Jim Carrey – The 'One SNL a Day' Project

January 10, 2021April 7, 2022

October 25, 2014 – Jim Carrey / Iggy Azalea (S40 E4)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

EBOLA PRESS CONFERENCE
Ebola czar Ron Klain (TAK) & Al Sharpton (KET) address public health

— As I said in a recent review, the constant then-topical Ebola virus mentions in these early season 40 episodes are relatable to our current COVID era.
— A few mild laughs from Taran’s Q&A session, but nothing special.
— The usual somewhat amusing comments from Kenan’s Al Sharpton.
— What was the point of having Beck as one of the reporters, when he has absolutely nothing to do or say at any point of this cold opening?
— Overall, while this cold opening wasn’t terrible, it was very forgettable, thus making this season now 0-for-4 in good cold openings. My goodness. I cannot remember the last season that started out with such a long consecutive losing streak with cold openings. Even the dreadful season 30 had at least one good cold opening by this point of that season.
STARS: **½

OPENING MONTAGE
— SNL writer Leslie Jones has been added to the cast, due to popular demand after making some very noteworthy, scene-stealing sketch appearances and Weekend Update commentaries.

MONOLOGUE
underworld rock & roll king Helvis (host) sings of his love for pecan pie

— Great costume from Jim Carrey upon his entrance.
— What was with the unseen voices of two(?) real audience members loudly howling “AWOOOOO!” in unison after Jim says Elvis Presley liked to raise a little hell? Or was that sound of men howling “AWOOOOO!” just a planned sound effect played by SNL?
— Solid Elvis voice from Jim.
— (*sigh*) Yet another musical monologue. At least this has a fairly fun and out-of-the-ordinary concept for one, though.
— Meh, there’s SNL’s usual unnecessary habit of having a few cast members play cheesy backup dancers during a host’s musical monologue.
— Hmm, hate to say it, but nothing particularly funny at all is happening during the song, and I’m kinda starting to lose interest. Jim’s charm and fun energy is the only thing really carrying the song.
— Good ol’ Bobby shows up to add a little comedy. Love the way he pops into frame from under the camera as soon as his character is called.
— A nice wide shot of the studio during the camera pan-out at the end.
STARS: **½

LINCOLN
Matthew McConaughey (host) rolls a booger while driving his Lincoln

— A hilarious and spot-on spoof of Matthew McConaughey’s Lincoln ads, and this spoof is also serving as a reminder of what a good impressionist Jim can be at times.
— I think this is SNL’s very first mention of Uber, which I’m pointing out because of the excessive number of Uber mentions that the (infamous) following Chris Rock-hosted episode is said by SNL fans to contain. (I personally only remember one Uber mention in that entire episode, but we’ll see how many there are.)
— Very funny comment from Jim’s McConaughey about his agent telling him it would’ve made sense to do these Lincoln commercials after doing the movie The Lincoln Lawyer.
STARS: ****

CARREY FAMILY REUNION
(Jeff Daniels) & other kin are like host’s characters at family reunion

— A variation of the Walken Family Reunion sketch from Christopher Walken’s season 33 hosting stint.
— Leslie’s first sketch appearance as a cast member, and she already has a great little moment with her over-the-top laughing response to a mild joke of Jim’s, followed by her saying a well-delivered “You are so crazy, Jim Carrey!”
— I like seeing Jim and Taran play off of each other here, reminding me of their fun chemistry at some parts of Jim’s previous season 36 hosting stint.
— The set-up to the Cable Guy bit is (intentionally) predictable in a very fun way.
— A very solid Fire Marshal Bill from Cecily.
— I really like how, as a contrast to the Walken Family Reunion sketch, this sketch is featuring the cast imitating the host’s movie characters instead of imitating the host himself. (I’ve heard that the later Sandler Family Reunion sketch, which I’ve yet to see, takes that same route.) It makes the sketch feel less redundant in that way, and I’d say this cast is more successful at these Carrey movie character impressions than most of the season 33 cast was at their Walken impressions.
— A nice cameo from Jeff Daniels, complete with him fittingly dressed as Jim’s Dumb & Dumber character.
— I remember that, when I watched this episode during its original airing, I assumed the guy in the Riddler costume at the end of this was just an uncredited extra, until a backstage photo of Pete in the Riddler costume surfaced online shortly after the show. Watching this sketch now with that knowledge, it’s strangely kinda endearing to see Pete imitating Carrey’s trademark mannerisms, as it feels so different from the type of acting Pete usually does on the show.
STARS: ****

