Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars
WALL STREET LUNCH
Barack Obama (FRA) failed to secure Wall Street reform at $85,000 lunch
— ANOTHER damn Fredbama-addresses-the-nation cold opening? Just two episodes after we had one?
— At least the Fredbama-addresses-the-nation cold opening from two episodes prior had the various census questions to mask the usual drabness of these Fredbama pieces. No such luck this time, as this focuses entirely on Fred’s Obama speaking directly to the camera.
— (*sigh*) Now he’s droning on about how great the restaurant he ate at during the Wall Street meeting was.
— Not only is this the third damn consecutive episode with Fred saying LFNY, but he’s said it in a majority of this season’s episodes. I’m tired of seeing him say it.
— Overall, not a single laugh from me during this entire cold opening. So many of these Fredbama-addresses-the-nation cold openings are PURE DEATH. The combination of Fred’s half-assed, dull-as-hell Obama impression and the snooze-worthiness of Jim Downey’s typical writing of this era’s person-sitting-behind-a-desk-speaks-directly-to-the-camera cold openings is comedy poison.
STARS: *
MONOLOGUE
to the tune of “The Shoop Shoop Song,” host sets apart herself & Precious
— Oh, god. Yet another song-and-dance monologue. Boy, between a Fredbama-addresses-the-nation cold opening and a song-and-dance monologue, tonight’s episode is starting off with two of my least favorite SNL tropes.
— When Gabourey Sidibe excitedly say “Balloons!” when Bill enters with several balloons, I did love Bill’s delivery of the line “OF EVERY COLOR!” in an old-timey voice.
— Second consecutive monologue to end with confetti being dropped from above.
STARS: **
THE SUZE ORMAN SHOW
nurse (host) gives health care frugality tips
— This is the first appearance of this sketch since October 2008, which is surprising, given how somewhat frequently this sketch appeared before then.
— Oh, no. Even early on in her appearance here, Gabourey’s delivery is coming off sloppy and stumbly.
— Kristen’s Suze Orman impression is still providing laughs for me, though a lot of her lines aren’t quite as funny this time.
— Okay, Kristen-as-Orman’s “pap smear cruise” story right now is having me laughing out loud.
STARS: **½
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
Steve Harvey (KET) mispronounces choices
— Kenan’s Steve Harvey impression is making its first appearance since a Prince Show sketch from way back in 2004(!). Unlike that Prince Show appearance, the version of Kenan’s Harvey impression in tonight’s sketch would go on to be the established version that people today are familiar with.
— Is this sketch pre-taped? It has that certain look.
— The premise itself isn’t all that special, but Kenan’s execution of it is making it work.
— Classic part with Kenan making a definitive Kenan Reacts facial expression when seeing the names of Icelandic volcanoes (the last above screencap for this sketch), then struggling to pronounce them. A screencap of that particular Kenan Reacts shot would go on to become an online meme for many years.
STARS: ***½
CRAZY LADY YELLING FROM A WINDOW
on the stoop, (FRA) & (KET) find crazy Mrs. Johnson (host) quite sensible
— Interesting character voice that Kenan’s using here.
— Speaking of Kenan, his weight loss this season is particularly noticeable in this sketch.
— Oh, no. Gabourey is stumbling over her lines in ANOTHER sketch, which causes her to briefly crack up at one point here.
— These wise, long-winded lines of Gabourey’s are humorous in themselves, and I do kinda like the concept of this, but Gabourey is the wrong performer to be saying these lines, due to her stumbly and iffy delivery.
STARS: **
CHERRY BATTLE
ANS & host spit maraschinos into each other’s mouths
— Oh…my…god.
— The concept of this is absolutely insane, and probably one of the most bizarre things that has ever aired on SNL. It’s certainly holding my interest, though. In fact, there’s something almost oddly beautiful about the way this insanity and creativity is being presented.
