Month: December 2020

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May 11, 2013 – Kristen Wiig / Vampire Weekend (S38 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BENGHAZI HEARINGS
Jodi Arias (NAP) testifies at Benghazi hearings as a ratings stunt

— A fairly amusing concept of having Jodi Arias testify at the Benghazi hearings.
— Wait, what the hell? Why are the names that are displayed for the representatives on their respective desk nameplates completely different from 1) the names that Bill refers to them as, and 2) the names that are displayed for them respectively on a chyron on the bottom of the screen?
— I got a pretty good laugh from the lack of an answer when Nasim’s Jodi Arias asks why they’re holding these Benghazi hearings if we already know who the culprit of the Benghazi attack was.
— Nasim-as-Arias’ “You and the jury” line was kinda funny, but I didn’t find it to be anywhere near as clever as SNL wanted me to.
— I remember some online SNL fans considering it ballsy for SNL to spoof Ariel Castro. Too bad what SNL does with it here is absolutely nothing to write home about.
— What the fuck?!? Why in the world does Bill refer to Bobby’s Ariel Castro as “Mr. Ramsey”?!? Man, what is HAPPENING to this cold opening?
— Overall, aside from a laugh here and there, this cold opening didn’t work, the various attempts at topical satire felt tepid, and things were way too sloppy with the aforementioned confusing gaffes. Felt like this was thrown together a half-hour before airtime or something.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
KRW goes backstage & sings “I’m So Excited” variant; Jonah Hill & MAR cameos

— I’ve said this about some other former cast members when reviewing their monologues, but it sure feels odd to see Kristen Wiig standing on that home base stage as the host. Perhaps one of the reasons this feels odd is because a full season hasn’t even passed since Kristen left the cast. Practically yesterday, I was still reviewing her as a cast member.
— Meh, didn’t care for the very random joke with a photo of David Spade being shown as a younger version of Kristen.
— Ugh, several cast members playing backup singers, a known pet peeve of mine regarding musical monologues.
— I know I said in previous reviews that I’m always a sucker for former cast members doing monologues where they go around the studio and backstage while singing, but damn, does it have to become a requirement for EVERY former cast member to do that in their monologue in these early 2010s years? In just a year-and-a-half, we’ve had that type of monologue from Jimmy Fallon, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, and now Kristen Wiig. The novelty has completely worn off by this Wiig episode, sad to say.
— Yeah, so far, I’m finding that this monologue is lacking the fun and exciting feel that former-cast-member-goes-around-the-studio-and-backstage-while-singing monologues typically have. Aside from maybe one or two things, I’m not all that crazy about anything that’s been going on in tonight’s monologue so far.
— Hmm, a rare instance of someone actually interacting with the Abraham Lincoln who’s traditionally seen in the background of SNL’s backstage pieces.
— Fred’s entrance as himself receives a big applause break from the audience, despite the fact that he’s, you know, STILL IN THE CAST.
— At least tonight’s Gilly appearance isn’t in a full-fledged sketch, even if I’ve surprisingly developed a modicum of tolerance towards Gilly in her last few appearances prior to this episode. (The actual final full-fledged Gilly sketch, from the preceding season’s Sofia Vergara episode, was actually perfect closure for that character.)
— I do at least like seeing the entire cast dancing together onstage at the end of this monologue (Taran in particular is doing some absolutely priceless dancing in the background), even though it’s a knock-off of the ending of Jimmy Fallon’s far-superior aforementioned monologue.
STARS: **


1-800-FLOWERS
1-800-Flowers mediates love-hate relationship between (KRW) & mom (KAM)

— Interesting pairing of Kristen and Kate, especially given the constant comparisons people made between them in Kate’s early days. Also interesting is seeing Kristen playing straight man to Kate.
— This commercial is showing how woefully underrated Kristen’s straight man skills are, and how much better she generally is at performing low-key stuff like this.
— Kate: “God, I wish I was a lesbian so I didn’t have to carry a purse.” An ironic line, given the performer who delivered it.
STARS: ***½


THE CALIFORNIANS
back-from-the-dead Karina (KRW) meets pregnant (MAR)

— (*groooooaaaaaaaan*) The first of what I’m sure will be various instances of me groaning at the return of a Wiig-involved terrible recurring sketch.
— Aaaaaand there goes the obligatory breaking, with Bill setting off a giggling fit for Kristen. Come to think of it, Kristen never could get through these Californians sketches without laughing her way through them, which I almost forgot until now, given the fact that Kristen previously only appeared in the first two installments of this sketch.
— Aaaaaaaaand we end with an extremely hammy, over-the-top, and unfunny mug-off between Maya Rudolph and Kristen. Ugh
— Overall, not a single redeeming factor to be found. Usually, I can find ONE very mild highlight in each Californians installment. No such luck here.
STARS: *


AW NUTS! MOM’S A GHOST!
Korean horror meets Disney Channel sitcom

— The basic style of this is a spot-on spoof of typical Disney Channel shows.
— The Korean water ghost thing is an interesting and unusual concept that I’m onboard for.
— Pretty funny how the very disturbing things Kristen’s Korean water ghost mom character is doing are being presented in such a lighthearted, corny-sitcom manner.
STARS: ***½


THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
Dooneese goes after (JAS) on the beach

— (*groooooaaaaaaaan*)
— I think this is the latest slot in an episode that a Lawrence Welk Show sketch has ever aired. IIRC, all previous installments of this sketch were either the first post-monologue live sketch or the cold opening.
— Ugh, there goes the obligatory lame, juvenile finger joke from Fred’s Lawrence Welk.
— Yeah, as usual, I have absolutely NOTHING to say about the same-old same-old Dooneese portion of this sketch, except that it somehow feels even more tired than usual.
— The bit with Dooneese’s arm appearing on the opposite side of the screen feels like a knock-off of a gag used in a few Herb Welch sketches.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Diane Young”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Anthony Crispino raises his voice while propagating incorrect information

Garth & Kat offer characteristically-extemporaneous Mother’s Day songs

— Yikes, Seth’s voice sounding VERY hoarse tonight.
— I like the fun exchanges Bobby’s Anthony Crispino and Seth are having regarding Crispino always asking “Did you hear about this one?”
— Hmm, now they’ve begun using a vocal modulator on Crispino’s constant “I’m pretty sure”s, which would become a running gag in his subsequent Update commentaries. While I love the silliness of these Crispino commentaries in general, the vocal modulator gag may be a little TOO cartoonish for my likes.
— Tonight’s overall Crispino commentary was okay, but nowhere near as strong as usual. None of his false stories tonight stood out to me.
— Seth, when delivering a sincere Mother’s Day message towards his mother while looking into the straight-ahead camera: “Mom, I just wanted to let you know……..THAT GARTH AND KAT ARE HERE!!!” Oh, damn you, Seth. DAMN YOU. You might as well have introduced this Garth and Kat commentary by just saying, “Hey, happy Mother’s Day, mom, hope ya like crap!”
— Oh, and to continue the theme of this episode review of mine, let me greet tonight’s Garth and Kat commentary with a (*groooooaaaaaaaan*), with a side of (*Stooge grabs a blowtorch and burns the laptop he’s watching this on to ashes*)
STARS: **


TARGET
Target Lady takes pleasure in processing cash register transactions

— Yet another Wiig-involved recurring sketch tonight, but I won’t greet this particular one with a “(*groooooaaaaaaaan*)”, because, as I’ve previously disclosed, Target Lady has surprisingly grown on me towards the end of her original run, and, underneath her overly-broad and cartoonish voice, tics, and catchphrases, I’m finding a strangely endearing and human quality to her (which a lot of Kristen’s recurring characters lack big-time). But, damn, we’re more than halfway through this episode and Kristen has yet to do a single live sketch tonight where she plays an original character. The specific recurring characters this episode has been filled with are exactly some SNL fans’ worst nightmare on what a Kristen Wiig-hosted episode would look like.
— At least we get a change of pace at the beginning of this, regarding Target Lady starting her shift.
— No matter how much I come around on Target Lady, I’ll NEVER like that regular gag where she walks away from her cash register to get something while in the middle of ringing up a customer.
— Another change of pace in tonight’s Target Lady sketch, with her actually telling a customer, “Void” for once, instead of her usual “Approved!”
— Funny bit with Target Lady explaining why she cuts out the eyes from photos of models in issues of Sassy Magazine.
— Vanessa, when Kenan suggests they go to Kohl’s: “Kohl’s??? Who are you, Donald Trump???”
STARS: ***


ACUPUNCTURE
acupuncturists (KRW) & (AIB) cause blood to gush from (JAS)’s back

 

— Finally, a non-recurring live sketch tonight.
— Ah, a sketch in the tradition of SNL’s projectile bleeding sketches.
— Jason’s overly-calm, unaware reactions while bleeding profusely are very funny, as are Kristen, Aidy, and Kate’s various panicked reactions and resorts.
— I love Bobby’s off-camera yell of “Who’s blood is this?!?”, as well as Aidy passing it off to Jason as being cool street talk, “You know, like, ‘What’s up, blood?’”
— Absolutely hilarious how Kristen’s character is now desperately resorting to making Jason unwittingly drink a vase of his own blood to keep him from getting suspicious.
— I got a good laugh from how, when asked “Anything you’d like to contribute?” while he’s seeing the madness that Kristen and Aidy have created, Fred just grabs his hat & suitcase and casually dives out of the window.
— Another funny line from an off-camera Bobby: “Yo, man, who the hell this Chinese dude?!?”
— Aidy’s character attempting to deliver the term Shamwow in a fancy manner is very funny.
— Solid visual of a flesh bubble inflating out of Jason’s back, then exploding a spurt of blood. Man, this sketch is a riot.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO

— Very nice and rare how the end of the preceding Acupuncture sketch carries over into this musical guest intro, with Kristen and Aidy still being in their wigs and blood-drenched costumes. It’s also a rarity to see a current cast member in a musical guest intro, not counting episodes where the musical guest is also that night’s host. Rather significant that the cast member in this particular musical guest intro is a first-year featured player. I remember some online SNL fans who, at the time, felt Aidy might end up a one-season wonder took her appearance in this musical guest intro as a sign that perhaps she might make it to a second season after all. As I mentioned in a previous episode review, those concerns some online SNL fans had at the time about Aidy supposedly not doing too well in her first season and having a chance of getting fired over the summer don’t hold up well, as I’m finding in my re-watch of this season that Aidy actually had a low-key impressive first season.
— This season’s been having some creative fun with a few of their musical guest intros, between Stefon introducing one of Bruno Mars’ performances, Justin Timberlake introducing one of his own performances, the Three Amigos introducing the other Timberlake performance that same night, and now this.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Unbelievers”


