Tag: James Franco

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December 6, 2014 – James Franco / Nicki Minaj (S40 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

POLITICS NATION WITH AL SHARPTON
Al Sharpton (KET) addresses police shootings controversy

— There’s our obligatory joke about Al Sharpton gaining weight, as SNL’s attempt to explain why Kenan is still playing Sharpton after Sharpton’s real-life weight loss.
— A laugh from Jay constantly getting cut off during his interview.
— Of the typical fairly amusing misreadings from Kenan’s Sharpton, I particularly laughed at the “twattered” one.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
Sony Pictures hack released private photos of host & Seth Rogen [real]

 

— Another cameo-based monologue. I guess this particular one is at least fitting, since James Franco previously cameoed in Seth Rogen’s monologue the preceding season.
— Blah at all the juvenile photos of James and Seth. Boring and unfunny. It also reminds me of Luke Wilson’s also-boring-and-unfunny monologue from season 30, where he and Horatio Sanz were the ones showing juvenile drunk photos of themselves.
— That’s the whole monologue? Boof.
STARS: *½


PETER PAN LIVE!
Tonkerbell contends with Captain Hook (host)

— “Peter Pan Live starring Allison Williams and Christopher Walken”? I wonder who’s going to play Walken in this.
— Oh, not this Tonkerbell thing again. I disliked this character enough the first time.
— I did laugh just now at Tonkerbell’s description of her job as a reverse tooth fairy (where she takes a dollar from a child’s bedroom and leaves one off her own teeth).
— They’re giving JAMES FRANCO the Walken impression?!? How do I not remember this from my previous viewing of this episode back when it originally aired?
— Oof, not the best Walken impression I’ve ever seen, and that’s being as kind as I can be. Actually, there’s almost a “So bad, it’s good” quality to his Walken impression, but not quite.
— A very awkward premature cutaway to Tonkbell during Peter Pan and Captain Hook’s stiff swordfight.
— Why is it always Bobby who walks on at the end of these sketches as Tonkerbell’s boyfriend from a cartoon movie?
STARS: *½


STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
Han Solo (TAK), Princess Leia (BOM), Luke Skywalker (host), Lando Calrissian (KET) are old

— Good to see the return of Taran’s very funny Harrison Ford impression.
— Meh, the opening scene in this pre-tape didn’t turn out to be the best use of Taran’s Ford impression.
— Having a man (Bobby) play an elderly Princess Leia? Why??? This particular sketch doesn’t even seem to warrant a man playing this role. Besides, this season already had a cheap “Princess Leia played by a man in drag” gag with Chris Pratt in the season premiere.
— So far, this is just a lame, half-assed parade of “old people” stereotypes, only presented with flashy Star Wars special effects, as if that automatically makes this tepid humor “better”.
— Overall, I barely cracked a smile at anything in this. Man, between the monologue, the Tonkerbell sketch, and now this, tonight’s episode is ROUGH so far. Certainly moreso than I had remembered.
STARS: *½


JINGLE BALLERZ
Hip Hop Nativity features Kanye West (JAP) as Jesus

— A blooper when James is making his entrance: he accidentally trips over his own cape and almost falls down in a goofy manner that I couldn’t help but laugh at, in spite of myself.
— Kate’s Justin Bieber impression is still pretty funny, though the novelty is clearly wearing off by this point.
— The audience is going NUTS for each time Nicki Minaj (in her first of what will be several sketch appearances tonight) sings a brief musical note as Beyonce.
— Another segment tonight wasting a celebrity impression of Taran’s that’s usually very funny; this time, it’s his Eminem impression.
— Good to see Jay’s Kanye impression going back to being used outside of that Waking Up With Kimye recurring sketch, which quickly got tired.
— Overall, some laughs, but this was extremely forgettable and pretty boring. (*sigh*) Tonight’s episode continues to not do it for me.
STARS: **


GROW-A-GUY
friendless (MOB) germinates a companion (host)

— For the first time, a short film of Mike O’Brien’s opens with a title screen stating “A Mike O’Brien Picture”. Well-deserved, as his SNL shorts prior to this one were all fantastic, and viewers deserve to know the identity of the genius behind those films. It’s also great that SNL is letting him continue doing and starring in these films despite no longer being in the cast by this point.
— A very good offbeat concept of a “Grow-A-Guy”.
— Beck is playing this “low-key douchey friend” role to absolute perfection.
— As usual for Mike’s short films, this is an excellent mix of funny, odd, creative, interesting, and melancholy.
— Solid sequence with each character self-destructing after revealing they’re a Grow-A-Guy.
— Great choice to have a “#growaguy” chyron be displayed onscreen at the end, as a callback to the hashtag discussion earlier in this film.
STARS: *****


