October 17, 2015 – Tracy Morgan / Demi Lovato (S41 E3)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
Bernie Sanders (Larry David) outshines Jim Webb (Alec Baldwin) in debate

— Ugggghhhhh, Jon Rudnitsky’s infamous inaccurate and offensive Anderson Cooper impression, portraying him in a stereotypically gay manner. Also not helping matters any is the fact that, back when SNL’s hiring of Jon was initially announced that summer, Jon came under fire for homophobic tweets he had made in the past. So for him to go from that to portraying Anderson Cooper in an absurdly effeminate manner doesn’t make Jon look good AT ALL. But I’m also very disappointed in SNL for even allowing Jon to portray Cooper in this manner in the first place, after how far society had progressed by this point in 2015. How the hell did nobody on the show pull Jon aside at any point during rehearsals and tell him how backwards his portrayal of Cooper is? At least this portrayal would rightfully end up receiving complaints from the real Anderson Cooper. I hope SNL and Jon heard those complains loud and clear.
— Kyle’s pretty funny in his performance as Lincoln Chafee.
— Wait, what??? A very random Alec Baldwin cameo as Jim Webb??? Just a year before Alec would famously regularly cameo in the debate sketches as Donald Trump??? How did I not remember this???
— To Alec’s credit, he’s performing well as Jim Webb so far.
— As much as I hate laughing at anything Jon is saying in this sketch, I did get a good laugh just now from his line after introducing the first few candidates: “Now that we met those people, let’s bring out the REAL candidates.”
— Ah, the debut of Larry David’s Bernie Sanders. This is the celebrity cameo I had remembered this cold opening having. I’m still dumbfounded over how I had no memory of Alec Baldwin’s cameo in this. These cameos in this debate sketch also serve as an unfortunate harbinger of the cameo-filled debate sketches from 2019 and 2020.
— Right out of the gate, Larry is absolutely perfect and hilarious as Bernie.
— Very funny how Larry-as-Bernie’s idea of “dialing it up to a 10” is him delivering a panicked “WE’RE DOOMED!!!” speech.
— I am absolutely loving all of the interplay between Kate and Larry’s Hillary Clinton and Bernie. Their chemistry is so damn fun.
— Kate as Hillary: “In 2008, of course I lost – I was running against a cool black guy. But this year, I thought *I* got to be the cool black guy.”
— Every single line out of Larry’s mouth in this cold opening is pure gold.
— An overall 10-minute-long debate cold opening, something viewers of SNL’s current 46th season would probably shudder to hear, from everything I’ve heard about that season, but the difference is, this particular debate cold opening was certainly worth the long length.
STARS: ****½

MONOLOGUE
30 Rock characters welcome back Tracy Jordan (TRM)

— Good fake-out with Tracy Morgan initially speaking in a brain-damaged voice, making it seem like the tragic car accident he had just recovered from severely affected his ability to speak, only for him to reveal in his normal voice, “Nah, I’m just playin’!”
— A great and heartwarming “I’m back” speech from Tracy.
— Very funny self-deprecation from Tracy, saying he never had 100% mental capacity before the accident, and may actually be a few points higher NOW.
— Oh, so that’s why Alec was in the cold opening.
— Very fun how this monologue has turned into a full-fledged 30 Rock scene. I also like how the atmosphere of this makes this feel like the live episodes 30 Rock would occasionally do.
— A hilarious part with the Smash promo on the bottom of the screen, to comically keep up the illusion that this is a 30 Rock episode from 2012.
— Why does the audience laughter sound so tepid in the second half of this 30 Rock scene?
— A nice feel-good ending to this monologue.
STARS: ****

FAMILY FEUD
remarried patriarch (TRM) plays against ex-wife (LEJ) & kids

— For once, a Kenan-as-Steve-Harvey-starring Family Feud sketch that’s NOT a celebrity-edition one.
— A priceless reveal of the second family being the new family that the ex-husband of the first family married into. I love how Kenan-as-Harvey’s reaction to that is a gleeful “Aw, DAYUM!”
— Given the similarities Leslie has to Tracy as a performer, I love seeing both of them paired together in the portion of this sketch where they’re both up at the main podium together,
— Such a fantastic sketch. So many great lines all throughout this. Too many for me to quote, in fact.
— Great bit with Michael (in a rare non-Weekend Update appearance) switching sides in this game, because the other family is actually happy.
— Okay, despite what I said about there being too many great lines to quote, I just have to quote this portion of the sketch: Kenan’s Harvey: “Looks like the Williams-Magill family has a chance to steal.” Leslie: “HE HAS STOLEN ENOUGH FROM ME, STEVE!!!” Kenan’s Harvey: “I guess I walked right into THAT one.”
— Another excellent line I just have to quote: Kenan’s Harvey pointing towards the Family Feud board and saying “Show me ‘I forgot to pull out’!”
STARS: *****

