Month: September 2020

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May 16, 2009 – Will Ferrell / Green Day (S34 E22)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

CHENEY IN MAKEUP
George W. Bush (WIF) asks Dick Cheney (DAH) to relinquish the spotlight

— Nice to see Darrell front-and-center in the cold opening of his final episode, especially given how much he’s disappeared in the second half of this season (hell, he didn’t even make any appearances in his penultimate episode).
— Darrell’s departure is quite a big deal in my SNL project, because, as I said in a recent review, it feels like I’ve been covering Darrell’s tenure forever by this point. To me, it feels almost like ages ago when I covered the season 21 premiere (Darrell’s first episode), even though it was only last October. (I guess reviewing episodes on a daily basis for such a long time does that to you.) Prior to this stage of my SNL project, I had never covered a cast member who’s consecutive years as a cast member lasted as long as this. As I said in my review of Darrell’s very first episode (link here), “Feels kinda odd seeing Darrell in his debut, knowing how very long we’re going to be seeing him in the cast. Even just saying the words ‘newbie Darrell Hammond’ feels weird.”
— Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush impression is always a welcome return.
— It’s very fitting that Darrell’s final episode turns out to be hosted by Will Ferrell, as they both joined the cast together during SNL’s big overhaul in 1995, and spent many years as castmates. For that reason, it’s charming seeing them interact with each other all throughout this particular cold opening.
— SNL’s been making quite a lot of references to the ShamWow guy around this point of the season, serving in hindsight as a time capsule of when those ShamWow commercials were prevalent.
— As usual, lots of funny lines from Ferrell’s Bush.
— I love Ferrell-as-Bush’s mention to Darrell’s Cheney of “the time you were dead for three days”, which we’re told was hidden from the public when it occurred.
— Good to see Darrell get one last LFNY as a cast member.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
Tony-nominee WIF gets unwanted laughs while performing a dramatic scene

— This is the second consecutive monologue in which the host ad-libs a humorous “I love you, too” to an audience member who shouts “I love you!” Unlike Justin Timberlake in the preceding monologue, Ferrell adds on to his “I love you, too…” with a “…more than you know.”
— The black-and-white photos of Ferrell doing theater are very funny.
— Fun concept of Ferrell doing a mock-dramatic one-man play.
— I like Ferrell’s occasional “Please no laughter” requests to the laughing audience.
— A very funny exaggerated Irish accent Ferrell’s using when speaking as the mother in the play.
STARS: ****


WADE BLASINGAME

— A surprising rerun of a fantastic older commercial from Ferrell’s years as a cast member. I like the idea of doing that, and kinda wish SNL would do it more often whenever a former cast member hosts. They did do it at least once prior to this, when they re-aired the classic original-era Swill commercial when Bill Murray hosted in season 24.
— Seeing this old footage of early 2000s-era cast members casually airing in a 2009 episode feels odd, but fascinating and fun (which is part of the reason why I feel it would be fun if SNL regularly re-aired an old commercial whenever a former cast member hosts, especially if it’s a commercial that features a lot of that cast member’s castmates from back in the day, like this Wade Blasingame commercial does). Also, seeing the still-on-the-show-in-2009 Darrell Hammond among these long-departed early 2000s-era cast members makes you realize just how freakin’ long he’s been on the show (and he was already a 6-year SNL veteran when this Wade Blasingame commercial originally aired!).
— Tonight’s airing of this old commercial cuts out a testimonial from Ana Gasteyer. No idea why. Would’ve been nice to see her among the other early 2000s-era cast members seen in this.


THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
(WIF) avoids unwanted attention of Dooneese

— This sketch has officially become recurring.
— This is the first Lawrence Welk Show/Dooneese sketch to have a male singer who the sisters perform with, which would go on to be a regular aspect of these sketches.
— Ferrell demonstrates his ability to get good laughs out of something as little as singing in a cheesy, cocky manner.
— This worked for me as a one-off sketch earlier this season, but the whole Dooneese routine feels very been-there-done-that in this second installment. Doesn’t work as a recurring sketch.
— This even ends the EXACT SAME WAY as the first installment, with Dooneese cheerily grabbing at the bubbles with her tiny hands.
STARS: **


CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Sean Connery (DAH), Kathie Lee Gifford (KRW), Burt Reynolds (NOM), Tom Hanks [real]

— The return of a legendary recurring sketch, and also the final appearance it would make in a regular SNL episode, as of 2020. (The only remaining appearance, as of 2020, is in SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special.)
— Fitting to have this sketch appear in Darrell’s final episode.
— I remember the inclusion of Kristen’s Kathie Lee Gifford impression in this sketch drove me (and a number of other online SNL fans) nuts back when this originally aired, as I couldn’t fucking STAND Kristen’s Kathie Lee impression back then and I felt the inclusion of it in this sketch was further proof of SNL’s growing favoritism towards and extreme over-utilization of Kristen. However, after having recently reviewed the Today sketch from two episodes prior to this, I’ve begun to warm up to Kristen’s Kathie Lee, so hopefully, I’ll have a more positive reception to her in this sketch.
— TOM HANKS!!! Randomly playing himself as a ridiculously dumb contestant! Absolutely brilliant idea.
— After his opening slam to Ferrell’s Alex Trebek, Darrell’s Sean Connery exclaims “Pow!”, which was a random new catchphrase of his in Shia LaBeouf’s season 33 monologue, though Darrell doesn’t deliver it quite as strong tonight, because he was distracted by a gaffe in which the wire on his pen got tangled on his arm.
— Uh-oh. I can already tell as soon as the “Catch These Men” category has been shown what dirty phrase it will be misread as by Darrell’s Connery later in this sketch (“Catch The Semen”). On one hand, I did already watch this sketch once before, back when it originally aired, so maybe that’s why I was able to pick out the dirty phrase so quickly in my current viewing, but on the other hand, I dunno, “Catch These Men”/“Catch The Semen” seems like a really obvious joke, and feels kinda lazy compared to funnier dirty category misreadings in other Celebrity Jeopardy sketches.
— Whaaaa? A contestant actually choosing the perpetual category Potent Potables??? That’s a first.
— I love Ferrell’s Trebek saying to Tom Hanks, after witnessing some of his idiocy, “I had such high hopes for you.”
— My newfound goodwill towards Kristen’s Kathie Lee has thankfully carried over into this sketch, as she’s not bothering me in this. However, her Kathie Lee shtick still doesn’t compare to the usual greatness from most of the contestants within these Celebrity Jeopardy sketches over the years. It feels a tad out of place here.
— And there’s the predictable and very meh “Catch The Semen” misreading. I did, however, get a laugh from Darrell’s Connery asking, during that gag, “Is that what the mustache is for, Trebek?”
— Whenever the camera cuts to Tom Hanks, I love Ferrell’s Trebek saying stuff like “Aaaaaaand he has his hand caught in a pickle jar” and “Aaaaaand he’s caught in a dry cleaning bag.” The latter bit with the dry cleaning bag is particularly fucking HILARIOUS. Tom’s facial expressions inside the plastic bag are comedy gold.
— Oh, fuck yeah! NORM MACDONALD returning out of nowhere as Burt Reynolds!!!! As if this sketch weren’t already so much fun. It’s too bad there have been some mild shortcomings in this sketch, because so many epic things about this sketch belong in a prime, A+ Celebrity Jeopardy.
— Every single moment of the Hanks stuff is so fucking classic. He’s selling the HELL out of this so perfectly.
— When Ferrell’s Trebek is walking away from Tom after Tom’s Final Jeopardy bit, I, as an SNL nerd, absolutely love the detail of Tom saying (in an apparent ad-lib) “Sibilance” into his pen, as a callback to an oddly memorable detail in the classic Wayne’s World Meets Aerosmith sketch that Tom appeared in in his season 15 hosting stint.
— Hilarious how Norm’s randomly-appearing Burt Reynolds has randomly disappeared during the Final Jeopardy segment, and Darrell’s Connery claims to a confused Ferrell-as-Trebek that Reynolds was never here to begin with.
STARS: ****½


INSIDE THE NBA
Charles Barkley (KET) loves (WIF)’s on-screen super promo

— In hindsight, it’s feels odd and empty to see that Inside The NBA apparently only had Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley as its hosts back in these days, before the line-up became a very popular quartet with the addition of Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.
— An interesting and rather unique use of an SNL host. This is the type of thing that Ferrell can effortlessly make very funny.
— Fun conceit with Kenan-as-Charles-Barkley’s fascination with the corny Mark promos that are slowly taking over this Inside The NBA broadcast.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Know Your Enemy”


WEEKEND UPDATE
incredulous SEM & AMP say “Really!?!” to Arizona State’s self-importance

the ghost of Harry Caray (WIF) fails to discuss steroids in baseball

— As a special occasion for this season finale, Seth welcomes back Amy Poehler (making her first SNL appearance since leaving the cast in December of this season) as tonight’s special guest co-anchor.
— Feels odd seeing Amy deliver Update jokes again after I’ve gotten so used to the solo Seth Meyers era of Update.
— Another reminder that we’re in the early stages of the Twitter era, with Seth’s First Twitter From Space joke.
— Good to see a Seth & Amy edition of “Really?!?”, especially after how odd it felt seeing Seth do one by himself earlier this season.
— This “Really?!?” segment isn’t working quite as well for me as usual, but I’m still getting a decent amount of laughs.
— Yesssss! The return of Ferrell’s Harry Caray, this time as a ghost, after his last appearance (way back in 1998) humorously had him still appearing alive despite acknowledging that he died.
— Very funny bit from Ferrell’s Caray about how the Predator would make a great ballplayer.
— Another great bit from Ferrell’s Caray about his meeting with “Pete Rose” in heaven.
— I like Seth’s reaction to his own Harrison Ford/Chewbacca joke.
STARS: ***


