Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
BIDEN’S ROOM
petulant Joe Biden (JAS) commiserates with his buddy George W. Bush (WIF)
— Not only is this merely the third and final appearance Fred’s Obama has made all season, but it’s the final appearance his Obama ever makes. At the very beginning of the following season, the Obama impression would (rightfully) be handed off to the then-newly-promoted-to-repertory-player Jay Pharoah. Good fucking riddance to Fredbama. Four-and-a-half damn seasons I had to suffer through that lousy impression.
— Good conceit with the “sympathetic father/angsty adolescent son” dynamic between Fred’s Obama and Jason’s Joe Biden. An interesting and fun new angle on Jason’s Biden impression, and he’s pulling this new take on Biden off well.
— Fred’s Obama: “You’re a great vice president.” Jason’s Biden, in an aggravated manner: “Well, you know, some people say I’d make a great president!” In hindsight, it feels quite significant hearing that in 2020, for obvious reasons.
— The very welcome return of Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush. HUGE applause from the audience in response to him appearing in this.
— I like this pairing of Jason and Will, as well as the concept of Bush being Biden’s imaginary friend. Lots of very fun interplay between them here.
— Will’s Bush impression actually seems more accurate than usual tonight, with him imitating Bush’s distinct hand mannerisms, something Will never did in previous Bush appearances.
STARS: ****
MONOLOGUE
for Mother’s Day, WIF goes script-free to express love for his mom [real]
— I’ve been noticing that Will’s voice seems hoarse throughout this episode. I think I recall it later being revealed that he was a bit under the weather the week of this episode, but I can’t remember for sure.
— Will’s mother, Kay, makes her third SNL appearance. The previous two were: 1) in SNL’s Mother’s Day Special from 2001, back when Will was still a current cast member, and 2) during the goodnights of Will’s season 30 hosting stint, where Will’s mother, father, and wife were shown seated together in the audience.
— I remember, when this originally aired, an online SNL fan pointed out that Will looks as old as his mother. Heh, I hate to say it, but it’s true. Will has always looked older than his actual age, even when he was an SNL cast member (rather hard to believe he was only 28 when he first joined), but I’ve noticed he’s especially seemed to age A LOT in recent years, starting somewhere around this time in 2012. Hell, he’s a year younger than then-current cast member Fred Armisen, yet you sure couldn’t tell from looking at them in this episode.
— Funny bit with Will’s supposedly off-the-cuff “Wally, lower the cue cards!” being seen on the cue cards that Wally lowers.
— A very funny topical reference to the Time Magazine breastfeeding cover photo controversy.
— Some pretty good laughs from Will’s clumsy, awkward Mother’s Day speech.
— A genuinely sweet ending between Will and his mom.
STARS: ***½
ONE-A-DAY EXTRA STRENGTH NASAFLU
(KRW) hopes Nasaflu will put an end her husband’s (WIF) sneeze-yells
— At least Will’s naturally-hoarse voice this week is fitting for a commercial where he plays someone with a cold. Is that why they wrote this?
— Will’s odd-sounding sneeze is hilarious.
— Kristen’s playing a good straight man here. Feels interesting, by the way, seeing this particular pairing of her and Will, especially in the homestretch of her SNL tenure.
— Okay, this is starting to get a little old, despite Will’s amusing sneeze-yells. The writing is VERY thin.
— Good ending.
STARS: **½
ALTERNATIVE PROM
Marty & Bobbi perform a medley at an LGBT prom
— A surprise return of The Culps AND Ana Gasteyer! I’m glad we’re seeing these solid Culps characters again, 10 years after their last appearance.
— Given how heavily associated these characters are with the late 90s and early 00s, it’s an interesting novelty hearing them make mention of modern technology like WiFi and mobile devices.
— It’s also an interesting and fun novelty seeing The Culps cover popular 2010s songs during their usual medley.
— Even after a 10-year hiatus from playing these characters, Will and Ana are just as great at playing them as they’ve always been.
— Overall, the usual quality entertainment from these Culps sketches, further heightened by how refreshing it felt seeing these characters after such a long absence.
STARS: ****
STAY FREE MAXI PADS LADIES LONG DRIVE CHAMPIONSHIP 1994
Pete Twinkle & Greg Stink cover female golfers during O.J. Simpson chase
— Another surprise return of a recurring sketch co-starring a former cast member. Feels very random seeing the return of both this sketch and Will Forte tonight of all episodes, but I would certainly never NOT welcome a Forte cameo with open arms. I also love that we’re getting a cameo from him in a Will Ferrell-hosted episode, as it gives us a gathering of the two legendary Wills of SNL history. Too bad we don’t get any direct interaction between them tonight, though.
