Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
PRESS CONFERENCE
Barack Obama (JAP) introduces workers who will be affected by sequester
— Some funny messages from all the different types of workers affected by the budget cuts. I especially like the respective messages from Bill, Jason, and particularly Aidy, the latter of whom has yet another sketch-stealing moment in this underrated first season of hers.
STARS: ***½
OPENING MONTAGE
— The still-injured Don Pardo is out for the second consecutive episode, this time with former cast member Darrell Hammond filling in by doing the Pardo imitation he used to occasionally do back in the late 90s/early 00s whenever Don was out sick.
MONOLOGUE
host does stand-up about sandwich theft & recalls his failed SNL audition
— I’ve never been much of a fan of Kevin Hart nor his stand-up comedy, but I’m actually finding his stand-up delivery refreshing and amusing here, maybe because of my fondness towards stand-up monologues on SNL.
— A lot of funny little details in Kevin’s homeless guy/sandwich story.
— Kevin now mentions once having auditioned for SNL, which we would later see a clip of in SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special.
— Kevin’s “Trainin’ Day, bitch!” impression of Denzel Washington made me laugh out loud.
STARS: ***½
STEVE HARVEY
(NAP) treats (host)’s equinophobia with stuffed horse
— Meh, I don’t care for the “Dogglegangers” segment with dogs dressed like Steve Harvey, as I always hate that kind of humor.
— I got a cheap laugh from Kenan’s Steve Harvey mispronouncing “phobias” as “fo-bye-uhs”.
— Kenan’s Harvey freaking out over the stuffed horse’s expression supposedly changing is pretty funny.
— Despite some laughs and Kenan’s always-funny Harvey impression, this overall sketch felt too mild in its funniness to be placed in the lead-off spot of this episode. I might’ve been more accepting of this sketch had it aired towards the end of the episode.
STARS: **½
NEXT WEEK PROMO
— Oddly, despite Darrell Hammond filling in for Don Pardo earlier tonight in the opening montage, we hear Don doing this “Next week” promo announcement. They obviously must’ve reused this audio of Don from a previous episode where Justin Timberlake was the next-announced host & musical guest, but I’m not sure why they didn’t just have Darrell do this promo announcement tonight to keep up continuity from the opening montage.
THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER
Quvenzhané Wallis (host) is the adorable new Pope
— The name of Cecily’s fictional reporter character is Erin Carbonal, which is interesting, as Carbonal used to be the surname of an obscure fictional reporter character (Diane Carbonal) played by Ana Gasteyer back in the late 90s. I wonder if that’s an intentional throwback by whoever wrote this sketch. Also, I recall hearing that in the dress rehearsal version of this sketch, instead of playing a fictional character, Cecily actually played CNN’s Erin Burnett. Why did they randomly decide to change Cecily’s role to a fictional character with a different surname in the live show?
— A somewhat amusing premise of Quvenzhané Wallis being the new Pope.
— Jason’s Wolf Blitzer: “Horsey rides in the Vatican – that’s gotta be a first…but probably isn’t.”
— The sketch is over already? Actually, that’s a good thing, given the thin premise. They kept this the right length, without it getting old.
STARS: ***
VERISMO
Rerun from 1/19/13
BARNES & NOBLE FIRING
Barnes & Noble employees Niff & Dana badmouth their co-workers
— Could’ve done without Bobby doing an inferior variation of his hilarious “We goin’ out on top like Seinfeld!” line from the first installment of this sketch.
— Bobby and Cecily’s insults aren’t quite as funny as they were in the first installment of this.
— Okay, the insults are getting a little funnier and creative, such as the charades and doctor ones.
— “Randrew”? Wasn’t the name of this creepy-smiling character of Taran’s just Andrew in the previous installment of this sketch?
— I love Kate’s delivery of “We share a pancreas.”
— There’s Tim’s always-funny appearance as older employee Carl.
— Ha, even Kevin himself can’t help but laugh his ass off at Tim’s performance. A memorable display of breaking from an SNL host, and our first display of the fun chemistry we’ll be seeing between Kevin and Tim in tonight’s episode.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Wanz [real] perform “Thrift Shop”
WEEKEND UPDATE
unlikely best friends Dennis Rodman (JAP) & Kim Jong Un (BOM) pal around
incredulous SEM & host say “Really!?!” to Voting Rights Act jeopardy
— Seth’s voice sounds slightly hoarse tonight.
— I kinda like the meta line about Kim Jong Un having the same haircut as Macklemore.
— Jay reacted a few seconds too early to the Tigger line, which hurt the humor of it.
— Jay’s performance continues to be off. There something about his delivery here that I’m not liking.
— Kevin joins Seth in tonight’s “Really?!?” segment.
— Yikes, tonight’s edition of “Really?!?” is DEAD so far. Not even the audience is laughing at all, and I can’t blame them.
— Further adding to the “off” feel of tonight’s “Really?!?”, Kevin badly botches his first line, then makes a then-taboo “goddammit” ad-lib. (I believe it’s not until Dave Chappelle’s 2016 episode where “goddamn” is allowed to be said on SNL.)
— Okay, the audience is getting a little more into this “Really?!?” segment. I, on the other hand, am still not laughing, other than a line or two from Kevin. Tonight’s “Really?!?” is so lame.