REMEMBRANCES
at a funeral, eulogies by Glenda Goodwin & others fail to pay respect

— A funeral-themed variation of the wedding toasts sketch from the Hugh Laurie episode earlier this season.
— I love the odd detail of Bill requesting that whoever has his missing watch place it inside an Ugg boot on top of the casket.
— Ha, Graham Yost, a strangely perfect name for a Will Ferrell character.
— Funny speech from Kristen’s oxygen tank lady character.
— Always welcome to see Forte’s Hamilton character, who always kills it in these sketches.
— Hamilton, after mentioning the full name of our president, Barack Hussein Obama: “I say his middle name because it matters.”
— I love how Hamilton’s speech randomly ends with “I took the watch”, as a callback to Bill’s missing watch.
— Despite just being an exact carbon copy of what he did in the aforementioned wedding toasts sketch, Bobby’s “WHAAAAAAT??? (*mic drop*)” bit made me laugh just as much as it did last time.
— Tonight’s cameofest continues with a VERY out-of-nowhere walk-on from Maya Rudolph as her Glenda Goodwin character, of all people.
— The very random “Amazing Sasquatch” song that Glenda Goodwin is singing is so dumb and bizarre that it’s having me laughing out loud.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “21 Guns”


GOODNIGHT SAIGON
traumatized by a Vietnam vacation, Fritz (WIF) sings “Goodnight Saigon”

Anne Hathaway, Paul Rudd, Artie Lange, Elisabeth Moss [real], others join Fritz

— Oh, here we go. A very well-remembered piece.
— Ooh, as an IMMEDIATE sign that we’re in for a special sketch, the setting of this sketch is at Grand Central Station, utilizing the fact that SNL’s home base stage is modeled after Grand Central Station. When this originally aired, I optimistically took this as a sign that this was going to be the final episode with this home base stage, and that SNL was going to build a new one for the following season. Sadly, that didn’t turn out to happen – in fact, today, 11 years later, SNL still hasn’t changed the home base stage, which was first used as far back as 2003(!!). Yet, for some inexplicable reason, SNL has no problem randomly remodeling the musical guest stage every now and then, at the most random times (December 2014 and April 2018). Honestly, I’ve completely given up hope that SNL will ever change the home base stage again. And, damn, you gotta admit, wouldn’t this Goodnight Saigon sketch have been an appropriate farewell to this particular home base stage?
— A great and intriguing turn with a war-traumatized Ferrell suddenly getting up and singing a segment of the song “Goodnight Saigon” while shaking maracas.
— Hilarious reveal that Ferrell “being in Vietnam” meant that he was just there on vacation four years prior.
— I love how more and more cast members, all playing instruments, are joining Ferrell’s occasional “Goodnight Saigon” singing, to the degree that he’s eventually joined by the entire cast, even the Weekend Update-only Seth Meyers!
— Lots of fun back-and-forths between Ferrell sitting at the table with his friends and him performing “Goodnight Saigon” with the rest of the cast.
— This already epic-feeling sketch is now getting even more epic, with Ferrell’s musical number being joined not only by tonight’s musical guest and tonight’s earlier special guests, but new special guests (Anne Hathaway, Paul Rudd, Elisabeth Moss), continuing tonight’s cameofest.
— As if the aforementioned special guests appearing in this sketch weren’t already surprising and fun enough, now we get the shocker to end all shockers: ARTIE LANGE!!! Holy hell. The even greater and funnier thing about this cameo from him is that he made an appearance earlier that same night on MADtv’s big series finale. On a similar note, with MADtv having debuted in fall 1995, just a few weeks after Darrell’s SNL debut, and with MADtv officially ending on May 16, 2009, the same night of both tonight’s SNL episode and Darrell’s final episode as a cast member, this means that both Darrell’s SNL tenure and MADtv’s run spanned pretty much the exact same period of time.
— When everybody is exiting the stage one-by-one, we get a great little sighting of Artie Lange and Bobby both appearing in the same shot, with Bobby right behind Artie (screencap below), which is noteworthy because lots of people back in these early days of Bobby’s SNL tenure used to point out his strong resemblance to Artie.

— I like the ending with the guys at Ferrell’s table realizing that this very elaborate musical number was just a ruse for Ferrell to leave without paying for his meal…….once again.
— Overall, an absolutely legendary sketch. Such a blast, and, unlike a lot of SNL’s future cameo-filled sketches that this sketch is said to have unfortunately paved the way for, the cameos here actually added to the fun, random, and epic feel of this already-unique sketch, and it was also very fun to see all of those special guests working together in this specific context.
— With this being the final aired sketch of this season, this is easily one of the best season-ending pieces in SNL history, and is (along with some prior season-ending sketches like the So Long Farewell number from Phil Hartman’s final episode as a cast member, and the Grease number from Jimmy Fallon’s final episode) a great argument for why SNL should end every season with a big, epic piece utilizing the show’s entire current cast.
— Speaking of this being the final sketch of this season, that apparently wasn’t planned. After the commercial break that follows this sketch, SNL just shows the SNL Band immediately playing the show back to ANOTHER commercial break, which, as I always say whenever SNL does that (including just ONE EPISODE AGO when Justin Timberlake hosted), is a sign that a planned sketch got cut at the last minute. It’s hard for me to fathom why SNL intended to do another sketch tonight AFTER the show-stopping Goodnight Saigon piece. I wonder what the cut sketch was.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS

— At the end of his goodnights speech, Ferrell gives a special mention to Darrell, who the camera then shows a close-up of while everybody applauds him. Apparently, this is SNL hinting to us that this may be the final episode for the 14-year SNL veteran. However, his departure would end up never being confirmed over the summer that followed this season. In fact, there would even be some news articles that summer saying Darrell is in negotiations to return for a 15th season in the cast. PLUS, he would also appear in the two Weekend Update Thursday specials that would air on the two Thursdays before SNL’s official season 35 premiere. We had to wait until the opening montage in that season premiere to find out that, despite what the aforementioned news articles said, and despite his aforementioned appearance in the two Weekend Update Thursday specials, Darrell was, in fact, NOT in the cast anymore, which caused a lot of shock and confusion among SNL fans back then (including myself). Then, shortly after that season premiere, I recall there being a news article announcing that, despite no longer being in the cast, Darrell would be making lots of special guest appearances that season, ala Jan Hooks in seasons 18 and 19 (only without the “Special guest appearance by…” credit in the opening montage that Jan received). Indeed, we will be seeing quite a lot of Darrell cameos in the first half of season 35.
— Ha, in true Norm Macdonald fashion, both he and Artie Lange can be seen eventually ditching the goodnights by playfully running off the stage together towards the end of these goodnights. A funny sight.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid season finale, and there were two all-time very memorable pieces in which SNL went all out (Celebrity Jeopardy and Goodnight Saigon). Those two pieces had even more impact in this episode than they would’ve in most episodes, because there was a much-smaller-than-usual number of segments in this episode, with only three sketches pre-Update and two post-Update. (Again, we apparently were going to get three sketches post-Update, but the last one seemingly got cut at the last minute.)


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Goodnight Saigon
Celebrity Jeopardy
Monologue
Cheney in Makeup
Remembrances
Inside The NBA
Weekend Update
The Lawrence Welk Show


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Justin Timberlake)
a step up


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2007-08)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 35 begins, with host Megan Fox. We get two new female additions to the cast, one of whom has a notorious unplanned moment in her first big showcase that night.

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May 9, 2009 – Justin Timberlake / Ciara (S34 E21)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE BANK STRESS TEST
Timothy Geithner (WLF) reviews banks’ cavalier answers to stress test

— Another Timothy Geither cold opening somewhat soon after the last one? Well, I did like the last one, so I guess I can’t complain.
— Amusing how Will’s Geithner is so lenient that he decided to stick with a “pass/pass” grading system.
— Some laughs from the incorrect answers given by the various banks, though I’m not enjoying this quite as much as I did the previous Geithner cold opening.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
having done SNL thrice, singing host knows his way around backstage

— Musical monologue, but at least it makes sense to do one with Justin Timberlake.
— A fun “I think I know my way around” conceit to this song, and I’m always a sucker for host-goes-around-the-studio monologues.
— Justin’s navigating this around-the-studio trip well.
— Oh, as an SNL nerd, I absolutely LOVE the turn the song takes towards the end, with Justin musically namechecking all of this season’s hosts, in random order. Very fun. To make one minor nitpick, though, he mentions Tina Fey among the hosts, even though she didn’t host this season (though made lots of cameos).
STARS: ***½


MOM CELEBRITY TRANSLATOR
Mom Celebrity Translator deciphers stars’ names mangled by mothers

— A relatable commercial, and a fitting choice to do this in an episode airing the day before Mother’s Day.
— I particularly like the part with the translator working backwards, un-translating the name Jake Gyllenhaal into Joe Geronimo.
STARS: ***½


TARGET
Target Lady’s accident-prone friend Peg (host) is excited about a date

— Didn’t like the overly-cartoonish gag with wind blowing as Bobby makes a fast exit off-camera.
— The appearance of Justin’s memorable Classic Peg character. So memorable, that, to me, this character feels like she became recurring, even though this is the only time she ever appeared.
— Very good characterization from Justin here. This Peg character of his is much funnier than the completely forgettable character he previously played in a Target Lady sketch when hosting in season 32.
— I don’t know why, but in these past two Target Lady sketches, I’ve been finding the Target Lady character less and less annoying. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d start coming around on Target Lady. Maybe part of the reason I’ve come around on her is because she now comes off mildly tolerable and likable to me compared to the truly unbearable and very one-dimensional characters Kristen’s debuted in the second half of this season. I may have picked too late to start liking this character, though, given the fact that, not counting the appearance Target Lady makes among other recurring characters in Ryan Phillippe’s season 35 monologue, nor the Target Lady sketch that appears when Kristen hosts in season 38, we have only one more Target Lady sketch remaining in Kristen’s tenure as a cast member, and it doesn’t appear until years later in 2012, believe it or not!
STARS: ***


