Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
ELLEN
Barkhad Abdi (JAP) is pranked & Johnny Weir (host) is dapper
— I like Kate’s Ellen confessing that, in regards to always forcing herself to dance for the audience’s entertainment, “Wish I hadn’t danced in my first episode. Wish I just sat the heck down and had a smoothie.”
— Nasim in her ONLY appearance all night, and it’s not even a role with any lines (even if her silence in this sketch is part of the joke in her and Vanessa’s appearance). As I said in my last episode review, Nasim was busy around this time filming the pilot of John Mulaney’s then-upcoming sitcom, so that may account for her being almost completely non-existent in this episode.
— A very funny creepy turn towards the end of Jay’s scene as Barkhad Abdi.
— Interestingly, this is the fourth cold opening of these past five episodes in which the host actually appears.
— I remember that, when this originally aired, Jim Parsons playing a flamboyant gay role here made me worried that SNL was going to typecast him in that type of role all night, due to Jim’s real-life sexual orientation. Thankfully, my worries turned out to be wrong.
STARS: ***
OPENING MONTAGE
— Colin Jost has been added to the cast tonight.
By this point of the season, there are now almost as many featured players as there are repertory players. It feels like the featured player portion of tonight’s opening montage goes on forever.
MONOLOGUE
host & other actors with signature roles sing “I’m Not That Guy”
— Oof, Jim botched that “rebroadcast 18 times a week” joke early on in this monologue, causing it to die with the audience.
— (*groan*) A musical monologue, and not even an interesting premise for one this time. This premise is lame.
— I assume this ends up being the last time Bill Cosby is portrayed in an innocent, lighthearted way on SNL, given what comes out about him later this same calendar year…
— None of the TV character walk-ons are particularly funny.
STARS: *½
PETER PAN
Tinkerbell’s brassy half-sister Tonkerbell (AIB) joins Peter Pan (host)
— Aidy’s performance is good, but I’m not caring AT ALL for this actual character she’s playing, and the writing for her is bad.
— Weak ending.
STARS: *½
THE BIRD BIBLE
parents (MOB) & (KAM) endorse avian spin on Christianity
— I love the one son just bluntly saying to his family, “This sucks”, and immediately walking off.
— Great delivery from Mike of the line, “What’s the matter, kiddo? Lose another friend?”
— The idea of this feels rather derivative of the Myowling Bible commercial from season 12 (a commercial for a version of the bible that has photos of cats as biblical characters), but I’m actually finding this Bird Bible commercial to be far superior. The execution of it is solid, there are a lot of funny visuals, and I love the low-key execution of all the absurdity.
— A very funny cold look Mike briefly shoots towards his son after calmly telling him, “Let’s just enjoy it for what it is”, after the son suggests the Three Wise Men should’ve been owls.
STARS: ****
THE KILLER FILES
conspicuous serial killer (host) stalked TV dance shows
— Jim is perfectly cast as a killer, given his naturally creepy look.
— Good detail of Jim’s killer character having three names (Marc Allen Henry), like a lot of famous serial killers.
— A big laugh from Jim’s unsettling description of himself during his intro on Soul Train.
— The phone call transcription part is great.
— Hilarious part with Jim looking straight into the camera, flat-out saying “I’m the Dance Floor Killer!”, then giving a creepy smile.
STARS: ****
OSCAR PROFILES: 12 YEARS A SLAVE
reading for racist roles made 12 Years A Slave auditioners uncomfortable
— I like Brooks’ gravelly-delivered “Nooooo…” when initially giving the script a look-over and seeing all of the horribly racist lines he’s required to deliver.
— Another great line from Brooks: “You guys have any north parts?”
— Hilarious how Vanessa and Cecily are asking Jim to read a racist statement directly into the camera operated by a VERY stern-looking black man.
— The mere look of Bobby’s character is hilarious, especially those sideburns.