DOUBLE DATE
on a double date, (KRW) & (CES) flirt with sixth graders (BOM) & (TIR)

— Hmm, not too excited about this premise.
— Bobby and Tim are at least convincing and cute in their portrayal of little boys.
— A laugh from Kristen’s out-of-nowhere dickhead line about her husband.
— Cecily is really solid here.
— I’m starting to love the voice Tim’s using. Sadly, this ends up being the final lead role he would ever get as a cast member.
— After my iffiness towards this sketch in the first minute-and-a-half or so, this sketch has really been growing on me. There’s actually an interesting tone to this sketch. Almost slice-of-life-ish, in fact, though nowhere near as low-key as SNL’s slice-of-life sketches typically are. All the performances are adding to the refreshing realism of this sketch, Cecily’s performance in particular.
— Pretty funny exaggerated laughter from Taran’s character in reaction to a very mild anecdote from Bobby.
STARS: ***½


CLASSY SEXY ELEGNACE
CD features autotuned reality show housewives

— Another sketch this season with a whole bunch of unfortunate James Anderson-isms jumping out in your face right from the start. Kristen’s first musical number in this sketch even feels a little reminiscent of typical musical performances in Deep House Dish (complete with two model-looking men as backup dancers), a recurring sketch written by James Anderson. I swear I recall there also being another sketch Anderson wrote that had someone saying, as one of the lyrics of a song they’re singing, “Did I already say (insert word here that they already said)?”, like Kristen does here.
— Aidy’s performance is at least funny (which, once again, continues this quietly solid first season of hers), though the actual lines/lyrics she’s been given here aren’t funny in the slightest.
— Overall, way too much of this sketch went by without a single laugh from me. Aidy’s performance and delivery during her solo number provided the only amusement I got from this whole thing.
STARS: *½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— One of this season’s lesser episodes. As feared, quite a large chunk of this episode was filled with tired returning Kristen Wiig favorites (certainly not my favorites), most of them lousy as always. Some of the non-recurring stuff in the pre-Weekend Update half didn’t work, either, such as the cold opening and monologue. Thankfully, after this episode finally got all of the recurring stuff out of the way, there was a big upswing in quality towards the end of the show, with the funny and original Acupuncture and Double Date sketches, but that upswing in quality was short-lived, as things unfortunately bottomed-out again with the final sketch of the night.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Acupuncture
Double Date
1-800-Flowers
Aw Nuts! Mom’s A Ghost!
Target
Monologue
Weekend Update
Benghazi Hearings
Classy Sexy Elegnace
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Californians


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Zach Galifianakis)
a big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 38 comes to an end, with host Ben Affleck. It’s the final episode for veterans Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, and Jason Sudeikis, as well as the final episode that newbie Tim Robinson spends in the cast before moving to the writers’ room.

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May 4, 2013 – Zach Galifianakis / Of Monsters And Men (S38 E19)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

FOX & FRIENDS
Michael Bloomberg (FRA) takes heat for gun & soda control

— Funny bit from Bobby’s Brian Kilmeade about french-kissing his hand.
— I got a big cheap laugh from the comment Vanessa’s Gretchen Carlson makes in regards to gay athletes and the guy in football who hikes the ball.
— Is Fred always the guest in these Fox & Friends sketches? This is either the third or fourth consecutive installment that’s happened in.
— Great bit with Bobby’s Kilmeade drinking the entire oversized Big Gulp, causing him to have a sugar rush.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host plays piano & does stand-up on myriad topics

— Interesting little detail with Zach Galifianakis entering with a rose in his hand and then placing it on the top of the piano.
— I love Zach saying “I haven’t really done anything, guys” when the audience is laughing endlessly over his comical opening line: “I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.”
— An absolutely priceless bit about a deaf couple being amazing at charades.
— Great sequence with Zach doing a whole bunch of set-ups with no punchlines.
— Zach: “The other day, I Googled how many Mexicans live in North Korea. (*pauses a little while*) Google didn’t know.”
— Zach: “Here’s something you’ll never see in braille: If You See Something, Say Something.”
— Hmm, no “Hoobastank is here” callback at the end of this monologue.
STARS: ****½


GAME OF GAME OF THRONES
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau [real] visits game show

— Not sure, but this may be the final instance of Bill playing a game show host during his tenure as a cast member.
— I don’t know why Aidy casually saying “bastard son” in a straitlaced voice tickled me so much just now, given the fact that it wasn’t even intended to be comedic. A testament to how naturally funny Aidy’s delivery is.
— After Zach states the obvious when saying “That’s a Game Of Thrones joke!” and Bill responds in an over-the-top mock-surprised manner, “It is?!?!?”, I love Bill immediately following that by making an eye-rolling-type face. It’s little touches like that that I’m going to miss about Bill’s game show host characterizations.
— Very funny subversion with the question Zach’s Game Of Thrones nerd character is asked turning out to be a non-Game Of Thrones real-world geography question, which naturally leaves him stumped.
— Another funny subversion, with Zach going out of his way to pick a definite Game Of Thrones-themed question, and the question initially starts out GOT-themed, only to suddenly turn into another non-GOT real-world question.
— Some laughs from the speed round.
— Ehh, the part with Zach glowingly making homoerotic comments to Nikolaj Coster-Waldau feels too typical and unnecessary.
— I got a good laugh from how, when asked to identify a photo of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Zach answers, “I don’t know, some old pilgrim?”
STARS: ***½


MATCH.COM
horny Martha Stewart (KAM) is amongst those looking for love on match.com

— Feels kinda odd seeing Kate playing Martha Stewart. Also, it goes without saying that, by nature, any non-Ana Gasteyer SNL impersonator of Martha Stewart pales in comparison to Ana.
— Blah, I’m not caring for how this is going the cliched route of “Martha Stewart says dirty things in a stiff, straitlaced manner”. Tired humor.
— I love how Taran, in between acting very casual towards Kate’s Martha Stewart, excitedly mouths “Martha Stewart!” into the camera. That’s exactly the type of little thing Taran’s always so good at getting laughs out of.
STARS: **


JENNIFER ANISTON LOOK-ALIKE COMPETITION
(Bradley Cooper), (Ed Helms) & others look more like Jennifer Aniston than (host)

— A good cheap laugh from Zach making his entrance looking like that.
— Zach, after receiving an offended reaction to his harsh comment about Helen Keller’s blindness: “Oh, shut up! She knew what she was doing! She was milking it!”
— Zach sure is stumbly with his lines throughout this sketch. He was a little stumbly in his appearances earlier tonight, too.
— I love the deep voice Bobby’s doing.
— I didn’t know Kenan still dressed in drag at this point of his SNL tenure, just a few months before he would publicly announce that summer that he was taking a stand against continuing to play black women on SNL. (Though in this Aniston Look-Alike sketch, Kenan’s technically playing a man dressed like Whoopi Goldberg.) Assuming he doesn’t dress in drag in the remaining two episodes of this season, I guess this sketch can be pinpointed as containing Kenan’s final drag role on SNL.
— Zach’s angry ranting throughout this sketch has me in absolute stitches, even with his constant line flubs.
— Hmm, has Jason’s microphone suddenly stopped working?
— Ah, we get our very first display of Vanessa’s spot-on and memorable Jennifer Aniston impression, which Vanessa would get good mileage out of on Weekend Update in her later seasons.
— Alongside Vanessa in this sketch, we also get good Aniston impressions from Nasim and Taran, the latter’s impression being especially funny.
— Oh, geez. Even in a mere cameo, Ed Helms is making a PAINFULLY long, awkward pause before delivering his line, which was something he occasionally did in the episode he hosted two seasons prior.
— Hilarious how the alleged Friends theme song that the Hangover guys sing together is actually “That’s What Friends Are For”.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Little Talks”


WEEKEND UPDATE
James Carville (BIH) analyzes the defeat of background checks for guns

tech correspondent’s (FRA) struggles belie unobtrusivity of Google Glass

The Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With At A Party is haughty & dippy

— This ends up being the final appearance of Bill’s always-fun James Carville impression.
— I love the ghost-walking-through-Obama sound effect (“Waauuuw”) that Bill’s Carville is doing.
— A hilarious harsh comment Bill’s Carville lightheartedly makes about his mother dying “peacefully” by falling into the propeller on a fan boat.
— Bill’s Carville is a freakin’ riot in his interactions with his mother’s ghost. Bill’s having so much fun here.
— Feels like Seth is doing an unusually low number of jokes between each guest commentary tonight, but I guess I can’t say that’s a bad thing, given how burned-out I’ve recently become on the solo Seth era of Update. Having to review SO MANY consecutive seasons of Blandy McBlanderson, a.k.a. Seth Meyers, solo at the Update desk has taken its toll on me lately. I’m craving a positive change at the Update desk, and the changes we get at the desk in the upcoming season 39 sure as hell ain’t it. Season 40 of Weekend Update cannot come soon enough for me.
— Interesting and rare seeing Fred do an Update commentary as a normal, one-off character in this late stage of his SNL tenure.
— Fred’s actually doing a good job here, making this the second consecutive episode in which he turns in a surprisingly solid performance during these way-past-his-prime years of his SNL tenure. Good to see him showing signs of new life in the homestretch of his SNL tenure.
— The Girl You Wish etc.: “There are 90-year-olds dying every single day. It’s like – oh, thanks, congress.”
— The Girl You Wish etc., to Seth: “For all intents and porpoises, you’re a facade.”
— I just realized this ends up being the last Update commentary this character of Cecily’s does before we get a year-long break from her, due to Cecily’s stint as an Update co-anchor.
STARS: **½


M&M STORE
at M&M’s World, racist greeter (host) apologizes to fellow employees

— A big laugh from Zach’s “How” bit towards Nasim’s Indian character.
— Zach, in how grossed-out he is by the thought of what his two allegedly-gay co-workers do together: “And I know I made that abundantly clear, often through song…”
— After Zach asks his co-workers to bury the hatchet, I laughed so much at him telling Nasim’s Indian character, “No offense.”
— The fact that this whole situation is happening in an M&M store, of all settings, is somehow making this even funnier.
— This sketch is such a riot that even Zach’s black-people-talking-in-a-movie-theater joke (making this the second consecutive episode with a joke about that, by the way) came off hilarious instead of hacky.
— Zach’s “Swing low…” bit towards Kenan had me howling.
STARS: ****½