— Speaking of Forte, it’s great hearing his cameo actually receive the audience applause it deserves, unlike his cameo in the preceding season’s Elton John episode, which was frustratingly met with dead silence from the audience.
— Interesting change of pace with this recurring sketch suddenly turning into a breaking news special report of the O.J. Simpson car chase, complete with SNL showing the famous footage of the White Ford Bronco speeding down the highway. Footage of that being used in a comedic context always automatically cracks me up.
— Interesting seeing then-writer Mike O’Brien in such a visible, front-and-center (albeit brief and silent) appearance.
— Decent way to work Ferrell into this sketch. I’m glad they didn’t resort to just lazily having him dress in drag to play Kristen’s female opponent.
— Jason: “When your uterine lining looks like the elevator from The Shining!…………(*long pause*)………..Stay Free Maxi Pads!” Other than that great one-liner, the feminine hygiene slogan one-liners from Jason aren’t quite as strong or standout as they usually are in this recurring sketch.
STARS: ***½
THE 100TH DIGITAL SHORT
ANS, Jorma Taccone & Justin Bieber [real] celebrate greatest hits of 100 Digital Shorts
— Ah, a celebration of this being the 100th Digital Short.
— Speaking of which, SNL Archives claims this is actually the 101st Digital Short (see here). Which short are they including that Lonely Island themselves aren’t? Not everything that SNL Archives and Lonely Island count as a Digital Short was actually billed on the air as a Digital Short (e.g. the Peyton Manning-starring United Way ad, and at least one of the Virgania Horsen pieces), which further adds to the confusion over what does and doesn’t count as a Digital Short.
— WHAT THE FUCK??!?? Are you kidding me, SNL?!? Justin Motherfucking Bie– oh, forget it. Bieber’s not worth me tainting my review of this wonderful celebratory 100th Digital Short by launching into another one of my anti-Bieber bitchfests.
— Great throughline, with the “Tonight, we’re going to suck our own (*bleep*)” gag.
— Reba! Shy Ronnie! Punched Before Eating! Ras Trent! Laser Cats! Threw It On The Ground! And many more! I am absolutely LOVING all of these returns and callbacks, and I also love how it’s reminding me of when I reviewed each of those shorts.
— Speaking of Reba, I kinda mentioned this in my review of the preceding episode, but I think Kenan’s Reba appearance in this short ends up being his final drag role on SNL before he would publicly take a stand in 2013 against dressing in drag on SNL. We’ll see, though.
— Lots of hilarious fast-moving gags and callbacks all throughout this. So fast-moving, that it’s hard for me to catch them all in one straight viewing.
— Fantastic cameos from several celebrities who starred in an iconic Digital Short in the past.
— Hilarious bit with Will crashing this short to “suck his own dong”.
— Will: “Three Best Ofs – count ’em, bitch!”
— Ah, there’s Akiva, showing up with Andy and Jorma during the conclusion of the song. Where the heck was he before that? I guess he wasn’t able to make it to the filming of those portions of this short. At least his replacement, Bieber, managed not to ruin this short.
— Overall, wow. An absolutely phenomenal and epic celebration. Knowing in hindsight that this ends up being the second-to-last Digital Short before Andy’s departure from SNL also adds to the meaningful feel. Speaking of which, Lazy Sunday, the short that the following episode’s Digital Short will be a special sequel to, wasn’t mentioned AT ALL in this 100th Digital Short celebration. This omission baffled SNL fans at the time, given Lazy Sunday’s popularity and huge importance in how it was the first Digital Short to become an online sensation, but knowing in hindsight about the following episode’s short, I guess that’s why they intentionally left out a Lazy Sunday mention in this 100th short.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Scream”
WEEKEND UPDATE
incredulous SEM says “Really!?!” to Time Magazine breastfeeding cover
Nicolas Cage (ANS) pictures himself in Liam Neeson’s [real] movie roles
— Another solo-Seth-helmed edition of “Really?!?”, though unlike the other solo Seth ones, the title screen of this one doesn’t have the words “with Seth” under the word “Really?!?”. It looks naked without it.
— Meh, some of Seth’s quips during tonight’s “Really” segment are pretty corny. His delivery is fairly on-point here, at least.
