Tag: Jennifer Lopez

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February 27, 2010 – Jennifer Lopez (S35 E15)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

WE ARE THE WORLD 3
“We Are The World 3” is sung to atone for disastrous “We Are The World 2”

— A laugh from Kenan’s Quincy Jones calling the then-recent We Are The World 2 a disaster that included “half-famous randos”.
— I like how this feels like a then-modern version of SNL’s famous We Are The World-esque sketches from the early 90s.
— Much like a gripe I had with the We Are The World-esque Set Our Nanny Free sketch SNL did in a Jon Lovitz-hosted episode from the late 90s, I’m not too crazy about how they’re displaying each singer’s name onscreen in this sketch. It was more fun when you had to guess which singer each cast member was playing in the We Are The World-esque sketches from the early 90s.
— Very energetic performance from Abby as Melissa Etheridge.
— Funny insane facial expressions from Bobby’s David Crosby.
— Interesting seeing the host getting involved in one of these.
— The audience seems pretty dead during this, especially compared to past We Are The World-esque sketches. And also unlike past We Are The World-esque sketches, this sketch isn’t memorable at all, despite a few fun impressions and a few amusing lyrics about the questionable aspects of We Are The World 2.
STARS: **½


MONOLOGUE
host’s entourage & fans wish she hadn’t changed over the past decade

— Jennifer Lopez seemed to expect that “Now I’m married…” line of hers to get applause, which it initially didn’t until after a few seconds where the audience hesitantly applauded. I recall seeing comments about her also having an awkward moment like this in her most recent monologue from season 45, in which she said something about being blessed, and the audience gave very hesitant applause after initial silence. I haven’t seen that for myself yet, because, as I’ve said in some previous reviews, I’ve been on a still-ongoing hiatus from watching new SNL episodes since December 2018.
— Good delivery from a bitter Kenan.
— Feels very rare to see Bill and (especially) Jason in drag. I want to say this is the only time Jason ever dressed in drag on SNL, but I get the nagging feeling it’s not and I’m probably just forgetting something.
— Jason’s delivery of “And I’m J.Blo” cracked me up.
STARS: **½


GYNE-LOTRIMIN LADIES WORLD CUP OF CURLING 1987
Pete Twinkle & Greg Stink cover 1987 ladies’ curling competition

— Wow, is SNL just throwing this sketch on every two episodes at this point? It sure feels like it. Luckily, I’ve been loving all of the installments of this sketch that have aired up to this point, but I can’t help but take this, as well as certain other recurring sketches this season, as a sign of how desperate this season’s writing has become in terms of creativity.
— Feels odd seeing Jason playing this ESPN Classic character of his with eyeliner this time, but he obviously only has that eyeliner on because he used it when playing Adam Lambert in the cold opening and a drag queen in the monologue, and didn’t have enough time to remove it for this sketch.
— You can tell Jason is genuinely unsure of how to pronounce “vaginal”, which he then makes a great ad-lib about.
— The Jason/Will portions of this sketch never fail to slay me.
— Jason: “From Bo Derek to Susan Lucci, it’s the brand the stars use to clean their coochie……..Gyne-Lotrimin Vaginal Cream!”
— Jason: “When ya hop up from the futon, and all you’re left is a wet crouton………………….Gyne-Lotrimin Vaginal Cream!”
STARS: ****


FLAGS OF THE WORLD
emblematic cloths range from legitimate to punny

— Oddly, a subtitle stating “I like to hit people with my car!”, reserved for the live sketch that follows this, is accidentally displayed at the beginning of this Digital Short (as seen in the first above screencap for this short).
— Tons of gags are being thrown at us per minute in this short. I love it.
— In addition to the very fun and gag-filled fast pacing of this, the music is very catchy.
— Hard to pick out my favorite flag gags, due to how frequent and fast-paced the gags are.
STARS: ****


HOLLYWOOD DISH
misleading editing further twists host’s Hollywood Dish interview fakery

— Meh, like the first installment of this sketch from earlier this season, I don’t care for how this sketch seems to just be an excuse to do constant cutaways to Kristen and Bill making various goofy facial expressions. It feels like this SNL era relies too heavily on that type of humor in general.
— Jennifer’s insanely-delivered Spanish spiel that Bill and Kristen forced her to do cracked me up.
STARS: **


VANCOUVER 2010
Telemundo anchors (FRA) & (host) find the Winter Olympics cold & awful

— I like Fred and Jennifer questioning the usefulness of Winter Olympics.
— Boy, that is an awful Hispanic accent Jenny is attempting.
— Good part with Fred and Jennifer freaking out over the “unfinished” ramp in the ski-jumping clip.
— Solid performance from Bill, depressed over the “shuffleboard” floor being frozen with ice.
— There’s Bobby in his usual funny walk-on.
— Despite all of the aforementioned high points, I’m slightly meh on this sketch as a whole. Not even sure why.
STARS: **½


