Tag: Jay-Z

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September 30, 2017 – Ryan Gosling / Jay-Z (S43 E1)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE CHAOS PRESIDENT
Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) renews relationship with Jeff Sessions (KAM)

— Ugh. Trumpwin is NOT a sight I want to see right out of the gate at the beginning of a season premiere’s cold opening, but I knew to expect it.
— I did get a laugh from Aidy-as-Sarah-Huckabee-Sanders’ delivery of her line about people listening to her because she’s “no nonsense, but ALL nonsense.”
— Yeah, I’m at the point where my decreasing tolerance towards Kate’s Jeff Sessions impression has officially reached 0%.
— Though it’s just a small appearance at the end of this cold opening, I’m liking Alex’s take on Chuck Schumer, and it’s nice that, instead of giving a political role like this to a non-cast member celebrity, it’s been given to a newer, underused cast member, a choice that’s going to feel increasingly rare as the Trump era progresses.
STARS: *½


OPENING MONTAGE
— Same opening montage from the preceding three seasons, making this the first time since season 19 where an opening montage was used for a fourth consecutive season.
— Heidi Gardner, Luke Null, and Chris Redd have been added to the cast.


MONOLOGUE
host takes credit for having saved jazz in La La Land; Emma Stone cameo

— The “I saved jazz” concept isn’t anything great in itself, but Ryan Gosling is executing it well, especially his “smooth” talk into the camera while playing the piano.
— There’s our first display tonight of Giggling Gosling, a common sight in Ryan’s preceding episode.
— Nice to see the SNL Band get some focus here.
— The “We saved jazz” turn from Emma Stone is pretty funny.
STARS: ***½


ANOTHER CLOSE ENCOUNTER
Ms. Rafferty’s second close encounter wasn’t much of an improvement

— (*groan*) And they obviously only brought this sketch back in this particular episode because of how much Ryan memorably giggled in the first installment of it.
— Mikey has taken over the basic role that the recently-departed-from-the-show Bobby Moynihan used to play in these sketches.
— You know how my comments about this recurring sketch goes: it should’ve stayed a one-and-done classic, it doesn’t work as a recurring sketch, Kate’s delivery as this character remains on-point but still doesn’t stop the template of her lines from feeling increasingly and tiredly by-the-numbers (particularly her anal/vaginal rhyming euphemisms).
— The part with Kate demonstrating on Ryan’s butt while making goofy vocalizations is such a blatant attempt to get more giggling out of Ryan. It’s nowhere near as endearing to me this time because this attempt at getting Kate to make Ryan laugh feels way too forced and try-hard on SNL’s part.
— Okay, Kate finally got one big laugh out of me just now, with the “He’s never gonna forget his 12th birthday” bit towards the end.
STARS: **


LEVI’S WOKES
unoffensively indeterminate Levi’s Wokes jeans are universally wearable

 

— A spot-on, timely, and well-filmed spoof of both woke culture and the typical style of jeans commercial.
— The statements that the Woke Jeans wearers are saying are priceless.
— Parts I particularly love are “Pockets sold separately”, the 180-degree “uni-fly” zipper, and the proudly-made announcement that, instead of being made by Indonesian kids, these jeans were made by white kids.
— Chris Redd is coming off really well and very amusing in his first role.
STARS: *****


THE FLIPLETS
dark (host) dispirits his brothers’ home renovation show

— A fairly simple format for a sketch placed so early in the show, but Ryan is solid as the brother who throws off the rhythm of this light-hearted commercial by saying dark, deep, disturbing, spiritual things. He has plenty of great lines here.
— I like the charmingly cheesy brotherly rapport between Mikey and Alex.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Damian Marley [real] perform “Bam”


WEEKEND UPDATE
newly-reelected Angela Merkel (KAM) still pines for an Obama alliance

Guy Who Just Bought A Boat & cousin (host) offer oily dating advice

— An awful lot of clapter in this Update so far, even if some of Colin and Michael’s points that induced that clapter are good points.
— Some aspects of Kate’s Angela Merkel commentaries kinda blend together with her Olya Povlatsky commentaries, and I prefer Olya Povlatsky, but Kate’s Merkel commentaries still have some spark left in them by this point.
— As usual, this Merkel commentary is getting good mileage out of the running storyline of her pining for Barack Obama.
— After Michael says, in regards to healthcare horror movies, that he’s worried because we all know who dies first in healthcare horror movies, Colin hilariously ad-libs a quick “Not me!” in response.
— Colin’s joke about White Fudge Ding Dongs also being the name of what Jost/Che Weekend Updates are called in China is absolutely classic. Also great is Michael saying about it afterwards, “I don’t know who that’s more racist to.”
— Colin’s kinda overdoing it tonight with the “That’s a great transition” ad-libs whenever the audience laughs as he begins introducing a commentary right after an outrageous joke of Michael’s.
— Alex’s Guy Who Just Bought A Boat character has officially become recurring.
— Like the previous time this Guy Who Just Bought A Boat character appeared, I’m really liking Alex’s impressively-delivered rapid-fire run of abbreviated slang words, but I run hot-and-cold on the running gag with him subliminally making comments about his small penis.
— Ryan is 2-for-2 in making an Update appearance as a similar counterpart to a preexisting Update character whenever he hosts. (Bobby Moynihan’s Anthony Crispino character being the previous character who Ryan played a counterpart to.)
— Ryan’s a decent addition here, though I found him more fun as Anthony Crispino’s counterpart.
STARS: ***½


HENRIETTA & THE FUGITIVE
in a barn, fugitive (host) opts to remain loyal to fowl Henrietta (AIB)

 

