Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
EMBRACING CIVILITY
James Carville (BIH) undermines Fox News pundits’ attempt at civility
— They don’t have to throw that “Greta Van Susteren switches from talking out of one corner of her mouth to the other” gag in every one of Kristen’s Greta Van Susteren sketches.
— Good to see Bill’s James Carville making a non-Weekend Update appearance for once.
— I love Bill’s Carville pointing out how Fox News’ attempt at civility is never going to work, then tries to bait them into losing their temper by mentioning things that right-wingers hate.
— Funny involvement of Abby’s Rachel Maddow.
— Wait, that’s it? The cold opening is over just like that? That “ending” was way too abrupt, especially when things were getting more and more interesting. It feels like some last-minute rewrites were made to this.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
host flubs lyrics in “Islands In The Stream” duet with Kenny Rogers (JAS)
— A laugh from Gwyneth Paltrow mistaking Jason’s Kenny Rogers for Garth Brooks.
— Only a few mild laughs in the Gwyneth Paltrow/Kenny Rogers duet. Otherwise, meh. And it goes without saying how sick I am of this season having so many musical monologues.
— I remember an SNL reviewer back at this time criticizing Kristen’s Dolly Parton impression by saying “That’s not a Dolly Parton impression. That’s Kristen playing Paula Deen again.”
STARS: **
NBC
a slew of clothing-based superhero shows join The Cape on NBC’s schedule
— Ha, I had completely forgotten about NBC’s short-lived The Cape show until now.
— Some decent laughs from the ridiculous clothing-based The Cape-like shows, particularly the Scrunchy one, just for Jason’s facial expression.
STARS: ***
SECRET WORD
Mindy Grayson & socialite (host) ignore game show’s concept
— (*groan*)
— I have absolutely no memory of this episode having a Secret Word sketch. I wonder what kind of character Gwyneth plays.
— “Mindy Elise Grayson”? Why are they now using the middle name of Kristen’s Mindy Grayson character? Why am I supposed to give a fuck about what this annoying recurring character’s middle name is?
— Oh, it turns out I do kinda remember the conceit of Gwyneth’s character making innocent-but-discriminatory comments to her game partner, Kenan.
— Kenan’s asparagus quiz line made me laugh.
— (*sigh*) Cue the obligatory, irritating, redundant, predictable “You just said the secret word” gags.
— Ugh, Kristen’s Mindy Grayson is somehow getting even more annoying than usual right now with her singing loudly in a horrific, annoying voice.
STARS: *½
ANDY AND PEE-WEE’S NIGHT OUT
Pee-Wee Herman [real] & ANS drink shots & go wild; Anderson Cooper cameo
— Pee-Wee Herman! Making his first SNL appearance since 1985!
— A good laugh from Andy and Pee-Wee physically attacking Anderson Cooper, though I can’t help but feel a little bad in hindsight, knowing that this is just a few weeks before Cooper infamously ended up getting physically attacked in real life at Cairo.
— If I didn’t know any better, I’d almost swear that’s John Larroquette as the cop (the fourth-to-last above screencap for this short).
— I love how Pee-Wee’s friends at the intervention are characters from Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. Such a nice blast from the past (as this short in general is).
STARS: ****
BAR MITZVAH
Taylor Swift (host), Jay-Z (JAP), others perform at Jacob’s (VAB) bar mitzvah
— The debut of Vanessa’s Jacob The Bar Mitzvah Boy character. I wonder how many people reading this review are shocked to see that this character debuted in a sketch, especially given the fact that 1) this sketch in general is probably forgotten by most people, and 2) all of Jacob’s subsequent appearances are on Weekend Update, and thus, most people today probably remember him as an Update-only character.
— Hmm, Fred is playing the father of Vanessa’s Jacob character here. Am I correct in remembering that when Billy Crystal would later make a cameo as a Jacob-like character during one of Vanessa’s Jacob commentaries on Update, Billy played Jacob’s father? If so, I guess SNL forgot or ignored the fact that Fred originally played that role.
— An okay premise with famous singers singing a bar mitzvah-themed variant of a hit song of theirs.
— I always love Jay’s scarily-uncanny vocal impression of Jay-Z.
— Nasim Freakin’ Pedrad as Alicia Keys??? Really, SNL? Another sad reminder that this cast doesn’t have a black female cast member, so they have to resort to having their Iranian cast member play a black woman. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be the last time Nasim would play a black celebrity on SNL. There’s a certain appearance Nasim makes as Nicki Minaj in the following season’s Maya Rudolph-hosted episode that will certainly be…uh, interesting to talk about when I reach that episode.
