Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
STRAUSS-KAHN’S CELL
in jail, (KET) & (JAP) mull Euro zone with Dominique Strauss-Kahn (TAK)
— Good to see the season finale’s cold opening be something that’s THIS different.
— It’s also refreshing to see such a different use of Jay, especially with how underutilized and poorly utilized he had been the past few months. He’s doing a good job in this non-impression role here.
— Funny juxtaposition of all the complicated dialogue about the world economy from Jay and Kenan’s prisoner characters.
— Kenan: “Portugal ain’t nothin’ but the dingleberry hangin’ off of Spain’s nutsack.”
— Even in a silent role, Taran is doing a spot-on facial imitation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
— The sudden “We gonna rape you now” twist at the end was crass, but damn funny.
STARS: ***½
MONOLOGUE
host’s actions don’t match the lyrics of “I’m Not Gonna Sing Tonight”
— I guess it’s fitting that a season extremely oversaturated with musical monologues ends with one. (*groan*) At least it makes sense to do one with Justin Timberlake, though.
— Typical Timberlake humor here, which is very polarizing among online SNL fans. The melody to Justin’s song here is at least very catchy.
— I do really like the in-studio rain effect they’re doing right now.
STARS: **½
LIQUORVILLE
singing & dancing mascot & co-worker (musical guest) battle tea bag (KRW)
— Ugh, I never cared for this staple of Timberlake episodes.
— They seem to be going for something slightly different with the mouth-popping sound effect bit Justin now does at the end of each song. It’s not enough to salvage this tired sketch for me.
— Now we get the addition of Lady Gaga as Justin’s fellow dancing mascot. Again, not enough to salvage this tired sketch for me.
STARS: **
WXPD NEWS NEW YORK
over-the-hill Herb Welch fails to report on junior high gas leak story
— This recurring sketch gives Jason a new co-anchor, with Nasim reprising the news anchor character she previously played in the WXPD News sketch that didn’t have Herb Welch in it (the news sketch from this season’s Emma Stone episode).
— There goes Bill’s obligatory character break that occurs at least once in most Herb Welch sketches. At least Justin is keeping it straight while Bill’s turning away from the camera to hide his giggling.
— I got a good laugh from Herb Welch’s awful misogynistic comment to Nasim’s character.
— Herb Welch telling Jason “Suck an egg, you mannequin!” cracked me up so much.
— A particularly hilarious part where, when Fred’s character says his name is Ken Yi, Herb Welch responds by telling him “Bonzai, huh?!? Hey, remember me?!?”, then proceeding to beat the hell out of him with his microphone.
— Herb Welch, to Jason: “Jack, if Shep Kramer knew about the way you anchor, he’d turn over in his grave.” Jason: “Uh, no he wouldn’t, Herb, because Shep Kramer was cremated.” Herb Welch: “(*in a depressed manner*) They burned my friend.”
— A very funny photo of Herb Welch at the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald.
STARS: ****
3-WAY (THE GOLDEN RULE)
(musical guest)’s presence negates Dick In A Box hook-up gayness
— Much like how these Dick In A Box guys’ last short prior to this (Mother Lover) picked up where their short prior to that (the original Dick In A Box) left off, their short tonight starts with them leaving each other’s mother’s house, complete with Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson reprising their roles from Mother Lover.
— Fun start to Andy and Justin’s song so far, as expected.
— Cue the screaming female SNL audience members being heard all throughout this short (though screaming female audience members is a staple of Justin Timberlake episodes in general).
— A pretty good Three’s Company bit.
— The “Helicopter Dick” bit is particularly funny.
