seems to be going for a Don Pardo impression in his announcements tonight, but it’s not as defined as the Pardo impression he did in the preceding season’s James Van Der Beek episode.


MONOLOGUE
host is besieged by Broadway-wannabes CHO, CHK, ANG, CHP, TRM, WIF

— I can tell I’m not going to be too crazy about this Broadway-centric monologue, but hopefully, the performances will make this somewhat fun.
— A good laugh from Alan Cumming’s “Cumming on Cumming” joke.
— Parnell entering in a Phantom Of The Opera mask is fairly funny.
— Tracy dancing around in a Cats costume is hilarious.
STARS: **½


UNCLE JEMIMA’S PURE MASH LIQUOR
Uncle Jemima’s (TRM) Pure Mash Liquor is his bid to escape wife’s shadow

— Tracy’s performance as Uncle Jemima is slaying me. He is fantastic in this.
— Uncle Jemima, on something he once told Aunt Jemima: “Black folk ain’t exactly swellin’ up with pride on account of you flippin’ flapjacks.”
— Uncle Jemima: “Uncle Jemima’s Pure Mash Liquor has a 95% alcohol content, and that’s per volume.” Tim: “What the hell does that mean?” Uncle Jemima: “That means you get (bleep)ed up for less money.”
— Tim’s “What’choo swattin’ at?!?” is perfect.
— Solid ending with Tracy being chased out of the commercial by the animated birds flying around him.
— Overall, a Tracy Morgan classic, with some nice assistance from Tim.
STARS: *****


FRIED CHICKEN FIELDS FOREVER
VH-1 depicts John Lennon (JIF) & Paul McCartney (host) as restauranteurs

— Funny reveal of Lennon and McCartney opening a chain of fried chicken restaurants, as the filmmakers’ way of working around the network not having rights to any of the Beatles’ music.
— Not much of an attempt at a Paul McCartney impression from Alan.
— The “Number 9? Number 9? Number 9?” scene is very funny.
— At the end of the aforementioned “Number 9?” scene, you can hear a female stagehand’s voice (probably the stage manager) whispering “Alan, you can change!”
— What the heck is going on? The timing in this sketch has gotten really wonky all of a sudden. Alan and Jimmy are badly off on their cues. In fact, I’m pretty sure Alan completely screwed up the quick scene he did in which he pushes a mop & bucket while making some kind of complaint about about the “ladies’ crapper”; he seemed to do that scene much earlier than he was supposed to. Yikes!
— Parnell’s occasional off-camera angry yelling at Lennon and McCartney is cracking me up.
— Funny ending regarding the altered title of the movie.
— Overall, not a bad script, but the execution needed some work. Thankfully, the timing issues in this sketch would later be fixed in reruns.
STARS: **½


TANDEM HEARTS
Marty & Bobby perform a medley with couples workshop organizer (host)

— Alan’s American accent here is making me laugh.
— The Culps’ pre-song banter is funny as usual.
— After the last Culps installment with Dylan McDermott, it now seems to be becoming a regular thing for hosts to join the Culps in their song medley.
— Like McDermott, Alan is adding a fun vibe to the medley, though he’s not quite as funny as McDermott was in his Culps sketch.
— The funniest parts of tonight’s Culps/Cumming song medley are their singing of Limp Bizkit’s “Nookie” and the “You’re the One That I Want” song from Grease.
STARS: ***½


DOG SHOW
an intervention addresses Mr. Bojangles’ drinking problem

— I got a laugh from how we’re told that Mr. Bojangles isn’t dressed in his proper costume because he got wasted at a friend’s birthday party.
— For some reason, Alan’s delivery here is kinda reminding me of Eric Idle. I like that.
— Will, speaking for Mr. Bojangles: “Can I just say one thing, or is this Russia?”
— Overall, slightly better than the last two Dog Show installments, but I still feel these Dog Show sketches have lost their luster after the first two installments.
STARS: **½


THE HEAT IS ON
by Adam McKay- (BES) regrets bedding Glenn Frey (WIF)