— When this sketch originally aired, I spent most of it unamused, not knowing what to make of it, and repeatedly asking myself “What the hell am I watching???”, before eventually being won over by it towards the end, making me love this sketch as a whole when thinking back on it. Because of that, it’ll be interesting to watch this again for the first time since that original airing.
— I’m loving the unconventional tone of this sketch, as well as the way this silliness is being played so straight.
— Aidy is giving what I feel is one of her best performances ever.
— A funny gaffe with Aidy having trouble grabbing the gun out of Ryan’s pocket, resulting in yet another display of Giggling Gosling.
— I got a good laugh from Kenan’s delivery of “AAH! HENRIETTA, WHY?!?” after getting shot.
— I know some people feel that the “20 years later” scene at the end was unneeded, but I strongly disagree, as that was the part that won me over on this overall sketch during its original airing. Back then, the initial cutaway to Aidy’s scarf-and-sunglasses-clad Henrietta waiting outside of the prison with a suitcase was both very funny and (especially) very charming to me.
— Another funny gaffe with Aidy’s scarf and sunglasses falling off right as she delivers her final line, which was a great way to end this sketch.
STARS: ****½


ITALIAN RESTAURANT
(host) & (CES) feel betrayed by Pizza Hut commercial’s pasta switcheroo

— Even though the concept of Ryan having a very angry overreaction to the mere reveal of his food being switched with another brand is bringing Chris Farley’s classic Hidden Camera Commercials short to mind (right down to a slowly-delivered “You son of a bitch” being the first words out of Ryan’s mouth when standing up after the reveal), this is still standing up on its own legs as a funny sketch.
— Even in just a small role, Chris Redd is cracking me up with 1) his delivery of his worried response to a threatening line Ryan said to him, and 2) him muttering in regret, “I wish I hadn’t told you my name.”
— Ryan’s performance is starting to remind me of his very intense performance in the fantastic Santa Baby short from his previous episode.
— Cecily: “Is this wine even real?!?” Mikey: “You ordered a Diet Coke.” Cecily: “(worried) Then why am I buzzed???”
— Ryan: “I oughta beat the death out of you!”
— Ryan breaking out into his usual giggling fit right now is why I’m so happy the aforementioned Santa Baby short was pre-taped (as I said in my review of that short), though his giggliness in this Italian Restaurant sketch is both brief and late-into-the-sketch enough that it’s not hurting it for me.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “4:44”


PAPYRUS
lazy font choice for Avatar logo obsesses & infuriates (host)

— Ah, yet another Julio Torres classic.
— A priceless reveal of what’s bothering Ryan so much: the movie Avatar using the papyrus font for its logo.
— I love Ryan getting up and flipping over the table in response to Kate revealing that the font used for the Avatar sequel’s logo looks similar to the papyrus font.
— Chris, on the possibility of Avatar using the papyrus font: “Maybe that was the starting point, but they clearly modified this.” Ryan: “Well, whatever they did…IT WASN’T…ENOUGH!!! (*smashes a glass in anger*)”
— Chris, on the papyrus font: “Where else do you even see this font?!?” Ryan: “Hookah bars…Shakira merch…off-brand teas.”
— Ryan, while looking at Kyle through a window in Kyle’s house: “I know what you did. I KNOW WHAT YOU DIIIIIIID!!!”
— An absolutely perfect ending with a simple screen of the word “papyrus” being displayed in the comic sans font.
— Overall, such a masterpiece. And Ryan is now 2-for-2 in giving an absolutely fantastic intense performance in a pre-taped short in an episode he hosts, after the aforementioned Santa Baby short from his previous episode.
STARS: *****


DIVE BAR
flautist’s (host) mysterious personal drama leaks into Treece Henderson’s gig

— The Treece Henderson sketch (a.k.a. the “Tweedle-do-twee! Tweedle-do-twow!” Kenan singing sketch) has officially become recurring after THREE YEARS, believe it or not. Its previous appearance was in the Martin Freeman episode from season 40.
— Ryan’s usual giggliness (which he isn’t even trying to hide in this sketch) is apparently contagious here, as Kenan is quite giggly himself throughout this sketch.
— The formula of this recurring sketch is so copy-and-paste that SNL has even plugged new cast member Heidi Gardner into the same role that the recently-departed-from-the-show Vanessa Bayer played in the first installment of this sketch, and they even keep Beck as the husband.

— Speaking of new cast members, let me just take the time right now to mention this: poooooor Luke Null. It’s the man’s first episode, and he has made NO APPEARANCES in it at all. AT. ALL. My goodness. You really gotta feel sorry for him. The writing is already on the wall for the poor guy’s SNL future.
— Kyle’s delivery of his one-liners is great. Much like with the first installment of this sketch, I’m torn. Kyle and Kenan’s delivery of their lines (especially Kenan’s occasional mentions of his “good jeans”, and his yell of “Durtricia! It was yooouuuuu!”) are making me laugh, but I’m not caring much for the actual material in this sketch.
— Another amusing gaffe, this time Leslie’s difficulty in tearing Kenan’s “good jeans”.
STARS: **½


IN MEMORIAM
a photo of Hugh Hefner marks his passing


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A good season premiere. When this season originally aired, I noticed worrying signs of a big decline for this SNL era right from the first three episodes of this season, but in my rewatch just now, I found this episode to be fine. Two five-star segments (Levi’s Wokes and Papyrus) and a lot of other good segments. Certainly not much to complain about.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Papyrus
Levi’s Wokes
Henrietta & The Fugitive
Italian Restaurant / The Fliplets (tie)
Weekend Update
Monologue
Dive Bar
Another Close Encounter
The Chaos President


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING SEASON (2016-17)
about the same


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Gal Gadot

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May 8, 2010 – Betty White / Jay-Z (S35 E21)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW
(host)’s daughter Dooneese frightens (WLF)

— For once, I actually got a chuckle from something Fred’s Lawrence Welk said, when pointing out how odd it is that he can pronounce the “th” in “mother”, but not the “th” in “thank you”.
— Deservedly huge applause for the first appearance of tonight’s special host, Betty White.
— We also get nice applause for the special return of former female cast members Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, Rachel Dratch, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Ana Gasteyer. Their presence tonight gives a fun novelty to the already-special feel of this Betty White-hosted episode.
— All that being said about Betty and the returning former female cast members, we unfortunately still have to see all of them get stuck playing second fiddle to a one-note Kristen Wiig character.
— Nothing to say about the Dooneese portions of this sketch. Same-old, same-old routine.
STARS: **


