Tag: Dwayne Johnson

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May 20, 2017 – Dwayne Johnson / Katy Perry (S42 E21)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

HALLELUJAH
Ivanka (Scarlett Johansson) & the rest of team Trump sing “Hallelujah”

— SNL spoofs their own serious Hallelujah cold opening from earlier this season.
— So far, this spoof is doing absolutely nothing for me, and neither are the walk-ons from Trump cabinet members throughout the song.
— Blah, cue the applause break for Scarlett Johansson’s walk-on as Ivanka.
— Okay, I did kinda laugh just now at the brief gag with Trumpwin doing the “Look, no hands” gesture while still “playing” the piano.
STARS: *½


MONOLOGUE
Five-Timers host & Tom Hanks [real] are running for president; Alec Baldwin cameo

— Quite a lot of hosts becoming Five-Timers in these last few months of this season (Scarlett Johansson, Melissa McCarthy, and Dwayne Johnson).
— Random casting of Alex, briefly showing up just to get the “honor” of placing the Five-Timers jacket on Dwayne.
— A funny fake-out with the Five-Timer who Dwayne says will be his presidential running mate turning out to be Tom Hanks instead of Alec.
— A nice charm to this monologue, and a good way to get mileage out of Dwayne and Tom’s beloved public images.
— A decent laugh from Dwayne and Tom each demonstrating how they would handle a national crisis as president/vice president.
STARS: ***


CARTIER FIDGET SPINNER
Cartier’s diamond-encrusted fidget spinner occupies annoying babe (VAB)

— Wonderful to see a new Vanessa Bayer-starring commercial in her final episode.
— This commercial is initially bringing the Kristen Wiig “Red Flag Perfume” commercial to mind, as well as (to a lesser extent) the Ivanka Trump “Complicit” commercial, but this Vanessa ad ends up taking its own turn.
— A very funny and inspired way to spoof the fidget spinner craze from this time.
— As expected, Vanessa is excellent in her performance here, and it’s great to see her play against type once again in these last two seasons of her tenure.
— Beck-as-the-voice-over’s various descriptions of Vanessa are hilarious.
— A great “Because, GOD, the sex is good” punchline.
— Overall, a Vanessa Bayer gem that I had surprisingly forgotten all about until now.
STARS: *****


WRESTLEMANIA PROMO
Koko WatchOut psychologically wrecks Trashyard Mutt again in Wrestlemania promo

— It’s gonna be hard to top the first installment of this, but I can’t complain about this second installment being part of Bobby’s swan song tonight.
— Beck replaces Taran Killam as the announcer from the first installment of this sketch, and they repeat the same running gag of the announcer always being preoccupied with his phone before he suddenly goes into “professional announcer mode”. Just like last time, I don’t care for that running gag, and don’t see why it’s necessary (though it’s certainly not hurting the sketch or anything).
— I love Bobby’s “Ohhhh, nooooooo” when Dwayne brings up Bobby being a Katy Perry fan (even if this whole “Katy Perry fan” portion of this sketch feels to me like SNL pandering to this episode’s musical guest).
— While this installment isn’t quite measuring up to the first installment for me, this is still very funny, and Dwayne’s overly-personal trash talk about Bobby is providing big laughs. I especially love Dwayne’s “You’re the DeVito!” line during the reveal of Dwayne and Bobby being twins.
STARS: ****


ONE VOICE
eighteen additional artists are featured on Big Chris’ (KET) rap song

— Very funny how out-of-hand the increasing number of additional rappers is getting, much to Kenan’s frustration.
— Ha, not only are Colin and Michael involved in this, but they’re playing a rap duo hilariously given the incongruous name “2 Black Guyz”. Colin making a non-Weekend Update appearance rarely fails to be inherently funny.
— This is fun as hell, and I love the very different personality and style each performer gives to their rapper character. This short is also a great way to get the entire cast involved. As I always say, I love seeing a full-cast piece in a season finale (even if, as I also always say, I prefer those full-cast season finale pieces to air at the end of the episode).
— Tom Hanks’ famous David S. Pumpkins character from earlier this season returns in the form of David S. Pimpkins.
STARS: ****½


SCORPIO
(host)’s self-made costume gets more attention than his superhero status

— Meh, the big comedic turn this sketch has taken isn’t doing much for me, despite the likability of Cecily’s performance when she first starts fawning over Dwayne’s sewing skills. This sketch’s type of humor usually isn’t my bag, kinda like I said about that The Boy Is Mine sketch from the Chris Pine episode.
— I do kinda like Dwayne explaining why he prefers not to have a scorpion label on the chest of his costume.
STARS: **


