Month: August 2020

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February 14, 2009 – Alec Baldwin / Jonas Brothers (S34 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP MEETING
John Boehner (DAA) & fellow GOP lawmakers misread the political landscape

— This cold opening immediately opens on a random Dan Aykroyd cameo as John Boehner. Reportedly, Dan was thrown into this role after dress rehearsal, because a dress rehearsal sketch he was in (a Jeff Montgomery sketch) didn’t make it to the live show. (Not sure if there were any other cut-after-dress sketches that Dan was in for this episode.) I think I recall hearing host Alec Baldwin played Boehner in the dress rehearsal version of this.
— Some good laughs from the republicans’ overconfidence in how “well” they’re doing and how “badly” President Obama is doing.
— I like Jason getting VERY worked up over Andy’s mere opinion that Sean Hannity is as smart as Rush Limbaugh.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host is upstaged by his 30 Rock co-star Jack McBrayer [real]

— I remember a few online SNL fans back at this time in 2009 were bothered by Alec’s “Thank you, Christian Bale” bit at the beginning of this monologue (in which Alec expresses relief that Christian Bale replaced him as the celebrity infamous for a recorded meltdown that was leaked online), because those SNL fans felt Bale chewing out some crew member (or whoever he was yelling at, I can’t remember) does not compare to how awful it was that Alec harshly berated his own then-pre-teen daughter on a voicemail message.
— I love the look of Fred’s character.
— Pretty funny reveal that Bobby’s character wants Alec to take a picture of him with Jack McBrayer, when Alec initially assumed Bobby wanted a photo of himself and Alec.
— A laugh from Alec’s guilty facial reaction to McBrayer saying he doesn’t want to seem desperate by hosting SNL more than once or twice.
STARS: ***


THE OLDEST JONAS
host tries to convince musical guest that he’s the oldest Jonas brother

— Uh-oh. A sketch opening with just the Jonas Brothers alone, with nobody else onscreen, is very worrisome.
— Thankfully, Alec has shown up. Not too crazy, though, about this premise of him playing a Jonas Brother.
— Turns out Alec’s characterization here is pretty funny, but this sketch itself still isn’t doing much for me.
— The bit with the purity ring is decent.
— WTF was with that ending with Alec’s character revealing he’s Alec Baldwin, “but not the Alec Baldwin from 30 Rock”? I just found that baffling and unfunny.
STARS: **


THE COUGAR DEN
cougay (host) has written a book on nabbing younger men

 

— Amy Poehler’s co-host character from this recurring sketch has been replaced with a new co-host character played by Michaela. I’m sure the intention at this time was to have Michaela’s new character become a regular part of these sketches, but that plan would end up falling through, because 1) this ends up being the final aired installment of this sketch, 2) SNL would attempt an installment of this sketch the following season (I can’t remember which episode), AFTER not just Michaela’s firing, but also Casey’s firing, but the sketch would get cut after dress rehearsal, and 3) that cut-after-dress attempt had Michaela and Casey’s roles replaced with characters played by Abby and, IIRC, then-cast member Jenny Slate (if not the latter, then it was the also-then-cast member Nasim Pedrad). The fact that SNL had to keep frequently replacing the roles of the co-host characters in this recurring sketch in such a short time span perfectly illustrates the unfortunate insane turnover most of SNL’s female cast frequently went through during these Wiig Dominance years. (Another thing that perfectly illustrates that are the Lawrence Welk Show sketches, because the lineup of female cast members who play Dooneese’s sisters changes EVERY DAMN TIME.) Also, it’s very hard for me to picture a 22-year-old Abby Elliott being even REMOTELY believable in the role of a middle-aged cougar.
— With the departure of Amy Poehler, who previously played the leader of the three co-hosts of this recurring sketch, Kristen’s character has now taken over as the leader of the co-hosts. And I guess Casey’s character has now taken Kristen’s character’s former place as the second-in-command.
— Meh at Alec playing a lispy “Cou-gay”.
— Here’s Cameron Diaz making her obligatory Cougar Den appearance. Speaking of which, the aforementioned cut-after-dress-rehearsal installment of this sketch from the following season didn’t have Cameron, IIRC.
— Kristen’s McDonalds story made me laugh.
— In dress rehearsal, Bill, Will, and Andy’s roles were played by the Jonas Brothers. I wonder if the reason SNL recast the roles was because they perhaps felt it was too inappropriate to have them in a sketch with Cameron Diaz’s cougar character “pouncing” on them.
— I hate to say it, but the running bit with Kenan insulting the cougars is getting old for me. And tonight’s Cougar Den installment is relying WAY too heavily on the bug-eyed “Kenan Reacts” cutaway shots each time after he insults the cougars. Between that lame “Issues” sketch from the then-recent Steve Martin episode and now this, SNL is really abusing the “Kenan Reacts” trope lately.
— Has Michaela said a single word in the entire last two-thirds of this sketch? It’s like, after her intro statement when she was introduced at the beginning of this, the writers forgot to write her ANY lines for the remainder of this sketch. It seems as if she’s been sitting there silently almost the entire time.
— Overall, it’s a good thing this ends up being the final aired installment of this sketch. I liked this sketch quite a lot in its first installment, but I’ve come to realize that I don’t care for it as a recurring sketch.
STARS: **


PROPERTY OF THE QUEEN
a 1983 hair band video is ANS’s proof of musical guest’s sorcerous youth

— A good believable 80s look and visual quality to the old music videos of the Jonas Brothers. Can’t say I’m laughing much, though.
— Bill is hilarious as the wizard in the last music video.
— Overall, pretty meh for Lonely Island standards.
STARS: **


SIR MIX-A-LOT’S PHOTO SHOP
Sir Mix-A-Lot’s (KET) Photo Shop enhances butts on customers’ snapshots

— Random premise, but I’m not dismissing it.
— I like Casey’s vocal imitation of the “Oh…mah…gawd” girl from the “Baby Got Back” music video (who always kinda reminded me of SNL’s own Melanie Hutsell, by the way).
— This sketch isn’t all that funny, but Kenan’s energy is fun.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Tonight”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Oscar Rogers says it’s time to “do it” now that the economy is “fixed”

Angelina Jolie (ABE) is disappointed to find no babies on Weekend Update

snarky blogger Angie Tempura (MIW) hates on celebs with “bitch, pleeze”

uncommunicative Joaquin Phoenix (JAS) now wants to be a stand-up comic

 

— Kenan’s “Fix It!” character, Oscar Rogers, makes his first and ONLY appearance in a regular SNL episode, but he actually previously appeared in two Weekend Update Thursday specials earlier this season.
— I love Kenan’s pronunciation of his “Do It!” exclamations (sounds like “Duurrr It!”).
— Another random, abrupt walk-on from Abby’s Angelina Jolie, just two episodes after her first one.
— I laughed at Abby’s brief Angelina Jolie bit tonight, but it tread the exact same ground from her previous Update walk-on.
— The debut of the “Bitch, Pleeze” blogger character, Angie Tempura, who Michaela would be most remembered for from her short-lived SNL tenure.
— Michaela’s commentary so far is…….odd. I can’t say it’s working for me so far, despite how much I really want to like it.
— Feels odd seeing a Taraji P. Henson mention on SNL in 2009. I thought she didn’t start to become well-known until years later around 2014/2015, when Empire was the hot new show.
— I guess I get what Michaela’s bit is going for, spoofing then-current bloggers who’s whole thing is snarking on celebrities, but I’m not caring for Michaela’s execution of it, nor her constant exaggerated utterances of “Bitch, pleeze”. I recall this character being well-liked by a lot of online SNL fans back in 2009, including myself, so I’m not sure why this character isn’t working for me anymore 11 years later. I gotta say, between Michaela’s meh Barbara Walters impression in the View sketches and now this, I’ve been disheartened to discover that some of the things Michaela did during her short-lived SNL tenure aren’t anywhere near as good as I had remembered.
— Ha, an appearance from Jason as a heavily-bearded, sunglasses-wearing Joaquin Phoenix, spoofing his infamous then-recent Letterman interview.
— Throughout the Joaquin Phoenix commentary, I love the uncomfortable, drawn-out, awkward gaps of silence (again, accurately spoofing the Letterman interview).
— After Jason’s Phoenix leaves, I like how Seth says in an ad-lib(?) “We need better security out here!”, referring to how both Angelina Jolie AND Joaquin Phoenix abruptly popped up on him on separate occasions tonight.
— Wait, did this overall Update seriously have FOUR separate guests? Very unusual, though Abby’s bit wasn’t an outright commentary as much as it was just a quick walk-on.
STARS: ***


VINCENT PRICE’S VALENTINE’S DAY SPECIAL
romance is elusive on Vincent Price’s (BIH) Valentine’s Day Special

— Good to see this sketch back again, and it seems fitting that it’s appearing in an Alec Baldwin episode, given how reliable he is at emulating the Old Hollywood style.
— Very amusing Carol Channing voice from Kristen.
— Though it’s yet another gay Liberace joke in these Vincent Price sketches, I admit to getting a good laugh from Fred-as-Liberace’s “The fleet shipped out yesterday” response when asked where his valentine is.
— Another gay Liberace joke gave me a laugh just now, with him gleefully responding “Plenty!” when Bill’s Vincent Price asks what’s so great about a strange hand sticking out of a hole. I kinda hate to say it, but I may have to deem the gay Liberace jokes from these Vincent Price sketches to be a guilty pleasure of mine (maybe there’s just something about the fun atmosphere of these Vincent Price sketches that make those gay jokes work better than they would’ve in any other sketch), but we’ll see if I eventually get tired of the gay jokes in subsequent installments of this sketch.
— A huge laugh from Kristen’s Carol Channing sitting on the disembodied hand.
STARS: ****


SCHEDULING
businessmen Carl, Jerry, Troy (host) fail to schedule a meeting time

— Ha, the return of the Fart Face characters, Carl and Jerry. As one of seemingly VERY few people back in 2008/2009 who loved (and still does to this day) the original Fart Face sketch, it’s good to see these characters back. Given how notoriously poorly-received their first sketch was, I’m glad SNL is taking a chance by bringing them back anyway.
— A big laugh from the visual of Will in that ridiculously small toupee on the middle of his head, and him eventually mentioning that it doesn’t give him the coverage he wants.
— I rarely, if ever, criticize Bill Hader, but his delivery of his line about his aunt weighing 400 pounds was very weak, and caused that line to bomb with the audience.
— Another gloryhole reference tonight?
— I love Will constantly saying a gruffly-delivered “Carol, hold my caaaallllss!” throughout this sketch. That line really sticks with you (or at least me) over the years.
— An overall decent sketch, but to me, this paled badly in comparison to the original Fart Face sketch.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
host & nieces Alia & Hailey Baldwin [real] introduce musical guest


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Video Girl”


WII GUYS
(host)’s masturbatory experience makes him an instant Wii expert

— A sketch that sticks in your memory.
— A very juvenile conceit to this sketch, but I’m definitely laughing, and Alec is good at selling dumb humor like this.
— I found the “I’m gonna empty my sack before you do!” line to be particularly funny.
— Amusing turn with Alec suggestively shaking both his and Jason’s Wii controls simultaneously.
— While SNL’s certainly had better “unintentionally dirty” sketches, even just Alec Baldwin-involved ones (Schwetty Balls, anyone?), I’m still enjoying this sketch.
— A good line with Alec saying “Oh, trust me, your mother’s gonna be a natural” in regards to shaking the Wii control.
STARS: ***½


CHEWABLE PAMPERS
Rerun from 1/31/09


VIRGANIA HORSEN’S HOT AIR BALLOON RIDES
WTF? Two repeated ads IN A ROW??? (A commercial break separated these two repeated ads, but still…) This just may be an unprecedented move in SNL history. And this particular repeated ad isn’t even from this season, it’s from the preceding season’s Tina Fey-hosted episode. Not only is it very strange that we’re getting TWO consecutive repeated commercials tonight, but 1) both of these repeated commercials happen to star Kristen, adding further fuel to the “SNL is starting to focus way too heavily on Kristen Wiig” complaints on SNL message boards back then, and 2) this Virgania Horsen bit is an odd choice to rerun, given the fact that it doesn’t follow the structure or format of a traditional pre-taped SNL commercial.


FIRST COUGHS: MASTERING THE ART OF FORESHADOWING YOUR CHARACTER’S DEATH
host’s acting techniques DVD shows how to foreshadow death with a cough

— Decent premise, and Alec is a perfect spokesman for this.
— Great execution from Bill during his bit about reacting to blood he coughs onto a handkerchief.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A meh episode for Alec Baldwin standards. The first half of the episode was very mediocre, though there was a boost in quality in the post-Weekend Update half of the show. Even with that boost, though, there was almost nothing all night that stood out as particularly strong.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Vincent Price’s Valentine’s Day Special
Wii Guys
Monologue
First Coughs: Mastering The Art Of Foreshadowing Your Character’s Death
Scheduling
Weekend Update
Republican Congressional Leadership Meeting
Sir Mix-A-Lot’s Photo Shop
Property Of The Queen
The Cougar Den
The Oldest Jonas


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bradley Cooper)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Dwayne Johnson

Posted on

February 7, 2009 – Bradley Cooper / TV on the Radio (S34 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BIPARTISANSHIP
vengeful Nancy Pelosi (KRW) rejects Harry Reid’s (FRA) bipartisanship

— Some mild chuckles from Kristen-as-Nancy-Pelosi’s sarcasm and snarkiness.
— Overall, not a bad premise at all, but the result was fairly meh and forgettable. There wasn’t anything I found to be all that noteworthy in this.
STARS: **½


MONOLOGUE
host demonstrates evil bully acting techniques; James Lipton cameo

— A funny clipshow of a young, intensely-stone-faced Bradley Cooper as an Inside The Actor’s Studio audience member during his days as an Actor’s Studio student.
— An okay-though-generic sequence from Bradley breaking down how to play a movie bully.
— In typical Andy Samberg fashion, Andy made the best of his brief bit.
— James Lipton cameo!
— Pretty funny how eager Bradley was to cut Lipton’s bit short.
STARS: ***


TODAY
Kathie Lee Gifford (KRW) tests Hoda Kotb’s (MIW) professionalism

— (*groan*) This sketch has officially become recurring. I disliked this enough the first time.
— A reminder of the Snuggie craze from around this time. You can even hear a woman in SNL’s audience excitedly squeal “Oh my god! It’s a Snuggie!” as Michaela’s Hoda brings out a Snuggie.
— I realized one of my main problems with these Today sketches: they feel way too much like how I would imagine the real Kathie Lee/Hoda-hosted Today show is, without much comical exaggeration. And Kristen’s CONSTANT mugging as Kathie Lee is more annoying than funny.
— Yikes, they botched the bit where a stage light from above is supposed to fall on Kristen-as-Kathie-Lee’s head. It ended up falling IN FRONT of her instead of on her head, resulting in a very awkward, long pause from Kristen, who just stands there lost, not knowing what to do, before ad-libbing a goofy, hammy dance. Michaela’s Hoda then says the scripted line “How is she still alive?!?”, referring to Kristen’s Kathie Lee getting hit in the head, but the line doesn’t make any damn sense due to the fact that we didn’t see Kristen’s Kathie Lee getting hit in the head.
STARS: *½


I’M GONNA HAVE SEX WITH YOUR WIFE
emcee (host) cuckolds contestants

— An interesting and promising concept.
— A very funny grumpy look on Bill’s face when the camera first cuts to him. The fake mustache he’s wearing helps add to the comical look.
— Will’s slow burn during the off-camera sex sequence between his wife and Bradley is fantastic.
— I love the now-stern, unamused look on Fred’s face when Bradley goes up to him after the first sex sequence.
— Funny twist in regards to Bill’s character’s divorce.
— Good ending gag with the so-called “home game” version of this game show.
— The day after this episode originally aired, SNL would put up the dress rehearsal version of this sketch online (I can’t remember if that dress rehearsal version was also shown in reruns of this episode, but I’ll assume so). The most noticeable difference I can remember is that Will had a completely different look, with a messy hairstyle and a goatee, IIRC.
STARS: ****


I’M ON A BOAT
ANS, Akiva Schaffer & T-Pain [real] sing about their nautical exploits