MAGIC BRIDGE
bridge troll (host) gets a kiss from (KYM) instead of a riddle solution

— The debut of Cecily’s Cathy Anne character, who would later become one of those recurring Weekend Update characters who some people probably forget actually started out in a sketch or two (some other examples of which include Roseanne Rosannadanna, Stefon, and Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy).
— I’m a few minutes into this sketch, and I haven’t gotten a single laugh. The closest to a laugh I got was from Kyle’s delivery of his line, “You’re not kissing her. She’s my fiancee!” Something about his delivery of that line and the way he put emphasis on the word “fiancee” came off Bruce Chandling-esque.
— When this sketch originally aired, I absolutely HATED Cecily’s characterization of Cathy Anne, and dismissed it as yet another bad “Cecily does a ‘funny’ voice” sketch, like that Oliver Twist sketch from the preceding season’s Andrew Garfield episode. I also hated the second sketch appearance that Cathy Anne would later make (in a Cinderella sketch, I think, with Dakota Johnson). I would later go on to like Cathy Anne much better as a Weekend Update correspondent. With that knowledge, re-watching her in this Magic Bridge sketch in hindsight right now is quite bizarre. She’s coming off very out-of-place in this, and it’s wasting her comedic potential.
— (*groan*) Aaaaaaand there goes the ol’ “two men kissing each other for a very cheap, unnecessary laugh” trope. We’re still doing this in 2014, SNL???
— We actually get TWO separate man-on-man-kissing sequences in this sketch. Because, as we all know, men kissing men obviously only gets FUNNIER AND FUNNIER with repetition……..
— Overall, a fucking wretched sketch. And, aside from that fantastic Grow-A-Guy short, tonight’s episode continues to be dire.
STARS: *


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Skylar Grey [real] perform “Bed Of Lies”


WEEKEND UPDATE
MIC & COJ give their thoughts on non-indictment in Eric Garner death

Anthony Crispino is unduly confident in the quality of his news nuggets

LEJ advises potential dates to bring her marijuana instead of mushrooms

missing backgrounds reframe Kim Kardashian’s (musical guest) nude photos

— Ooh, an early-era interaction piece between Colin and Michael, which is surprisingly somewhat rare in their early Updates.
— Wow, this opening Eric Garner/grand jury conversation between Colin and Michael… It doesn’t even seem to be INTENDED to be funny, and is going more for a “social commentary” tone. There are damn good points being made by Michael about the ridiculousness of the non-indictment in the Eric Garner case, but, man, between the touchiness of that subject, the lack of intended big jokes being made here, and the audience’s tense silence, there’s a haunting feel to this. Perhaps that’s what SNL’s going for.
— Okay, even though Colin and Michael are continuing on their focus of the Eric Garner/grand jury matter, it’s now growing on me, as Colin and Michael are now going more for actual jokes here, and they’re handling the touchiness of this subject decently. I also like how this is breaking up the usual format that Update typically had in the past.
— Feels a little odd seeing Anthony Crispino appearing in this new Update era, in this new Update set, and interacting with Michael instead of Seth Meyers.
— Crispino’s Mariah/Drew Carey bit was very funny.
— An absolutely hilarious bit from Crispino on the big news about “Bing Crosby” being a “rappist”. I also love this exchange between Michael and Crispino during that bit: “I’m not even gonna TOUCH that one.” “Hey, Bing Crosby would, so…”
— When Colin was setting up the next guest commentary by bringing up things like marijuana and 420, I honestly thought he was setting up a Pete Davidson commentary (for obvious reasons). Instead, we get a commentary from the other member of this cast who frequently does Update commentaries as themselves: Leslie Jones. Either way, I’m looking forward to this.
— Leslie: “Man, when I took mushrooms, I talked to Harriet Tubman for two hours.”
— I love Leslie’s humbled delivery of “Have you ever been called a bitch…..by Harriet Tubman???”
— Tonight’s overall Leslie commentary wasn’t quite as hilarious as her previous commentaries, but it still worked.
— Feels weird seeing someone other than Nasim Pedrad play Kim Kardashian . Speaking of Nasim, I feel bad for saying this because I generally like her, but I surprisingly haven’t noticed her absence this season AT ALL until this episode.
— The reveals of the real backgrounds of the racy Kim Kardashian Paper Magazine photos are mildly funny.
STARS: ***