 

— Hmm, “SNL Studios presents: A short film by Adam McKay”. Well… this is certainly different for this SNL era.
— As if the sudden appearance of an Adam McKay short film wasn’t out-of-left-field enough, we now see that this film randomly stars Ben Stiller.
— An interesting thing about Ben Stiller in this film is that the reason he quit SNL during his stint as a featured player in season 14 is reportedly because he was upset that SNL wouldn’t let him do short films on the show. 11 years later, and this Adam McKay film kinda makes up for that in a way, even if that’s unintentional on McKay’s part.
— Ben Stiller: “Come tomorrow morning, I’m gonna have Glenn Frey’s stank all over me.”
— Will’s cocky portrayal of Glenn Frey is very funny.
— I can let the tired “men kissing men for cheap laughs” trope slide in this film, because Will is freakin’ hilarious during this bizarre kissing sequence.
— The love-making montage is priceless, especially the close-up of Will’s Frey furiously grunting in a disturbing manner (the third-to-last above screencap for this film).
— Unlike most SNL short films, we actually get ending credits in this one, listing the actors and production staff.
— Overall, a hilarious film, and a solid introduction to the film work that Adam McKay will be doing on SNL this next season-and-a-half.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Feelin’ So Good”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Great Moments in Black History- TRM offers an autobiography
Bill Clinton (DAH) says “my successor will be boring; you’ll miss me”

 

— Colin’s voice is cracking at times during this Update, which he eventually points out.
— An interesting-seeming Black History segment with Tracy, taking place on a different set.
— I love seeing a childhood picture of Tracy (the fifth above screencap for this Update).
— Tracy is quite stumbly throughout this commentary.
— An overall decent Tracy commentary with a few really good laughs, but the commentary felt like it should’ve gone further.
— A big laugh from Darrell’s President Clinton asking “You’re gonna miss me, aren’t you?” after going on about how overly straitlaced and well-behaved the next president is going to be. (Turns out that prediction would end up being off by only one presidency. “Overly straitlaced” and “well-behaved” would describe Obama more than Bush Jr.)
— The premise of this Clinton commentary is starting to feel a little like a rehash of the cold opening Darrell’s Clinton did earlier this season in the Christina Ricci episode, but he’s making this a lot of fun.
— Clinton’s promises of the wild things he’ll do for the remainder of his presidency are very funny.
STARS: **½


SIEGFRIED AND ROY’S NIGHT OF 1000 TIGERS
Siegfried (host) & Roy’s (CHK) Night of 1000 Tigers is a wildlife benefit

— Very funny make-up on Cheri as the famous cat-looking woman.
— A few minutes later into this sketch, and this sketch hasn’t been doing much for me.
— I love Alan’s ad-lib when the smoke blocks his view of the cue cards.
STARS: **


HELLO DOLLY
(host)’s collectible creations are a vehicle for psychoses

— I like Ana’s passing mention of her marriage being ruined by “Hurricane Carol”.
— Funny line from Alan, regarding him being a “knock-kneed scab-picker” in his childhood.
— Another funny line from Alan, telling critics of his Husky Doodle doll, “I’d just like to spray you down with a little can of hush.”
— An overall okay Hello Dolly sketch, though I’m starting to get a little tired of Ana’s character’s constant mentions of troubled things in her life.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Waiting For Tonight”


BAND SHOT

— The show comes back from commercial just to show the SNL Band immediately playing the show back to commercial. As I said in my review of season 21’s Christopher Walken episode, that’s always a sign that the show has run long and had to cut a scheduled sketch at the last minute.


