Tag: Green Day

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May 16, 2009 – Will Ferrell / Green Day (S34 E22)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

CHENEY IN MAKEUP
George W. Bush (WIF) asks Dick Cheney (DAH) to relinquish the spotlight

— Nice to see Darrell front-and-center in the cold opening of his final episode, especially given how much he’s disappeared in the second half of this season (hell, he didn’t even make any appearances in his penultimate episode).
— Darrell’s departure is quite a big deal in my SNL project, because, as I said in a recent review, it feels like I’ve been covering Darrell’s tenure forever by this point. To me, it feels almost like ages ago when I covered the season 21 premiere (Darrell’s first episode), even though it was only last October. (I guess reviewing episodes on a daily basis for such a long time does that to you.) Prior to this stage of my SNL project, I had never covered a cast member who’s consecutive years as a cast member lasted as long as this. As I said in my review of Darrell’s very first episode (link here), “Feels kinda odd seeing Darrell in his debut, knowing how very long we’re going to be seeing him in the cast. Even just saying the words ‘newbie Darrell Hammond’ feels weird.”
— Will Ferrell’s George W. Bush impression is always a welcome return.
— It’s very fitting that Darrell’s final episode turns out to be hosted by Will Ferrell, as they both joined the cast together during SNL’s big overhaul in 1995, and spent many years as castmates. For that reason, it’s charming seeing them interact with each other all throughout this particular cold opening.
— SNL’s been making quite a lot of references to the ShamWow guy around this point of the season, serving in hindsight as a time capsule of when those ShamWow commercials were prevalent.
— As usual, lots of funny lines from Ferrell’s Bush.
— I love Ferrell-as-Bush’s mention to Darrell’s Cheney of “the time you were dead for three days”, which we’re told was hidden from the public when it occurred.
— Good to see Darrell get one last LFNY as a cast member.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
Tony-nominee WIF gets unwanted laughs while performing a dramatic scene

— This is the second consecutive monologue in which the host ad-libs a humorous “I love you, too” to an audience member who shouts “I love you!” Unlike Justin Timberlake in the preceding monologue, Ferrell adds on to his “I love you, too…” with a “…more than you know.”
— The black-and-white photos of Ferrell doing theater are very funny.
— Fun concept of Ferrell doing a mock-dramatic one-man play.
— I like Ferrell’s occasional “Please no laughter” requests to the laughing audience.
— A very funny exaggerated Irish accent Ferrell’s using when speaking as the mother in the play.
STARS: ****


WADE BLASINGAME

— A surprising rerun of a fantastic older commercial from Ferrell’s years as a cast member. I like the idea of doing that, and kinda wish SNL would do it more often whenever a former cast member hosts. They did do it at least once prior to this, when they re-aired the classic original-era Swill commercial when Bill Murray hosted in season 24.
— Seeing this old footage of early 2000s-era cast members casually airing in a 2009 episode feels odd, but fascinating and fun (which is part of the reason why I feel it would be fun if SNL regularly re-aired an old commercial whenever a former cast member hosts, especially if it’s a commercial that features a lot of that cast member’s castmates from back in the day, like this Wade Blasingame commercial does). Also, seeing the still-on-the-show-in-2009 Darrell Hammond among these long-departed early 2000s-era cast members makes you realize just how freakin’ long he’s been on the show (and he was already a 6-year SNL veteran when this Wade Blasingame commercial originally aired!).
— Tonight’s airing of this old commercial cuts out a testimonial from Ana Gasteyer. No idea why. Would’ve been nice to see her among the other early 2000s-era cast members seen in this.


THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
(WIF) avoids unwanted attention of Dooneese

— This sketch has officially become recurring.
— This is the first Lawrence Welk Show/Dooneese sketch to have a male singer who the sisters perform with, which would go on to be a regular aspect of these sketches.
— Ferrell demonstrates his ability to get good laughs out of something as little as singing in a cheesy, cocky manner.
— This worked for me as a one-off sketch earlier this season, but the whole Dooneese routine feels very been-there-done-that in this second installment. Doesn’t work as a recurring sketch.
— This even ends the EXACT SAME WAY as the first installment, with Dooneese cheerily grabbing at the bubbles with her tiny hands.
STARS: **


CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Sean Connery (DAH), Kathie Lee Gifford (KRW), Burt Reynolds (NOM), Tom Hanks [real]