— The very first Digital Short to have all three Lonely Island members in the lead role.
— Hilarious random inclusion of T-Pain as the second person who Andy decides to bring with him on his boat ride, completely leaving out Jorma.
— A fucking EPIC music video with Andy and Akiva musically bragging about being on a boat. This would become one of Lonely Island’s most famous and popular music video Digital Shorts.
— One of my favorite and most-remembered lyrics of this short: “I’m flippin’ burgers, you at Kinko’s straight flippin’ copies!”
— So many great and funny visuals to go along with this very catchy song.
— Very good solo number from T-Pain towards the end of this.
— Kinda odd how they’re blurring out the mermaid’s breasts as if she’s topless, despite the fact that we can CLEARLY see under the blurring that she’s wearing a white bra.
STARS: *****


SONG MEMORIES
“To Be With You” evokes awful tales by (host) & other icky reminiscers

— So far, the punchlines to the stories in tonight’s Song Memories sketch feel meh and kinda half-assed compared to the punchlines in some of the other installments of this recurring sketch.
— Adding to the half-assed feel of the writing of tonight’s Song Memories installment, none of the guys are making an addendum to their story after singing the “To Be With You” chorus in unison with each other. Those addendums are usually a tradition of these Song Memories sketches, and usually provide the biggest laughs.
— I gotta say, despite my disappointment with the writing, I love the energy of the guys’ performances tonight, especially during their final singing of the “To Be With You” chorus. Their energy is even better than it was in previous installments of this sketch. I only wish the writing of tonight’s installment matched that great energy.
— The pallbearer twist ending was okay.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Golden Age”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Mark Spitz (ANS) hypes himself amidst Michael Phelps weed controversy

a week after his Super Bowl TD, James Harrison (KET) is still winded

incredulous SEM says “Really!?!” to criticism of Michael Phelps

Bjork’s (KRW) thoughts on Iceland’s financial crisis are not helpful

— Andy’s mere look as Mark Spitz is amusing, and he has several funny dirty, smug lines.
— Pretty funny commentary from Kenan’s James Harrison, still out of breath from his famous 100-yard interception run in the previous Sunday’s Super Bowl.
— Our very first solo Seth-helmed “Really?!?” segment, which feels kinda odd after having gotten so used to seeing Amy Poehler do these with him, and knowing in hindsight that Seth does some (or all?) future “Really?!?” segments with a special guest.
— Good breakdown from Seth on how stoner-friendly Kellogg’s unintentionally comes off.
— Wow, a heated and bitter final message from Seth in his “Really?!?” segment, ending with a sincere, salty, almost-non-comedic “You need to take a good, long look in the mirror, because you’re a dick!” towards the person who leaked the photo of Michael Phelps smoking a bong. Seth’s not wrong here, but I wonder if the reason for this sudden genuine saltiness from him is because he perhaps feels partial to Phelps after Phelps hosted SNL earlier this season.
— Kristen’s Bjork commentary is kinda washing over me, though it doesn’t seem all that bad in itself.
— (*groan*) I could do without Kristen’s Bjork breaking out into a musical number right now.
STARS: ***


LOCKER ROOM
after the hockey game, all players but one (host) awe young Keith (BOM)

— The first appearance of Bobby’s very-short-lived-but-somewhat-memorable “It’s okaaaaayyyyy???” little boy character, Keith.
— Bobby is both funny and adorable in this role.
— I like the contrast between Bobby’s freaked-out reactions to most of the hockey players and very unexcited, unimpressed reactions to Bradley’s character.
— (*sigh*) Another episode this season in which Darrell is relegated to making a brief walk-on in a non-impression, featured player-level bit role that he comes off very awkward and miscast in.
— Pretty funny how Bobby’s even having a freaked-out reaction to the trainer.
STARS: ***½


BAD GUYS, GOOD CONVERSATION
movie villains take up a few topics

— I love this concept. I’m not sure, and correct me if I’m wrong, but I think I recall hearing John Mulaney wrote this. If so, that definitely makes sense, as this feels in his wheelhouse.
— Clearly, someone at SNL agrees with me that Michaela bears a facial resemblance to Glenn Close, as this is the second time this season she’s been cast as a character Glenn Close played in a movie (the first time was in the J’accuzzi sketch from this season’s John Malkovich episode).
— Jason is absolutely hilarious as the villain sensai from The Karate Kid.
— Bill is PERFECT as Buffalo Bill from Silence Of The Lambs. My favorite portion of this already-fun sketch. If Mulaney indeed wrote this sketch, then this is yet another example of him perfectly utilizing Bill.
STARS: ****


INTERVENTION
squirt noises made by fluid pumpers (host) & (KRW) derail an intervention

— The comedic conceit of this sketch is lame as hell so far.
— Ugh, I’m now a few minutes into this sketch, and it is DREADFUL. The same basic unfunny joke is just going on and on and on and on and on and on. Awful. I hate how it’s officially become a weekly thing around this time for every episode to have at least one horribly-written Kristen Wiig showcase (TWO in tonight’s case).
— I did kinda chuckle at the bit right now with Bill revealing he has patients waiting in the van Kristen and Bradley are having off-camera sex on top of.
— Dumb ending with Andy being caught with a drink. And why does he keep looking up at himself in the monitor during this portion of the sketch?
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Dancing Choose”


NO BRUCE! LET ME FINISH! THE BEST OF CELEBRITY TIRADES
Christian Bale (host) on a celebrity tirade DVD

— The bit with Bradley’s Christian Bale initially being distracted by Will’s stagehand character (who’s oddly not even on camera yet when Bradley first starts reacting to him) is being executed very awkwardly, and has gotten this sketch off to a fairly rough start.
— Pretty funny and promising concept of a celebrity tirade tape, and this looks to be a fun showcase of celebrity impressions from the cast.
— What the holy hell is Kenan going for with that bizarre hokey voice he’s using as George Foreman?
— Abby finally makes her first appearance of the night…..in the 10-to-1 sketch. At least her Joan Cusack impression here is making me laugh.
— A funny subversion with the “angry” rant from the usually-loud-and-hostile Jim Cramer ironically turning out to actually be the one calmly-delivered rant out of all the celebrity tirades we’re shown.
— Bobby steals this sketch with his very funny Nathan Lane impression (which I think I heard he did at his SNL audition).
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

— Random Drew Barrymore out of nowhere. Well, Bradley did mention in the monologue earlier tonight that Drew is one of the co-stars of the movie he’s promoting (He’s Just Not That Into You).

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty good episode, and, as I wondered in a recent review of mine, was a little better than I remember deeming it back when it originally aired. Between the not-as-bad-as-I-remembered Steve Martin/Jason Mraz episode and now this, the so-called four-episode mid-season slump of season 34 (from the Rosario Dawson episode to the Alec Baldwin episode) is much ado about nothing. That slump was known among a number of online SNL fans back in 2009, but it turns out that, aside from Rosario Dawson, none of the three episodes I’ve covered so far in that four-episode stretch were all that bad. Maybe this is just a classic case of certain SNL episodes coming off better when revisiting them years later.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
I’m On A Boat
Bad Guys, Good Conversation
I’m Gonna Have Sex With Your Wife
Locker Room
No Bruce! Let Me Finish! The Best Of Celebrity Tirades
Monologue
Weekend Update
Song Memories
Bipartisanship
Today
Intervention


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Steve Martin)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Alec Baldwin / Jonas Brothers

Posted on

January 31, 2009 – Steve Martin / Jason Mraz (S34 E14)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OBAMA REMEMBERS
amidst economic woe, Barack Obama (FRA) brings up happy pre-term memories

— We have officially arrived at a new presidency during SNL’s timeline.
— (*groan*) This is going to be a looooooong four years with Fred as SNL’s resident Obama impersonator during Obama’s first term.
— I kinda like the conceit of Fred’s Obama occasionally turning to a side camera and fondly reminiscing about his big inauguration, and I feel it’s one of the very few times that Fred’s Obama portrayal has ever showed any hint of a personality.
— A pretty good laugh from the “Read Other Side” writing being on both sides of the page given to Obama by the now-former President Bush.
— We get a sudden and random interruption from Jason’s always-funny Joe Biden, which, like I said in my review of the cold opening from this season’s Paul Rudd episode, seems to be an admission from SNL that they’re far more confident in Jason’s portrayal of Biden than they are in Fred’s portrayal of Obama.
— I like how Fred’s Obama follows Jason-as-Biden’s exit by telling us, in regards to his vice presidential pick, a deadpan “I couldn’t pick Hillary. I just couldn’t.”
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Steve Martin’s getting his usual laughs from his trademark Steve Martin-y humor, even if there hasn’t been anything noteworthy here so far.
— The clapter-inducing Bush-bashing bit, albeit brief, feels a little out of place for a Steve Martin comedy monologue.
STARS: ***½


CHEWABLE PAMPERS
Chewable Pampers short-circuit the food cycle in an eco-friendly manner

 

— I find the concept of this mildly chuckleworthy for a quick cheap laugh, but I can’t ignore the similarities this has to the Earthies commercial from the season 17 Jeff Daniels episode. Maybe the similarities are just a coincidence.
— Aside from Gas Right and North American Savings, has every single pre-taped commercial so far this season featured Kristen in the lead role? It sure feels like it. Not only that, but in all the Wiig-starring commercials this season, Jason seems to always play her glasses-wearing husband.
— After watching this whole thing just now, this feels like a slightly funnier variation of the aforementioned Earthies, but a much-less-funnier sister commercial to Litter Critters.
STARS: **½


SUPERBOWL NIGHT OUT
Neil, Jean, fellow uptight co-worker (host) view the Superbowl on Ecstasy

— Great to see the return of these introverted co-workers characters for the first time in two seasons. This ends up being their final appearance.
— Something about the dopey, hokey delivery Steve’s using here isn’t working for me, especially in comparison to most of the other hosts who’ve appeared in these sketches.
— A big laugh from Kristen’s innocent reaction to Bill’s crude “Why don’t you sit on my face?” suggestion.
— Funny bit regarding Ecstasy in a plastic bag labeled “Mints”.
— The sudden turn with the introverted co-workers having a conversation about what raunchy things they’re going to do later is paling in comparison to the ones from the previous installments of this sketch. However, I did laugh out loud at Will’s mention of a “three-story denim vagina” just now.
STARS: ***½


LASER CATS! 4 EVER
host abets extension of the feline sci-fi franchise

— Our annual Laser Cats edition of the season. Always a treat to see the yearly appearance of this short.
— I like Lorne’s silent “Aww, dammit”-type facial reaction when realizing he’s about to be shown yet another Laser Cats video.
— Steve’s out-of-place executive producer credit photo was pretty funny.
— I love the little bit with Bill moving around individual words on an invisible screen to put together a message that was sent to him and Andy.
— Some amusing background sightings of cameramen and average joes accidentally entering the shot.
— Cool reveal with Bill and Andy’s respective half-necklace.
STARS: ****


ISSUES
Clarence Jernigan’s (KET) guests are insufficiently body-aware

— Oddly enough, SNL already had a fictional talk show sketch titled Issues – a recurring one, in fact, involving Jim Breuer and that night’s SNL host playing potheads interviewing a professional played by Ana Gasteyer.
— A cheap initial laugh from Steve entering the sketch with womanly breasts.
— This is basically Kenan Reacts: The Sketch. The famous “Kenan Reacts” routine is funny in small doses, but not when an entire four-minute sketch is centered around it. None of the other comedic aspects of this sketch are doing all that much for me, either.
STARS: **


MADOFF INVITES
Bernie Madoff (FRA) can’t get anybody to come to his Superbowl party

— Ugh, the return of Fred’s Bernie Madoff impression, after that awful Weekend Update commentary he did in the preceding episode.
— Did Fred change the voice of his Madoff impression? In this sketch, Fred’s basically doing his “smug middle-aged Jewish guy” stock voice that he’s used in certain other roles, but I remember him using a drastically different and more generic voice for Madoff in the preceding episode.
— Where the fuck is the joke in this sketch? I’m currently about halfway through this sketch, and I have yet to get so much as a single CHUCKLE from the endless amount of phone calls Fred’s Madoff is making. Absolutely nothing is happening in this sketch. Why am I supposed to be entertained by a sketch centered around Madoff making non-comedic, uninteresting phone calls to people he’s swindled in the past? And, I highly doubt this, but if this is supposed to be some kind of half-baked attempt at the type of slice-of-life sketches that the original SNL era usually nailed so well, then all I can say about the execution of this attempt is: OOF.
— Geez, this sketch is so hollow-feeling and quiet that, just now, you can even hear off-camera footsteps from somewhere in SNL’s studio.
STARS: *


STEVE AND THE LADIES
the crush CAW, KRW, MIW, ABE have on host inspires them to sing about him

— Ooh, a backstage sketch. At this point of SNL’s run, it feels rare and refreshing to see a backstage sketch anymore, and it’s very fitting that they’re doing one with Steve Martin.
— So nice to see the underused Casey Wilson getting so much focus as herself and interacting with the host as himself.
— Feels kinda odd but interesting seeing all of the then-current female cast members paired together as themselves in this manner. However, something also feels a little sad about that in hindsight, knowing the future that awaits Casey, Abby, and Michaela’s respective SNL tenures, and how they’d never overcome Kristen’s dominance. And it feels disheartening to realize that if this sketch had instead appeared even just half a year later, 50% of the female lineup in the sketch would’ve been completely different from the one in tonight’s version.
— I got a good laugh from Casey’s comically exaggerated ending note when she and the other female cast members were singing in harmony.
— Nice ending.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I’m Yours”


WEEKEND UPDATE
unrepentant Rod Blagojevich (JAS) is on the way out but is still feisty

Angelina Jolie (ABE) asks SEM if the Octomom might have any extra babies

David Paterson (FRA) badmouths upstate New York & all of New Jersey

— Good to see a Weekend Update commentary from Jason’s short-lived-but-fun Rod Blagojevich impression.
— I’m really liking Seth’s deadpan interplay with Jason’s Blagojevich.
— A predictable but funny ending to Jason-as-Blagojevich’s poem, with what inappropriate word he’s about to use to rhyme “Blagojeviches” with.
— A reminder of when Octomom was all over the news around this time.
— A very sudden appearance from Abby as Angelina Jolie right in the middle of Seth’s Octomom joke.
— Great make-up and facial prosthetics on Abby. Her resemblance to Jolie is downright uncanny.
— An overall brief but funny Angelina Jolie bit with Abby.
— The return of Fred’s very polarizing David Paterson impression.
— I fully admit that Fred’s Paterson is cracking me up even more tonight than he did in his prior appearance. Fred’s portrayal of and dialogue as Paterson simply work for me, what can I say? And his line, “I haven’t heard so many people screaming at me since I TOOK THAT ARCHERY CLASS!”, has stuck with me over the years.
— Hmm, this Paterson commentary is going on awfully long.
— We get a variation of the “a blind Fred Armisen wanders around in front of the camera after his Update commentary is over, interrupting an Update anchor’s joke” routine, with Fred’s Paterson following his Update commentary by slowly sliding his chair in the wrong direction behind Seth, interrupting Seth’s joke. Unlike the “wandering around in front of the camera” routine, which is obviously scripted, I almost wonder if this chair gag is an ad-lib on Fred’s part, but probably not.
STARS: ***


MAKE-UP COUNTER
make-up salesman’s (host) dumb wife Trina (KRW) bothers him while he works