LINCOLN
with kids in his Lincoln, Matthew McConaughey (host) channels Rust Cohle

— Funny reveal of two kids unexpectedly being in the backseat of the car during all of this rambling of Jim’s McConaughey, then we get an even funnier reveal that he has no idea who’s kids those are.
STARS: ****

GRAVEYARD SONG
unscary dead guys Paul (TAK) & Phil (host) haunt a graveyard on Halloween

— Odd how this is the second consecutive live sketch with Bobby’s entire face painted a color. Did they just quickly slap all of this gray face paint over his green face paint from the previous sketch? It’s just amusing to me to imagine that, under all that gray he’s wearing on his skin in this sketch, his skin is entirely green.
— Another fun pairing of Jim and Taran.
— This clearly must be an early Mikey Day/Streeter Seidell writing collaboration, as this sketch’s concept not only has Day & Seidell’s familiar fingerprints all over it, but the specific “non-scary, musical, meme-ish, catchphrase-driven characters among a group of legitimately scary horror characters” theme is very reminiscent of Day & Seidell’s iconic David S. Pumpkins sketch from a few seasons later. This Paul & Phil sketch is basically the lesser-remembered precursor to David S. Pumpkins.
— Great “SHUT UPPPP!” outbursts from Bobby right now.
— I can’t find much else to say about the sketch itself. I’m enjoying it, and Jim and Taran are certainly fun, but I don’t find this sketch to be nearly as outstanding or as noteworthy as some of Day & Seidell’s later sketches with a similar theme (not just David S. Pumpkins, but, say, the Kevin Roberts sketch with Larry David, which is my personal favorite version of all these sketches).
STARS: ***½

ALLSTATE / LINCOLN
Matthew McConaughey (host) runs over Allstate spokesman Dennis Haysbert (KET) in his Lincoln

— An absolutely classic turn with Kenan’s Dennis Haysbert ironically getting run over by a car out of absolutely nowhere while in the middle of doing an Allstate commercial, followed by another absolutely priceless reveal of a meditating Jim-as-Matthew-McConaughey behind the wheel of the car, continuing the Lincoln runner of tonight. A simply perfect conclusion to this runner.
STARS: *****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Fancy”

musical guest & Rita Ora [real] perform “Black Widow”

WEEKEND UPDATE
romantic comedy expert Daisy Rose (VAB) forces meet-cute script on MIC

Drunk Uncle complains about feeling tricked & mistreated by Halloween

— Meh, didn’t the cold opening earlier tonight already make that Ebola joke about New York City now officially having every disease?
— Yeesh, Colin’s delivery of his opening run of Ebola jokes was pretty bad, which shows that, as much as I’ve been liking him on Update this season, he still certainly has some growing to do until he reaches the stage where he’s officially become a reliable co-anchor.
— Love the bit with Michael comparing Ebola to black people.
— A one-off(?) Update character for Vanessa, which I have absolutely no memory of. This could be interesting.
— Already, early in this commentary, Vanessa’s doing an absolutely spot-on and very funny spoof of typical “meet cute” tropes from romcoms.
— Michael is playing off of Vanessa perfectly, as he has some hilarious reactions and one-liners towards her.
— An overall very strong Vanessa commentary. I’m surprised by how much I had forgotten about this little gem from her until now.
— After a bumpy start at the beginning of tonight’s Update, Colin has gotten better, especially his “I thought ‘convicted sex offender’ was Here Comes Honey Boo Boo’s key demographic” punchline, which feels like the type of ballsy joke he’d do in more recent seasons. And Michael’s been having a few strong jokes tonight, too, especially his “sex study being perfected last night by…ya momma” punchline.
— Maybe I spoke a little too soon about Michael, as that brass knuckle/meth pipe joke of his was lame as HELL. However, something about his kiddie delivery of that joke’s punchline tickled me. It felt so odd hearing him talk in that kiddie voice.
— An absolutely PRICELESS beginning to Drunk Uncle’s commentary, where he, upon reacting very negatively to seeing Michael (for obvious reasons), actually scoots his own chair aaaallll the way over to the opposite side of the Update desk (I love how Michael can be heard incredulously asking “Are you seri–?” at one point during that) so he’s now sitting next to Colin for the remainder of this commentary. Not only was that an absolute riot, but that move of Drunk Uncle’s certainly has to be a first in Weekend Update history.
— (*sigh*) SNL, please STOP with that beyond-tired “That’s not me” “That’s not anyone” exchange in EVERY DAMN ONE one of these otherwise solid Drunk Uncle commentaries. Not even the audience laughed at that exchange tonight.
— Tonight’s Drunk Uncle commentary as a whole, while funny, was a little too average for his standards, and not one of his more standout commentaries. However, that fantastic “Drunk Uncle scoots his chair all the way from Michael’s side of the Update desk to Colin’s side” opening gag alone is one of the highlights of this entire episode.
STARS: ***