BRAIN SPACE
(PED) can’t remember new password because his brain is full of ephemera

— A fun concept.
— Taran is very funny as the Savage Garden guy.
— Nicki Minaj continues to be prolific in this episode, like she’s an honorary co-host.
— There’s something strangely fitting about the fact that Kate played both Justin Bieber and the Kevin McAllister character from Home Alone in the same episode.
— Wow, fast costume change for Taran, playing two different roles in this live sketch.
— I love James incredulously asking, “Who remembers a Billy Zane line from Titanic?!?”
STARS: ***½


TAD RANKIN
(host) immaturely trashes the 4-year-old to whom he lost mayoral election

— Extremely juvenile writing here, but James’ increasingly frustrated, immature delivery is somehow making it work well. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m cracking up at this sophomoric material.
— Even James starting to break after the “throwing my crapped pants into the woods” bit is funny. It also helps that he gets back into character pretty soon after that breaking of his, instead of letting his breaking take over the remainder of the sketch.
— Blah, the loud cheers from girls in SNL’s audience kinda hurt the gag of James showing off his “cute” facial expression, given the fact that the joke of him doing a “cute” facial expression was that it was a forced, silly, unflattering facial expression.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Only” & “All Things Go”


SUNSEEKER YACHTS
(host), (Seth Rogen), vacuous ex-porn stars endorse Sunseeker Yachts

— First time we’ve seen the Ex-Porn Stars all season, which is a sign that they’re apparently being phased out.
— Vanessa: “I’m Brookie.” Cecily: “No, that’s your name.”
— Cecily: “One time, I thought I got banged into a different dimension, like Intersmellar, but I was just stuck in a pull-out couch. I was like, what does ‘pull-out’ mean?”
— This sketch feels rushed. We’re already at the part where the character played by the SNL host (along with Seth Rogen, in tonight’s case) stays in the scene and takes over the commercial? That usually happens much later in each installment of this recurring sketch.
— The whole Franco/Rogen section of this sketch is doing NOTHING for me.
— I didn’t understand what Cecily said during the usual part in this recurring sketch where she and Vanessa’s characters both try to say the same innocent word in unison, only for Cecily’s character’s word to be something dirty and porn-related.
— Overall, a slight improvement over the extremely disappointing and frustrating Andy Samberg/Kristen Wiig installment of this sketch, but that’s still not saying much, as this was still a pale shadow of how strong this recurring sketch usually is. It’s become painfully and sadly obvious that the magic of this once-fantastic recurring sketch is officially gone by this point.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A mediocre episode as a whole. The first half was DIRE and disheartening, aside from the Mike O’Brien film and a mildly-funny cold opening. There was an improvement in the second half of this episode, but that half still wasn’t anywhere near strong enough to save this episode as a whole from earning a thumbs-down.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Grow-A-Guy
Brain Space
Tad Rankin
Weekend Update
Politics Nation with Al Sharpton
Sunseeker Yachts
Jingle Ballerz
Peter Pan Live!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Monologue
Magic Bridge


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Cameron Diaz)
a slight step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Martin Freeman

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December 19, 2009 – James Franco / Muse (S35 E10)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
Dooneese creeps out a Mexican singer (host)

— So now this usually-post-monologue sketch has “graduated” to the cold opening slot? At least we’re getting a non-political opening.
— A rare host appearance in the cold opening.
— Blah. The same-old, same-old Dooneese routine that only worked for me the first time. Nothing to really say about it here.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
host pulls acting gigs for the new year from a bin of career ideas

— I like the fake-out with James Franco mentioning the title of a movie he was recently in, which the audience gives their obligatory applause to, only for him to reveal the movie doesn’t even exist.
— James: “Unlike last year, I don’t have a movie to promote. But SNL doesn’t have an election this year, so we’re all gettin’ by with a little less.”
— An okay idea of James pulling career suggestions out of a bin.
— Ugh at the suggestion of James picking a town and having sex with every woman in it, a joke that hasn’t aged well.
— After reading a suggestion about James making this the best SNL Christmas show of all time, I chuckled at James responding “Not a chance!” At least SNL’s not getting anyone’s hopes up, given how this episode turns out (not very good, IIRC).
STARS: **½