— After Bobby’s character’s very convincing racist tirade into the camera that’s operated by the aforementioned stern-looking black man, we get an absolutely priceless reveal that Bobby’s just a janitor and wasn’t even aware they’re filming auditions.
STARS: ****½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Blue Moon”
WEEKEND UPDATE
Charles Barkley (KET) & Shaquille O’Neal (JAP) discuss NBA current events
Jebidiah Atkinson pans Best Picture nominees & winners from years past
— Colin Jost has become Cecily’s new Update co-anchor.
— A slightly-revamped version of the Update opening title sequence from earlier this season.
— When Cecily welcomes Colin to Update at the beginning of this, Colin takes the time to sincerely tell us he’s so grateful to be here, and that this is a dream come true for him. I remember the decision to have Colin disclose those things really bugged some online SNL fans at the time, including myself, as we felt it was Colin basically begging us to like him and not dare criticize him. I’m a little less salty towards it now (maybe because I’m aware in hindsight that I would eventually go on to like Colin a lot as an Update anchor starting at some point in the following season), but there’s still something about the “It’s a dream come true for me” disclosure that feels very unnecessary to me.
— Feels odd seeing Cecily tell the first Update joke for once, after she previously was always the second anchorperson to deliver jokes in each of this season’s Updates, presumably due to Seth Meyers’ seniority.
— As expected, it also feels so odd no longer seeing Seth delivering Update jokes, after having gotten so used to him doing that in every single Update for these past eight seasons I’ve covered.
— I don’t like how some of the jokes Cecily and Colin are doing tonight feel like ones Seth would’ve done (e.g. the comical Boston accent Colin used when saying Derek Jeter’s last name during the “First openly gay athlete” joke, and Cecily’s “Yakety Sax chase music” joke, the latter of which Seth actually did do at least twice in the past). A huge sign that Colin’s new presence at the Update desk still isn’t changing the undeniable fact that the style of Update itself is in dire need of a complete overhaul (which we would thankfully get the following season).
— When Kenan and Jay’s Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal make their entrance, the camera accidentally cuts to an odd-looking brief close-up of Cecily shaking her head while looking at Kenan and Jay in amazement with an open-mouthed smile on her face (screencap below).
After this camera gaffe, Kenan seems to be aware something went wrong, as he ad-libs an amused “What just happened???”, and a now-off-camera Cecily is then heard ad-libbing “I was enjoying you!”
— This Barkley/Shaq commentary is so fun that even Jay’s accidental delay in his delivery of a punchline at one point comes off affable and funny instead of hampering the joke.
— Jay’s Shaq childishly imitating Kenan-as-Barkley’s hand movements when Kenan’s Barkley is speaking to Colin reminds me of Alex Moffat’s Eric Trump regularly doing that in the later Update commentaries that he and Mikey Day’s Donald Trump Jr. would do together.
— So far in this first Update of his, Colin is indeed coming off stiff, bland, and Seth Meyers-lite (the latter of which is the last thing Update needs after so many damn endless years of affable blandness from Seth himself), just like all the critics said about him back at this time, but I’m not finding all of these things about Colin to be quite as bad in hindsight (again, probably because I’m now aware of how much I would later like him on Update the following seasons). However, he’s still coming off as a pale shadow of his future, more-developed Update self.
— Jebidiah Atkinson! This character always kills.
— (*groan*) Did Cecily inherit Seth’s annoying habit of loudly laughing off-camera when a guest is doing their commentary?
— A fantastic unscripted bit right now during the Jebidiah Atkinson commentary, in which an index card that Taran throws in the air ends up unexpectedly landing neatly on top of the cards in Taran’s hand (seen in the last in the above group of screencaps for this Update), leading Taran to ad-lib a great “Couldn’t do it again if I tried.”
— Jebidiah Atkinson: “I’d rather let Woody Allen watch my kids than watch this again! (*audience reacts in offended amusement*) So let me get this straight – you all trust him?!?”
— At the end of this inaugural Update they have together, Colin and Cecily do their own version of the traditional Seth/Cecily “fist bump” move by doing a “finger bump”.