STARS: ***½
I DID IT IN MY STYLE, THE STORY OF FRANK SINATRA
(FRA) stars in Danish Repertory Theater’s faulty play about Frank Sinatra
— A variation of the International Masterworks sketch from this season’s Ryan Reynolds episode, where Fred and other performers played Norwegian actors badly attempting casual English speaking and American accents.
— This sketch isn’t working anywhere near as well as the aforementioned International Masterworks sketch. The concept of this sketch has gotten old fast.
— At least the critic reviews are making me laugh, especially the third one (the second-to-last above screencap for this sketch).
STARS: *½
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Flash Delirium”
WEEKEND UPDATE
always-nervous Judy Grimes doesn’t cover impact of volcanic ash on travel
Stefon champions outre nightspots in lieu of classic NYC vacation ideas
John Mulaney [real] criticizes limited availability of Girl Scout Cookies
— As usual, I’m getting amusement from the dialogue in Judy Grimes’ very long, continuous “Just kidding” spiel, though I’m not laughing quite as much as usual this time.
— Like the last time Judy Grimes appeared earlier this season, they make an attempt to shake things up by having her do a few different things. Didn’t care much for the water-drinking bit, but the payoff to the volcano bit made me laugh.
— A big deal right now, as we get the very first Weekend Update appearance of Stefon, making his first SNL appearance since his debut in a sketch from a year-and-a-half prior. Given how extremely popular this character would go on to become, it’s surprising in hindsight that there was such a long gap between his first and second SNL appearances.
— So many funny bizarre little club features that Stefon casually mentions here, such as screaming babies in Mozart wigs, throw-up music, an albino that looks like Susan Powter, etc.
— There’s our very first instance of Bill’s soon-to-be trademark giggling in these Stefon pieces, and this time, the giggling doesn’t even seem to have been induced by a John Mulaney re-written line on the cue card. Bill seemed to crack up because he ad-libbed the word Kansas when Seth was talking about people from the Midwest.
— And now Bill (and an off-camera Seth) does crack-up from a John Mulaney re-written line on the cue card, when describing what Human Fire Hydrants are.
— A strong overall Update debut for Stefon, and you can tell by the level of audience applause that he got at the end of this commentary that, even in his Update debut, he was a huge hit with the crowd.
— Speaking of John Mulaney, we get an unexpected instance in this SNL era of a non-cast member in the writing staff, Mulaney in this case, doing an Update commentary as themselves. Another writer this season, Hannibal Burress, has one or two Update commentaries cut after dress rehearsal around this time as well, and John Mulaney does another on-air Update commentary in an early episode from the following season, so it appears as if SNL is attempting to bring back this occasional tradition from some of the earlier eras.
— Solid stand-up delivery from John here, and it’s making some of the intentionally comically mundane observations he’s saying here come off even more amusing.
— John’s overall commentary wasn’t the funniest stand-up material of his, but it still worked for me, and was a decent introduction of him to SNL audiences.
— It’s worth noting that Seth didn’t interject at all during John’s commentary, which is a huge rarity for Update guests in this era. John’s commentary felt like a throwback to older Weekend Update eras where Update guests were allowed to just do their bit for several minutes without any interruptions from the anchorperson.
— Regarding Seth’s joke about the Charmin bears “with toilet paper stuck to their asses continuing their televised reign of terror”, if he only knew back at this time in 2010 that that televised reign of terror would still be going on 10 years later.
STARS: ***
2010 PUBLIC EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR AWARDS
lazy civil servants seek honors
— Ooooh, I recall this sketch being absolutely UNBEARABLE. We’ll see how I’ll feel about it now.
— An amusing initial shot of Bobby.
— This spoof of awards shows feels TOO accurate. There’s a difference between humorous dry comedy and boring-as-hell dry comedy. Guess which category this sketch falls under.
— There’s Gabourey’s line-stumbling in yet another sketch tonight. Why do they keep sticking her with such long-winded dialogue in some of tonight’s sketches?
— Man, this sketch feels endless.
