Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
WALL STREET LUNCH
Barack Obama (FRA) failed to secure Wall Street reform at $85,000 lunch
— ANOTHER damn Fredbama-addresses-the-nation cold opening? Just two episodes after we had one?
— At least the Fredbama-addresses-the-nation cold opening from two episodes prior had the various census questions to mask the usual drabness of these Fredbama pieces. No such luck this time, as this focuses entirely on Fred’s Obama speaking directly to the camera.
— (*sigh*) Now he’s droning on about how great the restaurant he ate at during the Wall Street meeting was.
— Not only is this the third damn consecutive episode with Fred saying LFNY, but he’s said it in a majority of this season’s episodes. I’m tired of seeing him say it.
— Overall, not a single laugh from me during this entire cold opening. So many of these Fredbama-addresses-the-nation cold openings are PURE DEATH. The combination of Fred’s half-assed, dull-as-hell Obama impression and the snooze-worthiness of Jim Downey’s typical writing of this era’s person-sitting-behind-a-desk-speaks-directly-to-the-camera cold openings is comedy poison.
STARS: *
MONOLOGUE
to the tune of “The Shoop Shoop Song,” host sets apart herself & Precious
— Oh, god. Yet another song-and-dance monologue. Boy, between a Fredbama-addresses-the-nation cold opening and a song-and-dance monologue, tonight’s episode is starting off with two of my least favorite SNL tropes.
— When Gabourey Sidibe excitedly say “Balloons!” when Bill enters with several balloons, I did love Bill’s delivery of the line “OF EVERY COLOR!” in an old-timey voice.
— Second consecutive monologue to end with confetti being dropped from above.
STARS: **
THE SUZE ORMAN SHOW
nurse (host) gives health care frugality tips
— This is the first appearance of this sketch since October 2008, which is surprising, given how somewhat frequently this sketch appeared before then.
— Oh, no. Even early on in her appearance here, Gabourey’s delivery is coming off sloppy and stumbly.
— Kristen’s Suze Orman impression is still providing laughs for me, though a lot of her lines aren’t quite as funny this time.
— Okay, Kristen-as-Orman’s “pap smear cruise” story right now is having me laughing out loud.
STARS: **½
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
Steve Harvey (KET) mispronounces choices
— Kenan’s Steve Harvey impression is making its first appearance since a Prince Show sketch from way back in 2004(!). Unlike that Prince Show appearance, the version of Kenan’s Harvey impression in tonight’s sketch would go on to be the established version that people today are familiar with.
— Is this sketch pre-taped? It has that certain look.
— The premise itself isn’t all that special, but Kenan’s execution of it is making it work.
— Classic part with Kenan making a definitive Kenan Reacts facial expression when seeing the names of Icelandic volcanoes (the last above screencap for this sketch), then struggling to pronounce them. A screencap of that particular Kenan Reacts shot would go on to become an online meme for many years.
STARS: ***½
CRAZY LADY YELLING FROM A WINDOW
on the stoop, (FRA) & (KET) find crazy Mrs. Johnson (host) quite sensible
— Interesting character voice that Kenan’s using here.
— Speaking of Kenan, his weight loss this season is particularly noticeable in this sketch.
— Oh, no. Gabourey is stumbling over her lines in ANOTHER sketch, which causes her to briefly crack up at one point here.
— These wise, long-winded lines of Gabourey’s are humorous in themselves, and I do kinda like the concept of this, but Gabourey is the wrong performer to be saying these lines, due to her stumbly and iffy delivery.
STARS: **
CHERRY BATTLE
ANS & host spit maraschinos into each other’s mouths
— Oh…my…god.
— The concept of this is absolutely insane, and probably one of the most bizarre things that has ever aired on SNL. It’s certainly holding my interest, though. In fact, there’s something almost oddly beautiful about the way this insanity and creativity is being presented.