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty unmemorable episode. A few highlights, but I wasn’t too crazy about the show as a whole, and I’m having a hard time remembering a lot of sketches even right after having just watched this episode. Alan Cumming was a pretty fun and solid host, and had an English-type wit about him. I just wish he was given better material.
— This season’s been having a bit of a forgettable run of episodes lately. The Jennifer Aniston episode from all the way back in November was the last episode I was crazy about.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Freddie Prinze Jr.)
a very slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Julianna Margulies

Posted on

January 15, 2000 – Freddie Prinze Jr. / Macy Gray (S25 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NBC SPECIAL REPORT
at a press conference, Elian Gonzalez (CHK) badmouths the USA

— Boy, this season sure feels like it’s had a lot of NBC Special Report cold openings that begin with Parnell’s Tom Brokaw.
— Funny initial visual of Kattan’s Elian Gonzalez being carried into the scene.
— Elian’s slams on Miami are funny.
— A lot of Elian’s lines have been getting a pretty lukewarm audience reaction so far.
— Not sure we needed this cold opening to turn into a song.
STARS: **½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Don Pardo must be feeling ill, as he sounds awful tonight. His voice is hoarse and has no energy, making him sound half-asleep. His announcements in tonight’s episode would later be replaced in reruns with announcements where he sounds like his usual self.


MONOLOGUE
flu-ravaged cast may necessitate cancellation of host’s SNL episode

— Interesting monologue premise of everyone having the flu. When Freddie Prinze Jr. mentioned who at SNL is sick, I wish he mentioned Don Pardo, considering how bad Don legitimately sounded in the opening montage.
— When Lorne says they’re gonna have to replace tonight’s episode with The Best of Rob Schneider, I love Tim stopping mid-drink to yell “No!”, which is funny when you remember that Tim used to be castmates with Rob Schneider.
— A good laugh from the rectal thermometer bit with Cheri and Will.
— A hilarious bit with Tracy listing his STD symptoms as flu symptoms, then angrily exclaiming “DAMN!” when being corrected by Freddie.
STARS: ****


COLONEL BELMONT’S OLD FASHIONED HORSE GLUE
Colonel Belmont’s Old Fashioned Horse Glue has no artificial ingredients

— Ehh, not too sure about this premise. Will’s solid delivery is helping to elevate this iffy material.
— I like the quick shot of Parnell passing by the camera with a wheelbarrow of horse hooves while saying “Horse comin’ through!”
STARS: **½


WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
contestant (WIF) quits after winning $100

— SNL would later replace this sketch with the dress rehearsal version. In that version, Will wears a wig, whereas he has his real hair in the live version I’m currently reviewing of this sketch.
— Solid turn with Will foolishly calling it quits early after winning $100 from the first question, resulting in him getting booed off the set.
— Overall, short and sweet. The fact that they surprisingly concluded this sketch so early after such a big set-up is what made this so funny.
STARS: ***½


BOY BAND BLOWOUT 2000
(host) is the new lead singer of 7 Degrees Celsius

— The 7 Degrees Celsius sketch now becomes recurring, an exact year after it debuted in the second January episode from the preceding season.
— Parnell’s delivery in these 7 Degrees Celsius sketches always makes me laugh.
— Like the first installment of this sketch, this sketch is a spot-on parody of boy bands from this era, but tonight’s installment is lacking what I loved in the first installment.
— Wow, the audience is absolutely DEAD during the Ana/Cheri portions of this sketch, despite the fact that Ana and Cheri have several lines designed to get laughs.
— Funny visual of Parnell dragging around a giant computer mouse during the band’s AOL song.
— Also during the AOL song, I love Jimmy making internet dial-up sounds with his mouth.
— Good ending with Horatio’s son appearing.
— Hey, why didn’t this overall sketch have the manager character, played by Will? He usually steals these 7 Degrees Celsius sketches.
— Overall, some laughs here, but as a whole, 7 Degrees Celsius doesn’t work as a recurring sketch.
STARS: **½


JENNY CRAIG
Monica Lewinsky (MOS) likes the phallic dishes possible with Jenny Craig

— A pretty obvious and one-joke premise of Molly’s Monica Lewinsky liking phallic-looking meals.
— Overall, meh, this didn’t do much for me, which makes tonight’s episode 0-for-2 in pre-taped commercials that work for me.
STARS: **