UNDERCOVER CELEBRITY BOSS
executives’ fame undermines concept of series

— This started out well with the Steve Jobs scene, but the subsequent scenes aren’t quite as strong for me, despite Bill’s fun impression of Richard Branson.
— Kristen playing Martha Stewart??? Whaaaaaaa??? Why didn’t I remember this until now? I thought I had remembered ALL of SNL’s many Martha Stewart impersonators from over the years.
STARS: **½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Until It Beats No More”


WEEKEND UPDATE
YouTube video pushed by new media correspondent BOM won’t stop buffering

besieged lame duck David Paterson (FRA) doesn’t attenuate his invective

— It feels very interesting and rare at this point of SNL’s run to see a cast member do an Update commentary as themselves.
— I remember some online SNL fans back at this time in 2010 complaining that the “buffering” gag throughout Bobby’s commentary seemed very outdated by this point and felt more like something that would’ve been timely 10 years earlier. I can see their point, but Bobby’s at least coming off as his usual likable and fun self here.
— Ha, I love the callback/payoff to Bobby’s commentary, a minute after it ended, with him suddenly interrupting a joke of Seth’s to show him the video, only for it to IMMEDIATELY buffer on him once again.
— Even though I’m seemingly in the minority in actually liking Fred’s David Paterson, even *I* have to take issue with him appearing tonight, because, come on, they just did a David Paterson Update commentary a few episodes ago. It’s way too soon to do another one.
— I do at least like how they’re shaking things up with Fred-as-Paterson’s entrance, with him now doing a failed surprise attack on Seth.
— I actually got a big laugh from Fred-as-Paterson’s “…or whatever abandoned shoneys they huddle in” remark.
— Boy, Seth is audibly laughing up a storm off-camera throughout the Paterson commentary. He’s developed a really bad habit of doing that lately whenever an Update guest is giving a commentary.
STARS: ***


BESOS Y LAGRIMAS
Carlos’ (FRA) emotions run hot for nun Josephina (host)

— The hell? They’re digging this sketch back up after a FOUR-YEAR ABSENCE??? Not to mention how even the last time this sketch appeared prior to tonight (when Antonio Banderas hosted) was its first appearance since its debut two seasons prior. So lazy of SNL to pull this sketch out of the mothballs just because we have a Hispanic host. Probably yet another sign of how dry on creativity this season’s writing has become.
— Another excuse for a Kristen Wiig mugfest tonight, I see. Wasn’t that Hollywood Dish sketch enough? Kristen is noticeably mugging even hammier than the other performers in this sketch, and, of course, the audience is eating her mugging all up.
— Boy, even with the long absence of this sketch, I’ve gotten sick of its format. I’m also seeing more and more of a precursor to The Californians in this sketch’s format, which I definitely don’t consider to be a positive thing, as The Californians is pure comedy cancer to me, and completes the trifecta of what are probably my top three most hated recurring pieces from this SNL era: The Vogelchecks, Garth & Kat, and The Californians….and it’s no surprise that all three of those recurring pieces co-star Fred and Kristen.
STARS: *½


ETERNAL SPARK OF LOVE
office romance involving puppeteer (host) resists soulful commentary

— The second and final appearance of this sketch. Not sure this will work in a second installment.
— Like last time, Kenan is killing in this.
— I love Kenan being wheeled out of the scene when he’s still in the middle of rambling about the oddness of Jennifer having a house filled with 50 ventriloquist puppets.
— I like a speechless, puzzled Kenan being wheeled right through the shot after Jennifer’s display of ventriloquism, only to say “Wait, wait, wait, I got something”, then, when wheeled back into the shot, says “Nah, I got nothin’.”
— Wasn’t necessary to repeat the gag from the first installment where Kenan falls off the moving platform, then angrily calls out “Jimmy”, the crew member responsible.
— Hmm, an unexpected ending with a horny Kenan implying there’s a romantic same-sex spark between Jennifer and Nasim.
STARS: ***½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Starting Over”


SMASH MOUTH
girl (NAP) fears bedroom closet monster Smash Mouth (BOM), (BIH), (FRA)

— A brilliant premise.
— Great line from Nasim about how she doesn’t want to sing a sample of Smash Mouth’s song because it’ll get stuck in Jennifer’s head.
— Nasim: “Mom, they’re right there! I can see their soul patches!”
— When Nasim starts singing the famous “someBODY once told…” lyric to Jason, who thinks he’s not familiar with Smash Mouth’s music, I love Jason IMMEDIATELY putting a stop to that by saying “Okay, okay, I got it.”
— Excellent gag with Smash Mouth crashing through the wall behind Nasim.
— A very solid big speech Jennifer gives to Nasim towards the end about why she shouldn’t be scared of Smash Mouth.
— When this originally aired, I think I was of the opinion that this otherwise-great sketch ended on a weak and corny note with all the characters singing Smash Mouth’s “All Star” together, but I’m more onboard with that ending nowadays.
STARS: *****