JURASSIC RIVER RAPIDS
Gemma is part of unplanned double date on splashy Universal Studios ride

— Blah. However, at least it makes sense to do this in this episode, given how solid Dwayne was as the boyfriend in the first installment of this sketch. I guess they also realized this is their last opportunity to do this sketch when Vanessa’s in the cast.
— I did get a chuckle from the new addition of Gemma having a pet pig.
— Like last time, Dwayne is fun and natural in this role.
— All of the water that Vanessa keeps getting splashed with throughout this sketch must be a good-natured case of “reverse hazing” for Vanessa’s last show.
STARS: **


XENTREX
(host) uses sketchy male enhancement drug despite side effects

— Dwayne’s various “And he said…” “And I said…”s when relaying the conversation he and his doctor had about the dangerous Xentrex drug are increasingly hilarious.
— A great background visual of Dwayne roughing up Kyle while a long list of the medication’s side effects are shown onscreen.
— I love Dwayne’s very straitlaced, deadpan “Hail Satan” at the end when showing various bad effects of the medication.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Swish Swish”


WEEKEND UPDATE
“Bad Day” accompanies photos of departed Trump administration members

high-strung Dawn Lazarus delivers more meteorological gobbledygook

Drunk Uncle lists things in America that need to be made great again

— Great to see Dawn Lazarus already return after only two episodes, as part of Vanessa’s swan song tonight.
— Like last time, Vanessa is absolutely fantastic at this character’s nonsense-speaking routine. I particularly got a laugh from her smiley, affable delivery of “Hopefully, no goddamn rain.” And, of course, her legendary utterances of “Hap” never fail to kill.
— A good callback to Michael’s Dwayne “The Scissors” Johnson joke from a previous Update.
— As part of Bobby’s swan song, we get our final Drunk Uncle commentary, which is this character’s first appearance since the notorious Donald Trump-hosted episode from a year and a half prior. I’m glad that episode didn’t end up being Drunk Uncle’s final appearance.
— (*groan*) There goes Colin ONCE AGAIN responding to Drunk Uncle’s usual “That’s not me” line with “That’s not anyone.” I’m sure most of you readers know how much that gets on my nerves. Well, this is the last chance for Colin to say that, so…
— Ah, we get an acknowledgment of this being Drunk Uncle’s final appearance, with him asking Colin to do one shot with him “for the road”. However, I wish they did something far more noteworthy than that to make his final appearance special.
— The Russian Roulette bit at the end of Drunk Uncle’s commentary is hilarious.
— Drunk Uncle’s overall commentary was the usual great stuff.
— Surprised this season finale Weekend Update didn’t contain either Colin and Michael’s joke-swapping routine or their “favorite cut-after-dress-rehearsal jokes” routine.
STARS: ****


IN MEMORIAM
a photo of Brad Grey marks his passing
— Not included in the copy I’m reviewing of this episode


RKO MOVIE SET
in 1948, star actress (VAB) can’t stop farting while shooting film noir

 

— The “Solomon and Klein – Detectives” window sign in the background (seen in the second above screencap for this sketch) is presumably a reference to SNL writers John Solomon and Rob Klein.
— Hooooooooo, boy. While I’m so happy to see SNL give Vanessa so many showcases in her final episode, and while it’s certainly a novelty seeing Vanessa do a fart sketch, that sure as hell doesn’t mean her doing a fart sketch is a GOOD novelty. I had no desire to ever see Vanessa do a fart sketch, especially not one that feels like a complete rehash of that notoriously horrible Rear Window sketch with January Jones back in season 35. Not to mention this is our second fart sketch of the second half of this season alone (the sit-ups sketch from the Alec Baldwin episode being the first), and the first one was bad enough.
— Speaking of the sit-ups sketch, I’m assuming Steve Higgins is the one providing the fart vocalizations in this RKO sketch, like he did in that sit-ups sketch.
— Well, Higgins is at least managing to get some rare breaks out of Vanessa, which is actually charming in her case, and also a special note to mark her final episode with. My goodwill towards that is the only thing keeping me from completely hating this sketch.
— Lame ending.
STARS: **


INTERNATIONAL MAD SCIENTIST SOCIETY
(host)’s child-molesting robot wins mad scientist evil invention contest

