Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
DONNIE’S WEDDING
Sully & Denise attend Donnie Bartolotti’s same-sex marriage ceremony
— The final Boston Teens sketch during Jimmy’s tenure as a cast member. Interesting seeing these characters starring in a cold opening for a change, which also serves as a nice deviation from the usual political cold openings.
— Great to see Ben Affleck reprising his Donnie Bartolotti character.
— Interesting reveal of Donnie Bartolotti getting married to a man, which was very timely for this period.
— I’m watching the rerun version of this episode, which uses the dress rehearsal version of this cold opening. In this dress version, whenever the camera pans over to Sully and Denise’s reactions to finding out Donnie’s getting married to a man, Jimmy is seen genuinely cracking up for no apparent reason as usual (the fifth above screencap for this sketch), as opposed to the live version of this cold opening, in which Jimmy keeps a straight face.
— Unfortunately, with this being a gay marriage sketch in this SNL era, we have our obligatory instance of SNL presenting a man-on-man kiss as something that’s “shocking” and “hilarious”.
— Speaking of the kiss, I recall how, in the live version of this, Seth’s hand can unintentionally be seen blocking his and Ben’s lips the second time they kiss in this. Perhaps that’s why SNL uses the dress rehearsal version of this cold opening in reruns.
— A good laugh from Sully complaining to Denise that he’s always begged her for the same kind of love that Donnie and his groom have, but “you never let me try it, not even once!”
— Ugh, in typical Horatio Sanz fashion, he botches his scene, pauses awkwardly for a very long time before delivering one particular line, and cracks up at himself when exiting the shot (the last above screencap for this sketch). Jesus Christ. No words can express my annoyance towards this guy by this point of his SNL tenure. Then again, this is the dress rehearsal version I’m watching of this cold opening, so maybe I should cut Horatio a little slack this time, as performers are usually more “loose” at dress rehearsal than in the live show. I don’t remember him botching his scene in the live version of this cold opening.
— I like the callback to the odd names of all of Sully and Donnie’s buddies, which were previously mentioned in the Boston Teens sketch from the Ben Affleck-hosted episode in season 25.
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
having missed out on marketing “Bennifer,” host won’t get burned again
— As usual, Ben is showing himself to be a great sport about his personal life.
— A lot of laughs from the variations of the “Bennifer” portmanteau.
— Great little mention of Matt Damon at the end.
— Nice to see that this is a real monologue, with no involvement from the cast or anyone else.
STARS: ****
Z105
Joey Mack is reunited with his character-stealing former partner (host)
— We’re already getting a lot of Jimmy Fallon recurring sketches so far tonight.
— Ben’s doing a great and funny job doing a knock-off of Joey Mack’s various morning crew voices.
— I love Ben denying the similarities his Rajneesh character has to Joey Mack’s Sanji character by telling Joey “Dude, Sanji and Rajneesh are from different villages.”
— Very fun voice showdown between Ben and Joey Mack, and the audience particularly loves when it gets to the point where both guys are doing their voices simultaneously.
— I can excuse Jimmy’s constant breaking here, as I usually enjoy the fun chemistry he and Ben have in sketches.
— Of course, you know I personally loved the Three Stooges reference at the end.
— Overall, easily the best of the Z105 sketches I’ve reviewed so far.
STARS: ****
GIGLI
mentally-challenged (FRA) points out Gigli faults to host during filming
— I like how the audience laughs as soon as it’s revealed at the very beginning that this is the filming of Ben’s notorious movie Gigli.
— It feels kinda wrong to laugh at Fred’s portrayal of a mentally challenged character, but dammit, Fred is so perfect in this, and he is killing in this sketch. The fact that his mentally challenged character is actually the wisest character of the sketch also helps alleviate any troublesome aspects.
— The material in this sketch is fantastic.
— Even the way Chris keeps asking “A-are we goin’ to the Baywatch?” in that mentally challenged voice is strangely amusing. It feels like a huge waste of Chris, though, to use him in a role where he’s mostly only shown from the back and barely says anything.
— Ben is visibly and genuinely very amused during his interactions with Fred’s Frondi, but Ben just has a likable charm that makes it excusable. It also helps that we obviously don’t have to deal with seeing him break on a weekly basis on SNL, unlike Jimmy or Horatio.