— I laughed at the reveal early on that Casey’s trying on all this fancy make-up just for a Dunkin Donuts interview she’s about to go to.
— OH MOTHERFUCKING NO. We get the debut of Kristen’s character Trina, a.k.a. the “Thomaaaasss!” lady, a character I and a number of others consider to be the absolute bane of Kristen’s repertoire of recurring characters (which is certainly saying something), and THE #1 quintessential example of how poorly-written, one-note, and irritating a lot of Kristen’s recurring characters tend to be.
— Ugghhhhhhh. Two minutes into this sketch, and it is soooooo unbelievably bad so far. If you told me Kristen was thrown out there with literally NO written material at all, I’d believe you 100%, as that would explain so much about her performance in this sketch. (I’d believe you if you told me that was also the case with Kristen’s character in the Quiz Bowl sketch from this season’s Michael Phelps episode.) This Trina character is just a whole bunch of NOTHINGNESS. Very bad and annoying nothingness at that. Feels like a very amateurish, poorly-written imitation of a typical one-note Mo Collins recurring character from MADtv. (Funnily enough, Mo Collins did have a MADtv recurring character named Trina, though she was nothing like Kristen’s Trina.)
— It’s shocking to me that something THIS underwritten made it on the air. Besides Kristen’s (polarizing) big farewell piece from the end of her final episode as a cast member, you probably can’t find a bigger example of the extreme favoritism Lorne showed towards Kristen than the fact that this Trina sketch made it on the air, because there’s no fucking way I can see a character THIS slight, THIS material-less, and THIS painfully unfunny making it on the air if it starred a less popular performer.
— As I said in a previous review, Kristen would later disclose in an interview that she herself couldn’t stand this Trina character, and would eventually ask the writer of these sketches, Kent Sublette, to stop writing them (as well as another Wiig recurring sketch Sublette wrote, but I can’t remember which). To me, that speaks volumes, and is one of the reasons I eventually stopped putting the main blame on Kristen herself for the bad sketches she’s given too often in the second half of her SNL tenure. In more recent years, I’ve grown to truly appreciate Kristen’s many talents and strengths as an actress and SNL cast member, but when she, in her SNL tenure, performs D.O.A. crap too often, combined with how frustrating it can get in this second half of her tenure seeing SNL over-utilize and, at times, mis-utilize her at the expense of some of her talented castmates, it can be easy to forget how damn good Kristen generally is.
— When Steve asks Casey to please not tell anybody about the absurdity she just witnessed from Trina, I like Casey’s delivery of her response: “I feel like I will. Just being honest.” With that and the amusing Dunkin Donuts throwaway line that I mentioned earlier, Casey has provided my only two laughs in this entire sketch, but not even those two laughs are enough to make up for how mind-numbingly bad the rest of this sketch is.
— Steve’s ending line, after Trina has left: “Wow. That’s the best I’ve ever seen her.” Such a lame punchline. However, the second (and, thankfully, final) installment of this sketch with Gerard Butler next season has a somehow even dumber punchline.
— Overall, I personally feel this was, no exaggeration, one of the worst SNL sketches I have EVER seen. This was so bad that, back when it originally aired, even the staunchest Kristen Wiig defenders hated it. Speaking of the reception this sketch got back when it originally aired, I remember how, between the debut of Gilly in the preceding episode and the debut of Trina in tonight’s episode, not to mention certain other bad (to me back then, at least) characters Kristen had done shortly before this point, I finally reached my official boiling point towards Kristen back then and became harshly anti-Wiig for the remainder of her SNL tenure, which, in turn, would cause me to be unfairly dismissive towards a lot of the actual good things Kristen would do during that stretch of her tenure. In more recent years, I’ve softened on my stance on Kristen, and, as I said above, I’ve gained a lot of respect and appreciation for her talents and strengths as an SNL cast member, and thus, in regards to the downsides of her SNL tenure, I now put the blame more on the writing she was given and the way SNL tended to mis-utilize her talents at times. But no matter how much my newfound respect for Kristen may continue to rise, nothing in a million years will ever make me tolerate the absolute worst recurring characters of her repertoire, least of all Trina.
STARS: *


STEVE MARTIN: “LATE FOR SCHOOL”
accompanied by his band, host plays banjo & sings “Late For School”

— Hmm, a very interesting change of pace for this SNL era. I like how this segment feels like a throwback to early SNL eras. In fact, this definitely feels like a segment Steve would’ve done on the show back in the 70s.
— I like the way the home base stage is decorated during this, especially the gate in the background. That gate would later re-appear on SNL’s home base stage during the famous Goodnight Saigon sketch with Will Ferrell at the end of this season.
— A catchy simplistic melody to this song.
— Interesting how, at the end, after the performance has concluded and the audience is applauding, Steve and his band then proceed to play the show to commercial. Even more interestingly, Jason Mraz did the same thing at the end of his first musical performance earlier tonight. Must be a theme in tonight’s episode.
STARS: N/A (not a rateable segment)


FOREFATHERS OF THE GAME
old-time quarterback Billy The Gun (host) carried a firearm on the field

— I’m loving the format of this, and it’s being executed very well. I also love how accurate it is in recreating the typical atmosphere and look of this type of documentary/profile on an old-time football player.
— Most of the performers look very amusing in their grizzled-old-man makeup and facial expressions. I especially love Bobby’s facial expressions here.
— The name of Will’s character, Jack Snad (a funny name in itself, especially when seeing a graphic of it displayed below Will’s amusing grizzled-old-man facial expressions), makes me wonder if this sketch was written by whoever writes Kristen and Will’s Jackie Snad/Clancy T. Bachleratt sketches (country singers who sing about stuff like spaceships/toddlers/Model-T cars/jars of beer).
— Great use of Steve, which is more than I can say for some of the other sketches tonight.
— Bill’s delivery is particularly excellent in this sketch.
— An overall fun and very strong piece.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Colbie Caillat [real] perform “Lucky”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not as weak an episode as I had remembered. Aside from two horrible sketches (one starring Fred Armisen and one starring Kristen Wiig, which sadly seems fitting, as some online SNL fans seem to consider those two performers to be the usual culprits of the worst sketches from the 2009-2012 years), there wasn’t much for me to hate in this episode, and there were a few strong highlights. However, this still felt a little underwhelming for a Steve Martin-hosted episode. And given the fact that this ends up being his final hosting stint (as of 2020), this wasn’t the most deserving way for an SNL hosting legend like him to go out. If he had to retire from hosting, I feel that his pretty solid and special-feeling season 31 episode would’ve been a better note to end on. Either way, I at least now have the honor of saying I’ve reviewed every single Steve Martin episode of SNL ever. For whatever that’s worth, that feels like a special accomplishment for me in the context of this SNL project of mine.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Forefathers Of The Game
Steve and the Ladies
Laser Cats! 4 Ever
Superbowl Night Out
Monologue
Weekend Update
Obama Remembers
Chewable Pampers
Issues
Madoff Invites
Make-Up Counter


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Rosario Dawson)
a mild step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Bradley Cooper

Posted on

January 17, 2009 – Rosario Dawson / Fleet Foxes (S34 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY: THE FINAL INTERVIEW
despite Diane Sawyer’s (KRW) prodding, Dick Cheney (DAH) has no regrets

— Hoo, boy. I can already see the one-joke route this is going, with Darrell’s Dick Cheney answering all of Kristen-as-Diane-Sawyer’s questions by saying he has no regrets.
— Not even the turn with Kristen’s Sawyer asking Darrell’s Cheney increasingly off-topic questions is doing anything for me.
— Oof. This awful one-joke interview sketch is starting to bring back unwanted memories of that notoriously bad 20 Questions sketch from season 19, in which Tim Meadows’ Bryant Gumbel interviews Sara Gilbert by just asking her “Why?” over and over. The only difference is the audience of this Cheney/Sawyer cold opening is much kinder than the audience of the Gumbel/Gilbert sketch, who gave that sketch the dead silence it deserved (much to a sweaty Tim Meadows’ chagrin, as he would later disclose in the “Live From New York” book).
— Took them damn long enough, but I finally got a laugh towards the end of this interview, when Darrell’s Cheney immediately blurted out a hurried, unhappy, monotone “I DO NOT!” as soon as Kristen’s Sawyer starts to ask if he regrets shooting his friend in the face.
— Kristen’s Sawyer brings up the fact that Darrell’s Cheney has never been asked to say LFNY on SNL. Pardon my nitpicking, but Darrell’s Cheney said LFNY on multiple occasions in the past.
STARS: *½


MONOLOGUE
host thinks Fericito’s stereotypical Latino jokes are a step backward

— Surprising to see Fred’s breakout character, Fericito, back after a long three-and-a-half year hiatus. This ends up being his final appearance.
— Ugh, that Yale/jail groaner could be seen coming from a mile away.
— I’m very surprised Rosario Dawson didn’t do the obligatory “I’m just keeding!” thing at any point during this overall monologue. I thought her serious speech to Fericito about how far Latinos have come was setting up an “I’m just keeding!” from herself.
— Sorry to say, but absence has not made the heart grow fonder in regards to Fericito. I liked him in his first few appearances, back when Fred was a new cast member, but I think Fericito’s talk show sketches, which I never cared much for, permanently burned me out on the Fericito shtick. I now just roll my eyes whenever we get a zoom-in on Fred making that dumb “Ay dios mio!” face into the camera.
STARS: **


NORTH AMERICAN SAVINGS
conservative lending practices minimize risk at North American Savings

— An interesting different use of Darrell, especially at this late stage of his SNL tenure. And, boy, does it feel odd seeing him and Michaela in the same scene.
— The “REJECTED” montage is pretty funny.
— A noticeable use of a black female extra to play Kenan’s wife during the “REJECTED” montage, when all the other married couples in this montage are played by actual cast members. Yet another unintentional reminder this season of SNL’s lack of a black female cast member.
— A good laugh from the “safe and secure” place in the bank that Darrell places a customer’s money: in between a pile of old mattresses in a rusty storage room.
STARS: ***½


DA LEARNIN’ TRAIN
uneducative kids show appalls Harry Connick, Jr. (JAS)

— No idea what to think of the early portions of this sketch so far, but, knowing in hindsight how the rest of this sketch goes, I guess the early portions are just a long set-up for Jason’s Harry Connick Jr. to react to when he eventually enters.
— Fred’s attempt at an urban voice appears to be him doing a Cypress Hill impression. He also sounded like he was doing a Cypress Hill impression in the rap he did in that New Nightly News Theme Song sketch from the preceding season’s Brian Williams episode.
— Jason’s a very solid straight man as usual, and there are some laughs from him calling out all the wrong things about the show, but I’m still kinda iffy on this sketch as a whole. Not sure why it’s not working much for me.
STARS: **½


GUANTANAMO BAY GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE
torture devices available at Guantanamo Bay’s going-out-of-business sale

— Fun premise with the juxtaposition of Gitmo doing a going-out-of-business ad.
— Excellent lead performance from Jason as a typical over-excited going-out-of-business ad pitchman.
— Spot-on and funny graphics throughout this.
STARS: ****


ALADDIN ANNIVERSARY
marital woes mark ten-year anniversary of Aladdin (JAS) & Jasmine (host)

— Jason playing someone going through marital troubles and having thoughts about a possible divorce is interesting when you’re aware that Jason, in real life, had recently gone through a rough divorce around this time, as I mentioned in my review of this season’s Hugh Laurie episode. Is doing this sketch some kind of strange therapy for Jason?
— Another nice display of Jason’s singing voice.
— Jason as Aladdin: “I wish I was DEAD! But guess what? I already used up all my wishes!”
— Jason, continuing the strong night he’s been having so far in this episode, gets yet another good line in this sketch: “(to Jasmine) If you hate Genie so much, how come one of our kids is blue?!?”
STARS: ***½


A COUPLE OF HOMIES
FRA & ANS hangout session gets a soundtrack by WLF

— I love the random Will Forte-sung musical narration every time Fred and Andy do some mundane friendly thing together.
— The particularly random and brief “Backscratch!” song was HILARIOUS.
— The even-more-random D.A.R.E. ending is a very funny twist ending. And, for what it’s worth, we get our first of two season 34 sightings of Will Forte’s bare ass.
STARS: ****


GILLY
unremorseful bad seed Gilly (KRW) brazenly assaults classmates & teachers

— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut! You know, I kinda hate that I’ve cornered myself into saying that excited-sounding catchphrase throughout this SNL project of mine, because I feel just plain stupid when I have to say it for the debut of a bad character who I and a number of others hate. And, boy, is Gilly a perfect example of a bad character who I and a number of others absolutely HAAAAATE.
— This is the first of two consecutive episodes that feature the debut of a Kristen Wiig character who I consider to be the absolute bane of Kristen’s repertoire of recurring characters (which is certainly saying something). And if you think I hate Gilly enough, wait’ll you see my reaction to the certain Wiig character who debuts in tomorrow’s episode.
— Will, Bobby, and (especially) Kenan are providing some much-needed mild laughs for me in this otherwise insufferable sketch.
— Even the running bit with Will’s “Gillllyyyyyyyyyy” utterances, which usually amuse me somewhat, is going on too long right now.
— Casey’s “The bum’s ass” bit gave me my biggest laugh of this sketch so far.
— As a whole, this sketch actually featured funny work from most of the supporting performers, but the actual Kristen portions of this sketch were too hard for me to stomach. And I have Lord-knows-how-many-more installments of this sketch to suffer through.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mykonos”


WEEKEND UPDATE
glad-handing Bernie Madoff (FRA) unabashedly plies more pyramid schemes

ever-nervous Judy Grimes loquaciously blurs veracity & mendacity

Larry The Goose (ANS) disputes Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s heroism

— Fred’s Bernie Madoff commentary is absolutely dying a horrible death. And, much like his ad-libbed smiliness/giggliness towards Seth throughout his awful Boy George commentary from a few Weekend Updates ago, Fred’s ad-libbed touchy-feeliness toward Seth throughout this Madoff commentary seems to be Fred’s attempt at masking the lousy writing. Not working, Fred.
— This ends up being the beginning of a two-consecutive-episode run of a terrible showcase for Fred’s Madoff impression. (Interesting how both Kristen AND Fred respectively have a two-consecutive-episode run of something very unfortunate within tonight’s episode and the next one. Have we already reached the point where some people consider Kristen and Fred to be SNL poison?) I recall the Madoff sketch he does in the next episode being particularly awful.
— Another funny run of amusing rapidly-spouted-off silly statements from Judy Grimes. As long as this character’s actual dialogue remains funny, I’ll be able to continue tolerating the repetitiveness of Judy Grimes’ shtick.
— The debut of Andy’s very-occasionally-appearing Larry The Goose.
— This is the type of dumb humor Andy’s good at selling. I particularly like the line comparing the Sullenberger incident to Top Gun because “a plane went down and Goose died”.
STARS: ***


LA POLICIA MEXICANA
cop drama script written by 4th grade Spanish class

— An okay concept of a Spanish-spoken drama written by a 4th grade Spanish class.
— Bill steals this sketch in his brief walk-on as “El Jefe”.
— Overall, not sure at all how to feel about this sketch as a whole, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t care for it.
STARS: **


THE VIEW
Salma Hayek (host) & Ricky Gervais (JAS) weigh in on topics

— Interesting seeing Michaela do a Barbara Walters impression. Out of fairness, I’m not going to compare it to SNL’s two most legendary Barbara Walters impressions (Gilda Radner and Cheri Oteri), but, comparing it to the less-famous one Rachel Dratch previously did and the also-not-very-famous one that future cast member Nasim Pedrad later does, I kinda prefer Rachel and Nasim’s versions. Something in the voice Michaela’s doing isn’t working for me.
— Not caring much for this sketch so far, especially the political rants from Kristen’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck. The fact that this sketch went from appearing right after the monologue in an earlier episode this season to now appearing in the late 12:40 timeslot is proof that even SNL themselves are aware that tonight’s View sketch isn’t up to much.
— Jason’s great night continues, as we now get the debut of his Ricky Gervais impression, and he’s easily the only big entertainment I’m getting from this sketch.
STARS: **


BAND SHOT

— Another instance of SNL returning from a commercial break just to show an all-too-rare shot of the SNL Band immediately playing the show back to another commercial break, which is always a sign that a planned sketch got scrapped at the very last minute.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Blue Ridge Mountains”


GOOD EXCUSE!
(WLF) & (KRW) concoct convoluted, implausible explanations

— A laugh from the horrible, convoluted excuse Will and Kristen give Kenan.
— Pretty funny how the audience of this talk show just consists of a few cats wandering around.
— I like the phone call from Jason (who’s, once again tonight, the best part of a sketch) as a disgruntled past guest, announcing to the hosts that he’s going to come over to the studio and kill them, an announcement that causes guest Rosario to immediately walk off the show.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A weak episode, and the first episode all season that I flat-out disliked. There were barely any big highs to be found, and, while the cold opening and Gilly were the only two things I’d call outright terrible (oh, and Fred Armisen’s Bernie Madoff bit, if we’re counting Weekend Update commentaries), there was A LOT of meh stuff in this episode. All of these things add up to a blah episode. The fact that I had so little to say about most of tonight’s sketches in my individual reviews of them is more evidence of what a blah episode this was. IIRC, this episode ends up being the beginning of a mid-season slump that lasts for four consecutive episodes (though thinking back on the Bradley Cooper episode that’s coming up two episodes from now, I actually can recall a lot of good stuff from it, and I’m now wondering if I and others underrated that episode back in the day).