— Vanessa’s Jacob: “Dad, I told you – I just wanted a modest luncheon!”
STARS: ***
RECORD MEETING
record exec (host) bugs FCC about use of “forget” in musical guest’s hit
— I have very mixed feelings about the concept of this sketch, with fake swear words being used as real swear words. On one hand, there’s a bit of a novelty to it that I kinda like, but on the other hand, there’s a corniness to it that I don’t like. This is also a sketch that, much like the Big Wigs sketch from season 32 and the James-Franco-talking-to-Christmas-trees sketch from season 35, some online SNL fans back at this time negatively said had a very season 6 feel. Not sure I agree with that, though.
— Odd delayed entrance from Paul, causing us to stare at a close-up of a closed door for two awkward seconds before he finally enters through it. This hardly ends up being the last time in his short-lived SNL tenure where he makes a delayed entrance in a sketch.
— Is Cee Lo Green tonight’s co-host? You’d sure think so from all the sketch appearances he’s making.
— I like the bit with everyone else getting mad at Jason when he says “Nintendo” as an N-word substitute.
— Ooh, I love the way this sketch creatively segues into Cee Lo’s SNL musical performance. Extremely rare to see a recent SNL era like this do something THAT clever and out of the ordinary with a musical guest intro. Words cannot express how much of a sucker I am for the rare occurrences of recent SNL eras breaking format.
STARS: *** (this sketch was on its way to getting a **½ rating, but the ending segue alone bumped this up half a star)
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Fuck You” variant
WEEKEND UPDATE
Constitution Corner- SEM questions Founding Fathers’ utility in modernity
presidential hopeful Jimmy McMillan (KET)- “the deficit is too damn high”
VAB interviews Christina Aguilera (NAP), Cher (BIH), Chaz Bono (BOM)
songwriter Kim Castle (host) joins Garth & Kat for winter-related tunes
— An interesting side segment with Seth doing a rant about what it would be like if the Founding Fathers were around today. This feels kinda like something Colin Quinn or Michael Che would do on Update.
— Some pretty good laughs from Seth’s aforementioned Founding Fathers rant, though it ended on a corny note with the fairly cliched bit about how long it takes to load a 1700s musket.
— Oof, Seth’s marble-mouthed delivery of the punchline of his Mark Zuckerberg joke caused it to die with the audience.
— Another Update commentary from Kenan as “The Rent Is Too Damn High” guy? I like Kenan’s impression of him, but doing a second Update commentary with him is kinda pushing it.
— Did…did I just hear Seth pronounce Vanessa Bayer’s last name as “Byer”???
— Ah, a change of pace for this Update era, with Vanessa playing herself as a reporter doing a remote segment away from the Update set.
— Why is Nasim playing Christina Aguilera here? Abby, who’s main identity on SNL is being an impressionist, previously played Aguilera in the Bunny Business sketch from the preceding season and did a passable (though unmemorable) impression of her, so why’d SNL yank the role away from her this week and give it to Nasim? It’s not like Nasim’s doing a better job at the impression. Are they trying to put Abby in as few sketches as possible by this point? This is the second consecutive episode in which she appears very little.
— Ohhhhh, no, no, no, no, no, NO. This transphobic Chaz Bono bit with Bobby has not aged well AT ALL. Sadly, there’s another horribly transphobic bit we’ll be seeing in the very next episode, a certain pre-taped commercial that would end up causing controversy.
— When Vanessa’s remote segment ends, Seth actually pronounces her last name correctly this time, then proceeds to butcher his salutation to her by mistakenly telling her “Thanks you!” instead of “Thank you!” Wow. Why’s Seth so stumbly and mush-mouthed with some of his words tonight? Maybe, after that Founding Fathers rant he did earlier tonight, Seth’s channeling Colin Quinn in more ways than one.
— (*insert a string of furious expletives here to express my reaction to seeing another motherfucking Garth & Kat commentary*)
— The addition of Gwyneth as a third member is doing nothing for my “enjoyment” of this Garth & Kat tripe.
STARS: **
GLOBE THEATRE
modern moviegoing tropes accompany Globe Theater’s Shakespeare previews
— A fun concept of 16th century actors performing live “coming attractions” in the style of modern-day movie previews. Taran’s performance style is perfect for something fun like this.
— I love the little detail of how the squawk sound effect used for Jason’s falcon is the same squawk that was regularly used in Will Forte’s Falconer sketches.
— Mm, not sure how to react to the use of the old hacky “black people yelling at the movie screen” trope. Well, this is making fun of that trope along with other movie theater tropes, so I guess it’s passable.
— Great cutaway to Kenan as a painter getting caught illegally “recording” the play onto his canvas.