CAR HORNS AND MORE
Tina Tina Chanuse’s Car Horns & More has custom verbal vehicle warnings

— I could do without the return of this character of Jenny’s, given how I wasn’t crazy about it the first time.
— Much like in the first installment of this sketch, Bobby’s sarcastic delivery of “PFFFFT! Nice car horn!” is somehow the funniest part of the entire sketch to me.
— Part of the reason these sketches don’t work for me is because it gets tiring hearing all of those comedic doorbell/car horn voice-overs back to back, and I’d find them funnier as an isolated, individual gag rather than hearing all of them one after another. That being said, I’m not finding the car horn voice-overs in tonight’s installment quite as tiring as the doorbell ones from the first installment.
— Jenny and Jennifer make a decent duo here. I recall hearing Jennifer would later do a sketch kinda like this with current cast member Melissa Villasenor in the aforementioned season 45 J.Lo-hosted episode that I haven’t seen yet.
STARS: **½


CLOSET ORGANIZER
— Rerun from 1/30/10.
— Aww, Jon Hamm’s testimonial, one of the absolute funniest parts of this already-fantastic commercial, has been removed in this rerun. I can see why, given the fact that Jon Hamm isn’t hosting tonight’s episode, but they should’ve left his testimonial in anyway. After all, the season 33 Christopher Walken episode re-aired that Tina Fey-co-starring Annuale ad in full, from the episode Tina hosted earlier that season.


GOODNIGHTS

— At one point early in her goodnights speech, Jennifer thanks Darrell Hammond. Uh, did I blink and miss another season 35 Darrell Hammond cameo earlier tonight, or is my memory just bad? I don’t recall seeing Darrell AT ALL in this episode.

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A fairly meh episode as a whole, despite a few strong highlights. It’s hard for me to get excited about Jennifer Lopez-hosted episodes, and the forgettable quality of both her season 26 episode and this season 35 episode of hers backs up that lack of excitement from me. It remains to be seen how I’ll react to her aforementioned season 45 episode, though I think I recall hearing not-so-great things about it.


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


RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Smash Mouth
Flags Of The World
Gyne-Lotrimin Ladies World Cup Of Curling 1987
Eternal Spark of Love
Weekend Update
Vancouver 2010
Car Horns And More
We Are The World 3
Monologue
Undercover Celebrity Boss
Hollywood Dish
Besos Y Lagrimas


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Ashton Kutcher)
a mild step down


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Zach Galifianakis makes his hosting debut

Posted on

February 10, 2001 – Jennifer Lopez (S26 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BACKSTAGE
while TRM fills in as George W. Bush, WIF can’t get over host’s booty

 

— For the first time all season, we get a non-political cold opening… well, sort of. You’ll see what I mean a little later in this opening (if you can’t already tell from the above screencaps).
— Will apologizing to Jennifer Lopez for wanting to get his hands on her “juicy” behind is referencing a sketch that Will and Jennifer did at the end of an SNL Primetime Extra special from earlier that week. Primetime Extra was a two-week experiment in early February 2001, in which NBC aired a 20-minute live SNL episode on Thursday nights after a “Supersized” 40-minute episode of Friends, in an attempt to compete against CBS’s monster hit Survivor. Primetime Extra was basically the precursor to the “Weekend Update Thursday” specials that SNL has been doing on occasional years since 2008, only the Primetime Extra specials were less focused on Weekend Update and featured various sketches, including a Celebrity Jeopardy sketch at one point that I believe has become rather obscure compared to the Celebrity Jeopardy sketches that aired in regular SNL episodes.
— Tracy filling in for Will as Bush is hilarious, and I like how Tracy’s attempting an actual Bush impression.
— Some good laughs from Will waxing poetic about Jennifer’s behind.
— Jennifer is pretty bland as the straight man here.
— I love Tracy-as-Bush’s “How’s that for a tax plan?” bit.
— Lorne has just now made a passing mention of the XFL, which is interesting, as an XFL game infamously delayed this episode 45 minutes(!), which, IIRC, forced SNL to go ahead and start doing the episode anyway while the XFL game was still on, and then broadcasting the episode on a tape delay, without Jennifer or any of the cast knowing. This whole incident would end up causing a rift between Lorne and Vince McMahon. On the night of the original airing of this episode, I remember 16-year-old me sitting by my TV waiting and waiting very impatiently for the XFL game to end (though I was a little antsy that night to begin with, as my mother was at the hospital giving birth to my sister that same night). This episode was delayed so long that I remember being worried we would get another Rosanna Arquette situation (for those who don’t get what I mean by that, read my review of the Disclaimer sketch from the beginning of this episode).
— Another parallel this episode has to the Rosanna Arquette episode: the cold opening of both episodes involve 1) a cast member or recurring character hitting on the female host in her dressing room, 2) the female host wearing a robe, and 3) Lorne stepping in, initially putting an end to the cast member/recurring character’s hitting on the host, before changing his mind and having his own kinda sleazy turn towards the host.
— Not only do we get a rare Tracy Morgan “Live From New York”, but it’s an altered LFNY, with Tracy delivering it as “Live from New York, it’s Jennifer Lopez’s booty!” I’m always a sucker for the times that SNL alters their LFNYs.
STARS: ***½


