October 6, 2007 – Seth Rogen / Spoon (S33 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MESSAGE FROM KEVIN FEDERLINE
Kevin Federline (ANS) tells what he knows about being a good parent

— Good to see a non-political cold opening, even if this is still following the format of typical political openings by involving a person sitting behind a desk, talking straight to the camera (one of the laziest formats for a cold opening, even if SNL has certainly had their share of successes with it).
— Lots of pretty funny lines from Andy’s K-Fed.
— Ooh, that ending bit with Andy’s K-Fed proudly pointing out similarities between himself and Bill Cosby hasn’t aged well, for obvious reasons.
STARS: ***½

OPENING MONTAGE
— A Cartoon By Robert Smigel is credited, but no such cartoon ends up airing tonight. It would’ve been one of Smigel’s last had it aired.

MONOLOGUE
host reads the SNL monologue he wrote when he was 13 years old

— I like the “Party on, Wayne” reference in the dated monologue that Seth Rogen wrote as a 13-year-old.
— Another fun mention in Rogen’s dated monologue, with his prediction of him going on to be made a member of Wu-Tang Clan when he’s in high school.
— A random inclusion of a Steven Seagal impression, but a decent way to display that fun chemistry between Bill and Rogen that was previously seen in the then-recent hit movie Superbad.
STARS: ***

VERITAS ULTRASOUND HD
Veritas Ultrasound HD displays high-quality fetal video for dads-to-be

— A huge laugh from Jason proudly exclaiming “Now THAT’S a penis!” when seeing the high-definition ultrasound of the fetus in Kristen’s stomach.
— A lot of funny straight lines from a deadpan, mildly-annoyed Kristen in reaction to dumb things Jason says.
STARS: ***½

2007 NATIONAL DOUCHEBAG CHAMPIONSHIPS
finalists (BIH), (host), (WLF) offend

— I’m already very interested in this sketch concept.
— Funny mention of Jared Leto and Entourage in connection with douchebags.
— Will’s physical look as a douchebag is fantastic.
— I love Jason’s subtly disapproving facial reactions to certain things the douchebag contestants say. Funnily enough, Jason’s displaying the same great subtle annoyance that Kristen displayed towards him in the Ultrasound HD commercial that preceded this.
— A good use of Amy’s Sharon Osborne.
— Spot-on casting of Fred as Gene Simmons.
— Andy’s ridiculous, obnoxious character is hilarious.
— Heh, Amy seemed unsure of her delivery of the word “doucherty”, and it seemed like she really wanted to laugh after saying it, but she held on and stayed in character.
— Andy’s ferret being named Ferret Bueller is a joke that was used on SNL a few seasons prior to this, in a scene with Ben Affleck in an Appalachian Emergency Room sketch.
STARS: ****

MACGRUBER
MacGruber’s balding-induced self-consciousness derails rescue plan

— Tonight’s MacGruber shorts end up being the final ones with Maya as one of MacGruber’s assistants, as all of the subsequent SNL episodes that contain MacGruber shorts are after Maya has left the cast. Her character in these shorts would be replaced by a new character played by Kristen.
— A decent short overall, but nothing particularly noteworthy in this.
STARS: ***

BIG KIDS
gawky Jeremy (host) & Stacia (KRW) are cute only to parents (BIH) & (AMP)

— Boy, only 20 seconds after Kristen and Rogen’s entrance, and SNL is ALREADY running that “I said we!” line of Kristen’s into the damn ground. It doesn’t help that she says it in an increasingly exaggerated, obnoxious manner over the course of this sketch.
— There goes the very tired routine that a lot of sketches in this era have, where the camera does a pan shot of straight man characters each having a frozen unpleasant look on their face as they’re witnessing something odd the lead comedic character(s) is doing.
— The part with Kristen and Rogen performing the then-contemporary Amy Winehouse song “Rehab” is at least an interesting 2007 time capsule in hindsight.
— Not caring for this sketch so far. I remember finding it hilarious when it originally aired, but it doesn’t hold up well for me after all these years, possibly because it’s basically one of the earliest precursors to the type of badly-written “Kristen Wiig plays an annoying, quirky, ‘Look at me!’ character” sketches that SNL would later do on a regular basis from 2008-2012. I also wonder if this sketch is the work (or co-work) of a certain new writer this season: Kent Sublette, a writer responsible (or co-responsible) for a lot of those aforementioned badly-written “Kristen Wiig plays an annoying, quirky, ‘Look at me!’ character” sketches from 08-12. Sublette plays a big part in the unfortunate turn that Kristen’s SNL trajectory takes around 2008, where she goes from being mostly known for perfectly, charmingly, and hilariously playing lots of subtle, deadpan, low-key roles to being mostly known for playing lots of loud, wacky, obnoxious roles. IIRC, Kristen would later disclose in an interview that she herself doesn’t like some of those obnoxious characters of hers that she’s been given in 2008-2012, and she even had to tell Sublette at one point to stop writing sketches starring a certain character of hers (I think Trina, the wacky wife who always says “Thomas!”).
— Boy, they are relying WAY too heavily on the aforementioned pan shot of frozen unpleasant facial reactions from the straight man characters.
— I finally got one genuine laugh: Will getting ready to jump out the window during one of Kristen and Rogen’s musical showcases, and then, when told they’re on the 15th floor, casually responding “I’m well aware of that.”
STARS: *½

