Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
WE ARE THE WORLD 3
“We Are The World 3” is sung to atone for disastrous “We Are The World 2”
— A laugh from Kenan’s Quincy Jones calling the then-recent We Are The World 2 a disaster that included “half-famous randos”.
— I like how this feels like a then-modern version of SNL’s famous We Are The World-esque sketches from the early 90s.
— Much like a gripe I had with the We Are The World-esque Set Our Nanny Free sketch SNL did in a Jon Lovitz-hosted episode from the late 90s, I’m not too crazy about how they’re displaying each singer’s name onscreen in this sketch. It was more fun when you had to guess which singer each cast member was playing in the We Are The World-esque sketches from the early 90s.
— Very energetic performance from Abby as Melissa Etheridge.
— Funny insane facial expressions from Bobby’s David Crosby.
— Interesting seeing the host getting involved in one of these.
— The audience seems pretty dead during this, especially compared to past We Are The World-esque sketches. And also unlike past We Are The World-esque sketches, this sketch isn’t memorable at all, despite a few fun impressions and a few amusing lyrics about the questionable aspects of We Are The World 2.
STARS: **½
MONOLOGUE
host’s entourage & fans wish she hadn’t changed over the past decade
— Jennifer Lopez seemed to expect that “Now I’m married…” line of hers to get applause, which it initially didn’t until after a few seconds where the audience hesitantly applauded. I recall seeing comments about her also having an awkward moment like this in her most recent monologue from season 45, in which she said something about being blessed, and the audience gave very hesitant applause after initial silence. I haven’t seen that for myself yet, because, as I’ve said in some previous reviews, I’ve been on a still-ongoing hiatus from watching new SNL episodes since December 2018.
— Good delivery from a bitter Kenan.
— Feels very rare to see Bill and (especially) Jason in drag. I want to say this is the only time Jason ever dressed in drag on SNL, but I get the nagging feeling it’s not and I’m probably just forgetting something.
— Jason’s delivery of “And I’m J.Blo” cracked me up.
STARS: **½
GYNE-LOTRIMIN LADIES WORLD CUP OF CURLING 1987
Pete Twinkle & Greg Stink cover 1987 ladies’ curling competition
— Wow, is SNL just throwing this sketch on every two episodes at this point? It sure feels like it. Luckily, I’ve been loving all of the installments of this sketch that have aired up to this point, but I can’t help but take this, as well as certain other recurring sketches this season, as a sign of how desperate this season’s writing has become in terms of creativity.
— Feels odd seeing Jason playing this ESPN Classic character of his with eyeliner this time, but he obviously only has that eyeliner on because he used it when playing Adam Lambert in the cold opening and a drag queen in the monologue, and didn’t have enough time to remove it for this sketch.
— You can tell Jason is genuinely unsure of how to pronounce “vaginal”, which he then makes a great ad-lib about.
— The Jason/Will portions of this sketch never fail to slay me.
— Jason: “From Bo Derek to Susan Lucci, it’s the brand the stars use to clean their coochie……..Gyne-Lotrimin Vaginal Cream!”
— Jason: “When ya hop up from the futon, and all you’re left is a wet crouton………………….Gyne-Lotrimin Vaginal Cream!”
STARS: ****
FLAGS OF THE WORLD
emblematic cloths range from legitimate to punny
— Oddly, a subtitle stating “I like to hit people with my car!”, reserved for the live sketch that follows this, is accidentally displayed at the beginning of this Digital Short (as seen in the first above screencap for this short).
— Tons of gags are being thrown at us per minute in this short. I love it.
— In addition to the very fun and gag-filled fast pacing of this, the music is very catchy.
— Hard to pick out my favorite flag gags, due to how frequent and fast-paced the gags are.
STARS: ****
HOLLYWOOD DISH
misleading editing further twists host’s Hollywood Dish interview fakery
— Meh, like the first installment of this sketch from earlier this season, I don’t care for how this sketch seems to just be an excuse to do constant cutaways to Kristen and Bill making various goofy facial expressions. It feels like this SNL era relies too heavily on that type of humor in general.