— Overall, not bad at all, but pales so much in comparison to Dick In A Box and Mother Lover. This came nowhere close to approaching “classic” status. There’s a reason this short isn’t anywhere near as reminisced about or as referenced as Dick In A Box or Mother Lover.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “The Edge Of Glory” & “Judas”
WEEKEND UPDATE
incredulous SEM says “Really!?!” to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s affair
Nicolas Cage (ANS) eyes Bradley Cooper’s [real] The Hangover Part II role
as SNL’s season draws to a close, SEM & Stefon head for the beach
— This is the second or third time that either Seth or his former co-anchor Amy Poehler did an Update joke where the punchline is someone being chosen for an important position because they were the last person in the room to shout “Not it!”
— A rare solo Seth Meyers “Really?!” segment, for only the second-ever time.
— Seth is doing a solid job in tonight’s “Really?!?”, especially his bit about how Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie titles all make perfect newspaper headlines for his baby scandal.
— I got a good laugh from Bradley Cooper telling Andy’s Nicolas Cage, in regards to Cage being in so many movies per year, “You’re like a dangerous Eugene Levy.”
— The usual good “Get In The Cage” segment overall.
— A great way to end this season of Update, with Seth bringing his duffel bag, meeting up with Stefon at the front of the Update desk, and them detailing how their summer vacation together will go while slowly walking off into the proverbial sunset. This also, once again, continues the story arc of the growing dynamic between Seth and Stefon.
— Good to see an actual short Update, which is rare for the solo Seth Meyers era.
STARS: ***½
WHAT’S THAT NAME?: CELEBRITY EDITION
unlike host, musical guest remembers the little people
— This is when you start to notice that every actual sketch that has aired so far tonight (the cold opening doesn’t count) has been recurring.
— Steve Higgins’ opening voice-over sounded strangely kinda muffled.
— I like how tonight’s SNL host and musical guest are the two contestants in this What’s That Name installment.
— A good laugh from Justin’s puzzled facial reaction while Abby, as Justin’s one-night stand from two weeks ago, is going on about their whole encounter.
— Good twist to the usual joke of these sketches, with Lady Gaga instantly remembering the name of an extremely obscure fan she previously encountered only once. That’s also reminiscent of a sketch Paul Simon did in the season 12 Robin Williams episode, but I can forgive the coincidental similarity in this case.
— As usual, Bill’s Vince Blight character has some hilarious lines throughout this sketch.
— The whole part with Justin’s former N’Sync bandmate Chris Kirkpatrick is excellent.
— Overall, this was even better than the very strong first installment of this sketch. I look forward to seeing the third installment that airs years later in a 2019 John Mulaney-hosted episode (I haven’t seen the installment yet, as it aired after I started my still-ongoing hiatus from watching new episodes), as I’ve heard it’s particularly strong.
STARS: *****
MERRYVILLE LOVE TUNNEL
(host) & fellow Merryville animatrons steal (NAP) from boyfriend (JAS)
— The streak of every sketch in this episode being recurring continues.
— They’ll never come remotely close to topping the original installment of this sketch, which should’ve stayed a one-off, but I can’t complain TOO much about this being made recurring, especially knowing in retrospect that this sketch recurs only about two times after the original installment.
— Much like Jim Carrey in the first installment, Justin is really good at doing the accurate-looking robotic movements with Taran and Bill.
— Wow, is this Bobby’s first appearance ALL NIGHT??? And it’s just a small, non-comedic, thankless role.
— I absolutely love Jason’s various reactions to all the craziness going on. He’s a fantastic straight man in this.
— Despite not measuring up to the first installment, this installment is definitely still working for me.
— Jason’s such a fun and likable performer that he even managed to make that homoerotic ending come off less hacky than it would’ve under another performer.
STARS: ***½
SECRET WORD
Mindy Grayson & magician (host) don’t help contestants
— (*grooooaaaaaaaan*) Secret Word.
— The streak of every sketch in this episode being recurring continues.
— Showing that Bill has become this era’s go-to performer for game show host roles (and rightfully so, given how fantastic he always in that role), he plays his second game show host in just these past 10 minutes.
