Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
POLITICS NATION WITH AL SHARPTON
Al Sharpton (KET) explores the IRS targeting scandal
— The usual decent laughs from Kenan-as-Al-Sharpton’s constant mispronunciations.
— Funny bit with the Senator McConnell/Matthew McConaughey confusion.
— I love Kenan’s delivery of “They ain’t gonna Wesley Snipes me!”
STARS: ***
MONOLOGUE
host rephrases his Oscar acceptance speech nod to Jennifer Garner [real]
— Good bit with Ben Affleck mentioning how excited he is to have become a Five-Timer after seeing the big induction that Justin Timberlake was recently given into the Five-Timers Club, only for Ben’s induction to turn out to be an unceremonious one involving Bobby.
— Bobby doing his usual solid work. I especially like him being forced to make up a Five-Timers Club song after he assumed Ben would say no to his offer to sing one.
— Boy, this comical fake tension between Ben and Jennifer Garner in regards to their marriage has aged poorly, for obvious reasons.
STARS: **½
HBO FIRST LOOK
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (FRA) spites host with anti-Argo film
— A worrying beginning to this sketch, with it being yet ANOTHER translator bit, but thankfully, this sketch goes a completely different route after that beginning.
— An absolutely hilarious title of Fred-as-Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad’s Argo retaliation film: “Bengo F#*@ Yourself”.
— Very funny how Fred’s Mahmoud always quietly precedes each of his lines with “Pahk the cah in Havahd Yahd” in order to keep up the Boston accent he’s doing.
— I love the meta reference with one of the lines Fred’s Mahmoud says in a Boston accent being a random “You ah!”, ala SNL’s Boston Teens characters.
— Funny ironic twist with Ben himself playing the sound man in this anti-Argo movie.
— As usual whenever he hosts, Ben has the ability to make his habit of breaking during sketches come off charming instead of annoying.
— Also as usual whenever he hosts, Ben gives us a great display of self-deprecation, this time with his killer line about agreeing to appear in this anti-Argo film because he’s been looking to appear in a movie worse than Gigli.
— Overall, a very solid sketch, and is very welcome and much-needed in this final episode of Fred’s, given how bad he’s generally been these past few seasons. He was great in this sketch.
STARS: ****
XANAX FOR GAY SUMMER WEDDINGS
Xanax combats feelings of inadequacy produced by gay summer weddings
— Mixed feelings on this premise, given SNL’s general crutch for relying on gay humor for cheap laughs.
— Some funny lines and visuals during Bill’s testimonial.
— Good bit with Cecily regarding the outlandish, overly generous gifts she once received at a gay wedding.
— Turns out this commercial is actually having a lot of pretty funny moments all throughout. Not bad at all, given my initial worries.
STARS: ***½
DEPRESSION SCENE
during the Great Depression, (BIH) spurns (host)’s offer of honest work
— Our final display during Bill’s cast tenure of his great knack for perfectly playing old-timey roles. And I love how the voice he’s using in this particular sketch is very different from the ones we’ve heard him use in other sketches set around this time period.
— A funny and cute touch with Kate’s character imitating Bill’s gestures during his spiel.
— Good reveal of Kate’s seemingly-child character actually being a 40-year-old hooker with a gravelly voice.
— Very funny bit at the end.
STARS: ****
GAY CAMP
(host)’s summer camp is going to fail to turn gay teens straight
— Another gay-themed segment tonight, just mere minutes after that Xanax commercial???
— At least Ben’s fun as always here as the camp leader.
— I like Vanessa’s smiley-but-uncomfortable delivery of “Um, church. I’m always at church.”
— Funny cutaway to Jay.
— Overall, despite the above-mentioned high points, I didn’t care for this sketch as a whole. Definitely the lesser of the two gay-themed segments that have aired in this episode so far.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Black Skinhead”
WEEKEND UPDATE
incredulous SEM & AMP say “Really!?!” to the IRS & groups it scrutinizes
SEM stops Stefon from wedding Anderson Cooper [real] a la The Graduate
recurring Weekend Update guests welcome SEM & Stefon back to the studio
— The final Weekend Update with Seth as a solo anchor.
— A sudden appearance from Amy Poehler, showing up to do another “Really!?!” segment.
— I think this ends up being the final “Really!?!” segment on SNL. I don’t recall Seth doing it the following season (his final season) with his new co-anchor, Cecily.
— Further proving that “Really!?!” is past its expiration date, a lot of Seth and Amy’s quips in tonight’s edition feel tepid, though there are still a few okay lines, and we also get a bit of the usual fun interplay between Seth and Amy.
— Much like the last time Amy cameod on Update (in the preceding season’s Maya Rudolph episode), they follow the “Really!?!” segment by doing a comedic segue with Seth “making” Amy stick around to tell Update jokes with him. It’s very odd how I had absolutely no memory of Amy being in this episode’s Update. I guess I was wrong when I said earlier that this is the final Update with Seth as a solo anchor. I mean, it’s still the final official Update during the solo Seth years, but the preceding episode’s Update is the final one where Seth doesn’t receive any assistance at all in anchoring Update.
— Hmm, Amy’s jokes tonight are pretty bad, even worse than Seth’s usual mild, bland jokes.
— Given the fact that this is Bill’s final episode, we get particularly WILD cheers from the audience while Seth is in the middle of introducing Stefon’s commentary.
— I love Stefon’s jealous reaction when seeing Amy with Seth.
— As always, great lines during Stefon’s usual routine. I especially love the Phil Jackson bit regarding the password of one of the clubs.
— Ooh, a very different turn in this Stefon commentary, with him suddenly telling off Seth and leaving in a huff without even finishing his Update commentary. The heartbroken audience reaction to that is pretty fascinating, and shows you the heights that Stefon’s popularity with viewers has reached over the years.