— Ah, yes, here we go…
— An absolutely PRICELESS very dark reveal of Dwayne’s evil invention: a child-molesting robot. Holy hell.
— I love that combination scream/gasp/laughter reaction from SNL’s audience in response to the initial reveal of the child-molesting robot.
— I love Dwayne’s “Robo-ChoMo” name for his child-molesting robot.
— Sasheer’s facial reactions are making me laugh a lot. Our final display of Sasheer’s good straight man skills (which are much better than I had remembered before reviewing these past few seasons).
— Dwayne, on how to build a child-molesting robot: “What you do is, you start by building a regular robot, uh, then you molest it and hope that it continues the cycle.”
— This sketch is easily one of the ballsiest things SNL has ever put on the air, and it absolutely pays off.
— Dwayne, on evilness: “Benito Mussolini used to force-feed people castor oil until they literally died of diarrhea. (pause) I mean, that’s gotta be where the goal posts are, right?”
— At many points in this sketch, Dwayne’s voice and inflections sound VERY Barack Obama-esque (even moreso than his voice usually does).
— Yikes, the random White Castle turn this sketch takes towards the end is freakin’ TERRIBLE. Thankfully, the rest of this sketch is classic enough to not be hurt by that. But still – damn, that was the best way they could end this sketch???
STARS: *****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Migos [real] perform “Bon Appétit”


WINGMAN
while being (host)’s wingman, bartender (BEB) adds himself to hookups

— A big laugh from the first threesome reveal.
— Beck is solid in this lead role and has a pretty good amount of funny lines.
— A very funny sudden appearance from Bobby as “Carlos”, our final display of Bobby’s great ability to steal a sketch with a simple walk-on.
STARS: ***½


SENIOR SKIT
high school seniors (BEB), (KYM), (BOM), (VAB) perform valedictory sketch

— (*sigh*) Welp, this is it, folks. Bobby and Vanessa’s final sketch as cast members.
— Man, when Bobby says, in a sad, emotional manner, “Now it’s coming to an end” in regards to the crazy ride that his and his classmates’ four years of high school have been, you can tell that 1) there’s a lot of reality subtext in that line, given his and Vanessa’s SNL departures, and 2) his sad, emotional delivery of that line was NOT acting. His delivery of that line is heart-breaking.
— A very good running gag with a deadpan Leslie as the lunchlady whenever her cooking gets slammed.
— This sketch probably isn’t anything special on paper, but there’s a nice charm to it when seeing it played out, obviously helped by the fact that this is Bobby and Vanessa’s sendoff. Too bad SNL didn’t put Sasheer in this as one of the students performing this play. She and SNL apparently knew at this time that she was leaving, as an SNL fan once mentioned back at this time that there were photos online (can’t remember where) of Bobby, Vanessa, and Sasheer each being lifted in the air by their castmates at the end of this episode’s goodnights (not seen in the televised version of this episode’s goodnights, unfortunately).
— The ending of this sketch seemed like it got cut a little short due to the show running long. That also probably explains why this sketch in general had a rushed vibe.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

— Interesting seeing the audience actually give a standing ovation in these season finale goodnights.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fitting end to such a good, memorable season. Much like this season itself, while this episode certainly had some lowlights, they were far outnumbered by some great highlights, including two five-star pieces (Cartier Fidget Spinner and International Mad Scientist Society). Dwayne Johnson did his usual fantastic hosting job, and his hosting skills & comforting presence were particularly welcome in a season finale.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
International Mad Scientist Society
Cartier Fidget Spinner
One Voice / Xentrex (tie)
Wrestlemania Promo
Weekend Update
Wingman
Senior Skit
Monologue
Jurassic River Rapids
Scorpio
RKO Movie Set
Hallelujah


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Melissa McCarthy)
a slight step up


MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS, IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

 


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2015-16)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 43 begins, with host Ryan Gosling, and three new additions to the cast

Posted on

March 28, 2015 – Dwayne Johnson / George Ezra (S40 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE ROCK OBAMA
anger turns First Couple into The Rock Obama & She Rock Obama (LEJ)