MODELS
ugly models (RAD) & (CHO) have high self-esteem; Angie Everhart cameo

— Jimmy’s delivery of the word “mofo” was worth a laugh.
— Jimmy’s character mentions having a sister named Gloria, which seems to be an inside reference, as Jimmy actually does have a sister named Gloria in real life.
— I got another laugh from Jimmy, this time with him going through the trouble of getting his drink just so he could do a very delayed spit-take in response to finding out about the two ugly models.
— Funny reveal of Rachel and Cheri’s model characters being models for the “before” pictures in before/after ads.
— Random Angie Everhart cameo. And geez, she entered to COMPLETE SILENCE from the audience. They gave her entrance absolutely NO response. In fact, they’ve been quiet during this sketch in general, which is the third time I’ve made that observation in this episode review so far. What’s going on with tonight’s episode?
— I like Freddie asking “Is it a Sandra Bernhard thing?” when trying to figure out the ugly models’ hotness.
— Overall, some laughs, but a somewhat forgettable sketch as a whole.
STARS: **½


THE SOPRANOS
television critics offer gushing quotes in praise of The Sopranos

— The increasingly hyperbolic Sopranos newspaper/magazine reviews are a riot.
— One review: “Compared to the guy who created The Sopranos, Michelangelo is a douche bag.”
— Parnell’s always-great voice-over work is making the already-hilarious dialogue he’s reading come off even funnier.
— Parnell, in his reading-off of one particular review: “’Ohh….ughh…ohhhh…Sopranos!’ ejaculates Robert Conner of Entertainment Weekly.”
STARS: ****½


DOCTOR’S OFFICE
irresponsible Dr. Beaman (WIF) tells (CHP) & (MOS) about their baby

— Ah, here’s an absolute all-time favorite of mine.
— The first half of this sketch (up until the part where Dr. Steven Poop enters) would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version, which is probably the version of this sketch that most people are familiar with today. The most noticeable difference between the live and dress versions of the first half of this sketch is the opening phone conversation that Will’s character has. In the live version I’m currently watching, the phone conversation concerns a baseball that Will accidentally left inside of a patient he operated on. In the dress version, the phone conversation Will has is with his wife and concerns him denying to her that there’s anyone there named Mark and having her prove she’s his wife by asking her what their cat’s name is.
— I absolutely love how Rachel’s playing the same character she just played mere minutes ago in the Models sketch. A huge rarity for sketches to overlap like that within a single SNL episode. Unfortunately, the joke of Rachel reprising her Models character in this sketch would later be lost in Comedy Central’s 60-minute version of this episode, as they cut out the Models sketch but leave in this doctor sketch, thus causing viewers to not be aware that Rachel’s character in this doctor sketch was intended as a callback to an earlier sketch. Even without that knowledge, though, her character still works in this sketch.
— Will, to the person he’s talking to on the phone: “His (Parnell) big, sweaty, fat face, sucking in air like a dying fish. Between you and me, I’d like to stomp on his head till my foot’s covered in brains.”
— Will, to Parnell and Molly: “Your father may never again have what we call a human face.”
— I love how ,when trying to find the first names of Molly and Parnell’s Framingham couple, Will guesses at one point “Funk and Blowfish Framingham?”
— Will, to Parnell, in regards to Parnell’s wife, who’s Caucasian: “Tell that Asian wife of yours to shut up too!” I am absolutely loving the completely random humor all throughout this sketch.
— Man, once again tonight, most of the audience is absolutely dead during this sketch. Is tonight’s audience sleeping their way through tonight’s whole show? The dress rehearsal version of the first half of this sketch that’s shown in reruns has a more responsive audience.
— A particularly classic portion of this sketch with Tim entering as Dr. Steven Poop, telling Parnell and Molly that there’s nothing he can do for their lost baby, then doing the robot and then telling them “That’ll be $5,000. Good day to you both.” In the dress rehearsal version of this sketch, Dr. Poop was played by Freddie Prinze Jr. Thank god they gave Tim the role for the live show, as there is NO WAY IN HELL Freddie Prinze Jr. made the role anywhere near as funny as Tim did.
— When Tim makes his exit after doing the robot, Will and (especially) Molly both memorably lose it and crack up out of character. This is understandable when you’re aware of the aforementioned last-minute casting change for the role of Dr. Poop, thus meaning that none of Tim’s scene partners in this sketch witnessed him doing the robot before this sketch went on air. Parnell is the only performer in the scene right now who’s still staying completely in character and isn’t breaking, making this the very first sketch that SNL fans would take notice of Parnell’s admirable Phil Hartman-like ability to stay in character and keep a sketch afloat even when others around him are breaking.
— Parnell: “You vondruke!” Will: “Is that an actual curse word???”
— The audience has gotten a lot more responsive in the second half of this sketch, after Will and Molly’s character break woke them up.
— Great turn with Parnell inexplicably letting Will’s loss of their baby slide and then sleazily telling Molly “Now let’s start makin’ another one.”
— I love how even the ending of this sketch is bizarre and nonsensical, with Will’s exaggerated “Thank god”, “Yikes!”, and “That was rooouuuugh!” while taking long pauses in between each of those lines.
— Overall, this sketch was an absolute absurd masterpiece.
STARS: *****