— Love the bit with Amy telling a distracted-after-Stefon’s-exit Seth a mock-dramatic “Go to him.”
— Oh, hell yes! Now we get an even more exciting turn with a pre-tape when Seth exits 30 Rock in search of Stefon.
— Great reveal that Stefon is getting married to Anderson Cooper.
— Ohho, I absolutely LOVE the detail of all the wedding guests being characters that were mentioned by Stefon in his previous Upate commentaries. Having all of those characters actually appear in this is absolutely excellent commitment.
— Speaking of excellent commitment, we even get a shot of Ben reprising his role as Stefon’s brother, as a great callback to the often-forgotten sketch that Stefon made his debut in.
— So fun how, when a now-married Stefon and Seth return to the SNL studio, various Update characters and impressions from the cast are standing at the Update set, throwing rice towards Stefon and Seth.
— Overall, wow, wow, WOW. That whole Stefon finale was absolutely INCREDIBLE. Just…what else can you say about it? One of the most epic things SNL has ever done, and this offered such perfect closure for Stefon as a character, as well as the story arc between him and Seth.
— The ending of tonight’s Stefon bit, coupled with the fact that Seth’s former co-anchor (Amy) was there tonight, honestly made it feel like this should’ve been Seth’s final Update. I know this was only intended as a send-off to Stefon/Bill, but it also would’ve given perfect closure to the Seth Meyers era of Update. Too bad I still have another half-season of him at the desk.
STARS: **** (Yes, the whole Stefon bit is the only reason this Update as a whole is getting such a high rating, and no, I’m not giving it an even higher rating than that. All of the non-Stefon portions of this Update were WAY too meh for me to fairly give this Update as a whole anything higher than four stars, and even those four stars are generous.)
GREG’S FUNERAL
poorly-disguised (host) attends his own funeral & rebuts anti-eulogies
— Funny conceit with Ben being in disguise at his own funeral, and trying to talk himself up to the funeral attendees.
— Ben’s delivery in that accent is hilarious-sounding, especially whenever he gets angry.
— Taran, regarding his skepticism over his father really being dead: “When I call his cellphone, he picks up and says ‘Oops!’”
— Another funny cutaway to Jay tonight (which happen to be the only things he gets to do in this episode).
STARS: ***½
HERMÈS HANDBAGS
(host) & vacuous ex-porn stars endorse Hermes Handbags
— One of the only (if not THE only) times this recurring sketch has ever aired before the 10-to-1 slot. On a similar note, contrary to popular belief, Kate’s Last Call sketches don’t always air in the 10-to-1 slot either (e.g. the season 42 Dave Chappelle episode).
— Vanessa: “You’ll feel like you’re spinning on a golden wiener.”
— Cecily: “You’ll feel like you’ve discovered a whole new world like Christopher Cumbus.”
— Cecily: “One time, I thought I banged E.T., but it was just an old Chinese man on a bike.”
— Cecily: “One time, I got banged through a glass ceiling. I changed everything for women. Turns out I’m a feminist. Thanks, Hermans!”
— Vanessa: “One of my eyes doesn’t work. It got sucked out by a butt.”
— Ben: “My pants should say Snickers on ’em. ‘Cuz they’re packed full of nuts and they always satisfy.”
— The whole herpes bit from Ben is hilarious.
— Ben: “Give that little girl what she really wants.” Vanessa and Cecily, intending to say the same answer in unison: “Hermans.” “Your whole hand in.”
— Overall, one of the absolute best installments of this reliable recurring sketch. Absolutely every single thing here clicked for me.
STARS: *****
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “New Slaves”
COP FAMILY
at her engagement party, (NAP)’s cop relatives keep emotions in check
— I absolutely love the cop voice Bill’s using.
— Some good laughs from all of the cops’ choked-up actions while having a hard time simultaneously expressing their emotions and maintaining their manliness.
— Taran’s trying-not-to-cry-while-speaking voice is hilarious.
— Good ending with the cops’ tearful, somber group singing of the “Bad Boys” theme song from Cops.
STARS: ***½
IT’S A LOVELY DAY
Ian Rubbish & The Bizzaros perform “It’s A Lovely Day”
Carrie Brownstein, Steve Jones, Kim Gordon, Aimee Mann, J. Mascis, Michael Penn [real] join Ian onstage
— Ah, Fred’s special farewell piece.
— You can tell from the abrupt way this sketch began (hell, it’s so abrupt that Taran is completely missing from the his place onstage at the beginning and doesn’t show up until about 10 seconds into this sketch, presumably due to not being able to get into costume fast enough) that SNL’s trying to squeeze this sketch in before the show runs long. I recall hearing that at dress rehearsal, this Ian Rubbish bit was presented as being a performance on Top Of The Pops, with Ben playing the host of that show, but the whole Top Of The Pops framing seemingly had to be cut from the live version of this sketch for time reasons.
— Jason has been added as a member of Ian Rubbish’s band, after not being part of that band in the previous Ian Rubbish piece from earlier this season. I remember a lot of SNL fans at the time, including myself, took Jason’s inclusion in this sketch as a sign that he’s leaving with Fred and Bill (one SNL fan also jokingly[?] asked, “Wait, so Taran’s leaving, too? After only three seasons?”, since Taran’s onstage with Fred, Bill, and Jason as part of the band). Fred and Bill both confirmed their departures a few days before this episode originally aired, but we knew nothing about whether Jason was leaving or not. He would confirm his departure several months later, after constantly telling people “I’m up in the air” in regards to whether he’s coming back to SNL or not. Before the confirmation of his departure, when SNL fans were speculating if he went out the door with Fred and Bill, a lot of fans were upset that he didn’t get an individual send-off piece in this episode like Bill and Fred separately got.
