January 14, 2012 – Daniel Radcliffe / Lana Del Rey (S37 E12)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

ROMNEY: BELIEVE IN AMERICA
one-percenter Mitt Romney (JAS) can’t lay off the unemployment metaphors

— Meh, the second episode in a row with a “politician speaks dryly to the camera” camera cold opening, one of my least favorite cold opening tropes. Jason’s Mitt Romney is at least usually a little more amusing than Andy’s boring portrayal of Rick Santorum in the preceding episode’s cold opening.
— I love Jason-as-Romney’s mention of “my five human sons” when trying to come off relatable to normal Americans.
— I’m not caring at all for Jason-as-Romney’s unemployment metaphor-filled food questions to Abby.
— That’s it? The cold opening is over? Blah, aside from the aforementioned “my five human sons” line, this was pretty much just as bad as the preceding episode’s cold opening.
STARS: *½

MONOLOGUE
host is glad that lame Harry Potter skit ideas won’t be seen tonight

— Right out of the gate, Daniel Radcliffe and his English accent are coming off likable and charming.
— I like how they’re showing screenshots of all of the people who impersonated Daniel over the years on SNL: Bill, Hugh Jackman, and Rachel Dratch.
— Some funny walk-ons from the cast as rejected Harry Potter spoof characters. Even the Jersey Shore bit worked. (It helps that we haven’t seen Bobby’s Snooki in a long while.)
STARS: ***

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS
after the Golden Globes, Ricky Gervais (JAS) will emcee more awards shows

— Boy, this SNL era never stops getting mileage out of that “Brendan Fraser laughing weirdly at an awards show” clip. I lost count of the number of sketches this SNL era used that clip in.
— Pretty fun format with Jason’s Ricky Gervais being shown making his usual snarky comments at increasingly out-of-place award shows.
— The BET Awards scene at the end got a good laugh out of me.
STARS: ***½

TARGET
Target manager (BIH) likes Target stock boy (host) who likes Target Lady

— Much like Judy Grimes and Nicholas Fehn then-recently, we get a surprising return of a recurring character who hadn’t appeared in years. And much like those surprise returns of Grimes and Fehn, this ends up being Target Lady’s final appearance during Kristen’s tenure as a cast member. The character would be brought back in the season 38 episode that Kristen hosts.
— As I said in my review of the last Target Lady sketch prior to tonight’s (all the way back in season 34’s Justin Timberlake episode), I’ve surprisingly started coming around on Target Lady after spending the longest time not being able to stand her.
— Hmm, we get a random new addition to this already-established recurring sketch, with Bill as Target Lady’s odd, stern, hotdog-chomping boss. Despite the decision to make this character act unsettlingly predatory towards Daniel’s character, which feels unnecessary and strangely old hat (not old hat for this recurring sketch, but for SNL in general), Bill’s portrayal of this character is very funny.
— What the hell are they going for with Kenan’s character?
— Despite how I’ve come around on Target Lady, I still don’t like the regular gag with her always walking away from her cash register to get an item while she was in the middle of ringing up a customer. I don’t know why this recurring sketch STILL expects me to laugh at that same-old same-old gag after the umpteenth installment of this sketch, when I didn’t laugh at that gag the first time.
— Pretty funny bit regarding Taran’s character looking mad both in his ID photo and in person currently.
STARS: ***

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING!
uncriticized millennials show Dunning-Kruger effect

— Much like the Comments Section sketch from the Melissa McCarthy episode earlier this season, we get a similarly-formatted sketch featuring a timely spoof of internet culture.
— Some good sarcastic-but-affably-delivered comments from Vanessa and Bill towards their guests.
— Very funny how Daniel’s whole gimmick is combining Irish dancing and Chinese calligraphy. The dancing we see him doing is particularly hilarious.
STARS: ***½

SPIN THE BOTTLE
unlucky teen (host) has to kiss hobos at a party

— Feels kinda odd seeing this SNL era air a short like this that’s NOT a Lonely Island Digital Short.
— A cheap but amusing conceit with the randomly-appearing hobos who Daniel has to kiss.
— A laugh from how Fred’s character’s idea of “freshening up” is putting deodorant on his tongue.
— I love the cutaway to Bill as a “dead” hobo.
STARS: ***

DELAWARE FELLAS
Jersey Boys knockoff is rooted in the Blue Hen State

— Kenan’s intentionally-bad attempt at an Italian accent is very funny.
— The Jersey Guys knockoff details in this play are providing some laughs.
— Ha, if you pay attention to the portion of the sketch where Daniel announces the Delaware Fellas are breaking up, Taran can be seen starting to exclaim “Capisce!” too early (he’s supposed to say it in unison with his scene partners), and then, when realizing his mistake, he stops himself mid-sentence in an amusing way with a hilarious look on his face (screencap below).