DARRELL’S HOUSE
Darrell Sparks (host) plans to fix his cable access TV show in post

— I absolutely love the odd, low-budget opening title sequence and theme song, featuring a graphic of Zach’s head bouncing around the screen.
— A priceless sudden escalation to this sketch, with Zach’s heated exchange with Vanessa.
— A very fascinating and unique structure to this sketch, with Zach constantly stopping what he’s doing to give elaborate directions on what edits he wants made in post. It’s even more fascinating and unique in hindsight when you’re aware of what it’s going to lead to later in this episode.
— Kenan’s delivery of “I’m not Jon Hamm” while slyly smirking is great.
— So many things about this sketch are, on top of being fascinating, amusing the hell out of me. This is such a strong piece.
— Another great line delivery from Kenan, with his “I bet it’ll be me” when Zach tells him “You’re not going to be on, Jon Hamm’s gonna be on.”
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Mountain Sound”


MICHAEL JORDAN’S WEDDING
Charles Barkley (KET) & others toast Michael Jordan at his lavish wedding

— I like Kenan-as-Charles-Barkley’s comment about Michael Jordan’s infamous Hitler-esque mustache in that Hanes commercial.
— Funny visual of Zach and Jason returning with cocaine under their noses.
— Blah, a display of Fred playing a very typical foreigner role, which he’s done to death and beyond over the years.
— Zach and Jason’s cocaine-induced hyper behavior in their third scene is cracking me up.
— Jay is absolutely HILARIOUS as Dikembe Mutombo.
— Jay as Dikembe Mutombo: “You know what my wife gave me for our wedding? MALARIA.”
— Jay’s whole “taunting God” spiel in that accented, gravely voice is pure comedy gold.
STARS: ***½


NEW BALANCE
New Balance is the running shoe for out-of-shape guys who stand around

— Meh, lots of generic, forgettable humor here.
— I did get a pretty good laugh from Zach casually grabbing half of a passerby’s pretzel.
STARS: **


DARRELL’S HOUSE: THE FINAL CUT
clumsily-edited finished product features Jon Hamm [real]

— Oh, this is absolutely BRILLIANT, showing us the finished product of all the edits Zach’s character called for in the Darrell’s House sketch from earlier tonight. I always like the idea of waiting until later in the show to give us a delayed punchline to a certain sketch, much like what we got with the Z Shirts thing from earlier this season. What’s even more impressive and amazing about this second Darrell’s House piece is that SNL made this edited version on the fly after the first Darrell’s House sketch ended. HUGE props to SNL for pulling that off.
— I love how the voice of the edited-out-of-this-final-cut Vanessa is sloppily left in for a nanosecond.
— Even the little detail of loud, muffled, off-camera sounds in the badly spliced-in close-up of the now-filled snack tray is a very funny comedic touch.
— A huge laugh from the jarring dubbing-in of Zach saying “AL….JOL-SON.” in a monotone, robotic-sounding voice. Not to mention how inherently hilarious it is that Al Jolson is the only singer this Darrell’s House show could get cleared.
— Hilarious visual of Jon Hamm being very poorly edited into the same shots as Zach via a split-screen effect, including, at one point, a blink-and-miss-it full shot of Kenan as Jon’s placeholder flashing on screen for a quick second.
— Overall, simply excellent. Bravo.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A really solid episode with some VERY strong highs, including an all-timer with the Darrell’s House pieces. As usual whenever he hosts, Zach Galifianakis added to the episode’s strength. A damn shame he has yet to continue hosting any further after this episode, but if he had to stop hosting, at least this episode was a great way for him to go out.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Darrell’s House / Darrell’s House: The Final Cut (tie)
Monologue
M&M Store
Jennifer Aniston Look-Alike Competition
Fox & Friends
Michael Jordan’s Wedding
Game Of Game Of Thrones
Weekend Update
New Balance
Match.com


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Vince Vaughn)
a step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Kristen Wiig

Posted on

April 13, 2013 – Vince Vaughn / Miguel (S38 E18)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

GUN CONTROL PRESS CONFERENCE
senators Joe Manchin (JAS) & Pat Toomey (BIH) offer weak gun legislation

— This pairing of Bill and Jason feels a little significant in hindsight, knowing we’re pretty much in the homestretch of their SNL tenure.
— I like Bill’s casual shrug when hearing he’s going to lose his job.
— A pretty funny bit about none of these gun restrictions applying to Florida.
— Good delivery from Bill on his “So, in summary…uh…you’re welcome???”
— Jay’s habit of flubbing his lines rears its head once again, with him having a rough time getting through his last few lines before his LFNY.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host leaves the stage to enlist individual audience members’ support

— Right out of the gate, Vince Vaughn is showing far more stage presence than he did in his previous monologue from 1998, where he basically just lifelessly stood there like a zombie while Darrell Hammond did all the heavy lifting as Alfred Hitchcock.
— I’m absolutely loving Vince’s one-on-one mingling with individual audience members. Vince is fantastic here, and I love how loose and genuine he’s making this feel, even though this is definitely scripted.
— Vince, when telling one audience member his phone can’t capture tonight’s episode as well as SNL’s cameras can: “I’m not saying it’s a bad-quality phone, I don’t want a lawsuit. I’m just saying–”
— Vince continues to kill it here. In fact, call me crazy, but I’m starting to get a bit of a Bill Murray vibe from his one-on-one mingling and general performance here.
— Showing what a big character Bobby’s Drunk Uncle has become, this is the third consecutive episode in which Drunk Uncle has either been mentioned or has appeared in.
— An overall very strong and underrated monologue. While not laugh-out-loud funny for the most part, nor was it trying to be, I found Vince’s execution of it to be enthralling.
STARS: ****½


THE AL PACINO ACCUSED MURDERER BIOPIC SERIES
Al Pacino (BIH) is the star of HBO’s accused murderer biopic series

— Fun concept with Bill’s Al Pacino playing various accused murderers.
— Very funny detail with Bill’s Pacino idiotically choosing to use a heavy Hispanic accent when playing the Menendez Brothers.
— Bill as Captain Francesco Schettino, in an over-the-top Italian accent: “NOW THAT’S-A SPICY BULLCRAP!”
— So far, lots of stupid fun here, which is something that Bill is typically great at pulling off. Similar to what I said about him and Jason in my review of this episode’s cold opening, there’s something kinda significant about seeing such a big Bill Hader showcase in which he plays so many different roles when you’re aware in hindsight that this ends up being his fourth-to-last episode as a cast member.
— Oh, that blackface scene………. I think I recall hearing that when a video of this scene resurfaced on Twitter last year (2019) or so, it resulted in typical Twitter outrage, though as far as I know, this particular outrage was nothing major that hurt Bill’s career or anything. I’ll argue that this blackface scene works because the whole POINT of the scene is calling out the wrongness of Bill’s Pacino doing that, unlike, say, the Jimmy Fallon/Chris Rock thing that’s been discussed to death. I also laughed in spite of myself at how Bill, in this blackface scene, said “I didn’t kill no one, mon!” in a ridiculous Jamaican accent (which you have to listen carefully for, because it gets kinda drowned out by the loud audience laughter in response to the initial sight of Bill in blackface).
STARS: ****


STORMY SKIES
Weather Channel soap opera has meteorological report tropes

— I recall this sketch coming off like an inferior knock-off of the Life We Lead sketch from Tom Arnold’s season 21 episode, which had a premise very similar to the “a hybrid of a weather report and a soap opera” premise of this Stormy Skies sketch (though that Life We Lead sketch covered a general newscast instead of just the weather part of the news like this sketch is doing).
— Yeah, so far, I’m finding that my memory of this sketch was not incorrect, as this indeed feels derivative of and inferior to the Life We Lead sketch, but there are a few original bits here that I kinda like.
— The gag with Cecily’s green dress unintentionally becoming transparent when she walks in front of the weather map greenscreen is interesting in hindsight, given the fact that she would later be on the receiving end of that gag in a sketch from Jonah Hill’s 2018 episode, where Cecily was a meteorologist and Jonah was a guy (can’t remember if he was Cecily’s boyfriend or just some guy she knew) who interrupted the newscast Cecily was on to propose to her on the air.
— The “Time and temp” bit is getting old and wasn’t necessary to repeat.
— I like Aidy spoofing typical people who ham it up in the background when a news reporter is giving a report outdoors.
— Blah, another appearance from Kenan as Bullwinkle Roker.
STARS: **


HISTORY OF PUNK – IAN RUBBISH & THE BIZZAROS
punk rocker Ian Rubbish (FRA) loved Margaret Thatcher; Steve Jones cameo

— Immediately, I’m absolutely loving the atmosphere and style of this mockumentary, and how it feels so different for SNL.
— Easily the best and most refreshing thing Fred has done on SNL in years by this point.
— I love Fred’s delivery of “Be deeeceeeeeent”, which would later be shown in a highlight reel (of, I think, short films) in SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special, which made me love that line of Fred’s even more.
— Fred-as-Ian-Rubbish’s constant favoritism towards Margaret Thatcher is a solid comedic conceit, even if it’s rather thin. The execution is making it work.
— Lots of great details all throughout this that are adding to the authentic feel of this mockumentary.
— Fun shots of Vanessa as Margaret Thatcher.
— Brilliant piece overall, and a favorite of mine. I loved pretty much every single thing about this.
STARS: *****


SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS THEATRE
(BIH) gives prompts throughout short-term memory loss theater production

— Blah, an obvious twist with Bill having to feed lines to his short-term memory-having actors, after his long, glowing initial set-up with him touting those actors’ ability to easily remember their lines.
— Good lord, this sketch is so boringly one-note – a note that wasn’t funny to begin with.
— (*groan*) And now to make this sketch even worse, there goes yet another season 38 display of Fallon/Sanz-esque giggling between Bill and Fred.
— Jay’s scene initially seemed promising, but it ended up going the same unfunny route as the rest of the characters, as if that joke hadn’t already been beyond run into the ground by this point of the sketch.
— Overall, in a word: oof.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Adorn”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Brad Paisley (JAS) & LL Cool J (KET) think their song has ended racism