STARS: **½
MURDER MYSTERY
murder mystery participant (host) is unhappy with his assigned character
— Funny blooper with Taran’s “Dinner will be sherved…” line flub, resulting in a taken-aback smirk from him as he tries his best to stifle his laughter. The fact that Taran doesn’t usually break often makes his flub here come off likable, as does something about the fact that he just played the ad-lib-heavy Jebidiah Atkinson right before this sketch.
— A pretty funny “harmless, oversexed nutball” description of the Simply Dudley character that Jim’s assigned.
— I like Jim’s delivery of “Now what the HELL does that mean?!?” when reading the direction, “Simply Dudley goes to town.”
— A laugh from the “fabulous fanny tickler” glove Jim is given for his Simply Dudley character, as well as the very negative reaction that both Kate and Taran have when Jim uses the glove on a playing-dead Kate.
— After a very frustrated Jim asks “Well, what do you guys want me to do?!?”, I love Cecily aghast delivery of “Not tickle a dead woman’s ass!”
STARS: ***
SPOTLIGHTZ!
Laura Parsons & Spotlightz! peers act in Best Picture nominee adaptations
— I wonder if SNL got the idea to bring this sketch back tonight because Jim shares the same last name as Vanessa’s Laura Parsons character.
— Having the movies the child actors perform be this years Oscar-nominated films is a good way to change this up a bit from the previous installment of this sketch.
— Good performance from Noel, but I didn’t care much for her scene with Jim.
— I like Jim’s character mouthing Laura Parsons’ lines and subtly imitating her gestures.
— This overall sketch wasn’t quite as good as the previous installment of this from earlier this season, but was still decent.
STARS: ***
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Wave”
ELEVATOR
boss who crapped his pants (host) shares elevator ride with his employees
— Given what an awkward live performer he usually tends to be, Mike is surprisingly not bad in his live appearance here.
— I like the realization us viewers gradually come to that the mentioned loud boom from a nearby construction site was the cause of Jim’s “dirty undergarment”.
— While this is a juvenile concept, and poopy humor is worryingly starting to feel like it’s becoming a regular thing in the second half of this season between that game show sketch with Jonah Hill and this, this particular Elevator sketch is actually being executed well, surprisingly.
— Though I hate admitting to laughing at it, I love the jarring contrast that Kenan’s loudly-delivered “Aw, dayum! Smell like dookie in here!” has to the quieter tone this sketch had prior to his appearance. That tone shift was pulled off well.
— Good ending reveal of this taking place in a very tall building, though it doesn’t make sense why Jim is heard exclaiming “Oh, no!” during that exterior shot of the tall building, as if he’s finding out the same time we are of how tall this building is, despite the fact that he’s, you know, A BOSS WHO WORKS IN THAT BUILDING, and thus, should’ve already been well-familiar with how lengthy that building is. A minor nitpick, though.
STARS: ***½
COWBOYS
on the range, (host) pushes for birthday surprise for fellow cowboy (BEB)
— I’m loving Jim’s character’s commitment to his increasingly harebrained popping-out-of-the-ground birthday surprise idea. I especially laughed at the odd detail that he’ll paint his body brown to match the dirt.
— Brooks is doing a really good job blending in with the rest of the cast in this sketch. He doesn’t feel like an underused rookie at all here, and is instead coming off like a comfortable, familiar veteran.
— Even the out-of-place jolly contemporary music played during the “The next day” scene transition is adding to the fun silly nature of this sketch.
— Very funny ending.
— An overall underrated sketch. I not only liked it a lot as a silly little 10-to-1 piece, but I also love how this felt like something I can picture airing in SNL’s late 80s era. More specifically, it had the feel of a typical silly, oddball idea that writers Jack Handey or Conan O’Brien would’ve come up with in that era, and Handey and Conan are two of my personal favorite SNL writers of all time. I can even picture specific late 80s cast members playing the roles in this sketch, such as Phil Hartman in Beck’s role, Dana Carvey in Kyle’s role, Jon Lovitz in Kenan’s role, and Kevin Nealon in Brooks’ role.