— Amy: “Oh my god, Ben Affleck just yelled at that mentally challenged guy!”
STARS: *****
TV FUNHOUSE
by RBS- The Passion Of The Dumpty excerpts & George W. Bush campaign ads
— Hilarious concept for a Passion Of The Christ parody.
— The President Bush election ads that this cartoon keeps occasionally cutting to are funny, but I don’t understand what they have to do with the rest of this cartoon. They feel like too much of a non-sequitur, and are kinda bringing this down for me, as I’d rather this just focus on the Humpty Dumpty portions.
STARS: ***
APPALACHIAN EMERGENCY ROOM
yokels suffer additional unusual ailments
— Amy always kills me with her character in these sketches.
— Finesse’s character wasn’t anything special overall.
— Much like Amy, Chris is another cast member who always kills with his character in these sketches.
— Pretty funny scene involving Ben with a ferret biting his crotch. I’ll just ignore the questionable logic of how Ben’s character was able to fully put on shorts if he was nude when the ferret bit into his crotch.
— I like the little detail of Ben having named his ferret Ferrets Bueller.
— A lot of people seem to hate these sketches. I myself didn’t care much for these sketches back when they originally aired, but I’ve been coming around on them on these re-watches. Some decent amusing silliness in these.
STARS: ***
ONLY BANGKOK
(SEM) is glad “what happens in Thailand, stays in Thailand”
— A very funny “What happens in Thailand” reveal at the end, after the grim situation we see involving Seth and a dead hooker.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “She Wants To Move”
WEEKEND UPDATE
FIM responds in kind to nasty letters written by bill collectors
Diana Ross (MAR) will again try to serve 48 consecutive hours in jail
George W. Bush & John Kerry volleys leave Bill Clinton (DAH) unimpressed
— Tonight’s audience has been so lively that you can even hear them cheer very early on during the opening title sequence of tonight’s Update, which is noteworthy because audiences usually cheer when the Update opening title sequence is about to end.
— Finesse’s overall stand-up commentary was actually good. Much better than the last stand-up commentary he did on Update in this season’s premiere.
— Ugh, another Diana Ross commentary from Maya. Wasn’t the last one she did a few episodes ago annoying enough?
— An overall mercifully short Diana Ross commentary, but still didn’t really make me laugh.
— WTF? A Darrell-as-Bill-Clinton Update commentary for the SECOND EPISODE IN A ROW? I love Darrell’s Clinton as much as the next guy, but this is a bit much, especially since, as far as I know, Clinton wasn’t even in the news around this time.
— Boy, they’re really milking the hell out of Darrell-as-Clinton’s interactions with Tina and Jimmy at the beginning of his commentary tonight. That feels unneeded.
— That’s it? The Clinton commentary is over? It just came and went without me laughing a single time, which is absolutely unheard of for me in regards to Darrell’s Clinton. It was definitely unnecessary and pointless to bring him back this week. And between bringing back both him and Diana Ross so soon, tonight’s Update feels lazy and half-assed, at least in regards to most of the commentaries. Jimmy and Tina’s jokes aren’t too bad tonight, for the most part.
STARS: **½
TOP O’ THE MORNING
Patrick & William remember St. Patrick’s Days past
— Tonight’s Jimmy Fallon Recurring Character Fest continues.
— Not only is this surprisingly the first appearance this recurring sketch is making all season, but it ends up being its final appearance.
— I’ve said this in several past episode reviews, but I always get a kick out of whenever an SNL sketch does flashback sequences in real-time.
— After one of several real-time flashback sequences, Seth says “It’s a good thing we always wear the same sweaters” (referring to how he and Jimmy are wearing the same clothes in the flashbacks that they’re wearing in present day), which genuinely cracks Jimmy up. I’m assuming that line was an ad-lib, and it reminded me a lot of a famous moment in the Gap Girls At Tater Junction sketch from season 19’s Sara Gilbert episode, where David Spade says the memorable line “I can’t believe we’re all wearing the same thing we did four days ago” after a scene transition to four days later. As I mentioned in my review of that sketch, I’ve never seen it confirmed whether that line from Spade was an ad-lib or not, but it probably wasn’t (as much as I’d like to think it was).
— A particularly funny flashback sequence right now, with Finesse and Kenan (the latter making his only appearance of the night) being seen as Jimmy and Seth’s characters.