— Feels a little odd to see that old pre-taped “Obama going through a Hulk-like transformation” sequence being used for Jay’s President Obama, when you remember that Fred Armisen’s Obama was the one going through the Hulk-like transformation the previous times that footage was used.
— As usual for this recurring sketch, the violence and physical actions are pulled off well. However, there could at least be more variety. The violent things that The Rock Obama is doing to others (e.g. throwing them through a window, ripping off their arm/hand) were already done in previous installments of this sketch.
— Very fun twist with Sasheer’s Michelle Obama transforming into She Rock Obama, played by Leslie. Solid use of Leslie, and this reminds you of just how much the SNL cast has changed since 2009 when this The Rock Obama sketch last appeared.
— I wanted the She Rock Obama portion of this sketch to go on longer, but maybe they couldn’t figure out anything else to do with her besides the small bit that they did here.
— Unsurprisingly, Leslie is a total natural for an energetic, shouty delivery of “Live from New York…”. Tonight’s LFNY delivery of hers (and Dwayne’s) is probably one of my favorite LFNYs of recent years.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
host boasts that his box office success makes him “Franchise Viagra”

— Not only another musical monologue, but another musical monologue with Dwayne Johnson, after his (mediocre) one from 2009. However, I can’t complain about this particular instance, as I’ve always been a big fan of this “Franchise Viagra” monologue.
— Lots of funny examples Dwayne musically gives of movie franchises that he could add new life to.
— A great exchange between Aidy and Dwayne, with him responding to her “Another Smurf movie?” question with a very blunt “NO.”
— I love the computerized “Can you smell what Stephen Hawking is cooking?” lyric.
— An overall solid and fun monologue.
STARS: ****


PEP BOYS
customers shy away from Pep Boys’ discussions of gender & sexual identity

— A very funny concept and spoof of Starbucks’ “#RaceTogether” campaign.
— Another good use of Vanessa’s great knack for playing characters who flash an empty big smile to hide their uncomfortable feelings in the situation they’re in.
— Great satire throughout this short.
— I love Kyle’s little “Anywaaayyyyyyy”.
STARS: ****


WRESTLEMANIA PROMO
Koko WatchOut (host) demoralizes Trashyard Mutt (BOM) during WrestleMania promo

— A huge laugh from “He has herpes!” being Dwayne’s idea of wrestling trash talk towards Bobby.
— We’re getting lots of other hilarious overly-personal “trash talk” about Bobby.
— Bobby’s a fantastic straight man here.
— Not quite sure why we need that running side gag with Taran’s character always being occupied with his phone before suddenly going into “professional announcer” mode whenever the filming starts.
— I absolutely love Taran’s random, over-the-top delivery of “TOO FAAARRR, KOKO!!!!” while walking off at the end of this sketch.
STARS: ****½


BAMBI
host stars in live-action Bambi inspired by The Fast & The Furious films

— An absolutely priceless concept of Dwayne as himself starring in a Fast & The Furious-esque live action Bambi remake.
— Great delivery from Dwayne of his “deer-ly” pun.
— Very funny Vin Diesel voice from Taran.
— They couldn’t be bothered to give Cecily’s Michelle Rodriguez a big intro line like all of the other main characters in this had?
— Love the bit with the butterfly on Bambi’s nose.
— That “Here’s a sign: deer crossing, mother(*bleep*)!” line of Dwayne’s was freakin’ EPIC.
— Overall, this was fantastic.
STARS: *****


DINNER DATE
boorish (host) & girlfriend Gemma (CES) crash (KET) & (VAB) dinner date

— The debut of the Gemma sketches. A lot of people at the time seemed to consider this recurring sketch to be some of the better James Anderson/Kent Sublette-written sketches, but I’ve never agreed. These sketches never made me laugh much, but I’ll go into my current viewing of its debut with an open mind.
— Pretty funny throwaway bit regarding Kenan once, in jury duty, sending a guy to the chair because Kenan “just wanted it to end”.
— The concerned questions that Vanessa occasionally asks Kenan in regards to if he indeed has a boner or not (e.g. “You’re not hard, are you, Gene?”) are making me laugh.
— Dwayne’s performance is solid throughout this.
— Overall, while I found a few merits, I’m still not big on this sketch as a whole. Aside from the highlights listed above, I either didn’t care much for or flat-out disliked everything else in this.
STARS: **


ESCAPE FROM JUNGLE ISLAND
(KAM) wishes she could suck poison from adventure movie hero (host)

— Kate’s desperation in wanting to suck poison out of Dwayne’s various body parts is pretty funny.
— A cheap big laugh from darts being shot into Dwayne and Pete’s crotches. Their loud simultaneous yells of “OHHHHHH!” in particular sold it.
— Normally, I’d consider all of the homoerotic gags between Dwayne and Pete to be cheap and lazy, but between Dwayne and Pete going so all out in selling it (I’m particularly surprised that Pete agreed to do the bit where he places his lips on the side of Dwayne’s bare butt), and the conceit of Kate’s character, the homoerotic gags are somewhat working comedy-wise.
STARS: ***