SECRET BILLIONAIRE
eccentric & elderly (host) seeks to pair with (CES)

— Jim accidentally enters the shot briefly while trying to discreetly take his seat as the camera is on Taran and Cecily.
— Something about this sketch is already giving off a bit of a dire, worrisome vibe, but I’ll try to remain open-minded towards this sketch.
— It’s now a minute later, and that dire/worrisome feel is sadly continuing. Maybe it’s something about Jim’s EXTREMELY slow-paced delivery as this character that’s hurting my enjoyment.
— Okay, that whole very-detailed story from Jim’s character regarding pleasuring himself in a hot air balloon and falling 3,000 feet was actually very funny.
— An even funnier detailed story from Jim right now, about an airplane hangar filled with 250 men named Dennis and one named Brian, and Jim theorizing how’d they all react.
— Cecily has some funny little straitlaced responses, especially her responding to one of Jim’s disturbing stories by innocently saying “Aww, I love seafood!”
— Overall, I have very mixed feelings on this sketch. It had such a bad and worrisome first two minutes, then suddenly became much funnier with some of Jim’s disturbing stories, but even with that upswing, the sketch still had a bit of an “off” feel to it, and I still can’t help but feel that Jim’s extremely slow-paced delivery hurt some of the humor of this sketch for me.
STARS: I’m still torn, but I’ll give it *** as a whole, just on the strength of that brilliant “Dennis/Brian” story

GHOSTS: FACT OR FICTION?
(LEJ) gets spooked during paranormal search

— A good first major showcase for Leslie as a cast member.
— A simple premise and simple writing, but Leslie is selling it very well with her character’s skepticism and various frightened reactions.
STARS: ****

HIGH SCHOOL
amid zombie attacks, (host) maintains his undead son (PED) isn’t infected

— A much funnier character voice from Jim here than in the Secret Millionaire sketch.
— The timing seems really off at certain points of this sketch. Odd long pauses and such, particularly when Jim is clearly very late on his cue when he’s supposed to feed Pete pieces of brains from his pockets.
— Funny interaction between Pete and Jay.
— Good zombie growls from Pete throughout this.
— Overall, despite a few laughs, this, much like the Secret Millionaire sketch, suffered from having too much of an “off” and dragging feeling, except, unlike the Secret Millionaire sketch, this one didn’t have enough merits to earn it a decent rating.
STARS: **

OFFICE COSTUME CONTEST
for office costume contest, (host) & (KAM) dance a la “Chandelier” video

— I love the controlled frustration in Sasheer’s delivery when correcting Vanessa by saying “……I’m Vanna White.”
— The whole sequence at the beginning of this sketch with Vanessa’s really bad guesses on what each co-worker’s Halloween costume is is fantastic, so much so, that I could watch an entire five-minute sketch with just Vanessa doing that. I especially love her confusing poor Aidy’s non-costume red dress as her being dressed as a meatball, which gets great reactions from Aidy.
— Fun concept of a Chandelier-themed Carrey/McKinnon dance-off in the office.
— Oh, hell yeah. I love the fourth wall-break turn with the Carrey/McKinnon dance-off going from the sketch’s set to all throughout SNL’s studio. It feels like you rarely, if ever, see a recent SNL season like this have a fourth wall-break that goes this extensive.
— So many fun antics from Jim and Kate in their around-the-studio dance-off, with them even now going through some of the sets from tonight’s earlier sketches. All of this is fantastic.
— I will say the Lorne bit was meh and kinda unnecessary, but it was brief enough not to particularly hurt the great vibe this sketch has going.
— More and more as Jim and Kate’s around-the-studio dance-off continues, this sketch is having a truly epic feel, the type of epic feel that kinda gives me goosebumps and makes me feel like I’m witnessing something truly special. In fact, when this originally aired, I remember this was among the number of Kate McKinnon moments from 2014-2017 that made me feel like I was watching a legend in the making.
— Excellent random ending with Aidy unexpectedly winning the office costume contest, which gets a perfect exaggerated puzzled reaction from her.
STARS: *****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest & MØ [real] perform “Beg For It”