Marina Chapman’s (KAM) behavior proves that she was raised by monkeys

— While not the best LL Cool J impression I’ve ever seen, Kenan’s take is cracking me up.
— I love Jason’s exaggerated, stretched-out way of saying Seth’s name in the southern accent he’s using as Brad Paisley.
— Funny line from Kenan’s LL Cool J about his reputation as the most lowdown, hardcore cast member of NCIS.
— There goes Seth’s obligatory display of a German accent after doing a joke about Germany.
— Kate’s raised-by-monkeys commentary seems a little promising for her.
— Hmm, as Kate’s commentary goes on, I’m seeing that the material itself is very scant and meh. Kate’s doing her best to try elevating it with a fun performance.
STARS: **½


JUNIOR PROM
rich neighbor (host) takes liberties with junior high prom he bankrolled

— Bill, Aidy, and Kenan’s ridiculously redundant opening conversation is already making me nervous for what kind of sketch awaits me.
— I kinda laughed at Bobby’s soft-spoken, monotone “Whaaaaaaaat?” when asked by Vince to dance with him.
— Boy, this sketch is fucking TERRIBLE so far. Absolutely unwatchable. What the hell is this even going for?!?
— Aww, poor Tim.
STARS: *


ROUNDBALL ROCK
NBC execs nix John Tesh’s (JAS) brother’s (TIR) “Roundball Rock” lyrics

— Ah, yes! YES! A sketch I fell deeply in love with ever since it originally aired. Hell, I basically already fell in love with it back in November 2012 when I read the description of it in an online dress rehearsal report for the Louis C.K. episode, as this sketch was originally cut from that episode.
— That sure was one long, awkward delay before Aidy made her entrance. I guess she missed her cue.
— Tim’s “Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-basketball, gimme-gimme etc.” singing is slaying me, made even funnier by the silly and exaggerated high-fives he and Jason give each other at the end of each verse.
— I love Tim’s delivery of “Uhhh, my gut is noooo.”
— A very funny little detail with Vince casually referring to the Tesh Brothers collectively as “Teshes”.
— I absolutely love the insane sequence with the Teshes going wild and destroying the office with tiny hammers and gasoline. Excellent absurdity there.
— Tim: “We did NOT want this to go this way.” Vince: “Then why did you bring little hammers and a can of gasoline?”
— A lot of SNL fans seem to think that Jason’s delay in miming his piano playing a few seconds after the dramatic piano music has started playing in the background during Tim’s poignant speech was a genuine blooper on Jason’s part. However, it always seemed like an intentional gag to me, like it was suggesting that, after hearing soft piano music playing in the background while Tim’s speaking dramatically, Jason’s John Tesh got the sneaky idea to make people think he’s the source of that background music. Either way, whether intentional or a blooper, it adds even more to the greatness of this sketch.
— Even the silly ending with Kenan’s fake freeze-frame and the hand of Vince waving in front of Kenan’s face is perfect to me.
— Overall, an absolutely excellent sketch, and yet another argument for why Tim should’ve been kept in the cast the following season.
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “How Many Drinks?”


LAST CALL
at closing time, (host) & Sheila Sovage are each other’s only sex option

— This sketch has officially become recurring.
— I like Vince’s random line about being a Wasabi pee tester.
— Sheila Sovage, on herself: “Raised in Shanghai, deflowered in Wilmington, Delaware!”
— The audience was very quiet during the first third of this sketch, but they’re getting more into it now.
— A funny and gross “Pass the tequila shot” bit.
— Kate’s monkey bit is interesting, given the raised-by-monkeys commentary she did on Update earlier tonight.
— Tonight’s installment of this recurring sketch had a slow start, but has gotten better. However, this is one of the lesser installments of this recurring sketch (which just shows how strong a lot of the other installments are, since this one still isn’t too bad).
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

— Great callback to/continuation of the monologue, with Vince returning the audience member’s phone as promised. Much like the refreshing change of pace with Melissa McCarthy’s monologue entrance in the preceding episode, it’s a huge rarity for overly-formulaic recent SNL eras like this one to do anything out-of-the-ordinary in the goodnights.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A wildly up-and-down episode, featuring some of the best AND worst segments of this entire season. (Kinda reminds me of how bipolar the season 28 Brittany Murphy episode was.) The stuff outside of the absolute best and absolute worst of this episode ranged from mediocre to pretty good. So, in other words, this episode was all OVER the place. The good does outnumber the bad, though.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Roundball Rock
History Of Punk – Ian Rubbish & The Bizzaros
Monologue
The Al Pacino Accused Murderer Biopic Series
Last Call
Gun Control Press Conference
Weekend Update
Stormy Skies
Short Term Memory Loss Theatre / Junior Prom (tie)


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Melissa McCarthy)
a little hard for me to figure, due to how wildly inconsistent tonight’s episode was, though I think I’d call this episode a slight step up, given how it has higher highs than the McCarthy episode


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Zach Galifianakis hosts for his third and, as of 2020, final time

Posted on

April 6, 2013 – Melissa McCarthy / Phoenix (S38 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

KIM JONG-UN ADDRESS
Kim Jong-un (BOM) lifts ban on same-sex marriage; Dennis Rodman cameo

— DAMMIT! After I was pleasantly surprised in the preceding episode that what initially seemed to be a translator cold opening ended up going a completely different route, the very next episode does end up having a full-fledged translator cold opening. Just my motherfucking luck.
— What in the world is the audience laughing so much at? Nothing intentionally comedic has even been said yet. Are they laughing at just the fake Korean gibberish that Bobby’s speaking in under the audio of Nasim’s American translation? Geez, is the audience that easily amused?
— Yeah, so far, this is just as awful, droning, and laughless as these crappy Jim Downey-written translator snoozefests typically are. Thankfully, this may be the last time I ever have to review one, given the fact that Downey leaves the writing staff at the end of this season.
— This even has Bobby’s Kim Jong-un asking himself, “Let’s see, what else, what else?” at one point, which was already done in a previous translator cold opening, the one with Fred as Moammar Gadhafi in the season 35 premiere.
— At least we get something kinda interesting with Dennis Rodman making his first SNL appearance since way back in 1996.
— Ha, my only laugh of this entire cold opening ends up being from something that wasn’t even in the script, nor was intended to be comedic: Rodman mush-mouthing his delivery of LFNY, rendering it unintelligible (“LOVE AND NEW YORK, IT’S SOLLDIE NAAAAUUUGHT!”).
STARS: *


OPENING MONTAGE
— After being out for three consecutive episodes due to an injury he suffered at home, resulting in a few people (Bill Hader, Darrell Hammond) filling in for him as SNL’s announcer, Don Pardo has returned.


MONOLOGUE
host’s platform heels leave her unable to walk, much less dance with TAK

— Wow, a huge change of pace for a monologue entrance in this SNL era, with the premise of Melissa McCarthy not being able to walk down the stairs on the home base stage, due to the pair of high heels she’s wearing. I love this. It feels like something from early SNL eras (70s and early-mid 80s), which weren’t afraid to occasionally play around with the formula of stuff like monologue entrances. I also love how Melissa makes the SNL Band play the ending portion of the theme music a second time, which is also something that hadn’t been done in ages.
— Some good physical work here from Melissa in her struggles to get to the front of the home base stage.
— When laying flat on the floor by the SNL Band, I like Melissa saying, “This smells like a lot of musicians.”
STARS: ***½


OUTSIDE THE LINES
coach Sheila Kelly (host) abuses basketball players

— A promising, fun, and topical idea to have Melissa play a female equivalent to infamous college basketball coach Mike Rice. Melissa was born to play this role.
— I’m loving the pre-taped footage of Melissa’s character physically and verbally abusing her basketball players, especially the shot of her using a t-shirt cannon to shoot a t-shirt up at the frightened team, who’s collectively bunched together in a corner at top of the bleachers.
— Now this is getting even funnier with the absolutely insane pre-tape of Melissa violently interrupting her players in their classroom. I especially like her occasionally using a taser on Bobby as the teacher.
— Good shot of Melissa in the window behind Bill, non-verbally threatening Jay during his interview.
— Funny little touch at the very end with Bill’s character giving a little hearty chuckle after announcing the horrifying sports story they’ll be covering next.
STARS: ****


THE VOICE
unlike celebrity coaches, singer (host) knows she lacks talent

— Fairly funny impressions of The Voice judges.
— When Melissa discloses the fact that she lives in a basement with no roof, I like Jason’s Blake Shelton responding “So, you…you’re talkin’ about a hole.”
— Despite some laughs, something about this sketch is leaving a little to be desired for me.
STARS: **½


HONEY BAKED HAM BAKE-OFF
at an annual ham bake-off, perennial also-ran (host) adds choreography

— A fun sudden turn with the ham-themed dance number Melissa, Bobby, and Taran do.
— Oh, I absolutely love when the music in the dance number suddenly turns to Salt-N-Pepa’s “Push It”. As I said in a previous episode review (when covering one of the Spartan Cheerleaders sketches, I believe), I’m always a sucker for “Push It”.
— This sketch continues to be a lot of fun, and Melissa is great here.
STARS: ****


BATHROOM BUSINESSMAN
the Bathroom Businessman in-stall office setup evokes a plea for decency

— Kenan’s intentionally cheesy delivery  of “I’m flushing my career down the toilet!” cracked me up.
— Blah at that fart gag & sound effect.
— A good comedic conceit with the long, complex set-up of the Bathroom Businessman product while Kenan desperately has to go to the bathroom.
— The sudden “Decency” bit at the end was a pretty solid surprise twist.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Entertainment”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jacob’s scripted account of Passover includes lighthearted family foibles

the Final Four has contributed to Charles Barkley’s (KET) gambling debt

Drunk Uncle bemoans tax season with his brother-in-law (Peter Dinklage)