— Ben busts out laughing HARD at Jimmy’s ad-lib (and this was unquestionably an ad-lib) about Will sounding more Scottish than Irish. It takes Ben a while to get back into character after this.
— Lots of amused ad-libbing between Ben, Jimmy, and Seth, especially after Horatio’s wild brief appearance. I recall hearing from an online SNL fan who went to this episode’s dress rehearsal that the dress version of this sketch featured even more ad-libbing between Ben, Jimmy, and Seth after Horatio’s appearance. You see, in the dress version of this sketch, after Horatio crashed through the breakaway wall, stagehands replaced Horatio with a body double (or a dummy, I forget which) that was noticeably wearing completely different shoes from the ones Horatio was just seen wearing, and Ben, Jimmy, and Seth had a freakin’ FIELD DAY riffing on that with lots of ad-libs while cracking up.
STARS: ***
ONLY BANGKOK
to pay off a gambling debt, host sells new wife (AMP)
— A hilarious eventual reveal of Ben playing himself during this crazy scene of him selling his wife to pay off gambling debts.
— Good reveal of another “What happens in Thailand” tagline, making you realize this is an unrelated second installment of the Only Bangkok ad.
STARS: ****
DONNIE G. AND SIDECAR
cycle cop Donnie G. (host) puts partner Sidecar (FRA) in harm’s way
— Very refreshing and rare to see this type of sketch in this SNL era. I’m loving how this feels like the type of old-timey, black-and-white sketches that appeared frequently in SNL’s late 80s era. I can easily imagine Fred’s role being played by either Jon Lovitz or Dana Carvey.
— After Will experienced a big increase in lead roles the last two episodes before tonight’s, I see that tonight is Fred’s time to shine. Fred’s been having a great night, between the Gigli sketch and this.
— A big laugh from Fred getting knocked out by a huge mailbox.
— The Caracci’s Pizza logo on the apron that Horatio’s wearing is actually from a sketch from the season 18 episode that Tim Robbins hosted.
— Solid ending.
STARS: ****
ONLY BANGKOK
scandal-quashing Thailand spares host & Kelly Ripa [real]
— A great way to conclude this Only Bangkok runner, making certain aspects from the first two unrelated Only Bangkok ads come together in a crazy way.
— A hilarious random walk-on from Kelly Ripa. She’s surprising me by how funny she is here.
— Overall, this insane ad was absolutely priceless.
STARS: ****½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Maybe”
THE FULL MOON KILLER
serial killer’s (host) co-workers have fun with his ill-kept secret
— I’m really enjoying this premise and Ben’s casual attempts to hide the fact that he’s the Full Moon Killer.
— I love the reactions when Ben finds out his co-workers were just pulling his leg and have always been aware that he’s the Full Moon Killer.
— A great “And he was!” ending.
— An overall very well-written and perfectly executed sketch that, much like the Donnie G. And Sidecar sketch, feels like something that easily could’ve appeared in a much earlier SNL era that did this type of sketch more often. Though this sketch also does remind me a little of the Clark Kent sketch from just a few years prior when The Rock first hosted. I love both that sketch and this one.
STARS: ****½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Easily one of the best episodes of this season, and may even be my personal favorite of the season. Lots of strong sketches, one classic in my eyes (Gigli), and not a single weak sketch to be found (not counting a less-than-satisfactory Weekend Update). Despite laughing his way through the episode, Ben Affleck was an excellent host, much like the first time he hosted, and he added a fun, likable, and positive vibe to the episode.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Colin Firth)
a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
(……………………………………..*hesitates for 20 long minutes, because I’m afraid to say who the next host is*……………………………………..*hesitates for 20 more minutes*……………………………………..) Oh, hell, I have to say it. DONALD. TRUMP.
I remember this as an especially fun episode, one I’d consider the best of Ben’s appearances. It helps that this was right after the breakup with J. Lo and he seemed to have shed the baggage of being part of an It couple all at once.
I believe Tina wrote the Gigli sketch
The show must have really liked Kelly Ripa. She hosts this season. Cameos here and and then again in Steve Martin’s episode two years later
It probably helped that not only was she game every time, but she was actually based in NYC at a time when fewer shows were filming there as opposed to L.A. It reminds me of how Rosie O’Donnell said that Susan Lucci was always a great “last-minute” guest for her show.