— A written message can be seen on Fred’s guitar strap, which states “TY LM I ❤ U” (seen in the second above screencap for this sketch), a great sign of appreciation from Fred to Lorne.
— During his opening speech, Fred’s Ian Rubbish poignantly mentions it’s his and his band’s last night here, and Bill’s character then mentions in a very somber and sincere manner that they’re still going to play together. Really nice reality subtext there, given Fred and Bill’s departures. You can tell that, even though those lines were delivered in character, the emotion in Fred and Bill’s delivery was 100% natural.
— A great and very special touch with the “friends” who Ian Rubbish brings up onstage to perform with him and his band. Knowing Fred’s real-life music tastes, I’m sure it means a lot to him having cameos from all these rockers in his final episode.
— A very solid, feel-good song for Fred to go out with. And I’m so glad that he’s had the lead role in TWO strong segments tonight (the HBO First Look sketch and this), as well as some good little moments in the Cop Family sketch. Considering all of the annoying recurring stuff of Fred’s that SNL could’ve bombarded us with in this final episode of his, it’s a relief that Fred instead kept away from the established recurring stuff, as well as any other annoying roles. With his strong showing tonight, and some other good things he’s done within the last handful of episodes, it feels nice to be reminded of how solid Fred can actually be, after how badly these later seasons of his SNL tenure soured me on him. Given how much I actually used to love him as a cast member in the first half of his SNL tenure (he and Will Forte were my top two favorite current cast members for most of the 2000s) before things soured, I’m glad he’s actually going out on a high note with this episode.
— I love how, after the performance has ended, the camera pulls back from this sketch’s set and shows a wider shot of the studio, which they rarely, if ever, do anymore at this point of the show’s run.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
— At one point in the middle of these goodnights, we get a shot of Fred, Bill, and Jason all hugging each other very tightly while fighting back tears (the last above screencap for these goodnights), which is a very poignant shot in retrospect, given how this ends up being the final episode for those three performers, and, as I mentioned earlier, neither SNL nor Jason himself knew for sure at the time if Jason was leaving or not.
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid season finale. A lot of good stuff, some special things, and a phenomenal centerpiece with the Stefon’s Farewell segment. Ben Affleck was as strong as he always is as a host. Keeping in an odd tradition this season in which well-loved multiple-time hosts abruptly stop hosting after this season (e.g. Anne Hathaway, Justin Timberlake, Zach Galifianakis), this sadly ends up being Ben Affleck’s final hosting stint.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
the Stefon’s Farewell portion of Weekend Update
Hermès Handbags
HBO First Look
It’s A Lovely Day
Depression Scene
Greg’s Funeral
Cop Family
Xanax For Gay Summer Weddings
Politics Nation with Al Sharpton
Monologue
the rest of Weekend Update
Gay Camp
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Kristen Wiig)
a big step up
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2011-12)
a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Season 39 begins, with host Tina Fey. We start out with a whopping six(!) new cast members, and a new co-anchor joining Seth Meyers on Weekend Update.
It had been announced a few days before this episode that Seth would be leaving mid-season the following season to be the host of Late Night.
I really enjoyed this episode overall. Kanye was on fire. The monologue does not hold up, though.
Its a shame he was such a dipshit in the 44 premiere, because Kanye was always one of my favorite musical guests. He just had an amazing flair for the theatrical, and I think these might be my favorite performances of his, although the one at SNL 40 was fantastic too. But these are great because, really, how often do you see something THAT abrasive on network TV? Also happy he was here for the finale, because, as Stooge has pointed out before, it adds a nice bit of symmetry to Bill’s SNL career, as Kanye was musical guest on his first episode.
It was a nice bit of symmetry to have Kanye West be the musical guest for Bill’s first and last episode just the foo fighters were the musical guest from Kristen’s first and last episode. (They performed with Mick Jagger in her last episode)
Katy Perry is also the guest for Vanessa’s first and last show.
And with that, an era is officially over. This one’s particularly emotional to me, as I’ve said before Bill is my favorite cast member of all time.
It’s been a blast revisiting this season, easily my favorite since I started watching live (in the middle of 34). Interesting the first half was the stronger half, but not quite as amazing as I’d remembered, while the second half was actually better than I remembered. All in all a great season though.
Tomorrow we basically get two hosts, what with Aaron Paul’s constant cameos (I think I remember 3, and in all 3 he’s playing Jesse Pinkman. An early warning for this era’s crowd pleasing, lowest common denominator cameos, even though I love Paul).
God, I could watch this episode over and over. That Bill/Fred/Jason hug at the end gets me every time. I wish Jason had gotten his own send off, you could tell how emotional he was. And then I’ll go back and start from s31 ep1, because s39 is where it all goes downhill and I can’t bear to watch it.
I feel like as a whole, s46 so far is kinda weak. There’s been some good moments, but the writing is not there. Even John Mulaney’s episode, which I was so excited to watch, was probably my least favorite of his shows. But there’s still plenty of time to make up for it. I hope they don’t make every sketch “look how pretty Timothee Chalamet is” on Saturday.
@Marty, other than the usual poor checklist political material and the usual incoherent writing structure of the Jost/Che era, I’ve found the season watchable (rarely great, but sometimes pretty good – other than the Chris Rock episode, anyway), but the more time passes the harder it is for me to get past the fatigue of seeing people doing the same thing too many times. Even when the pieces are strong, I just can’t really react as much I want to because these are variations of what’s already been. Even allowing for the pandemic struggles with cast departures, it’s not the best idea to have so many cast members who have been there 7, 8 or 9 years. And even though I don’t think this has been a bad season so far, I’m sorry it will likely be the last season @Stooge reviews, because ultimately it will be more of the same, rather than a compelling transition to leave this project on.