GEOFF’S HALLOWEEN EMPORIUM
Geoff’s (host) Halloween Emporium proprietor is possessed by a demon

— Interesting pairing of Vanessa and Cecily in this speaking-straight-to-the-camera ad, making this kinda feel like a bizarro universe version of the ex-porn stars sketches.
— Great vocal modifier on Jim.
— Jim’s vocalizations and mugging are priceless. You can tell that, at one point, Jim is attempting to crack Vanessa and Cecily up, but those two are such pros that they don’t bat an eye.
— Unless I’m forgetting something, it had been a long time since SNL last broke out the ol’ vomit tubes prior to this sketch. A nice disgusting touch with the vomit in this particular sketch being black/dark brown, which perfectly fits Jim’s demon character.
STARS: ***½

GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— While definitely not having the overall classic feel that a Jim Carrey-hosted episode should have (and did have, in Jim’s beloved first hosting stint), this was still certainly a good episode, and received a nice amount of sketch ratings in the high 4-5-star range from me (granted, three of those were the Lincoln three-part runner).

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

RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Office Costume Contest
Allstate / Lincoln (Part 3)
Lincoln (Part 1)
Carrey Family Reunion
Lincoln (Part 2)
Ghosts: Fact Or Fiction?
Geoff’s Halloween Emporium
Graveyard Song
Weekend Update
Secret Billionaire
Ebola Press Conference
Monologue
High School

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Bill Hader)
a slight step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Chris Rock / Prince

October 14, 2020June 18, 2021

January 8, 2011 – Jim Carrey / The Black Keys (S36 E11)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

A MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR
Michael Bloomberg (FRA) details lazy NYC workers’ inept blizzard response

— A decent Michael Bloomberg impression from Fred.
— A pretty good spoof of 1) the overreaction from New Yorkers to the big blizzard that had recently hit the city, and 2) the slow response NYC workers had to said blizzard. As a New Yorker myself, this is bringing back a lot of memories of this time.
— Funny reveal from Fred’s Bloomberg that the reason for a certain New York area being cleared of snow was just because of a gas explosion.
STARS: ***½

MONOLOGUE
unworried by the looming apocalypse, host wants to wed an audience member

— Jim Carrey jokingly calls the then-recently-ended year 2010 a nightmare and says we wouldn’t want to go through it again. Uh, Jim, I know you’re just kidding, but I got bad news for you regarding what’s in store for us 10 years after 2010.
— This “doomed year” stuff is a bit of an odd and unexciting topic for a Jim Carrey monologue, but he’s making it work, in his usual way.
— Some laughs from the examples Jim gives for how he always makes the best out of dire situations.
— A pretty fun interaction between Jim and a female audience member.
— A nice deviation from the usual “Stick around, we’ll be right back” monologue tagline.
STARS: ***½

BOSLEY HAIR RESTORATION
Rerun from 9/25/10

BLACK SWAN
Nina’s (NAP) mannish rival Lily (host) is more adept at Black Swan role

— Despite the tired man-in-drag trope, Jim seems like he can definitely make this role fun, and I like how it, in some ways, feels like a slight throwback to his Vera De Milo character from In Living Color.
— I like a lightly-dancing Taran feeding Jim bread crumbs.
— A big laugh from Jim’s fist-in-mouth bit.
— I bet it took Bill everything in him not to crack up when Jim screamed in his face twice while “flashing” him.
— Good pre-taped ending shot of Jim.
STARS: ***½