— Wow, feels kinda surprising and unexpected in 2020 seeing a 2013 mention on Weekend Update of “California attorney general” Kamala Harris.
— I love Vanessa-as-Jacob’s Jewish-accented pronunciation of “rock music”.
— With this being only Jacob’s second Update commentary, I’m not QUITE as sick of the very thin formula of his Update commentaries as I know I’m eventually going to be. However, I’m already beginning to really hate that repetitive gag with him always going back to reading from his speech whenever Seth asks him a question. They don’t need to repeat that gag 100 freakin’ times in every single Jacob commentary.
— A pretty funny passing mention of Jacob’s cat being named David Ben-Purrion.
— Hmm, I have no memory of this episode having a Kenan-as-Charles-Barkley commentary on Update.
— Kenan-as-Barkley’s line about Michael Jordan being the Michael Jordan of gambling too much was pretty funny.
— I laughed at the long, awkward pause between Kenan and Seth after Kenan’s Barkley mentions one basketball player recently broke his leg simply because “………….he jumped………….”
— Drunk Uncle: “Huey Lewis and the Jeeewwss!”
— Drunk Uncle, after making an offensive comment towards Native Americans: “You’re welcome, Chief Pays-No-Bills!”
— Nice to see a cameo from Peter Dinklage as Drunk Uncle’s brother-in-law Peter Drunklage, as what ends up being the first of several instances of a guest star or host playing a relative or friend of Drunk Uncle’s.
— Peter Dinklage is fantastic here. You’d think he’d been playing this character for a good while like Bobby has.
— I love the “Marco?” “Rubio!” bit between Drunk Uncle and Drunklage.
STARS: ***


MILLION DOLLAR WHEEL
awful fill-in letter turner (host) wrecks game show

— I love Bill’s cheery delivery of “Suzette left because of an alcohol problem – MINE!”
— I remember an online SNL fan back at this time in 2013 pointing out how Victoria Jackson-esque Melissa’s voice and characterization came off here. Yeah, I can see it.
— An extremely thin sketch so far, like some Melissa-plays-a-wacky-character sketches tend to be.
— Yeah, as this sketch goes on, it’s becoming more and more clear that this ain’t working for me. Melissa’s been given practically NO material here, like that awful Turner Classic Movies sketch from her previous episode where she played an actress who kept falling down the stairs over and over and over and over.
— I did get a laugh just now from how, after Melissa has revealed all of the letters on the puzzle, Fred (in his first appearance all night, by the way, which is yet ANOTHER obvious sign that he’s on his way out this season) says “I’d like to solve the puzzle”, only to foolishly end up getting the answer completely wrong.
STARS: *½


PIZZA BUSINESS
loan officer (JAS) denies funding for (host)’s pizza eating business

— Some of Melissa’s characterizations tend to come off awfully similar to each other. Her character in this sketch, for example, feels like a hybrid of her character from the ham sketch earlier tonight and her character from the (overrated, in my opinion) Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing sketch in her preceding episode.
— I like the running gag with Melissa offering Jason a pen when he already clearly has one.
— Despite Melissa giving a very lived-in, established performance as usual in her character pieces (which is something I can often admire about a lot of her characterizations, even when some of them come off too similar to each other and/or don’t make me laugh all that much), and despite me getting a laugh here and there, her constant ramblings in this sketch are becoming white noise to me, which was one of the problems I think I recall having with the aforementioned Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing sketch.
— I actually love the ending, with Melissa returning to the room in slow motion to grab the pizza box after the realization Jason just had. I’ve heard a theory from an SNL fan that Jason truly wasn’t expecting Melissa to do that, because the dress rehearsal version of this sketch reportedly ended differently (with a screen crawl epilogue, I believe), and the shocked & gleeful reaction Jason had to Melissa’s slow motion return in the live version of this sketch looked genuine to that SNL fan.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Trying To Be Cool” & “Drakkar Noir”


THE ART OF THE ENCOUNTER
videos depict strategies for landing Mr. Right

— So far, this is filled with typical James Anderson/Kent Sublette tropes, especially the very questionable gag names all the characters have (ugh).
— Melissa has an ability to get the audience so on her characters’ side that the audience collectively goes “Awww” whenever her characters experience a letdown. This sketch contains the third separate instance of that happening in this episode alone.
— Despite all the Anderson/Sublette-ness of this sketch, the absurdity and comical awkwardness in this sketch is starting to work for me more and more.
— I love the odd way Taran “gets into place” for Melissa to do the splits on his face.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very mixed episode. As you can see from my reviews of the two episodes Melissa McCarthy has hosted by this point, I run extremely hot-and-cold on the sketches that are a big showcase piece for her. That was especially on display in this episode, where I seemed to find tonight’s big Melissa showcase pieces to be either a blast (Outside the Lines, Honey Baked Ham Bake-Off) or a repetitive bore (Million Dollar Wheel, Pizza Business). There was almost no middle ground for me. Her sketch comedy seems to be very polarizing among people in general (which is something she has in common with her friend and Bridesmaids co-star Kristen Wiig). Some of the big Melissa showcase pieces that I liked in these first two episodes she hosted, I’m sure quite a number of people dislike, and I’m sure quite a number of people like some of the big Melissa showcase pieces in these two episodes that *I* disliked. Of all the episodes Melissa has hosted (as of 2020), I personally prefer her final two (2016 and 2017), because, IIRC, SNL moves away a little from focusing so heavily on one-note Melissa-plays-a-wacky-character sketches. My memory of the sketches those two episodes actually contain is admittedly very fuzzy, so I might feel a bit differently about those episodes when I eventually review them. We’ll see.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Outside The Lines
Honey Baked Ham Bake-Off
Monologue
The Art Of The Encounter
Bathroom Businessman
Weekend Update
The Voice
Pizza Business
Million Dollar Wheel
Kim Jong-Un Address


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Justin Timberlake)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Vince Vaughn

Posted on

March 9, 2013 – Justin Timberlake (S38 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

MEMORIAL SERVICE
Elton John (host) performs “Candle In The Wind” variant for Hugo Chavez

— OH, GOD. A translator opening. And one starring Fred, no less.
— Okay, thankfully, the translator bit ended up just being a brief set-up to the main focus of this cold opening: Justin Timberlake as Elton John singing a tribute song to the recently-deceased Hugo Chavez.
— A rarity to see Justin starring in the cold opening of an episode he’s hosting.
— I like the disapproving looks Justin’s Elton occasionally gives into the camera after singing certain ridiculous revelations about Hugo Chavez.
— After a promising start, this is trailing off for me. A lot of parts of the song are starting to wash over me.
STARS: **


OPENING MONTAGE
— The still-injured Don Pardo is out for the third consecutive episode. Like the last episode, former cast member Darrell Hammond fills in by doing a Pardo imitation.


MONOLOGUE
DAA & MAS wait on Five-Timers Club members host, Paul Simon, Steve Martin, CHC, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Candice Bergen [real]

— After Justin mentions this is his fifth time hosting, this monologue turns into a variation/recreation/homage/sequel/whatever-you-want-to-call-it of the legendary Five-Timers Club monologue with Tom Hanks in 1990.
— Interesting decision to have then-writer Mike O’Brien play the doorman role, which Conan O’Brien played in the original Five-Timers Club monologue back when he was a writer. I wonder if SNL came to this casting decision because Mike O’Brien has the same last name as Conan.
— Steve Martin is his usual hilarious self here.
— Good random inclusion of Dan Aykroyd as a bartender, and I like the line about how bartender was the only occupation the club members could find for him because he only hosted once.
— Much like the joke in the original Five-Timers Club monologue where some of the five-timers order drinks that are named after former cast members, Justin orders the “Kristen Wiig”, which is a drink with a little Gilly wig on the top. I wish the drinks-named-after-former-cast-members gag went on longer tonight with more names.
— I like the paintings of some five-timers who I guess couldn’t cameo in person tonight.
— As always, I have VERY mixed feelings towards a Chevy Chase cameo, for obvious reasons.
— Yikes, Chevy’s voice and delivery sound pretty awful and out-of-it here. A harbinger of his infamous and depressing appearance a few years later in SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special, where he looked and sounded unhealthy as hell.
— Ha, Martin Short as a waiter. This feels like a callback to his appearance in the Platinum Lounge Club sketch from Alec Baldwin’s 2006 episode, though we don’t get Steve Martin saying (in regards to Martin Short being a waiter) “It’s sad” again.
— It’s particularly nice to see Tom Hanks here, given the fact that he was the inductee in the previous Five-Timers Club monologue. I wish they mentioned that here.
— I like how the Taran/Bobby fighting sequence is an original bit that’s completely unlike anything in the previous Five-Timers Club monologue. It’s also a nice novelty seeing current cast members appearing in a Five-Timers Club monologue, which we didn’t get in the previous one with Hanks.
— A funny delighted delivery of “Thank yooouuu!” from a formerly-crying Bobby after he’s complimented on his Drunk Uncle character.
— When this originally aired, I remember what a big and pleasant surprise it was to see involvement from Candice Bergen, especially because, unlike the other five-timer cameos here, all of whom we’ve previously seen make a number of cameos in regular episodes from the 2000s and/or early 2010s, this is the first time in decades we’ve seen Candice appearing in a regular episode.
— Overall, while this certainly doesn’t compare to the quality of the original Five-Timers Club monologue, this was still solid and very fun in its own right.
STARS: ****


IT’S A DATE
bachelorette (VAB) chooses Dick In A Box guys & Festrunk Brothers

— Bill doing his always-fantastic and hilarious job as a game show host.
— I’m glad SNL’s doing something different with the Dick In A Box characters, especially since the formula of their usual Digital Shorts started showing signs of weariness in their last short (the 3-Way one with Lady Gaga).
— This is a much more fun use of the Festrunk Brothers than their appearance in a Roxbury Guys sketch from 1998.
— Everybody’s doing top-notch work here. Not just the heavy-hitters (Andy/Justin and Dan/Steve), and not just Bill, but also Bobby, who’s a fantastic straight man here, and Vanessa, who’s especially funny in her various unexcited reactions to Bobby.
— As a 90s kid, I love the DuckTales reference.
— A great nod to SNL history, with the Festrunks mentioning they’ve been living in America for 37 years. Though to nitpick, if that line was going by how long it had been since the Festrunks made their debut (which was in September 1977), shouldn’t it be 36 years?
— I got a pretty good laugh from the Festrunks telling the Dick In A Box guys, upon finally seeing them face-to-face, “I can’t believe you guys are not black!”
— Nice seeing Vanessa dancing with both the Festrunks and the Dick In A Box guys.
STARS: ****


VEGANVILLE
singing & dancing mascot counters Sausage Depot rep (BOM) with Veganism