STARS: ***½
I DID IT IN MY STYLE, THE STORY OF FRANK SINATRA
(FRA) stars in Danish Repertory Theater’s faulty play about Frank Sinatra
— A variation of the International Masterworks sketch from this season’s Ryan Reynolds episode, where Fred and other performers played Norwegian actors badly attempting casual English speaking and American accents.
— This sketch isn’t working anywhere near as well as the aforementioned International Masterworks sketch. The concept of this sketch has gotten old fast.
— At least the critic reviews are making me laugh, especially the third one (the second-to-last above screencap for this sketch).
STARS: *½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Flash Delirium”
WEEKEND UPDATE
always-nervous Judy Grimes doesn’t cover impact of volcanic ash on travel
Stefon champions outre nightspots in lieu of classic NYC vacation ideas
John Mulaney [real] criticizes limited availability of Girl Scout Cookies
— As usual, I’m getting amusement from the dialogue in Judy Grimes’ very long, continuous “Just kidding” spiel, though I’m not laughing quite as much as usual this time.
— Like the last time Judy Grimes appeared earlier this season, they make an attempt to shake things up by having her do a few different things. Didn’t care much for the water-drinking bit, but the payoff to the volcano bit made me laugh.
— A big deal right now, as we get the very first Weekend Update appearance of Stefon, making his first SNL appearance since his debut in a sketch from a year-and-a-half prior. Given how extremely popular this character would go on to become, it’s surprising in hindsight that there was such a long gap between his first and second SNL appearances.
— So many funny bizarre little club features that Stefon casually mentions here, such as screaming babies in Mozart wigs, throw-up music, an albino that looks like Susan Powter, etc.
— There’s our very first instance of Bill’s soon-to-be trademark giggling in these Stefon pieces, and this time, the giggling doesn’t even seem to have been induced by a John Mulaney re-written line on the cue card. Bill seemed to crack up because he ad-libbed the word Kansas when Seth was talking about people from the Midwest.
— And now Bill (and an off-camera Seth) does crack-up from a John Mulaney re-written line on the cue card, when describing what Human Fire Hydrants are.
— A strong overall Update debut for Stefon, and you can tell by the level of audience applause that he got at the end of this commentary that, even in his Update debut, he was a huge hit with the crowd.
— Speaking of John Mulaney, we get an unexpected instance in this SNL era of a non-cast member in the writing staff, Mulaney in this case, doing an Update commentary as themselves. Another writer this season, Hannibal Burress, has one or two Update commentaries cut after dress rehearsal around this time as well, and John Mulaney does another on-air Update commentary in an early episode from the following season, so it appears as if SNL is attempting to bring back this occasional tradition from some of the earlier eras.
— Solid stand-up delivery from John here, and it’s making some of the intentionally comically mundane observations he’s saying here come off even more amusing.
— John’s overall commentary wasn’t the funniest stand-up material of his, but it still worked for me, and was a decent introduction of him to SNL audiences.
— It’s worth noting that Seth didn’t interject at all during John’s commentary, which is a huge rarity for Update guests in this era. John’s commentary felt like a throwback to older Weekend Update eras where Update guests were allowed to just do their bit for several minutes without any interruptions from the anchorperson.
— Regarding Seth’s joke about the Charmin bears “with toilet paper stuck to their asses continuing their televised reign of terror”, if he only knew back at this time in 2010 that that televised reign of terror would still be going on 10 years later.
STARS: ***
2010 PUBLIC EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR AWARDS
lazy civil servants seek honors
— Ooooh, I recall this sketch being absolutely UNBEARABLE. We’ll see how I’ll feel about it now.
— An amusing initial shot of Bobby.
— This spoof of awards shows feels TOO accurate. There’s a difference between humorous dry comedy and boring-as-hell dry comedy. Guess which category this sketch falls under.
— There’s Gabourey’s line-stumbling in yet another sketch tonight. Why do they keep sticking her with such long-winded dialogue in some of tonight’s sketches?