— Bobby continues to provide some of my only laughs of this sketch, this time with his silent angry outburst before walking off. And did I see his glasses accidentally fly off during that rage of his, right before the camera cut away? That makes it even funnier.
— Lazily, SNL reuses a gag from the State Of The Union cold opening earlier this season in which various stock footage of an audience randomly includes a famous clip of Brendan Fraser laughing in an odd manner at an awards show.
— Overall, while I didn’t hate this sketch quite as much as I used to, and I got some chuckles this time, this was still a very bad sketch as a whole.
STARS: *½
ALARM CLOCKS AND MORE
Tina Tina Chanuse’s timepieces speak to sleepers
— The third and final appearance of this recurring sketch of Jenny’s.
— The alarm clock voice-over for men (“Wake up, you got a boner about nothing”) made me laugh, which is more than I can say for most of the other alarm clock voice-overs so far.
— At least they’re changing the routine up slightly with the celebrity alarm clocks that Gabourey showcases.
— The complaint I had about the previous installments of this sketch still applies here: these alarm clock voice-overs would actually make me laugh if I heard them as an isolated, individual gag rather than hearing all of them one after another.
— Yet another blooper from Gabourey tonight, as she reaches over to display one of the alarm clock voice-overs at the wrong time before stopping herself short when realizing it’s not time yet.
STARS: **
MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Brian Eno”
PRESS CONFERENCE
Hamilton tries to woo host back by claiming he’s changed his racist ways
— Kenan (and his noticeably thinner frame) has been all over tonight’s episode.
— Great to see another Hamilton sketch.
— More iffy delivery from Gabourey tonight, as she’s delivering practically all of her dialogue in this sketch in a somewhat halting manner, as if she’s reading her lines for the first time.
— A good way to explore Hamilton’s known racism from his previous appearances.
— Hamilton to Gabourey: “How I spent long nights tracing passages from Robert Ludlum novels into your back with my penis.”
— Hamilton: “I went to the local Magic Johnson movie theater. I looked for a Larry Bird theater, but it didn’t exist.”
— Immediately after Hamilton’s aforementioned line about a Larry Bird theater, the camera cuts to Gabourey, who’s supposed to say her next line, but she’s apparently missed her cue, because she’s just sitting there blankly, not saying or doing anything, leading to VERY awkward dead air for a few seconds, until Will has to jump ahead of the script to keep the sketch moving. Yikes. Has Gabourey made a flub in literally EVERY SINGLE SKETCH tonight?
— Good ending with Hamilton wooing Gabourey with an altered version of the song “Life Is A Cabaret”, with the word “Cabaret” substituted with the name Gabourey. What was with the audience’s delayed applause as the sketch ended, though?
STARS: ****
GOODNIGHTS
IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A rough episode, and, in my opinion, deserving of its negative reputation. (Even SNL themselves seem to agree this is a poor episode, as NBC waited until the very end of that year’s summer to re-air this episode, and an episode getting a very delayed NBC rerun like that is usually always a sign that SNL isn’t too proud of that episode, such as the wretched John C. Reilly episode from season 32.) Tonight’s episode started off on TWO bad notes with the cold opening and monologue, most of the rest of the night’s sketches didn’t work for me either, and it felt like I got minimal laughs from this episode as a whole. Gabourey Sidibe, while certainly a likable personality, seemed ill-fit for SNL, judging from all the awkward gaffes and iffy delivery from her throughout the show.
MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS EPISODE, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS
RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Press Conference
Cherry Battle
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
Weekend Update
The Suze Orman Show
Crazy Lady Yelling From A Window
Alarm Clocks And More
Monologue
I Did It In My Style, The Story Of Frank Sinatra
2010 Public Employee Of The Year Awards
Wall Street Lunch
HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ryan Phillippe)
a mild step down
My full set of screencaps for this episode is here
TOMORROW
A special and important episode, as a famous Facebook campaign leads to an SNL hosting stint from the beloved Betty White. To make this heavily-hyped occasion even more special, SNL brings in several former female cast members from the late 1990s and early 2000s as special guest performers.