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.
I always had a soft spot for this episode, although clearly it was mostly for the Ribs and Surgery sketch (an especially wild one from Forte) and the Dancing Ladies sketch, which probably holds up as my favorite of the season. It’s basically flawless. Broad appeal without an ounce of fat. Fabulous piece.
I remember finding the Tookie Styles sketch perplexing, but it had a certain charm to it. Kind of a fun curio.
For me, Jean K. Jean was the first moment that a Kenan performance totally worked for me. I never got too sick of it. I agree that Penelope has a similar quality. Never got too mad at it.
That Fierce sketch is truly unbearable though.
I think the real “Hate” behind Jean K. Jean is the same problems with most characters; One Joke ad nausium, little room for growth–yet somehow, they’re still enjoyable.
The camera-bombing extra in the Penelope sketch is NY comedian/storyteller Catie Lazarus who hosted a live show/podcast “Employee of the Month” (www.employeeofthemonthshow.com).
I recently got to know more of her from her regular guest spots on my favorite podcast “Never Not Funny with Jimmy Pardo” and am much more understanding of her incident as an SNL extra. (imagine Teri Garr on Letterman but much more self-humiliation and smiles) Also recently found out that Forte used to live in the same NY apartment building she currently resides during his SNL days which might/might not explain how she got the gig…
Adams as Ellen Pompeo in the Surgery/BBQ sketch tickles me sore (more so than the studio audience apparently…)
Hey, I’m a big NNF fan too, though I cherry pick based on guests. I’ll have to check out her appearences.
For some reason, I remember vividly a stretch in the back end of this episode–the surgery/smokehouse ad, Roger Clemens, and Tookie Styles. I don’t know why I couldn’t get Tookie Styles out of my head for months afterward! Even though it’s not, it has the weird vibe of a one joke 10 to 1 sketch that just sticks with you.
I think the “bad twin” sketch would be done better in an episode with…I think Chris Hemsworth?, where the jokes are just how unattractive Taran Killam’s character is.
I actually forget who is being parodied in the Project Runway sketch, but, yeah, that was pretty big in the pop culture world at the time. I was starting grad school around this time and I remember doing the “Fierce” impression to immediately make new friends. So at least among a certain demographic, it was huge and if I recall, yeah, Amy’s impression is dead-on (if pretty easy to do).
The shorts would go to the well of “epic song is interrupted/describing mundane crap/just stops” a bit too much, but this is one of the best.
I don’t know if the writers’ strike has any effect on this (leftover scripts?), but the trio of episodes after the strike (Fey, Page, Adams–wow, when did SNL have three female hosts in a row?) feature almost no “host wheelhouse” sketches, i.e. sketches that seem really written for that host (aside from I suppose the final sketch in the Page episode and the twin sketch here). This isn’t really bad or good, just interesting–it’s to be expected with Tina Fey and I don’t really know what an “Amy Adams style sketch” would be, but it’s an interesting stretch in eras where the host’s sensibilities would frequently dominate.
Jean K Jean is, I feel, a less funny version of the French guy (Pierre Escargot) that Kenan used to play on All That. I’m glad that he doesn’t do these bits anymore.
It baffles me as to how Jonah Hill has hosted five times. Is he sleeping with a producer or something?
I can think of at least three sketches from his first episode that I certainly loved (at the time, at least). Not quite sure what all the vitriol’s about.
I think I remember the two Kristen-Amy Adams facial resemblance sketches. I think I definitely remember Dr. Jimmy’s Smokehouse and Outpatient Surgical Facility at least while reading the review. And then there’s Penelope…
Didn’t realize the dance routine sketch had such a positive reputation. Don’t remember it being brought up much but haven’t seen this one in ages.
Again I remember these episodes beingbetter at the time than how they come off over a decade later. Lots of great stuff balanced off my a bunch of stinkers. Again has to be the writing in this era. Inconsistent.
Honestly, I thought I was the only keeper of the flame for Celebrations. Glad to see I’m not alone. It deserves a prominent reputation.