WHAT UP WITH THAT?
Mike Tyson & Jack McBrayer [real] on holiday episode

— Unlike previous What Up With That installments, in which Will does his announcements while standing next to the backup singers (Jenny and Nasim), Will does his announcements tonight from a separate set, which would go on to be a regular thing for him and future What Up With That announcer Taran Killam in all subsequent installments of this sketch…or at least all subsequent installments I’ve seen. I have yet to see the recent SNL At Home edition of this sketch from 2020, so I don’t know who, if anyone, played the announcer in that one. Thanks in advance if anyone lets me know who it was.
— Holy hell, Mike Freakin’ Tyson!
— For some reason, the gold chain that Jason usually wears in these sketches is being held in his hand when he and Fred first pop up in tonight’s installment.
— Ah, now Jason is wearing the gold chain the second time he and Fred pop up. I wonder why he held it in his hand in his earlier appearance in this sketch.
— It’s always hilarious in these What Up With That sketches whenever Jason gradually slows down his dance when the music slows down while Kenan introduces the character played by that night’s SNL host.
— This sketch is feeling more and more routine each time it appears, but as always, it’s a lot of fun.
— I love Andy as a dancing John Stockton.
— Jason is going particularly wild with his dance moves tonight, which is, of course, a plus.
STARS: ****½


AFFECTIONATE FAMILY
girlfriend (ABE) warms to intimacy of (host) & rest of Vogelcheck family

— OH, GOD. Figures that SNL would follow one of the most fun recurring sketches of this era (What Up With That) with one of the most miserable recurring sketches from this era.
— For some reason, it feels kinda odd seeing Kenan participating in the usual man-on-man kissing in this recurring sketch.
— As always, this is fucking insufferable.
STARS: *


THE TIZZLE WIZZLE SHOW
kids program has host, jammies, knives, pills

— Spot-on spoof of typical pre-schooler shows that air on channels like Nick Jr.
— Hilarious dark turn with the sudden involvement of knives, pills, and a glow-in-the-dark murder spree, all being presented in an upbeat, kid-friendly manner.
— Perfect ending, and I love James’ emotional breakdown.
— Overall, short but sweet. A very strong and funny display of dark and disturbing humor.
STARS: ****½


THE MANUEL ORTIZ SHOW
Latin rhythm eclipses infidelity revelation

— The debut of a recurring sketch that I’ve never liked. Damn, between the Affectionate Family and now this (and even The Lawrence Welk Show, as Fred plays the title role of that), how many bad Fred Armisen-starring recurring sketches can one episode feature?
— Only a minute into this sketch, and SNL has already run the “every guest’s entrance and exit features everybody dancing, to the exact same song each time” gag into the fucking ground.
— Something about the way Kenan looks in his walk-on is actually making me laugh, which is more than I can say for the rest of this sketch.
— Ugh, these one-joke dance routines are so increasingly unbearable.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Uprising”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Jersey Shore’s Snooki (BOM) & The Situation (BIH) are cartoonish Italians

unprepared Garth (FRA) & Kat (KRW) make up holiday songs on the spot

— The debut of Bobby’s memorable Snooki impression.
— Despite being the cliched brash-guy-plays-a-woman trope, and despite the material being thin at some points, Bobby, in typical Bobby Moynihan fashion, is making this role a lot of fun.
— Funny walk-on from Bill as The Situation.
— OH. FUCKING. NO. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! In tonight’s night of debuts, we get the debut of one of THE absolute nadirs not only of this SNL era, but of SNL history: fucking Garth and Kat. (*groan to end all groans*) And I had to open my mouth earlier in this review when I asked “how many bad Fred Armisen-starring recurring sketches can one episode feature?”
— Such self-indulgent bullshit with Fred and Kristen, the designated stars of this season, being given free rein to waste so much airtime with this painfully unfunny improv game routine that’s just an excuse for them to crack each other up on the air. Save this shit for behind the scenes.
STARS: **½


FRAT PLEDGE
mentally-slow fraternity brothers haze pledge (ANS) to learn basic facts

— For some reason, I’m cracking up at the horror music playing at the beginning of this sketch, during the fratboys’ hazing of Andy.
— Feels kinda like they’re revealing the main joke too early, but it’s still making me laugh.
— I love Jason’s performance as a loud, angry, deep-voiced fratboy, another example of Jason perfectly pulling off a Will Ferrell-esque role.
— When this originally aired, I remember it being pointed out by some online SNL fans that James seemed to be drooling throughout this sketch. That’s supported by the fact that, when James claps his hands a single time at one point, Andy has an awkward facial reaction, then, in an ad-lib, wipes something off of the side of his face while smirking out of character. James’ drool apparently got on Andy’s face when James clapped. I’m completely lost on how or why any of this happened. Does James have some kind of drooling disorder or something?
STARS: ***


VINCENT PRICE’S CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
James Dean (host) visits Vincent Price’s (BIH) 1954 Christmas Special