— Man, this sketch feels endless.
— Bobby continues to provide some of my only laughs of this sketch, this time with his silent angry outburst before walking off. And did I see his glasses accidentally fly off during that rage of his, right before the camera cut away? That makes it even funnier.
— Lazily, SNL reuses a gag from the State Of The Union cold opening earlier this season in which various stock footage of an audience randomly includes a famous clip of Brendan Fraser laughing in an odd manner at an awards show.
— Overall, while I didn’t hate this sketch quite as much as I used to, and I got some chuckles this time, this was still a very bad sketch as a whole.
STARS: *½
ALARM CLOCKS AND MORE
Tina Tina Chanuse’s timepieces speak to sleepers
— The third and final appearance of this recurring sketch of Jenny’s.
— The alarm clock voice-over for men (“Wake up, you got a boner about nothing”) made me laugh, which is more than I can say for most of the other alarm clock voice-overs so far.
— At least they’re changing the routine up slightly with the celebrity alarm clocks that Gabourey showcases.
— The complaint I had about the previous installments of this sketch still applies here: these alarm clock voice-overs would actually make me laugh if I heard them as an isolated, individual gag rather than hearing all of them one after another.
— Yet another blooper from Gabourey tonight, as she reaches over to display one of the alarm clock voice-overs at the wrong time before stopping herself short when realizing it’s not time yet.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Brian Eno”
PRESS CONFERENCE
Hamilton tries to woo host back by claiming he’s changed his racist ways
— Kenan (and his noticeably thinner frame) has been all over tonight’s episode.
— Great to see another Hamilton sketch.
— More iffy delivery from Gabourey tonight, as she’s delivering practically all of her dialogue in this sketch in a somewhat halting manner, as if she’s reading her lines for the first time.
— A good way to explore Hamilton’s known racism from his previous appearances.
— Hamilton to Gabourey: “How I spent long nights tracing passages from Robert Ludlum novels into your back with my penis.”
— Hamilton: “I went to the local Magic Johnson movie theater. I looked for a Larry Bird theater, but it didn’t exist.”
— Immediately after Hamilton’s aforementioned line about a Larry Bird theater, the camera cuts to Gabourey, who’s supposed to say her next line, but she’s apparently missed her cue, because she’s just sitting there blankly, not saying or doing anything, leading to VERY awkward dead air for a few seconds, until Will has to jump ahead of the script to keep the sketch moving. Yikes. Has Gabourey made a flub in literally EVERY SINGLE SKETCH tonight?
— Good ending with Hamilton wooing Gabourey with an altered version of the song “Life Is A Cabaret”, with the word “Cabaret” substituted with the name Gabourey. What was with the audience’s delayed applause as the sketch ended, though?
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A rough episode, and, in my opinion, deserving of its negative reputation. (Even SNL themselves seem to agree this is a poor episode, as NBC waited until the very end of that year’s summer to re-air this episode, and an episode getting a very delayed NBC rerun like that is usually always a sign that SNL isn’t too proud of that episode, such as the wretched John C. Reilly episode from season 32.) Tonight’s episode started off on TWO bad notes with the cold opening and monologue, most of the rest of the night’s sketches didn’t work for me either, and it felt like I got minimal laughs from this episode as a whole. Gabourey Sidibe, while certainly a likable personality, seemed ill-fit for SNL, judging from all the awkward gaffes and iffy delivery from her throughout the show.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Press Conference
Cherry Battle
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
Weekend Update
The Suze Orman Show
Crazy Lady Yelling From A Window
Alarm Clocks And More
Monologue
I Did It In My Style, The Story Of Frank Sinatra
2010 Public Employee Of The Year Awards
Wall Street Lunch
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ryan Phillippe)
a mild step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
A special and important episode, as a famous Facebook campaign leads to an SNL hosting stint from the beloved Betty White. To make this heavily-hyped occasion even more special, SNL brings in several former female cast members from the late 1990s and early 2000s as special guest performers.