IMMIGRANT TALE
host’s immigrant great-great-grandpa Cornelius (host) proves prescient

— A memorable sketch, whether you’re a fan of it or not.
— A quintessential example of how very self-referential, meta, and wink-wink Justin tends to get on SNL, which, at times, can certainly be a bit much for me (and I’m sure especially for certain SNL fans who can’t stand Justin as a host), but this particular old-timey Ellis Island setting with Justin playing his own ancestor is making it work for me.
— Good bit right now making fun of Justin’s overabundance of cameos on SNL this season.
— I love Andy entering as an ancestor of his own: Moishe Samberg.
— Justin, to Andy: “You know what…Jew?” Andy: “There it is!”
STARS: ****


MOTHER LOVER
(Susan Sarandon) & (Patricia Clarkson) get Dick In A Box

 

— The follow up to the legendary Dick In A Box. The ending of the Immigrant Tale sketch that preceded this was a very fitting way to lead into this short, even if it wasn’t a direct segue.
— I love how this short opens with a callback to the ending of Dick In A Box (in which Andy and Justin’s characters get arrested), as we see Andy and Justin’s characters exiting a detention complex and discarding their hole-containing boxes from the Dick In A Box short.
— A very surprising and fantastic use of Patricia Clarkson and Susan Sarandon. I remember being shocked back at this time in 2009 that SNL was able to get them to participate in this.
— A hilarious and epic turn the song takes when it suddenly becomes about Andy and Justin “(*bleep*)ing each other’s moms”.
— Plenty of funny gags and visuals in Andy and Justin’s scenes with each other’s mothers.
— I love the key change portion of the song when Andy and Justin are singing right into each other’s faces with their noses pressed against each other (a.k.a. the portion of the song that famously ends with the lyric “I’ll never use a rubber”).
— Great lyric: “This is the second best idea we’ve ever had”.
— Very funny bit regarding the framed photo of Justin when Andy and Patricia Clarkson are about to make love in bed.
— Overall, another classic Digital Short starring these two characters. I’m glad Lonely Island was able to do a Dick In The Box follow-up that was still fantastic and holds its own, instead of being a lazy carbon copy of Dick In A Box.
STARS: *****


SURGERY CENTER
singing & dancing mascot supplants the promoter of a health club (WLF)

— Meh. This again.
— Justin’s song parodies here somehow feel even less exciting to me than the ones from previous installments of this sketch. Usually, despite my dislike of these sketches, Justin’s energy is at least admirable, but it’s doing NOTHING for me in tonight’s installment.
— Okay, I do like Justin’s “Poker Face” spoof just now. This also, in hindsight, serves as an interesting time capsule of this period where I only just started to become aware of Lady Gaga, as that “Poker Face” song was inescapable at the time.
— After the aforementioned upswing in this sketch, my enthusiasm has unfortunately died back down.
STARS: **


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
Jessica Biel [real] introduces musical guest & host


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & host perform “Love Sex Magic”


WEEKEND UPDATE
David Paterson (FRA) & Eliot Spitzer (BIH) consider their prospects

Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Leonard Nimoy [real] defend the new Star Trek

— Another instance of an occasional routine I love, in which Seth re-tells the same joke (the Sargaard & Gyllenhaal Married joke, in tonight’s case) several times in a row, with a different punchline each time. I also love his “Oh, there’s more” ad-lib after the audience’s tepid reaction to one of those jokes.
— I find it fun to see Bill and Fred’s Eliot Spitzer and David Paterson impression paired together. I remember this commentary of theirs being fun.
— I love Bill’s goofy deep-voiced laugh as Spitzer throughout this commentary.
— It amuses me how Fred’s Paterson has now gotten to the point where he looks into the camera with both eyes open each time he slams New Jersey.
— As I remembered, fun performances from both Bill and Fred here, and I’m getting good laughs from some of their lines.
— Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Seth’s Bird Smuggler Arrested joke is SNL’s very first mention of Twitter. Just to show you how (relatively) long ago this was, Seth’s Twitter reference here mentions accessing Twitter on a Blackberry.
— Funny reaction shots of Kenan and Bobby as upset Star Trek nerds in the audience during Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto’s defense of the new Star Trek movie.
— Good to see a Leonard Nimoy cameo on SNL.
— Very funny “dickheads” line from Nimoy.
— For once, we got a solo Seth Meyers-anchored Weekend Update that only contains two guest commentaries instead of three or four. Still a long-feeling Update, though. I guess I should just accept that as the norm now.
STARS: ***½


THE BARRY GIBB TALK SHOW
Nancy Pelosi (KRW) and others discuss the economy

— (*sigh*) Much like the Dancing Mascot sketches, here we have another tired staple of Timberlake episodes. While, unlike the Dancing Mascot sketches, I actually loved Barry Gibb Talk Show in its debut, I’ve never cared for it as a recurring sketch and I feel it should’ve stayed a great one-off.
— As I always say, though, Jimmy Fallon puts his fucking ALL into these Barry Gibb sketches.
— There goes Justin’s obligatory character break that occurs in seemingly every Barry Gibb Talk Show sketch.
STARS: **


PIRATES
shipping mixup arms Disney actors for a Pirates Of The Caribbean show

— Only our second and final original, non-recurring sketch all night.
— Funny reveal of the Disney actors having the Somali pirates’ shipment of real weapons.
— This sadly feels like Jason’s first appearance all night, until I remembered he was in some stuff much earlier in the episode.
— Not only am I really enjoying this sketch, but I absolutely LOVE the structure of it, with all the various sets, locations, and scene changes. This has the feel of the type of long, epic, movie-like sketches that were far more common in the 70s and early 80s. It’s too bad SNL doesn’t do sketches like this more often in more recent decades like this.
— Great sarcasm from Jason’s boss character.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Never Ever”


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Other than a few tired and unnecessary Timberlake episode staples (Dancing Mascot, Barry Gibb Talk Show), I enjoyed this episode, and there were a few strong pieces. Strangely, the overall amount of segments this episode contained felt a little smaller than usual. Apparently, there was a sketch planned to air between Ciara’s second musical performance and the goodnights, but the show seemingly ran long and had to cut the scheduled sketch at the last minute, judging by how they did the “come back from a commercial break only to show the SNL Band play the show back to ANOTHER commercial break” move they usually do whenever a scheduled sketch gets scrapped at the last minute.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Mother Lover
Pirates
Immigrant Tale
Mom Celebrity Translator
Monologue
Weekend Update
Target
The Bank Stress Test
Surgery Center
The Barry Gibb Talk Show


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Zac Efron)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 34 comes to an end, with host Will Ferrell. It’s the final episode for 14-year SNL veteran Darrell Hammond, as well as featured players Casey Wilson and Michaela Watkins.

Posted on

April 11, 2009 – Zac Efron / Yeah Yeah Yeahs (S34 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OBAMA RETURNS
pesky Joe Biden (JAS) won’t let Barack Obama (FRA) get back to work

— As I’ve mentioned sometime before, I hate how recent SNL eras like this often have the audience pointlessly applaud when someone at the beginning of the cold opening starts speaking. I especially don’t like it in this particular cold opening, because it distracts from Jason-as-Joe-Biden’s funny “Get me Jack Bauer!” opening line that he says into the intercom, and the applause causes him to repeat the line to less comedic effect.
— TWO consecutive episodes with an Obama-in-the-Oval-Office cold opening? At least this one isn’t an address to the nation, plus at least this one has Jason’s Biden as the much-needed comic relief.
— A thin premise, but Jason is selling it well in the way that he typically can, especially as Biden.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
tween girls (KRW) & (ABE) & a middle-aged man (FRA) are huge fans of host

 

— Zac Efron literally sliding onto the stage on his knees. An energetic and rather unique monologue entrance at this point of SNL’s run.
— When this monologue originally aired, a lot of online SNL fans, including myself, initially confused Abby for Casey in the first cutaway to Abby and Kristen as Zac Efron fangirls in the audience. (Even the SNL episode guide I borrow my sketch synopses from erroneously credits Casey in Abby’s role in this monologue, as seen here.) It was something about Abby’s facial expressions that caused the mix-up among us fans. Hell, even watching this monologue now, 11 years later, I still, at certain points, find Abby to have an uncanny resemblance to Casey with the facial expressions she’s making in this. The resemblance is almost downright freaky.
— Zac’s direct-to-camera thank-you message to tweens is actually very funny.
— Blah at Fred playing not only yet another gay role, but apparently a child predator role (at least leave the latter to Will Forte, who has the ability to make that type of role funny without making me groan.) I do admit, though, to getting a laugh from Fred’s definition of the “tween” knockoff word “twifty”: someone between ages 40 and 50.
STARS: ***