Marilyn Monroe (ABE) quickly shills for Asbestos

— The usual opening gag with Bill’s Vincent Price being the victim of a special effects failure came off kinda half-assed tonight.
— Kristen reprises her Katharine Hepburn impression from the second installment of this sketch, way back in season 31. Her Hepburn is being utilized much more in tonight’s installment, given that the previous installment her Hepburn appeared in was back when SNL was still experimenting with the format of these Vincent Price sketches and opted to have each guest in that installment make a separate appearance and then immediately leave.
— Unlike in the previous appearances Fred’s Liberace made in these Vincent Price sketches, the gay jokes involving him aren’t working much for me in tonight’s installment, but I always absolutely love Bill-as-Price’s reactions to him.
— They repeat a gag from the very first installment of this sketch, where the commercial break that Bill’s Price throws to ends up being very short, which he angrily questions afterwards.
— I got a big laugh from Kristen’s Hepburn cracking the neck of the raccoon biting her.
— The ending jump scare with a rabies-infested Kristen suddenly popping up in front of the screen while screaming was awfully similar to the ending of the Game Time With Randy And Greg sketch earlier this season.
— This overall sketch was good, but I sadly didn’t find it to be as strong as usual.
STARS: ***½


TREE LOVER
(host) is emotionally attached to evergreens on his Christmas tree lot

— I’m iffy on this premise of James engaging in increasingly detailed conversations with his Christmas trees, though there is something strangely kinda endearing about it. Maybe I’d like this sketch more if it was performed by a host far more adept at pulling off oddball roles, like, say, John Malkovich, Christopher Walken, or Steve Buscemi.
— I remember an online SNL fan back at this time in 2009 saying this sketch had a very season 6 feel. Not sure if I agree with that or not nowadays.
— Kinda tired of all the reaction shots of the straight man characters throughout this sketch whenever James is talking to a Christmas tree. Maybe I wouldn’t mind it if this wasn’t an SNL era that relied too heavily on cutting to people’s silent reaction shots whenever someone is doing something weird.
— Don’t care for the gag at the end with a tree actually talking back to James.
STARS: **


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Starlight”


OFFICE CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
businessmen Carl, Jerry, (host) choose dildos for office Christmas gifts

— The third and final appearance of Will and Bill’s Carl and Jerry characters, a.k.a. the Fart Face guys.
— Is James supposed to be playing the same character Alec Baldwin previously played in the second installment of this sketch? Both James and Alec’s characters are named Troy, and both hosts wear the same wig.
— The visual of that ridiculous tiny toupee on Will’s forehead always cracks me up in these sketches.
— I always love Will’s delivery of “Carol, hold my caaaallllls!” in these sketches.
— All the dildo talk is very dumb, but is having me laughing out loud due to the solid execution and delivery. While this, to me, still doesn’t compare to the original Fart Face sketch these characters appeared in, it’s still better than their appearance from the preceding season’s Alec Baldwin episode.
— What the hell happened to the camera all of a sudden? While James is angrily saying “What a freakin’ fart face!”, the camera accidentally cuts to a close-up of a silent Bill instead of James, then the screen malfunctions and turns green, then turns gray, then cuts to a random close-up of a silent Will. Very odd.
— Fred has appeared in almost EVERY SINGLE SKETCH tonight.
— What was with the very abrupt ending? Was that even an ending??? This sketch just randomly faded to black after Will, Bill, and James yelled a whole bunch of stuff at Fred.
STARS: ****


MARK WAHLBERG TALKS TO CHRISTMAS ANIMALS
Mark Wahlberg (ANS) talks to a sheep, a partridge, a snowman, Rudolph