— Okay, Seth’s Lincoln line made me laugh just now during the “Really?!?” segment.
— An overall bad Update. Seth’s been having quite a lot of subpar Updates lately. I’m starting to really look forward to his mid-season departure the following season. I tell you, reviewing what feels like 10 straight, endless seasons of the not-bad-but-very-bland Seth Meyers solo at the Update desk gets tiring as hell.
STARS: **
THE WALKING DEAD
(host) plays the race card to hide his zombification
— Some laughs from Kevin’s attempts to hide his zombie transformation.
— The “diabetes” bit was very funny.
— The timing and pacing of this sketch feels a little off at times.
— A good ending line from Bill’s character when the other characters are casually walking away: “Guys, should we discuss the fact that Maggie just died?”
STARS: ***
SHARK TANK
inventor’s (host) lame product doesn’t impress investors
— Hmm, I have no memory of this sketch from my last viewing of this episode back in 2013. I do, however, remember an awful Shark Tank sketch later on from the season 40 Chris Rock episode.
— Oh, wait, it’s coming back to me. I now recall this sketch, and I recall it being a stinker.
— Hilarious opening bit with Tim wearing the opposite of a vest.
— Did they seriously put Nasim in a wig and fancy dress just for a non-speaking nanosecond walk-on in which she’s only partially on camera while placing a lamp next to Kevin? Why not just get an extra or even one of the female featured players to play that role?
— Yeesh, that “shork box” ending was awful. And, yeah, this overall sketch was pretty much just as tepid and dumb as I had remembered.
STARS: *½
Z SHIRTS
(host) maintains alphabetical sequence while identifying (TIR)’s Z Shirt
— The visual quality and camera angles are both hilarious and a spot-on spoof of this type of “x-treme” commercial. What makes the visual quality and camera angles even funnier is Kevin’s insanely over-the-top acting, which actually fits this commercial style perfectly.
— Kevin’s repetitive, stupid “Is it a (insert letter here) Shirt?!?” questions are absolutely hilarious, as are Tim’s reactions. Tim’s slowburn throughout this commercial is simply fantastic, culminating in him delivering his final lines in a seething rage before storming off.
STARS: *****
RECORDING SESSION
(VAB) is better suited for Dove Chocolate voice-over gig than is (host)
— Meh, so far, this feels like a variation of that not-too-great sketch from the season 31 Matt Dillon episode where Dillon was a loud, tough wiseguy character trying to record audio for what was supposed to be a soft-spoken relaxation tape.
— Vanessa’s little “Ehh?”s during her readings are great.
— I’m starting to get more and more into this sketch. Kevin’s delivery is beginning to really work for me.
— (*sigh*) Yet another season 38 Fallon/Sanz-esque instance of Fred and Bill cracking up together, this time seemingly in reaction to Kevin’s delivery of one particular line.
— Our second “goddamn” ad-lib from Kevin tonight (inducing more giggling from Bill). To quote what I said in my original 2013 review of this episode (link here), “Did Norm MacDonald give [Kevin] hosting tips before the show?”
STARS: ***½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Ray Dalton [real] perform “Can’t Hold Us”
90’S FUNERAL
the Z Shirt duo reunites & finds closure during a funeral service
— Jay almost sounds like he’s doing his Obama voice in this.
— Oh, hell yes! Out of nowhere, this turns into an absolutely brilliant and classic continuation of the Z Shirts commercial! Such a great delayed punchline to that commercial. It’s always such a welcome novelty whenever SNL unexpectedly turns an unassuming sketch into a continuation of a sketch from earlier that same night.
STARS: *****
360 NEWS
anchor’s (host) neck injury thwarts all-angles program concept
— This premise seems like a promising use of Kevin’s comedic style.
— Funny reveal of Kevin in that neckbrace, considering the premise of this 360 News show.
— Kevin’s pained yells each time he has to turn his head to another camera are cracking me up.
— Wow, Tim in yet another sketch tonight. This has definitely got to be the busiest night of his short-lived tenure as a cast member, and he’s been working especially well with Kevin.
— Quite a lot of line flubs and delayed timing in this sketch. It’s not hurting this sketch TOO much for me, though.
— I love Jay’s delivery of “I HATE THIS SHOW!” while hanging from the ceiling.
STARS: ***½
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— While not without its faults, and while barely having anything that stood out to me as particularly strong (though what did stand out to me as particularly strong, the Z Shirts two-parter, is a classic and is probably what SNL fans immediately think of when this episode comes to mind), this was a pretty good episode as a whole, and it also had a fun feel. This was much better than I found it in my afore-linked original 2013 review of this episode. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not usually a fan of Kevin Hart’s comedic style, but SNL utilized it well in this episode, and, after that monologue got me on Kevin’s side, I found his presence to be welcome for most of this episode.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Z Shirts / 90’s Funeral (tie)
Monologue
Press Conference
360 News
Recording Session
The Walking Dead
Barnes & Noble Firing
The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer
Steve Harvey
Weekend Update
Shark Tank
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Christoph Waltz)
a slight step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Justin Timberlake hosts for his fifth and, as of 2020, final time