Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
CALL DRAMATIZATION
panicky president Barack Obama (FRA) calls Hillary Clinton (AMP) at 3am
— Interesting format for a cold opening, with most of this being a pre-taped attack ad consisting only of still photos and voice-overs. I like this change of pace for a cold opening.
— Some pretty good laughs from Fred-as-Barack-Obama’s angry, bleep-filled rant.
— I love Fred’s Obama asking “The wwwwwhat treaty?!?” in response to Poehler’s Hillary Clinton mentioning the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
— Fred’s Obama voice still isn’t good, but at least it’s better than that ridiculous, Hanna-Barbera cartoon-esque voice he used in the preceding episode.
— The advice Poehler’s Hillary is giving Fred’s Obama on increasingly minor things is pretty funny.
— The live, post-ad message from Poehler’s Hillary feels kinda unnecessary and a little overlong, despite a few laughs.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
host & KRW sing “What Is This Feeling?” to voice their sisterly loathing
— I see SNL is addressing the Amy Adams/Kristen Wiig facial resemblance that I remember people used to point out in Kristen’s first few seasons on SNL.
— Oh, no. This turns into a musical monologue, just when I was kinda liking where this monologue was going.
— Not caring at all for this musical number.
— At least the slapping/punching bit during the mid-song interlude is pretty funny.
STARS: **
MIRROR IMAGE
identical twin teens’ (host) & (KRW) identity ruse unravels
— Right out of the gate after the monologue, we already get a sketch pairing Adams and Kristen as twins.
— Pretty funny premise of the bad attempt to pass Kristen off as Adams’ twin.
— I’m so tired of the constant winking gag throughout this.
— Something about Kristen’s pratfall through a breakaway table came off hacky here.
— The goofy, juvenile atmosphere of this sketch isn’t quite working for me, and is yet another season 33 sketch that, in hindsight, feels to me like an unfortunate harbinger of the type of bad sketches Kristen would frequently star in in seasons 34-37.
STARS: **
COUPLES THERAPY
(WLF) is blind to contractual nature of citizenship-seeking (AMP)’s love
— The setting of this brings back memories of that Poison Therapy sketch from the preceding season’s Drew Barrymore episode.
— Good character for Poehler, and her performance and delivery are cracking me up throughout this.
— Good reveal of how Poehler’s illegal immigrant character met Will.
STARS: ***½
HERO SONG
Batman-wannabe (ANS) is repeatedly punched by mugger (JAS)
— Even though it’s non-comedic, I absolutely LOVE the song Andy’s singing, and it’s being accompanied by some great nighttime scenery of high-rise buildings.
— A huge laugh from Andy’s song suddenly getting cut off by Jason punching him ENDLESSLY.
— There’s a “Sideshow Bob rake sequence” quality to the endless punching, in that it starts out funny, then stops being funny due to going on so long, then goes BACK to being funny because of how long it’s going on.
— A funny gruesome part with Andy spitting out blood after one of the punches.
— Why did they have a car block the visual of Andy getting a mailbox dumped onto him?
— I like the silent, abrupt ending to this.
STARS: ****
FIERCE: THE HOT MESS MAKE-OVER SHOW
catchphrases rule Bravo reality show
— When this sketch originally aired, it went completely over my head, as I had no familiarity (and still don’t, to this day) with Project Runway, nor the guy from it who Poehler is playing. In fact, I didn’t even know back when this sketch originally aired that Poehler was playing a guy. I assumed Poehler was playing a woman, until I read online discussions of this episode shortly after the episode’s original airing (and according to those discussions, Poehler’s portrayal of this guy was spot-on). Seems kinda odd to have an effeminate man be played by a woman, but I guess it’s no different from any of the times SNL has had a man play a butch woman.
— Even watching this sketch now, it’s doing nothing for me. SNL has quite a number of TV/movie spoofs that work for all viewers, regardless of whether or not you’re familiar with the TV show or movie being spoofed. This particular sketch, on the other hand, feels to me like it falls under the “You have to be familiar with the specifics of what’s being parodied in order to ‘get’ it” category.
— I am at least liking Casey’s straight man performance.
STARS: *½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “A-Punk”
WEEKEND UPDATE
third-party candidate Tim Calhoun makes his case for the presidency
AMP sings theme song of Ghostbusters ripoff Brooklyn Ghost Investigations
European comic Jean K. Jean’s (KET) humor has a continental flavor
— Fuck yeah! Tim Calhoun!
— Tonight’s Tim Calhoun commentary seems to be relying on puns a little more than usual, but everything here is still working for me. My favorite is the bit about a cow college. I also love the running bit with Calhoun’s awkward smile towards the audience.
— What the holy hell was with that “Joke of the week!” confetti thing after Poehler’s smallest gun joke?
— Oh, god. This Ghostbusters theme song bit with Poehler is just plain annoying, and feels like a throwback to the typical bad, annoying, hacky stuff she and Tina Fey would do together during the Fey/Poehler era of Update. Between the aforementioned baffling “Joke of the week!” confetti thing and now this, what’s going on with Poehler in tonight’s Update? She’s relapsing badly in regards to her worst habits as an Update anchor that she had curbed (to an extent) ever since Seth became her Update co-anchor.
— The debut of Kenan’s Jean K. Jean character.