Yeah, that was back when bringing in old cast members WAS considered special and not just an excuse to usurp a role that, god forbid, a NEW cast member could play.
I wasn’t distracted by Gabourey’s stumbliness for some reason. I guess the episodes in this back half of this season just come and go so much that I didn’t really notice.
I remember absolutely hating the 2010 Public Employee of the Year Awards sketch. It reminded me of that “Civil War Memories” sketch from the Roseanne Barr’s S20 episode (which is probably my least favorite SNL sketch of all time, not that anyone cares) in how it really rubbed me the wrong way with its kind of mean-spiritedness. It also has a lot of the traits of other awful sketches from that season. I heard it was written by Downey, but I don’t know for sure.
If not for Update and the Cherry Battle digital short, this would be hands down the worst episode of Year 35.
This has to be the most 2010 host/musical guest pairing
Ultimately, this episode is nothing to write home about, and looking back at it, a lot of the sketches are pretty iffy, but I dunno. For some reason, I just think there’s something really likeable about Gabourey as a host; even if she’s very green and stumbly, you can tell she’s having the time of her life and I think that helps get a lot of stuff over for me, especially the crazy lady sketch. (“Cherry Battle” could realistically be done with almost any host, too, but something about Gabourey in that sketch feels right, too.) It’s a tough episode for sure but, for me, not as unlikeable as a lot of other episodes this season.
Unlike this season’s other huge dud with January Jones, the cast seems to be having fun throughout this episode. I liked Crazy Lady Yelling From A Window. There are a few stumbles but the premise and material are solid imo.
A sketch from this episode ended up on Late Night with Seth Meyers’s Second Chance Theater segment. Griff Banks, the Sensitive Bully.
Sketch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYiVOWsLWh0
Panel Discussion:
Arguably Sidibe makes more gaffes and stumbles more in sketches than January Jones, but comes off as the better host because she has more energy and seems more enthused to be hosting. It is unfortunate that some good premises are hurt by her stumbly delivery (in particular, I really enjoy the premise of the old woman yelling sketch–too bad this wasn’t around for a host that would have worked better in the lead). I do agree it’s unfortunate that Sidibe is given some pretty dialogue-heavy roles–she certainly was trying, but she just might have been kind of nervous as a live performer.
I think this is a YMMV thing, but I don’t like the joke in sketches where the newspaper reviews just really really repeat and spell out the main joke. I get some laughs here due to the long-winded nature of them.
I think she was pretty new to performing at this point, wasn’t Precious the first thing she ever did? Not sure if she ever even really acted before that.
If you look at the goodnighs of this episode, you’ll see that John Mulaney is on stage for them – he is standing next to Andy. This is cool because John has spoken about how a big rule at SNL is that the writers can’t go up for goodnights, but that when they were getting ready for these goodnights, Andy grabbed John, got Lorne’s attention, pointed at John and then the stage to ask if he could bring him up, and Lorne nodded and agreed. I think it’s a very sweet story (John wouldn’t have gone up unless Andy did that) and it’s fun to watch John in the snippet of goodnights we see, because he looks VERY nervous
@C8LIN, that’s such a great story. I never would have known that. It shows a great deal of kindness, and also, that Andy was moving into the more “let’s just stop living in fear” mode that cast members tend to reach in their last few seasons.
John talks briefly about his first appearance in an interview he did for SNL’s Youtube channel during his third hosting gig (it’s at around 4:40:
I think whatever memory of have of this ep is mainly that I remember John Mulaney’s first appearance and remembering him being funny enough I got pleasantly surprised when he made another one several eps later…
The public employee sketch is, in explicably, on Youtube. There’s a comment criticizing Jim Downey for the piece, which is rare for Youtube comments sections (to know who the writer is [if Jim wrote this]). Such a long slog. This is another where Jason and Bobby show what lifesavers they are – it’s hard to imagine anyone else doing as much of a cleanup job. Jason through his perma-smarmy smirk (but as always with Jason, he’s too likeable to make the part TOO unpleasant), Bobby through his great deliveries – that awful, lengthy speech he has to give is perfectly performed on his part. He has to be annoying, but not so annoying that we get burned out on what we are watching.