— I see they’re continuing to use Mindy Grayson’s middle name, Elise, an aspect of this sketch that was pointlessly introduced in the last installment of this sketch prior to tonight’s.
— (*sigh*) Cue the usual “You just read the secret word” bits.
— Didn’t they already use “grape” as a secret word in the very first installment of this sketch? They probably only brought it back tonight as a cheap excuse for Kristen’s Mindy Grayson (oh, excuse me, Mindy Elise Grayson) to tell a dumb, immature story about how she once farted non-stop during a play after eating a whole bunch of grapes.
— At least Justin is fairly funny as a hack magician.
STARS: *½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Born This Way”
THE BARRY GIBB TALK SHOW
debt discussion leads to a defibrillation of Barry Gibb (JIF)
— The streak of every sketch in this episode being recurring continues. And with this being the final sketch of the night, that officially makes this an episode that consists ENTIRELY of already-existing sketches/characters, only the second episode in SNL history to achieve that feat. (The season 22 Rosie O’Donnell episode being the first. I’m not counting episodes where a recurring sketch made its debut in, which is why I used the term “already-existing sketches/characters”. The season 25 Danny DeVito episode is technically all-recurring in retrospect, but the Sally O’Malley character didn’t exist before that episode.)
— (*sigh*) Just copy and paste what I said earlier about me not caring for the Dancing Mascot bit as a Timberlake episode staple. The difference, though, is that unlike the Dancing Mascot bit, I actually loved the first installment of Barry Gibb Talk Show. It just never should’ve become recurring.
— Second consecutive episode with a Jimmy Fallon cameo.
— I do at least kinda like the change of pace with Justin’s Robin Gibb using two medallions as a defibrillator on the chest of a suddenly-frozen-in-place Jimmy-as-Barry Gibb.
— Hmm, the usual closing theme song of this recurring sketch ends differently, by suddenly and randomly turning into “Rapper’s Delight”.
— An overall poor and disappointing choice for the final sketch of this season.
STARS: **
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Not too bad a season finale, minus the poor way it ended with the final two sketches, but I take a little issue with with how “safe” and overly familiar the whole episode felt. SNL clearly wanted to end this season by going the safe route, by not only doing the usual Justin Timberlake episode staples, but by also doing recurring sketches for the entire rest of the night. Something about that really shines an unfortunate light on how unadventurous this season as a whole (and these 2009-2012 years in general) truly is. Speaking of an aspect I don’t like about this season, we’ve officially gotten through this entire season without a single episode that I would call flat-out strong and standout. That has to be a first in all 36 seasons I’ve covered so far in this SNL project of mine. Even the dreadful season 30 (the season with the lowest rating average in my SNL project so far, and rightfully so) had one or two episodes that I would call legitimately strong. While I would definitely say a majority of this season’s (season 36) episodes were passable, the fact that this season couldn’t produce a single standout strong episode is staggering and is another sign of this season’s bland averageness as a whole.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
What’s That Name?: Celebrity Edition
WXPD News New York
Merryville Love Tunnel
Strauss-Kahn’s Cell
Weekend Update
3-Way (The Golden Rule)
Monologue
The Barry Gibb Talk Show
Liquorville
Secret Word
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ed Helms)
a mild step down
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2009-10)
a slight step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Season 37 begins, with host Alec Baldwin
I still remember the Herb Welch sketch from this vividly, particularly the cremation part (“They burned my friend!” “Okay, come on! Herb, come on, pull it together, buddy.” “You son of a BITCH!” *proceeds to start hitting the camera with the mic*)
This season never really hits highs or lows, it’s just consistently average. The running theme in all the reviews is frequently “___ was a solid host, who is kind of let down by the writing.” There are almost no trainwreck hosts or hosts who come off as unlikeable (as I noted in an earlier post, even De Niro turns in probably the best hosting performance of his career). But even that’s emblematic of the safeness of the season–the hosts usually play second fiddle to recurring characters and segments and are rarely asked to carry material.