BROGAINE
medicine is tailored for bald fraternity brothers like (BEB)

— Sasheer’s facial reaction to seeing a bald Kyle strutting through the campus is pretty funny.
— Amusing visual of Dwayne in that ridiculous long hair.
— Why did Dwayne’s “So, we doin’ this?” bit at the end feel so awkwardly executed?
— I’m not sure why exactly they ended this commercial by having a voice-over randomly say a Borat-esque “Brogaine – EEES NIIIIIICE!”, but it made me laugh out loud anyway.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Budapest”


WEEKEND UPDATE
fatalistic Olya Povlatsky broods over bleak Russia’s poverty & frigidity

COJ suggests equally-inappropriate theme music for The Jinx miniseries

Willie greets awful events with sunny responses & awkward aphorisms

— Kate’s Olya Povlatsky does her first Jost/Che-era Update commentary.
— As usual, lots of funny lines from Olya Povlatsky, and a very likable performance from Kate.
— I love Colin and Michael’s conversation with each other about the Starbucks’ “#RaceTogether” campaign. Even the unintentionally-awkward way it ended was amusing (which prompted a hilarious ad-lib from Michael).
— Wow, Colin and Michael have been on a hot streak in their jokes these past few minutes. Between the preceding episode’s fantastic Update and now tonight’s strong Update, I feel like we’ve officially reached the point where the Jost/Che era of Update has fully hit its stride.
— I love the segment with Colin breaking down the inappropriateness of the theme song for The Jinx’s opening credits, and offering even more inappropriate theme song suggestions.
— Kenan as Willie, regarding eating out of a litter box: “A little cat dookie cain’t hurt’cha!”
— Tonight’s Willie commentary is an improvement over his already-funny debut earlier this season, as they’ve upped the ante on the disturbing humor tonight. I particularly love his lines, “It’s like they always say: ‘Wolves raped your dog again, Willie!’” and “I bet she’d still be with me today if I’d just listened when she said ‘Hit the breaks, Willie!’”
STARS: ****


COOKING WITH PAUL
probation officer (host) bars Paul’s (KET) online illegality

— That sex offender reveal makes me feel like I’m watching a leftover Will Forte sketch. I’m not sure if I can buy Kenan in a sex offender role, as least not as much as I could buy Forte in that role.
— The running gag with the laptop is cracking me up, and this is a rare case of where a sketch with a dumb, one-note, predictable nature actually turns out to be good.
— Good decision by Kenan to play this creep role in a coy, playful, “I’m a naughty little rascal” type of way.
— A funny reveal of the portapotty-involved crime that Kenan’s character once got busted for.
STARS: ***½


IMPROV SHOW
improv troupe draws inspiration from creepy life of Robert Durst (KAM)

 

— Pretty funny dancing entrance from the improv performers.
— Ah, the days before Kate playing men became cliched.
— Man, I am LOVING Kate’s portrayal of Robert Durst here. This was another Kate McKinnon performance that, back at this time in the mid-2010s, made her my favorite current cast member during these 2014-2017 years (her peak years), and made me feel like I was watching a legend in the making.
— The debut of Cecily’s Jeanine Pirro impression.
— I’m surprised by how short this overall sketch turned out to be, but I guess I can’t complain. Plus, the short length, coupled with the fact tonight’s host was nowhere to be seen in this, kinda made this feel like a sketch from the 70s or early 80s.
— Speaking of Dwayne not being in this sketch, he apparently was originally supposed to appear, according to the Camera Blocking Rundown sheet that was shown during the preceding commercial break (screencap below).

STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Blame It on Me”


INTERROGATION
(VAB) & (host) employ good-cop odd-cop interrogation technique with (TAK)

— Lots of funny nonsensical, dumb lines from Dwayne in his “intimidating” interrogation of Taran. Dwayne’s selling this material so damn well.
— Dwayne’s so funny here that even his constant stumbling during the “Friends theme song” bit didn’t hurt it.
STARS: ****


THE CIRCUS WITH KYLE
KYM has difficulty finding worthwhile interview subjects

 