— The return of a legendary recurring sketch, and also the final appearance it would make in a regular SNL episode, as of 2020. (The only remaining appearance, as of 2020, is in SNL’s 40th Anniversary Special.)
— Fitting to have this sketch appear in Darrell’s final episode.
— I remember the inclusion of Kristen’s Kathie Lee Gifford impression in this sketch drove me (and a number of other online SNL fans) nuts back when this originally aired, as I couldn’t fucking STAND Kristen’s Kathie Lee impression back then and I felt the inclusion of it in this sketch was further proof of SNL’s growing favoritism towards and extreme over-utilization of Kristen. However, after having recently reviewed the Today sketch from two episodes prior to this, I’ve begun to warm up to Kristen’s Kathie Lee, so hopefully, I’ll have a more positive reception to her in this sketch.
— TOM HANKS!!! Randomly playing himself as a ridiculously dumb contestant! Absolutely brilliant idea.
— After his opening slam to Ferrell’s Alex Trebek, Darrell’s Sean Connery exclaims “Pow!”, which was a random new catchphrase of his in Shia LaBeouf’s season 33 monologue, though Darrell doesn’t deliver it quite as strong tonight, because he was distracted by a gaffe in which the wire on his pen got tangled on his arm.
— Uh-oh. I can already tell as soon as the “Catch These Men” category has been shown what dirty phrase it will be misread as by Darrell’s Connery later in this sketch (“Catch The Semen”). On one hand, I did already watch this sketch once before, back when it originally aired, so maybe that’s why I was able to pick out the dirty phrase so quickly in my current viewing, but on the other hand, I dunno, “Catch These Men”/“Catch The Semen” seems like a really obvious joke, and feels kinda lazy compared to funnier dirty category misreadings in other Celebrity Jeopardy sketches.
— Whaaaa? A contestant actually choosing the perpetual category Potent Potables??? That’s a first.
— I love Ferrell’s Trebek saying to Tom Hanks, after witnessing some of his idiocy, “I had such high hopes for you.”
— My newfound goodwill towards Kristen’s Kathie Lee has thankfully carried over into this sketch, as she’s not bothering me in this. However, her Kathie Lee shtick still doesn’t compare to the usual greatness from most of the contestants within these Celebrity Jeopardy sketches over the years. It feels a tad out of place here.
— And there’s the predictable and very meh “Catch The Semen” misreading. I did, however, get a laugh from Darrell’s Connery asking, during that gag, “Is that what the mustache is for, Trebek?”
— Whenever the camera cuts to Tom Hanks, I love Ferrell’s Trebek saying stuff like “Aaaaaaand he has his hand caught in a pickle jar” and “Aaaaaand he’s caught in a dry cleaning bag.” The latter bit with the dry cleaning bag is particularly fucking HILARIOUS. Tom’s facial expressions inside the plastic bag are comedy gold.
— Oh, fuck yeah! NORM MACDONALD returning out of nowhere as Burt Reynolds!!!! As if this sketch weren’t already so much fun. It’s too bad there have been some mild shortcomings in this sketch, because so many epic things about this sketch belong in a prime, A+ Celebrity Jeopardy.
— Every single moment of the Hanks stuff is so fucking classic. He’s selling the HELL out of this so perfectly.
— When Ferrell’s Trebek is walking away from Tom after Tom’s Final Jeopardy bit, I, as an SNL nerd, absolutely love the detail of Tom saying (in an apparent ad-lib) “Sibilance” into his pen, as a callback to an oddly memorable detail in the classic Wayne’s World Meets Aerosmith sketch that Tom appeared in in his season 15 hosting stint.
— Hilarious how Norm’s randomly-appearing Burt Reynolds has randomly disappeared during the Final Jeopardy segment, and Darrell’s Connery claims to a confused Ferrell-as-Trebek that Reynolds was never here to begin with.
STARS: ****½


INSIDE THE NBA
Charles Barkley (KET) loves (WIF)’s on-screen super promo

— In hindsight, it’s feels odd and empty to see that Inside The NBA apparently only had Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley as its hosts back in these days, before the line-up became a very popular quartet with the addition of Shaquille O’Neal and Kenny Smith.
— An interesting and rather unique use of an SNL host. This is the type of thing that Ferrell can effortlessly make very funny.
— Fun conceit with Kenan-as-Charles-Barkley’s fascination with the corny Mark promos that are slowly taking over this Inside The NBA broadcast.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Know Your Enemy”


WEEKEND UPDATE
incredulous SEM & AMP say “Really!?!” to Arizona State’s self-importance

the ghost of Harry Caray (WIF) fails to discuss steroids in baseball

— As a special occasion for this season finale, Seth welcomes back Amy Poehler (making her first SNL appearance since leaving the cast in December of this season) as tonight’s special guest co-anchor.
— Feels odd seeing Amy deliver Update jokes again after I’ve gotten so used to the solo Seth Meyers era of Update.
— Another reminder that we’re in the early stages of the Twitter era, with Seth’s First Twitter From Space joke.
— Good to see a Seth & Amy edition of “Really?!?”, especially after how odd it felt seeing Seth do one by himself earlier this season.
— This “Really?!?” segment isn’t working quite as well for me as usual, but I’m still getting a decent amount of laughs.
— Yesssss! The return of Ferrell’s Harry Caray, this time as a ghost, after his last appearance (way back in 1998) humorously had him still appearing alive despite acknowledging that he died.
— Very funny bit from Ferrell’s Caray about how the Predator would make a great ballplayer.
— Another great bit from Ferrell’s Caray about his meeting with “Pete Rose” in heaven.
— I like Seth’s reaction to his own Harrison Ford/Chewbacca joke.
STARS: ***


REMEMBRANCES
at a funeral, eulogies by Glenda Goodwin & others fail to pay respect