I would imagine in a vacuum most of these episodes are reasonably funny–like if you had never seen a SNL episode before, I can’t say for the most part you’re going to get a bad taste in your mouth watching this season. But taken as a season or as part of a regular diet of SNL viewing, it kind of seems bland, like always eating at a fast food place or eating a frozen dinner.
I was also kind of struck by how much I began tuning out a number of the episodes in the back half of this season. I had thought that since around 2007-2008, I had watched each episode fairly consistently, but the last number of episodes I only had fitful memories of (or none–I honestly don’t remember ANY of the Jesse Eisenberg episode and almost none of the Tina Fey one). That says something I guess about how I was getting a little bit apathetic about the show (of course, I was also pretty immersed in grad school around this time, too).
What Cheyne said. An above-average show (and a cameo orgy, no less) to wrap up a competent season on SNL. It’s clear the litany of recurring sketches was a ratings grab.
I nearly forgot about the Strauss-Kahn rape scandal.
“I know you know it, Gaga…”
***Season 36 is still tough for me, still a nadir in this period bracketed by Fred’s run. The hurt from Forte’s unheralded departure still there. The four new folks all great performers but didn’t make a a mark for me during this year. Lot of tiresome recurring bits… Surprisingly, I did enjoy s37 much better with the same crew, better writing, better tolerance with the recurring freshening up their game. Just overall an unexplainable change for the better! so, look forward to your next set of reviews, sir! 🙂
I remember a lot of screaming from the audience in the Liquorville sketch, especially at the end with Timberlake and Gaga signing together. Thank was more cute than funny.
I find it odd that many don’t care for 3-Way, as I think musically, it’s the strongest of the three R&B guy sketches, and (in my opinion) it’s funnier than Mother Lover.
Here are the average ratings for Season 36:
*may not represent review’s perception*
3601: 6.1 (Amy Poehler)
3602: 5.6 (Bryan Cranston)
3603: 6.1 (Jane Lynch)
3604: 5.8 (Emma Stone)
3605: 6.6 (Jon Hamm)
3606: 4.8 (Scarlett Johansson)
3607: 6.6 (Anne Hathaway)
3608: 5.6 (Robert DeNiro)
3609: 6.2 (Paul Rudd)
3610: 5.4 (Jeff Bridges)
3611: 6.6 (Jim Carrey)
3612: 5.8 (Gwyneth Paltrow)
3613: 5.8 (Jesse Eisenberg)
3614: 5.6 (Dana Carvey)
3615: 6.1 (Russell Brand)
3616: 5.5 (Miley Cyrus)
3617: 6.5 (Zach Galifianakis)
3618: 5.9 (Elton John)
3619: 6.2 (Helen Mirren)
3620: 5.8 (Tina Fey)
3621: 7.2 (Ed Helms)
3622: 6.1 (Justin Timberlake)
Best Episode: 3621 (Ed Helms)- 7.2
Worst Episode: 3606 (Scarlett Johansson)- 4.8
Season Average: 6.0
These numbers are looking pretty average/mediocre (like Ebersol-era) which I expected … except Ed Helms?! That episode didn’t stick out to me in any way, and in fact the consensus seems to be that Ed was surprisingly underwhelming. But a strong cold open, TV Funhouse, and WUWT really helped, clearly.
With this episode, I counted 9 musical monologues this season. Please tell me there’s less next season.
The New Boyfriend Talk Show (Jane Lynch)
Merryville Trolley Ride (Jim Carrey)
Monologue (Zach Galifianakis)
Jack Sparrow (Tina Fey)
The Ambiguously Gay Duo (Ed Helms)
What’s That Name?: Celebrity Edition (Justin Timberlake)
Six pieces. Less than half of the previous season, tied with the strike shortened 07-08 season. Not great, Bob. Lots of culprits here: Forte’s departure, the loss of the full Lonely Island cohort. The problems of Armisen and Wiig can be felt on the other end of the quality spectrum, but the reality of the lack of high end material is that 2010-11 is maybe the quintessential Seth Meyers season – pretty tight, pretty seamless, rarely inspired. This season just kind of chugs along at cruise control, underutilizing people with distinct voices, running with the tried and true formulas that provide comfort food for live audiences and casual fans.