— That “False History” twist at the end got another “Mm, not sure how to react to that” response from me. A bit of a weak note to end an otherwise fun sketch on.
STARS: ***½
THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR 20TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION
Will Smith (JAP) admits to Fresh Prince acting missteps on DVD commentary
— As a 90s kid, I love the idea of SNL doing a Fresh Prince sketch.
— What’s with the cheesy-voiced white guy heard briefly singing the Fresh Prince theme song in the background when Jay’s Will Smith starts speaking in the interview footage? In fact, the cheesy-voiced white guy singing sounds like Andy. I take it music licensing issues prevented SNL from using the actual Will Smith-sung Fresh Prince theme song?
— A big laugh from Jay-as-Will’s “Aroo?” reaction into the camera when Kenan’s Carlton somberly reveals he was molested.
— Another reminder of SNL’s low number of black cast members this season, as it feels odd seeing Will and Carlton as the only Fresh Prince characters portrayed in a Fresh Prince sketch. Couldn’t they have at least had Kenan doing double-duty by playing Carlton in an early scene and then Uncle Phil in a later scene? (After all, Kenan would later play Uncle Phil in a great Fresh Prince pre-tape SNL does with Chris Redd in a Jessica Chastain-hosted episode from 2018.) I was about to say “Maybe there wouldn’t have been enough time for Kenan to make such a costume change in a live sketch”, but then I remembered Maya Rudolph previously managed to play both Thelma and Willona at two different points of a live Good Times sketch from the season 29 Janet Jackson episode.
— Some laughs from the various inappropriate “Will Reacts” choices Jay’s Will makes at the end of each clip.
STARS: ***
ESPN DEPORTES
Latin anchors anglicize USA proper nouns & phrases
for Tres Equis cerveza, the extra X means “mas fun”
— Ah, a showcase for the underused Paul Brittain! It’s about time.
— Very funny delivery from Paul when his Hispanic character says occasional English words in an exaggerated American voice. I particularly love his exclamation of “Pop goes the weasel!”
— Jay’s been getting a lot more airtime tonight than he usually gets this season.
— A fun silly, hammy appearance from Bobby at the end of the Tres Equis commercial.
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Bright Lights Bigger City”
SPITZER AUDITIONS
Eliot Spitzer (BIH) auditions potential replacements for Kathleen Parker
— I always crack up at Bill’s Eliot Spitzer voice, even if he does overuse that deep-voiced dopey laugh. Also, is it odd that I usually hear a little bit of Phil Hartman’s Frank Sinatra in Bill’s Spitzer voice?
— During the bit with Gwyneth’s Heidi Klum repeatedly saying “in and out”, I like Bill’s Spitzer saying “I’m about to say something awful, you should go!”
— The David Paterson twist at the end is making me laugh, and I can’t help but always be a sucker for the pairing of him and Bill’s Spitzer.
STARS: ***
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An average episode. Barely anything stood out as strong, but most of the episode was pretty good, especially the post-Weekend Update half, which had a consistent quality to it.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Andy and Pee-Wee’s Night Out
Globe Theatre
Embracing Civility
ESPN Deportes
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 20th Anniversary Collection
Spitzer Auditions
NBC
Bar Mitzvah
Record Meeting
Weekend Update
Monologue
Secret Word
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jim Carrey)
a slight step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Jesse Eisenberg
If you like SNL Fresh Prince sketches, you’ll LOVE a certain sketch when you get to season 44.
“Couldn’t they have at least had Kenan doing double-duty by playing Carlton in an early scene and then Uncle Phil in a later scene?”
Plus, they had CeeLo right there, who’d already appeared in multiple sketches. Couldn’t they have had CeeLo play Uncle Phil?
IIRC, next episode has all the pre teens in the crowd going crazy for Nicki Minaj. Pretty sure the Digital Short gets drowned out with all the screaming
Your hatred of the Secret Word sketches is making me laugh more than those sketches do, haha. Although I actually don’t mind them. There are characters I find much more annoying than Mindy now with the middle name Elise Grayson. And whoever’s hosting usually plays an entertaining character to even it out.
What an awesome team-up for the Digital Short. How exactly did that come about?
I usually like the Secret Word sketches more than you do, but this one was pretty ropey – they don’t make any real attempt to be period-appropriate, unlike most of these, as Mindy (I guess they gave her middle name in this one to contrast with three-named Gwyneth) names a play that likely would not have been around at that point (certainly not mentioned on TV), and then starts doing her bad comic singing in a style that doesn’t fit the period. It’s not that something must be period-appropriate or accurate on SNL, but sketches like this aren’t going to be good enough without something consistent. Anyway, I will say Gwyneth was decent in this.