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Guantanamo Bay Going Out Of Business Sale
A Couple Of Homies
Aladdin Anniversary
North American Savings
Good Excuse!
Weekend Update
Da Learnin’ Train
La Policia Mexicana
The View
Monologue
Gilly
Vice President Dick Cheney: The Final Interview


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Neil Patrick Harris)
a big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
SNL hosting legend Steve Martin makes his final hosting appearance (as of 2020)

Posted on

January 10, 2009 – Neil Patrick Harris / Taylor Swift (S34 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW
Rachel Maddow (ABE) interviews Roland Burris (KET) and Rod Blagojevich (JAS)

— After Abby spent her first four episodes doing practically nothing, getting no comedic roles or, hell, barely even any speaking roles, SNL returns from Christmas break with Abby suddenly front-and-center in the lead role of this cold opening. This was a huge shock to viewers like me back when this originally aired.
— Abby’s a strong impressionist in general, but her Rachel Maddow leaves a little to be desired. The voice is too high-pitched. I recall some people saying her Rachel Maddow sounds more like Abby attempting an impression of Drew Barrymore attempting an impression of Rachel Maddow. I will admit, though, that Abby is at least nailing Maddow’s demeanor and smirk.
— Kenan’s bit is very repetitive, but I’m getting some amusement from it.
— I’m getting very cheap laughs from Jason’s Rod Blagojevich referring to Abby’s Maddow by the names of famous lesbians (Billie Jean King, Ellen, K.D. Lang).
— Abby even gets to deliver her first LFNY, in what’s only her fifth episode as a featured player.
— I’m sure this is going to sound like an odd comparison, but Abby’s SNL trajectory in her first five episodes reminds me of that of Melanie Hutsell’s. Much like Abby joining SNL with Michaela in mid-November of this season, Melanie joined SNL with another woman (Beth Cahill) in mid-November of season 17. Melanie would then spend her first four episodes doing practically nothing, getting no comedic roles or, hell, barely even any speaking roles. Then Christmas break happened, and in SNL’s first episode back from that break, which was Melanie’s fifth episode, she suddenly has a BIG night with two big showcases: the very first Delta Delta Delta sketch and a Jan Brady commentary on Weekend Update. Just replace those two showcases with getting to star in the cold opening and saying LFNY, and everything I just said above about Melanie mirrors Abby’s early trajectory EXACTLY. The similarities between Abby and Melanie’s trajectories even continue a little past their respective first five episodes. After their first season, Abby and Melanie were the only ones out of the three newest white female featured players in their respective cast (Abby, Michaela, and Casey this season, Melanie, Beth Cahill, and Siobhan Fallon in season 17) to make it to the following season…and some SNL fans felt that Abby and Melanie were the least deserving out of their respective trio of new white female featured players to make it to the following season.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
Mark Wahlberg (ANS) & his entourage rib host about How I Met Your Mother

— Great line from Neil Patrick Harris about Doogie Howser being one of the first TV shows created on a dare.
— Very funny story from a bitter Neil about SNL choosing Fred Savage as a host over him in 1990. And, as an SNL nerd, I absolute LOVE Neil referencing specific things from Fred Savage’s episode and pointing out “flaws” like Savage playing a mini Church Lady in the cold opening.
— A hilarious self-deprecating little reference to Neil’s sexual orientation, with the “Why won’t you kiss me???” “Later!” exchange between his childhood girlfriend and him in the 1990 story we’re told.
— Bill’s always good at playing wiseguy New Jerseyites who go “Ohhhhh!”
— I absolutely love Neil’s snarky deconstructions of the audience members’ jokes about his mother.
— Great to see the return of Andy’s Mark Wahlberg.
STARS: ****


TODAY
Hoda Kotb (MIW) endures Kathie Lee Gifford’s (KRW) buffoonery

— The debut of a recurring spoof of the Kathie Lee Gifford & Hoda Kotb-hosted Today show.
— Michaela gets the, uh, “honors” of being the first of SEVERAL Hoda Kotb impersonators in these Today sketches.
— I never watched the real Kathie Lee/Hoda-hosted Today show, and thus, I never knew if that famous mugging face Kristen always makes as Kathie Lee when laughing (as seen in the second above screencap for this sketch) was a dig at how the real Kathie Lee laughs, or if it was just a characterization choice Kristen added to her impression. In my past viewings of these Today sketches, I never cared much for Kristen’s performances in them, whether they’re accurate to the real Kathie Lee or not. These sketches have always seemed very thinly-written and one-note to me.
— Though it’s a VERY thankless and generic role, I am kinda liking Michaela’s portrayal of Hoda and the way she’s playing off of Kristen’s Kathie Lee. Michaela’s bringing a certain something to this thankless, generic role that I’ve always felt is missing from the subsequent performers who play this role after Michaela’s firing.
— Not caring at all for the exercise sequence, despite a fun upbeat performance from Neil.
— Something about the execution of the bit with Michaela’s Hoda accidentally punching Kristen’s Kathie Lee in the face didn’t work for me.
STARS: *½


SAVE BROADWAY
Broadway characters meet at Sardi’s to form a musical theatre rescue plan

— I recall this being a very fun and memorable full-cast sketch.
— An excellent lead straight man performance from Jason.
— Michaela’s “Wow, that’s racist” response to Jason making fun of her green skin was very funny.
— I got a huge laugh from Jason making the incorrect assumption that Kenan’s from The Color Purple, IMMEDIATELY AFTER having claimed nobody in Broadway is racist.
— Funny comment from Abby (finally playing her first actual comedic role, given that even her Rachel Maddow earlier tonight was technically just a straight role with no comedic lines) about her puppet giving massages behind a store…with her mouth.
— I love how everybody in the cast, one-by-one, is getting their individual chance to shine in this sketch. Even musical guest Taylor Swift gets a chance, showing an early glimpse of what a good host she’ll make the following season.
— Fred being cast as one of the members of Blue Man Group is even funnier when you’re aware he used to be the drummer for that group in his pre-comedian days.
— I howled at Jason telling Blue Man Group, “You know, sometimes, you guys can be a bunch of blue dicks.”
— This sketch is such a blast.
— A funny ending with The Fiddler On The Roof committing suicide off-camera by jumping off the roof. I also like the little detail with him yelling “OY!” as he jumped off the roof.
STARS: *****


GROUP THERAPY
Penelope’s nimiety scatters a group therapy session; Liza Minnelli cameo

— I like Will’s on-edge, temperamental character.
— Standard Penelope stuff so far, but, as I said in some previous episode reviews, this character somehow always works for me, despite the one-note nature of her sketches.
— I like the twist with Penelope somehow even popping up in the stress video that’s played on the TV.
— A surprising cameo from a tomato-holding Liza Minnelli, as a callback to a line earlier in this sketch with Penelope claiming her best friends are a tomato and Liza Minnelli. Fun performance from Minnelli, and I especially like her delivery of the line “Tomato and I wanna hit the town.”
STARS: ***


THE DOOGIE HOWSER THEME
host & a band of Doogie Howser look-alikes perform his TV theme song

— A great nostalgic feel as soon as Neil starts playing the Doogie Howser theme song. It’s also very infectious hearing the audience applaud that.
— Ooh, I love how this is now involving the cast, one-by-one, each in a Doogie Howser wig & costume while playing an instrument, altogether making a Doogie Howser orchestra. This is yet another very fun full-cast piece tonight’s episode is giving us.
— The mock-melancholy close-up of Neil with a tear rolling down his cheek was the absolutely PERFECT ending.
— Overall, while this wasn’t laugh-out-loud funny, nor was it trying to be, I found this to be beautiful, fun, and VERY entertaining. One of my personal favorite Digital Shorts.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Story”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Charles Barkley (KET) shrugs off his recent drunk driving arrest

WLF sings about banes he loves as much as the Bowl Championship Series

— The official first Weekend Update of the solo Seth Meyers era.
— The Weekend Update opening title sequence has been altered to remove Amy Poehler’s individual close-ups and to seemingly airbrush her out of the shots she and Seth were both in (the latter of which makes some of those photos now look rather odd, as we now see a big unoccupied space next to Seth in those photos, such as in the first above screencap for this Weekend Update). Seth also now has a smaller Update desk.
— Something about Seth’s voice sounds slightly hoarse to me tonight.
— Kenan’s Charles Barkley impression seems to get less and less accurate each time it appears. The first time he played him (in that fantastic Iconoclasts sketch with Kristen’s Bjork), he did a spot-on imitation of Barkley’s distinctive marble-mouthed voice. By tonight’s episode, after having played Barkley a few times previously, Kenan’s impression has become just a VERY slight variation of Kenan’s own voice, with zero attempt at imitating Barkley’s marble-mouthed-ness. It still works for me, though, because I always find Kenan amusing in the Barkley role.
— Funny bit in Kenan-as-Barkley’s story, with him using the word “hamburger” as a substitution for the word “B.J.s”.
— Kenan’s Barkley: “My analogies are like a blimp trying to make out with a bicycle.”
— Another Will Forte Update song!
— I love Will’s sarcastic ode to hateable things he “loves”. I particularly like the self-censored “S my D!” threat from Will.
— Funny interlude in Will’s song, with him holding his utterance of “fffffff” when asking Seth is he’s allowed to say the f-word.
STARS: ***½


TWO FIRST NAMES
host & other celebrities treasure double appellations

Billy Bob Thornton (ANS) & Joe Pantoliano (WLF) like to wear Kangol

— Fun concept, and I love that “Say My Name”-based theme song.
— When learning Bill’s Daniel Day Lewis ISN’T named Daniel Dave Lewis, and thus, doesn’t have two first names, I love Neil telling him a tense, deadpan “Take your one…first…name AND GET THE HELL OFF THE SHOW.”
— Good Billy Bob Thornton impression from Andy.
— Interesting seeing an impression of Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Michaela is actually nailing it. It probably helps that Michaela previously worked with Julia in The New Adventures Of Old Christine.
— Darrell’s Tommy Lee Jones complaining about Harrison Ford having two last names makes me think it would’ve been fun to see SNL eventually try a “Two Last Names” variation of this sketch.
— Neil, during his sign-off at the end, after finding out the “Louis” in Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ name is part of her last name: “Julia No-Second-First-Name Dreyfus will be nowhere near here, because she’s a monster.”
STARS: ****½


FRAN & FREBA
long-fingernailed air traffic controllers (KRW) & (host) guide planes

— Right out of the gate, I’m getting the bad feeling that I’m in for a rough sketch.
— I like Neil’s delivery of his line about his character’s JanSport backpack.
— Even though this is the type of hacky and poorly-written man-in-drag role that I praised the then-recent John Malkovich-starring Judy Blume sketch for NOT being, Neil is at least pretty fun in his portrayal, a testament to what a great host he is.
— Two minutes into this sketch, and the bad feeling I got from the start of this sketch has not gone away. Aside from Neil’s performance, I’m not enjoying the material itself, nor anything else in this sketch.
STARS: *½


FROST/OTHER PEOPLE
David Frost (host) grills Richard Nixon (DAH) & other ’70s figures

— Pretty fun concept of David Frost interviewing wacky 70s celebrities.
— Bill’s David Bowie impression is cracking me up.
— Some of the still photos of Neil as David Frost are really funny.
— I like the running gag with Jason interrupting each interview while resembling the celebrity being interviewed.
— A particularly funny part with Neil’s Frost grilling Fred “Rerun” Berry about the Doobie Brothers episode of What’s Happening.
— Very fun and amusing seeing Jason do the trademark Rerun dance with Kenan.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Forever & Always”


BURGER KING
Whopper virgins (FRA), (MIW), (BOM) have extreme reactions to hamburgers

— Good concept for a spoof of Burger King’s Whopper Virgins campaign, even though I myself have never seen any of those actual Whopper Virgins commercials (I didn’t have cable for a while around this time in 2008/early 2009, and I basically only used my TV during that time to watch new SNL episodes on Saturdays).
— I got an oh-so-wrong laugh from the “She’s not a virgin” and “It was her uncle” disclosures about the state of Michaela’s sexual virginity.
— Bobby is an absolute riot in this sketch. I love his goofy, jovial, laughing character.
— Michaela’s odd attempts to eat the Whopper are cracking me up.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very fun and solid episode. There were some particularly strong highlights, including two full-cast pieces that happen to be among my all-time favorite SNL pieces (Save Broadway and The Doogie Howser Theme). Neil Patrick Harris was an excellent host, and it boggles the mind how this is, to this day in 2020, his ONLY hosting stint.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Save Broadway
The Doogie Howser Theme
Two First Names
Monologue
Frost/Other People
Burger King
Weekend Update
The Rachel Maddow Show
Group Therapy
Today
Fran & Freba


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Hugh Laurie)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Rosario Dawson

Posted on

December 13, 2008 – Hugh Laurie / Kanye West (S34 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BLAGOJEVICH HEARING
profane Rod Blagojevich (JAS) asks U.S. Senate for a personal bailout

— (*groan*) Boy, am I getting tired of the overuse of the C-SPAN framing device for this season’s cold openings and sketches. It smacks of laziness to me on Jim Downey’s part.
— Funny initial visual of Jason in that Rod Blagojevich wig, and I got a laugh from his bleeped-out intro statement.
— Funny line from Casey’s Elizabeth Dole about Blagojevich being a disgrace to any other state besides Illinois.
— Great to see Bill’s hilarious Robert Byrd impression back. By the way, this sadly ends up being Bill’s ONLY appearance all night.
— Some of the bleeps of Jason-as-Blagojevich’s expletives are timed a little awkwardly (and at one point, accidentally gives away the fact that Jason says “frick” in place of the actual f-word), which is guess is to be expected for a live sketch. Probably the reason why a bleep-filled Rahm Emanuel sketch that Andy does the following season is pre-taped in advance.
— I love Will’s incredulous delivery of “You want the…government to pay you extortion money……..in return for not burning down the U.S. Capitol Building????”
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host avoids music royalties with a medley of Christmas song snippets

— Among his many thanks at the beginning of this, Hugh Laurie thanks “Sweetcheeks”, as a nice little callback to his previous SNL monologue, in which he named the collective audience Sweetcheeks while lovingly addressing them. I wonder how many audience members in tonight’s episode got the reference.
— After how fantastic Hugh’s previous monologue was, I’m looking forward to this.
— Hugh calling 2008 a bad year and saying it had so many downers seems kinda trivial in hindsight, in comparison to our current year (2020, for anyone reading this in the future). Also, I was about to ask, what downers in 2008 are Hugh referring to, because I don’t recall ’08 being known as a bad year, until I just now remembered the financial crisis, which was huge. Are there any other big downers in 2008 Hugh was referring to?
— Very funny bit with Hugh giving a tiny chapstick to an audience member as a Christmas gift.
— An okay bit with Hugh singing a medley of Christmas classics that consists only of three-second snippets of each song, so SNL won’t have to pay royalties. Something seems kinda cliched about that gag, but Hugh’s making it work.
STARS: ****


BRONX BEAT WITH BETTY & JODI
British butcher’s (host) accent makes Betty & Jodi flirty

— Another Maya Rudolph cameo this season. A planned Bronx Beat sketch actually got scrapped from the last episode Maya cameoed in earlier this season, the Jon Hamm episode, due to a then-pregnant Amy going into labor and giving birth hours before the live show.
— This is the final Bronx Beat installment with either Amy or Maya still in the SNL cast, as tonight is Amy’s final episode as a cast member, which is presumably the reason SNL brought this sketch back tonight. (This sketch would continue to make occasional appearances after this, when either Amy or Maya are hosting SNL.) Speaking of which, this sketch also has the distinction of appearing in Maya and Amy’s respective final episode as a cast member.
— Good part with Amy and Maya eagerly making Hugh say British versions of American words.
— Amy’s character, in regards to her and Maya’s character: “I wish we had accents.”
— A particularly great and raunchy part with Amy and Maya asking Hugh what his favorite meat body part is. Amy and Maya’s characters seem even hornier than usual tonight, which is certainly saying something.
STARS: ****


