Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
POUNDER SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT
at commencement exercises, (host) reads graduates’ naughty-sounding names
— Already an interesting sight right out of the gate in this cold opening, not only with the host being front-and-center, but the entire cast (minus the Update-only Seth) being present as well. The latter feels appropriate and fitting for the season finale cold opening.
— Meh not only at the premise with each student having a dirty-sounding name (the type of gag SNL has done to better effect before), but also at the fact that the dirty-sounding names are just tired, old cliches everyone’s heard before. I guess the fact that these cliched dirty names are given normal, non-dirty middle names here is supposed to make it funnier, but meh. Even more disappointing, this cold opening was surprisingly guest-written by the great Jack Handey. You’d sure never guess so from the content in this, as it’s completely different from and nowhere near as creative as Handey’s trademark humor.
— The subversion with Dick Hertz turning out to be a prank name instead of the name of an actual student is at least kinda funny.
— A long-haired(!) Colin Jost has a very quick non-speaking walk-on as one of the students receiving a diploma (the third-to-last above screencap for this cold opening).
— The whole “Nail ‘er” runner, with the sequence of names actually reading out an entire, dirty conversation, is actually fairly clever.
— Boy, all the tired dirty names in this cold opening being said in such rapid succession is almost starting to give me a headache.
— Nice little touch with how, after the camera zooms in on Steve Carell delivering his LFNY, the camera cuts back to a wide shot so we can see the cast throwing their graduation caps into the air.
STARS: **
OPENING MONTAGE
— The theme music has a bit of a different sound tonight. Speaking of which, tonight’s theme music would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version, which has the traditional sound of this season’s theme music.
MONOLOGUE
after host succumbs to a panic attack, his wife NAW calms him down
— Pretty funny reveal from Steve that he drank six Red Bulls and ate a whole bunch of Sour Patch Kids before the show to keep his energy up.
— The conceit of Steve doing hyper, out-of-it actions are the type of thing he’s always good at executing.
— This is the second monologue in these past three episodes to have a gag in which the host is surprised to find himself locked out of either 1) one of the backstage rooms, or 2) the entire backstage.
— Fun audience interaction bit with Steve sitting in the audience.
— Nancy Walls! Given her short-lived and forgotten-by-many-people SNL tenure, it feels surprising that she’s making a cameo, but also feels refreshing to see her on SNL again after I got used to reviewing her when I covered season 21.
STARS: ***½
THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE
Barack Obama (FRA) & Hillary Clinton (AMP) split parallels NBA playoffs
— Interesting format to this, which I remember finding out was a spoof of a then-current NBA playoffs ad that I’ve never seen to this day, but can still enjoy the format of this spoof.
— Some decently funny lines from Amy’s Hillary Clinton the occasional times she and Fred’s Barack Obama aren’t reciting the same thing in unison.
— Kinda funny how almost-creepy Amy and Fred’s faces (especially the mouths) look when the opposite halves of them are melded together like this.
STARS: ***
DEAL OR NO DEAL
picky dad (WLF) & coy model (KRW) vex contestant (host)
— Good to see Fred’s Howie Mandel impression in another Deal Or No Deal parody, after how much he (and Antonio Banderas) consistently cracked me up in SNL’s previous Deal Or No Deal parody.
— A promising-seeming role for Will, as Steve’s grumpy, ranting father.
— A stand-out and popular lengthy sequence with Kristen fooling around with the suitcase. This is also one of many things that I remember solidified to me back then that Kristen was getting pushed as SNL’s new star. I also remember thinking to myself after this episode originally aired that Kristen had now officially become the lead female of this cast, and that the longest-tenured female of this cast, Amy, was on her way out (so much so, that I remember speculating Amy wouldn’t return the following season, which I ended up being wrong about).
— The ending was a bit flat for me, and I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed by the whole Fred/Steve/Will portions of this sketch.