MONOLOGUE
puzzled by diva reputation, host reveals Versace dress worn at Grammys

— (*OVER-ANALYZATION ALERT*) This is something I’ve always noticed about this monologue ever since it originally aired, and I wanted to get it off of my chest: something odd seemed to happen at the very beginning when Jennifer made her entrance. Immediately after opening the entrance door, Jennifer frantically turned her head back into the room she was in and appeared to say something unhappily to someone in there (the stage manager), then she has an uneasy, half-hearted smile on her face as she walks her way to the front of the stage. After the theme music and audience applause die down, a now-genuinely-smiling Jennifer shakes her head with her hand on her forehead in a stressed-out manner, and begins her monologue by saying “It’s too much, I wasn’t ready”, apparently referring to what went wrong right before she made her entrance. I’m guessing what happened was Jennifer was forced by the stage manager behind the stage entrance door to go out onstage when she didn’t feel quite ready yet, and then got upset by that. Wow. Looks like a certain someone doesn’t get the concept of a live TV show.
— A predictable and lazy premise of Jennifer immediately contradicting her “I’m not a diva” claims by doing diva-like actions. It’s not coming off too funny here.
— Aaaaaand there’s the iconic green Grammy’s dress. It was at least well-hidden under that robe before the big reveal.
— Overall, blah.
STARS: **


CRACKLIN’ OAT FLAKES
Rerun from 11/11/00


MANGO
Mango & host develop a rivalry after he becomes a recording star

— Parnell is hilarious in his small role at the beginning.
— After getting multiple sketches cut earlier this season, Mango makes his first on-air appearance of the entire season. The long break we got from Mango was nice while it lasted.
— I’m not sure, but I think this is the first time a Mango sketch was done in an episode with a female host.
— Darrell looks kinda out of place and awkward in the small non-impression role he’s playing here.
— Horatio makes his ONLY appearance of the entire night in a very small, 15-second appearance as one of Mango’s backup singers. The way he seems to DELIBERATELY exit this scene as slow as humanly possible is probably his way of milking what he knows is his only appearance of the night. I find that slow exit of his both kinda funny and kinda obnoxious and unprofessional.
— I got a laugh from Mango telling Jennifer “Bring it on, J.Ho!”
— Not sure we need such a lengthy parody of Madonna’s “Music” music video.
— Jennifer’s Mango-esque “Can you…” spiritual questions are making me chuckle.
— Wow, a pretty wild fight between Mango and Jennifer.
— Pretty funny random cutaway to real stock footage of Lorne in the Divas Live audience. It’s hard for me to imagine Lorne attending something like Divas Live, so I’m guessing that stock footage of him is from some other award show.
— Overall, while I still wasn’t too crazy about this, I found it a little more enjoyable than some Mango sketches. Maybe the long on-air hiatus did Mango some good.
STARS: **½


MTV CRIBS
Gemini’s Twin & new member (host) present their low-rent apartment

— A nice change of pace for Gemini’s Twin.
— Jennifer’s character being named Lady Speedstick is pretty funny.
— At the beginning of Gemini’s Twin’s apartment tour, I like the reveal that this small-looking room we’re seeing is their ENTIRE apartment.
— Jennifer doesn’t have anywhere near as good a chemistry with Maya and Ana as Charlize Theron and Lucy Liu had in previous Gemini’s Twin sketches. Jennifer seems out of place paired with Maya and Ana here, like she’s performing in a vacuum.
— Overall, once again, I just know I’m soon gonna get bored of these Gemini’s Twin sketches, but it hasn’t happened yet, especially since the Cribs setting in tonight’s installment provided some pretty good comedic potential.
STARS: ***


TV FUNHOUSE
“Ray Of Light” by RBS- Ray Lewis witnesses famous Disney cartoon murders

— A huge laugh from the “Trent Dilfer sucks” message in the opening text crawl.
— A hilarious way to spoof the Ray Lewis controversy, by superimposing him into classic Disney movies.
— After witnessing Bambi’s mother getting shot, I love Ray Lewis saying “Oh, snap! I didn’t see nothin’!”, and then immediately hopping into a limo and speeding off.
— A very funny ending shot of Lewis singing “I didn’t kill no mother(*bleep*)in’ liiiooooon” while standing on top of a cliff.
STARS: ****½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Play”