— A funny “three-and-a-half trains” sound Jason’s Joe Biden makes.
STARS: ***

HOGWARTS ACADEMY
at Hogwarts in 2020, Harry Potter (host) can’t let go of his glory days

— Interestingly, this set-in-the-future Harry Potter parody takes place in our now-current year, 2020.
— Like in most of tonight’s sketches so far, Daniel’s delivery is very solid throughout this, and is making this sketch entertaining. That’s especially helpful for me, as I’ve never been into Harry Potter, and was naturally at risk for being bored by this sketch, before Daniel’s performance held my interest.
— A good laugh from Vanessa’s delivery of “He’s huuuuuge!” regarding her husband Hagrid.
— A funny Professor Snape appearance from Bill.
— A very well-delivered “Still got it” line from Daniel’s Harry Potter before he exits at the very end of this sketch.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Video Games”

WEEKEND UPDATE
Kim Jong Un’s Two Best Friends From Growing Up (FRA) & (VAB) badmouth him via sotto voce

Casey Anthony’s recently-adopted dog (host) is disturbed by his new owner

— (*Two Best Friends From Growing Up appear, Stooge buries his face in his hands in an aggravated manner for three minutes straight*)
— A very rare instance of an SNL host (especially a first-time host) appearing on Update as a character. I love this rarity, and it’s fun seeing Daniel as Casey Anthony’s dog.
— Daniel is giving yet another solid performance tonight, and he has some great lines here. Even his little way of saying, in his dignified English accent, “a booty-shaking contest in Fort Lauderdale”, cracked me up.
STARS: ***

X27B THEATER
in 2112, theatergoers laugh at dramatization of 21st-century ignorance

 

— (*sigh*) Paul Brittain’s final appearance as a cast member. As a complete shock to SNL fans at the time, it would be announced the week of the following new episode that Paul has left the show, for reasons undisclosed to us. In fact, eight years later, the reasons still haven’t been disclosed. I heard recently that one rumor is that SNL fired Paul to make room for a certain female cast member who we’ll be seeing joining later this season, but I find that rumor to be dubious for many reasons that I won’t get into right now. Whatever the reason for Paul’s departure is, and whether he was fired or left on his own, it’s a damn shame. After being under the radar for his entire first season (though showing some promise when given the chance), he was slowly but surely making good progress in this second season of his, and had an especially solid night just an episode prior to tonight’s (Charles Barkley). The abruptness and mysteriousness of this mid-season departure of his is also eerily similar to that of Jeff Richards eight years prior. I also think I recall hearing that, much like Jeff’s departure, Paul’s departure coincided with the firing of an SNL writer (I forget who, but I believe it was a female writer), which supports people’s theory that Paul was fired and didn’t leave on his own (the latter of which the press wanted us to believe when they originally made the announcement of Paul’s departure). Also possibly supporting the “He was fired” theory is the fact that he would go on to be seemingly uncomfortable talking about his SNL stint. I remember reading an interview with him a few years after his SNL departure, where he was being interviewed about a current project of his, and when asked at one point about his SNL experience, he quickly tried to change the subject, though not in a rude manner (his answer was something like “I had fun at SNL, but I also had fun doing my current project, and THAT’S what I’d rather discuss right now”, and the person interviewing him got the hint and immediately changed the subject.)
— Speaking of changing the subject, let’s get back to this actual sketch I’m supposed to be reviewing.
— I love the concept of a sketch set in 2112 presenting a play set in 2012, exaggerating things that were the norm in 2012, and making some historical generalizations along the way (e.g. bizarrely using the 2003 song “Hey Ya” to represent the year 2012). Not only am I finding this concept pretty fun, but it’s an accurate spoof of the manner in how older time periods tend to be presented in contemporary dramatizations.
— Has half of Nasim’s roles this season been as old ladies?
— A particularly funny part with the characters in the 2012 play being exaggeratedly overconfident that Taylor Swift will never assassinate anyone, which slyly implies she really does end up assassinating someone later on in her life. Reminds me of how it feels looking back at certain pre-1994 stuff in which O.J. Simpson was innocently looked at by people as lovable and wholesome.
— I like how the levels of laughter from the individual fake audience members varies each time we’re shown them.
STARS: ***½

GLENDA OKONES FOR MAYOR 2012
mayoral candidate Glenda Okones (KRW) runs an attack ad against herself