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— I take it this is a notorious episode that’s considered by a number of people to be pretty much a disaster, judging from 1) recent things I’ve heard about this episode, and 2) an online article published shortly after this episode’s original airing that was titled something like “SNL Has Their Worst Episode Ever”. Frankly, I don’t get the hate AT ALL. While this episode did have a real rough and worrisome beginning with that monologue and Tonkerbell sketch, things improved greatly afterwards, with the post-Tonkerbell segments in the first half of the show all being strong, most of the sketches in the second half of the show being decent, and the final sketch of the night (Cowboys) being good-ol’ Jack Handey/Conan O’Brien-esque silliness. I assume that that poopy-pants elevator sketch is just one of the reasons for the ire that a number of people have towards this episode, but come on – I usually hate that type of humor, too, and even *I* can admit that SNL executed it well in this particular sketch. All-in-all, I’m taking the apparently unpopular route and saying this episode was fine, minus a worrisome start and a mediocre Weekend Update debut for Colin Jost.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Oscar Profiles: 12 Years A Slave
The Bird Bible
The Killer Files / Cowboys (tie)
Elevator
Murder Mystery
Ellen
Spotlightz!
Weekend Update
Peter Pan
Monologue
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Melissa McCarthy)
a step up
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
Lena Dunham
Michael Che, Tim Robinson, and Zach Kanin wrote the Elevator sketch.
Michael talks about it here (it’s near the end, but the whole thing is worth a watch):
https://youtu.be/Sjy6OdNrpeU
He basically says it killed at the table read, but it played to radio silence in the show (him being generous), because it was basically a sketch for comedy writers, and even Lorne made fun of them for it (“oh there’s writers on this?”).
I still need to rewatch, but just looking at the sketch list this episode is already a lot more solid than I remembered. I remembered liking Killer Files, but I totally forgot 12 Years a Slave and Bird Bible were from this episode. I don’t remember being as keen on Cowboys as Stooge, so I’m interested to see if it’s better than I remember.
As to Stooge’s question about this episode’s (and the next episode, too) reception, I’m going to guess it’s a combination of them having a couple dud sketches, being the debut of Jost (who people were NOT a fan of, to say the least) and having hosts a lot of people have a strong dislike of due to one particular Emmy winng role.
I think the reason serial klllers are referred to by 3 names is to distinguish them between people with the same 1st and last name.
yeah, i just remember people eviscerating this one at the time. i think the chief criticism was that Jim Parsons didn’t show enough range in his sketch work, but really the Simply Dudley sketch is the only one where he truly reaches back into his Sheldon Cooper mannerisms. His stuff in the 12 Years a Slave sketch and the Cowboys sketch [which now I appreciate a bit more than I did] show more versatility than I think we all gave him credit for.
But yeah, the critics at the time weren’t fans of this episode’s writing. Knowing the elevator sketch was a Robinson/Kanin credit does make me enjoy it a bit more, but at the time I probably wasn’t a fan.
@Jordan, that bit about Robinson and Kanin is a recurring theme, I notice – many seemed to hate these sketches (the “Spencer’s gifts” in Octavia Spencer’s episode has a huge number of downvotes on Youtube), yet they were greeted with adulation on I Think You Should Leave. Personally, while I greatly enjoyed ITYSL as a whole, I actually like some of these (like the humiliation sketch in Jonah Hill’s episode, which feels very much like their work to me) more than the ITYSL versions, which I just felt went on forever or wasted the actors involved (like the shit sketch involving Steven Yeun). I’m not sure if that’s down to the two audiences being different, or just that something gets a negative connotation on SNL because of how polarizing and hated the show is by many, but a Netflix sketch show will be seen as hip and fresh, and look at what SNL let get away, and so on.
Colin Jost has the distinction of being the last new cast member announced by Don Pardo.