— Hmm, is it really necessary to continue the Get In The Cage segment AFTER the epic one with the real Nicolas Cage? That one seemed like the logical time to retire this segment. (Then again, SNL is the same show that continued the Joe Pesci Show and Judge Judy recurring sketches from the late 90s AFTER the respective cameos from the real Joe Pesci and Judge Judy.)
— Ugh, there goes Seth’s annoying habit of loudly giggling off-camera during guest commentaries, this time during the Get In The Cage bit.
— Andy-as-Cage’s “Puerto Rican Beetlejuice” line was particularly funny. The rest of this commentary, on the other hand? Meh. Old hat. It’s washing right over me.
— Hmm, another Germany joke from Seth? Are we in for another instance of Seth working in a fun German accent after the punchline?
— Yep, there it is.
STARS: **½
THE 2012 FUNKYTOWN DEBATE
groovy mayoral candidates (KET) & (WIF) face off
— Certainly a fun-seeming and unusual premise.
— I mentioned before that it feels odd in hindsight seeing the SNL tenure of the then-new Kate overlap with that of the on-her-way-out Kristen, but the same goes for seeing Kate paired with the also-on-her-way-out-whether-she-knows-it-or-not Abby.
— Fitting use of Usher.
— I’m not exactly finding myself laughing at this sketch so far.
— Holy hell at that…that…that voice Fred’s doing.
— Yeah, I’m currently three minutes into this sketch, and I’m still patiently waiting for the actual humor or entertainment to finally start.
— I remember, when this originally aired, a number of online SNL fans were bothered by the goofy, bug-eyed camera-mugging Kate kept doing when she and Abby were seen dancing in the background throughout this sketch whenever Taran was shown speaking. There’s been one or two other sketches in this early stage of Kate’s SNL tenure where I’ve also noticed her making unnecessary “funny” faces at the camera when somebody else is speaking. Kinda disheartening to see that her habit of mugging the camera for attention and audience approval, which is something I see modern-day online SNL fans complain about Kate often doing in 2020 as if that’s a new habit she recently developed due to staying at SNL too long, was actually a habit of hers right from the very beginning.
— Yet another Kristen Wiig entrance that receives automatic applause from the audience.
— Jay making his entrance in a diaper and pacifier kinda made me chuckle, at least, but that’s probably just me being desperate for an actual laugh by this point of the sketch. And I can’t help but feel kinda bad that making a non-speaking walk-on in a diaper and pacifier is the ONLY thing Jay does in this entire episode. After his huge upswing in airtime in the Josh Brolin episode, Jay’s airtime has unfortunately gone right back in the crapper. He does almost NOTHING in the final three episodes of this season.
— Overall, what a colossal disappointment. Sure, this sketch’s atmosphere, performances, and costumes were fun on the surface, but that got extremely old once you realized this sketch had absolutely NOTHING ELSE going for it. Not sure why that works for What Up With That, but not this sketch. Then again, What Up With That has actual JOKES.
STARS: *
BROADWAY SIZZLE
(WIF) accidentally sings women’s parts on cable access
— Hmm, SNL debuting a potentially-recurring Kristen Wiig-co-starring TV show sketch in Kristen’s second-to-last episode as a cast member? A questionable decision, to say the least.
— Speaking of which, SNL later does try to bring this sketch back in the following season’s Martin Short-hosted episode, but the sketch doesn’t make it past dress rehearsal that night. In that version, Kristen’s co-host character is replaced by a new co-host character played by Kate.
— Once again, as I’ve said in some past episode reviews, I know it ain’t right to judge a non-recurring sketch by its first 30 seconds, but my god, I’m already getting the horrible feeling that I’m going to be bored to death by this Broadway-themed sketch. The mixture of James Anderson and/or Kent Sublette’s typical style of writing (I can’t remember if this was written by both of them or just Anderson when I once saw the writing credits for this sketch long ago) and the Broadway-centric humor is a deadly combo for my comedic tastes.
— I just realized that this sketch is surprisingly Bill’s first appearance all night. Geez. Really, SNL? And unfortunately, his first appearance of the night has to be in this laughless, dull tripe. Hell, knowing Anderson and/or Sublette, I’m surprised they didn’t have Fred in Bill’s role in this sketch, as that casting choice would’ve been completely on-brand for them, for various reasons.
— Oof. Not even Will’s comical delivery can save this dull-as-hell material.
— Overall, not a single fucking laugh from me at any point during this sketch. Man, what the hell has happened to tonight’s episode ever since Update ended?