CHARLIE ROSE
Ricky Martin (CHK) & Enrique Iglesias (host)

— Good Charlie Rose impression from Darrell.
— An initial laugh from the exaggerated hair on Kattan’s Ricky Martin.
— I like how out-of-place it is seeing Darrell’s Charlie Rose interviewing and admiring two young Latin singing sensations.
— Charlie Rose, to Enrique Iglesias: “Your debut album sold over 6 million copies. What’s with the mole?”
— This is Freddie’s first performance all night that has gotten anywhere close to a laugh from me. I’ll also give credit to him for managing to keep a straight face during all of Kattan’s wild gestures and facial expressions while sitting right next to him.
— Charlie Rose, to Enrique Iglesias: “Your music makes me wanna take my clothes off and dance in the rain.” That funny line now kinda takes on a bit of a different meaning in light of shady things we now know about the real Charlie Rose.
— The Ricky/Enrique portions of this sketch are starting to run out of steam for me. Not even Enrique’s punch to Ricky’s face made me laugh much (though I remember finding it hilarious when I first saw this sketch as a teenager). Darrell’s Charlie Rose has been the only thing left that’s still making me laugh in this sketch.
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE
a la Catherine Zeta-Jones, CHO announces she’s engaged to a 4 year-old

— Colin continues his bad habit of muttering unnecessary ad-libs after his news jokes, some of which ruin the occasional news jokes of his that actually make me laugh.
— Colin sounds slightly low-energy tonight, which fits the oddly low-energy feel of tonight’s episode in general.
— Cheri’s commentary about dating a 4-year-old actor has its charm, though I’m not laughing all that much.
— Update is over already? This Update felt unusually short.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Try”


GIFFORD HOME
(host) beholds domestic strife of Frank (DAH) & Kathie Lee (CHO) Gifford

— I love Darrell’s Frank Gifford occasionally entering the room and saying bitter one-liners in his professional announcer’s voice.
— A few minutes later into this sketch, and Darrell has been providing my ONLY real laughs in this whole sketch (kinda like the Charlie Rose sketch earlier tonight). Cheri-as-Kathie-Lee-Gifford’s constant ranting and flirting with Freddie aren’t doing much for me.
— Okay, Cheri’s Kathie Lee finally got a laugh from me, with her line “I swear, if I wasn’t a born-again Christian Jew…”
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Why Didn’t You Call Me”


FLACKO AND TEDDY’S WORLD OF MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY TREES
(TRM) & (host) sell dried-up Christmas trees as important MLK Day icons