DYSFUNCTIONAL CHRISTMAS DINNER
(JAS), (host), (CAW), (WLF), (KRW) are on hair triggers at holiday dinner

— Here’s a sketch I’ve always had very fond memories of, and has (rightfully) been played in many SNL Christmas compilation specials.
— The performers are doing such a great job conveying the tenseness of this dinner.
— The “Anyone need more wine?” “YES!” bit is very funny.
— I’m enjoying the running gag throughout this sketch with everybody yelling “Sit down, Judith!” whenever Kristen angrily gets up to leave. During one of those “Sit down, Judith!” sequences, I particularly love how Jason yells “CHAIR, BUTT, NOW!”
— Hugh’s sudden “DAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!!” outburst absolutely SLAYS me every time I watch this sketch.
— Funny sudden turn with Hugh’s random, tender singing of “Silent Night”, and how he’s eventually joined in by everyone else.
STARS: ****½


WEDDING TOAST
wedding reception emcee (JAS) can’t stem the flow of unwanted toasters

— This is the first edition of this series of wedding/funeral speech sketches, featuring the same cast of oddball characters.
— Great to see Jason so prominent in tonight’s episode so far, especially given how little he had been appearing the last few episodes prior to this. In fact, he didn’t appear in the preceding week’s John Malkovich-hosted episode AT ALL. Speaking of which, I remember it was pointed out by some online SNL fans back at this time in 2008 that Jason looks really sullen during the goodnights of the episode I’m currently reviewing. It would be revealed not too long after this episode’s original airing that Jason was going through a rough divorce at this time, which perhaps explains his unhappy demeanor in this episode’s goodnights. I also used to think it explained his aforementioned absence in the Malkovich episode, as I assumed maybe Jason asked Lorne for a week off so he can deal with the personal hardships he was going through in regards to his divorce, but when watching and reviewing that Malkovich episode yesterday, I was surprised to notice that not only could Jason be seen during that episode’s goodnights despite his mysterious absence from the show itself, he was also all smiles in those goodnights, looking like he was in an upbeat mood. For anyone who’s seen the James Franco-made behind-the-scenes documentary on that Malkovich episode, was Jason shown in it? Was he in any of the sketches that got cut from the live show? Thanks in advance.
— I love Hugh’s very dry voice in this sketch.
— I see that both Fred and Kristen are, separately, playing characters that have a look that’s very quintessential of typical Armisen and Wiig characters. That’s not a bad thing to me in this particular sketch’s case, as I’m enjoying Fred and Kristen’s characters here.
— Bobby steals this sketch with his very random “(*grabs mic*) WHAAAAAAAT?!? (*drops mic in a badass manner*)” bit.
— Jason’s a great frustrated straight man.
— Oh, we now get the debut of Will’s racist, anti-Obama character, Hamilton, probably my favorite aspect of this series of wedding/funeral speech sketches. He even eventually gets spun off into his own sketches in season 35.
— Once again, Will is excellent at pulling off ballsy, touchy humor.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Love Lockdown”


WEEKEND UPDATE
David Paterson (FRA) gives criteria for senator replacement candidates

incredulous SEM & AMP say “Really!?!” to Rod Blagojevich’s obstinance

wandering David Paterson (FRA) interrupts AMP’s emotional valedictory

— The final Weekend Update of the Amy Poehler era.
— The debut of Fred’s David Paterson impression. Judging from things I’ve read in the comments section of some of my recent reviews, I take it these David Paterson commentaries are not looked back on fondly by most SNL fans nowadays. I personally recall really liking the first few Paterson commentaries (before they got run into the ground, in typical Fred Armisen fashion) back when they originally aired, so we’ll see how these Paterson commentaries hold up for me after all these years.
— Lots of cheap blind jokes so far in tonight’s Paterson commentary, though I’m enjoying Fred’s performance.
— Seth, to Fred’s David Paterson: “Governor, what do you have against New Jersey?” Paterson: “Unfortunately, a southern border.” I feel like I should be ashamed for laughing so much at that.
— Fred’s Paterson got yet another laugh from me just now, by saying his crazy life is the plot of a Richard Pryor movie.
— There goes our obligatory instance of a blind Fred Armisen wandering around lost in front of the camera, blocking the person speaking to the camera. That routine is still making me chuckle, but I found it funnier when Fred previously did it as his blind stand-up comedian character, Pep Walters.
— Great to see a “Really?!?” segment in Amy’s final Update.
— Some strong lines from Amy in tonight’s “Really?!?”, especially the bit about how she uses circus tickets as a codename for weed when ordering it over the phone. I also like her delivery of “The first time I saw you, I thought you were walking away”, regarding Rod Blagojevich and his odd hair.
— Ah, now we get a special, tender goodbye message from Amy, acknowledging that this is her final episode. This is actually making my eyes start to tear up a bit, to be honest. The nature of this SNL project of mine, with me doing daily reviews in chronological order, gets me so attached to certain SNL cast members, much moreso than I had ever been before. I also feel like it was just yesterday when I reviewed Amy’s very first episode (Reese Witherspoon/Alicia Keys from season 27), which is part of why it now feels very emotional for me to see Amy’s goodbye message. Doing this SNL project is such an interesting ride for me.
— Right in the middle of Amy’s tender goodbye message, we get ANOTHER sudden interruption from Fred’s wandering Paterson again blocking the camera. I admit, that bit is actually working more for me here than it did earlier in this Update. I especially like how, while blocking the camera, Fred’s Paterson orders $50 worth of “circus tickets” over the phone, as a callback to something Amy said during the “Really?!?” segment in tonight’s Update.
— It’s interesting how, in each of the two episodes Amy appeared in after her maternity leave (the preceding week’s John Malkovich episode and tonight’s episode), she only appeared in one sketch and Weekend Update. You’d figure SNL would instead be utilizing Amy more than ever in her final two episodes as a cast member, as SNL often tends to do for veteran cast members when they’re about to leave. I feel like Amy’s small amount of appearances in her final two episodes was a conscious decision on her part, as this was probably her way of willingly phasing herself out of the show, and she also probably didn’t want to step on the toes of the two women who were added to the cast during her maternity leave (Abby and Michaela). If that’s true, then I appreciate that classy move of Amy’s. It could’ve been interesting, though, seeing her interact with the new girls in a sketch. I can’t imagine how surreal it would’ve felt seeing Amy and Michaela side-by-side in a sketch.
STARS: ***½


LAMPS
musical features luminaires that sing, dance, take hostages

— Hmm, not too sure about this premise.
— I like Andy’s exaggerated delivery of “THIS IS WHAT’S…HAPPENING…SHARON!” What was with the odd long pause afterwards, though, before the camera cut to an exterior shot of the store?
— After a scene transition, the camera accidentally catches Michaela tying a gag over her own mouth, when we’re supposed to believe the lamps were the ones who tied the gag over Michaela’s mouth.
— Meh, I’m not caring for this sketch. Not even the part with Will’s grandfather clock character suddenly getting shot did anything for me.
— Very lame twist ending, with this turning out to be a preview for a Broadway play.
STARS: *½


THE CAT’S CHRISTMAS LETTER
(KRW) dictates a holiday letter in the voice of the dead family cat

— Pretty funny when Kristen clarifies to Hugh that the pun word “purrrrrrr-sonal” has to be typed with seven ‘r’s.
— I like Hugh questioning why Kristen is writing a Christmas letter from a dead cat. I also like Kristen responding to Hugh’s unhappiness over that by telling him a stern, deadpan “Tough tacos.”
— Some good tension between Kristen and an uncooperative Hugh throughout this sketch.
— Blah, I didn’t like that corny “I’ll make wuv to you” ending. Second consecutive sketch tonight with a lousy ending.
STARS: ***


COOKIES
at a somber company meeting, (FRA) can’t stop snacking

— In each of the last two Christmas episodes prior to this, we got an absolutely epic, legendary, and viral music video Digital Short: Lazy Sunday in season 31’s Christmas episode, and Dick In A Box in season 32’s Christmas episode. (Season 33 didn’t have a Christmas episode, due to the writers’ strike.) So how does Lonely Island continue that tradition in tonight’s Christmas episode? By having the Digital Short be a very unassuming, forgettable, no-reason-to-be-pre-taped, throwaway, non-music video short starring Fred playing a mincing gay man, a tired archetype that Fred’s already played to death prior to this. Really, Lonely Island? Perhaps they should’ve saved their fantastic Jizz In My Pants short from the preceding episode for tonight’s episode instead. Jizz In My Pants would’ve continued the “every Christmas episode has an epic music video Digital Short” tradition nicely.
— I’m now two minutes into this short, and, man, I’m finding this insufferable. (*sigh*) You know, I gotta say, stuff like this short and that awful Boy George commentary Fred did on Weekend Update in the preceding episode make me kinda understand why some people feel THIS season is when Fred’s infamous decline started, a viewpoint I had always disagreed with in the past. (Now that I think about how the remainder of this season goes, Fred does have some more awful stuff coming up later this season, including some painfully unfunny Bernie Madoff pieces.) However, I personally still say his decline doesn’t hit FULL SWING until season 35 (one of several things I’m kinda dreading about that season as we get closer and closer to it in this SNL project of mine). As I said in a somewhat recent episode review, I now consider seasons 32-34 to be Fred’s very hit-and-miss “Something unfortunate is looming ahead” years. His decline as a cast member is so gradual that it’s kinda hard for me to pinpoint when exactly it started, but, yeah, I still feel by this point in season 34 that he still has enough good stuff that somewhat balances out his bad stuff. And, again, it’s not until season 35 when I feel that the really bad, annoying, anger-inducing stuff becomes Fred’s almost-entire output. So, in other words, if you already haven’t been liking Fred by this point in season 34, things sadly get EVEN WORSE in his subsequent seasons.
— Kenan makes his ONLY appearance of the entire night in a small walk-on at the end of this 10-to-1 pre-taped Digital Short, meaning he makes no live appearances tonight.
— I admit to getting a cheap laugh from the reveal that the cookies Fred has been stuffing into his mouth all throughout this short are actually laxatives.
— Funny bit at the very end where, right before the screen cuts to black, Jason, after giving it some thought, reaches for a cookie, despite having just learned that those cookies are laxatives.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Heartless”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An episode with a good first half, but a very forgettable second half. Overall, not one of SNL’s more memorable Christmas episodes, nor one of their more memorable season 34 episodes, but still not too bad an episode as a whole. This sure pales in comparison to Hugh Laurie’s first episode, though. I also wasn’t too crazy about some of the roles SNL utilized Hugh in tonight.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Dysfunctional Christmas Dinner
Monologue
Bronx Beat with Betty & Jodi
Wedding Toast
Weekend Update
The Cat’s Christmas Letter
Blagojevich Hearing
Cookies
Lamps


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Malkovich)
a big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 2009, with host Neil Patrick Harris

Posted on

December 6, 2008 – John Malkovich / T.I. (S34 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MESSAGE FROM THE SECRETARY OF STATE DESIGNATE
Hillary Clinton (AMP) puts a positive spin on becoming Secretary Of State

— Amy makes her return from maternity leave, and memorably begins this cold opening by saying, as Hillary Clinton, after turning her chair towards the camera, “You thought I was gone, didn’t you?!?” A very nice way to welcome Amy back into the show.
— I had gotten so used to SNL without Amy the last few episodes that it feels kinda odd seeing her again, especially knowing that two new women have joined the cast during her maternity leave. It does feel good and special seeing Amy back, though, especially knowing this is the homestretch of her SNL tenure.
— Solid performance from Amy in this.
— Darrell’s Bill Clinton, to us: “You voted for change…but you ain’t never gonna change this (*points to himself and Hillary*).”
— Amy’s Hillary, regarding herself and Bill: “Like the south, vampires, and Britney Spears, we will rise again.”
— There’s something charming and sweet I find about the little touch Amy throws in right after her and Darrell’s LFNY, where Amy ad-libs a kiss onto Darrell’s hand right before the camera cuts to the opening montage.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host spoils the mood while reading The Night Before Christmas to children

— Feels so good seeing John Malkovich hosting SNL again. Not only is he one of my favorite actors, but he’s one of my all-time favorite SNL hosts, and his season 19 episode has always been one of my personal favorite SNL episodes ever.
— Impressive how fast we see the SNL crew assembling the Christmas set on the home base stage.
— I love John’s little, sing-songy “Itchy, itchy” when removing his Santa hat. The studio audience has no idea how to react to that.
— Fantastic concept of John telling kids about Christmas in his usual dry, creepy manner.
— I absolutely love John’s asides to the kids throughout the story. I particularly love the non-sequitur “When I was a child, we used to suck on pennies…and it was a delight.”
— Overall, this monologue is a favorite of mine.
STARS: *****


GAS RIGHT
(FRA) silences farts by applying Breathe Right concept to butt

— There’s a “So dumb, it’s funny” charm to this concept, but I’m still kinda meh on it. SNL has gotten better mileage from fart humor at times before.
— Fred’s jovial delivery of his ending line, “They spread your buttcheeks apart!”, made me laugh.
STARS: **½


NEW GIRL
off-putting traits of mostly-sexy Shana (KRW) disenchant her co-workers

— This character of Kristen’s makes her debut.
— An interesting different type of voice from Kristen.
— Kristen’s pulling off her sexy character’s very unsexy actions really well.
— A good Kenan Reacts facial expression (the second-to-last above screencap for this sketch) in response to Kristen-as-Shana’s diarrhea story.
— John is well-cast in the offbeat role as the only person enamored with Shana’s unsexy actions.
— Even the bathroom humor is coming off fine here. Speaking of which, there apparently was originally going to be a fart in this sketch. I recall hearing from someone that one portion of the James Franco-made behind-the-scenes documentary on this episode (which I haven’t seen myself) shows writer Paula Pell intensely studying various fart sound effects when trying to figure out a fart sound effect to put into this Shana sketch. There ends up being no fart in the aired version of this sketch, which is for the best, especially given the fact that this sketch was preceded by a fart-based commercial.
STARS: ***½


COOL OBAMA
unretributive Barack Obama (FRA) keeps it cool regarding political rivals

— Fred’s Barack Obama voice sounds deeper and more accurate than usual tonight. Some online SNL fans have speculated that SNL may have used a vocal modifier in this pre-tape to make Fred’s voice sound deeper. If that’s true, it’s too bad SNL doesn’t use that vocal modifier in the subsequent live appearances that Fred’s Obama makes.
— An interesting piece, and a different use of Fred’s Obama.
— This is well-shot, and I like the 1960s-like graphics, especially during Fred-as-Obama’s jazz-like, sing-songy spiels about how he “keeps it cool”.
STARS: ***½


LA RIVISTA DELLA TELEVISIONE CON VINNY VEDECCI
Vinny Vedecci & son (BOM) interview host

— I really could’ve done without the return of a staple these Vinny Vedecci sketches always begin with, in which the interviewee has a very taken-aback reaction to Vedecci starting the interview by speaking to them in Italian, then the interviewee explains to Vedecci that they don’t speak Italian, leading to Vedecci arguing in Italian with Fred’s character (though I do like how John Malkovich gets involved in the arguing tonight). It is SO tiring and unnecessary how almost every Vinny Vedecci sketch begins that way. They actually refrained from doing that in the Shia LaBeouf installment of this sketch, so I don’t understand why they returned to it tonight.
— I absolute LOVE the vocal Malkovich impression that Bill’s Vedecci is now doing. Absolutely SPOT-ON.
— The “Being Vinny Vedecci” porno clip is hilarious.
— The debut of Bobby as Vinny Vedecci’s son.
— A big laugh from Vedecci stopping his son’s crying by inappropriately giving him a cigarette.
STARS: ****


VIRGANIA HORSEN’S PONY EXPRESS
Virgania Horsen’s Pony Express is an equine-based custom delivery service