TODAY
Kathie Lee Gifford’s (KRW) son Cody (host) takes after his mom

— (*groan*) This again.
— Right at the start of this Today installment, Kristen’s Kathie Lee Gifford actually got a laugh from me for once – a very guilty, oh-so-wrong laugh, with her random, un-PC imitation of how deaf people talk. I also like Michaela-as-Hoda-Kotb’s nervous reaction to that.
— I don’t know why, but I’m actually finding myself being amused by Kristen’s Kathie Lee shtick so far in tonight’s Today installment, which is surprising, given how I usually can’t stand her in these sketches. Perhaps something about the atmosphere of tonight’s general episode is making this sketch work for me…so far. We’ll see if my goodwill is going to last for the remainder of this sketch.
— Odd how Michaela’s Hoda sets up a tape of celebrity congratulations messages in a way that makes it seem as if we’re going to see various messages, only for it to end up being ONE: Fred as Penny Marshall. In dress rehearsal, this sketch actually had more celebrity messages during this portion of the sketch, including Jason as Harry Connick Jr. singing (IIRC) “It Had To Be You”.
— Zac is doing a good imitation of Kristen’s Kathie Lee shtick.
— I loved seeing Michaela’s Hoda finally lose her temper and bitterly smash a bottle over Kristen-as-Kathie-Lee’s head (which unfortunately has no effect on her).
— Overall, nice to see a Kathie Lee/Hoda Today sketch actually work for me for once. I wonder if I’ve finally come around on this recurring sketch, or if it’s just tonight’s episode where this recurring sketch works for me. I guess we’ll see when I cover the subsequent installments of this sketch (plus Kristen-as-Kathie Lee’s appearance in an upcoming Celebrity Jeopardy sketch in this season’s finale).
STARS: ***


GILLY
Gilly intimidates & terrorizes her fellow students at a science fair

— (*groan x infinity*) These Gilly sketches have officially become recurring.
— With this being placed right after the Today sketch, this is another episode this season that makes me feel more like I’m watching an episode of The Kristen Wiig Show rather than an episode of SNL. SNL’s favoritism towards Kristen shouldn’t get to the point where they bunch all of her sketches back-to-back at the top of the show.
— Pretty fun accent from Zac’s foreign exchange student character.
— As usual, I’m actually getting mild laughs from the supporting characters in this sketch, but the actual Gilly portions of this sketch are fucking insufferable for me.
STARS: *½


THE ALLIANCE OF DIRECT MAIL MARKETERS
direct mail marketing rep’s (JAS) defense of junk mail is unpersuasive

— Jason’s friendly spokesman character exaggerating the “usefulness” of junk mail is providing several laughs.
— The photo they use as an example of a citizen with an STD (the second-to-last above screencap for this sketch) is the same photo that was previously used as the photo of Amy Poehler’s character’s allegedly-slutty dorm roommate in the NCAA Tournament Pool Party sketch from the season 32 Peyton Manning-hosted episode.
— A lot of good little laughs all throughout this.
— Fantastic spokesman performance from Jason, well-executing this commercial’s Jim Downey-written (I assume) dry humor.
STARS: ***½


UNDERAGE DRINKING
of the drinkers in a bar, (ANS) & (host) are by far the least underage

— Very funny gag with the kids at one table simultaneously taking a bomb shot, by each dropping their shot glass into their beer mug and drinking both of those drinks together.
— Hilarious line about gerbils (little girls who go after older guys) being the opposite of cougars.
— Funny brief walk-on from Kenan as a bouncer.
— I like the PSA twist at the end with Bill reprising his impression of “disgraced former New York governor” Eliot Spitzer.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Zero”


WEEKEND UPDATE
New Jerseyite same-sex couple approves of Vermont’s gay marriage statute

after bashing host, Angie Tempura goes gaga for him when he appears

dissed by the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Jon Bovi moves into other genres

— Oh, no. The return of the Same-Sex Couple From New Jersey, after a (merciful) two-and-a-half year absence. Despite being progressive in regards to SNL’s portrayal of gay people, I’ve never found these characters funny.
— (*groan*) That hacky “whacked a guy” joke from Fred and Bill…
— The second and final appearance of Michaela’s Angie “Bitch, Pleeze” Tempura character. I was disheartened to have a negative reaction to her when recently reviewing her first appearance (that negative reaction of mine surprised me, given how much I used to like this character back when this season originally aired), but I hope to have a better reception towards this second appearance of hers.
— I did get a laugh from the way Michaela delivered her first “Biiiiiiitch, pleeeeeze” in tonight’s commentary.
— Speaking of Michaela’s good delivery, something about her delivery of the line about Nicolas Cage making her want to barf blood cracked me up.
— Despite my more positive reaction to tonight’s Angie Tempura commentary so far, there’s still a weird anti-comedy vibe I’m getting from this character, and I’m not even sure that’s what Michaela is going for.
— Tempura’s uncharacteristic fangirl-y reaction to Zac Efron’s walk-on is funny.
— I’m glad that I enjoyed tonight’s overall Angie Tempura commentary MUCH more than I enjoyed her first one. Too bad this is her final appearance, but then again, after that ending with Zac, I’m not sure where else they could’ve taken this character if she made any future appearances had Michaela been given a second season on SNL. That ending with Tempura happily walking off with Zac seemed like a very fitting conclusion for her as a recurring character, whether SNL intended that or not.
— I see Seth is now introducing a third Update commentary. (*sigh*) Would it kill SNL to do a solo Seth Meyers-era Weekend Update with only one or two guest commentaries? Four months into this solo Seth era of Update, and we have yet to get a single Update with less than three commentaries. Are they padding out these Updates with so many commentaries because the Update writers perhaps aren’t familiar with how to write Update for only one anchorperson, after having gotten so used to Update having two anchors for so many consecutive seasons?
— Oh, turns out tonight’s third Update guests are Jon Bovi. Seems really soon to bring them back after their previous Update commentary from only three episodes prior, but I’m certainly not complaining, as I absolutely love these characters.
— Jon Bovi’s “Good Medicine” song has stuck in my memory over the years.
— Absolutely hilarious bit with Seth questioning Jon Bovi on why they consider “speedstick” to be a suitable opposite word for “sure” during their opposite version of the song “That’s What Friends Are For”.
— As always, Jon Bovi is a fucking blast. SNL sure lets these Jon Bovi Update commentaries go on for a LONG time, but again, no complaints from me when their commentaries are as damn fun as they’ve been.
STARS: ***


HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 4: NEW SENIOR CLASS
Troy (host) reveals lack of singing in real world

— The closest to a noteworthy role that the sadly-fading-away Casey Wilson has gotten in a damn good while.
— I like Casey’s cheery and smiley “Okay” after Zac sternly tells her “Back off!”
— Good conceit to this High School Musical parody, with Zac’s character deflating the students’ spirit by letting them know the horrors of what the real world is like after you graduate from this particular school.
— Darrell-as-Walt-Disney’s bitter, deadpan line about “Jews” cracked me up. A good use of Darrell’s extremely low-energy performance style from these later days of his SNL tenure.
— Overall, actually a well-done High School Musical sketch.
STARS: ****


LEAVING FOR WAR
freakishly fast (CAW) chases her doughboy beau’s (host) departing train

— Wow, I thought it was a big deal that the fading-away Casey Wilson got a semi-noteworthy role in the High School Musical sketch that preceded this, but that’s nothing compared to this, as Casey gets an actual STARRING role! Feels like it’s been almost ages since the last time she had the sole lead comedic role of a sketch (I’m not counting co-starring roles in this case).
— I like the effects SNL is doing to make it look like the train is starting to take off, complete with street lights passing by the screen.
— Very fun premise to this, with Casey chasing down the speeding train that Zac is on. Good use of a greenscreen, too.
— Bobby temporarily steals this sketch with his hilarious brief appearance, and, as I always say, I always like the pairing of him and Casey.
— Great performance from Casey all throughout this sketch, and I love the part with her immediately returning with a fish after she fell into a creek off-camera.
— When this sketch originally aired, at this late point of this season, it gave me renewed hope on Casey’s chances of being brought back for the following season. Sadly, she would end up NOT being brought back, and this sketch, instead of being a last-ditch effort that saved her from getting fired, would instead end up being her final SNL lead role. At least she went out on a good note.
STARS: ****


GINO’S PIZZA ROLLS
actress’ (FRA) frenetic line reading ruins a pizza roll commercial shoot

— Not only do we get Fred in his bazillionth drag role (and his second one tonight alone), but, at first glance when this sketch starts, the choice to have a man play this particular female role seems random.
— I admit to getting a good laugh from Fred’s first “HEY! I! AM! YOUR! MOTHEEERRRRRRRR!”
— As the aforementioned joke repeats and escalates, I’m having very mixed feelings, but I think I’m leaning more towards the “I don’t like this” side, sorry to say.
— I don’t care for the bit right now with Fred’s character filming a whole bunch of over-the-top takes in a row.
— I admit that I originally found this sketch to be pretty much a laugh riot back when it originally aired, which was back in the days when Fred was one of my favorite members of the then-current cast and he could do no wrong in my eyes back then (for the most part). As I pointed out in some recent reviews, I’ve been disheartened to recently discover in my SNL project that Fred’s work in seasons 32-34 is NOWHERE near as consistently good as I had remembered (hell, I’d argue he’s had far more misses than hits in the season I’m currently reviewing). And now, though this isn’t quite as bad, I can’t help but see this sketch as a precursor to the particularly annoying, unfunny drag roles Fred would do quite a bit in what are known by a number of SNL fans as Fred’s official bad years (seasons 35-38), which we are soon approaching.
— For such a young actor not experienced in sketch comedy, Zac’s doing a great job keeping a perfectly straight face at Fred goofily yelling in his face throughout this sketch.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Maps”


FOOT RUB
(JAS) teaches little brother (host) foot rub technique by giving him one

— Jason has been all over tonight’s episode. A very strong night for him.
— Very funny line from Jason about Zac wanting to get his “ranch dressing” in his girlfriend’s “Hidden Valley”.
— Great character from Jason, and I love his various quirks.
— Hilarious running bit involving the crusty t-shirt, baby oil, and Lane Bryant catalogues that Jason “mysteriously” keeps by the table.
— A hilarious foot rub sequence. I particularly love the Batman “Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na” bit Jason does during it. Jason is performing this whole sketch so damn well. One of his best performances ever.
— Very funny climax to this sketch, with Jason getting so into the romantic music that he almost puts Zac’s foot in his mouth. The audience goes wild during this part.
— Overall, while I’ve always liked this sketch a lot from my past viewing of it back when it originally aired, my current viewing has made me find this sketch even better than I did in the past, so much so, that it’s now officially become a new favorite of mine. Such a fantastic and very underrated sketch. Literally just about every single moment in it hit with me.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode. The post-Weekend Update half in particular had a lot of strong pieces, especially the final sketch, which is an underappreciated Jason Sudeikis gem. This episode in general had such a good vibe that it even made me enjoy some recurring bits that I didn’t enjoy previously (Today, Angie Tempura).