I uniformly like the new crew that came on this season, but none could quite compensate for Forte’s singular genius, and a couple (Pharoah and Brittain) needed some seasoning (by the time Brittain arrives, he’s out the door – shame).
I wouldn’t quibble with too much here. There are some debatable ones that made the list and some that didn’t, though they’re all basically equal in my eyes, so take into account mileage variance.
Inexplicably, the next season gets things much better. I don’t know how or why, but 11-12 is >>> 10-11 despite almost no changes. Then again, 12-13>>>11-12 and that’s almost entirely due to cast changes.
And now the ****½ sketches:
What Up With That?: Back to School Edition (Bryan Cranston)
Les Jeunes De Paris (Emma Stone)
“Sex” Ed Vincent’s Sex Symposium (Emma Stone)
Back to the Future 25th Anniversary DVD pt. 2 (Jon Hamm)
Mega-Mart (Anne Hathaway)
What’s That Name? (Paul Rudd)
Crunkmas Karnival! (Jeff Bridges)
Psychic Medium (Jim Carrey)
Wayne’s World (Dana Carvey)
Don’ You Go Rounin’ Roun To Re Ro (Russell Brand)
Les Jeunes De Paris (Miley Cyrus)
The Original Kings of Catchphrase Comedy (Zach Galifianakis)
What Up With That? (Ed Helms)
Speaking of recurring Seth bits and jokes, Late Night has a number of SNL carryovers. The “not it” punchline happens once every couple of months. Recently, Seth told the joke “President Trump said yesterday that if he loses to Biden that he will leave the country, at which point 195 other countries simultaneously said ‘not it’.”
Late Night has revived “Really with Seth & Amy” about half a dozen over the years. Every time Late Night does “Ya Burnt” it starts with the Tree Frog segue which dates back to the Jimmy and Tina era.
Finally, last month CNN did a story on recently discovered mummies in Egypt. This led to Mike Shoemaker describing it on Twitter as an Update feature Andy Samberg would have done back in the day. So Seth & Alex Baze, who was Weekend Update head writer during this era of SNL wrote a piece about a mummy who just woke up for Andy to do on Late Night.
Season Averages Ranked:
#14 – 7.2
#15 – 7.1
#18 – 7.1
#17 – 7.0
#21 – 7.0
#22 – 7.0
#24 – 7.0
#16 – 6.9
#23 – 6.9
#26 – 6.8
#13 – 6.7
#25 – 6.7
#34 – 6.7
#3 – 6.6
#4 – 6.6
#27 – 6.6
#2 – 6.5
#12 – 6.5
#33 – 6.5
#1 – 6.3
#10 – 6.3
#32 – 6.3
#5 – 6.2
#9 – 6.1
#28 – 6.1
#31 – 6.1
#35 – 6.1
#8 – 6.0
#19 – 6.0
—> #36 – 6.0 <—
#7 – 5.8
#11 – 5.7
#29 – 5.7
#20 – 5.6
#6 – 5.3
#30 – 5.3
Was curious how the first and last episodes rank. Here’s the ranking:
Season Premiere:
8.5 – Tom Hanks (S14)
8.0 – Kyle McLachlan (S16)
7.7 – Michael Jordan (S17)
7.6 – Rob Lowe (S26)
7.3 – Steve Martin (S3)