STARS: *
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Climax”
ANNIVERSARY TOAST
Hamilton & other unwanted toasters mar a 25th wedding anniversary party
— A random return of the “wedding/funeral speeches” sketches from all the way back in season 34, last done in that season’s finale that Will hosted, though he’s playing a different character in tonight’s installment of the sketch than the one he played in the installment from the season 34 finale.
— Will: “You loaned me money for chef’s school. Fast-forward 3 months, now I’m a professional psychic.”
— Bobby’s “WHAAAAAAAAT?!? (*mic drop*)” routine in this recurring sketch manages to get me every time.
— Great to see the return of Will Forte’s Hamilton character. As usual, his lines are killer.
— Didn’t care for Kristen’s ending line, “There’s a finger in my salad!”, as it felt like a very inferior variation of her funnier “There’s a body in the bathroom!” ending line from the first installment of this sketch.
— Overall, this sketch as a whole was okay, but paled in comparison to the two previous installments of this sketch.
STARS: ***
ALMOST PIZZA
Rerun from 4/7/12
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A certainly fine pre-Weekend Update half, including some really strong stuff, but the episode was never the same once Update ended. Hell, even Update itself was kinda meh, but Update’s been in a slump these last few episodes in general. Reminiscent of this season’s Lindsay Lohan and Jonah Hill episodes, this episode suddenly crashed-and-burned HARD with two horrible segments that immediately followed Update. And even the rebound the show experienced afterwards with the 10-to-1 sketch was only mild and that sketch wasn’t quite as funny as previous installments of it were. Despite reportedly being a bit under the weather, Will Ferrell provided plenty of laughs in this episode and was as strong as ever when stepping into his old characters/impressions (Marty Culp, George W. Bush), but not even he could do anything for the aforementioned doomed first two post-Update sketches.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
The 100th Digital Short
Biden’s Room
Alternative Prom
Stay Free Maxi Pads Ladies Long Drive Championship 1994
Monologue
Anniversary Toast
One-A-Day Extra Strength Nasaflu
Weekend Update
The 2012 Funkytown Debate
Broadway Sizzle
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Eli Manning)
a step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Season 37 comes to an end, with host Mick Jagger. It’s the final episode for veterans Andy Samberg & Kristen Wiig, as well as four-season cast member Abby Elliott.
“Broadway Sizzle” was both Anderson and Sublette.
I believe Adam McKay wrote the monologue, per an interview with Wally Feresten (cue card guy).
Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider, and Bryan Tucker wrote Funkytown Debate.
“Good fucking riddance to Fredbama. Four-and-a-half damn seasons I had to suffer through that lousy impression.” And to think, it’s far from the worst political impression we’ll have to sit through. At least that’s a while away.
Will did reveal later he was sick during this episode.
The ESPN classic sketch may have been brought back tonight as a favor to Jason, I know it was wildly thought this was going to be her last season.
Bieber being such a big part of the 100th short is a bummer, but like you said, it doesn’t end up detracting from the sketch at all. Gonna miss rewatching these shorts. Like I’ve said on other episodes (and I’ll repeat tomorrow) Andy was the main reason I started watching the show when I was 11, and therefore I’m hugely nostalgic for anything he did on the show.
I agree with that Kate has made mugging too much a part of her persona, but I don’t mind it in the funky debate sketch. If I was on my fourth episode of the show and all I had to do in a sketch was dance in the background, I’d try to make the most of it as well.
Broadway Sizzle is your typical Anderson suck fest. I hate those “dern” lines from Ferrell. Why does Anderson still think slightly mispronouncing words is the funniest thing in the world?
This was another disappointing Ferrell episode. Aside from his solid Season 34 episode, he’s never managed to get a good show. I’m still pissed about Cast List getting cut from his most recent episode.
I actually haven’t minded the last couple episodes of Will’s. There are less of those empty nostalgia calories and more attempts to create something new and distinct. Obviously, they’re not all winners, but I prefer the “seeing what sticks” nature of SNL far more than the “sticking with what people like” formula. The later Ferrell episodes are more interesting because they return to that “Is this funny?” nature of the show. Besides, nostalgia generally isn’t what sticks. The best bits from the Dana Carvey episodes are Pepper Boy and the Tom Brokaw pretapes, not the Church Lady retreads.