— Yes!!! Our second (and sadly final, IIRC) SNL short with Kyle doing his “awkward man-on-the-street interviewer” routine from his pre-SNL days. There was, I believe, one cut from SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special earlier this season and would subsequently be posted online.
— Kyle has been having a huge night, being a lot more prominent than usual and seeming really comfortable playing various roles. Between the Dakota Johnson episode and now this, Kyle’s really come into his own lately.
— The tense back-and-forth between the father and son is very funny, as well as how uncomfortable it makes Kyle.
— I love the kid who confidently talks about how he could join the circus one day.
— Like the previous “awkward man-on-the-street interviewer” short of Kyle’s, there are pretty much non-stop laughs here.
— Another great kid, the one who just bluntly says a nervous “I don’t wanna” when Kyle comes up to him while asking a question.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very strong episode, and one of this season’s best. An impressively large number of highly-rated segments, and only one segment all night that I didn’t care much for (Dinner Date). Dwayne Johnson continues to be more and more of an extremely dependable host with each passing hosting stint.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Bambi
WrestleMania Promo
The Circus with Kyle
Pep Boys
Weekend Update
Improv Show
Monologue
Interrogation
Cooking with Paul
The Rock Obama
Brogaine
Escape from Jungle Island
Dinner Date


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Chris Hemsworth)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Michael Keaton

Posted on

March 7, 2009 – Dwayne Johnson / Ray LaMontagne (S34 E17)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

1-800-IDEAS?
Timothy Geithner (WLF) has $420,000,000,000 for solver of banking crisis

— A funny conceit with Will’s Timothy Geithner resorting to having average citizens, through a call-in number, give him a plan to solve the banking crisis.
— I love the part with Bill (doing a great “aged southerner” voice, by the way) as a caller insisting that he’ll give them his plan to solve the banking crisis AFTER they give him the money first.
— Meh at the cliched Nigerian prince bit. Hasn’t SNL already gotten more than enough mileage out of that trope in this era?
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
a Chicago-esque dance number fails to bolster host’s tough-guy reputation

— When saying this is his third hosting stint, I love Dwayne Johnson mentioning he’s moved up from a tie for 53rd place with Tony Danza to a tie for 36th place with Rob Lowe. I wonder if those numbers are true, by the way.
— Oh, no, a musical monologue. Dwayne seems like he has the charm to make it tolerable, though. I recall really liking his “Franchise Viagra” musical monologue that he would later do in season 40.
— The “Hit me, Kenan!” bit was pretty funny.
— Fred making a walk-on in his typical gay stereotype role, I see.
— The premise of this musical number feels like a precursor to the Best Of Both Worlds recurring sketch that Andy would later star in as Hugh Jackman. I wonder if those sketches are written by the same person who wrote this monologue.
STARS: **½


MACGRUBER
MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson) reveals his paternity

— A variation of the Richard Dean Anderson-involved MacGruber Pepsi ads that aired during the commercial breaks of this season’s Steve Martin episode. I’m glad I didn’t have to review those ads when covering that Steve Martin episode, because something about those ads rubbed me the wrong way.
— I love the absurdity of how we’re suddenly getting a flashback right in the middle of this MacGruber short.
— Hilarious how, almost immediately after the explosion ending of the MacGyver scene, the MacGruber portion of this short has a similar explosion ending of its own.
STARS: ****½


THE ROCK OBAMA
were Barack Obama (FRA) to anger, he would become The Rock Obama (host)

— I love Andy’s Rahm Emanuel devilishly whispering things to Fred’s President Obama, such as “Get angry!”
— A fantastic Hulk-like transformation for Fred’s Obama, giving us the debut of The Rock Obama. Perfect concept, especially given the fact that people used to often point out back in these days that Dwayne Johnson and Barack Obama have similar-sounding voices.
— When this Dwayne Johnson episode originally aired, I missed the first 15 minutes or so, and when I tuned into this episode in progress, they were in the middle of this The Rock Obama sketch. I remember being confused as to why Obama was being played by Dwayne Johnson instead of Fred, and I was also VERY baffled over why the clothes Dwayne’s Obama was wearing were all torn up.
— Andy is fantastic in his conveying of Rahm Emanuel’s glee over The Rock Obama’s anger.
— Lots of big laughs from The Rock Obama’s violent actions.
— Wait, this turned out to be a dream sequence? Why don’t I remember this aspect of this first The Rock Obama sketch? Apparently, the writers didn’t remember, either, because they would end up turning the whole The Rock Obama thing into a recurring sketch, ignoring the fact that it was just a dream sequence the first time. Doesn’t matter, though. (Also, I feel like there was another time SNL made a sketch recurring despite it being a dream sequence in its first installment, but I can’t remember which sketch I’m thinking of.)
STARS: ****½