— Odd how this second Virgania Horsen ad opens with the “An SNL Digital Short” title screen, when the first Virgania Horsen ad from the preceding season didn’t open with that.
— Like last time, I’m loving all of the Tim & Eric-esque low-budget awkwardness in this.
— “Stermp” (a variation of stamp) sounds like something another Kristen Wiig recurring character, Target Lady, would say.
— When Virgania Horsen is interacting with male characters played by herself, I’m getting laughs from the awkward flirtatious(?) looks Horsen gives into the camera as both herself and the male characters she’s playing.
STARS: ****


CALCULATOR
getting a calculator for Christmas fulfills twins’ (FRA) & (host) wishes

— I recall some online SNL fans pinpointing this as one of the earliest examples of the huge decline Fred takes in his later seasons. While this is definitely a dumb and questionable sketch, and I can understand why it’s disliked among some SNL fans, I’ve personally always had a soft spot for it. Part of the reason is because I love seeing John Malkovich do something as silly as this sketch, and I like this pairing of him and Fred as these offbeat characters.
— Turns out John is just as fun in this role as I had remembered.
— There’s a dumb likable charm I’m finding to this whole sketch. That’s the best defense of this sketch I can give to anybody who dislikes this sketch.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Whatever You Like”


WEEKEND UPDATE
wounded Plaxico Burress (KET) fails to heed his own gun ownership tips

Boy George (FRA) sees nothing wrong with his treatment of gay prostitutes

9-year-old (ANS) offers manipulative & cynical advice on talking to girls

— Similar to what I said in the cold opening, I had gotten so used to Weekend Update without Amy that it feels a little odd seeing her back at the desk.
— Pretty funny gun tips from Kenan as Plaxico Burress.
— I’m enjoying the voice and accent Fred’s using as Boy George.
— What’s with the smiling/giggling reactions Fred keeps giving Seth throughout this commentary? Even Seth looks taken aback by it.
— This Boy George commentary isn’t doing it for me. It’s pretty much a pointless, rambling mess. I think we’re seeing another early example of SNL giving Fred free rein to go on the air and waste airtime by doing whatever the hell stretched-out thing wants.
— Amy’s jokes seem a little better than usual tonight, but maybe it just seems that way to me because I perhaps subconsciously missed her presence during her hiatus (which, if so, is kinda odd, given the fact that I’m usually not crazy about her as an Update anchor). Between how refreshing I found Amy’s presence in the cold opening earlier tonight and now this, I guess this is a case of absence making the heart grow fonder. I also wonder if it’s because, in hindsight, I consider Amy to be the last pillar of stability before the female cast really falls apart as Wiig Mania hits full swing, with Kristen being utilized more than ever, a lot of particularly badly-written Wiig characters making their debut (e.g. the “Thomas!” lady), and Kristen’s female castmates infamously being sidelined on a frequent basis in favor of her.
— A lot of good laughs from the inappropriate advice Andy’s little boy character is giving about talking to girls. I particularly love the “cat on your fat” double entendre.
— I love how the audience initially has no idea how to react to Seth’s joke about White House staff members “putting their nuts on the Bush family’s toothbrushes”.
STARS: ***½


THE LOST WORKS OF JUDY BLUME
preteen Gertie (host) undergoes unnatural body changes in Judy Blume book

— Kenan’s singing of the “Lost Works of Judy Blume” theme song is making me laugh.
— I’m usually very iffy on men-in-drag humor in more recent SNL eras like this one, but the visual of John dressed like this in a “tender” Judy Blume spoof is very funny. His portrayal of this character is also helping to prevent it from being hacky like some men-in-drag sketches. And the fact that it’s John Malkovich playing this role gives it a great creepy, unsettling, disturbing tone.
— This is the closest to a noteworthy role Abby has gotten so far in her SNL tenure, and it’s still just a forgettable straight role that doesn’t let her show her comedic chops.
— A good laugh from John-as-Gertie’s description of her first period, which lasted months.
— I’m liking Michaela’s realistic off-put facial reactions to Gertie’s odd actions.
STARS: ****


JIZZ IN MY PANTS
(ANS) & (Jorma Taccone) are premature ejaculators

— A rarity to have two officially-billed Digital Shorts in the same episode. I really like the rare times that happens, though, as it gives the episodes an interesting feel.
— This has always been one of my personal favorite Digital Shorts. I haven’t watched this one in ages, so I’m VERY eager to revisit it right now.
— When this originally aired, I remember how surprising it was seeing Jorma Taccone in a co-starring role. Sure, he and Akiva Schaffer made appearances in bit roles in some previous Lonely Island shorts, but this is the first one to feature either Jorma or Akiva in such a front-and-center main role.
— I absolutely LOVE the melody to the non-chorus parts of this song. It sounds quite “West End Girls”-esque (a Pet Shop Boys song), though I don’t know if that’s intentional.
— Many memorably hilarious bits throughout this song, and I especially like how the jizz-in-pants reactions from Andy and Jorma are provoked by increasingly innocent things.
— A very random Justin Timberlake cameo (for the second episode this season) as a supermarket janitor.
— Very catchy chorus towards the end of the song.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Swizz Beatz [real] perform “Swing Ya Rag”


J’ACCUZZI
host reprises Dangerous Liaisons role in an onstage hot tub

— An absolutely hilarious random concept.
— Very funny visuals of dramatic Dangerous Liaisons scenes being portrayed so seriously in a hot tub.
— Spot-on casting of Michaela as Glenn Close’s character from Dangerous Liaisons, as Michaela does have a strong facial resemblance to Close.
— I love John’s dialogue in the interstitial pre-taped interview scenes with him.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very solid episode. There was a good quality for almost the entire night (even the segment I found to be the weakest, Gas Right, wasn’t too bad), and there were some strong, memorable, and inspired bits. The post-Weekend Update half was particularly great. John Malkovich is now 3-for-3 in hosting SNL episodes that I love. Speaking of John, he was, once again, a great host. It’s criminal that SNL never made him a frequent recurring host. He should be well into the Five Timers Club by now.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Monologue / Jizz In My Pants (tie)
J’accuzzi
La Rivista Della Televisione con Vinny Vedecci
Virgania Horsen’s Pony Express
The Lost Works Of Judy Blume
A Message from the Secretary of State Designate
New Girl
Calculator
Cool Obama
Weekend Update
Gas Right


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tim McGraw)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Hugh Laurie hosts the Christmas episode. It’s also Amy Poehler’s final episode as a cast member.

Posted on

November 22, 2008 – Tim McGraw / Ludacris and T-Pain (S34 E9)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

AUTOMAKER BAILOUT HEARINGS
auto execs (WLF), (DAH), (JAS) request billions at Congressional hearing

 

— Looks like we’re in for another overlong, mostly-full-cast, Jim Downey-written political sketch in this SNL era.
— So far, this has the usual dry Downey humor that used to work so well in his prime, but comes off as a bit of a slog in this era.
— Not only am I liking the voice Bill’s doing as Walter Jones, but I’m hearing a lot of Dan Aykroyd’s Jimmy Carter impression in Bill’s voice here, which makes this yet another Bill Hader/Dan Aykroyd comparison I’ve made in my reviews.
— The “No one watches C-SPAN” bit is pretty funny, especially Jason saying “You could run a snuff film on C-SPAN and no one would notice.”
— Kenan’s upbeat delivery of “I’m a union man!” made me laugh a lot, for some reason.
— Bobby’s already getting a good laugh from the audience just from his mere demeanor and facial expression. Impressive for someone so new on SNL.
— Despite an iffy start, I’ve been finding this cold opening to be decent enough.
— Blah at the “Ford needs to build gayer cars” request from Fred’s Barney Frank. Such a cheap, lazy joke about Barney Frank’s homosexuality.
— Surprisingly, this is Fred’s very first solo LFNY, despite this being his seventh season on the show.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host touts country & hip-hop commonalities, sings “Real Good Man” excerpt

— I like the mileage this monologue is getting out of the incongruous host/musical guest line-up of this episode.
— This monologue has turned into Tim McGraw performing a snippet of one of his songs (“Real Good Man”), though it’s not a full-fledged musical performance in which he goes over to the musical guest stage in SNL’s studio (ala Jon Bon Jovi, Hammer, etc.).
— Yet another season 34 monologue that only features the host. Nice to see this trend still going strong.
STARS: ***


CLEAR RITE
deluded aspiring inventor (KRW) is proud of her Clear Rite dental device

— This seems like the type of bit than Kristen can sell well.
— A laugh from the awkward ending of Fred’s scene.
— This sketch is overdoing the bit with Kristen’s character uncomfortably sucking on her upper teeth.
— When this sketch originally aired, I remember how jarring it felt to see Tim McGraw show up with his real hair, given the fact that he’s usually always seen wearing his trademark cowboy hat.
— This sketch has fizzled out for me after a while, though it’s bounced back a little when Tim came on.
STARS: **½


DATELINE
Keith Morrison (BIH) takes prurient interest in tragedies

— The debut of both Bill’s Keith Morrison impression and the Dateline sketches the impression appears in.
— Bill’s Morrison impression is a RIOT. Everything about his impression and performance is so damn funny, mainly his delighted vocalizations when hearing grisly murder details.
— I absolutely love how the format of this sketch kinda feels like a throwback (whether intentional or not) to the Bob Waltman Special sketches that Kevin Nealon used to do.
— A great laugh from Bill’s Morrison bluntly answering, with a smile, “I do” when Tim asks him “Do you get some sort of strange delight in all this?”
STARS: ****½


TURKEYS
in the woods, (FRA) & other turkeys run from hunters’ gun blasts

— This was originally cut after dress rehearsal from the season 32 episode that Ludacris hosted. Funny coincidence that they brought the sketch back tonight when Ludacris is the musical guest, despite him not being kept in tonight’s version of this sketch. They should’ve kept him in it, just because it’s funny to imagine him doing a sketch like this.
— A fairly fun concept to this.
— Wow, what the heck is going on with the greenscreen in the background? It seems to have malfunctioned halfway through this sketch, and also seems to have screwed up the brightness of the screen (as seen in the last above screencap for this sketch).
— This sketch isn’t living up to its potential, despite the fun vibe. This hasn’t been going anywhere interesting for me.
STARS: **


LIVE ANOTHER DEATH
bumpkin (host) crashes James Bond’s (BIH) Casino Royale poker game

— This sketch has a meh feel so far. The redneck stereotype jokes with Tim’s character feel tired, and the audience seemingly agrees with me, judging from their very tepid laughter.
— This meh sketch has suddenly gotten really funny with Tim’s whole reaction to Pussy Galore’s name. I especially like him pulling out his phone and recording her saying her name.
— Pretty funny bidet comment from Tim right before his exit.
— Nice beer-themed 007 graphic at the end.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guests perform “One More Drink”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Bill Clinton (DAH) will enjoy role as Husband Of The Secretary Of State

Arianna Huffington (MIW) analogizes the failures of George W. Bush

Zell Miller (WLF) supports Saxby Chambliss because he has a fancy name

— I guess to assure us Amy is still coming back after her maternity leave (I’ve pretty much completely forgotten she’s still in the cast by this point), Seth says during his sign-on, “Amy Poehler is still on assignment”, which the audience actually laughs at.
— Seems kinda soon to have Darrell’s Bill Clinton do another Update commentary, but I can’t complain much, and I guess SNL has to find ways to keep Darrell relevant this season, given how horribly he had been struggling for airtime lately.
— Standard “Clinton is a horndog” stuff during Darrell’s commentary as him, but I did get a pretty good laugh from his ending line, “The last thing I want to do…is screw Hillary.”
— Great to see Michaela Watkins with her own Update commentary in only her second episode, especially given how practically non-existent she and fellow newbie Abby Elliott (the latter of whom has yet to appear in tonight’s episode, by the way) were in the preceding episode. Also great that this Update commentary is utilizing the Arianna Huffington impression that Michaela already had in her repertoire (there’s a pre-SNL online sketch with Michaela’s Huffington that was circulated back when it was first announced that Michaela and Abby were added to the SNL cast). It does feel a little odd, though, seeing this in hindsight after having gotten used to future cast member Nasim Pedrad’s recurring Arianna Huffington commentaries on Update years later.
— Solid comment from Michaela’s Huffington at the end, making an analogy between the Iraq War and sex.
— Seth’s joke about Angelina Jolie’s breasts feels uncomfortable in hindsight, given what would later happen to Jolie.
— Will reprises his memorable Zell Miller impression for the first time in years! Interesting seeing it appear outside of the Hardball sketches.
— I laughed harder than I probably should’ve at the name Mortimer Fap when Will’s Miller is running down what he considers to be normal names.
— Will’s Miller is unfortunately not getting anywhere near as worked up or purple-faced as he usually gets, which is saying something, given how he’s still delivering his lines loudly and angrily in tonight’s commentary.
— I got a laugh from Will-as-Miller’s unintentionally offensive complaints about America being run by Browns and Blacks.
STARS: ***


BLIZZARD MAN
musical guests collaborate with Blizzard Man at a recording session

— The first Blizzard Man sketch in quite a long time.
— (*groan*) Despite the fact that Kenan is seemingly playing the exact same technician character he played in the first installment of this sketch, he acts like he’s never seen Blizzard Man before and didn’t expect his rapping to be so bad. Lazy writing.
— Speaking of lazy writing, this sketch is using the same basic joke as the previous Blizzard Man sketches, but it always works for me, so I can’t complain much.
— Why does this recording studio room have a doorbell?
— Very funny look of Tim’s character.
— I’m enjoying T-Pain’s straight man performance here.
— Ooh, I like this sudden turn with Blizzard Man imitating T-Pain with a tall hat and autotune.
— Something about the ending (before the newspaper headline) came off kinda awkward.
STARS: ***½


THANKSGIVING DINNER
Jeff Montgomery is an uninvited guest at a family Thanksgiving dinner

— Abby Elliott finally makes her first appearance of the night…and unfortunately, it’s a nothing role. Two episodes into her SNL tenure, and I’ve already been starting to forget she’s joined the cast.
— The Jeff Montgomery character makes his second and final on-air appearance (assuming the similar-looking, similarly-dressed, and similar-acting unnamed character Will previously played in the MySpace Seminar sketch from the season 31 Julia Louis-Dreyfus episode wasn’t the true debut of Jeff Montgomery). He has a Valentine’s Day-themed sketch that gets cut after dress rehearsal later this season, in which he’s teamed up with a similar character played by that night’s special guest, Dan Aykroyd.
— I love seeing this character, but they’ll never top his classic first appearance from earlier this season.
— I like how the family’s trying to figure out how the hell Jeff Montgomery is there at their Thanksgiving dinner when none of them invited him. I also like Montgomery trying to downplay the fact that he snuck into this dinner.
— The running bit in this sketch with each character at the table, one-by-one, in order of appearance, answering Montgomery’s questions with a one-word statement, feels awfully reminiscent of a running bit in that Fall Foliage sketch from the Josh Brolin episode earlier this season. It feels a tad unnecessary in this Jeff Montgomery sketch.
— Meh at this reveal from Montgomery: “I’m an escapee from a mental institution……f-f-for Thanksgiving!” Why did they change his original identity as a sex offender? Him being a mental institution escapee feels too tame and dull in comparison to that.
— A hilarious disturbing reveal of Montgomery having eaten the family’s dog. I also love how uncomfortably silent everything gets right after that.
STARS: ***½


DALE BRITCHES’ DOWN HOME PHONY PHONE CALLS
Dale Britches’ (host) phony phone calls are ultra-gentle pranks

— I’m not too crazy about this premise, but the performances are making it work decently enough.
— The premise of this sketch, with very tame “pranks” that lead to a friendly conversation between the prankster and prankee, would later be repeated in a Punk’d parody starring Jeff Bridges, when Bridges hosts in season 36.
— I absolutely love Bill’s psychotic “AH’M GONNA KEEEEELL YEEEWWW!” rant over the phone. Something about the goofiness of Bill’s performance also has a bit of an old-school SNL feel that I love. I can easily picture Dana Carvey giving this same goofy performance had this sketch appeared in the late 80s/early 90s. Interesting how Bill’s been reminding me of various earlier SNL eras tonight: his Dan-Aykroyd-as-Jimmy-Carter-esque voice in the cold opening, his Bob Waltman Special-esque Dateline sketch, and now this.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guests perform “Chopped N Skrewed”


UNO’S
sticky bar surface is the result of Mark Payne’s incompetent mixology

— Much like Jeff Montgomery, the Mark Payne character makes his second and final on-air appearance tonight. He has at least two appearances that get cut after dress rehearsal later this season: one in which host Rosario Dawson plays his girlfriend (which I remember surprising me when I first read the details of this cut sketch, because I assumed before then that Mark Payne was supposed to be openly gay), and another in which host Tracy Morgan plays, I think, Payne’s similar-acting former boss in a flashback (I would imagine Tracy’s performance as a Mark Payne-esque character basically comes off the same as his characterization of Brian Fellow.)
— I forgot to mention this in my review of the heavily-criticized-by-online-SNL-fans-back-in-2008 first installment of this sketch, but, among those many criticisms from online SNL fans towards the first installment, one criticism claimed that Bobby’s Mark Payne seemed like a ripoff of Nick Kroll’s Fabrice Fabrice character.
— Mark Payne’s first few comical lines in tonight’s installment are being met with DEAD SILENCE from the audience. Ouch.
— I like Payne’s line, “It’s newer than a baby’s thoughts!”
— The audience is getting a little more into this sketch as it progresses.
— I see Payne’s odd obsession over the stickiness of the bar surface has replaced his odd obsession with the pepper smell in the first installment of this sketch.
— Funny bit with Payne failing to catch the drinking glass he throws in the air, due to his lack of depth perception.
— Abby stuck in yet another nothing role tonight, not even saying a single word this time.
— Mark Payne somehow seems even more intentionally annoying in this second sketch of his (which is certainly saying something), but, much like his first appearance, I’m still enjoying him, annoyingness and all. Maybe it’s a good thing, though, that this ends up being his final on-air appearance. Bobby has much better stuff than this, though it’s a testament to his strength as a performer that he can make me like such an annoying character as this.
— I’m enjoying the interplay between Mark Payne and Kenan’s character.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very average and pretty forgettable episode. Not bad, but it sadly puts an end to the long consecutive streak of solid episodes that preceded this, starting with Anne Hathaway. Still, I can’t complain too much about tonight’s episode.