I’d still be tempted to say that Fredbama was the worst political impression, for a number of reasons, but I certainly won’t be defending Trumpwin…
I am always glad to find other people who didn’t mind Will’s last episode, as it got something of a pasting, which I can understand due to the embarrassing cold open (the best I can say is it was very short) and the debate sketch (which, sadly, was not). Add in that Thanksgiving sketch, and the cut scenes on Youtube being stronger than any of the above, and I’m even less surprised. But I enjoy a great deal of the episode, in part because it’s the type of Will Ferrell humor that is right to my taste, unlike some of his last few seasons as a cast member (which moved more and more toward one-note sleazy/gross/smarmy personas) or his S34 episode (which is the strongest overall Ferrell host episode but puts him in a very generic place). I love the pre-tapes and there are three sketches here that are also strong (the restaurant; Cinema Classics, and the dummy sketch). They are also the perfect type of material for Ferrell to play. So by modern SNL standards that’s not too shabby.
If the dummy sketch came out during Ferrell’s heyday, it would be widely considered a classic. It was a very funny piece.
That’s an interesting questions about SNL’s worst presidential impression, at least for the ones that stuck past a single season (so we can skip over Hammond’s Dubya). Let’s take the whole blackface element out of Fred’s Obama. It was an inconsistent impression, but as Stooge has laid out, they tapped into a small handful of decent pieces with the impression at the centre. I mean, there were way too many duds, but I think Stooge had at least four or five Fredbama pieces with at least four stars. That’s probably twice as much as Ronald Reagan received. Fred’s impression was the weakest part of the whole Obama experience. The writing didn’t help, but they stumbled into a few stronger-than-average ideas.
Baldwin’s Trump is technically fine, but the whole nature of the Trump presidency made me wonder what the point of even having a good impression was. There was so much material for the show to chew on that it immediately started choking. Perhaps this modern hellscape will be a thing of the past and the Trumpwin pieces won’t feel as totally hopeless. But the second Trump won the election, the writers lost their ability to navigate the whole mess cleanly. The show did a better job playing in the margins of the modern political landscape – parodying race relations, teasing the useless energy of Drumpfiness (think of the recent “Who are we going to hate now that Trump is gone?” ad). My hope is that the show employs a total reset, moves away from the political sphere and do what the show does best when the ratings dip back down to post-election levels – experimentation and discovery.
To be fair, Baldwin’s Trump is much better from a technical standpoint than Fred’s Obama, which truly is embarrassingly bad. I’m just fresh off Baldwin’s Trump (and wary of 4-8 years of Bidejim) and more freshly annoyed by those (I’ve been skipping the Obama opens in these rewatches, unless its one I know I enjoy like the Cosby one).
I agree the 2019 episode isn’t the worst thing ever, I’m just saltly about that one sketch because I think its one of this era’s best (this era is full of theater nerds, of course they’re going to play them perfect). It’s certainly better than this one, and I think 2018, mainly because outside the Bush open (which was great) and The House (which isn’t one of Kyle’s best, but is still silly fun) I literally can’t remember a single sketch from that one. Okay I remember a mediocre MeToo sketch and the return of the Update correspondent who can’t control the volume of his voice as well, but I’m looking over these sketches and not a one rings a bell. This Season 37 episode is arguably the worst, just for the post Update flop, but that forget able blandness that defines so much of the next era makes it my least favorite. We’ll see when we get there I guess, since even this one I liked more than when it aired (I was 14 and had convinced myself we would get a new Celebrity Jeopardy since that happened in the last episode I had seen him host and assumed it would be a tradition.)
Speaking of Celebrity Jeopardy, since you’ll never cover it anyway Stooge, what were your thoughts on the SNL40 version? I thought it was one of the highlights of that night, even though there were a few noticeable technical gaffes. I loved how many impressions they were able to fit in there, though I wish we got a little more time with Connery, especially considering it’ll probably be the last time.
“There was so much material for the show to chew on that it immediately started choking.”
That’s such a good line lol. I’m definitely going to use that at some point.
“Speaking of Celebrity Jeopardy, since you’ll never cover it anyway Stooge, what were your thoughts on the SNL40 version?”
After five-and-a-half years since I last saw it, I’m having a hard time remembering a lot of the details within it, but I recall loving the sketch, between the usual solid humor and the new aspects like the Bill Cosby thing and the decision to have unannounced contestants suddenly pop in mid-game, the latter of which was a nice way to get mileage out of having so many SNL alums and former guests in the building that night.
I remember when watching this episode live, one of my friends commented about Funkytown that it was amazing seeing how much money and time would have been dropped on costumes, sets, and choreography for something not really that funny at all.