WEEKEND UPDATE
TIF gabs with Cast Away star Wilson The Volleyball (WIF); Tom Hanks cameo

nervous 4th grader Rasheed Jenkins (JEM) gives Black History Month speech

— I thought it was unusual that Update was one of only two Jimmy Fallon appearances in the last episode, but that’s nothing compared to tonight, in which Update is Jimmy’s ONLY appearance. This kinda feels like a glimpse into an alternate universe in which Jimmy is one of those Update anchors who only does Update and seldom appears in sketches.
— Funny idea to have a commentary from Wilson The Volleyball from Cast Away being sleazily voiced by Will.
— A big laugh from Wilson The Volleyball’s blunt “Hanks is a dick.”
— Wilson bragging about his nub is pretty funny.
— Hi, Mustached Tom Hanks!
— Bye, Mustached Tom Hanks! Really, SNL? You brought Tom Freakin’ Hanks on for two seconds to do NOTHING, except take Wilson The Volleyball away? A waste of a Tom Hanks cameo, especially since this is his first SNL appearance in what, at the time, felt like a long time, and also ends up being his last SNL appearance for a long time.
— In his next joke after the Hanks cameo, I like Jimmy stopping mid-joke to ad-lib “I’m really gonna follow this”, referring to what a tough act it is to follow a Tom Hanks cameo.
— Tina’s long-winded joke, in which she does a fast-paced rundown of non-Baywatch shows that contain big fake boobs, is fantastic. One of Tina’s all-time best Update jokes. Also, seeing some of those shows being mentioned really takes me back.
— Tina is on fire with a lot of her jokes tonight. Jimmy, on the other hand, is quite a step behind her.
— Great to see Jerry with his own solo Update commentary.
— Jerry is doing such a spot-on imitation of a child. So many funny little things he’s doing throughout this commentary, and his freaking out when crying is hilarious. This is reminiscent of a great Will Ferrell sketch that I covered in season 24, in which Will played a businessman devolving into childlike crying and temper tantrums while giving an office presentation.
— Jerry’s commentary would later be replaced with the dress rehearsal version in reruns. One of the noticeable differences is that when Tracy tells Jimmy, in regards to the mother of Jerry’s character, “She’s in my dressin’ room, Jim!”, the audience responds well, whereas in the live version, that line strangely receives almost NO laughs.
— Speaking of Jerry’s commentary being replaced with the dress rehearsal version in reruns, Jimmy and Tina’s subsequent sign-off is also replaced with the dress version, in which Jimmy and Tina comedically sign off as “Jim” Fallon and “Tin” Fey, presumably referencing Tracy calling Jimmy “Jim” a few moments prior. The live version of this Update, on the other hand, has Jimmy and Tina signing off with their normal names.
STARS: ***½


FLY GIRLS
Fly Girls (JEM), (TRM), (RAD) want to work with host again

— I like how this sketch is a callback to Jennifer’s early career as an In Living Color Fly Girl, which is something that I always forget.
— Where the heck is Maya in this sketch? Do we really need both Tracy AND Jerry in drag, when SNL actually has a black female cast member?
— Tracy’s character, when asked which one of the Wayans Brothers has fathered one of her children: “All I know is, it’s not Marlon.”
— When the characters are reading from a movie script, I love Tracy’s staccato, urban-sounding delivery of “Where he been hi-din’ it at?”
— Much like the cold opening, Jennifer is a bland straight man here. And why has she been playing herself in so many sketches tonight so far? Last time I checked, she DOES have an acting career in addition to a singing career.
— An okay Fly Girls dance number at the end. At least you can tell Jennifer is having a lot of fun during it.
STARS: **½


MUSIC FROM THE MOTION PICTURE VALENTINE
the Valentine soundtrack contains many songs by bands with oddball names

— Meh, I’m not getting any laughs from this ENDLESS listing off of “comedic” and “far-fetched” fake band names. These odd and ironic fake band names seem too realistic to be taken as a spoof, though that may be the point, since there are some real names (e.g. Fiona Apple, Marilyn Manson) mixed in among the fake ones. Either way, I’m not laughing.
— The way this commercial keeps faking us out by following a long listing-off of names with “and many more…”, only for them to actually list off each of the “and many more” names, is starting to feel awfully reminiscent of a sketch that SNL already did before. Maybe I’m thinking of that terrible Super Sports Tour sketch from the season 20 premiere (a sketch which just consists of a “comically” long listing-off of the names of baseball players who will be appearing on a sports cruise), as well as the fairly funny “Reunion of Later Hosts” sketch from season 23’s Greg Kinnear episode.
— Okay, I finally got a laugh, from one of the fake band names being the lengthy address “5445 North Park Drive Community Vigilence & Restoration Committee”.
STARS: *½