We’re now at the end* of Gwyneth’s SNL journey, which went from a hosting stint that was surprisingly terrific, to a hosting stint marred by overacting and being on at a time of anxiety and transition, to being competent and not very memorable in an episode that is competent and not very memorable (she’s in this episode much more than I thought she would be based on some of the contemporary reviews). Not quite the ideal journey for someone who had such a great debut, but I doubt Gwyneth has any regrets.
*(the real end, for now anyway, was that questionable cameo in 2019 which felt like her people called SNL for damage control after Heidi Gardner’s Baskin Johns character was seen as mocking Goop [and sure enough, that character has never appeared again])
This episode had some vaguely amusing ideas which ran too long (Fresh Prince, the false profanity sketch, ESPN Deportes – this one in particular wore me out), and one genuinely clever idea that was not well executed, disappointingly (the movie previews sketch). This was one of those where the cast just feels miles apart in performance – Bill seems to be in one sketch, Taran and Gwyneth in another, the audience in another. I do enjoy some parts (especially Kenan as an old time version of piracy), but I wanted to like this one more than I did.
Regarding Seth’s stumbliness, I wonder how much was down to him taking a risk on his most blatantly political and controversial commentary up to this point. To be honest I wish he had just shelved the commentary, because in order to get through SNL’s more ‘mainstream’ audience, he clearly toned himself down into complete tapioca pudding, leading to a lot of weak jokes which the audience, rightfully in my opinion, sat stonefaced through. He would become much better at this type of commentary on his talk show.
Initially I was happy to see Vanessa doing a report, like the old days, then it started and it was mostly cringing and wincing in turns.
I wish I had enjoyed this Garth/Kat/Gwyneth a little more (especially since Gwyneth’s style reminded me a bit of Jane Curtin), but they weren’t that in sync together.
The monologue mostly just lays there, no one bothering much, but it would have helped if they had chosen a song she believably wouldn’t know. Islands in the Stream is a very well known and popular song, yet this didn’t seem to be part of the joke – they would have been better off having her flummoxed by, say, one of the old Conway Twitty/Loretta Lynn numbers. I’m sure Jason could have been a mean Conway.
The cold open served to mostly remind me again how little I want to see the cable news opens regardless of the casts in them. In the slim chance Bill Hader is reading this, I owe him a bit of an apology, as I had felt he overplayed Carville’s personality around this time – as it turns out, Carville had not become such an inert presence yet. Still, I just don’t love the same beats in this case (nor really in the case of Spitzer, although this was one of the better Spitzer outings, made more interesting by Nasim reminding me of Rachel Dratch and Gwyneth enjoying herself as Heidi Klum).
If not for the news about CeeLo Green I think I would be able to enjoy his cameos in this episode. As it is…nope.
Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy is one of those Update characters who appears too many times for me, but I enjoyed him in this setting – less dialogue and more of Vanessa just giving such great, subtle reaction shots (especially when Fred asks why Jacob spends hours alone in his room). The impression parade doesn’t do a lot for me with the exception of Abby’s Katy Perry – that they go to the trouble of giving Katy a long, incredibly tone deaf song cracks me up (and ends up matching where her later career would go).
The Digital Short feels like a mad libs, but in a good way. As soon as you see Pee Wee smashing Anderson Cooper with a chair you know you’re in for a ride. It’s also nice to get to see Paul Reubens in his comedy element.
Promo:
Hello Stooge. I Think That Time On Week End Update Was Maybe The Last Time Vanessa Would Be Jacob So Maybe, They Wanted A Big Name To Be Her Father So They Got Billy Crystal To Be Her Father ! Also, I Think That IF This So Called Jewish Boy Appeared On Week End Update, People Would Not Care For IT So They Thought IT Would Be Better To Start In A Sketch ! Sorry About The Run On Sentence !
Hey Stooge. John Mulaney Hosted In March 2020 And He Did A Hilarious Monologue About The Founding Fathers ! One Thing I Thought Was Hilarious Was John Saying The Third Amendment OF The Constitution And John Would Say The Army Can NOT Live In Your House ! John Would Keep Yelling That Several Times ! The Rest OF His Monologue Was Also Hilarious ! You Need To Watch That On Line And So Does Galileo ! !
@Jody, As Stated Many Times Here, Stooge Has Not Been Watching New Episodes Of SNL During This Project. He’ll Watch Them Once He Arrives At Them Chronologically For Review Because Caps Lock Can Be Tricky
Once again, an ep I either don’t remember or didn’t watch…
Interesting.