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Foot Rub
Leaving For War
High School Musical 4: New Senior Class
Underage Drinking
The Alliance of Direct Mail Marketers
Today
Weekend Update
Obama Returns
Monologue
Gino’s Pizza Rolls
Gilly


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Seth Rogen)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Justin Timberlake

Posted on

April 4, 2009 – Seth Rogen / Phoenix (S34 E19)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

OBAMA’S BUSINESS RULINGS
Barack Obama (FRA) passes judgment on product category winners & losers

— The idea of breaking down which brand of certain products will get a government subsidy and which won’t has some promise, but Fred’s weak and dull Obama impression isn’t the best way to execute it. I guess it’s still better than just having Fred’s Obama deliver a direct-to-camera speech, like he does in most of these presidential address cold openings.
— I’m getting some small chuckles from some of the products given or not given a subsidy, but no big laughs from me.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
audience members prefer Paul Blart, Mall Cop & pre-weightloss host

— I got a laugh from Seth Rogen’s meta bit about how the second time you host, SNL gets lazy and has you take questions from the audience.
— Some funny lines making fun of how there were two mall cop movies around this time (Paul Blart and Observe & Report).
— Pretty solid bits with Bill as a pizza deliveryman and Bobby as a heavyset Seth Rogen lookalike.
STARS: ***


THE FAST & THE BI-CURIOUS
rival drivers (host) & (ANS) exude gayness

— Meh, a very dumb premise for a Fast And The Furious parody.
— Overall, nothing about this commercial worked for me. Not the lame homoerotic humor, not Abby’s grossed-out facial reactions, nothing.
STARS: *


SAVE THE FUNNIES
Dick Tracy (JAS) & other funny pages denizens want to save newspapers

 

— A variation of the fantastic Save Broadway sketch from earlier this season, right down to having Jason play the character holding the meeting.
— As someone who was OBSESSED with Archie comics when he was a kid, I love the inclusion of Bill and Abby as Archie and Veronica.
— Judging from Kenan’s look in the background, he looks like he’s playing the same character he played in the Save Broadway sketch. He’s wearing the exact same wig and clothes.
— Bobby has played a cat in both the Save Broadway sketch and this.
— Just like last time in the Broadway sketch, we get a bit with Jason being told “That’s racist”.
— Also similar to last time, immediately after Jason claims he’s not racist, he automatically mistakes Kenan for being from a black comic strip (which I guess is why Kenan is dressed the same way he was in the Save Broadway sketch). I feel like I should be annoyed by this particular gag reprisal, but the fact that this has become a running gag actually tickles me.
— Feels a little odd but interesting seeing Andy’s Cathy in this sketch and not on Weekend Update.
— I’m not familiar with the Far Side comic strip, but the cutaway to Paula Pell made me laugh.
— (*groan*) Here we have yet another display of Fred’s classic Asian stereotype routine.
— What a lousy ending with Fred.
— Overall, very mixed feelings from me. This pales badly in comparison to the classic Save Broadway sketch from earlier this season, but I still got a decent amount of laughs throughout this. If I hadn’t seen the Save Broadway sketch, I probably would’ve had a little more appreciation for this Save The Funnies sketch as its own entity. Still a horrible ending in this sketch, though.
STARS: ***


LA RIVISTA DELLA TELEVISIONE CON VINNY VEDECCI
Vinny Vedecci thinks host is a Bear Man

— Cue the obligatory “Vinny Vedecci starts the interview by speaking to the interviewee in Italian, the confused interviewee explains they don’t speak Italian, leading to Vedecci getting into an argument with Fred’s character”. It’s a shame this otherwise fun recurring sketch always has to open with such a formulaic beginning. However, they did add something a little new to that formulaic beginning tonight, with Fred’s character immediately taking off his glasses when Rogen says a man with glasses was the one who told him the interview would be done in English.
— Funny conceit with Rogen being known as the Bear Man in Italy. And when Vedecci is running down the Italian titles of Rogen’s movies, I like the meta bit with Vedecci saying Superbad’s Italian title is “Bearman And A Very, Very Handsome Gentleman” as we’re shown a photo of Rogen and Bill Hader’s Superbad characters.
— Another funny instance of Bill, as Vedecci, doing an impression of the interviewee.
— Good bit with the bottle of Pellegrino in a bear trap.
STARS: ***½


LIKE A BOSS
insecure bigshot ANS describes his supervisory doings

— When this Digital Short originally aired, I felt it was both below par and too been-there-done-that for Lonely Island standards, and I was then kinda surprised to see the huge popularity it ended up taking on, leading me to deem this short vastly overrated. However, I will go into this short with an open mind in my current viewing, in hopes that I’ll gain a higher opinion of it.
— Good style to this Digital Short’s conceit, and some really funny visuals throughout, such as Andy taking a dump on the desk of the co-worker who rejected him.
— Overall, while I couldn’t find much to say during this, I found this short to be MUCH better than I originally deemed it. I’m glad to have come around on it. However, it’s definitely still not a classic to me. Lonely Island has funnier and more epic music video Digital Shorts than this.
STARS: ****


PHONE VOICES
(ANS), (BIH), (host) employ funny voices when talking on their cellphones

— I love the premise to this. This feels like a simplistic but effective premise that would’ve appeared in an earlier SNL era. Kind of a timeless feel to this type of sketch (ignoring the technology involving the cellphone usage).
— This sketch is a blast with the various phone voices Bill, Andy, and Rogen are using. Bill’s voices are particularly great. Such a fun display of Bill’s knack for doing fantastic cartoonish voices.
— Fred makes yet another bad walk-on at the end of a sketch. For me, he’s hurt the great momentum of this sketch.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Lisztomania”


WEEKEND UPDATE
SEM critiques the gift exchange between Barack Obama & Queen Elizabeth

bargaining Rod Blagojevich (JAS) wants to be an undercover governor

Barack Obama’s visit to Europe has inspired some Jean K. Jean riffs

Angelina Jolie (ABE) outmaneuvers fellow baby-seeker Madonna (KRW)

— Wow, a very strong run-on delivery from Meyers during his Obama Gift Exchange rant. This biting rant feels more like something from the current-era Weekend Updates with Colin Jost and Michael Che, as it doesn’t follow the usual “simple set-up, simple punchline” formula of Meyers’ Update jokes.
— I didn’t remember Jason’s Rod Blagojevich impression lasting THIS long. I thought his final appearance was in January of this season.
— Are Meyers and Jason just trying to amuse themselves with the seemingly ad-libbed bit with Meyers making various guesses on what Jason-as-Blagojevich’s undercover name might be? This feels too “inside joke-y” for my likes, plus the names that Meyers is guessing just aren’t that funny.
— Despite a decent start, this overall Blagojevich commentary did not do it for me.
— I think this is Jean K. Jean’s first Update appearance where he’s sitting next to Meyers instead of Amy Poehler, for obvious reasons.
— The usual with Jean K. Jean, overall. Some laughs, and Kenan’s typical charm carries the bit and makes it fun. I will say, though, that I could really do without those dance breaks in his commentaries.
— This Madonna commentary from Kristen is a good way to work in the usual walk-on from Abby as Angelina Jolie, and to keep those walk-ons of hers from getting too old. I like how Kristen’s Madonna and Abby’s Angelina are in a competition with each other on where they adopt their babies from.
— Great line from Abby’s Angelina about her Russian baby being a baby inside a baby inside a baby.
STARS: ***


CORPORATE MEETING
(host)’s dub of Grease soundtrack onto corporate CD has co-workers fuming

— During the first playing of the “You’re The One That I Want” song, I like the camera constantly cutting back and forth between Rogen’s ashamed face and Fred’s very tense staredown of him.
— Odd structure to this sketch, but the various tense close-ups of everyone are a funny contrast to the upbeat “You’re The One That I Want” song playing. Bill’s tense close-up is particularly funny.
— I like how, after one of the times he’s played a portion of “You’re The One That I Want”, Fred angrily says to Rogen “I mean…Lee!”, then stares him down again for a few seconds before just playing another portion of “You’re The One That I Want”.
— (*sigh*) Yet another episode this season in which Darrell is relegated to making an awkward walk-on in a non-impression role, just to give him something to do. Have I made it clear enough in my recent reviews how sad I find it to watch Darrell in this final season of his?
— The ending with Darrell was so bad. Poor endings to otherwise good sketches seems to be a theme in tonight’s episode.
— In dress rehearsal, Darrell played John Travolta in this sketch (presumably because of the Grease connection with the use of “You’re The One That I Want”) instead of the random character he plays in the live version. Not sure if him as Travolta would’ve made this ending any better. I despise his Travolta impression.
STARS: ***


MILESTONE HIGH
(ANS)’s tutoring fails because dumb (host) is not a jock

— Funny reveal of Rogen not even being on the basketball team, and just being some random idiot who doesn’t even know anything about basketball.
— That’s it? The sketch is already over? Felt like this sketch should’ve more to it after the aforementioned reveal.
STARS: **½