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
host performs “Love Don’t Cost A Thing”


GOOD MORNING BRONX
borough residents broadcast the local news

— Geez, and I thought the last sketch was too reminiscent of a season 20 sketch. Now we get “Good Morning Bronx”. Really, SNL? So now we’re doing knock-offs of lame recurring season 20 sketches? Good Morning Brooklyn, anyone?
— Ehh, I’m being harsh with my above statement. Despite the similar titles, this sketch so far seems to be different enough from Good Morning Brooklyn.
— These last two episodes, the usually-underused Jerry Minor has suddenly been receiving a huge upswing in airtime. He’s been particularly prominent throughout tonight’s episode, and I am so happy for him. Sad that this boost in airtime doesn’t end up lasting for him, though.
— Rachel is very funny in her segment.
— Dominican Lou! This is surprisingly the first time in YEARS that Tracy has played him, and also ends up being the last. Very funny to see him suddenly appearing in this sketch.
— Jennifer: “You are not gonna mess up my chances of being the Puerto Rican Connie Chung!”
— Overall, this sketch was basically to urban stereotypes what season 20’s Good Morning Brooklyn was to white New York stereotypes, but I found this sketch more entertaining, especially when Dominican Lou showed up.
STARS: ***


THE BABY AND THE GERMAN INTELLECTUAL
by Adam McKay- innocence vexes

— Will’s mad German character ranting to the baby chewing on a potato chip bag is giving me lots of laughs. Will is absolutely perfect for this role.
— I love the “On the count of three, you will grow up!” bit.
— I see during the ending credits that the baby was played by Lily Rose McKay, who I assume is a daughter of Adam McKay’s. Obviously not the same McKay daughter that would later star with Will in the famous 2007 online short film, The Landlord, as the daughter in that film is much too young to have even been born yet in 2001.
STARS: ****


NURSING HOME
oblivious Jeannie Darcy does inappropriate material at a nursing home gig

— I’ve been starting to forget during these last few episodes that Molly is even still in the cast. She’s been appearing less and less as we get closer and closer to her mid-season departure.
— Jeannie Darcy, easily the most solid new Molly Shannon character in a long time, officially becomes recurring.
— I like the detail of Jeannie Darcy having two assistants carry in a fake brick wall background to set up behind her, to give off the illusion that she’s onstage at a comedy club.
— Some good laughs from all of the cutaways to the nursing home patients during Darcy’s jokes, especially the cutaway to someone’s IV bag bubbling.
— Wow, there’s Jerry in yet ANOTHER appearance tonight, though this is the type of silent, non-comedic bit role that he usually gets stuck with.
— Great part with one nursing home patient dying and being carried out of the room as Darcy obliviously continues on with her stand-up material.
— I love the cutaway to a crying Ana during Darcy’s comedy material on vibrators.
— Oh, god, there’s Molly’s obligatory character break. Dammit, Molly, I was really enjoying this sketch. Why do you have to break in practically every damn sketch towards the end of your SNL tenure?
— Molly at least recovers well from her breaking in this sketch, and goes back to doing a solid job as this character.
STARS: ****


WADE BLASINGAME
Another rerun tonight, this time from 12/09/00


NEWS FROM THE FRONT
at a WWII USO show, (host) damages morale by singing pro-German songs

 

— I like Steve Higgins’ old-timey newsreel voice-over in the opening portion of this sketch.
— Interesting how this is the second sketch tonight teaming up Jennifer, Maya, and Ana as a singing trio, with both sketches set in a completely different time period from each other. Makes sense, though, considering the singing abilities of all three ladies.
— Parnell got a good laugh out of me with his delivery of “Get a load of those gams!”
— Some pretty good laughs from the singers’ cheerful songs being pro-German and detailing the fate that awaits the soldiers, much to the gradual unhappiness and anger of the soldiers.
— Boy, the extra sitting to Kattan’s right (seen in the lower left corner of the second, fourth, and sixth above screencaps for this sketch) is making INSANELY over-the-top facial expressions all throughout this sketch. Haha, what a ham.
STARS: ***


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A very average episode, maybe even slightly below average. There were a few strong segments, but most of the show had an unmemorable feel, even some of the decent sketches. Jennifer Lopez was a pretty weak host. While I got a few laughs from her, she was mostly forgettable as a host, and I couldn’t help but notice some off-putting moments from her, such as her aforementioned reaction when seemingly forced onstage at the beginning of her monologue, her lack of any chemistry with her scene partners in the Gemini’s Twin sketch, and her lack of any interactions with the cast during the goodnights (at least in the half of the goodnights that I saw before they got cut off).


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


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


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Sean Hayes hosts. It’s also the last show for Molly Shannon.