7.3 – Cameron Diaz (S24)
7.3 – Jerry Seinfeld (S25)
7.3 – Dane Cook (S32)
7.1 – Sylvester Stallone (S23)
7.0 – Steve Martin (S13)
7.0 – Nicholas Cage (S18)
7.0 – Mariel Hemingway (S21)
7.0 – LeBron James (S33)
6.8 – Rolling Stones (S4)
6.8 – Chevy Chase (S8)
6.7 – George Carlin (S1)
6.7 – (no host) (S10)
6.6 – Tom Hanks (S22)
6.6 – Matt Damon (S28)
6.5 – Lily Tomlin (S2)
6.5 – Steve Martin (S5)
6.5 – Bruce Willis (S15)
6.5 – Michael Phelps (S34)
6.4 – (no host) (S7)
6.4 – Sigourney Weaver (S12)
6.3 – Steve Carell (S31)
6.1 – Brandon Tartikoff (S9)
—> 6.1 – Amy Poehler (S36)
6.0 – Charles Barkley (S19)
5.8 – Madonna (S11)
5.8 – Reese Witherspoon (S27)
5.8 – Jack Black (S29)
5.5 – Elliott Gould (S6)
5.3 – Ben Affleck (S30)
5.3 – Megan Fox (S35)
4.9 – Steve Martin (S20)
Season Finale:
8.1 – Jim Carrey (S21)
7.7 – Steve Martin (S14)
7.7 – Christopher Walken (S26)
7.5 – George Wendt (S16)
7.3 – Will Ferrell (S34)
6.9 – Buck Henry (S2)
6.9 – Buck Henry (S5)
6.9 – Heather Locklear (S19)
6.9 – Sarah Michelle Gellar (S24)
6.9 – Dan Aykroyd (S28)
6.8 – Jeff Goldblum (S22)
6.7 – Billy Crystal & Others (S9)
6.6 – Woody Harrelson (S17)
6.6 – David Duchovny (S23)
6.6 – Winona Ryder (S27)
6.5 – Howard Cosell (S10)
6.5 – Kevin Kline (S18)
6.4 – Buck Henry (S4)
6.4 – Judge Reinhold (S13)
6.4 – Candice Bergen (S15)
6.1 – David Duchovny (S20)
6.1 – Kevin Spacey (S31)
6.1 – Steve Carell (S33)
—> 6.1 – Justin Timberlake (S36)
5.9 – Kris Kristofferson (S1)
5.9 – Olivia Newton-John (S7)
5.9 – Dennis Hopper (S12)
5.9 – Alec Baldwin (S35)
5.8 – Olsen Twins (S29)
5.6 – (no host) (S6)
5.5 – Jackie Chan (S25)
5.5 – Zach Braff (S32)
5.3 – Buck Henry (S3)
5.3 – Ed Koch (S8)
5.3 – Anjelica Huston (S11)
4.7 – Lindsay Lohan (S30)
8.9 – Jerry Seinfeld (17.18)
8.8 – Alec Baldwin (15.18)
8.8 – Christopher Walken (18.04)
8.5 – Tom Hanks (14.01)
8.4 – Tom Hanks (16.08)
8.3 – Christopher Walken (15.11)
8.1 – David Alan Grier (21.08)
8.1 – Jim Carrey (21.20)
8.0 – Steve Martin (3.18)
8.0 – Chris Evert (15.05)
8.0 – Robert Wagner (15.08)
8.0 – Kyle MacLachlan (16.01)
8.0 – Ray Romano (24.15)
8.0 – Christopher Walken (25.16)
8.0 – Jon Hamm (34.06)
7.9 – Tom Hanks (17.19)
7.9 – Sinbad (18.07)
7.9 – Kevin Spacey (22.10)
7.9 – Steve Buscemi (23.17)
7.9 – Christopher Walken (28.13)
–
4.9 – Steven Seagal (16.18)
4.9 – Steve Martin (20.01)
4.9 – Colin Farrell (30.07)
4.9 – Cameron Diaz (30.16)
4.9 – Eva Longoria (31.06)
4.9 – Taylor Lautner (35.09)
4.8 – Frank Zappa (4.03)
4.8 – Jamie Lee Curtis (6.04)
4.8 – Robert Culp (7.18)
4.8 – Jerry Hall (11.10)
4.8 – Christian Slater (19.05)
4.8 – Jennifer Aniston (29.09)
4.8 – Lance Armstrong (31.04)
4.8 – Gabourey Sidibe (35.20)