STARS: **½
TWO A-HOLES DO KARAOKE
on stage, uncooperative A-holes exasperate karaoke emcee (host)
— I got a good laugh from Kenan dedicating his karaoke singing of “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” to Anna Nicole Smith.
— Wow, we haven’t seen the Two A-holes in what feels like a long time. I think their last appearance was in the Jeremy Piven episode all the way back in January 2007.
— The Two A-holes are killing as usual, even if there are no particular stand-out parts that I feel like pointing out in this review.
— The cutaway to an angry Steve having steam coming out of his ears might have been a bit too much for the tone of these Two A-holes sketches.
STARS: ****
THE JAPANESE OFFICE
Ricky Gervais [real] intros the original, Japanese version of The Office
The Office- even in Japanese, familiar show characteristics are evident
Regis Philbin (DAH) endorses tampons in a Japan-specific commercial
— Nice to see Ricky Gervais on SNL.
— I like Gervais’ snarky comments about the American version of The Office.
— Obviously spot-on casting of Bill as Dwight, given how people used to always point out the resemblance between Bill and Rainn Wilson back in these days (no idea if people still do nowadays). In fact, when this short originally aired, I remember initially thinking for a brief second that that really was Rainn Wilson when the camera first cut to Bill as Dwight.
— Even the Japanese-themed recreation of The Office’s opening credits is spot-on.
— The concept of this Digital Short brings the Rabin To Shuri sketch (the Japanese version of Laverne And Shirley) to mind, though I’ve personally always liked this Digital Short more.
— Great to see the return of Kristen and Jason’s spot-on Pam and Jim impressions from Rainn Wilson’s monologue the preceding season.
— Hilarious random Japanese commercial with Darrell’s Regis Philbin endorsing tampons.
— Good brief cutaway to a silent Kenan as Stanley doing a Sudoku puzzle instead of his usual crossword puzzle (which I remember was pointed out to me by someone in response to my original 2008 review of this episode, after I incorrectly stated Kenan’s Stanley was doing a crossword puzzle in this).
— Ricky Gervais’ ending comment, in regards to this whole short: “(*while laughing*) It’s funny….’cause it’s racist.”
STARS: ****
MCCAIN 2008
John McCain [real] touts his oldness & aversion to pork barrel spending
— Here we have our latest of MANY cameos from presidential candidates during this 2008 presidential race. At least this particular cameo is from John McCain, who’s always fun and a great sport on SNL.
— Some decent laughs here and there, and McCain is likable as expected, but this sketch feels kinda on the forgettable side.
STARS: **½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “This Ain’t Sex”
WEEKEND UPDATE
John McCain [real] encourages Democrats to prolong nomination indecision
Jesse Jackson (DAH) & Al Sharpton (KET) warn Barack Obama to be careful
— Seth’s joke about someone being chosen for a position by being the last person in the room to shout “Not it” was a joke already used by either Seth or Amy before, and will continue to be used by them (or just Seth) for years.
— A second appearance tonight from John McCain.
— I love McCain’s sly “That’s right, fight among yourselves” comment when Seth and Amy are disagreeing with each other.
— A good laugh from McCain making a point about how exciting it would be to have the presidential conventions end with us still not knowing who the nominee is.
— The “They take it away” examples from Darrell and Kenan’s Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are decent.
— Funny how, in my preceding episode review, I asked, in reaction to a fun interaction piece between Seth and Amy in that episode’s Update, “Why don’t we get these interaction bits between Seth and Amy more often?” Cut to one episode later, and we get TWO interaction bits between Seth and Amy in tonight’s Update. Odd coincidence, but I appreciate it.
— Seems to be a lot more Update jokes than usual tonight, perhaps a conscious decision from SNL due to this being the final Update of the season.
STARS: ***
THE CHARLIE FLITT SHOW
weight losers cut fat & lifesize photos
— Amy’s real-life pregnancy is really starting to show by this point.