MONOLOGUE
host thanks Facebook for the gig but prefers traditional youth activities

— Already such a charm to the opening spiel of an overwhelmed Betty.
— Funny line about how, unlike live TV shows in her day, SNL has no excuse to be live instead of taped.
— A much-deserved thanks Betty gives to Facebook for campaigning for her to host SNL.
— So many laughs from a lot of the things Betty’s saying here.
— I know a lot of SNL fans find Betty’s line about her needing a Ouija board to connect with old friends to be really groan-worthy, but it made me laugh, perhaps just due to my goodwill towards Betty and her comic timing.
— Betty wistfully mentioning the historic things she’s lived through in her long life, then gratefully saying she’s here because we wanted her here is actually making me feel emotional.
STARS: ****


MACGRUBER
Grandma MacGruber (host) insists on “thank you” & “please” and tells embarrassing stories

— Our final set of MacGruber shorts to ever air on SNL. These can also be considered the real last hurrah of Will Forte, given the fact that he sadly gets no noteworthy roles in his final episode the following week, as you’ll see when I review that episode.
— Good laughs from the embarrassing things about MacGruber’s childhood that his grandma is revealing.
— I love Will’s extremely angry outburst.
— A very standard ending compared to some of the more noteworthy endings of MacGruber shorts, but still a funny one.
STARS: ****


THE DELICIOUS DISH
Margaret Jo & Terry celebrate dietary fiber with (host)’s famous muffin

— Wow. Feels very special and refreshing to see this recurring sketch back after so many years.
— So nice to see that Molly and Ana have not lost their touch at all with these great characters.
— Ah, a variation of the legendary Schwetty Balls installment of this recurring sketch, I see.
— While none of the Schwetty Balls sequels or variations will ever measure up to the original, in my opinion, all of the “dusty muffins” puns in this sketch are hilarious and hold their own pretty well.
— Betty: “As I used to say to my loving husband, Irving, of 55 years: What are you waiting for, stupid? Eat it!”
— I love Betty’s very deadpan delivery of “Not a fan” upon hearing that the topic of the next episode will be pork buns.
STARS: ****


THE MANUEL ORTIZ SHOW
Latin vibe permeates a love quadrilateral

— Ugh. This sketch has officially become recurring.
— Maya is at least a natural for this sketch.
— A very funny and memorable visual of Betty sloppily attempting to do the traditional dance of this recurring sketch. Easily the funniest thing to ever happen in any installment of this sketch.
— I like the awkward look on Ana’s face when the music stops very short while she’s doing the traditional dance.
— Will’s parents, upon finding out he’s gay: “That explains why he doesn’t like tacos!” Ugh. Hacky joke alert.
STARS: **


MACGRUBER
Grandma MacGruber tells more embarrassing stories & plays dead

— Solid bit with playing MacGruber’s grandma playing dead and MacGruber calling her out on it.
STARS: ****


GINGEY
only (host) sees folly of feminizing Antebellum lesbian grandkid (AMP)

— An oddly Chucky-from-Child’s-Play look for Amy’s character.
— Amy’s cheesy old-timey way of playing this character is pretty funny, and is right in her wheelhouse.
— Very one-note lines from Betty, but as usual, her delivery is tickling me.
— I particularly like Betty disclosing the fact that she wouldn’t miss balls if she could go back in time and “lez it up”.
STARS: ***


MACGRUBER
Grandma MacGruber accepts her grandson’s marriage proposal

— MacGruber’s comedic throwaway line about going through a gay phase in his past felt unnecessary. Between these past few sketches and shorts tonight, tonight’s episode seems to be doubling down a little too much on lolgay jokes.
— An absolutely hilarious turn with MacGruber’s “It’s a shame you can’t marry your own grandma…or can you?” I especially like the cutaway to Kristen’s smile fading during that.
— Very funny ending with MacGruber and his grandma’s romantic kiss getting cut off by what ends up being our final end-of-MacGruber-short explosion. (*sigh*) These MacGruber shorts had such a great run, and I’ll miss them.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs a medley of his hits; Bridget Kelly cameo


WEEKEND UPDATE
Whitney Houston (MAR) fails to rebut bad reviews of her comeback tour

Sally O’Malley’s 90 year-old counterpart (host) likes to stand, bend, sit

incredulous SEM, AMP, TIF say “Really!?!” to anti-terror schemes & Greece

— Seth’s Iceland volcano joke suddenly gets interrupted by an appearance from Maya’s Whitney Houston impression. I got sooooo sick of this impression during my coverage of Maya’s later days on SNL, but I’ve at least gotten a long break from it since then.
— There goes Maya’s usual extended dance-mugging as Whitney. That and lots of the other ad-libs Maya’s making here is making this commentary go on awfully long.
— This Whitney commentary is whole bunch of nothingness. Maya’s frequently ad-libbed lines and dancing, which themselves aren’t doing anything for me, are the only thing standing out here, as the written material isn’t up to anything at all.
— Okay, at least the bit with Maya’s Whitney instantly being out-of-breath when trying to sing “How Will I Know” is something different, but it’s still doing nothing for me.
— Ah, a Sally O’Malley appearance. My opinion of her is the inverse of me going from tolerating Maya’s Whitney Houston shtick in its earliest appearances to eventually getting sick of it, in that I couldn’t stand Sally O’Malley when I covered her first few sketches, then I came around on her in both her appearance in Molly’s final episode as a cast member and the episode that Molly hosted in season 32.
— A change of pace with Sally O’Malley getting interrupted by Betty playing a fun 90-year-old counterpart to O’Malley.
— The topics that tonight’s “Really?!?” segment is focusing on aren’t all that great compared to some of the past topics covered in this segment, but Seth and Amy are making a lot of good points here, and their comments are getting funnier as this goes along.
— Ah, now Tina joins in on tonight’s “Really?!?” to add a Greek flavor.
— At the very end of this Update, right before the camera fades to black, we get a very charming ending shot of a smiling Seth lowering his head in an overjoyed manner when Amy and Tina are embracing him (screencap below). You can tell it means a lot to him being surrounded at the Update desk by Amy and Tina.