Posted on

February 5, 2000 – Alan Cumming / Jennifer Lopez (S25 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

BREAKFAST IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
presidential candidates have breakfast after the New Hampshire primary

— Darrell’s Al Gore impression, still in its early stages, is slowly starting to sound like how it would famously go on to later sound, though it’s still got a way to go.
— Will’s George W. Bush impression, on the other hand, remains not even close. His Bush continues to not have any of the specific Bush mannerisms that his impression would later become famous for. All that being said, his Bush portrayal in this cold opening is still funny, and they are at least introducing hints of the soon-to-be-famous aspect of his Bush being “slow”.
— Funny bit about Parnell’s John McCain only being comfortable eating with a blindfold.
— Good to see Tim’s Marvin The Martian-sounding Alan Keyes impression for the first time since way back in season 21’s Tom Arnold episode.
— I love Tim’s Keyes panickedly bolting out of the room when Parnell’s McCain realizes Keyes stole his copy of USA Today.
— The ending of this cold opening would later be replaced in reruns with the dress rehearsal version. The most noticeable difference is Parnell’s “Live From New York…” delivery: in the live version, he delivers it in a frenzied way with a smile, whereas in the dress version, he delivers it in a sort-of scared manner with a surprised look on his face.
STARS: ***½


OPENING MONTAGE
— After sounding awful in the last episode, Don Pardo is out tonight with, I believe, laryngitis. Darrell Hammond fills in for him once again. Darrell seems to be going for a Don Pardo impression in his announcements tonight, but it’s not as defined as the Pardo impression he did in the preceding season’s James Van Der Beek episode.


MONOLOGUE
host is besieged by Broadway-wannabes CHO, CHK, ANG, CHP, TRM, WIF

— I can tell I’m not going to be too crazy about this Broadway-centric monologue, but hopefully, the performances will make this somewhat fun.
— A good laugh from Alan Cumming’s “Cumming on Cumming” joke.
— Parnell entering in a Phantom Of The Opera mask is fairly funny.
— Tracy dancing around in a Cats costume is hilarious.
STARS: **½


UNCLE JEMIMA’S PURE MASH LIQUOR
Uncle Jemima’s (TRM) Pure Mash Liquor is his bid to escape wife’s shadow

— Tracy’s performance as Uncle Jemima is slaying me. He is fantastic in this.
— Uncle Jemima, on something he once told Aunt Jemima: “Black folk ain’t exactly swellin’ up with pride on account of you flippin’ flapjacks.”
— Uncle Jemima: “Uncle Jemima’s Pure Mash Liquor has a 95% alcohol content, and that’s per volume.” Tim: “What the hell does that mean?” Uncle Jemima: “That means you get (bleep)ed up for less money.”
— Tim’s “What’choo swattin’ at?!?” is perfect.
— Solid ending with Tracy being chased out of the commercial by the animated birds flying around him.
— Overall, a Tracy Morgan classic, with some nice assistance from Tim.
STARS: *****


FRIED CHICKEN FIELDS FOREVER
VH-1 depicts John Lennon (JIF) & Paul McCartney (host) as restauranteurs

— Funny reveal of Lennon and McCartney opening a chain of fried chicken restaurants, as the filmmakers’ way of working around the network not having rights to any of the Beatles’ music.
— Not much of an attempt at a Paul McCartney impression from Alan.
— The “Number 9? Number 9? Number 9?” scene is very funny.
— At the end of the aforementioned “Number 9?” scene, you can hear a female stagehand’s voice (probably the stage manager) whispering “Alan, you can change!”
— What the heck is going on? The timing in this sketch has gotten really wonky all of a sudden. Alan and Jimmy are badly off on their cues. In fact, I’m pretty sure Alan completely screwed up the quick scene he did in which he pushes a mop & bucket while making some kind of complaint about about the “ladies’ crapper”; he seemed to do that scene much earlier than he was supposed to. Yikes!
— Parnell’s occasional off-camera angry yelling at Lennon and McCartney is cracking me up.
— Funny ending regarding the altered title of the movie.
— Overall, not a bad script, but the execution needed some work. Thankfully, the timing issues in this sketch would later be fixed in reruns.
STARS: **½


TANDEM HEARTS
Marty & Bobby perform a medley with couples workshop organizer (host)

— Alan’s American accent here is making me laugh.
— The Culps’ pre-song banter is funny as usual.
— After the last Culps installment with Dylan McDermott, it now seems to be becoming a regular thing for hosts to join the Culps in their song medley.
— Like McDermott, Alan is adding a fun vibe to the medley, though he’s not quite as funny as McDermott was in his Culps sketch.
— The funniest parts of tonight’s Culps/Cumming song medley are their singing of Limp Bizkit’s “Nookie” and the “You’re the One That I Want” song from Grease.
STARS: ***½