— Ohhh, god. All of a sudden, the characters in this sketch take the time to give some praise to Jared Fucking Fogel, even throwing in a flattering comment about how hot he is in person. Boy, has this portion of this sketch aged like milk. In hindsight, this is also unintentionally a warm-up for something very unfortunate that’s in store for me in the very next episode: a cameo appearance from…guess who?
— I laughed at Steve’s passing mention of overcoming an addiction to Google Image Search.
— An okay running gag with Steve jumping through old overweight photos of himself at the oddest times.
— What was with Darrell’s very delayed, awkward delivery of his sole line of this entire sketch?
— I like overweight Bill’s very halfhearted “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know” when he, Amy, and Kristen are all embracing each other.
— Despite some occasional laughs, this sketch as a whole is gradually kinda losing me, especially during Steve’s musical number at the end.
STARS: **
CPR TRAINING
(host) busts through (ANS)’s chest while conducting a CPR training course
— An initial cheap laugh from the blood starting to flow after Andy’s chest has been pushed through. I see we’re in for another traditional blood-spurting sketch.
— After Steve casually says, in regards to Andy’s bleeding, “Not too bad, from where I’m standing”, I love Kenan responding “Man, where are you standing? That is BAD.”
— A pretty good laugh from the visual of Andy’s lung inflating like a balloon when Steve is giving him mouth-to-mouth. I also LOVE Kristen’s shocked facial reaction to that when the camera cuts to her about to say something in response to that (the last above screencap for this sketch).
— Not sure what to think about the turn at the end with Usher giving a brief PSA. Felt kinda like a weak ending.
— An overall okay sketch, but, much like with the rather forgettable Knife Salesmen sketch from the preceding season’s Shia LaBeouf episode, this SNL era continues to struggle in their attempt to create a memorable blood-spurting sketch for the ages. Also, this CPR Training sketch, in hindsight, feels like a precursor to the (much better, IMO) Acupuncture sketch from the episode that Kristen hosts in season 38.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Young Jeezy [real] perform “Love In This Club”
BLESS THIS CHILD
rough-housing parents-to-be (host) & (KRW) serenade a stand-in stunt baby
— At first glance, it almost appears we’re getting a genuinely tender, semi-serious sketch to close out the season, before we see the comedic conceit. Lots of fun and very amusing little random and unsafe things Kristen and Steve are doing with their baby while singing. They’re both pulling this off so well.
— Pretty funny reveal that Kristen and Steve’s baby is just a doll (in the universe of the sketch, not just in real life), and that they’ve decided they’re ready to move on to having a real baby of their own.
— Steve took the potentially-iffy ending involving him spinning a dummy of Kristen around and made it a lot of fun instead of corny.
— Overall, I found this to be a solid and well-performed season-ending sketch.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An average and slightly forgettable season finale. Not bad, but not the most exciting way to end this season, especially considering the lengthy solid streak that I feel SNL was on prior to this, from somewhere around the Amy Adams episode to the Shia LaBeouf episode.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Shia LaBeouf)
a step down
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2006-07)
a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Season 34 begins, with host Michael Phelps, and one new addition to the cast
Steve Carell episodes always bring such promise, but never get much more than a “meh” reaction. However, his most recent stint was by far the worst of all of them. *cough* cornel of kern *cough*
I may be hearing things but I have always thought Love In This Club’s rhythm is nearly the same as The Office theme song.
I would agree it’s the worst, but I will say it probably has my favorite sketch from a Steve-hosted episode (RV Life).
Yeah none of the Steve Carell episodes have done anything for me and I’m a big fan of the guy. The last one was especially bad. Steve just seemed checked out. It’s especially weird since he has a sketch comedy background. I get why Nancy Walls was picked for the show and he wasn’t, not that he’s doing too badly for himself!
I was at this episode. He had the flu while hosting.
Also can’t wait for season 34! I remember it being a very strong season.