I feel like I pretty routinely underrate this episode but it has a lot of sketches that have stuck with me for whatever reason. “Celebrations” is such a great, vastly underrated piece of a certain genre that I wish SNL would do more of, just very grounded, almost slice-of-life character pieces (I probably think about it more than I should); the Will Forte piece is just fantastic insanity; the digital short is a gem and the perfect non-starter; and even “The Tookie Styles Show,” for some godforsaken reason, has been lodged into my head. What Michael said is right; I don’t even know if it’s good but it’s so weird and just dumb enough to work for me in spite of itself. Maybe it’s an early example of that Kenan magic which, alongside Jean K. Jean’s debut, this episode is a nice, early example of.
I feel like I pretty routinely underrate this episode but it has a lot of sketches that have stuck with me for whatever reason. “Celebrations” is such a great, vastly underrated piece of a certain genre that I wish SNL would do more of, just very grounded, almost slice-of-life character pieces (I probably think about it more than I should); the Will Forte piece is just fantastic insanity; the digital short is a gem and the perfect non-starter; and even “The Tookie Styles Show,” for some godforsaken reason, has been lodged into my head. What Michael said is right; I don’t even know if it’s good but it’s so weird and just dumb enough to work for me in spite of itself. Maybe it’s an early example of that Kenan magic which, alongside Jean K. Jean’s debut, this episode is a nice, early example of.
Also love me some Vampy Weeks, even if their first album is a bit samey. Their performance of “Cousins” on the S35 Zach Galifianakis episode is fire, though, and I’m sad they never came back to promote their fourth album because S44 doubled down HARD with shitty pop acts when it came out (the one-two-three punch of Shawn Mendes, Jonas Brothers in 2019?!?!, and DJ Khalid… but we all know that was literally just so they could have a wild afterparty).
Believe the 10-to-1 sketch was written by Casey, recall at the time she mentioned in an interview it was the first thing she wrote that made it to air. Casey and the soon to come Michaela Watkins both actually had a good chemistry with Kristen, it’s too bad, that could’ve been a good trio of women for a few seasons if the show did female ensemble pieces like this one more often in the era of Kristen as alpha woman of the cast.
Oh yeah and Abby Elliott too, who stuck around for 4 seasons yet I can’t really remember her having much success on the show outside maybe her Angelina Jolie impression? Recall her doing some solid impressions but they were so rarely the focus of sketches most times. Almost seems like her father Chris Elliott had a more memorable run on the show despite being there for a far shorter time.
Abby got the worst of both worlds as not only did she get minimal roles, but she also got the backlash whenever other female cast members were fired. I feel like, from what I’ve read anyway, and a few glimpses of later episodes, that she was starting to turn a corner somewhat thanks to impressions like Zooey Deschanel and Rachel Maddow, before she was let go. The relationship with Fred also makes me wonder, although I would hope that had nothing to do with her exit. Anyway, I would agree Chris had a better run on the show, although he would have no fond memories, I’m assuming. It’s too bad a father-daughter SNL dynasty didn’t work out happier for anyone involved.
And yes it really is sad seeing what Darrell is reduced too towards the end of his run. I guess he really pretty much sticking around because Lorne figured they’d need him for the upcoming election season. It’s not like Jason or Bill probably couldn’t do just as serviceable a John McCain impression, or even bring back Parnell in cameos who orignally did the impression.
I’ve always been biased towards this episode because I love Amy Adams and I really like Vampire Weekend.
Everything here works for me except for Fierce and Tookie Styles. Tookie Styles is that kind of dumbness where instead of being “so bad it’s good” it’s just “so bad that it’s bad.” Kenan’s always fun and likable so it didn’t annoy me or anything, though.
I love the format of Roger Clemens Presents. Lots of great performances from everyone. I especially like Amy’s delayed “…nooOOO!” when Andy dies. Jason is positively Ferrell-esque with his Roger Clemens too (“I AM MAD ALL THE TIME!”) And Celebrations is my favorite Casey Wilson sketch. It’s so funny and simple, and will sadly never be seen again due to the music cues.
I agree with Michael Cheyne about the leftover-ish quality of these post-strike shows. With only a few exceptions, large swaths of these first three episodes feel like they could’ve been given to any host. They don’t really have an angle on Amy other than “she looks kinda like Kristen.”