— A funeral-themed variation of the wedding toasts sketch from the Hugh Laurie episode earlier this season.
— I love the odd detail of Bill requesting that whoever has his missing watch place it inside an Ugg boot on top of the casket.
— Ha, Graham Yost, a strangely perfect name for a Will Ferrell character.
— Funny speech from Kristen’s oxygen tank lady character.
— Always welcome to see Forte’s Hamilton character, who always kills it in these sketches.
— Hamilton, after mentioning the full name of our president, Barack Hussein Obama: “I say his middle name because it matters.”
— I love how Hamilton’s speech randomly ends with “I took the watch”, as a callback to Bill’s missing watch.
— Despite just being an exact carbon copy of what he did in the aforementioned wedding toasts sketch, Bobby’s “WHAAAAAAT??? (*mic drop*)” bit made me laugh just as much as it did last time.
— Tonight’s cameofest continues with a VERY out-of-nowhere walk-on from Maya Rudolph as her Glenda Goodwin character, of all people.
— The very random “Amazing Sasquatch” song that Glenda Goodwin is singing is so dumb and bizarre that it’s having me laughing out loud.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “21 Guns”


GOODNIGHT SAIGON
traumatized by a Vietnam vacation, Fritz (WIF) sings “Goodnight Saigon”

Anne Hathaway, Paul Rudd, Artie Lange, Elisabeth Moss [real], others join Fritz

— Oh, here we go. A very well-remembered piece.
— Ooh, as an IMMEDIATE sign that we’re in for a special sketch, the setting of this sketch is at Grand Central Station, utilizing the fact that SNL’s home base stage is modeled after Grand Central Station. When this originally aired, I optimistically took this as a sign that this was going to be the final episode with this home base stage, and that SNL was going to build a new one for the following season. Sadly, that didn’t turn out to happen – in fact, today, 11 years later, SNL still hasn’t changed the home base stage, which was first used as far back as 2003(!!). Yet, for some inexplicable reason, SNL has no problem randomly remodeling the musical guest stage every now and then, at the most random times (December 2014 and April 2018). Honestly, I’ve completely given up hope that SNL will ever change the home base stage again. And, damn, you gotta admit, wouldn’t this Goodnight Saigon sketch have been an appropriate farewell to this particular home base stage?
— A great and intriguing turn with a war-traumatized Ferrell suddenly getting up and singing a segment of the song “Goodnight Saigon” while shaking maracas.
— Hilarious reveal that Ferrell “being in Vietnam” meant that he was just there on vacation four years prior.
— I love how more and more cast members, all playing instruments, are joining Ferrell’s occasional “Goodnight Saigon” singing, to the degree that he’s eventually joined by the entire cast, even the Weekend Update-only Seth Meyers!
— Lots of fun back-and-forths between Ferrell sitting at the table with his friends and him performing “Goodnight Saigon” with the rest of the cast.
— This already epic-feeling sketch is now getting even more epic, with Ferrell’s musical number being joined not only by tonight’s musical guest and tonight’s earlier special guests, but new special guests (Anne Hathaway, Paul Rudd, Elisabeth Moss), continuing tonight’s cameofest.
— As if the aforementioned special guests appearing in this sketch weren’t already surprising and fun enough, now we get the shocker to end all shockers: ARTIE LANGE!!! Holy hell. The even greater and funnier thing about this cameo from him is that he made an appearance earlier that same night on MADtv’s big series finale. On a similar note, with MADtv having debuted in fall 1995, just a few weeks after Darrell’s SNL debut, and with MADtv officially ending on May 16, 2009, the same night of both tonight’s SNL episode and Darrell’s final episode as a cast member, this means that both Darrell’s SNL tenure and MADtv’s run spanned pretty much the exact same period of time.
— When everybody is exiting the stage one-by-one, we get a great little sighting of Artie Lange and Bobby both appearing in the same shot, with Bobby right behind Artie (screencap below), which is noteworthy because lots of people back in these early days of Bobby’s SNL tenure used to point out his strong resemblance to Artie.

— I like the ending with the guys at Ferrell’s table realizing that this very elaborate musical number was just a ruse for Ferrell to leave without paying for his meal…….once again.
— Overall, an absolutely legendary sketch. Such a blast, and, unlike a lot of SNL’s future cameo-filled sketches that this sketch is said to have unfortunately paved the way for, the cameos here actually added to the fun, random, and epic feel of this already-unique sketch, and it was also very fun to see all of those special guests working together in this specific context.
— With this being the final aired sketch of this season, this is easily one of the best season-ending pieces in SNL history, and is (along with some prior season-ending sketches like the So Long Farewell number from Phil Hartman’s final episode as a cast member, and the Grease number from Jimmy Fallon’s final episode) a great argument for why SNL should end every season with a big, epic piece utilizing the show’s entire current cast.
— Speaking of this being the final sketch of this season, that apparently wasn’t planned. After the commercial break that follows this sketch, SNL just shows the SNL Band immediately playing the show back to ANOTHER commercial break, which, as I always say whenever SNL does that (including just ONE EPISODE AGO when Justin Timberlake hosted), is a sign that a planned sketch got cut at the last minute. It’s hard for me to fathom why SNL intended to do another sketch tonight AFTER the show-stopping Goodnight Saigon piece. I wonder what the cut sketch was.
STARS: *****