I’ve never been a big fan of The Office, but that Japanese Office sketch looks amazing. There’s no way they’d be able to get away with it today. Speaking of The Office, I can’t believe Ricky Gervais has never hosted.
Also, is this one where McCain gets booed on Update, or is that his next appearance?
No booing, although I might have missed it.
I’ve always sort of thought Ricky might see SNL as beneath him, to be honest, but who knows.
Hey Jared. Why Could they not do That Parody OF The Office In Japan ? Maybe, They actually Do Have The Office Being shown In Japan, But IT Is In Japanese ! Why would Asian People be Offended ? By The way, I Have Never Seen The Office !
I want to focus on the musical sketch. It’s fine (I don’t like the ending but otherwise the concept is good and Kristen and Steve fully commit), but it is an example of the artificial feeling that the show often has for me in episodes from the last 10-15 or so years, with the change in direction alongside the new HD style. There are still some musical numbers which can connect (Lobster Diner manages to have some vibrancy), but most of the time you just get this sense of emptiness, especially compared to silly, goofy, cheap bits that still put a smile on my face from the early seasons, like Madeline Kahn and John Belushi breaking into “I Will Follow Him.” I think SNL’s last few decades have had some great periods (I wouldn’t be watching otherwise), but the emptiness is one of the reasons the first 20-25 years of the show and that cheaper feeling which comes with them will always be what I am most partial to as a fan.
As for Steve Carell, I’m not a big Office watcher, but I generally have no problem with him – he’s likeable, charismatic, rocks a photo shoot, etc. There’s just something a bit off when he hosts. I think it’s because, especially in his second and third stints, he veers between playing something as bumbling comedy and playing it as very dramatic, which makes the material more incoherent and leaves the viewers confused. That happens at least twice in this episode (Deal or No Deal and that rambling talk show sketch which feels like something cleaned up from seasons 28-30).
Much as I complain about politicians being all over SNL, John McCain actually delivers a better comic performance than Steve Carell, especially in the one piece he has which is actually well-written (his Update appearance).
The best part of Steve’s appearances for me are when we get Nancy Walls cameos. His love for his wife, and waiting for her to get some applause after she shows up, is very sweet. Nancy is still in good comic form as well. Considering how I see her as one of the greatest examples of the negative consequences of SNL’s longstanding view that only a few women can have a chance, it’s fitting that she appears right before we enter a 2-3-4 stretch of one female cast member after another suffering her fate.
By finale standards, I don’t think this is bad, but it’s not one I would say is up to much. The highlights for me are the Office short and the Hillary/Obama pre-tape (docking some points due to Fred – Amy is terrific though). I will also give a bit of praise to Andy for how he copes with that fake blood going in his mouth – I know the Lonely Island guys seemed to love those gore sketches but as shown here they just aren’t for my taste. Still, he copes well. I also like the work from Kristen and Jason in the Two A-Holes reprisal, but Steve’s performance gets in the way and there’s a feeling of sadness over the whole thing, somehow – I guess because the terrific Jason/Kristen partnership is already just about over after only 3 seasons.
Our last episode before Tina Fey Palinpalooza. Talk about a dividing line for how SNL would approach so many things…
Promos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ENRPuSgywQ
I think that’s the one thing the original era has over all eras is how freaking scrappy the whole thing is. It really feels dangerous and vibrant as if anything could (and often did) happen. By this point, SNL is a machine. The cast is one of the best the show ever had but besides the odd digital short and bizarre Forte sketch, there is a definite lack of unpredictability. Still love this era but on second viewing I’m becoming more aware of its flaws.
It’s a myth that Carell auditioned for SNL in 1995. It was a joke in his first monologue. Carell owned up to it on Twitter in 2015.
With that said, Year 33 didn’t end with a whimper per se, but this was a thoroughly so-so show. Nothing awful (though the Jared references in “Charlie Flitt” are gross in hindsight) but a string of sketches that range from okay to fair.