STARS: ***


SCARED STRAIGHT
disobedient teens turn deaf ears to Lorenzo McIntosh & his grandma (host)

— Very funny visual of Betty in that wig.
— I know I keep pointing out Kenan’s weight loss this season, but it’s particularly noticeable here, compared to how he looked in the installments of this sketch from previous seasons.
— The usual laughs from the movie plot and prison rape references in this recurring sketch.
— There goes Bill’s obligatory character break whenever Kenan and the host gang up on him in these Scared Straight sketches. Jason makes it funnier this time by playfully throwing a shoe (the same one taken off of Bobby earlier in this sketch) at him from off-camera. Humorously, somebody on an SNL board back at this time in 2010 was really put off by that thrown shoe bit, because they mistakenly assumed the shoe was thrown by an unruly audience member. I remember that board member saying something like “This Betty White episode is getting a little too rowdy. Now we’re having audience members throwing shoes at performers during sketches?!?”
— A classic “Wizard of ASS!” line from Betty, especially when she comes back to repeat it in an emphasized manner at the end of this sketch.
STARS: ***½


CSI: SARASOTA
(RAD) & David Caruso’s aunt (host) in geriatric procedural

— Of all the returning female cast members tonight, it feels like Rachel’s been somewhat shafted in this episode. Up until this sketch, she hasn’t felt as visible or prominent as the other returning females tonight. She did have a cut-after-dress-rehearsal Debbie Downer sketch that would be posted online sometime after the show, (along with several other cut-after-dress sketches from this episode).
— Rachel appears to be playing her Abe Scheinwald character from back in the day, but her character is given a different name in this sketch.
— Betty’s David Caruso-esque one-liners into the camera at the end of each scene are pretty fun.
STARS: ***


THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND
cast members’ “Thank You For Being A Friend” precedes host’s metal version

— This tender singing of “Thank You For Being A Friend” by the cast and returning former female cast members is putting such a big smile on my face, and it’s so fun seeing this mixture of then-current and former cast members.
— A priceless turn with a masked Betty performing a wild and violent metal version of the song.
— I love the brief shot of Nasim screaming in absolute horror when she gets splattered by some blood from a hit-in-the-face-with-a-bat biker.
— Great shot of an intrigued Jason starting to film these wild actions on his phone.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Mr. Hudson [real] perform “Young Forever”


THE CENSUS
census taker (TIF) records apartment dweller’s (host) crazy responses

— Much like how we got a variation of the classic Schwetty Balls sketch earlier tonight, we’re now getting a variation of the classic Census sketch from Christopher Walken’s season 25 episode.
— It makes sense that Tina’s playing the Tim Meadows role in tonight’s variation of the Walken-starring Census sketch, as Tina wrote that Walken sketch, and I assume she also wrote this one.
— Tina: “How many people live at this residence?” Betty: “Uh, zero.” Tina: “You don’t live here?” Betty: “Oh, including me? Three.”
— Very funny bit about Betty not being able to tell if the cats living in her home are really cats or just homeless guys in fur coats.
— Betty: “Ah, ascertain – that used to be my stripper name.”
— Overall, much like the variation of Schwetty Balls earlier tonight, this doesn’t compare to the original, but was still a strong sketch in its own right.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

— Such a wonderful way to end tonight’s special episode, with Betty being presented with two bouquets of flowers. The live version I’m watching of this episode cuts these goodnights off VERY early while the camera is on a close-up of an overjoyed Betty holding her two bouquets of flowers (the last above screencap for these goodnights), but that’s a strangely fitting, significant, and heartwarming image to end this episode on.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— An episode deserving of its high acclaim. While not without its issues, this episode as a whole was a lot of fun, had a very special and unique feel, and contained a good number of strong pieces. The return of the former female cast members contributed to the important feel of this episode, and it was an interesting novelty seeing them interacting with then-current cast members throughout the night’s sketches. And the esteemed Betty White lived up to people’s high hopes by doing an excellent hosting job and even managing to appear in every single segment of this episode (not including Jay-Z’s musical performances), all of which is an impressive feat for someone her age.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Thank You For Being A Friend
MacGruber 3
Monologue
The Delicious Dish / The Census (tie)
MacGruber 1-2 (tie)
Scared Straight
CSI: Sarasota
Gingey
Weekend Update
The Manuel Ortiz Show
The Lawrence Welk Show


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Gabourey Sidibe)
a big step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Season 35 comes to an end, with host Alec Baldwin. It’s the final episode for veteran Will Forte and newbie Jenny Slate.

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November 2, 2002 – Eric McCormack / Jay-Z (S28 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

ENDORSEMENT ADS
Rudolph Giuliani (DAH) grinds out ads for GOP candidates he barely knows

— I like the little detail of how the sentimental background music in these endorsement ads always keeps abruptly stopping to a halt whenever Darrell’s Rudy Giuliani starts going off-script by questioning what he just read.
— The whole part with a reluctant Giuliani being forced to talk about how much he supports Heinrich Himmler is hilarious. However, I gotta say, the concept of the real Rudy Giuliani supporting Heinrich Himmler doesn’t come off so far-fetched nowadays. (And that’s about as political as you’ll ever see me get in these reviews.)
— Funny bit with how one political ad Darrell’s Giuliani reads off turns out to be an answering machine message for some random family, which catches him off-guard.
— The bit with Giuliani being made to read off a list of syllables so they can be dubbed in to make their own messages reminds me of how some SNL fans used to suggest (jokingly or not, I don’t know) that SNL should make Don Pardo (back when he was still alive) do the same thing, so his voice will live on forever after his death.
— A pretty funny ending ad with Darrell’s Giuliani mouthing along to badly dubbed-in, mechanical-sounding syllables of his own voice.
— Very awkward silence after Darrell’s pre-taped “Live from New York…”. No audience applause or theme music follows his LFNY at first; just uncomfortable dead silence. Geez.
STARS: ***