— Jennifer’s insanely-delivered Spanish spiel that Bill and Kristen forced her to do cracked me up.
STARS: **
VANCOUVER 2010
Telemundo anchors (FRA) & (host) find the Winter Olympics cold & awful
— I like Fred and Jennifer questioning the usefulness of Winter Olympics.
— Boy, that is an awful Hispanic accent Jenny is attempting.
— Good part with Fred and Jennifer freaking out over the “unfinished” ramp in the ski-jumping clip.
— Solid performance from Bill, depressed over the “shuffleboard” floor being frozen with ice.
— There’s Bobby in his usual funny walk-on.
— Despite all of the aforementioned high points, I’m slightly meh on this sketch as a whole. Not even sure why.
STARS: **½
UNDERCOVER CELEBRITY BOSS
executives’ fame undermines concept of series
— This started out well with the Steve Jobs scene, but the subsequent scenes aren’t quite as strong for me, despite Bill’s fun impression of Richard Branson.
— Kristen playing Martha Stewart??? Whaaaaaaa??? Why didn’t I remember this until now? I thought I had remembered ALL of SNL’s many Martha Stewart impersonators from over the years.
STARS: **½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Until It Beats No More”
WEEKEND UPDATE
YouTube video pushed by new media correspondent BOM won’t stop buffering
besieged lame duck David Paterson (FRA) doesn’t attenuate his invective
— It feels very interesting and rare at this point of SNL’s run to see a cast member do an Update commentary as themselves.
— I remember some online SNL fans back at this time in 2010 complaining that the “buffering” gag throughout Bobby’s commentary seemed very outdated by this point and felt more like something that would’ve been timely 10 years earlier. I can see their point, but Bobby’s at least coming off as his usual likable and fun self here.
— Ha, I love the callback/payoff to Bobby’s commentary, a minute after it ended, with him suddenly interrupting a joke of Seth’s to show him the video, only for it to IMMEDIATELY buffer on him once again.
— Even though I’m seemingly in the minority in actually liking Fred’s David Paterson, even *I* have to take issue with him appearing tonight, because, come on, they just did a David Paterson Update commentary a few episodes ago. It’s way too soon to do another one.
— I do at least like how they’re shaking things up with Fred-as-Paterson’s entrance, with him now doing a failed surprise attack on Seth.
— I actually got a big laugh from Fred-as-Paterson’s “…or whatever abandoned shoneys they huddle in” remark.
— Boy, Seth is audibly laughing up a storm off-camera throughout the Paterson commentary. He’s developed a really bad habit of doing that lately whenever an Update guest is giving a commentary.
STARS: ***
BESOS Y LAGRIMAS
Carlos’ (FRA) emotions run hot for nun Josephina (host)
— The hell? They’re digging this sketch back up after a FOUR-YEAR ABSENCE??? Not to mention how even the last time this sketch appeared prior to tonight (when Antonio Banderas hosted) was its first appearance since its debut two seasons prior. So lazy of SNL to pull this sketch out of the mothballs just because we have a Hispanic host. Probably yet another sign of how dry on creativity this season’s writing has become.
— Another excuse for a Kristen Wiig mugfest tonight, I see. Wasn’t that Hollywood Dish sketch enough? Kristen is noticeably mugging even hammier than the other performers in this sketch, and, of course, the audience is eating her mugging all up.
— Boy, even with the long absence of this sketch, I’ve gotten sick of its format. I’m also seeing more and more of a precursor to The Californians in this sketch’s format, which I definitely don’t consider to be a positive thing, as The Californians is pure comedy cancer to me, and completes the trifecta of what are probably my top three most hated recurring pieces from this SNL era: The Vogelchecks, Garth & Kat, and The Californians….and it’s no surprise that all three of those recurring pieces co-star Fred and Kristen.
STARS: *½
ETERNAL SPARK OF LOVE
office romance involving puppeteer (host) resists soulful commentary
— The second and final appearance of this sketch. Not sure this will work in a second installment.
— Like last time, Kenan is killing in this.