A little better than I remember, but just a little. I forgot about “Bird Bible.” Parsons was a nondescript host.
I believe I remember hearing Brooks wrote the 12 Years a Slave sketch. That was one of the best pieces this season, almost made me think he should’ve stayed on another season as a writer (believe he was originally hired as a writer before they put him in the cast at the last minute) even if he wasn’t worked out in the cast.
Definitely a stronger episode than I remembered. While far from great, I remembered it being easily this season’s worst, but so far I’d say Cyrus, Willis, Goodman & Fallon were all worse.
Believe Brooks co wrote 12 Years Auditions with Che.
While I liked the cowboy sketch more than I remembered, I still can’t say I’m as into it as Stooge. Honestly, while the pre Update half consisted of a lot of highs and lows, I’d probably give every post Update sketch a simple 3 stars.
I mainly remember the “Murder Mystery” sketch which I think I enjoyed.
Last SNL appearance for Beck. Wish he’d gone out on something a bit better…
Oddly enough this is NOT the last time SNL has a likeable portrayal of Cosby – Seth’s 2018 episode has a sketch (by Mulaney, I believe) with a confusing tone that treats Cosby as endearingly daffy, which may have been meant as some high-level satire, but if so, ended up leaving me wondering what got cut out of the episode to put this on the air.
In Colin’s memoir, he’s regretful about his choice to say a few words for his debut, claiming he did not intend to do so (and was advised not to do so by a friend), until a writer on the show said he needed to introduce himself. Colin has mentioned how depressed he was over the viscerally negative reaction he got early on Update, so I suppose I can see why he wishes he hadn’t said anything, but I think the other writer probably had the right idea. The last Update anchor to introduce themselves to debut without being in the cast was Tina Fey, and she had had more notable on-air appearances than Colin, plus she was taking over for an anchor who wasn’t that well-regarded (fond as I was of him), whereas Colin was taking over for a loved figure. Colin really was a stranger to viewers and the introduction probably helped with some of the more traditional fans.
The slightly clunky introduction might have annoyed some (especially those who want Update to seem like a ‘real news show’ or to be edgy or what have you), and the Seth comparisons (he even dusts off Seth’s old North Korea jokes) but I think it’s the overall juvenile feel that led to a more hostile reaction across the board. Cecily’s giggling and guffawing. Colin being so baby-faced and earnest. I think that was a problem with this season in general – it can have a very young and needy type vibe to it. Lorne then overreacted and slammed the reverse button; I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that the next season ends up hiring one of SNL’s oldest ever cast members.
Jim Parsons was a very polarizing TV presence around 2014, so that may not have helped with reaction to the episode. I think he’s one of those performers who is always going to feel somewhat samey, no matter how he tries to break typecasting, but he does take his best chance here and runs with it – the serial killer sketch, the second best part of the episode. He’s also the best part of the Laura Parsons sketch, which fortunately has a few more strengths than usual (Taran’s unhappy face at having to kiss a girl, Vanessa’s “drugs for our AIDS” line reading).
The best part of the episode is the Bird Bible pre-tape, which is such a clever idea, very well executed, with Kate terrific as the hollowed out mother and Mike O’Brien brilliant as the controlling, manipulative father. The scene where we see the warmth fade as he insists his son should try to just stick to the basic ideas is one of those chilling little moments that add a bite to these pieces. Mike had so much to offer SNL if they hadn’t mishandled his talents this season.
Other than the murder mystery sketch, which doesn’t work for me for many reasons and reminds me of one of the phoned-in lower lights of season 20, and the very lazy, weak monologue, I think this is a perfectly watchable episode. My complaints are about the usual for SNL. The 12 Years a Slave pre-tape is a minute too long [someone told me there was a deleted scene of Bobby’s character that ran about 5 minutes so I wonder how much focus he originally had]; the cowboys sketch has a rushed ending; the cold open clocks in at 6 minutes yet manages to tell about 2 jokes that amuse me. I will say Kate’s impression is very energetic and likeable in the restlessly likeable way Ellen used to be.
