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
I wonder if Bill helped John with “Bad Guys, Good Conversation.” He’s got a story about Martin Kove (and I apologize if this was shared before).
This episode was… fine. Like a number of Digital Shorts from this season, “I’m On a Boat” didn’t impress me at first, but it grew on me in repeat viewings. You’re right, this is *exactly* where and when Wiigy gets a big, dilatory showcase once or twice an episode. This episode also had perhaps the worst of the “song memories” sketches. TV on the Radio did their best, but both of their songs were undercut by sound mixing issues.
Looking back, I’m also astonished to see how Darrell’s presence had dramatically diminished in Year 34. You’re right; most of his impressions had run their course by this point. The writing is very much on the wall.
An unspectacular but not awful episode. I find Bradley Cooper always very smug, but I wonder if he just can’t help not appearing smug.
I prefer Bobby as the “it’s okay?” kid in the Robert De Niro episode in which he isn’t very excited to meet De Niro (hey, just going by his SNL appearances, I wouldn’t be excited either) and he actually gets in some vicious zingers at De Niro.
I enjoy the touch of how everyone in the celebrity tirade sketch exclaims “No, Bruce, let me finish!” I wonder if people even remember that Christian Bale mini scandal (was it on the set of Terminator: Salvation?).
I enjoy the movie villains sketch, even though it doesn’t really go anywhere. Sudeikis is amazing as the evil teacher. “DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT, MR. LAWRENCE?”
Bill really enlivens the “I’m Gonna Have Sex With Your Wife” sketch as the “returning contestant.” This seems to basically be the same look he would use as the “I’m Gonna Suck Your Cock” comedian in the Kings of Catch Phrase Comedy sketches.
Yup, Bale’s rant was while making Salvation. Come to think of it, was this before or after Lily Tomlin vs. David O. Russell had come out? It might have been interesting to see Casey or Michaela play Lily.
That came out in March 2007.
Thanks. It all blurs together after awhile.
I thought I heard that Seth wrote “Bad Guys, Good Conversation.”
I think that in general episodes become better or worse in your mind as you move further away from them…and also a narrative of a season means episodes can be lumped together. For instance, I’m sure the Josh Brolin episode would be seen as superior to episodes from this part of the season, because of Amy’s big sketch (I’m No Angel), because of the political material, etc. but, while I do enjoy a fair amount of that episode, I had an easier time watching Cooper’s. The same goes for Anne Hathaway’s episode. And, as @Michael Cheyne mentions above, I don’t even care that much for Cooper.
The best part of the episode for me is the ‘sex with your wife’ game show. All the performances are perfect, but I have to give special mention to Will for his slow burn from being sure that his wife won’t to realizing his wife IS. I also love the jaunty music used as a counterpoint to everything going on. Just an absolutely terrific piece.
The bad guy talk show sketch is pretty good too, enlivened by the performances, and the contrast between Cooper’s Johnny reminding us he isn’t actually that bad (setting up Cobra Kai a decade in advance) and his horrifying guests. And, while the role is just a tad thin, Michaela really impresses in holding her own with Bill and Andy even though she’d only been on the show a few months.
The “it’s okay” sketch is the type I couldn’t help enjoying even when the idea is very one-note. Bobby’s great, but more importantly, the direction here (and in the episode as a whole) feels livelier than much of SNL by this time. A rote formula is avoided as a result. The timing is also good – you believe the buildup of an increasingly disappointed Cooper.
“I’m On a Boat” is a precursor to the Pete Davidson Raps! era, which just tends to make me zone out. Very nice production values, a great deal of effort, but it’s just not the type of Lonely Island I enjoy. It feels like the SNL equivalent of your local band becoming big and leaving you behind.
I’m not a big fan of impression parades, and this era seems to drown in them. Mulaney said in an interview that they were done in order to fill up time, which I get, but the problem for me is I don’t enjoy seeing much of this cast doing impressions, not enough to sit through the glut with which they do them. The other problem for me (which also happens fairly often in this era) is choice of impressions. When I watch Abby try to play Joan Cusack, all I can think is how difficult it is to try to be her and how no one really can.
I don’t understand a lot of the choices these Update years make about how pieces are set up. Why did they have Andy’s (fun) Mark Spitz near the start of Update, then have Seth doing his (as you said, odd) “Really?” near the end of Update? It just felt like digging up old news. I don’t really think Kristen’s Bjork is that great (it feels too silly – Bjork always had grit to her [just ask that reporter she whomped]), but what hurts this more is how endless it feels. I was reminded of some of the Kate McKinnon pieces of recent seasons that seem to drag on.