MACGRUBER
flashback reveals that MacGyver abandoned his wife & son

— I love MacGruber’s “Oh my god. My dad’s a dick” line.
— Another funny parallel between the explosion at the end of the MacGyver flashback and the explosion at the end of the MacGruber short.
STARS: ****½


ACTIVIA COMMERCIAL SHOOT
(ABE) & Jamie Lee Curtis (KRW) lose bowel control during Activia shoot

— Ehhh, as popular as the first installment of this sketch was back in these days (I personally never cared for it, then OR now), we didn’t need a follow-up.
— Wow, it feels kinda surprising to see then-writer John Mulaney making a live, onscreen appearance as the marker of this commercial shoot (the second above screencap for this sketch). I don’t remember this appearance of his from the last time I saw this sketch way back in 2009, probably because I wasn’t familiar with Mulaney back then.
— Jason’s various “No pun intended”s are pretty funny.
— So the main joke of tonight’s installment is now two people instead of one pooping their pants during the Activia commercial shoot? If I didn’t care for this joke the first time when it was just one person doing that, you can be damn sure I ain’t gonna care for it when it’s TWO people doing that.
— I don’t like the goofy, exaggerated face Abby keeps making when pooping herself. She seems to be trying too hard to be funny here. Kristen makes it look far more natural when she does the facial-reaction-while-pooping thing.
— I did kinda laugh at Kristen’s Jamie Lee Curtis saying “You know how when one person yawns……”, when explaining why she had a pants-pooping reaction after Abby had one.
— Blah, now we get Jason joining in on the pants-pooping.
STARS: **


HAWAII
bitter, inhospitable Hawaiians (host) & (FRA) serenade & berate tourists

— Wow, that “Garbage” insult from Dwayne to two tourists was very lame.
— Dwayne isn’t even trying to hide the fact that he’s reading most of his lines off the cue cards. I can let it slide, given how damn strong and fun he typically is as an SNL host.
— I love Darrell’s “Skip me, please!” bit. He’s doing a great impression of how I would be if I were in a situation like this.
— After a slow start, Dwayne and Fred’s bitter, sarcastic remarks to the tourists are getting funnier and funnier as this sketch goes along. I particularly love how their only response to Kenan and Jason’s jackassery is to just tip over Kenan and Jason’s drinks.
— I got a big laugh from Dwayne telling Will and Abby “Aloha hard” after revealing “Aloha” may mean “Suck it”.
— Hilarious ending with Dwayne AGAIN tipping over Kenan and Jason’s drinks after they went through all the trouble of ordering new ones after Dwayne tipped their previous drinks over.
STARS: ****


MACGRUBER
MacGyver’s earthly remains end up in a space toilet

— I love how we’re now getting a futuristic flash-forward scene.
— Priceless reveal of an elderly MacGruber taking a dump on his father MacGyver’s ashes, following through on his bitter promise that we saw him make in a present-day scene earlier in this short.
— Our second season 34 cameo from Will Forte’s bare ass.
— Tonight’s overall MacGruber runner was much better than those Pepsi ads.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “You Are The Best Thing”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Michael Steele (KET) stays on-message thanks to Rush Limbaugh’s electrode

Cathy’s boyfriend Irving (Justin Timberlake) goes for Jessica Rabbit (Jessica Biel)

gig-hungry Jon Bovi extends lyrics negation technique to other artists

— Very energetic responses from the audience to Seth’s Update jokes so far tonight, with several of the jokes receiving applause.
— Good bit with Kenan’s Michael Steele receiving electric shocks from the electrode in his head every time he says something Rush Limbaugh is unhappy with.
— The return of Andy’s Cathy bit, a quintessential example of how good Andy typically is at pulling off Adam Sandler-esque “It’s funny because it’s delightfully self-aware of how dumb it is” humor.
— Our THIRD episode this season with a random Justin Timberlake cameo.
— Justin takes a page out of Chevy Chase’s playbook by jokingly acting like he’s going to exit the scene during the audience’s long-winded applause for his entrance.
— Now we get a cameo from Jessica Biel, fittingly as Jessica Rabbit.
— After Timberlake and Biel’s respective exit (which Timberlake milked THE HELL out of, in true Justin Timberlake fashion), the ending of the Cathy commentary seemed ad-libbed. Did SNL seriously not write an ending to this, and just told Andy and Seth to wing it?
— Seth has been using a rapid-fire delivery for quite a number of jokes tonight.
— Why has EVERY solo Seth Meyers-anchored Update by this point had at least three guest commentaries?
— We get a random return of Jason and Will’s Jon Bovi characters two-and-a-half years after their debut (which was in a sketch, and would end up being their only non-Weekend Update appearance). I love these characters, so I’m glad SNL pulled these previously-one-off characters out of the mothballs.
— Like last time Jon Bovi appeared, I like how there’s always a funny bit regarding the countdown they do before singing a song.
— Also like last time, I love Jon Bovi’s opposite versions of rock songs. Such silly fun.
— Funny touch after Jon Bovi’s commentary, with Seth signing off as “Meth Seyers”.
STARS: ***