CLANCY T. BACHLERATT AND JACKIE SNAD SING EASTER SONGS ABOUT SPACESHIPS, TODDLERS, MODEL T. CARS & JARS OF BEER
Clancy T. Bachleratt & Jackie Snad do what the title above says

— A follow-up to the fantastic Clancy T. Bachleratt/Jackie Snad sketch from the preceding season.
— I’m surprised to see this is using the same song topics (spaceships, toddlers, Model-T cars, and jars of beer) as the first Bachleratt/Snad sketch. I thought I recall all the follow-ups to the first Bachleratt/Snad sketch (includng a cut-after-dress-rehearsal one from the following season’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt episode, which was put up online as an “Online Exclusive” after the episode’s original airing) having song topics with different oddball combinations.
— I’m still getting a lot of laughs from this, even if this isn’t hitting quite as hard for me as the first installment of this sketch did.
— At least Rogen isn’t laughing his way through this sketch like an idiot, the way Jonah Hill inexplicably did in the first installment of this sketch.
— Like last time, we get fantastic insane facial expressions from Will during his and Kristen’s New National Anthem song at the end.
— I love how, at the end of the final song, Will and Kristen’s over-the-top musical vocalizations continue for a while AFTER the background music has stopped. Their vocalizations during this part sound kinda like old-fashioned native chanting you’d see in a movie or something.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “1901”


MUPPET BUS
Nipsey Russell (KET) stops Muppets in Electric Mayhem bus for hit & run

— Another Seth Rogen-involved Muppets sketch, after the more-charming-than-intentionally-funny one from Rogen’s first episode. I like how tonight’s Muppets sketch has much more of a comedic conceit and an actual point, and I also appreciate how it’s involving much more of the cast than the first one did.
— Funny to see Will dressed in a Kermit costume after the legendary Kermit hand puppet sketch Will did with Justin Timberlake years prior.
— I love the “boom boom, sniff sniff” bit, with Bill-as-Animal having dynamite and a bag of cocaine on him.
— After Andy’s Swedish Chef slaps a freaking-out Kristen-as-Beaker, I got a pretty good laugh from Swedish Chef telling Beaker a stern “Smorgy…….bork!”
— Amusing inclusion of Kenan as Nipsey Russell, and it’s very funny how he suddenly gets shot in the middle of one of his typical poems.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS
musical guest performs “Too Young”

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good episode. In the past, I had always felt this episode was very forgettable. After reviewing the episode just now, I’ve found that I actually like a lot of the content in it, though I still have that lingering “good but forgettable” feel. Not sure why.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Phone Voices
Clancy T. Bachleratt and Jackie Snad Sing Easter Songs about Spaceships, Toddlers, Model T. Cars & Jars of Beer
Like A Boss
Muppet Bus
La Rivista Della Televisione con Vinny Vedecci
Monologue
Corporate Meeting
Weekend Update
Save The Funnies
Milestone High
Obama’s Business Rulings
The Fast & The Bi-Curious


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Tracy Morgan)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Zac Efron

Posted on

March 14, 2009 – Tracy Morgan / Kelly Clarkson (S34 E18)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

TRACY RETURNS
TRM punches his way through Rockefeller Center; John Cena & TIF cameos

— Ooh, I love this huge change of pace for a cold opening in this era, and this is a great way to open a Tracy Morgan-hosted episode.
— Tracy’s serious opening speech about the excitement of Rockefeller Center is amusing in the way that only Tracy could make it.
— Funny interaction between Tracy and the security guard played by writer Emily Spivey.
— All of the punches delivered by Tracy are cracking me up, made funnier by the way this is filmed, with all the extreme close-ups, fast cuts, and slow-motion shots.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
TRM sees media bias in coverage of fishtank fire at his residence

— I remember how exciting it felt in 2009 seeing Tracy host. If you told me 10 years prior to that, during the peak of SNL’s under-utilization of Tracy as a cast member, that Tracy would ever be hosting SNL, I’d NEVER have believed you. He’s come a long way since those days.
— Already a good laugh from Tracy’s opening line: “Thank you, white people!”
— Good line from Tracy about how, tonight, he’s in more sketches than he ever was during his years as a cast member.
— A lot of the usual funny Tracy Morgan-ish oddball lines.
— Hilarious fake-out with the “Lorne Michaels” who Tracy brings up onstage turning out to be some stage manager. Speaking of the stage manager (the fourth-to-last above screencap for this monologue), I think he’s played by the same actor who played Angel on The Rockford Files. If so, that is VERY random casting on SNL’s part.
— Speaking of random, we get a random Seth Meyers sighting next to the real Lorne. This is the second consecutive episode in which Seth makes a rare non-Weekend Update appearance (or voice-over, in the preceding episode’s case).
— There’s our obligatory “Bring me a soda, BITCH!” during Tracy’s interaction with Lorne.
STARS: ****


CHEWABLE PAMPERS
— Another rerun of this commercial, from 1/31/09. Boy, am I sick of seeing this commercial being aired so frequently in such a short time span.


BRIAN FELLOW’S SAFARI PLANET
a baby cow is perceived to be arrogant

— Our obligatory appearance of one of Tracy’s two biggest recurring characters.
— An interesting novelty seeing then-current cast members appearing in an old recurring sketch like this, which is always one of the fun things when a former cast member’s recurring sketches are brought back when said former cast member hosts (such as seeing current cast members appear in Church Chat sketches whenever Dana Carvey hosts or, in some cases, cameos).
— Brian Fellow is getting the usual good laughs hitting his usual beats.
STARS: ***½


THE VIEW
scatterbrained Sherri Shepherd (TRM) is uniformly uninformed

— Given the fact that Tracy had a regular role (Star Jones) in the original (and far superior) run of The View parodies back in the late 90s, it feels kinda odd seeing him in tonight’s View sketch playing a different role. That just makes tonight’s View sketch pale even more in comparison to the View sketches from the late 90s.
— Not caring all that much for the running gag with Tracy’s Sherri Shephard not knowing what anything is.
— Why no guest in tonight’s View sketch?
— Overall, this era’s View sketches continue to underwhelm me.
STARS: **


SCARED STRAIGHT
beer-drinking teens aren’t scared by Lorenzo McIntosh & fellow con (TRM)

— This is the first Scared Straight sketch with Kenan’s Lorenzo McIntosh character being joined by a partner. This would set the template for subsequent installments of this sketch, all(?) of which have that night’s SNL host playing a partner of McIntosh’s.
— Pretty fun pairing of Kenan and Tracy.
— McIntosh’s “Penis Noir” line was hilarious.
— Bill uncontrollably cracks up when Kenan and Tracy ad-lib by touching his face while threateningly ganging up on him. This was a big deal at the time, as it was such a fun rarity to see the then-very professional Bill Hader break. At the time, it was considered comparable to seeing the also-very-professional Phil Hartman famously break in that talk show sketch (Succinctly Speaking) in which he was interviewed as Frankenstein. Little did anyone know back then that this would end up starting a habit of Bill cracking up quite frequently and easily in sketches (including subsequent Scared Straight installments), a habit that would last for the remainder of his SNL tenure.
— Speaking of breaking and things becoming a tradition, we get our first instance of Lorenzo McIntosh’s exit being followed by Jason hopping onto the desk in a sitting position, causing Andy, Bobby, and (again) Bill to crack up.
STARS: ***½


DATELINE
Keith Morrison (BIH) & murderer (TRM) share sociopathy

— Bill’s Keith Morrison impression is always a blast.
— A big laugh from Bill’s Morrison saying, in his slow, trademark voice, “You liked it, so you put a ring on it.”
— This sketch is basically just repeating the same beats from the first installment of this sketch earlier this season, but it’s still working, and, hey, it’s not like the Bob Waltman Special sketches from the late 80s (which these Dateline sketches feel like they’re in the tradition of) didn’t repeat their own same beats as well, though those sketches seemed a little less one-note than these Dateline sketches.
— I like Bill-as-Morrison’s disappointed “Ohhhh” when hearing nobody got killed from the roof-caving-in accident.
— Great bit with Tracy joining Bill’s Morrison in his delighted, creepy vocalizations. SNL would later repeat this gag with Steve Buscemi in the Dateline sketch from Buscemi’s season 37 episode.
STARS: ****


ASTRONAUT JONES
space female’s (ANS) hermaphroditism isn’t a deterrent

— And here’s our obligatory appearance of the second of Tracy’s two biggest recurring characters.
— Every post-monologue sketch in the pre-Weekend Update half of this episode has been a recurring sketch.
— Interesting to see the old, epic Astronaut Jones opening title sequence being shown in a 2009 HD episode. For that reason, the visual quality of this title sequence looks kinda weird here. Also, you can really see from this title sequence how much Tracy’s looks have drastically changed since 2002 when this title sequence was originally filmed. Hell, you’d think it was filmed twenty years prior, judging from how much younger and thinner Tracy looks in it compared to how he looks in 2009.
— I notice they’re using the original Astronaut Jones theme song from season 27, and not the one from season 28 in which SNL (pointlessly) added female backup vocals to the theme song.
— A twist on one of the usual Astronaut Jones tropes, with the female alien he encounters turning out to apparently be transgender this time. Meh. I found that funny back in 2009, but it doesn’t quite work for me in 2020.
— The ending one-liner Astronaut Jones follows the alien’s long speech with didn’t hit quite as hard as his usual ending one-liners in these sketches, but I still laughed. The nature of these Astronaut Jones sketches, and Tracy’s killer delivery, always make the ending one-liner of these sketches work.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “My Life Would Suck Without You”