You’re right, Carell shows tend to underwhelm. No wonder he never auditioned.
I was at the dress rehearsal for this one too.
I remember a sketch with Jason recording a video greeting from Gene Simmons (Fred) and Carell playing another member of KISS. There was a Weekend Update commentary from Usher talking about dating older ladies that he stumbled through really badly and cracked but it was kinda amusing.
Of note, this also featured the original appearance of “Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals” and a few more New York Stories segments that might not have ever popped up after this.
Oh and there was a sketch with a dog on a motorcycle with Carell but the audience couldn’t stop aww’ing over the adorable mutt and I don’t even remember what the jokes were, tbh.
Thanks @Brendan Wahl. Didn’t see anything else about dress for this episode so this is a treat. The dog sketch gives me season 45 vibes, but I would have taken it over the talk show…
Wondering if the Usher PSA tag was added to CPR after dress to give him a consolation appearance since his Update commentary was cut. Looking over Usher’s Wikipedia page just now, he had a few ensemble film roles of medium significance in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s, as well as a lead role in ‘05. I wonder if SNL was giving him a brief tryout for a possible double duty gig down the road.
I’m not sure why Steve Carell’s hosting gigs don’t work out very well–even when stuff in the episodes are great, he’s usually a very small part of them. But he’s usually not the main problem either. Weird.
I like aspects of this episode better than others. As dumb as the sketch is, Charlie Flitt amuses me because of the repeated joke about crashing through the pictures (especially when the fat Bill crashes through the thin picture). I also always crack up at Usher’s “CPR is fun…but you can kill someone!”
John McCain is fine here, although I think I enjoy some of his later appearances better, especially when it was pretty obvious he would lose (some of those have some wonderfully ghoulish aspects to them).
The NBA parody ad is spot-on. I saw those real commercials all the time that summer. My memory is that after a lot of lethargic Clinton/Obama sketches, this was a good capper for the primary coverage.
IIRC, Gervais has said he’s always wanted to host but was never able to due to “scheduling conflicts”. There were rumors of Gervais (along with Dakota Fanning and Carrell & Walls’ fellow Daily Show alum Stephen Colbert) having been booked as hosts for shows that would’ve taken place this season when the strike was occurring. Gervais may have also been rumored to host the season finales of 08-09 and 2012-13. In case anyone neglected to host this in another comments thread on this blog, here is the “lost” schedule of episodes that never took place due to the strike.
11/10/07: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson/Amy Winehouse
11/17/07: Jonah Hill/Kid Rock
12/1/07: Ben Affleck/?
12/8/07: Edie Falco/?
12/15/07: Tom Hanks/?
Again, the January/February hosts were never officially confirmed but Dakota Fanning/Ghostland Observatory had been floating around as a “lost” lineup from around this time.
Here are the average ratings for Season 33:
*may not represent review’s perception*
3301: 7.0 (LeBron James)
3302: 5.7 (Seth Rogen)
3303: 6.0 (Jon Bon Jovi)
3304: 6.2 (Brian Williams)
3305: 7.6 (Tina Fey)
3306: 5.6 (Ellen Page)
3307: 5.9 (Amy Adams)
3308: 6.3 (Jonah Hill)
3309: 6.8 (Christopher Walken)
3310: 7.0 (Ashton Kutcher)
3311: 7.2 (Shia LaBeouf)
3312: 6.1 (Steve Carell)
Best Episode: 3305 (Tina Fey)- 7.6
Worst Episode: 3306 (Ellen Page)- 5.6
Season Average: 6.5
EDIT: Either I missed it on viewing or the rating was changed, but “Grease Rehearsal” is also a four-and-a-half-star sketch, which raises the rating of the Christopher Walken show to 6.9
Steve Carell is the second person to host a season premiere and a season finale after Steve Martin. Tina Fey & Ben Affleck have since accomplished the feat as well.