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

I now introduce what will be a regular feature in my post-show wrap-ups:
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Dateline
Thanksgiving Dinner
Blizzard Man
Weekend Update
Uno’s
Automaker Bailout Hearings
Dale Britches’ Down Home Phony Phone Calls
Monologue
Live Another Death
Clear Rite
Turkeys


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Paul Rudd)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
John Malkovich

Posted on

November 15, 2008 – Paul Rudd / Beyonce (S34 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT ELECT
blundering Joe Biden (JAS) promises to be as entertaining as Sarah Palin

— The fact that SNL’s first post-election cold opening is oddly about vice president elect Joe Biden, and not, you know, the ACTUAL president elect himself, Barack Obama, seems to be an admission from SNL that they’re far more confident in Jason’s Biden impression than they are in Fred’s Obama impression. And yet Lorne STILL keeps Fred in the Obama role for four damn years. Unbelievable.
— Jason’s Biden assuring us that he can be as entertaining and wacky as Sarah Palin kinda seems like a thinly-veiled way for SNL themselves to assure us viewers that SNL can continue to be entertaining after all the Palin stuff they got lots of acclaim and media attention from.
— Lots of pretty funny “wild” lines and hot takes from Jason’s Biden throughout this.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Added to the cast tonight are Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins, the former being the first second-generation cast member in SNL history, as she’s the daughter of season 20 cast member Chris Elliott.

— As yet another sign of how old he’s getting, Don Pardo bizarrely announces Michaela Watkins as “Michaelllliallia Watson”. I kid you not, folks. You gotta feel bad for Michaela. I’ve heard several different SNL cast members (including Casey Wilson) mention what an honor and a very important moment they consider it to hear Don Pardo call out their name during their first episode. So, to picture Michaela backstage eagerly awaiting to hear Don announce her name during this episode, only to hear Don spit out…THAT? Poor girl.


MONOLOGUE
host is disappointed he missed all the election-related excitement at SNL

— I like Paul Rudd saying that appearing on SNL right after their exciting election year has ended is the equivalent to being in Times Square on New Years Day.
— Ha, after I said the cold opening seemed like a thinly-veiled way for SNL themselves to assure us their show will be fine without the Palin stuff, now we get a monologue that features SNL openly assuring us that their show will be fine without the Palin stuff. I guess there really was a concern from SNL that they’d lose the publicity and ratings boost they got from the Palin stuff.
— Funny bit with Kristen’s impression of a mild Janet Napolitano being a very unfitting replacement for Tina Fey’s Palin impression.
STARS: ***½


SPROINGO
audible cue marks activation of Sproingo erectile dysfunction treatment

— I almost want to say Kristen and Jason are playing the same married couple they previously played in the Jar Glove commercial earlier this season, though that would mean this Sproingo commercial takes place before the Jar Glove commercial, since Jason’s character got killed in Jar Glove.
— Meh, not crazy about this commercial.
— Okay, I got a laugh just now from the drooping sound effect when the medication stops working.
STARS: **


AFFECTIONATE FAMILY
Austin Vogelcheck’s (host) over-affectionate family makes (ANS) uneasy

— OH, NO. The debut of a recurring sketch that I’ve always fucking DESPISED.
— When this originally aired, I remember thinking it came off as a very inferior kissing-themed variation of the famous Bird Family sketch from the season 25 Julianna Margulies episode. I don’t see those similarities as much anymore, probably because, due to how often this Affectionate Family sketch ended up recurring over the years, I now see it as its own entity. A very bad entity, but it’s own entity nonetheless.
— (*groan*) A minute-and-a-half into this, and I already can’t wait for this insufferable sketch to end.
— I remember being so disappointed to eventually learn that Bill writes or co-writes these sketches.
— Not a single laugh from me during this sketch.
STARS: *


SCARED STRAIGHT
Lorenzo McIntosh’s scare tactics fail to intimidate delinquent teens

— This sketch has officially become recurring.
— Like last time, I’m getting laughs from Kenan-as-Lorenzo-McIntosh’s movie plot references and crude prison rape lines.
— Kenan’s delivery of “You just transformed from a man to a BITCH!” had me howling.
— I love the little detail of McIntosh pronouncing Socrates as “so-crates”.
— Overall, while this was pretty much a carbon copy of the first installment, I still enjoyed this, though not quite as much as last time.
STARS: ***½


EVERYONE’S A CRITIC
host’s nude portrait of ANS horrifies viewers

— A good laugh from the sudden turn with Andy randomly asking Paul, in a dramatic manner, “…………Can I paint you?”
— The “huh huh huh-huh-huh-huh” music playing on the radio is hilarious.
— Lonely Island continues to make homoerotic humor work much better than the rest of SNL tends to.
— I like the fake-out with a shirt-wearing Andy initially being shown from the waist up during his portrait posing, making you think he’s fully clothed, only for the camera to cut to a wide shot and reveal that he’s completely bottomless.
— Holy fucking hell at the violent mass death sequence (complete with a “Don’t open your eyes, Marion!” Indiana Jones reference) when everybody at the auction is reacting negatively to the reveal of Paul’s painting. I absolutely LOVE this. This very detailed mass death sequence is so beautifully dark, disturbing, AND funny. Michael O’Donoghue would’ve been proud.
— This mass death sequence is also quite a unique way for Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins to make their very first SNL appearance. At least that’s better than this being the final appearance of newbies, as would later happen with most of the season 39 newbies (Noel Wells, Mike O’Brien, Brooks Wheelan, John Milhiser), who get the dishonor of making their final SNL appearance in a very similar mass death sequence in another Digital Short, When Will The Bass Drop, leading to online jokes that SNL killed those newbies off.
— Casey makes her ONLY appearance of tonight’s entire episode at the end of this pre-taped short, meaning she makes no live appearances tonight. I hate to say it, but, with two new women being added to the cast tonight, the writing is clearly on the wall for Casey in regards to her SNL future.
— Solid ending.
STARS: ****½


SONGWRITER SHOWCASE
open mic song by (host) & (KRW) details minutiae of a package delivery

— Funny story from Will’s character about his wife.
— In a genuine blooper, Will misreads the names of Kristen and Paul’s characters off the cue cards, and then, when correcting himself, ad-libs “I can’t read my own writing.” Does that mean Will wrote this sketch?
— Catchy melody to Kristen and Paul’s song.
— A funny little touch during the song, with Kristen leaning back in an absurdly far manner.
— The lyrics to the song just being a very long and overly detailed description of a package delivery is very funny.
— I like Will’s slow burn each time the camera cuts to his reaction throughout Kristen and Paul’s song.
— Yeah, I’m definitely getting the feeling Will wrote this sketch. Kristen and Paul’s song turning into an endless recitation of the very long tracking number of the package feels kinda like a variation of the long misspelling of the word “business” in Will’s legendary Spelling Bee sketch (though I don’t even know if Will himself wrote that sketch). This Songwriter Showcase sketch is nowhere near as memorable or epic as that Spelling Bee sketch, but I’m still enjoying it a lot.
STARS: ****


SONG MEMORIES
“Garden Party” evokes yucky anecdotes by (host) & other icky reminiscers

— Hopefully, this will be a return to form for this recurring sketch, after the disappointingly subpar installment of this sketch that last appeared when Ashton Kutcher hosted the preceding season.
— I love the big change of scenery for this sketch. Having tonight’s installment take place inside a car during a road trip is fun.
— The twist to Bill’s story, with his girlfriend being Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter, is hilarious, as is his addendum shortly afterwards: “I dumped her on November 5th” (the day after the 2008 presidential election).
— The audience is REALLY into this sketch.
— Great addendum from Will to his story: “Still failed; my friend does coke, too.”
— Funny little random bit with Jason casually offering mushrooms to his friends.
— The whole bit with Paul’s vibrating cellphone is cracking me up.
— Wow, a gory ending all of a sudden, with Bill’s character accidentally getting his brains blown out all over the back window of the car via gunshot, complete with realistic effects. The dark humor fan in me absolutely loves this. In fact, the dark humor fan in me has been getting quite a lot of kicks from this episode in general, between the mass death sequence in the Digital Short and the realistic-looking gunshot to the head Bill takes at the end of this sketch.
— Overall, one of the better installments of this recurring sketch, and definitely a bounce back after the weak Ashton Kutcher installment of this sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “If I Were A Boy”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Snagglepuss (BOM) & The Great Gazoo (WLF) lament gay marriage vote result

Justin Timberlake [real] recaps SNL episode he would’ve done next week

— I got an unintended chuckle from some audience members booing Seth’s joke about Laura Bush never taking her hand off of her pocketbook during her meeting with the First Lady elect, Michelle Obama.
— Ha, we’re getting the return of a routine from earlier this season in which Seth and/or Amy (just Seth in this particular case) constantly do the same joke multiple times in a row with a different punchline each time. I always love this routine, and I especially love the fake-out tonight in which, after initially doing the same Germany Robbery joke multiple times, Seth turns to the next camera to introduce the next guest commentary, only to suddenly cut himself off and turn back to the first camera to continue doing the same Germany Robbery joke.
— More booing from tonight’s audience, this time when Seth mentions the state of California passing Proposition 8 earlier that week, banning gay marriage. I love Seth’s ad-lib in reaction to that booing.
— Fun Snagglepuss impression from Bobby. I think I recall once hearing Bobby say that he did this Snagglepuss impression in his SNL audition.
— Kind of an odd choice of having Snagglepuss’ lover be The Great Gazoo from another Hanna-Barbera 1960s cartoon, The Flintstones (I personally would’ve chose some other 1960s Hanna-Barbera character), but it’s working enough, I guess.
— A surprise Justin Timberlake appearance, which gets tonight’s already-lively audience even more hyped up.
— Is Justin’s comment about having to cancel a hosting gig he was booked for the following week true? There wasn’t an official announcement in the press of this booking prior to tonight’s episode.
— Oh, I am absolutely LOVING this whole very meta bit with Justin acting out a rundown of how his episode the following week would’ve went. There are so many fun things here, such as Justin doing an imitation of various SNL characters and impressions that he says would’ve appeared that night (e.g. Vincent Price, Nicholas Fehn, Target Lady), him mentioning that night’s Digital Short would’ve been a lazy, Thanksgiving-themed carbon copy of “Dick In A Box” (of which Justin openly and rightfully admits “Bad idea, should NOT have done that”), him mentioning Kenan In A Dress would’ve been one of the Weekend Update commentators, his goodnights speech including him thanking Senator Chris Dodd for appearing (which I take it is a self-deprecating dig at how SNL has had so many cameos from presidential candidates during the 2008 presidential race). I even love the little details, such as Justin actually humming the then-current SNL theme music when imitating Don Pardo’s opening montage announcements, and Justin saying his monologue includes Andy and Bill as backup dancers “because they’re not in anything else”. I know how polarizing Justin is among hardcore online SNL fans, so your mileage definitely may vary on what I’m about to say, but, as an SNL nerd, I’m finding Justin’s whole meta SNL episode rundown to be a fucking BLAST. This is such a spot-on and fun spoof of not only the formula of a typical SNL episode from this era, but also the formula of a typical Justin Timberlake-hosted episode.
STARS: ***½


BEYONCE VIDEO SHOOT
male dancers (BOM), (ANS), (Justin Timberlake) muss musical guest’s video

— (*sigh*) Yet another episode this season in which Darrell makes his ONLY appearance of the night in a very brief, awkward, pointless, non-impression role. His whole bit in this sketch bombs HORRIBLY with the audience, by the way. It’s starting to get just plain sad seeing him still on the show this season. SNL has clearly been struggling to find ways to use him in this 14th season of his. No wonder he finally ends up leaving after this season.
— I think I recall hearing Bobby wrote or co-wrote this sketch. By the way, for a newbie, Bobby is impressively holding his own in this sketch among the far-more-popular-at-the-time Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake.
— A very thin and one-note sketch, but it’s pretty fun, mainly due to the performances from Andy, Bobby, and Justin. However, I was never as crazy about this sketch as a lot of people seem to be.
— Paul is making the best of a role that would’ve come off as a meh role under most hosts.
— Something about Beyonce’s acting isn’t working for me here.
— Funny reveal of Andy, Bobby, and Justin being Paul’s stepsons.
— I like Paul’s silly dancing at the end.
STARS: ***½


LEDGE JUMPER
(WLF) & (BIH) try talking suicidal (host) off a ledge by saying “don’t”

— As always, I can’t get enough of the great pairing of Will and Bill.
— The names of Will and Bill’s characters, Louis and Jamie, are based on Louis and Jamie Klein, two long-time SNL viewers who are well-known for attending SNL every single week. This is actually the second Will Forte-starring sketch to use Louis and Jamie Klein’s first names in a sketch; the first was the Pepper Grinder sketch (a personal favorite of mine, even if I’m apparently in the very small minority) in the season 30 episode that Will Ferrell hosted. Forte was very close with the real Louis and Jamie Klein during his SNL tenure, so the fact that their names were used in both the Pepper Grinder sketch and tonight’s Ledge Jumper sketch may mean that Forte himself wrote those sketches.
— I love Will’s line about Paul becoming a Jackson Pollack painting on the pavement if he jumps off the ledge.
— I got a big laugh from Will, after acting like he’s tenderly going to attempt talking Paul off the ledge, asking Paul a very blunt “Sir, what is your freakin’ problem?!?” through a bullhorn.
— So many laughs from Will’s constant “DON’T”s through the bullhorn.
— Paul: “If you say ‘don’t’ one more time, I’m gonna jump off this building!” Will: “DO NOT.”
— Hilarious how Will requests that Paul zip up his sweatshirt and put on his hood to help the cleanup crew with the “splashback” that will inevitably occur when he hits the pavement after jumping off the ledge.
— The ending of this sketch with Paul finally committing suicide, not to mention all the talk earlier in this sketch about the mess Paul’s body will leave on the pavement after jumping to his death, continues the dark, disturbing theme in tonight’s episode.
— The gag with Bill pulling out his car keys and shutting off the car alarm that goes off after Paul jumps to his death off-camera is the return of a gag that SNL seemed to like using in season 21 (it was used in both the Gary Macdonald sketch from that season’s John Goodman episode, and the Roofers sketch from that season’s Steve Forbes episode).
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”