FINDING YOUR POWER
hidden-camera footage belies self-assertion claims

— The name of Jason’s character, Zach Twinefeld, made me chuckle more than it probably should’ve.
— Pretty funny turns with hidden camera footage revealing how each guest didn’t exactly stand up for themselves like they claimed to.
— I can’t help but hear Vanessa’s Miley Cyrus in Vanessa’s crying rant.
— Hilarious turn with the quick “Well, we put a camera in your wife’s mouth. Roll it!” “What?!?” exchange between Jason and Jim, followed by a P.O.V. camera angle from inside Jim’s wife’s mouth while Jim’s tearfully pleading to her. You also have to imagine how silly the wife must’ve looked standing there with her mouth wide open like that the whole time while secretly filming Jim.
STARS: ***½

GRADY WILSON’S TANTRIC ‘N TASTY
guru (host) adds Eastern skill to Grady Wilson’s Tantric ‘n Tasty sex DVD

— The final Grady Wilson sketch. For some reason, unlike the previous installments of this sketch, this entire installment is pre-taped. I have no idea why.
— As I said in my review of the last installment of this sketch prior to this one, this recurring sketch has been getting less and less funny with each passing installment.
— At least we now have Jim to hopefully milk some laughs from this tired format.
— Meh, it turns out that not even Jim can help this tired format all that much. Good riddance to this recurring sketch. It started out strong and fun in its very first installment, but probably never should’ve become recurring.
STARS: **

THE WORST OF SOUL TRAIN
the ’70s & ’80s were full of awful musical acts

— Already a laugh just from the initial sight of Bobby, as well as him introducing himself as Smokey Robinson’s white half-brother, Coughy Robinson.
— A fairly fun and promising sketch concept of a collection of horrible Soul Train performances.
— I love Bobby’s explanation that Triangle Sally died halfway through her performance, “and we did NOT edit it out!”
— A funny comically brief song from Taran and Paul’s bizarre robotic singing duo.
— After a somewhat slow first two minutes, this sketch has gotten increasingly funnier starting with the Triangle Sally scene. I particularly love the scene happening right now with Jason’s Billy Ocean-esque “Get out of my car, get into my trunk” song.
— Jim’s “one titty” song is absolutely priceless, and a strong way to end this sketch.
STARS: ***½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Howlin’ For You”

WEEKEND UPDATE
ousted Nancy Pelosi (KRW) easily triggers John Boehner (BIH) crying jags

Anthony Crispino’s supposed scoops are based on things that were misheard

Arkansan red-winged blackbird (ANS) & fish (TAK) ponder animal die-offs

— Bill’s deep-voiced, cartoonish, Cowardly Lion-esque crying as John Boehner is making me laugh out loud.
— This has to be the funniest Anthony Crispino commentary by this point of his run. A lot of his false info here is giving me big laughs.
— A variation of Andy’s Larry The Goose. As an odd coincidence, the only times Andy has played Larry The Goose and tonight’s similar character have all been in January episodes.
— Fairly fun to see Taran get involved in Andy’s commentary.
— Given the fact that SNL doesn’t have a black woman in the cast this season, I wonder who that was doing the Oprah voice-over during the “Oprah-calypse” bit in Andy and Taran’s commentary.
— A pretty fun dumb, silly conceit to Andy and Taran’s commentary.
STARS: ***

MERRYVILLE TROLLEY RIDE
sinister Merryville animatrons (host), (TAK), (BIH) unsettle (KET)

— Ah, here comes an absolute favorite of mine, and an important moment for Taran as a cast member.
— Taran and Jim’s robotic movements as the animatrons are absolutely SPOT-ON (almost eerily so) and hilarious. Very impressive, especially from Taran. Who knew before this sketch aired that he was capable of something like this? I remember being so wowed by him when this sketch originally aired.
— Bill’s animatron character occasionally popping up just to ding the triangle (there seems to be a triangle-dinging theme in this episode, between Triangle Sally and this) while having a creepy smile is a great example of Bill’s ability to get laughs out of the smallest things.
— I love the animatrons’ increasingly creepy and sinister actions towards Kenan.
— Hilarious when Bill’s animatron character pops up with his head missing and wires poking out of his neck.
— Great ending visual of a Kenan mannequin.
— Overall, a classic in my eyes, and a huge turning point in Taran’s SNL tenure. Back when this episode originally aired, this sketch was what led to me and many others to start becoming a big fan of Taran’s work on the show, and he would go on to build on the great progress he showed in this sketch.
STARS: *****

PSYCHIC MEDIUM
psychic (host) channels his previous career as a celebrity impressionist