Best episode of the season imo, though I was really big fan of the Boston Teens opener at the time, always saw it as the best of the lot. I get that the man-on-man kissing is played out but this sketch still makes for an interesting time capsule, more so than the Sex and the City sketch from a few episodes back, which has a far nastier edge.
My other favorite opener of the season also has a man-on-man kiss, but I think it also plays organically and also features Will Forte absolutely fucking GOING for it (certainly more than Timid Seth here).
The Gigli sketch is absolutely perfect, political correctness be damned. The joke’s not only Frondi, he’s the only sensible one in the scene. Probably among Fred’s top sketches.
This Z105 is also a lot of fun, Ben brings a certain loose charm that really ingratiates him. He really does this whole episode. I always saw him as an excellent host, but this remains his top episode.
I wonder if all of the Jimmy Fallon recurring characters showing up in this episode were a sign of things to come? When did he first announce that he was leaving?
As for the next episode, I have no comment.
To answer Jared’s question, Fallon surprised us in the season finale. No advance notice.
Actually, it was mentioned that week that Jimmy was rumored to be leaving. Nobody believed it though.
We’re all going out to get gas or something tomorrow, right? =)
My second-favorite episode of Year 29; this one grew on me with time. Lots of good sketches, and I forgot about the great “Only Bangkok” (“Only Vegas” parody) runner. I made the same nitpick about Ferrets Bueller and Ben’s undies, way back when.
I wasn’t as in love with the Frondi sketch as much as you were, partially because making fun of the mentally disabled in any context is precarious. If I read right, there were a number of Frondi sketches that were cut in the final dress between the beginning of Year 29 and the end of Year 31, when he finally makes his second appearance in a Weekend Update walk-on.
Hey, at least Trump’s first hosting gig is better than his second!
Fun one for S29 standards. I don’t know where I’d rank it compared to Affleck’s other episodes though. It’s certainly better than the one from the next season, which is probably the only dud out of his five hosting appearances.
I like N.E.R.D.’s performances here. They should’ve guested in S27 when their first album came out.
I know. Couldn’t we have them instead of Ja Rule?
The episode you’ll have to review next has one of the most unfitting host/musical guest combinations in SNL history.
It should be noted that, in this wonderful episode, that Don Pardo miss pronounces Amy Poehler’s name in the opening montage. He refers to her as Amy Foehler.
It also should be noted that this episode is available on eBay professionally done by NBC for Emmy purposes.
In addition, during the live broadcast, right off the bat you can see an out of breath Fallon catching up to his lines during the cold open. Also in that same open, after the first kiss, you get a cracking Affleck muttering under his breath “Took you a little while” to Fallon for not getting there quick enough after the audience reaction. Seth once again (as described above in the dress rehearsal version) placed his hand over Affleck’s mouth for the second kiss. Horatio doesn’t crack or mess up his lines in the open, either.
I’ve been meaning to ask something about this episode. Here’s a link to the first several minutes of a VH1 Classic version.
Note that between about 5:49 and about 5:52, it sounds like Don Pardo misidentifies Rachel Dratch as “Laurie Jewbrock,””Laurie Jewbright,” or something similar. Does anyone know whether this was also in the original broadcast? Or if it wasn’t, does anyone know where it did come from?
One reason I’ve been hesitant to ask is that I sort of assumed that if anyone else here had heard this mistake in an original broadcast, they probably would have posted about it already. (I know, never assume . . .) And there are one or two other dumb reasons I didn’t ask that I won’t go into.
It may be too late to get an answer now, but I’ll post this anyway. Thanks in advance for any info.
The episode on Archive is a repeat, but he says Rachel Dratch. There is a weird audio glitch in that one, so I wonder if by the time the episode got to VH1, the glitch got even worse, made even worse on top of that by being recorded on a tape.
Thanks for looking at that episode, John. I wonder if the glitch in the re-broadcast could be partly because Don Pardo said “Laurie Jewbrock” (or whatever) in the original broadcast and they had to tape over his error for the re-broadcast.
I don’t know, though. The more I think about it, the more likely it seems that, if Pardo had made such a bizarre error (at least in a live broadcast, as opposed to a dress rehearsal), it would have received enough attention that a lot of people would already know about it today.
I wonder if whoever posted that video on Vimeo could have doctored it somehow. It still would be nice to know for sure about the original broadcast, though.