BRIAN FELLOW’S SAFARI PLANET
a smoking beaver & a camel discombobulate

— Great to see the obligatory appearance of this sketch.
— This is hitting all of the usual beats of this recurring sketch, but as always, it works.
— A good laugh from Tracy’s Brian Fellow telling Pete, “You’re a liar, skinny man! Stop tellin’ lies on my show!”
— Like I said in my review of the Brian Fellow sketch from Tracy’s season 34 hosting stint, it’s a pretty fun novelty seeing newer cast members appearing in an old recurring sketch like this.
— Ah, we actually get a subversion to the usual Brian Fellow formula, with Aidy’s very long-winded, wordy intro of herself constantly cutting off Fellow’s usual utterance of “I’m Brian Fellow!”
— The voice for the smoking beaver in Fellow’s thought bubble is hilarious.
— Another great subversion to the usual formula, with Aidy having a completely unrelated thought bubble of her own about Pete, and the camel having a thought bubble about a monkey smoking a cigar (a callback to something earlier in this sketch).
— Ha, the camel has unintentionally started covering the entire screen during Fellow’s thought bubble sequence, making the camera frantically try to re-position the shot to fix this. This is priceless.
— Another very funny blooper with the camel, as he blocks the camera while Tracy’s Fellow is signing off, leading Tracy to ad-lib “I can’t see, camel!”
— Overall, one of the best Brian Fellow sketches.
STARS: ****

MITCHELL’S
Mitchell’s Fake Cocaine & Fake Poop Spray are ruses for party defecation

— Not only is this odd, convoluted concept very funny, but I love how Jack Handey-esque it feels.
— Beck is absolutely perfect for this role, and is helping sell this great material.
— By the way, this pre-taped ad ends up being Beck’s only appearance all night. For someone who’s been promoted to a repertory player this season, he’s been almost completely unused so far. We are three episodes into this season, and his ONLY live appearances were two very small ones in the season premiere, one of which he didn’t even have any lines in. He’s gone through the second AND third episode of this season making his only appearance in one pre-taped segment in each episode, one of those appearances also not being a speaking role. It probably doesn’t help that he’s got Alec Baldwin taking some airtime away from him, as Beck most likely would’ve played Jim Webb in the cold opening had Alec not been there.
STARS: ****½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Cool for the Summer” & “Confident”

WEEKEND UPDATE
online porn’s egalitarianism means that TIF won’t get to pose for Playboy

Willie’s life-coach Woodrow helps him maintain a cheerful attitude

— Michael: “Playboy Magazine announced that, starting next month, it will no longer feature pictures of naked women. While Cat Fancy is still straight-up pussy!”
— Much like Alec Baldwin’s cameo in this episode’s debate cold opening, here’s something else I had no memory of in this episode: Tina Fey doing an Update commentary.
— This “Playboy stops doing nude photos” story seems like a good subject for Tina, almost reminiscent of her classic deconstruction of Hugh Hefner’s seven girlfriends back in her first season on Update.
— The arm-butt bit Tina’s doing right now reminds me of a similar arm-butt bit that she actually co-wrote into a Boston Teens sketch, from the season 27 Gwyneth Paltrow episode.
— An overall pretty solid commentary from Tina, even if it’s definitely not at the level of her aforementioned deconstruction of Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends.
— Michael’s “The aliens are coming for us” rant to Colin is pretty odd, but I’m really enjoying it.
— I love Michael’s goofy, giddy little laugh (in response to the aliens bit he and Colin just did) while introducing the next guest commentary.
— Willie!
— A good laugh from the Halloween “candy” Willie proudly tells us he used to receive (e.g. raisins, duck sauce packets, rubber bands).
— Willie: “It’s like they always say: ‘Your daddy’s diddlin’ those pumpkins, Willie!’”
— Willie’s whole childhood story about his neighbor, “Jeff Dahmer”, is absolutely hilarious, especially his addendum to that story: “Plus, I always got a free homecooked meal.”
— Woodrow!!! Great to see the return of this Tracy character, and the pairing of him and Willie is strangely perfect.
— There’s that great pathos from Woodrow that was prevalent in his previous sketches.
— As always, a very funny bizarre, nonsensical song from Woodrow, this time with Willie dueting with him.
STARS: ****

THE LOVELIEST KINGDOM
lovely kingdom gets awkward when (TAK) mentions gay relationship