GOODNIGHTS

— At the end of his goodnights speech, Ferrell gives a special mention to Darrell, who the camera then shows a close-up of while everybody applauds him. Apparently, this is SNL hinting to us that this may be the final episode for the 14-year SNL veteran. However, his departure would end up never being confirmed over the summer that followed this season. In fact, there would even be some news articles that summer saying Darrell is in negotiations to return for a 15th season in the cast. PLUS, he would also appear in the two Weekend Update Thursday specials that would air on the two Thursdays before SNL’s official season 35 premiere. We had to wait until the opening montage in that season premiere to find out that, despite what the aforementioned news articles said, and despite his aforementioned appearance in the two Weekend Update Thursday specials, Darrell was, in fact, NOT in the cast anymore, which caused a lot of shock and confusion among SNL fans back then (including myself). Then, shortly after that season premiere, I recall there being a news article announcing that, despite no longer being in the cast, Darrell would be making lots of special guest appearances that season, ala Jan Hooks in seasons 18 and 19 (only without the “Special guest appearance by…” credit in the opening montage that Jan received). Indeed, we will be seeing quite a lot of Darrell cameos in the first half of season 35.
— Ha, in true Norm Macdonald fashion, both he and Artie Lange can be seen eventually ditching the goodnights by playfully running off the stage together towards the end of these goodnights. A funny sight.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A solid season finale, and there were two all-time very memorable pieces in which SNL went all out (Celebrity Jeopardy and Goodnight Saigon). Those two pieces had even more impact in this episode than they would’ve in most episodes, because there was a much-smaller-than-usual number of segments in this episode, with only three sketches pre-Update and two post-Update. (Again, we apparently were going to get three sketches post-Update, but the last one seemingly got cut at the last minute.)


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Goodnight Saigon
Celebrity Jeopardy
Monologue
Cheney in Makeup
Remembrances
Inside The NBA
Weekend Update
The Lawrence Welk Show


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


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


HOW THIS OVERALL SEASON STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2007-08)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 35 begins, with host Megan Fox. We get two new female additions to the cast, one of whom has a notorious unplanned moment in her first big showcase that night.

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April 9, 2005 – Cameron Diaz / Green Day (S30 E16)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE PAPAL DEBATE
Cardinals & Al Sharpton (KET) campaign to become Pontiff in papal debate

— Hmm. Considering this season’s terrible track record with political debate sketches, I can’t say I have high expectations for THIS, even if it’s just a papal debate and not an actual presidential one.
— Why in the world is Kenan doing a facepalm in the opening group shot of his Al Sharpton and all the cardinals together (the second above screencap for this cold opening)? Kenan’s facepalm doesn’t appear to be in character (his Al Sharpton has no shame in randomly being included in this papal debate), and I don’t think Kenan’s even aware that he’s onscreen during this part of the sketch. Is something bothering Kenan in real life that we don’t know about?
— Yeesh, a big gaffe almost right out of the damn gate in this cold opening when Darrell’s Tim Russert introduces Kenan’s Sharpton: instead of cutting to Kenan’s Sharpton, the camera oddly cuts to one of the grizzled old cardinals and displays his name on the bottom of the screen, then awkwardly and slowly pans over to Kenan’s Al Sharpton sitting next to him. Oops. What happened there? Did Darrell accidentally introduce Kenan’s Sharpton too early, forgetting to introduce the old cardinal who the camera cut to before awkwardly panning over to Kenan?
— A decent opening spiel from Kenan’s Sharpton.
— Blah. All the cutaways to grizzled old cardinals just sitting silently whenever they’re asked a debate question are way too overdone in this cold opening and are not funny.
— After Fred’s old cardinal character gives Darrell’s Russert the finger when asking him “Have you ever seen one of THESE?”, I strangely loved Seth’s (as Fred’s translator) very monotone, cornily-delivered “I’ll bet you have. Yeah, I’ll just bet you have.”
— (*groan*) And now they’re overdoing the hell out of both Fred giving people the finger and teen girls in the fake audience cheering wildly for Will’s young cardinal character. Ugh, this cold opening is DEATH.
— Okay, I admit to getting a laugh just now from Fred holding up his index, middle, and ring fingers together and asking Darrell’s Russert to “read between the lines”.
— Given the fact that he has no lines and has nothing to do here, why is Parnell even in this? It makes no sense, given the fact that the other old cardinals who, like his character, are just silently sitting there the entire time in a grizzled, unresponsive manner, are all played by extras or, in one case, a crew member (SNL’s lighting designer Phil Hymes).
— Jesus Christ, end this cold opening already! This is going on too long for something with such a small cycle of tedious gags.
STARS: *½


MONOLOGUE
host claims that, like female cast members, she was a dork in high school

— Rachel randomly sneaking into the background and laughing awkwardly at Cameron Diaz’s lines is fairly funny.
— Ugh, Maya’s 227 joke was hacky as fuck.
— Only some of the obviously-fake high school photos are making me laugh. I got the biggest laugh from Amy’s particularly horrifying photo.
— Aside from the unibrow and light mustache, Tina’s fake high school photo (the third-to-last above screencap for this monologue) actually resembles a real-life driver’s license photo of hers that I remember her once showing on a talk show (my memory of that photo may be faulty, though, as I haven’t seen it in years).
— Something bugged me about Amy’s overly-cutesy delivery of “Oh my god, do not let Justin see that!” (referring to Cameron’s then-boyfriend Justin Timberlake, which may have been intentional foreshadowing of a certain cameo we’re getting later tonight). Same reason her cutesy delivery on Weekend Update this season always bugs me. I still can’t believe this is the same Amy Poehler from the brilliant Upright Citizens Brigade sketch comedy show on Comedy Central. That daring show would look down on the cutesiness and audience-pandering that Amy’s been doubling down on during this season of SNL.
STARS: **½


EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION
wife’s (host) illness is a boon for (CHP)

— An interesting time capsule of how annoyingly prevalent the constantly-shirtless and constantly-yelling-through-a-bullhorn Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was back in this era. Seth’s portrayal of him here is pretty funny.
— Some good laughs from Chris always downplaying how terminally ill Cameron is, and refusing to tell her what exactly her ailment is.
— Chris’ performance is fun in this sketch. A dad role that Chris actually gets to cut loose in, for once. For some reason, I can imagine Beck Bennett playing this role if this sketch had been performed in more modern times instead of in 2005.
— Some good dark humor from all the vague hints of Cameron’s illness, and Cameron’s increasingly rattled reactions to that.
— Very weak ending with all the listing-offs of Extreme Makeover spin-offs and YET ANOTHER tired display of crying from the guy who Fred is playing.
STARS: ***½


TV FUNHOUSE
by RBS- glasses make Michael Jackson see Webster while dating Tara Reid

— Believe it or not, this is the first TV Funhouse since way back in December of this season. That’s a FOUR MONTH GAP. This has got to be the longest gap between TV Funhouse cartoons on SNL up to this point in SNL’s timeline.
— Our final installment of TV Funhouse’s Hanna-Barbera-esque Michael Jackson series of cartoons. Interesting how these MJ cartoons have only had three installments total, yet they spanned over NINE years, from 1996-2005.
— Funny gag with a little boy being placed on a windowsill like a hot pie, and Michael Jackson then floating in the air towards the boy when he gets a whiff.
— For some reason, the voice for Michael Jackson’s long-white-haired lawyer reminds me of Lorne.
— Not caring for the gag with MJ vomiting for an extended amount of time after hearing he has to date an adult female.
— Great bit about special glasses that make celebrities’ significant other look like what they find most attractive.
— MJ’s idea of Webster at his peak being 1983 B.P. (Before Pubes) was so wrong, but so funny. A lot of people nowadays are going to groan and cringe at all of these now-dated Michael Jackson pedophile jokes, but I’m not bothered when those jokes are actually done/delivered well in my view, such as in this TV Funhouse and in Norm Macdonald’s old Weekend Updates, and NOT in Tina’s Update jokes from this season.
— I love MJ repeatedly babbling “mama-say-mama-sa-mama-coosa” when he’s going through a nervous breakdown.
— I got a good laugh from the ending where, after Webster puts on what he thinks are the special glasses (the aforementioned ones that make people appear more attractive to you) and happily says the glasses make MJ now look like a hot chick, MJ’s lawyer tells the other characters “I don’t have the heart to tell him those are regular eyeglasses.”
STARS: ****


THE BARRY GIBB TALK SHOW
Robin Gibb (Justin Timberlake) & Ann Coulter (Drew Barrymore) on liberals

— Wow, what’s going on? Not only does this one-off Barry Gibb Talk Show sketch from the preceding season return out of freakin’ NOWHERE, but with it, we get cameos from Jimmy Fallon, Justin Timberlake, AND Drew Barrymore. All of these cameos seem very random at first (especially Drew), until you remember that, as I mentioned earlier, Justin and Cameron were an item at this time. Jimmy and Drew, on the other hand, are apparently just there because their movie, Fever Pitch is opening around this time. (Ha, remember the short-lived time when Jimmy was convinced that he could have a successful post-SNL career as a movie star? I highly doubt that he, in 2005, saw “late night talk show host” as his true post-SNL calling. Hell, I doubt ANYONE in 2005 saw that as Jimmy’s true post-SNL calling, though I do recall him previously getting some critical acclaim for his guest-hosting of Letterman back in 2003.)
— Feels odd in retrospect to see Horatio playing Governor Bill Richardson this early. Horatio would later make a cameo appearance on SNL as Richardson during the 2007 presidential primaries, when Richardson was in the race. At that time, I had assumed that was the first time Horatio ever played Richardson, and I figured the only reason he cameoed that night to play Richardson was because of the strong resemblance he and Richardson have to each other. I guess I had forgotten about this Barry Gibb Talk Show sketch, though in my defense, I hadn’t yet known who Richardson was back in 2005.
— As much as I loved the first installment of this sketch, this does not work for me as a recurring sketch. This sketch is DEFINITELY near the top of my “Should’ve stayed a one-off” list.
— Not sure Drew Barrymore’s take on Ann Coulter is working for me. Even though Coulter is certainly always ripe for mockery, Drew’s impression of her is too goofy and cartoonish for my likes, as if Drew is acting on a kids show on Nickelodeon or something.
— There goes Justin Timberlake’s obligatory breaking during one of Jimmy-as-Barry-Gibb’s high-pitched rants.
— Jimmy is at least still giving this performance his all, like in the first installment of this sketch.
— All throughout this sketch, you can hear tons of wild teen girl screams for Jimmy and Justin (which is ironically the exact kind of thing SNL was mocking in the Papal Debate cold opening earlier tonight whenever Will’s young cardinal character was shown). All of the teen girl screams throughout this Barry Gibb sketch are giving me bad flashbacks to the infamous Josh Hartnett episode from season 27.
STARS: **