Seeing J. Mascis in the final sketch always reminds me of how miffed I am that Dinosaur Jr. was never a musical guest. He’s friends with Fred, I think he was interviewed by Tim Meadows once, and he even sat in with the SNL band for one episode. Wonder why they never did a performance. They’re the exact kind of band that would’ve been booked during season 19/season 20.
This was a very good season 31-esque transitional year, but you’re now going to reach what is without a doubt the worst casting decision Lorne ever made, imo. I still don’t understand what his thought process behind that was.
I feel kinda bad for Mike O’Brien coming up next season. Guy had zero stage presence and very little charisma. Talented writer that clearly was never meant to be a tv performer
O’Brien was still a better casting choice than Luke Null, er I mean Jon Rudnitsky, err I mean (checks notes) Brooks Wheelan.
Kinda reminds me of when they inexplicably added Fred Wolf as a featured player for one season after years of writing for the show. Similarly always looked awkward in sketches and just played bit parts.
I think Luke was a decent casting choice who for some reason they almost immediately had no use for (I think he may have said that the persona he auditioned with was not what he wanted to do at the show). I also think Brooks could have been fine, but they didn’t know how to use him, likely because he was a very difficult mix of “types” rather than what they may have hoped for (an endearing, cute-but-not-too-cute guy who could click on Update). I don’t care for Jon.
As for Mike, after they just went through a season where they moved a talented performer out of the cast likely in part due to struggles with live work, I don’t understand why they did not look for the same problems with future cast. Mike was a terrific writer and made wonderful short films – yet his tenure will always be somewhat marred because of a dumb decision from the show. Just another example of how Lorne and co tend to end up kicking themselves in the ass until their feet finally get tired.
“An endearing, cute-but-not-too-cute guy who could click on Update.” So Pete?
I feel for Luke. I actually don’t mind the sketch, but he got one of the worst showcases ever with “yarmulke dot comica”. The audience so clearly HATED him, and he’s said since he was thrown into a bit of a shitty situation. Originally he had his first big Update piece and another showcase sketch in dress, which warmed the audience up to him, but then Lorne cut both. Mikey & Streeter wrote Yarmulke, and instead of giving it to a seasoned performer the audience already liked like Beck, gave this slow burn where you’re supposed to hate the guy and think he’s unfunny for THREE WHOLE MINUTES before the turn to a guy who had never had a showcase moment before, therefore the audience took THAT as his persona.
I can’t feel to bad for Mike, considering he looks the way he looks and dated Cecily, kicking off this era’s trend of the men punching bafflingly above their weight with their girlfriends (you could argue Jason started that trend with Olivia Wilde, but I actually think he’s handsome enough where it was never that strange to me).
“Just another example of how Lorne and co tend to end up kicking themselves in the ass until their feet finally get tired.”
There it is.
And with that the digital short era or the class of 2005 era officially draws to a close. It was very amazing to look at these 8 seasons as they were spectacular. Bill, Andy, Jason and Kristen nailed it with their impressions, original characters and pre taped sketches. The digital shorts by Andy Samberg and his lonely island crew changed SNL forever, making them embrace pre taped sketches, Bill Hader knocked it out of the park with his impressions and stefon, Kristen Wiig did the same with her impressions and Jason Sudekis did a great Biden impression, that’s all I have to say about him. All in all I’m going to miss this era, they were in my opinion, the best SNL era ever outside of the original era. S31-S38 (or 2005-2013) were truly the best years of SNL since the original years in my opinion. Tomorrow we began what I like to call the current era on SNL (also known as the Kate McKinnon era since she dominates the show today much like Kristen Wiig did). This era introduces us to Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney and their good neighbor shorts, Colin Jost and Michael Che anchoring weekend update, Pete Davidson becoming the most popular cast member outside of Kate and Kenan, Leslie Jones making us laugh every night, Alec Baldwin and his Trump impression, the 40th anniversary special, new frequent hosts like Adam Driver and John Mulaney, the first time there were two hosts of SNL since 2004, the first female head writer, the first black head writer, the first lesbian writer and the first Asian American cast member. Some of cast from the current era (McKinnon, Bryant, Strong, Bennett, Mooney, Davidson, Jones, Che, Jost, Day, Moffat, Villesenor, Gardner, Redd, Nwodim, Fineman and Yang) are going to be interesting. Quick note: the first four seasons of the current era will have cast members from final years of the digital short era (Moynihan, Killam, Pharaoh, Bayer, Pedrad). We also get to see some nice creative writers (in my opinion) like Sarah Schindler, Chris Kelly, Streeter Seidell, Julio Torres, Gary Richardson, Andrew Dismukes (who later becomes a cast member), Sudi Green, Fran Gillespie, Dave McCrary (who also serves as flim unit director), Alison Gates and Anna Drezen (who later goes to be the shows second female head writer). There is going to be a lot of firsts in this era so I can’t wait.
“The first female head writer”
What do you know about Tina that the rest of us don’t?
I meant to say the first head writer since Tina fey I forgot about that. My bad sorry.
Haha all good. I’d also correct “first Asian American cast member”. Bowen is the first Chinese American cast member, but Rob Schneider, Fred & Nasim are all part Asian.
You’re not wrong that its definitely the most diverse era of the show though.
I know that, Bowen Yang is the first fully Asian American cast member in the show’s history.
“the first lesbian writer”
Has Paula Pell since been cancelled, too?
First black lesbian writer (Sam Jay)
Hey Michael. What About Season 11 Maybe Through Some Thing Like Season 15 ? I Am not sure how many years after the Season 11 . What I Am Talking about is with Phil Hartman and Dana Carvey ! What About Mike Myers And Wayne And Garth And Dieter And His Monkey ? What About Season 21 OR The Season That Had Chris Farley And The Chippendales With Patrick Swayze ?What about A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER ? What about The Late 90’s With Will Ferrell And Norm And Darrell Hammond In Celebrity Jeopardy Along With Norm Being Turd Fergeson And OF Course Will Being Alec Trebek And Darrell Being Sean Connery ?