MACGRUBER
MacGruber’s cosmetic work has helped land a young girlfriend (KRW)

— A huge laugh from MacGruber’s bad plastic surgery.
— Funny in hindsight seeing Kristen appearing as a random one-off character in this MacGruber short, given the fact that, as mentioned earlier, Kristen would soon go on to be a permanent part of these MacGruber shorts by replacing Maya’s character.
— Pretty funny how MacGruber is desperately attempting to pass off his two assistants, Maya and Rogen, to his girlfriend as his parents.
— The ending was kinda weak.
STARS: ***½

A MESSAGE FROM FRED THOMPSON
Fred Thompson (DAH) sort of wants to be America’s next president

— I’m not too familiar with Fred Thompson, but I’m liking Darrell’s portrayal of him. This is a more loose, likable performance than we usually see from Darrell in his later seasons.
— Yet another walk-on from Fred’s Sam Waterston impression. They’re spreading the impression kinda thin here. The previous appearances of Fred’s Waterston already got all the laughs out of this impression that SNL is ever going to get.
STARS: ***

MACGRUBER
mirror reveals extent of MacGruber’s botched overseas plastic surgery

— Strange how SNL is airing all three of tonight’s MacGruber shorts so close together and so early in this episode. Usually, SNL spreads MacGruber shorts much farther throughout an episode.
— I don’t know why, but the “Monastery Control Room” sign shown at the beginning of this made me chuckle, even though I don’t even think it was intended to be funny.
— I like the suspense they’re keeping us in by only showing MacGruber from the back throughout this, not letting us see what his face looks like after his horribly-botched plastic surgery.
— And now we finally see what MacGruber’s post-surgery face looks like. Hmm. To be honest, I was expecting that reveal to be funnier, after such a huge build-up. He didn’t look much worse than he did in the last MacGruber short prior to this. They should’ve went more all out in making Will look EXTREMELY ridiculous.
— Tonight’s overall collection of MacGruber shorts was a little too average for MacGruber standards. The shorts were fine, but do not measure up to the typically strong and memorable MacGruber shorts. Unfortunately, I recall the next set of MacGruber shorts, in the Jonah Hill episode later this season, also being kinda below par for MacGruber standards (so much so, that SNL doesn’t even bother airing all three of the MacGruber shorts in that episode, leaving the third short as a special cut-for-time online exclusive), but we’ll see when we arrive at that episode.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Underdog”

WEEKEND UPDATE
Lou Dobbs (DAH) doesn’t like SNL gigs going to Canadians like host