— Much like with the “Is It Date Rape?” sketch from season 19’s Shannen Doherty episode, the opening background music for this sketch is the theme music from the 1967 version of Casino Royale. This same theme music would later memorably be used in a classic Will Forte dancing coach sketch with Peyton Manning.
— Funny concept of selling dried-up Christmas trees as Martin Luther King Day trees.
— A laugh from the badly-doctored photo of Martin Luther King with an MLK Day tree.
— Tracy: “In the words of Dr. King himself: I have a dream, blah blah blah, buy one of those trees from these two guys on TV.”
— Tracy’s a natural in this sketch. Freddie, on the other hand, ehh. While I appreciate that Freddie’s going for an actual characterization (which is more than I can say for most of his performances tonight), his delivery here has a vibe of trying too hard.
— SNL would attempt a second installment of this sketch two seasons later in a Gwyneth Paltrow-hosted episode, with then-newbie Dean Edwards replacing Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Flacko character as a new character named Rufus, but the sketch would end up getting cut after dress rehearsal. (I forget what Tracy and Dean’s characters were selling in that installment of this sketch.) The writers of that cut sketch seemed to mistakenly think that Tracy played Flacko in the first installment of this sketch, as the cut second installment had Tracy’s character named Flacko instead of Teddy.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

— Nice touch with having the camera show an MLK Day tree placed next to the stage (the second above screencap for these goodnights).

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty weak episode, and the first episode in a LONG time that I’ve felt negatively about (the first one since all the way back in season 23, to be more precise). While there were a few particularly great things like Doctor’s Office and The Sopranos, they were far outnumbered by things that were underwhelming. This episode as a whole felt a bit off, especially how several portions of the show had a weird low-energy vibe and a dead audience, the latter of which is quite a contrast from the loud, rowdy, energetic audience in just the last episode, with Jamie Foxx.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jamie Foxx)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Alan Cumming

Posted on

January 8, 2000 – Jamie Foxx / Blink-182 (S25 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

HILLARY MOVES OUT
Bill (DAH) pays little attention as Hillary (ANG) Clinton moves out

— This cold opening immediately starts off with a funny line, with Ana’s Hillary Clinton asking Darrell’s Bill to get off his fat ass and help her.
— Some funny barbs between Bill and Hillary.
— After Will’s Vladmir Putin says he’s getting rid of Boris Yeltsin’s things, we get a funny reveal of Yeltsin’s things just being a whole bunch of empty liquor bottles.
— Vladmir Putin, on Mikhail Gorbachev’s son, Mikhail W. Gorbachev: “The Russian people aren’t stupid enough to vote for someone just because he has his dad’s name.” Bill Clinton: “The American people are.”
— I like the cutaway to Hillary’s “Oh, really?” facial expression after Bill says on the phone “I don’t think people should do something that’s wrong just because it makes them feel good.”
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
Oliver Stone (WIF) repeatedly interrupts host with extraneous directions

— A lot of energetic Jamie Foxx fans in the audience tonight.
— Will is funny as Oliver Stone.
— The stand-up portions of this monologue with Jamie are strong enough on their own without the constant interruptions from Will, even if Will is funny here. Jamie’s certainly funny enough to carry his own stand-up monologue.
— Kattan’s Al Pacino is having me in stitches. Jamie seems genuinely amused by him too, as he’s noticeably trying to hide his laughter. Crazy make-up on Kattan’s Pacino, by the way. I recall an SNL fan once saying that Kattan’s Pacino in this monologue resembled a caveman more than it resembled Pacino.
STARS: ***½


HAMBURGER HELPER ANTIBACTERIAL
blue goo restores old meat to edibility

— It can never be said enough how great Parnell always is at playing commercial spokesmen.
— A pretty funny disgusting visual of some kind of blue antibacterial goo being mixed into the hamburger meat.
— Ana, on how Hamburger Helper Antibacterial tastes: “It stings a little at first… but then it’s good!”
STARS: ***


COUPLES COUNSELING
Jennifer Lopez (CHO) & armed Puff Daddy (host) seek relationship advice

— After playing Mariah Carey several times in the past, I guess it makes sense that Cheri would now be cast as Jennifer Lopez.
— The aforementioned Jamie Foxx fans in the audience are particularly loud during this sketch.
— Jamie’s Puff Daddy impression is cracking me up.
— Very funny line from Cheri’s J.Lo, about how she won the MTV video award for “Best new ass”.
— Good part with Tim responding to Puff Daddy throwing money at him by saying “That is not going to solve your problem, but I do like it.”
— When Cheri’s J.Lo breathes with her butt, Jamie cracks up out of character and tries to hide it, for the second time tonight.
— Hilarious part with Puff Daddy playing the background music from, I think, Sting’s “Every Step You Take” on a radio while dancing around the room and trying to give J.Lo heartfelt words.
STARS: ***½


PILLOW TALK
(WIF) engages cellmate (host) in pillow talk- “Am I still your bitch?”