WEEKEND UPDATE
SEM baits Bernie Madoff victim John Malkovich (BIH) into a screaming fit

worried TRM says “Really!?!” to the prospect of a strip club tax

50 year-old Barbie (KRW) looks great but is limited by her plastic form

— Hell, yeah! The return of Bill’s spot-on John Malkovich impression, after we got a vocal sample of it in the Vinny Vedecci sketch from the episode Malkovich himself hosted earlier this season. Given that Malkovich is one of my favorite actors, and the fact that he has such a distinct, unique voice, I’m always a sucker for seeing impressions of him, though I’ve barely seen any, actually. The only other one besides Bill’s that I can remember seeing is from Martin Short in, I think, a Jiminy Glick episode.
— Great angry outburst from Bill’s Malkovich after such a long build-up to it.
— I must be watching the West Coast version of this episode (come to think of it, the SNL opening montage earlier in this episode did have that “Recorded from an earlier live broadcast” disclaimer), because the version I’m watching doesn’t have a technical gaffe from the live East Coast airing in which the camera accidentally cuts to a wide shot of Seth and an empty seat next to him (reserved for Tracy) when Seth begins his strip club joke that “unintentionally” sets up Tracy’s sudden appearance.
— Tracy’s overly simplistic and brief version of “Really?!?” was hilarious.
— From my previous viewings of this episode, I have almost no memory of this Barbie bit of Kristen’s.
— Kristen’s getting some laughs from the extended bit with her having trouble opening the whiskey bottle with her stiff doll hands.
STARS: ***


BIG LOVE
bigamist Bill’s (JAS) fourth wife (TRM) is not a woman

— Casey casually asking “Hey, guys, who’s baby is this?”, regarding the baby she’s been holding, made me laugh. Boy, speaking of Casey, lately, she’s really been fading away by this point of her SNL tenure. Feels like this sketch is the first semi-noteworthy thing she’s done in a while (and that’s sadly still not saying much).
— I like Jason’s imitation of Bill Paxton’s voice.
— Tracy in drag again tonight. Come to think of it, there’s an awful lot of men-in-drag humor in general tonight, between Tracy, Kenan, and Fred in the View sketch, Andy in the Astronaut Jones sketch, and now Tracy in this sketch.
— Blah at the main comedic conceit of this sketch so far. Even for a Tracy-in-drag piece, this feels like a throwaway sketch.
— I love Jason’s goofy exclamation of “DUH-OH!” when he can’t come up with a good explanation for why Tracy’s “female” character is shaving.
— (*groan*) Again, with this apparently being the West Coast version I’m currently reviewing, a huge technical gaffe at the end of this sketch is unfortunately removed. In the original East Coast airing, after Jason’s aforementioned “DUH-OH!” line, SNL’s control room operators were VERY late on their cue to roll the Big Love closing title sequence, resulting in long, painfully awkward dead air as the screen stays on Jason and the female cast members just standing there not knowing what to do. Eventually, in an attempt to break this painfully awkward silence, Jason, in character, ad-libs a mock-nervous “Eeeee!” sound while pretending to bite his nails (it’s been years since I’ve last seen this, so my recollection may be a little faulty), right before the closing title sequence FINALLY plays (and even then, it’s accidentally initially stuck on a freeze-frame shot). Call me weird, but I was really looking forward to seeing this huge gaffe again, because I remember it being uncomfortably funny, probably funnier than the intended main comedy of this weak, seemingly half-written sketch.
STARS: *½


PARTY GUYS
(BIH) & (ANS) literally identify fellow party attendees

— Fantastic escalation to this, with the cutaways to each increasingly oddball character matching the insulting name that Bill and Andy refer to them by. I also love how each cutaway is being done in an increasingly faster, briefer pace.
— Will steals this short with the cutaway to him as a “cereal rapist”, furiously fucking a box of cereal in the bathroom before shutting the door (while still mid-fuck) when realizing he can be seen. Yet another example of how Will Forte is one of SNL’s all-time most fearless cast members at pulling off daring, ballsy humor.
— Love the ending with Bill and Andy’s reflection, especially Bill depressingly responding “(*long, deep sigh*)……..That’s us.”
STARS: ****½


SUPPRESSEX
Suppressex enforces social norms by damping unwanted public erections

— After his innocent interaction with his cheerleader daughter and her fellow cheerleaders, I love Will looking into camera and delivering a stern “This is NO time for an erection!”
— Tracy is a very funny spokesman for such a product as this.
— Great testimonial from Bill as a department store Santa.
STARS: ***½


HIGH IQ
goofy distracters thwart brainy contestants on game show set

— (*sigh*) Yet another episode this season that makes me say “Oh, that’s right. Darrell Hammond is still in the cast”, as he’s sadly relegated to making his ONLY appearance of the night in a late-in-the-show sketch that has him in a non-impression role that he comes off awkward in.
— Funny to see Tracy playing a game show host. I’m enjoying him in this role.
— Something about this sketch, perhaps the wacky character walk-ons all throughout, feels like a bit of an embryonic version of the famous What Up With That sketches (which will debut later this calendar year – 2009), though tonight’s sketch has an awful lot of “Why is this weird thing happening right now???”-type responses from the game show contestants (the type of role that some SNL fans complain that current cast member Mikey Day plays too often in current-era sketches that over-explain the weirdness of their premise instead of letting it speak for itself).
— Despite this paling in comparison to the future What Up With That, this sketch is still fairly fun.
— I like the ending credits randomly starting to scroll when the game hasn’t even been completed yet.
— Pretty funny how Jason can occasionally be heard saying a very un-amused, stern “Get away from me” in the background towards one of the oddball characters (we can’t see which oddball character he’s speaking to, given how crowded the screen has become with oddball characters in general).
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Do Not Hook Up”


ROCKET DOG
many human & canine actors died when (TRM) made Rocket Dog

— A very well-loved sketch among a number of SNL fans, including myself.
— I love Tracy’s over-exaggerated laughing reaction to Kristen’s very corny opening joke.
— Hilarious how the first movie clip Tracy shows strangely gives away the ending of the movie.
— Tracy throughout this sketch: “Houston, we have a dog!”
— Tracy is so perfect for this material. He was born to do this sketch.
— Tracy, on why he filmed his Rocket Dog movie in Thailand: “I wanted a place that was heavy on dogs and light on laws.”
— So many laughs from the increasingly random and bizarre In Memoriam montages for seemingly every dog and human in the movie, eventually even Tracy himself. What makes those In Memoriam montages even funnier is the fact that they’re all accompanied by the “Life Is A Highway “song.
— Kristen’s straight man performance is perfect. Another example of how great she is at pulling off deadpan, a talent that’s sadly underutilized by SNL in the second half of Kristen’s SNL tenure.
STARS: *****


GAS RIGHT
ANOTHER rerun of a low-brow commercial tonight, this time from 12/6/08


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fun episode, as expected for a Tracy Morgan-hosted episode. While this was far from perfect (Tracy’s later episode from season 41 is stronger, IIRC), there was some stuff I really liked, and I enjoyed the general feel of the episode, no doubt due to Tracy giving it the perfectly Tracy Morgan-esque feel it should’ve had. It was a blast seeing him host.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Rocket Dog
Party Guys
Tracy Returns
Monologue
Dateline
Suppressex
Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet
Scared Straight
High IQ
Astronaut Jones
Weekend Update
The View
Big Love


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Dwayne Johnson)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Seth Rogen

Posted on

March 7, 2009 – Dwayne Johnson / Ray LaMontagne (S34 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

1-800-IDEAS?
Timothy Geithner (WLF) has $420,000,000,000 for solver of banking crisis

— A funny conceit with Will’s Timothy Geithner resorting to having average citizens, through a call-in number, give him a plan to solve the banking crisis.
— I love the part with Bill (doing a great “aged southerner” voice, by the way) as a caller insisting that he’ll give them his plan to solve the banking crisis AFTER they give him the money first.
— Meh at the cliched Nigerian prince bit. Hasn’t SNL already gotten more than enough mileage out of that trope in this era?
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
a Chicago-esque dance number fails to bolster host’s tough-guy reputation

— When saying this is his third hosting stint, I love Dwayne Johnson mentioning he’s moved up from a tie for 53rd place with Tony Danza to a tie for 36th place with Rob Lowe. I wonder if those numbers are true, by the way.
— Oh, no, a musical monologue. Dwayne seems like he has the charm to make it tolerable, though. I recall really liking his “Franchise Viagra” musical monologue that he would later do in season 40.
— The “Hit me, Kenan!” bit was pretty funny.
— Fred making a walk-on in his typical gay stereotype role, I see.
— The premise of this musical number feels like a precursor to the Best Of Both Worlds recurring sketch that Andy would later star in as Hugh Jackman. I wonder if those sketches are written by the same person who wrote this monologue.
STARS: **½


MACGRUBER
MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) reveals his paternity

— A variation of the Richard Dean Anderson-involved MacGruber Pepsi ads that aired during the commercial breaks of this season’s Steve Martin episode. I’m glad I didn’t have to review those ads when covering that Steve Martin episode, because something about those ads rubbed me the wrong way.
— I love the absurdity of how we’re suddenly getting a flashback right in the middle of this MacGruber short.
— Hilarious how, almost immediately after the explosion ending of the MacGyver scene, the MacGruber portion of this short has a similar explosion ending of its own.
STARS: ****½


THE ROCK OBAMA
were Barack Obama (FRA) to anger, he would become The Rock Obama (host)