— Adding to my confusion over how abruptly the preceding Office Christmas Presents sketch faded to black, it’s immediately followed by this Mark Wahlberg sketch opening with a taped(?) Don Pardo voice-over saying “This has been Mark Wahlberg Talks to Christmas Animals”, as if the sketch is ending instead of beginning. What the hell is going ON?!? Tonight’s episode has gotten really sloppy these last two sketches.
— The first installment of this sketch is a classic, but, yeah, not sure we needed a follow-up. This doesn’t seem like that type of thing that’ll work as a recurring sketch.
— Andy’s execution is still solid, like it was in the first installment of this sketch, but the material is leaving a little to be desired.
— Hmm, all of a sudden, Andy now seems to be rushing through this. He’s also blatantly staring at the cue cards this entire sketch, which he didn’t (noticeably) do in the first installment.
— The ending almost got cut off, and they seemed to be in a big hurry to fade to the SNL bumper photo of James Franco. Yeah, they definitely rushed through this sketch. The show must be running long. I wonder if this is also the reason why the preceding Office Christmas Presents sketch ended so abruptly. I also wonder if this is why Andy blatantly stared at the cue cards all throughout this Walhberg sketch, as perhaps a lot of lines in this sketch were removed at LITERALLY the very last minute so they could squeeze this sketch in.
STARS: **½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty meh Christmas episode, despite some good things. Further hurting this episode was the fact that we got quite a number of wretched recurring material (The Lawrence Welk Show, Affectionate Family, The Manuel Ortiz Show, Garth and Kat), all of which just so happened to star Fred Armisen and/or Kristen Wiig.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
The Tizzle Wizzle Show
What Up With That?
Office Christmas Presents
Vincent Price’s Christmas Special
Frat Pledge
Mark Wahlberg Talks To Christmas Animals
Monologue
Weekend Update
Tree Lover
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Manuel Ortiz Show
Affectionate Family


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Taylor Lautner)
a very slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter a new decade. Charles Barkley hosts the first SNL of the 2010s.

Posted on

September 20, 2008 – James Franco / Kings of Leon (S34 E2)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

MCCAIN RECORDING SESSION
in a recording studio, John McCain (DAH) approves misleading attack ads

— Meh, some fairly hacky jokes early on regarding Darrell’s John McCain being out of touch with modern technology.
— Great use of Bill as a sarcastic announcer of attack ads.
— The ridiculous attack ads against Barack Obama are funny, especially the one comparing him to Charles Barkley.
— Some good bits with Kristen here, such as her explanation of the “tax benefits for pedophiles” claim that one attack ad made, and her knowingly responding “He won that election, right?” when Darrell’s McCain is about to negatively compare one of the anti-Obama attack ads to a ridiculous attack George W. Bush made on McCain during the 2000 presidential race.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Showing that he’s not yet used to saying newbie Bobby Moynihan’s name, Don Pardo mispronounces Bobby’s last name as “Monahan” tonight.
— Casey Wilson’s opening montage shot from all of the preceding live episodes she appeared in (first screencap below) has been replaced with a new shot tonight (second screencap below), which I believe remains her opening montage shot for the rest of her SNL tenure.

This new shot of Casey was actually previously used in a few NBC reruns of season 33 episodes (I was told that one of them was the reportedly heavily-edited rerun of the Ellen Page episode, a rerun of which I never saw myself), but tonight’s episode is the first time that shot has been used in a live episode.


MONOLOGUE
host has displaced Columbia University resident assistant (JAS) as BMOC

— Pretty fun use of Jason as a typical fratboy, and he fits this role well.
— Not much else to say about this monologue at all. Just average.
STARS: ***


THE COUGAR DEN
young musician (host) has a predilection for older women

— This sketch has officially become recurring.
— Wow, the audience’s laughter is VERY tepid early on in this sketch. They don’t seem like they’re into this at all.
— Special guest Cameron Diaz has officially become a staple of this recurring sketch.
— The aforementioned surprisingly quiet audience has started getting into this sketch after a while.
— Kenan gets another killer one-liner in this recurring sketch, with his “sexual peak/beauty trench” slam at Amy, Kristen, and Casey’s characters.
— Overall, I found this sketch okay, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the first installment. To be honest, I’m not sorry that we’re only going to be seeing one more appearance of this recurring sketch.
STARS: ***


AGENT 420
stoned spy Agent 420 (host) bungles mission to investigate a laser

— Funny fake-out with 007 apparently being summoned.
— James Franco playing a variation of his character in the then-recent movie Pineapple Express, right down to wearing a similar wig and headband.
— A solid James Bond-esque theme song performed by Kristen.
— Blah, a few minutes into this sketch, and it’s been doing almost nothing for me so far. Just a whole bunch of lazy, lame stoner humor. Too bad, as the initial set-up to this actually seemed promising. This SNL era seems to be very poor at pulling off stoner humor, between the preceding season’s America’s First Colonists sketch (starring James’ Pineapple Express co-star Seth Rogen) and this Agent 420 sketch.
— (*groan*) Here we have yet another display of Fred’s classic Asian stereotype routine.
— Very weak ending. SNL themselves seem to agree, as they would alter the ending in reruns, by having the laser explosion be shown BEFORE Kristen performs the ending theme song (not that that made it any funnier).
STARS: *½


SIMPSON JURY SELECTION
unbiased jurors are hard to find for O.J. Simpson (KET) robbery trial