— A funny offbeat flavor Tracy’s character is adding to this sketch.
— Ugh at the sudden turn with Taran’s “I’m sleeping with this boy-child!” announcement. A very lame attempt at shock humor, and it taking over this sketch has really soured what was going well when it was just Tracy saying a whole bunch of nonsensical one-liners.
— That…that’s the whole sketch??? What kind of structure was that even? This sketch felt severely underwritten.
STARS: **

THE STANDOFF
barroom altercation is resolved when (TRM) & (TAK) dance

— A great novelty to see Tracy starring in the kind of pre-taped short film that’s typical for this era.
— I’m loving the conceit of this short, and Tracy in particular is selling the HELL out of this.
— The half-comical/half-serious sentimental turn this takes is reminiscent of Mike O’Brien’s typical short films. I doubt he made this, though (especially since this didn’t open with the usual “A Mike O’Brien Picture” intro screen).
STARS: ****½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Stone Cold”

YO! WHERE JACKIE CHAN AT RIGHT NOW?
(KET) & (TRM) would like to know Jackie Chan’s current whereabouts

— A hilarious random sketch concept, and Tracy and Kenan are perfect in these oddball roles. This is EXACTLY the kind of absurd comedy that’s right up my alley.
— Ha, in two separate sketches tonight, Tracy has called a character of Pete’s skinny AND fat, respectively, as an insult.
— Love the sequence with the cutaways to various celebrities, one-by-one, each answering the “Where Jackie Chan at?” question.
— Sasheer has been quite prominent in this episode. Good to see after how particularly underused she was in the previous episodes of this season.
— I absolutely love how Leslie is randomly playing herself in the sequence of celebrities answering the “Where Jackie Chan at?” question. I also love her reveal that her Jackie Chan sighting was way back in 1997.
— The cutaway to the “Jackie Chan trap” that Tracy and Kenan have laid out is very funny.
STARS: ****½

ASTRONAUT JONES
red planet maroonee Astronaut Jones meets a Martian babe (musical guest)

— Great how what initially starts out as a spoof of The Martian actually turns into an Astronaut Jones sketch. A very clever fake-out, and a nice way to shake up the usual beginnings of Astronaut Jones sketches.
— Ah, that classic Astronaut Jones opening credits sequence and theme song is always a treat to watch. And, much like I said in my review of the Astronaut Jones sketch from Tracy’s season 34 hosting stint, it’s an interesting novelty seeing the huge difference between the look of modern-day Tracy and Tracy in 2002 when these Astronaut Jones opening credits originally aired.
— The main portion of this, with Astronaut Jones’ conversation with an alien, goes the same-old same-old route, but it’s always funny, especially after a long absence.
— The version I’m watching of this episode happens to be the West Coast airing, which uses the dress rehearsal version of this sketch. Understandable, because in the original East Coast airing of this sketch, Tracy badly botched his final laugh line to Demi Lovato’s character. In true Tracy Morgan fashion, however, he still made that botched line come off funny. In fact, I think I strangely kinda prefer it to his flawless delivery of that line in the dress rehearsal version I’m currently watching.
STARS: ****

GOODNIGHTS
TRM’s wife & daughter [real] join him onstage

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IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An absolutely fantastic episode. Aside from the weak Loveliest Kingdom sketch, EVERYTHING in this episode was great and received a rating from me in the 4-5-star range. Man. This overall review of mine has definitely got to have one of the highest rating averages out of this entire project. And it goes without saying how funny of a host Tracy Morgan was, and how wonderful it was to see him make his big post-accident comeback, the latter of which gave this episode a feel-good vibe.

MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
(Way too many things to pick in this episode, as I’d just end up picking every single segment besides the Loveliest Kingdom sketch, so I’ll narrow it down to what I feel are the particularly best highlights)

RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Family Feud
Yo! Where Jackie Chan At Right Now?
Mitchell’s
Democratic Presidential Debate
The Standoff
Weekend Update
Brian Fellow’s Safari Planet
Monologue
Astronaut Jones
The Loveliest Kingdom

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Amy Schumer)
a big step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
……………………………………………(*hesitates for 20 long minutes, before opting to just let the following screencap make the very unfortunate announcement of our next episode*)

Man, why does it always seem that the most notorious, controversial hosts come RIGHT AFTER a particularly phenomenal, feel-good episode? For example, in season 15, when Andrew Dice Clay hosted the episode right after Alec Baldwin’s legendary, outstanding first hosting stint. I dunno, maybe that’s the only other example. Wait, I just thought of one more: Milton Berle hosting right after the fantastic Richard Benjamin episode in season 4. And I guess you can count Paris Hilton hosting right after Paul Giamatti hosted one of the very few legitimately solid episodes of the dreadful season 30 (even if Hilton’s episode itself isn’t particularly awful). Granted, when it comes to notorious, controversial hosts, Dice, Berle, and Hilton are Tom Hanks compared to our next episode’s host.