Baldwin too.
Thanks Carson. I thought I was missing and kept thinking it was Tom Hanks who has hosted a couple of season premieres and as it turns out has the second to last episode of the season twice.
And Rod Stewart and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers may have been the only musical guests to do both a season premiere and season finale as well…
Woody Harrelson can be added to the list
Baldwin, Fey, and Martin have also accomplished what I call the triple crown of hosting: Premiere, Christmas, and Finale.
Here are the five star sketches from the 2007-08 season:
Read To Achieve (Lebron James)
Annuale (Tina Fey)
Clancy T. Bachleratt and Jackie Snad Sing Songs About Spaceships, Toddler, Model T. Cars and Jars Of Beer (Jonah Hill)
Indoor Gardening Tips From A Man Who’s Very Scared Of Plants (Christopher Walken)
Death By Chocolate (Ashton Kutcher)
MacGruber (Shia LaBeouf)
Six sketches, though I folded the MacGruber piece into one here, so feel free to call it seven. But even at six, that matches SNL’s other great strike shortened season (87-88) and ties full seasons like 02-03 and 03-04. I think in these last few seasons, I tend to see more five star potential sketches than Stooge, but this list doesn’t make me grumpy.
And now the ****½ sketches:
106 & Park Top Ten Live (LeBron James)
People Getting Punched Just Before Eating (Jon Bon Jovi)
Iconoclasts (Jon Bon Jovi)
I Drink Your Milkshake (Tina Fey)
Marty Goes Gay (Ellen Page)
Monologue (Christopher Walken)
Eric’s Goodbye (Christopher Walken)
Death by Chocolate Pts. 1 and 3 (Ashton Kutcher)
The Rusty Pony (Ashton Kutcher)
Admirers (Shia LaBeouf)
You forgot Greased Lightning.
It’s a little unfortunate that both S32 and S33 end on pretty meh finales, but that’s more common than expected.
I’m not sure why but Steve Carell never works for me as a performer in anything, especially on SNL. His last hosting stint from 2018 is strikingly terrible.
I saw that one live, and it was so bad that I turned it off before it was over.
Season Averages Ranked Best to Worst
#14 – 7.2
#15 – 7.1
#18 – 7.1
#17 – 7.0
#21 – 7.0
#22 – 7.0
#24 – 7.0
#16 – 6.9
#23 – 6.9
#26 – 6.8
#13 – 6.7
#25 – 6.7
#3 – 6.6
#4 – 6.6
#27 – 6.6
#2 – 6.5
#12 – 6.5
—> #33 -6.5
#1 – 6.3
#10 – 6.3
#32 – 6.3
#5 – 6.2
#9 – 6.1
#28 – 6.1
#31 – 6.1
#8 – 6.0
#19 – 6.0
#7 – 5.8
#11 – 5.7
#29 – 5.7
#20 – 5.6
#6 – 5.3
#30 – 5.3
I mainly remember the Monologue with Nancy Walls Carell and the Ricky Gervais cameo…
Agree with what everyone’s saying RE: Carrell. One of the funniest guys on the planet, yet always get middling episodes. Similar problem with his friend Will Ferrell, though those are slightly better since they can always bring back an old favorite. Didn’t Carrell try out? If so, he has to be almost tied with Carey in terms of “what could have been” cast members.
Also agreed that his most recent episode was especially dire. 3 decent sketches (RV, GP Yass & Space Station Broadcast) and a bunch of absolute dreck.
IIRC, Leslie is the one who drops the gun in the kerns sketch, which kicks off that whole fiasco. If so, just yet another example of how green she was as a sketch performer. Though I always wondered why one of them couldn’t grab the gun during one of the cutaways to Pete. It was clearly in reach of Kenan & Melissa.
I think Carell has said he didn’t audition.
What happens if this season has 20 instead of just 12?
We may never know what could’ve been. We can only speculate…