— Bobby’s been having a pretty big night so far.
— Blah, our obligatory appearance of this recurring Dancing Mascot sketch. I was about to say, at least this is the last time I have to review one of these, as this ends up being Justin’s final hosting stint (as of 2020), but then I remembered there’s still one more installment of this sketch, when Justin’s the musical guest in the following season’s Jimmy Fallon-hosted episode.
— Good ol’ Bobby’s usual performance style and reliability is welcome here, and he’s a lot more fun than most of the cast members who previously played off of Justin in these Dancing Mascot sketches.
— Yeah, as usual, Justin’s songs aren’t doing a damn thing for me.
— Yeesh, it feels like Justin’s doing even more songs than usual in tonight’s installment of this recurring sketch. (*groan*) This sketch feels ENDLESS.
— At least the ending with a whole bunch of random people showing up to dance in the street with Justin and Bobby is very different than the usual endings of these Dancing Mascot sketches.
STARS: *½


NUVABLING
NuvaBling allows women to combine contraception with ornamentation

— A big laugh from Vanessa’s uncomfortable facial expression when inserting the NuvaBling into her vagina while the camera is on a close-up of her face.
— This feels like the type of Tina Fey-centric female-oriented commercial that would’ve been performed by the Fey/Dratch/Poehler/Rudolph female group back in the day.
— Some more big laughs throughout this, especially the reveal that you can reuse the NuvaBling as an earring.
— Aidy: “Did you get those earrings from Tiffany’s?” Cecily: “Close. I got them from my vagina.”
— An overall solid commercial, and I think Tina Fey would be proud.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & Jay-Z [real] perform “Suit & Tie”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Stefon’s eccentric springtime fun places have everything you don’t want

 

— Showing how much SNL has cut back on the number of appearances from the hugely-popular Stefon lately, this is only the second appearance he’s made all season. By this same point (early-mid March) of the preceding season, Stefon was already in his fourth appearance of that season.
— Tonight’s Stefon commentary even acknowledges his lack of appearances lately, by having Seth tell him we haven’t seen him in a while, and he explains “This job writing for Smash is killing me.”
— Stefon is funnier than ever tonight. Among my favorite bits from him tonight: 1) “And if you liked Russell Crowe in Les Miserab, you might wanna hear Jasper The Gorilla pass a kidney stone!”, 2) the last words of murdered blues legend Sweet Willie Walker (“My wallet?!? Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhh right!”), 3) Stefon imitating Donald Duck having a Vietnam nightmare (one of my personal favorite Stefon moments of all time), 4) part of another club name being “–based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”, and 5) one of the features of one of the clubs being the outdoor concert from a Zoloft commercial.
— A nice meta bit with Stefon slyly telling Seth, “I’ll let you join MY Five-Timers Club.”
— Solid ending to tonight’s Update with Stefon signing off for Seth by saying, “For Weekend Update, I’m the future Mr. Stefon Meyers.” A nice precursor (whether intentional or not on writer John Mulaney’s part) to a big event that happens in the next appearance Stefon will make.
STARS: ***½ (the ½ is for Stefon)


THE TALES OF SOBER CALIGULA
reformed Caligula (host) makes Rome boring

— Hmm, not too sure about this premise.
— I got a laugh from Justin bluntly disclosing, “Last week, I woke up with my penis in the mouth of a dead lion.”
— An amusing little ad-lib with Taran sensually feeling Justin’s stomach while making his exit, which catches Justin off-guard.
— There are some laughs, but this sketch feels a little on the dead side.
— Boy, the pig bit at the end fell completely flat. Not even Tim’s usual lovable goofiness could save that bit for me.
STARS: **½


MAINE JUSTICE
transplanted Louisiana culture nonplusses defendant (ANS)

— Yeah, I’ll just state the obvious right upfront: bad idea to do a second installment of this absolutely classic sketch from earlier this season, which always should’ve stayed a one-off.
— At least Jason’s usual delivery as this character is still giving me laughs.
— When Andy Samberg’s character mentions he went to LSU, you can hear an SNL audience member actually gasp very loudly in shock, then proudly yell “Go, Tigers!”
— Man, it hurts seeing such an inferior retread of one of my all-time favorite sketches. Jason’s performance is the only thing really holding this retread together for me (and even his performance isn’t quite as funny as his performance in the first installment of this sketch).
— Okay, we at least get something different from the first installment, with the bit involving an alligator creeping up on the judge bench. Though the quality of this bit doesn’t compare to anything from the first installment of this sketch, it’s pretty funny, especially Jason and Justin tenderly feeding the alligator.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL GUEST INTRO
the Three Amigos salute & introduce host

— Fairly charming to see a reprisal of the classic Three Amigos salute. However, showing how old these guys now are, Steve did the cough way too early, and, much like in the monologue earlier tonight, Chevy’s voice still sounds like he’s on his deathbed.


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Mirrors”


SHE’S GOT A D!%K
host stars in romantic comedy about a woman with a penis (NAP)

 

— Wait, is SNL freakin’ kidding me with this premise?!?
— I will say that Kenan’s confused reactions are cracking me up, at least.
— The acting in this is a spot-on spoof of the acting in typical rom-coms. That and Kenan’s lines are the only things keeping this from being a COMPLETE dud.
STARS: *½


MOËT & CHANDON
(host) & vacuous ex-porn stars endorse Moët & Chandon champagne

— So now we’re bringing back ANOTHER classic original sketch from this season’s Jamie Foxx episode???
— Cecily: “You’ll think you’ve just graduated Magna cum loudly.”
— Vanessa: “I got cut in half for real at a magic show. Now some of my middle parts are plastic bags, and I can’t wait to fill them with Moët Chammbimm!”
— Cecily: “I got banged into a sink hole. Then a mole person banged me back up. I’ll drink that that!”
— It’s too long for me to directly quote, but Vanessa’s whole jerking-off-a-horse bit is yet another great spiel in this sketch.
— Okay, unlike Maine Justice, it turns out that this is something that actually works as a recurring sketch. Like last time, we’re getting tons of killer lines.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A somewhat mixed episode as a whole, and the post-Weekend Update half was rough until the great final sketch. However, this episode had a pretty good number of strong and memorable moments, such as the fun and special-feeling one-two punch of the monologue and It’s A Date sketch back-to-back. I also like how this episode didn’t have quite as much of a “same-y” feel that a lot of Justin Timberlake-hosted episodes suffer from (the refreshing absence of The Barry Gibb Talk Show tonight probably has something to do with that), but there was still quite a lot of rehashing tonight in general.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Moët & Chandon
Monologue
Nuvabling
It’s A Date
Weekend Update
Maine Justice
The Tales of Sober Caligula
Memorial Service
Veganville
She’s Got A D!%k


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Kevin Hart)
about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Melissa McCarthy

Posted on

March 2, 2013 – Kevin Hart / Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (S38 E15)

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

Posted on

February 16, 2013 – Christoph Waltz / Alabama Shakes (S38 E14)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

CARNIVAL CRUISE SHIP TRIUMPH
Carnival Triumph crew members try to buoy spirits during dire cruise

— Refreshing to see two consecutive episodes with a non-political cold opening.
— Jason and Cecily (interesting pairing, by the way) are great as the overly cheery crew members desperately attempting to lift everybody’s spirits during this troubled cruise.
— Jay’s “There’s dookies on the walls!” outbursts during his mental breakdown is very funny.
— Good bit regarding the unfortunate stories Jason and Cecily read from the newspaper.
— I love Kenan’s off-camera yell of “Turn us all into chickens!”
— Hilarious bit with Bobby’s monkey having gotten eaten, inducing an absolutely priceless emotional outburst from Bobby.
— Even Fred’s over-the-top performance is perfect here, as is the eventual reveal that he’s the ship’s captain.
— Very strong cold opening overall. One of my favorite cold openings of this season.
STARS: ****½


OPENING MONTAGE
— As usual, the cast announcements are done by a pre-recorded Don Pardo (he officially stopped announcing live after season 35). However, by the time we get to the musical guest/host announcements tonight, Don’s voice is suddenly replaced by the voice of Bill Hader imitating him (and not very well) for the remainder of the opening montage. Very sloppy. Did SNL seriously expect us NOT to notice the sudden drastic, jarring change in announcer voices during the last quarter of the opening montage? Why didn’t they just have Bill do the announcements for the entire montage instead of just the musical guest and host portion?
— The reason for Don’s absence tonight is because he injured himself at his home (I think I recall hearing he fell down the stairs). This injury puts him out of work for this and the following two episodes.


MONOLOGUE
host weathers German characters & sings “Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!” variant

— A funny “Who’s on first?” spoof from Kate and Bobby’s German stereotype characters.
— I love Taran’s walk-on as Casual Hitler.
— Christoph Waltz, just now: “Just let me sing a song.” Me: (*groan*) And after a somewhat promising first half of this monologue, too.
— Ironic how the last two episodes prior to this, which were both hosted by singers (Adam Levine, Justin Bieber), didn’t have a musical monologue, but tonight’s actor-hosted episode does have one.
— Ugh, and here comes several cast members playing backup dancers, one of my least favorite tropes of a typical musical monologue, which itself is one of my least favorite tropes.
STARS: **½


WHAT HAVE YOU BECOME?
game show contestants win painful self-awareness

— Awkward audio gaffe when the sound of an audience shouting the game show’s title doesn’t play until the “come!” part of “What Have You Become!”
— Good premise for a game show sketch.
— I love Aidy initially going against the premise of this game show by not having the required emotional breakdown when asked “What have you become?”, then suddenly having the emotional breakdown after the happy facade she puts on. You know, until covering this season, I had remembered Aidy having a slightly rough and invisible first season, though with some flashes of promise here and there. The summer after this season ended, there were even some online SNL fans who said they wouldn’t be surprised if Aidy didn’t make it to the next season. (Imagine an alternate universe in which Aidy ended up a one-season wonder and Tim Robinson is currently in his 9th season as a cast member, as of 2020.) But re-watching this season lately, I’ve been discovering that 1) aside from the first few episodes, Aidy hasn’t been struggling for airtime anywhere near as much as I had remembered, and 2) there’s been a lot of really good moments from her where she already feels kinda fully-formed. Maybe part of that is hindsight, knowing the solid cast member she’d go on to be after having her breakout season the following year (which is where I originally started really liking her, particularly after that Cartoon Catchphrase game show sketch from that season’s Kerry Washington episode).
— Solid turn with an elderly relative of each contestant being brought out to question them further.
— There’s that always-funny Cowardly Lion-esque deep-voiced crying from Bill in yet another sketch.
— Yet another great turn in this sketch, with Christoph having a reflection of his own life after Aidy sternly asks him what has he become. I also love Christoph’s imitation of his mother insisting on him becoming a game show host.
STARS: ****