— I love Kenan being wheeled out of the scene when he’s still in the middle of rambling about the oddness of Jennifer having a house filled with 50 ventriloquist puppets.
— I like a speechless, puzzled Kenan being wheeled right through the shot after Jennifer’s display of ventriloquism, only to say “Wait, wait, wait, I got something”, then, when wheeled back into the shot, says “Nah, I got nothin’.”
— Wasn’t necessary to repeat the gag from the first installment where Kenan falls off the moving platform, then angrily calls out “Jimmy”, the crew member responsible.
— Hmm, an unexpected ending with a horny Kenan implying there’s a romantic same-sex spark between Jennifer and Nasim.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Starting Over”
SMASH MOUTH
girl (NAP) fears bedroom closet monster Smash Mouth (BOM), (BIH), (FRA)
— A brilliant premise.
— Great line from Nasim about how she doesn’t want to sing a sample of Smash Mouth’s song because it’ll get stuck in Jennifer’s head.
— Nasim: “Mom, they’re right there! I can see their soul patches!”
— When Nasim starts singing the famous “someBODY once told…” lyric to Jason, who thinks he’s not familiar with Smash Mouth’s music, I love Jason IMMEDIATELY putting a stop to that by saying “Okay, okay, I got it.”
— Excellent gag with Smash Mouth crashing through the wall behind Nasim.
— A very solid big speech Jennifer gives to Nasim towards the end about why she shouldn’t be scared of Smash Mouth.
— When this originally aired, I think I was of the opinion that this otherwise-great sketch ended on a weak and corny note with all the characters singing Smash Mouth’s “All Star” together, but I’m more onboard with that ending nowadays.
STARS: *****
CAR HORNS AND MORE
Tina Tina Chanuse’s Car Horns & More has custom verbal vehicle warnings
— I could do without the return of this character of Jenny’s, given how I wasn’t crazy about it the first time.
— Much like in the first installment of this sketch, Bobby’s sarcastic delivery of “PFFFFT! Nice car horn!” is somehow the funniest part of the entire sketch to me.
— Part of the reason these sketches don’t work for me is because it gets tiring hearing all of those comedic doorbell/car horn voice-overs back to back, and I’d find them funnier as an isolated, individual gag rather than hearing all of them one after another. That being said, I’m not finding the car horn voice-overs in tonight’s installment quite as tiring as the doorbell ones from the first installment.
— Jenny and Jennifer make a decent duo here. I recall hearing Jennifer would later do a sketch kinda like this with current cast member Melissa Villasenor in the aforementioned season 45 J.Lo-hosted episode that I haven’t seen yet.
STARS: **½
CLOSET ORGANIZER
— Rerun from 1/30/10.
— Aww, Jon Hamm’s testimonial, one of the absolute funniest parts of this already-fantastic commercial, has been removed in this rerun. I can see why, given the fact that Jon Hamm isn’t hosting tonight’s episode, but they should’ve left his testimonial in anyway. After all, the season 33 Christopher Walken episode re-aired that Tina Fey-co-starring Annuale ad in full, from the episode Tina hosted earlier that season.
GOODNIGHTS
— At one point early in her goodnights speech, Jennifer thanks Darrell Hammond. Uh, did I blink and miss another season 35 Darrell Hammond cameo earlier tonight, or is my memory just bad? I don’t recall seeing Darrell AT ALL in this episode.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly meh episode as a whole, despite a few strong highlights. It’s hard for me to get excited about Jennifer Lopez-hosted episodes, and the forgettable quality of both her season 26 episode and this season 35 episode of hers backs up that lack of excitement from me. It remains to be seen how I’ll react to her aforementioned season 45 episode, though I think I recall hearing not-so-great things about it.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Smash Mouth
Flags Of The World
Gyne-Lotrimin Ladies World Cup Of Curling 1987
Eternal Spark of Love
Weekend Update
Vancouver 2010
Car Horns And More
We Are The World 3
Monologue
Undercover Celebrity Boss
Hollywood Dish
Besos Y Lagrimas
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ashton Kutcher)
a mild step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Zach Galifianakis makes his hosting debut