— I love Andy’s Rahm Emanuel devilishly whispering things to Fred’s President Obama, such as “Get angry!”
— A fantastic Hulk-like transformation for Fred’s Obama, giving us the debut of The Rock Obama. Perfect concept, especially given the fact that people used to often point out back in these days that Dwayne Johnson and Barack Obama have similar-sounding voices.
— When this Dwayne Johnson episode originally aired, I missed the first 15 minutes or so, and when I tuned into this episode in progress, they were in the middle of this The Rock Obama sketch. I remember being confused as to why Obama was being played by Dwayne Johnson instead of Fred, and I was also VERY baffled over why the clothes Dwayne’s Obama was wearing were all torn up.
— Andy is fantastic in his conveying of Rahm Emanuel’s glee over The Rock Obama’s anger.
— Lots of big laughs from The Rock Obama’s violent actions.
— Wait, this turned out to be a dream sequence? Why don’t I remember this aspect of this first The Rock Obama sketch? Apparently, the writers didn’t remember, either, because they would end up turning the whole The Rock Obama thing into a recurring sketch, ignoring the fact that it was just a dream sequence the first time. Doesn’t matter, though. (Also, I feel like there was another time SNL made a sketch recurring despite it being a dream sequence in its first installment, but I can’t remember which sketch I’m thinking of.)
STARS: ****½


MACGRUBER
flashback reveals that MacGyver abandoned his wife & son

— I love MacGruber’s “Oh my god. My dad’s a dick” line.
— Another funny parallel between the explosion at the end of the MacGyver flashback and the explosion at the end of the MacGruber short.
STARS: ****½


ACTIVIA COMMERCIAL SHOOT
(ABE) & Jamie Lee Curtis (KRW) lose bowel control during Activia shoot

— Ehhh, as popular as the first installment of this sketch was back in these days (I personally never cared for it, then OR now), we didn’t need a follow-up.
— Wow, it feels kinda surprising to see then-writer John Mulaney making a live, onscreen appearance as the marker of this commercial shoot (the second above screencap for this sketch). I don’t remember this appearance of his from the last time I saw this sketch way back in 2009, probably because I wasn’t familiar with Mulaney back then.
— Jason’s various “No pun intended”s are pretty funny.
— So the main joke of tonight’s installment is now two people instead of one pooping their pants during the Activia commercial shoot? If I didn’t care for this joke the first time when it was just one person doing that, you can be damn sure I ain’t gonna care for it when it’s TWO people doing that.
— I don’t like the goofy, exaggerated face Abby keeps making when pooping herself. She seems to be trying too hard to be funny here. Kristen makes it look far more natural when she does the facial-reaction-while-pooping thing.
— I did kinda laugh at Kristen’s Jamie Lee Curtis saying “You know how when one person yawns……”, when explaining why she had a pants-pooping reaction after Abby had one.
— Blah, now we get Jason joining in on the pants-pooping.
STARS: **


HAWAII
bitter, inhospitable Hawaiians (host) & (FRA) serenade & berate tourists

— Wow, that “Garbage” insult from Dwayne to two tourists was very lame.
— Dwayne isn’t even trying to hide the fact that he’s reading most of his lines off the cue cards. I can let it slide, given how damn strong and fun he typically is as an SNL host.
— I love Darrell’s “Skip me, please!” bit. He’s doing a great impression of how I would be if I were in a situation like this.
— After a slow start, Dwayne and Fred’s bitter, sarcastic remarks to the tourists are getting funnier and funnier as this sketch goes along. I particularly love how their only response to Kenan and Jason’s jackassery is to just tip over Kenan and Jason’s drinks.
— I got a big laugh from Dwayne telling Will and Abby “Aloha hard” after revealing “Aloha” may mean “Suck it”.
— Hilarious ending with Dwayne AGAIN tipping over Kenan and Jason’s drinks after they went through all the trouble of ordering new ones after Dwayne tipped their previous drinks over.
STARS: ****


MACGRUBER
MacGyver’s earthly remains end up in a space toilet

— I love how we’re now getting a futuristic flash-forward scene.
— Priceless reveal of an elderly MacGruber taking a dump on his father MacGyver’s ashes, following through on his bitter promise that we saw him make in a present-day scene earlier in this short.
— Our second season 34 cameo from Will Forte’s bare ass.
— Tonight’s overall MacGruber runner was much better than those Pepsi ads.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “You Are The Best Thing”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Michael Steele (KET) stays on-message thanks to Rush Limbaugh’s electrode

Cathy’s boyfriend Irving (Justin Timberlake) goes for Jessica Rabbit (Jessica Biel)

gig-hungry Jon Bovi extends lyrics negation technique to other artists

— Very energetic responses from the audience to Seth’s Update jokes so far tonight, with several of the jokes receiving applause.
— Good bit with Kenan’s Michael Steele receiving electric shocks from the electrode in his head every time he says something Rush Limbaugh is unhappy with.
— The return of Andy’s Cathy bit, a quintessential example of how good Andy typically is at pulling off Adam Sandler-esque “It’s funny because it’s delightfully self-aware of how dumb it is” humor.
— Our THIRD episode this season with a random Justin Timberlake cameo.
— Justin takes a page out of Chevy Chase’s playbook by jokingly acting like he’s going to exit the scene during the audience’s long-winded applause for his entrance.
— Now we get a cameo from Jessica Biel, fittingly as Jessica Rabbit.
— After Timberlake and Biel’s respective exit (which Timberlake milked THE HELL out of, in true Justin Timberlake fashion), the ending of the Cathy commentary seemed ad-libbed. Did SNL seriously not write an ending to this, and just told Andy and Seth to wing it?
— Seth has been using a rapid-fire delivery for quite a number of jokes tonight.
— Why has EVERY solo Seth Meyers-anchored Update by this point had at least three guest commentaries?
— We get a random return of Jason and Will’s Jon Bovi characters two-and-a-half years after their debut (which was in a sketch, and would end up being their only non-Weekend Update appearance). I love these characters, so I’m glad SNL pulled these previously-one-off characters out of the mothballs.
— Like last time Jon Bovi appeared, I like how there’s always a funny bit regarding the countdown they do before singing a song.
— Also like last time, I love Jon Bovi’s opposite versions of rock songs. Such silly fun.
— Funny touch after Jon Bovi’s commentary, with Seth signing off as “Meth Seyers”.
STARS: ***


GAME TIME WITH DAVE AND GREG
callers identify (host)’s sports co-anchor Greg (BIH) as alien

— The debut of a fondly-remembered Bill Hader bit.
— I love Dwayne blurting out a very casual “Greg is not an alien” when introducing himself and Bill’s Greg character.
— Bill is freakin’ fantastic in this alien role. His voice, his facial expressions, his lines, EVERYTHING.
— Greg: “Way to gooooooooo, Chuck! Haw hawwww!”
— Very funny montage of calendar photos showing Greg from over the decades, all photos of which have him suspiciously looking the exact same without ever aging.
— Greg freaking out over the spilled water is HILARIOUS.
— A rare Seth Meyers non-Weekend Update sketch role in the second half of his SNL tenure, as he’s the voice of the caller from New Jersey. This is actually one of my favorite parts of this already-excellent sketch, as I love Seth’s character’s theory that athletes are brought onto this show so Greg can eat their muscles for survival.
— Oh, now Greg’s wings have come out…..
— For some reason, I love Seth immediately following his aforementioned theory about Greg by randomly ending his phone call with a sports-related, deep-voiced, enthusiastic “Gangway for UConn all the way this year, baaayyy-beeee!”
— Interesting in hindsight seeing tonight’s Game Time installment end with Kenan being shown as the upcoming guest, a character named Randy Dukes. The reason this is interesting in hindsight is because this is the same character SNL would later replace Dwayne’s character with as Greg’s regular co-host in all subsequent installments of this sketch.
STARS: *****


APPRENTICE COMMERCIAL SHOOT
Donald Trump (DAH) shoots NBC spot with Celebrity Apprentice participants

— Perfect casting of Fred as Tom Green.
— This appears to be the return of the recurring Trump Promo Shoot sketches from all the way back in season 30, only with other people appearing onscreen with Trump this time, and with Bill replacing Seth’s former role as the voice of the off-camera director. I’m a little surprised they didn’t have Seth reprise his off-camera director voice role, especially since they did have him do voice-over work in the Game Time sketch that preceded this, though that was a much more minor role than this off-camera director one.
— Great Joan Rivers voice from Michaela. When it comes to doing a celebrity impression that a female cast member from the late 90s already did much more famously (Ana Gasteyer, in this case), this Joan Rivers impression of Michaela’s is much better than her Barbara Walters.
— Hilarious visual of Dwayne as Dennis Rodman, and he’s giving a funny performance as him.
— This overall sketch was fine, but doesn’t compare to the quality of the season 30 Trump Promo Shoot sketches (some of the rare gems from that dreary season).
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Trouble”


LIGHTHOUSE
lighthouse keeper (host) neglects his duty during a date with (KRW)

— Amusing initial cutaway to Will and Andy as marooned, old-timey sailors/pirates after Dwayne first turns off the lighthouse light.
— Funny escalation with the other marooned sea-centric characters joining Will and Andy over the course of this sketch.
— Dwayne’s “BJ” line was hilarious, as was his reaction to Kristen following that with an innocent, unrelated “I’m gonna down there.”
— There’s a lot of fun absurdity in the exchanges between Kristen and Dwayne.
— The constant splashes of water from off-camera onto the marooned characters’ faces is causing a “dead” Jason Sudeikis to move around uncomfortably (the water must’ve gotten into his eyes while he was acting dead).
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode, and the best one in a while. Several really strong pieces tonight, including a favorite of mine (Game Time With Dave And Greg). And with this third hosting stint of his, Dwayne Johnson has further established himself as one of the best and most fun, charismatic, and reliable recurring hosts SNL has ever had.


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Game Time With Dave And Greg
The Rock Obama
MacGruber 1-3
Hawaii
Lighthouse
1-800-Ideas?
Apprentice Commercial Shoot
Weekend Update
Monologue
Activia Commercial Shoot


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Alec Baldwin)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Tracy Morgan