— A very fun excuse to have Jim showcase his underrated knack for doing great celebrity impressions.
— I like the running gag with Vanessa calling out Jim’s lack of hygiene from his bathroom break.
— I particularly love Jim’s Alan Thicke impression, as well as Jason having an over-excited foot-stomping reaction to that and then yelling “No one does a Thicke!”
— Great ending with Jim doing a Sammy Davis Jr. impression while using the crystal ball as a glass eye.
STARS: ****½

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Tighten Up”

A TASTE OF NEW YORK
grubby trio (host), (FRA), (KRW) sings to tourists about NYC’s underbelly

— Geez, Abby is making her first and ONLY appearance all night in the final sketch of the episode, playing a very small straight role where she only has one or two lines. I feel for her.
— A very blah reveal of the comedic conceit of the song that Fred, Jim, and Kristen’s homeless group sings.
— Not a single laugh from me so far. Not even Jim can save this.
— Overall, an awful sketch, and such a poor note to end this episode on, especially after the extremely fun two sketches that preceded this. I guess we can consider this YET ANOTHER of many wretched Fred Armisen-starring sketches this season. The man continues to be the bane of this season.
STARS: *

GOODNIGHTS

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— While this comes absolutely nowhere close to measuring up to the beloved first Jim Carrey-hosted episode (continuing this season’s frustrating failure to produce a standout strong episode), this was an overall pretty good episode, and hit a big peak with the first two post-Weekend Update sketches. Jim Carrey was his reliably hilarious self as expected.

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

RATED SEGMENTS RANKED FROM BEST TO WORST
Merryville Trolley Ride
Psychic Medium
Black Swan
Finding Your Power
Monologue
The Worst Of Soul Train
A Message From The Mayor
Weekend Update
Grady Wilson’s Tantric ‘N Tasty
A Taste Of New York

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Jeff Bridges)
a big step up

My full set of screencaps for this episode is here

TOMORROW
Gwyneth Paltrow

November 8, 2019April 23, 2022

May 18, 1996 – Jim Carrey / Soundgarden (S21 E20)

Segments are rated on a scale of 1-5 stars

NIGHTLINE
Bob Dole (NOM) is willing to change to beat Bill Clinton

— SNL has gotten a lot of good mileage this season out of Darrell’s Ted Koppel impression.
— This feels like the first time we’ve seen Darrell’s Clinton impression in quite a long while. Hell, I think his last appearance was way back in December when he did his “The American President” review on Weekend Update.
— Very funny announcement from Darrell’s Clinton that he’s resigning from the presidency so he can focus on his presidential campaign.
— Another hilarious announcement from Darrell’s Clinton, that he’s now divorcing his wife.
— I like Norm-as-Dole’s bad, outlandish attempts to one-up Clinton’s big announcement, especially him announcing he’ll be converted into a beam of energy, which is made even funnier by Darrell’s Koppel asking him to go into details of how that can be possible.
STARS: ****

MONOLOGUE
to please an audience member, host reverts to his popular catchphrases

— This monologue is already starting off funny and unique with Carrey’s echo-ish, alien-esque announcement to the audience.
— A particularly funny line during Carrey’s above-mentioned announcement to the audience: “Talking out of one’s buttcrack is a sign of one’s personal confidence.”
— Carrey’s even managing to make his “movie catchphrase quotes” bit with Adam McKay funny.
— I love Carrey throwing in some Fire Marshall Bill at the end.
STARS: ***½

WRESTLING TOURNAMENT
Craig & Arianna welcome an exchange student (host) to their squad

— I like the opening foreign dialect bit between Carrey and Mark.
— Carrey is adding a lot of fun life to this overused recurring sketch.
— Arianna: “He’s foreign. That means he has an accent and is kinda stinky.”
— I like the turn with Carrey being exposed as taking performance enhancing pills.
— I’ve always loved the “I Like Big Butts” number the Cheerleaders do at the end. Probably my single favorite moment from any Cheerleaders sketch.
STARS: ***½

THE ROXBURY GUYS
(host) & fellow Roxbury Guys work their moves in non-traditional venues

— After the first Roxbury Guys sketch from earlier this season used a song I didn’t recognize, tonight’s installment opens with the very catchy “What Is Love” song making its very first Roxbury Guys appearance, thus kicking off what ends up being THE definitive Roxbury Guys installment.
— Koechner, in what ends up being his final SNL episode, makes his ONLY appearance of the night in a silent bit role as a bartender who mostly stands in the background and then VERY briefly appears in front of the camera when ushering the Roxbury Guys out of the club after they start getting out of control (screencap below).

