October 28, 2006 – Hugh Laurie / Beck (S32 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

KAZAKHSTAN MINISTRY OF INFORMATION
Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) promotes Kazakhstan during paid announcement

— A message from Lorne? I see we’re already starting off with something different.
— A laugh from Lorne taking the time to pour himself a drink while telling us about the drastic budget cuts NBC has had to make lately.
— Right before Lorne is handed his sandwich by someone, the audience suddenly breaks out into WILD applause out of nowhere. This is presumably because off-camera, a certain special guest who we’re about to see onscreen was spotted by the audience (the set he’s standing at was probably lit up at this point), but I remember a lot of online SNL fans back at this time in 2006 speculating if the applause was for the person who handed Lorne his sandwich, a person who is mostly off-camera, except for their hand holding the plate with the sandwich. Some of those SNL fans not only wondered if that person handing Lorne the sandwich was a famous person, but they even assumed it might’ve been the recently-departed-from-the-show Tina Fey, because, upon being given his sandwich, Lorne says what sounds like “Thank you, Tina!” (it’s hard to tell what name Lorne is saying under all the wild applause from the audience). Pretty silly to think Tina Fey would make such a brief, off-camera “cameo” in which the only thing we can see of her onscreen is her hand. That would be probably the oddest form of a cameo in SNL history, though you have to admit, it IS amusing to imagine Tina Fey making a hand cameo. Coincidentally, we actually do end up getting a Tina Fey cameo (and a certain other SNL alum/30 Rock cast member) in the monologue of the very next episode.
— An unintentional laugh from Lorne’s genuine difficulty in pronouncing “Kazakhstan”. Charming to see Lorne make a gaffe like that.
— And now we see who the audience was wildly applauding for earlier: Borat!
— The “human pubis” that Borat displays is hilarious, as is him saying “This bale took over three women to make.”
— I’m getting so much of the usual “oh, so wrong” laughs at Borat’s juvenile-and-offensive-but-funny comedy.
— I like the Wayne’s World reference with Borat occasionally saying “Shwing?”
— Borat even manages to make his “Live from New York…” funny, by throwing in “home of the Jew”.
STARS: ****

MONOLOGUE
host tells how he’s unlike House & says what to expect from an Englishman

— A big gaffe right at the beginning, in which SNL’s fake applause track accidentally continues to play long after the real audience has stopped applauding and long after Hugh Laurie has begun speaking. I really don’t understand SNL’s need to use a fake applause track during the opening montage, and this gaffe tonight should’ve led to SNL finally stopping their usage of it, but nope. They continue to use it to this day, I believe.
— I love Hugh naming the audience collectively “Sweetcheeks”.
— Hugh, in one of the many things he says he is: “I’m the yelp of a puppy freed from the microwave.”
— I am absolutely LOVING this monologue. Not only are there lots of funny lines, but Hugh is handling this so damn well, with tons of charm, expertise, and genuine funniness.
— Great ad-lib from Hugh after his Shakespeare joke doesn’t go over well with the audience.
STARS: ****½

MOST HAUNTED
(host)’s flatus is mistaken for sign of paranormal activity

— The use of infrared night-vision is interesting and unique for a live SNL sketch.
— A fart sketch? And as the lead-off sketch of the night?!? I do recall this actually being surprisingly not bad for a fart sketch, though.
— So far, while this is not quite as good as I had remembered, it’s still working decently for something with such a sophomoric premise. What makes this sketch work is how overly seriously Fred, Amy, and Bill are taking the “mysterious sound”, how ridiculously heavily they’re analyzing it, and how embarrassed Hugh is over all of this.
— The ending with a ghost’s voice actually saying “Juliaaaan” (as a callback to Fred, Amy, and Bill mistaking the sound of Hugh’s fart for a voice saying a stretched-out “Julian”) didn’t work for me.
STARS: ***

TV FUNHOUSE
by RBS- George W. Bush downplays scare tactics of GOP’s negative TV spots

— Our first TV Funhouse of the season.
— Blah, the Bush intro at the beginning appears to be using the same odd animation style that was used in the TV Funhouse from the season 30 Luke Wilson episode, an animation style that I hated (and it didn’t help matters any that that particular TV Funhouse itself was a dud).
— Luckily, most of this cartoon isn’t focusing on the badly-animated Bush scenes.
— Good political satire in the gay marriage/“Count Obama” ad.
— The Hillary Clinton ad made me laugh out loud. The ridiculous voice used for her made it even funnier.
— This cartoon is over already? This felt unusually short, and it seemed like we were meant to see a third political attack ad instead of just two.
STARS: ***½