HOTEL
new manager (CHP) wants to improve the rating of a seedy one-star hotel

— Cameron is overacting here, and it’s kinda grating.
— Ugh at Fred’s predictable line about him also being a prostitute.
— Cameron has been flubbing quite a lot of lines throughout tonight’s episode.
— Didn’t care for the turn at the end with Darrell’s wealthy character.
— The meta Don Pardo-announced “Accommodations for guests of Saturday Night Live are provided by…” ending seems to be an intentional throwback to the days when SNL would regularly show a Don Pardo-announced “Accommodations for most guests of Saturday Night Live are provided by…” promo towards the end of every episode. (They stopped doing those promos somewhere around the mid-90s, I think.)
— Overall, did not care at all for this sketch as a whole. Almost no laughs from me.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams”


WEEKEND UPDATE
newlyweds Prince Charles (SEM) & Camilla Parker Bowles (FRA) try to kiss

TIF’s ex JIF exercises visitation rights in Dramatic Weekend Update Play

— Amy’s corny-ass Al Gore joke was groanworthy.
— OH FUCKING NO. The return of Seth and Fred’s Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, which you might recall I absolute despised the last time they appeared on Update. Oh, and as an added “bonus”, we get Rob Riggle being wasted in yet another poor non-speaking role.
— Hmm, Rob turns out to have some lines after all.
— For once, this SNL era actually shows restraint from doing YET ANOTHER man-on-man kiss for a cheap, unnecessary laugh, by comically faking us out when it seemed like Seth and Fred were indeed going to kiss each other here. I somewhat give credit to SNL for this restraint, but I still didn’t care AT ALL for tonight’s overall Charles/Camilla commentary.
— Hey, a Fey/Poehler-era Update joke that actually really works for me, with their meta sphincter-bleaching/Happy Birthday bit to Rachel Dratch. I loved that.
— Oof. Of course, right after Tina and Amy’s actually-funny meta joke about Rachel, Amy IMMEDIATELY follows it up with a particularly awful joke. Ugh.
— Man, tonight’s terrible Update jokes are destroying me.
— Hmm, we’re getting an “A Dramatic Weekend Update Play” segment.
— This is only the second-ever instance of the Update tradition of a tree frog joke always getting interrupted by something.
— A very fun mock-dramatic play with Jimmy tensely returning to the Update set as if he’s Tina’s ex-husband making a visit.
— I love the reveal that Jimmy and Tina have a son together. Also, great detail with the son having Jimmy’s trademark messy hair and Tina’s trademark glasses.
— A huge laugh from the son angrily telling Jimmy “I hate Taxi!”
— Now we get a very funny reveal of the son’s name being Lorne. Am I correct in remembering that the series of shorts SNL would later do with Kyle Mooney and Leslie Jones in a relationship with each other would ALSO have their son named Lorne, or am I remembering wrong?
— This overall “A Dramatic Weekend Update Play” segment was EASILY one of the better things to come out of this dreary season of Update, and bumps my rating for tonight’s otherwise-awful Update up a full star.
STARS: **½


WOO! THE MUSICAL
Woo! The Musical features scenes of collegians’ spring break experiences

— Blah, I do not care for this premise.
— Bad timing with the blurring on Cameron when she flashes her chest, as the blurring first shows up too late, mistakenly letting us see that Cameron’s wearing a flesh-colored bra, then the blurring oddly stays onscreen after Cameron runs out of the scene (which I get the feeling she wasn’t supposed to do, thus explaining why the blurring stayed onscreen). This is actually the second time tonight where SNL was late on their cue to blur something out, as the first of many instances of Fred giving someone the finger in the Papal Debate cold opening was blurred out too late, accidentally revealing that Fred is actually just holding up his index finger. These blur gaffes are yet another example of how so many things about this season of SNL feel so sloppy and are such a mess.
— Will and Fred’s scene is YET ANOTHER display of season 30 homoerotic humor for cheap, unnecessary laughs. Way to waste my two favorite cast members of this season, SNL. At least this ended up being tonight’s SECOND instance of SNL faking us out of a man-on-man kiss, with Will and Fred leaning in for a kiss, then refraining. Weird how both man-on-man kiss fake-outs tonight involved Fred.
— And there goes season 30’s obligatory weekly instance of Maya singing.
— The running bit throughout this sketch with the newspaper critic “reviews” never actually critiquing the play was pretty funny at first, but got old after a while.
STARS: *½


SOFA WAREHOUSE
deliverymen (KET) & (FIM) try to dissuade (host) from buying a sofa bed

— Not sure if this is intentional, but this sketch kinda feels to me like a follow-up of sorts to the Martin Luther King Day sketch from this season’s Topher Grace episode, as both sketches have Kenan and Finesse paired together as co-workers who refuse to do their job. I wonder if SNL indeed intended these to be the same characters.
— Like the aforementioned MLK Day sketch, Kenan and Finesse make a fun duo here, and there are some laughs from all the ways they try to convince Cameron why she shouldn’t buy the sofa bed.
— Cameron flubs YET ANOTHER line tonight.
— Ugh, Cameron’s delivery of her angry rant is terrible, as she is, once again tonight, overacting badly. Between this and her fairly constant line flubs, she’s almost single-handedly hurting this otherwise funny sketch for me.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Holiday”