MONOLOGUE
host has trouble convincing audience members that he’s not gay

— A nice bouncy and energetic entrance from Eric McCormack, and I love how he asks the SNL Band to play the ending note again, which he proceeds to jump in time to.
— This monologue is basically just a gender-flipped version of Lucy Lawless’ monologue from season 24, where lesbian audience members (and some straight male audience members) kept asking Lawless lesbian-related questions.
— Boy, this one unseen guy in the audience has a VERY loud laugh that keeps standing out over the rest of the audience’s only-medium-level laughter throughout this monologue.
— Steve Higgins’ bit made me laugh out loud.
— Kattan shows up, addressing the famous gay rumors about himself while wearing his Mango clothes. I remember when this monologue originally aired, Kattan being dressed like that scared me into thinking we were getting a Mango sketch tonight. Thankfully, I was wrong.
— Pretty funny photo of Kattan with his wife, played by a scowling Paula Pell.
— At least Eric’s “manly” song is taking this into a different direction from Lucy Lawless’ monologue, but I’m not caring at all for this song.
STARS: **


THE BACHELOR
The Bachelor (host) picks ditzy hottie (MAR) instead of one-legged Amber

John Ritter, JIB, Bonnie Hunt inhabit Last-Chance Tuesdays on ABC

— The visual of Rachel in a hot tub while holding a plate of cooked meat up to Eric has shades of The Luvahs.
— Maya, to one-legged Amber: “At least I have two legs.” Amber: “At least I have two self-respects!”
— Maya’s ditziness is pretty funny.
— A laugh from Amber suddenly passing out unconscious right in the middle of bragging about how “hot” her hypoglycemia is.
— The brief “Last Chance Tuesdays” ABC commercial was absolutely hilarious, skewering the attempts at new sitcoms by Bonnie Hunt, John Ritter, and SNL’s own Jim Belushi. Who would’ve guessed at this time that According To Jim would end up lasting so many damn seasons?
— The Bachelor portions of this sketch are getting old. This sketch peaked so much with the unrelated “Last Chance Tuesdays” ad that it makes the remainder of this sketch pale in comparison. And I think Amy’s Amber character has finally reached that inevitable point where I’m starting to get kinda tired of her shtick, especially the farting nonsense.
STARS: **½


GAME NIGHT
losing at a party game causes ultra-competitive (RAD) to go on a rampage

— After such a serious set-up with a straightforward, joke-less first minute-and-a-half, we get a great turn with Rachel’s unexpected angry outburst.
— Rachel’s increasingly maniacal competitive attitude is very funny.
— Rachel: “Who the balls put Felix Mendelssohn?!?”
— We now get an epic and hilarious meltdown from Rachel, tearing the house apart, crashing through the wall (and leaving a human-shaped hole in the wall), and going insane outdoors while screaming and running around.
— Great detail of a now-frightened Eric rocking back and forth when Rachel speechlessly returns to the house after her meltdown.
— Overall, a very strong sketch and one of Rachel’s all-time best performances.
STARS: ****½


TALARICO FOR CONGRESS
Andrew Talarico (CHK) to voters- “tell Ellen Frankel (RAD) to stop lying”

— Uh… okay. I went through this whole mock attack ad without laughing a single time. There’s “spoofing something while using understated, low-key humor”, and then there’s “being so close to the source material it’s spoofing that you can’t find the joke”.
STARS: *


FRANKEL FOR CONGRESS
Ellen Frankel retaliates by asking voters to call Andrew Talarico

— Two of these attack ads in a row?
— The footage of Kattan’s character is actually from the cold opening of season 26’s Val Kilmer episode, in which Kattan played Al Gore’s lawyer.
— I get what this ad is going for, but ehhh, it’s not working too well for me. I am liking this second ad a little better than the first, though.
— I’m getting unwanted flashbacks to this season’s Sarah Michelle Gellar episode with how dead the audience is during these attack ads.
STARS: **


AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN
Paula Zahn (TIF) & new co-anchor (host) fall in love

— I believe this is the very first instance of Tina starring in a sketch as either a character or a celebrity impression, instead of as herself. I remember what a shocking sight this was at the time.
— Wow, Rachel has been everywhere so far in tonight’s episode, which is nice to see.
— A good laugh from the sudden “Are we in love?” turn from out of nowhere.
— Okay, after the initially-funny “Are we in love?” turn, I don’t like where this sketch is going.
— Yeah, it’s now two minutes later, and I haven’t been laughing at all. This sketch is pure blah.
— Ugh, enough with Tina and Eric passionately kissing each other. If SNL is expecting these kisses to get a whole bunch of “Woo!”s from the audience, it’s not working, as the audience is DEAD SILENT during these kissing sessions, which just makes it uncomfortable to me. By the way, some of the audience members from the aforementioned Sarah Michelle Gellar episode must’ve returned tonight, as there have been a few things in tonight’s episode that have been met with eerie silence, including Darrell’s pre-taped “Live from New York” at the end of the cold opening. Actually, as I said in my review of this season’s first episode, sketches and certain moments receiving uncomfortable silence from the audience is a bit of a theme this season, which adds to the “off” feeling of this season. While silence from audiences this season would never again get as bad as it was in the Sarah Michelle Gellar episode, I do remember the Jeff Gordon episode that’s coming up later this season having a somewhat tough audience.
STARS: *½


FAIRNESS IN NEGATIVE ATTACK ADS
Andrew Talarico’s follow-up anti-Frankel ad reaches new level of negation

— The increasingly convoluted messages of these attack ads (e.g. “Call Ellen Frankel to tell her to stop asking voters to call Andy Talarico to tell him to stop asking them to call her… etc.”) are not working much for me. They’re eliciting a minor smirk at best.
— I got one actual laugh just now, from the non-sequitur gag of a “J.Lo: I want Ben’s babies” headline being shown as a newspaper snippet example.
STARS: **


SIDE NOTE: The “torn edges” border used in some of this season’s bumper photos of hosts and musical guests reminds me so much of the bumper photo format from the early 90s. (some side-by-side comparisons below)


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Lenny Kravitz [real] perform “Guns & Roses”