PAPAL SECURITIES
Papal Securities gives Pope Benedict (host) exclusive retirement advice

— Good casting of Christoph here.
— Funny shot of Christoph-as-the-Pope’s groceries falling through the bottom of his grocery bags.
— I love the “No other testimonials available” part while the camera just shows an empty chair.
— Fun montage of Christoph as the Pope happily doing everyday things.
— An overall quiet but solid and well-done little commercial.
STARS: ****


TIPPY
at a party, Tippy (NAP) fails to get in sync with conversational rhythm

— As I mentioned in my review of the season 21 Laura Leighton episode (link here), Nasim would later do a sketch that feels suspiciously similar to the Party sketch that Cheri Oteri starred in (as a now-obscure character named Roberta) in that Leighton episode. Well, we’ve now arrived at the Nasim sketch in question. Also, odd how this is the second consecutive episode in which Nasim reminds me of Cheri, as Nasim gave a rather Oteri-esque performance in the preceding episode’s Principal Frye sketch.
— As I’m watching this sketch now, I’m not finding it to be quite as similar to Cheri’s Party sketch as I used to feel. The structure and format of both sketches are basically the same, but, aside from the social awkwardness, the characterization Nasim’s using for her Tippy character here is different enough from Cheri’s Roberta. In fact, this Tippy character feels far more like an adult version of Nasim’s own Bedelia character.
— Despite how derivative and one-note this character feels, Nasim has some funny lines throughout this sketch, and she’s always really good at playing characters like this.
STARS: ***


DJESUS UNCROSSED
Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie has Biblical revenge

— A classic.
— I love how the cross tied to Djesus’ back actually adds to his badass look and demeanor.
— Such a fantastic and ballsy premise, and excellent execution of it.
— Fred: “(*exclaiming in an aghast manner*) Jesus H. Christ!” Djesus: “The ‘h’ is silent. (*proceeds to immediately split Fred’s head open in half with one clean swipe of his sword*)”
— An absolutely spot-on and well-done parody of violent Quentin Tarantino movies.
— Djesus: “When you get to heaven, say hi to my dad.”
— One of the critic reviews we’re shown: “I never knew how much Jesus used the n-word.”
STARS: *****


NOW IS THE TIME FOR A TICKLE FIGHT, HE HE!
sexy singing sibling trio comprises (KET), (JAP), dorky & adopted (host)

— Christoph is very fun as the out-of-place third JaMarcus brother.
— Some laughs from how the listed-off song titles make it obvious which of the JaMarcus brothers came up with which.
— Throughout this sketch, Kenan is clearly very amused by Christoph’s performance.
— The “He He!” at the end of the CD title that’s revealed towards the end of the sketch made me laugh.
— Solid ending line, with Taran’s slyly-delivered “I couldn’t get a boner right now if I tried.”
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Hold On”


WEEKEND UPDATE
State Of The Union rebuttal redux finds Marco Rubio (TAK) still thirsty

Olya Povlatsky (KAM) wishes she’d been hit by the Chelyabinsk meteor

Stephen A. Smith (JAP) claims personal insight into the Lakers’ prospects

— The exaggeratedly gaspy, dry voice Taran’s Marco Rubio suddenly speaks in when in need of water is absolutely PRICELESS.
— Taran’s commentary continues to be a very funny spoof of Marco Rubio’s infamous rebuttal speech from that week.
— Taran is so damn good here. As I said about some other Taran-starring things before, I remember it was stuff like this that made me so excited at the time for Taran to be the future of SNL, as I was under the impression back then that he’d go on to eventually carry the show as the Will Ferrell-esque leader of the cast.
— The debut of Kate’s Olya Povlatsky. I’m kinda surprised to see this, as I misremembered this character debuting the following season.
— Kate is solid in her performance as this character, and has some good lines.
— Meh, Kate’s Olya Povlatsky commentary is now devolving into jokes about her country being years behind on American pop culture, a tired, overused, and hacky SNL trope.
— Seth’s interjections during the Povlatsky commentary are quite annoying. At one point, he also noticeably reacted too early to an answer she gave him.
— Blah, another Stephen A. Smith commentary. Didn’t care for this the first time.
— Shortly after reviewing the previous Stephen A. Smith commentary that Jay did earlier this season, I actually checked out a few YouTube clips of the real Stephen A. Smith (I’m more familiar with him as just a frequently-used meme nowadays), and he really does go off on over-the-top screamy rants like this. However, that doesn’t automatically make Jay’s imitation funny. (In fact, I find Smith’s actual rants funnier.) And these commentaries that Jay does as him are way too one-note.
— I did get a chuckle just now from the way Jay said, during an aside to Seth, “–by professional terrorists…or dominatrix, you know, you know.”
— There goes Jay’s penchant for both flubbing his lines AND cracking up at himself.
STARS: ***


LOVING COUPLE
(host)’s friends find his affectionate new girlfriend Regine off-putting

— (*sigh*) All I’ve got to say about initially seeing the return of Fred’s absolutely dreadful Regine character is that there’s thankfully only three more months this season until Fred finally gets the hell off the show.
— This sketch is using the exact same straight men from the previous Regine sketch (Bill, Vanessa, Aidy, and Tim), yet they all act like this is the first time they’re meeting Regine. It’s always a pet peeve of mine when recurring sketches in the late 2000s/early 2010s years do stuff like this, such as how the same straight men characters that appear in every single one of Kristen Wiig’s Sexy Shana sketches always act like they haven’t already been through what they’re experiencing from her.
— Ugh, cue the usual “Watch her face while I (insert sensual action here)” bits, which, as I said in my review of the first installment of this sketch, are just an excuse for Fred to obnoxiously mug in the worst way possible and try to crack up his scene partners, mainly Bill.
— A rare instance of breaking from Vanessa (who notably was the only performer to keep a straight face in the Super Showcase sketch from the preceding season’s Maya Rudolph episode.)
— Ugh, now cue the other trademark of this sketch. with Fred spreading his legs and letting us see up his skirt, which has actually become a trademark for Fred’s drag roles in general lately.
— Aaaaaand now cue our usual season 38 instance of Fallon/Sanz-esque self-indulgent cracking up between Fred and Bill. Yeah, just end this mess of a sketch already before my brain melts completely.
STARS: *


FOX & FRIENDS
Barack Obama is panned while Ted Nugent (BIH) is acclaimed

— Very unusual how this recurring sketch is airing so late in the show. The same thing happened in the preceding episode, where the Miley Cyrus Show sketch was surprisingly buried fairly late in the show. Back at this time in 2013, I took these things as one of many signs that SNL was (refreshingly) trying to downplay recurring sketches this season.
— Bobby’s Brian Kilmeade, on why he didn’t watch the State Of The Union address: “There was a bee in my apartment, and it turned into this whole thing, so…”
— A good laugh from the fake “hidden message” in the backwards-played video clip from Obama’s State Of The Union.
— Pretty funny bit from Bill’s Ted Nugent on how to spot a crazy person. The rest of his interview, however, isn’t standing out much to me.
— Bobby’s Kilmeade: “One time in fifth grade, I ate a seahorse. They still won’t let me back into THAT aquarium.”
— I’m not 100% sure, but I think I recall hearing Fred’s role was played by Christoph in dress rehearsal. With Christoph not being in the live version of this sketch, that makes this a rare post-2010 sketch that doesn’t have the host in it.
— Didn’t they already use “Bruno Mars is from Earth” in a list of fact corrections in a previous Fox & Friends sketch?
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Always Alright”


SECRET ADMIRER LETTER
(CES) misses obvious signs co-worker (host) is her creepy secret admirer

— Christoph looks so Christopher Walken-esque here (I swear I remember once seeing Walken in that exact same wig/glasses combo during a sketch), and even the voice, foreign accent, and delivery he’s using sounds just like a character voice Walken would use in a sketch.
— A very solid straight man performance from Cecily here.
— Christoph, to Kenan, on one of the creepy things Cecily received: “Ben, I’m looking at you on this one.” Kenan: “And I’m lookin’ right back at you, buddy.”
— I’m really liking this Walken-esque creepy, oddball character for Christoph. I wish he was utilized in that type of role more often tonight, given the potential he had to be a Walken/John Malkovich/Steve Buscemi-type “lovable creep” host in general.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A (mostly) consistent episode, and the first solid episode of the 2013 half of this season. A very welcome sight after this was preceded by two mediocre episodes with less-than-stellar non-actor hosts. Aside from that Regine dreck and the second half of the monologue, every single segment tonight worked for me, and several of them were strong, one being an all-time favorite of mine (Djesus Uncrossed).


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Djesus Uncrossed
Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph
Papal Securities
What Have You Become?
Secret Admirer Letter
Fox & Friends
Now Is The Time For A Tickle Fight, He He!
Tippy
Weekend Update
Monologue
Loving Couple


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Justin Bieber)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Kevin Hart

Posted on

February 9, 2013 – Justin Bieber (S38 E13)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

SUPER BOWL XLVII
Super Bowl power outage leads to dawdling CBS coverage & a low-rent ad

— I love Kenan’s delivery of his question, “No? It’s been less than one minute?!?”
— Some pretty good laughs from the dire attempts at killing time.
— Very funny dark bit with Jay’s Shannon Sharpe hypothesizing that the players are thinking, “Who on the team should we eat first?”
— The extremely random, odd dancing commercial with Bill is hilarious, and steals this cold opening.
— Jay’s confession about Ray Lewis is great.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host & Whoopi Goldberg [real] mix Valentine’s Day & Black History Month

— (*sigh*) Welp, here we go.
— I remember an article pointing out that Justin Bieber’s new hairstyle the week of this episode was similar-looking to the hairstyle Vanilla Ice had when he was a musical guest on SNL in the early 90s (side-by-side comparisons below).