This appearance from Koechner is very easy to miss when watching the sketch, which is what led to the common misconception that he doesn’t appear in his final episode. Still, even though he does appear, this is a VERY sad way for him to go out, especially for someone who added a lot to this season and had such a strong first year.
— I love how this Roxbury Guys sketch is going much further than the embryonic version of this sketch that appeared earlier this season. So many things are fun and infectious about this sketch: the music, the head-bopping, the various changes of scenery, the brief car scenes interspersed throughout the sketch, etc.
— Very funny turn with the music in the car temporarily stopping when there’s dust on the CD.
— This sketch is getting funnier and funnier, with the Roxbury Guys now trying to pick up ladies at a retirement home.
— Great ending to this all-time classic sketch with Carrey proudly holding up his elderly date’s dentures as a “souvenir”.
STARS: *****

JACUZZI LIFEGUARD
an overprotective lifeguard (host) monitors jacuzzi-goer (WIF) closely

— A perfectly Jim Carrey-esque premise that I can’t picture anybody but him selling.
— Loved Carrey’s throwaway line about a “bloated carcass stuck in the filter”.
— A lot of laughs from how seriously Carrey’s character takes his job, even needlessly using binoculars and a bullhorn towards Will when he’s right in front of him.
— Carrey is killing in me this sketch.
— A great increased absurdity with Tim now coming in to briefly do laps in a divided part of the jacuzzi.
— I’ve always used this sketch as a prime example of what a great straight man Will always makes, and how underrated he is in that role. I especially love his exasperated “I’M OKAY! I AM OKAY!” response after receiving CPR from Carrey.
STARS: *****

WEEKEND UPDATE

— Norm is on fire tonight with a lot of great jokes so far.
— Ha, we get ANOTHER O.J. joke a few minutes after we already got one.
— Wow, no guest commentaries at all in tonight’s overall Update. I’m glad, though, because not only did that mean we got an entire uninterrupted Update of pure Norm jokes, but I feel this is one of Norm’s strongest Updates of all time. A nice rebound after a string of good-but-not-great Updates in the last few preceding episodes.
STARS: ****½

MUSICAL GUEST INTRO

— A great Roxbury Guys-themed intro to the musical guest.

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Pretty Noose”

I’LL SEE YOU IN HELL
(host) says “I’ll see you in Hell” so much, the phrase loses its impact

— I love Carrey’s first outburst of “I’LL SEE YOU IN HELL!”, even though I’m aware of where this sketch is going.
— Yep, Carrey’s endless repetition of “I’ll see you in hell” is losing its humor in theory, but Carrey is so damn funny that I’m still finding myself laughing at it.
— I got a laugh from Will starting to tell Carrey “Okay, that worked for you once…”
— Okay, this sketch is starting to work less and less for me. Oh, well; I guess even a classic episode like tonight’s needed one subpar sketch.
— This is winning me back over with Carrey’s sudden heart attack.
— I love the screen card saying “78,043,721,902 years later”.
— Good ending.
STARS: **½

SPADE IN AMERICA
DAS looks back at some of his Hollywood Minutes

— Well, this is it. The last hurrah of David Spade.
— I love the idea of Spade doing a “year in review” of this season’s cast.
— I particularly like Spade’s harsh-but-funny quote for Mark’s picture: “Hi, I’ve been in 40 sketches this season, name one.”
— As soon as Spade brings up Tim, the audience actually applauds. I love that. It shows what an effective year Tim has had and how he’s finally become known to the audience as a reliable veteran in a mostly unfamiliar cast.
— For some reason, Jim is the only new cast member this season who Spade didn’t comment on here.
— I love that we’re now getting a montage of Spade’s best Hollywood Minute moments from over the years. This montage is actually kinda touching in a way. A good way for Spade to go out.
STARS: ***½

THE JOE PESCI SHOW
Jimmy Stewart (host) & Jim Carrey (MAM)