PARKING LOT WORKERS
jokey (BIH) & (host) are in denial about their stake in same-sex marriage

— Great to see the usually-underused Bill Hader getting so many big roles tonight. Great voice he’s doing in this sketch, by the way.
— In addition to the dark, disturbing theme in tonight’s episode, we’ve also been getting a big focus on gay/homoerotic humor tonight. The latter theme is supposedly intentional. While I don’t know if this has ever been confirmed, rumor has it that the gay/homoerotic theme tonight was the SNL writing staff’s way of objecting to Proposition 8 being passed.
— The two new girls, Abby Elliott and Michaela Watkins, have only appeared in very tiny bit roles all night, roles that might as well have been given to extras. A disappointing way for them to debut. What’s up with this? Was SNL intentionally trying to break Abby and Michaela in very slowly, for whatever reason? Did Abby and Michaela have more noteworthy roles that were cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal? Were they not hired until AFTER this week’s sketches were already written, and thus, SNL could only squeeze them into very tiny bit roles?
— I’m enjoying the progression to this sketch, and it’s an interesting commentary on homophobia and gay marriage.
STARS: ***½


CLEARING THE AIR
(BIH), (host), (FRA) reiterate relationship tangles

— Hmm, “A Movie By Fred, Bill & Noah”. Noah, by the way, is movie director Noah Baumbach.
— Wow, Bill in yet ANOTHER big role tonight. Hell yeah!
— An interesting and very different-feeling short film for this SNL era. I’m enjoying it, even if it’s not laugh-out-loud funny.
— I remember some online SNL fans back at this time in 2008 wondered if the waitress in this short (the fourth above screencap for this short) was played by newbie Abby Elliott. That’s clearly not her. It’s just an unknown (to me, at least) extra playing that role, which gives this short film even more of an “outsider” feel, as if it wasn’t originally made for SNL (despite involving two then-current SNL cast members and tonight’s host), but ended up airing on SNL anyway, much like some of the “outsider” short films that aired on SNL in the 70s and 80s.
— Given the aforementioned gay/homoerotic theme in tonight’s episode, I remember how, back when this episode was originally airing, some people in an online live discussion thread for this episode made a prediction that this short was going to end with a twist that the Tracy who Fred, Bill, and Paul are all talking about dating is a man, since Tracy is a unisex name. That prediction would turn out to be wrong, as we end up never getting that twist ending. I haven’t been paying attention to if any gender pronouns were used by Fred, Bill, or Paul when referring to Tracy, though, but I think it’s safe to say we’re meant to assume Tracy is a woman. (If I’m wrong, I apologize.)
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Yet another in a long line of good episodes, though I don’t feel this episode is quite as strong as the last few. Still barely anything to complain about, though, besides a few lowlights right after the monologue. Even the big focus on gay/homoerotic humor was mostly handled a little better than I would’ve expected. I also felt Paul Rudd had a decent presence, and he worked well with the male cast, Bill Hader and Andy Samberg in particular.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ben Affleck)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Tim McGraw

Posted on

November 1, 2008 – Ben Affleck / David Cook (S34 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

QVC
John & Cindy McCain [real] sell merchandise on QVC with Sarah Palin (TIF)

— John McCain making a cameo just a few days before the election. This was presumably a last-ditch effort from him to garner up some desperate votes, as the writing was CLEARLY on the wall for him by this late stage of the election.
— Feels a bit odd seeing Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin impression being paired with the real John McCain, but it’s always nice to see Tina’s Palin during these 2008 elections, and McCain is always a fun sport on SNL.
— A funny reveal from a sad McCain that, while Barack Obama purchased airtime on three major networks, he and Tina-as-Palin could only afford QVC.
— A lot of fun laughs from the ’08 election-related products McCain and Tina’s Palin are selling as part of an agreement with QVC.
— An absolutely classic part with Tina’s Palin “goin’ rogue” and secretly advertising “Palin in 2012” shirts to a side camera, then saying she’s not going anywhere after the election (“I’m certainly not goin’ back to Alaska”).
— At the time this originally aired, I assumed this would be the last time we’d ever see Tina’s iconic Palin impression. The impression would end up making a handful of appearances over the years after this election, mostly in Tina Fey-hosted episodes.
STARS: ****½


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Given the direction of this monologue, the punchline of Ben Affleck announcing his endorsement of John McCain’s presidential campaign is predictable, but still funny enough.
— An overall very short and simple monologue. I’m at least glad this is the FIFTH consecutive episode that has a host-only monologue (again ignoring Oliver Stone’s brief interruption of Josh Brolin’s monologue). This has got to be the longest streak of host-only monologues since all the way back in the 80s. (I’ve heard that SNL would later return to the trend of host-only monologues at some point in season 44, but I personally can’t say for sure, as I’ve been on a hiatus from watching new SNL episodes since a few months into season 44.)
STARS: ***


JAR GLOVE
Rerun from 9/13/08


THE VIEW
Elisabeth Hasselbeck (KRW) & Alec Baldwin (host) argue politics

— SNL’s very first View sketch since the original, Tina Fey-written run of View sketches in the late 90s. Tonight’s installment launches a new run of these sketches.
— I never cared for Fred’s Joy Behar in these View sketches.
— I have mixed feelings on Casey’s Jennifer Aniston impression. On one hand, I can definitely see what she’s going for in the voice, and her impression is giving me mild laughs. On the other hand, the voice is pretty far off, feels too much like a work in progress (Casey stated in an interview the summer prior to this season that she was working on an Aniston impression that she hoped would get on SNL), and, in hindsight, this impression pales badly in comparison to the absolutely spot-on Aniston impression that future cast member Vanessa Bayer would later memorably do.
— Kristen’s political rants as Elisabeth Hasslebeck are making me laugh in this first sketch. However, I recall this going on to become a rather annoying staple of this era’s View sketches, even if it’s accurate to the real Hasselbeck’s political rants.
— Feels interesting seeing an impression of SNL favorite Alec Baldwin. Ben’s impression is pretty spot-on AND funny.
— Ben’s Baldwin, to Kristen’s Hasselbeck: “I can’t figure out if I wanna kiss you…or throw you off a cliff.”
— This sketch is okay, but really pales in comparison to the well-loved run of View sketches from the late 90s. Tonight’s sketch lacks that spark that the late 90s View sketches had.
STARS: ***


COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN
Keith Olbermann’s (host) egoism flavors indignant hyperbole

— Ah, here’s a sketch I’ve always had very fond memories of.
— Right out of the gate, Ben’s Keith Olbermann impression is ALREADY slaying me. His voice and delivery are absolutely hilarious to me. I recall some unimpressed online SNL fans back at this time in 2008 criticizing Ben’s Olbermann impression (“Since when does Keith Olbermann speak in a half-British accent?”, I remember one of those SNL fans asking). While I admit Ben’s impression is certainly not spot-on in terms of nailing Olbermann’s voice, his performance as Olbermann is so damn fun and hilarious that I can EASILY overlook any inaccuracies in the impression, plus he’s at least nailing Olbermann’s general demeanor.
— Funny interview between Ben’s Olbermann and Kenan.
— Ben-as-Olbermann’s intentionally hammy, exaggerated, over-the-top delivery and camera-mugging during the “Worst Person In The World” segment is freakin’ priceless.
— A hilarious and particularly memorable “Special Comment” segment, with Ben’s Olbermann ranting INSANELY in a spitting-mad manner in regards to his building’s no-pets policy. I am practically on the fucking floor laughing at Ben’s execution of this segment.
— Funny touch throughout Ben-as-Olbermann’s no-pets policy rant with him constantly turning from one camera to another, eventually including a ridiculously-placed ceiling camera.
— Quite a long sketch (a sign of this being a Jim Downey-written piece, I take it?), especially for one that mainly consists of just the host speaking to the camera, but I have absolutely NO complaints.
— Overall, great to see this sketch still holds up. This sketch remains a personal favorite of mine. Ben absolutely KILLED IT in this mostly-solo sketch, and he was given lots of very funny material to back him up.
STARS: *****


TARGET
UPS driver (host) wants to get romantically involved with Target Lady

— (*groan*) Another Target Lady sketch.
— At least we get a very funny character from Ben. And the premise of him falling in love with Target Lady is a good and much-needed change of pace for this recurring sketch.
— I admit that, the more these Target Lady sketches appear, the funnier I’m gradually finding the running bit with Target Lady revealing the convoluted usage she intends to get out of the items that she leaves the cash register to get.
— Ben’s message over the P.A. is cracking me up.
— Bobby managed to make the most of his small appearance here (his ONLY appearance all night, by the way).
— Love the bit with Ben scanning Target Lady with the handheld scanner device and then saying “Just what I thought…PRICELESS!”
— Overall, by far the best (and first good) Target Lady sketch I’ve covered so far, thanks to Ben’s great character and performance.
STARS: ***


STATEN ISLAND ZOO
giraffe-themed follow-up to “Sloths!!” is equally zoologically inaccurate

— A somewhat questionable decision to do a follow-up to/variation of the epic Sloths installment of this sketch, which will be hard to top or even equal.
— I’m now a minute into this, and I gotta admit, despite my initial reservations, I’m actually loving the hell out of this Sloths follow-up/variation.
— Ha, we actually get a brief cameo from one of the sloths in the original Sloths sketch, yelling “GIRAFFES, MOTHERF(*bleep*)ER!” into the camera.
— Meh, Jason’s puzzled ending message after the Giraffes video, in which he just says a very taken-aback “I…I…”, pales badly in comparison to Kristen’s ending message from the Sloths version of this sketch.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Light On”


WEEKEND UPDATE
John McCain [real] presents his last-ditch campaign strategy options

Patrick & Gunther Kelly explicate voting machine issues with a song

Aunt Linda has negative reactions to new television season’s offerings

— I’m slowly getting used to seeing Seth anchor Update without Amy, but there’s still a bit of an odd feel.
— Among the cheers from the audience when McCain’s commentary is introduced, he receives some loud boos. Showing what a good sport he is, McCain doesn’t let it visibly bother him, and, in response to it, even laughs and mugs hammily in a good-natured manner (screencap below).

— Another fun Update commentary from McCain. I particularly like the part about him pulling “The Sad Grandpa” move.
— Odd coincidence that McCain’s booed-by-the-audience-early-on Update appearance is immediately followed by Seth doing a “Booed At Rally” joke about Sarah Palin.
— Wow, this is the first time we’ve seen Fred and Will’s Patrick & Gunther Kelly characters in years. This also ends up being their final appearance.
— Will’s insanely high-pitched singing in these Kelly Brothers commentaries never fails to get me.
— Although these Kelly Brothers commentaries have always used the same joke, it always works for me, especially when we’ve gotten a long break after their last appearance before this.
— I see SNL is still trying to figure out how to do Update without Seth having a co-anchor, as I’ve been noticing tonight has VERY few jokes in between the guest commentaries. Almost reminiscent of how the Dick Ebersol era’s later years (seasons 9 and 10) would sometimes have Updates (or Saturday Night Newses, rather) that have the anchorperson doing literally only ONE news joke in between each of the guest commentators.
— Speaking of recurring characters we haven’t seen in a while, we now get the return of Aunt Linda. Unfortunately, this is a character I’m NOT happy to see back, nor does this end up being her final appearance. This character only worked for me the first time she appeared.
STARS: ***


NIGHT SCHOOL MUSICAL: SENIOR YEAR EQUIVALENT
middle-aged students sing about adult concerns

— An okay concept for a High School Musical parody.
— During her lyrics in the song right now, I like Casey’s whole bit about what she’s going to smoke.
— Another episode this season in which Darrell makes his ONLY appearance in an awkward, small, non-impression, walk-on role that feels like SNL just threw him into out of desperation, just to give him something to do. As I said in a recent episode review, I’m starting to forget Darrell’s even still in the cast this season.
— Casey’s been standing out in this sketch. It’s nice to see her getting a lot of focus here.
— Funny look of Ben’s character.
— Ben seems to not know most of the lyrics to the song that he and the other performers are singing in unison, as he can be seen only moving his mouth to a few of the words.
STARS: ***


GRADY WILSON’S PUT THE FIRE BACK IN YOUR MARRIAGE TECHNIQUES
Grady Wilson’s (KET) sex DVD

— The debut of Kenan’s Grady Wilson sketches.
— I wonder why they gave Kenan’s character the same name of a character from the 70s sitcom Sanford & Son.
— The mere bluntness of Kenan’s sex demonstration scenes is hilarious, as are the sex moves he demonstrates.
— Very fun sketch, and Kenan is selling the hell out of it.
STARS: ****


MOVIE PITCH
(host)’s queer brother Stefon (BIH) puts homoerotic spin on a movie pitch

— Ladies and gentlemen, we have a major recurring character debut! And, boy, does this particular character eventually gain larger-than-life popularity. One of the biggest recurring characters in the history of SNL.
— It’s frustrating that Bill’s ONLY appearance all night is in a sketch airing so damn late in the show, but, knowing in hindsight that this sketch is basically a huge turning point for Bill, especially in terms of airtime, this will hopefully be the last time I will ever have to complain about how much SNL consistently underutilizes this brilliant performer.
— Being so used to seeing Stefon as a Weekend Update-only character in his subsequent appearances, it certainly feels interesting in hindsight seeing him make his debut not only in a sketch, but an unassuming, late-in-the-show sketch at that.
— Right out of the gate, Stefon is a hilarious character. And I’m loving the contrast his bizarre, raunchy, homoerotic movie pitch has to Ben’s family-friendly, cliched movie pitch. I’m sure people say Stefon works better as a Weekend Update character, and that’s most likely true, but we’ll see how I’ll feel about that when I reach this character’s stint as an Update correspondent.
— Feels a bit odd in retrospect not seeing the Stefon trademark of Bill breaking in reaction to some of the lines he’s reading cold off the cue cards. Obviously, this was before writer John Mulaney started the tradition of making last-minute changes to some of Stefon’s lines to surprise Bill on the air.
— I love Jason describing Stefon’s movie pitch as “some kind of half-remembered gay nightmare”.
— A funny ending fake freeze-frame on Stefon.
— A surprisingly fairly short sketch, further adding to my point of how unassuming this Stefon debut comes off. Nobody, not even Bill or Mulaney themselves, would’ve ever guessed back at this time in 2008 the heights this character’s popularity would eventually reach. In fact, we don’t even see Stefon make his second appearance until a year-and-a-half later, at a time when his original sketch from tonight’s episode was almost completely forgotten by most SNL fans.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Declaration”


BIERHOFF BROS. HOUSE OF GERMAN COATS
Bierhoff Brothers’ (FRA) & (host) coat for German tourists is overdone

— Ben gives yet another fun performance tonight, as I love the German accent he’s using here.
— I’m getting a bit of a Hans & Franz vibe from Fred and Ben’s characters. In fact, this sketch is almost basically what a Hans & Franz sketch would be like if they advertised coats instead of hosted a bodybuilding show, and didn’t spout off catchphrases every 20 seconds.
— Ben seemed lost on what he was supposed to do while displaying the Sausage Pouch. I think SNL’s crew forgot to give him a sausage for this portion of this sketch. The crew has strangely been making mistakes like this these past few episodes. In the preceding episode, they forgot to give Fred a handheld microphone for the Barack Obama Variety Half Hour sketch.
— The red flag, removable sleeves, and tent features of the German coat are pretty funny.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— The streak of solid episodes continues. Much like in most of the last few episodes before this, there wasn’t a single sketch I didn’t like tonight, and there were a few standout strong segments, one of which is a personal favorite of mine (Countdown With Keith Olbermann). We also got some noteworthy recurring character debuts tonight, with Grady Wilson and (especially) Stefon. Ben Affleck, despite some sloppiness here and there, continues to be a fantastic recurring host, and had some really strong moments tonight. He even managed to make a Target Lady sketch work for once.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jon Hamm)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Paul Rudd makes his hosting debut, in an episode that would be dubbed SNL’s “gayest episode ever” at the time, due to an unusually big focus on gay/homoerotic humor. (I’ll explain why that episode focuses so much on that type of humor when I review the episode.) We also get two new female additions to the cast.