— A good laugh from the turn early in this sketch with Will asking Jamie “Am I still your bitch?”
— After Tim’s deep-voiced character first speaks, Jamie tells him “Love your voice, man”, which is an ad-lib. SNL would later replace this sketch with the dress rehearsal version in reruns, which doesn’t contain that ad-lib of Jamie’s.
— After a funny start, this sketch has been pretty much just washing right over me these last few minutes. I haven’t laughed in this for a while. This sketch kinda feels like an excuse to say “bitch” a whole bunch of times, which lost its novelty early on in this sketch.
— Okay, I finally got a laugh again, from Jamie’s delivery of “…till I kill yo ass” while having a sinister smile on his face.
STARS: **


A MESSAGE FROM JOHN GOODMAN
plastic surgery won’t affect how John Goodman [real] portrays Linda Tripp

— John Goodman! I’m surprised that this is his first cameo all season, after his plethora of cameos in the preceding season.
— Funny bit with Don Pardo introducing John as “former cast member John Goodman”. When John then corrects Don, Don humorously responds “Good lord, you sure do hang out a lot for a guy who doesn’t work here.”
— Good fake-out with John claiming he’s retiring his Linda Tripp impression, only to obnoxiously reveal that he’s just kidding.
— John’s goofiness at the end is pretty funny.
STARS: ***


NICK BURNS, YOUR COMPANY’S COMPUTER GUY
during a software upgrade, (host) challenges Nick Burns’ tech preeminence

— Nick Burns officially becomes recurring.
— Nick Burns, on the complicated computer help he’s giving: “They teach this type of stuff on Blues Clues.”
— The Jamie Foxx fans in the audience go “Ohhhhh!” when Nick Burns makes a fat joke about Horatio.
— Jamie one-upping Nick Burns is a pretty solid premise.
— Ha, now a Jamie Foxx fan in the audience yells “YEAH, JAMIE!” after one of the times Jamie one-ups Nick.
— I like how western showdown music has now begun playing during Nick and Jamie’s tense confrontation.
STARS: ***½


BACKSTAGE
TRM tells host he’s happy to have another black guy at SNL to hang with

— SNL does a follow-up to a classic piece from the Garth Brooks episode earlier this season.
— Tracy, to Jamie: “We only get one black host a year. It was either gonna be you or Alan Keyes.”
— Tracy going on about how he cracks up every time he sees Lorne is really funny.
— Tracy reprises his great one-liner “Get me a soda…. BITCH!” to Lorne. While I still laughed, this was nowhere near as funny as the first utterance of that one-liner earlier this season. Plus, tonight’s utterance didn’t have the great build-up that the first one had. In tonight’s sketch, Tracy just flat-out said the line practically as soon as Lorne showed up. That’s not as funny.
STARS: ***½


WEEKEND UPDATE
his sight restored, Stevie Wonder (host) is shocked by his own appearance
cartoonist Jasper Hahn’s (HOS) drawings are naughty when half-finished
John Rocker’s (WIF) supposed message of peace turns into a racist tirade