— A good concept of Kristen as a politician doing an attack ad on herself, and the execution of it is decent.
STARS: ***

GLENDA OKONES FOR MAYOR 2012
for transparency’s sake, Glenda Okones reveals more character flaws

— Hmm, not only is this a runner, which I can understand, but did we need two of these airing back-to-back? Granted, there was a real commercial break separating them, but the copy I’m currently watching of this episode edits out all the commercial breaks, and thus, we see these two Glenda Okones pieces back-to-back, separated only by SNL bumpers.
— Funny line from Kristen’s Okones regarding loving her youngest daughter more than her oldest.
STARS: ***

THE JAY PHAROAH SHOW
JAP leans on impersonations in interview with host

— Hmm, a sketch with Jay, as himself, hosting his own talk show and interviewing tonight’s SNL host, seemingly in the tradition of stuff like The Chris Farley Show, Talking To The Stars With Rachel & Tracy, and The Julia Show.
— Turns out I’m not caring for where this sketch has been going so far. There doesn’t seem to be much of a joke besides Jay habitually breaking out into celebrity impressions (impressions that we’ve already seen him do before, no less) and displaying no interviewing skills. And that’s not even much of a joke. Am I missing some kind of clever, sharp satire this sketch is attempting in what they’re implying about Jay’s lack of range? Or am I correct that this is just a weak sketch?
— At least we now get a new impression from Jay, with him doing a Tracy Morgan voice. Not one of Jay’s better impressions, though.
— An actual pretty funny joke right now, albeit a quick throwaway one, with the ridiculously tall glass of water that Daniel is shown with.
— Aaaaand the sketch is over. Well…….THAT was a whole lot of nothing.
STARS: *½

GLENDA OKONES FOR MAYOR 2012
Glenda Okones isn’t ashamed to admit that she terrorized her own mother

— Briefer than the last two, but this contained a funny revelation from Okones about a physical attack she once made on her mother.
STARS: ***

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Blue Jeans”

EXIT POLL
(KRW)’s exit poll of New Hampshire voter (host) extends beyond politics

— I like how this sketch feels like a throwback to Kristen’s earlier seasons, where SNL often utilized her in subtly-funny, saying-humorous-or-oddball-things-in-a-straitlaced-deadpan-manner roles, which is the type of role where Kristen’s true strength has always lied, rather than over-the-top, wacky, hammy, annoying roles that SNL has often been typecasting her in starting around 2008. The solid Audition sketch that appeared in a Jon Hamm-hosted episode a season prior to tonight’s episode similarly gave us a throwback to Kristen’s early-era saying-humorous-or-oddball-things-in-a-straitlaced-deadpan-manner roles.
— Good ending line from a now-unhappy Kristen to a walking-away Daniel, in regards to the exit poll: “I’m switching you to gay!….robot!”
STARS: ****

HEADZ UP
World-Tel’s Headz Up service alerts engrossed texters to meatspace perils

— Oddly, this pre-taped commercial, which was previously cut after dress rehearsal from many episodes this season, is Andy’s ONLY appearance all night. He apparently wasn’t at SNL at all this week (Daniel Radcliffe said at one point of a talk show interview just two or three days before the live show, “I still haven’t met Andy Samberg”). I can’t remember the reason for his absence (if we ever even found out what it was), but I think it might’ve had something to do with promotion for his movie Celeste & Jesse Forever. (I remember he was interviewed for that movie at some kind of film festival the following week or so, and at one point, the interviewer asked him about the backlash Lana Del Rey was facing over her poorly-received musical performances in this episode, and Andy defended her before admitting, with a nervous smile, that he hasn’t actually watched her performances.) In hindsight, this is probably one of the earliest hints that he’s on his way out as an SNL cast member.
— A fairly funny slow-motion shot of Bobby falling off a mechanical bull while still glued to his phone, but I think I’m just desperate for a laugh by this point.
— Overall, while this wasn’t awful, it was forgettable and came off too generic.
STARS: **

GOODNIGHTS

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A (mostly) consistently decent episode, though barely any segments stood out as strong. Daniel Radcliffe exceeded my expectations by being a solid and likable host.

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

RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Exit Poll
X27B Theater
You Can Do Anything!
Golden Globe Awards
Hogwarts Academy
Glenda Okones For Mayor 2012 (all three parts)
Spin The Bottle
Monologue
Delaware Fellas
Weekend Update
Target
Headz Up
Romney: Believe In America
The Jay Pharoah Show

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Charles Barkley)
a slight step down

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Channing Tatum