WEEKEND UPDATE
belabored puns in Gene Shalit’s (HOS) movie reviews make no sense

atop the newsdesk, toddler rapper Baby K (JER) gets the party started

— Hmm, New York was then-recently chosen to host the 2012 Olympics? What ever happened to that? Didn’t the 2012 Olympics end up being held in London?
— Meh, another Gene Shalit Update commentary.
— Horatio-as-Shalit’s barrage of corny puns are doing NOTHING for me, not even in a “So bad, it’s good” way.
— Okay, I’m starting to get some chuckles from Shalit’s puns.
— Aaaaaand there goes the obligatory Fallon/Sanz gigglefest, where Horatio makes himself and Jimmy laugh far more than he makes me laugh. As bad as this is, the dress rehearsal version of this Gene Shalit commentary that’s shown in reruns features even worse Fallon/Sanz giggling.
— Tina, in an ad-libbed aside after the Gene Shalit gigglefest commentary has ended: “We’ve lost complete control.” Truer words have never been spoken.
— A very odd Phil Collins bit between Jimmy and Tina, but I kinda liked it, even though I feel like it might be spoofing something I’m not familiar with.
— What was with the very brief accidental cut to Tina when Jimmy was about to start the next joke? That gaffe receives extended laughter from the audience.
— Jeff attempts a new character, Baby K. And, hoo boy, this is absolutely not working for me. AT. ALL. The “comedy” here is fucking cringeworthy, and this is coming off like a rejected character from Nickelodeon’s “All That” or some shit. (Not to diss All That too much. Like most 90s kids, that show is a huge part of my childhood.) Hell, the occasional technical glitches with the superimposing effect on Jeff are more interesting than anything in the actual bit itself.
— And THAT’S how this Update ends? With that mind-numbingly god-awful Baby K bit? Boy, this overall Update was kind of a mess, which sadly continues the decline in quality that this season’s Updates have been taking.
STARS: **


BULLHORN
lax judge (WLF) is slow to yank contemptuous defendant’s (host) bullhorn

— Great to see Will having another big showcase after breaking out in the last episode with his Tim Calhoun debut.
— The absurdity of this sketch is really working for me. I’d like to think Will wrote this sketch himself. Not only because he has a co-starring role in it, but because the oddball writing and dialogue is very much in his wheelhouse and has a specific Forte-type feel.
— All of Will’s various responses to Eric’s ruthless bullhorn sounds are freakin’ hilarious, made even funnier by the grim, sluggish delivery Will’s using. He has me practically on the floor throughout this sketch.
— Funny turn with Eric now playing musical tones on his bullhorn instead of just generic horn sounds.
— Yeah, the more I listen to this dialogue, the more I’m convinced that Will had to have written this. Or at the very least, perhaps the writing team of Slovin & Allen wrote this, as they would prove to have a knack for tapping into Will’s oddball qualities and utilizing them perfectly (the soon-to-debut Falconer sketches).
— Very funny turn with Will surprisingly ruling Eric “not guilty” just because, as he tells Eric, “I like the cut of your jib.” Such a priceless line.
— I love the ending, with Eric IMMEDIATELY following Will’s generous “not guilty” ruling of him by playing the annoying bullhorn sounds once again, quickly diminishing Will’s goodwill towards him, leading to him sternly telling Eric during the sketch-ending audience applause, “Mr. Marshall, I’m trying to HELP you.”
— Overall, such a great absurd sketch that’s probably forgotten by most SNL fans after all these years. Only four episodes into his SNL tenure, and only two big roles for him so far, and Will is ALREADY emerging as a champion and a dependable performer in this shaky season.
STARS: ****½


VERIZON
Ellen Frankel encourages voters to call Andrew Talarico’s home phone

— Aaaaaaand these have officially gotten old. Enough of these, before they go the route of those insufferable Corona ads from earlier this season, where I have to contemplate giving out negative stars in my rating.
STARS: *


Z105
voiceplay of morning deejay Joey Mack (JIF) victimizes politician (host)

— Meh, the debut of these Z105 sketches, which I am NOT eager about revisiting. All I remember from these is nothing but idiotic, juvenile bathroom humor.
— So far in tonight’s installment, Jimmy is at least showcasing a nice and fun range of different voices that he’s constantly going back and forth between.
— Aaaaaand there’s all that idiotic, juvenile humor I mentioned earlier. Not caring for this.
— Ugh, and there goes the “He pooped his pants” routine, the bane of these Z105 sketches, and the main thing I’ve always remembered about hating in these.
STARS: **


JOHN HANCOCK LIFE INSURANCE
alarmist scenario demonstrates need for coverage

— At least we’re getting a different pre-taped commercial from those tedious and unfunny political attack ads.
— Yet another role for Rachel tonight. I’m very happy to see her being so heavily utilized in this episode, after how underused she’s been for most of this season.
— Rachel and Eric’s dead-serious discussion of absurd things like knife-wielding hobos and sex in a Waffle House parking lot is pretty funny, as is the accompanying disclaimers on screen about such things.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & Beyonce [real] perform “’03 Bonnie & Clyde”


JACKASS THE MUSICAL
stunts meet songs when show-offs perform showtunes

— Funny concept of a musical for the then-recently-released Jackass The Movie, of all things.
— The unintentional delayed timing from the guy in the panda bear costume tackling Seth gets a laugh from the audience (and Eric). I can’t help but wonder if it’s a giggling Horatio Sanz inside that panda bear costume. That would certainly explain some things.
— Parnell’s ending voice-over, regarding Jackass The Musical: “Just like your favorite musicals of the past… only with puking.”
— This overall sketch kinda fizzled out towards the end a bit, despite the fun nature of the whole sketch.
STARS: ***


STORIES
(MAR) embarrasses bar patron (TRM) by debunking his braggadocio

— Another Tracy/Maya semi-dramatic slice-of-life sketch.
— I’m surprised that Tracy is just NOW making his first and only appearance all night, all the way at the very end of the show. His airtime had been doing well this season. Oh, well, at least his appearance here is still a lead role, one that utilizes his distinct performance style well.
— Tracy’s embellished stories and Maya subsequently setting the record straight on what really went down in Tracy’s stories are pretty solid. And I love the general atmosphere of this sketch. It makes this feel like a scene from a movie or something.
— A good cheap laugh from Maya’s line about Tracy leaving “serious streaks in his drawers”.
STARS: ***½