— Boy, did Colin mush-mouth his way through his first joke, even moreso than usual. Only half a season left, folks, until we get a much-needed change of Update anchors.
— It feels like a nice rarity seeing a host doing an Update commentary.
— Rachel makes her only appearance of tonight’s entire episode in a silent bit role as Stevie Wonder’s helper. You’d figure the lack of Molly Shannon tonight would’ve opened up more roles for Rachel. (Molly is completely absent in tonight’s entire episode, and unlike the last time that happened, we don’t get a re-aired season 23 commercial to make up for her absence, either.)
— Jamie is very funny as Stevie Wonder.
— Jamie-as-Stevie’s horrified reactions as soon as he sees what he and his wife (Tracy in drag) look like are a freakin’ riot. He is slaying me in this.
— Some of Colin’s jokes are getting a VERY rowdy, uproarious audience reaction (especially as soon as Linda Tripp’s photo showed up on the Update news screen). The Jamie Foxx fans in the audience strike once again, I take it?
— Horatio’s Jasper Hahn character makes his debut. He looks a lot different in this initial appearance, as Horatio’s not wearing the bushy wig nor the mustache that he would wear in subsequent Jasper Hahn appearances.
— A good laugh from Jasper Hahn initially drawing Floppy The Dog as a naked woman’s body.
— When making a drawing of a moose that initially resembles a penis and testicles, I love Jasper’s unintentional double entendre of how much the moose “likes to go deep in the forest”.
— I like how the audience boos as soon as John Rocker’s picture shows up on the Update news screen.
— Ha, and now Will has shown up as John Rocker. Tonight’s loud, rowdy, energetic audience is perfect for this commentary, which is intended to rile the audience up.
— Will’s characterization of Rocker is freakin’ PRICELESS, and is making Rocker look like the bigoted moron he is. This Update commentary is very daring, so much so that something like it would probably never see the light of day in a modern-day SNL episode, especially not with the various slurs Will’s Rocker is yelling.
— John Rocker: “I eat rat poison cuz I can’t read the box!”
— I like Will’s Rocker ending his commentary with “Help me, Daddy! I’ll suck your peepee!”
— Overall, a bit of a better Update than usual for the Colin Quinn era. I wonder if tonight’s rowdy audience heightened my enjoyment compared to Colin’s usual Updates.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “All The Small Things”


SHOWTIME AT THE APOLLO
lame acts compete for audience acclaim

— Cheri’s raunchy song is cracking me up.
— Jamie’s character is odd but funny.
— Not sure what else to say about this overall sketch. It felt a little like it was lacking a point or a real comedic throughline, but it entertained me enough, I guess.
STARS: ***


STEREOTYPICALLY JEFFREY
(HOS) takes heat for pigeonholing stereotypically-black co-worker (TRM)

— A rare big night for Tracy. Kinda sad that the only times he seems to get a significant amount of airtime in these early seasons of his is when SNL has a black host.
— Parnell’s embarrassing mannequin story was a good start to this sketch.
— In addition to Tracy, Horatio has also been having a rare big night. Until tonight’s episode, his airtime seemed to be diminishing lately.
— I love how Jamie’s defense of Tracy slowly turns into him listing off a whole bunch of horribly stereotypical things about him.
— Parnell: “I’m a white guy and I liked to sleep in a Batman costume and expose myself to tollbooth operators. Does that mean all white people do that?”
— Horatio, when being humbled after getting called out on his racism towards Tracy’s character: “We can ride my burro over to my adobe hut and have tacos with Pepe and the other 50 guys who hang out in his hatchback.”
— Tracy coming back to the office to steal a laptop was probably a cheap ending, but made me laugh anyway, just because of how well Tracy sold it.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “What’s My Age Again?”


A MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY MOMENT
Martin Luther King Jr.’s (host) initial dream was mundane & recurring

— There goes Tracy once again tonight.
— Jamie even manages to make a Martin Luther King impression funny.
— Jamie’s MLK describing his bizarre, irrelevant dream in his usual powerful voice is fairly funny.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent episode, though barely anything stood out as great (which has become a trend these last few episodes). I do kinda like how the focus on racial humor and urban comedy, along with the loud, rowdy audience, gave this episode a different feel from other episodes in this era. Like other former In Living Color cast members who have hosted SNL, Jamie Foxx’s sketch comedy experience came in handy here and played a part in making him a fun host.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Danny DeVito)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Freddie Prinze Jr.