DOG SHOW
an intervention addresses Mr. Bojangles’ drinking problem

— I got a laugh from how we’re told that Mr. Bojangles isn’t dressed in his proper costume because he got wasted at a friend’s birthday party.
— For some reason, Alan’s delivery here is kinda reminding me of Eric Idle. I like that.
— Will, speaking for Mr. Bojangles: “Can I just say one thing, or is this Russia?”
— Overall, slightly better than the last two Dog Show installments, but I still feel these Dog Show sketches have lost their luster after the first two installments.
STARS: **½


THE HEAT IS ON
by Adam McKay- (BES) regrets bedding Glenn Frey (WIF)

 

— Hmm, “SNL Studios presents: A short film by Adam McKay”. Well… this is certainly different for this SNL era.
— As if the sudden appearance of an Adam McKay short film wasn’t out-of-left-field enough, we now see that this film randomly stars Ben Stiller.
— An interesting thing about Ben Stiller in this film is that the reason he quit SNL during his stint as a featured player in season 14 is reportedly because he was upset that SNL wouldn’t let him do short films on the show. 11 years later, and this Adam McKay film kinda makes up for that in a way, even if that’s unintentional on McKay’s part.
— Ben Stiller: “Come tomorrow morning, I’m gonna have Glenn Frey’s stank all over me.”
— Will’s cocky portrayal of Glenn Frey is very funny.
— I can let the tired “men kissing men for cheap laughs” trope slide in this film, because Will is freakin’ hilarious during this bizarre kissing sequence.
— The love-making montage is priceless, especially the close-up of Will’s Frey furiously grunting in a disturbing manner (the third-to-last above screencap for this film).
— Unlike most SNL short films, we actually get ending credits in this one, listing the actors and production staff.
— Overall, a hilarious film, and a solid introduction to the film work that Adam McKay will be doing on SNL this next season-and-a-half.
STARS: ****


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Feelin’ So Good”


WEEKEND UPDATE
Great Moments in Black History- TRM offers an autobiography
Bill Clinton (DAH) says “my successor will be boring; you’ll miss me”

 

— Colin’s voice is cracking at times during this Update, which he eventually points out.
— An interesting-seeming Black History segment with Tracy, taking place on a different set.
— I love seeing a childhood picture of Tracy (the fifth above screencap for this Update).
— Tracy is quite stumbly throughout this commentary.
— An overall decent Tracy commentary with a few really good laughs, but the commentary felt like it should’ve gone further.
— A big laugh from Darrell’s President Clinton asking “You’re gonna miss me, aren’t you?” after going on about how overly straitlaced and well-behaved the next president is going to be. (Turns out that prediction would end up being off by only one presidency. “Overly straitlaced” and “well-behaved” would describe Obama more than Bush Jr.)
— The premise of this Clinton commentary is starting to feel a little like a rehash of the cold opening Darrell’s Clinton did earlier this season in the Christina Ricci episode, but he’s making this a lot of fun.
— Clinton’s promises of the wild things he’ll do for the remainder of his presidency are very funny.
STARS: **½


SIEGFRIED AND ROY’S NIGHT OF 1000 TIGERS
Siegfried (host) & Roy’s (CHK) Night of 1000 Tigers is a wildlife benefit

— Very funny make-up on Cheri as the famous cat-looking woman.
— A few minutes later into this sketch, and this sketch hasn’t been doing much for me.
— I love Alan’s ad-lib when the smoke blocks his view of the cue cards.
STARS: **


HELLO DOLLY
(host)’s collectible creations are a vehicle for psychoses

— I like Ana’s passing mention of her marriage being ruined by “Hurricane Carol”.
— Funny line from Alan, regarding him being a “knock-kneed scab-picker” in his childhood.
— Another funny line from Alan, telling critics of his Husky Doodle doll, “I’d just like to spray you down with a little can of hush.”
— An overall okay Hello Dolly sketch, though I’m starting to get a little tired of Ana’s character’s constant mentions of troubled things in her life.
STARS: ***


MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Waiting For Tonight”


BAND SHOT

— The show comes back from commercial just to show the SNL Band immediately playing the show back to commercial. As I said in my review of season 21’s Christopher Walken episode, that’s always a sign that the show has run long and had to cut a scheduled sketch at the last minute.


GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— A pretty unmemorable episode. A few highlights, but I wasn’t too crazy about the show as a whole, and I’m having a hard time remembering a lot of sketches even right after having just watched this episode. Alan Cumming was a pretty fun and solid host, and had an English-type wit about him. I just wish he was given better material.
— This season’s been having a bit of a forgettable run of episodes lately. The Jennifer Aniston episode from all the way back in November was the last episode I was crazy about.


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


HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Freddie Prinze Jr.)
a very slight step up


My full set of screencaps for this episode is here


TOMORROW
Julianna Margulies