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A mediocre episode. While there were two truly great things tonight, one being a strong Rachel Dratch showcase and the other being a forgotten-but-delightful early-era Will Forte piece, they were surrounded by a lot of meh and a few outright terrible things.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (John McCain)
a big step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Nia Vardalos

Posted on

December 16, 2000 – Lucy Liu / Jay-Z (S26 E8)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

CHI-CHI’S
at Chi-Chi’s, George W. Bush (WIF) & Al Gore (DAH) attempt reconciliation

— This is SNL’s first Bush/Gore sketch after a winner of this insane, drawn-out election was finally announced earlier that week: Bush.
— I like how this Bush/Gore sketch is set in a Chi-Chi’s, of all places. This shows how fun and loose SNL’s Bush/Gore sketches this election season have become. I remember saying in my old review that I originally did of this episode back in 2000, “Next thing you’ll know, they’ll put these two at Chuck E. Cheese’s.” Even all these years later, I can still picture a sketch like that.
— Bush: “Hey, maybe I’ll start a war. Wars are like executions, supersized!” Uh, hoo, boy.
— A lot of laughs during Bush and Gore’s entire conversation.
— Bush’s hot peppers prank on Gore is very funny.
— Funny ending with Bush faking Gore out after agreeing to say “Live from New York…” in unison with him.
— Overall, a solid end to the Bush/Gore sketches of this election season.
STARS: ****


MONOLOGUE
host embraced female Asian stereotypes during her week at SNL

— Lucy Liu is coming off likable early on in this monologue.
— Tracy’s getting some good laughs from the bit with Lucy giving him a back massage.
— They’re going through just about every Asian stereotype imaginable, but this seems to be all in good fun, and I’m finding that this monologue is coming off funny enough in its execution, even if it’s something that might be considered problematic by today’s standards.
— A particularly funny bit with Lucy presenting a cooked cocker spaniel. I especially like Horatio’s “Mmm! That’s good dog!” line.
STARS: ***


PRICELINE.COM
the tech stock plunge hurt priceline.com spokesman William Shatner (DAH)

— Oh, no. Did we need the return of this mediocre bit from the preceding season’s Julianna Margulies episode?
— Same problems as last time. Darrell’s William Shatner impression is surprisingly weak, and the idea of spoofing Shatner’s Priceline ads is flawed, as those Priceline ads themselves are tongue-in-cheek.
— Tonight’s Priceline sketch is even worse than the last one. I’m not even sure where the laughs in this one are supposed to be coming from. I’d argue that the real Priceline commercials are actually funnier than this so-called spoof.
STARS: *


TRL
Gemini’s Twin added (host) because she has a minivan

— Gemini’s Twin officially become recurring.
— Like last time, I’m getting some good laughs from the music video shown tonight.
— Lucy is very funny in this sketch, even more so than Charlize Theron was in the first installment of this sketch.
— Overall, not bad, but I can tell I’m gonna eventually get tired of these Gemini’s Twin sketches, especially since they seem to be following the same formula.
STARS: ***


CELEBRITY JEOPARDY
Robin Williams (JIF) & Catherine Zeta-Jones (host) fail

— I love Will-as-Alex-Trebek’s failed attempt to speed past his intro of Darrell’s Sean Connery so he can quickly move on to the reading of the categories without Connery getting in his usual wisecracks at him.
— Jimmy displays another spot-on and hilarious impression in a Celebrity Jeopardy sketch, this time doing Robin Williams. He’s slaying me throughout this sketch, and so is Will-as-Trebek’s reactions to him.
— There’s our obligatory classic category mix-up of tonight’s Celebrity Jeopardy edition, this time with Connery reading “An album cover” as “Anal bum cover”.
— Very funny how for Final Jeopardy, Trebek tells the contestants to each ask their own question and then answer it. SNL keeps topping themselves with the ridiculous lengths they’ll have Will’s Trebek go to give the contestants an easy-to-answer Final Jeopardy question.
— We can see an unintentional glimpse of Jimmy’s real hand hidden in his sleeve when he’s holding a fake hand that has a pen sticking through it.
— Priceless Final Jeopardy answer from Connery, with us seeing half of a drawing of Trebek and a horse having sex with each other.
— Interestingly, this is the second sketch tonight to end with Darrell playfully slapping the side of Will’s head. The cold opening was the first sketch that happened in, when Will was saying “Live From New York…”.
STARS: *****


PRETTY LIVING
joyologist Helen’s new fling is a female lumberjack (host)

— WHY, GOD, WHY?!? And this is the second damn time that SNL has immediately followed my absolute favorite recurring sketch of this era, Celebrity Jeopardy, with my absolute least favorite recurring sketch of this era, Pretty Living. Season 24’s Ben Stiller episode is the first time this happened.
— On an up note, this mercifully ends up being the final Pretty Living sketch. Hallelujah!
— A change of pace with Helen Madden’s love interest being a female this time, but that’s still not making this sketch any more interesting.
— Helen Madden’s self-love mistletoe is kinda funny, I admit.
— Overall, good fucking riddance to this unbearable recurring sketch. It was rough reviewing these when covering these last few seasons, but, like a trouper, I made it through.
STARS: *½


JARRET’S ROOM
dorm-based webcast is a window into youth culture

— This soon-to-be-recurring sketch makes its debut.
— Horatio’s stoner character, Gobi, is pretty funny so far. Time will tell if I’ll eventually get tired of this character when reviewing this series of Jarret’s Room sketches.
— When Lucy points out that Jarret’s Room’s only fan is in Iceland, I got a good laugh from Jarret saying “Aw, yeah! Shoutout to Yaorg!”
— Pretty funny walk-on from Parnell.
— This sketch has taken kind of a dull turn in the second half.
— Overall, a fairly meh debut for this sketch. While there was kind of a charm to this sketch’s accurate portrayal of late 90s/early 2000s youth culture (and as a teen of that era myself, this sketch kinda brought me back), nothing was too noteworthy in this, and as I said earlier, portions of this came off kinda dull. IIRC, there would be some fun installments of this sketch to later come in the following season when they do some much-needed tweaking to the sketch and also add in new characters played by some of that season’s new featured players (Seth Meyers, Jeff Richards).
STARS: **½