NATIONAL ANTHEM
at the World Series, (MAR) renders National Anthem nearly unrecognizable

— A very well-known Maya Rudolph sketch.
— I used to pretty much HATE this sketch and find it insanely overrated, but that was also back in the days when I had a seething dislike for Maya Rudolph in general, and thus, I just dismissed this sketch as both “Another bad Maya Rudolph singing sketch” and “Another bad Maya-Rudolph-does-a-goofy-voice sketch”. Now that I’m older, more mature, and try to be more critically fair in my assessments of SNL than I was in my original days as an SNL reviewer back in the 2000s and early 2010s, I’ve become more appreciative of Maya’s comedic talents, and thus, I can recognize this sketch’s value. While I’m still certainly not finding it to be a classic like a lot of people seemingly do, I’m enjoying this sketch a lot, and I’m finding Maya’s many different bad singing styles for each individual verse of the National Anthem not only amusing and fun, but actually impressive, and a good spoof of the overwrought way certain singers butcher the National Anthem when trying to show off their vocal range.
STARS: ****

PROMO

— Bizarrely and inexplicably, Don Pardo announces that the next live episode is airing “on MONDAY, November 11”, despite that date being, of course, a Saturday. All I have to say is, boy, is Don getting old.

ADVANCE MAN
equerry (host) requisitions oddities for Queen Elizabeth’s hotel stay

— When failing in his attempt to apply his glasses onto his face with one hand, Hugh ad-libs a witty “Fortunately, these are just an affectation”, and does away with the glasses. And showing what a true pro she is, Kristen perfectly keeps a straight face during this funny ad-lib.
— I am absolutely LOVING the absurd British, Monty Python-ish comedy style of this sketch, which Hugh Laurie is obviously a natural for. His delivery of these lines about Queen Elizabeth’s very eccentric requests is a riot.
— I love Hugh responding to Kristen’s “Will you be here when she (the Queen) arrives?” question with an “Absolutely not” before making his exit.
STARS: ****½

HARDBALL WITH CHRIS MATTHEWS
Ken Mehlman (ANS) & Howard Dean (JAS) forsee GOP midterm defeat

— Our first Hardball sketch in almost an entire year.
— Darrell’s Chris Matthews impression seems a little more toned down and serious tonight.
— I think that’s SNL producer Ken Aymong as Glenn Beasley in the various photos.
— So far, this feels very different from typical Hardball sketches. They’ve shaken up the format, which is much needed, after how stale the last few Hardball sketches before this were.
— Darrell is a stumbly mess throughout this sketch. He can barely get a line out without flubbing it.
— Jason’s Howard Dean challenging Andy’s Ken Mehlman to a fistfight is making me laugh.
— While I’m enjoying the dialogue and humor here, the pacing and energy of this whole sketch feels off, which is hurting this.
STARS: **½

PROTEST SONG
host performs a protest song that mumbles answers to the world’s problems

— Ooh, I like the setting of this. Feels like a throwback to earlier SNL seasons, where a performer doing a comedy bit on SNL’s home base stage was much more common, outside of monologues.
— I recall finding out this is an old bit that Hugh brought to SNL from his comedy act. It’s coming off solid here, and a very nice change of pace for an SNL piece in this era.
— Some nice camera angles throughout this that show both Hugh and the audience.
— I particularly love the part with Hugh desperately resorting to a harmonica solo during one of his many avoidances of saying what the answer is.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Nausea”

WEEKEND UPDATE
senatorial candidate Tim Calhoun offers qualifications & proposals