— I love Fred’s delivery of “Yeah, but he’s O.J.!” when it’s pointed out that he should’ve had no knowledge of the O.J. Simpson murders, given the fact that he had been locked in a bomb shelter since 1968.
— Good premise, and I’m loving how the potential jurors who shouldn’t have any knowledge of O.J. Simpson for one reason or another end up revealing they do, in fact, know about O.J. and the murders. A fun progression to that conceit.
STARS: ****


HEY! (MURRAY HILL)
both (host) & (Blake Lively) have little ding-dongs

— A very lame comedic conceit with James constantly mentioning his “tiny ding-dong” among his general angsty whining.
— My only laugh in this short so far came from Kristen’s deadpan annoyed facial reaction (the fourth above screencap for this Digital Short) to one of the many times James randomly mentions his “tiny ding-dong”.
— A random Blake Lively cameo (who we’ll be seeing hosting SNL the following season) in a bad ending gag involving her speaking in a comically-deep man’s voice.
— Overall, a big ol’ flop. Easily one of my least favorite Lonely Island-made Digital Shorts to air up to this point.
STARS: *½


THE LOOKER
TV show stars Penny Marshall (FRA) as interrogation expert The Looker

— While I’m beyond sick of Fred dressing in drag by this point of his SNL tenure, his non-verbal Penny Marshall impression is spot-on and is amusing me.
— A technical gaffe at the end of James’ scene, causing his final line to accidentally get drowned out by the next line from the pre-taped announcer.
— I like the short scene with Jason easily giving in and confessing simply due to The Looker putting on even smaller glasses.
— Andy is actually pretty spot-on here in his facial resemblance to Juliette Lewis.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Sex On Fire”


WEEKEND UPDATE
destitute Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld (JAS) missed out on bailout

creepy American Apparel CEO Dov Charney (FRA) sexually harasses SEM & AMP

— A bad return of Update’s former habit of having Amy open every Update with one of her lamest, most tepid jokes of the night, a habit that Update had thankfully been moving away from for a while.
— A good premise for this Jason Sudeikis commentary, related to the notorious 2008 financial crisis.
— Jason is great here, as he typically is whenever he does an Update commentary.
— Funny bit with a clip of Dora The Explorer being voiced by Amy as Rosie Perez, an impression of Amy’s that I always love. This is also the second consecutive episode where Weekend Update had a bit in which Seth and/or Amy do an off-camera voice of someone during a brief segment.
— A very Will Ferrell-esque role for Fred.
— I can definitely see people being annoyed and bothered by Fred’s sleazy sexual harassment commentary, especially in today’s Me Too age, but his performance is cracking me up in spite of myself. While Fred’s no Ferrell when it comes to playing this type of role and making it still come off harmless enough in today’s age, he’s still making it work for me.
— Okay, Fred’s commentary has lost me towards the end. I especially didn’t care for the boob-grab bit he did with Amy. Also, not that I want to bring this up, but I can’t help but now notice the unfortunate coincidence of this sexual harassment commentary appearing in an episode hosted by James Franco. (Then again, doesn’t Franco’s season 43 episode have an actual Me Too-based office sketch, not too long before he would get Me Too-ed in real life?)
— Amy milking the dog-themed Law & Order “bomp-bomp” sound effect is both amusing me and annoying me at the same time.
— Ugh, Amy’s iffy night continues, as she now resorts to the hacky habit of explaining the punchline of one’s own joke, always a comedy sin.
STARS: **½


THE NEW YORK TIMES
city slicker New York Times reporters are ill-suited for Alaska datelines

— Kristen’s first line was funny.
— This is actually a good use of Darrell’s typically low-energy performance style.
— Though it’s a very little thing, I love Jason’s cocky smiling and tie-straightening in the background when James is introducing him. Jason has the ability to make even something as little as THAT come off amusing.
— A noteworthy appearance from Kumail Nanjiani as an extra with a few lines (the sixth above screencap for this sketch). This is years before he became well-known. I can’t remember the reason for him appearing in this sketch. I know he guest-writes for SNL at some point towards the end of season 37, but I’m not sure if he guest-wrote for this episode.
— Very funny running bit regarding Will’s paranoia of getting attacked by a polar bear.
— I love Bill’s overconfidence in his incorrect answers.
— This rather long, full-cast sketch (I think the only non-Seth cast member missing from this is Amy, who’s barely appeared in anything tonight in general, presumably because of her pregnancy) has Jim Downey’s fingerprints all over it, but I’m enjoying this more than Downey’s typical long-winded, full-cast political cold openings. It also helps that we’re getting a lot of interesting different characterizations from each cast member in this.
— Hooooo, boy. If Fred’s sexual harassment commentary in this episode’s Weekend Update has aged poorly, then that goes double for Bobby’s comedic bit here about being in the middle of a sex change transition. This SNL era in general REALLY seems to be doubling down on transphobic humor ever since the last quarter of the preceding season.
— A good laugh from how, after learning there will be no Thai food, Andy and Kenan react by looking at each other and then storming off in unison.
— During the epilogue at the end, I love the part about what happened to Will’s character.
STARS: ***