DRESS CUTS
Cold Open – Obama’s press ensemble
~ President Obama (Jay) tells the press about his bad week. All questions will be deferred to a 1970s soft rock ensemble he brought in: Kenan & Sudeikis vocals, Armisen guitar, Aidy & Cecily dancers, Bobby drums. Reporter #1 (Taran) asks about Benghazi. Obama turns to the group: Kenan & Jason sing smoothly without directly answering the question, then point to Fred for a bit of guitar work. Reporter #2 (Vanessa) receives a similar response from the group. Reporter #3 (Tim) almost gets the same treatment, but he interrupts the music and demands an answer from the White House, not the band. Obama stalls and then throws to press secretary Jay Carney (Hader). On another set, Carney is preparing to hang himself, and requests that everyone check in on him later that day. Obama says LFNY…iSN
Bongo’s Clown Room
~ Sudeikis’s sendoff: Tommy’s (final) final shift. Next up on Amateur Night is Turquoise (Armisen): “You’ll do your thing to and put her away head first.” Club owner Doug Gaspar (Affleck) tells the crowd the comments box is too stuffed. Sudeikis quips “Speaking of stuffed boxes…” before Doug cuts him off to ask everyone to “excuse the sewage smell in the champagne room, and the champagne smell in the bathroom.” Congratulations to coat-check girl Tanya on giving birth, and apologies to anyone who had coats in there. Next dancer is Velvet (Kate), who will make you “chub up faster than O.J. in jail.” Crowd moans. “What? He’s a criminal. He stole memorabilia. If someone did that to me, I would murder them. Anyway, Velvet’s lapdances will turn your lap into a glue factory.” He asks if “The New Girl” is any good before telling everybody to stop by the “lightly used VHS box”. He asks a customer (played by an unknown older gentleman) what he picked up: “Danielle: A Free European Woman” :):) Next on the stage: Officer Inches (Taran) & Little Gentleman (played by the same little gentleman from the last installment). Sudeikis closes the night so he can get to another job in Fort Lee, NJ: boxing up loose dildos at the estate of Dr. Joyce Brothers
Gagush & Faruz
~ Vanessa & Taran host a duplex-warming party with friends Aidy, Kenan, Bobby, Kate, & Cecily, and also Gagush (sp?) & Faruz (sic?) (Affleck & Nasim), a middle-eastern couple who live in the other side of the duplex and brought loose meat as a gift. Aidy talks about the neighborhood’s preschool and its reputation, then G&F interrupt: “You want to talk about smart children? Let us tell you about our dog.” Their dog sits and shakes on command. Everyone is polite but uninterested. Gagush constantly refers to everybody as “homesnake” and variations of it. Faruz repeatedly tells everybody to listen to another story. Vanessa wants to open gifts. Aidy & Kenan got them a wooden bowl they received from Hillary Clinton. G&F are not impressed, and want to talk about their trip to The Great Wall Of China. Aidy tries to jump out the window, but Faruz scolds her to come back in. (Aidy: “DAMMIT!”) Gagush says every day was nice (“The first day was sunny, […] the fifth day was sunny…”) as the sketch ends
plus Bathroom Businessman and one more encore for Verismo, which played at probably every dress rehearsal in the 2013 half, and always killed
TIDBITS
Politics Nation moved to open the show ** Affleck played Hader’s role ** Dana Milbank tells Sharpton there are many male Danas, like Dana Carvey ** Kenan wasn’t supposed to say the McConnell interview was on the Jimmy Fallon show BEFORE the clip
Bizzaros: Affleck as host of “Top Of The Pops”. He introduces the show and the band, but then moves into the background. As the song begins, Nasim joins on tambourine and stands next to Fred. Gradually, the whole cast (including Seth) approaches the stage to sing along with all the cameos
Stefon: after Seth refers to Amy as his “platonic friend”, she reminds him of that time “after the Johnny Knoxville show” ** Not In Live Show: Human Glade Plug-In: that thing when you douse a midget in cologne and plug him into an outlet ** Not In Dress Rehearsal: Table from Charlie Rose, Human Magic 8 Ball ** Amy & Armisen-as-Paterson were the only people throwing rice at the end
monologue: Bobby asks Ben if he wants a balloon. Ben does, so Bobby gives him a limp, deflated one
gay camp: Cecily cut as Jody, another counselor with a black swoop haircut; she tells the teens not to do any of “this” or “this” (various hand gestures to simulate “scissoring” and “touching penises”); also forbidden: “gay teen pig piles” ** Vanessa’s character had no lines and frowned the whole time
“Bengo F#ck Yourself” poster slightly less censored ** Affleck smirked a lot, but didn’t crack up as much ** Affleck said the movie title during the interview; audience could clearly hear Ben say “Fuck” over the bleep
Pulino’s Funeral: part of Ben’s costume was a big bushy black wig. Moustache began to peel off midway through, and he made no effort to re-apply it
cry fam: party was for Shawna’s Sweet 16, not engagement. Tim was boyfriend, not fiancée
DRESS RUNDOWN
Obama ensemble (CUT)
monologue
XANAX
Greg Pulino’s funeral
Depression scene
Politics Nation
gay camp
VERISMO (R) (CUT)
Bengo Fuck Yourself
Kanye #1
Update
Really!?!
Stefon
cry fam
Gagush & Faruz (CUT)
BATHROOM BUSINESSMAN (R) (CUT)
Hermès Handbags
Kanye #2
Bongo’s Clown Room (CUT)
Bizzaros
goodnights
Wow, Sudeikis had a sort of send off and they didn’t use it? That pisses me off, even if he and the show weren’t sure if it was really his last night.