— Carrey is priceless as an old, decrepit Jimmy Stewart.
— While I sometimes find SNL’s “cast member does an impression of a celebrity in front of the real celebrity” trope to be corny, I am often a sucker for the specific trope of “cast member does an impression of a celebrity while the real celebrity does an impression of another celebrity” (e.g. Mike Myers as Mick Jagger alongside Mick Jagger as Keith Richards), like we’re seeing here between Carrey and Mark.
— Carrey’s Jimmy Stewart to Mark’s Jim Carrey: “Smoke a lot of dope, do ya, son?”
— Some great self-deprecating humor with Carrey’s Stewart doing an unflattering Jim Carrey impression (e.g. “I need attention 24 hours a day! Look at me!”).
— I love Carrey’s Stewart telling off Breuer’s Pesci, then saying in regards to a bat “I wonder what it would look like… BURIED IN YOUR ASS!”, and then proceeding to beat the living daylights out of Pesci with the bat. The way this sketch is ending almost feels like this should’ve been the final Joe Pesci Show sketch.
— Overall, this has always been my favorite Joe Pesci Show installment.
STARS: ****

MUSICAL PERFORMANCE
musical guest performs “Burden In My Hand”

JIMMY TANGO’S FAT BUSTERS
heat beads & crystal meth remove pounds

— Yet another perfectly Jim Carrey-esque premise, even if this sketch was originally intended for an earlier season, from what I heard.
— Great line from Carrey about how when he closes his eyes, all he sees are spiders and snails.
— I said it earlier in this review, and I’ll say it again: Carrey is freakin’ killing me in this sketch.
— I love the whispery “Ride the Snake” voice-over.
— Nancy’s cheerful delivery of the side effects she suffers is funny, especially her line “I cry in my sleep and I burn symbols into my housepets with a curling iron!” I’m glad Nancy’s getting some laughs in what unfortunately ends up being her final SNL appearance as a cast member.
— Much like Carrey, Will is playing a perfectly Will Ferrell-esque insane character. In my eyes, you can never go wrong with a batshit crazy Will Ferrell performance like we’re seeing here.
— All throughout this episode, it’s been fascinating seeing Carrey and Will interacting with each other, considering Carrey’s comedy star status at the time and the big comedy star Will himself would later go on to be known as. And it’s particularly fascinating seeing their interaction in this sketch. I love the face-off between them, and Will’s head suddenly bleeding is HILARIOUSLY insane.
— Overall, not only one of the best 10-to-1 sketches in SNL history, but one of my favorite SNL sketches of all time. I could not have asked for a better way for this season to end.
STARS: *****

GOODNIGHTS
host announces stage manager Joe Dicso’s [real] retirement

IMMEDIATE POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
— And thus ends one of my favorite SNL episodes of all time. In fact, this seems to be a favorite episode among many SNL fans, and it’s easy to see why. Between the very memorable sketches that dominated the night, some of this era’s biggest recurring sketches each having one of their best installments ever (especially The Roxbury Guys), and comedy superstar Jim Carrey bringing down the house with his trademark comedic style and expert sketch comedy experience, this episode is a true keeper. An outstanding way to end the season.
— Season 21 as a whole was the big turnaround that SNL desperately needed after the notorious season 20. This season delivered a solid new cast and a refreshing new writing style, all of which resulted in an overall enjoyable year that got better and better as it progressed, culminating in a strong final three months in which there was only one episode that I feel didn’t qualify as above average (Christine Baranski). Even this season’s heavy overuse of certain popular recurring characters (Cheerleaders, Mary Katherine Gallagher, The Fops) was understandable, as that was just part of what SNL needed to regain their relevancy and popularity after losing all of it in season 20. My favorite aspect of this season is the way it embraced weird sketches that contained creative, absurdist humor; stuff like Wake Up And Smile, Bill Brasky, Hi-C & Turkey, etc., which are among my favorite sketches of the season, as you’ll see a little later in this review. (Unfortunately, SNL’s increased focus on absurdist humor ends up being short-lived, IIRC, as SNL moves away from it starting next season.)

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

HOW THIS EPISODE STACKS UP AGAINST THE PRECEDING ONE (Christine Baranski)
a step up

MY PERSONAL CHOICE OF “BEST OF” MOMENTS FOR THIS ENTIRE SEASON, REPRESENTED WITH SCREENCAPS (Note: These picks were hastily made off the top of my head and will naturally be missing some deserving sketches. I don’t have enough time to do full, thought-out “Best Of” picks for this whole season)