GAME TIME WITH DAVE AND GREG
callers identify (host)’s sports co-anchor Greg (BIH) as alien

— The debut of a fondly-remembered Bill Hader bit.
— I love Dwayne blurting out a very casual “Greg is not an alien” when introducing himself and Bill’s Greg character.
— Bill is freakin’ fantastic in this alien role. His voice, his facial expressions, his lines, EVERYTHING.
— Greg: “Way to gooooooooo, Chuck! Haw hawwww!”
— Very funny montage of calendar photos showing Greg from over the decades, all photos of which have him suspiciously looking the exact same without ever aging.
— Greg freaking out over the spilled water is HILARIOUS.
— A rare Seth Meyers non-Weekend Update sketch role in the second half of his SNL tenure, as he’s the voice of the caller from New Jersey. This is actually one of my favorite parts of this already-excellent sketch, as I love Seth’s character’s theory that athletes are brought onto this show so Greg can eat their muscles for survival.
— Oh, now Greg’s wings have come out…..
— For some reason, I love Seth immediately following his aforementioned theory about Greg by randomly ending his phone call with a sports-related, deep-voiced, enthusiastic “Gangway for UConn all the way this year, baaayyy-beeee!”
— Interesting in hindsight seeing tonight’s Game Time installment end with Kenan being shown as the upcoming guest, a character named Randy Dukes. The reason this is interesting in hindsight is because this is the same character SNL would later replace Dwayne’s character with as Greg’s regular co-host in all subsequent installments of this sketch.
STARS: *****


APPRENTICE COMMERCIAL SHOOT
Donald Trump (DAH) shoots NBC spot with Celebrity Apprentice participants

— Perfect casting of Fred as Tom Green.
— This appears to be the return of the recurring Trump Promo Shoot sketches from all the way back in season 30, only with other people appearing onscreen with Trump this time, and with Bill replacing Seth’s former role as the voice of the off-camera director. I’m a little surprised they didn’t have Seth reprise his off-camera director voice role, especially since they did have him do voice-over work in the Game Time sketch that preceded this, though that was a much more minor role than this off-camera director one.
— Great Joan Rivers voice from Michaela. When it comes to doing a celebrity impression that a female cast member from the late 90s already did much more famously (Ana Gasteyer, in this case), this Joan Rivers impression of Michaela’s is much better than her Barbara Walters.
— Hilarious visual of Dwayne as Dennis Rodman, and he’s giving a funny performance as him.
— This overall sketch was fine, but doesn’t compare to the quality of the season 30 Trump Promo Shoot sketches (some of the rare gems from that dreary season).
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Trouble”


LIGHTHOUSE
lighthouse keeper (host) neglects his duty during a date with (KRW)

— Amusing initial cutaway to Will and Andy as marooned, old-timey sailors/pirates after Dwayne first turns off the lighthouse light.
— Funny escalation with the other marooned sea-centric characters joining Will and Andy over the course of this sketch.
— Dwayne’s “BJ” line was hilarious, as was his reaction to Kristen following that with an innocent, unrelated “I’m gonna down there.”
— There’s a lot of fun absurdity in the exchanges between Kristen and Dwayne.
— The constant splashes of water from off-camera onto the marooned characters’ faces is causing a “dead” Jason Sudeikis to move around uncomfortably (the water must’ve gotten into his eyes while he was acting dead).
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid episode, and the best one in a while. Several really strong pieces tonight, including a favorite of mine (Game Time With Dave And Greg). And with this third hosting stint of his, Dwayne Johnson has further established himself as one of the best and most fun, charismatic, and reliable recurring hosts SNL has ever had.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Game Time With Dave And Greg
The Rock Obama
MacGruber 1-3
Hawaii
Lighthouse
1-800-Ideas?
Apprentice Commercial Shoot
Weekend Update
Monologue
Activia Commercial Shoot


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Alec Baldwin)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Tracy Morgan