4.8 – Scarlett Johansson (36.06)
4.7 – Sally Kellerman (6.09)
4.7 – Teri Garr (11.06)
4.7 – Johnny Knoxville (30.18)
4.7 – Lindsay Lohan (30.20)
—> 4.7 Scarlett Johansson (32.18)
4.6 – Malcolm McDowell (6.02)
4.6 – Charlene Tilton (6.11)
4.6 – Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey (29.10)
4.6 – Ashton Kutcher (30.15)
4.5 – Nancy Kerrigan (19.15)
4.5 – Bob Saget (20.19)
4.5 – Halle Berry (29.03)
4.4 – Tom Green (26.06)
4.3 – Robert Hays (6.08)
4.3 – Kate Winslet (30.04)
4.2 – Milton Berle (4.17)
4.2 – Deborah Harry (6.10)
4.2 – Matthew McConaughey (28.11)
4.1 – George Foreman (20.09)
—> 4.1 – John C. Reilly (32.03)
3.7 – Donald Trump (29.16)
3.6 – Deion Sanders (20.13)
3.6 – Hilary Swank (30.13)
3.4 – Sarah Jessica Parker (20.05)
2.9 – Paul Reiser (20.15)
I had this idea after reading Stooge’s review of the 32nd finale. Here is a ranking of the season ending sketches.
*****
– Backstage Fire (S11)
– So Long, Farewell (S19)
– Jimmy Tango (S21)
– Summer Break (S29)
– Goodnight Saigon (S34)
**** ½
– The Polar Bear Cage (S20)
****
– O’Donoghue Performance (S2)
– Karate School (S9)
– The Pirates (S13)
– Have A Bitchin’ Summer (S14)
– The Sunrise Show (S16)
– Bad Expectant Mother (S17)
– Criminal Encounter (S18)
– Larry King (S22)
– Memorial Day Greetings (S26)
– Bear City (S30)
– Bless This Child (S33)
*** ½
– The Franken And Davis Show (S3)
– Mommy Beer (S5)
– *The Clams (S7)
– The Sweeney Sisters (S12)
– Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet (S24)
– The Diggers (S25)
***
– Not For Transsexuals Only (S4)
– The Red Guys (S10)
– The Boss (S15)
– Dr. Deacon’s Haunch Crack Powder (S28)
**½
– The Birthday (S8)
**
– Waiting For Pardo (S1)
– Neil Young’s New Album (S31)
– The Barry Gibb Talk Show (S36)
*½
– The Bag Lady (S6)
– Snipers (S35)
*
– The Receptionist (S32)
N/A Rating
The Lost Deep Thoughts of Jack Handey (S23)
Will’s Last Show (S27)
* Repeat Airing
RoseArt, this is really interesting. I was wondering, would you be willing to do this for the first sketches of each season? Thanks.
Christian, that’s a great idea. I’ll start work on that soon.
That is a really good idea. Off the top of my head 26 & 34 are the only seasons with 5 stars openings (Bush v Gore, A Special Message from Palin & Clinton), though I’m sure I’m forgetting about at least one from 12-18 or 21-25.
30 is (fittingly) the only one I can think of with one that’s under 2 stars (Bush v Kerry) , though again its easier for me to remember ones so closely tied to current events.
Yeah, those were three that I thought of. The only one I know of the top of my head is the Wolverines from season one got 4.5 stars.