Where do you get this information by the way, Emily? These are always my favorite comments on here, so much cool information.
@APDC: i did standby and got into these dress rehearsals:
5/19/12 – Jagger & pals
9/15/12 – MacFarlane/Ocean
10/13/12 – Applegate/Passion
11/10/12 – Hathaway/Rihanna
12/15/12 – Short/McCartney
3/2/13 – Hart/Mack&Lewis
4/6/13 – McCarthy/Phoenix
5/4/13 – Galifianakis/Monsters
5/18/13 – Affleck/Kanye
12/14/13 – Goodman/KoL
3/29/14 – C.K./Sam
5/10/14 – Charlize/Keys
5/17/14 – Samberg/Vincent
9/27/14 – Pratt/Grande
10/4/14 – Silverman/Maroon
10/25/14 – Carrey/Azalea
11/1/14 – Rock/Prince
4/4/15 – Keaton/Jepsen
4/11/15 – Taraji/Mumford
5/16/15 – C.K./Rihanna
4/16/16 – Julia/Jonas
5/14/16 – Drake
12/10/16 – Cena/Maren
11/4/17 – Larry/Miley
I did standby from 2001-2007. Good times.
Wow, as a huge SNL nerd I should be jealous you saw all those shows but honestly I’m just jealous you saw Kanye, St. Vincent & Prince. Sounds like a great time either way, I’d love to see the show live one day.
If you go back to the Steve Carrell/Kanye West episode during Weekend Update, you can hear Bill address the audience “Hi, everybody!” Cut back to this episode during the goodnights, you can hear Bill waving goodbye while saying “Bye, everybody.” Just wanted to point that out.
You can see Bill waving goodbye while saying “Bye, everybody.”***
I love how when Seth and Bill are hugging at the end of Update, you can hear them say “I love you buddy” to each other. You can also see Amy tapping Seth’s update spot, something he had taken to doing when signing off.
Here are the average ratings for Season 38:
*may not represent review’s perception*
3801: 7.3 (Seth MacFarlane)
3802: 6.6 (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
3803: 5.9 (Daniel Craig)
3804: 5.5 (Christina Applegate)
3805: 6.1 (Bruno Mars)
3806: 7.7 (Louis C.K.)
3807: 7.3 (Anne Hathaway)
3808: 6.2 (Jeremy Renner)
3809: 7.9 (Jamie Foxx)
3810: 8.0 (Martin Short)
3811: 6.3 (Jennifer Lawrence)
3812: 5.8 (Adam Levine)
3813: 4.9 (Justin Bieber)
3814: 6.9 (Christoph Waltz)
3815: 6.5 (Kevin Hart)
3816: 6.0 (Justin Timberlake)
3817: 5.7 (Melissa McCarthy)
3818: 6.2 (Vince Vaughn)
3819: 7.5 (Zach Galifianakis)
3820: 5.1 (Kristen Wiig)
3821: 7.1 (Ben Affleck)
Best Episode: 3810 (Martin Short)- 8.0
Worst Episode: 3813 (Justin Bieber)- 4.9
Season Average: 6.5
Was this one of the first season finales where everyone began speculating that Kenan starring in the cold open was a hint that it might be his last episode, too? Feels like we’ve speculating that every year for the last decade!
Alright everyone, here are your S38 sketches under 2 stars.
*1/2:
The Californians (Christina Applegate)
Sirens (Christina Applegate)
Haters With Sunny Taylor Tompkins (Bruno Mars)
The Californians (Jeremy Renner)
The Avengers (Jeremy Renner)
Circle Work (Adam Levine)
The Californians (Justin Bieber)
Shark Tank (Kevin Hart)
Veganville (Justin Timberlake)
She’s Got a Dick! (Justin Timberlake)
Million Dollar Wheel (Melissa McCarthy)
The Lawrence Welk Show (Kristen Wiig)
Classy Sexy Elegance (Kristen Wiig)
*:
Loving Couple (Daniel Craig)
Dance Studio (Christina Applegate)
Jonathan Zizmor M.D. (Bruno Mars)
Bravo (Justin Bieber)
Loving Couple (Christoph Waltz)
Kim Jong-Un Address (Melissa McCarthy)
Short Term Memory Loss Theater (Vince Vaughn)
Junior Prom (Vince Vaughn)
The Californians (Kristen Wiig)
22. The lowest since S34, and down 9 from 37, though surprisingly there was one more single star sketch this season than in 37.
I have said this before, but I do think in another world Ben Affleck would have been an SNL cast member, and probably a very successful one. It’s one thing to end your hosting run, as many do, but it’s been unfortunate that he has still had ties to the show since then which mostly just end up being about tabloid material (his relationship with Lindsay Shookus). I noticed he wasn’t even in Matt Damon’s 2018 episode – I guess he could have been working, but it felt like a door had been closed (I suppose John Mulaney becoming a well-received host around this time may not have made that situation any better as Mulaney’s wife called him out on Twitter a few years ago). Of course, Affleck has had bigger concern over the last decade than hosting a sketch comedy show.
In recent years, the ever-delightful Twitter hot takes bridge would try to warn of the ‘problematic’ Stefon material, with a gay man chasing after a straight man. That can genuinely be ‘problematic,’ when written in the wrong way (or you can end up with something like Windows…), but considering what could have been, I think Mulaney, Seth, and Bill managed to create a sweet, quirky arc that was like nothing else the show has ever done, yet never patted itself on the back for being special or progressive or what have you. Rather than trying to be different, they added a conventional route to a very unconventional situation, and it worked beautifully.