— The comedic conceit of this Jean K. Jean character actually isn’t bad at all, and Kenan’s performance is very fun and likable. He’s executing this really well. I know quite a number of people (even some Kenan Thompson defenders) can’t stand this character, but I gotta say, based on his debut tonight, I don’t get the hate. I’m reacting positively to him in this inaugural appearance of his. However, we’ll see how I’ll feel about him in his subsequent appearances.
STARS: **½
TRAFFIC SCHOOL
at traffic school, Penelope ultimately makes good on her boasts
— I recall it being pointed out by a lot of online SNL fans that there’s a distracting female background extra in this sketch who spends this sketch unprofessionally smiling really big both towards the camera and in reaction to things the main characters are saying. After all these years, I’ve never had a chance to go back and see these background antics for myself….until now.
— Oh, wow. Right out of the gate, I’m noticing the overly-smiley background extra (the second above screencap for this sketch). It was easier to spot her than I thought.
— I continue to be surprised by how tolerant I continue to be towards Kristen’s Penelope routine. Four sketches in, and this character is still getting decent laughs from me.
— After the first minute or so of this sketch, the aforementioned smiley background lady has actually gotten into character, keeping a serious face and making disapproving facial reactions to ridiculous things Kristen’s Penelope is saying. The way people online talked about this lady made it seem like she made distracting smiley faces all throughout this entire sketch, which is not true.
— A particularly hilarious line from Penelope claiming that’s her eye on the pyramid on the dollar bill. That’s probably my favorite one-liner of hers out of all of her sketches.
STARS: ***
DR. UNCLE JIMMY’S SMOKEHOUSE AND OUTPATIENT SURGICAL FACILITY
Dr. Uncle Jimmy (WLF) mixes smokehouse with outpatient surgical facility
— Oh, I recall this being a typical brilliant Will Forte piece, one that I had completely forgotten until now.
— Great character voice from Will.
— A very creative oddball premise of a BBQ restaurant/outpatient surgical facility hybrid.
— A good laugh from how Bill’s endorsement of this business is “Sure, you could find better barbecue or a safer surgical experience………”, and then he just stares at the camera, never completing his sentence with an expected “but…etc.”.
— Amusing how one of the critic “reviews” of this business is a police report stating “They’re performing surgery at a barbeque restaurant”.
— I love the “I hope those aren’t my ribs!” bit with Jason and Andy.
— Funny mix-up between the blood and barbecue IV bags.
STARS: ****
ROGER CLEMENS PRESENTS
Roger Clemens’ (JAS) play depicts the nightmare of steroids-free baseball
— This sketch was cut after the preceding episode’s dress rehearsal. Ellen Page played Amy Adams’ role in that version.
— Hilarious opening visual of Jason with those fake muscles.
— Darrell makes his only appearance of the night in this late-in-the-show sketch, playing a small, non-celebrity-impression role. Feels like a precursor to all the useless small non-celebrity-impression roles he’ll be given in the post-election half of the following season (his final season), after just about all of his celebrity impressions have outlived their usefulness.
— Jason’s rage-filled attitude and outbursts as Roger Clemens are priceless. He’s so perfect for this role.
— Poehler seems to be playing lots of male roles this season.
— Second consecutive sketch tonight containing a scene with Andy in a hospital room, this time with him playing the patient instead of the doctor.
— A great angry rant from Jason’s Clemens at the end of this sketch.
STARS: ***½
THE TOOKIE STYLES SHOW
25 years after its cable access run, Tookie Styles’ (KET) show is on DVD
— Holy hell. Talk about a sketch I had completely forgotten about until now. I fucking HATED this sketch back when this episode originally aired. Pretty much felt it was one of the worst sketches I had ever seen SNL air. Let’s see if it’s as bad as I remember it to be.
— I did at least get a laugh just now from the first instance of a Tookie Styles interview/dance sequence getting cut off by gunfire and the interviewee being rushed out of the scene.
— Bill’s character’s amused demeanor is charming.
— Aaaaaaaand there goes the endless repetition of the gunfire joke.
— We at least get a fake-out with Amy Adams’ character, with how the gunfire doesn’t happen during her initial appearance, but instead happens when she comes back to get her purse.
— Something about Kenan’s delivery of his discreet “Things have not been going so well for me lately” aside to the camera at the end of this sketch made that line much funnier than it had any right to be.
— Overall, still not a good sketch, but certainly not as horrible as I originally deemed it to be back in 2008. There was a weird goofy charm that made the poor script a little more tolerable.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “M79”
CELEBRATIONS
(AMP), (host), (CAW), (KRW) repurpose their old dance routine in a bar
— Casey gets her first real lead role.
— Bill has been all over tonight’s episode, as opposed to the measly one late-in-the-show appearance he made in the preceding episode.
— Very funny first dance from the ladies.
— Even more laughs from the ladies doing a very fast-paced version of the same dance to the fast-tempo second song that’s playing.
— Even though it’s predictable, it’s still funny seeing the ladies now doing a slow-paced version of the same dance to the slow-tempo third song that’s playing.
— I like the ladies unsuccessfully attempting to do their dance to Jason’s cellphone ringtone.
— Funny bit at the end with Bill already having the ladies’ purses ready for them.
— Great sketch overall, and a strong first big showcase for Casey.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A decent episode, despite some flops. The second half of the episode was definitely stronger than the first half.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ellen Page)
a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
For the first time since all the way back in season 1, SNL dares to attempt a fourth consecutive live episode without having taken any weeks off in between. Future five-timer Jonah Hill makes his hosting debut.