incredulous SEM & AMP say “Really!?!” to Larry Craig’s indiscretions

Willie Randolph (KET) & Omar Minaya (FRA) can’t explain Mets’ collapse

CHC gives a report on the field of presidential candidates

— Why is Amy’s opening joke of practically every Update always so damn bad? Why would you intentionally open Update with your worst, lamest joke of the night?
— Something about Meyers’ hair looks kinda different tonight.
— A good laugh from Darrell’s Lou Dobbs naming Tom Hanks and, of all people, Jonny Moseley as ideal American hosts that SNL has had in the past.
— Darrell continues the surprisingly solid night he’s been having in this episode, as his Lou Dobbs commentary here is fantastic. He has so many funny disparaging anti-Canadian comments. (Speaking of which, Seth Rogen is one of those celebrities who I always forget is Canadian.) He’s also coming off laid-back, loose, and likable here, much like in his performance as Fred Thompson earlier tonight. Why can’t we see THIS Darrell Hammond much more often in these later seasons of his SNL tenure?
— Amy’s very brief joke about Anita Hill (in which Amy just cornily says “Anita Hill? Anita vacation!”) doesn’t hold up well after all these years, when, like me, you have absolutely no context for what the joke was about. I certainly know about the Anita Hill/Clarence Thomas hearings back in 1991, but have no memory of Hill being in the news in 2007.
— “14-year-old Miley Cyrus”. Boy, do those words feel odd to hear nowadays.
— The Larry Craig gay scandal is a good topic for a “Really?!?” segment, and there are some fantastic barbs from Meyers and Amy here. I also like how they’re not taking a homophobic stance here like I was initially worried they would.
— I remember an online SNL fan back at this time in 2007 pointing out that the casting of Fred as Omar Minaya made them realize that Fred could conceivably play Barack Obama, as this was at a time where every SNL fan was wondering who in the cast would play Obama. (Over the summer prior to this season, Kenan was in talks to lose a lot of weight so he could potentially play Obama, but as we know now, that ended up never happening.)
— The comedic conceit of this Willie Randolph/Omar Minaya commentary, with them just stammering and “ummmm”-ing when trying to make a point, is actually working for me, though I can understand why some people wouldn’t care for this. Fred is usually good at pulling this kind of humor off in these years of his SNL tenure (the years before he goes really downhill). In fact, the humor in this commentary feels a bit like a precursor to Fred’s Nicolas Fehn character, who, coincidentally, debuts in the very next episode.
— Not only do we get a surprise Chevy Chase cameo as Update’s “senior political correspondent”, but they’re even having him deliver his commentary from a replica of his old Update set! Seeing Chevy at this set brings back nice memories of when I reviewed seasons 1 and 2 earlier in this SNL project.
— Wow, I love how they’re even having Chevy start his commentary by doing the raunchy phone conversation gag that he typically opened his Updates with.
— Chevy’s actually coming off fairly likable and professional here, which is surprising, given his age and reputation by this point. His joke delivery isn’t all that great here, and it doesn’t help that some of the writing of these jokes is fairly tepid, but I know not to expect Chevy to have the same solid, reliable, snappy delivery that he had way back in 1975 and 1976. His delivery here is still better and more palatable than his mess of a marble-mouthed delivery in both his season 5 hosting stint and in the Weekend Update he did in his season 6 guest appearance.
— Boy, this may be one of the longest Updates ever. I’m surprised the jokes from Amy and Meyers are still going after that super-long Chevy segment. Kinda feels like that Chevy segment was meant to close this Update.
— I wonder if that “super gay” George Takei joke that Amy closed tonight’s Update with can be considered the type of homophobia that I was glad to see her and Meyers refrain from during their “Really?!?” segment earlier tonight.
STARS: ***

AMERICA’S FIRST COLONISTS
(host)’s settlement revolved around marijuana

— A pot-themed History Channel sketch starring Seth Rogen? Oh, I don’t think I’m going to like where this is going……
— Yep, two minutes later, it turns out I’m not caring for this sketch AT ALL. Just a collection of lazy, low-brow, boring stoner humor, placed in an equally-dull colonial setting.
— I do kinda like the stoner voice Will’s using.
— Kenan provides my only real laugh in this sketch, with his very funny brief walk-on.
STARS: *½

ROWLF & THE SWEDISH CHEF
Rowlf (host) & The Swedish Chef (ANS) sing “Beyond The Sea”

— Ah, a change of pace for this SNL era, and I like the use of the home base stage, giving this an old-school SNL feel.
— Not sure what to say about this sketch so far. It’s cute, but not all that funny. Then again, I don’t think it’s intended to be all that funny. I guess it’s basically just Rogen and the SNL cast’s homage to the Muppets that they grew up watching and loving. I can appreciate the charm behind that idea. SNL would later do an actual comedic and, from what I remember, pretty solid Seth Rogen-involved Muppets sketch, when Rogen hosts the following season.
— A fantastic Animal impression from Bill, and I love his insane drum solo.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb”

MAD JOE DIXON
Mad Joe Dixon (host) & Delilah (MAR) reveal personal peccadilloes

— Pretty funny line deliveries from Kristen and Maya during their conversation with each other at the beginning of this sketch.
— Not caring AT ALL for these unfunny, increasingly unsubtle, and poorly-written sexual references and bathroom-humor jokes during Rogen and Maya’s conversation. What the hell IS this?!? Was this sketch submitted by a 13-year-old?
— The reason Rogen’s character gives for why he’s called Mad Joe Dixon was just plain stupid, and not the funny kind of stupid.
STARS: *½

GOODNIGHTS

---

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very average and nothing-special episode. Not too bad, but barely anything stood out in this episode, and the quality took a dive in most of the post-Weekend Update half.

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

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (LeBron James)
a step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Jon Bon Jovi