OF MICE AND MEN
in lost Of Mice And Men ending, Lennie (BOM) wishes he had been leveled with

— As I explained in my review of the Of Mice And Men parody in the season 19 John Malkovich episode, Of Mice And Men is my personal favorite book of all time, and I’m always a sucker for SNL’s spoofs of it. The fact that this particular spoof is written by then-new SNL writer John Mulaney is the icing on the cake.
— I love the turn with Bobby’s Lennie realizing he was lied to by James’ George, and slowly becoming wise to lots of things.
— I remember some online SNL fans back at this time complaining about how blatantly Bobby was staring at the cue cards all throughout this sketch (those complaints probably came from some of the many people who unfairly wrote Bobby off as a dud after the poorly-received Mark Payne sketch he starred in in his very first episode), but he deserves some slack cut for that, as he’s only in his second episode, and understandably has yet to master how to read off of cue cards without making it blatant. As we know now, Bobby wouldn’t become a notorious cue card-starer during his SNL tenure.
— An overall very funny and clever sketch. Only two episodes in, and Mulaney hits a SECOND home run. Bobby also continues to show a lot of promise in his second episode as well, and this sketch is closer than the preceding episode’s Mark Payne sketch was to representing the type of work Bobby will typically do on SNL.
STARS: ****


YANKEE STADIUM STORIES
Martin Scorsese (FRA) & Rosie Perez (AMP) say bye

— A variation of the New York City Stories three-part runner from the season 32 Jaime Pressly episode, in which Fred and Amy played a different pair of celebrities in each part. One of the celebrity pairs they played in that runner was Martin Scorsese and Rosie Perez, who they’re also portraying in tonight’s Yankee Stadium Stories piece.
— This was actually cut from the preceding season’s finale. (You can tell even by just watching this that it must’ve been filmed at a much earlier time, given the fact that Amy’s belly is much less pregnant-looking.) Kinda odd, though, how SNL is airing this in the same episode in which Amy already does her Rosie Perez impression, in the Dora The Explorer bit on Weekend Update.
— A good laugh from the little scene with Fred and Amy’s Scorsese and Perez playing a game of baseball using a loaf of bread and a meatball.
— Fred’s Scorsese impression is coming off even funnier here than it did in the aforementioned New York City Stories piece.
— Overall, short and sweet.
— Much like the New York City Stories pieces, this Yankee Stadium Stories piece was originally supposed to be a three-part runner with Fred and Amy playing a different pair of celebrities in each part, but the other two parts don’t air. I think I recall one of them had Fred playing Gene Simmons, but that’s all I can remember from the details I read of it years ago.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Use Somebody”


DAFOE’S REVENGE
in host’s dressing room, Willem Dafoe (BIH) wants him to kill ANS

— Nice to see the underused Casey Wilson getting to do a scene as herself at the beginning of this, even if it’s just a small bit.
— I absolutely LOVE this concept, and it’s a very fun and creative use of a Willem Dafoe impression from Bill. Bill has been having a very strong night, by the way, which is so refreshing to see after how invisible he was in the preceding week’s season premiere, not to mention how constantly underused he was in his prior seasons.
— A very funny reason for Bill’s Dafoe wanting Andy Samberg dead.
— I love Bill’s delivery of “James, I played your father in a movie. YOU. OWE. ME.”
— Andy’s ridiculous Willem Dafoe “impression” feels like a nice throwback to/variation of the ridiculous celebrity “impressions” he did in his and Bill’s Impression-Off segment on Weekend Update from their very first episode.
— Funny bit with James incorrectly assuming a mirror is between him and Bill’s Dafoe when he throws a coffee mug towards Bill’s Dafoe.
— Great ending.
— Overall, an underrated Bill Hader sketch. This is one of my personal favorite things he’s ever done on SNL.
STARS: ****½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An average episode. A few duds in the first half of the show, but the solid run of segments in the last 20 minutes of the show balanced it out.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Michael Phelps)
a slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Anna Faris