Hey Stooge. Why IS This Season A Slight Step Up From 2009/10 ? Nearly ALL The Monologues Are Musical ! Fred Drove You Crazy And So Did Kristin ! ! Stooge, You Said There Was NO Strong Episodes !
Since this ep had recurring sketches, it’s possible I might’ve watched this one but I really don’t remember that sequel to DITB/Mother Lover or maybe I didn’t think of that as such…
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, seven years prior to A Star Is Born!
A dress sketch with Timberlake as Mozart. Interesting this was cut given the time spent on the costumes and wigs…but there isn’t much audience response (it’s excessively, excessively meta, to the point of denseness).
Since the next season’s edition was posted,
Here are all the sketches under 2 stars from this year:
KID SMARTZ (Bryan Cranston) *
THE BJELLAND BROTHERS (Bryan Cranston) *
GLEE / GILLY (Jane Lynch) *1/2
COLD OPEN-REID RALLY (Emma Stone) *1/2
DREAM HOME EXTREME (Emma Stone) *1/2
HIGHWAY COPS (Jon Hamm) *1/2
COLD OPEN-CHINA PRESS CONFERENCE (Scarlett Johansson) *
THE MANUEL ORTIZ SHOW (Scarlett Johansson) *1/2
ST. KAT’S MIDDLE (Scarlett Johansson) *
MIKE’S BUSTERIA (Scarlett Johansson) *1/2
THE ESSENTIALS WITH ROBERT OSBORNE (Anne Hathaway) *1/2
FROM THE GARDEN WITH MR. PRODUCE (Robert DeNiro) *1/2
AMERICAN AMERICA PRESENTS: I, HIPPIE WITH DANA CARVEY (Robert DeNiro) *
AFFECTIONATE FAMILY (Paul Rudd) *
LARRY KING LIVE (Jeff Bridges) *1/2
JEFF’D (Jeff Bridges) *1/2
GENERAL STORE (Jeff Bridges) *1/2
A TASTE OF NEW YORK (Jim Carrey) *
SECRET WORD (Gwyneth Paltrow) *1/2
COLD OPEN-CONGRESSWOMAN MICHELE BACHMANN’S RESPONSE (Jesse Eisenberg) *1/2
ONCE DAILY ESTRO-MAXX (Jesse Eisenberg) *
SPA TALK WITH TYLA YONDERS (Jesse Eisenberg) *1/2
THE ROOMMATE (Dana Carvey) *1/2
PAGEANT PREVIEW (Dana Carvey) *1/2
ULTIMATE VACATION GIVEAWAY (Russell Brand) *1/2
MONOLOGUE (Miley Cyrus) *1/2
THE ESSENTIALS WITH ROBERT OSBORNE: THE SOUND OF MUSIC (Miley Cyrus) *
BEASTLY (Miley Cyrus) *1/2
CELEBRITY SCOOP (Zach Galifianakis) *1/2
THE SILVER SCREEN (Elton John) *1/2
THE OLD WEST (Elton John) *1/2
COLD OPEN-PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS (Helen Mirren) *
MONOLOGUE (Helen Mirren) *1/2
COLD OPEN-OSAMA BIN LADEN VIDEO WILL (Tina Fey) *
SECRET WORD (Justin Timberlake) *1/2
If interested, APC or anyone else can take over posting these from here on out
The What’s that Name sketch they did with Mulaney was pretty good. You’d probably like it.
Fun fact: this episode was the most-watched SNL season finale in 7 years. it garnered a 7.0 household rating which was up 21% from the season 35 finale. It was the highest rating for an SNL season finale since 2004 when Mary-kate and Ashley Olsen hosted Jimmy Fallon’s last show.
I like how the highlights of the season were written either by John Mulaney, Colin Jost, Lonely Island, the new cast, or by the host themselves (Jim Carrey and Zach Galifianakis). It goes to show they definitely learn from this in the upcoming seasons as they give more reign to the newer cast (until 2019)