WEEKEND UPDATE
modern trappings sidetrack James Madison’s (RAD) electoral college spiel
JIF & TIF change Baby New Year’s (CHK) diaper
JIF plays guitar & sings pop-inspired songs about Christmas presents

— A very Jimmy Fallon-dominated episode so far tonight. He’s been all over this show.
— Odd casting of Rachel as James Madison, but it’s working in the silly nature of this general commentary.
— I love the goofy mesmerized facial expression that Rachel’s James Madison makes when repeatedly clicking a pen in fascination (the fifth above screencap for this Weekend Update).
— Some of Jimmy and Tina’s jokes are receiving a somewhat tepid audience reaction tonight.
— Another silly and odd bit in tonight’s Update, with Kattan as Baby New Year. A fairly fun and goofy segment. Lots of silliness in tonight’s Update in general, once again showing how much things have changed in this new Update era compared to the stiffness and straightforwardness of the Colin Quinn era of Update.
— A piece of confetti from the Baby New Year segment has gotten stuck in Jimmy’s hair, and humorously remains there for the remainder of this Update, unbeknownst to him.
— Hmm, Jimmy has found a way to continue doing his traditional Update guitar songs even after becoming an Update anchor.
— Didn’t care for first few songs in Jimmy’s song medley tonight, but I like him now doing a parody of U2’s performances from the last episode, right down to running around the audience and repeatedly shoving his open mouth at the camera, ala Bono.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)”


TRIMMING THE TREE
angel (MOS) & other Christmas ornaments worry about making it to the tree

— A cutesy sketch that feels a little unusual for SNL, but I’m kinda enjoying this.
— Sad that this is the only big thing Parnell is getting to do in this entire episode, and it’s just a boring dad role where he doesn’t get anything comedic to do or say. After Parnell dominated the last episode with probably the most airtime of his entire SNL tenure, I see SNL has gone back to their usual habit of underusing Parnell and typecasting him in thankless small-ish roles.
— I love Horatio as the California Raisin.
— Funny bit with Maya as a space heater instruction manual.
— Some awkward timing issues throughout this sketch from the use of two child actors and a dog, but it’s forgivable.
— Overall, a pretty charming sketch.
STARS: ***


MURDER IN THE MAKE BELIEVE BALLROOM
more rap from Robert Goulet (WIF)

— Nice to see Will’s Robert Goulet impression become recurring, though as far as sketches with him advertising a rap album of his while sitting in a convertible out in the woods go, they’ll never top the first installment.
— Goulet’s rapport with Jay-Z and the other rappers is pretty funny.
— Are Jay-Z and the other rappers genuinely stoned out of their minds during this sketch? They are so out of it during this sketch, and I’m fairly sure that’s not acting.
— I remember when this originally aired, I was very thrown off by Will’s singing of the lyric “Who the fluck want one, babyyyyyy”, as I seriously wondered if he used the actual f-word or just “fluck”. I couldn’t tell. I would soon find out that it was “fluck”, but even listening to it now, 20 years later, I still think it sounds VERY close to the f-word.
— Speaking of expletives not allowed on SNL, Jay-Z actually does utter one shortly after Will’s f-bomb fake-out. Jay-Z pretends(?) to accidentally spill some ashes from his joint onto himself, and then deliberately(?) mutters an audible “shit” in response. I didn’t even catch that when this episode originally aired (I was probably too busy STILL asking myself in shock “Did Will just say the f-word on live TV?!?!?!”), but Will certainly caught it, as he briefly turns his head towards Jay-Z and laughs out of character while delivering the next line. I’m currently watching the rerun version of this episode, however, which mutes out Jay-Z’s s-bomb.
— Ha, the big-horned sheep returns!
— I love Goulet saying “Hey, fellas, you curled his horns” when the one of the rappers lets the big-horned sheep have a toke from a joint.
— Overall, this was funny, but doesn’t come close to holding a candle to the classic first Goulet sketch.
STARS: ***½


SEASON’S GREETINGS
interloper interrupts message of season’s greetings by JIF & TIF

— Uh, okay. A very brief segment overall, but I got a pretty good laugh from the random guy joining in on Jimmy and Tina’s holiday message, only for Jimmy to respond “Who the (bleep) are you?!?”
STARS: not even sure if this very brief segment warrants a rating, but if it does, I’ll give it ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Is That Your Chick”


SEASON’S GREETINGS (not to be confused with the earlier sketch tonight of the exact same title)
HOS, CHK, TRM, JIF once again perform a happy Christmas ditty

— Jimmy continues to absolutely dominate tonight’s episode. You’d think he was tonight’s host instead of Lucy Liu, especially since Lucy has strangely been M.I.A. since the Trimming The Tree sketch from almost 20 minutes ago (not counting her intro to Jay-Z’s second musical performance).
— The Sanz/Fallon/Kattan/Morgan Christmas song routine officially becomes recurring after debuting only ONE EPISODE AGO. It’s a good thing I love these songs, and thus, I can’t complain nowadays about seeing this back so insanely soon. I certainly do remember complaining about the very early return of this sketch in my original 2000 review of this episode, though, and I said stuff like “SNL is running out of ideas”.
— Nothing else to say here, but overall, this was fun as always. I’ll always be a sucker for these sketches, even if I prefer some of the later versions where there are interesting set-ups to the song or there are variations of the holiday theme.
STARS: ****


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very average episode. There were enough highlights to make this a passable episode, but this is the most forgettable episode of the season so far. There was also an awful lot of reliance on recurring sketches. I think Jarret’s Room (not yet recurring at this point) and Trimming The Tree were the ONLY original sketches all night.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Val Kilmer)
a step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
We enter the year 2001, with host Charlie Sheen