       

Yeesh, now I’m imagining what it would’ve been like if Vanilla Ice hosted SNL in the early 90s. Oof. Not sure if that would’ve been better or even worse than Bieber hosting in 2013. Imagining utmost professionals like Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks being forced to do sketches with Vanilla Ice makes me cringe. I know early 90s SNL got a surprisingly decent episode out of an M.C. Hammer hosting stint, but to me, Hammer’s not as much of an embarrassment as Ice is. However, I could at least see a “So bad, it’s good” quality coming from a Vanilla Ice-hosted episode, which is more than I can say for a Bieber-hosted episode.
— Funny brief appearance from then-writer Mike O’Brien.
— The Black History Month/Valentine’s Day premise is admittedly not bad, but I’m not caring for Bieber’s delivery of it. Kenan, in a mere supporting role, is carrying this whole thing on his back. This monologue would be NOTHING without him.
— There’s our obligatory singing from Bieber in this monologue, though it’s thankfully brief instead of the main focus of this monologue.
— I said this in a previous review, but, boy, I never could stand Bieber’s attempts to always talk in a phony “urban” voice (which is another similarity he has to Vanilla Ice). It especially annoys the hell out of me during the portion of this monologue where he says, in regards to Valentine’s Day, “This year, we’re gonna do it right, celebrate it right.”
— Random Whoopi Goldberg.
— Spoke too soon about Bieber’s singing being thankfully brief earlier in this monologue, as he sings again just now, but it turns out to be thankfully brief again.
STARS: **


THE CALIFORNIANS
a runaway (host) & an art exhibit occupy Stuart’s home

— Oh, you’re killin’ me, SNL. As if Bieber hosting this episode wasn’t torture enough, this episode has to break out one of the most wretched recurring sketches in the show’s history? And place it as the lead-off sketch of the night??? Is SNL trying to do everything to drive me away from this episode???
— (*sigh*) Cue all of the usual unbearable beats of this recurring sketch that never fail to leave me stone-faced.
— I kinda chuckled at how the final camera-showing-a-mock-dramatic-close-up-of-each-character sequence ends with the camera showing a whole bunch of mock-dramatic close-ups of Bill from different camera angles (the last few above screencaps for this sketch), though I wanted to find it funnier than I did.
STARS: *½


BIEBER DOUBLES
host’s head of security (JAS) presents a dozen unconvincing body doubles

— Very funny reveal of the entire cast playing Bieber doubles.
— Bieber, regarding his doubles: “Some of them are black, they’re not fooling anybody.” Jason: “Yeah, well, neither are you, homie.”
— Taran’s imitation of Bieber’s singing voice is fun.
— Despite supposedly being a good sport to do this sketch, Bieber’s straight man performance is very off-putting to me. I’m not convinced at all that he’s a good sport. Yeah, sorry, Biebs, but, despite your efforts, you’re still giving off major douchey vibes here.
— I love Taran saying “I guess they dropped” after hearing Bieber’s deeper singing voice.
— Bieber: “Those moves are retar– (*cuts himself off and does a brief facepalm in frustration over his gaffe*)…ugh…those moves are stupid.” Geez, did he really almost say the word that it sounded like he was going to say? In the year 2013???
— Jason’s reaction to finding out Saddam Hussein was killed is priceless.
— Good gag with Kate’s Ellen DeGeneres being mistaken for one of the Bieber doubles. And I have to point out the irony of how Kate’s the only cast member (besides Jason) who doesn’t play a Bieber double in this sketch, given the fact that she would later famously go on to regularly play Bieber on the show.
STARS: ***½


BRAVO
nobodies on the margins of fame populate myriad Real Housewives spinoffs

— “Danessa”???
— There’s our obligatory hacky gay humor in the scene with Bobby.
— This may be an accurate spoof of Bravo reality shows in general, but I’m not finding myself laughing, especially not at the lame Real Houseplants of Beverly Hills bit.
— Yeah, this is getting worse and worse as it goes along. I especially hate the scene with Jason, Bill, and Bieber, and not even because of Bieber himself.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & Dan Kanter [real] perform “As Long As You Love Me”

— Future cast member Kyle Mooney making an early appearance as Bieber’s guitarist??? (screencap above) I’m kidding, but that guitarist sure looks like Kyle at certain angles.


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

Corey (KET) is the fun, nonthreatening black guy in every commercial

— (*The Two Best Friends From Growing Up appear*) OH, KILL ME. It’s official, tonight’s episode is intentionally bringing out my least favorite recurring pieces of these early 2010s years. In regards to that, I just have to thank God Kristen Wiig is gone by this point.
— Seth, saying the same damn thing he says during every one of these wretched Two Best Friends commentaries: “I can’t hear you guys.” Oh, shut up, Seth.
— A Steven Seagal joke in a Justin Bieber-hosted episode? Ha, a very fitting coincidence, given Seagal and Bieber’s reputation as hosts.
— Kenan is great and very spot-on as the black guy from every Super Bowl commercial. I especially like the reveal that he’ll die if he doesn’t high-five every 12 seconds. Too bad Seth is just as amused by Kenan’s commentary as I am. I never cared for Seth’s habit of laughing openly and loudly during some guest commentaries.
— A lot of Seth’s jokes tonight aren’t doing a whole lot for me, though some of the ones that are working are actually very strong.
STARS: **½


50’S ROMANCE
high schooler (CES) & preteen (host) recount date a la “Summer Nights”

— I like Aidy’s delivery of the “Wow, he doesn’t know how…doors work???” line.
— Tim’s facial expressions throughout this sketch whenever the guys are hamming it up in unison are very funny.
— Some fairly funny reveals from Cecily on what questionable, childish things Bieber did during their date.
— Another well-delivered line from Aidy: “I feel like I have to say something…”, and then opting to restrain herself and instead just say “It’s gonna be what it’s gonna be.”
STARS: ***


THE MILEY CYRUS SHOW
Miley Cyrus’ (VAB) fan club president (host) is fawning

— The first appearance this recurring sketch has made in over a year, and this ends up being its final appearance. It’s also been revamped and updated in tonight’s installment, to match Miley Cyrus’ new, more adult style.
— Odd how this recurring sketch is buried so late in tonight’s episode. All of the previous installments of this sketch aired in the first half of their respective episodes, most of those installments being in the lead-off spot.
— I got a pretty good laugh from Jason-as-Billy-Ray-Cyrus’ facial reaction to Vanessa-as-Miley’s “adult” butthole joke (the fourth above screencap for this sketch).
— Pretty cringeworthy seeing Bieber try to play a dorky character.
— Bieber’s character, when talking about Justin Bieber himself: “He looks like a f– a lesbian!” Okay, much like Bieber’s aforementioned “r” word slip-up in the Bieber Doubles sketch, did he cut himself off from dropping an f-bomb here?
— Cue the lame attempt at meta humor with Bieber doing the obligatory “celebrity humorously defends themselves while playing a character” gag, which this recurring sketch did better when the real Miley Cyrus herself previously appeared in this sketch.
— After Bieber’s character’s meta comment about Justin Bieber himself being sorry for smoking weed, I did get a laugh from Vanessa’s Miley responding to that with a sarcastic-but-cheery “Yeah, right, me too!”
— Taran even has the ability to get a good laugh just from saying “I do” in a dignified British accent.
— Ugh at Bieber’s exaggerated, hammy pointing gestures towards Vanessa’s Miley (the last above screencap for this sketch) while she’s singing the closing theme song. Beyond annoying.
— Overall, despite a few highlights and a fairly interesting updated format, this was far from the best way for this recurring sketch to go out.
STARS: **


PROTECTIVE BROTHER
(host)’s girlfriend’s (NAP) brother Eddie (TAK) mocks his verbal slip-up

— Some decent laughs from Taran’s initial grilling of Bieber over his “glice” slip-up, before the “I’m messing with you!” reveal.
— Ha, are they seriously basing an entire sketch on the stupid “glice” slip-up? I find that fact both kinda amusing and very worrying.
— Taran’s doing his damnedest to make the best out of this thin-as-hell, very questionable material. His attempts are sorta working for me, but my feelings are mixed.
— Great angry outburst from Jason to Taran, and I love his furious delivery of the term “horse’s ass!”, which is quite reminiscent of how Will Ferrell said it at one point of the Sensitive Drill Sergeant sketch from back in the day.
— Ugh at the part with Taran complimenting Bieber’s physical features while forcefully positioning Bieber’s face towards the camera, as these compliments are clearly just designed to pander to screaming Bieber fans in the audience, who have refused to shut up all night, screaming at every little thing Bieber does in every single sketch.
— Speaking of Will Ferrell-esque line deliveries, I like how Taran yelling “I HAVE THE ARMS OF A BAT!” was very Ferrell-esque in both the line itself and Taran’s delivery of it.
STARS: **½


A SEXY VALENTINE’S DAY MESSAGE FROM JUSTIN BIEBER
manchild Taco (BOM) is present during host’s sexy Valentine’s Day message

— Funny reveal of Bobby as a much-needed comic relief character in what was initially a Bieber solo piece (yuck).
— Some okay random, oddball humor here, and it probably helps that this is pre-taped, but I’m still not finding this all that great.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host & Dan Kanter [real] perform “Nothing Like Us”


VALENTINE’S DANCE
Principal Frye maintains order during abstinence-themed Valentine’s dance

— Another cringeworthy attempt from Bieber at playing a dork.
— The gag with Jay’s microphone not working when he’s trying to say his usual “Attention, teachers and stuuudents”, then him being handed a new microphone was seemingly a scripted gag, but it came off like a real blooper with the way it was executed.
— It turns out that Bieber actually isn’t all that bad in this sketch. However, I really could’ve done without him ending his first scene in this by doing that intentionally bad rapping.
— A cliched gag with one person in an abstinent couple being very on-edge from their abstinence, which SNL has already done several times prior to this. However, I do like Nasim’s execution of it here. Also, her performance, especially her delivery, is coming off quite Cheri Oteri-esque.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— Definitely a rough episode. While certainly not an outright disaster like one would expect a Justin Bieber-hosted episode to be, I gave a majority of this episode’s segments a rating below three stars, and nothing got a rating above three-and-a-half stars. Easily the weakest episode of this season so far, managing to bump the preceding Adam Levine-hosted episode from that spot. And it goes without saying what an unbearable and unfunny host Justin Bieber was. Aside from a few segments towards the end of the show, I couldn’t shake that unlikable vibe that I got from him right from his monologue. He was especially unlikable in what I otherwise found to be the best sketch of the night by default (Bieber Doubles). Knowing the backstage horror stories from the week of this episode that Bill Hader would later share about Bieber made it even more difficult for me to NOT get a douchey vibe from Bieber all night.


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

 


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Bieber Doubles
Super Bowl XLVII
Valentine’s Dance
50’s Romance
Weekend Update
A Sexy Valentine’s Day Message From Justin Bieber
Protective Brother
The Miley Cyrus Show
Monologue
The Californians
Bravo


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Adam Levine)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Christoph Waltz