New Jerseyite same-sex couple (FRA) & (BIH) endorses gay marriage ruling

— I’m starting to question just how much Amy has “improved” as an Update anchor so far in this Poehler/Meyers era, because I’ve been noticing that she’s still using the same annoyingly cutesy, cheesy delivery she used during the Fey/Poehler era, and her jokes are just as cringey as they were back then. Seth, on the other hand, has been absolutely solid and sharp as an anchor so far, and he has by far the better jokes of the two anchors. Despite their always-great chemistry when interacting with each other, Seth and Amy’s individual Update delivery styles are kind of an odd mish-mash with each other so far. Maybe Amy eventually gets better, because I recall feeling she was decent when the Poehler/Meyers era of Update originally aired.
— Tim Calhoun!
— I love the similarities Tim Calhoun says he has to America: he’s heavily in debt, he’s 10% gay, and he has a really bad gas problem.
— A particularly hilarious Tim Calhoun confession right now (and remember that this is when the Mark Foley/teenage pages scandal was going on): “I have touched many pages in my life……..because I am a voracious reader……..of child pornography……..studies……..illustrated studies.”
— My god, Calhoun is even funnier than ever tonight, which I didn’t think was possible. I am being DESTROYED with laughter here.
— I’ll give Amy credit for her good delivery of the Panama Canal Widening joke. Despite my criticism of how the quality of her delivery and jokes has mostly been unchanged from the Fey/Poehler era, Amy has some occasional winners.
— The debut of Bill and Fred’s Same-Sex New Jersey Couple. (*groan*) How do you follow up a killer Tim Calhoun commentary with THIS?
— So far in tonight’s Same-Sex New Jersey Couple commentary, I am liking Bill’s delivery (and he’s always great at delivering wiseguy-esque “Ohhhhh!”s), but otherwise, this is just as weak as I had remembered these characters being back when this SNL era originally aired.
— Ha, I love Seth ad-libbing a callback to the Same-Sex New Jersey Couple commentary from earlier in this Update, by improvising a quiet “Ohhhh!” after the punchline of his gay marriage/St. Louis Cardinals joke.
STARS: ***

TRUST YOUR PHYSICIAN
broken leg sufferer’s (KET) distrust of doctor (WLF) impedes treatment

— Kenan makes his first and ONLY appearance of the night here. So far this season, I feel like he’s been kinda struggling to fit into this season’s shortened cast, especially now that he’s the only black male cast member left.
— That fucking horrible sketch with John C. Reilly in drag in the preceding episode makes me initially worried seeing Hugh Laurie in drag here.
— Interesting role for Kenan, which feels out of the ordinary from the way he’s typically used in these earlier seasons of his SNL tenure.
— Hugh is actually really funny in this drag role, further proving how great of a performer he is.
— While I’m getting some laughs and am enjoying all of the interplay between Kenan and Hugh, this sketch is kinda hard for me to figure.
— There’s been quite a number of sketches this season so far that have ended with a character breaking the fourth wall and delivering a message to the camera.
STARS: **½

THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN
snide Frankenstein (BIH) hides his identity from confused villagers

— A very solid role for Bill, and SNL allowing him to deservedly carry a sketch in the lead role feels somewhat rare at this point of his SNL tenure.
— I love both Bill and Jason playing relatable, realistic personifications of Frankenstein and Dracula, respectively, with Bill’s characterization being snarky and Jason’s characterization being laid-back and smug (nice detail with the latter nonchalantly filing his nails while the angry mob is questioning him).
— I like the way Bill’s Frankenstein keeps sternly telling one of the people in the angry mob to get that fiery torch away from him.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Clap Hands”

JOB INTERVIEW
(host) & (FRA) squeal “Ooh!” while interviewing (AMP) for a law firm job

— The slow build-up to Hugh and Fred’s first “ooooOOOOOoooooh!” is good.
— I really like how this silly “ooooOOOOOoooooh!” routine feels like something Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz would’ve done together in the late 80s SNL era. In fact, this sketch feels like a spiritual successor to a sketch that Dana and Jon did do together once: a fun, silly sketch from the season 15 Robert Wagner episode (an episode filled with fun, silly sketches that are really strong) where Dana, Jon, and Robert Wagner were professionals on a political roundtable show, and Dana and Jon each kept making high-pitched, childlike bragging noises whenever one would one-up the other during their debate.
— I like Hugh and Fred quietly starting an “oooooo–” and holding it for a long time while anxiously waiting for Amy to deliver one particular answer.
— Decent turn with Hugh and Fred having a displeased reaction to Amy doing the “ooooOOOOOoooooh!” thing herself, leading to her not getting the job after all.
— The show is seemingly starting to run a little long, as this sketch suddenly fades to an SNL bumper photo of Hugh a tad early while Hugh and Fred are still delivering the final exchange of the sketch.
STARS: ***½

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very solid episode, and a complete turnaround from that wretched preceding episode with John C. Reilly. I liked almost every single sketch tonight, and even the few I didn’t care for were nothing terrible. Tonight had a lot of strong highlights, and the show as a whole had a fun vibe. Hugh Laurie was also a fantastic host, no doubt due to all of his comedy experience in his career, and he added to the aforementioned fun vibe of this episode. Another big positive in this episode was SNL favorite Beck, who’s musical performances tonight (particularly the second one) were outstanding.

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

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John C. Reilly)
a huge step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Well, as I already gave away earlier in this review…