Some reviewers at this time were already starting up the idea that Kate was better or funnier than most of the cast. I don’t think that was ever the case, but I will say episodes like this make it easy to see why she connected with fans – she takes every chance she’s given here and runs with it (her performance in the dance killer sketch is especially delightful).
Promos (they get better and better…the dancing promo is my favorite):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lul9W22A4vs
A cute, short interview with “C&C Update Factory.” It’s a sweet look at their connection that we never really get on the show itself.
I thought you meant Beck from the cast and got so confused for a second.
“I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that the next season ends up hiring one of SNL’s oldest ever cast members.” One of its youngest ever cast members joins next season too, to be fair.
“The slightly clunky introduction might have annoyed some (especially those who want Update to seem like a ‘real news show’ or to be edgy or what have you), and the Seth comparisons (he even dusts off Seth’s old North Korea jokes) but I think it’s the overall juvenile feel that led to a more hostile reaction across the board. Cecily’s giggling and guffawing. Colin being so baby-faced and earnest. I think that was a problem with this season in general – it can have a very young and needy type vibe to it. Lorne then overreacted and slammed the reverse button; I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that the next season ends up hiring one of SNL’s oldest ever cast members.”
Could the youth in this season come across as that of S11 where Lorne went way too young? That was also where Lorne hit the reset button for S12.
Colin Jost got a lot of shit for being diet Seth Meyers in season 39, which he was, but that just puts into perspective how bland Seth had become as an anchor more than anything. Like most of the flack he gets, the reaction some have to his introduction is a little much. I agree that its tone is unnecessary and overly earnest though. I’m with John that it was important to formally introduce him since he’s one of the few anchors who went straight to Update without the audience having familiarity with him, but they should’ve done something funny with it instead. At least it’s very brief and inoffensive. I guess Colin’s addition to the cast adds to the feeling of the show very haphazardly rebuilding itself though.
The fact that Cosby is in the opening monologue is somewhat odd- if the joke is that people know him only for The Cosby Show (at that time), that’s not quite accurate. I’m sure there are people who know him for I Spy or Fat Albert or those stand-up specials. Ultimately, it just comes off as a lazy excuse for an impression, and only reminds me of the stellar monologue in the ’95 David Schwimmer episode.
He was definitely almost as famous as a stand up as he was for The Cosby Show. Also, it makes his appearance here even more awkward because the conceit of the bit is “I’m nothing like my tv character”, and then the bit with Cosby is that he is in fact like that guy, when as we all know now, Cosby is NOTHING AT ALL like Cliff Huxtable.
Always thought Bobby looked like Ricky from Trailer Park Boys in the 12 Years a Slave sketch. Is it normal for SNL to make so many jokes about Oscar-nominated movies? I don’t remember them being this over-the-top about it. Like we get three sketches parodying Her, two parodying Captain Phillips, like four parodying Gravity. It’s a little much
Ditto on your thoughts on the Cowboys sketch, I remember watching that when I was 10 and just cracking up at it like it was the funniest thing in the world. Something about Jim’s second “Supriiise!” always made me die laughing.
Well, there is that one episode in which Dr. Huxtable put some date rape drug in his barbecue sauce. Seriously! That actually happened in The Cosby Show and nobody thought anything was awry. Crazy!
It was from S7 of The Cosby Show. That was after writers and producers from A Different World (the show that was spun off from) were hired to make Cosby more “hip” and “fresh.” It was also when Fox aired The Simpsons at the same time opposite Cosby.
Suddenly, it makes sense that Cos was married to a lawyer on that show. I always assumed it was a safeguard for malpractice suits.
Hello Stooge. Saturday Night Live has always been interested in Crapping your Pants. They have I think in the 70’s with the Old People and They had the little old lady said I Crapped My Pants ! IT seems to me Lorne or somebody thinks That or Farting is Funny so They keep doing that over and over Through the Different Decades that They have been on !