SPY GLASS
Desperate Housewives correspondent (host) joins in the pun

— Never realized before how catchy this recurring sketch’s opening theme music is. I picked too late to start getting into that theme music, though, as this ends up being the final Spy Glass sketch.
— Even for this sketch’s standards, Amy seems to be making her already-established character a little TOO cutesy in tonight’s installment, with the way she followed her Nick Lachey/Jessica Simpson news item by making cartoonish “OOOOooooOOOH!” sounds into the camera, which she never did in previous installments of this sketch, while mugging the camera more than usual. That just further proves a point I made earlier in this episode review when I complained about how Amy’s been doubling down on the annoying cutesiness and audience-pandering this season.
— As always, some really solid bad puns delivered expertly by Seth.
— Yeah, Amy is continuing to make those overly-cutesy, cartoonish “OOOOooooOOOH!”-type sounds all throughout tonight’s Spy Glass installment. I’m not caring for that new addition to this recurring sketch, even if it does fit the tone of Amy’s character.
— Wow, the audience is absolutely DEAD during Cameron’s entire scene.
— Horatio’s British Gene Shalit usually works for me in these Spy Glass sketches, but even for Shalit standards, Horatio’s going a little TOO over-the-top in tonight’s installment for my likes.
— Glad to see that my recollection of special guest Jimmy Fallon reprising his British Pat O’Brien role in tonight’s Spy Glass sketch was incorrect. Given the fact that the Pat O’Brien phone sex scandal was happening around this time (which is actually mentioned very briefly in passing during this sketch), I’m kinda surprised (though pleasantly so) they refrained from doing anything with Jimmy’s British Pat O’Brien in this sketch.
— Overall, despite a few things I liked, this Spy Glass installment as a whole felt kinda off, and was a disappointing way for this usually-good recurring sketch to go out.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— (*sigh*) Yet another weak season 30 episode. There were a few good things, but, like the preceding episode, barely any of the good things stood out as particularly strong, and there were way too many lowlights scattered all throughout the show. Cameron Diaz was also disappointing in this hosting stint of hers. She had always been known to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm in her previous hosting stints, which is usually at least charming, but her energy and enthusiasm tonight crossed over into bad overacting territory, which annoyed me, as did her constant line-flubbing. You’d hardly guess she was a three-time hosting veteran by this point.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ashton Kutcher)
about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Tom Brady

Posted on

December 3, 1994 – Roseanne / Green Day (S20 E7)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

PRESS CONFERENCE
at a press conference, Jesse Helms (MIM) expands his presidential threats

— Feels a little weird seeing Mike playing Jesse Helms, since he isn’t usually cast in roles like this and I’m more familiar with Darrell Hammond’s later take on Helms.
— Some good lines here, and I’m finding Mike’s performance to be fun.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
(no synopsis available)

— Roseanne’s rants against Hollywood are certainly getting big audience reactions, but it’s not making me laugh all that much. There are a few laughworthy barbs here, though.
STARS: **


HHT
Rerun from 9/24/94


USAIR
USAir employees talk about the airline’s improved flight safety measures

— A lot of laughs from all of the safety changes that Kevin lists off.
— For some reason, the little detail of Farley’s character’s surname being Manley makes me laugh.
— Elliott’s whole testimony is hilarious.
— Some really solid satire throughout this sketch.
STARS: ****


A WOMAN EXPLOITED: THE MADONNA & TOM ARNOLD STORY
parallels to host’s life in Tom Arnold (CHF) & Madonna (JAG) TV movie

— I recently learned that this sketch is an amalgamation of two different TV movies airing around this time, one being a Madonna movie and the other a Roseanne & Tom Arnold movie. Until finding out about that, I used to wonder what the hell was with this sketch’s random pairing of Madonna and Tom Arnold.
— For some reason, the way Janeane’s Madonna looks reminds me a little of future cast member Mark McKinney’s Chicken Lady character.
— So far, this sketch is not working for me at all. Not even Farley’s usually funny Tom Arnold impression is doing much to elevate it.
— The intentionally overlong Johnny B. Goode number felt unnecessary.
— Okay, we get it, Roseanne. You hate Tom Arnold and think he has a small penis. As if she hadn’t already spent more than enough time in the monologue making those points.
— The physical fight at the end between Roseanne’s Rosie O’Donnell and Farley’s Tom Arnold fell was just plain dumb and fell completely flat.
STARS: *½


RESCUE 911
rude operator (host) answers emergency calls in Philadelphia

— I used to wonder if Roseanne’s phone operator character in this is supposed to be the same one she previously played in the great Metrocard sketch from her season 16 episode. It probably isn’t, but either way, I’ve always felt this sketch pales horribly in comparison to the Metrocard one.
— Elliott’s useless role is one of the biggest wastes of his talents this season.
— Man, this sketch is falling REALLY flat. This has a really dead atmosphere and is lacking so many things that made the Metrocard sketch so strong.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “When I Come Around”


WEEKEND UPDATE
DAS to striking athletes- “entertainers lack marketable skills- I know”
ACLU representative Naomi Green (JAG) stands up for prisoners’ rights
ADS plays guitar & sings a Hanukkah song about celebrities that are Jews