Another show that was better (albeit slightly) than I remember. “Dr. Uncle Jimmy’s” is demented in the best way, and after a wobbly first half, there’s nothing after Update that I outright disliked. I thought Army was turning a corner with his Obama impression, but maybe this is where it peaked or stagnated. I could say something similar about Casey Rose being prominent in tonight’s show. Vampire Weekend was a fun musical guest.
The cast looked kind of weary, but in the normal three-live-shows-in-a-row way. That this was a night that was heavier on performance than writing makes that somewhat impressive in hindsight. Good thing this cast was dependent on caffeine, as opposed to heavier narcotics in the first season.
Hello Stuart. Just Call Him Fred Who Does Obama ! Her Name Is Casey Wilson !
I realize Amy Adams has been very busy elsewhere, but I’m sorry she never has hosted more than twice. She’s great here, absolutely radiating confidence and incredible likeability. It’s hard to take your eyes off her when she’s in sketches. For a debut episode this is especially impressive. As she seems to host at 6 year intervals maybe it’s her turn again…
I can only echo all the praise others have given to the Celebrations sketch. It is such a breath of fresh air for this period of SNL (or any period since), and it’s so good to get a distinct voice involved in making a sketch. I’m sorry it didn’t lead to more. The synchronized dance is also a good way to try to foster some chemistry among the female cast and host. My only small complaint is I just don’t buy that all of the men would be so put off by them.
I mostly enjoy Jean K Jean (at least before overuse), but I think part of the negative reaction is down to putting two of the exact same Kenan pieces in the same episode – the Tookie sketch also suffers, as it’s alright but something viewers had just seen.
The barbecue sauce and steroid sketches are both very good – if I had to pick I’d say the latter feels much tighter and not quite as warmed-over, and also uses the host better (the idea of having Amy play Ellen Pompeo tricked into shilling for the barbecue service is clever but plays out weirdly onscreen). The best part of the former is, surprisingly, the newspaper headlines, which are perfectly put together. The best part of the latter is, of course, Jason. Even if Will’s contributions in this episode (counting Tim Calhoun) are a bit “greatest hits” compared to some episodes, they’re still very worth the watch.
I thought the “joke of the week” patter from Amy was cute, but the Ghostbusters song did make me cringe. This was another Update where she seemed very frazzled to me – and it made me wonder, not for the first time, about what might have been if she hadn’t had such a heavy sketchload. I’m not sure any cast member since Charles Rocket has had such a heavy sketchload while doing Update – Kevin Nealon may come closest, and he also became increasingly frazzled by his last season as anchor.
Of Amy’s main sketches in this episode, the therapy piece is great, with a very strong central performance from her. The Bravo parody is absolute garbage – endlessly repeating catchphrases is not funny. It’s just terribly done, unless hearing the t-word used 500 times is the height of wit.
The cold open mostly comes off to me as SNL trying to address those who felt they were too one-sided in their views on Clinton and Obama. The change in format is very interesting (the use of the photographs and recordings) – the dialogue not so much.
I don’t really see the big resemblance between Kristen and Amy, but I do think they work well together. My complaint about their sketches together in this episode is my usual complaint about these Kristen pieces – the host is basically just there to react to Kristen’s one-liners and faces, even if they can contribute more. There are some good bits (moreso in the Penelope – the twin sketch gets too dumbed down), but not enough to make up for the same frustrations. I agree with Michael Cheyne that the Taran version of this is better executed.
The digital short is well-made, but leaves me cold. I think it’s one of those cases where it’s almost TOO well-made for me, odd as that sounds – I think the subject matter would have benefited from a cheaper look.
Promos (there’s also a dress rehearsal promo that has nothing new in it, sadly):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMnMvMT3IhI
RIP Catie Lazarus
(**that one extra in the Penelope sketch)
(*** eff cancer!)
(please delete my first post on Catie with the misspelling, and this comment. Thank you!)
What a dead audience, picking up on the lame material tonight. The Adams/With winking gag got quiet, forced chuckles and no more