I saw an interview with Mulaney where he talked about how unfair it had been of him to put Seth in that situation onscreen when in real life he was dating and about to propose to his now-wife. It’s a credit to Seth that he’s never cared, and has continued to have little winks (like the bumper photo of himself looking at a photo of Stefon, or the Stefon bobblehead on his desk that still pops up sometimes) all these years later. Seth and Bill have talked about how emotional they got backstage right before the big final Update moment (knowing it was Bill’s last show, and the beginning of the end for Seth) – you can really feel that warmth onscreen.
(I do think Seth’s last moments as Update anchor are sweet [aside from the eternal weirdness of seeing Cecily as co-anchor], but I tend to agree he should have left at the finale)
I’m sorry that Jason never got a proper goodbye, although I suppose it makes sense, when you consider that he never has had the same journey as the other three he came in around the same time as – he started months earlier, he’s never hosted, etc. There’s always something slightly unfinished about Jason’s time at the show, even after a little over 8 seasons; I guess this is best shown by the outcry when he couldn’t keep playing Joe Biden. It shows how a lot of fans have never quite let him go, probably because they never got closure. I think it’s also because there has never been anyone quite like Jason, before or since, on SNL. He wasn’t just “the glue” – he managed to be consistently entertaining and fun and always believable in those type of parts that could have easily been throwaways. And he always had a real sense of life, an immediate connection, on a show that had started to feel more and more dead and disconnected before his arrivel in the cast.
If Jason had that immediate connection, Bill had a much more unique journey, a pained journey (as we would hear enough about in later years to the point where it sometimes overshadows the quality of his work), from the goofy, fun featured player to the knowing veteran (seemingly) effortlessly juggling whatever he was given. Bill’s more recent dramatic work makes me think about what might have been, and, similar to my views on Kristen, makes me wish he’d had more complex material as a cast member, but he really did have a bigger plate than I tend to give the show credit for. Few people on SNL can ever make you feel as alienated and at ease at the same time as Bill could, and his level of performance at his peak (and he had many peaks) was astonishing. He approached, at those peaks, the sheer bliss of watching a Jan Hooks or a Phil Hartman – someone who is so astonishingly good at what they are doing you just can’t take your eyes off them and you find some kind of awe from how absolutely perfect they are.
There were some mistakes this season, but overall the cast was strong and the future should have been bright. Sadly, that monologue coming up next (one of the worst, most degrading monologues SNL will ever have) sets the tone for just how much the show ends up throwing itself to the wolves and breaks the cast progression in ways that they are still paying for, 7 years later.
I forgot about Mulaney’s wife calling out Affleck. Mulaney’s talked in interviews before about how much Lorne likes her (apparently she’s a real “cut the bullshit” type, which I’m sure Lorne appreciates) so that lends some credence to your claim.
While I won’t claim its anywhere near the best era, I can’t get on board with these comments talking like we’re about to get a 8 year long stretch of mediocrity. There’s still a ton of good stuff coming up, even if there’s also a fair share of crap.
@John
“…sets the tone for just how much the show ends up throwing itself to the wolves and breaks the cast progression in ways that they are still paying for, 7 years later.”
I couldn’t agree more. From this moment, I began to question the modern SNL’s hiring practices. One would think after the struggles with the female cast in the late 00’s they’d be tighter.
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
—> #38 – 6.5 <—
#1 – 6.3
#10 – 6.3
#32 – 6.3
#37 – 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
———
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)
– It’s A Lovely Day (S38)
*** 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)
– She’s A Rainbow (S37)
^ Repeat Airing
Was curious how the first and last episodes rank. Thank you Vax! 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)
7.4 – Alec Baldwin (S37)
7.3 – Steve Martin (S3)
7.3 – Cameron Diaz (S24)
7.3 – Jerry Seinfeld (S25)
7.3 – Dane Cook (S32)
—> 7.3 – Seth MacFarlane (S38)
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)
—> 7.1 –Ben Affleck (S38)
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)
5.7 – Mick Jagger (S37)
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)
This episode ends the era of SNL that I’m most familiar with… not only because I’ve seen more episodes from this era than any other, but also because I’m more familiar with these particular cast members due to their work outside SNL that I happen to enjoy. My few memories of watching the show before I started exploring it more deeply last year come from this era, so it feels nostalgic to me.
The highlight here for me is Stefon’s farewell piece (which probably should have gotten five stars if it were a standalone piece apart from Weekend Update…). My first memory of watching any part of the show live is seeing a Stefon commentary, which I loved at the time, so I’ve always been very fond of that character. The culmination of his arc with Seth is both funny and genuinely touching. I love how they went all out with it. And it would have been fitting for that to be Seth’s farewell as well, especially with his former co-anchor making an appearance- would have been a nice full circle moment. Though I almost feel like that would have taken the moment away from Bill Hader.
I got seriously into SNL after a two-day binge of Bill’s show Barry had me going “the guy who played the weird club kid on SNL made THIS?” So I went to try to find the sketch of Stefon that I remembered, and then fell down a YouTube rabbit hole, and that’s why I’m here now, so really I blame Bill Hader. He’s definitely my favorite cast member out of this era and one of my favorites overall (though I’m trying to become more familiar with other eras before making any sweeping statements). Such a talented, versatile performer who excelled at what he did (and continues to excel in what he does now!). So this is a bittersweet episode to watch.
I’ve never liked Fred Armisen much but his farewell piece is still sweet. Though the presence of the musicians excites me significantly more.
As for Jason Sudeikis, it’s a weird thing for me where I can’t think of anything I specifically enjoyed him in off the top of my head… and yet I really like him and appreciate his presence in sketches. He deserved a proper sendoff of his own, though maybe it would have felt overblown to have three separate goodbyes in one episode, I don’t know (plus it sounds like he was undecided at the time).
I don’t have many thoughts on the rest of the episode, except to echo that Ben Affleck deserved to host again after this era, and to remark that this is one of my favorite Ex-Porn Stars sketches (I love them in general). And that monologue, oof.