This cold open sums up why I dislike so many modern political cold opens – they exist solely because of an idea that the cold open must be about politics. There’s nothing to be said here, beyond Jim Downey’s little digs about Democrats being overly partisan and controlling. No comedy. Not a laugh. Fred sleepwalks through his role, and Kristen tries but it just doesn’t click. I’m not fond of any Pelosi material on SNL but I think one of the best I’ve seen was one of McKinnon’s last appearances in the part, on Update – admittedly, she had more to work with than Kristen by that point.
This is a serviceable monologue, albeit one where you could tell they didn’t have much to work with. My main reaction to seeing James Lipton was surprise that he never appeared with Will Ferrell, as he seemed to enjoy those sketches. Maybe he just didn’t want to do the old gag about “meeting” himself, I don’t know.
I agree with you about the jokes in the song memories reprisal. This has been going on for a while. It’s a similar problem to the office threeway sketches – once the first version rests on “shocking” punchlines, what can follow that up? By this point references to various sexual practices or even to sexual abuse feel perfunctory, which is the worst of both worlds – it’s not only gross, but doesn’t even have the comedy value some gross material can have. Still, I would put this one as second (Braff’s is still first), due to the energy you mention. They have never been as in sync as they are here. I also noticed that they really let Jason SING in this one, which I don’t remember being as prominent before. I wonder if he sang at a party early this season and somebody got an idea, because this is the third or fourth episode this season he’s been busting out his pipes. It just makes me a bit more disappointed he never has hosted in recent years. If I have to see a musical number over and over and over, at least let’s have a host who has the goods.
Not much worth saying about either of the other Kristen or Fred vanity pieces (you sum it up well), although the various cutaways to all the different sounds that make the same noise (even a butter churn) did amuse me. I wonder if Jost wrote that sketch…
After watching this episode I kind of wished that Cooper had hosted again, but I guess he wasn’t interested. Beyond his cameos down the line, he also used the show to help promote A Star is Born (and even filmed a scene there).
https://www.indiewire.com/2018/08/bradley-cooper-a-star-is-born-saturday-night-live-1201992987/
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/news/a18382/bradley-cooper-surprises-lady-gaga-snl/
I thought Bradley was a solid host. He had better roles given to him compared to all the other hosts in this ‘slump’ period of shows. He’s one of those hosts who just feels like a cast member with how well he blends in, imo.
Even though a lot of this episode is white noise to me (Today, most of Update, I’m on a Boat just because I’ve heard it so many times, etc.) it was fairly fun. The two episodes it’s sandwiched between have really bizarre energies so it’s nice that this was a very normal episode. TV on the Radio is killer, too.
The late 2000’s musical nostalgia continues for me, with this Digital Short. I remember I’m On a Boat being quoted a lot among my classmates in middle school, as well as (later on) Like a Boss and Threw It on the Ground. This led me to believe the Lonely Island were a genuine band, and since I was getting into classic rock at the time these songs did nothing but fuel my snobbish “all music nowadays sucks!” opinion. It took me a few years before I realized they were comedians…
…and 12 years later, I’m digging their music unironically, lol.
Abby did her Joan Cusack impression for her audition along with Drew Barrymore, Angelina Jolie, Katie Holmes & Anna Faris. Previously, a sketch where a husband (Forte) apologizes to his wife (Watkins) for sleeping with Joan Cusack (Elliott) with the help of Hugh Laurie (Himself) was cut from Hugh Laurie / Kanye West
Abby talks about her audition. The Greta Van Susteren story she talks about is from next season’s Taylor Swift episode.
If you didn’t already know, Andy Samberg is a massive fan of Die Hard in real life, so playing Hans Gruber was probably his favorite non-Lonely Island sketch during his time on the show.
I think he has said that the Nicholas Cage sketches were his favourite to do, but he did do Hans Gruber in his audition! The whole impression in his audition was just him saying ‘McClane’. I always find it fun when cast members get to do their audition bits on the show, and it took quite a while for Andy to get to do his Gruber!
All I really remember from this ep is Seth’s solo “Really?!”…
I remember being surprised at the sheer vitriol Seth was displaying. Settle down, man. “Really?!” was generally about displaying bewilderment and contempt for someone’s stupid and inept actions. ..not moral outrage.
Or maybe it felt heavy-handed because it was just Seth alone. The routine is funnier when it’s a tag team act.