Gabourey is so likeable, from the time she strikes a pose in the monologue you almost want to will her to do well. As @Ruby said, her stumbling doesn’t get in the way too badly for me (at least not in the window sketch, where she recovers and goes on to deliver most of her dialogue just fine). What bothers me more is how stereotypical almost all her roles are, other than the digital short (which is the highlight of the episode for me). It feels degrading, even if she goes through like a pro. Still, I hope she enjoyed the experience – she got a ton of hate for so many years, so it was a nice change to see her hosting SNL, being in the spotlight as herself and on her terms. The monologue, which I would normally pan, I managed to like just for this reason.
(and she attended the 40th anniversary, so I guess that means she did have a good experience)
I think Kenan said Steve Harvey initially wasn’t thrilled with his impression. If that is the case, I wonder if the tone of this sketch was why. I’m not sure if this is based on a real incident, but it has a very jarring “lol black people are stupid,” vibe; the way that Gabourey’s character is written compared to the white characters is also jarring.
It’s interesting that when Seth introduces Stefon, he lets viewers know Stefon isn’t new to the show – why they were willing to take this step in respecting continuity here yet rarely did with most recurring characters is odd. I do see why some feel Stefon was overexposed, and there are certain aspects that haven’t aged well (for a while the first few Stefon Update appearances were blocked on Youtube – I thought the use of the “t word” may have been why), but it’s such a turning point for Bill and also such a layered and fascinating performance from him. That’s why I can rewatch these and still enjoy myself – that and Mulaney’s writing. Somehow what should feel self-indulgent always feels like a trip we take with the character instead. It’s also the best use of Seth’s BFF-style anchorman portrayal – he and Stefon have such a loose, ambiguous relationship that the giggling and silliness make sense.
Promo (as always Andy makes these funnier than the episodes often are).
Hello Stooge. When Andy And The Host Are Spitting Cherries Into Each Other’s Mouth, They Had That Other Time When Julianna Margulies Was Feeding Her Children By Mouth Like The Way A Mother Bird Would Feed Her Baby Birds ! ! Probably, Nothing Would Be More Bizarre Than Feeding Children By Mouth Like They Were Birds !
Hello Stooge. When Seth Was Telling The Jokes About Recent Current Happenings, They Had That Other Time When Brad Hall Also Told Jokes About News Events. Nothing Could Be More Bizarre Than That
Is it just me or was season 34 awesome and this season really took a header? It reminds me of that transition in the mid 90s where the show was great and then suddenly it wasn’t anymore around ’94 and ’95. Just as then you have great cast members and hosts but it’s not working anymore.
“Overall, not a single laugh from me during this entire cold opening. So many of these Fredbama-addresses-the-nation cold openings are PURE DEATH. ” Yea I can’t stand his Obama impression, it’s so heartless and mediocre yet it seems like he’s trying way too hard, I always skip his Obama because I know it won’t do anything for me. Some people love Armisen but generally I don’t find him all that funny and he always has a sincerely creepy vibe to him (and not in a good way like Forte lol), which I’m sure he tries to pass off as ‘part of the act’. Or he tries wayyyy too hard in obvious desperation to win approval from people. All of his ex girlfriends say that he is a very weird and selfish sociopath type personality and I don’t doubt that he is.
Other than the Steve Harvey sketch briefly making me laugh I don’t think I so much as smirked this entire episode. The digital short was good too. This is getting awful and I don’t think I can even finish this season lol.
Other than the cold open and the awards show, I thought this episode was pretty solid.