Puppetry Class (Seth MacFarlane)
Wooden Spoon Warehouse (Seth MacFarlane)
Sad Mouse (Bruno Mars)
The Legend of Mokiki and the Sloppy Swish (Anne Hathaway)
Dylan McDermott or Dermot Mulroney? (Jamie Foxx)
Maine Justice (Jamie Foxx)
Swarovski Crystals (Jamie Foxx)
You’re A Rat Bastard, Charlie Brown (Martin Short)
Djesus Uncrossed (Christoph Waltz)
Z-Shirts (Kevin Hart)
90s Funeral (Kevin Hart)
History of Punk – Ian Rubbish and The Bizzaros (Vince Vaughn)
Roundball Rock (Vince Vaughn)
Darrell’s House (Zach Galifianakis)
Darrell’s House: The Final Cut (Zach Galifianakis)
Hermes Handbags (Ben Affleck)
16 Sketches. Or 14 – depending on how you look at it. I’ll say 16 for the sake of clarity. That’s twice as much as the previous season (even I can even trust Anthony Peter Coleman’s count!!!!) and the most since 08-09. A very strong showing for such a transitional season. How could SNL possibly screw this up? I guess we’ll find out (step one, implore the guy who was responsible for a quarter of this list to STAY IN THE CAST). Some pleasant surprises here (Wooden Spoon Warehouse is a perfect little piece, isn’t it?) and some unpleasant surprises too (who does Louis CK have to masturbate in front of to get five stars around here??), but this seems like a reasonable assessment of a good year that could have been a sign of things to come, but turned out to be an anomaly.
“who does Louis CK have to masturbate in front of to get five stars around here??” BURNNNNN
Speaking of burns, tee hee at your cheeky little jab. Apologies again for stealing your thunder last season 🙂
I wonder if any of the following seasons will reach double digits again.
Thank you for recognizing that despite the typo in my post (always typos in my post) the jab WAS cheeky. They’re always cheeky.
Of course. And while I’m glad this is such a positive community (todays post is atypical for these type of forums in a way I love) I have a thick skin if anyone needs to take out their jab energy on me.
And now the ****½ sketches:
Hypnotist (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)
Pandora Internet Radio (Bruno Mars)
Press Conference (Louis C.K.)
Monologue (Louis C.K.)
Lincoln (Louis C.K.)
Last Call (Louis C.K.)
Homeland (Anne Hathaway)
Your Hometown (Jeremy Renner)
The Stand Off (Jeremy Renner)
Coroner (Jeremy Renner)
Marcus Banks: Tree Pimp (Jamie Foxx)
What Up With That? (Martin Short)
Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph (Christoph Waltz)
Moët & Chandon (Justin Timberlake)
Monologue (Vince Vaughn)
Monologue (Zach Galifianakis)
Jennifer Aniston Look-Alike Competition (Zach Galifianakis)
M&M Store (Zach Galifianakis)
Acupuncture (Kristen Wiig)
Best and Worst Episode Ranking
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)
8.0 – Martin Short (38.10)
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)
7.9 – Jamie Foxx (38.09)
–
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)
4.9 – Justin Bieber (38.13)
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)
Watch out Paul Reiser, Trump’s coming for your spot in two seasons.
Five-Timers Individual Rankings
7.4 – Ben Affleck/N.E.R.D. (29.15)
7.3 – Ben Affleck/David Cook (34.07)
7.1 – Ben Affleck/Kanye West (38.21)
6.9 – Ben Affleck/Fiona Apple (25.13)
5.3 – Ben Affleck/Nelly (30.01)
Hello Stooge. This Is just A Suggestion ! Often, you anticipate Sketches and you often think they will be horrible and then they are not . Stooge, You might be Happier IF you would just Watch the Sketch and then say something like They did some thing and I Hated That and That would be Fine ! You could watch some thing and say That was Pretty Funny ! That was Pretty Good ! Instead, You say You don’t really care for some thing, but You just Laughed ! I said I thought you would be Happier because you don’t have to always wonder If some thing would be Bad ! You can just Watch The sketches ! Good Examples OF This are These two first Sketches ! I can Understand the Cold Opening because I even said Fred Is From the Middle East, But This will be the Last Time He will do This ! The Second sketch Was Mainly about The Product They were talking about ! They Just Happened to be AT A Gay Wedding !
Eh, Stooge has already gone this far with the in-the-moment format, I don’t see why he should abandon it. Not to mention he’s written in the conventional, afterthought format in the past.
Guess it says something that the season a lot of us hold as a high point of recent years ranks smack-dab in the middle of the pack.
Here’s the studio version of “It’s a Lovely Day”: https://youtu.be/QuQylRsNdgk
I think it’s one of the few moments of the show where I get too emotional every time I watch it. Through his ups and downs, Fred is a talented performer who deserves every bit of the credit he has. And Bill will always go down as one of the best cast members the show has ever had. And Jason was perfect in practically every role, and deserves so much more recognition. I never grew up with this era, but my heart belongs to it.
Jason Sudeikis was like the Kevin Nealon of his era.
They really should’ve cut the Xanax and ‘conversion camp’ sketches and included the Bongo’s sketch for Sudeikis. He, along with Bill, was the ‘glue’ of this era.
The Funeral sketch is a favorite of mine: Affleck is totally committed, but this is also one last hoo-rah for Jason, who gets in a final great ‘straight man’ role that he always excelled at. He’s particularly strong here.
Interestingly, this was also the final episode for longtime writer Jim Downey, who had retired after 30 cumulative years with the show. Heck, some people on the SNL subreddit argue that the show’s political sketches were never the same after he retired, so that’s interesting, and he was definitely a very influential writer.