It was pretty obvious that Will was under the weather for a good deal of the episode–I do not know if that influenced anything being cut or rearranged.
Kate’s goofy eyes were very noticeable in her early episodes, I thought. I either got used to them or she eased up on them because I don’t remember really noticing them until recent seasons when she’s gotten hammier.
Kind of a shame that a decent chunk of the current cast would be perfect for roles in the ESPN Women’s Sports sketches–in particular, I think Kate, Cecily, and Aidy have played variations of similar roles a lot in other things. Then again, I suppose the host usually popped up as one of the athletes anyway.
This was a horribly disappointing episode to me at the time, although looking back it’s pretty good until Update. I do recall next week’s episode being a surprisingly solid way to finish off the season though.
If I’m not mistaken, Ferrell/Usher is to date Will Forte’s most recent appearance on SNL. He’d make a fine host.
A very good first half, a mediocre second half, but there’s enough here to say that the good outweighs the bad. The energry of “Funkytown Debate” seemed off to me, but I didn’t hate it.
Stuart,
He cameos along with Steve Martin is Kristen’s monologue from when she hosts in season 42. Other than that, I think you’re right. Agreed a Forte hosted episode would be great, really wish they had him on during the Last Man On Earth days.
Good catch, thanks!
Also, now that I think of it, SNL 40.
Hello Stuart. Actually, I Put This Episode A Step Up So I Was Surprised When Stooge Put This Episode A Step Down ! I KNOW The Show Was NOT Good After Week End Update And That Wasn’t Good Either, But There Were So Many Things That Were Good Especially The Digital Shorts And The Cold Opening That I Thought Stooge Would Have Put A Step Up !
Kate’s bulging eyes and mugging were extremely noticeable to me, at first. It took me a while to fully warm up to her, in large part because of that. I think during seasons 41-43, I had a pretty favorable opinion of most everyone, so it was probably during that period when I liked her best/she stopped the mugging/I got used to the mugging, but I’m not certain. We’ll have to see. Something has certainly shifted in the last year, though, and I mostly can’t stand her, anymore (though she does occasionally give a great performance). Then again, I’m a bit fed up with everyone in the cast, currently, aside from the eight-or-so newest cast members.
I think the current cast size of 20 is way too big and too much for SNL to handle. It doesn’t help when celebrities and former cast members are included. I feel those cameos take away a lot of airtime from those are actually in the cast. How are some performers supposed to grow if they are not given opportunities to shine.
I get that there are viewers, fans, and even those in the entertainment industry that want to continue to see the veterans, but it should not be at the expense of the new performers. Something has to eventually give and Lorne should know that. NBC exes as well.
It may also be a good thing that the saturday-night-live.com site is no longer up and running today. I would hate to see what the website has become and what the users would be saying about anything nowadays.
Agreed on the bloated cast, Old Soul. Especially because we’ve barely seen the three Year 46 newbies do *anything*.
@HelloStuart I thought Andrew’s showcase with Beck and Kyle was hilarious. Punkie has made me laugh in almost every sketch she’s in. I’m still waiting for Lauren’s big moment, but I hope it will come soon. It seems like they all will probably continue to a second year thus far (though it’s early to say), and that’s what I hope for. Worst case scenario, Andrew goes back to the writers’ room and I’d still be fine with that.
Bloated, and an oddity. Collectively, there hasn’t been a show from the current season where all 20 people were present.
Speaking of Celebrity Jeopardy sketches that weren’t part of regular episodes, have you seen the one from the February 8, 2001 “Thursday Night Live” special that featured Ozzy Osborne (HOS) and Martha Stewart (ANG) as contestants? If so, your thoughts?
@Andrew, I saw that Celebrity Jeopardy installment, but I barely remember anything from it, given the fact that I haven’t seen it in so long (my last viewing of it was probably all the way back in 2001, the same year it originally aired in) and it hasn’t been re-aired anywhere near as often as other Celebrity Jeopardy installments. I remember liking that Celebrity Jeopardy installment a lot, but Celebrity Jeopardy in general was pretty much bulletproof to me back in those days, pre-season 27.
“Speaking of which, SNL Archives claims this is actually the 101st Digital Short. Which short are they including that Lonely Island themselves aren’t?”
The site lists the re-cut Apocalypto trailer as one and not Palin 2012, so that is probably the extra digital short.
Vanessa talks about a sketch she and Taran wrote for this episode, with Will rapping about birds (pronounced “boids”).
https://twitter.com/LateNightSeth/status/1519036088928583680