— There’s what would go on to be a legendary Norm Macdonald Weekend Update joke, regarding a Kenny G Christmas album: “Hey, happy birthday, Jesus, hope ya like crap!”
— Norm’s Update has been starting hot tonight, with a string of hilarious jokes. Considering he’s only been doing Update for three months so far, it’s very impressive how quickly he’s hit his stride as an anchorperson. Such an improvement over how blah Update tended to be during the preceding season when Kevin was in his final year as anchorperson.
— David’s giving his typical season 20 half-assed performance that I always hate, but his commentary has some laughs, especially the meta bit about how his request for a raise resulted in the president of NBC asking him a Dick Clark’s Receptionist-esque “And you aaaarrrrreeee…?”
— Not sure what to think of Janeane’s overall commentary, though I guess it had a pretty funny ending. I especially liked Norm’s “You’re really giving me the creeps” response to her.
— Yet another Norm Macdonald Update joke tonight that would go on to be a classic: the “Yippie! Jerry Rubin died last week” one.
— Speaking of classic, here comes one of Adam’s most popular guitar songs of all time.
— Feels a little odd seeing Adam doing a guitar song in an Update NOT anchored by Kevin Nealon.
— Adam sounds even shakier than usual during his pre-song spiel.
— A particularly strong song from Adam, and there are a lot of really classic, charming, and memorable lyrics about which celebrities are Jewish. It’s no surprise to anyone who’s familiar with me that my personal favorite lyric is “But guess who is: all Three Stooges”.
— According to GettyImages, there was an Update commentary cut after this episode’s dress rehearsal where Kevin played some kind of character (pic here).
STARS: ****½


SKIMPY’S FROZEN YOGURT
weight-conscious (host), (ELC), (LAK) investigate chemical-laden yogurt

— A rarity this season to see a very female-oriented sketch.
— Michael’s voice and accent sounds so much like a voice and accent that Phil Hartman once used in a sketch, but I can’t figure out which sketch I’m thinking of.
— For once tonight, Roseanne’s actually putting effort into a performance and looks happy to be there.
— The ladies’ performances are good, but not much here is making me laugh all that much. I did get a laugh just now from Michael listing off Advil among the ice cream ingredients.
— That’s the ending of the sketch? The payoff felt weak to me.
STARS: **½


CIVIL WAR MEMORIES
high school dropouts talk about Battle for Charleston

— Tim’s testimonial is kinda funny.
— Hey, Jay’s Good Morning Brooklyn character makes a random appearance. And hey, he’s still not funny.
— The idea of a ridiculously inaccurate version of the Civil War is pretty funny in itself, but this sketch isn’t being executed very well.
— Ugh, I see Mike is continuing his annoying streak of playing broad Asian stereotypes every week.
— Ellen’s story about her whole ass hanging out made me laugh, as well as the subsequent drawing shown of that incident.
STARS: **


MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES
of host’s multiple personalities, psychoanalyst (NOM) prefers the whore

— Surprisingly, this is Norm’s first sketch appearance of the whole season. After consistently being a bright spot of sketches in the rough second half of season 19, it’s odd how he’s been kept out of sketches the following season, a season that REALLY could’ve used his sketch-saving abilities.
— I’m aware that this is a sketch version of a stand-up routine that Norm used to do. This would also later be performed in a Norm Macdonald comedy album.
— I love Norm’s dissatisfaction when Roseanne cuts short her oral sex details to act as a little girl.
— A huge laugh from Norm flat-out asking “Lemme talk to the whore, is she around?”
— So many laughs from Norm’s lines and reactions, such as trying to convince Rosanne’s murderous personality to kill the librarian personality.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Geek Stink Breath”


FUNNY STRANGE
Funny Strange shop owner (CSE) envies twin’s (CSE) novelty store success

— Finally, after being wasted and misused in so many sketches so far this season, Chris Elliott gets a sketch to showcase the oddball brand of humor he’s known for.
— The little debate between Farley and Elliott over whether plastic puke is funny strange or funny ha-ha is cracking me up.
— I like the disturbing, odd turn with Elliott’s character meeting up with his twin and killing him (resulting in a great maniacal laugh from Elliott). I also, for some reason, like how the audience has no idea what to make of this scene.
— Not sure the ending with Kevin and his “twin” was needed.
— Overall, this won’t end up being among my favorite Chris Elliott oddball sketches of this season, but I found it enjoyable and I like that the show took a chance on something this bizarre and audience-alienating.
STARS: ***½


LOCK-UP WITH BOBBY BLAKE
Bobby Blake’s (LAK) women’s prison talk show; Rip Taylor cameo

 

— The very underused Laura Kightlinger gets her very first opportunity to play the lead comedic character of a sketch.
— A fairly interesting premise, but I’m not caring much for the execution so far, and I feel Laura’s coming off kinda bland.
— It is nice to have another rare occurrence tonight of a sketch centered around the neglected female cast, but I wish the sketches were better. This particular sketch is more of an interesting novelty than outright funny.
— Very random Rip Taylor cameo at the end.
STARS: **


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— I’m not too crazy about this episode as a whole. There were some good and memorable things, but I had a meh feeling towards a lot of stuff, and the first two lead-off sketches were particularly rough (The Madonna & Tom Arnold Story and Rescue 911). I also felt Roseanne’s overall performance tonight was a step down from her previous two hosting stints, and she came off a little too obnoxious at times tonight, to say nothing of her excessive Tom Arnold jokes.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John Turturro)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Alec Baldwin